I quickly excused myself once I'd finished helping Miss Jenn and Carlos finalize the cast list for multiple reasons. One being, I felt completely and utterly drained, and two being I couldn't stand the thought of having to see EJs reaction to the role we'd decided on for him.

Miss Jenn thought Ricky was perfect for the role of troy, she claimed when in doubt, always go for the underdog, aka Ricky; and as much as I didn't really care who got the parts, I just wanted EJ to be happy; I had to agree with her, meaning EJ got the role of Chad, something I knew he would not be pleased with.

I had my own reasons for voting on Ricky for Troy, one's I'd never dare to say out loud due to how selfish they sound; if Ricky is playing Troy, and Nini is Gabriella, that means they'll be spending a lot of time together, leaving EJ all alone... and there's a small part of me that hope's maybe he'll finally notice me, even if all I'm doing it quietly observing and playing the piano.

"Laurie!" I exclaim as I open my front door; He greets me just like he does every day, his tail happily wagging behind him.

I place my keys in the bowl at the door, taking note of the other set already in there, dad's home. "Ellie?" He calls out, from I assume, the kitchen; he was never home this early, so I quickly slide my bag off my shoulders, dropping it on the floor on my way into the kitchen.

As soon as I enter, I'm met with the sight of my dad, standing by the stove waving a hand towel at the smoke that's steaming off the stove, "Need some help?" I ask, dad nods his head rapidly, and I get to work, opening all the windows in the small room and turning on the fan above the stove; I gesture for dad to continue fanning; eventually, it dies down, leaving the smell of burnt food behind.

Dad frowns, moving to sit at the kitchen table, "I'm sorry, sweetie, I was trying to surprise you with your favorite, but-" he pauses, gesturing to the mess around him. Even when she was sick, mom never let dad anywhere near the kitchen; luckily, we'd had so many meals delivered we never had to worry.

It'd been two years now since mom passed, right before my first year of high school. People stopped dropping meals off a long time ago, meaning dad and I survived on take out, my select cooking skills, and cereal, "I get it," I reassure, moving to sit on the barstool across from him, "So, why are you home so early anyway?"

After mom passed, dad began working a lot more; Mom's hospital bills had stacked up so, we moved into a smaller home, and dad began taking way more overtime, it wasn't easy, but we make due.

"I realized it'd been a while since we've had family dinner," Despite the happy go lucky smile on his face, I could tell by his voice just how exhausted he was; I knew he was only trying to be strong for me, which is why I smile in return.

I shuffled over to the drawer by the stove; I'm sure most people's kitchen drawers are full of cooking utensils and fancy china. Still, dad and I didn't really need anything besides the necessities, hence why we have a drawer dedicated to take out menus.

I scheme through the drawer, picking out the menus to our top three places, "Indian, Chinese, or Italian," I ask, raising the papers for dad to see.

An hour later, the table was set, and takeout containers from our favorite Chinese restaurant scattered the table, "So, you were home later than usual today?" Dad noted, "hanging out with Carlos?"

I absentmindedly swirl noodles around my fork as I respond, "Uh, sort of?" It comes off as more of a question than a statement; dad gestures for me to go on, "He's choreographing the school musical this semester," I begin explaining, "and they needed someone to play piano for them during auditions."

Dad smiled at me proudly, "that's great sweetie," He knew how hard I found it to play in front of others, "are you going to go back?"

I nod, playfully rolling my eyes, "Unfortunately," Dad laughs at that, "Carlos can be very persuasive, and I figured it'd look good on college applications." I don't mention the senior boy that I'd also stayed for.

Dad nods, "Well, when you figure out what night it is, make sure you tell me so I can take it off." I go to argue that dad doesn't need to, but then I realize how genuinely happy he looks and stop myself.

Musicals had always been moms "thing." when Carlos would come over when we were younger, and we'd watch High School Musical, mom would be right beside us, enjoying it just as much as we did. When she was sick and couldn't leave her bed, I'd snuggle up beside her and watch musicals for hours until we both fell asleep.

I still played the piano, but it was mostly classical music, none of the show tunes or musical songs that mom had taught me. In the beginning, dad would always request his favorite songs that mom introduced him to, but after a while of me rejecting them, he'd stopped, just happy I wanted to play the piano at all.

"So," Dad broke me out of my thoughts, "what's the musical?"

I finished chewing the bite of food I'd taken before responding, "High School Musical."

Dad expression softened, a look of understanding etching its way onto his face, "Mom would be so excited for you," He says; I can tell memories of mom are flashing through his mind the way they often do through mine; if mom were here, I'd probably be excited too.

For the rest of dinner, Dad asks me questions about the musical; I try to act excited about it for his sake; I think he was just happy I was coming out of my shell a little bit, I've always been socially anxious, but ever since mom died, it's only gotten worse.

Even though it wasn't late when we finished dinner, I reassured dad I'd clean up; he rarely got a good night's sleep, so he deserved the early night.

I had just begun putting our dishes away when my phone started vibrating in my pocket, something that rarely happens. Carlos and my dad were the only people that ever called me, so I'd expected my best friend's name to flash across the screen; instead, it was a number I didn't remember seeing before, "Hello?" I answer, holding my phone up to my ear.

I can hear shuffling on the other line, until eventually, they reply, "Hey, is this Eloise?"

"Uh, yeah," I furrow my brows; how did he get my number? "Ricky?"

He chuckles awkwardly before responding, "Carlos gave me your number; I hope that's okay?" was it okay? I mean, I barely know this guy, "I just wanted to say thanks." He says before I can answer his question.

"Oh, uh," I cringe at how awkward I sound; it turns out, talking on the phone is way worse than talking to someone in person, "I don't understand," I admit, chuckling awkwardly, "Why are you thanking me?"

"Carlos told me you were the one who really pushed for me to play troy," He informed me; I mentally remind myself to scold Carlos tomorrow, what part of "who I chose for what role stays between the two of us" did he not understand?

"Your welcome," I glance around my kitchen, trying to find some sort of excuse to use to get off the phone, "Uh well, I should probably-"

Ricky cuts me off before I can come up with an excuse, "Wait," I sigh, keeping the phone pressed to my ear, "Did you do it because you saw me watching her yesterday?" He didn't have to say who he was talking about; I knew.

"Of course not," I responded quickly, "Miss Jenn just asked my opinion, and I was honest, you're the better fit for the role." I can hear Ricky let out a breath of relief, "Okay, well-"

"Can I ask you one last thing?" I sigh; what was with this boy and not letting me finish my sentence? Ricky takes my silence as me telling him to continue, "I noticed you watching EJ yesterday, and correct me if I'm wrong, but you like him, right?"

How was he able to figure that out from one look? Either I'm really obvious, or Ricky is very observant, "Pfft, I, uh what? no, I, uh..." I cringe, it would have been better if I just stayed silent, "Fine, I like him," I mumble, I'd never admitted that out loud to anyone but Carlos, "but you can't tell him."

I hate how pathetic I sound, "I won't," Ricky reassures me, "I just figured, since we have a common goal, we could help each other?

I want to scoff and be offended that he even assumed I need help, but he's not wrong; I can barely hold a conversation with him on the phone; how am I supposed to talk to EJ in person?

Currently, Carlos was the only person I had, and as much I loved him more than anything; maybe Ricky could help in ways Carlos couldn't, if I can barely speak to him, then there's no way I'll be able to flirt with him, and no offense Carlos, but he'd never been skilled in that area either.

I finally nod my head in agreement, despite the fact he's not there, "You're right, I'll help you win back Nini, and in exchange, you help me with EJ." I can hear Ricky let out a breath of relief on the other line.

I don't think he realizes how little help I'll actually be, but I don't say that; as much as I hated to admit it, I needed him. "can we talk tomorrow?" He asks in an almost cautious manner.

"Yeah, I'll find you," I cringe at how weird that sounds, "Well, I'm gonna go now," I say awkwardly, placing the final dish away while I do so.

"Goodnight, Eloise,"

"Night Ricky," I sigh as soon as I hang up; today has been full of surprises; but Ricky Bowen and I teaming up to win over his ex and the boy I'd been silently pining over for years, that may just be the most unexpected thing that happened today.

🤍

We finally know why Eloise doesn't like musicals
And... her and Ricky have officially teamed up🙈
How are y'all liking falling slowly so far?