Nochelle - Our Stories

T H E B E T

~Season 3~

"Hey, we should probably start working together."

"Just so you know, this is ridiculous. We were on J-Troupe together for years. Do you really think you can teach me something?"

"You know, I've been on A-Troupe for a little while now, I'm pretty sure there's something I could teach you."

"Wanna bet."

"Yeah, actually, I do." He smirked.

"If I don't learn something from you, you buy me dinner."

"Alright, and if I teach you something, you have to kiss me."

"What?!"

"Plus, you have to admit you were wrong."

"I'm never wrong."

"Then it should be pretty easy for you."

~~~

She was wrong.

Stupid Noah and his stupid 540. Of course Eldon had taught him, why didn't she know Eldon had taught him. This was going to be so awkward.

Noah opened his arms nervously, "So, uh...do you wanna do it now?"

"Oh!" Richelle squeaked, "right now?"

"Only if you want to do it," Noah said quickly, "We don't have too!"

"No! I do! A deal's a deal." Richelle reassured him. She rubbed her arms nervously. "Sorry, it's just my first time, well..."

"Yeah same," Noah said, digging his nails into his wrist, deep enough to leave little red crescents in his skin.

She reached over and slapped his hand away gently, "Don't do that Noah!" she said worriedly. He instantly dropped his hands, wincing a little.

"Sorry," he said, reaching up to scratch the back of his neck awkwardly, suddenly hyper aware of how close they were, standing face to face in the middle of the music room. He had never been this close to her before, close enough to count every single eyelash framing her deep green eyes.

Suddenly, the anxiety that had settled in his stomach seemed to triple as they inched even closer together.

After a few seconds of staring at each other, Richelle lost all patience and reached up to grab his shoulders, eradicating their height difference. His startled cry of surprise dissipated when she gently pressed her lips against his.

His eyes closed automatically and he moved his lips cautiously, trying his best to remember any morsel of knowledge he had from observing the older A-Troupers in rehearsal—namely James and Riley.

His hands fluttered awkwardly in the air before settling on Richelle's back in somewhat of a hug.

It was kinda wet, was his first thought. Objectively speaking, it probably wasn't as hot as the kisses on the soap operas his mum watched, but he could feel his heart pounding in his chest, his anxiety dissipating into a newfound excitement.

He was kissing Richelle!

Richelle moved a hand from his shoulder to his cheek and Noah could feel himself melt into her touch.

Hesitantly, he opened his mouth a little and poked out his tongue. Richelle tensed in surprise and Noah immediately tried to retreat, but she tugged him closer and opened her mouth to stick out her tongue as well.

There wasn't that much tongue. Noah could admit he thought it was still a little weird, so they kept it pretty chaste.

The kiss lasted maybe 10 seconds at the most, but Noah could have sworn it felt longer.

When they broke apart, Richelle glanced up at the clock on the wall. "I was wrong..." she mumbled.

"Huh?" Noah asked, still dazed from the kiss.

Richelle flushed red, "Oh um, well, the deal."

"Sorry what did you say?!" he teased, pulling his mouth into a smirk, though his bravado and superiority was very much downplayed by the still-way-too-obviously blush.

"You heard me, I'm not saying it again." Richelle shoved him but ducked her head, hiding her emerging smile by tucking her loose strands of hair behind her ears with both hands. She seemed to do that a lot for someone who constantly wore her hair up in a ponytail. Not that Noah was complaining: it was really cute.

"Sorry my hands were kinda clammy..." Noah said after a while, wringing his hands together in circular motions, laughing awkwardly.

"It's okay," she replied, eyes still bright with nervous energy. "That was... that was good right?"

"Really cool," he said, "Super cool. Cool beans."

At Richelle's slightly crestfallen face, he rushed to take her hand. "It was awesome, Richie." he said, hoping his voice didn't sound too high pitched. "Really it was. I'm serious."

Richelle brought her free hand up to his flaming cheek and smiled softly. "Okay." she said, not quite ready to share much more.

She glanced back over at the speaker that had been long abandoned on the bench. "Do you want to get back to the duet?"

Typical Richelle, always focused on getting the job done

Noah grinned at her. "Dance Nerd."

She shoved him again.

~~~

Hehe it's short and it's after midnight but it's still their anniversary in CA 🥺

Bonus points if you can spot the B99 reference