#counterclockwise

Mischa Bachinski looked around the room, fidgeting with his hands in front of him. He had decided to join the choir on his own, finding an interest in singing—but he had to admit he was nervous. He searched for an adult; the choir director, Father Marcus; but couldn’t find him. Instead he found the other choir members sitting together, chatting somewhat casually.

“Hi,” he said to the other members, his voice cracking. “I wanted to… join the choir… Where is the director?”

“Hello,” said a chipper sounding boy. “Father Marcus is out sick, I believe! But we decided to hang out anyway! Anyway, I’m Noel! Noel Gruber! What’s your name?” Noel smiled at Mischa. Noel had black hair, parted in the middle, and was the tallest in the group. 

Mischa was a little bit overwhelmed by the boy’s friendliness. He seemed almost too eager. “Oh! I am Mischa. Mischa Bachinski,” he said softly.

“Who’s this loser?” A girl asked, an annoyed tone in her voice. Mischa looked over to see the shortest in the group. She wore her curly, purple-and-dark-brown hair down, and wore glasses. She was chewing on a pink piece of gum.

“Be nice, Constance,” another girl replied in a hushed tone. This girl was ginger, and a few inches taller than the other girl. She seemed… down.

The final choir member waved to Mischa with a neutral face. He stood with a plain pair of crutches, and his curly hair was tied back into a small ponytail.

“This is my best friend, Ocean O’Connell Rosenberg,” Noel said, pointing to the sad-looking girl. “She is pretty quiet most of the time, but she is super nice! Everyone loves her!” Next, he pointed to the girl with the glasses. “As Ocean said, this is Constance Blackwood! She can be… mean, sometimes…” He sighed as Constance flipped him off. “And this is Ricky,” he continued, pointing to the boy with the crutches. “I thought he would make a good addition to the choir to make it more accessible, assuming he could sign the songs… turns out he doesn’t know sign language.”