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

THANKSGIVING WEEKEND turned out to be a bust so Reece was excited to be back at rehearsals, even if that meant performing her song. But as luck would have it her weekend wasn't the only thing that crashed and burned.

"Fire ripped through half of your costumes and the sprinklers ruined a bunch of your sets." Reece heard the firefighter say to Ms. Jenn as she walked in.

"What happened?" She whispers to the closest person to her, which was EJ.

"Fire over the break." He replied, "How was thanksgiving with your dad by the way? I never got to ask."

Reece rolled her eyes and sighed, "Let's just say the auditorium wasn't the only thing that crashed and burned."

He nodded and watched as she made her way towards Ricky who seemed to be more interested in his phone then Ms. Jenn's instructions to reconvene in the cafeteria after school. "Nini and Ricky, spread the word."

"Got it, yes, of course," Nini replied.

"Ricky?" The teacher tried getting his attention.

Reece nudged him and gestured her head towards the drama teacher. "Sorry, after school in the cafeteria, got it."

♪♫ ♫♪

Reece sat next to Ricky in the cafeteria as everyone else comforted each other. "Hey, have you heard from Gina?"

He shook his head, "She hasn't been responding to any of my texts."

"Me neither. I wish there was something we could do." Ricky rubbed her shoulder comfortingly. Which didn't go unnoticed but their exes. Who (unknowingly) glared at the two.

"Okay, guys! Wait, where's Gina?" Ms. Jenn asked.

"I think she's going through a family thing right now," Ashlyn answered.

"Okay, prayers to our Gina. I'm really not sure what to say. You've all worked so hard. I've seen all of you grow so much. But if we don't have a theatre, we don't have a show." She revealed.

"Come on, Miss Jenn we've got to do something," Carlos spoke up.

"I don't know, I guess we could consider other venues?" She proposed as everyone began to throw suggestions at her. Until Carlos came up with the most reasonable one.

"Any other ideas?" Ms. Jenn asked.

"Miss Jenn, I feel like you just had a really weird reaction to what I just said." Carlos pointed out.

"Sorry, what did you say?"

"Carlos is asking if we can try and use the El Rey Theater," Nini explained.

"My Uncle Ruben is the listing agent and the last thing they had in there was a fashion show like, four years ago." He explained as he got up, presumably to call his uncle.

"This place has five hundred seats," Seb said in awe looking at his phone. The group gathered around him looking at the theatre. It was huge.

"Four ninety-eight but who's counting." The teacher mumbled.

"Wait, that's actually pretty sweet," EJ said.

"Look at it! Oh my god it's awesome!" Reece exclaimed.

"I can't imagine we would be able to get in on such short notice." The teacher chuckled nervously.

"Tio Ruben, can we use the theater for our show?" Carlos spoke into the phone. "Si, si, si." The man on the other side replied.

"Sounded like a yes to me!"

"The El Rey Theater it is!"

"Miss Jenn, aren't you excited?" Carlos asked the woman as the rest cheered.

"Yes, I am that feeling." She replied before turning back to the group. "Wildcats, let's grab all the props and costumes that didn't get damaged and let's load out." She instructed causing them to rush to collect the items she asked for.

♪♫ ♫♪

Reece carried two boxes in her arms as she walked through the hallways towards EJ's car who offered to take some of the props to The El Rey. She saw Carlos and EJ talking then the Latino boy ran away grabbing onto a red metal box EJ had been holding. She walked over to EJ, "What was that about?" She struggled to hold the boxes but didn't say anything.

"The box has Ms. Jenn's audition notes and Carlos said it was 'classified' whatever that means." They continue to watch the boy run away.

"We'll I think it means that it's secret or confidential." She replied before realizing. "Oh you weren't being serious." The redhead chuckled nervously which caused her to almost drop the boxes.

The boy finally turned his attention towards her making him realize she was struggling. "Here let me help." He offered and grabbed a box.

"Thanks." She tucked a strand of hair behind her ear. The two continued to walk.

"You ready to sing?" He asked.

"Oh yeah!" She exclaimed before chuckling nervously. "I lied, I'm panicking."

The reached the car and placed the last of the boxes that could fit in the car. "You'll do great, promise." He closed the trunk. "You're extremely talented, Reece, Ms. Jenn wouldn't have given you this chance if she didn't think it would be perfect."

She smiled at him. She forgot how much he helped her through her stage fright during her performance of The Little Mermaid.

The lead had broken her leg the day before the show and since Reece was her understudy she had exactly 10 hours to prepare. She, Josie and Anne spent every moment practicing with the redhead and by 6:00 on performance day (two hours before the show began) Reece was finally ready.

She was fantastic throughout the whole show but when it came down to the final scene where Ariel and Eric kissed, she began to grow nervous. You see, Reece had never kissed anyone before and she didn't want her first kiss to be on stage and in front of hundreds of people. EJ noticed her nervousness and came for calm her down. "You're amazing out there Reece, what's wrong?" He had said.

"Nothing it's just..." she trailed off not making eye contact. "I've never kissed anyone before and I don't really want to do it I front of everyone. It's not because you're a terrible kisser or anything it's just a first kiss is supposed to be memorable - I mean this would be memorable cause I'd be kissing The EJ Caswell - I didn't mean that...oh god, sorry. " She rambled.

She expected him to laugh or ridicule her but instead he smiled and held his hand out. "Don't worry we can just hug and if anyone asks I'll just say it was me who didn't want to kiss in front of everyone."

And that's what happened. It was perfect. But that was last year, they're now two completely different people then they were back then.

"Do you want a ride?" EJ asked the redhead in front of him. She looked around for Willow who said she would be here.

"Yeah, sure. Thanks." They drove to the theatre in silence the only sound coming from the radio station who played You're Not Sorry by Taylor Swift.

♪♫ ♫♪

They arrived at The El Rey and followed Ms. Jenn inside. "Right this way, follow me." She said pointing the flashlight in front of her. "Smell that smell, the theater. Mold, it's a sign of life. Everyone, watch your step and, let me know if you haven't had a tetanus shot recently, okay?"

After setting up for a few minutes Ms. Jenn called for them. "Okay! Let's have some real talk. Welcome to tech rehearsal." Reece positioned herself onto one of the prop boxes next to Seb, who smiled at her. "I don't know if you've noticed but most of the tech in this particular theater appears to be hand-cranked. Natalie Bagley, my dear my stage manager this is your chance to be the hero."

They looked around for Natalie who seemed to be missing. "What? What is it? What's happening?"

"Natalie Bagley's getting her wisdom teeth out," Seb explained.

"Okay Okay, so, I'm down a stage manager, my 'Taylor's' MIA."

"Gina's okay She's a fighter and she'll be back for opening night." Ricky inputted.

"Did she text you?" Nini asked.

"No, you?" She shook her head. Just then a sandbag fell from the sky making the group scream.

"Holy shit!" Reece screamed as it was only a few feet away from her.

"Totally normal just, heads-up, from now on. Reece, sweetie, you ok?" The drama teacher asked the girl who's eyes were widened.

"Mhmm, yup, almost died but I'm fine." Just then her phone rang startling a few people. Seeing her girlfriend's name on the caller idea she asked Ms. Jenn, "Sorry, can I take this? It'll be really quick."

The teacher nodded. The redhead made her way out of earshot from the rest of the group. She answered the call.

"Hey." She said. "What's up?"

"Where are you?" She asked.

"At the El Rey...why?"

"You we're supposed to wait for me to pick you up."

"I texted you telling you I got a ride from EJ."

"Of course you did." She mumbled.

"Is that a problem?"

"No, of course not."

"Great! I have to go but I'll see you later."

"Okay, bye." And with that the call ended, Reece made her way back but not before texting Josie.

CECE 👒
Can we hang out tonight?

JOJO SIWA 🎀
Yes please!
I feel like I haven't seen you in years

CECE 👒
YAYYY
I'll see you in a few hours

JOJO SIWA 🎀
See ya

"Okay, we just need to nail down our lighting and our sound and, ta-da, we've got a show." Ms. Jenn explained as Reece made her way back. "I need some bodies for the rooftop scene."

"I can do Troy," EJ said.

"Reece, stand-in for Gabriella." She smiled getting her script and walked onto the stage.

"Do we have a working lightboard? Do we have a working light switch?" The teacher mumbled.

"Found it!" Big Red called out pulling a lever but instead of a white light it was a blue light. EJ screamed beside her as he looked over to left where multiple mannikins stood in 80s glow in the dark clothes.

"Sorry everyone." Carlos apologized. "My uncle Ruben said that there was going to be some leftover stuff from the fashion show. I guess, the theme was eighties rave?"

"In a nuclear reactor?" Ashlyn joked.

"Big Red, do we have anything more flattering?" Ms. Jenn asked the boy backstage.

"Working on it!" He called out who got the lights back to normal.

"Okay, Troy, basketball stuff Gabriella, math stuff nobody doesn't cry, and we end up here center stage Gabriella, give us your cue." Ms. Jenn instructed taking a seat at her desk.

"Remember in kindergarten you would meet a kid know nothing about them then ten seconds later you're best friends?" Reece read aloud.

"Yeah," EJ responded in an odd manner.

"Singing with you felt like that." She told him.

"Look, I never thought about singing, that's for sure." He placed a hand on her shoulder causing shivers down her spin. "Until you. And now, I don't want to stop. Ever."

"That's excellent and a little weird. Big Red, can we hit these guys with a spotlight?" The teacher asked.

"I'll look for it." Big Red replied.

"EJ, what are you doing?" She whispered to him.

"I'm just emoting Reece, feel free to join me."

"Well your 'emoting' is freaking me out." She put air quotes of her words as she spoke. "It's tech rehearsal, not freak out Reece rehearsal."

"Okay, let's not wait for the lights. Just stand on your marks and gimme your cue again."

"Look, I never thought about singing, that's for sure. Until you. And now, I don't want to stop. Ever." He - as Troy - confessed. His eyes began filling with tears.

"EJ, are you okay?" She asked the boy who seemed like he was having an attack of some sort. She looked around and saw Carlos rubbing his temple with his index fingers. He seemed to know something Reece didn't. Before she could continue Ms. Jenn called him over and Carlos muttered something about knowing what's going on. At that moment the latter feel scaring everyone in the room.

This was going to be a long night.

♪♫ ♫♪

"Okay, let's pretend we figured out the lighting. If we've got a sound system we've got a show." Ms. Jenn came in holding a microphone. "Reece, why don't you sing for us? Better now then later."

Reece smiled nervously putting the costumes down. "Seb, can you connect this in for me?" She handed the boy her phone who was next to the speaker. He did as he was told.

She cleared her throat as the strumming of the guitar began to play. "Inside jokes that I never know but I still laugh until I cry. Group photos but I'm standing off to the side. I'm just camera shy. Always at the birthday parties but never close to anybody." She sang as the kids gathered around to watch her.

"I've been chosen last since the kindergarten. Walk in the grass and it's disregarded. Fast walk to the lunch table, and pack up before I'm ready to go. I don't speak my mind, I just sit and listen. I'm there on time 'cause they won't know I'm missing. Sometimes I would rather stay home than show up to be ignored and alone."As she sang the chorus she began to forget by she was so nervous in the first place.

"Carpool everywhere but there's never room for me to go too. Ride my bike like all of us used to do. Oh, I don't have a clue why I'm at the birthday parties when I'm not close to anybody." Reece finally understood why she wrote the song. It was a way to get in touch with Kelsi. Every lyric to the song was exactly what she thought Kelsi was thinking. She'd always felt bad for the character but because she was so different from everyone else it instantly made her love her more.

"I've been chosen last since the kindergarten. Walk in the grass and it's disregarded. Fast walk to the lunch table, and pack up before I'm ready to go. I don't speak my mind, I just sit and listen. I'm there on time 'cause they won't know I'm missing. Sometimes I would rather stay home than show up to be ignored and alone." She repeated the chorus.

"I've been chosen last since the kindergarten. Walk in the grass and it's disregarded. Fast walk to the lunch table, and pack up before I'm ready to go. I don't speak my mind, I just sit and listen. I'm there on time 'cause they won't know I'm missing. Sometimes I would rather stay home than show up to be ignored and alone."As she opened her eyes she realized everyone was starring at her in awe. As the music finished Reece took a little bow and smiled as everyone clapped for her.

"That was amazing!" Ms. Jenn complimented. "I knew I chose the right Kelsi." And with that she walked away to find Carlos.

Reece placed the microphone back on the table as Seb handed her back her phone. "Did you write that?" EJ asked coming up to her.

"Yeah, I did. Why was it bad?" She asked him.

He smiled at her, "Yes, Reece, it was horrible that's why everyone was clapping." He sarcastically remarked. "I'm kidding. It was really great." He rubbed her back and left her standing there as Carlos cleared everyone out.

—(••[ Reece Hastings ]••)—
junior

"Honestly, I feel a lot better after that. But did you see that? The way she just rubbed my back! What does that mean? I'm reading too much into this. Does he still like me? Why do I even care? God I need popcorn." She walked off camera

She walked over to the popcorn machine where she saw EJ sitting on the floor. "Mind if I sit?"

He looked up and shrugged, "Knock yourself out." He took another handful of popcorn.

She sat next to him taking a handful of popcorn for herself. "Are you okay? You seem down."

"I'm fine." He said quickly but he refused to look her in the eye which he always did when he lied.

"I know you're lying, EJ, you're avoiding eye contact. It's worse than when I do the double tuck thing." She said popping the popcorn in her mouth. "God this is stale."

He sighed in defeat, "It's just...I looked at Ms. Jenn's files and she said I have no emotional connection to the character. And I guess I just wanted to prove her wrong, or something."

She smiled softly, "Well I like your dedication but I don't think crying is going to fix it."

"We'll then what is, Reece? Because you seemed to nail Kelsi perfectly." He said rather harshly but the redhead didn't take offence to it.

"I don't know, but you'll figure it out." She took a last handful of popcorn and got up. "I gotta find Josie, I asked her to swing by."

Before she could go EJ called out to her, "Reece!"

"Yeah?"

"I never got to say I'm happy for you." He said standing up as well. "Willow's really nice and I'm glad you found someone."

"Thanks." He walked away with a last smile. She couldn't help but feel something in her heart. It was like it was breaking into a million pieces. Why was she so upset over EJ getting over her and maturing? She was happy with Willow...wasn't she?

♪♫ ♫♪

At the end of the night Ms. Jenn decided to bring them back to the High School after having some sort of epiphany. Josie picked up Reece and they went over to the brunette's house who had everything already setup. They changed into the pyjamas and sat on the couch.

"So, how is everything? Tell me every little detail." Josie said taking a bite of the red liquorice in front of her. "This musical is really ruining our chances at hanging out."

"Mhmm, I'm it's that and not the fact we both have girlfriends at the same time. Which has never happened before." Reece laughed.

"Yeah, yeah. How was tech rehearsal? Cause when I came I saw you glancing over at EJ a few times...and not gonna lie I think he did too." Josie raised an eyebrow at her friend who was now flushed with embarrassment.

"It's not like that. I'm happy with Willow."

"Never said you weren't."

"But he came up to me today and told me he was happy for me. And he's been acting really mature these past few weeks." She began to smile as she talked, which she began to notice. "What's wrong with me, Jo?! I have a girlfriend."

"It's okay. He was your boyfriend, obviously you're always going to like him or maybe even love." She mumbled the last part.

Reece sighed, "I guess."

"Now tell me about life! Because mines boring as hell."

They spent the whole night gossiping, watching movies, and whatever else you do at 4:00 in the morning. It had been a long time since the two best friends spent time together and Josie was happy for reasons she couldn't say as she didn't want to ruin the day...but she couldn't keep it a secret forever.

INEZ SPEAKS

I had no idea how to end this so I added that. Don't worry everything's fine with Josie...maybe 🤷‍♀️ guess you'll have to keep reading. Also, the ending is kinda rushed since didn't have anything to put, sorry about that.

PLEASE TELL ME WHERE SPELLING OR ANY MISTAKES ARE <3