NEW YEAR'S EVE ━━ 𝐂𝐀𝐒𝐖𝐄𝐍

𝟎𝟏𝟗 ━━ it's either everything or nothing

There was so much he wanted to tell him, and it was all so vulnerable and real and terrifying. He couldn't go a fraction of a second without thinking about it, then feeling it, feeling his breath quicken, and a fluttering in his stomach━he was going mad. When he checks to see if anyone was looking at him, how mad he was...and no one was, but EJ was.

Suddenly, he didn't feel so mad, because he was looking at him the same way.

"Alright! Get into pairs!" Miss Jenn's shout cut off his thoughts.

Before Ricky realized what was going on or he processed that people were getting into pairs━Nini walked up to EJ. He watched as she smiled in his face, and suddenly, he understood what EJ felt when he watched Nini put a hand on his bicep.

Nini tried not to let it bother her when the senior rolled his eyes at her and squeezed his arm.

"Hi there," she greeted him, unsure what else to say, she chuckled. Looking down at her feet straight after. "Sorry..."

"What do you want?"

Nini shook her head, her smile vanishing. "I think we should talk."

"We've already talked, and you made it very clear how you felt about me...and Ricky. And, honestly, I don't want to hear anything from you again." EJ looked down at her and watched her nose flare up.

"Look, I haven't told him, but you should know that I'm going to..."

"What?" Nini's eyes widened. "You...can't."

"Actually, I can."

"No, Ricky will never speak to me again. EJ, it was a...mistake." Nini twisted her heel into the ground, a small squeak-like noise came from her lips before she grabbed onto his arm. The same way she did when she was about to say something desperate, but then she fixed her posture, letting it go. "I never meant it."

That stung them both.

EJ stepped past her, "I don't give a shit, Nini. Leave me alone."

"Wait—"

"Okay, now we're all in our pairs! Let's start our first position, come on, let's all follow Ashlyn...oh━Nini, EJ, Ricky, Marcus━sit down!"

Ricky looked over his shoulder to see Marcus smiling at him. He hadn't even noticed that he was standing there. And, now they were partners. He threw a sorry look in EJ's direction.

"Hey, Bowen," Marcus enthused, swinging an arm around his shoulder. "Have I ever told you how much I love your singing voice?"

"Only a few hundred times..." Ricky snickered, walking with Marcus who pushed him along. "But, sure, why not a hundred and one?"

"Exactly." Marcus flashed a look over his shoulder, in EJ's direction. He smiled over at him before swinging a hand over his shoulder, "We're going to be great...partners."

"Oh, um..." Ricky's eyes wandered behind him, and Marcus snapped a finger in his face. Marcus looked straight past him, to where he had stared at EJ. He craned his neck to see him once more, and he was staring Marcus down now, clearly vexed. The other senior pulled his attention towards him once again,

"Isn't it weird how we never see each other outside of school?" the senior brought up oh-so-casually.

"I guess, but we've been kinda busy with everything━the musical...you're graduating..."

"That's true. Since we're talking about graduation...do you think you'll know what to do when EJ and I graduate next year? Have you guys talked about what will happen with everything? You know, you two?"