E.J. Caswell

I had never really considered Ricky a friend. Acquaintance? Sure. Rival? Absolutely. But a friend? That was new territory. Yet somehow, as we stood outside the school after rehearsal, talking about our futures, it didn't feel as strange as it should have. "I guess this is it, huh?" Ricky said, leaning against the fence, looking out toward the empty parking lot. I nodded. "Yeah. One more year for you, and I'm off to college. It's weird." Ricky turned to me, a thoughtful expression on his face. "Do you know where you're going yet?" I sighed, rubbing the back of my neck. "I have some options, but honestly, I don't know if any of them feel right. My dad wants me to go to Duke, but… I just don't know." Ricky gave a small chuckle. "Sounds like a lot of pressure." "You have no idea," I muttered. "What about you? Ever think about what comes next?" Ricky shrugged. "Kinda. I mean, it's still a year away, but I know I want to do something with music. Maybe even acting. But it's not like I have a big plan or anything." I studied him for a moment before nodding. "You'll figure it out. You always do."

Ricky smirked. "Coming from you, that almost sounds like a compliment." I laughed. "Don't get used to it." As the two talked, my attention kept drifting toward Gina, who was across the parking lot laughing with Ashlyn. I didn't even realize I was staring until Ricky cleared his throat. "E.J., you keep looking over there like you have something to say but don't know how to say it." I scoffed, though my face warmed. "I don't know what you're talking about." Ricky raised an eyebrow. "Come on. You're really gonna pretend you're not into Gina?" I exhaled sharply. "It's complicated." "How?" I hesitated. "Because I don't know if she'd ever see me that way." Ricky gave me a knowing look. "You'll never know unless you do something about it." I stole another glance at Gina. Ricky's words stuck with me more than I cared to admit. Later that evening, I found myself pacing in his room, phone in hand. He had started a text to Gina more than once but kept deleting it. Finally, I typed something out and hit send before I could overthink it.

E.J.: Hey, you up?

A few minutes passed before her reply came.

Gina: Yeah. What's up?

I hesitated before typing.

E.J.: I was thinking about today. And about you.

There was a pause before her next message came through.

Gina: Oh?

I ran a hand through my hair. What was I even trying to say? I wasn't sure. But I needed to say something.

E.J.: I don't know. I just feel like we get each other. Like we make a good team.

This time, the reply came almost instantly.

Gina: We do.

I let out a breath I hadn't realized I was holding.

E.J.: The wedding is coming up fast.

Gina: Yeah. And?

I frowned. Maybe I was reading too much into things. Maybe Gina really was just focused on our plan to sabotage the wedding.

E.J.: Just thinking about how much is going to change after.

Gina: Change can be good.

I stared at her response for a long moment. I had been so focused on our plan, on making sure Ricky and Nini never made it down the aisle. But suddenly, that wasn't the only thing on my mind. I wanted to tell Gina how I felt. But how? The next day at school, I. found myself walking toward Gina before I could talk myself out of it. "Hey," I said, stopping in front of her locker. She smiled. "Hey. You look like you have something on your mind." I chuckled nervously. "Maybe. Just… been thinking a lot lately." Gina tilted her head, intrigued. "About what?" I hesitated. This was it. My moment. But instead of saying what I wanted to say, I defaulted to something safer. "About planning a bachelor and bachelorette party. About how we're gonna pull it off." Something flickered across Gina's face, but she just nodded. "Right. The parties before the wedding. We have to make sure everything is set." I nodded, but deep down, I knew he had just missed his chance to say something real.

As we walked to class together, I stole one last glance at Gina and promised myself—next time, I wouldn't back down. Moments later, Ricky ran up to me. "E.J., what was that?" "I'm joking," I mumbled. "I'm not talking about whatever plan you and Gina were cooking up. I'm talking about you letting Gina walk away like that." I rolled my eyes. "I don't need relationship advice from you." Ricky smirked. "Could've fooled me. Dude, you like her. It's obvious. But you're just standing around doing nothing about it." I exhaled in frustration. "I just… i don't know how to tell her." Ricky leaned against the lockers. "Well, you could start by actually telling her." I sighed. "Yeah. Easier said than done." As Ricky walked away, I couldn't shake the nagging feeling that maybe, just maybe, I was running out of time to say what I really felt.