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3. Wonderstudies

[Avni: Yesterday's conversation with EJ still has me giggling to myself (not in public, of course). He was sitting way too close and saying things he actually meant, and not fronting, and he trusted me. And honestly, it's been a while since I've been that real with anyone. Would it be selfish if I tried getting Nini and Ricky together so that EJ would be single again? It would, right?]

"This is not good," Ricky complained. "This is really not good."

"But it's not news either. You broke her heart, you crashed her play, you bugged her a little bit and then you sent her an extra sad voicemail," Big Red said.

"You think it's time to move on?"

"I have to say this is one of the first times you guys have arrived at the right conclusion without my intervention. It is absolutely time to move on," Avni said.

"I mean, I wouldn't, but you have that other thing," Big Red said.

"What?"

"Pride."

Avni snorted. "I think pride left the building when he did jazz hands for her."

Ricky rolled his eyes, "Yeah, but she said the voicemail was 'not hot'."

Technically, her phone was in the lost and found so she probably didn't hear the voicemail, but he doesn't need to know that.

"You need to be the bigger man. You're the lead in the play, dude, it's time to act like it," Big Red said.

"This is why I was friends with you first," Avni told Big Red. Which was true- Avni and Big Red were friends first because their parents owned restaurants right next to each other's, Ricky and Avni met through Big Red.

"Ouch," came Ricky's voice.

♡♡♡♡♡

"What are you doing here?" Avni exclaimed when she saw her brother leaning against her car in the school parking lot.

Aryan shrugged, "Came down for the weekend."

"Doesn't your college give like homework or something? How are you always here?"

"I'm doing a hotel management course. Baba 1 owns a restaurant- works itself out."

Avni rolled her eyes. "Can we get ice cream?" She asked, smiling sweetly.

Aryan dead-panned, "Gaadit bas gap chup. 2"

She was about to get inside when- "Avni!" came EJ's voice.

"I need your help to write a song," he said when he reached where she was standing.

"A song?"

"Yeah, Ashlyn sent me a track and now I need the wor-"

"Woah, slow your roll. Why do you need a song?"

"I have to apologise to Nini."

"For-?"

"For stealing her phone."

Avni's eyes widened, "You stole her phone?"

He nodded, "Yeah and I deleted a voicemail on her phone."

"Wait what?" Avni asked, eyes wide. Something dawned on her- "Was it from Ricky?"

EJ didn't say anything, but his silence spoke volumes.

"Oh my God," Avni breathed. "That's going to be a hard secret to keep." And then- "I can't believe you did that."

"I know," he nodded. "And I need to write a song-"