( 𝘨𝘪𝘧 : 𝘢𝘶𝘨𝘶𝘴𝘵 𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘧𝘳𝘰𝘯𝘵𝘴 𝘳𝘪𝘤𝘬𝘺 )















𝐀𝐔𝐃𝐈𝐓𝐈𝐎𝐍𝐈𝐍𝐆 𝐅𝐎𝐑 𝐆𝐀𝐁𝐑𝐈𝐄𝐋𝐋𝐀

𝒂𝒍𝒔𝒐 𝒌𝒏𝒐𝒘𝒏 𝒂𝒔 : 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒂𝒖𝒅𝒊𝒕𝒊𝒐𝒏𝒔

𝒑𝒂𝒓𝒕 𝒕𝒘𝒐

August rubbed her hands nervously, trying to drown the excited chatter around her. She sat in one of the plastic hairs, facing the mirror. August frowned. The dark circles under her eyes would not help her score the main role. But she couldn't help her sleepless night. She sat in the backstage room, where the stars of the show normally sat. But for now, it meant a room to wait in as auditions proceeded. 

Gina plopped down in the seat next to her sister, a much more confident smirk on her face. "Ready?"

"No." scoffed August, but smiled anyway. "What about you? What role are you auditioning for?"

"Taylor. I'm pretty sure I'll score the role. Look around, there's hardly any competition." August looked around. She disagreed, the room was filled with different students. Who was to say that she was better than them? "And before you say that there is competition, you need to be a bit more confident. You are crazy talented. I'm your sister, and I can only be honest with you."

The two sisters' conversation was interrupted by a sharp knock on the door. Everyone turned to stare at Miss Jenn, who clapped excitedly. "Let's get this show on the road!"

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𝑮𝑰𝑵𝑨, 𝑳𝑶𝑶𝑲𝑰𝑵𝑮 𝑨𝑻 𝑪𝑨𝑴𝑬𝑹𝑨: I get that my sister is nervous. Doesn't help she has to audition in front of some of Ricky's friends. But I know she'll amaze everyone. That's just who she is. 

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Everyone was handed some numbers to stick on their shirts. August got number 4, and Gina number 1. Miss Jenn and Carlos insisted that the first group started with a warm up, which included picking up a dance sequence. August picked it up fairly quickly, but it was fair to say that out of the Porter sisters, Gina was the more talented dancer. With her sharp movements and flexibility, that left August with the more talented vocals.

August told herself that for Gabriella, maybe dance skills weren't that necessary.

"Pair up! But not with a friend. Theatre is a community." August slightly panicked, but was soon greeted by a blond teenager, with spectacular blue eyes.

"Hi! I'm Seb. You're a really cool dancer." August shook his hand, grateful for not having to approach anybody. 

"Thanks. I'm August, uhm, new here. So, are you auditioning for Ryan?"

"Sharpay, actually. I think the musical needs some upgrading." August laughed, and high fived Seb. "I'm guessing you're going for Gabriella?" when August nodded, Seb added "Well, good luck! Though I doubt that you need it."

Gina, on the other hand, walked straight over to where Nini stood alone. Nini glanced at her and smiled nervously. She recognised Gina; she had been standing next to August the first day. "Hi! I'm Nini. Can I borrow your high kicks some time?"

"Oh my god, you're the cutest!" Gina said sarcastically, plastering a fake smile. "So, have you played the lead here before?"

Nini shook her head. "No. Not yet." she corrected herself. "Got the lead in summer camp after the main got food poisoning."

"Well, looks like you're used to being second choice then." Nini raised her eyebrows, catching the subtle indirect that Gina threw, as the curly-haired girl tied her curls into a bun. Miss Jenn clapped, and begun the second warm up, but Nini couldn't focus at the task in hand, glancing at August on the other side of the room. 

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𝑵𝑰𝑵𝑰, 𝑳𝑶𝑶𝑲𝑰𝑵𝑮 𝑨𝑻 𝑪𝑨𝑴𝑬𝑹𝑨: Did Gina just refer to me being a second choice for Ricky?

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Miss Jenn proceeded to ask everyone what role they were auditioning for, and handing out scripts. August stood patiently waiting between EJ and Gina. When Miss Jenn reached Gina, she looked down at the application. "It says here you're auditioning for Taylor. You sure?" Gina nodded, and Carlos handed her a script.

"And you're definitely auditioning for Gabriella." Miss Jenn spoke as she glanced at August, who smiled brightly.

"Of course." 

Miss Jenn immeditely handed EJ a script for Troy Bolton's lines, and once she reached Nini, she tilted her head. "Kelsi?"

Nini hesitated. "Gabriella, actually." Miss Jenn tilted her head unsurely, but Carlos handed her a Gabriella script anyway. 

"Alright!" Miss Jenn clapped her hands loudly, capturing everyone's attention. "Time for individual auditions. Sit back and when I call your number out, just climb on stage and, well, blow our minds away!"

Nini performed just before August, leaving her quite intimidated by her naturally good voice. How was August supposed to outshine her? She sighed as the students clapped at Nini's performance once it ended. 

"Ehm, number four? For Gabriella." August exhaled slowly before walked on stage, squirming under the bright light and everyone's attention on her. From the audience, she spotted Gina giving her two thumbs up, which made her smile. Miss Jenn leaned towards Carlos and whispered "Any intel on this one?"

"August Porter, a new girl. She's related to Gina, who's auditioning for Taylor. Not a lot of information about her, apart from that she had a summer fling with Nini's ex."Miss Jenn raised her eyebrows, and faced August.

"Whenever you're ready." Before August could begin singing, the back door's sung open, revealing the last person August wanted to see. Ricky Bowen stumbled down, keeping a tight grip on his guitar. He glanced at August, freezing slightly at seeing the curly-haired girl. "Late audition? We're set on Troys, but low on Chads."

Ricky shook his head, breaking his daze. "I only learnt Troy's lines." Carlos rolled his eyes.

"Fine. You can audition after August." the audience turned back to stare at August, who stood frozen on the stage. The sight of Ricky, who stood there staring at her with such intensity, had completely thrown her off. She fluttered her eyes shut, shaking her head. She wouldn't let Ricky distract her, and ruin her chances. Not again. 

"this could be the start of something new, it feels so right to be here with you..."

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𝑹𝑰𝑪𝑲𝒀, 𝑳𝑶𝑶𝑲𝑰𝑵𝑮 𝑨𝑻 𝑪𝑨𝑴𝑬𝑹𝑨: I didn't know August would audition...or that she could sing that good. No. I'm supposed to be focused on Nini. She's the reason I'm auditioning... right?

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Once August stopped singing, everyone clapped, leaving August blushing slightly. Even Miss Jenn stood up to further prove her being impressed. "Amazing, August. Who knew you had that voice in you? Right, you, late boy, it's your turn. Show us what you got." August rushed off stage, brushing past Ricky, who tried to catch her eye with no success. Ricky sighed, but continued on stage. "Time to sing."

"If you don't mind, I prepared my own song." Ricky went to grab his guitar, and cleared his throat as he started to strum some chords. His voice soon joined in, and August looked at where Ricky was staring. Nini. Who else? August sighed, and stared at the ground. But August missed the way Ricky glanced at her, and kept staring at her as he sang. Nini realised this, and her smile disappeared as she stared at August.

"i think i kinda you know!" 

Miss Jenn glanced at August, realising the way Ricky was looking between her and Nini. The performance soon finished, and everyone clapped besides August, who stood up and rushed out of the room, leaving everyone staring at her. Gina stared worriedly, but before she could stand up, Ricky made the impulsive decision of following August.

He found the curly haired girl pacing down a hallway. As soon as she saw Ricky, she stopped in her tracks. "August, hey." he said breathless, standing a few feet away from her. She stared at him sadly. "I didn't know you were going to audition."

"Yeah, apparently we kept a lot of secrets from each other." August retorted, crossing her arms over her chest at the following silence. "Look, you wanna go after Nini? Go ahead, But please try and keep me out of it. Don't you think I'm heartbroken enough?"

"That's not what I meant to ever happen. I genuinely caught feelings for y-" Ricky was interrupted by a crowd of students who burst into the room, following Carlos, who held the cast list in his hand. Gina bounced over, and after glaring at Ricky, grabbed her sister by the wrist.

"Come on! They've posted the cast list." everyone pushed through, and August felt nervous as everyone kept glancing at her, and whispers erupted around. She soon realised why.

CAST LIST

Gabriella      -         August 

Troy            -         Ricky

Gabriella's Understudy        -            Nini

Troy's Understudy      -          EJ

Taylor       -           Gina

Chad         -               EJ

Kelsi         -                Nini

Sharpay         -                 Seb

Gina squeezed August's hand as a sign of congratulations, who felt the heavy gaze of Ricky. August turned to look at him, feeling slightly panicked.

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𝑨𝑼𝑮𝑼𝑺𝑻, 𝑳𝑶𝑶𝑲𝑰𝑵𝑮 𝑨𝑻 𝑪𝑨𝑴𝑬𝑹𝑨: Really? Out of everyone, did Ricky have to get the role of Troy?

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so you all insisted for august to be gabriella so i did it! i really wanted to anyways so

thank you for 1k already! that's fast

get ready for a rollercoaster of angst