Something There ( Portwell)

3.| The Talk

Gina's POV:

So now that Ashlyn basically knows I have feelings for EJ, she has been trying VERY hard to get him to say something about me. I knew it wasn't going to work because if he told her, she would tell me immediately. So, as expected he hasn't let anything slip out. She does know how I feel though, which is good so that I can talk to her whenever.

Going into rehearsals today, I was a little nervous because I did just realize I had feelings for EJ and now I see him everyday. Today Miss Jenn told us that we were running the 'Gaston' song which is sung by EJ and Big Red. I'm excited to see EJ's progress because I know he's been having a hard time connecting to the materiel ( that's what he told me last year).

EJ's POV:
Today we are running Gaston and I'm super nervous to preform it in front of everyone especially Gina, she's been helping me out so much recently with the choreography and everything, so I hope she's proud most of all. As I'm preforming every once in a while I will look over at Gina, and she is always smiling at me, knowing that I have improved which makes me smile.

Afterwards, I try and get to Gina so I can talk to her. " Sooo, how did I do?" I ask, " You looked great, I have no notes!" She says with excitement. That makes me happy knowing I did pretty well to impress a dancer.

It's later in the day and it is career day. Which means there is going to be a guest speaker talking to us about success. This is always boring but at least I have Gina with me. We always talk while in class so obviously we have small talk while waiting. " So, who do you think the guest speaker is". " I literally have no idea, but I'm sure they will tell us to seize the day and then let it go. Every year. Same speech." I say because that's the truth. "Wait what does that even mean?" Gina says. " I was hoping that you knew" I say and as she's shaking her head she has a big smile that makes me smile and blush a little. I don't want her to see so I quickly try and cover myself up. But as we are laughing together, the guest speaker arrives and you'll never guess who it was. My father. I really have no idea why he is the guest speaker but he is. He starts talking about success and invites me to the front of the class. I am hesitant but I go anyways. He hands me a Duke hoodie. I am very confused because I did not get into duke. He tells me he made a few phone calls, so basically he got me in. I don't know how to feel about that. I needed to talk to Ashlyn later tonight. As I sit down Gina congratulated me which does make me feel better but still, I need to talk to someone.

After I have dinner, I head over to Ashlyn's to talk to her about my dad getting me into Duke. Im praying she's home because I just want to get this out of my head. I knock on the door and no answer so I ring the door bell and Ashlyn doesn't answer. But Gina does. I'm confused so I ask her, " Is my cousin here?". " No, she went to go buy some kind of new shirt. I didn't ask" Gina tells me. Since Ashlyn isn't here I might as well stay with Gina. She's knitting and asks me to help her out, so I do. She's then asks me, " So, what are you doing here?" " Well I wanted to talk to someone. Since your here, do you mind?" " No not at all!" She says, " What's up?"
"Well, you know I got into Duke" " Yeah, I'm proud of you.... What's wrong?" She asks noticing I'm not as excited as I should be, " I'm not sure how to phrase this correctly but, I'm grateful for the opportunity but, I didn't really earn it." " I see, so what are you going to do?" " I'm not really sure, I don't even know how to tell my dad that I don't want to go there" I say. He really wants me to go because he went there and so did his father so its kind of like I have to go too. But I'm not. " Ok close your eyes EJ" Gina says, " When you think about your life, what do you see" I have no idea where she's going with this but I answer, " I see the guy who cheated at water polo, and the guy who tried to bribe Miss Jenn into giving him the part of Troy, and a bunch of other stuff". " Ok my turn. When I think of you, I see the guy who bought me a plane ticket back to East High so I could be a part of the show. A guy who's birthday video for Carlos made everybody cry. And I see someone who tries really hard to do the right thing, he fails a lot but he keeps on trying. EJ you are a really good guy and maybe if you forgave yourself a little you would be able to to see what I- I mean the rest of us see" Gina says. I never thought that I would hear this from her, I'm surprised, but happy. I'm pretty sure she was going to say what I see but who knows. " That's what you think of me?" I say. She nods her head. Since she said all that nice stuff about me, I feel the need to complement her back. So I say, " Want to know what I see right now. I see one of the bravest people I know" I say. And by this point of our conversation, our faces have grown very close together. In my head, I'm debating whether or not to lean in to kiss her. But before I decide that I should, Ashlyn is home and walks into the room. " Hey EJ, I got your text, you still wanna talk?" " Uh, no thanks I'm good now" I say looking back at Gina. I head out wondering what would have happened if I did kiss her.

Hey guys so sorry for the late update I'm flying home today so I've been working on this chapter for the past couple days. This is a longer one which is why it took forever to post, but it's here!
Enjoy- L <3