Chapter Text
Fuck.
I knew.
I knew it from the day we met that I was in deep trouble.
Algebra was predictable. Ocean, this red-head teacher’s pet would try to answer all the questions and correct others when they were wrong. Mr. Davis, an older but nice guy, would have to get her to sit back down at her seat. Inevitably, he would call on me (‘I can tell you’re not trying your best in this class, Noel. Your freshman year here, you got all As, but now you’re barely passing with a C.’) and I would try to act confused, but get the answer right, and Ocean would gawk at me for getting it right, and the whole class would laugh for no reason. But today was different. As per usual, I was in my spot- the smack dab middle, unfortunately- doodling away in my notebook while everyone else was talking to their friends. I thought something about the class looked different, but I couldn’t put my finger on what it was, so for the beginning of class, I tried to figure it out, when Mr. Davis called the class to attention.
“Oh! Before we start class, we have a new exchange student. This is Misha Bachynskyi, everyone. He’s from Ukraine, so his speaking might be a bit different. Why don’t you introduce yourself, Misha?”
A really long leg stepped foot into the room, and probably the prettiest guy I’ve ever seen followed it. This kid, Misha, was immensely handsome. He had this slightly slicked-back dark chestnut hair that cut off at the top of his neck and spiked out slightly from under a black baseball cap turned the wrong way with the flap behind his head. He had these lively, deep blue eyes that looked like someone had poured ocean water into his eyes.
His uniform, while present, looked different than everyone else’s. He had rolled up the sleeves of his white collared shirt, which the collar of said shirt was open at his throat. He wore his red vest normally, which was a surprise, and he wore these black jeans that complimented his long-ass legs. I think he was wearing… Converse?? It looked like he was wearing Converse, but the logo on the side was a little different.
Nonetheless, what really caught my eye was the small golden studs that decorated his earlobes. This guy has PIERCED EARS!? I’m fucked.
“Uh…” He rubbed the back of his neck. “Hello, I’m Misha. Nice to meet you all.” He smiled softly. Crap.
Everyone mumbled small hi’s and hellos to him from around the classroom. That’s when I realized what was different about the classroom- there was an empty seat in front of mine. Davis pointed to the seat I had just noticed.
“That’ll be your seat, Misha. Oh, and that’s Noel. If you have any questions, just ask him. He’s a reliable student,” He finished warmly. Misha shrugged and walked over, looking slightly uncomfortable because of how many eyes were on him. Jesus christ Noel don’t fucking look at him- I unconsciously looked down at my nails picking off the paint slowly. Out of the corner of my eye, I could see the girls in the class making insanely big goo-goo eyes at him, even some of them who already had boyfriends. But he wasn’t looking at any of them.
He was looking at… me??
“Uh, hi,” he whispered over Mr. Davis’s default drone at the start of class. “I like your earring.”
I looked up, eyes widening more than I wanted them to. I pointed to myself. He chuckled slightly. “Yes, you.”
I felt my cheeks warm up a little as I whispered, “Thanks. I like your hat.” He smiled back and sat down in his chair, putting his backpack down on the ground next to him.
Shit. Am I gonna have to sit behind this guy the rest of the semester? I softly groaned, rubbing my face. I’m screwed. Officially screwed.
“Hey.” I slammed my locker closed and quickly jumped in surprise at Ocean standing directly behind the door.
“Jesus, Ocean! What’s wrong with you!?” I shrieked, clutching my chest.
“...Nothing. Will you join something for me?” She said.
“No, now go away,” I grumbled, starting to walk away. She grabbed my sleeve and held me back. “Ocean, what do you want?”
“Can you join the Chamber Choir? We need one more person to join to initiate it, and I know you’re an amazing singer, and-”
“Ocean, I already said no.”
She sighed, looking down, but paused, thinking. She sprung back up with a devilish smile on her face. “There’s some cute boys joining~”
I blushed, taking my face in my hands and sighing. “Fine.”
She skipped away. “THANKS! FIRST REHEARSAL IS TODAY AT 4:30!”
I stood there and processed what just happened. Ocean just asked- no, more like forced- me to join our conservative christian high school’s choir. Great. Being the only gay kid who’s also in the school’s choir is totally going to help with the bullying. Damnit. And agreeing because of some boys? They were all straight, anyways. Whatever. Might as well go, maybe then I’ll get some extra credit points.
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“What are we even going to do in this club, anyways? Besides from singing, obviously,” I questioned, bored out of my mind.
“Well,” Ocean exclaimed cheerfully, “We’ll ideally be performing for the school, maybe even enter into a competition against other schools, but this club is mainly for extra credit for college. Not that anyone besides me here is actually going to go to college, but whatever, here we are,” She grumbled under her breath.
“What the hell did you just say?” I seethed. She clapped her hands.
“Nothing, nothing! But, it’s not like we’ll be able to actually do anything if we don’t know each other! So we’re going to go in a circle and say all our names.” Shit, right. There are other people here. I looked around the almost desolate classroom at the people in the circle. There were two- three? Two? I don’t know anymore- girls and two boys, including me.
The girl who was doing the talking, Ocean, had long, straight ginger hair pulled back by a headband, and her uniform was perfectly ironed with absolutely no wrinkles in it. Her eyes were emerald green and her skin made her look like Casper’s long lost twin, and she still somehow had freckles. She was tall-ish, and kinda like a beanpole.
The girl next to her contrasted her very well. She was short, but full-figured, and had beautifully dark brown skin. Her coily hair had been pulled up into two buns, the ends of which were dyed purple in a frantic wave of rebellion. She wore black-framed rectangular glasses with her dark brown eyes shining brightly behind them. While her uniform was similar to the first girl’s, albeit bigger, she wore slightly pink socks and what looked to be Converse.
The boy standing to the left of the second girl wore simple, black velcroed shoes, and his uniform looked a bit dusty. His arms and legs were held up by crutches attached to his wrists that helped him stand. He was also a bit skinny, and kind of cute. His golden hair had been cut short and was just growing out. It slightly covered his hazel-colored eyes, which were darting around the room a bit anxiously.
“So! Who wants to go first? No one? I guess I will, then,” She sighed, tossing her hair behind her and ignoring the small reply from the other girl that she could. “My name’s Ocean O’Connell Rosenburg. Nice to meet you all!” She smiled. Her smile was partly genuine, but not enough to be friendly.
“Um, I’m Constance! Hello,” The other girl said meekly with a small smile. Now she seemed friendly. We all turned to the boy. He suddenly became aware that it was his turn, but then Ocean- ugh- spoke up instead.
“That’s Ricky Potts. He can’t speak, sadly. Poor boy is mute,” She fawned, frowning and looking like she was going to cry. Oh, god, is she ableist too!?
“Uh, sorry to ask this, but if he can’t sing, how exactly is he here? Like, in this program? The choir?” I mused. Ocean turned to me looking angry.
“What, do you not believe that disabled people deserve the right to be included in everyday activities? That’s really ableist, you know. Equal rights for all!” She finished, showing off her button that displayed a man with a cast on shaking the hand of another man who was fine. Uh… Huh. I looked at Ricky in confusion. He sighed and just shrugged.
“...Interesting. Well, guess it’s my turn. I’m Noel,” I said, picking at my nails unconsciously.
“Is that everyone? Wait, no, it isn’t. I think we’re missing some-” She was cut off by the sound of the door slamming open.
And in walked Misha.
He was out of breath, one hand on his knee and wheezing, the other arm clutching a black binder. He stood up, took off his hat and ran his hand through his slightly slick-backed hair.
He looked up to see everyone staring at him in either confusion or disgust (Ocean).
“Damn. Sorry I’m late, Marcus-” He panted. He had a thick Ukrainian accent that reminded me of honey. “Uh, hey, guys. I’m Misha. Nice to… meet you?” He said softly, looking around the room with deep blue eyes.
“Misha…” Ocean berated, pinching the bridge of her nose with her fingers. “Didn’t I tell you to be here at 4:30, and not 4:41?”
“What? It’s just a ten minute difference! He’s not even that late, Ocean,” I shot back without thinking.
“Ugh, fine. Misha, I’ll let you go this time, but only because… He made a good point.” I glared at her. This was going to be a long two hours.
“I have a name, you know,” I seethed. I then turned around and held out my hand to the guy. “I’m Noel. Nice to meet you!”
“Ah, right! I sit behind you in Algebra, yes?”
I nodded shyly. “Thank you, No-... No…” He hesitated, a weird expression on his face. “Shit. Is it okay if I just pronounce your name Noelle? My accent is being wonky and won’t let me pronounce o-e sounds correctly,” He asked sheepishly, rubbing the back of his neck awkwardly.
“Hmm… Noelle. I like it. Sure, why not? Nice to meet you, Misha.” I held out my hand for him to shake, and when he shook it, a small jolt of excitement burned through me. His hand is warm.
Maybe this wouldn’t be so bad after all.