Work Text:
One of Ocean’s earliest memories was, unsurprisingly, a time she had spent with her best friend, Constance.
Bundled under thick woollen blankets in front of a dying fireplace, she had been flipping through a thick storybook she had been gifted on her fifth birthday last year - running her small fingers across the now well-worn pages, her russet brown eyes would scan the small words despite having memorised many.
Flipping to a tagged story, Ocean mumbled the title: ‘Snow White & the Seven Dwarfs’. She had read it at least twenty times by now, and though she won’t admit it, she doesn’t get the happy ending in the book, despite every other girl her age gushing about how romantic it was.
“This one’s my favourite,” Constance happily commented from beside her, smiling widely as she squinted to see the small illustrations on the page, her glasses discarded on a nightstand on the opposite side of the room when her mother had reminded the two girls that they in fact, still had to sleep when they had sleepovers - though, that rule didn’t prevent them from jumping out of their sleeping bags ten minutes after being tucked in.
“I don’t know…” Ocean murmured as she traced the face of Snow White with her index finger. “The prince didn’t seem all that… Princely ?”
Constance tilted her head to the side, pouting her lip slightly whilst she was stuck in her thoughts, “But he saved her in the end, isn’t that what makes a prince?”
Ocean shrugged, pushing a lock of ginger hair behind her ear, “I guess , but it would have been cooler if Snow White stayed with the seven dwarfs instead.”
Constance, though she disagreed, nodded along at Ocean’s small confession before a smile lit up on her face, “I bet Happy would have been happy about that ending.”
The two girls had broken out into a fit of giggles then, though seconds later both stopped as the door to Constance’s room creaked open, the warm glow of the hallway light illuminating a small strip of the room only to be covered by the shadow of Constance’s mother.
“Now girls, what did I say about staying up too late?” The older woman asked, her tone light and slightly amused.
“That we shouldn’t..” both girls replied at the same time, quickly getting up to go back to their sleeping bags, situated under a blanket fort they had constructed with Constance's bed and a desk chair.
“Very good,” Constance's mother chuckled, picking up the book that they had left behind on the floor. Glancing at the title, she looked at her daughter and her friend, smirking, “Were you two talking about princes again?” she asked teasingly.
Ocean had an awkward expression on her face as Constance slowly nodded, “Yeah… But Ocean doesn’t like some of the princes though.”
Constance's mother laughed, heading over to make sure both were tucked in, “There’s no shame in that.”
“Really?” Ocean asked as she bolted up, her curiosity had once again got the better of her.
“Well of course, it’s normal to not like all the princes out there in the world.”
Constance chirped up then, “...But eventually you did find a prince, right mum?”
She laughed, “Yes sweetheart, I did - and that prince was your father.”
“Does that mean I’ll meet my prince when I’m older?”
Constance’s mother looked softly at the two girls who practically had stars twinkling in their eyes as they waited for her answer, “ Both of you will, I promise,” she paused for a second to gently squeeze Oceans shoulder and give a small kiss to Constance's forehead. “But for now, you two need to rest in order to be full of energy for when you meet your princes.”
The two kids groaned but flopped back onto their beds, burying their faces into the pillows. Both were quick to slip out of consciousness, barely registering the quick ‘goodnight’ Constance's mother said as they drifted into their dreams.
That night, Ocean dreamt of being stuck in a tower, a classic fairy tale she recognised instantly - but the person who had arrived to rescue her was not a dashing future prince, but instead a passing merchant; and though their face was obscured mostly by a mask, Ocean had noted the feminine shape of the persons face and kind, almond shaped eyes.
-
Happily ever after doesn’t come round easily, at least that's what Ocean had concluded about life.
The first boy she had ever pushed past the bounds of friendship with was her desk mate for nearly all her classes in middle-school. He had been walking her home after classes and cautiously grabbed her hand. It was slightly uncomfortable, and by the time he let go in front of her house, both had resolved to never speak of the interaction ever again.
The second boy was only a little better than the first; it was an awkward, sweet, but short relationship - with clumsy hand holding and two minute maximum conversations. To say Ocean was relieved when they broke it off was an understatement - he may have been nice, but he was mind numbingly boring.
The third, and final boy appeared to be a heartbreak waiting to happen, and honestly, she’s not quite sure how it happened. She had known of his existence since kindergarten, how couldn’t she after all? This town is only so big, everyone knows everyone simply by proximity.
He had been a stereotypical jock for as long as she could remember; the captain of the rugby team who always landed first place in whatever competitive sport they were forced to play in gym class. Ocean never cared enough for the athletic type whilst fully believing the rumours that circled him around St Cassian’s - so, when he was assigned the seat next to her in her calculus class, she didn’t expect much. However for every lesson she was forced to sit by him, she had let her guard down as she discovered his kinder side. Consequently, this resulted in a year long relationship after he had asked her out on a prope r date, post ‘study date’.
She had no logical reason to say no, he was nice enough and everything during their relationship had been perfectly fine - but she supposes that was the issue, as ‘ perfectly fine ’ doesn’t lead to happily ever after. Ocean didn’t feel much for him, she thought she eventually would; that it was just a matter of time before she would start to feel a tell-tale flutter in her chest simply at the sight of him. But it never came, and with that shock of reality, Ocean had eventually broken up with this guy who seemed to be ideal on paper.
-
After her previous failures in romance, Ocean had backed away from the subject of dating, preferring to spend her spare time with the choir and her time in class and at home bent over a desk studying.
Then one random Tuesday, she met Penny - and that was the moment when everything changed.
-
It had been an average, routine day at St Cassian’s, ending with Ocean and the rest of the choir hanging around their clubroom to bicker about what songs should go into their setlist instead of actually practising. Mischa and Noel were bickering on who should get to sing the opening lines to one of the pre-decided competition songs whilst Ricky was listening to Constance about her desire to have a song with more of a spotlight on alto roles.
Ten minutes in, and no closer to a decision on the set list, the majority of the group were about ready to suggest leaving and getting hot chocolates at the Blackwood cafe instead, only to be interrupted by a voice that Ocean could only describe to be angelic.
“..Is this where choir practice is held?”
Turning her head, Ocean’s eyes fluttered as she took in the sight of an unfamiliar student; forest-green, almond shaped eyes, a feminine oval face with a shy smile plastered on and fluffy blonde hair.
She wasn’t sure for how long she stared, but she was snapped out of whatever trance she fell into by a wave of Noel’s hand in front of her face, prompting Ocean to quickly jump into her role as club president.
“Ah! You must be the new girl people are talking about,” Ocean said, striding forwards, “I’m Ocean, I’m assuming you’re interested in joining our club?”
The taller girl nodded, her shoulders relaxing slightly, “Yeah.. I’m Penny. It's nice to meet you.”
The rest of the choir were quick to flock around this new member, fully aware that there was a zero percent chance she’d be rejected due to how low their numbers are - what Ocean didn’t know then however, was how much Penny would grow to be an important aspect of her life.
-
It started off slow, with Penny and Ocean walking home together - it made sense after all, they lived only a few streets away from one another. But walks home eventually started spiralling into something more.
In the first months of their friendship, the girls had taken to stopping off at the local library on their way home to finish their AP assignments together. Though, not much work was done when they had continuously talked about everything and nothing at the same time.
“Wait, wait,” Penny paused, trying to muffle her laughter as the two girls had already been shushed by the librarian twice this evening. “You’re telling me that Noel went to school wearing Mischa’s hoodie and both are still denying the fact that they’re into each other?”
Ocean nodded with a smirk on her face that matched Penny’s.
“When I confronted Noel about it, he threatened to throw my Latin textbooks out of the window,” Ocean commented, rolling her eyes at the memory whilst Penny proceeded to revert back into a laughing fit. “So… If he’s making threats as severe as that, he must be aware of what's going on, he’s just stubborn.”
Penny hummed, leaning her face against the palm of her hand, “Nothing new there,” she leant closer to Ocean for her next words, “However… We could always give them a helping hand?”
Ocean tilted her head, raising one manicured eyebrow in confusion as she waited for Penny to elaborate. “There’s a new horror movie coming out in cinemas next week, how about we invite them to see it with us?”
Ocean narrowed her eyes, her face flushing pink slightly, “Like… a double date?”
Penny took a second, watching the girls reaction before reaching to link their pinkies, “How about we call it a friend date?”
-
She’s not sure why, but both boys cancelled on them - leaving the two girls alone with one another; Penny giddy with excitement whilst Ocean was about ready to pass out from nerves, having never liked the horror genre even once in her life. Thus, leading to the two girls holding hands in the dark for the entire playtime - though after the credits had rolled, neither made the move to disconnect their hands - neither wanted to let go. So, they stayed like that, even on the long walk home when it started downpouring with rain - Ocean noting the way Penny’s eyes shone in comparison to their dim surroundings whilst Penny noted how Ocean’s dimples were especially prevalent on her face if she could get the smaller girl to burst out in laughter.
-
Following that, the two girls were nearly inseparable - much to the choirs amusement and annoyance.
Whenever there were karaoke nights at Ricky’s, Penny and Ocean were the ones that voluntarily shared a microphone when they were one short.
Whenever the choir caught a ride to school in Mischa’s cars, Ocean was designated the back middle seat; partially because she was the shortest out of the group, and partially because Penny always sat on the back, left window seat.
Noel was the choir kid subjected to Penny’s pining, having sat next to her for the entire year in English; forced to read love poems that were so obviously about Ocean that it made him want to scream.
And finally, it was Constance who had to sit through the many rants of Ocean - the first series being Ocean taking an insanely long time to realise that she was attracted to girls, the second being Ocean trying to figure out why Penny’s presence in her life felt so ‘odd’, and finally, many hours of panicked speeches on how she has no clue whether Penny was seeing her in a purely platonic light or something more.
It’s easy to say that when Ocean and Penny were five months into whatever they had going on, the choir were taking bets on when they’d finally get together whilst also pleading to the universe to protect them from the second-hand embarrassment caused by the situation.
However, whilst it may have been obvious for the rest of the choir; Penny and Ocean were as good as blind when it came to interpreting each other's signals. Every time Penny was over analysing the meaning behind Ocean’s words, Ocean was simultaneously over analysing the meaning behind Penny’s sweet touches - both were frustrated, a little flustered, and begging the other silently to make the first proper move.
So, when Penny took the plunge to ask the other out on a date, Ocean doesn’t even need logic to know that her answer will be an enthusiastic, immediate yes.
And when they tell the choir this news, there is a mixed response of people groaning ‘about time’ and excited congratulations as all betting members handed their money over to Ricky.
-
Though Ocean was excited for her date with Penny, she must admit she’s never gone through such nerves and worry beforehand.
Huffing as she forced back piles of clothes into her designated drawer in Constance’s room, Ocean rushed to sit at an organised vanity to tug at the tangles in her hair with a brush, whilst she complained, “I can’t believe I’m forty minutes behind schedule!”.
“I told you your first outfit was the best option for the occasion,” Constance added in, smiling teasingly as she continued to fill out a Spanish homework worksheet that was due a few days prior. Ocean sighed, as she started carefully braiding her ginger hair into two Dutch braids.
After haphazardly tying two hair bands around the ends of her hair after she finished, Ocean was quick to smoothen out any wrinkle in her outfit; a simple, sage turtleneck underneath a monochrome chequered dress.
Letting out a sigh of relief, she quickly leant on the edge of her chair towards a small mirror, fiddling around with a tiny makeup bag to find the right supplies.
“Do you need to borrow my mascara? I remember Noel stole yours last week,” Constance offered, but it was met with a quick shake of Oceans head; she was always told that mascara was just a staple of makeup, that every girl will have a perfect type of mascara that will compliment their eyes - but as she finishes up and places a small makeup applicator into its glass tube, she smiles as she looks into the mirror. Turns out she was just better suited for just lip gloss all along.
Careful not to stumble when tugging on a trusty pair of Doc Martens, Ocean had to ask one last time, “Are you sure she’ll like this?”, gesturing to herself.
Constance laughed, “This is Penny we’re talking about, she just wants you to turn up. Nothing more .”
-
In the end, she realises there was never a reason to worry.
As when Ocean opens the door to face Penny, the comfortingly warm sensation that resonated in her chest spread to every inch of her body as she took the taller girl's hand, the cool temperature of Penny’s fingertips being a welcome contrast to the burning hot feel of Ocean’s palms.
“Hey there,” Penny quietly greeted, a sweet smile on her face as Ocean visibly melted under her gaze. “Are you ready to go?”
Ocean nods, her expression soft as she replies, “With you? Always .”