┏━━━━━━༻❁༺━━━━━━┓

𝗜𝗡 𝗧𝗢𝗢 𝗗𝗘𝗘𝗣

chapter twelve:
violetta and ej, cleaning up a
breakup !

┗━━━━━━༻❁༺━━━━━━┛

VIOLETTA PULLED HER arm across her chest, stretching out to prepare for this whole stupid dance battle that they were about to do. Everyone else was gathered in front of the stage in the auditorium of North High, also stretching and warming up their voices. Violetta could tell that everyone was nervous. She wasn't nervous. More so angry than anything.

North High and their students were seriously getting on her last nerves. Seriously, didn't they have anything better to do?

And speaking of North High's students getting on her last nerves.

Athena suddenly walked away from their little group. Violetta followed her best friend's eyes to see them locked on Lily, who was trying to talk to Ricky as he walked down the aisle. She trailed after Athena, doing some more arm stretches to make it seem like they weren't eavesdropping. However, Violetta kept a watchful eye on Lily. In the wise words of Taylor McKessie about Sharpay Evans, that girl's got more moves than an octopus in a wrestling match.

But Sharpay was may more iconic than Lily would ever be.

". . . I think it's really cool how you're handling your girlfriend speaking to me like that," Lily said as Violetta tuned into their conversation.

"What are you talking about?" Ricky replied. "You kind of deserved it. I mean, you literally stole the necklace I gave to her. You know, Athena's right. You are jealous of her."

Lily raised an eyebrow. "Jealous? No. But I heard of that little fight you two had the other day."

"How did you know about that?"

"Oh, I have an inside source. Don't worry about it, it doesn't matter. But didn't she tell you that she wouldn't be waiting around for you to come back? Sounds like a girl who doesn't care about you at all."

Ricky didn't say anything. Violetta could see that Lily was getting under his skin, but he knew that Athena cared about him. She was arguably the one who did the most. For him to not say anything . . . that was just stupid.

"Your girlfriend seems like she wants some space from you," Lily voiced, smirking slightly. "Anyway, let me know if you're looking for one who doesn't."

Lily walked away. Violetta glared at her as she walked past. She then turned to Athena in concern. Athena was staring at the floor, seemingly lost in her thoughts. Lily was getting under her skin, too, but this seemed much more than that. It was as if she was remembering all the times Ricky had hurt her and she had just forgiven her without a second thought. Almost like her mind was catching up to her.

Ricky moved from his spot, where he had been frozen in place for about a moment. He walked up to the two of them. Ricky opened his mouth to say something to Athena, but realized his girlfriend was just stuck staring at the floor while being in her head. He sent a confused glance to Violetta. Violetta gave him a look that said figure it out before approaching EJ, standing on his left side with her arms crossed across her chest.

"You look mad," EJ commented. "Like, more mad than before."

"Remember when I said that I wouldn't aim for the nose?" Violetta asked.

"Yeah."

"I take it all back."

EJ sighed. "V, violence is not always the answer."

"The V in my name stands for violence," Violetta replied. "I thought you knew that."

"Okay, everyone warm-up is over, gather around," Lily announced from the stage, clapping their hands to get their attention.

Those who had been standing in the rows behind the stage moved forwards. EJ suddenly got knocked forwards. Violetta looked up at him in confusion, only to see Antoine, that French foreign exchange student, walking by.

He had just knocked into EJ on purpose. Oh, no way was she going to let that slide.

Violetta's eyes narrowed and she walked forwards, but EJ wrapped his arms around her waist and pulled her back to his side. She huffed. If any of them did anything like that ever again, she was seriously going to swing.

Lily lifted up her phone. "I will now press shuffle to choose the song."

"After which, I will prepare a dance remix of the song, since I, on occasion, DJ," Antoine added from his place on the stairs.

"Ah, of course he's a DJ," Big Red stated bitterly.

"Non, monsieur, I DJ, but I would not say I am a DJ."

"Thanks for the clarity."

"Everyone ready?" Lily questioned. "And, it's . . ." She lifted her arm dramatically and pressed her phone screen. Her face visibly fell. "The Mob Song."

"Yes!" EJ exclaimed. However, he was the only happy one. Complaints rang around the East High and North High students. He looked around at them all. "I knew you all didn't like The Mob Song."

Violetta patted his shoulder comfortingly. "I'm sorry, sweetie, but it's just not a personal favorite."

"It's not really a dancing song," Big Red argued.

"It's boring!" Ashlyn agreed.

"It's fine, guys," Gina interjected. "We're East High. We can make anything work."

"Yeah, we can," EJ responded, taking Violetta's shoulders and shaking them gently, making a small smile on her face.

"Open the curtain!" Lily shouted.

The long red curtains on the stage opened, only to reveal a beautiful set that had a platform and some stairs. It was intricately done. Violetta's eyes widened as she looked at in shock. Also, North High's Beast was there. He was standing on the steps in his Beast mask and costume. Violetta tilted her head. Didn't Lily say no costumes? Were they really cheating at their own game? Pathetic.

"Dude," Violetta voiced. "Oh my God."

"You can dance better than them," EJ told her.

"What does this have to do with dancing?"

"I don't know. I thought it would make me — I mean, you feel better."

Violetta shook her head. "Thanks for the encouragement, honey."

"May the best school win," Lily said. "Places, please."

They all went up to the stage. East High stood on one side while North High stood on the other. Ricky took off the jean jacket he was wearing and slung a guitar around him. North High's Beast did the same. He stepped forwards and strummed, starting the song while Antoine set everything up at his DJ stand. Violetta shook out her hands, her eyes scanning the competition.

"Through the mist, through the woods, through the darkness and the shadows, it's a nightmare, but it's one exciting ride," Ricky sang.

"Say a prayer, then we're there, at the drawbridge of a castle, and there's something truly terrible inside," North High's Beast continued.

Ricky leaped towards him, starting to circle around North High's Beast. "It's a Beast!"

"He's got fangs."

"Razor sharp ones."

"Massive paws, killer claws for the feast," North High's Beast recited.

"Hear him roar, see him foam," Ricky added, stepping forwards.

North High's Beast walked forwards as well, causing Ricky to back up. "'Cause we're not coming home till he's dead. Good and dead."

"Kill the Beast!" they all chorused.

Kourtney stepped forwards first, starting to dance to Antoine's dance remix of the song. Violetta clapped to cheer her on before one of North High's kids literally started to break dance. She started to circle first, the rest of her friends trailing behind her. Violetta gave a sweet smile, one that was a little too sweet that it almost looked sickly, to the North High dancer.

East High moved all the way to the other side of the stage. They set themselves up on the stairs. Violetta stood in the middle row next to EJ.

"Light your torch, mount your horse, screw your courage to the sticking place," East High sang together as they performed their own choreography to the song. "We're counting on Gaston to lead the way." They got off the stairs and stepped forwards in sliding steps towards North High, making them back up. "Through a mist, through a wood, we're within a haunted castle, something's lurking that you don't see every day."

North High got on the steps and started to perform their choreography. "It's a Beast, one as tall as a mountain. We won't rest till he's good and deceased." They walked up the steps to the very top of their set, which was the platform. "Sally forth, tally-ho, grab your sword, grab your bow. Praise the Lord and here we go."

Antoine walked down the steps by himself. "No one's safe until he's dead, he'll come stalking us at night."

Carlos stepped up. "Set to sacrifice our children to his monstrous appetite."

Antoine circled around Carlos. "He'll wreak havoc on our village if we let him wander in."

"So it's time to take some action, boys." Carlos walked backwards and joined the rest of them again. They did sliding steps forwards again, causing Antoine to back away. All of them lifted Carlos up into the air. "It's time to follow me."

"We don't like what we don't understand, in fact, it scared us," East High and North High chorused together as they walked parallel to each other on the stage in a line. "And this monster is mysterious at least." North High grouped in the center, and East High all spread out, doing one big circle around them. "Bring your guns, bring your knives, save your children and your wives, we'll save our village and our lives." The schools suddenly switched — East High in the center, North High circling around them. "We'll kill the Beast!"

Violetta turned and locked eyes with Gina. Gina gave her a small nod. The two of them stepped forwards and started to do in-sync choreography. They just came up with it on the fly, but they were always on the same wavelength when it came to dancing, so it worked. Two of North High's dancers stepped forwards, trying to one-up them.

One of them started to perform a lot of acrobatic tricks. Violetta scoffed and shook her head, running forwards a little and doing a front aerial right in front of him. He backed up away from her to avoid being hit by her leg. She went into a double pirouette and landed on both of feet, lifting up her leg and doing a fan kick to get them to back up more.

"Hearts ablaze, banners high, we go marching into battle, unafraid, although the danger's just increased," Lily sang.

Violetta backed up back to her friends. She felt EJ's hand on her shoulder as they watched Lily walk up the steps, obviously ready to have her big moment.

Athena interrupted her, coming from the top of the stage — Violetta cheered loudly for her as she followed Lily down the steps, the blonde clearly upset that she ruined it. "Raise the flag, sing the song, here we come with fifty strong. And fifty Frenchmen can't be wrong."

"We'll kill the Beast!" all of them finished.

Athena and Lily stayed face-to-face on the lower platform, neither of them looking away from each other. Violetta placed her hands on her hips, watching them carefully.

"Don't mess with me," Athena said quietly, her voice being the loudest thing through the tense silence. "I will fight back."

Violetta smirked and nodded in agreement. Athena turned around and walked off the stage, going into the wings. Violetta got EJ's letterman jacket that she had left on one of the seats and pulled it on, following Athena backstage. They all met up with each other in the wings when all of them had their things with them. None of them said a word to each other.

"Let's get out of here, guys," Ricky urged.

"Uh, for the record," Lily cut in, running backstage to stop them. Violetta turned to face her, rolling her eyes in annoyance. "We won."

Kourtney laughed. "Are you serious?"

Violetta narrowed her eyes at her. "Fat chance, blondie."

"Yeah, did you see Gina and Violetta's moves? No way you beat that."

"Maybe we should have figured out some sort of points system?" Seb asked.

"You know what?" Carlos interjected. "It's fine. Let her say they won. This dance-off doesn't matter. The Menkies matter, and we're gonna win that, because we've got one thing you don't have."

"The sympathy vote?" Lily questioned.

Seb let out a laugh as Nini walked back into the room to join them — she had felt uncomfortable about the dance-off, so she hadn't participated. "No, Nini's Rose Song."

"Um . . . sorry, not sorry, Wildcats, but if you perform her song in your show, you will be disqualified from the Menkies." Lily looked smug at all of their fallen faces. "You can't alter the original Menken text."

"Well, let's just do it anyway," Nini suggested. "Stick to the plan and take the risk."

"And risk letting them win?" Carlos demanded. He looked at EJ. "Isn't there a sports metaphor for this?"

EJ didn't reply. All he did was just stare at the floor with wide eyes. Violetta stared at him incredulously. After months of him talking about sports to her and her having no clue what he was saying, he didn't have anything to say.

"Oh, you've got to be kidding," Violetta complained. "The one time. The one freaking time."

"EJ, you had one job!" Carlos insisted.

"I mean, what if the song didn't really fit in the show anyway, you know?" Ricky inquired. "Seems a little heavy."

Athena sighed, obviously frustrated. "Nini, we all love your song. You know we do. You're incredibly talented and an amazing songwriter, but . . . if this gets us disqualified from a competition as big as this one, we can't have it in the show."

Nini kept her gaze on Athena and Ricky for a long moment before ultimately deciding to leave the room altogether. Violetta shook her head, feeling her mind spin. This was just a mess.

At that, they all started to leave. Violetta glared at Lily extremely harshly before leaving the theater. She linked her arm through EJ's, who was walking by her side.

"I'm just glad I don't have to pretend to be Gina's boyfriend anymore," EJ admitted. "That was really weird."

"Yeah, I actually hated that more than I thought I would," Violetta agreed.

EJ smiled at her and leaned down, pressing a kiss to the top of her head. "You know I've only got eyes for you."

"The reassurance is truly everything."

"I'm also glad that you didn't punch Lily."

"Oh, I was about to," Violetta replied. "And Antoine."

"Maybe you can do that . . . after the show ends?" EJ offered.

"You can bet on it."

He nudged her shoulder with his. "Wanna get ice cream?"

"Is that even a question?" Violetta responded, making EJ laugh. "Lead the way, news anchor."

"Good morning, East High!"

═════════ • ° • ✰ • ° • ═════════

I GAVE RICKY my necklace, Athena's text read.

Now, maybe Violetta hadn't been confident in Athena and Ricky's relationship. But she always thought that they would talk about things instead of letting stuff build up. However, that text, stating that Athena had given Ricky back the one thing that truly symbolized their relationship, she knew that Athena couldn't do it anymore.

And just like she told EJ, it was time to step up in her best friend duties and talk to both of them, wanting to hear their sides of the story.

EJ had picked up Violetta from her house. The two of them sat in complete silence as he drove to Athena's house. Every so often, EJ would glance over at Violetta. She did nothing but stare out the window, her thumb absentmindedly running over his knuckles as their interlocked hands rested on the center console. What was she going to say? How could she make this better?

He wanted her to know that it wasn't her responsibility. But if he told her that again, she would probably snap at him, and he didn't want that. She had enough on her plate.

EJ finally parked outside of Athena's house. "You sure you want to do this?"

"Positive," Violetta answered. "They need someone right now. I'll be that someone."

"I'll be outside." EJ lifted up their hands and pressed a kiss to the back of it. "You got this."

"Thanks for the encouragement." Violetta leaned across the center console and kissed him properly. "I needed that."

She squeezed his hand before letting go. Violetta got out of EJ's jeep and walked up to the house. Like always, she didn't bother to knock. She just opened the door and walked right on in.

"Welcome home, Violetta," Amanda Blake greeted from the kitchen, a hint of sarcasm in her tone.

"Hey, Mands," Violetta replied. "'Thena here?"

"No, she went out for a drive, but she should be back soon." Amanda looked at her. "Do you know what's going on with her? She's been doing nothing but crying. Adam and I have checked on her periodically, but she won't tell us anything."

"I know what happened. But it's not my place to tell you. I think she has to do that herself."

Amanda nodded in agreement. "You can wait upstairs in her room until she comes back. She's usually not gone for long."

Violetta went upstairs into the familiar room. She walked forwards and sat on Athena's bed, which wasn't even made. Violetta frowned and looked at the floor. This really wasn't good.

A few minutes later, Violetta heard the garage door open. That meant Athena had returned from her drive. She listened as footsteps padded up the stairs and entered the room. Violetta looked up once Athena came in. She instantly frowned. Her face was puffy, blotchy, and tear-stained, obviously from crying.

"Hey," Violetta began softly, feeling her own heart break. "How are you doing?"

Athena sighed sadly. "Besides the fact that this whole situation makes me think of Story Of Another Us by 5 Seconds of Summer?"

Violetta winced as the song played through her head. "That bad, huh?"

Athena fell back onto her bed and stared at the ceiling, making Violetta turn so she could look at her. "Worse than you can imagine. But, Vi, I'm the one who broke it off. So why does it hurt so much?"

Violetta gently took her hands and pulled her up so that she was sitting upright. "Because it's a breakup, 'Thena. That boy who you broke it off with? He was your first love. And who knows, Ricky might be your only love. But you thought breaking it off was best for you. You listened to your heart and that's the most important thing."

"What if I hurt him more?"

Violetta shook her head, hearing all of the worry in Athena's voice. "Athena, you care about him. I know you do. But the reason you did this was to focus on yourself and heal. It's okay to be sad right now, but soon, I want you to start healing yourself, all right?"

Athena nodded in response. "All right."

"I'll check up on him, too," Violetta reassured her. "Don't worry. You two are gonna be okay. It might not seem like it right now, but you will be. Promise."

Athena dropped her head down to lean against Violetta's shoulder. Violetta's frown deepened and she leaned her head on top of Athena's. She wrapped an arm comfortingly around her shoulders and ran her hand up and down Athena's arm.

"You talk to Artemis at all?" Violetta asked.

"She hasn't been home," Athena responded. "I texted her but she hasn't responded. Mom told me she's at her friend's house."

"For two days?"

"She's living her life. Meanwhile, I'm out here crying in my bedroom."

Violetta let out a small laugh. "What else have you been doing besides crying?"

"Pretty much nothing. I tried to go for a drive, but I just ended up driving alone past his street."

Violetta had a sudden thought — Athena always wrote her feelings down in songs. "How about writing? I know songs always help you deal with things the best."

She shrugged picked her head up. "I don't even know where I would start."

"Athena, it's just like what you always do when you write a song." She reached her hand over and tapped Athena's heart. "You listen to your heart."

She gave Violetta a small, sad smile before pulling Violetta into a long hug. Violetta held her tightly, almost as if she was holding all of her broken pieces up.

"I love you," Violetta told her — because she truly did.

Athena sniffled a little, signaling to Violetta that she was about to cry. "I love you more, Vi."

Violetta pulled away. "I'm gonna leave you to writing, okay? Call me if you need anything."

She nodded. Violetta smiled softly at her before standing up. She left Athena's room, closing the door behind her. Violetta let out a breath she didn't know she was holding in as she descended down the steps.

"She'll come around," Violetta told Amanda as she was on her way out. "She just needs time."

"Thank you, Vi," Amanda responded. "You're the best."

Violetta left Athena's house. She walked back down to the car and opened the door, getting back in the passenger seat. Violetta reached back and started to buckle her seatbelt.

"How's she doing?" EJ questioned.

"Not good," Violetta revealed. "I'm assuming Ricky's about the same."

It was another short ride to Ricky's new condo, which he had been living in with his dad after moving out of their house. EJ parked in one of the guest spots for the building.

Violetta looked at him. "Will you come with me? I really don't think I can deal with seeing him heartbroken alone, too."

EJ nodded. "Of course. Let's go."

They both exited the car. EJ locked it behind them as Violetta searched for the number of Ricky's place. She found it rather quickly. The lights were on, meaning that someone was home. Violetta reached up and knocked on the door. No answer.

"Ricky," Violetta called. "Ric, come on, I know you're in there."

"Go away, Vi," Ricky's very, very muffled voice

"Ricky Bowen, I will kick this door down. Don't test me."

Silence for a moment.

"It's open," Ricky said.

Violetta pushed open the door, and her and EJ entered before she shut the door behind them. The condo was a nice size for two people. There was a kitchen across from the living room, and another hallway led down to the bedrooms. However, the lights that she saw were only on in the kitchen. The living room was extremely dark.

And that's where Ricky was.

She slowly walked into the living room. Ricky was laying on the couch with a blanket over him. Even through the dark, she could see that his face was puffy, splotchy, and tear-stained too. He was also holding something up with his hand above his face — Athena's necklace.

Athena's text never said anything about explaining why she gave it back. That meant that Ricky had no idea what was going on other than that.

"She left," Ricky stated, his voice void of all emotion. "She said we needed space, she gave me her necklace, and she just left."

"I know," Violetta responded.

"I don't know what happened."

"I know." Violetta sat down on the arm of the couch, but Ricky didn't tear his eyes away from the necklace. "Ricky, I think you need to give this time."

"Why?" Ricky argued. "Vi, I — I need to figure out what happened, I need to know how to fix this—"

"No. Stop worrying about Athena for a moment." Well, aren't you a hypocrite, Violetta said to herself. "You need to worry about you. You're not going to help anything if you try and fix something while you're broken. What you need to do is heal."

Ricky wiped his face with his hand. "How am I supposed to heal without her? How am I supposed to do anything without her?"

Violetta frowned. She reached her hand down and ran it through Ricky's curls comfortingly. He closed his eyes, but Violetta could see his tears that fell down his face, glistening through the darkness. He rolled over, pressing his cheek into the pillow. Ricky let out a quiet sob that had been building up in his throat and clutched the necklace to his chest.

"Hey," Violetta said. "Whatever it means to you right now, I love you."

Violetta had never truly known the real meaning of love. Her parents, although they were more present, had been absent for so long. However, from what she had witnessed between Athena's family, Athena and Ricky, and her friendship with Athena, Ricky, and Big Red, she knew that love wasn't always romantic. It was platonic, and it was familial. Violetta loved Ricky like a brother. She needed him to know what, especially right now.

And maybe she did l-word EJ too. But that's for another time.

"I — I love you, too," Ricky let out through his sobs. "But I love her. I love her, I love her, I love her . . ."

Violetta looked up and shared a concerned look with EJ. Athena might've been utterly heartbroken, but Ricky was shattered. Violetta wasn't sure anything or anyone could pick up his pieces anymore.

∘ ₊ ✧ ──── ✧ ₊ ∘

writing athena and ricky being so angsty in this book is so strange because in now or never they're literally being so happy and disgustingly cute

okay also how did I become a psychic. I wrote ricky crying on his couch in this and then in the new episode he's crying on his bed at camp. btw I never want to see that again fuck you tim federle HE WAS SUPPOSED TO BE HAPPY