Chapter Text
Ocean was known to pace back and forth while waiting for choir practice to start. It was far from abnormal behavior. Yet, Constance, Noel, and Ricky couldn’t help but observe her this time. Why? Because this wasn’t her normal pacing. This was her following behind Penny as Penny paced back and forth around the choir room, and it was like the normally still and quiet girl had a short, ginger shadow. Neither of them were talking, and Penny was walking just a bit too fast for Ocean to walk right next to her, making her trail behind a step or two.
“Should we just…try and go ahead and start practice?” Constance whispered.
“Can’t. Mischa’s not here yet,” Noel replied.
“Text him and see what’s taking him so long.”
“His phone got confiscated because of his grades. He hasn’t had it all week.”
“Yikes,” Ricky signed.
The three were startled when suddenly Ocean was standing in front of them all.
“I don’t know what to do,” she whispered.
“What’s going on?”
“I don’t know! She’s been tense since lunch. One moment, she was sitting next to me, completely fine, while I was checking that she actually tried to do her homework. The next, she’s out of sorts and not saying a word!”
“Are her shoelaces tied the right way?” Constance asked.
“Yes. I checked while we were walking to our next class.”
“Are you sure?”
“You watch Penny untie and retie her shoes for five minutes straight on multiple occasions and tell me if you still can’t tell based on sight if they’re right or wrong.”
“Did she see a bug that died before she could free it outside? Oh! Did a bird swoop in and eat the bug she freed outside?” Noel guessed next.
“There’d have been a funeral. She would’ve had me text you all invites to it.”
“Right…right.”
All four looked back to see that Penny was tearing through the supply closet, leaving nothing unturned.
“Did she lose something?”
“Besides her mind?”
Ricky reached over and lightly slapped Noel’s arm. Noel, of course, pretended that he had been mortally wounded, dramatically draping himself over Constance.
“Didn’t you get a manual or something when she became your girlfriend?” Constance asked.
“I wish. Would’ve had the whole thing memorized before our first date was over.”
“You would memorize anything you could read,” Ricky signed.
Instead of responding, Ocean turned on her heels and marched over to the supply closet.
“Penny? Is there anything I can help you find?”
Penny stopped what she was doing, looking up at Ocean. Normally, Penny took such short, shallow breaths that it looked like she wasn’t breathing at all. However, even from a few feet away, Ocean could see the other girl’s chest and shoulders rise and fall as she breathed.
“I can’t find Jane.”
Oh. Oh! Oh. Oh no.
“Excuse me one moment.”
Ocean zipped back over to her friends, a look of terror on her face.
“This is bad! Guys, this is bad!”
“What? What is it?”
“She lost Jane again.”
Her friends’ expressions soon mirrored hers.
“Are you kidding me? Again? Last time, she went missing for two days while looking for it and then used a coat hanger to break into my car when she realized that she had left it on the floorboard of the backseat!” Noel replied, really struggling to keep his voice at a whisper.
“I know! I helped her clean up her house after she had torn it apart looking for Jane!”
“This is bad.”
“That’s what I’m saying, Ricky!”
“Have any of you seen Jane?”
Their heads turned to see that Penny was standing in the middle of the room, her eyes wide, unblinking. The other four shuddered. Before any of them could respond, they could all hear rapid footsteps coming from down the hall, getting closer. They looked over at the door just in time to see Mischa burst through, panting. Noel stood up.
“Mischa?”
“You’re late” Ocean stated, slipping back into old habits for just a moment.
“Fun story,” Mischa replied before sheepishly holding up-
“-Jane!”
Penny was but a blur as she rushed over to grab her doll, tears in her eyes.
“Where did you find it?” Noel asked.
“I took it during lunch.”
“What.”
Ocean looked ready to tear Mischa’s head off. He held up his hands in defense.
“I was walking into room with new drink during lunch. I tripped and spilled some on doll. Went to go wash it off before anyone could see, and then I left it in my locker to dry. Forgot the numbers, and teacher thought I was breaking into my own locker. He would not stop talking.”
Ocean was walking over to Mischa, ready to tear him a new one, but Penny got her to stop by holding Jane out.
“She’s fine. I was so worried.”
“Really? We couldn’t tell,” Noel replied before getting another light smack, this time from Constance.
As if she hadn’t been a mess all afternoon, Penny walked over to her seat and sat down, Jane in her lap. The group stared at her for a moment before deciding to follow in her footsteps and return to normal for the start of choir practice.