Chapter Text
Ocean is awoken by the loud, obnoxious beeping of her alarm clock. Groaning, she sits up and stares blankly at the wall until her sleep-induced fatigue is gone. Then she notices the distinct lack of the smell of weed in the house, and almost instantly her spirits are lifted. At least they’re not here to interrupt her. Ocean does her usual, meticulously scheduled morning routine of brushing her teeth, straightening her hair and putting on her uniform, taking an extra five minutes to make sure it’s flawless , then leaves for school after grabbing a browning banana from the kitchen to serve as her breakfast.
She walks down the streets, the thin fabric of the uniform doing practically nothing to keep out the coldness of the winter. Still, it beats having to ride in her parents’ shitty crappy hippie van.
Earlier than Constance as always, Ocean wanders around the school aimlessly. She’s thinking of ways to keep her brain off of things and pack her schedule till it’s bursting at the seams, when gentle humming fills her thoughts. Searching for the source, she spots Penny Lamb sitting alone on some steps humming a tune and reading a book. Ocean’s interest is piqued. Penny's voice is undeniably beautiful. Without even thinking twice, Ocean walks up to her.
“Your name's Penny, right?” Ocean asks.
Penny startles and looks up at Ocean, then nods.
“You have a really nice singing voice. You should join the St. Cassian Chamber Choir!” she announces proudly, ignoring the bemused look on Penny’s face. If she plays this right, maybe she’ll get an award for being hospitable to the new student! There isn’t an award for that yet, but if it’s plausible she’s damn well gonna get it.
“...Okay,” Penny eventually answers, giving Ocean a shy smile. Ocean smiles back, though it comes off a bit faker than she intended.
“We have a session today after school. Come to the room with the stage, you shouldn’t miss it,” she adds, flashing Penny an attempt at a more professional smile, turning on her heel and walking away. Penny stares after her wondering what the hell just transpired.
Ocean sits on the edge of the stage as the other choir members enter. First Noel, then Constance, then Ricky. Ten minutes into practice, Mischa finally arrives. Mischa is always late, so it’s not much of a surprise. And then about fifteen minutes into practise, a certain brown-haired girl peeks her head in. The other choir members give her quizzical looks, but Ocean puts on one of her usual Most-Successful-Girl-In-Town smiles.
“Everyone,” Ocean announces, walking over to Penny. “This is our newest member! Penny- uh…” she casts a glance over at Penny.
“Lamb,” Penny answers quietly.
“-Penny Lamb!” Ocean continues, acting unaffected. “Don’t forget to make her feel welcome!” With that, she drags Penny over to one of the seats.
Penny doesn’t interact with the rest of the choir during the lesson. Like, at all. To the point that even Ocean forgets that she’s even there until she’s reminded by the presence of an extra voice in the harmonies.
After choir, Penny approaches Ocean with confusion and slight skepticism written all over her face.
“Thanks for letting me join your choir,” She says, tilting her head at Ocean. Ocean internally beams at the fact that Penny called it her choir, but outwardly she just flashes that same plastic smile she always uses.
“Well, of course I did. You have a good voice,” Ocean answers, nodding. Besides, it’s true. That is one of the reasons Ocean invited Penny to the choir. It’s just not the only one. She needs her awards, okay? They look good on her record. And having a good record is very important if she’s gonna be the future president of Canada.
Ocean blinks back into reality when she realises she’s kind of just been staring at Penny with a borderline maniacal grin on her face. Penny looks extremely uncomfortable.
“...right. Um… I should go home now,” Penny awkwardly speaks up, shuffling out of the room. Ocean nods, and begins to pack up the choir room.
That Penny girl is an odd one. Most new people at Uranium are all the same. They have no idea how things work, so they latch onto whoever is deemed popular or smart. Yet Penny is the opposite. She seems to be avoiding… Well, everyone, really. She simultaneously intrigues and frustrates Ocean. Ocean takes pride in her extensive knowledge in almost every topic. So of course, she doesn’t like things that she doesn’t understand. And unfortunately, this new girl falls directly into the category of “Things Ocean Doesn’t Understand”.
Sighing, Ocean grabs her bag and leaves the school. At least it’s less freezing now. She opens the door to her house, and retreats to her room. Searching through her bag, she pulls out some extra credit assignments and a pen, and gets to work. After about half an hour, the smell of weed fills the house. They’re home. Ocean pulls the collar of her uniform shirt over her nose and mouth.
This is going to be a long night.