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𝗜𝗡 𝗧𝗢𝗢 𝗗𝗘𝗘𝗣

chapter thirteen:
an amazing guy !

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VIOLETTA HATED EJ'S outfit.

Okay, not exactly. She just hated how good he looked in his jeans, white sneakers, and red button-up shirt layered over a white t-shirt. It was making her weak to her knees, and it was infuriating.

She stood in the bomb shelter with the rest of the cast of Beauty and the Beast. Well, except for Nini. After her backlash, mostly from Ricky, about The Rose Song, she quit the show and decided to start a new Instagram page, now going by the name of Nina.

Violetta had her arms crossed across her chest, leaning comfortably against EJ's side, who had his arm wrapped around her. She kept sneaking worried glances at Athena and Ricky. Both of them were still evidently not doing well, and Ricky kept looking at Athena. That was definitely not helping. For the sake of both of them, until they could talk about things, Violetta's new mission was keeping Athena as far away in the bomb shelter from Ricky as she could.

"Hi," Miss Jenn greeted them. "Thank you all for coming to rehearsal in the morning. I know it's a crazy day with the career fair and all, but given all your behavior last week, I believe we are lucky to be rehearsing at all. For future reference, singing and dancing, good. Breaking and entering, bad."

"Miss Jenn, we didn't break anything," Seb replied.

"Would you like me to be the first?"

"I'm good."

"Okay, I'm just gonna say it," Carlos announced. "Zack Roy stole our Beast mask. Why are you not freaking out?"

"Because winners don't freak out, Carlos," Miss Jenn answered. "They rise. When they go low, we sing high."

Out of nowhere, she sang a very loud and very high note. Violetta felt Athena jump in surprise next to her. She let out a small laugh at it, and Athena rolled her eyes before elbowing her in the ribs.

"Okay, let's rehearse," Miss Jenn instructed, opening her director's binder. "EJ, remember where you are emotionally. Belle has just rebuked your marriage proposal, and LeFou is rallying the guys to boost you back up. Let's hit it."

EJ put a hand over his heart — the drama. "You really had to break my heart like that, 'Thena?"

"Go cry about it, EJ," Athena voiced. "As long as you don't try and get me to cry with you this time."

"That was one time."

Violetta shook her head and removed herself from EJ's side, linking her arm through Athena's and looking up at her boyfriend. "All right, EJ. At the top of the chorus, don't forget to start on your left foot."

"Thanks, V," EJ responded. "Anything else?"

"Don't fall over," Gina added.

"You dance people have all the best tips."

Athena gave him a pat on the shoulder. "Good luck."

Violetta maneuvered her and Athena to sit on the opposite end of the risers from Ricky. She locked eyes with EJ as he sat down in the chair. Violetta gave him a small nod and mouthed you got this. EJ gave her a smile in return.

"Go get 'em, Biggie!" Ashlyn shouted.

"Thanks," Big Red said, joining EJ on the set of the bar for Gaston. "All good."

"I wasn't saying you weren't. Just know that I am loyally rooting for you, okay?"

"Oui, oui."

Violetta awkwardly tucked a piece of hair behind her ear. Ashlyn had an encounter back at North High with Antoine. He had told her that she should dump Big Red and date him instead. Big Red was obviously upset by this, and Ashlyn was frantically trying to reassure him that she truly liked him and wasn't ditching him for Antoine.

"Big Red, whenever you're ready," Miss Jenn instructed.

Miss Jenn nodded to Seb. Seb pressed play on the computer that was resting on top of the piano. Instantly, the track for Gaston began to play on the speakers. Violetta clapped and cheered, along with everyone else, for EJ, Big Red, and the dancers.

"Gosh, it disturbs me to see you Gaston, looking so down in the dumps," Big Red sang.

Violetta watched him carefully. Her and Gina were helping Carlos observe the choreography. She also just had to mention that Big Red was the perfect LeFou.

Big Red stood up from the chest he was sitting on, and a dancer popped out holding a mug, making them cheer again. "Every guy here'd love to be you, Gaston, even when taking your lumps." Big Red tapped a wooden spoon on the mugs of the dancers sitting at the counter, and Violetta nodded as they performed the choreography right. "There's no man in town as admired as you, you're everyone's favorite guy." A dancer pushed Big Red across a tble and he got lifted up into another dancer's arms, who twirled him around. "Everyone's awed and inspired by you, and it's not very hard to see why."

Big Red pulled out a mirror and backed up to EJ. He placed it in front of his face, but just like Gaston would, EJ pushed it away dramatically. Violetta watched him proudly. She always knew that EJ would be a perfect Gaston.

"No one's slick as Gaston." Big Red and the dancers started to dance together in a line — perfectly, might Violetta add. She cheered with her friends. "No one's slick as Gaston, no one's quick as Gaston." Big Red put his hands on EJ's shoulders. "No one's neck is as incredibly thick as Gaston." EJ pushed him away, and Big Red fell back, letting another dancer slide away. "For there's no man in town half as manly, perfect, a pure paragon." He ran past the dancers at the counter, and they all spun in their seats. "You can ask any Tom, Dick, or Stanley, and they'll tell you whose team they'd prefer to be on."

EJ stood up from his chair and moved to go behind the other table to sit. Violetta nodded to herself as the other dancers got up from the floor, which they had just slid on after sitting at the counter.

"No one's been like Gaston," they all chorused. Some of them moved away the props while one of the dancers started to break-dance in the now-empty space. Violetta clapped. Everything was going so well. "A kingpin like Gaston."

"No one's got a swell cleft in his chin like Gaston," Big Red voiced alone.

EJ stood up from the table and flexed, making Violetta cheer loudly for him — and, maybe a little bit for his arms, but who could blame her? "As a specimen, yes, I'm intimidating."

The dancers clinked their mugs together with their arm choreography as EJ ran off. "My what a guy that Gaston."

EJ started to juggle three eggs, and Violetta watched him carefully. "When I was a lad, I'd eat four dozen eggs every morning to help me get large." He stopped juggling and threw all three eggs in the air, and three dancers ran by, catching them all. "And now that I'm grown, I eat five dozen eggs, so I'm roughly the size of a barge."

He held up one of the mugs. Big Red threw another egg, and it landed directly in the mug. Violetta's eyes lit up and she let out another cheer. This whole song . . . there was literally nothing wrong with it at all.

"No one shoots like Gaston, make those beauts like Gaston," the dancers sang while pushing the table forwards.

Big Red slid underneath the table and held onto the end of a mop, allowing himself to get pulled up. "Then goes tromping around wearing boots like Gaston."

EJ walked forwards while holding a pair of antlers and got on the table, kneeling on it. "I use antlers in all of my decorating."

Four dancers each grabbed a corner of the table and spun it around while EJ was still on it and while Big Red was under it. "Say it again, Gaston."

EJ clinked his mug with all of the dancers. With one final clink, the dancers fell back onto the ground while EJ continued kneeling on it. Violetta let out a small laugh of amazement, clapping and cheering for them all. After a couple of seconds of applause, the dancers stood up and EJ got off the table.

"Dancers, glorious," Miss Jenn told them. "Big Red, hilarious. And EJ . . . victorious."

"Nice emotional connection to the material," Carlos commented, making Violetta grin — that was why EJ hadn't gotten the role of Troy in High School Musical, and he had been hung up on it.

Gina opened her notebook to reveal a blank page. "I've got no notes."

"And as much as I hate to break that connection, I'm afraid I'm the bearer of some hard news," Mr. Mazzara said, walking into the room. "We just got a call from the disciplinary board of an organization I'm not sure really exists." He took out a note. "Effective immediately, this production will shut down rehearsal for one week as punishment for trespassing by order of the . . . Monkeys."

Violetta's eyes widened and she stood up. Wait, no rehearsal, for a week? All the dancing . . . God, they were going to be so behind.

"It's pronounced Menkies," Miss Jenn corrected.

"For the record, your competition has been punished as well. North High is benched for the week."

"Okay, feels generous," Ashlyn admitted.

"Miss Jenn, what are we gonna do?" Carlos asked. "We can't lose a whole week when we haven't even started blocking the second act yet."

"We're . . ." Miss Jenn began, trying to think things over. "We are going to keep our heads down and our chins up."

Seb simultaneously tried to keep his head down and his chin up, making Violetta shake her head. "I don't — I don't think that's physically possible."

"It's an expression, Sebastian."

The bell rang, signaling that it was time for them to go to the career fair. Athena kept her arm linked through Violetta's, clearly not wanting to leave her side. Violetta picked up her backpack and put it on one shoulder before going up to EJ, making Athena go along with her.

"You were incredible," Violetta stated. "I mean it. Literally everything was perfect."

"That means a lot coming from you, Miss Dancer," EJ replied.

"Well, keep it up. Anyways, I have to go. 'Thena and I are going to the career fair together. But, I will see you later in one of the classrooms where they give us a boring speech about the future."

EJ leaned down and kissed her quickly. "See you."

Together, Violetta and Athena left the bomb shelter. They headed down the hallway together in the direction of the career fair. However, when Violetta glanced at her best friend, there was a conflicted expression on her face.

"You all right?" Violetta questioned.

Athena shook her head. "This somehow feels like my fault. If I hadn't confronted Lily—"

"In no way could you have predicted something like this would happen," Violetta insisted. "Plus, you had to get something back that was really important to you. Nobody's blaming you for that."

"Yeah, and look at where that brought us." Athena sighed. "I've been doing what you said. I've been taking steps back and focusing on what I need to do for myself rather than what I need to do for him, but just like always, he somehow manages to enter my mind again."

"EJ and I went over his house yesterday," Violetta revealed. "I think he's mostly just confused."

Okay, yes, Violetta wasn't telling the whole truth. Ricky was confused, but not mostly. What he was mostly was totally broken.

"Athena!" Ricky called from down the hallway.

Well, so much for keeping them apart from each other. Violetta knew there was no getting out of this one.

Athena's eyes widened and she looked at Violetta in panic. "Oh my God, I'm not ready."

She quickened her pace. However, that only made her drag Violetta along. Violetta let out a deep breath but didn't complain.

"Athena," Ricky protested. "Athena, please."

Ricky jogged to catch up with her and stood in front of them, completely ruining Athena's plans of escaping. Athena was forced to stop in her tracks and she let out a sigh.

"Hey," Ricky began.

"Hi," Athena responded.

Violetta felt very, very awkward now as she glanced between them. There was no saving this situation. So, instead of being caught up in it, Violetta decided to do the next best thing.

"Um, you know, EJ said he, uh, needed me for . . . homework," Violetta lied. "Yes, homework. So . . . see you in there."

She turned and walked down the hall. Violetta could literally feel Athena's glare on her back, but she ignored that and the guilt rising up in her chest. She entered the career fair along, but was immediately met with Ashlyn, Kourtney, and Nini.

The four of them noticed that Phenomenal Woman Apparel was handing out some of their merch. Nini announced that Athena would love this, so they went back out into the hall to go get her. However, Violetta instantly frowned as they got to the place where she had left Athena and Ricky. Athena was glaring at Ricky harshly and Ricky looked a combination of guilty, confused, and hurt. She guessed that talking hadn't gone so well.

Athena then fully turned back around to see them. Violetta gave her a questioning glance, but Athena shook her head discreetly. Not right now.

"'Thena!" Ashlyn exclaimed. "Phenomenal Woman Apparel is handing out swag."

She placed an extremely fake smile on her face and held out her hand. "Lead me to it."

Ashlyn started to drag her down the hallway. Violetta glanced back over her shoulder as she followed them, only to see Ricky just staring at Athena's retreating figure. She had left them alone for, like, two minutes. However, Violetta guessed a lot could happen in two minutes.

Violetta had gotten her own t-shirt, and after visiting the career fair for a while, Violetta and Athena went to their assigned classroom to hear the guest speaker with EJ, Gina, Seb, and Carlos. She sat in the front row next to EJ. Athena was sitting behind her, extremely quiet. Although Violetta was worried for her, she knew not to push her. If Athena didn't want to talk, that was okay.

"So, do you guys have any guesses on the guest speaker?" EJ inquired.

"Unless it's Alan Menken himself coming to apologize for what just happened to us, I'm not here," Carlos answered.

"Ooh, I would die if it was, like, Greta Gerwig," Seb admitted.

"You know you're not picking the person, right?"

"Well, whoever it is, I'm sure they'll remind us to seize the day and then let it go," EJ voiced. "Every year, same speech."

Violetta tilted her head in thought. "You know, I actually never understood what that fully meant."

EJ sighed in response. "Dang. I was really hoping that you would be the one to know, V."

"I've never been good at English. That's why I stick to dancing, pretty boy."

He smirked at her. "So you're admitting I'm pretty?"

Violetta felt her face heat up slightly and she pushed his shoulder. "Shut up."

"Oh, class, class," Mrs. Day — the teacher — stated, making everyone turn to the front of the room. "I am thrilled to present one of East High's most generous benefactors, Mr. Cash Caswell, with tips on success in life."

Violetta's eyes widened as EJ's father walked into the room. Now, Cash Caswell was always polite with her whenever she was over EJ's house, but she always had this feeling that he actually didn't like her. It could've been paranoia since it's supposed to be nerve-wracking meeting a significant other's parents, but something about this was different. She gave a questioning glance to EJ, but all he did was sink down into his chair in effort to hide.

"Surprise," Mr. Caswell said.

Violetta leaned closer to EJ, lowering her voice. "You didn't tell me he was coming."

EJ shrugged helplessly. "I didn't know."

"Thank you, Mrs. Day," Mr. Caswell voiced.

Mrs. Day nodded to him. "Anytime."

"Students, it's an honor. Success is all about legacies — the ones that we inherit, and the ones that we build. I'm lucky to have a son that carries the Caswell name with pride. In fact, I wasn't gonna do this today, but . . ." Mr. Caswell cleared his throat. "Come on up here, Eej."

Violetta and EJ locked eyes. EJ looked kind of panicked. Violetta offered him a small smile and gave him a reassuring nod. He could do this. That seemed to give EJ some courage, and he hesitantly got up from his seat to join his father at the front of the room. Violetta placed her elbows on the desk, watching the two.

Mr. Caswell displayed a blue Duke sweatshirt to the class. "My father gave me this when I got into Duke." He held it out to EJ. "Now it's yours."

EJ took it from him, and Violetta's eyes widened in realization. "Wait, what?"

"Congratulations, EJ," Mrs. Day announced.

Violetta turned around and shared a shocked glance with Athena. EJ hadn't gotten into Duke. Violetta literally read the rejection letter. He had also left her house and hadn't talked to her the entire next day because of it. Remembering how sad he had been, Violetta's face brightened as she clapped for him. EJ sat back down next to her, clutching the Duke sweatshirt in his hands.

"Oh my God, dude, you did it!" Violetta exclaimed, nudging him with her elbow. "Congrats . . . Eej."

"Now, how many of you are familiar with the phrase, seize the day?" Mr. Caswell asked.

So, that speech was boring. The career fair went on, and during the day, Violetta with the rest of the cast helped paint and build more of the set, having more time to do so because rehearsals were cancelled for the week.

After the school day ended, Nini had come up to Violetta and Athena, asking if they wanted to join her with going to Salt Lake Slices. One, to eat pizza, and two, to make sure Kourtney was okay, because she still had to work with Howie after the revelation that he was North High's Beast. Violetta was obviously in because she was hungry and cared about her friends.

The three of them entered the restaurant. Kourtney was placing a pizza down at a table, a hurt expression on her face. Nini instantly walked up and hugged her — best friends and all. Violetta then extended her arms out to Kourtney and hugged her tight. She let her go, and Athena hugged her.

Kourtney looked at the three of them. "I'm fine. Shouldn't we be hugging Athena instead?"

"Do not make this about me," Athena responded lightly.

However, it did ultimately end up being about her. Violetta looked up to see that Ricky was standing by them and blinked. She literally had no clue where he had come from. Also, him being here . . . Violetta had a bad feeling this wouldn't end good.

Her bad feelings always seemed to be right.

Nini spoke up first. "Hi, Ricky. What's up? Thought you were gonna stay longer to help the crew."

He gestured to Athena. "I came to talk to Athena. And it turns out I can't paint or hammer. Which shouldn't surprise me since my career aptitude test basically revealed that I have no profitable skills."

"I should . . . I'm gonna get back to work," Kourtney revealed, walking off.

Violetta and Nini shared a glance. They knew they had to stay by the two in case things got bad. Which, they probably were going to. Hurt Ricky and Hurt Athena clashing was not good.

"I thought I told you to leave me alone," Athena told him, making Violetta's eyes slightly widen.

Ricky let out a deep breath of exasperation.. "Athena, please, just listen. I came here to try and fix whatever's going on between us."

"There it is. You hurt me, you come back to fight for us, and then I forgive you. But how long will it take for you to hurt me again?"

"Hurt you? Everything that I've done wrong, I've always apologized."

Oh my God, Violetta said to herself. Apologizing doesn't always fix it.

"Doesn't mean I forgot about them," Athena countered.

"What's so bad about fighting for us?" Ricky argued. "Don't you wanna make this work?"

"We can't make it work unless we deal with our own problems first instead of dumping them on each other like we've been doing. It's not healthy. Listen, I love you, okay? But I just can't do this right now. Not here."

"What is going on with you?" Ricky demanded, raising his voice. Violetta took a tiny step forwards, and Nini clutched onto her wrist. "What happened to being in sync? What happened to being Ricky and Athena? This whole thing is freaking me out."

Athena's eyes were glassy with tears. "I'm trying to do the right thing."

"No, you're not. I'm trying to do the right thing by salvaging this relationship."

"You're not listening to me."

Ricky scoffed angrily. "You're being confusing."

"Guys," Kourtney interrupted. "You might wanna take it down a couple notches. You're scaring the real customers."

Athena and Ricky just stood there for a moment. Violetta and Nini shared another glance. This was worse than Violetta thought.

"Ricky, just . . . please go home," Athena pleaded.

He shook his head. "I'm out of here. Unbelievable."

With that, Ricky stormed out of the restaurant. Athena wiped away a tear that had fallen down her cheek. Violetta watched Ricky's retreating figure for a moment before turning back to her best friend.

Violetta sighed slung an arm around Athena's shoulders. "Come on. Let's go get you some pizza."

Sure, pizza could drown sorrows, but it couldn't help something from falling apart. Violetta didn't know what to do anymore.

═════════ • ° • ✰ • ° • ═════════

VIOLETTA SAT ON the couch that night, her hair messily tied up, a matching set of blue pajamas on, and a bowl of mint chocolate chip ice cream in her hand. She was currently watching High School Musical 2 (because why wouldn't she?) and was about to get to the part where Troy left his friends to go play basketball with the RedHawks instead of playing basketball with Chad, Jason, and Zeke before the baseball game, but the doorbell rang.

Her eyebrows knit in confusion. She turned to look at the door for a second — it could've been Athena, since she was upset after that fight with Ricky today at Slices, but she usually gave Violetta some kind of warning before she showed up. And it definitely wasn't her parents, because they would've just walked through the door and not ring the doorbell.

She paused the movie and set down her bowl of ice cream before making her way over to the door. Violetta opened the door, and her eyes slightly widened upon noticing who was there.

It was EJ. He was still in the same ridiculously and infuriatingly cute outfit from before, but this time he had a Duke sweatshirt tied around his neck. Violetta was suddenly very aware of the way she was in her pajamas right now.

"EJ," Violetta began. "Hey."

"Sorry for showing up so unannounced," EJ replied, shrugging a bit. "I just . . . I didn't know who else to talk to. And, you know, communication."

She offered him a small smile and stepped aside. "Come on in."

EJ stepped into her house and looked around for a moment before finally focusing on Violetta's movie situation. "I think it's a little late to do more High School Musical studying, don't you think?"

"Oh, shut up," Violetta responded, rounding around the couch and sitting down in her original spot. She then patted the spot next to her. "Now, come on. Tell me what's bothering you."

"How do you know something's bothering me?" EJ questioned, sitting down next to her and taking the Duke sweatshirt off from around his neck.

Violetta gave him a look. "It's written all over your face, EJ. Plus, I know you well enough to see that something's going on."

EJ sighed. "I didn't really get in to Duke, V."

"But your dad—"

"I know what he said. But I only got in because he made it happen."

Violetta let out a small oh before she tilted her head at him in confusion. "You've been talking about Duke for months. This is good, right? You're in."

"I don't know how to say this without it sounding wrong," EJ admitted. "Trust me, I — I'm grateful for the privilege of going to Duke, but—"

"You don't want to because you didn't get in yourself," Violetta finished, finally understanding everything.

EJ hesitated for a moment before nodding. "My entire life has been mapped out for me for as long as I can remember, you know?"

"I don't know." Violetta picked up her spoon and ate another spoonful of ice cream. "I think you're forgetting that we had a conversation about me having this paralyzing fear that I'll maybe go nowhere. My whole life is kind of up in the air."

"And it's all up to the universe, right?"

"Exactly," Violetta confirmed. "But we can have wishes and dreams. So what do you want the universe to do for you?"

EJ thought about it for a moment. "I don't know."

Violetta placed her bowl back down and sat up. "All right. What do you think about when you think about yourself?"

"I think about how I cheated at water polo, and how I tried to bribe Miss Jenn into giving me the part of Troy. And there's more."

"You want to know what I think when I think of you?" Violetta inquired softly.

"Can't wait for you to tell me I'm stupid," EJ commented. "Wait, you think about me?"

"EJ, just let me talk for a second." Violetta gave him a small smile. "When I think of you, I think about the guy who brought me to get ice cream because he saw I didn't want to go back in my empty house. The guy who invited me to his Thanksgiving dinner because my parents were away and didn't want me to be alone. The guy who checked up on Athena when she was sad because he said whatever meant a lot to me meant a lot to him, too. The guy who gives me rides everywhere until I can get my license. The guy who makes me feel like I'm the only girl in the world."

"You think all of that about me?" EJ asked quietly.

"And so much more," Violetta said. She reached up and placed a hand on his cheek, and he leaned into her touch. "You're an amazing guy, EJ. I wish you could see what I see, but that means you have to forgive yourself. Which is really hard. Trust me, I know."

EJ reached up and held onto her wrist. "My turn. Let me tell you what I think about when I think about you."

"This is a make-EJ-feel-better moment, not a make-Violetta-feel-better moment. Also, you think about me?"

"I think of the girl who is brave, so brave, because of everything she's had to go through. The girl who had the guts to actually put me in my place. The girl who confessed her feelings for me first because I was being dumb. The girl who puts on a tough exterior but is actually one of the sweetest people in the world. The girl who makes me feel wanted."

Violetta's eyes softened and she rubbed her thumb against his cheek before dropping it, extending her arms out to him instead. "All right, come here."

EJ stared at her. "What?"

"I said come here."

EJ blinked before moving closer to Violetta, sinking into her embrace. Violetta wrapped her arms around EJ tightly and pulled him in close. EJ let out a sigh of content and leaned his head on her shoulder, Violetta resting her cheek on top of his head.

"This is nice," EJ commented.

"It is," Violetta agreed. She pulled back a little and kissed his forehead. "I'm really proud of you."

EJ picked his head up and looked at her. "Yeah?"

"Yeah. The universe didn't put Duke in your plans, and that's okay. But you've got a lot of time ahead of you."

EJ gave her a small smile. He then surged forwards and kissed her gently. Violetta felt her heart race, the same way it always did. She kissed him back for a few moments before pulling away. EJ apparently did not have enough, because he leaned back in and kissed her again. Violetta laughed into it but obliged nonetheless.

"I . . ." EJ started to say once they stopped kissing, but stopped himself. "Thank you, V."

"Any time," Violetta replied. "I got more ice cream in the freezer. Want to finish this movie with me?"

Violetta and EJ ate their bowls of ice cream as they watched High School Musical 2. Once Violetta was finished with hers, she leaned her head against EJ' shoulder.

She didn't mean to, but she ended up falling asleep on him, exhausted by everything that had happened that day. EJ looked down at her when she didn't move as the movie ended, a small smile appearing on his face.

He gently took her shoulders in his hands and slowly stood up, maneuvering her so that she was now laying down fully on the couch. There wasn't any blankets around, so he picked up his Duke sweatshirt.

EJ leaned down and pressed an extremely light kiss to her temple before placing his Duke sweatshirt over her. She would look better in it than him, anyways.

∘ ₊ ✧ ──── ✧ ₊ ∘

vi being soft 🥺🥺🥺 my baby girl I love her so much

also this is me announcing that season two episode eight actually does not fucking exist I came up with all of this dialogue and plot on my own <333

please I literally can't handle the rini breakup and how ricky breaks down into big red's arms like I really just can't do it it's not real IT'S NOT REAL