High School Musical: The Musical The Series Imagines Book

Gap Year

Gina's POV

School had ended and normally I get a ride with Ash and Ej to go home but Ash made plans with Big Red after school. I planned on walking home but it's about to rain and I don't want to walk in the rain. So I decided to find Ej and ask him for a ride. I realized that I haven't seen Ej all day. He wasn't at lunch and I didn't run into him in the hallway or anything.

Me to Ej: hey where r u?
Ej: AVR
Me: Coming 2 👀👊🏽
Ej: k

I went straight to the avr to see Ej. I found him in the zone at the computer doing something. I came over to him to see what he was doing. It looks like he was editing a video.

"This looks amazing Ej" I said to him

"Thank you"Ej said

"Have you been here all day?" I asked him

"Not all day but almost...." Ej said multitasking

"Ok well...I'm going to let you get back to it" I said rubbing his shoulder while getting up.

"You know I know I am suppose to take you home right?" Ej said pausing what he was doing

"It's ok you don't have to, I can walk, this is important to you" I said

"I'm finished, it's saving right now. We can go once this is done" Ej said

"Okay" I said

Ej covered his face with his hands and rubbed his eyes. He looks so tired. I rubbed his shoulder.

"You look tired" I said pointing out the obvious

"Do I really look that bad?" Ej questioned

"Kind of....hey is everything ok?" I asked feeling like something is off about Ej.

"Its a long story...nothing that I can't handle" Ej said

"Do you want to talk about it?" I asked him
He didn't say anything but he had this look on his face like he was contemplating on wanting to tell me something. Until finally he decided to say something.

"Can I show you something?" Ej asked

"Yeah" I answered

Ej typed in a link and pulled up a website. It looked like a website professionally done of all of his work that he's done. I saw my video that he did for me for an audition on the website.

"Force: Brand Media & Broadcasting....I love it" I said noticing the name

"You like it?" Ej asked

"No, I love this Ej. This is amazing. You found your calling." I said hugging him feeling so proud of him. I even kissed his cheek.

"You're the only person other than me that has seen this" Ej said

"I'm honored to be the first.....but I can't be the only one...Ej you need publish this...what are you waiting on?" I asked excited for him

"Can I trust you to not say anything and not push me to hard?" Ej asked

"I might can't promise you the last part...but I'll try...why do you ask?" I asked confused

"Because I haven't worked up the courage to tell my dad that.....I want to do a gap year....and possibly not....go to college" Ej admitted. After seeing the website I honestly wasn't surprised

"Ok....well I will keep encouraging you without pushing to hard until you do" I said supportively then giving him another hug.

"Wait....So..you really think that this can actually be something?" Ej asked

"I do because I believe in you...you have a talent that backs it up. Ej will you look at what you created...anyone who see this and doesn't believe in you and your business is a complete lunatic" I said seriously

"Thank you" Ej said sincerely

"Ej this is your dream. Its on paper, you can touch it....make it happen."'I said

A notification on the computer caught our attention. The video he was saving was complete. Ej closed out everything he was working on and we got up to leave. We began talking on the way to his car

"See the thing is. I want to. I believe that I can make Force relevant and profitable in a year. Especially if I am dedicating all my time and effort into it. But then on the other hand college helps to perfect my craft...I can meet new people and get new connections but the downside is I will have less time to dedicate to Force because I have to split my time to actually go to class, do assignments, projects, papers, exams. That takes me away from editing, creating and networking." Ej explained his thought process

"You make a great case for both sides..." I said feeling his dilemma

"I have too because knowing my father, I'm pretty sure he is going to advocate for me going to college. I have to come with something strong to make him reconsider" Ej said as we approached the door it was raining hard outside. Ej gave me his letterman coat and covered it over our heads as we walked to the car. I wrapped my arm around his waist so I can stay with him under the jacket. After a little hike from the school to the parking lot we made it to his car, he opened the door for me to get in first then he got in on the driver side.

"I mean maybe it's not about convincing him not go college. Maybe the argument or rather the pitch should be about investment......think about it......your business is an investment.....college is a investment too.......maybe if you take the road of convincing him to help you invest in your business first. You already have a plan for your business...college is suppose to teach you to get to this point. I would say let's try this business first....take a risk...then say if something goes wrong then you will always have college to fall back on. " I said thinking creatively

"Well I have numbers to backup that point. I just don't know if that's enough for him" Ej said worried

"You already made money on some of those projects" I asked him

"Yes. When I made the money....I couldn't tell you how proud I was of myself. Not because of the money but because I worked for it and made earnings all on my own. I've never did that before and I want to continue doing that. I want to work for myself" Ej said proudly

"Ej what you have I think is a goldmine. And your dad is a successful business man too. I really think if you showed him this he may want to invest" I told him

"I want to do this on my own. I want to prove to him that I can do it and be successful like him" Ej said adamantly

"Well....I think maybe you just need to have a little faith in him. You never know he may surprise you" I said nicely

"Maybe...but I do know him" Ej said still worried

"Well I only know the man behind Force and I believe in him. Make the man you know believe in the one I know" I said encouraging. We had a moment. It looked like what I said really resonated with him. Ej then took my hand and kissed it. I hate sometimes how small gestures makes me blush. Ej makes me blush.

"You believing in me makes me feel like...I can do anything. Thank you Gi" Ej said sweetly appreciatively