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𝗣𝗘𝗥𝗙𝗘𝗖𝗧 𝗛𝗔𝗥𝗠𝗢𝗡𝗬

chapter twelve:
it's always been her !

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WHEN ATHENA BLAKE imagined going to Homecoming with Ricky Bowen, she definitely didn't think the night would end with Gina Porter dumping punch on EJ Caswell. Athena, Ricky, Violetta, and Big Red stood there in shock. No words were shared. In fact, none of them knew what to say. It had all just happened so fast.

Athena slowly dropped her hand from her mouth and looked to her date. "Hey, Ricky, I think now would be a good time to apologize to Gina."

Ricky shook his head. "Athena, no. This dance was supposed to be—"

"I know, but it's okay." She took his hand in hers once she noticed his hesitation. "Ricky, I'm serious. I'll catch a ride home with Artemis or something. It'll be fine. Now go."

He squeezed her hand gently before letting go. Athena watched him leave for a moment before looking back to EJ. He was still by the refreshment table, wiping some excess punch off of his suit.

Athena took a deep breath. "I can't believe I'm about to do this."

"Do what?" Violetta asked.

"Don't worry about it. I'll be right back."

Athena walked up to EJ, who was scouting the table for some napkins. She tapped his shoulder, and EJ turned to her. He immediately got a confused expression on his face. Athena held out her hand to him. EJ glanced from her hand back to her face for a moment. She held her hand out further as more of an invitation for him to take it. Ultimately, with a sigh, EJ took her hand. Athena began to lead him out of the gym. She passed Violetta and Big Red on the way, sending them a quick smile before she left the gym entirely.

She led him to the bathroom closest to the gym and pushed the door open. Once they were inside, she let go of his hand.

Athena pointed to the sink. "Sit."

EJ obliged. While he sat there, Athena began to run some water over paper towels. She then began to use those to try and get the punch off of his suit and parts of his skin so it wouldn't be as sticky as before.

It was a couple minutes of silence before EJ was the first to speak up. "What will your boyfriend say if he sees me in the bathroom with you?"

"Ricky's not my boyfriend," Athena replied.

"It sure doesn't seem that way."

Athena's cheeks heated up. "It's . . . complicated. Anyways, Ricky can't say anything. One, I told him to go talk to Gina. And two, even if he did have anything to say about it, it wouldn't matter. I can talk to whoever I want, even if it's somebody who screwed over one of my friends."

She looked up and met his gaze with a stern expression. EJ exhaled and looked away from her in guilt.

"That's exactly why you shouldn't be helping me right now," EJ responded. "I deserve it. After everything I've done."

"Maybe, but I decided to help you because I'm a very nice person," Athena continued. That earned a small laugh out of EJ, making a small smile appear on Athena's face as she cleaned some punch out of his hair. "But seriously, nobody deserves to get punch thrown on them. Not even you."

"You seriously don't have to be nice to me."

"It's just in my nature, I guess." Athena then picked up the used paper towels and threw them in the trash. "You're all done, EJ. I got as much punch as I could off of you."

"Thank you, Athena," EJ said as he got off the sink. "I mean it."

She smiled. "You're welcome. Come on, let's get back."

Athena and EJ exited the bathroom. And Athena, for what felt like the millionth time that night, entered the gym. She instantly gravitated towards Violetta at the table and sat down.

"Ricky's giving Gina a ride home," Violetta informed her.

Athena nodded. "Good. I'll talk to him later. Also, I think EJ and I are . . . friends now? I don't know."

"Cleaning punch off of his suit made you two friends?" Violetta asked.

"Yeah, I'm just as lost as you, Vi." Athena sighed and placed her chin in the palm of her hand. "This is not how I expected this night to go."

"I know." Violetta put an arm around her shoulder and rested her head on Athena's. "At least we still have time to enjoy together."

Born to Be Brave then came on the sound system. Couples separated from slow dancing together and began to dance to the more upbeat music. Athena spotted Carlos by himself on the edge of the dance floor.

"What's Carlos doing?" Athena questioned to Ashlyn.

"Seb didn't come," Ashlyn answered.

Athena frowned. "That's very unlike Seb, but poor Carlos."

Just as the chorus started, Carlos walked to the middle of the dance floor and started dancing by himself. Athena watched him with an impressed look. She didn't know if she would be able to do that.

"I actually kinda feel bad for the guy," EJ admitted.

At that, Ashlyn immediately got up from her chair and began to dance with Carlos. Athena smiled at the two.

Violetta lifted her head up and looked to Athena. "You know you want to."

Athena laughed and got up from her chair. Violetta tapped Big Red's shoulder to tell him to come as well. While Big Red and Violetta joined Ashlyn and Carlos, Athena stopped by EJ's chair, who was the only one left at the table.

"Come on, EJ," she encouraged. "Dance with us."

EJ shook his head. "I'm really not in the mood right now, Athena."

Athena rolled her eyes and grabbed his arm, pulling him up from his chair. "You shouldn't be sulking at a table on Homecoming night." She dragged him out to the dance floor where their group of friends was. "Just let loose and have fun."

With everyone else on the dance floor, Athena began to dance. Her and Violetta jumped up and down next to Big Red and EJ, who laughed at them yet joined them anyways. These were the moments Athena lived for — when she could just forget about all of her troubles.

"Let my hair down and let it go," Athena sang, jumping around Carlos who was still in the middle of the dance floor. She grabbed Violetta's hand and twirled the two of them around, the two best friends falling into a fit of giggles. "No more running, I run this show. From way up here, yeah, the view is gold." Suddenly Carlos was lifted up onto his back and started crowdsurfing.'"Cause I was born to be brave, now I'm standing miles high, like castles in the sky."

Finally, the song ended. The crowd cheered as another slow song came on. Violetta dragged Athena back to the table with EJ and Big Red trailing behind them. However, when Athena unlocked her phone, she saw that the time was eleven-thirty.

"Oh, my parents said I had to be home by midnight," Athena announced.

"I can call my mom," Violetta stated.

EJ cleared his throat. "I'll drive you two home."

"Are you sure?" Violetta questioned.

"Yeah. I was done here, anyways."

Athena grinned. "Awesome, thanks EJ. See you tomorrow, Big Red."

Big Red waved in response. Athena and Violetta followed after EJ, both completely ready to go home after a long night that ended on a high note.

--- ☆ • ♫ • ♪ • ♫ • ☆ ---

EJ PULLED UP to Athena's house first, discovering Violetta lived closer to him. He put the car in park and turned to face her in the back seat (since Violetta called shotgun.) She unbuckled her seatbelt and put her purse strap over her shoulder.

"Thank you for driving me home," Athena told him.

"Of course." EJ then looked at something out the window and he smirked. "I think lover boy's waiting for you."

Athena turned. Sure enough, Ricky was sitting on the front steps of her house, still in his suit from the dance. She turned back to EJ and glared at the smirks on his and Violetta's faces.

"God, you and Violetta are so similar," Athena muttered. "Thanks again. I'll see you in school. And Vi, I'll text you later."

She got out of the car and waved to both him and Violetta. EJ's car pulled away, and Athena turned back to Ricky, taking a deep breath. He stood up and put his hands in the pockets of his jacket as she walked up the pathway.

"I'm sorry I left you," Ricky apologized. "Gina asked me to drive her home."

"No worries," Athena responded. "Violetta told me. And, as you can tell, we got a ride home from EJ."

"I thought you said you would get a ride home from Artemis."

"Yeah, but EJ offered, so . . ." Athena then noticed a conflicted expression on his face. "Is everything okay, Ricky?"

Ricky let out a breathy laugh and looked back up. "This would be a lot easier if you heard that voicemail I meant to send to you, but I guess I have to start from the beginning."

"I — um, I actually heard the voicemail," Athena revealed quietly. "I'm sorry I didn't tell you, but I didn't know how to bring it up. Every time I saw you, you were just in a bad headspace and I didn't want to add to that."

"So, that day in the auditorium . . . you felt that moment too?"

Athena nodded slowly. "Yeah. I did."

Ricky took a step closer to her. "And you know I asked you to Homecoming as more than friends, right?"

She couldn't help taking a step forwards as well, almost as if her and Ricky were two opposite ends of a magnet. "I do."

"Then you probably know it's always been you, right?"

Athena was silent on that one. She did in fact not know that it had always been her. What about Nini? She knew Ricky really liked her.

Ricky took the final step closer to her, and he reached up, placing a hand on her cheek, making Athena's breath hitch. "Attie . . . please let me kiss you."

Athena nodded. "Kiss me."

He didn't need to be told twice. Ricky dipped his head down and pressed his lips onto Athena's. The kiss was soft, gentle, and sweet, just like they always thought it would be. Almost instantly, it seemed like the world around them had stopped spinning and all there was was the two of them, just like that day in the auditorium. Athena reached up and clasped her hands together at the back of his neck so that she would be as close to him as possible. Their bodies fit together perfectly, almost as if this was meant to happen.

Athena went to pull away because she was sure she would melt if they continued, but Ricky gently moved the hand on her cheek to lift her chin up so she wouldn't. She didn't complain as she continued to kiss him. It was almost as if Athena couldn't get enough. All of the confusion about Ricky she had gone through recently flew out the window as soon as their lips met. Everything just felt so right.

The two finally pulled away. Ricky's hand remained on her chin and Athena's arms were still wrapped around his neck. They both stared at each other with so much adoration in their eyes. Their hearts were filled with wonder of what was to come. And their minds knew that this was exactly where they were meant to be.

"Wow," Ricky finally whispered after a moment.

"Yeah," Athena agreed quietly. "Wow."

Their moment was interrupted by Athena's porch light flickering. Both of their hands dropped back to their sides as they glanced over to see Artemis watching them through the door, who had apparently left the dance earlier than Athena. Athena got her phone and unlocked it to see it was midnight, the time she had to be home. She sighed and put her phone back in her purse.

"I have to get inside," Athena voiced. "I'll talk to you tomorrow. Goodnight, Ricky."

Athena went to walk away, but Ricky grabbed her hand and spun her around. He placed his hands on her waist and pressed another kiss to her lips. Athena's hands rested on his arms as she happily obliged. Neither of them wanted to pull away again, but they both knew they wouldn't stop for the rest of the night if they continued. So, Ricky was the first one to part, staring into Athena's eyes which slowly fluttered open.

He smiled at her. "Goodnight, Athena."

She turned and walked up to her house. Athena opened the door and glanced back to see Ricky staring at her with his hands in his pockets. She gave him a small smile before shutting the door. As soon as it was closed, Athena turned around and leaned her back against it. Artemis was standing there, a knowing look on her face and a glass of water in her hand.

"I told you so," Artemis said, sipping her water out of a straw before turning and walking up the stairs.

Athena didn't even bother saying anything. Because, after all, Artemis was right.

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SURPRISE SHAWTAYYYY

well DAMN it's about fucking time 🕺🏼🕺🏼🕺🏼 rathena is rising !!!!