Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

The basement.

They threw him in the fucking basement.

It wasn't an exaggeration either, no. His adoptive father grabbed him by the collar and pushed him down the basement steps.

It hurt like hell.

Mischa unpacked a small suitcase that his mother had packed him. God, he missed her more already. He pulled out a few shirts and pants. He folded them in the same way his mother had and put the gently in the corner of the room. He then pulled out his toiletries, a tooth brush and tooth paste. He figured that his adoptive parents would provide him with shampoo and body wash but considering the way they welcomed him, wasn't very likely.

He pulled out a few more things. His phone charger, a book he definitely wouldn't read, some pencils and notebooks for school. Then the slowly took out the last thing. It was wrapped in bubble wrap. He knew exactly what it was.

He gently unwrapped the frame to reveal a picture of him and his mother. The photo was taken 6 years ago when Mischa was 10. It was one of the only professional photos they had ever taken. Him and his mother were standing on a flowery hill, his mothers arm around his shoulder as she held him close. Her boy, she always called him, in Ukrainian of course.

He felt himself tear up a bit. He put the picture on a small table. He missed his mom. He wanted to hug her so badly. He didn't want to go to a new school, with new people, new rules in a new country with new parents!

He brought his legs to his chin and hugged them tight. 

This was scary. This was so scary. Mischa thought what his mother might have told him.

"My boy, you are very brave. It's going to be okay. Change is scary but what isn't? Sometimes it's good to be scared. And now is one of those times, Mischa.(Ukrainian)"

She was right even if she wasn't here. Even if she was dead.

But Mischa didn't want to think that she could be dead. So instead he thought about school.

School won't be that bad. It can't be, right? He'll make new friends. He doesn't know how long they've been in school but it couldn't have been more than a month. People were still getting used to their new schedules. 

He was going to be fine. It will all be fine.

------------------------------------------------

"M-Mischa! Wake up!" A woman's voice called from the top of the stairs. It was then followed by an air mattress tumbling down the stairs. 

Mischa grumbled as he sat up on the floor. He rubbed his eyes and walked to the stairs.

He started to walk up to meet his adoptive mother but she screamed and threw a crumpled up piece of paper at him. Stunned, Mischa bent down to pick up the paper.

BAM!

Mischa looked up and the door was closed. He felt angry. They adopted him, why were they being so rude? He rolled his eyes at the door and sat on the stairs.

He opened the paper to see his new schedule. 

Mischa Bachinski        16          Male

1.HISTORY                                  Sister Lucy

2.ENGLISH LANGUAGE ARTS        Sister Angela

3.FRENCH                                   Father James

4.AUTOMATION AND ROBOTICS   Sister Clara

5.MATHEMATICS                         Father Andrew

LUNCH

6.SCIENCE                                 Sister Haley

7.PHYSICAL EDUCATION             Father Christopher

'They were going to have nuns' was the first thing Mischa thought. He had never been to a religious school before. He didn't know how to feel about it. He didn't believe in god but he didn't not believe in god if that made sense. Surely he would find someone who thought the same? He wasn't sure. It's not like it was a big part of his personality.

Mischa flinched when the basement door was swung open. He looked up and met eyes with his adoptive mother again. She looked terrified. She also had a plate of food in her hand along with a plastic bag. The woman slowly put the items at the top of the stairs not once looking away from Mischa. As soon as she put the stuff down she backed up like Mischa was about to attack her.

Confused, Mischa walked up the stairs and grabbed the food and bag.

"That's- that's yo-ur unif-form." The woman choked out like she was holding back a sob. She pointed to the bag. "It also h-as, hygiene pro-products."

"Thank you." Mischa replied. His adoptive mother screamed and started to cry. Why was she crying? Mischa was so confused. Was she scared of him? If so, why?

His adoptive father came rushing into the room, face red from running. 

"GET BACK!" He swatted at Mischa like he was some bug inconveniencing him. What the hell?

Mischa took a step back onto the stairs and his adoptive dad slammed the door in his face. Seriously, what was their problem?

Mischa scoffed, rolled his eyes, and went to set up the inflated mattress. 

After he decorated his room in a way he liked he opened the bag. The uniform was a white button up with a red pullover vest. A striped tie was also in the bag. Like he'd where that. There were also slacks and loafers. It was a pretty normal uniform, nothing over the top. It was kind of ugly, not gangsta enough.

He tossed the uniform to the side and picked up his plate of food. It was one piece of cold toast and five grapes. Five grapes. He felt like he was in prison... Again.

He still ate his food, after all, it was better than starving. The grapes were good. He wished he had more of them.

After his 'breakfast' he brushed his teeth. The basement had a small bathroom, nothing fancy. It was just a toilet, sink, and shower. He was still grateful to have his own bathroom though no matter how small it may be. 

He spit out his toothpaste and looked in the cracked mirror hanging above the sink. It was cracked in the center so it made his face look all warped. It was funny. It reminded him of his old friends in Ukraine. One of them had really thick glasses and Mischa and his other friends would take turns looking at things through the lenses. It was weird seeing how blurry and crazy everything looked. It also gave him a big headache. But it was still funny.

Mischa left the mirror behind and looked at his schedule again.

Why was he in French? He didn't have a clue. But he did suppose it would be cool to learn another language. 

He crumpled the paper back up and fell down on the air mattress. Today was Sunday which meant tomorrow was Monday. Monday meant he had school. He was not ready.

Chapter Text

Mischa got ready for school and was currently waiting at the bus stop. His "parents" refused to take him to school. He could only come to one conclusion: They hated him.

Mischa sighed and looked at his schedule again. It hadn't changed from the last time he looked at it. He looked up from the paper and started to study the people around him.

There was two girls who were pointing somewhere and giggling. One of the girls was blonde and had her hair pulled into a high ponytail. Her eyes were a vibrant green that kind of looked like snake scales. She was in what he assumed to be the girls uniform. The girl next to her was tan and had dark brown hair. Her hair was slicked back in a tight bun. Her eyes were sharp and dark. She looked kind of scary, like she could bite your head off. 

The blonde girl started pointing at a guy and then flicked her wrist. The other girl started laughing even harder. 

Mischa looked over to see who they were looking at. It was a boy who was sitting next to a girl. He has brown hair that was styled with gel. He had chipped black nail polish. The girl next to him had brown hair tied in piggy braids. Nothing about either of them looked funny? He assumed it was just bullying. And that sucked but what was he supposed to do? He didn't know any of their names.

The honk of a horn snapped Mischa out of his thoughts. The bus was here.

He stepped on the bus and glanced around. Almost all the seats were full. All except one. It was next to a pale boy with blond hair and brown eyes. 

He awkwardly made his way through the tight aisle of the school bus and sat next to the boy.

"Hi!" The boy waved. "I'm Connor. Are you new here?"

"Uh, hello. I am new here." Mischa spoke. It was kind of weird. He missed having his old friends. Now he had to make new ones.

"That's so cool! Where did you move from? Italy?" Connor asked, his eyes lighting up after he heard Mischa's accent.

Italy? Did Mischa sound Italian? He didn't think so. "I am from Ukraine." Mischa answered, avoiding eye contact.

"Oh. That's still so cool! What class do you have first period?" Connor asked, unzipping his backpack. He pulled out a binder that had his schedule in a pocket on the front. 

Connor Whaley           16          Male

1.MATH                                     Father Andrew

2.ENGLISH LANGUAGE ARTS       Sister Angela

3.SPANISH                                 Sister Enola

4.AUTOMATION AND ROBOTICS  Sister Carla

5.HISTORY                                 Sister Lucy

LUNCH

6.SCIENCE                                 Sister Haley

7.PHYSICAL EDUCATION             Father Christopher

Mischa smiled, remembering the times he'd compared schedules with his friends. He pulled the wrinkled paper out of his pocket.

"Looks like we have second, fourth, sixth, and seventh together." Connor smiled, putting his binder back in his backpack.

"That is good, yes?" Mischa asked.

"Yes, it is." Connor confirmed.

Mischa smiled at the boy. They sat there in silence for a few minutes.

"Hey Penny!" Screamed the blonde girl from earlier.

"What do you want, Molly?" The girl with brown piggy braid, who he assumed was Penny, replied.

"How does it feel to be a pervert?" Giggled Molly.

What?

"I'm not a pervert!" Penny defended herself.

"You like sucking on girls' tongues, how much more perverted can someone get?" The brown haired girl gagged.

Oh. They were being homophobic. Gross.

"I-I'm not a-"

"Dyk-" Molly started to yell before bursting out into hate filled laughs. She threw a ball of wadded up paper at Penny and fell bad into her seat.

Connor started to chuckle.

"What's so funny?" Mischa asked, genuinely puzzled. All they did was make fun of a homosexual girl.

"They called her lesbian!" Connor said, laughing.

"And why is that funny? Girls are hot." 

"Because she's a girl. It's gross." Connor said like that was obvious.

Mischa gave him a look of confusion. He never understood homophobia as a straight man. Why was it "normal" for a man to like a woman but not for a woman to like a woman? Nothing is really different. It's just love. And who could hate love? A lot of people apparently.

Mischa looked over to Penny. She was ripping up the paper that was thrown at her head. Mischa could quite read it but it looked like it said pussy licker or something weird like that.

The bus pulled into the school parking lot and everyone stood up. They existed the bus without making any more homophobic comments toward anyone.

Mischa soon stood in front of the school. His new school. A tiny bit of anxiety washed over him but he brushed it off. He had to look cool. He wanted to make a good first impression. 

"Good morning Penny, good morning Noel." A nun said as students walked in. "Good morning Molly, Arianna, Connor."

She stopped and frowned when she got to Mischa.

"I don't believe I've seen you before." She squinted at him. "You are new here, yes?"

"Yes." Mischa answered, nodding.

"Sister May, will you greet the students? I have to take this one to the office." The nun tapped a different nun on the shoulder.

"The new one? From Europe?" The other nun, Sister May, asked.

The first nun nodded and grabbed Mischa's arm.

"Come with me." She guided him to the office.

"Good morning Sister Amelia." Another nun greeted her.

"Good morning. The new boy has arrived and I need to give him his schedule. I also need to know his guide." Sister Amelia told her.

The other nun nodded and turned to Mischa. "Your name?"

"Mischa Bachinski."

She started typing something into a computer.

"I already have a schedule-"

"School procedures. We give every kid another schedule. This one also has your guide on it. " The unnamed nun explained. 

"Oh, okay." Mischa waited for her to finish whatever she was doing.

A few minutes later, she handed him the same schedule but at the bottom a name was written.

Ricky Potts

"Ricky will be your guide. I will warn you, the boy can't speak. You will not make fun of him for that. If there are any complaints that you made fun of him then you are in big trouble. Now, go to class." The nun warned.

Mischa nodded and started walking to class. It's not like he was going to make fun of a disabled kid. That's just stupid.

Mischa found the history room and walked in. The desks were in long rows. five desks in each row, five rows.

MIscha walked up to his teacher's desk to ask who Ricky Potts was.

"Hello ms- Sister Lucy. Which student is Ricky Potts?" Mischa asked.

Sister Lucy looked up from her papers and smiled at him.

"Hello young man, you are Mischa, correct?" Mischa nodded. "Brilliant! I know it's on your schedule but I am Sister Lucy. I am very excited to have you in class. You are looking for Ricky." She stood up from her chair and started looking around the room.

"Ricky, Ricky, hmm, Oh! There he is. The boy with the walkers. I'm guessing he is your guide?" Sister Lucy asked and pointed to a kid in the front row.

"Yeah, he is my guide." Mischa nodded. Sister Lucy seemed nice. Very happy to be teaching junior year history.

"Aw, he is such a sweet kid. You're going to love him. We all do. He doesn't speak though. He uses sign language." She must have seen the look of panic on Mischa's face because she quickly added, "He does write down on paper too! It would be appreciated if you learned sign language. It'll give you extra credit too." Sister Lucy gently pushed Mischa away from her desk, still all smiley.

Mischa walked towards Ricky and sat next to him. Sister Lucy said everyone liked him, why was he all alone over here?

Ricky looked at Mischa when he sat down. He curiously squinted at him.

"I'm new. You are my guide." Mischa explained.

Ricky nodded and did some hand movements that Mischa assumed were sign language. A look of confusion mixed with panic spread on his face.

Ricky probably noticed this because he ripped a piece of paper out of a notebook and started writing.

He finished writing and passed the paper to Mischa.

What's your name? Can I see your schedule?

"I'm Mischa. Mischa Bachinski." Ricky nodded and Mischa got out his new schedule. He handed it to Ricky. Ricky took his paper back and started writing more.

The only classes we don't have together are 3rd and 4th. You have French and I have Spanish. and then you have robotics and I have choir.

"You are in choir?" Mischa asked, confused. Ricky can't speak? Why was he in choir?

Ricky nodded and started writing on the paper again.

This girl named Ocean pressured me into joining. You have French and science with her. Warning you now, she's kind of annoying.

Mischa nodded. Ocean. Who named their kid Ocean? He couldn't blame them though, it was a pretty name.

"Who is going to show me the French and robotic room?" Mischa asked.

I can walk you there until Friday. We also get to leave class early because of my walkers.

Mischa nodded. 

The bells rang and Sister Lucy walked to the front of the room.

"Good morning everyone! As you can see, we have a new student. After we pray he will introduce himself." Sister Lucy said.

He was going to have to introduce himself every class.

Oh come on.

Chapter Text

Ricky and Mischa got to leave class five minutes before everyone else. Mischa feels so special. He got let out early! Yes, it was because his guide used a walker... But still!

The boys walked down the hallway to ELA. The school has pin-boards for every classroom. It's cool seeing how every teacher expresses themselves.

Sister Angela, the ELA teacher, had pink polka dots all over her pin-board. The background was zebra print and it had the text "DISTINGUISH YOUR ENGLISH!" In red print. It was very interesting to say the least.

Father Andrew, the math teacher, had a bunch of math symbols with super heroes fighting on them.

One pin-board had a quote from some scientist or something with an explosion in the background.

All the pin-boards were cool.

Mischa jumped when the bell rang. The door immediately flung open, nearly hitting him in the nose.

"Ouch!" Both Mischa and a boy say. Mischa recognizes the boy. He was the one next to what's was her name? Penelope? Perry? Penny! He was the boy next to Penny.

"Sorry. Excuse me" He pushed past, gently touching Mischa's arm.

Mischa's heart rate sped up slightly. Don't ask him why, he didn't know. He walked into the classroom and looked at Ricky.

Ricky made a "Follow me" gesture and started moving towards two seats in the front.

"Mischa!" A boy called. Mischa turned around. It was Connor from the bus.

"Oh, uh, hello." Mischa greeted him. He looked back to see Ricky sitting down with a sad look on his face.

"C'mon, dude. You're sitting with my bro, Luke!" Connor said and dragged Mischa over to a table in the very back. He felt bad for Ricky but there wasn't much he could do now.

"Sup." A boy with black hair said. Mischa guessed that kid was Luke.

"Was that guy your guide?" Connor asked with disgust.

"Hm? Ricky? Yeah, he's my guide. He's pretty co-" Mischa was cut off by laughing.

"Oh my god! If they were going to give you a guide the least they could do was give you one that worked right." Luke said, voice full of disgust.

"I know, right? His legs don't work, his voice don't work, his brain don't work, He just doesn't work." Connor explained, proud of himself.

Mischa remembered the nun's warning from this morning. He didn't know if it was true and what the trouble would be in if it was. He didn't want to risk it.

The other boys continued their ableist conversation about Ricky while Mischa started planning the rest of his day.

He needed to get to French(And ignore Ocean) he could do that.'

He needed to go robotics. Was he going to build a robot in that class? That's dope!

After, he needs to go to math. He has Ricky in that class so it should be okay. Same thing with science and PE.

"Yo, Mischa dude." Luke poked Mischa on the shoulder.

"Hm?"

"What classes you got next?"

"Uhh," Mischa scrambled to get his schedule back out despite knowing what class he had next. "French the-"

"Bro, French is for gay people." Luke interrupted. Mischa gave him a confused look. Since when did languages have sexuality's? What sexuality was Ukrainian?

"How is it gay?" He asked curiously. Connor and Luke shared a look and then laughed. That only made Mischa more confused.

"Noel Gruber is like a France-a-holic. He takes French and he's one of them." Luke explained, avoiding saying the word gay like it would kill him.

Mischa felt a bit awkward now. He wasn't gay but he didn't think it was wrong to be. Some guys are really attractive. If he was a girl he would date guys. But he's not gay.

"Good morning class! Mischa, come to the front of the room." Sister Angela called. Mischa stood up and walked to the front of class. "Introduce yourself, son."

"Hi, I'm Mischa. I came from Ukraine." A bunch of ooooh's and ahhhh's came from the class.

----------------------------------------------

"Is anyone else in French?" Mischa asked Ricky while they walked down the empty hallway.

Ricky shook his head. He started using sign language and then remembered that Mischa wouldn't understand it. Mischa felt bad. He would learn sign language soon. Ricky seemed very cool.

"So it is just Ocean?" Mischa asked. Apparently a boy named Noel took French but he didn't know if Ricky knew him. 

Ricky nodded. He cocked his head towards the door to the French room. Spanish was on the left side and Calculus was on the right.

"Am I allowed to leave early in this class?" Mischa asked. Ricky nodded. He let go of one of his walkers and leaned on Mischa for support. He pointed to his name at the bottom of Mischa's schedule.

"I show them that you are my guide?" Mischa asked while helping Ricky get steady again.

Ricky nodded then the bell rang. 

Mischa walked into the French room.

"Mr- I mean Father James?" Mischa walked to his desk. Father James looked at him. "I am allowed to leave five minutes early. Ricky Potts is my guide." He showed his schedule.

"Okay. Go get a book and stand in the back of the room." Father James said. Mischa quickly nodded, not expecting the thick French accent. Although he probably should have, he is the French teacher.

Mischa got a French book from a small bookshelf at the back of class and waited there. A few more students walked in and Father James announced, "Stand in the back of the room. We are getting a new seating chart."

A few kids groaned and others cheered. Most kids didn't seem to care. A short girl with orange hair was quickly moving towards Mischa.

"You're the new kid. I'm Ocean O'Connell Rosenberg. How have you been today?" Ocean says, speaking very quickly.

"My day has been fine." Mischa said hesitantly. Ocean nodded.

"Would you be interested in joining the choir? We could really use someone with an accent." Ocean asked. Mischa didn't know how to feel about that statement.

"No." He answered. He knew Ricky was in that class but he didn't know anyone else. And considering Ocean was there, he didn't want to risk her being annoying.

Ocean gave him an angry look, huffed, and stormed away. 

Weirdo.

"Alright students. When I say your name, sit at the desk I point to." Father James said. "Ocean Rosenberg." He pointed to the desk directly in front of his.

Ocean skipped up to the desk and put all her stuff down.

"Mischa Bachinski," He pointed to the desk next to Ocean. "Noel Gruber." 

Mischa sat down next to Ocean. She rolled her eyes at him and leaned across his desk to the boy next to him.

"Noel, he doesn't want to join the choir!" Ocean informed him with surprise in her voice.

The boy on the other side of him turned his head. Damn. He was pretty. He was also the boy who was next to Penny this morning.

"I don't care." Noel said flatly.

"How can you not care? Do you not care about our advertising grade?" Ocean frustratingly explains.

Noel pinches the bridge of his nose and says, "You can advertise something without the other person doing the thing."

"We still need more boys and a kid with an accent!" 

"We don't need any of those."

"Yes we do, Noel!"

Ocean and Noel kept arguing with each other but Mischa wasn't really paying attention. He was busy ogling over the boy next to him. 

Noel had brown eyes. They were pretty. Really pretty. His voice was also pretty. He was just pretty. Wow. Mischa was speechless. Didn't Luke say he was gay? Any man he dates in the future is so lucky.

"Students, listen up. I'm sure you are aware we have a new student.(French)" Father James spoke. Mischa just stared at him blankly. "Noel, please catch Mischa up on everything we have learned.(French)" Father James handed Noel a bunch of papers. Noel smiled.

"C'mon, we are going into the hallway." Noel said. Mischa's heart rate went up slightly. He didn't know why.

The two boys left the room and sat outside the door. Noel started to set the papers up and asked Mischa, "Where are you from?"

"Ukraine." Mischa answered. Noel handed him a paper with basic French phrases on it. "You like France?"

"I love France! Everything about France is so beautiful!" Noel lit up with joy. "The culture, the language, the history, it's all so beautiful!"

Mischa smiled. Noel sounded so excited. Noel continued to talk about France and how beautiful he found it.

"You know, we should probably get working." Noel said, realizing how long he was talking for.

"Yeah, probably." Mischa cleared his throat.

The boys worked for a good thirty minutes. Mischa picked up on the language pretty quickly. It wasn't hard for him to learn languages.

Noel looked at his watch. "We have 10 minutes left of class. What do you want to talk about?" He asks.

"What is your schedule?" Mischa asked. Noel smiled and got a folded up piece of paper out of his backpack. He handed the paper to Mischa.

Noel Gruber         15        Male

1. English Language Arts  Sister Angela

2. Science                       Sister Haley

3. French                        Father James

4. Choir                          Father Marcus

5. Math                          Father Andrew

6. History                       Sister Lucy

7. Physical Education       Father Christopher

Mischa smiled and said, "We have math and PE together."

"Really? That's cool. I look forward to seeing you there." Noel winked.

Mischa's heart fluttered and he didn't know why. "Yeah, see you." He said almost breathless.

The sound of crutches and a door opening ruin the moment. 

"Hi Ricky." Mischa greeted. Ricky waved in response.

"I'll tell Father James you left with Ricky. See you in math?" Noel says playfully.

"See you in math." Mischa responds. He stands up and starts walking with Ricky.

Chapter Text

Ricky left me in the robotics room. It was in a small corner of the school along with the choir room and the culinary class. He was the only one in class besides Sister Carla. She looked at him and scrunched her nose like he had a disease.

"You are the new student?" She asked, looking him up and down.

Mischa turned to face her. "Yes-" he stopped. Sister Carla looked disgusted.

"Do you speak any other languages?" She asked, her voice full of judgment disguised as curiosity.

"Uh, yeah. Three actually-"

"Well we speak English in this classroom. Non of your Spanish nonsense." Sister Carla interrupted.

Mischa was appalled. His mouth hung open. "I don't speak Spanish, Sister, I speak Ukrainian." He corrected.

"I don't care what you speak. We speak English here." She said firmly.

Mischa rolled his eyes and sat far away from her desk.

Soon after that, kids started entering the room. He saw Connor and Luke walk in along with another boy. He had curly black hair and tan skin. Connor pointed to Mischa and Luke nodded. They trio all sat in the chairs surrounding Mischa.

"What's up dude!" Luke said. He fist-bumped him and sat down. 

"Sup?" Mischa smiled. He felt like he was back in Ukraine with his homies.

"I'm Duke, I am not related to Luke in any way what-so-ever." Duke said. He sat in front of Mischa and next to Luke. Mischa didn't think they were related. They didn't really look alike at all. It was probably the name thing.

"Dude, this class is the best! We don't do shit. All we have to do it sit and talk. Sister Clara does not care about teaching at all." Connor explained. He sat next to Mischa.

"Really?" Mischa asked. The boy nodded. "That's so dope!"

"I know, right?" Luke agreed.

"Wait guys, Layla S. texted me earlier during science. She wants to go on a date on Friday." Duke got out his phone and showed everyone at the table.

"She's so hot." Luke said. 

"I know, I feel bad for her though. She has to work with Penny for a project." Duke spat.

"Ew. Sister Haley should just make Penny and Noel work alone." Connor gagged.

"Penny, she's a lesbian, right? And Noel is gay?" Mischa asked for confirmation.

"Yeah, fucking pervs. Remember when Penny hit on Dolores?" Duke asked.

"Oh yeah! That slap was deserved." Luke said, disgusted.

Did his Dolores girl slap Penny for flirting? Obviously, it depends on what Penny did but that seems a little weird. Dare he say, homophobic?

Connor, Luke, and Duke continued their hated filled conversation while Mischa got out his phone. Sister Carla didn't seem to care when Duke got his out.

He started to scroll on TikTok. It was the normal stuff, dances, lipsyncs, controversy, random American politics that he didn't want to see. He did occasionally find a cool video and stopped his doom scrolling to pay attention to it.

"Yo, Mischa dude." Luke tapped him on the shoulder. Mischa turned his phone off and looked at him. "Do you like rap?"

Mischa instantly sat up. He loved rap! He nodded frantically and started gushing about his favorite rappers.

The other boys perked up too. Soon, they were all in a passionate debate about what rappers were the best.

"Playboy Carti is better!" Connor argued.

"Nuh uh!"

"Yuh huh!"

"You are both wrong." Luke rolled his eyes at Connor and Duke.

"Whatever." Duke replied. He looked at Mischa. "What is your number?"

"Oh, it's 0818-0914-1619." Mischa replied.

"Okay. I texted you." Mischa checked his phone and had a text from an unknown number. Then another, and another.

He added the contacts for Connor, Luke, and Duke. They made a group chat too. 

When the boys weren't being homophobic and/or ableist, they were actually really cool. Why couldn't they be like that all the time?

"What class do you have next?" Duke asked.

"Math." Mischa replied. Math teachers were either amazing or terrible. There was never an in between. He wonder what this teacher would be.

Duke groaned. "Bro, Father Andrew is such a dick. He gave us assigned seats on the first day."

"Yeah. My seat was actually really good. I got to sit next to Arianna." Connor said.

"Lucky! I got sat in between Bea and Marsha." Luke complained.

Mischa awkwardly sat there listening to them gossip about their classmates.

Someone knocked on the door. Mischa knew it was Ricky so he started to pack up.

Sister Clara opened the door for Ricky and asked, "Hello dear. Why are you here?"

Ricky answered in sign language and Sister Clara rolled her eyes. "Mischa, come here, you are leaving with Ricky."

Mischa stood up and turned to wave by to his new friends. 

"Bye, dude." Connor waved.

"Bye, see ya." Mischa turned back around and left with Ricky.

The door had barely shut behind them when Ricky shoved a note into Mischa's chest. Mischa opened the note, confused.

0605-0914-0617

Ricky Potts cell phone

'Thanks, dude." Mischa smiled and stuffed the paper in his pocket.

Ricky nodded and they kept walking.

They got to the bathroom and a seating chart was already on the screen.

"He already has a seating chart?" Mischa said, almost impressed at how fast he made one. Ricky just nodded.

Mischa sat down in his seat.(Which was next to Ricky, yay!)

Ricky smiled at Mischa and ripped out a piece of notebook paper. He scribbled something down and handed it to Mischa.

How has your day been so far?

Mischa wrote back: Good. How was your day?

They passed the note until the dreaded bell rang.

"Students, you all probably met or know about Mischa. He is new. He was adopted by the Scyamore's, right?" Father Andrew announced.

Mischa only nodded. He didn't like his adopted parents. The feeling was clearly mutual.

Father Andrew hen explained the lesson for the day and gave them worksheets. It was very boring. Mischa and Ricky decided to pass notes instead.

This is boring -Ricky

Yeah. I don't like school -Mischa

The kids are dicks too. Especially Molly Lewis and Arianna Clarke. -Ricky

Who is that? -Mischa

They are just big bullies. Me, Noel, Penny, and Constance Blackwood are their biggest targets. Me because I'm disabled, Noel and Penny because they are gay, and Constance because she's too nice to stand up for herself. -Ricky

That sucks dude. That is not very cool of them -Mischa

Yea, but that's just how it is I guess. What do you want to write about? -Ricky

Idk what is your fav colour? -Mischa

uhh, blue -Ricky

Nice mine is green -Mischa

Green is also a cool color. It's the color of grass and nature -Ricky

And money -Mischa

Ricky looked at Mischa with a smile tugging his lips. Mischa gave a shrug that said, am I wrong?

Ricky couldn't shake his head no.

Before Mischa knew it, it was lunch. He sat with Connor, Luke, and Duke.

Then it was Science.

Then it was PE...

He was changing in the men's room. You know, where men change? Nothing creepy about MEN changing in the MEN'S room. Or so Mischa thought.

Noel wasn't in the changing room. He knew he had PE this class. Where was he? He didn't know, so he asked.

"Where is Noel?" 

"Don't know, don't care." Duke said and rolled his eyes.

"He doesn't belong here anyways. Fucking f-gg-t." Luke said bitterly, making sure everyone could hear every syllable of the slur.

"You can't say that!" Mischa said defensively. He wasn't gay but that didn't mean he would let someone use a slur.

Luke and everyone else stared at him. Even Ricky looked surprised. 

"Pardon?" Luke asked.

'I said you can't say that. It's a slur." Mischa stood his ground. Luke grabbed Mischa by the neckline of his gym shirt and shoved him against the lockers.

"Are you a f-gg-t too? A stupid little fairy who wants nothing but dick?" Luke spat bigotry into his face.

"No," Mischa said and pushed he boy off of him.

"Good." Luke rolled his eyes. The locker room had a very hostile feel now. Like diffusing a bomb, one wrong thing and it will all explode.

Mischa walked out of the changing room. He saw Noel sitting alone with a notebook in hand. He was sitting against the wall, writing something. Mischa wanted to go over and talk to but he decided against it. He didn't want to get called slurs for talking to a boy.

Luke and all the other boys strutted out of the locker room like nothing happened. Like he didn't say a slur. Like he wasn't a dick.

That made Mischa angry. He couldn't say anything though. He really wanted to but he knew that if he did, he'd only make things worse.

A shitty world we live in. A world where bullies and bigots get put on a pedestal and the bullied get disregarded and pushed to the side like shoes that have been outgrown. Just left to be forgotten.

Forgotten until they are thrown in a landfill, left to rot.

Chapter Text

"Hey, dude." Connor said while squeezing into the space next to Mischa. They were back on the school bus. It was significantly more humid than it was in the morning. The faux leather seat was sticky against Mischa's thighs and back.

"Sup, yo?" Mischa replied. They both sat there for a moment. 

"So, uh. In the locker room," Connor started, "why did you get so defensive? It's just a word. And still, Noel is a freak."

That made Mischa more angry. Noel wasn't a freak. He barely knew the boy but he knew that much. And even if he was a freak, which he isn't, it wouldn't be because he is gay!

"Is not just a word. Is a slur. A hurtful word." Mischa defended. Connor just stared at him. Mischa couldn't tell what he was thinking. He looked disgusting but also understanding? 

"Yeah, whatever." 

It became unstintingly quiet on the bus. The sound wet loafers squeaking against the floor and soft whispers was all that could be heard. Eventually everyone started talking again.

"Hey Connor." The blonde girl from this morning said. She sat in the seat across from Mischa and Connor.

"Hey Molly." Connor replied. 

"How was your day?" She asked flirtatiously.

Her friend sat down next to her and bit her lip. She whispered something to Molly.

"Hey new boy? Are you single?" Molly asked Mischa.

"Yeah, are you?" Mischa asked without thinking.

The brunette girl giggled.

"What's your type?" Brunette asked.

Mischa thought. He never really thought about that. What was his type? He liked brown hair and brown eyes. That was about all he could think of, so that's what he said.

The brown haired girl blushed. "Well, I'm Arianna. My type just so happened to be transfer students from Europe who have hot accents."

Then it hit Mischa. She was flirting with him! How could he be so oblivious? 

He decided he would flirt back, she was pretty after all.

"Really? Well a guy liked that would be very lucky." Arianna smiled. She got out a package of sticky notes and pulled one off. She scribbled something down and handed the note to Mischa.

"My number." She specified.

Mischa got his phone out and typed the number in. Then the bus started moving.

Arianna and Mischa kept flirting on the ride home. Arianna seemed nice. Then his attention was pulled away from the girl.

Two kids were laughing a few seats up. It was Penny and Noel.

Penny had one earphone in one ear and Noel had the other in his ear. They were laughing at some video on Penny's telephone. They looked so happy. Like Penny didn't get made fun of this morning. Like Noel wasn't bullied out of the locker room. Mischa admired that. He admired that despite being disliked, they were still happy because they had each other. 

Mischa missed his friends from Ukraine.

"Mischa?" Connor's voice pulled Mischa from his thoughts.

"Yeah?" Mischa would try and call his friends when he got home.

----------------------------------------------

Straight to the basement Mischa went. He didn't want to see his 'parents.'

Instead, he actually did homework. Why? He doesn't know. He's usually the type to put it off until the last minute. He just felt motivated to do it.

After that, he changed into comfortable clothes. Well, some clothes. He kept his shirt off because there was no point in keeping it on. It was also hot as shit in the basement.

He also decided to watch some youtube.

He pulled open the app and started scrolling though the videos. Most of them were about rappers, some about video games. He saw one of those "Are you gay?" ads. He clicked it out of pure curiosity. He knew he would get the answer no but he still wanted to take it.

Have you ever found the opposite sex attracitive?

Yeah? Who hasn't?

Have you ever fantasized about kissing the opposite sex?

Every straight guy has a tiny crush on Ryan Reynolds. EVERY STRAIGHT GUY. Right?

What would you do if you saw porn of the opposite sex?

What kind of question is this?

A few questions later, 70% gay?!

This couldn't be right. It wasn't right. He was 100% straight! Why did he even take this dumb quiz again? Whatever...

He closed his computer and opened his phone instead. He had a message from his cousin. He smiled. His cousin was one of his favorite people. Sure, he was only 9, but he was funny.

Danylo: Hey Mischa! I miss you sooo much! How was school?

Mischa: Wsp dude! I miss you too! School was okay. How was your day?

Danylo: It was good! I'm excited to be 10 soon!

Mischa: Me too!!! We will get drink!

Danylo: Yeah!!!

Mischa: Yeah!!!

Danylo: Did you make cool friends??

Mischa: Kinda. There is this kid, Ricky. He is super cool. Everyone else is fun but are rude sometimes:/

Danylo: That's sucks. I'm glad Ricky is cool though!

Mischa: Me too

Danylo: I gtg. Mama is telling me to go to sleep. Love you Mischa, miss you<3(p)

Mischa: Aw man. Love and miss you 2(p)(Ukrainian)

He missed Danylo. He was going to video call him on Friday, his birthday. They were going to drink for his birthday. It was tradition in Ukraine. 

Then it hit Mischa.

How exactly would he get the alcohol?

He didn't have money and his 'parents' definitely would not get him any.

He could always steal it. Yeah, he would steal it. He could steal the communion wine at church. He would have to go to some church event on Wednesdays so he could take it then.

Yeah.

He was a genius!

Suddenly he felt his phone buzz. It was Ricky. He had typed his number in at lunch but he never actually messaged him anything. The message read:

Ricky: I have to do this for a grade. Would you be interested in joining the choir?

Mischa: Nah

Ricky: I understand. It's an easy A for me though

Mischa: Makes sense

Ricky: I did make some of my best friends there tho

Ricky: *Image attached*

Ricky: This was last year on the bus to the fall fair. We have to go there every year. It's really fun

It looked like Ocean was holding the phone. A girl with purple space buns was hugging her shoulders next to her. In the seat behind them was Noel and Penny wearing matching necklaces. Noel's had a pink half of a heart and Penny had a blue half. Ricky was sitting in the seat next to them. He was smiling wide and doing jazz hands. They looked like they were having a lot of fun.

Mischa: That looks cool. what did you do at the fair?

Ricky: It's a singing comp. We got second last year. After we sing we get to go on rides and stuff

Mischa: Cool!

Ricky: Yeah. The only bad thing is the singing and I don't even have to do it XD

Mischa: Yeah XD

Ricky: I gotta feed my cats brb

Mischa: K. I'll probably go to bed soon tho

Ricky: Oh okay. Gn

Mischa: Gn<3(p)

Ricky: Why the heart?

Mischa: It's not normal to show affection to friends in Canada?

Ricky: It is just not like that

Mischa: Oh. Mb then, gn

Ricky: Gn

Mischa sent his phone on the floor. He lazily got up so he could get his charger and brush his teeth.

After brushing his teeth he headed to bed.

He thought back to the gay test he took earlier.

Men are hot and he would kiss a man. But he's not gay. Right?

Whatever, he needs sleep.

Chapter Text

Don't ask Misha what the priest was saying, he had no clue.

He was pondering how he was going to steal the wine. 

He could ask to use the restroom and steal it then? That sounded like a good plan.

"Mrs. Scyamore? May I use the restroom?" Misha asked as sweetly and respectfully as possible.

His adoptive mother gasped and turned to him, a look of horror on her face. She looked like she was going to cry. Again. 

She always looked at Misha like that. It made him angry. Why couldn't she just act like a mom? Why couldn't she act like his mom? She hated him and made that very clear. It hurt.

Mrs. Scyamore nodded quickly before hiding her head in her husbands shoulder.

He held her head close and whispered soothingly to her.

At least Misha wouldn't have to worry about an adoptive parent divorce where neither parent would fight for him.

Misha stood up and walked out of the service room. He didn't know his way around the church. It was his first time here and his actual mother wasn't very religious.

He looked around the entry room, taking in his surroundings.

The walls were a light blue color. They weren't what Misha expected but he didn't mind. It reminded him of his childhood room. It was a dark wood floor with gray couches pushed against the walls. There was a water fountain near the entrance to a bathroom. 

There was a door with a sign above it to his right. The sign read: KITCHEN.

That had to be where the wine was, right?

Misha slowly inched towards the closed door. He gently opened the door and poked his head in. It was empty.

He pushed the door open more and stepped inside. 

There was a fold out table in the middle of the room. The table had a plate of cookies and a shit ton communion cups. Next to the table were about 5 boxes labeled, "Communion wine"

Bingo.

Misha bent down next to the boxes and opened one. There wasn't a lot of wine in each box, certainly not enough to get drunk. He guessed he'd have to take three boxes if he wanted to get drunk and, obviously, he did.

Misha picked up three boxes, carefully balancing them in his arms. Then, he decided to sprint full speed out of the church. Why? It was fun.

No one was even in the lobby area thing, they were all listening to the sermon. That didn't stop Misha though.

He started sprinting down the sidewalk. He quickly ran out of breath. Believe it or not, running as fast as you can while trying not to drop three boxes of wine takes a lot of energy.

He slowed down and tried to catch his breath. He still had to walk a bit to get to his "parents" house. While he was walking, he pondered where he would hide the boxes.

He probably didn't have to hide them well. His "parents" never went in the basement. He could probably throw them in the bathroom and be fine. 

After a few minutes of walking, he was outside his house.

He went down to the basement and shoved the boxes in the small bathroom. 

Now what?

He was home alone.

Misha sat on the mattress and pulled open the laptop charging next to it. 

He pulled open YouTube and scrolled through his comment wall.

A profile called "Tals084892" had commented on every video he posted. Damn.

Her comments were.... Mostly positive. All of the comments were in Ukrainian and that made Misha extremely happy.

He replied to every single comment, making sure to add stupid little keyboard emojis :p. 

Tals084892 responded back fast. They exchanged other socials and started chatting.

Bad-Egg: Hey!

Tals084892: Hiiiiii! Whats ur name?

Bad-Egg: Misha. Yours?

Tals084892: Talia

Bad-Egg: Dope! Thats a pretty name

Tals084892: Tysm! Ur name is cool 2

Bad-Egg: Do you live in Ukraine?

Tals084892: Yeah! Do you?

Bad-Egg: I used to. I had to move to stupid canada when I was adopted

Tals084892: Oh no:((( is it bad there?!

Bad-Egg: I hate it. I had to move to a town called Uranium. Stupid Uranium is killing Ukraine.

Tals084892: Im sorry:(((

Bad-Egg: Not ur fault

Tals084892: Ik I still feel bad tho

Bad-Egg: Thx. It makes me feel slightly better

Tals084892: I'm glad. Do you have any friends there?

Bad-Egg: Kinda. School started a few days ago for me

Tals084892: Oh okay. Well thats good right?

Bad-Egg: Yeah

*Tals084892 changed nickname to Misha:D*

*Misha:D changed nickname to Talia:o*

Talia:o: :ooooo

Misha:D: :DDDDDD

Talia:o: :)))

Misha:D: ((((:

Talia:o: I have to do stupid homeworkkkkk:(

Misha:D: Aw man>:( Ttyl?

Talia:o: Yep! TTYL!!!!(Ukrainian)

Misha thought Talia seemed very nice. Homework is a bitch, that's why he didn't do it.

Now what could he do?

Misha laid down on the concrete-like mattress. The ceiling was made of concrete, the floor was made of concrete, even the walls were made of concrete. Everything was concrete. It was so depressing. He was so depressing.

He missed his mom. He didn't even know if she had died yet. What if she got better? He hoped so. He hoped that she got better and was on her way to get him back. It wouldn't be hard, his adoptive parents would gladly throw him out.

He missed his mother so much. He would do anything just to see her face one last time. To hear her voice on last time.

Misha's eyes started to sting a little. He blinked quickly to keep himself from crying.

Fuck stupid Uranium and fuck stupid Canada! Why did he have to move here? It all felt like a giant punch to the face.

Misha was so fucking angry!

He punched the concrete wall without thinking. Then he did it again, and again, and again.

He did it until his wall had splotches of red and his hands stung. 

His knuckles were bleeding a deep crimson. 

Misha fell to the floor. He wasn't even trying to stop himself from crying anymore.

The tears flowed like a river. They made his face warm and his eyes sting. Everything hurt, his hands, his knees, his eyes. He wanted to curl up in a ball and die. It wasn't fair. Why couldn't it be fair? What did he do to deserve this?

Misha sat there for a few minutes, crying pathetically. Eventually he got up and cleaned himself up. As much as he wanted to, he couldn't sit there and cry forever.

He heard the door open on the floor above him. His "parents" were back from church.

As much as he hated them, Misha found himself hoping they would come down to the basement and ask him why he left. He knew they wouldn't though.

And he was right, they didn't.

They didn't even come to lecture him.

Life sucks.

------------------------------------------

It was Friday night and his "parents" still hadn't confronted him about the wine.

He had the three boxes next to him as he eagerly waited for Danylo to face-time him.

As soon as the accept call button popped up, he pressed it.

"Hi Misha!"(Ukrainian) Danylo said, his voice filled with excitement. 

"Hey bud! You are 10 now, yeah? That's so cool!"(Ukrainian) Misha responded.

"I stole some of my mom's vodka. You think it will be good?"(Ukrainian) Danylo asked. He flipped his camera to show a unopened bottle of straight vodka.

"It's going to be strong, you might want to mix it with something else?"(Ukrainian) Misha informed the young boy. Misha had drank before, he knew how strong vodka was.

"But you don't mix it with anything?"(Ukrainian) Danylo reminded Misha.

Normally, Misha would argue. However, it was his birthday. If the kid wanted the vodka, he'd give him the damn vodka.

"Just going to warn you, it is very strong."(Ukrainian)

"Blah blah blah, I know. I'll be fine. Can we drink now?"(Ukrainian) The boy asked.

Misha nodded and opened one of the small bottles of wine.

"Cheers."(Ukrainian) Misha held the bottle up and pretended to clink the bottles together. Danylo did the same and pressed the bottle to his lips.

The tart taste of wine quickly hit Misha's taste buds. It was addicting, he'd admit. He drank half of the small bottle before looking back to the camera.

Danylo had a look of disgust mixed with joy on his face.

"Is it good?"(Ukrainian) Misha asked.

Danylo shrugged.

"It burns a bit. Feels like I'm swallowing fire."(Ukrainian) His cousin described.

"I told you to mix it with water or something."(Ukrainian) Misha teased.

Danylo rolled his eyes and took anything drink.

The two boys drank the rest of their alcohol. Misha may or may not have miscalculated the amount of alcohol he had.

He was pretty drunk and so was his cousin.

"Misha, I don't feel good."(Ukrainian) Danylo complained, his words slurred.

"Tell your mother? I don't know."(Ukrainian) Misha recommended, feeling kind of dazed.

Danylo hiccuped and said okay. He hung up the call.

Misha looked around the basement. There was a lot of empty wine bottles.

Misha started laughing. He didn't know why. It wasn't really funny. But being drunk did make him think less. And thinking less meant he couldn't be reminded of all the bad things in his life right now.

The drunk teenager heard a knock at the basement door and quickly stumbled to his feet.

"Yeah?" He called from his mattress.

"Y-Your food!" Mrs. Scyamore responded.

Misha crawled up the stairs. He was perfectly capable of walking, he just didn't want to.\

"What is for dinner?" Misha asked as he opened the door.

His adoptive mother stared at him. It was probably the first time she ever really looked at him. She sniffed the air and her mouth hung open.

"You smell like wine. Did you drink wine?" She asked, terrified. 

Misha started laughing and nodding his head.

Mrs. Scyamore did not laugh. Instead, she grabbed Misha's wrist and pulled him into the kitchen.

Misha squinted in the bright kitchen light. He was quickly thrown in a chair.

"Olivia? Why is he up here?" Mr. Scyamore asked. He set down the book he was reading and sent Misha a judgmental glare.

"He somehow got wine and now he's drunk!" Mrs. Scyamore cried. She pointed at him like he was a witch during the Salem Witch Trails.

Misha stopped paying attention after that. He vaguely remembers the couple asking how he obtained the wine and how much he drank.

By the end of his interrogation his adoptive mother was crying again like she always did when she saw him.

"Y-you go back t-to the basement!" She screamed. 

Misha stood up, dizzy, and made his way back downstairs. 

The empty wine bottles still surrounded his mattress.

Misha was starting to get a headache so he laid down.

His phone buzzed next to him. He picked it up and opened the notification. It was from his aunt, Danylo's mom.

Aunt Diana: My boy is getting his stomach pumped. You disappointed me. I thought Tamara would raise you better.(Ukrainian)

Misha was too drunk to comprehend what that meant. He just plugged his phone in and fell asleep, not bothering to change or brush his teeth.

He was going to have bad hangover but whatever. That was future Misha problems.

Chapter Text

His fuckass "parents" forced him to join choir as a punishment. 

Misha told Ricky, Connor, Luke, and Duke. Connor, Luke, and Duke were all sad about him switching classes. Ricky however was happy that he'd have another class with Misha.

It was Monday and instead of walking into the robotics room, he walked into the choir room. He was immediately greeted with chaos.

Noel was chasing Penny around the room, trying to grab something from her. They were yelling bu also laughing like crazy.

Ocean was singing a very poor rendition of "Let It Go" from frozen.

A girl who Misha thought was Constance was asking the teacher question from the looks of it.

Ricky, the only normal one, was calmly sitting on the risers.

Misha shut the door a little louder than he would have liked. All eyes turned to him.

Ocean's face lit up with joy and she said, "I knew it! I knew he'd join choir! I convinced him to join choir in French class. Aren't you proud of me, Father Marcus?" Ocean bragged.

"I am in choir because I stole wine, not because of you." Misha corrected. Ocean's face flushed pink with embarrassment. 

After the embarrassment wore off, she looked surpised.

"You stole wine? That's alcohol!" She judged.

"Yeah?"

The teacher, Father Marcus, cleared his throat. Everyone turned to face their teacher. "Your name is Misha?" He asked.

Misha nodded his head as confirmation. 

"Do you know what your range is?"

"My what?"

"That's a no." Father Marcus mumbled. "Class, stand on the risers. Misha, come stand by the piano."

The rest of the choir went to the risers while Misha awkwardly stumbled his way to the piano.

"Can you sing the lowest note you can for me?" Father Marcus asked.

Misha nodded and complied. He felt kind of embarrassed, singing in front of a bunch of kids he barely knew. 

Father Marcus nodded and asked him to sing the highest note he can without straining his voice.

Again, Misha did as he was asked. His face flushed a bit. His voice cracked and so he went down a note. He heard a squeaky laugh from the risers quickly followed by an ow.

"You're a baritone. If you would stand by Noel, that would be great." Father Marcus said and patted his shoulder.

Misha looked to the risers and looked to Noel. He smiled and the other boy smiled back.

He climbed onto the risers and stood next to Noel. 

"Hey." Noel whispered.

"Hi." Misha whispered back, smiling.

"We are going over sighting reading not only for Misha but because some of you," Father Marcus glanced at Penny's direction,"need a refresher."

Penny looked down and Ocean chuckled. 

Father Marcus taught them for about five or so minutes. The then asked the kids to get in groups for warm-ups. Apparently it's quicker than doing it as a class.

"Connie, you're my partner." Ocean stated, grabbing Constance's arm possessively. 

"Oh Noel~" Penny skipped over, talking in a sing-songy voice. "Wanna pair up with me?"

"I would but I think I should help Misha, he is new after all." Noel said. He gave Penny a look that Misha couldn't decode.

Penny gave Noel a look back and nodded quickly. "Of course! Ricky~" Penny skipped over to Ricky, using the same sing-songy tone.

"So, you're a baritone. You know what that means?" Noel asked, sitting down on the risers.

"What does it mean?" Misha asked and sat down as well.

"It means I'm not the only baritone. I'm a baritone and a tenor." Noel said and smiled at Misha.

"That is cool." Misha swallowed, suddenly forgetting how to use words.

"Mhm. We should do warm-ups quickly so we can talk a little bit." Noel advises.

Misha nods in agreement.

Noel taught Misha some simple warm-ups and they practiced them for a few minutes.

"I thin that's enough warming up, don't you?" Noel asks.

"Yeah, enough." Misha laughs out.

Misha looked at Noel. He observed the boy in front of him. Noel was picking at the black nail polish he had on.

"You know, I'm really glad that you talk to me." Noel admitted. "I know we haven't talked lots but still. It's so refreshing to talk to a guy. All the other guys think I'll infect them or something." Noel laughed slightly. He looked down at his hands, embarrassed at what he said.

"What do you mean infect? Do you have sickness?" Misha asked curiously. 

"Oh um, you know I'm uh," Noel faced flushed pink. "You know I'm gay, right?"

"I've been told. But what does that have to do with infection?" Misha tilted his head.

Noel smiled a warm smile and replied, "I don't know either."

A comfortable silence fell between them. They could hear Ocean and Constance warming up still. Constance's voice cracked and Ocean started to lecture her.

Misha heard a new voice, Noel's.

"Are you gay? You know? Since all the guys here are homophobic." 

Instead of saying no like Misha would have done in any other situation, he panicked.

He thought back to the quiz he took. Was he? No. But maybe?

"I don't know." Was what Misha decided on.

Noel nodded and asked, "Have you ever wanted to date a man?"

Misha thought about that. He had small crushes on some male celebrities but he'd never have a chance with them. What if he could? Would he date a man?

"Maybe. But I also like girls." Misha made that a clear fact.

Noe chuckled and said, "You could be bi. Maybe you like both?"

Misha thought about that. Both? He could do that? Nothing was stopping him. Hmmmmmmmmm, decisions, decisions...

"Children! I am going to pass out music for out fall concert. I will also pass out permission slips for the field trip. Remember, it's a free trip!" Father Marcus announced.

He passed out the papers and continued to speak. "You don't have to go but it is for a grade. I will give you the rest of class to practice if you choose."

Misha got his papers and immediately dragged Ricky to the corner of class. The pair sat on the dirty floor.

Ricky got out his notebook and wrote down, What the hell?

"Are you straight?" Misha asked.

Ricky nodded with a confused look on his face.

"Have you eve wanted to kiss a man?" Misha asked again.

Ricky looked even more confused as he shook his head.

Ricky wrote, Why are you asking me this?

"I might be half gay." Misha said, panicked.

Ricky looked like he was going to laugh. How could he be laughing at this? This was scary shit!

Ricky wrote down, You mean bi?

Misha nodded. 

All Ricky did was give him a thumbs up.

"Do you not care?" Misha asked.

Ricky shook his head no.

Well... That was oddly, easy?

Ricky is so cool, he's nice, smart, and not homophobic.

Ricky then looked like he realized something life changing and started to scribble on the paper.

Who's the lucky guy?

... Well.

What did Ricky mean? Like, who he had a crush on? No one? Right?

Well, maybe it was just a small crush. It would definitely go away.

Misha, very obviously, looked at Noel. He was holding Penny's hands and talking. He looked really happy. He couldn't hear what they were saying but he heard Penny squeal with excitement.

Ricky gasped.

Misha immediately turned his head back towards him.

You like Noel???

"Small crush." Misha confirmed. "He look pretty."

Ricky smiled and gave a look that said, "That's adorable."

"It'll go away!" Misha said defensively.

Ricky nodded and signed something.

"I am learning sign language, okay?" Misha said, feigning offense.

Ricky nodded dramatically to display sarcasm.

The rest of class they talked about video games Ricky liked.

Chapter Text

Penny Lamb started to pack up her stuff exactly two minutes. She quickly shoved her pencils into her pencil pouch and unzipped her backpack. She put the rest of her stuff inside in no particular order. She zipped her backpack back up and looked at the clock. One minute left of class. Come on... Hurry up!

RINGGGGGGG!!!!

Penny shot up out of her chair, grabbed her backpack and bolted out of the room. She was trying to make it to choir before Noel did. It was a fun game they did. She did have to be careful though, she didn't want to run into anyone. Well, she wouldn't mind bumping into Ocean.

"Stop running from me!" A voice said from behind her. Penny turned around to be greeted with Noel running behind her. He grabbed her shoulder to slow her down.

"I'm not running!" Penny laughed out. Noel started laughing as well. Soon the pair was giggling down the hallway, judging eyes glued to them. That didn't matter though. Who cares what they thought? Penny knows that God loves everyone and that sexuality won't change that.

As they approached the choir room, Penny shrugged free of Noel's grip and sprinted into the room.

Yes! She was first! Well, technically Ricky was the first in the room but he got to leave class early. Plus, this was a game just between Noel and Penny.

Noel walked in calmly behind her. He waved to Father Marcus and sat his stuff down on the risers.

"Good morning, children." Father Marcus said.

"Good morning, Father Marcus." Replied both Penny and Noel in perfect sync.

Penny made her way to the risers as Ocean strutted into the room, head held high as always. Penny smiled at her just to have her smile ignored. The girl sighed quietly. She set her backpack down and sat on the risers.

"Hi guys." Constance said. She set her stuff down and walked up to Father Marcus.

Penny was bored. She wanted to make things less boring. 

"Hey Noel," Penny said. She turned to face the boy and smirked. She glanced down at the notebook by his backpack. That was the notebook he wrote about Monique in. Monique Gibeau was a character he made up. She was a hooker in post war France. Noel liked to write poem's and short stories about her, specifically about her sex life. Penny was the only person Noel allowed to read the things he wrote in the notebook. Penny inched her hand towards the book filled with saucy stories.

"Penny, no." Noel warned. Penny knew that Noel knew that she wouldn't read it out loud without his permission. He still wanted to be sure no one read these stories though.

Penny quickly grabbed the notebook and jumped off the risers. Noel chased after her. The pair kept running in circles, over and over and over and over again. Eventually Noel grabbed Penny's arm and they started play fighting over the book.

"Give it." Noel tugged.

"Oh c'mon Noel! They are so well written.~" Penny teased.

"That doesn't mean I want people to hear them." Noel said back.

The duo kept this game of tug of war going for about thirty seconds before a loud slam was heard.

Penny flinched and turned her head towards the door, still pulling the notebook towards her chest.

A tall boy with curly hair stood at the door. 

"Who is he?" Penny thought.

"I knew it! I knew he'd join choir!" Ocean's squeaky voice pierced the air. "I convinced him to join choir in French class. Aren't you proud of me, Father Marcus?"

Before Father Marcus could even think of a respond, the curly headed boy corrected her.

"I am in choir because I stole wine, not because of you." 

Penny doesn't know what voice she expected to hear but it definitely wasn't the thick Ukrainian accent that came out. She looked a Noel, forfeiting the notebook. Noel's face was slightly pinker than it was 30 seconds ago.

Penny's mind got to work coming up with theories as to what this could mean. Was Noel mad? Was he exhausted from taking back the notebook? Was she imagining it? Was it because of this new boy? Was it just because?

"You stole wine? That's alcohol!" Ocean cried. Here she goes again, lecturing about the dangers of addiction. Last time she went on one of these schlemiels, it was because Constance mentioned that her cousin went to a bar for her 21st birthday.

"Yeah?" They boy replied.

Penny started praying in her head for someone, anyone to bless her with not having Ocean talk about why alcohol is bad for you.

Then Father Marcus cleared his throat. Thank you, Lord.

"Your name is Misha?" The teacher asked.

Misha nodded. 

By now, Penny and Noel had given each other space. Noel had his notebook and Penny had her fun.

"Do you know what your range is?" Father Marcus asked Misha. He sat down at his piano slowly.

"My what?" Penny is a soprano! No, she is not bragging... Okay maybe she is.

Father Marcus told Misha he was going to find out his range.

Noel, Penny, Ocean, and Constance all walked to their assigned spot on the risers. They listened to Misha sing nervously. When he was singing a high note, his voice cracked. Ocean laughed a tiny bit but Penny lightly slapped her on the arm.

"Ow!" Ocean scowled. The ginger crossed her arms and huffed. She was so cute. Insufferable, yes, but cute.

Misha was a baritone, surprise, surprise! He was asked to stand next to Noel and did just that.

"We are going over sighting reading not only for Misha but because some of you," Father Marcus looked Penny directly in both of her eyes. She blushed slightly with embarrassment. "need a refresher."

He began to explain notes and boring things that Penny already knew. If she already knew them, why listen?

Penny stared at the tiled ceiling. The swirly shades of gray were memorizing. Penny carefully observed the messy swirls of marble tile, each one different than the last. They reminded her of the ocean, not the person just to be clear. The way the spirals perfectly blended into one another. It was beautiful.

"Connie, you're my partner." Ocean said, snapping Penny out of her thoughts. They were doing warm-ups, that was clear. Her and Noel were always partners so she skipped over to him.

She called his name in a playful way. "Wanna pair up with me?"

"I would but I think I should help Misha, he is new after all." Noel said. He gave the look. You know, the look that says, let me work with him because he's cute.

Penny acknowledged this. She gave back the, got it! But you need to tell me every word spoken between you to look.

She spun on her heels and started skipping towards Ricky.

"Ricky~" She called.

Ricky looked up at her with a curious look.

Yeah? He signed.

"We are doing warm-ups together." Penny sat across from Ricky.

Ricky nodded. Just sing, I don't care what you sound like.

"Do, re, mi, fa, sol, la, ti, do." Penny sang. "Ti, la, sol, fa, mi, re do."

Penny sang for a few minutes and Ricky critiqued her. Warm-ups always bored Penny. She just wanted to sing the actual music. 

After they finishing warming up, Penny laid her head in Ricky's lap. She loved physical touch, it was her love language. She knew Ricky didn't mind, he was also a very touchy person.

"Do you ever wonder when you'll die?" Penny asked. She adjusted herself so she could see Ricky's hands.

Sometimes. Who doesn't?

"Yeah. I wonder when and how I'll die." Penny said plainly.

Ricky nodded.

Silence...

"I want cotton candy so bad." 

A very faint snort escaped Ricky's mouth. You change topics so fast.

"Yeah, who cares." Penny rolled her eyes. "We need to plan the choir sleepover soon."

They had a choir sleepover every year. It was exactly what it sounds like: a sleepover for everyone in choir. They started doing them in third grade when Ocean, Constance, and Noel formed a choir group. They continued to do them as the choir grew slowly. Despite everyone being in choir, they didn't do a lot of singing. In fact, it was mainly Noel and Ocean bickering and throwing popcorn at each other. Once upon a time they actually sang at the gatherings.

Who's house? Ricky signed.

"Not mine. My foster mom recently became a bitch about having people over. She yelled at Ez for three hours because he asked to invite a friend over." Penny explained. She went into foster care after the whole Johnny incident. The law 'doesn't trust them enough' to let them live in dorms without adult supervision. Stupid, she knows.

That's so weird. Ricky signed.

Penny just nodded. 

Ricky started to un-braid and re-braid her hair. Ricky was really good at braiding hair. Penny didn't mind the gesture, she liked having people touch her hair. Did she mention she liked physical touch already?

Ricky finished typing her hair up just as Father Marcus announced,"Children! I am going to pass out music for out fall concert. I will also pass out permission slips for the field trip. Remember, it's a free trip!" He passed out both papers and continued,"You don't have to go but it is for a grade. I will give you the rest of class to practice if you choose."

Penny sat up and took her papers from Father Marcus. She mumbled a soft, "Thank you, sir."

Ricky was then very aggressively pulled to the corner of the room by Misha. Damn, why the hurry? Penny brushed it off and crawled over to Noel.

"Hey." Penny sat next to him.

"Penny!" Noel excitedly said her name, grinning widely.

"Tell me everything!" Penny demanded, grabbing Noel's hands and squeezing them. Noel squeezed hers back.

"He might be bi!" Noel whispered.

"No." Penny's mouth hung open. For all Penny knew, her and Noel were the only queer people in Uranium. Now a guy who moved here might be bi? That wasn't only good news for Noel, it was also good news for Penny. She wanted another queer friend!

"Yes!" Noel smiled. Penny squealed in response.

"Oh my gosh!" Penny squeezed Noel's hands even tighter.

"He's so fucking cute! His voice is just gorgeous." Noel gushed.

Noel was the type to catch feelings very fast. He was very good at hiding it though considering all of them were straight. But now that he could have a microscopic chance with a hot guy?

"You should ask for his number." Penny advised.

"Absolutely not! Are you crazy?" Noel asked.

"Say it's for the choir sleepover." Penny said. Noel thought for a moment before smiling.

"I like how you think." 

They two continued to plan ways to get Misha's number. This was such an exciting experience! They had never experienced anything like this before. Sure, they both had crushes but they never had a chance! 

Penny, despite being all smiles, was slightly jealous. She was happy for Noel, always, but she also wanted a chance at getting a girlfriend. She didn't want to be alone all her life. Yeah, she's only in high-school but still. Nearly everyone at their school has had a boyfriend or girlfriend before. Her and Noel even dated in seventh grade just to not be seen as gay(It didn't work) She needed to get over her jealously, and she would! It's also not like she's going to sabotage her best friend's chance at love just because she can't get a girlfriend. She's not rude. And now she's getting in her own head.

Did she take her meds today?

Probably not.