never have i ever ➣ joey trotta

4

Chapter 4: Ricardo

i remain sprawled out on emma's bed, chit-chatting with her and her roommate, corey. corey's a sweet girl, but she's super shy and hasn't really come out of her shell yet; thus, making us some of her only friends. "you guys... i think i have a crush on someone..." she starts, making my head prop up to look at her. i have never heard corey even mention the word before this moment. she never adds anything to our conversation when we talk about billy or joey, so this takes both of us by surprise. "but you guys know him really well, so you have to promise to keep it a secret."

we both perk up, nodding our heads vigorously. "okay... it's ricardo." she blushes intensely, hiding her face in her hands. i've never thought of it before, but i could actually see them together. the shy girl and the spanish speaking womanizer. classic.

"cor! we can totally set you up!" emma boasts, formulating a whole plan in less than three seconds and reciting it to the both of us. "we just get you to come to the basement next time we go! then, you both get drunk and confess your undying love for each other!" her eyes roll to the side, clearly gazing at me. "it works. autumn can speak from experience."

"oh, that's just rude," i get up, pushing her lightly while laughing at her witty remark. i have not heard the end of it since i told her about joey and i's little meeting the other night. i add to emma's plan in my head to distract myself from the embarrassment i'm currently feeling. "next saturday. no soccer. no field hockey. we're all free."

"i'll do it... but only if you do the same with you-know-who—"

she's cut off by the tall boy himself barging through the door rudely. "emma! where'd you put my yellow acrylic?" joey makes a b-line for her desk, flinging all of the drawers open and digging through them desperately. we all chuckle at his frustrated state.

joey paints beautifully and it's always been a skill that i'm envious of; his ability to impress anyone with just a couple flicks of a paintbrush. it's certainly popular with the ladies; including me. i can't quite pinpoint why, but something about how much time and effort he puts into his artwork is endearing. he gives me a handcrafted painting every holiday and i never get sick of opening the package to see a new masterpiece to hang on my wall.

"i believe it's in my nightstand," she ponders, attempting to recall where she had last placed it. i wonder why she even had it in the first place; she doesn't paint or even draw. "yeah. it should be there."

joey swiftly walks by me, now rummaging through the drawers of her nightstand until he yanks out the yellow bottle of paint. he accidentally bumps into me, only now taking into account the outfit that almost entirely belongs to him. "cute sweater," he smirks, "looks familiar."

i peer down at the bright red sweater which is now the same colour as my face. the warmup hoodie has our school logo in a small font in the front of it, with 'trotta' printed out across the back over his number, 47. i stole it partially because it's cute, but mostly because it smells like him and brings me comfort. "thanks. it's very warm." i grin.

"is it, now?" he raises his eyebrows.

"indeed it is... i'd be sad if the owner were to want it back..." i tilt my head down, an exaggerated pout on my lips. i can feel his presence behind me as he stands over my shoulders.

"it's a good thing the owner likes seeing his last name on you, then." he whispers hoarsely, his lips grazing my earlobe gently. my body gets hit with too many feelings at once to comprehend them in the moment. my cheeks and neck heat up, my eyes widen and i can hear my heart beating inside my chest. "see ya later, girls." he smiles innocently like he didn't just imply that he would like to marry me someday.

as soon as the door clicks shut, the girls are all over me about what fazed me for so long. "well, what the fuck did he say?" emma interrogates, a confused expression falling over my face. what did he even say? did i misinterpret the message? maybe he just meant i can keep the sweater. "hello? earth to autumn?"

"nothing. what should we plan for saturday?" i question, hoping that everyone will just forget about what happened and it'll never have to be brought up again. "does billy have any new concoctions for us to try out?" i ask more towards emma, considering she's dating him and corey barely knows him.

"... uh, i can ask..." she answers hesitantly.

i think we've gotten way with it this time.