Theatre Geek - (R.B.) - Chapter 26: Chapter 26

IT WAS late into the evening and Ricky had only just stepped out of East High. After a lengthy and tiring drama practice in the theatre room, to say that he was exhausted would be an understatement.
Sometimes he found himself wondering why he even bothered; it was very time-consuming which meant less time for him to be doing what he thought were more important things like playing video games and hanging out with friends.
Of course, though. What kept him going at the end of the day was why exactly he joined the crew in the first place. It was for her but who 'her' was what he wasn't sure of anymore.
For the longest time, Ricky had a set plan in mind: get selected as the lead male role in the school play and win Nini back. Now, however, he didn't know.
A simple golden-haired girl had now caught his attention. The kind that he couldn't help but not look away from.
Speaking of her, she was sitting right there on a bench not too far from him. From the little while that Ricky had known her, he quickly found out that Julia always took the evening bus back home after drama practice. As for any other day, he wasn't sure whether she bussed home or got picked up by her aunt. Well, considering the fact that practically everyone knew that Julia's Aunt was a busy woman, it would be safe to assume that being picked up probably wasn't the case.
Sliding his backpack further up his shoulders, Ricky casually made his way over to the said girl. It didn't take long - if anything but - for Julia to notice him, as his presence was way too obvious at times.
"Jules." He nodded curtly at her once before taking a set in the empty spot next to her on the bench. "What'd you think of practice today?"
"It was okay," she replied, smiling slightly at him. At least, Ricky hoped it was directed to him. "We're almost done, so I guess that's a relief."
He simply studied her for a moment, his eyebrows instinctively raised at the thought that Julia was relieved that the production would be over and done with soon. "Really?"
"Yes..?"
"No, it's just that you seemed like you really enjoyed the entire experience. I didn't think you'd be okay with leaving."
"Well Ricky, everything has an end eventually, just not always in the ways we expect it to. We have to accept the end of something in order to begin something anew."
Ricky blinked, his head tilted a bit to the side as he took in what Julia had just said. Behind the quiet and innocent girl was someone more wise hidden underneath. For some oddly alarming reason, he found himself regretting ever thinking that Julia wasn't worth his time. Chasing after a girl who didn't even peak a second glance his way all this time, and in reality - what he wanted - no, needed the most was who he was always too blind to see.
That was until today.
He awkwardly cleared his throat, scrimmaging off his hoodie to instead hold it in his hands. "Can I - can I drop you home?"
"Lia, over here!" A voice called from behind them and Julia recognized it as Aaron's.
Standing up from her seat, she greeted her good friend with a hug but was surprised when Aaron lifted her off the ground slightly by the waist.
"Practice - how was it?" He inquired, a toothy grin on his face.
"Something I should be asking you," she frowned playfully before replacing it with a smile. Stepping away from him, she had on a look of disgust. "You're sweating, Ron."
"What do you expect me to do? Soccer is not an easy sport." He shook his head, giving her a meaningful look before lunging forward and trapping her in his arms again, despite her yelps of distaste. "Great, now we're both icky."
With a final push, Julia smacked Aaron tiredly on the arm. "That's gross!" Even with the circumstances, she couldn't fight a laugh from forming. "What are you even doing here? Soccer practice isn't supposed to be over for another hour."
"One of the players, Mike I think his name is - got injured on the field so I dismissed the team early."
"You're the captain of the team, yet you don't know all of your teammates' names?"
He smiled teasingly at her. "Hey, that's the coach's job, not mine." At the disappointment written on her face, he added something else. "So, how about I drop you home, yeah?"
Glancing in the direction of Ricky who was quietly watching the encounter, Julia sighed. Turning her attention back to Aaron, she shook her head. "I kind of agreed to go with someone else, but thanks for the offer."
Aaron furrowed his eyebrows and only then did he too notice Ricky standing there. Involuntarily, his mouth twitched downwards a bit, but it then just formed back into a small smile. He recalled seeing the boy at the ice rink a few weeks ago during the school trip, but he didn't make much of it at the time.
He casually raised out his hand. "I'm Aaron. Don't think we've met?"
Ricky held a tight-lipped smile, one that went to prove that he felt envy brewing inside of him. He took the boy's hand firmly, shaking it. "Ricky. I'm a friend of Jules'."
Aaron raised an eyebrow at the nickname, before shaking his head and shoving his hands into his jean pockets.
"Guess I'll leave you to it," he said, his words directed to the clearly uncomfortable girl standing ahead of him. Aaron didn't even know what had gotten to him, but he didn't walk away without pressing a small kiss to Julia's forehead. "See you later..."
He confidently strided off in another direction. From afar, Julia could see Aaron greet two other boys (Fabian and Alex) who were silently watching the encounter from afar. Fabian nudged Aaron's shoulder as if asking for details, but the former just shook his head and the trio took off.
Ricky approached Julia, a kind look on his face. "You could've went with him, you know . . . He has a car, and all I'll be able to do is make you walk."
She rolled her eyes playfully at him. "Maybe I wanted to have a walk. Ever think about that?" She strolled a few steps ahead of him and when she noticed that Ricky wasn't by her side, she glanced behind her. "Come on, it'll get dark soon."
Ricky grinned, catching up to her as the two teenagers went the short way to their homes, chatting about random subjects as they went.
Ricky sat with his arms crossed and his head leaning against them by the window sill. He wasn't looking at anything in particular, just maybe Julia's house which was coincidentally a couple of blocks away from his own.
"Do you ever think she might still like me?" He pondered aloud, and for a moment he forgot there was someone else in the room.
Red shrugged, his focus intent on the acoustic guitar - his friend's - in his lap. "Nini? Yeah, I mean . . . at least she doesn't get angry whenever you're around anymore, right?"
Ricky shook his head. "No, not Nini. I don't . . . I meant Julia."
'Maybe -- but I don't want to get your hopes up."
"I just don't get it," Ricky complained, his voice coming out almost like a whimper. Closing the window door, he slumped irritably on the chair. "What does he have that I don't?"
"Aaron? I mean . . . he didn't exactly ignore her feelings."
"Who's to say that she does have feelings for MacLeod? For all we know, it could be completely platonic--"
"Yeah," Red said, his voice distant. He'd tried stirring up some sort of tune on Ricky's guitar in the past, but it never worked out in his favor. He had to accept what he already knew: he wasn't musically talented.
"Why am I so worried over what she thinks of me? As far as I'm concerned, she meant nothing to me just yesterday, and now?" Slamming his head against a pillow, he mumbled out, "For some reason she means everything."
Red took a deep breath and put the guitar back in the case, leaving it zipped open. He too laid down on the bed beside his best friend, them being a comfortable space apart. "Happens to the best of us, Rick," he shrugged.
"What do you mean?"
"You know," he pondered off. "It starts with an L and ends with an E."
"Whatever your thinking right now, erase -- erase it immediately! I don't like her!"
"Geez, that's hard to believe. Here we are, sitting while you complain about if she still has feelings for you. That's gotta mean something," Red explained, narrowing his eyes and looking up at the popcorn ceiling. "You like her, and you can't deny that. She just fell asleep on your shoulder one day, and now you think--"
"I'm not stupid, man," Ricky argued, his voice raising a bit at his friend's foolishness. He didn't even bother to acknowledge what Red was saying was probably correct. He didn't want to give him the satisfaction of knowing he was right. "Julia is so, so, God! I really think there's something wrong with me."
"Well, you two are playing the lead roles in the play. You could always try getting to know her through that? You know, before Aaron has a chance to?"
"But MacLeod kissed her. Whatever chance I had has already been taken by him a long time ago, for that matter."
"He what - what'd he do?" Red perked up, looking at his friend in bewilderment. "Like -- on the mouth? Doesn't that mean that they're, um, dating?"
Ricky shrugged, accepting defeat. "Not on the mouth. In front of me, he pecked her on the forehead, but that's enough evidence to prove that he's probably after her too."
"Too now?" Red smirked. "You like her--"
"I don't! A common slip of the tongue. Not necessarily me, but she's a pretty girl - there could be a lot of dudes who secretly like her." When there was no response, he continued: "What I mean to say is, she seems really close to him for him to just blatantly kiss her like that."
"Back to my first point, man. You have what he doesn't. You're the talented Bowen who has the lead role in the school play, but he doesn't -- he's just the captain of the most popular sports team of the school, and possibly of the entire state--"
"Yeah, like that's supposed to make me feel any better about myself."
"Okay, look at it this way: he's a senior, so he'll be gone in a few short months anyway and then you'll have all the time in the world to get to know her."
Ricky grinned widely, nodding as if he had solved world hunger. However, he frowned again. "But chances are, if he makes his move, she'll already be dating him. And then he'll practically be her first everything. Boyfriend, kiss...you name it."
"How do you know he'll be her first? What if she does have prior dating experience?"
The brunette gave his friend a knowing look, almost laughing out loud as If he'd heard the funniest joke. "Her? You really think that someone like Julia Baker would have dated someone before? That's a really funny joke, dude. You crack me up."
Red frowned, realizing that the arrogant Ricky was back once more. If he didn't let go of his attitude, there would be no way that he'd be able to get Julia back. And Red was well aware of what things Ricky had pulled up against her in the past, regardless if he realized that he was truly hurting her before. He would never tell his best friend to fix his attitude, that was something that he'd have to figure out for himself, even if Red wasn't being the most helpful friend.
"If it makes you feel any better, a lot of long distance relationships don't work out from what I've heard--"
"They do sometimes, though. Have you ever watched Saved By The Bell? Zack and Kelly are still together even in college."
"Yeah, but that was Zack, and you're...Ricky. Knowing Julia, and the somewhat way of how Aaron acts, I highly doubt that they'd ever consider going to such high demands to be with each other."
"If it's meant to be, then it's meant to be."
"That's what I'm trying to tell you too, Rick. You don't even realize what you're doing wrong."
"Whose side are you even on, dude?" Ricky questioned, his voice growing cold. "And I'm not doing anything wrong, for your information."
"Sure." Big Red shrugged his shoulders, getting up from the bed and grabbing his backpack, slinging it over his shoulder as he made his way to the bedroom door. "I gotta go, but I'll see you on Monday."
"Where? You weren't even busy, that's why you came here--"
"Something came up."
He knew he had unknowingly irked his best friend somehow. For what? Ricky asked himself. For speaking facts?
"Right, fine," he said, waving at the red head. "See 'ya. Close the door on your way out."
When Red was out the door, Ricky took the moment to go up to his bedroom window again and continue off with where he left off - staring at Julia somewhat admirably.