24. Camp Prom, Part 2
"Ricky!" Avni called the boy a couple feet ahead of her.
"Oh wow," he said when he saw her.
Avni grinned, "You think so?"
"Hell yeah. You look great."
"Wait till you see Gina."
"Wait till you see EJ."
"I already saw EJ."
"Oh right- because he's an over-enthusiastic idiot who's been wearing a suit all day."
Avni grinned, pushing the door to the barn.
"No, wait," Ricky said, opening it all the way himself. "M'lady," he bowed, clearing up a path for Avni.
Avni rolled her eyes and walked through, not bothering to wait for him, looking for EJ instead.
"Where's my thank you?" Ricky asked, catching up with her.
"For doing something I was already halfway through? How will I ever survive without you?" she deadpanned.
"It's called chivalry."
"Doesn't chivalry also include you paying for my meals and stuff? When have you ever done that, you cheapskate?"
"I don't feel like being chivalrous when you're dressed like a homeless man."
Avni scoffed, "How dare you?"
"Avni?"
"Carlos!" Avni exclaimed, hugging him. "You are slaying this outfit," she said.
"Are you kidding? Look at you! I'm loving the Diana Ross vibe."
"Oh, you don't even know. I told this girl at the company that we had a 70s theme, and she just on the spot sent me like fifty Pinterest posts of outfits, and most of them were colourized Diana Ross pictures. And she goes- pick. So I did, and the next day she had an outfit for me. I don't even know how- but it was flawless so I was like take my money."
Carlos smiled, "You seem different after New York."
"Really?"
"Yeah- you've got a different vibe."
"He's being nice- you just talk a lot more than you used to," Ricky said.
"That's 'cause I have stories. What have you been doing- skating around Salt Lake with that mean bitch Lily?"
"Okay, I feel very attacked right now."
"Good."
"I forgot how much you two bickered," Carlos said. Ricky and Avni grinned at each other.
Two arms wrapped around Avni's waist, and she was pulled backwards into a hard chest.
"Hi," EJ whispered.
"That's my cue to leave," Ricky said in the background somewhere.
Avni turned around in EJ's arms, and he took a step back to look her up and down. "That dress is going to be in my dreams tonight," he grinned. Avni had no time to blush as he leaned in to kiss her deeply.
She felt hot- and suddenly wished she was the one doing that ice-bucket challenge thing the boys always did later.
"I think I need a drink."
"Is that a script?" Avni asked, as EJ pulled out a huge binder out of nowhere.
"The show's tomorrow- this is the only time it makes sense to run lines!" he defended. "Miss Jenn said as long as they know their dialogue, they're good- so I'm making sure they do."
"Totally normal behaviour at a dance," Ricky raised his eyebrows at Avni.
Avni sighed, downing her drink. "Okay, if you're going to do this all night, might as well join in," she said, taking the script from EJ. She flipped through the pages, "Oo this is fun." And then- "This is a lot of work."
"My thoughts exactly," EJ murmured.
"Okay, Ricky, what do you say when Anna says 'Elsa freaked out because I only just met him, today'."
"'Wait, you got engaged to someone you just met?' He's got a point," Ricky said.
"Just gotta stay in the zone tonight. No distractions," EJ said.
Am I being a distraction?
"Yes sir," Ricky said, and then immediately got distracted- almost spitting out his drink as his jaw dropped, eyes glued to the entrance.
Gina, Kourtney and Ashlyn walked in- looking like absolute 70's divas.
Avni wolf-whistled for them, and Gina winked at her.
"Hi," Ricky breathed. Avni held in a laugh at his face.
"You wanna dance?" Gina asked him.
"Yeah," he smiled, and let Gina pull him to the dance floor.
Dude is whipped.
"Maybe we can film you doing some superhero-y things and put them on social media. Most things on the internet are quasi-true," Avni suggested.
"I feel like that'd just be debauchery," Ricky replied.
"I'm just impressed you know what debauchery means."
"Can you stop being a smart-ass and actually help me?"
"I'm trying! What am I supposed to do- beam you into a parallel universe?"
"That's an idea," Gina said. Avni grinned at her.
"Kourtney, look alive," EJ said. Not again.
Avni had barely gotten a moment with him all night. She knew he was only doing the best for his musical, but she couldn't help but feel a little overlooked.
"What do you say when Anna says, 'But why? I don't understand'."
"I know this one," Kourtney said, thinking.
"Curtains are up, cameras are rolling," EJ pushed.
"Yeah, I-I know, um-"
"Kourt?"
"Remember this part?" Gina asked.
"I- I'm blank," Kourtney gave up.
EJ fake- smiled, "Still got twenty-four hours."
"And counting," she said. "Excuse me."
"Yeah, I'm gonna take a minute too," Avni said, walking away, not caring where she went- just walking. Her mind was swirling.
She'd had expectations, from the night. Expectations she'd never conveyed to EJ, so how could she expect him to live up to them? She knew she was being unreasonable, but she just felt disappointed. It was an easy enough feeling to overcome- she'd just need a moment to herself, and then she'd be fine.
"Avni?"
Of course, the universe had different plans.
"Yeah?"
"What's wrong?" EJ asked.
She wasn't in the mood to mess around. "I didn't think you would be working tonight."
He stared, at a loss for words. "I'm just trying to make best of the time we've got-"
"By not spending it together?"
"I'm trying." He sounded exhausted. "You saw the condition we're in. We've had barely two weeks for this musical. There's no way we're going to be able to put up a show tomorrow."
Avni didn't really know what to say. She turned away from him, at war with herself.
She wanted to let this go. There'd be other nights, other opportunities to spend time with him. He had a show tomorrow- she should be supportive.
"I'm sorry," his voice broke. Avni whipped around. One look at his face and she knew he'd misinterpreted her silence.
"EJ-"
"I really don't want to let you down. I'm doing everything I can," he said, and his tone gave the impression that he was talking about something entirely different. "I'm sorry," he said again.
"Sorry for what? What are you not telling me?"
He stared at her. "My dad's sending me to Caswell Success Training School in St. Louis," he said.
"What?" Avni asked. She felt blindsided, betrayed. He wasn't going to be in Salt Lake for the next two months- he'd be in St. Louis. It wasn't just this night's plans that were getting disrupted, it was the next two months. Two months that she'd thought they would have to themselves- two months that-
"Avni," he took a step forward.
"No, don't," Avni said. "Stay where you are."
He obliged. "I'm doing everything I can, Avni. I'm fighting- for me, for us. It's why I need this to be a success- to prove to my dad that I'm worth something."
"The musical or the documentary? Because the musical's success has nothing to do with documentary's- you should know that by now. And the documentary's success is not in your hands."
"He's coming tomorrow."
"I hear what you're saying, EJ. I get it. But-" she paused. "Wasn't the whole point of not going to Duke and taking gap year to not let your dad dictate you and your happiness? Is this really how you want to spend your last camp prom? Our only camp prom together?"
"I- I don't think my dad's ever going to not have control over my life. I thought- I'm always going to want to get him on the same page."
"Because he's your dad," Avni nodded to herself. She could feel the tears burn in her eyes as reality smacked her like a brick. Where was this relationship even going? What were they even doing?
The thought of not having him in her life made her practically nauseous. They may not have been dating for very long, but they'd been friends for much longer- and he'd always been a constant presence in her life- a constant support, and inspiration. No one knew her better than him, no one accepted her the way he did. How could she do this without him?
But she couldn't ignore what was right in front of her.
"Okay," she breathed.
"What?"
"You can go do your thing," she said. "Do what you need to do. But this is my last prom here, and I'm going to enjoy myself," she said, tears rolling down her eyes. "Even if it feels like my world is crumbling around me. And I'll see you after opening night and we can figure us out."
"What do you mean?"
"Whether or not you go to this school, EJ, I'm leaving for Julliard in the fall. What happens then?"
He was silent.
"I think we've overstayed our welcome in the honeymoon phase."
A/n
AHHhhhhhhh
The Gina x Ricky moment!
The first fight which could be the last?
!
Stay tuned :)