#janine/ava/melissa

[ashoppingtrolleyintheliffey]

Touch

summary: soulmate au where whenever your soulmate touches you it leaves a temporary imprint on your skin. (aka the soulmate au nobody asked for)

janine/ava/melissa. (platonic work wives mentioned)

ps: this is a part 1. there is more planned. also all mistakes are mine.

Janine is a very touchy person which has always brought trouble to herself. Most people prefer to think she was just a stupid girl trying to find her soulmate. Janine had learned to stop her instincts of touching people very young. At work it takes a long time for her to touch anyone. First time it happens with Jacob, him being her best friend and also gay and having a soulmate already, there was no worries surrounding physical touches. And so there was no awkwardness between them. 

Second time she touches someone though, it’s Ava.

It's an accident, obviously. Ava is sitting in Jacob’s place in the teacher’s lounge. Well, it’s not actually Jacob’s place, but it is the place Jacob sits everyday. By Janine’s side. And when Janine sits down, Ava doesn’t get up to leave. She just stays. It is not the first time it has happened. They’re talking. Actually mostly Janine is talking, but then Ava says something funny in return and Janine touches her arm while laughing without even thinking about it. Janine takes her hand off Ava’s arm fast, thinking she fucked up. Then she sees it. Right on Ava’s arm, where she touched it, the mark of her hand. And Janine finds herself speechless (really it’s a first for her, not having words).

Ava takes a few seconds to understand what’s going on. She’s not the kind of person who believes in soulmates. That’s just a cute thing that happens to some people. Certainly not to her. Certainly not with Janine of all people. And yet, she finds herself shocked by the image of Janine’s hand imprinted on her arm. So shocked she just stands up and leaves. Hoping nobody has been paying attention to them.

From the other table, Melissa had been observing the whole exchange. She wasn’t the one to keep probing into other people’s life but she had been keeping tabs on Janine. Maybe she had been turning soft, really. Because she found herself caring for those younger teachers more than she did the ones that came before. Maybe it was that they stayed, and Melissa had to admit she actually respected them for it. Melissa tries to ask, confirm it somehow, but Janine looks like she's about to cry if anyone says anything.

“Come on, let's take a walk.” Melissa says, standing up. Her voice doesn’t leave room open for Janine to do anything other than follow. So Janine follows, quietly. Melissa makes a mental note to go to Ava next, because she can't really believe Ava just left. (She can, if she's honest to herself, but she looks at Janine and gets sort of angry again). Melissa guides them to her classroom, Melissa knows the younger teacher needs some privacy. 

“Come on.” Janine enters, Melissa closes the door softly. Janine sits down, Melissa can see she’s holding the tears. “Hey,” Melissa says, “I think she’s just scared.” This makes the tears fall down on Janine’s face. 

Melissa pulls Janine into a hug, softly soothing the younger woman. “Everything is going to be fine.” Melissa whispered, softly. Over and over again, until the young woman in her arms calmed down. 

“You don't know that.” Janine said, her voice broken. Melissa had let go of the hug, but she was still close, her hand was holding Janine’s. 

“I know it mig…” Melissa started saying, but then, something caught her eye. Where her hand was touching Janine, there was an imprint. “Oh, fuck” Melissa said as soon as she realized it. Janine looked at Melissa confused, then followed her eyes to where Melissa’s hand was still holding her. The imprint was starting to fade. It’s a second that seems like they are both frozen in time. 

“Is that possible?” Janine asked. Of course, she knew about it. People with more than one soulmate. It was more common with people who had already lost a soulmate. Janine has seen documentaries, not many. But to someone who grew up hearing that she probably had no soulmate, that she was too annoying to have a soulmate, Janine had never engaged the idea of multiple soulmates. She was happy with Tariq, they had been friends, she thought it was the best she would’ve managed to get in her life. And now she was watching as an imprint of Melissa’s hand was fading from her skin. 

Melissa. And Ava. Both of them. 

“I’ve never seen it happen either…” Melissa let her hand touch Janine again, leaving it for a moment just to see the imprint again. Janine felt like Melissa wanted to say something but was stopping herself. She didn’t try to make her. Instead, she looked at the red haired teacher, her cheeks flushing a bit 

“I’m not sure what we’re supposed to do.” Janine admits it, “Have no experience with having soulmates.” the s in the end sounded so foreign to her ears. It didn’t feel real. 

“We could talk after school? My place? I’ll make dinner, we’ll have time to think about it…” Melissa offered. Considering her experiences, she wanted to take this slow. 

“And Ava?” Janine asked, unsure.

“I can ask her to come to my house. We should probably discuss this all of us anyway” Melissa said, but Janine still looked unsure. “It’s going to be fine, hon, I promise.” Melissa reassured her, and pushed her close to kiss the top of her head. Janine left Melissa’s classroom then. The kids were starting to arrive and they had to do their jobs. 

And so they did. Janine went through her day as if nothing had changed. But she felt so different. It felt like a dream, really. Janine considered going to Jacob to talk about it, but gave up on it. She decided she was better off eating lunch by herself, to put her thoughts in place.What she didn’t expect was Ms Barbara Howard going to check up on her. 

“Janine, I’m sure everything's going to be fine.” Barbara said, when she saw the younger teacher eating at her classroom, alone. Janine gave a small smile to Barbara. 

“Barbara, have you ever seen someone have two soulmates? At the same time?” Janine asked. Maybe she hoped Barbara would tell her that it was common.

“Two?” Barbara asked, confusion clear on her face. “I’ve heard it, yes.” And it seems like maybe Barbara isn’t as comfortable talking about it than Janine thought she would be, because she doesn’t add more than that.

“ When Melissa touched me…” Janine doesn’t finish her sentence. She thinks that maybe she shouldn’t have said anything. Maybe Melissa wants to tell Barbara herself. 

“Melissa?” Barbara seemed more confused than Janine herself, but her face soon turned happy. “Well, that’s a good thing. She’s good, and you can be good for her. She might be able to make Ava settle too” Barbara said. “Listen Janine, I do hope everything turns out well with them. Don’t worry too much.” And then she was gone. 

-

Melissa, on the other hand, knew exactly where she was headed to during lunchtime. She made the way to Ava’s office fast. But the principal was nowhere to be found. Not that Melissa expected Ava would be doing her job anyway. She walked to the basement. Ava’s bathroom was the next place Melissa had on her list. If she was honest it was the last place too. She kept thinking of the imprint of her hand on Janine’s arm. She thought back of the first time she saw her hand imprinted on someone else. 

They had been friends for a few months, Melissa and Barbara. They had started hating each other, at first. Melissa knew the hatred was not real, at least not from her part, but she knew she felt this necessity of having Barb’s attention. They had eventually become friends. When it happened, they were thankfully by themselves. Just them. Melissa had forgotten herself and had held Barbara’s arm, as they laughed about something she couldn’t even remember. Her hand on Barbara’s arm was an image that had haunted Melissa for many years. Sometimes it still did. 

Barbara didn’t want to have another soulmate. She had Gerald, and she was ready to have kids. But they could still be friends. And so they stayed as such. Melissa didn’t resent her, she really didn’t. At that point she knew Barb too well. But, sometimes, during a lonely night, Melissa would cry about it. The rejection of her soulmate was a wound that she didn’t think would ever heal. 

And then Janine happened. And Melissa didn’t exactly know what to think about it. How to feel about it. She certainly didn’t let herself think about Ava. Well, not until she actually found the principal. Which she did. In Ava’s secret bathroom. 

Ava was… She did not look well. 

“Ava?” Melissa asked. She had no idea how to approach this conversation. She knew Ava, though. Melissa knew how much of her she saw on Ava. Melissa knew that, when no snarky comment came as Ava looked at her, it was serious. That unlike what she did with work, Ava wasn’t taking this lightly. Melissa approached her. She sat on the floor, by Ava’s side. At least the principal didn’t look like she had been crying. Melissa wasn’t sure she could deal with that. “Listen Ava, I don’t know how you feel about that whole thing, but, hm… You should touch me. Just to test it out.” Melissa blurted out. How do you explain to someone that their soulmate is also your soulmate? Melissa had to test it, she had to know if Ava was also her soulmate. 

“What?” Ava asked, confused. 

“I went after Janine, after all of that happened at the lounge. I’m also her soulmate?” Melissa explained. Ava looked like she was about to say something; but no comment followed through. Melissa continued, “We’re having dinner tonight, at my place. I would want you to go, even if we’re not soulmates.” Melissa didn’t dare hope that Ava was. She could understand Janine, pushing through life always with a smile, having more than one soulmate. It even made sense that it would be Ava. Ava who’s tough and pretends to not care when she does care a lot. They’d balanced each other out. Ava’s practicality and Janine’s dreamy ways. But Melissa? She was too old, too battered by life. She had already been rejected by one soulmate, what good would come from having another one? She certainly didn’t think she would have a third one. 

“Why would you want that?” Ava asked, which made Melissa freeze a bit. She knew she would have to tell them about Barb eventually. But she wasn’t really ready to let anyone else know about it yet. 

“Because you’re her soulmate too. I’m not going to make her choose between us. Even if we’re not, we’re still linked by her. And even though you’re a pain in the ass at work, I really like you Ava.” Melissa was honest. Well, as honest as she was willing to be at the moment. 

“What if I don’t want to know?” Ava asked.

“I don’t mind if you don’t want to know, but it might be difficult to keep it up for a long time” Melissa said, she didn’t want to force it on Ava. She understood the Principal's behavior in a way. “I mean, Janine is not the only one who’s a bit touch-y” Melissa offered up this little secret about herself freely. Ava laughed a little. It was easy, between them. Melissa felt her cheeks flush. If she had looked at Ava, she would’ve seen the principal was also flushed. A comfortable silence settled between them. For a moment Melissa considered saying something, but couldn’t think of what to say. She looked at Ava though, their eyes met. Ava did not look away.

“Your place tonight, huh?” Ava asked, eventually breaking the silence. It was unsaid that Ava was still not ready to know. Melissa knew it would happen eventually. And even though it made her insecure to think about it, she thought it was important to respect Ava’s own time. 

“I’m going to cook.” Melissa confirmed, with a smile. 

“So at least I know the food will be worth going.” Ava said. 

“Ava, don’t overthink it. I’m sure everything is going to be fine.” Melissa tried to sound like she was sure of it. Truth was, she didn’t know. But she hoped. 

Melissa’s phone rang, announcing it was the end of recess and she had work to go back to. She left for her classroom, feeling a little more hopeful for the night than she was before. 

[raisedonitt]

"He seems legit, we vetted him."

Abbott Elementary 3.06 'Willard R. Abbott'

[perigilpin]

[serendipitouscontaminant]

Abbott Elementary season 3 premiere + Onion headlines, in celebration of the show being back!

[bifairywife]

inside out 2 if it was filmed in my head:

[livelovecaliforniadreams]

[tomkeirblyth]

ABBOTT ELEMENTARY Season 2 Episode 22 "Franklin Institute"

[gatalentan]

ABBOTT ELEMENTARY 🍎early pilot draft character descriptions (x)

[afterschoolcrewz]

i found the finale episode teaser y’all this is going to be soo good

[kcyars520]

[perigilpin]

[meowmeowhissss]

They’re so me

[lot-of-nothing]

idk if someone has done this or not.

note: thank you so much to @neverscreens for making available amazing screencaps that helped me make these memes. yall should 100% check out the screencaps they have made <3

[likeahauntingmelody]

bonus:

abbott elementary S03E13

[branzinos]

ABBOTT ELEMENTARY SEASON 3 PROMOS (x)

[tableintheteacherslounge]

I will spend this entire week (month? Forever??) thinking about Barbara’s speech to ava about her relationship to church and choir in 03x05

And right now that’s thinking about how Barbara is friends with abbott’s more colourful teachers

Now call me a member of the alphabet mafia but when I hear colourful I think gay

And when I think gay I think jacob and melissa

Jacob her work son, her gardening buddy, who she’s taken under her wing, who despite homophobia from the other church sisters she would never share in that. Sometimes she has old school values (see the mom with the bitch tattoo) but not with this.

Melissa her work wife, though not canonically queer (yet), her closest colleague and if we’re talking people Barbara is friends with at Abbott well Melissa is number one.

And of course colourful could mean shady, not of the lord if you will. And well Melissa does plenty that could be side eyed by those women. But not Barb. Despite the importance of her faith, despite up until now it seeming as though she were perfect saint barbara woman of God. Despite that she still lets in, bonds with, forms a partnership with this woman who doesn’t align with her values, who she’s judged for befriending. But it doesn’t matter, because Melissa matters more.

One of the things that really gets me about their partnering, about their relationship, a reason I love barlissa so much, is that on paper they shouldn’t work. They shouldn’t get along, Barb should be wary or judgey towards Melissa. Mel should find Barbara boring and too prim and proper. But that’s not who they are, they’re not on paper, they’re nuanced and real, with emotions and experiences that shape who they are including their relationships. It’s two people who shouldn’t get on but who actually care for each other earnestly and have done so for a long time.