Author's Note: So… the folks on AO3 went kind of crazy when I posted my first Portwell fic so hi I'm back :) I thought a drabble series was the way to go, because the one-shots ideas were coming way too fast for me to come up with titles and covers for them all XD
Summary: EJ has a very bad day and makes a very big decision, but everything may just turn out okay after all.
There was nothing worse, EJ Caswell decided, than sleeping through your alarm.
It got his whole morning started on the wrong foot. He was disgruntled when he opened his eyes to find the time impossibly late, then with his morning routine botched he had no time for breakfast or even to style his hair. He had to speed to school (which his EJ 2.0 conscience really hated doing) and was still almost late.
When EJ arrived at East High, he encountered Nini and Ricky in the hallway. The two of them were so absorbed in each other than they didn't even see him coming and the group crashed right into each other. Ricky's burning hot coffee spilled all over EJ's shirt, but there was no time to do damage control because the bell was ringing and EJ had to book it down the hallway to get to class. Carlos, of course, made quite a few jokes about EJ's stained shirt, jokes that even Seb laughed at.
At around noon, EJ realized he'd completely forgotten to pack himself a lunch and to grab his wallet on the way out the door. Ashlyn offered him her carrots, but he was so hungry by the time he made it to physics that he zoned out and missed Mr. Mazzara calling on him a good three times. Benjamin gave him detention, though he did seem unhappy to do so.
Detention made EJ late for rehearsal after school. When he finally rushed into the theatre room, Miss Jenn went off at him for a good five minutes about responsibility and how he should know better as the oldest in the group and therefore the role model. They ran Gaston, but EJ was so hungry and distracted that he messed up almost the entire thing and was forced to listen to each and every one of Carlos' copious notes. Gina was slightly more forgiving, which he appreciated, but soon Miss Jenn had them running the number again. EJ made it through the first minute or so okay, but when he stood up he somehow managed to trip and send himself crashing into the table.
The music cut and the room went silent.
EJ gripped at the edge of the table, ducking his head. His face was burning with embarrassment and frustration and he just wanted to be done with this day.
"You okay, cuz?" Ashlyn asked.
"Walk much, man?" Ricky teased.
EJ straightened and walked out of the drama room.
He found and empty hallway and slid down a wall, letting his head fall back. On instinct, he grabbed his phone and checked his messages, trying to distract himself from the memories of that day that were whirling around in his head on a loop.
There was a text from his mom: 'Cornell released its accepted students list! Check check check your email honey!'
The past seven hours were promptly forgotten as EJ raced to unlock his phone and hop on his email. Cornell, while not Duke by any stretch mostly because of Duke's ties to his family, had been his second choice school; a backup plan he'd never thought he'd actually need. Now that he knew that he wasn't going to Duke, Cornell had jumped to the top of the list.
He refreshed his email, fingers shaking with anticipation. A new email popped up from the school. EJ clicked on it.
'Mr. Caswell,
Cornell received many remarkable applications this year, yours included. That we said, we regret to inform you that you have not…'
EJ stopped reading, shutting off his phone and dropping it to the ground. He had read enough rejection emails in his lifetime to pinpoint one from the first few sentences.
He was so stupid. Who read a life-changing email on such a rotten day as this? As ridiculous as it was, EJ couldn't help but think that if he'd just read the email tomorrow, things would have been different.
He was so screwed. He now had to go home and tell his father that he'd be rejected from a top college. Again.
"Hey."
EJ glanced up, blinking to clear his vision, which was suddenly blurry. Gina stood in the hallway in front of him, hands tucked into the short pockets of her jeans and chewing on her lip.
"Hey," EJ muttered, ducking his head again.
"You… okay?" Gina queried cautiously.
EJ looked back at her and felt the backs of his eyes burning. Crying wasn't something he really did. Especially not at school. Especially not in front of the girl he'd been hardcore crushing on for the past month-plus.
"EJ?" Gina pressed. She walked forward a few more steps, still standing over him.
"I'm-" EJ broke off. He desperately wanted to just brush everything off and head home, but he couldn't say he was fine.
Or rather: He could, the word 'fine' was there at his disposal, but Gina would immediately know it was a lie. Not only would it hurt him, because he would lose perhaps the only person who could maybe actually turn this day around, but it would hurt her. She would know that he didn't trust her enough to open up to her. That would hurt her.
"No," EJ admitted finally. "I'm not okay."
Gina's face softened and she took a seat beside him on the grimy linoleum. Her shoulder bumped his and he leaned into the touch a little. "You wanna talk about it?"
EJ shrugged letting his head fall back against the wall behind him. "It's just been a crummy day," he said. "And I found out a didn't get into Cornell, so it's about to get crummier."
"EJ, I'm sure your dad won't be mad at you just because you didn't get into a school," Gina huffed. "And if he is, then I have a few things to say to him."
EJ's lips quirked halfheartedly. "No, he won't be mad," he allowed. "But he'll be disappointed. He won't say anything about it but it'll be written all over his face, and that might be even worse. He just- he so wanted me to get into Duke, you know? And after we found out that I didn't… Cornell was next in line. Not a bad second. But now…" He shook his head. "Now I'm just one massive failure."
"Hey, stop," Gina scolded, twisting to face him. "You did your absolute best with your college application, and if a school doesn't want that then I don't think you really want to be going to that school anyway."
"How do you know I did my best?" EJ scoffed. "You didn't even see my app."
"Because it's you." She reached out and put her hand firmly on top of his. "You put your best into anything, whether it's a college application or a musical or even just a, I dunno, a hug or something. Speaking of… do you want a hug?"
"I wouldn't say no," EJ admitted, wincing a little. Gina grinned and opened her arms, wrapping them around his shoulders and tucking her chin against his collarbone. EJ shut his eyes and took a deep breath, feeling the tightness in his throat finally starting to loosen.
He felt Gina's arms start let go and gave her one last squeeze before pulling back. "So… were you elected to come check on me or did you come yourself?"
"I snuck out, actually," Gina admitted with a faint smirk. "Miss Jenn wanted to give you space but you seemed really upset. And I wanted to make sure you hadn't broken your nose or something."
She gently grabbed at his chin and bent his face this way and that, pretending to inspect his nose. "Seems pretty good to me-"
EJ leaned in and kissed her.
Two seconds later, he realized how stupid he was being and jolted away. Who was he to just up and kiss her like that? And why would he do it on today of all days, today when literally everything that could have gone wrong, had?
But Gina didn't look mad. Shocked, to be sure, but she was… blushing?
"Wow," she managed, clearing her throat and cautiously meeting his eyes. "What was… what was that for?"
"I'm sorry," EJ blurted, reaching up and scrubbing a hand through his hair. "I'm sorry if I just totally screwed us up. I should have asked how you felt first before just diving in a with a kiss, it was just you were right there and you were being so nice and I've been thinking about kissing you for so long that I just-"
"Hey, hey," Gina interrupted, planting her hands on his shoulders. "Slow down, Eej. I'm not mad. Not at all."
"You're not?"
"No." Gina bit her lip, looking a bit bashful. "I've been… well, I guess I've just been waiting for you to finally reveal to me how you feel, and a kiss does that pretty well."
"I've been trying!" EJ protested, feeling like he needed to defend himself. "I mean I- I picked you up from the airport and gave you my sweatshirt, and have been basically dropping every hint I could think of without coming on too strong."
"Okay, okay, but you know I'm about as dense as they come," Gina countered with a laugh. Her hands fell from his shoulders and grasped his instead. "I'm sorry."
He was unable to resist a laugh of his own, thinking about all the times his cousin had labeled guys as the dense ones only for Gina to be filling that role.
"I really like you, Gina," EJ admitted, face scrunching a little. "Have for awhile."
"I got that, somehow," Gina teased. She reached up to brush a curl out of her face but EJ got there first, tucking the hair behind her ear.
"Would you want to… grab dinner sometime?" EJ questioned. "Or, I dunno, you could teach me to knit?"
"You want me to teach you to knit?" Gina asked incredulously, a laugh breaking out of her. "Why?"
"Because I really want you to say yes?" EJ tried, smiling weakly. "And I thought that asking you to do something you like might up my chances?"
"You're adorable," Gina told him, still laughing. "As much as I think you'd actually really enjoy knitting once you got into it, I think we should stick with dinner for now. Pizza on Friday, maybe? Are you free?"
"If not I'll make it so I am," EJ said. He clambered to his feet and held out his hand for her to help her up.
They set off down the hall in no particular direction, hands still wrapped around each others. "So…" Gina said after a moment. "Still a bad day?"
"No," EJ told her with a laugh, squeezing her hand. "Now I would say it's one of the best."
Author's Note: I now have a place to post Portwell fics at a whim, so perhaps leave a prompt? The more interesting it is, the more likely I'll be to write it (and write it quickly :).
