Chapter Text
Mischa Bachinski was the town bad boy in Uranium. Anyone who looked at him could see it plain as day. Angry, loud, rebellious, impertinent.
But he was a man who put his feelings on the line when it comes to it. He was a man of his heart above all else.
Which was how soon he would be stuck. Stuck in a situation he wouldn’t know how he got into. A situation he wouldn’t know how to get out.
“Mischa? Are you even paying attention?”
Mischa saw fingers snapping in his face and he blinked.
“W-what?”
The frowning face of Ocean Rosenberg glared at him.
“What on Earth are you doing? Your studying isn’t going to start itself.”
He squinted, his brain a little hazy. Where was he? Why was he studying?
Oh right. The library. There was a presentation. He didn’t want to do it but Ocean “volunteered” them both for it so he had no choice but to do what she said.
“Oh, right. What was the studying again?”
Ocean scoffed. “Clearly some people are not interested in this writing project.”
Mischa grumbled. “Writing? I can’t even speak English properly and they expect writing. Fuck it.”
He got up and grabbed his bag. Slinging it over his shoulder, he walked out of the library, with Ocean at his heels.
“And where are you going? This is the final project of the year, Mischa! We have to get a decent grade so your C can be at least a B minus!”
Mischa rolled his eyes. “Leave me alone, short ass. I’ll do the damn project on my own.”
He walked off, leaving Ocean alone in the building. Walking off, he clenched and unclenched his hands, making fists and letting them go.
He hated this. Hated Canada. Hated living in a world he didn’t understand. With barely any hope of coming back home.
He walked through the tiny hellhole of a town he was forced to live in, trying to find a good place to let out some steam.
Mischa found his feet had led him to the Mega Mall. Weird but okay.
Walking into it, he just passed families and groups of friends. People who had a reason to stick around. Unlike him.
“Hey, welcome to- Mischa?”
Mischa looked up. His wandering had led him to the food court. To the Taco Bell.
To that pair of chocolate brown eyes he couldn’t stop staring into.
Mischa snapped out of his trance. “Noel, hey.”
Noel Gruber blinked and his head tilted a little. “Hi. What can I do for you?”
Mischa hesitated. Why did he end up here in the first place?
“Uh, I don’t know,” he said, “I just- I was with Ocean in the book prison and she got me mad and I- what?”
He could see Noel holding in his laughter. Noel shook his head.
“No, nothing. But.. book prison?”
Mischa realized his mistake. “No, not prison. Uh, the L thing. That people put books in?”
He racked his brain for the word, but it didn’t arrive.
“A library?”
Mischa snapped his fingers. “Library! Damnit!”
Noel laughed. “It’s okay! I think book prison is a little more accurate, don’t you?”
Mischa blinked. “I- I guess? Look, I left the that place and found myself here so- I don’t know. I guess I needed a familiar face to talk to.”
Noel stared at him. “Uh, my shift ends in like twenty minutes. Do you mind waiting until I’m done so we can talk?”
Mischa didn’t know why his heart started beating a little faster than normal, but he nodded quickly.
“Sure, yeah. I’ll.. wait.”
He found a table and sat down, his mind still trying to piece itself together.
Why did he feel so confused talking to Noel? Noel was his friend. His very good friend.
He decided to open his phone and scroll for a minute. Then he paused.
There was a comment on one of his YouTube videos. It said, “Wow, so creative! Can’t wait for more!!” from a user named @TaliaBoli.
Huh. The first nice thing anyone said since he posted his raps. He’d have to respond to her kind words with something, right?
So he thought about what to say to this nice girl who decided to check out his videos. He must’ve spent a while thinking because Noel was soon running over to him.
“Hey,” he said with a smile, “You wanted to talk?”
Mischa slipped his phone back into his pocket. That girl can wait.
“Yeah, I actually did.”