𝐀𝐑𝐓𝐒𝐘 - 𝐡𝐬𝐦𝐭𝐦𝐭𝐬 | ✔

⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀𝒊𝒙. 𝐛𝐞𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐞 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐤𝐧𝐨𝐰 𝐢𝐭

𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐧𝐢𝐧𝐞
━━ 𝒃𝒆𝒇𝒐𝒓𝒆 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒌𝒏𝒐𝒘 𝒊𝒕

     The next day, Juliette could not focus on what she was doing, no matter how hard she tried to concentrate. She was trying to sketch one of Nini's costumes with Kourtney but she could not stop glancing at her phone.

     "Hey, you expecting a call from the president or something?" the taller girl joked

     "Sorry. It's just that... Ricky and E.J. have a private rehearsal and I'm worried. About Ricky I mean, there is no way he could beat E.J. in a fight."

     "Definitely no," Kourtney agreed, "you've been talking to him lately?"

     "I have. We seem to have become friends."

     "Sure, and the smile on your face is just because you are friends, right?"

     "He is a good friend, I'm glad we are closer now. I'm glad I'm closer to everyone actually, including you. You don't have an idea of how much I have learnt from you."

     Even if Juliette was saying the truth, this was only a desperate attempt to divert the topic of the conversation. However, Kourtney did not seem to notice and smiled towards the girl's commentary.

     "You are the sweetest," she replied, "we really have to hang out more outside of school. Do you want to come with Nini and me after school? She told me she would like to hang out with you as well."

     "I'll be glad to." Juliette returned to her drawing, now colouring in Nini's red dress for the courtain call. Her task, however, was soon interrupted by a redhead boy bursting into the art room, scaring everyone. Apparently, and as Juliette had expected, rehearsal had gone wrong and Ricky needed Juliette to come to the rescue. The rest of the members prompted her to go (so she could tell them everything afterwards) and Juliette left the room.

    "What's happened?" the girl questioned while they both speed-ran through the hallways.

     "Ricky hit E.J. with a basketball."

     "He did what now? Oh my God, but is Ricky okay? I mean are they both okay?"

     "I'll ignore your attempt to hide that for now. E.J. has a busted lip now, he is in the bathroom, bleeding."

     Ricky was nowhere to be found, he was probably hiding from E.J. in some corner, so Juliette took it upon herself to try and find the senior. As Big Red had told him, he was in the male bathroom. Of course, Juliette could not enter there so she remained in the door and elevated her voice.

     "Hey, E.J., are you okay?" she asked, truly concerned. A bigger fight between these two is the last thing they needed right now, to be honest.

     "I'm fine," he replied dryly approaching the door so Juliette could see him. She could not blame him, though. It was the first time they ever talked to each other and they were in the door of the male bathroom with the boy half-naked from the waist upwards.

     "Do you need anything? Ice? Another towel? Another shirt?"

     "I'm really fine, Juliette. Don't worry," he assured looking down at her, the harsh tone gone by now.

     "Well, if you do need something, I'll be in the auditorium. We are all taking our breaks if you want to come. Just, please don't punch Ricky. He wouldn't survive."

     "Only because you ask me to," he agreed, laughing softly.

     Juliette took that as her cue to leave but, as she was turning around, she bumped into Ricky.

     "What were you doing in there?"

     "Checking if E.J. was okay. What were you thinking!?"

     "It was an accident, Juliette," he looked down at her with soft eyes, "I swear I didn't mean to."

     "Well you better apologize," she warned him.

     "Oh come on, Jul..."

     "Please, Ricky, apologize," she repeated, now looking at him directly and lowering her voice. Ultimately, the boy sighed and accepted, going into the bathroom. She stayed in the door for some minutes but, seeing how she could not hear any noise except for the two voices, she directed herself towards the auditorium.

     There, she found everyone gathered around the piano while a girl was playing Stick to the Status Quo, the song they were rehearsing that week. Gina, seeing her enter, prompted for her to join them and soon, they all started singing in the best harmony they could. Even those who claimed not to sing joined.

     Suddenly, the door opened and Mr Mazzara, followed by Miss Jenn, stepped into the room and looked at them in amazement and surprise. They did sound good together, even if they were improvising and just goofing around like they liked to do so much. At that moment, Juliette found herself in a warm hug. Everyone was dancing with each other, no matter the level of acquaintance or friendship they had. They were all a family there. And she loved that.

     Not much later, Miss Jenn dismissed them and they all parted their ways. Ricky was nowhere to be found so, seeing that they lived near, Big Red decided to walk with Juliette home. Nevertheless, as soon as they stepped out of the building, they saw the curly-haired boy chatting with his ex-girlfriend. If rehearsal had gone bad and E.J. had ended up with a busted lip, neither of them (nor any of those that were around them) wanted to imagine what was going to happen with Nini and Ricky.

     Surprisingly, the conversation went smoothly and, after having a short and civil talk, they both parted their ways, making Juliette, Big Red and Kourtney look at each other. Since when could Ricky and Nini talk without it ending up in a fight?

     Shrugging their shoulder, they waited for the boy whereas Nini joined Kourtney, not without flashing a smile to the redhead. As they walked home, Ricky updated them on what had happened: he had left a voicemail to Nini about a "moment" they shared but it had been E.J. the one to listen to it, since the brunette did not have her phone, she had lost it.

     Hearing all about the moment Ricky believed he had shared with Nini sent Juliette's mood down completely. Suddenly, she felt uncomfortable in her own clothes and utterly stupid. Of course it was Nini. It had always been Nini. How could she even imagine...?

—

Juliette:

I have a crush in Ricky Bowen
and he is still head over heels
for Nini

Lexi:

Bitch I knew about your
crush even before you knew
about it