R.J Forever?

Chapter 59: Closure, Cramming, and Chicago

Ricky's POV:

Monday was weird. I didn't see E.J at all. No love letters. No kisses or 'I love you's'. Nothing at all. I even asked Ashlyn if she knew what was going on with him but she didn't know anything or didn't want to tell me. Monday went by surprisingly fast even though I spent most of the day daydreaming about E.J and thinking about how stupid and unfair it is that I have to move.

Tuesday was the same. No interaction or kisses from my boyfriend. He just seemed to disappear. Gina and Nini made up at lunch, or at least I thought they did. They said they already made up but I wasn't paying attention. Marcus and Jackson sat with me at lunch that day because Big Red had a robotics team meeting, Gina and Nini were having a lunch date with Seb and Carlos, Kourtney was at sewing club, and Anna and Trevor were at yearbook club. Marcus told me about his plan to take Jackson to PRIDE prom but I wasn't paying attention. I was too busy looking for my boyfriend who seemed to b MIA. I was also avoiding the fact that I had to call my mom all day.

Then yesterday, Wednesday, E.J showed up to school with Chris, the guy who bullied me and read from my science notebook. I saw Chris talk to that Tristilina chick who is on the dance team and tried to avoid any interaction with the two of them. I think that E.J noticed my weird behavior, which caused him to come over to me and squeeze my hand for reassurance. I pulled him aside during lunch and finally asked him why he had been MIA for a day. He told me that he had been taking a mental health break. I didn't ask him anything else after that. I knew that something was up though. That's when I got the idea to create the best birthday gift ever for him to cheer him up.

Now, it's Thursday, May 5th. Prom is two days away. I haven't called my mom yet. I've been procrastinating on doing that because it's scary to come out to a homophobic parent and tell them that you don't want to move in with them. I have so many questions for E.J and my mom. I also need to paint my nails for prom but I have other things on my mind right now, like the math test. It's the second to last big grade of the semester and I need to get at least a B. I can't stop thinking about the last three days though, I want to know what's going on with my boyfriend but I also need to pass this math class if I want to stay at East High. I have tutoring after school today so I have a chance to work on math and talk to Marcus.

"Hey, what color is your outfit for Prom? I forgot." I hear Big Red ask Ashlyn from across the table while I eat lunch in silence and put my hand on my boyfriend's leg.

E.J and I haven't been too social but I plan on asking him about prom tomorrow after I call my mom. I want to get the hard part done first.

"Ricky, I asked my mom if she had a place for you to stay and she said that you could stay in the guest room but you have to work at Slices over the summer," I hear my best friend's voice across the table.

My first response to him is "Oh," instead of "Great,".

None of my friend's know about my homophobic mom that I need to call. They might not a little bit of the story but not all of it.

I don't like talking about it.

"That's great Ricky. You can stay with Big Red till your dad finds a permanent place for you to stay at," I look across the table where Kourtney is sitting at next Gina.

She's been awfully chipper ever since she told me that she was jealous about my friends and relationship.

"Yeah, it's cool I guess and I can make some money at Salt Lake Slices," I shoot everyone a fake smile while holding onto E.J's hand.

Then, I watch Seb and Carlos walk over to our table fashionably late holding onto their lunch trays.

"Hello, Ricky, Seb and I talked to Ashlyn about your moving predicament and decided that we are going to force your dad to keep you here," I listen to Carlos as he sits down next to E.J.