𝑰𝒏 𝑻𝒉𝒆𝒐𝒓𝒚 | Mischa Bachinski x Fem!Reader

Chapter 2: Ghost Town

Friday, January 25th, 2008

Mischa and I had Biology 2 as our last period, which was perfect because I really did not feel like hunting him down across the building.

Speaking of which, why did I even ask him to hang out, and a more important question, why did he say yes? Where in the world did I work up the courage to even casually mention that?

"Y/n?" Mischa called my name, quickly pulling me out of my thoughts. "We're still hanging out, yes?"

"Yes! We just have to go find Noel, and we'll take my car." I said, grabbing my bag.
"You drive?" He asked.

"Yeah, it's my dad's old car." I pulled out my phone and read the recent message from Noel, who said he was changing in the bathroom and would meet us in the parking lot.

…

Mischa and I leaned against my car. While I was trying to scrape the ice off my windshield with a debit card, Mischa had put his headphones back on, his body subtly moving with the rhythm.

Before it could get any less awkward, Noel had walked out of the building and made his way to the car, giving us a spin.

"How do I look?" He inquired. "Register ready?"

He was dressed in a teal polo and brown slacks, with a trench coat and scarf hastily thrown over it. But if he was going for a professional look, the black nails and all black converse were definitely ruining that.

"You look like an undercover scene kid." I laughed.

Noel scoffed. "And you look like you haven't washed your hair in a week, but do I say anything? Hurry up and unlock the car! I'm freezing!"

"Actually it's been 3 days, for your information." I fumbled to get my car keys out of my bag, and unlocked the car, throwing my bag in the back and climbing into the driver's seat. I turned on the heater, anxiously waiting for the rest of the car to warm up.

"I call the passenger seat." Mischa stated, rushing in front of Noel and opened the door.

Noel smiled and sighed, "For once, I don't mind." He hopped into the backseat, pulling out his phone and checking his hair in the reflection, pushing it back from his eyes.

"Can you drop me off at the end with the movie theater?"  Noel asked.

"Yeah." I backed out of the student parking lot, and started on the 10 minute drive to just outside Uranium.

Mischa took off his cap, combing his hand through his hair before looking out the window. "Uranium is a, what are the words for it?"

"Hell on earth? Dead-end?" Noel joked.

"No no, yes, but not it." Mischa trailed off, before slamming his hand down on the dashboard. "Ghost town! That's it."

I laughed "Ghost town? It's definitely about to be. This whole place went broke when I was a kid." I sighed, speeding by the rows and rows of shuttered windows and boarded up doors. "The mines closed, and everyone left by '99."

"So this is where I end up. Huh." Mischa said. I couldn't look at his face but he sounded angry.

"If my parents moved me here I'd be pretty pissed too." I tried empathizing with him.

He exhaled, putting his hat back on. "No, I was adopted."

"Oh." The car got really quiet. I didn't want to push any further, how he was acting was enough to tell me he was very upset about it.

I guess that checks out. I'm not sure what happened to his parents, but being 16 and torn away from everything you ever loved? No wonder he's constantly angry.

…

I finally pulled into the mall, and drove up to the movie theater. Noel got out of the back seat, taking his backpack and throwing it in the trunk.

I rolled down the window, shuddering from the direct rush of cold air. "We're just gonna hang around here, text me when you want to meet up, okay?"

"Uh huh, you two have fun 'hanging out'! I love you!" he playfully smirked.

"Love you too, asshole." I groaned, rolling up the window and drove around to the other end of the mall.

I parked close to the entrance, got out of the car and looped around to the backseat to grab a few things from my backpack. I threw on a dark blue Sailor Moon hoodie, and grabbed my chapstick.

Mischa stood behind me, impatiently waiting to head inside. "Are you cold?" He asked, noticing the extra layer.

"Yeah! It's like -7 degrees outside, and the winter uniform does not do enough. I've lived here my whole life so I'm kinda used to it." I turned to him, "you, however, look like you're suffering."

Mischa had his arms wrapped tightly around his torso, and was breathing slowly but heavy. "Ukraine does not get quite this cold, but temperatures do not bother me." He said, trying to seem tough.

I ignored him, because there was no way he was surviving this. "You're probably just not used to it yet, I have an extra hoodie somewhere in here."

I searched under the seats, grabbing a hold of a Smashing Pumpkins hoodie, and handing it to him.

"Won't this be too small? You're way shorter than me." He teased, unfolding the hoodie.

"Okay first of all, I'm not." I stated, earning a chuckle from Mischa. "Second, I always get them way too big. If it's not halfway down my thigh what's the point? Looks a little bit weird with the school uniform though."

I locked the car as Mischa took off his hat and put on the black hoodie, shaking his messy hair out before putting the cap back on.

Although I was never going to admit it, I was only slightly taller than Ocean, which means Mischa was in fact way taller than me. That being the case though, the hoodie fit him perfectly.

"Okay, let's go inside, please! I can't feel my hands!" I said, trying to get my gloves on.

We quickly strided across the parking lot, occasionally almost slipping on the ice-covered asphalt.

…

"Alright, where to?" I asked Mischa, who seemed to be in a subtle amazement of the shopping mall.

"I have never been to a mall before." Mischa informed, "It's just food and stores?"

We walked over to the oversized map of the mall, and I watched as Mischa gazed over the stores.

"Anything catch your eye?" I asked him.

"What's 'Claire's'?" Mischa laughed. "Sounds super girly."

"Oh yeah." I answered.

"Let's just walk around." He said, not even waiting for me to follow him.

I quickly caught up with him, pushing my hair back out of my face.

We walked for a bit, window shopping and such. Mischa occasionally paused to make a comment on something, either about how attractive a model was or an item he liked.

And with every word he spoke, Mischa Bachinski was becoming more interesting by the minute.