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It was a routine, ever since Junior year when the three first shared a lunch period on their own- that Noel, Constance, and Ricky would sit with one another.
Now, of course, they would’ve done it regardless; they were plenty good friends. They weren’t as chatty of a trio as they would be with different mixes of the six kids, they weren’t as bubbly as when it was all the girls or vulgar as all the boys- certainly was a lot less bickering when Ocean and Mischa weren’t in the mix.
It had been a regular thing since even before the accident, Ricky would get them a good table by the hallway. When they were kids, it was closer to the section of the building for Grade 10 and older students, and they managed to steal that table every lunch for another two years thankfully - but they weren’t kids in the middle of puberty anymore.
Noel didn’t have a face full of pimples covered under a thick white paste, Ricky couldn’t stutter- or really talk anymore, and Constance didn’t have her hair up in pig tails with a hideous set of braces anymore. They outgrew the blue uniforms that marked them as underclassmen back in grade 9, sporting red sweaters and grey slacks, the signal of maturity in the St. Cassian halls.
But their activity was anything but mature, certainly.
“Hurry up Noel!” Constance shouted over the crowds, raising her hands to beckon the boy from across the cafeteria to their little table besides the Senior Hall.
“Coming coming! Jesus Christ,” He breathed angrily, dodging past girls who didn’t seem to have the concept of space as they crowded what little free room stood between lunch table after lunch table. He nearly dropped his tray of salad onto Ricky when they finally made it.
“You two know it takes those old hags an eternity to prepare a proper Cesar salad,” He grumbled as he sat down on the hard plastic chair, probing his lettuce and croutons with his fork to mix around the vegetables and seasonings.
We don’t want you to miss the boys getting out of Senior gym, Noel. Ricky signed, a big grin on his face.
“Leaving me some eye candy? How generous,” Noel drawled.
“At least you don’t have to share the entire school populous with Ricky!” Constance pouted; they were really the only bi kids in school- that they knew anyways. No one in Uranium talked about being gay, it was an unspoken rule- if you avoided it, no one would call you a horrible slur and push you in the locker. Noel didn’t even have to say it out loud for the jocks to know, Ricky’s disability kept anyone from bullying him, let alone actually talk to him; and Constance was so nice, she hardly even got bumped in the hallways without a long apology from a girl who’d never talk to her again.
Since the accident, it had been a little harder to get to their table for everyone- Constance’s concussion still had her dizzy sometimes and often wearing sunglasses indoors to keep the harsh cafeteria lights from knocking her out. It was a hot March, Ricky had only just been able to get back to his crutches after rigorous physical therapy, he wanted to keep some mobility. Noel might’ve been the least beat up from it, his arm healed, a scar across his scalp that was easily hidden by the flip of his hair- the only thing was he couldn’t remember most of the accident. Or why Ocean was so keen on being a better person or roping that Penny girl into their friend group.
Constance tried explaining to Noel the “dream”, as he called it, but he firmly believed it was a drug induced hallucination they all shared from the first unconscious hours in the emergency room.
“Sssh! Sssh!” Noel suddenly flapped his hands, gently slapping Constance on the shoulder.
There was a low rumbling from down the hall, followed by the squeak of sneakers.
“They’re coming.” He whispered, an excited lilt in his voice, getting everyone to grin and stare wide eyed as the stampede came running down the hall.
It was an awkward situation- the locker rooms were built at the opposite end of the school’s west wing, even if only a couple yards away, it was nowhere close to the gym. Some of the coaches let the kids come in through the outside doors, some forced them to run past everyone enjoying their lunch period-
God bless those coaches, Noel thought, as the athletic boys came strutting by.
The young men who would go onto sports scholarships in Uni, future hockey, and baseball stars- strong arms peaking from the tight, white, and blue gym shirts, muscles visible even through the long sleeve variant. Noel tried to keep his expression plain, putting on his best poker face when he watched tight asses run by; so that the heat in his cheeks wouldn’t be so obvious.
After the gym stars and varsity jerks came the overachieving girl athletes, doing full on jogs- Noel kept his eyes on the big jocks straggling behind while Ricky and Constance grinned.
Constance had no poker face, her smile tight and toothy, cheeks bright red and a low, squeaky giggle pushing out her throat like a starting chainsaw. It was the exact opposite of Ricky’s small, little smile; that slowly widened centimeter by centimeter- Noel wouldn’t realize his cheeks were spreading until Ricky had a full-on grin, all teeth and gums.
Noel was thankful when the rest of the gym class caught up, a mass of exhausted boys and girls; something for everyone to enjoy.
God: he couldn’t wait to graduate. He could finally go to clubs and drink with guys who weren’t going to dunk him in a toilet for being gay. He wouldn’t have to wear this stupid sweater vest and tie; or at least, a cuter variety of sweater vests, a nice tight skirt; thigh high boots if he saved enough money for them. France was going to have to look out for this sultry panther; though Noel had no idea his sexy face…was not that sexy. The way he squinted and turned his lips up to try and flirt didn’t always work, one wrong muscle twitch-
“Are you okay, Noel?” Constance asked, bringing him out of his hazy daydreams.
“You look like you’re trying to pass a kidney stone.” Ricky’s AAC grounded him back into the cafeteria.
Noel scowled at the pair, “I am perfectly fine, thank you very much.” He huffed, tossing his hair back and bringing his knees together, trying to look unbothered.
But those stiff shoulders said otherwise.
“Oh geez, Roman Pachin’s so hot,” Constance whispered breathlessly.
“Roman? Are you serious?” Noel laughed. “His chest goes in, for goodness’ sake.”
“He makes up for it with that ass.” She murmured, biting the straw of her orange juice carton.
His face is too pimply, he’s had those since year 7. Ricky signed.
I’m afraid if we made out, his guizers would explode on my face. I don’t need more acne than I already have.
“You can’t give someone acne, Ricky,” Noel rose a brow, “It’s not like herpes.”
“I heard Cindy Wilfough got that huge zit from making out with Thomas Hinkley,” Constance piped up, her eyes never leaving the passing crowd.
“Cindy Wilfough doesn’t have a proper facial regimen, that’s why she’s got that crater,” Noel crossed one leg over the other.
As soon as the stampede came into view, they started to taper out; though in the moment, it felt like they’d been watching these seniors jog by for hours. And once the final, bored young man was out of sight down the hall, they all shared a forlorn sigh.
“I’m gonna miss this after graduation.” Constance admitted, finally turning to face the boys at the table.
Ricky and Noel shared a sad smile.
I hope we can do this sometime in college, we can always be each other’s wingmen for spring break.
“Yeah, knowing my luck, I’ll need you two as wingmen for the next four years,” Noel chuckled, dipping his head down to pick at a stray strand of hair in his salad.
“Won’t let you down, Captain,” Constance saluted playfully.
They always ended their hormonal routine with warm smiles and a lot of hope for the future, before complaining about the garbage food served in the cafeteria this week and the latest chemistry test they were all certain about failing.
-
“Noel! Come on! Hurry up!” Constance shouted over the campus crowd.
“Noel. Noel. Noel. Noel- “Ricky’s AAC chanted.
“Shut up! I’m coming! Jesus Christ,” Noel scoffed, pulling at the wedgy his skirt gave him as he strode across the tiles.
Their routine had followed them to college; though they gone to separate schools, Ricky always made the half hour trip from Polytechnic to join. Constance and Noel weren’t fans of the idea of their crutch bound friend crossing the river and highway to join them; but Ricky was insistent.
And the one time they had switched and gone to Polytechnic; the food was so bad, it ruined everyone’s high.
It was almost a little secret they kept from the rest of the group; there had been rare times where they tried to change the dynamic, but it really worked best with Noel, Constance, and Ricky alone.
Ocean had been too chatty; and way too judgmental of both the group, and the women she tried to gawk at when she finally understood the point of their lonely lunches. Nothing ruined the mood then this tiny little redhead telling you everything wrong with your choices in men and women, Constance’s face got so hot- she nearly screamed at Ocean. But she saved it for the car ride back to the university.
Mischa didn’t understand it at all; confused at the idea of staring and gossiping about the people they saw that they wished they could date or at least have a one-night stand with. He looked almost- terrified, seeing Constance with that excited little glint in her eyes, and the vulgar thoughts Ricky signed out loud. It hadn’t been too good for Noel either; he found himself staring at the Ukrainian boy the entire time, old, bubbly, high school feelings clouding his eyes.
Penny- Penny misunderstood the assignment. Blurting out her thoughts instead of politely whispering them into her lunch, the girl didn’t know how to gossip very well. Most of the time, her comments were so specific and on the nose; the girls she was trying to be nice to sent her a glare and would storm away. She effectively cat called everyone she saw; if cat calling was monotonous, slow, and weirdly analytical.
So, the trio effectively decided; nope. No changing the dynamic.
It only worked with Constance, Noel, and Ricky.
They were the only ones so…romantic, so sensual, lost in daydreams 24/7.
Hyping each other up to ask for a girl or guy’s number, though of course, it never happened.
Even with all the freedom that came with university and living away from stuck up little Uranium city; it felt impossible.
They were way more confident in expressing themselves for certain; Constance had ditched the twin buns and ponytails, Noel’s grown out to the start of his jawline- Ricky surprised everyone with the 80’s mullet and at least 10 piercings on his face alone. The guy had become a little rockstar; deep necked, chopped up shirts that hung onto his weak frame; he tried leather pants for a short time, but even with new medications, his mobility couldn’t handle the chaffing drag of dead cow on his thighs. His big, curly hair was damaged from a couple months of bleaching and dying and re-dying, the space man was still figuring out his look.
Noel and Constance didn’t want to admit it wasn’t just the crappy food at Polytechnic that kept them from lunching there-
It had been all the numbers and flirty conversations Ricky got, that made Constance pout and Noel red with envy. He was something of a campus hottie.
Constance sported deep cut dresses and tops, tight leggings- a lot of violets and pinks in her wardrobe since abandoning the catholic girl uniform. She experimented a lot with makeup, always a new face and a new technique every time they met, today she settled on glittery cheeks and soft blue eye shadow, a shade she often borrowed from Ricky. She wasn’t so forgettable as the nicest girl in town anymore- she may have had more friends than the entire group combined, definitely went on more dates than any of them. Her sudden burst of confidence since graduation had Constance become the most popular girl from Uranium City.
“You still seeing Jake?” Noel asked her while he smoothed out the black skirt that hugged his thighs.
“Nah, they said they weren’t ready for a big relationship- I get it, I don’t really want to be with someone who wants more than me,” Constance shrugged, stabbing the gyro at her plate with a knife to slice in half.
“So Jake’s single?” Ricky smirked, even his AAC had a little flirty tone to it.
Constance smirked right back, “They’re all yours, but I got to warn you Ricky; they’re a bit chatty in bed.”
Ricky shrugged, “Not a problem for me if I turn off my hearing aids.” He said, getting everyone at the table to giggle. His degenerative disease progressed to his hearing a few months ago, it wasn’t so bad- but it was harder for him to communicate and understand others without reading lips until he got fitted for a pair of hearing aids.
Constance and Ricky had evolved so much; a pair of pansexuals just looking for love. They didn’t even know there was a word for being pan, before they both assumed they were just bisexual, into only boys and girls; but they were attracted to everyone. Everyone.
Ricky was way less interested in long term dates and being anyone’s boyfriend though, life was too short to him to settle with someone he wasn’t sure was the right one- who wasn’t his for certain outer space soul mate. So, he enjoyed his life, quick dates and flings; he thought he would never live to have sex before. Now he couldn’t stop. Constance was the opposite, a romantic through and through, but just as horny as the bachelor man.
Noel was last in third place compared to his friends, not that it was a competition; but that’s how the French Language major saw it. He might’ve only really had one or two ex-boyfriends compared to Ricky and Constance’s collective fifty, he couldn’t relax or fall in love as easily as his friends. He was too picky, no one was right; whether they were too short, too tall, too messy, too blonde or tanned- Noel always found something that held him back. It was not very Monique Gibeau of him.
The character he became after dark at the drag bars could have and wanted any man she could grab; Noel didn’t understand why it was so hard for him to be as free as Monique. They were the same sexy brunette for crying out loud.
He always wore the vintage silver rings he’d found on his trip abroad in France, he’d become much more comfortable wearing skirts and heels out in public since he’d started performing at nights. He was trying to be more confident, but- he still had a bad habit of chickening out.
His therapist said Noel had attachment issues; something anyone could’ve told the doctor after attending a few classes with the guy.
"You seeing anyone yet, Noel?” Constance asked, her hopeful smile making Noel feel almost guilty he had no one to brag about, yet again.
“No, ugh- “Noel propped his gaunt cheek up on his fist, poking through his salad. “I think I’m going to be single forever, Constance.”
“That’s not true.” Ricky tilted his head, looking sympathetic before a big grin pushed through his sad act, “Ocean’s going to be single forever. You’re just going to be single for a long time.”
Noel smiled, half amused, “Wow, thanks Ricky. That does make me feel a little better.”