NEW YEAR'S EVE ━━ 𝐂𝐀𝐒𝐖𝐄𝐍

𝟎𝟐𝟏 ━━ lesson four: never, ever catch feelings

"Damn it," Marcus stood up, grumbling. "I'm gonna kill whoever's up there."

He pushed through people, not apologizing when he bumped into a girl and made her knock some of her 'fruit juice' to the ground. No one was going to be having fun if they'd gone into his dad's room. His heart pounded in his chest, thinking about what would happen when his dad got home and he saw a bottle-shaped hole in his fridge.

Moving past chattering students, he walked up the stairs, gripping the handlebar as he stomped to the top. When he got to the landing, he heard indistinct whispers coming from his father's room. Someone was in there.

He pushed open the door, and his mouth fell open. His vision had to adjust to what he was seeing before his brain did.

He could tell who the girl was. It was the girl EJ had met at camp—Gabriella, or Clarabelle, or Marian The Librarian, or another guy's girlfriend was sitting on top of a guy that was definitely not Ricky Bowen. They were both covered by a duvet, but he could see what they were doing very well.

Marcus's open-mouthed shock morphed into a surprised smile, the girl whipped her head around, and he saw who the boy underneath her was. "Holy shit...oh my god."

He left the door open, racing to get out of there. He didn't look back, he didn't want to see anything else. No matter how hilariously stupid it was. The sound of rushed scrambling gathered in his ears, and he could hear the heavy patter of EJ's bare footsteps on his wooden floor as he ran after him.

"Wait." EJ ran in front of him, still shirtless, grabbing his arm and begging him to stop. "Marcus, wait, you can't tell anyone."

"Oh, I'm telling everyone!" Marcus chuckled. "The guys are gonna lose it..."

"No!" Nini's voice sounded out above theirs, and they turned around to see the junior girl, tying up her boots. "You can't tell anyone. Y-you can't...Ricky might find out."

"Ricky?" EJ stumbled. He looked lost in space. "You didn't tell me anything about Ricky."

Marcus's smile faded when he saw his friend's face turn pale.

𝐍𝐎𝐖.

The theatre kids were crowded in Slices, sharing pepperoni pizza, and cupcakes, and laughing. Ricky pushed the door open, and Big Red came running to him, holding a cupcake with a little teacup sitting on top in his hand.

"Ricky! You came after all!" Big Red cheered. "Did you have fun?" he asked him, with a wink.

"Not really, no..." Ricky huffed. "Have you seen Nini?"

"Yeah, uh...she's right over there next to Kourtney, with the rest of the guys. Why?" Ricky barely listened to the rest of what he said before he walked straight toward her, forcing himself not to shout too loud, "Yo, Nini! Can we talk?" He put a smile on his face.

"Right now?"

He nodded, "Yes, right now."

"Ricky, I'm kind of in the middle of something right now," Nini smiled, pointing with her eyes at everyone around them. But he didn't care.

"I know what you did."

"Know?" People were looking at them, so Nini continued to smile and laughed a little. "Know what?"

Ricky let out a deep breath. "EJ told me."

"Oh..." Nini's voice cracked. "I-I'm sorry."

"How could you do that to me?"

"Can we talk in private?"

"You had the opportunity to make this private," Ricky declared—his calm voice faltering.