( 𝘨𝘪𝘧: 𝘢𝘶𝘨𝘶𝘴𝘵 𝘩𝘢𝘴 𝘢 𝘧𝘭𝘢𝘴𝘩𝘣𝘢𝘤𝘬 )

𝐇𝐄 𝐂𝐀𝐍'𝐓 𝐄𝐕𝐄𝐍 𝐃𝐀𝐍𝐂𝐄

𝒂𝒍𝒔𝒐 𝒌𝒏𝒐𝒘𝒏 𝒂𝒔 : 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒘𝒐𝒏𝒅𝒆𝒓𝒔𝒕𝒖𝒅𝒊𝒆𝒔

 𝒑𝒂𝒓𝒕 𝒕𝒘𝒐

Miss Jenn had realised while Nini and EJ, and then Ricky and August were building trust between their relationship, there was still tension between the two boys and the two girls. Miss Jenn wasn't interested in the awkward love conflict between this group, but for the sake of the play, she needed no tension whatsoever. So she called them for group rehearsal to try to build a relationship. 

And she started with Ricky and EJ.

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𝑹𝑰𝑪𝑲𝒀, 𝑳𝑶𝑶𝑲𝑰𝑵𝑮 𝑨𝑻 𝑪𝑨𝑴𝑬𝑹𝑨: You know what? I'm looking forward to do this scene with EJ. I'm just gonna be like Troy; a decent guy with a lot of talent...who seems to keep screwing up with Gabriella.

( sad look to where august is standing )

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"Now, take it from the top. And remember, these two are best bros, which is a sacred thing." Ricky nodded, and the two teenage boys grabbed their scripts, awkwardly avoiding their gazes. 

EJ cleared his throat, rehearsing his lines. "We had a meeting how we haven't been acting like a team. Us, not you, Troy."

"I don't want to talk about it." Ricky read, looking up.

"I just wanted to let you know we're going to be there." EJ took a few steps closer. "Win or lose, we're teammates." he harshly fistbumped Ricky's shoulder, which made him move back, trying not to wince. "Even if you turn out to be the worst singer in the world." he pulled a face.

"You won't even get to hear me sing, dudes. Gabriella won't even talk to me..." Ricky trailed off, his voice getting slightly sadder. "...and I don't know why."

Miss Jenn shut her script, raising her eyebrows. "Okay! Not bad, but it was a little stiff. Let's do some excersises, get the energy around, loosen up. Use the ball and improvise." she took a step back, waving a hand to get the two boys talking.

EJ cleared his throat again. "Troy, you're the best player we have." he bounced the ball as Ricky caught it.

"Wouldn't be anything without you." Ricky added sarcastically, bouncing it back. 

EJ clenched his jaw. "Your pretending to be a basketball player is really inspiring."

Ricky grinned dryly. "Thanks, Chad. And the way you dance it's totally normal and not at all weird for a regular high school kid." 

"Well, you're incapable of keeping Gabriella. But that's your fault, isn't it?" EJ taunted angrily, as Ricky frowned. Ricky threw the ball back aggressively, hitting EJ square in the nose, making him fall backwards. Miss Jenn gasped as she rushed towards him, blood dripping down EJ's shirt.

"Oh dear! let's get you some ice." Miss Jenn helped EJ stand, who threw Ricky a glare before walking out, pressing his hand to his nose. Ricky looked down guiltily, and shook his head.

"Can I ever stop screwing things?"

At least Miss Jenn could say that August and Nini's rehearsal was more of a success than the boys. It didn't sail as smoothly as the teacher wanted, but at least no one left with a bleeding nose, and the girls seemed to have a mutual silent agreement to be respectful to each other. 

The rehearsal did start awkward, the silence falling over the two teenagers when Miss Jenn announced that she just had to slip out for a moment, and that the two girls should carry on with the scene by themselves. August avoided her gaze, playing with the rings on her fingers before Nini cleared her throat.

"So, shall we start? The sooner we start the soon we finish, right?" Nini said, making August awkwardly chuckle and nodded, pulling out the script. Nini bit down her lip as the two girls avoided eye contact as she cleared her throat. 

Nini had been casted as Kelsi, and the scene they were supposed to be rehearsing was when Troy and Gabriella had wanted to audition, but Mrs Darbus hadn't let them for being late. Kelsi trips and all her papers go flying, so the duo help her pick up the papers, and Kelsi then proceeds to play the piano while Troy and Gabriella sang 'What I've Been Looking For." But Miss Jenn had tweeked the scene a bit so Gabriella would have a more bonding scene with Kelsi.

Nini pretended to trip, and August went to pick up her papers of the scene, clearing her throat. "You're the composer, right? You wrote that song for the auditions?" Nini nodded as August handed her the papers. "That's so cool! I occasionally write song, but never an entire show." a silence followed before August realised she had to continue reading the script. "Oh! Sorry, uhm...why do you let Sharpay and Ryan scare you? It's your show."

"It is?" Nini read, looking up from the script. 

"Well, yeah! Without you, there's no show." an awkward silence followed before Nini sighed, throwing the script down.

"Okay, this is ridiculous. I know we don't have to pretend to be like, best friends, but there's no reason for us to be angry at each other, right? It's not our fault Rick- uhm, some boy lied or hurted us." August raised an eyebrow at Nini's statement, a small smile.

"So...what do you suggest we do?"

Nini hesitated before sticking out her hand towards the curly haired girl. "Are you new around here? I'm Nini, and if you ever want to know where the best place for iced coffees, I'm the one you should ask."

August laughed, shaking her head before shaking Nini's hand. "I'm August...wait, this is too awkward. I can't pretend we just met." August felt guilty when Nini's smile fell. "What if...well, you know how music unites us in this musical?" August took a seat at the piano as Nini followed confused. "I'm writing this song, and maybe...I could use some help."

Nini sat next to her, tucking a strand of brown hair behind her ear. "Hit me. With the lyrics, not actually hit me."

August started to play some of the chords on the piano, a slightly more upbeat rhythm to her usual songs. 

"don't need a king, i got my crown

don't need a hero to lift me off the ground"

August sang, nodding at Nini to continue. Hesitating, Nini started to sing.

"i built this heart it's beating loud

won't let no bad blood ever bring us down"

August increased the tempo as the two girls hit the chorus, neither of the two realising Miss Jenn had returned and stared at the two girls proud.

"because i was born to be brave

i know who i am inside and i won't apologise

made my mistakes but they gave me wings to fly

towards my castle in the sky"

As the song ended, Miss Jenn started to clap, making the two girls jump startled. August blushed sheepishly as the teacher stopped by the piano, smiling down. "Well done girls. That's what I call teamwork." Nini and August glanced at each other as they high fived. "Also, great song! Very uplifting. Anyways, you can leave now."

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𝑨𝑼𝑮𝑼𝑺𝑻, 𝑳𝑶𝑶𝑲𝑰𝑵𝑮 𝑨𝑻 𝑪𝑨𝑴𝑬𝑹𝑨: Okay, so I don't think that me and Nini would ever be best friends. But it's nice to know there's no bad blood between us, right? Especially over some boy that lied to us. No offense, Ricky, but you're not ruining a possible friendship between the two of us. 

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After saying goodbye to Nini, August had realised she had left her phone in her locker as they weren't allowed in rehearsals. So rushing back inside the school hallways to grab it before going home, she bumped into someone, nearly stumbling over. August frowned. "Hey! Watch where you're going."

"I could say the same to you." August looked up to see EJ grumbling, blood dripping down his nose and staining the front of his shirt. The anger was soon forgotten as she raised an eyebrow in worry. 

"Hey, what happened?"

"Why don't you ask your boyfriend?" EJ grumbled, trying to push by the stubborn curly haired girl, who quickly stood in front of him again.

"Hey! First of all, I don't have a boyfriend. And second, if you mean Ricky, then please don't. He obviously prefers Nini." August ranted, and when she watched EJ's face fall, she remembered that he was dating said Nini. "Oh shit, I shouldn't have said that. I'm sorry. Uhm, look, let's get your face cleaned up, all right?"

After grabbing an ice packet from the nurse's office, August dragged EJ towards a quiet hallway, convincing him to sit on the floor. August cleaned off the blood as EJ pressed the ice on his nose, all of this happening with neither of them breaking the awkward silence. Before too long EJ spoke up, not being able to take the silence any longer. 

"Can I ask you something? You don't have to answer." August hesitated, but nodded. "What happened between you and Ricky?"

August faltered before continuing to clean the blood off his face, not answering for a few beats of silence. "We had a thing in the summer, I guess you could say. What he failed to tell me was I was just a rebound for his ex, who he had just broken up with right before meeting me. So yeah, uhm, that's what happened."

"I'm sorry." EJ muttered, making August shrug. "Looks like we're both rebounds."

"What about you and Nini?"

"I thought she was over him, but...I don't think she is. And I don't know what she sees in Ricky, like, he can't even dance!"

August bit down on her lip, a deja vu from the summer suddenly hitting her as she looked away.

𝑭𝑳𝑨𝑺𝑯𝑩𝑨𝑪𝑲

Gina and August munched on their popcorn as they watched as Ricky attempted to complete one of the levels on the dance machine. The two sisters laughed at his failure as Ricky stumbled over his feet, without hitting a single step as the screen read in big red letters 'WRONG'. Gina nudged August in the ribs with a smirk. "I can't believe this is the boy you fell for. I mean, he can't even dance!"

August grinned, shrugging. "Hey! At least he's trying. I think it's cute."

Ricky turned to smile at his girlfriend, missing some of the dance steps. "You see, Gina? Auggie thinks I'm cute. Besides, I think you're just jealous of my awesome dance moves." Gina scoffed, rolling her eyes when Ricky failed the level and the dance machine asked for another dollar to retry. Gina pushed him off, inserting a dollar to have a try.

Ricky wrapped an arm around August, who gasped. "No! This is my popcorn. If you want some, go get your own." she groaned, moving her popcorn out of reach of Ricky. The curly haired boy pouted, giving her the puppy eyes. "Nah-ah! Those puppy eyes ain't gonna work on me."

He leaned him, smiling softly as he glanced down at her lips. "You sure?" at August's hesitation, Ricky pressed his lips on hers, and August found herself losing herself in the kiss, his lips tasting like bitter apple cider. And maybe she should've seen that as a sign. Ricky pulled away, and August gasped when she saw that he had grabbed a handful of  her popcorn and stuffed in his mouth.

"Ricky! I can't believe for that."

"Well, babe, I'm a mastermi-"

"August?"

August looked up, snapping out of her daze, rembering her conversation with EJ. She shook her head, finishing to clean up the blood. "Sorry, zoned out for a hot second there."

EJ smiled at her, squeezing her shoulder. "No worries. And, uhm, I never said congratulations for scoring the lead." August nodded and muttered a thanks as EJ walked away, not realising Ricky had seen the two.

The curly haired boy blenched his jaw before turning away, stomping away. 

longest chapter yet! like the flashback? should i add more later on? i wrote his while listening to river by olivia rodrigo and that song and the way she sings it is just breathtaking

anyways stan olivia rodrigo for clear skin

also my keyboard is filled with dog hairs just thought i would add that