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𝗟𝗢𝗩𝗘 𝗕𝗔𝗖𝗞

chapter twelve:
late night talks !

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EJ AND VIOLETTA sat in EJ's car at their usual ice cream place. Considering it was freezing outside, the two of them didn't sit at one of the tables outside like they had done after Homecoming. Violetta had her knees tucked into her chest, absentmindedly spooning some mint chocolate chip ice cream into her mouth. They hadn't said much — it seemed that what had happened at the party had made them less talkative. Who could blame them? They had just witnessed a huge family conflict with a girl who seemed like she was always as strong as steel.

Violetta could relate, she guesses. She always managed to put on this tough girl exterior through sarcasm and pushing her feelings away, but deep down underneath, nobody — except for EJ, Athena, Ricky and Big Red — really knew that those were just walls that she had built up in effort to protect herself from getting extremely hurt. It was one of things she hated to do, but in her eyes, it was necessary. She didn't want to let herself break down again.

"Do you think Gina's gonna be okay?" EJ suddenly asked.

That was the first thing that broke the silence. Violetta paused on eating her ice cream and looked over at him. His phone was shut off, courtesy of Violetta, because he had also been getting upset from all the Instagram followers he was losing from admitting all the wrong things he had done to the public. Violetta hated to admit it, but EJ looked sort of ethereal. The moonlight was shining down on him through the sunroof of his car, giving him a sort of silvery glow. It was also combined with the red neon sign of the ice cream place in front of them. The time was about eleven, and neither of them had no rush to get home — after all, Violetta would just go back to an empty house and EJ would just go back to a house with too many rooms for three people. In their own ways, they would both feel extremely isolated.

Little did Violetta know that EJ was thinking the same way about her. Out of everyone he had ever dated, including Nini, EJ truly believed that he had never connected with a more beautiful soul. Her curly hair had been lazily tied back into a messy bun, since she had claimed that she was absolutely done with it (her words, not his.) Even in the dark, EJ could see that the moonlight was reflecting in her brown eyes. EJ also knew that Violetta hated being called small or short, but she looked very small and cute as she sat curled up in his front seat.

EJ didn't know about Violetta, but to be honest, he had always sort of had his eye on her since he had seen her in the hallway walking with Athena when she was a freshman and he was a sophomore. He had never approached her, though — all because of some stupid reason, which was to keep up his jock and theater boy persona. EJ wished that things could've been different. Maybe if he had been friends with Violetta earlier she could've smacked some more sense into him like she always did, and he wouldn't find himself admitting all the things he had done wrong in his life.

Nevertheless, EJ couldn't help but find himself liking Violetta. He knows, it's a little quick since him and Nini broke it off not too long ago, but who could blame him? Nobody was perfect, but Violetta was damn near close in his eyes. She wasn't afraid to speak her mind, she was a great dancer, she loved her friends deeply. Everything about her attracted EJ. EJ was always the sort of guy to get what he wanted, but something about Violetta was different. Something told him that if he was too overbearing, she would just blink and ask him if he was mentally okay. He also feared her rejection, which hadn't happened to him before. Make fun of him, but every girl he asked out always said yes. Violetta probably would laugh at him, which is why he had to ease into finally letting her see some signs.

Taking it slow — one day at a time.

"Not sure," Violetta replied, shuffling a bit in the chair so she wasn't slouching as much as she was in effort to sit up a little straighter. She spooned some more ice cream into her mouth before scraping her cup to make the rest of her ice cream get into one little pile. "She sounded really upset. I mean, you were there, so you should agree. If there's one thing we know about Gina, it's that she's strong. But we all know that strong people can have their weak moments, too."

EJ paused on chewing his piece of cookie dough. "Something tells me you're self-projecting."

"I'm just saying." She ate the last bite of her ice cream, savoring the taste of the mint and chocolate chip. "We've all got weaknesses, and apparently yours is losing six hundred and seventy-five followers."

"I'm being serious, V."

"Yeah, so am I," Violetta insisted. She then shook her head upon noticing the look EJ was giving her. "She might not be okay for a while, EJ. I think she's really found her place here, even if it did get off to a rocky start. It probably didn't help that the revelation was made in front of a lot of people." Violetta set down her ice cream cup. "It has me thinking about the future, for some reason."

"The future?" EJ repeated, an eyebrow raised.

"Yes, the future. Didn't you hear what I just said?"

"Oh my God, V."

She let out a small laugh. "You know I only say those things to get you annoyed, right? It's funny getting a reaction out of you."

"Sometimes I seriously wonder how Athena, Ricky, and Big Red put up with you," EJ said, but anyone could tell that he was clearly joking.

"They've put up with it for years and are just used to it. But you, my friend, are going to have to learn to deal with it, because I'm not changing."

EJ rolled his eyes. "Can you just tell me why this has you thinking about the future?"

Violetta paused for a moment. "Gina's future is always unpredictable. She never knows when her mom is going to get that call saying that they have to move places again. She's forced to never make close bonds with anyone because she knows she'll just get up and go. We're the only exceptions, but here we are." She shrugged again. "It just makes me wonder about if any of the plans we have for the future are actually going to happen because it's all up to the universe." Violetta squinted at him. "I don't know if that really made any sense."

"No, I got it," EJ responded. "It does make sense."

She then turned her body to face him instead of facing towards the front of the car. "Do you have any plans that could potentially be ruined by the universe?"

"You're really boosting my confidence about my future plans here, Violetta."

"Let me guess," Violetta stated. "You're gonna choose a college that has both water polo and theater, just like Troy did with basketball and theater in High School Musical 3."

"No," EJ replied. He let out a sigh. "I want to go to Duke."

Violetta raised her eyebrows. "Duke?"

"Yeah. My family's been going to that college for generations. It's basically a given that I'd go there."

"Don't take this the wrong way, but are you sure that's what you want?"

EJ gave her a confused look. "What do you mean?"

"Just because your family has a history there doesn't mean you have to go," Violetta explained gently, not really knowing how EJ would react. "Yeah, it would be cool to continue the legacy, but you should do something that you want to do."

"Duke is what I want," EJ insisted. "It'll make my father proud."

Violetta gave him a look. "Don't go all Troy Bolton right now, EJ."

"I'm not," EJ protested. "I'm serious. Duke is my future plan, I swear. And it's not just because of my family."

However, Violetta had a hard time believing that. She knew everything about trying to make parents proud — after all, she had tried that for years just to get her parents' attention back on her. Violetta didn't want EJ to go the same path she did, doing everything to get the approval of his parents.

"Violetta," EJ stated, noticing her conflicted expression. "It's all right. I promise."

She nodded slightly. "Yeah, all right." She decided to move on. "I guess you've got to start applying to colleges soon, huh?"

Saying that kind of pained her. Sure, her and EJ may have gotten off on the wrong foot, but they had developed a sort of bond the last couple of weeks. He had become another part of her and snuck his way into her heart whether she liked it or not. Violetta was so blind sighted by how carefree she was with EJ that she totally forgot he was a senior and that he would be leaving. The theater department without EJ made her feel all weird inside. Sure, she would still have everyone else, but it definitely wouldn't be the same without him. Violetta was also left to wonder if the two of them would stay in touch when EJ went to college — she certainly hoped so, although she wouldn't admit that to him out loud. Not to mention that Duke was all the way across the country.

"Yeah," EJ answered. "Kind of scary."

"Are you going to apply anywhere besides Duke?" Violetta questioned, truly curious.

EJ shrugged. "Maybe some places in California. Not sure yet." He sighed. "I wish it would all just stop."

"Did you really just quote Gabriella Montez right now?"

"Unintentionally." EJ slightly smiled at the way Violetta laughed. "Well, I've told you about my future. So, what are your plans that could potentially be ruined by the mysterious ways of the universe?"

Interesting question. Violetta had never really thought about it that much — she sort of just liked to live in the moment, but deep down inside, she just felt stuck. Thinking about going some place far away, and especially maybe going somewhere different than Athena, made her feel sick. Plus, she had absolutely no idea what she wanted to do at all. All she knew was that she liked to dance, but her parents' words about dance not getting her very far were engrained in her mind.

Violetta went to open her mouth to say something, but she stopped herself before she could blurt out her true feelings. Sure, she felt comfortable with EJ, but she had never really shared her fear with anyone other than Athena. Violetta quickly distracted herself by taking her hair out of the messy bun she had put it in and retie it, even though it definitely didn't need to be retied.

"What?" EJ inquired.

She glanced over at him, pulling out two strands from her bun to frame her face. "Hm?"

"You were about to say something."

"Oh." She shook her head. "It isn't important."

"Everything you say is important, V," EJ gently argued.

Violetta offered him a small smile. "I was just going to say . . . I don't know, I just have a sort of paralyzing fear that I'll maybe go nowhere."

EJ's eyes turned sad. "V—"

"I know, I know. You're gonna tell me that's not true and that I shouldn't feel like that, but I do, and I don't know how to fix it."

He paused for a moment. "For whatever it's worth, I truly think you're going to make it big. Sure, you can come off as a little harsh—"

She scoffed. "Okay."

"—but you've got all the right qualities." EJ stared at her intently, making Violetta's heart beat against her chest. "I'm serious. I don't know how to make you not feel that way, but please just know that anyone — not just me — are just waiting for when you finally succeed, which you will."

Violetta didn't say anything else. She just continued to look at EJ, his face still illuminated by the moonlight and the red neon sign. God, could this boy stop making her like him even more? It was honestly getting infuriating. EJ didn't say anything else either as well and continued to look at her. His eyes were trailing across her face, making her stomach twist in butterflies and nervousness. For some reason, they couldn't stop staring at each other. Both of them were encaptured in each other's beauty and how they felt about one another, though nothing was explicitly said.

Suddenly, the red neon sign to the ice cream place shut off, snapping the two of them out of their trance. Violetta's head turned to see that the workers inside were getting ready to leave. She looked down at her phone for a moment. The time read eleven-thirty. Had they really been talking for half an hour? It only felt like five minutes.

EJ cleared his throat and straightened up in the driver's seat. "Want me to take you home?"

"No, EJ, leave me here," Violetta replied sarcastically, trying her best to move past their little moment. "If you don't mind."

And with that, EJ began to drive away from the ice cream place towards Violetta's house. The two of them didn't talk — their minds were racing with thoughts of each other, all while New by Daya played softly in the background.

∘ ₊ ✧ ──── ✧ ₊ ∘

vi and ej thinking each other are beautiful >>>>> anything else