Since the day Jack saved Gina from serious brain trauma, their bond has grown pretty strong.
They turned out to have a lot in common, like their mutual dislike for Riverdale and birkenstock sandals. They also have the unhealthy tendency to close themselves off and build walls, but not with each other. They're always open with each other.
Jack's family has been isolating him since he came out as bisexual. His mother never ceases to imply that he'll end up with a very nice girl one day, and his father, who's barely around anyway, just straight up condemned him. Jack describes it as "feeling like a stranger in your own home." He definitely stole that from somewhere.
When he first told Gina this, he expected pitiful looks and a detached, "I'm so sorry."
What he didn't expect was the immediate heartfelt hug and the "Let's go get some Starbursts," that followed.
They just get each other.
And then of course, there's the flirty banter.
They don't know how they would describe their relationship. If you've ever seen them out in public, you'd know that anything that looks THAT familial should never be immersed in THAT much sexual tension. To outsiders, they could either be friends, lovers or siblings, depending on the day. And that's how they like it. Their relationship is something only they will understand.
Not even Ashlyn.
Not even Ricky.
She thinks that's pretty cool.
Speaking of Ricky…
Things with him have reached a standstill. A comfortable standstill.
There's not a lot of awkwardness anymore, but there's also not much of anything anymore.
Gina is just becoming okay with this, when she walks into the cafeteria one day to see him at her table. And suddenly, she's a mess again.
Everyday she ate lunch with Ashlyn, Carlos and Seb. But due to some new developments in Ashlyn and Red's relationship, the group has gained a new lunch buddy. Well.. two new lunch buddies, when you count Ricky, who follows his red-headed friend everywhere.
Gina approaches the lunch table warily, the faint hum of other East High Students around her, like white noise, "What's going on guys?" She asks, setting her tray next to Ashlyn's and taking her seat.
"Nothing much. Just Ashlyn and Big Red being nauseatingly cute." Carlos huffs, trying to sound supportive, and failing.
Ashlyn doesn't miss a beat. "Is that bitterness I detect? Don't be mad at me because Seb's not talking to you right now."
Sure enough, sitting next to Carlos is a seething Seb, stabbing angrily at his baby carrots.
"Ouch. It's not my fault. I didn't know he was allergic to authentic split-grain leather."
This causes Seb to finally crack and look up from his vegetables to give Ashlyn a misdirected glare. "Ashlyn, can you please tell Carlos that he's an idiot and that I've told him multiple times that I'm allergic to most animal by-products. Not to mention that I raise cows on my farm, so why in the hell would I want to WEAR DEAD COW SK-"
Ashlyn cuts him off. "Okay, I'm not relating all of that." She moves to get up.
"Come on Red. We have to go do that thing." All of a sudden she looks like she's about to commit a crime.
And Red's an accomplice. "Oh yeah. Of course. That very important thing. We should go… get to that. Bye guys." He scrambles out of his seat and follows Ashlyn out of the cafeteria like an eager pup.
"You're not fooling anyone guys and it's completely fine if you want to talk about hooking up in front of us!" Gina yells at their retreating forms, her voice rising at the end so she can ensure they hear her. "It's what nature intended!"
"Gotta love those adorable carrot-tops."
Gina, so swept up in her friends' chaos, doesn't notice Ricky sneaking glances at her over his textbook.
Lunch goes by slowly. It's probably because Carlos decides to read from his musical theatre manifesto to fill the rest of the period. Gina denies that it has anything to do with the smiley, skater boy sitting right across from her.
Nope. He's not why at all.
She's brought out of her thoughts by the subject of her thoughts. Poetic.
"Huh?"
He smiles. "I said, how've you been?"
She wasn't expecting this at all.
"Pretty good, honestly." This isn't a lie. Ever since she gained a platoniclover in Jack, her life's been improving all around. Her grades have gone up, her skin's cleared and James Charles is taking a hiatus. The world is healing.
"That's good to hear. It's been awhile since we've just had a conversation. I kinda miss you."
Those words echo in her head.
These are the same words he said to Nini in the hallway that day, except he doesn't mean it the same.
He never will.
"Ricky I-"
"Starburst!"
Gina turned her head so fast, she caught whiplash. It was worth it though, to see her best friend standing behind a slightly calmer Seb.
She ran to him, Dirty Dancing style, and tackled him, straddling his waist.
"Jack! Bro, what are you doing here? Shouldn't you be in school? Did you skip again? Jack, what the hell? Your attendance! You can't keep skipping to avoid Lily. What's she gonna do, sing you to death?"
"Gina… babe… shut up."
That earned him a hard slap to the chest. "No! You shut up and tell me what you're doing here."
"Oxymoron."
"You're an oxymoron." She's smiling so hard, she knows she's going to have lines later.
Someone clears their throat behind them.
It's Carlos. And he's smirking. "Well who do we have here? Gina, introduce us to your friend."
"Oh sorry guys!" She finally unwraps her legs from around Jack's waist. "This is my… friend, Jack."
He waves awkwardly under Carlos' interrogating gaze. "Howdy."
"Jack, this is Carlos, Seb… and Ricky." Her voice falters a bit when she gets to Ricky. She hopes it wasn't too obvious.
Jack's eyes widen. She told him about her short history with Ricky, but he's never actually seen what he looks like. So this should be interesting.
Carlos, eager for more information on this new Jack character, hurriedly fills the silence. "So what are you doing here, Jack?"
"Oh, right! Well, one of our auditoriums kind of caught fire during a tech rehearsal for our North High production of Waitress on Skates."
…
"On skates!?"
"One of your auditoriums!?"
"YOU GO TO NORTH HIGH!?"
Jack breaks out laughing at everyone's collective shock. "Yes, to all of those questions. I'm a North High kid in the flesh but definitely not in spirit. I question the judgement of whoever decided to let a bunch of high schoolers sing and serve each other fake food on skates over a four foot high platform."
"I like you already Jack." Seb decides.
Ricky's being unusually quiet.
She's a little worried. "Ricky, are you okay?" He looks like he's about to barf. "Oh geez. You didn't eat the quesadillas did you? You know the lunch ladies don't replace expired cheese-"
He waves her off, "No. No. It's not the quesadillas. I just.. it's nothing."
"Are you sure man? Cause I've gotten food poisoning plenty of times, I know the perfect remedy." Jack chimes in helpfully.
Ricky did not care for his help.
Suddenly sick, feeble little Ricky looks like he could blow this whole cafeteria up. "I'm sorry Jack," he says it like it puts a bad taste in his mouth, "but I don't really know you so…"
…
How does Gina keep finding herself in these awkward situations? Thankfully, she's saved by the bell.
The longest period ever is over.
Ricky gets up, barely-touched food in hand, and storms off.
Well who peed in his Fruit Loops?
It's after school, and Gina let Jack bribe her with Starbucks, in return for her company. Homework can wait. Free latte comes first.
"That boy is so into you, it's crazy."
"Huh?" She says.. eloquently.
"Ricky. It's so obvious."
Not this again. This isn't the first time that Jack has tried to convince her that Ricky likes her back. She used to believe him, until she got into her own head.
Now, a "But Gina, who couldn't love you?" isn't going to cut it.
She rolls her eyes. "What do you know? You just met him today."
He smirks,"And I learned everything I needed to learn in those 15 minutes."
Well this should be interesting.
"Uh huh? And what'd you learn?"
"Thought you'd never ask… To be blunt, your boy's a little stubborn. Not just surface level, he's deeply set in his own ways. That Nini girl you were telling me about?... That's his anchor, tying him down, keeping him safe. But safe isn't what he really wants, no. He thinks that he wants to play it safe. He feels that he needs to play it safe. Ideas of "one true loves" and "high school sweethearts" are so ingrained in him, that his break up isn't just life changing because he lost Nini, it's life changing because now his beliefs are unraveling and this fantasy that he's living in, is slowly becoming a reality. The boy's just scared."
…
She can't contain her laughter. "I'm sorry what? You couldn't have gotten all of that in 15 minutes."
Jack places his right hand over his heart dramatically and feigns sadness. "You doubt me?"
Gina grins. "Always. Anyway, what does this have to do with him liking me?" She asks, taking a sip of her latte. This ridiculous conversation almost distracted her from what's really important.
"Well if Nini's the anchor, then you're the.. the.. the fisherman? I guess they pull anchors, right?"
Now she's lost.
"Whatever. You're opposite of the anchor. His first taste of reality. You're what he really needs."
Well shit. That kind of makes sense?
But it doesn't matter. He's a teenage boy, he could give two shits about what makes sense. He's going to follow his heart. And in his heart,
"He loves Nini."
"That's not real love. That's puppy love."
Gina rolls her eyes so hard, they might get stuck in the back of her head. Jack has never seen Ricky and Nini together. They're electric. Pshh. Puppy love her ass.
"I know how to make him love you."
That grabs her attention. "Excuse me?"
"You heard me. I might have a plan."
Against her better judgement, she hears him out.
"Ok so… will you go out with me?"
She should've listened to her better judgement.