Ashlyn's POV
I don't know what's going on with Gina and EJ, but it's making me uncomfortable and I'm not the only one, everyone sees it too. This morning EJ tried to walk up to her and he called her Gigi, but Gina said don't call her that and walked away!
That's not something Gina would do, she would've given him a hug, call her Speedster, give him a kiss on the cheek, or something that would make him blush. I know EJ was really hurt but he pretended not to care.
Today at Lunch, Gina was all smiles, but as soon as EJ came, her smile turned into a death glare. She excused herself and walked away when EJ sat next to her. When EJ left to use the bathroom, we all gathered close together.
"Okay, what's up with those 2?" Jack asks.
"I have no idea but Gina is really hurting EJ, I can see it," Lily says, in other words, she felt EJ's emotions."
"Wait, are they fighting?" Big Red asks.
"Please, the only thing they'd be fighting about is which one of cuter" Amber scoffs.
"Yeah, when they're not making googly eyes at each other" Carlos says making us giggle.
"What do you think's going with them, Ashlyn? You're EJ's cousin" Andi ask me.
"I don't know, Gina came over yesterday to work on a project, they went out for a little, but when he came back, he seemed happy."
"Oh, I have a plan!" Kourtney says, getting our attention. "Okay, boys, you guys hand out at Big Red's and see if you can cheer up EJ, while the girls and I take Gina to the mall and ask her why she's avoiding EJ."
"Great plan, Kourt!' Nini gives her a high five. "Yeah, I'm gonna go find EJ," Ricky says, that's a good plan, Lunch is practically over, I hope he's okay.
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Ricky's POV
I walk down the halls, but I see no sign of my friend. I checked the bathroom, the gym, I know when he's upset he hangs with Mr. Mazzara and I even checked there but he still was nowhere to be found. I'm starting to get really worried about him.
"Ricky honey, are you okay?
I look to my side and see Miss Jenn, I haven't talked to her in a while, it's really nice to see her again. "Um, no, actually I'm kinda nervous. I'm looking for EJ and I haven't found him anywhere."
"Oh, I think I saw him walking towards his locker."
"Thank you," I say, but she stops me to talk about one thing. "I saw the video of you fighting Andrew."
My heart races up and I sigh, oh no. "I'm really sorry, please don't be mad at me! I didn't mean to go that far, I just wanted to-
She cups my face and moves a few cirls out my face. "I know, Nini told me everything, that you were just trying to protect poor Seb. I'm not mad, sweetie, I'm proud of you, I knew you were always a good kid" she kisses my forehead, making me grin.
"Now go find EJ, when I saw him he looked pretty upset."
I take her advice and walk away. I walk towards his locker and find him. "Hey, Eej!" I grin, but it fades when I actually see his face. His eyes and the tip of his nose are red. He sniffs and wipes his eyes with his tears. "Hi, Curls" he manages to say.
"What's wrong?" I ask him, but he doesn't answer, I use my thumb to wipe away the tears coming down his eyes.
"I don't know, yesterday Gig-I mean Gina and I were good, but now she doesn't wanna be anywhere near me. I don't know what I did wrong" I hear his voice crack throughout that sentence.
I know I'm trying not to fight right now, but I wanna use my powers to crush Gina until there's nothing left. She's hurting my best friend and I can't stand to see him sad. "Hey, the boys and I are gonna hang by Big Red's place, why don't you come with me, it can take your mind off you-know-who."
He just nods his head and wipes the tears falling down, he grabs his locker door but he must be super upset, cause he literally crushed it, leaving a huge dent. I feel so bad for him, so I walk closer and wrap my arms around him. He gently hugs me back, trying not to crush me like he did the locker.
"We'll go after school," I tell him and I feel him nod his head on my shoulder. I really hope this makes him feel better, otherwise, Gina and I are gonna have a little talk.
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Gina's POV
Later in the day the girls and I went to the mall, it was actually their idea, they wanted to get out and have a Girls Day, and who was I to say no to that. Right now we're at Rue 21 and we're helping Nini pick out a new dress.
"Okay, what do you think of these?" She holds up 2 different dresses. Both are short, one is white with flowers at the tip with a black belt, while the other is completely blue with ruffled sleeves. "They're both cute," I say.
"And if you get them, maybe I can make a new bracelet for 'em," Andi says smiling."
I walk away and I feel my phone ding. I see another text from EJ, he's been trying to reach me nonstop, but I've been ignoring him.
(Please ignore the time, I do the texts things the minute I think of them, and I have to get up at 7 am for school)
Why can't he just take the hint that I don't wanna talk to him right now? I DON'T like him, and he doesn't...shouldn't like me. Great, another text from him, this one is longer than the other one.
He misses me? He misses me. I miss him too, I miss looking into deep teal eyes, the day we danced in the rain, it felt like it was us, the world just ended, but we didn't...
No! Stop it, Gina! Don't give in. Just ignore it, block it out.
We left the mall, Nini bought both dresses and now we're at the Food Court eating.
"Can we tell her now?" Amber asks Andi and she nods.
"Gina, we didn't bring you here just to hang out," Nini says. "We came here to talk about you and EJ. Is there something going on between you 2?"
I clench my fist, at the sound of his name. I don't like like him, and he doesn't like like me, can't they just leave that alone!"
"Can you show me those dresses again?" I ask trying to change the subject. I don't know why they're asking me about EJ so much. First Ashlyn after Lunch, then Ricky after school, and now them! I swear if one more person brings up HIS name, I'm gonna scream!
"Try again, we're not budging, what's wrong?" Lily asks.
I stay silent for a while, I don't know why I feel like this around him. That last guy I was close to left me when I was a child, he didn't even say goodbye and now I learn he's afraid to call me and say he's sorry.
Hey, tell us" Nini grabs my hand supportively. And I tell them everything, from talking to EJ about his problems, to dancing with him in the rain, to questioning if I like him.
"I think I do...I like EJ, I've been trying to deny it for a while which is why I've been avoiding him. I have a brother who walked out when I was a kid, that was the only guy I was closet to and I don't want that to happen again. I don't know much about this, but what I'm sure of is that I messed up, big time!"
"Aw, Gina, I'm sorry about your brother, but EJ would never do that. it's okay, cause EJ..." Ash starts, but Nini grabs her arm and continues her sentence.
"Misses you, a lot. He really misses hanging out with you."
"Ricky says you made him cry," Kourtney says, now I feel really bad. "What do I do?" I ask.
"You talk to him. Get him alone and tell him how sorry you are" Andi says and I nod. I have to talk to EJ, and I need to do it quickly. But how do I apologize to him?
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EJ's POV
The boys and I were in Big Red's basement, taking turns playing video games. I wasn't really paying attention to them, I was too busy thinking about Gina. Is she mad at me? Did I lose her as a friend for some reason? She won't respond to any of my texts and I'm really sad and frustrated.
"EJ, wanna play?" Big Red asks. I shake my head at him and go back to my phone, I've been trying to text her all day, texting somehow turned into spamming, but no matter what I do, she still wouldn't respond.
Suddenly, my phone is snatched out of my hand, I look up to see Ricky putting it in my pocket. "Curls, give it back!" I say standing up, but he keeps me away.
"Eej, we brought you here to get your mind off Gina, that doesn't work if you're trying to text her every 2 seconds."
I sigh and sit back down on the couch. "I'm sorry, okay, I just don't know what's wrong. Yesterday we seemed fine and now she doesn't wanna be anywhere near me."
"Hey, who knows if you did something" Jack tell me.
"Maybe she's just in a ruff spot and she wants to be alone" Walker suggests.
"She's happy with everyone else, and then there's me, she literally hates me now!"
"Wow! When you like someone, you really stick close to them" TJ chuckles.
Yeah, I guess I do, wait, what!? "What did you say?" I ask him and they all start laughing.
"Come on, we all see the way you look at her, you blush everytime you're around, y'all hold hands" Cyrus starts.
"Dennis found you guys asleep in each other's arms...and I told them earlier today," Ricky says. If they weren't here, I would hit him with a force field projectile, but instead, I just punch his shoulder. "Come on man, I trusted you!"
"So we just need confirmation from you!" Seb says.
"Do you like her or not?" Carlos asks. Now they're all crowding me. I let out a loud groan, I hate it when people pressure me, seeing as I've been pressured my whole life. Might as well come out with it.
"Yes, okay! I do like her. I've liked her for a while, but I just never told her. She's helped me through a lot of problems and I'm grateful for it, but now she hates me for some reason! Happy now?"
"Yes, very much!" Carlos smirks, but Seb smacks his arm and says this is serious.
"Eej, listen. I know Gina, she wouldn't just out of the blue decide to hate you, she's probably just has a lot on her plate. Give her time, she'll come back around" my blonde-haired friend says.
I hope their right, and that Gina would talk to me soon, I really miss her and...that day I danced with her, I didn't feel like a freak who didn't belong, a hero-in-training, a guy who's trying too hard to be like his father, I was just a regular boy, who was dancing with the girl he likes, and I liked feeling that.
Another chapter, inspired by The Transformation. The next chapter might make y'all cry for Gina, but we all knew it was coming soon. I just saw Eternals 2 days ago, it was so good and I loved it so much. I really hope you guys see it soon. Stay safe and have a great day or night, wherever you are.