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Gina searched her bag, tirelessly. Where did all her things go? It didn't matter, all she needed at the moment was her script to practice with the devil's spawn. EJ was waiting for her outside, and she needed to hurry to find that script. Not that she minded making him wait longer. He deserved it.
Even if she was the one that led "the plan", he was the one to play it out wrong. Everything went wrong but the night, somehow, was saved. For her at least, EJ probably had his hair all gooey for the rest of the night.
He asked too many questions; pushed her to the limit, and she had to make him know she wasn't going to take any of that.
Not that she cared, of course.
Aha! She pulled the script out of her bag, threw her backpack over her shoulder, and headed out. EJ was waiting on the stage, scrolling through his phone. His left leg was bouncing rapidly, a sense of urgency and impatience expressed.
Gina smirked, "you ready to get this over with?"
"The faster I can get out of here, the better. I'm still mad at you for that whole plan you didn't even know yourself." EJ said. "Seriously, what was all that about?"
"I already told you, it's complicated," Gina looked away. It was his fault that things went south, right?
"Yeah, sure, it seemed pretty simple to me with how close to Ricky you've become."
Gina rolled her eyes; she didn't need to explain anything to him. "Let's just start rehearsing, okay?"
EJ opened his script and so did Gina. She looked for the page they were supposed to start rehearsing in.
"You really think it's going to work?" She recited, reading the scene as Taylor.
"It's the only way to save Troy and Gabriella from themselves." EJ said his line quite plainly. For a guy with a rep for being a theatre kid, he sure was a bad actor.
Gina looked up, "could you say that any more plainly?"
"Oh, sorry, would you like me to start crying?" EJ said sarcastically.
"That's not what I meant. Just forget it, let's continue." She flipped through the pages until she reached one of the last scenes. "We should practice the last dialogue before We're All In This Together." Gina decided correcting him wasn't worth her time. Miss Jenn would do something about it later. Or, at least, she hoped so.
EJ cleared his throat, getting in character. "So, you're going with me to the after party, right?" He started, quite uncomfortably.
"Like on a date?" Gina read, but she felt her body telling her it wasn't possible to see EJ as a guy she'd ever go on an actual date with.
EJ shifted his weight. "Must be your lucky day..."
"Or your— wait, stop." Gina looked up at him again.
He rolled his eyes. "What now?"
"As you may know," She started pacing, "I like doing my job correctly, and if we're going to stay as understudies we might as well do it well. We can't do that with our— err— unresolved business."
"What do you propose then?" EJ leaned back into his chair.
"Well," She fidgeted with a loose thread of her backpack. "I- I'm so-" She stopped. This was more difficult than she wanted it to be, but she had to get through it if she wanted to get this part right. After all, Chad and Taylor liked each other romantically, and if EJ and Gina couldn't even stand near each other it would be a nightmare to play the parts.
"I'm sorry." She finally said. "For leading a plan I wasn't sure of and ditching you later. Things changed, my perspective changed, and my need to 'be the best'–whatever that meant–was changed for a less intense life motto."
EJ stood in silence for a second, his expression unreadable. "Are you really? Or are you just saying that to get me off your back?"
Gina thought of this for a second. Was she truly sorry? She wasn't sure. At the moment it seemed like the best thing to do. She was telling the truth when she said that a lot of things changed. She no longer felt like stealing anyone's roles at any cost, at least. "Yeah, I do. Sort of. In my own way."
EJ went silent again. It felt like forever, and Gina was starting to regret her apology, until he spoke. "I'm sorry too. I shouldn't have pushed you to know what it was–even if I had absolutely no clue–and I shouldn't have made you angry. That punch was not hair friendly."
This made Gina chuckle. "I'm sorry about that too, I don't know what came over me. But at least now it serves as a reminder to not mess with me."
EJ laughed, and Gina wasn't sure if he was laughing because he found it funny or if he was bitter. Maybe a little of both. "Oh, believe me, I have learned my lesson."
She laughed too, and surprisingly, it was genuine. She didn't think he was annoying, she thought he was okay. Maybe they could be friends one day, or something like it.
Maybe, just maybe, EJ could be the only friend that stayed with her even if she moved away. In a weird way, she felt like this blooming relationship was the most sincere she had, fights and all. At least he was real and honest about how he felt about her, even if that meant being really vocal about his dislike for her.
But she was getting ahead of herself, of course he wouldn't be like that. If anything, Ricky seemed way more friendly, perhaps friendlier.
After a long pause, EJ finally broke the silence, bringing Gina back to the real world. "What about Ricky?"
She laughed awkwardly. "What *about* Ricky?"
"I don't know, you just seemed... friendlier with him at the photoshoot."
"Something happened the night of Homecoming. But it's nothing, I shouldn't concern you with that."
"That's fine," he said, and Gina couldn't find any trace of sarcasm in his voice. "The other day I lashed out on you, but I have no business on whom you like and hang out with. You can like Ricky, you know? It's not wrong, I guess you would have terrible taste, but that's just my personal opinion."
Gina chuckled softly, enjoying that they could joke now. She wasn't going to tell him anything, but she was glad he understood. "Look who's talking about terrible taste, Mr. my-ex-still-loves-her-ex."
EJ looked away, it was obvious it still stung. Ricky and Nini weren't together, but Gina and EJ both knew it would happen eventually.
"I guess we both have terrible taste, then." He offered a teasing smile.
Gina smiled back. Things seemed to be looking up for them, oddly.
She grabbed her script and asked EJ, "shall we go on?"