act one, chapter six
homecoming
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"Why are we even going to this thing? It's stupid and they never have good food."
"Andy, you literally did most of the planning for this event and you aren't even in the committee. We have to go." Elana says says, adding the final touches to her make up. "Plus, if we don't go, there'd be no one to make sure Aiden doesn't get in trouble."
"Oh, you just want to go so that you can gawk at EJ the whole time. Which is, first of all gross, but also you can literally have anyone else in this god forsaken school and you are still thirsting over Elton John Caswell?"
"You're one to talk, babe. If I remember correctly, you liked EJ before the big fallout between him and your cousin and you've had a crush on Ricky Bowen since you met him." Elana says, making Andrea roll her eyes.
"Okay, okay, whatever. I need something to send to Nini and Kourtney before we head to the school and totally forget to take a good picture." The two girls stand in from of the girl's mirror, posing comfortably before snapping the picture. "It sucks that they aren't going to come with us. I don't blame them though, especially after everything that's been happening recently."
"Must suck to be the girl every guy falls in love with." Elana chuckles, but the undertone of sadness was clear.
"I'm just upset that we aren't doing girls night with them too, i'd rather go wherever Miss Jenn is taking them than our smelly gym."Andrea sighs. "I'm not feeling very festive as of late."
"Aid told me about your parents." Elana says, giving her friend a sympathetic look. "And Stanford. I know you don't like fighting with your mother on things, it must've been hard. Plus the whole messy Joseph situation. You've been through hell and back these last few days."
"Definitely less than ideal," Andrea takes a seat on her bed, "but I'm going to try my best not to think about it tonight. It's been a hell of a last few weeks."
"I can second that." The two girls turn to see Aiden leaning against the bedroom doorframe, dressed in a fine suit. "You guys look great."
"Thanks, Aiden. You don't look too bad yourself." Elana says.
"All right, losers. We should get going if we want to get there before people mistake our fashionably lateness for ditching."
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"Andy!"
"Hey, G. You look great." Andrea says, leaving her two best friends at their reserved table to meet Gina by the punch bowl. "So, who's the lucky guy that you ditched me for all of a sudden? I was so ready to do some karaoke with you the limo after playing cupid and leaving my two best friends stranded together at the dance."
"Yeah, sorry about that. Something came up." The girl says, looking a bit down. "Uh- i'm here with EJ."
"Wait, what?" Andrea says, taken aback.
"Look, I can explain—"
"Gina, you are getting yourself mixed up in drama that you don't understand." Andrea says, disappointed in her friend. "I know you want the part badly, but Nini, Ricky, EJ, and even you have dealt with enough. You know you're talented, I know you're talented, hell, if anyone who knows you doesn't find you talented, then they are clearly blind. This isn't survival of the fittest, you don't have to tear someone down to come out on top."
Gina looks down, making Andrea gently grab the girl's arm. "I know you're a good person, G. I'm not really one to open up to just anyone. Hell, you can literally ask the cheer squad or student gov. I know that you are better than this. Do you?"
"Andy, I—"
"Your date looks lost, you should get back to him." Andrea says, grabbing a cup of punch before walking away from the sophomore. "God, why do I find myself in these situations?"
"Andy, hey." The dark haired girl curses mentally curses herself out before turning to the curly headed boy. "Wow, you -uh- you look great."
"Thanks, you too." Andrea says, awkwardly looking away from the boy.
"Uh, would you care for a dance?" Ricky says, holding his hand out to the girl. Andrea sighs before taking it and joining the boy on the dance floor.
"I didn't think you'd show. Y'know with everything going on and without a date."
"Well, that's where you are wrong. I'm not dateless." Ricky chuckles, making Andrea's warm smile falter, "I'm here with Big Red."
"And how'd you bag that stud?" Andrea jokes, making the two of them chuckle. "But really though, Big Red's the best. I'm glad he got you to come out here tonight." Their laughter dies down, leaving them to just gaze at each other.
"Hey, about the other night—"
"Oh, it's totally fine. We were both going through some things and it was a moment of weakness." Andrea quickly states, making Ricky look down in disappointment. "I mean, you're still not over Nini and I— well — it's really messy. It wasn't anything more than a spur of the moment. Right?"
"Yeah, definitely." Ricky says with a hesitant nod. "Now that that's all cleared up, who did you show up with?"
"I was actually supposed to come here with Gina, we've been getting close lately and I kind of owe her, but she ditched me for EJ so..."
"Yeah, what's up with that?" Ricky says before looking away guiltily. "But I kind of did tell Gina off about it earlier and feel really guilty about it."
"You did, what? Ricky, we are young, we make mistakes. She's ambitious and competitive, but she isn't a bad person."
"I know, i'm just— it's just—" Ricky sighs in frustration, making Andrea flash the boy a small smile. She pulls the boy in for a hug, still swaying to the beat. "I'm sorry, i'm kind of a mess."
"It's okay, i'm used to it."
The two only pull away when they hear the sound of liquid hitting the floor. They turn to see EJ soaked in punch and Gina storming off.
"G—"
"I'll go after her, I should probably apologize for what I said before." Ricky says, making Andrea give him a pointed look. "I promise i'll make sure she's okay."
"Fine. I'll see you later?"
"Definitely." Ricky walks off in the same direction Gina had gone while Andrea lets out a sigh.
"It's for the best, Andy. For both of you." She mumbles to herself before glancing over to her table where Elana and Aiden sat, laughing together as the girl reluctantly followed the boy onto the dance floor. "Now, that is a sight for sore eyes."
"I'll tell you what isn't." Andrea turns back to see EJ now standing in front of her. "She ruined my suit. Red stains!"
"All right, pretty boy. Take things down a notch." Andrea says, grabbing the boys arm and dragging him to her table. "Aiden brought his copy of the master key so we can go to the locker rooms and get you a change of clothes so you don't have to drive home soaked in punch."
"Thanks, sunshine."
Sunshine. The nickname filled her with warmth and nostalgia. Her first nickname, yet he was the only person to ever call her that. It was probably her favorite among the multiple nicknames people have given her over the years. She never really figured out where he got it from.
The girl swipes the master key from the small sack that her cousin had brought before walking out of the gym with the boy.
They get to the locker rooms and EJ walks over to grab his extra shirt from his locker while Andrea gets a towel and uses the showers to wet it.
"Well, this is one way to spend my last homecoming." EJ says as Andrea turns off the faucet. She turns to reveal a shirtless EJ walking over to her. "Tonight has been the worst."
"Relax, pretty boy, you'll live." Andrea as he rolls his eyes. The girl lifts the towel, taking a few steps closer, and starts using it to clean up the boy, trying her best not to let her curious eyes glance down at the boy's abs. "I'm sorry this happened to you though. This was a nice suit."
"Thanks." EJ says, looking down at the girl as she carefully wiped him clean. "You look good, too. I -uh- I saw you dancing with Ricky. Is he your date?"
"Yeah, no. He's still in love with Nini, remember? I'd be surprised if you've forgotten already." Andrea says, sarcastically. "You actually stole my date so I had to come with Elana and Aiden who I hoped would go together."
"What happened to Jo?"
The girl frowns as she continued to work on cleaning the boy. "Uh- we aren't together anymore. I'm surprised you didn't hear. It has been all that people have been talking about lately."
"Wait," EJ gently grabs her wrist, making her look him in the eye, "did he cheat on you?" The girl reluctantly nods, making the boy scoff. "What an idiot! How could he just let you go like that?"
"Guess he found someone better." Andrea pulls her wrist out of the boy's hold. "Always seems to be the case."
EJ's eyebrows furrow in confusion, but he chooses not to push the girl on the subject. "Well, sorry about stealing Gina from you. I don't even know why I took her, she told me she could help me get Nini back and I was so blinded—"
"You don't have to explain yourself to me, EJ." Andrea says, looking up to meet the boy's gaze once again. "Not unless you are explaining because you need to, not because you want me to think of you in some sort of way." He lets out a sigh before wrapping his arms around the girl, resting his chin on the girl's head.
Once again, the girl felt warm. Both on the inside and out.
"Sorry, it's just— I missed you, Dre. It's been years and I still can't find anyone as easy to talk to as you. No matter what I did, you'd never judge me or make me feel bad for feeling the things I feel. I miss that." EJ says as Andrea gives in and hugs the boy back, surprising them both. "I just feel so alone, especially now."
"I'm sorry." Andrea says, her chest burning with guilt, knowing well it was her own decision to cut him off. "I didn't know you felt this way."
"I lost two of my best friends in one week. I still consider that week to be the worst one of my life, even topping this one, and not just because Aiden gave me a black eye." EJ chuckles softly, squeezing the girl tightly before letting her go. "I think you talking to me again is what has made this whole mess slightly bearable."
"Well, i'm glad I was able to help in any way." Andrea says, sincerely. The girl takes a deep breath before looking back up at the boy. "Look, i'm tired of acting like you don't exist. It's obviously been hard on us both and we've both had a really crappy couple of weeks. I'd rather us be by each other's side than on opposing sides."
"Really?" EJ says in disbelief, his eyes lighting up slightly, a small smile gracing his lips.
"Friends again?" Andrea hold out her pinky finger between her and the boy, making him chuckle before wrapping his own around it.
"Friends again."
"Now, get dressed, pretty boy, and maybe i'll let you be my date for the rest of the dance."
"What about Aiden?"
"I'll just lock my bedroom door, wear headphones tonight and hope he forgets by tomorrow morning."
"I'll be out in a second."
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