R.J Forever?

Chapter 3: High School Extracurricular Activities

Ricky's POV:

"Big Red, why are we sitting at the loser table in the back of the cafeteria instead of at a table with Kourtney and Nini?," I look over to my best friend who is eating the disgusting school lunch that we could buy but instead I decided to pack my lunch instead.

"It's not the loser table. It's just quieter back here. Besides we have a good view of the dance team table from here," I look over to where he's pointing at with his carrot stick and see my crush, E.J Caswell, sitting with the mens Varsity lacrosse team and girls dance team at a table  in the middle of the cafeteria.

The boy that I've had a crush on since 7th grade but can't seem to confess my feelings to.

I don't even know if he's gay or bi or even single.

"Ricky, are you going to eat your potato chips?" I look back at the table and see Big Red staring at my lunch bag that's still full of food.

"Uh I don't know, you can have them," I offer to him as I stop staring at E.J who's cuddling with one of the blonde cheerleaders at his own table.

After passing my bag of chips across the table to him, I get out my song book from my backpack and start writing some lyrics in it since I'm not that hungry.

"Hey guys, can I sit here? I couldn't find another free table and I got lost on my way to the cafeteria. Just new girl things," I look up after a few minutes and see the new girl, Gina from my morning class set her lunch bag and backpack down on the table.

"Yeah sure, we love meeting new people. This is also definitely not the loser table," I look across the table and listen to Big Red talk with his mouthful.

Yeah, right. This is definitely the loser table. I'm a close closeted gay kid sitting at a table with my best friend who can't even close his mouth while he chews his food.

"Are you guys in any school clubs or on any sports teams? I'd love to get involved in stuff since I'm obviously the new girl and it's just kinda weird for me when everyone else has a friends or a place to go to after school," I listen to Gina as I finally open my lunch-bag to find a sandwich that my dad packed for me the other night.

"I'm on the school robotics team. We got third place last year," I look across the table and see Big Red give her a big goofy grin promoting his nerdy robotics club.

"Cool, what about you Ricky?" I look to my side and see Gina take a sip of her water from her water bottle

Wow. She remembered my name and I only had her in one class.

I bet that E.J doesn't even know that I exist. We pass by each other in the halls all the time but I'm just this shy underclassmen with family problems.

"Uh I'm not in any clubs and I'm definitely not strong enough to be on a sports team. High school extracurricular activities are dumb," I mumble to her and look back over at the popular students table that is in the middle of the cafeteria where E.J is sitting.

"Oh, I see. You're into athletes but not sports," I stop staring at E.J's table and look back to see Gina smirking at me.

"What? No, I'm not into boys. I like girls," I stutter to her as I take a bite of my sandwich and try to hide the embarrassment in my voice since she probably saw me looking at E.J's table.

"No, you're lying. You like boys, who are specifically athletes. Don't worry I won't tell anyone that you're gay," I hear her whisper into my ear but Big Red obviously heard her because I watch him as his mouth drops wide open.

"How did you figure it out so quickly?" I look over to her and put my finger on her mouth to shush her even though we're sitting in the back of the cafeteria.

"Well first of all, I'm also gay but I'm a lesbian and second of all, you keep staring at the men's lacrosse team table. Don't worry I won't tell anyone that you like athletes," I listen to Gina talk to Big Red and I confidentially like coming out is no big deal.

But it is a big deal to me because I'm sitting at the loser table and I have a crush on the most popular guy in school who just so happens to be E.J perfect Caswell.

"Uh cool, but please don't tell anyone. I haven't told anyone about my secret except for Big Red and I'd like for it to stay that way," I tell her as I pull out my phone to follow her on Instagram since she seems cool.

"Ok, sounds good. So do you know if the dance team here is cliquey and mean, or are they cooler than the ones in the movies? And do you know if Nini Salazar Roberts is interested in dance? She seems like the cheerleader type to me. I think that she's so pretty and I love the way she does her makeup and hair" I look over to Gina and see her eyeing Nini and Kourtney's table in the left corner of the cafeteria.

"Uh I don't know, I don't really pay attention to the dance team and I don't really know if Nini dances. She's kinda my friend but we don't talk as much," I tell her as I take another bite of my sandwich.

"Oh, understandable. What about you Big Red? Do you know anything about the dance team? Or about Nini?," I listen to Gina as I sit next to her at the lunch table quietly.

"I don't know much about them but this one girl, Ashlyn always passes by me in the hall. She has the most beautiful red hair and she always does her makeup with fun colors. I wish that I was cool enough to talk to her. She's a sophomore too but we don't have any classes together since the school is so big. I see her all the time in the library when I have robotics team meetings," I listen to my best friend talk about his crush who just so happens to be E.J's cousin.

"Cool! Um this is a weird question but do you guys know if Nini is single? I want to do something for her for Valentine's day," I hear Gina whisper to us at the table.

"I don't know," I mumble back to her while I watch my best friend eat his lunch then glance back at E.J's table where he's sitting with the other lacrosse guys and current dance team girls.

See, I wish I could talk about E.J like that but sadly I haven't made a coming out statement yet. And I have like 0% chance of crossing paths with him anywhere that isn't in the hallway where the lacrosse players hang out when class isn't in session.