𝐒𝐔𝐌𝐌𝐄𝐑𝐓𝐈𝐌𝐄 𝐒𝐀𝐃𝐍𝐄𝐒𝐒 - 𝐡𝐬𝐦𝐭𝐦𝐭𝐬 (𝐢𝐢𝐢) | ✔

five

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five: traditions
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     So far, Juliette had managed to avoid Ricky. However, her plans of continuing doing so were frustrated when E.J. told her, from the other side of the hall, that he had saved her a seat, thus making it compulsory to share table with the curly-haired boy. Luckily for her, she had a few moments to prepare herself as she chatted with Ben in the line to get their food. 

     "Morning, ginger," he smiled as he handed her a plate. "This is my cousin Oliver."

     "Nice to meet you, Oliver," Juliette smiled, the boy imitating her gesture. "So, what should I have for breakfast?"

     Among the many possible options, Ben recommended her to try his famous "mountain waffles": two waffles topped with whipped cream, lots of chocolate chips and maple syrup, all mixed with a couple of strips of bacon and some mango on top. Juliette, however, seeing that amount of food, opted for some eggs on toast, to get her protein and carbs for the day, promising to try them another day. Ever since she had confessed to E.J. having problems with food, he had gone out of his way to make sure that she ate what she needed to get by the whole day and they had even started to train together. The memory made Juliette smile. She was glad she decided to ask for help and, ever since that moment, she had never doubted on asking for it. Trusting the people around you is the best you can do in difficult times.

     She sat in between Carlos and Kourtey, with Ashlyn in front of her, and reached for some of E.J.'s cherries. She could feel Ricky's eyes on her but she did not dare to look at him, as much as she missed his brown eyes. 

     "Did Ben try to convince you to try his waffles?" E.J. broke the uncomfortable silence of the table.

     "He did," the girl chuckled. "Oliver seemed disgusted just by the sight of them."

     "Yeah well, they are an experience alright," E.J. laughed as well, the silence falling upon them once again. 

     "And what time do auditions start?" she asked, also trying to avoid that uncomfortable silence and the chewing sounds from the people around her.

     "You're auditioning!?" Gina, besides E.J., looked at her with wide eyes and a big smile.

     "Were you not?" Ricky interrupted, making Juliette look at him. When her blue eyes connected with his deep brown ones, she felt short of air.

     "I was not sure," she answered, turning around to look at Gina instead. "But my other option was swimming so, not a big fan of it."

     "Yeah, redheads don't do well with chlorine," the boy replied again. And the fact that he remembered that conversation made Juliette's heart soften, only to harden once again. 

—

     Half an hour later, they were all walking out of the dining hall and walking towards the Barn, where auditions were about to start. Life, however, had other plans for Juliette and she soon found Ricky walking besides her.

     "Juli?" he asked, softly, prompting the girl to look at him. "Can we talk?"

     "Does it have to be now? We're gonna be late."

     "Is that new?"

     Honestly, all Juliette wanted was to take the dreaded conversation out of the way so she could enjoy the rest of her summer, so she nodded and walked behind Ricky to one of the many benches scattered through the place. There they sat, apart from each other.

     "I..., listen..." he began, unsure of how to put his thoughts into words.

     "What are you doing here, Ricky?" Juliette interrupted.

     "You were right," the boy concluded, confusing Juliette. Seeing that she did not answer, he continued, "about Lily. She stole my harness."

     "And yet you decided to trust her," Juliette spoke, her voice breaking. 

     "I'm very sorry, Juliette, really. Please don't cry, not for me," Ricky pleaded, trying to hold her hand, but Juliette managed to snatch it away from him. "Let's start over. Be friends."

     "Ricky, I have been crying for you for weeks, while you were too busy making TikToks with Lily. You can't ask me to forget everything and 'be friends'. It's not fair."

     "I know it's not and I know I fucked everything up and that I should apologize to you every day for the rest of my life. And I know you wanted this to be your Summer and I came and spoilt it." He admitted. "E.J. gave me a lecture last night. But I don't want you to feel that you have to constantly avoid me. I promise I will make this Summer your best one ever. Please, Juliette."

     She wanted to slap him across the face so hard that she actually considered it. When she looked at him, however, even through the tears that had formed in her eyes, she could see that he was being honest. They had spent so much time together that Juliette had learnt to read his facial expressions. And, let's be honest, he had always been his soft spot.

     "You better. If not, I expect you to deliver vanilla ice-cream to my door every day for a month."

     "Vanilla? Basic," he smiled. "Can I hug you?"

     The girl did not even hesitate and nodded. Only God knew how much she needed a hug from the one that had once been her favourite person. When she felt her arms surrounding her waist, she intuitively got on her tiptoes and hugged him by his neck, inhaling his well-known cologne. He had not changed it since that day she told him she liked it and, in that moment, Juliette felt the small pieces of her broken heart get a little closer. 

     "Come on, you have an audition to crush."

     "Are we 'Zefroning' our way to auditions?" Juliette chuckled softly, making Ricky imitate her.

     "Gotta keep up with traditions."

     Both of them started walking together and, when they were about to reach the barn, someone scared Juliette by putting an arm around her shoulders. It took her a second to realize that it was just Ben, who looked at her with a smile and with wet hair.

     "I'm hurt, ginger. I thought you would be joining the swimming team."

     "Yeah, well, red hair and chlorine are a very mad match," she smiled, side-hugging him. 

     "I'll take you to the lake one day. Hey, have you been crying?" he turned her around so she was facing him, all under Ricky's attentive look. 

     "I'll tell you over waffles one day, but I'm already late to auditions."

     "Break a leg, gingerbread."