Ricky Bowen is in his senior year at NYU. He's struggling with classes and a very recent "dependency" on alcohol to get him through them. So much so that he's lost sight of who he is and what he loves. It's on one significantly depressing visit to h...
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This text was odd to say the least. For one, Ricky had never texted EJ about anything apart from what homework was due or what scene they were working in rehearsal. Ricky was known having horrible time management skills. What Ricky wasn't known for was texting ex-arch nemeses out of the blue asking to 'hang out'. Sure, following recent events involving an unexpected night in EJ's bed together, It wasn't far off to say that Ricky and EJ were...closer, friends even, but EJ was certain that that all too strange night was going to be a one time thing. Now Ricky was asking to hang out. Hang out? What does that even mean? What would they do? They have almost nothing in common. And why now? EJ didn't have an answer to any of the many questions that crossed his mind when he had read the text that morning and had decided the best course of action was to simply not respond.
After three hours though, the guilt started to set in. Ricky reaching out to him was very out of character, but so was finding him drunk in the street a few nights ago. Perhaps EJ didn't know Ricky's character as well as he thought he did. Maybe Ricky was really trying to be a better friend. Maybe that night they had spent together had caused as much of stir in him as it did in EJ. And then there was the biggest confusion in all of this: EJ had realized he was absolutely, positively into guys in a not-so-heterosexual way. Namely, the guy who had texted him this morning.
Obviously, Ricky didn't feel the same way though, EJ thought. How could he? Why would he? He's probably straight anyway. And even if he wasn't, EJ was still very much in a relationship with Gina. That would certainly make pursuing anything with anyone else difficult, let alone Ricky Bowen.
Why can't I get this boy out of my head?
EJ picked up his phone again to try and find something to distract himself. He began to scroll through Instagram. Gina had posted a roll of photos from their pizza date. The caption read "Here's to pineapples on pizza and learning new things about each other. Trust is built on truth."
Yeah, that doesn't sting at all. EJ thought to himself.
He liked the photos anyway and went to continue scrolling but thought better and decided to leave a comment too. He wouldn't hear the end of it if he hadn't left a few heart emojis in the comments, and right now he needed to be on Gina's good side. Thinking about that made EJ feel gross and slimy. What kind of boyfriend was he? Hiding the truth, throwing meaningless hearts at his girlfriend while secretly pining for a guy he probably couldn't have. But what else was he supposed to do? Break up with Gina and profess his attraction to Ricky? It was a tempting thought, but he cared too much about both of his friends to do that. At best, he could live out the fantasy that had been playing in his head all week. At worst, he could lose both of them. Enough spiraling, back to doom scrolling.
EJ continued to scroll through his insta feed. Seb and Carlos had a picnic in the park yesterday. They are such a perfect couple. Nina posted a photo of her boarding the plane to L.A. I can't believe she's really going out there and living her dream. Kourtney shared a photo from the fall musical, the full cast in costume before opening night. EJ was filled with warmth remembering how much fun that day ended up being. And then his eyes focused on Ricky. He hadn't realized then how good Ricky looked in that jersey, or at least he hadn't let himself acknowledge it until now. He saw that Ricky was tagged and went to his profile.
