She never did belong here.

The moment she had first gained consciousness into the world, Joan felt like she didn't belong in the skin she possessed. From her first word being actually a sentence-long-event far past the age of first words - her parents and doctor labeled her on the spectrum - to the way she belted out random songs in the hallways, Joan never felt like she belonged.

"Y-you could talk this entire time? Why didn't you say anything?"

"I had nothing to say."

Her existence felt itchy like an electric current rushing through her veins constantly and it only dulled down when she was doing something, anything, everything. Joan needed to move, to think, to feel that weird fuzzy thing on the wall that the other girls sneered at in disgust. Her brain ran constantly and her notebooks were filled with stories of a near terrifying magnitude.

"An overactive imagination, she's six, it's normal for kids her age."

"Honey, she wrote about someone being murdered..."

Joan lived for chaos because that was the only way to calm the electricity in her veins. Her ears were always plugged with music blaring through her eardrums to break up the silent hell, a chewed up pencil in hand to keep her teeth from grinding, and a bouncing leg to release the pent of energy.

"Wanna see me jump out the window and see what Ms. Thompson says?"

"Joan, we're on the second floor!"

And today was no different for the girl as she sat at the head of one of the lunch room tables, scribbling away in her notebooks like maniac. It was almost complete and it would be complete by 3:15pm today which was only a few hours away. It needed to be perfect, the best, well polished and-

"Joan?" A hand landed on her shoulder and Joan jumped in shock, looking around in a panic to see a familiar face - or well three - behind her. Joan tugged one AirPod out, her music pausing as she scowled.

The other two seniors besides Joan were Ryan and Bryan, and the two were twins in everything but family and looks. Blond hair dyed green versus raven hair, they shared the same braincell amongst one another, finished each other's sentences unnaturally well, and did everything together since birth. The two were annoying little shits, but Joan didn't mind their company.

The weirdos were born a day from each other.

And Harry was the sophomore little sibling of Ryan, who joined the club at Ryan's polite threat, not that he really needed threatening. He was fine with joining, not like he would make friends anywhere else with his weird glass eye.

"What the hell, Bryan?!" She snapped out and slammed the notebook closed violently. The boys only snickered, each taking a seat at the table and setting down their lunches in front of them. "You know better than to sneak up on me, you jerk!"

"You shouldn't have your music up so loud anyways, Jo. What if there was a fire?"

"If I die, I die." Joan said simply with a roll of her eyes and her leg started bouncing again. Out of the corner of her eye she saw a hand sneaking over towards her notebook and she was quick to whack the hand and earned a satisfying fuck! in return. "Ryan, me boy, you know better than to touch my things."

"God, Jo. Do you have to be so violent?!" Ryan moaned while rubbing his hand dramatically. "That's going to bruise!"

"Baby." The boy next to him snickered with mouthful of sandwich. "Shoulda been quick- ooof!" Some sandwich left the kids mouth as Ryan's elbow found its way into his rib. "What the fuck, Ryan!"

"What the fuck, Ryan!" Ryan imitated in a high pitch voice with a roll of his eyes, dodging the return shove his way. "Grow up Harry. It was your idea anyways."

"Are you trying to get me killed?!" Harry hissed out, his eyes darting to Joan who's own eyes were starting to narrow further and further with each second. "Look, Jo, we just wanted a sneak peak-."

"No. Non. Nyet. Nein. No, but in Spanish. And how about this no." Joan snapped out, making an X with her arms, shaking her head, and finishing with the sign language for No to emphasize her point. The boys flinched as her arm jolted out and pointed at each one of them. "None of you get to see anything until it's all done, understand?!"

"But, what about-."

"Just one peek-!"

"All I need is-!"

Joan's hands slammed down on the table, the cafeteria going silent as she stood up and stared down coldly into Ryan's eyes. "Do. You. Understand?"

"Geez, yes, okay!" Ryan snapped out, pushing the girl away from his face and look around at the obviously staring faces with nervousness all over him. Even though the girl could seemingly ignore the snickers and whispers around them, Ryan still had problems with the attention being on him at any time of day. "Just-just sit down and stop drawing attention to us!"

Joan rolled her eyes but listened all the same, plopping down into her chair unceremoniously and taking out her other AirPod, shoving them into their case. Another tray joined in next to Bryan and everyone visibly relaxed as the empty seat filled with a familiar pink skirt and long legs, and the cafeteria volume slowly increased.

"What'd I miss?"

"Oh, God, Brynnyn. Thank fuck." Harry hissed out throwing his head back as if he was thanking God personally. "Joan was going mental."

"Is she not always going mental?" Brynnyn smirked over at her friends, the chuckles going around at Joan's rolling eyes and scoff of disbelief. "What'd they do this time?"

"They tried to steal my notebook." Joan said passionately, lifting up the fancy leather-bound book in emphasis as if it were criminal evidence in court. She shook it lightly. "My notebook, Bryn!"

"Oh, you poor thing." Brynnyn mocked with a jutted out lip. Harry covered his mouth to hide his snicker and looked away at Joan's glare. "Can you blame them? You were pretty brutal last time."

Brynnyn was their resident cheerleader, a junior, and joined the group of misfits her sophomore year after some pleading from Joan. The ginger-haired, dark skin girl had grown up around the crazy brunette - their parents were close - so it didn't take much convincing, her only request was that Brynnyn could do cheer as a priority, much to Joan's chagrin.

Joan sniffed, pushing the notebook into her bag jerkily to hide it safely from peeping eyes. "You guys just don't appreciate true art."

"It's because we appreciate living." Bryan whispered none to quietly under his breath his own eyes rolling at the glance his way. "Oh come on Joan. You know you're being a bitch."

"Blah blah blah, what a bunch of whimps." Joan grumbled, crossing her arms as if she were a child and slouching down into her seat with legs opening obnoxiously wide. "Babies, the lot of you."

Ryan kicked Joan's legs closed with his foot. "You're wearing a fucking skirt, Jo! Stop spreading like that!"

"Ugh, whatever." Joan moaned out, pushing her knees together and smacking her head onto the table, the pain soothing to her brain. "I'm never wearing anything other than pants after today ever again."

It was too quiet after that, no one knew what to say, and the silence made the itch stronger. Without the music, or the scrawling on paper, or bouncing around... Joan was left with an ache in her bones.

"God, you ever think about just bashing your head against the cement walls over and over and over and-."

"Jesus Christ, Jo!"

"-over and over and-"

"No!"

"-over and-"

"Literally no one, dude..."

"-and over again?" Joan ignored the others and enjoyed the coolness of the table on her cheek and shut her eyes to listen to the vibrations around her. "Ever wonder about the people who walked these halls before us? Like, how many dead people you think used to go here?"

"Shit, also that weird stuff in the 80's our parents refuse to talk about... I'd say maybe at least one." Harry pointed out. "My parents never talk about it thought."

"Well considering this school is older than our parents..." Ryan trailed off, fingers drumming on the table, and leg bouncing in response to Harry. "I assume at least three."

"That sounds mathematically sound." Brynnyn snorted and spooned some peas into her mouth. She didn't bother to swallow before finishing her comment. "It's a wonder how your not in AP Calculus already, Ri-Ri."

"It's because there was no room available!" Ryan insisted with wide eyes. He looked around at his friends frantically. "Seriously, guys. I tried to take it, but they were already full."

"Take what?" A pile of red hair piped up, joining the table next to Brynnyn quietly with a metal Star Wars lunchbox clanking on the table. He opened it slowly and took out the sandwich and celery inside with a matching water bottle on the side.

"Ryan here is saying he totally tried to get into AP Calc with the rest of us seniors, but the dude was too late to get in." Joan filled him in with a smile, before waving her fingers over at the kid. "Hey, Caleb. Where's your better half?"

"H-hey, Joan." Caleb returned the wave with a chuckle, before digging into his sandwich. "I-uh, she's sick today. Kaleigh had some kind of a weird headache and stayed home today."

Joan frowned at that, eyebrows furrowing in concern. "Is she okay? This is like the fifth time."

"Yeah, just the seasonal pressure getting to her head." Caleb waved the concern away with his free hand, seemingly unconcerned. "It happens every year, she's fine. But, uh, what's with the skirt?"

"My stupid grandparents are in town." Joan said dramatically, leaning back to balance on the back two legs of her chair to keep her mind occupied. Her friends nodded in understanding, but Caleb's eyebrows furrowed in confusion.

Ryan glanced over at the boy and leaned over the table to fill him in. "Her mom's a Mormon-"

"Was a Mormon."

"-and her grandparents still are, obviously. So whenever they visit she has to wear dresses and skirts."

Caleb blinked at the explanation, nodding slowly as he took in the information. He wanted to ask why, but figured by Joan's bad mood that asking would only worsen her mood. And he too enjoyed life. But Joan was still worried about the youngest girl, this was her third time this month missing school due to a headache and it put a strange ripple of anxiety through her stomach at the thought.

Caleb and Kaleigh had joined the club at the start of the school year, having been swiped up quickly by the group after recognizing what Joan called the stench of fear cause by suffering from nerd-syndrome, and they fit in like a puzzle piece. She constantly referred to the the group as her babies and children, going above and beyond for the freshmen.

They were small, yet mighty continuing the small group that had gone on for decades with legacy after legacy keeping it alive. Today was Wednesday, which meant they were all wearing the signature baseball shirt designed way back in the 80's.

"Can't we just get a glimpse of the new campaign, or-or even a hint?" Ryan pleaded with his hands laced together and a poor attempt of a puppy dog face. Joan's nose scrunched up in distaste at the look. "Come on."

"At least tell us the monsters! The version! Or-!"

"Who's the antagonist? Is there multiple? Will the Tarrasque come back-!"

"Is it a fresh new map that I can draw out?! I've got a great idea for-!"

"Are we doing ocean this time?! I reall-!"

"No! No!" Joan shook her head violently, the metal hanging on her ears clinking together and the group paused their shouts as the girl shoved her hands over her ears and blocked them out. Once she was sure they were done pestering, she carefully removed her hands, ready to throw them back on in a moments notice. "I told you guys we'll talk about it tonight at Hellfire!"

The Hellfire club was one of the few clubs that stayed active since the early 80's and would frequently come close to dying out until some weirdos like the ones who wore the shirt proudly in that moment stepped in to fill up the table once again. It was the black sheep of the school coming together to unify, from lonely cheerleader to Cyber Team loser, they were all equals when it came to DnD.

Joan was a tough DM - having learned from the best before her - but the way her brain seemed to never quite turn off properly made campaigns the most fun anyone ever had. It was impressive to watch her deepen her voice into that of a strong yet dumb ogre of the swamps or lift it up with a heavy accent like she was a forest fairy, dainty and fragile with a hint of foreign something they could never name.

Stubborn, crazy, but above all fiercely loyal and protective of her friends, Joan was a force of nature known to bruise her own knuckles on anyone who thought they could get away with messing with any of her children.

Later in the afternoon, she stared from the DM seat over at her friends filling the table with happy chats, a small smile filled her face and she stilled. For one happy moment the electricity stopped coursing through her veins and the beating in her heart smoothed to a near normal beat, and she sighed quietly.

If she belonged anywhere it was here with her friends after school in a near empty building, her notebook out in front of her, more dies then needed out on the table, and boxes of pizza half-hazardly thrown around the theatre room.

"Alright, my flesh bags, let us-!"

Joan was cut off by flickering lights and she frowned, the electric feeling flowing through her faster than ever. Nervously, she licked her lips when the lights didn't quit flashing and looked around at the scared faces in front of her.

'"I-it's probably just some f-faulty bulbs, guys. It's a shitty old school." Joan tried to be the voice of reason as eyes looked towards her as the leader. She felt a hitch in her throat - she was only 17, not even an adult yet, why were they looking at her?! - and cleared it away. "Look, they're some lanterns in the cabinet over there from some stupid play. We can get those and-."

Screams cut her off as the door to the theater slammed open loudly, the club members scrambling out of their seats to get far, far away from the opened door. The lights flickered faster and a breezed flew down Joan's spine as she carefully got up with narrowing eyes at the newcomer.

"Kaleigh?" Joan asked slowly, taking a step towards the freshman and examine the girl. Kaleigh seemed to be looking through her instead of at her with muddy bare feet and unbearably wide eyes. "Jesus, 'Leigh! Your nose is bleeding!"

Kaleigh didn't answer, instead stepping into the room and walking slowly towards Joan whose frown deepened with every step. Eventually the feeling of danger passed through her mind and Joan started taking a step back with every step forward.

"Kaleigh? Dude, chill out. I-If this is about you dying in the last campaign, I promise this one is a lot nice- oh shit!" Joan cried out dodging the table that flew her way like magic. Her eyes followed the table as it crashed into the far theater wall and then snapped back to Kaleigh who continued her trek. "Yo, freshmeat! Wake up, it's me, Joan! Maybe you should have been a wizar- fuck!"

Joan was thrown up against the wall next to the table, the feeling of breathing leaving her as soon as her back slammed against the wall, and she stared hopelessly down at the tiny girl in front of her while clawing at her own throat.

There were no other words, no explanations nor goodbyes, only Kaleigh's head jerking up and Joan's world went black. Her last thoughts bouncing around like an echo.

Knew s-she was a fucking wizard.