how you get the girl

chapter eight
( takes place in 1x06 'what team' )

"oh my god. you're falling for him!"
"i am not."

- GREY'S ANATOMY

A weekend had passed since the events of homecoming and Izzy was doing her best to keep herself from thinking about it. It didn't make it any easier that there were rehearsals for the musical the first Monday back, which would mean facing EJ for the first time, but Izzy tried to push those thoughts to the back of her mind as her and Seb put the finishing touches on their makeup. The cast was shooting photos for the musical's programme that day and even though Izzy's character Kelsi wasn't featured on the cover, her solo picture would be featured within the programme with the other actors.

"So, I didn't get to see you at homecoming," Seb said, keeping his tone casual, and Izzy glanced at him. This was not helping her keep her mind off of the situation.

"Yeah, I'm sorry, I was really excited to see you but I ended up leaving early." Izzy responded, trying to match his casual tone.

"I heard. Is everything okay?" Seb asked gently and Izzy hesitated.

"What did you hear?" She asked. She was curious to know what the situation had looked like from an outside perspective and if she had come across as completely unhinged or just relatively.

"I just heard that you went to homecoming with Ricky but then there was some big blow up fight between you and EJ and then Gina poured punch on EJ's head," Seb explained and Izzy let out a shocked laugh.

"Well, I definitely didn't hear about that last part, but good for her. There was just a misunderstanding between me and EJ, but everything is fine now," Izzy said and Seb nodded slowly.

"And you and Ricky?" Seb asked and Izzy smiled.

"Stronger than ever." This was true, homecoming had solidified their partnership into a real friendship and although the night had brought sadness and humiliation in other departments, she'd always be grateful for what it had brought her with Ricky.

Having finished their makeup, Izzy and Seb made their way over to the auditorium together. Seb was up first for pictures and while he posed for the camera, Izzy stood in the wings and watched.

"Hey," A voice from behind her said and Izzy turned to find Gina.

"Hi," Izzy said a bit hesitantly. She didn't think she and Gina had ever interacted and she didn't know much about the girl except for the fact that she was new to East High this year. And that she had gone to homecoming with EJ.

"I just wanted to apologize for what happened the other night at homecoming. I didn't know that EJ was already planning to go with you, or else I never would have asked him." Gina explained and Izzy blinked at her in surprise. She hadn't been expecting that.

"We were just going to go as friends," Izzy said, but Gina shook her head.

"It doesn't matter, I still wouldn't have gone with him if I'd known. It's important to me that you know that," Gina said, holding her gaze, and Izzy nodded.

"Thank you for telling me. I heard you poured punch on EJ's head," Izzy added and a slow smile spread across Gina's face as she nodded.

"You did a pretty good job of yelling at him but I wanted to get in on the fun too," Gina said with a shrug and Izzy laughed. She realized with a start that this was the second time that the other girl in the situation had done a better job of apologizing for EJ's actions than EJ himself.

"I appreciate your apology, but it wasn't necessary. You shouldn't have to apologize for his actions. Besides, we weren't really friends before, so you didn't owe anything," Izzy said and she knew instantly that she had said the wrong thing when Gina's face fell.

"But just because we weren't friends before doesn't mean that we aren't definitely friends now," Izzy added quickly and Gina's smile returned hesitantly. Before the conversation could continue, Gina was called to the stage for her photos, leaving Izzy alone in the wings again. She wasn't alone for long though and turned when she heard footsteps behind her, expecting Ricky, but she was surprised to find EJ instead.

"Hi," EJ said, stopping a few feet away from her.

"Hi," Izzy responded, her tone flat.

"I wanted to apologize for what happened at homecoming. I really never meant to hurt you," EJ said and Izzy stared at him silently for a moment. This was the second time he had used that meaningless excuse, but instead of her heart filling with the anger it had before, it simply felt empty.

"I accept your apology, thank you," Izzy said finally, her tone calm, and EJ seemed surprised.

"Can I ask you something?" EJ asked after a moment and Izzy sighed. She had thought that after she'd accepted his apology, he'd leave her alone.

"Sure, go ahead," Izzy said, her tone slightly tired. Her patience with EJ was wearing thin.

"What's going on with you and Ricky? I mean, I thought you guys had broken up," EJ said and Izzy narrowed her eyes at him. He couldn't seriously possess that much audacity.

"Why would you think that?" Izzy snapped, but EJ didn't seem to notice the change in her tone.

"Well, just because when you were talking about going to homecoming with me last week you said it was because things were complicated between you guys," EJ said and Izzy glared at him sharply. Homecoming was still a sore subject coming from him.

"It was complicated, but now it's better. We communicated because that's what you do in a healthy relationship," Izzy said and EJ nodded, still seemingly oblivious to her anger.

"I was just wondering based off of your reaction during homecoming last week. It just didn't seem that way," EJ said with a shrug.

"Oh really? And what did it seem like?" Izzy asked and EJ seemed to finally notice her change in mood.

"I...I don't know. Maybe like there were some...some unresolved feelings?" EJ said, his tone weak, and Izzy glared at him. He could not be seriously asking her that.

"EJ, I wasn't upset because I was still in love with you, I was upset because I thought we still had some semblance of respect for each other, but you chose to lie straight to my face," Izzy said sharply and EJ shrunk away slightly.

"I'm sorry, I misread the situation then," EJ said and Izzy deflated slightly as she sighed, some of her anger leaving her body and the tiredness returning.

"It's fine," Izzy said before turning away from him and facing the stage again. Her eyes fell on Ricky and Nini, who were standing together and laughing.

"They seem to be friends again," EJ said and Izzy didn't have to turn around to know that he was staring at them too.

"That's because Ricky is mature and can handle being friends with his ex without lying straight to her face when she tries to offer friendship," Izzy said before walking away from EJ, leaving him staring at Ricky and Nini.

.⋅ ✯ ⋅.

Izzy was sitting alone in the auditorium at the piano bench. It had been 20 minutes since the end of their disastrous attempted rehearsal without Miss Jenn and when everyone had scattered, Izzy had found herself drawn to the empty auditorium.

She hadn't expected the possibility of the show ending prematurely to hit her so hard, seeing as she had only auditioned in the first place with ulterior motives, but she had grown to love the show and the people in it. It hurt to know that it could all be ending so soon.

"Are you going to play something?" A voice from behind her made Izzy spin around in her seat. She hadn't noticed Ricky sneaking up on her.

"Yeah, actually. I was planning to practice the piano part of 'What I've Been Looking For'. Seb's been teaching me it, but he said I need to practice on my own too," Izzy said as Ricky walked over to her.

"That's very dedicated of you, especially considering the fact that the show might be canceled tomorrow," Ricky said as he came to a stop beside the bench.

"I've decided to have faith." Izzy said with a shrug and Ricky raised his eyebrows in surprise.

"You don't really come across as the hopeful type, aside from your love of romcoms," Ricky said, leaning against the piano.

"I said faith, not hope. There's a difference," Izzy said, and Ricky gestured for her to explain further. "I don't know, I guess I've always viewed hope as just wishing on something blindly, but faith is different to me. I'm choosing to trust and to...to believe. To believe in Miss Jenn and the show and...and us," Izzy finished, her voice faltering near the end, and Ricky raised his eyebrows again.

"Us?" He questioned and Izzy hoped he didn't notice the slight blush that had appeared on her cheeks.

"Yeah, all of us in the show. A collective us," She said quickly and Ricky nodded slowly.

"Right. Well, can I hear what you have so far?" Ricky asked, gesturing down to the piano.

"I don't know, I still need to practice," Izzy said hesitantly.

"Come on, I'll help you if you need it. You'll be great," Ricky said, sitting down beside her on the bench. After a moment's hesitation, Izzy set her fingers on the keys and began to play.

"It's hard to believe that I couldn't see that you were always right beside me," Ricky sang and Izzy took a deep breath before joining in.

"Thought I was alone with no one to hold, but you were always right beside me," Izzy sang, catching Ricky's eye and smiling slightly.

"This feelings like no other, I want you to know that I've never had someone that knows me like you do the way you do," Ricky sang, his voice carrying out over the empty auditorium.

"And I've never had someone as good for me as you, no one like you," Izzy sang, her voice growing stronger to match his.

"So lonely before I finally found...what I've been looking for," They finished together and Izzy looked up from the keys to find Ricky staring at her intently.

The silence of the auditorium felt like it was pressing in on the pair of them and Izzy felt her heart stutter in her chest slightly as their eye contact didn't break. She couldn't be sure if it was reality or if it was her slowed heart playing tricks on her, but Ricky seemed to be leaning closer. She felt the air completely leave her lungs as she felt his hand reach down for hers and her nose bump against his slightly.

"Sorry to interrupt," A voice said from the door and the two leaped apart, as if their skin had suddenly caught on fire. Izzy's eyes flew open, although she didn't remember closing them, and Ricky nearly toppled off the end of the piano bench in his haste to move away from her. They both turned to find Cara standing in the wings, staring at them with a curious expression on her face.

"Izzy could I talk to you for a second please?" Cara asked and Izzy nodded quickly.

"Yeah, of course," Izzy said, leaping off the piano bench and grabbing her bag from the floor. She hastily waved goodbye to Ricky before meeting Cara at the auditorium door. Her friend turned and began to walk down the hallway and Izzy followed her into an empty classroom.

"So, what did you want to talk about?" Izzy asked once the door had shut behind them.

"I want to know what's going on with you and Ricky," Cara said, turning to her.

"You want to know what's going on with me and my boyfriend?" Izzy asked, and although her tone was confused, her heart rate had started to pick up.

"Yes. There's something going on and I've been suspecting it for a while but I've just been telling myself that I'm crazy, but after what happened at homecoming last week I'm sure that something is definitely up," Cara said and Izzy fought to keep her expression confused.

"I don't know what you mean," Izzy said and Cara frowned.

"Cut the bullshit, Iz. I've known you my whole life and I know when something is up, I just can't put my finger on what it is," Cara said with a frustrated sigh.

"Try and explain it to me then," Izzy said, leaning back on one of the desks and Cara was silent for a moment.

"Okay, well, first of all, EJ breaks up with you at the beginning of the year and you're scarily calm about it and say that you have a plan, and then suddenly you're joining the musical and you're dating Ricky Bowen. The timing of that is strange. And then everything is normal for a few weeks and I've convinced myself I'm crazy, but then EJ and Nini break up and suddenly things are murky with you and Ricky and I can't tell if you guys are still together," Cara began, and Izzy opened her mouth to interrupt, but Cara held up her hand to stop her. She wanted to get all of her thoughts out.

"And then homecoming comes along and you tell me you're going with Ricky and then you ditch me when it's time to get ready together and you appear at homecoming with Ricky but then for some reason you're yelling at EJ and leaving five minutes later in tears. And then when I go to follow you and comfort you, I'm stopped by Ricky who tells me that you're not in the right space to talk to me. Me, your best friend for twelve years. So, please tell me what the hell is going on because I'm confused and I'm hurt and I'm concerned."

There was silence following Cara's rant as the two girls stared at each other, Izzy trying to determine how to go from here. Her and Ricky had made a deal; they weren't going to tell anybody, even after they ended things. But Izzy should've known she would have to break the deal eventually. She had never been able to keep anything from Cara.

"You're going to think I'm crazy," Izzy said quietly and Cara sighed.

"Anything is better than thinking that you hate me," Cara said and Izzy felt her heart break slightly.

"Of course I don't hate you, you're my best friend. And you're right, there has been something going on that I haven't told you about," Izzy said and Cara watched her expectantly as she hesitated. "Me and Ricky aren't technically dating." Izzy said and she watched as it only took a couple seconds for understanding to dawn on Cara's face. She really did understand her better than anybody.

"Oh my god. You guys are pulling a Lara Jean and Peter. Oh my god. Are you serious? Why?" Cara asked as she began to pace in front of Izzy.

"We wanted to make Nini and EJ jealous and thought that they'd want to get back together with us," Izzy said, cringing as she said it. It hadn't seemed so insane when she'd told Ricky a couple months ago.

"Oh, Iz, you can't be serious. You of all people couldn't think that fake dating was actually going to end up in your ex's favor." Cara said, pausing in her pacing to stare at Izzy.

"What do you mean?" Izzy asked, and this time she didn't have to fake her confusion.

"Come on, Iz. You have watched every single movie in the rom com genre at least three times and you're really going to act like you don't know how fake dating always ends up? You guys are going to fall for each other," Cara said and Izzy rolled her eyes.

"Come on, Cara, that is not going to happen. I know that people only fake date in movies, but this is not a movie. Me and Ricky are just friends and he is still in love with Nini and I'm...I want EJ," Izzy said and Cara let out a shocked laugh.

"Oh my god, you can't even say you love EJ anymore. And who cares if this isn't a movie? You guys are already falling for each other, look at what I just walked in on!" Cara said and Izzy's cheeks turned pink against her will.

"We were practicing a song for the musical!" Izzy said, her voice rising slightly.

"Oh please, if I hadn't walked in you guys would have done an improv make out session between Kelsi and Troy," Cara said and Izzy's cheeks flushed brighter.

"That was just...it didn't mean anything! We're just friends, I swear! Nothing is going to happen between us," Izzy said, crossing her arms against her chest.

"Okay, if you're so adamant about that then why the hell are you guys still 'dating'?" Cara asked, using air quotes.

"What?"

"I mean, you guys succeeded, didn't you? EJ and Nini broke up. It's been weeks. Why are you and Ricky still together?" Cara asked and Izzy hesitated. As much as she hated to admit it, Cara had a fair point.

"We're playing things by ear. Just because EJ and Nini are broken up doesn't mean that they're ready to get back together with us. Besides, it would be suspicious if we broke up right after they did," Izzy said and Cara stared at her in silence for a minute.

"Okay," She finally said simply and Izzy stared at her in surprise. She hadn't expected her friend to give up that easily.

"Okay?"

"Yes, okay. I'll let you stay in this fantasy world for now where you and Ricky continue to act like a couple and manage to not fall in love with each other, but if you ever find yourself confused or you feel ready to talk about your feelings, I'm here," Cara said and Izzy simply blinked at her.

"Okay..." Izzy said and Cara smiled.

"Okay. I'm glad that you told me. Even though you're being stubborn," Cara said and Izzy rolled eyes goodnaturedly.

"I'm glad I told you too," Izzy said, reaching forward to wrap her best friend up in a hug.

.⋅ ✯ ⋅.

Izzy had decided to skip the impromptu meeting in Ricky's basement with the rest of the cast and crew and had decided to spend the day with Cara instead, to make up for their strained friendship the past few weeks, but Seb had caught her up on what had happened during the meeting.

Apparently everyone had begun to lose hope in the musical and in Miss Jenn when Ricky had spoken up and encouraged them to keep going. Seb had told her that he had mentioned something about the importance of faith in his motivational speech, and Izzy had to smother her smile at the mention of that.

She hadn't missed the theatre kids' flash mob at the school board meeting and had danced along with her friends, and at the end when the principal had announced that Miss Jenn's job was safe, Izzy had found herself in Ricky's arms as they all celebrated.

"I'm so proud of you," Izzy said through a breathless laugh as he pulled her into a tight hug, lifting her off her feet slightly.

"It's all thanks to you, really. You were right, all we needed was a little bit of faith," Ricky said as he set her down on the floor again.

"That can be hard to find sometimes," Izzy said, shifting slightly under Ricky's gaze, which was trained on her despite the celebration around them.

"All I really needed was to have faith in you, everything else fell into place after that. And you make it so easy to believe in you," Ricky said before leaning forward and pressing a kiss to her cheek. Izzy felt her heart stutter in her chest as he pulled back to stare at her again, but she was saved from a response by Gina reaching for her arm.

"We did it!" Gina squealed, pulling Izzy away from Ricky and into a tight hug.

"I know!" Izzy said, hugging her back just as hard. The girls pulled apart, laughing slightly, and Izzy turned to hug Seb next, but paused when she caught sight of Ricky again.

He was standing with Nini and the pair of them were speaking animatedly and Izzy felt her heart drop slightly at the sight of Ricky's smile. He looked so happy.

Izzy turned away from the pair of them quickly, trying to get rid of the achy feeling in her chest, and found two pairs of eyes on her. The first was EJ, who was watching her with a curious look on his face, and Izzy managed a small smile at him, which he returned with one of his own.

The second pair of eyes were Cara's. She had come to the board meeting to support Izzy and the rest of the theatre kids, and she was staring at her friend now with a knowing smile on her face, and Izzy felt the achy feeling in her chest be replaced with a stubborn one.

Cara was wrong. This was nothing like a movie.

.⋅ ✯ ⋅.

author's note!

and if i say that ricky started writing just for a moment after the events of this chapter, then what...

another chapter completed! this one was a bit on the shorter side, but i hope you guys enjoyed it regardless and i hope you liked how i've tried to integrate the actual musical into the 온라인카지노게임 more because the finale is coming up.

the quote at the top isn't technically from a romcom, but greys anatomy has so many iconic romance lines that it was bound to be referenced at least once in this book and i'm so excited that this quote fit so perfectly with the chapter! finally there is someone telling izzy what she needs to hear, but ofc my girl is stubborn and delusional and afraid of her feelings so she refuses to see it!

i don't want to make any promises of when the next update will be because as you can tell i do tend to update rather sporadically, but i hope it will be soon because i have some momentum and i really want to finish up the season!

thank you all so much for reading and for continuing to support this 온라인카지노게임, i really hope you enjoyed the chapter, and i'll see you all in the next one!

- maya 🤍