-Rick develops feelings for Beth rather quickly once they become close/best friends. He chalks it up to Beth being his first and only close female friend (as he isn’t as close with Courtney and Yolanda yet since he spent most of his time with Beth) and figures those feelings will go away on their own.
-The feelings do not go away.
-Rick becomes a flustering mess when Beth is around, and especially when they are in very close proximity.
-Beth is oblivious to any changes in Rick’s behavior, but Courtney and Yolanda are not.
-They tease Rick mercilessly and are so genuinely surprised that Beth can’t see how far gone Rick is for her.
-For one of their classes, they get an assignment and their teacher assigns them partners and Beth is partnered with another guy and Rick grumbles about it to Courtney and Yolanda later.
- Yolanda: “It’s just an assignment, there’s literally no need to be so worked up about it.”
-Rick: “Beth is skipping lunch to be with him”
-Yolanda: “So they can finish their assignment early!!”
-Rick is in a bad mood for the rest of the day.
-When Valentine’s Day gets closer, Rick contemplates getting Beth something- flowers, chocolates, a card, etc. Courtney and Yolanda convince him to get her something simple like a flower from the small store the school set up for students to buy Valentine’s Day things. He gets her a single pink rose and his heart melts when Beth smiles brightly at the gift.
- Beth: “Thank you, Rick! You’re such a sweet friend!”
-Rick is convinced that Beth is friendzoning him and gets sad, but Beth’s ever present smile keeps him from being fully sad. He’d rather be her friend than not have her in his life after all.
-Courtney and Yolanda facepalm when Rick reiterates all of this to them later.
- Courtney: “How is Beth gonna know how you feel if you don’t actually tell her? What else is she supposed to call you other than a friend?”
-Courtney and Yolanda convince Rick to tell Beth the truth about his feelings but he doesn’t actually confess them to Beth for a year or two, before a major battle. But Rick deals with Courtney and Yolanda pestering him about his feelings for the entirety of that time period.
-Secretly, Rick is glad to have friends like Courtney and Yolanda and he’s glad that they approve and support him liking Beth. It makes him feel like he may actually be good enough for Beth.