#nini x ej gifs

[blues-valentine]

Before the final season of HSMTMTS premieres I just want to talk about one of the most important scenes from last season because it really encompasses Ricky’s add, Rina and the dynamic between the OG Core 4. And the way it was filmed, was to parallel that journey.

Ricky singing Kristoff’s Lullaby, a song that says “everything I thought I did [about love] you’ve gone and changed it” which is a response to Ricky and Gina’s first duet “What Do You Know About Love?” is it. This has been Ricky and Gina’s relationship from Ricky’s perspective and arc. It’s always been about change for him. About growing up, letting go of childhood, insecurities, concepts of love.

The whole framing of this scene it’s important because this parallels auditions back in the pilot episode. The OG core 4 (Ricky, Nini, Gina and EJ) are in the same place but in very different circumstances. On the pilot, Ricky was singing a song to Nini about his feelings sort of [a song written by her, a song that couldn’t even allow them to say the word love to each other]. And Nini isn’t so thrilled by this because this is Ricky inserting himself in what she considers to be her new found space. Ricky doesn’t even like musicals. EJ, Nini’s boyfriend, was by her side, absolutely not thrilled about it, of course, this is Nini’s ex just serenating her and it awakes his own insecurities. On the other side of the stage, there’s Gina watching him, at first she was so bored but then her eyes spark at Ricky’s song because it’s something new. Gina doesn’t get intrigued but Ricky intrigues her. He feels so out of place but he has something she’s never seen. And this is the start of their dynamic, and for all of these characters in a nutshell.

On 308, we have a similar scene but switched a bit. We have Ricky singing to someone. But this time, to Gina and it's not in her face, like he did it with Nini. He is not intruding in her space – he spends the whole season trying not walk over her own boundaries. For her and EJ. This is a Ricky that is sure about his place in theater and it’s doing it for himself. A lead role he actually put effort on. It’s Ricky singing a song about love, about meeting someone that changes everything for you, including the ways you used to view love. Gina is the representation of change. She’s been called this way multiple occasions. Ricky used to view love in a very consuming way. It’s all or nothing, even if sometimes it intrudes on boundaries. Even if by keeping that love so tight it changes you but not for a better version of yourself. Even if holding to it it’s stopping your from growing. Gina came into his life to tell him that changes can be good, that doing things for yourself are good. If a love is meant to be it will be. And he looks at Gina. Who, like before, was standing at the side of the stage. And she knows that line it’s for her. Gina knows exactly what Ricky is trying to tell her. But we also have Nini, who Ricky knows is watching too, they told him this before. But he is singing to Gina. Nini is not in his mind. But the fact that she is there makes that concept very clear. Nini is there watching him with pride because she can see too how much he has changed as a person and now belongs. And at the other side of the stage there's EJ, who’s basically on a similar situation as before but this time he knows is inevitable and he won’t do anything to sabotage that like he did before. He walks away. He knows he has.

Tim Federle loves its full circle moments and Season 4 will give us a lot of those. But this whole thing brings me to his recent interview where he says this is the first time Ricky and Gina are in love together because sometimes your first love is not exactly what you think love is. We often think our first love it's the standard of love and then comes someone that teaches you how to love. This is what Gina is to Ricky. (And I’ve made countless post about it X X X)

Nini and Ricky’s love was special but it was not helping them grow up, you could feel since the pilot how out of sync they actually were and neither of them wanted to admit that because their romance was attached to their childhood memories none of them were ready to let go. Nini was more ready to let go than Ricky was. Gina pushed Ricky to contemplate aspects of his life - and the reality that he needed to move forward and accept that things have to come the way they will come and he can't hold onto them. The song "Second Change" is also a song that summarizes the OG Core 4 arcs. For Nini, it's always been about finding her self self away for the image she created around Ricky. For Ricky, it was accepting changes, to embrace them. For Gina, it's about not running when things get too hard and finding where she belongs. For EJ, is about finding his own way outside of his parents expectations. That’s it. That’s the story. And if you didn’t see it…

[taylorkellyreporting]

i hope no one minds if i liveblog this bitch: hsmtmts 2x01-2x12

gina saying ‘i’m gonna make my mark’ while walking through nini and ricky, causing them to break their handhold…yeah.

poor gina, she likes ricky so much

that was harsh, ricky didn’t deserve that.

oh my God, nini’s ‘team kourt’ pullover is so cute

blondie has a great voice but she’s a shit person, i have to say

kourt, ash and gina did so good but i kinda wish ashs voice wasn’t at the forefront

i officially hate blondie, how dare her laugh at big red falling???

ashlyn as belle my beloved <3

I KNEW SHE WAS A SPY

the hearts on nini’s face, aw

lmfaoooo he’s in denver

‘…i’m taking it in stride’ ‘you’re dressed in all black’ pls

big red saying valentine’s day is centered around the color red so he should have it on lock and pointing to his hair was hilarious i love him

ricky definitely has some buried feelings for gina cause there’s no other reason why their scenes are now slightly awkward in that cute way it is when characters have mutual feelings for each other and don’t know how to act esp when one half is in a relationship 🤭

‘there are just some things i tell you that i don’t tell anybody else’ ‘i think we do that for each other’ who else is doing it like them? definitely not rini lmao

not ricky shushing gina cause nini’s calling??? now why would he do that if he didn’t feel slightly guilty for hanging out with her? emotionally cheating ricky we love you🫂

big red and ashlyn are so adorable together

GOD RICKY AND THE CHOCOLATES, I CANT BREATHE

the way ricky immediately sent that text to gina, he’s so fucking obvious 😭

‘love you, mom!’ seb is so cute

kourt as lead when??

ricky’s fucking face when he sees nini’s voicemail and gina’s text 😭

reds song was saurrr cute

ricky’s down so bad, gina didn’t even say anything funny and he immediately lost it

‘what, do i need to send you a random box of chocolates to prove it? 😏’ gina is literally the only one so far who brings out ricky’s flirty side

‘i go big, gina. you know that.’ GOD

kinda wanna throw hands with mr mazzara for being there for ej but not willing to be there for ricky earlier

need someone to notice something’s wrong with gina and hug her

is gina leaving again? kinda getting that vibe

gina’s performance was AMAZING

WOW i think that’s genuinely the best cover of ‘the climb’ i’ve ever heard

‘i’ve never been accused of being speechless’ 🫂

oh wow, they stole their beauty and the beast idea

‘i’m ready to come home’

‘what would you ask your future self?’ ‘trick question, gaston’s dead!’ he’s not wrong 😭

ricky’s allergic to change and it’s definitely his parents fault

‘i wouldn’t quit on us, if i wasn’t moving away’

‘nini’s back and…he’s so happy now’ SHE DESERVES TO BE HAPPY, TOO!!!!

espionage 😭😭

gina finally got a hug 🥹

ricky saying he’d ask if the beast and belle were still together in the future + nini writing that song…yeah, they were built to fall apart

‘oh my God, is your phone hungry?!’ lmfaoooo

‘do you really think they’d steal from us?’ ‘i would :D’ pls?? gina’s so funny 😭

‘if you leave me unsupervised with their costumes i cannot promise i won’t go all gina 1.0 in there’ lmfao i love her

the way i gasped in sync with everyone else when that kid called the costume fugly 😭

ricky and nini is the worst relationship on the show

OH MY GOD???

okay, i did NOT see howie being the beast coming

‘miss jen, we didn’t break anything’ ‘would you like me to be the first?’ miss jen said her hands are rated E for everyone

‘keep our heads down and our chins up’ ‘i don’t think that’s physically possible’ ‘it’s an expression, sebastian!’ she’s so done with him 😭

rini needs to end, they aren’t good together at all

i already hate ej’s dad, he sounds so full of himself and he’s only said a few words lmao

kourt’s mom is the best parent on the show i fear

damn, all the relationships are imploding this ep

i would’ve preferred gina and ej just being friends tbh

i feel bad for nini and ricky of course, but their relationship was not it

okayyyy an andi mack reunion!! i’m here for it!

i love the song and video they made, i just wish ricky was there, too

gina is so damn shippable cause why am i here thinking her and jack would be cute together

ricky’s song is so good

ej showing up at the airport…ricky should’ve ran into gina there on his way home and they should’ve taken an uber together or something

‘i think i may have played troy at one point’ pls 😭

lily’s incredibly annoying

seblos 🥹

oh fuck, ricky fell 😭

the musical is really good

A BIG BROTHER FIGURE, I’M CRYING

lily stole the harness, didn’t she?

well.

‘i’ve always seen your name in lights’ oh my God, they’re so cute!!!

why can’t gina ever just be happy?!?

Gina and nini’s friendship (i use that word loosely lmao) is cute

nini being more upset about her and gina than ricky and gina…she doesn’t give a fuck about him dkgjfjs

oh wow, gina’s definitely gonna introduce nini to her brother

‘are you happy?’ miss jen is already better than both of ricky’s parents just by asking that simple question

i’m so glad they dropped out

oh brother

the cast performing you are the music in me 🫶🏻🥹

aww, olivia crying 🥺

that’s a wrap on s2 and if you made it to the end of this lb, pat yourself on the back lmfao

[filmmakerdreamst]

#no bc like. tim was catagorically crushing the anti-rinas okay#ik theres people that think rina came out of nowhere bc they weren't paying attention lol#but in 4x01 he literally shows the scenes where they were falling in love the first time and then reinforces it here and in the flashbacks#like- god i love it via @chaoswithpie 

HSMTMTS 4.08 | Born to Be Brave

[hrtbrkwthrs]

Second Chance: In My Head...

Ricky Bowen x OC

This is episode three of my series Second Chance.

Summary: Unexpected tension leaves both Blake and Ricky confused. Ricky leaves Nini a voicemail and ends up hurt. Trouble in paradise for Nini and EJ.

Trigger Warnings: Talks of (Blake's) BPD and therapy (like healthy coping skills), mentions of not having food at home, pills/addiction

"Five, six, seven, eight!"

The words echoed through the black box. Carlos pressed the play button on the music, starting 'Get'cha Head in the Game' from the original High School Musical soundtrack.

A group of background characters in the play, Blake included, started to bounce basketballs, attempting to bounce in sync with the music despite the blindfolds that covered their faces.

She lifted her leg up, bouncing the basketball to the other side and trying to catch it with her other hand. She was supposed to do a twirl next, but the ball bounced away from her before she could try.

Judging by the sound of other basketballs bouncing away and the squeaking rubber shoes against the floor, nobody else had much luck with the moves either.

"Alright guys, come on, get 'cha head in the game," Carlos joked as everybody lifted their blindfolds and chased after their own basketballs.

"Carlos, when can we take these blindfolds off?" A boy with white hair chuckled, basketball in hand.

"When you're able to dribble and pirouette at the same time," Carlos smiled, stating his response as if it was obvious. Blake took a second to breathe after picking up her basketball, giggling softly at his answer.

"Alright," Carlos clapped his hands together, "good reheasal today, everybody! I'll see you all tomorrow, and don't forget to read over your scripts!"

She put her basketball down in the designated bin, grabbing her backpack and waving goodbye to Carlos. She was met with Ricky outside the door of the black box waiting for her.

"Hey, how was practice?" He nodded towards her with a smile as the two of them began walking through the halls.

"Rehearsals," she corrected him with a smirk.

He chuckled and rolled his eyes, "Okay, how was rehearsals, smartass?"

She let out a quiet laugh, "it was fun. We learned to bounce a basketball blindfolded."

"I don't even want to ask."

She shook her head, "I don't know why he's trying to get us to learn the dance blindfolded, I think it's something about making it impossible to learn at first? I don't know," she giggled.

"Hey, okay, so... do you remember how I told you I think Nini and I had a moment earlier?" Ricky quickly changed the subject as the two of them started walking down the stairs.

She hesitantly nodded, "yes...?"

"Well... I think I'm going to call her real quick," he said as he pulled his phone out of his pocket, stopping on the stairwell.

Blake sighed, "I don't know if that's a good idea, Ricky..." She sat on the end of the stairs and watched.

He shrugged, "what do I have to lose?" He started dialing the number in his phone.

She groaned quietly, putting her face in her hands as she listened to the little beeps of the numbers being entered.

She heard the faint sound of Nini's voicemail through his phone, "this is Nini, talk to me, me!"

"Hey, it's me. Your... buddy, Ricky. Sorry to bother you, I know we don't really do voice convos," he used his free hand to animate his words as he spoke them, "but I saw you singing that song with Ashlyn today and I felt like we kind of shared, like, a moment... or a thing? I don't know, maybe a moment is kind of a thing?"

Blake scrunched her nose, an automatic reaction to the words that poured from his mouth. It was clear he didn't think this through.

"Why am I still talking?" He asked himself, whispering underneath his breath, "Anyway, whatever. if this voicemail is too much, or too soon, or you're just not into it... we can just ignore this whole thing and pretend like nothing ever happened, okay? Poof. Gone. Okay... bye."

Blake looked at him, letting out a breath she didn't realize she was holding in as he pressed the button to end the call.

He clicked his tongue, finally moving his gaze from his phone and over to Blake, "Nailed it."

She stood up, the two of them finishing down the stairs and finally leaving the school as he continued to hype himself up, "Crushed it."

She shook her head with a laugh, but denied saying anything when he asked what it was she was laughing at as they skated home.

Instrumentals to the song 'Stick to the Status Quo' from the original High School Musical soundtrack played over the speakers as Blake and the the other extras practiced through a dance number around a cafeteria table that Gina danced on, their moves simply accenting Gina's routine that she was showing off.

Thankfully, Blake was no stranger to dancing. She had a history of ballet when she was younger, thanks to her mom, but as she grew older, she decided that dancing was more her style. Blake went to dance classes four times a week starting when she was eight years old. Just like many other things in her life, the dance classes stopped when her mom passed away. Still, it felt good to get back to her old hobby, if only for a second.

Gina finished out the last bit of the number in a pirouette with a smile as everyone quickly dispersed for a water break. Blake made her way over to Big Red, sitting next to him while he read through a script.

She took a big swig of her water, ignoring EJ sitting next to her and staring. Thankfully, his attention was pulled away from her as Nini walked through the door. Ms. Jenn quickly moved to meet her in the middle of the room.

"Nini! Where were you? We've been here for an hour."

"I'm so sorry," she stumbled, spilling out her explanation, "I lost my phone and basically spent last night living as a hunter-gatherer which, by the way, did you know that there are things that are only on TV at a certain time?"

Ms. Jenn looked at her with wide eyes as she rambled.

"Anyway, I finally picked it up at the lost-and-found and... wait, did you say an hour?" Nini's face fell.

"Gina sent you and me a text asking if we could come in early so she could talk through a new idea," Ms. Jenn explained gently, "you didn't get it?"

"No because my phone was missing..."

"Well, honey," Ms. Jenn began, "you've gotta keep better track of your stuff."

Blake noticed the way EJ's lips turned into a frown, the way he swallowed, looking down at his lap.

Before she could think about it, her attention was soon averted, her gaze now following Ricky. He walked across the room and over to Nini, who finally finished her conversation with Ms. Jenn.

"Hey, Nini, how was your night?" He asked her with a smile.

"Um," Nini pulled her jacket off, "not so hot, actually. Excuse me," she sat her jacket down and pushed past him without a second look.

Blake walked to Ricky's side, "Oh, okay," he cleared his throat as he watched her walk away.

He turned to Blake, whispering "'Not so hot'? Was that about my voicemail?" He raised his eyebrow, a sad chuckle escaping him, "I mean, is that her answer...?"

She shook her head, her mouth opened slightly. She was going to say something, she really was, but he moved on too quickly before she could respond.

"Yeah, that was her answer..." He frowned and walked away, leaving Blake standing there.

"Yo, earth to Blake!"

She had zoned out, but was quickly pulled back to reality when a small foam ball softly bounced off of her face.

"Huh?" she looked to the culprit with slight annoyance. Ricky.

"Are you even listening?" He raised an eyebrow at her.

She sighed. "Uh, yeah. Sorry, Ricky."

"Dude, what's up with you? Where'd you just go?" Big Red's voice caught her attention.

"Was thinking about the homework I have to catch up on," She lied. She honestly just didn't want to hear any more about Nini.

She took a second, trying to think up a way to change the subject, distract them, find any thing to get them off the topic. So she looked at Ricky, figuring why not throw the ball back at him? He threw it at her first, after all.

"...What?" He asked hesitantly as he noticed the mischievous grin on her face.

She raised up her arm and threw the little foam ball as hard as she could at him. He flinched, "Hey!" It bounced off of his chest and onto the floor.

"Payback," she smiled innocently.

The three of them giggled together for a moment before Ricky started up a game of 'catch' — which was just the three of them tossing the little ball to each other in a circle from each side of Big Red's basement that they sat in.

"Okay but seriously, did you hear any of that?" Ricky asked Blake with an eyebrow raised and a smile.

"Yes, don't worry," she lied again, catching the ball from Big Red and quickly tossing it to Ricky again.

"So... what do i do?" Ricky asked both Blake and Big Red.

"Dude, just be yourself," Red looked at Ricky, "be the bigger man."

Ricky caught the ball from Blake, "Okay...." he tossed the ball up in the air and caught it, "pick one?"

Red looked at him, slightly dumbfounded, and sighed, falling backwards onto his bed.

Blake snickered at Ricky's reply, "At least you're self aware," she was only half-joking, "throw the ball!"

Ricky shook his head at her with a smile on his face, proud that he had made her laugh. He sighed and threw the ball to Big Red, "So, you think maybe it's time to move on...?"

Big Red caught the ball, "I mean, I wouldn't. But you also have that other thing..." he threw the ball to Blake, "pride."

She caught the ball and shook her head. While the conversation was undoubtedly silly and made her giggle, she couldn't deny that she was annoyed, too.

"No. Nini clearly isn't into you anymore, Ricky. She deserves to have her boundaries respected. You're just gonna push her away more," Blake sighed, tossing the ball to Ricky before standing up.

She looked away from the two boys, walking to her skateboard, backpack, and helmet.

"Where are you going?" Red sat up, the boys looked at her curiously.

"I'm outta here. Got homework," she shrugged.

"I - Wait..." Ricky tried to stop her, but she was already halfway up the stairs.

It didn't take but a moment before she had swiftly waved goodbye to Red's parents and headed out the front door. Her skateboard hit the ground.

Before she could get her helmet on, Ricky's hand was on her shoulder, "Blake..."

She sighed in frustration, but turned to face him with a smile on her face nonetheless. "What's up, Bowen?"

"What happened?" He genuinely seemed to be concerned, but she shook it off.

"Nothing, it's just late," she assured him.

She could tell he wasn't buying it, but he slowly released his hand from her shoulder and nodded. "Uh, let me go grab my stuff and I'll go with you?"

She shook her head, "don't worry about it."

"Come on, you know I hate it when you skate alone at this time of night."

Blake sighed, "fine."

He smiled at her and ran back inside to grab his things. He usually skateboarded along with her when they left Red's place, he says he hated for her to be alone in the dark. 'It's not like I have to go out of my way for it', he always argued when she'd try to protest.

When the two of them finally arrived to their houses, she kicked up her skateboard, catching it and grabbing her keys from her pocket. "Bye," she tried to be as quick as possible.

"Your dad still isn't home?"

She sighed. "Guess I'm on my own for dinner tonight again," she shrugged, the joke a little more sinister than she meant for it to be. As if she somehow wouldn't be on her own for dinner, even if her father was home.

She was about to turn away, walk inside, do her homework, shower, and sleep. She didn't have time to care about any of this. But Ricky stopped her... again.

"Come over tonight. You know Dad wont mind."

She puffed out a short, sarcastic laugh and looked to the ground beneath her feet. "Yeah, I think I'm good, Ricky. I'm not really hungry anyways," she shook her head.

His worried expression on his face evident, he spoke up, "Look, I don't..." he looked at his house and then back at her, lowering his voice a little bit, "I don't want to be alone tonight, anyways. It just feels so... empty in that house. Like something's missing."

He wasn't lying. But he also wasn't telling the full truth. He was worried about her, he was worried she was starting to isolate again. He knows her history with BPD, and he feared for her. So he told her the half-truth. He knew it'd persuade her to stay, so he said it.

Besides, something was missing. His mom. Hiding away in some other state, neglecting to be there for her son who very clearly needed her. Blake knew how much the past few weeks of this mess had been bothering him. So she sighed, she hesitated but her eyes met his again and she caved.

"Fine."

Ricky unlocked his door, letting her step inside first before following and closing the door behind them. His dad, Mike was asleep on the couch, the tv running Breaking Bad and a box of takeout noodles sat on the coffee table in front of him.

Ricky sighed at the sight of him. "C'mon," he lead her to the kitchen and grabbed two plates, opening up his fridge and pulling out frozen chicken nuggets shaped like dinosaurs.

Blake giggled, "The dino nuggies!" she cooed, a smile on her face. She was reminded of back when they were kids. Her mom would make dino chicken nuggets for the two of them after school every day and bring it out to them in the treehouse. Blake hasn't had any since she was little.

Ricky smiled at her, "you remember the dino nuggies? Your mom used to make them for us all the time..." he began, and Blake finished his sentence along with him.

"...and we would make them fight before we ate them," they said in unison before laughing with each other. He picked up one of the dinos and looked at her expectantly.

She chuckled at his antics but didn't hesitate to join in, picking up a dino and play-fighting with Ricky's. It was silly, but it had the two of them laughing together as they both relived those memories.

"Okay, I think it's time to cook them," she finally stopped, trying hard to contain her laughter in hopes that it wouldn't wake Mike.

Ricky nodded and put them in the microwave, he leaned back against the counter after pressing start on the six minutes. Blake moved over, pushing herself up to sit on the counter next to him, her legs swinging back and fourth softly.

The quiet between them almost became awkward, but Ricky's sleepy father interrupted it when he walked in groggily. "Hey, Ricky," he nodded towards his son, "hey, Blake, you spending the night?"

As if she hadn't agreed to it already, she looked to Ricky for clarification. He looked at her expectantly, hoping she hadn't changed her mind.

Her lips curled up in a small smile before she looked back to Mike and nodded, "Yeah."

Mike only gave a thumbs up in response, yawning as he walked out of the kitchen and to his bedroom.

Blake and Ricky laughed at the awkward encounter right as the microwave went off. When their laughs settled, he turned to the microwave and pulled out the hot dino nuggets, separating them onto two plates.

He went to the fridge and grabbed the ketchup, turning back to the plates and squirting some onto each plate.

"How'd you know I wanted ketchup? What if I wanted mustard?" Blake teased him with a grin, her legs swinging back and forth.

He gave her a knowing look. "I've known you since we were babies. We grew up on dino nuggies. Why wouldn't I know if you wanted ketchup or mustard?"

She jumped off of the counter, grabbing her plate of nuggets as he poured two glasses of lemonade. He grabbed his and they moved to the table.

The two of them sat in mostly silence as they ate, the nuggets being one of the only meals Blake has had the past few days. She hadn't had the time to sneak a few bucks from her dad and buy some groceries recently.

After they both finished their food, they cleaned up and put their dishes in the sink to be washed tomorrow.

Ricky looked at Blake with a smile, "I got you something."

She tilted her head in question, smiling back. "What?"

"Follow me," he said as he led her out of the house and to the backyard, into the tree house.

The two of them climbed up the ladder, only to be met with a box.

"What's this?" She asked him curiously.

"Well I figured since we finally got the tree house cleaned up, but none of the lights worked anymore... maybe I could get some new lights? I got the LED kind, too." He began unpacking the box, grabbing the little remote that came with the new lights, showing it to her. "You can even change the colors," he told her excitedly.

She giggled, taking the remote from him and looking at the colorful buttons on it. "Ricky, this is so fun," she smiled.

He started to unpack the lights, unraveling them and not hesitating to get to work, putting them up on the walls.

She moved quickly to help him and when the two of them finally finished setting the lights up, they plugged them in and used the remote to turn them on. Blake switched through all the colors they could be set to.

"We are actually children," she laughed as they both reacted a bit too excitedly at the different colors. He laughed too, grabbing the remote from her and finally setting the color to a nice blue.

She sighed, "I think it's time for me to take a shower. Mind if I use yours?" she asked him, knowing he wouldn't want her to go home right now anyway.

He nodded, "always."

She smiled at him as he turned the lights off, both of them climbing down the ladder of the tree house and heading inside.

She grabbed some of her clothes from the pile in Ricky's closet that she left for nights like these, and stepped into the shower.

Ricky fell back onto his bed, letting out a small groan of frustration. He tried to focus on the noise of the running water from the shower, or the sight of the ceiling fan whirring above him. Anything to distract him from his mind.

He thought about the other day, when Blake held his hand as she wrapped it up, taking care of his bruised and swollen knuckles. When his stomach turned as he watched her. The way she smiled, or her feather-light touch as she focused on him. He was captivated by the way she made him feel. Safe, loved, cared for. Captivated by how much he wanted to kiss her right then and there. To hold her in his arms with his lips pressed to hers, giving in to his impulsivity.

He could have sworn it was just the moment, just the overwhelming thoughts and feelings from a rough day. He could have sworn it didn't mean anything. So why couldn't he shake the thoughts?

Blake ran her fingers through her hair, washing out the conditioner she just scrubbed into it. The refreshing feeling of the water running down her back made her sigh in relief. Something to focus on that wasn't Ricky.

Ricky.

He didn't make this easy for her. The way he protected her from EJ, albeit in an incredibly stupid way, or the little things he did, like buying new lights for their tree house. The way he noticed that she was sad, insisting she didn't skate home alone. He made her feel safe. He made her feel loved. He made her feel cared for.

It was the safety that scared her. She hadn't been safe since the day her dad decided to take pills, opioids, after her mom died, washing it down with a bottle of vodka. Not that he'd ever hurt her, but the neglectful nature that followed his addictions had clouded any sense of safety she could ever find within him again.

Ricky being the only person left that she felt safe with after she lost both her parents was terrifying, to say the least... because what if she lost him, too?

She finished washing the soap off of her body, turning off the water and grabbing the towel she picked up on her way in. After drying off, she brushed her teeth and got dressed in fresh clothes, discarding her dirty clothes in Ricky's clothes hamper. He'd just add it to the pile again, anyway.

Turning the knob, she opened the bathroom door, the steam flowing out and no longer suffocating in the bathroom. She saw Ricky, laying on his back and staring at the ceiling.

"You okay?" She asked him gently, running a hand through her wet hair as she started to braid it.

He sat up, slightly alarmed at her voice, as if he hadn't noticed that she had already left the bathroom. He nodded, "I'm fine. How was your shower?"

The exchange was confusingly awkward as she answered quietly, "refreshing," she shrugged, sitting on the edge of his bed and continuing her braiding.

Ricky moved, sitting next to her as he watched her fingers move swiftly through her hair, perfectly lacing her locks in a delicate pattern.

"What is it?" She asked him softly, and he didn't even realize he was staring until she spoke.

He opened his mouth to say something, to say anything, but nothing came out. Not a few seconds later, his phone chimed. 'Saved by the bell', he thought.

He didn't hesitate to grab it, reading the text he had just received.

"It's Nini," he informed Blake, the confusing tension that once filled the air was gone in an instant.

"Oh," she breathed out as she finished braiding her hair, wrapping a hair tie around the end to hold it together.

"She said 'hey'... What does 'hey' mean?"

She shrugged, "Not sure. I wouldn't think too much on it, though," she advised him.

For a moment, she almost thought that he'd taken her advice, but she was quickly proven wrong when he began typing, then promptly deleting his own message. He tried again, but his message was gone once more. She watched his thumbs slide across the screen of his phone as he had written out multiple different messages, every single one of them seemingly not up to Ricky's standards.

She sighed, "I'm going to sleep, Ricky. You should, too."

He didn't look from his phone, standing up and saying, "alright, goodnight," before walking over to the futon in his room.

He kicked his shoes off, haphazardly taking off his shirt and discarding it somewhere on the ground, lying down and throwing a blanket over himself.

Blake had to remind herself to breathe, the sight of her best friend shirtless in front of her was nothing new, but it still gave her butterflies all the same. That, paired with the frustration of him actually responding to Nini, however... Well, it was a confusing mixture of emotions, to say the least.

So she crawled into the bed and turned off the lamp on Ricky's bedside table. She bundled up underneath the covers and slowly drifted off to sleep.

"Can you believe she actually told EJ about the voicemail I left her?"

Ricky paced the halls as he let out his anger while Blake leaned up against a wall and listened.

"That's really fucking disrespectful," she replied, matching his frustration.

"Right? You know what? I'm gonna go tell her that right now," He almost yelled.

It was evident that his anger was building more and more, and she knew that the best thing to do to help him was to help calm him.

Ricky didn't realize it, but she knew exactly what to do when he's upset. It's been the same routine since the two of them were young. It wasn't exactly difficult for her to figure out, considering she was the same way.

There were step-by-step rules to it:

1. Match his energy; get angry with him (while staying calm).

2. Validation; remind him that he's allowed to be upset.

3. Breathe; remind him to take a breath, to not let his thoughts consume him (which really isn't easy).

She pushed herself away from the wall, walking towards him. "Okay, Ricky, hey," she stood in front of him, stopping his pacing. Her hands went to his shoulders, "breathe."

His eyes met hers as he complied. He sucked in a deep breath, slowly releasing it.

"Good," she nodded. "I know it's infuriating that she betrayed your trust like that," she spoke calmly, sympathizing with him, "and you are one-hundred percent allowed to be angry. I'd be angry, too. Hell, I am angry. What she did wasn't at all fair to you. But you have to remember to breathe. Exploding is only going to make you feel worse. Don't let this consume you."

Blake and Ricky were similar in that aspect. Easy to let thoughts and emotions take over every inch of their minds.

He nodded at her words, his breathing had calmed down at the sound of her voice. Her sympathizing had worked in making him feel less alone.

"Now that you're calm, if you still want to go and talk to Nini, you should. State your boundaries, tell her that what she did wasn't cool, and then walk away. Alright?"

He agreed, flashing a small smile at her as a silent 'thank you'. She followed him through the halls as the two of them set off to find Nini. They watched as she exited through the front doors of the school, and Ricky dashed to catch up to her.

He pushed through the doors with Blake following closely behind, "Hey! Nini!" He called out to her, "I have to say something to you."

He finally reached her as he began his speech. "I know we're not a couple anymore, okay? I get that. You've been very clear," he sighed, "but... I thought there was a little trust left between us. I thought that I still meant something to you."

Nini sighed at his words, "I just can't do this right now..." She tried to walk away, but Ricky stopped her.

"Fine. Okay. But the next time I spill my guts out to you in a voicemail, do me a favor and keep it to yourself. I don't need to be hearing from EJ that it's wrong and stupid."

"Wait," Nini raised her eyebrow in confusion, "what voicemail?"

Blake wasn't standing far behind when she heard her question him, remembering Nini telling Ms. Jenn that she had lost her phone, and seeing EJ's reaction to the news.

"What do you mean?" Ricky asked her.

Nini answered his question with another question, "you heard this from EJ?"

Ricky's eyebrows furrowed as thoughts flowed through his mind but for Blake, it had already clicked. EJ stole Nini's phone.

. . .

To Be Continued...

[louniie]

🍓 𝐫𝐮𝐥𝐞𝐬 —

﹒i have other priorities and therefore, i may be a little slow with writing, updates, etc. so please be patient with me.

﹒fem!reader is my default when writing requests unless specified, so please specify when requesting otherwise so i can adhere as well as i can to your vision.

﹒i am not obligated to write requests when: requests are closed, i am not comfortable writing them, or i just don’t have the inspiration or knowledge to write them.

🍒 𝐰𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐢 𝐰��𝐢𝐭𝐞 —

❨ bold: most frequently written ❩

﹒celebrities: harry styles, louis tomlinson, niall horan, joshua bassett, austin butler, more to be added

﹒riordanverse: percy jackson, annabeth chase, clarisse la rue, luke castellan.

﹒hsmtmts: ricky bowen, nini salazar - roberts, ej caswell, gina porter.

﹒friends: ross geller, rachel green, monica geller, chandler bing, joey tribbiani, phoebe buffay.

﹒mcu: peter parker, bucky barnes.

i will NOT write character x character, sensitive & serious topics ❨ racism, sexism, homophobia, etc. ❩

[apocalypto-sane]

Bonus:

Nothing like a heartwarming talks during a storm.

TRUST THE OUTCOME 💖

High School Musical: The Musical: The Series (2019-)

[sidneyb16]

WELP HERE GOES NOTHING

Prompt: "I could marry you right now."

Ship: EJ x Gina

Fandom: High School Musical: The Musical: The Series (HSMTMTS)

"ELTON JOHN CASWELL!"

Uh-oh.

EJ had bought Gina flowers, chocolate, cupcakes for her dance class students, and a cute Valentine’s teddy bear, but he'd completely forgot that he had also ordered several Valentine’s candy grams that were being sold at the dance studio she teaches

Gina came into the house with bags full of valentines gifts, glitter in her hair and her cheeks were flushed with red. Jamie's on the brink of bursting into laughter seeing his little sister in such a state.

"Hey, Gi, how was dance?" EJ asked awkwardly, low key scared for his life.

Gina dropped everything in her arms onto the couch, and practically speed walked over to him. EJ braced himself for impact, but Gina suddenly pulls him in for the most DRAMATIC kiss he's ever had.

Jamie's completely lost it at this point, on the ground trying to catch his breath while laughing with tears in his eyes.

Gina pulled away, out of breath and giggling, EJ awestruck with pink lip gloss on his lips. "What was that for?" He asked once he finally regained his breath.

"I could marry you right now, EJ! Everyone loved the cupcakes you ordered, not to mention the chocolates and these roses and the friendship bracelet?! You must've really been planning this for so long! Well, I'm gonna go put all of this away and then FaceTime Nini, she's coming over for a slumber party later tonight! Thank you again, baby, I love youuu!" Gina rambled before planting one more kiss to EJ's cheek and happily skipped up to her bedroom.

EJ blushed a bit. Making his princess happy was so important to him, even if his friends called him whipped for doing so.

He couldn't wait to see the look on his face when he gets down one one knee outside Cinderella's castle on Sweethearts Nite, asking her to forever be his Mrs. Caswell.

*ೃ༄ valentine’s prompts ˚◞♡ ⃗

♡ “you didn’t have to go to all this effort just for me.”₁ “that’s why i did it. for you.”₂

♡ “i don’t know what kind of wine you’re meant to have with takeout, so i got both.”

♡ “could you have found a bigger teddy bear?!”

♡ “that’s more roses than i’ve ever seen in my life.”

♡ “flowers and a candlelit dinner?! have i swallowed a romance novel? did you?”

♡ “it’s not much, but i got you this.”

♡ “shush, i don’t want to hear it. you deserve all this and more, whether you believe it or not.”

♡ “you’re all i’ll ever want.”

♡ “i can’t believe you remembered this!”₁ “of course i did. you’re important to me.”₂

♡ “i could marry you right now.”

♡ “there’s nowhere else i’d rather be than with you.”

♡ “see, this is the true meaning of valentine’s day.”₁ “box wine and enough candy to kill a horse?!”₂ “you heard me.”₁

♡ “i wish every day could be like this.”

♡ “i think i deserve a kiss.”

♡ “you’ve never looked as beautiful as you do right now.”

[tvandenneagram]

HSMTMTS: Nini Salazar-Roberts - Type 9w1

Nini is kind, creative, calm, and helpful. Nini spends some of the series trying to find herself and her place in the world, as well as navigating her relationship with Ricky.

At her best, Nini starts to realise her own dreams and goals in isolation from how other people feel. Nini also takes a chance on herself and on a new experience at the Youth Actors Conservatory and later with her songwriting. 

At her worst, Nini can struggle in conflict and often keeps her true feelings to herself. Nini also has a hard time understanding her own wants and needs as she is always focused on other people.

9s can have a difficult time expressing their own feelings or telling people things if they think it will upset the other person, which we see clearly in Nini. Nini didn’t tell Ricky about her acceptance into the Youth Actors Conservatory and her moving to Denver until the last possible minute. She didn’t want to ruin their time together with the news. On the other hand, Nini did confess her feelings to Ricky first, and was crushed by his lack of reaction, which might explain why she was reluctant to tell him about moving. 

Throughout the series, a lot of Nini’s character seems to be focused on how other people see her and changing herself for others, which can be a problem for 9s. In her relationship with Ricky, she often has to reassure him and change little parts of herself. For example, she claims to only eat pineapple pizza because that’s what Ricky likes. Nini also expresses a sentiment of wanting to find who she is outside of relationships in the Rose Song. 

After she breaks up with Ricky, she is able to have a better sense of herself and what she wants to do, as we see with her changing her name to Nina and starting a new Instagram. She does this because she has always felt Nini was Ricky’s perception of her and she wants to find herself. She also wanted to have a fresh start for her music.

Nini is very creative and talented, but never felt like she could play the lead in the musical. This is compounded when she finds out that EJ gave the lead actress at Summer Camp food poisoning, so Nini could have a chance at playing the lead. However, as the series progresses, Nini realises that she is a very talented and competent performer and gains confidence in herself. Nini is also able to use this confidence as she embarks on new experiences in performing. 

Nini shows her wing 1 as she is more reserved, quiet and introverted than a 9w8 is. 

Tri-type: 9w1 - 2w1 - 6w7

Some quotes to describe Nini’s motivations

"The old me had her heart broken, OK? And then, she went away and she found herself. And you don't get to show up now.”

"That's all it is, right? Different. I mean, that's not necessarily bad."

"I'm my own person now."

"He worked hard and he looks really good now... in the show. He looks really good in the show."

"Sometimes, it's easier to just kiss."

Nini: “Is that really her phone?” Miss Jenn: “Hold it to your ear like a seashell. You’ll hear echoes of VHudge crushing the B-flat on When There Was Me and You.”

[silverscreenmusicals]

One ‘High School Musical: The Musical: The Series’ performance per episode ↳What I’ve Been Looking For - Season 1, Episode 4: Blocking

[iridescentides]

I’m really sorry

[sidneyb16]

Some of my otps bc I'm far too lazy to find corresponding emojis for all of them 😭 (send an emoji + number for me to answer):

💐: Applejack x Fluttershy (MLP)

🎶: Ricky Bowen x Nini Salazar-Roberts (HSMTMTS)

🍝: EJ Caswell x Gina Porter (HSMTMTS) (I couldn't find a risotto emoji 😭)

🌧: Troy Bolton x Gabriella Montez (HSM) (The rain emoji is a can I have this dance reference)

🏠: Barbie x Ken (Life In The Dreamhouse)

💌: Lara Jean Covey x Peter Kavinsky (TATBILB)

♾️: Belly Conklin x Conrad Fisher (TSITP)

(ATP I'll just do it myself and everyone can fangirl over a fictional couple's wedding with me 😭)

Wedding ask game for your newly (and not so newly) wed OTP

(made mainly with couples in mind, feel free to adapt to as many people as you want)

Who first brought up the option of marriage? Was it an easy topic?

Which one proposed? Was it grand and public? Discreet and private? Was it expected?

Show us their engagement and/or wedding rings!

Did they plan the wedding by themselves, with help, or with a professional planner?

Was the planning and time up til the wedding stressful?

Who were the first people to find out about the engagement? How did they react?

Who are the maids of honor and/or best men? Why and how were they chosen?

Was there any drama whatsoever regarding the guest list?

Show us a mood/stimboard of their wedding's general aesthetic.

Do they get married through court? Church? Third secret option?

When do they get married? Night or day? Any specific reason for either?

Do either of them play music while walking down the aisle (if they do at all)? If yes, show us their song.

Show us their outfits!

Do they follow any familiar, cultural, and/or religious traditions at any point of the wedding?

Who was the ringbearer?

Who married them?

Show us their vows. Did either of them tear up at them?

Did anyone oppose the marriage? Did they speak then, or did they just forever hold their peace?

What was the ceremony like? Any highlights?

Did anyone pass out from a food/alcohol coma?

Do they have a honeymoon? Where to? How soon after?

Do they renew their vows? Remarry, even?

If the couple could describe their wedding in a sentence, how would they?

If you could describe their wedding in a sentence, how would you?

[rinacentral]

the best thing i can do for her is just take a step back…

high school musical: the musical: the series 1x10 – act two | 3x06 – color war

[ginaporterr]

RICKY & GINA + starting fresh with each other vs others

[elainiisms]

CANONICALLY THE CUTEST THING GINA HAS EVER SEEN!!!

[hrtbrkwthrs]

Second Chance: I Think I Kinda You Know...

Ricky Bowen x Blake Sahan (OC)

this is episode one of my series Second Chance.

Summary: Blake makes amends with Ricky and joins him and Big Red on his journey to win Nini back.

Trigger Warnings: Blake has an anxiety attack, toxic relationships, mentions of losing virginity, just a lot of angst. Ricky and Blake are both just messy asf honestly but otherwise yeah

"I think I kinda you know I think I kinda you know, you know, you know... I can't help dreaming of you Guess I'm saying I don't not love you... You know, you know, you know..."

Blake watched the video on her phone, a brunette girl with long hair and a bright smile played the ukulele and sang a cute little song. She sighed, turning the screen off.

A tear rolled down her cheek. And then another. She's crying. She couldn't believe she was crying over a boy... her best friend, at that. She used the long sleeve of her shirt to wipe the few tears off of her face, sniffling.

It's not like it was a surprise, Nini's song to Ricky. They had been together for a whole year. The L word was bound to come out sometime. It just felt like a slap in the face, she thought.

Blake and Ricky had known Nini since kindergarten, but Blake knew him even before that. The Sahan and Bowen families have been neighbors for twenty-three years now, making Ricky and Blake pretty much best friends ever since they were able to walk and talk.

Their dads built a treehouse connecting the two big trees in their backyards. It wasn't huge, but it was big enough for the two of them to grow up in. Silly things written on the walls with permanent marker, photographs taken by parents, and terrible art drawn by two seven year olds with crayons were plastered all over the walls.

Two blue bean bags sat on the ground facing a small tv that had been set up by their dads. It didn't have cable or anything, but it hooked up to an old Playstation and that was good enough for them.

It was their safe space... until they were twelve years old and Nini's parents built her a treehouse in their backyard. Ricky started going around there, it happened slowly, a couple of 'sorry, I can't, I've got plans with Nini's. But that turned into canceled plans, and soon enough, that Playstation in their treehouse was collecting dust.

Nini and Blake were close. Hell, Blake might even have considered Nini one of her best friends (aside from Ricky, of course). Blake told her everything that she felt about Ricky. She was sure Nini was tired of the way she blabbed on and on about him, how amazing he was... or maybe Blake was convincing Nini how much she could love Ricky, too.

Because once they were fourteen years old, Nini accidentally confessed that she was into him, too. And then at fifteen, Ricky was raving on and on about how he couldn't believe he didn't see her before. Soon enough, Blake had nobody to talk to about her first heartbreak, stuck in the middle of her two best friends pining for each other. It was like a goofy trope in a romance book.

They were seventeen when they finally made things official. Seventeen when Blake finally tried to start dating. Seventeen when she lost her virginity to a boy named EJ Caswell, a boy that she didn't even know, much less trust. Word spread around the high school, and she was the main topic of gossip for a few months.

At the time, Blake slowly pushed everybody away, isolating. Self-destructive behaviors destroyed most of her friendships. Ricky tried to be there for her, but even he was a victim of her isolation.

Blake would hear him stick up for her in the hallways whenever he'd hear something about her, but she couldn't even look him in the eyes.

Big Red tried to stick up for her, but he was too shy most of the time, and Blake couldn't even bring herself to talk to him, either.

Surprising to Blake, Nini didn't do anything. She let people talk, and watched Blake isolate.

Her last three friendships, ruined.

Blake's phone started ringing, Sunflower Vol. 6 by Harry Styles playing. The ringtone she set for Ricky when they were fifteen. She shook her head as if erasing an etch-a-sketch, pulling herself out of the trance.

She wiped her tears before answering the phone. "Ricky?"

"Hey..." A sniffle was heard on the other line. He was crying.

"What's wrong?" Suddenly, all of the memories and worries that had occupied Blake's mind were gone, replaced with her concern for Ricky.

"I, uh..." he let out a shaky breath, "I'm leaving Nini's... Can I come over?"

"Yeah... yes, of course. I'll leave the door unlocked for you."

"Uh," he paused, "thanks," he sniffled.

"You're..." Blake started, but was quickly interrupted by the call ending, "...welcome..." she finished in a whisper to herself.

She felt heavy, but she managed to push herself up off the bed, quickly going to unlock the front door for Ricky.

Blake's dad was gone. Probably at a bar again. He won't be home until sunrise, so she sat in the living room quietly, anxiously tapping her foot on the ground.

It only took a few minutes before the door creaked opened slowly, a boy with mousey brown curls and pretty lips that curled down in a sad frown walked in. He closed the door behind him, his skateboard hit the carpeted floor, followed by his helmet and his backpack.

Blake was off the couch and standing in front of him within seconds. He looked at her with sad eyes and her heart hurt for him. She threw her arms around him, pulling him into a tight hug which he quickly returned. She could feel the tears running down his face, soaked up by the shoulder of her shirt. His shaky breaths being the only noise she heard in her ear as he cried, Blake gently rubbed his back and let him.

When he finally pulled away, sniffling, Blake pulled down her sleeve - the same one she used to wipe away her own tears - and wiped away his. She quietly took his hand and led him up the stairs and to her room. "Sit," she instructed him softly, and he sat on the edge of her bed.

Grabbing a wash cloth from her bathroom, she ran cold water from the sink and soaked it. When she returned to her bedroom, she sat next to Ricky on her bed. He repositioned himself so he was facing her, and she gently pressed the cold cloth to his face, running it over his forehead, down to his cheeks where his hot tears had stained his skin. She washed them off, making sure to cool down every inch of his face carefully.

Once she was done, she discarded the cloth next to them and took his hands in hers. Her voice was low, gentle. "Do you want to talk about it?" Her voice had always been so soothing, he thought. It sent chills down his spine as he soaked in the comfort.

"Nini... Uh," he paused for a moment, looking down at his hands that Blake held, "we're taking a break."

Honestly, she wasn't sure how to feel about that news, but now wasn't the time to figure that out. "I'm sorry, Ricky... Do you want to talk about what happened? Or, uh... I mean, we could just turn on a silly Kurtis Conner video on YouTube or something..."

But without warning, his energy shifted; as if he is finally letting his mind completely open up for the first time.

"I'm sorry," he started abruptly.

"What?"

"I-I'm sorry," he stuttered, speaking frantically, "I mean, I know you. I know how you are, how you isolate when you're overwhelmed, how you push people away. A-And I know that I wasn't there for you like I should have been when those rumors were floating around. I should have tried..." He trails off, avoiding eye contact.

"Ricky, you did try," Blake started tearing up, "I just didn't let you -"

He interrupted her.

"I should have tried harder."

She wiped her tears away. "It's not your fault that I had another episode, got self-destructive. It's my fault for not handling it better."

"But I'm the only one in your life who knows you have BPD..."

And he was right. Blake's mother had her in therapy from the time she was fourteen years old, when she started to spiral from the feeling of betrayal.

It may have seemed dramatic at the time, but when Blake was officially diagnosed with Borderline Personality Disorder just after her mother's passing, her emotional episodes finally made sense.

Besides, it's not like she had many people to tell about her diagnosis. Her only friends really were Ricky, Big Red, and kind of Nini. Even so, as much as she trusted Big Red, the only person she truly trusted enough to tell was Ricky.

"I'm the only one who knows exactly how to help you through your episodes and I should have done more!"

His voice raising made her sigh, more tears fell down her cheeks.

"It's not your job to fix me, Ricky."

"But it is my job to be a good friend," Ricky started before taking a breath. He continued "I just want to go back to how it was..." He looked at her with sad eyes.

"Fine," Blake nodded with a smile as more tears fell. "I-I'm out of the episode I was in, Ricky. I'm done isolating, so fine. I want to go back to how it was, too," she sniffled, "so let's just go back. It's okay," she wiped her tears and looked at him with a the most comforting smile she could muster.

He looked at her, no words could escape his mouth as he pulled her into a hug. He held her tightly. His hands ran through her hair as he mumbled apologies into her shoulder. "It's okay," Blake confirmed.

When they separated from the hug, Blake forced a smile as she sniffled. "So we're good, Ricky."

Ricky nodded, a weak smile on his face, "Good." He grabbed the cold cloth next to them, deciding it was his turn to clean Blake up. He gently guided the cloth over her forehead, her cheeks, even her nose. The tears that stained her cheeks previously, gone.

"Thanks," she smiled at him weakly, "let's get comfy and watch some silly videos, yeah?"

He smiled at her, finally a genuine smile, and nodded. The two of them got comfortable in her bed, and she went to YouTube to turn on some Kurtis Conner videos. Laughing at every joke, they eventually both fell asleep.

It's been a whole summer since the (now deleted) confession video. Blake and Ricky spent their summer together, making up for lost time along with Big Red.

At this point, Big Red was the only one who knew about Blake's feelings for Ricky and she intended to keep it that way. He helped her feel better every time they'd just heard Ricky talk about all of his random dates. How they weren't Nini. Then he'd go to another girl. Then back to Nini. Rinse and repeat.

It was the morning of the first day of college, Blake, Ricky, and Red took their skateboards to school, zooming past a lady who had just exited her car. "Sorry!" Ricky exclaimed, "Our bad!" Red yelled, "Excuse us!" Blake squealed.

When the three of them got to a stopping point, they grabbed their skateboards and started walking through the school doors.

"Today's the day, guys. It's happening," Ricky smiled.

"Hell yeah! College, baby," Red looked towards Blake and Ricky as he spoke, "might grow a mustache... might do a lot of things," he shrugged with a smirk.

Blake couldn't stop the snicker that escaped her lips when he mentioned the mustache, Ricky joining in while Red looked between the two of them with a death glare.

"Dude... I'm talking about Nini," he told Red, "today's the day we... start over."

Red looked at Ricky, then to Blake with a sympathetic smile. She shrugged as her and Red slowed down long enough for Blake to whisper a sarcastic "can't wait" to him with Ricky out of earshot.

The three of them walked down the halls as Ricky continued, "We texted. She sounded neutral. Nothing about bad news or needing to have a big talk, just 'hey'.... that's good, right?" He looked between Blake and Red inquisitively.

Red sighed, "summers are no-man's land, Ricky. I don't know what 'hey' means and... neither do you."

Ricky paused for a second, "I think it's good..."

The three of them arrived at Nini's locker where she stood with Kourtney, "I'm waiting for the right time to tell him," Nini told Kourtney.

"Yo, Nini! What's good?" Ricky greeted.

"How do you feel about right now..." Kourtney asked under her breath.

Nini hesitated, but turned around.

"Hey," Ricky smiled.

"Hey," Nini waved awkwardly, "Um... can we talk?"

Ricky didn't respond, only tilted his head a bit.

"I met somebody else at camp... I didn't plan-" she rushed out, but her words were quickly interrupted by Ricky.

"Wait... is this a joke?"

"Still talking here," Nini snapped at him.

Kourtney whispered underneath her breath, "ooh snap.." she looked to Nini proudly. Blake and Red only responded with a glare, and Kourtney shot back a look that very clearly said, 'what are you looking at?'

"I didn't plan for it to happen, but it happened," Nini continued, "He was Music Man, I was Marian the Librarian... it's called a showmance."

"Wait, you went to librarian camp? That's a thing?" Red asked curiously. Blake put her hand on his shoulder and shook her head, silently telling him that it wasn't the time.

"Please.... tell me you're joking," Ricky pleaded.

"I'm not," Nini stated before continuing to defend herself, "come on, Ricky! You know what you did... or, what you didn't do."

He didn't say 'I love you' back, Blake thought. That's what he did... the boy in a broken home feared saying 'I love you'.

The school bell rang, bringing Blake out of her frustrated thoughts. It was time to head to to the gym for the 'annual back-to-school kickoff'.

"I don't believe this... you're blowing me off for some theater punk you met four weeks ago at a lake?" Ricky asked rhetorically, shaking his head.

"You kinda dumped me!" Nini exclaimed.

"It was a break, not a break-up!"

"I'm sorry, Ricky. But it's a break-up now." Nini told him sternly.

"Pop off, girl!" Kourtney praised her best friend.

"Stay out of it, Kourtney," Red snapped in return.

"You stay out of it! I'm dismantling the patriarchy this year, and I am not afraid to start with you."

Nini and Kourtney walked away, leaving Ricky in shock as he tried to process the break-up that just happened. Blake placed her hand on his shoulder.

"You okay...?" she asked hesitantly. A stupid question, in retrospect.

"This is a nightmare... everything is terrible. Love is dead."

"Okayyy," Blake grabbed his arm, Red on his other side as they both guided him to start walking to the auditorium.

"... And I am also pleased to announce that this year, seniors will be allowed to wear baseball hats on Fridays," the principal at the microphone grinned.

There was a moment of awkward silence and he cleared his throat before he introduced this year's new drama teacher.

It wasn't easy to focus, though, when Ricky started talking. "Why do things have to change?"

"Some things never change, dude," Red began, "I've been wearing the same socks for three days."

Blake and Ricky looked at him with slight concern, "gross, Red," Blake told him blankly. Red's only response was a confused look, his eyebrows furrowing together.

"Go wildcats!" The new drama teacher exclaimed as she shot a t-shirt canon into the audience. She introduced herself as Miss Jen, and then the boy standing next to her, Carlos.

The bell rang and everybody was quick to stand up and get out of the auditorium. Blake, Ricky, and Red didn't rush, though as Ricky looked solemnly behind them to where Nini was sitting.

As she got up and left, Blake looked at Ricky and put her hand on his shoulder. "Let's get to class," she started, but then the Robotics teacher, Mr. Mazzara walked in, heading towards the boy formerly introduced as Carlos.

He didn't take more than a few seconds to watch Carlos practice some dance moves. "Is there somewhere you're supposed to be?"

Carlos stopped, looking him up and down as his face twisted almost in disgust. Without missing a beat, he confidently replied, "Broadway."

A giggle escaped Blake's lips before they all began to shuffle out of the auditorium.

After their first few classes, it was finally time for lunch. Blake sat at a table with Ricky and Red, she pulled out her lunch as she started people-watching.

"There he is, that's the guy she dumped me for," Ricky subtly pointed. Blake and Red followed his gaze over to see Nini with her new boyfriend talking to Kourtney.

It didn't take long for Blake to realize it was the EJ Caswell, the very same who she lost her virginity to during her senior year of high school. The same one who spread rumors and got the whole school making fun of her. She gasped quietly, putting down whatever she had in her hand at the time and quickly got up to leave.

She hadn't gotten too far before she was hearing rubber soles of shoes squeak against the glossy floors following behind her. She didn't bother to check, only speeding up her pace a bit until she found a corner in the hallway that she could hide in. She pressed her back to the wall, eyes closed as she slowly let herself sink to the ground.

Sure, Blake and Nini weren't close anymore. You could hardly call them friends at this point. But going out with the boy who turned Blake into a joke? That one hurt.

Blake finally opened her eyes to meet Ricky's, he knelt down in front of her. "I know..." He cleared his throat, looking for the right words to say before just settling with, "I'm sorry."

Blake didn't even know she was crying until Ricky slowly lifted his hand to her face, careful not to startle her as his thumb wiped away her tears. Her breath was shaky, quiet sobs escaped her throat.

"I can't breathe," she managed to say, and Ricky quickly swept up her hands in his, squeezing them gently as he tried to help ground her.

"You're having a panic attack. Look at me. Breathe," he started to take in deep breaths, persuading her to follow along.

The two of them took in deep breaths together, he nodded, whispering words of encouragement as she continued until her breathing finally evened out.

"That's it, there you go," he smiled at her.

"God, I hate panic attacks," Blake finally spoke up after her breathing calmed.

"I know. I do, too."

She wiped the tears from her eyes, "why would she do that to me? I know we aren't close anymore, but -"

Ricky interrupted her. "No buts about it. What she's doing isn't right." He pulled Blake into a hug, sitting beside her.

Red's voice called out for them as his footsteps got closer.

Ricky looked at Blake for confirmation that it was okay for Red to join them, and she nodded.

"Over here, Big Red!" He shouted in return.

Red turned the corner to see Ricky holding Blake in his arms, and he immediately ran to her other side, sitting and hugging her as well.

Blake shook her head lightly, "this is silly," she began, but Ricky quickly shut that down.

"It's not," his voice was stern, "you have every right to be upset."

Blake finally sat up straight, shaking her head and wiping her tears. She took in a deep breath, "I think I'm okay now. Let's head back to the cafeteria," she smiled at the two boys. They nodded in reply, Ricky standing up first to help pull her up, then Red.

When they got back to the cafeteria, EJ was up talking to his college swim team buddies. He looked to Blake, their eyes meeting for a second, but she looked away quickly and shook her head. 'I'm okay,' she tried to convince herself.

Blake, Ricky, and Red all sat down at the table and finished their lunches, trying to avoid looking at the new couple only a table away. When EJ wrapped his arms around Nini from behind, Ricky decided he was fed up. "I'll see you guys in class," he sneered as he rushed out of the cafeteria.

Blake and Red stood, about to leave the cafeteria, and noticed as Nini's smile fell, her gaze following Ricky out of the cafeteria. Red scoffed at Nini's reaction, "Come on," and Blake walked with him out of the cafeteria.

Blake and Ricky rode their skateboards home together, as they usually do. She stopped in his drive way to say goodbye.

"Your dad's not home?"

She shrugged, "nothing new."

"I know," he sighed, "but I'm just saying... You can always come over."

She let out a laugh as she spoke, "Ricky, you say this every three days. It's okay," she reminded him.

"Hmm. Okay, I'll stop saying it. But only if you promise to remember," he chuckled.

"I promise," she held out her pinky and smiled.

He wrapped his pinky around hers, "good. I'll see you tomorrow."

They parted ways, going into their houses. Blake was met with multiple empty beer bottles, a half-filled box of take-out, and a previously slept on couch.

She let out a sigh, locking the door to her house and beginning to clean up. The bottles went into the trash, the blankets folded up, and she would have saved the left-over take-out if her father hadn't left it out for hours.

Once the living room was clean and the spilled beer had been mopped up in the kitchen, she went up to her room and didn't even bother to change her clothes, kicking off her shoes and turning on the TV.

"What a day," she sighed.

Before she could even pick a show to watch for the rest of the night, her phone rang.

"Red? What's up?" She answered.

"SOS. Meet up at my house," he replied and swiftly hung up.

Here we go again.

She took her skateboard to Red's house, not bothering to knock (his parents actually asked that she doesn't. "You're family!" they insisted). She waved to Red's parents and headed to his room.

She was halfway down the stairs when she knocked on the wooden surface of the railing. "I'm here," she called out.

"No. Absolutely not," Red stated. Blake was met with him playing a video game on his Xbox while Ricky paced around his room.

"Okay, I know it's crazy, dude," Ricky started, "But... She has to see me in a whole new light!"

She waited to reply, listening to find out what exactly he was going on about.

"But we hate musicals," Red reminded him.

Oh no.

"I don't hate musicals, I just think it's weird when people, like, burst into song in the middle of the street."

Blake decided to finally speak up, "Dude... That's a musical."

The two boys looked back to her and Red sighed, relieved that she was finally here to help him reason with Ricky.

"Okay, look," Ricky looked between Blake and Red, "I'm auditioning tomorrow and nothing is going to stop me."

"Do you even know the plot of High School Musical?" Red asked.

"Of course... It's about Zac Efron dancing with a basketball..." Ricky explained with confidence.

"He's not wrong," Blake whispered underneath her breath.

"Wrong," Red corrected them both, "It's about the character, Troy, having to choose between being true to his friend, Chad, or following his heart with Gabriella."

Blake and Ricky looked at him with raised eyebrows.

"Why do you know so much about High School Musical?" Blake asked suspiciously.

Red's confidence deflated, "They, uh... they play it on a loop at my allergist's office..." he confessed. "Look, the point is you're out of your league here, man. Alright? You can't pull this off."

Blake nodded her head in agreement, but Ricky shook his.

"Yeah?"

"Yes," Red confirmed.

Ricky grabbed his skateboard and helmet and took off up the stairs.

"A-and, you don't have the hair for it," Red called out as they heard the door shut.

"What the hell just happened, Red?" Blake asked in confusion.

"He just came in and started talking about how he was going to audition for the musical and win Nini back. I don't know," Red shrugged, frustrated.

Red could see the sadness in her eyes before she even spoke, "Nini... is with EJ now..." she said in almost a whisper, taking in a sharp breath as she processed.

"I'm sorry," Red said sympathetically.

"I gotta go. See you later, Red." She grabbed her skateboard and headed out the door just like Ricky did.

Blake walked in late to her computer class, handing a pass from her guidance counselor over to Mr. Mazzara as she spotted Ricky and sat down next to him.

He had his headphones on and a movie case for High School Musical. She rolled her eyes, pulling his headphones down so he could hear her.

"What in the world are you doing, dude?"

"I'm studying," he explained.

"Ricky, this is ridiculous," she looked at his computer screen.

"Dude, if I'm going to audition for the musical, I have to study this movie."

She grabbed the movie case from his hands, "I am talking about the musical, Ricky. You can't be in a musical," she stated.

He looked at her, considering her words, but ultimately denied it. "I'm trying out for that musical."

The bell rang, an announcement over the P.A. system was given from the principal, "ladies and gentleman, a reminder that auditions for the musical will be held in the auditorium in five minutes."

Ricky stood up, taking off his headphones and pressing the eject button on the DVD player. When it didn't work, he hit it. "Come on," he said, hitting it again.

"What are you hoping to accomplish from this?" Blake questioned him, slightly amused.

He ignored her, hitting it one more time.

"Is there a problem, Mr. Bowen?" Mr. Mazzara questioned, and Ricky slowly looked up at him with his mouth open, caught red-handed.

Ricky looked at Blake while Mr. Mazzara toyed with the DVD player for a minute and she snickered at Ricky. He rolled his eyes at her but she saw the smirk he tried to hide on his lips.

"It's the first day of school and you've already damaged equipment in my new lab..." Mazzara stated without looking up from the DVD player.

"In my defense, I was studying," Ricky explained.

"Studying?" Mazzara questioned, looking at him with an eyebrow raised.

"Troy's songs..." Ricky grabbed the movie case out of Blake's hand, "High School Musical."

"That's what you were studying?"

Ricky stammered over his words.

"Stop wasting your time," Mazzara shut him down, "you don't need to massage Ms. Jenn's bruised ego just because her lights went out on broadway."

Blake's nose scrunched as she held her tongue, deciding not to express how appalled she was with Mazzara's words.

"That's not why I'm auditioning," Ricky protested.

Mazzara sighed, continuing to work on getting the DVD out of the player. Eventually, he hit the player, and it started to repeat one clip over and over. "This is my nightmare," he whispered to himself.

"Look," Ricky picked up his guitar and tapped Blake's shoulder to signal they were leaving, "I've really gotta go, but if you get the DVD out, just know that I borrowed it... from the library..." he explained, leading her out of the computer lab, "without checking it out. Wish me luck!" he finished before the two of them rushed out the door.

Blake and Ricky ran through the hallways together, dodging the few stragglers left standing around. Ricky grabbed her hand, pulling her along as he shouted, "we're gonna be late, come on!"

Blake laughed along with him, finally reaching the door to the auditorium and meeting Red who waited patiently for the two of them to arrive.

"You're late," Red stated monotonously.

"I know," Ricky groaned before finally bursting through the doors and yelling breathlessly, "Am I too late? Am I too late?"

Red and Blake hesitantly walked in behind him, quickly finding a seat in the audience.

"We're all set on Troy's, we're low on Chad's. You can read after the Gabriella's," Ms. Jenn explained quickly.

"I, uh, only studied the Troy scenes in the movie..."

Carlos turned to him and responded, "Troy would have arrived on time."

"Eh, thanks," Ms. Jenn spoke to Carlos, "let me do the talking... Okay, Nini, lets try this again," she smiled.

Blake noticed EJ sitting amongst the crowd of auditioners only seconds before he shouted, "you got this, babe!"

Blake tensed up, a sense of insecurity washed over her and a frown fell on her face. Instinctively, her gaze found Ricky, but he wasn't much comfort in this moment as his jaw clenched. Red noticed Blake tense up, and he immediately put a hand on top of hers, flashing a comforting smile.

Ms. Jenn, however, was startled and she proceeded to spill her coffee over the soundboard. The lights flickered off, leaving them all in the dark.

Ms. Jenn gasped, "Nobody panic!" She looked around, "Nini, let's wait for the lights to come back on... I don't want this to throw you."

Nini stood up a bit straighter and nodded, "I'm not thrown."

Everybody's eyes were are on her when she started singing.

"Living in my own world Didn't understand That anything can happen When you take a chance..."

She continues to sing as Ricky pulls out his phone, turning on the flash and walking closer so the light was on Nini.

"I never believed in What I couldn't see..."

EJ pushed himself up from the ground, pulling out his phone and turning his flash on, mirroring Ricky almost competitively. Blake couldn't help the scoff that escaped her lips when he looked to Ricky as if he was challenging him.

"I never opened my heart To all the possibilities..."

As soon as she finished the song, the auditorium was lit up again, EJ looking around and smiling at Nini, while Ricky's arm dropped to his side, mouth agape as he looked to her with adoration.

Blake shook her head, pushing away any feelings she had in response.

"Okay... Well thank you, Nini," Ms. Jenn smiled, "I only needed thirty-two bars but I appreciate your commitment." She turned to find Ricky, "You. Late boy. Let's do the Chad sides."

Ricky walked to the center of the stage, passing by Nini as they shared a look.

Nini sat next to EJ and he reached up, wrapping his arm around her shoulder and smiling at her.

Red and Blake quickly pushed themselves up out of their seats and walked up the steps to the stage, standing on the side to watch and support Ricky. Red flashed him a quick thumbs up in encouragement.

Ricky looked to the ground awkwardly for a moment before he faced forward again, "Hey there. I'm Ricky Bowen. I'm a freshman... and, uh... here goes."

He starts reading the script he held in front of him.

"I don't get it, Troy. What kind of spell has this elevated IQ temptress girl cast that suddenly makes you want to be in a musical?"

Red and Blake both winced at his performance, seeing everybody around them looking at Ricky in confusion.

Ricky looked to the ground with a sarcastic smirk on his lips, crunching the script in his hand.

Blake shared a look with Red, confused and a little concerned for their friend on the stage right now.

"I don't know. Maybe it's the way Gabriella always had your back," the script he's reading is one he made up in his head, and his Gabriella is Nini.

He keeps his gaze on her as he talks, "and maybe you can't stop beating yourself up for totally blowing it with her... and look, Troy... even if you never said the L-word to Gabriella, 'cause that's, like... not even a word your parents say to each other anymore... that doesn't mean that you don't. Maybe it just means you were waiting for the right time to say it," Nini's eyes met his. Ricky throws his hands up and shrugs, "so that everyone could hear it."

Red looked to Blake to confirm that she was doing okay, but she only bit her lip and looked at Ricky with sad eyes.

"So that she could," Ricky finally finished with his eyes glued to Nini.

Ms. Jenn hesitated, but finally told him to go ahead and sing.

"Oh, actually if you don't mind, I kind of prepared my own song?"

"Uh, sure," Ms. Jenn nodded.

Ricky walks over to Red and Blake, Red handing him his guitar. Ricky takes it, putting the strap around his shoulder and returning to center stage. Blake sat down on the floor, Red following suit.

Ricky's fingers plucked at his guitar, playing a song Blake vaguely recognized, though she couldn't quite put her finger on it.

"He is not doing this..." Nini whispered underneath her breath just loud enough that Blake could hear it.

"So much has happened, think of what we've done In the time that the earth has traveled 'round the sun Winter, spring, and summer, and we're back to fall We've been together hand-in-hand through it all..."

And it finally hit her.

Nini's song, when she told Ricky she loved him.

Blake fidgeted with her hands, trying to hide the sting she felt in her heart. He's still pursuing Nini after what she did to her... after what she did to him.

"It's just three little words, yeah it's not a big deal It's not like I can help feeling all that I feel And by now, I'm sure you're thinking it's so obvious But just in case it's not, what I'm saying is this What I'm saying is this..."

Blake noticed how EJ's eyebrows furrowed as he glared at Ricky, how Nini uncomfortably resituated herself but her eyes filled with fondness for the boy singing to her.

"I think I kinda you know I think I kinda you know Like the way that we flow Like the way that we go And I love - I think I kinda you know..."

Blake rolled her eyes at the way Nini's lips curled into a smile, and her gaze fell to the floor. Fixating on the black stage she sat on, she couldn't stop herself from zoning out.

Soon, the applause from the crowd brought Blake back. She looked up at Ricky who had just finished singing, his eyes still trained on Nini.

Before she could stop herself, Blake pushed herself off the ground and shouted, "Wait!"

She was suddenly very hyper aware as everybody was staring at her, so she took a deep breath before continuing, "I'd, um... like to audition for Gabriella..."

Ricky looked at her standing next to him, confusion on his face, "what?" Nini quickly forgotten.

Blake avoided Ricky's stare and looked at Ms. Jenn, hoping she'd allow it.

Ms. Jenn raised her eyebrow, "um, I... don't see why you couldn't," she said almost like a question and shrugged.

Forcing herself to face Ricky, Blake asked him if she could borrow his guitar, which he handed over to her without a thought.

"Are you sure about this?" He whispered his question before actually letting go, and she nodded.

"I'm sure."

The song she chose to sing came to her mind without any hesitation. Plucking the strings on Ricky's guitar, the same one he used to teach Blake how to play with, she started to sing.

"It's funny when you find yourself Looking from the outside I'm standing here but all I want Is to be over there..."

Instinct told her to look at Ricky when she sang, his presence would calm her nerves. But logic told her to avoid any and all eye contact. She wasn't singing this song to him.

"Why did I let myself believe Miracles could happen? 'Cause now I have to pretend That I don't really care..."

Okay... maybe she was.

"I thought you were my fairytale A dream when I'm not sleeping A wish upon a star That's coming true..."

So instead of looking for Ricky, she found Red. It was clear on his face that he knew exactly what she was thinking. He gave her a small, supportive smile.

"But everybody else could tell That I confused my feelings with the truth When there was me and you..."

Blake closed her eyes, and thought 'If I can't see anybody, then nobody is here'.

"I swore I knew the melody That I heard you singing And when you smiled you made me feel Like I could sing along... But then you went and changed the words Now my heart is empty I'm only left with used-to-be's And once upon a song... Now I know you're not a fairytale And dreams were meant for sleeping And wishes on a star Just don't come true... 'Cause now, even I can tell That I confused my feelings With the truth Because I liked the view When there was me and you..."

Without thinking, her eyes opened. She scanned the crowd, and as much as she tried to avoid eye contact with him, she couldn't stop the way her eyes locked on Ricky. She sang the rest of the song, painfully aware of the boy she was staring at.

I can't believe that I could be so blind It's like you were floating while i was falling And I didn't mind 'Cause I liked the view I thought you felt it too When there was me and you..."

Blake plucked the last string on the guitar and Ricky's eyes examined her carefully. What was she doing? Why did she avoid looking at him for so long? Why did that last note hit him so hard?

Though it only lasted for a moment, the silence was deafening.

Then, the crowd applauded.

Blake jumped, not expecting to hear any feedback from her performance, but ultimately relaxed her shoulders as Ms. Jenn smiled at her.

"Thank you, uh... what was your name?"

"Blake Sahan," an anxious smile played on her lips, and she thanked her again in return.

Passing by Nini before handing Ricky's guitar back to him, Blake ignored the frustration that was evident on Nini's face. "Thanks," she showed appreciation to Ricky for letting her borrow his guitar.

He hesitated to grab his guitar from her but nodded his head in reply, still a bit shocked by her sudden decision to audition.

Blake, Red, and Ricky all left the auditorium, walking through the halls towards the exit of Salt Lake Community College.

"Well that... happened," Ricky stated.

"I thought it was good," Red told him before looking at Blake, "you both were."

Ricky looked at Blake, "You did... really well," he breathed out his last two words as if he wasn't sure if they were the right ones. Blake was about to reply before Nini came running around the corner shouting, "Hey!"

The three of them stopped and turned to face her.

"What are you doing here?" She asked Ricky, ignoring Blake and Red.

"I'm auditioning," Ricky responded quietly.

"You hate musicals."

"That's a little harsh..."

"We got kicked out of The Greatest Showman because you kept yelling 'that's not realistic!' at the screen."

"That was the old me," Ricky defended, "the new me thinks musicals are.... awesome."

"Hmm," Nini raised an eyebrow at him, "well let me tell you about the old me. The old me had her heart broken, okay? And then she went away and she found herself. And you don't get to show up now. Just to try and... confuse things."

"You think that's why I'm here?" Ricky shook his head, "No, no. Nini, I always believed in you. In us. Even if I sucked at showing it. That's why I'm here."

Blake sighed, ready to walk away, get out of wherever they were. She wasn't sure if it was just Ricky's words or if the hallway they were in actually was getting smaller, but she felt as if she was in a box.

Before Blake could move, Carlos came around the corner loudly, "Clear!"

He was followed by pretty much everybody who was just in auditions, including Kourtney who immediately tugged Nini away from Ricky. "Carlos is posting the cast list!"

"I don't... not love you..." Ricky told Nini under his breath, knowing she couldn't hear him now even if she wanted to.

She should be used to this, Blake thought. The heartbreak every time he told Nini how much he cared about her. But she wasn't. It still broke her heart all the same as it did before, and her stomach dropped when she realized that if she wasn't careful, she could spiral into another episode. If she wasn't careful, this could be just another repeat of last year.

She wished that her first two days of school weren't just a continuous loop of sadness, being in love with her best friend who was pining so desperately over another girl. Someone who betrayed them both, at that.

She watched as Red did the work for both of them, approaching the green paper that was taped to the wall. He looked over it and Blake waited anxiously. When she decided on a whim to audition, she forgot that she would actually have to be in the musical one way or another.

Ricky slowly walked towards the paper as well, moving between the crowd that quickly died out so he could read the results.

"Holy crap, dude," Red told them with his mouth hung open.

Ricky was Troy.

And Blake was the understudy for Gabriella.

. . .

Chapter Two ->

[livelovecaliforniadreams]

#The Chin Hold