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Noel Michaels did not have what you would call a “normal childhood”. She originally grew up in a small town near Hatchetfield, not that Hatchetfield was that big itself. Her mother’s name was Adelaide, or Ada, and she was Officer Sam Brown’s sister. She’d married Baxter Michaels and they gave birth to Noel Elizabeth Michaels. Her first name would have been Elizabeth, after Ada’s mother, if she wasn’t born on Christmas Day.
Her parents were not the best parents in the world. They were loud and brash. They fought with no regard for the tiny child in the room who would cower behind a chair to drown out the shouting. They also drank a fair amount. It smelled disgusting and it was quite scary for Noel. She found solace in her aunt, Charlotte, and Sam, her uncle. They cared much more about her than her parents. She always looked forward to when they babysat and for holidays.
Her 7th Christmas was where it all went wrong. They’d gone to Ada’s family’s house and they were driving home late at night. Luckily for her, Noel had been asleep during all of it. Due to her stupid, reckless parents, they landed themselves in a drunken car crash and they were extremely lucky nobody died. Noel was slightly bruised and scraped, but nothing threatening. Sam had responded to the call as it was technically in Hatchetfield. Noel had been removed from her parents’ custody after that. Sam took her in with his wife, Charlotte.
Noel was a scared kid. Friends had never been her strong suit. She had 1 friend her entire elementary school life. Her name was Alice. Her dad worked with Charlotte. They went to the same church with Grace Chastity, who Noel liked a lot. She had a stable-ish life for a few years. A couple of community theater productions of Annie and The Little Mermaid helped her become a little less scared. Sam and Charlotte finally fell into a routine of taking care of her.
Enter Ted Richards.
He also worked with Charlotte. Noel didn’t like him very much. He was a bit rude and brash, reminding her of Baxter just a little bit. Charlotte seemed to like him a lot, though. Like, a lot, a lot. She figured it out when she was 12 and walked in on them having sex. She was definitely a major cockblock for Ted. He didn’t like her that much either.
Sam began to become more hostile towards Charlotte, just like his sister and brother-in-law. It scared Noel to no end. She didn’t like seeing it happen. The next two years were a mess. She didn’t like it.
Enter Lex Foster.
Tough. Tougher than Noel could ever be. Tirelessly taking care of a baby sister while simultaneously still managing to tell the world not to mess with her. She didn’t take anyone’s shit. Not to mention passing math, which Noel couldn’t wrap her head around and it beat her down every night with each textbook assignment and test. Sam was on her ass about it all the time and it made her feel like nothing. She thought about maybe asking Lex to tutor her, but could never quite get up the courage. Lex was too tough, too cool to tutor her. She’d laugh at her for asking. Ethan, her best friend, would too.
It went on like that for a few years. Noel finally worked up the courage to get a job at Beanies, her aunt’s coworker Paul’s favorite coffee shop. She met Emma, who quickly became her favorite coworker. Zoey dragged her into Hatchetfield Community Theater’s production of Godspell and she was devastated when Sam didn’t come to that. He didn’t even come to see the girl he was hooking up with in the Beanies back room on Tuesday nights. Nevermind her, she could care less at times, but not even coming to see the young woman he was hooking up with made Noel mad.
She was 17 now. All she really wanted was a stable person in her life that loved her. She’d come out to her family and friends a year before. Noel wanted something like Alice had. Alice had begun dating Deb, one of the kids who went to Hatchetfield High with them. Deb was a stoner, friends with Lex and Ethan, who were probably dating. Noel didn’t know and didn’t ask, and ignored the irrational desire to throttle Ethan Green every time she saw him. It was the same feeling she had whenever she saw Ted himself stroll into Beanies. Except she couldn’t throttle him. Charlotte would kill her. He was over a lot more now and Sam was around a lot less. That was the one redeeming quality of the failing marriage. Sam was home a lot less.
She liked working at Beanies. It gave her some sense of a routine. Of course, it always got disrupted with Lex and Ethan ducking in and out some days. Emma liked to make fun of her for how blushed she got when Lex ordered. Lex got a black coffee and a muffin most days. Some days it was just the coffee. Some days it was just the muffin. Sometimes, Lex brought a little girl with her and if it was a special day or something, she got a cake pop.
She didn’t exactly know how much she really liked Lex until Oliver threw a party with his parents gone for the weekend. There was a lot of alcohol involved, which made everyone a whole lot louder and a whole lot more confident. Including Noel herself. She had told herself she wouldn’t drink when she was 11, but now, she hoped it would help soothe the nerves that were on edge in her body. She didn’t go overboard, she knew her limits and she made sure she was safe. She didn’t drive. Ever.
It was her luck that Lex was there. Of course Lex would go to a party that had booze. And of course Ethan was with her, hanging by her side, bringing her drink after drink and having drink after drink himself. It made Noel’s heart sink. They probably were dating. She had no chance with Lex. She’d come to terms with her feelings for the girl a few months before at a sleepover with Alice. Alice had helped her understand it. She was a good friend.
Alice was over with Deb now, trying to keep her hands off her girlfriend but failing miserably. She was a drink or two in herself, and she looked almost giddy, between the ecstasy of alcohol and love. Noel felt a little pang of jealousy. She wanted that. She wanted what Alice and Deb had and it drove her crazy not having it. She wanted the love and security they had in each other. It would be a bonus if Lex was her Deb.
“Hey,” Noel heard a voice behind her and turned a little shakily. Lex stood behind her, sans Ethan, for once in her life. She was smiling at Noel a little unevenly.
“Hey.” Noel said softly. She probably sounded stupid. Of course she did. The prettiest girl in the room was talking to her and she was probably fucking it all up.
“You looked a little lonely over here,” Lex told her. “Thought I’d come see if you were okay.”
“Me? I’m fine.” Noel replied. She was nervous and her heart was racing. She was most definitely not fine.
“Why don’t I believe that?” Lex lightly poked her shoulder and Noel’s head spun with a lot of thoughts at once. She tried to manage a coherent response but just sipped her drink instead. She didn’t have a clue what it was. Oliver had given her about 3 already.
“I dunno,’” Noel said, lying badly. “Guess it’s just the drinks.”
“What’d he even give you?” She gestured to the cup.
“Um, not sure,” Noel said, taking another sip. “Tastes like vodka and something else.” She looked at her cup. “I trust him not to poison me.”
“It looks good.” Lex looked at it, getting close to her. Noel sucked in a breath as Lex got close. She was really pretty up close. She had a couple freckles Noel hadn’t noticed before.
Noel offered her the cup and she took it. Lex took a sip and nodded approvingly.
“Mm,” Lex said, taking another drink. “Strong shit.”
“Yeah.” Noel nodded in response. “Probably not the safest thing to be drinking, but Deb said she’d drive me home, so it’s okay.” She managed a smile.
“Eh,” Lex said. “S’what parties are for.”
“Not driving drunk, that’s for sure.” She hid the venom behind her cup.
“I mean yeah,” Lex said. “I meant drinking to forget your problems, but that too.”
“Oh, yeah,” Noel blushed and mentally yelled at herself for not catching on. It didn’t sound like her type of deal. Alcohol was a little scary. It’d caused her to be taken from her parents, probably for better than for worse.
The next party Oliver threw was a month later. Noel was feeling a little better in her own skin this time. She wore a red crop top (her first time ever wearing it out of the house) and the red lipstick she’d gotten that Alice had practically thrown at her. She actually felt kind of pretty for once.
When she saw Lex, she waved a little bit and Lex immediately made a beeline for her. That was a surprise. She had no Ethan with her, which meant Noel didn’t have the urge to throttle anyone.
“Hey,” Lex said. Her voice was already slurred from alcohol.
“Hi,” Noel said. She hadn’t had any alcohol yet, though Deb was making that drink she’d had last time. “Where’s Ethan?”
“Oh, he couldn’t come,” Lex said, waving it away. “He had a date.”
“A date?” She tilted her head.
“Yeah,” Lex said with a nod. “Some kid he met at the Cineplex. Dumped me off here to meet the kid over in Clivesdale. I doubt I’ll be seeing him until tomorrow.”
“Oh.” Noel kicked herself mentally for even asking. That made her look stupid. She was thankful when Deb gave her the drink. The same one she’d had a month prior.
“Thanks,” Noel said, downing half of it on the first go. Lex raised an eyebrow at her but didn't say anything. Noel was nervous. She didn’t like it. Maybe the drink would help. Liquid courage or whatever, like Felix Felicis. Liquid luck . “It’s good shit.”
“It smells like shit.” Lex laughed a bit.
“All alcohol smells like shit,” Noel said matter-of-factly. “Budweiser is the worst.”
“You’re right,” Lex agreed as Noel took another long sip. “You’re drinking that awfully fast.”
“Mhm,” She nodded. “Yeah.” She looked around. “Who’s here?”
“Alice,” Lex held up her shaky fingers as she ticked off party guests. “Deb. Oliver. Sof and Danny. Think I saw Grace Chastity, but I could’ve been imagining that.”
“Grace would never come to one of Oliver’s parties,” She laughed a bit. “Trust me.” She knew for a fact Grace wouldn’t be coming. They had English together.
“I know,” Lex said. “That’s why I said I imagined it. Want another drink?”
“Yes please,” Noel held her cup out to Lex. Lex took it and Noel blushed almost the color of her shirt when their fingers touched.
“Comin’ up,” Lex said, disappearing into the crowd as Noel’s head spun. It wasn’t the alcohol, she hadn’t had too much of that yet. Maybe it was the amount of people. In the few minutes they were talking, it had gotten a little more crowded, and that stressed her out. Large crowds made her feel awful. She felt like every eye was on her and her new shirt, the stupid crop top she’d decided to wear. She could feel eyes on her and she didn’t like the feeling. She tried to resist the urge of putting her arms around her stomach.
“Here,” Lex said, reappearing at her elbow with a full glass. She glanced at Noel’s face. “You wanna go sit?”
“Thanks,” She took the cup. “Yeah, that sounds good.” She nodded.
Lex took her arm and steered her through the crowd. How Lex could stand straight up, much less lead her, was a mystery to Noel. Lex had a reputation for getting pretty drunk during parties. Noel, on the other hand, was seen as much more of a prude. Rightfully so.
Lex led Noel to Oliver’s couch and she sat down. Lex sat next to her. Her head still felt fuzzy and like it was spinning as they sat.
“It’s warm in here.” Noel fanned herself. She didn’t even have a jacket on, and her shirt was sleeveless, and she felt overheated.
“That’s what fifty people in a room’ll do,” Lex murmured into her cup.
“There’s fifty ?” Her eyes went wide. Fifty sounded like a lot of people
“Dude, like the whole town’s invited,” Lex said. “Sometimes there’s like two hundred people at these things.” Noel just sipped her drink. Fifty people was a bit much for her, nevermind two hundred. She sat with one arm over her middle in some way to reassure herself that nobody was staring. Someone was, though, and she couldn’t figure out who.
“You look pretty,” Lex slurred. That’s who was staring then.
“Oh, you too.” Noel blushed the color of her shirt. “You look pretty.” Lex wore jeans and a t-shirt, simple, but she looked really good in it.
“Thanks,” Lex said. Noel tapped her fingers on her cup. She was trying to think. Deb’s concoction made her feel a little fuzzy. Deb knew how to make decent drinks. It was the vodka thing she’d had the last time. She’d probably regret it in the morning.
“Hey,” Lex said, leaning forward conspiratorially. She whispered, really loudly. “Do you like….like anyone?” The forward question took Noel and sent her through a quick 180.
“No,” Noel blurted out, her cheeks heating up. She did, and the fact that it was Lex, the girl she liked, asking made it much worse.
“Damn,” Lex said, shaking her head. “ Elle doesn’t have any secret crushes, huh?”
“Nope,” Noel stood up too fast to get another drink. The room spun a bit but she steadied herself and wandered into the kitchen. There was Budweiser, but Noel was not about to remake the drink Deb had made. She sighed and opened a can. It tasted gross, but it’d have to do. She went back to the couch where Lex was, sitting down and resuming her position of hiding her stomach under her free arm.
“Why’re you hiding it?” Lex asked.
“Hm?” She tilted her head.
“You look hot, Elle,” Lex slurred. “You’re hiding how good you look. The shirt makes you look hot. You always look hot, but...” She raised an eyebrow and smiled.
“You’re just saying that.” Noel shook her head, taking a sip of her drink. “You’re drunk.” She just drank more to keep herself from embarrassing herself anymore. Lex was just drunkenly rambling.
“No I’m not.” Lex took another long sip of her drink. “I mean, I’m drunk. But I mean it.” Noel just shrugged.
“Have you ever kissed anyone?” Lex asked suddenly.
“No.” Noel said into her can. She’d never kissed anyone. Nobody had ever wanted to kiss her. Or even think of her romantically.
“You wanna?”
Noel’s mind whirled with thoughts before she put the can down on the coffee table and leaned over. She paused for a second, thinking. She’d never kissed anyone. She sighed a bit before attempting to kiss Lex.
Lex wrapped her arms around Noel and kissed her back passionately. It was sloppy, neither of them were being very coordinated, but it still set every single nerve in Noel’s body on fire. This felt nice . Noel was the first to pull away, too flustered and out of breath.
“How was that for a first kiss?” Lex asked, resting her hand on Noel’s back.
“Uh, um, great,” Noel stammered. She kicked herself mentally again. Lex just grinned.
“Want a second?” She asked, and Noel nodded. She’d take any amount of kisses from Lex. Anything Lex wanted, she’d do it.
Alice was the one driving Noel home that night, and the one to make sure she didn’t give away how drunk she was to Charlotte and Sam. Noel had drunkenly babbled on and on about how she’d kissed Lex Foster, holy shit, and she was surprised Alice didn’t rat her out in retribution.
“Are you sure you want to go home?” Alice asked, “You seem pretty drunk, Elle.”
“Not really,” Noel said. “Is your dad home?”
“Nah,” Alice said. “He went off-island to get hardware. Something about the sink needing repairs. I wasn’t listening.”
“Can I stay over?” She glanced at Alice. They’d had plenty of sleepovers. Alice was the first person she came out to and vice versa. They were best friends, even when Deb came into the picture. They practically stayed at each other's houses when things were okay.
“Mhm.” Alice nodded.
“Thanks, A.” She said. “God, I can’t believe I kissed Lex Foster! Like, I started the kiss.” She had a dumb grin on her face.
“You? Initiating a romantic act?” Alice raised an eyebrow. “Who are you and what have you done with Noel Elizabeth?”
“Got drunk.” She laughed. “Lex asked me if I wanted to kiss her so I did.”
“Good for you,” Alice said with a smile as she pulled into her driveway. “About time.”
“What’s that supposed to mean?” Noel pulled Alice’s extra sweater over her head when they got out of the car. It was chilly.
“Umm, Noel, sweetheart, darling,” Alice said. “You two have been pining after each other for months. It has been painfully obvious.”
“No, she doesn’t like me like that, she was drunk too.” Noel said, walking next to Alice. “It was probably a one-time thing.”
“Whatever you say, Noel,” Alice said, shaking her head as she opened the door.
Two weeks passed and Noel refused to talk to Lex about the kiss. She was too embarrassed, too scared to bring it up. She’d probably get made fun of for it anyway. Kids at Hatchetfield High could be ruthless. She’d seen the football team bully before. She was more scared of them than anyone else at school. Anyone could bully her for it.
Lex would try to come up to her, tell a joke, ask about her day. Noel would respond with one word answers and then try to get away as quick as possible before she could start crying.
“Elle, you can’t keep avoiding her,” Alice said one day at lunch. “You gotta talk to her.”
“Why?” Noel asked. “What’s the point? I'll just embarrass myself.”
“She’s been trying to talk to you for two weeks now, Elle.” Alice replied. “Do I have to do everything myself? You were happier than I’ve seen you in quite a while that night, even if you were drunk. C’mon. Think about your feelings for once. You were happy .”
“I know, but what if she doesn’t feel the same way?” Noel protested.
“She wouldn’t have kissed you if so.” Alice replied.
“She was drunk. Drunk people make bad decisions,” Noel sighed. “We know that.”
“That, Noel, was not a bad decision if I’ve ever seen one.” Alice drank from her water. “Call off your shift at Beanies. We’re going out and getting this situation fixed.”
“Call off my shift?” Noel managed. “Fix this? How? What’s the plan? Um, Alice?”
“You’ll see.” Alice grinned at her, one of her signature grins that Noel knew meant trouble.
After school, Noel had begrudgingly called off her shift and dealt with Nora and Zoey bitching at her for five minutes each. They were the worst. Zoey was fucking Sam and that made everything so much more complicated. It was not fun. Zoey knew Sam was her uncle. Quiet remarks under her breath showed that fully.
“I did it,” She said to Alice with no particular enthusiasm.
“Good.” Alice started her car and began to drive. “We’re going to hang out with Deb and her friends. Let some steam off, yeah?”
“Smoke club?” Noel asked.
“Yep,” Alice said.
“Okay.” Noel shrugged. She knew Alice didn’t really like the smoke club, but obviously had some ulterior motive. Neither of them smoked. Their parents would kill them. Alice parked her car and they both got out, walking over to the group. Noel’s stomach dropped when she saw Lex and Ethan. Of course. This was Alice’s motive.
“Hey guys,” Ethan said, and Noel was surprised to find her stomach didn’t twist in anger at seeing him anymore. Maybe it was the kid he met at the Cineplex. Maybe it was the kiss. Maybe it was anxiety. She couldn’t tell.
“Hey,” Alice smiled, “I brought Elle along, if you don’t mind.” She sat down next to Deb, kissing her cheek. Noel just put her hands in her pockets. She was already not enjoying this.
“Don’t mind at all,” Lex said. She seemed to be avoiding Noel’s eyes. Noel just looked at the ground, wanting to lie that she wasn’t feeling well and then hole herself up in the car until Alice decided to leave. That sounded way better than being near Lex. Her chest felt tight and Noel just tried to get Alice’s attention.
“A, I left my phone in the car, I’ll be back.” Noel said before going back to the car. She wasn’t going back. She crawled into the backseat and closed her eyes. This was too overwhelming for her. Lex had the perfect opportunity to embarrass her. She could do it right then and there and make everything worse.
“Hey, Noel?” Lex’s voice sounded concerned. “You okay?”
“Fine.” She replied. The window was open so Alice wouldn’t kill her for keeping all the windows rolled up. She didn’t move from her seat in the backseat.
“Can I….come sit?” Lex asked hesitantly. She hovered awkwardly outside the car door.
“Sure.” Noel didn’t hesitate, which made her heart speed up and her brain swirl with “You’re so fucking stupid” thoughts. Lex was going to shut her down right now. She was sure of it. She was going to be rejected and everything was going to suck. Lex got in and sat in the other seat.
“Uh, I’ve been wanting to talk to you for a while,” Lex said softly. “But you keep avoiding me.”
“Sorry.” Noel said, not making eye contact with her.
“No, I get it,” Lex said. “It was wrong of me to kiss you while I was drunk. Then you couldn’t be sure how I really felt.”
Noel was silent. Here it comes. Her leg bounced against the seat and it was dead silent for a minute. She’d get rejected and made fun of relentlessly. Lex would laugh at her.
“I’m bad at this,” Lex said finally. “Talking about how I feel and stuff. What I’m trying to say is I should’ve kissed you sober. Then you would’ve known for sure that I…” Noel looked up. She was still scared. This could go so wrong. Lex could turn and say she hated her with every bone in her body.
“I like you,” Lex managed to get out.
“Like as a friend?” Noel asked, although it sounded dumb.
Lex just looked at her like she was an idiot. “Yes, because I make out with my friends on a regular basis. No, dummy, I mean I like you, like, for real. Not just as a friend.”
It broke the tension immediately. Noel let out a nervous giggle, then blushed and covered her mouth. Lex smiled, seeing the relief on Noel’s face.
“That was cute,” Lex said softly. Noel just blushed more.
“Sorry I haven’t been talking to you. I was scared you’d hate me, and that you’d tell everyone you hate me.” Noel knew just how stupid everything she said sounded. “I thought you’d yell at me and make fun of me for being stupid and not knowing how to kiss and you’d make fun of me for everything…” She sighed.
“Why would I ever do that?” Lex said. “I’d never hate you.” Noel just shrugged with a nervous smile.
“So, uh, what does this mean?” She asked quietly.
“If you’re still interested in kissing me,” Lex said softly. “Um, I’m not high or anything. We just got here. Plus, Becky would probably be a little bit concerned if I drove high.” She chuckled a little bit.
“I can tell you’re not.” She smiled a bit. “I’m interested in learning how to kiss.”
“I can arrange that,” Lex said, adjusting her position in the seat so Noel could sit closer to her.
Their first sober kiss was even more magical than the drunk one. Since, this time, Noel kind of knew what she was doing. Alice would probably kill her for getting cozy in the back of the car, but she didn’t complain when Noel was grinning the entire way home.