( 𝘨𝘪𝘧: 𝘳𝘪𝘤𝘬𝘺 𝘢𝘴𝘬𝘴 𝘢𝘶𝘨𝘶𝘴𝘵 𝘵𝘰 𝘥𝘢𝘯𝘤𝘦 )

𝐀 𝐒𝐓𝐑𝐎𝐍𝐆 𝐃𝐄𝐉𝐀 𝐕𝐔

𝒂𝒍𝒔𝒐 𝒌𝒏𝒐𝒘𝒏 𝒂𝒔 : 𝒉𝒐𝒎𝒆𝒄𝒐𝒎𝒊𝒏𝒈 

𝒑𝒂𝒓𝒕 𝒕𝒘𝒐

If anyone was searching for August, one could find her on the dance floor, plastering a smile on her face as she and Carlos moved to the rhythm. It wasn't that she wasn't enjoying herself. But she couldn't get Ricky's hurtful words out of her mind. Who did he think he was to say those thinks to her about Gina? It wasn't any of his business. He's just salty that EJ could get a girlfriend faster than he could ever. And no wonder. If Ricky talked like that to girls, who did he think he was going to charm?

"Hey, August? Can I speak to you?" Speaking of Ricky, August swivelled around to find him looking shyly at her, brown curls falling in his eyes and hands tucked into his pockets. She frowned, opening her mouth to say 'no'. But before she could, Carlos grinned and nodded.

"Of course you can! August, I'll see you later." he disappeared, leaving the two ex lovers by themselves on the side of the dance floor. August sighed, crossing her arms over her chest. 

"I wanted to apologise."

"Okay, go on."

Ricky scratched the back of his head. "That was it." August scoffed, turning on her heel to walk away. Ricky grabbed her wrist, making her stop in her tracks. "Wait, I'm sorry. For that and for what I said before. It was so uncalled for, and none of my business anyway. I just... I had pent-up emotions and you were there, and I took them out on you. Which isn't excusable, but yeah. Just wanted to apologise and clear things up."

"What you did say was uncalled for..." August trailed off, but the corner of her lips pulled upwards. "But it's fine."

Ricky raised his eyebrows. "So...you're not mad anymore?"

"Look, I get it. Things are really tense with your parents and I'd be an awful person to hold that against you." Ricky smiled softly at her; he had never met someone was understanding and kind as August. No one really understood him like she did. "So, see you at school?"

"Do you want to dance?"

August parted her lips slightly, surprised at his request. Blushing lightly, she tucked a dark curl behind her ear. "What?"

"Do you want to dance?" Ricky repeated, this time more shyly as he avoided her gaze. "It's fine if you don't want to, I would completely understand, I mean, you know I'm not the best dancer-"

"Okay." Ricky raised his head surprised at her answer.

"What?"

August smiled at him, offering her hand. "Come on, let's dance. Before I change my mind." Ricky chuckled, shaking his head as he intertwined their fingers together as August led him to the dancefloor. The two teenagers were followed by some eyes as they whispered, placing bets on how long it would take them to get back together. Only Ricky and August were blind to their own feelings. A slower, steady song was playing, making August place her arms round his neck as he placed them awkwardly on her waist. Didn't even move a few feet before August winced when Ricky stepped on her foot. "Ouch. Forgot how bad of a dancer you actually are."

"Sorry. I did warn you tho." Ricky said sheepishly, and August's smile faltered, suddenly feeling a wave of deja vu.

𝑭𝑳𝑨𝑺𝑯𝑩𝑨𝑪𝑲

"Ric!"

"Sorry!"

August shook her head in laughter. Her feet were blistering of how many times Ricky had stepped on her. But it was worth it. Slowly dancing to one of Ed Sheeran's songs, the pastel lights made Ricky's facial characteristics shine brighter. Or maybe it was just the feeling August was experiencing as she danced with him. The one that made her want to stay in that moment for evermore. "I might need surgical procedure on my feet after dancing with you."

"Hey!" Ricky pouted. "You were the one who invited me to your aunt's wedding. Besides, I did warn you."

"I thought you were kidding!" Ricky joined in her laughter, pulling her closer. August smiled against his lips, pressing them together before she lay her head on his shoulder. "Don't you wish you could stay in this moment forever?"

August missed the sad look that crossed Ricky's face. "Yes." he paused, before tilting her chin upwards. "And this moment will last forever. That's what memories are for."

"A memory is not the same."

"It is if you save it in your heart."

August smiled softly. "You're so cheesy." that made Ricky grin.

"But you love it."

"August?" the curly haired girl snapped out of her thoughts, her eyes focusing on Ricky, who stood in front of her. She shook her head, smiling at him to indicate she was listening. "What were you thinking about?"

"Nothing, just..." she hesitated. She didn't expect him to remember. "A strong deja vu."

Ricky smiled fondly. "Us dancing at your aunt's wedding?"

"You remember." August's eyes sparkled in joy. "Despite the fact that after that night my feet were never the same, it was amazing."

Ricky winced, pouting offended. "Am I truly that bad?"

August raised an eyebrow when Ricky stepped on her again, making her throw her head back in laughter. Ricky chuckled along, his heart racing against his ribcage as his eyes never left August's face, glad to be the reason of her joy. She was the epitome of beauty, especially in his eyes. Her kettle-like laughter that made you want to laugh along, even if you didn't know what she was laughing at. A smile that lit up the room, making you want to be the reason behind it. The kind of person that made everyone want to write songs about. Trust me, Ricky had various notebooks with songs written about August, and those feelings he kept experiencing when he was around her. 

"If you didn't step on me that many times, you would be a decent dancer." Ricky blushed embarrassed.

A few beats of silence followed before Ricky spoke up. "You know Auggie? I realise that it has to be uncomfortable with me as Troy and you as Gabriella. If it bothers you, tell me. You deserve to be the lead and I don't want to ruin that for you. For the musical." he added at the end to not seem so cheesy.

August didn't answer for a few seconds, frowning slightly. "You would do that for me?"

Ricky nodded immediately. "Of course. It is nice to have somewhere to go in the afternoons, but not if it costs the production the best Gabriella they'd ever see." when August kept silent, Ricky have a tight smile. "I'll tell Miss Jen then. EJ will be over the moon-"

"No."

Ricky raised an eyebrow at August's interruption. "What?"

She blushed, looking down. "You don't have to leave the musical. Sure, it hurt at first to see you there, but it's fine now. We can move past it, right? For the sake of the musical."

"For the sake of the musical." Ricky smiled softly.

"Besides, you bring a special interpretation of Troy. It would be awful to lose you." not giving Ricky a chance to respond, August lay her head on his shoulder. Ricky hesitated before smiling warmly, continued to dance to the slow song.

Completely unaware how things would change from now on.

∎ ∎ ∎ ∎ ∎ ∎ ∎ ∎ ∎ ∎ ∎ ∎ ∎ ∎ ∎ ∎ ∎ ∎ ∎ ∎ ∎ ∎ ∎ ∎ ∎ ∎ ∎ ∎ ∎ ∎ ∎ ∎ ∎ 

Nini and Kourtney had decided to skip homecoming on Nini's decision. Wanting to get away from all the drama after breaking up with EJ, the two teenage best friends decided to spend a girls night only, joined by Miss Jenn. The trio found themselves in a karaoke club with some of the worst singers in Salt Lake City. 

"Going to grab some nachos. You girls want anything?" Nini and Kourtney shook their heads at Miss Jenn's proposal, and the drama teacher stood up and walked away to the bar. Sighing, Nini picked up her phone, and started to scroll through instagram as Kourtney sipped on her non-alcoholic drink.

Nini frowned as she came across EJ's instagram. Why she still followed him was a question she didn't know the answer. But the main focus was the picture he had just uploaded. It was a prom picture. But his arms were wrapped around Gina as the two smiled at the camera. Scoffing, Nini turned her phone to show Kourtney the picture. "Do you believe this? Talk about moving on fast."

Kourtney raised her eyebrows surprised. "Wow. That's a couple I didn't expect."

"Tell me about it." Nini muttered angrily, rolling her eyes as she unfollowed EJ before scrolling along. And while it did make her mad the fact he had moved on so fast, Nini wasn't prepared for the wave of hurt that would drown her when she kept scrolling, coming across a video. It was short, two seconds maximum. But long enough to shatter her heart as she stared, mesmerised by the pain.

August and Ricky, dancing so close to each other to a sad song, looking at each other as if they were the only ones in the whole wide world. Aware of the amount of people around them, yet they couldn't take their eyes of each other. 

Did Ricky ever look at Nini like that?

Kourtney, realising something was wrong, squeezed Nini's shoulder. "What's wrong?" when she didn't answer, Kourtney snatched the phone out of her hand. A look of understanding flashed across her face. "Oh."

"Oh." Nini repeated sadly, leaning on her hand. Beats of awkward silence followed.

"Well, you have to admit she looks beautiful." Kourtney attempted to crack a joke.

"So beautiful." Nini agreed sadly. 

Kourtney looked sadly at her best friend. "Look, no more phones, this was supposed to be our night with no drama. Remember?" Nini nodded, and the two focused on the karaoke performances again. Yet Nini couldn't erase that video from her mind.

Stuck on a loop, it repeated over and over again.

i LOVE this chapter so much. it is a MAJOR turning point for basically every relationship, especially the love triangle existing between Ricky, August and Nini.

Nini not being at homecoming is REALLY IMPORTANT for August and Ricky's development. if she had been there, things would have been so much different.

it's also important the different reactions of Nini when she sees her ex's moving on. anger with EJ, hurt with Ricky. it says a lot.