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Penny knew that Noel had a crush on Mischa.
Penny also knew that Mischa knew about Noel’s crush.
It wasn’t all that convoluted, truthfully.
Penny was always behind Mischa and Noel in their choir formations, always staring ahead at the pair every day after school. Penny was never one for small talk (or talking in general, she supposed), so her days in the choir were spent just looking at the two, silently observing them like they were lions in the wild and she was some sort of documentarian, waiting in silence to capture a moment. She probably could have talked to Ricky, but he always seemed just as invested in whatever the hell was going on between Mischa and Noel as she was, so it worked out in the end. It was the pair of them in the back row of the St. Cassians Chamber Choir, a duo of documentarians dutifully detailing the most interesting creature Mother Nature had to offer—a boy in love.
No matter how much Noel tried to hide it (and he was never much good at hiding things), Penny knew he was in love. Right when Penny joined the choir, she zeroed in on that silent, yearning, hopeless look in Noel’s eyes and followed his eye-line right to Mischa while he was in the midst of messaging someone on his phone. Penny was no genius, nor did she completely understand all the intricacies of human communication, but it was plain as day for anyone to see if they had just looked for longer than a few seconds. It was hard to miss the blush on Noel’s cheeks whenever Mischa would touch him. An arm around his shoulder, an offered fist bump, hands brushing over each other via the exchange of sheet music always paired with that dusty pink color flooding Noel’s face, so vivid that it made him look like the porcelain doll she carried around in her backpack.
And it wasn’t just Noel she observed, either— Mischa wasn’t any better with respect to hiding things. She knew Mischa also saw how Noel looked at him in the corner of his eye, she knew that he saw how Noel would always pick at his nails more frequently whenever Mischa was in the room. Mischa wasn’t stupid, especially not in the emotional sense. Whenever Ocean managed to capture Noel’s attention, dragging him away from his daily, forlorn, and longing stares, Mischa always looked at Noel with this expression that Penny couldn’t quite place, an emotion entirely on the tip of her tongue, just out of reach.
It wasn’t pity, no, and never disgust—Mischa never seemed bothered by Noel’s crush. Not uncomfortable, not freaked out in the slightest over being the object of affection of the most romantic boy in town. No, Mischa only ever looked thoughtful whenever he looked at Noel when Noel wasn’t looking back on him. Like the entire situation was a puzzle with just one piece missing or one of those riddles Ocean liked to tell them to keep your brains sharp, Alzheimer’s is a very scary thing, guys!
Penny loved both Noel and Mischa dearly, like she did everyone in the choir. She loved when Noel would offer to paint her fingernails after he saw how absolutely terrible she was at painting her own (he always painted them whatever color she wanted, even if it was that highlighter yellow color that Noel tried so hard to contain his look of disdain for). She loved when Noel would tell her his stories, especially the ones about the fancy, flirty, French women, and his eyes would get all wide and excited. She loved when Mischa would lend her his headphones and let her listen to whatever song he was working on at the time— she always liked listening to his voice (even with all the autotune). She also loved it when Mischa would put on his music, something from my culture, he would say and spin her around in a way that made her dress flare out in all directions.
She loved them as much as she loved the choir, as much as she loved being in the choir. Which was why she always watched the pair of them, scared that something would happen that would mess up the little dynamic they had. Penny’s pretty sure that everyone had had a crush on Mischa at one point in time, except for Ocean, who didn’t really like boys, but they were all fleeting. Only ever an appreciation of the new boy in town, the boy who was tall and always looked angry. But no one loved like Noel did, and Penny was worried that it would eventually burn up and take Noel with it.
At the end of choir practice, Ricky signs to her with his hands hidden from everyone else, a message just for her, Did you see them today? and Penny can only nod and turn her gaze towards the pair as they packed up for the day, directing Ricky’s gaze towards them in turn. It was almost grossly apparent just how much Noel felt for Mischa, the sheer strength of his yearning was enough to make her own heartache. I think I’m gonna go talk to him, she whispers in Ricky’s ear.
Noel or Mischa? he signs back. Penny has to consider this for a moment because honestly she really didn’t think that far ahead. She signs Mischa, I think, to him and Ricky only nods and gives her a thumbs up.
Before Mischa gets into his car, a silver-colored Honda Civic, Penny touches his hand, softly, gently, not wanting to startle him. She startles him anyway, with the way he jumps a bit and says, “Jesus, Penny, you walk like ghost,” and then adds, “What’s up?” after Penny doesn’t move away from him.
“Can we talk for a little?” she asks, and he nods, opening up the passenger side of his car for her to get in.
It’s not the first time she’s been in Mischa’s car before—once, Constance thought it would be funny to surprise Noel at the Taco Bell he worked at for his birthday and Mischa volunteered to drive them all. Noel wasn’t very happy with the idea, but accepted the cake Constance brought for him anyway. She stares at the bright pink, cherry-blossom scented pine tree air freshener that she didn’t know Mischa kept after she gave it to him as a joke until Mischa clears his throat and asks her again What’s up?
“You know about Noel, right?” She doesn’t look at his face directly when she speaks and looks out the window instead.
Mischa doesn’t speak at first, only sighs. He doesn’t look her in the face when he says, “Yeah.” They both stare out the window for a little.
“You have to promise me that you won’t…that you won’t,” her voice trails off. Truthfully, she didn’t actually plan out what she wanted to say to Mischa. But Mischa knows anyway, with the way he nods at her.
“I promise,” he says, “I care about Noel, too. He is…very dear to me.”
"Good," she says, "Now since I'm already here, can you drive me home?"
Mischa laughs and claps his hand on her shoulder before driving away.
>> hey pen
>>how’d talking to mischa go? :o
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>>i think it went well :)