𝗛𝗘𝗔𝗥𝗧𝗕𝗥𝗘𝗔𝗞 𝗪𝗘𝗔𝗧𝗛𝗘𝗥 ➯ 𝗥𝗜𝗖𝗞𝗬 𝗕𝗢𝗪𝗘𝗡

𝘃𝗶𝗶. 𝗵𝗲𝗮𝘁𝗲𝗱 𝗮𝗿𝗴𝘂𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘁𝘀

＊*•̩̩͙✩•̩̩͙*˚ ˚*•̩̩͙✩•̩̩͙*˚＊

THE NEXT DAY, ALEX was being choked by whatever cologne Ricky has decided to bathe himself in, and considered waging war on him again. He can sense a strange tension in the air, something was wrong with EJ and Ricky, and for a split second, he can see a look of annoyance on Nini's face as well. Something was going on between the three of them.

His suspicions were right after Nini and Ricky had gotten into a heated argument with each other. Everyone cleared the room and Alex could still hear them, their voices raised far past the normal level. He's embarrassed for the both of them as he notices people whispering about what was going on with the two. He's zoned out until EJ walks over to him with a friendly smile.

"Hey, just uh, wondering if Ricky said anything to you about Nini? I'm not sure if you guys are friends but I'm just curious." EJ looked less intimidating and more like someone who's just really stressed out. It's the first time Alex doesn't want to run away from him.

"He hasn't said anything to me. Are you guys okay though? It didn't sound too good in there." EJ's face drops and Alex is ready to drop the topic altogether, but EJ finally speaks up after about a minute. "I don't want to involve you in any drama, it's just that Nini and Ricky sort of had a thing a while ago, and now I'm worried that he's only here to try and get her back." He glances back over at the door everyone was just basically hurled out of. "I don't want Nini to get hurt again."

Alex isn't sure how to respond. He's only known EJ personally for a couple of days, and he's spent most of them waiting to be killed by him. He takes a moment to think before offering any reassurance to EJ. "Maybe they're just fighting about choreography," he pauses as if it were a stupid thing to say, but the slightly relieved look on EJ's face gives him the okay to continue. "I'm sure you know how intense it can get sometimes." EJ gives him another smile, and Alex realizes that EJ isn't as scary as he thought.

Within the next couple of seconds, Ricky is storming away from the drama club and is beelining towards the exit of the school. Alex hesitates before going after him. He wasn't sure why he was, but his feet were moving faster than his brain could process anything. It doesn't take long for him to catch up.

They're outside of the school by the time Ricky stops aggressively speed walking, and Alex is close enough so that he doesn't have to yell at Ricky to grab his attention. "Ricky, why are you leaving? What happened in there?" Ricky stops and turns to face him. He's clearly frustrated and looks as if he wants to scream. "I think auditioning was a bad idea. Nini and I can't be in the same room together because it's like we're just waiting for the right moment to claw each other's faces off. And I'm pretty sure you heard what just happened." He motions to the school and shakes his head, mouth slightly hung open, the same way it was yesterday.

"I'm trying to get along with her. I just wish that she would let me apologize and take me seriously." Once again, Alex isn't sure of what to say. Usually, he's the one receiving advice from Elena while she does her best to calm him down. "Ricky, I think the fact that you still auditioned despite not being on the best terms with Nini is great. You did this for yourself. You shouldn't let anyone ruin that." Ricky's facial expression had softened by now, and he once again had his eyes locked on Alex.

"You know what? you're right. I deserve to be here just as much as she does." Ricky said with confidence, and the front door to the school flew open. Carlos rushed out and was trying to get Ricky's attention. "Miss Jenn wants everyone back in the room." Ricky's annoyed look was back, and Alex was worried he was about to run away.

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ALEX WAS BACK HOME, Ricky ended up telling Carlos he was done for the day and needed to be alone, so Miss Jenn called the rest of the meeting off to Alex's dismay. He was still Troy's understudy and could have easily filled in for Ricky earlier, but Miss Jenn insisted that everyone needed to go home and "Recharge." as she put it.

Alex was on FaceTime with Elena, mindlessly scrolling through Netflix to find a show for the both of them to watch together when Alex gets an impulsive idea to message Ricky on Instagram and ask how he was doing.

"I think I should text Ricky on Instagram and ask how he's doing. Things really didn't sound good earlier. The rest of practice was called off because of them." Alex can hear Elena speaking, but her words are muffled as she mumbles her words out with a mouth full of chips. "Sorry, what I was trying to say was I think it's a good idea to send him a text. Maybe you two can get even closer. Homecoming is right around the corner." She wiggles her eyebrows at him through the phone and goes back to stuffing her face with chips.

Alex opens Instagram and types Ricky's username in slowly. He's nervous, yet lets himself click onto his profile and open his DMs. "Okay, I don't see how this can go wrong. I'll just send him a short text, nothing too serious. If it goes well, he won't tell me to fuck off." Elena laughs but knows Alex is being serious. He doesn't want to upset Ricky.

"Here goes nothing." He says, both for Elena to hear, and for some sort of self-encouragement.

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thank you for reading!