how you get the girl

chapter five
( takes place in 1x03 'wonderstudies' )

"i think you deserve more than
what you settle for."

- 27 DRESSES

When they had first started up their fake-dating ruse, Izzy hadn't expected to get along with Ricky as well as she did. They had started off as strangers, but their partnership had blossomed into a great friendship. Ricky was similar to Izzy in the sense that he wasn't extremely close with many people, except for Big Red, similar to how Izzy was only really close with Cara. And yet, despite that fact, they found themselves becoming closer, and spending time alone away from the facade that they put on in public.

They had begun a movie night tradition and it was Izzy's chance to pick the movie, so they were sitting on her couch watching 13 Going on 30, one of Izzy's comfort movies. She had been excited to share one of her favorite movies with Ricky, expecting him to be as attentive as he had been all of their other movie nights, but he wasn't concentrating on the movie and had been on his phone the whole night. He looked up with a start when she prodded his rib with her foot lightly.

"You're not watching," Izzy reminded him and Ricky gave his head a little shake, as if to clear his thoughts.

"Crap, sorry Iz," Ricky said, sitting up straighter and setting his phone to the side. They sat in silence after that but Izzy noticed him glance at his phone. She sighed and reached for the remote, hitting pause on the movie, and he turned to her in surprise.

"What's wrong?" Izzy asked and Ricky opened his mouth to protest that nothing was wrong, but Izzy fixed him with a look that made him shut his mouth. They had grown close enough that she knew when he was lying.

"Uh, earlier I kind of walked in on Nini and Ashlyn singing this great song and they were like really into it. And then when they were finished me and Nini had this, sort of, moment thing. I don't know, but it just felt...it felt like feelings were still there," Ricky said, staring at the frozen frame of Jennifer Garner and Mark Ruffalo.

"Okay, well that's a good thing. So then why are you checking your phone every five seconds and acting so panicked?" Izzy asked and Ricky sighed again, turning his gaze to his shoes.

"I, uh, I kind of left her this voicemail afterward, telling her that I felt that moment and that it was intense and stuff," Ricky mumbled, picking at the blanket Izzy had thrown over them. Izzy stared at him in shock, her mouth dropping open slightly, before she reached behind her for a pillow and smacked Ricky's shoulder with it.

"Ricky! Why would you do that, you can't reveal all your cards at once! Guys who have girlfriends don't leave voicemails like that for their exes!" Izzy said, smacking him again, and Ricky threw his head back, rubbing his hands along his face.

"I know, it was dumb, I'm sorry," Ricky said and Izzy frowned. She had noticed that this was a trend with Ricky and that he often made self-deprecating comments about himself, particularly about his intelligence, and Izzy hated it.

"It wasn't dumb, you just let your emotions get the better of you. And this could be good. She's probably thinking about the moment too and knowing that you're thinking about it could plant some seeds of doubt in her head," Izzy reasoned and although she had only said it to make Ricky feel better, she found that it was a realistic view on the situation and Nini could be doing exactly that.

"I guess," Ricky said, but Izzy could tell that he didn't believe her.

"Okay, let's talk about something else to distract you. I have a question for you," Izzy said, making Ricky look up to give her his full attention. "Why is it that we've known each other since we were in kindergarten but we've only just become friends? I mean, it's clear that we get along, so how come we never became friends?"

"I don't know, I guess we're both the types to just keep to ourselves," Ricky said with a shrug, and Izzy nodded.

"Yeah, I guess you're right. Or maybe you just never noticed me," Izzy said with a shrug and Ricky scoffed, making her look at him in surprise. "What?" She asked through a slight laugh and Ricky rolled his eyes.

"You can't be serious. I always noticed you, Iz," Ricky said, saying the last words softly, and his tone took her by surprise. They stared at each other in silence for a minute and Izzy was suddenly very aware of their hands touching along the back of the couch and the lazy circles that Ricky was drawing on her hand.

"What do you mean?" Izzy asked and the words came out more strangled than she had intended, but it was difficult to speak clearly when he was drawing those circles.

"It's a little embarrassing," Ricky said, looking away with a slight blush tinting his cheeks, and for some reason that just made Izzy's heart rate speed up.

"Tell me," Izzy pleaded and Ricky sighed as he met her eyes again.

"It's dumb, but when we were in kindergarten and we were in the same class, I had like a little crush on you. You were kind of my first crush," Ricky admitted and Izzy felt her cheeks heat up slightly as they locked eyes again. The air seemed to leave her lungs temporarily.

"That's not embarrassing, it's sweet," Izzy said and they continued to stare at each other in silence. Ricky opened his mouth to say something, but the doorbell sounding cut him off. The sound seemed to bring Izzy back to life and she snatched her hand away from his as she jumped up.

"Um, I should go get that," Izzy said, rubbing her hand slightly against her shirt to get rid of the tingles running up her fingers.

She let out a breath she hadn't realized she'd been holding once she got out of the room and rolled her shoulders back before stepping forward and opening the door. EJ was the last person she expected to see standing on the other side of the door and her eyes widened in surprise when she saw him.

"EJ. What are you doing here?" Izzy asked, taking in his frown and the way he was pulling at his fingers.

"I'm sorry, I know I have no right, I'm just...I'm stressed," EJ said and Izzy frowned before taking a step out onto the porch, shutting the door slightly behind her and leaving it ajar.

"What's wrong? Is it issues with your dad?" Izzy asked and EJ shook his head quickly.

"No, for once that's the least of my problems. Everything has just been going wrong recently, from the musical casting to Nini-" EJ began and Izzy held up her hand, cutting him off.

"No offense EJ, but I'd really rather not hear about your relationship issues," Izzy said, trying to tamper her excitement at the possibility of EJ and Nini having relationship problems.

"I know, I'm sorry, I know this isn't fair to you, but I just...you were more than my girlfriend, Iz, you were my best friend. For two years. Nobody gets me the way that you get me. Not even Nini," EJ said and Izzy felt her heart flutter slightly at his words. He was telling her exactly what she wanted to hear, but she hadn't wanted to hear it while he still had a girlfriend.

"Are you still with her?" Izzy asked and EJ looked at her in surprise.

"What?"

"Are you still dating her, EJ?" Izzy asked and EJ sighed.

"Yeah, of course, but-"

"Then do me a favor and get the hell off my front porch. You don't get to come around here and have me nurse your wounds and boost your ego but then run back to your girlfriend. It's not fair to me. Or Nini. We both deserve better than that. So why don't you leave and go figure out what you really want," Izzy said and EJ's expression turned pained.

"Iz-"

"What's going on?" Ricky's voice came from the doorway and they both turned to see him standing there, watching them, and Izzy took a hasty step away from EJ, which both boys noticed.

"EJ, hey man, what are you doing here?" Ricky asked, stepping forward and wrapping his arms around Izzy, pulling her against him gently. EJ stared at his arms around her for a second before looking away quickly.

"Nothing, I was just leaving. I'll see you guys in rehearsal," EJ said and they watched him walk off the porch and get into his car. They waited until he drove away before walking back into her house.

"What did he want?" Ricky asked once Izzy had shut the door behind them, and she shook her head slightly.

"Nothing, he was just being EJ," Izzy said and Ricky fixed her with a look. He could tell when she was lying just as easily as she could tell with him.

"Come here," Ricky said and she moved forward to wrap her arms around him in a hug. He held her for a second and she leaned against his chest, letting out a quiet sigh. The buzz that had been between them a few minutes ago was gone and they were just two casual friends again.

"Come on, let's go finish the movie. I promise I'll pay attention this time," Ricky promised, throwing an arm around her shoulders, and she smiled gratefully up at him.

"Yeah, that sounds good," Izzy said, leaning against him as he led her back into the living room.

.⋅ ✯ ⋅.

Aside from Ricky, Izzy had also been getting closer to Seb since the musical had begun and they had also been spending some time outside of rehearsals. They weren't due to be in rehearsal for another hour after school had finished, as their characters weren't needed for the first half of rehearsal, so Izzy and Seb had decided to go get some homework done in the library together. Izzy was finishing up her last calculus problem when she felt Seb's eyes on her and she looked up to find him looking at her.

"Is everything okay?" Izzy asked and Seb flushed slightly as he looked away. She had noticed that the smallest things could make him blush and that he was easily embarrassed. He had told her he hated it, but she thought that it was cute in a funny way.

"Yeah, I just...can I ask you something?" Seb asked and Izzy nodded, setting her pencil down and turning to face him.

"Yeah, of course, what's up?" Izzy asked and Seb hesitated for a second.

"How did you know you liked Ricky?" Seb asked, and his question took her by surprise. Out of all the people she'd guessed would've asked about her and Ricky's relationship, Seb would've been her last pick. But something told her that Seb wasn't asking purely for gossip reasons.

"Is there someone that you think you might like in a romantic way?" Izzy asked gently and Seb flushed again, making her smile knowingly. She had seen Seb staring at Carlos, the musical's choreographer, when he thought no one was looking.

"I don't know, I just...I don't know. What do you like about Ricky that made you want to date him?" Seb asked and Izzy paused as she thought about it.

"I guess the most important thing to me is that I'm comfortable being myself around him. Of course, there are the nervous butterflies that come around anyone you like, but there's not this...pressure for me to try and be someone I'm not. That's not always the case when it comes to dating, unfortunately," Izzy said, and her words were true.

She had found that there were a lot of things that she could do more comfortably around Ricky in three weeks than she could do with EJ in three years. It had taken her nearly three months to introduce him to romcoms, let alone her favorite ones.

But, of course, that didn't mean anything. She found it easier with Ricky because they had become good friends so fast. Starting a friendship was different than starting a relationship, and she and Ricky weren't in a relationship. At least, not a real one.

"You two look really happy together," Seb said, pulling Izzy out of her thoughts. "I mean, I didn't really know you before so I can't really compare it to how you were before, but he seems to make you really happy. I hope I can be happy like that with someone someday," Seb said and his words made Izzy's heart melt.

"You will be, Seb, I promise. And if you ever want to talk about anyone you may or may not want to romantically pursue, I'm here," Izzy said, smiling softly at him, and he smiled back tentatively.

"Thank you, Izzy. I'm really glad we've become friends," Seb said and Izzy's smile grew.

"I'm really glad too," Izzy said, but a buzzing from her phone made her look away, and she saw her alarm going off, telling her that rehearsal was about to start soon.

"We should get going, rehearsal starts in five minutes," Izzy said, and Seb nodded as the pair stood and began to pack their things.

They left the library, chatting away quietly as they walked over to the rehearsal room, but Izzy stopped short of the door when she bumped into EJ, who was walking out of the bathroom. It took her a second to notice his bloody lip.

"Oh my god, EJ! Are you okay?" Izzy asked, reaching for him to get a better look, but he pulled his arm out of her grasp.

"Why would you care?" EJ spat, before turning and walking away, leaving her and Seb stunned. She frowned at her friend before turning in the direction EJ had gone down, ready to go after him, but she stopped when she saw Ricky walking out of the bathroom.

"What the hell happened? Did you guys get into a fight?" Izzy said, reaching for Ricky's hand to check for any bruised knuckles.

"No, I, uh...I accidentally threw a basketball at his face," Ricky said and Izzy's mouth dropped open in shock.

"What? Why?" Izzy asked, and Ricky shrugged.

"Just a scene in rehearsal got out of hand. It's no big deal," Ricky said, but Izzy didn't let go of his hand, still checking for damage. She could feel his eyes on her and looked up to find him staring down at her, his brown eyes soft. A gaze like that could make anyone melt, and Izzy felt her heart skip a beat.

"You look beautiful today," Ricky said, and his words threw her so much that it took her a second to remember that that was the way they had decided to ask each other for consent before kissing in front of other people.

"Thank you," Izzy responded, which was her way of saying that it was okay for him to kiss her. He bent down slightly and brushed his lips softly against hers. The kiss wasn't anything crazy, it was barely even a kiss at all, but she couldn't stop her heart from skipping a beat again. It was difficult to fake intimacy like that, but it seemed to come easily to Ricky.

"I'm gonna leave you two alone," Seb, who was still standing beside Izzy, said, and he sent her a knowing smile before disappearing into the room.

"What's wrong though, really? What was that all about?" Izzy asked, once Seb was gone, but Ricky just shook his head.

"Nothing, I just...you deserve better than EJ. You deserve the world, Iz." Ricky said, and he leaned down and pecked her cheek gently, before walking into the rehearsal room, leaving her standing in the hallway, her heart racing and her cheek slightly pink where he'd kissed her.

Yeah, Ricky Bowen was exceptionally good at faking intimacy. Especially when there was no audience around to watch.

.⋅ ✯ ⋅.

author's note!

i'm sorry the long pause between chapters! this episode just wasn't flowing as easily as the others were, which was why it was a bit shorter than the others and only one chapter.

hopefully i'll start updating again more consistently, however school is starting up again so updates might not be as frequent, but i'll try to update as much as i can.

thank you guys so much for 600+ reads on this book, you don't know how much that means to me! thank you all so much for reading, i hope you enjoyed the chapter, and i'll hopefully see you soon in the next one!

- maya 💗