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10.2. Act Two, Part 2

"Mrs. Bowen?" Avni called hesitantly.

"Hi Avni. You know, you should call me Lynn," she smiled.

She was trying to be nice, Avni knew, but all Avni heard was that Lynn was no longer a Bowen.

She smiled weakly.

"You were so incredible up there," Lynn said. "Mean girl in pink is a good look on you."

Avni laughed. "It was more fun than I expected, really."

"Well, I'm glad."

A man dressed in a dark suit walked up and put his arm around her waist.

Avni's eyebrows raised at the action.

"Oh, Avni, this is Todd," Lynn said. "My boyfriend."

Avni made it a point to overcome the conditioned urge to smile at a new person. "Oh," she nodded in understanding. "You didn't tell Ricky you were bringing him, did you?" she asked instead.

Lynn's face fell. "I- I didn't," she said softly.

Avni nodded. "Nice to meet you, Todd," she said, starting to walk away, when she ran right into Ricky. He didn't look at her, just stared above her head at his mom.

Avni left him to it quietly.

♡♡♡♡♡

It was just the cast and a few parents in the lobby when Ricky appeared several minutes later, looking really pleased with himself- which puzzled Avni, because his conversation with his mother could not have been satisfying in the least.

"Where've you been?" Big Red asked him.

Avni caught something around his neck, it was impossible not to, really. "To Freaky Callback Boy?" she read off his dog tag.

"Yeah, Nini gave it to me."

"Oh?"

"Yeah, I guess we're dating again."

"Oh."

Ricky scoffed. "At least pretend that you're happy for me."

Avni was taken aback by his sudden outburst. But she was never one to back down. "Why? So that you can go about sabotaging your own happiness in peace?"

"Stop acting like you know what's best for me."

"No offense Ricky, but you would be in a corner feeling sorry for yourself right now if I hadn't pushed you to finish the play."

Ricky scoffed, "So we're going to pretend like you didn't have an ulterior motive there?"

"Excuse me?"

"You've never been real with me, Avni- or with anyone as a matter of fact. You're so fake. Everything you do is because you have a stake in it."

Avni shook her head violently, "That's not true-"

"Of course it is," he said. He started counting on his fingers, "You've been trying to fuck up the casting of this play since day one. You knew Gina was coming by today, but you didn't tell me. You've never been okay with Nini and I's relationship and you've never told me why. You didn't tell me about what happened the last night at camp, you didn't tell me that EJ and Nini were dating. You didn't even tell me you auditioned for Julliard!"

"All of those things, I did because I was looking out for you! And I didn't tell you about Julliard because you're terrible with change and you always, always say the worst thing possible. And don't act like you don't know what the whole Nini thing is about."

"If you liked me, why didn't you just say so?"

"I didn't like you- it was a dumb crush- it lasted for about six months, and it was only because we spent way too much time together that year and you grew out your hair a little and it looked nice. It never went beyond that; it was never going to! Nini was the one who made an issue out of it."

"Actually, I'm pretty sure it was you. You're one of the most selfish people I've ever met."

Avni scoffed. "You're so full of it. All I've ever done since I've known you is protect you, because I cared. But obviously, that was a mistake- seeing as it was never really appreciated. I didn't tell you about the camp thing because I didn't even think of doing it- I genuinely believed that you would not care- which is weird because you're supposed to be my friend," she said, tears streaming down her cheeks now. "But maybe it's not weird, it's just telling of the fact that everything is always about you. You didn't tell me about your parent's divorce, or the fact that your mom brought her boyfriend her, because you didn't need me to make you feel better about it- you just went to someone else. You've been using me for way too long, you selfish-" She broke off when she caught a look of his face- he looked devastated, like his world was falling apart.

She'd said too much, she knew. And she'd said it in front of twenty other people, some of them were parents. Panic rose in her mind as she wheeled around and bolted out of the lobby.

She walked out the front door of the school, furiously wiping her tears when someone caught hold of her upper arm, and she was turned around to encounter a very familiar pair of green eyes.

"He doesn't know what he's talking about," EJ whispered, pulling her into a hug.

She allowed herself to melt in his hug, sobbing into his chest as his lips pressed into the side of her head.

What have I done?

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A/n

Season finale!!

I had to include some drama, obviously. Let me know who's side you're on in the comments.

Coming chapters are getting longer somehow, I don't even know why.