"Okay, Gabriella. I need you downstage on this mark." Carlos said quickly, taking Ninis hands and pulling her toward the mark on the floor, "Troy, stage right. Chad, stage left box. Um, other boys, find a box."

Nova gave a loud catcall whistle into the air, looking Ninis way with a grin, "Look at you, player."

"Ugh, are they on stage with me while i'm singing?" Nini spoke up, gaining Carlos' attitude.

"Yes, they will be frozen in various poses to come." he waved her off with a deep inhale, "As the balled builds, Nini, you will be wandering through a forest of boys."

"Sounds like a under budged student film that a man directed and wrote." Nova said over toward Ashlyn with a knowing look, "If her shirt comes off or she has to pretend the end of the world is over because a boy doesn't like her back, i'm suing."

"God, I hate films written by middle aged, straight white men." Kourtney agreed from behind the pair, "You can always tell-"

"From how the woman characters are written." Ashlyn and Nova cut her off, saying in one que as Kourtney agreed.

"Wait. What does that mean?" Nini asked Carlos with a laugh.

"Do you know what a forest of trees looks like?" he questioned her.

"I do." she confirmed.

"Okay, but with boys." Carlos said back. Nova pulled out a tupperware of chocolate cake, offering Kourtney and Ashlyn a fork to dig in with her while Carlos' back was turned.

"And uh... No. I'm sorry, why?" Nini voiced all their thoughts.

"Because your heart as been shattered and you can't stop thinking about how amazing Troy is." Carlos laughed, his idea clearly last minute.

"I stand corrected, even gay men of color have stupid plots." Nova whispered before standing up, "Carlos, honestly, I think any girl in this room can confirm that after a break up, the last thing a woman wants is to be around a bunch of boys. And if her heart was shattered, why would she still be thinking about how amazing Troy is? She clearly should be thinking about setting his car on fire and putting spoiled milk in his conditioner."

EJs eyes widened, "Makes since why I couldn't get that smell off of me for the whole summer."

"Let's go!" Carlos announced, nodding for Seb to start the piano.

"Uh, no. I'm sorry but at this point in the show Troy just sold me out to his teammates." Nini cut in quickly as Seb stopped the music.

"Spoiled milk." Nova spoke up again with a wink her way.

"Well, she's got a point. What Troy did was kind of unforgivable." Ashlyn added in to the pairs words, "Respectfully, Carlos, I think the last thing anyone wants in this moment is four more versions of him."

"Maybe she could chop down the tree." Natalie suggested.

"Or set it on fire." Nova grinned, eyes lighting up.

"Or what if she's surrounded by a forest of loving and supportive sisters?" Mourn suggested as the girls in the room agreed with wide grins.

"Is it better if she just sings a solo acoustic version?" Ricky spoke up as everyone began to boo his idea.

"I vote for that." Gina tried to agree.

"Okay, you guys, this is not a democracy!" Carlos announced loudly, shutting them all up.

"Carlos, are you okay?" Nini asked with a worried expression. Nova took her cake and walked his way, placing it in his hands and stabbing a fork at the top.

"We can all come back when Miss Jenn gets here." Nini tried to reason with him.

"Well, she's not here, and I don't know if she's ever coming back." Carlos said in distress, making the students all look in chatter and worry his way.

"Wait, what?"

"Is this a joke?"

"Give me my cake back, jerk. That's not funny!"

"She's in deep trouble, you guys." Carlos sighed as he looked around at each of them, "They're saying that she lied on her job application and there's a school board meeting in less then twenty-four hours and she's probably going to lose her job."

"And what? We get a old lady who doesn't have any clue what breaking gender norms is all about and thinks we have to do everything the exact way it was in the show?" Nova asked in disbelief, "Miss Jenn saved me, we have to save her too."

"We do." Ashlyn agreed.

"I wasn't suppose to tell any of you but i'm trying to do my best here." Carlos said to each of them, meeting a fews eyes.

"I can't believe it." Nini mumbled, turning away.

"What are we even doing in rehearsal?" EJ spoke up, swinging his arms in disbelief.

"Wait, how can we have a show if we don't have a teacher?" Ashlyn added in, "Is Nova right? Are we gonna get a horrible, sexist old lady?"

"You know you could have told me." Seb spoke softly to Carlos.

"Miss Jenn asked me not too." he said back with a guilty expression.

"Wow, Carlos. What else are you not telling us?" EJ asked in disbelief.

"Give him a rest. He was just doing what she asked." Nova snapped at the Caswell boy quickly, "You wouldn't get it."

"No kidding, I would have told all of you the second I knew." he said back to her in disbelief.

"Let's all breath for a second." Ashlyn tried to reason.

"Do you wanna be in charge?" Natalie asked in disbelief.

"She didn't say that." Kourtney snapped at her quickly.

"No, she didn't. What would you know about being in charge anyways? All you do is run around looking for a freaking hamster." Nova glared at Natalie harshly when she snapped at Ashlyn, "One Ashlyn tried to help you find, by the freaking way."

"Okay, chill out, emotional support coyote." EJ said with a odd look her way.

"No, you chill out." Nova said back with a glare.

"You know what? I, um.. I need a minute." Nini announced, grabbing her back and storming out. Nova shrugged EJ's hand off her shoulder and grabbed her own bag.

"Right there with you." Kourtney agreed. Everyone began to leave all at once.

"Whats he doing over there?" Nova spoke up, sitting with Ashlyn on the steps as the pair watched EJ talk a million words a second to Nini, who stood with a odd look.

"He says he's trying to get everything off his chest now that the show is over." Ashlyn said back, sharing the chocolate cake with Nova, "Did you make this?"

"Do I look like I can bake? My dad made it. He said he took a cooking class over in Cuba." Nova shrugged, watching closely to EJ and Nini, "That poor girls head is probably gonna explode. First I do a weird apology and give her a one hundred- eighty dollar wallet and now she's getting all of EJ's confessions?"

"Yeah, i'd explode with the two of you." Ashlyn confirmed with a nod of her head, "Especially on game nights... I never hated the two of you more."

"Yeah, we were pretty competitive with you and your parents." Nova cringed when she thought of the memory, "Like the time you ended up with a whole meatball sub in your face because we thought you cheated in uno."

"Which I did not." Ashlyn said with a knowing look. EJ began walking toward the pair again, "How'd that go?"

"Yeah, you were jacking your jaw so much i'm surprised you didn't dislocated it." Nova confirmed, being cut off by his hand reaching out to pull her off the steps, "My chocolate cake! Where are we going?"

"You're turn now." he urged, pulling Nova along with him to the empty hallway, leaving Ashlyn with Novas cake.

•

kylie speaks

i edited nova on my
insta @/wheelerblossom
if you guys wanna be
watch!
all that aside, dramatic
singing chapter next!
also, nova going to 100
immediately when someone
insults her friends is my
favorite thing about her!