R.J Forever?

Chapter 50: The You Matter Project Part 3

E.J's POV:

It's official April 21, 2021. I have a little less than a month to plan this prom and I haven't gotten much done besides get Ashlyn on board. Well , I did get a lot done yesterday since it was Sunday and I finished my homework early. I contacted my 'YMP' group chat about the video interviews and photo shoots and surprisingly they are willing to meet today after school which means that I have to skip lacrosse practice but that's okay. This is for Ricky. The group includes: Nini, Gina, Seb, Marcus, Jackson, and a few other students that volunteered to share their LGBTQ bullying stories but I still would like to get Carlos and Seb and their club on board.

It's exhausting thinking about all of this at 7:15 in the morning.

"So, what did you do over the weekend while I was at my dance team sleep over? I hope to god that you didn't hangout with Chris and had an other party. I hate those people with a passion," I watch Ashlyn take out one of her earbuds while we walk to school.

She's old school like Ricky, who has earbuds instead of headphones or airpods.

"I went to dinner with a friend," I reply casually as we walk on the sidewalk towards East High.

"One from the lacrosse team?" I watch Ashlyn nudge my shoulder.

"Ricky," I mumble while we continue to walk.

"And how did it go? Was it a date? How come you didn't ask me for fashion advice earlier? What did you guys eat? Why aren't you walking to school with Ricky?"

"It went," I sigh to her.

There's a reason why I am not thinking about or talking about that dinner right now.

"It went.....? Bad? Good? Ugly? Well? Fun?" I watch Ashlyn stop walking and look at my face.

"So, did you talk to Big Red yet about prom? Did he say yes to having the Queer Prom at Salt Lake Slices? Can you please help me with interviews today for the project?" I mimic her voice and ask her a bunch of questions just like how she did a second ago.

"How did the dinner date go?" I watch Ashlyn nudge my shoulder as we stand in front of a house and feel the wind breeze making us shiver.

It's almost May it shouldn't be cold but it is Utah weather.

Ok, the reason why I don't want to talk about Saturday's dinner is because Ricky doesn't want me to talk about. He doesn't want anything to do with it at all. He wants no memory of it either. I could write an entire essay about the dinner but Ricky doesn't want to talk about it. I respect his decision too. Although, it's kind of awkward since the dinner did go well.

Most of the time the four of us ate and talked about life, well except for Ricky. He was quiet the entire time except for a few moments where he talked about how good I was at school and sports. He never talked about himself though which I found weird but he is a closed book.

I could write an entire essay on his really nice outfit and his aunt's delicious lasagna and his dad's compliments on me but I won't do that. It wasn't worth talking about since it was just like the Chinese food takeout dinner we had when we were friends except it was more semi-formal than takeout.

So, overall the main reason why I am not talking about dinner is because Ricky doesn't wanna talk about it. We also agreed not to be intimate or close in school till we were both ready yet the other night when I was at his house. This gives me more time to work on the project rather than follow him around.

He was acting really weird around his family and now I am concerned and It is Monday.

I don't think that this concern for Ricky will ever be a good thing.