Midtown High student, Jessica Campbell, was present when
Peter Parker was bitten by the irradiated
spider, which gave him his powers. She had a crush on him, and had just plucked up the courage to speak to him, when he was distracted by the bite. She also had a celebrity crush on teen heart-throb
Johnny Storm.
Soon thereafter, Jessica was riding in a car with her family when they collided with a military convoy carrying radioactive chemicals. Her family was killed, and after spending several months in a
coma, she awoke, stirred by the first coming of
Galactus outside her hospital room. She was placed in an orphanage and adopted by the Jones family.
Jessica later discovered that her radiation exposure granted her super strength, limited invulnerability, and flight (which she never fully mastered during her superhero career). The Joneses re-enrolled Jessica at Midtown High, where she was ostracized by her classmates, especially
Flash Thompson. Peter Parker (who had since become Spider-Man) sensed in Jessica a kindred spirit — someone who had also lost family due to a tragic circumstance. Jessica mistook his kind attention and lashed out at him, believing he was merely pitying her.
She later witnessed a fight between Spider-Man and the villain
Sandman in her own class. This inspired her, in a way she cannot put into words, to use her abilities in a positive light.