CHAPTER TWELVE
·.¸¸.·♩♪♫ mr perfectly fine ♫♪♩·.¸¸.·

AFTER THEIR DATE Reece and Willow had gotten a text telling them to meet the rest of the drama department at Big Red's house. "Sorry we're late, I almost ran over a squirrel," Willow said as they descended into the basement. Reece noticed everyone was already there.

"Is it ok?" Ashlyn asked as the brunette took a seat in an empty armchair next to Carlos while Reece sat on the armrest.

"Oh, yeah, it was dead already." Ashlyn's eyes widened.

"On that very depressing note, what're we doing here?" Reece asked. The rest of them stayed quiet.

"I don't know," Natalie said, "But this is a terrible party. There aren't even pretzels." Reece rummaged through her bag finding a small unopened bag of pretzels, she tossed them at Natalie.

"Knock yourself out."

"How did you..." She trailed off. Reece shrugged leaning back on the chair, the armrest was surprisingly comfortable.

"It's Reece, she's got everything." EJ and Willow said in unison looking over at each other as they did, which only made the tension in the room thicker.

Ashlyn cleared her throat, "We all ended up in the same basement after a really bad day, so someone should say something."

"Fine. I'll say something." Carlos said as everyone looked at him, "I'm mad at Miss Jenn."

"Why?" Gina scoffed, " Because she'd got a couple of skeletons in her closet."

"No, because she's giving up. She was the first teacher to not see me as a punchline and now she's not even a real teacher?"

"Define 'real teacher'," Ashlyn spoke.

He's got a point,' Kourtney interjected.

"Does he though?" Natalie said seemingly annoyed.

"Guys." Big Red spoke up not wanting an argument to ensue.

"So, why are we all here then?" Natalie questioned.

"Yeah, good question. This is a waste of time." EJ agreed, shaking his head and slamming his hand on the couch softly.

"Sorry, guys, but I agree with EJ," Willow said, surprising them all, including herself. "Wow, can't believe I just said that."

"Gee, thanks, Sloan." He said sarcastically, slightly rolling his eyes.

"If we're just gonna sit here and remanence about the past I'm leaving." she continued. A few of the other members nodded in agreement.

"She gave me a shot." Carlos started, "And it's been a long time since so one gave me a shot," Carlos stared sadly at the ground.

Reece smiled sadly as she fidgeted with her bracelet, "Same here." Willow took her hand in hers, giving a tight squeeze.

"She gave me a voice," Nini spoke up.

"Yeah, and now nobody's gonna get to hear it because Miss Jenn screwed up," Kourtney said looking at Nini.

"Okay, does anyone here actually care if her past is a little bit sketchy?" Ashlyn asked. "Anyone?"

"I do," Ricky said shocking many of them.

"Seriously, dude?" Big Red asked rhetorically, shocked his best friend would say something like that.

Kourtney scoffed, "What because you live some perfect life?"

"Not at all." Ricky started as he stood up. "Because she put out show in jeopardy. And now we're all here, maybe for the last time, together. For some of us, this has become...I don't know." He trailed off.

"Family," Nini answered.

"What Team?" Ricky asked, still starring at Nini.

"Wildcats." The group responded.

"Okay, Wildcats. So, what are we doing about it?" Ashlyn asked.

They got to work.

♪♫ ♫♪

Reece sat beside Nini as people began to gather in the cafeteria. Her leg began bopping up and down, Nini placed a hand over it, "It'll be fine. This will work." Reece smiled gratefully at the brunette.

She looked around, Ricky sat in front of the girls on the other side of the cafeteria, while EJ, Ashlyn, Big Red, Gina, and the others sat in between the parents (in order to make them less visible) and Kourtney, along with Josie, Anne, Willow, and a few others stood at the top of a platform waiting for their cue. There was a table with the board members sitting while Miss Jenn sat in front and facing them. "Let's save Miss Jenn." She whispered to herself.

"Miss Jenn, it may not surprise you to learn that we have heard earfuls about your unorthodox style ever since you got to East High." Mr. Gutierrez said to the drama teacher. "Personally, I always chalked it up to the well-known fact that people in the dramatic arts are insane." He chuckled, earning a scoff from Reece.

"Thank you." Miss Jenn leaned towards the microphone, causing feedback to erupt from the mic.

"But now, we have news that your résumé is exaggerated. Your teaching credential is from some obscure online university and even your official name might be some version of a stage name. What do you say to this charge?" He asked.

"I have always done my best by these kids." The women spoke.

"Just answer the question."

"Excuse me." Some interrupted. "Can I say something?" Reece recognized him as Mike Bowen, Ricky's dad.

"I'm sorry. We're not opening up the floor to parents on this."

"Let him speak." Said (one of) Nini's moms. Nini smiled at this action. Parents murmured in agreement.

"I'm a little late to this party, but I gotta say the real crime here would be booting a teacher who's making a positive impact. I've never seen my kid this invested in anything and I don't think that's something we should punish, Your... honor." Reece chuckled at the last remark.

"Mister Bowen, I appreciate your statement, but I think we can all agree that theatre isn't unique in this regard. It doesn't have some special fairy dust that can't be filled by another extracurricular."

"But that's where you're wrong, Principal Gutierrez." Reece stood up as she walked over to the middle of the room, near Miss Jenn. "I think we can all agree, life without dramatic arts would be terrible. Drama class is a place where kids can be free to be whoever they'd like. It brings us out of our comfort zones and gives us more opportunities. Would you really get rid of that?" She didn't give him a chance to respond. "Well, clearly you would but I'd like to show you something. Something that hopefully will change your mind about the dramatic arts, and Miss Jenn."

Kourtney began humming, making the rest of the people look around in confusion. "What's that?" The principal tapped the mic, "Who's humming?"

One by one the drama kids stood up humming in unison. Reece pointed to Nini, who pointed to Ricky, who pointed at Kourtney who held a radio above her head. Kaden and Rico removed the desk Miss Jenn sat at so they had room to perform.

"Don't say another word," Kourtney sang.

"Some of us need to be heard," Nini joined in walking towards Reece.

"You want her big confession?" The two sang.

"She never saw Dear Evan Hansen," Kourtney sang, everyone gasped.

"Whatever you think about her, the show can't go on without her." Ricky and Ashlyn sang as they made their way towards Nini and Reece. Ricky and Big Red fist-bumped as the group made their way to the middle of the room. "Maybe her class could be a little more classy." Kourtney sang like the rest of them danced.

"Maybe her head's not in the game." They sang in unison.

"Maybe her past is just a little bit sketchy." Carlos sang.

"We need her all the same"

She's the one who cheers us on," Seb sang as he and Reece danced next to each other. The redhead sang, "so what if she's dropping the ball?"

"She stands for truth, justice, and songs in our key. She stands for us and we believe" They danced around the drama teacher.

"Before she got here, we were so off track." Ricky began. "Then Miss Jenn gave us a chance." Gina finished.

"We used to fall asleep in chemistry class," Ashlyn sang.

"Now it makes us want to dance."

"She's the show that must go on," Reece joined Natalie as they sang, "So we're puttin' in a good word 'cause we heard."

"She stands for truth, justice, and songs in our key. She stands for us and we believe"

They put their attention on Nini, "What's my motivation? She provides the inspiration." She danced her way to Miss Jenn.

"Whatever about her reputation." Kourtney sang.

"Seems about time for a modulation."Ashlyn came in. They danced together around Miss Jenn pulling her out of her chair.

"She stands for truth, justice, and songs in our key." They danced. "Jazz squares in the choreography. Sharpay and Ryan, you know they'd agree." Nini pulled her back into her seat. "The stands for us and we believe."

They made a circle around Miss Jenn, "She stands for us and we believe."

Reece was panting by the end of it. Saving your drama teacher is a workout. The parents and teachers began clapping and cheering for the kids. Reece smiled seeing Victor there, as her mom was still at work.

"Settle, people! Settle down. Settle down." Mr. Gutierrez exclaimed as the cheering dialed down. "Do we have any further questions?" He asked the other members of the board.

"Just one." A teacher said. She stood up and look oddly a lot like Martha from High School Musical. "So, how do I snag two tickets for opening night?" She even did the dance-like Martha.

The group cheered.

Reece ran to hug the closet person next to her, who just so happened to be EJ. "I can't believe it!" She exclaimed.

He smiled at her as she pulled out of the hug. "We couldn't have done it without you, Reece. I mean you came up with most of the song."

She laughed, "True, true."

They smiled and stared at each other for a while, before Reece's name was called. "Your girlfriend's calling you." EJ pointed towards Willow, who was smiling over at her.

"I'll see you later then?" EJ nodded, watching as the redhead made her way towards her girlfriend. He smiled as the two shared a quick kiss. He was glad she was happy, she deserved the best even if it wasn't him.

INEZ SPEAKS

I feel like this chapter with the song was really repetitive (I swear I used the word sang and as too many times). I was going to describe the dance but it was much too difficult and I can't do that shit. Anyways I have a really busy 2nd semester so I'll try and finish season one before the end of February but I'm not sure how well it'll work out.

Comment, vote, and let me know what you think!

Unedited(ish)