Nadia was standing with Ricky and EJ on stage as she and EJ were examining Ricky's Beast mask. EJ held it up and spun it around. "Okay, when you try again, maybe try getting your fingers under the Velcro and pull it up," EJ told him, glancing over at Nadia, who was tilting her head as she narrowed her eyes at the Beast mask. The look on her face made EJ smile slightly since he thought it was cute.

"I don't know, it's just so hard to get it off when I'm laying on the floor like that," Ricky said, shrugging.

"Well, just make it look cool and it'll be fine," Nadia told him.

"I'll be sure to do that," he said with a laugh as he pointed at her.

"All right, let's get started!" Carlos shouted, but no one seemed to be paying attention to him. "Hello? Let's get started!" he said again as he made his way over to Ms. Jenn.

"Okay, Wildcats! Let's shake spring break out of our systems and try the Beast transformation one last time. And remember, this is the triumph of the show, the moment the audience has been waiting for. This has to work," Ms. Jenn told them with a very forced smile that was making her face red.

"No pressure, right?" Nadia heard Ricky whisper to Ashlyn. Ashlyn just let out a short laugh.

"Ricky, try not to rush this time. We'll speed it up when you're more confident," Ms. Jenn told him.

"Got it," Ricky replied.

"Let's take it from... 'You came back'."

EJ handed the Beast mask back to Ricky before they all departed to the side to watch Ashlyn and Ricky. "Hopefully they do it right this time so that Ms. Jenn doesn't freak out," Nadia whispered to EJ, and he nodded with a slight chuckle. Nadia then met eyes with Kourtney, who smirked at her, and Nadia subtly shook her head.

Over the break, Nadia had to explain that nothing had happened between her and EJ, and he just left her the sweatshirt when she fell asleep at Ashlyn's house. But, they still thought that the two are totally in love, which would be half-right.

Well, Nadia wouldn't say that she was in love with EJ, but she liked him. A lot. It wasn't like he liked her, though...

That's what she thought, anyway.

Ms. Jenn then told Ricky and Ashlyn to start acting, so Ricky laid down with the Beast mask on while Ashlyn was looking down at him on the floor.

"You came back," Ricky, as the Beast, said in deep, hoarse voice.

"If only I'd come sooner," Ashlyn, as Belle, replied sadly.

"Maybe it's better this way..."

"Don't talk like that. Everything will be fine," Ashlyn assured him.

"No," Ricky said and Ashlyn shushed him comfortingly.

"We're together now. You'll see," she said.

"I'm just glad I was able to see your face one last..." Ricky trailed off as he began to pretend to choke before Seb started to play the piano.

Ashlyn then started to sing as she looked down at Ricky's face with a sad expression.

We are home
We are where we shall be forever

As Ashlyn sang, Ricky started to pick the hairs of his Beast mask out of his mouth, causing Ashlyn to shove his hand down.

Trust in me
For you know I won't run away

Seb then stopped playing the piano.

"Belle, I..."

"Yes?" Ricky then slumped over, pretended to die. "No, no, no, no, please don't leave me. Please," Ashlyn cried. "I love you."

Ricky then lifted his head up and tried taking the Beast mask off. When it was obvious that he was having trouble, Ashlyn placed her cape over his head to cover him. Ricky was still having trouble, though. "Come on," he told himself, getting up on his knees as if it would help. Nadia watched with secondhand embarrassment. "It's stuck!"

Kourtney bounced up and yelled, "Rip the Velcro!"

Ricky then ripped the Velcro and threw it over at Natalie to catch, but he threw it too hard. It went straight towards Natalie and when she caught it, with her face, she stumbled over and ended up hitting the tree props, making them crash down on stage. Nadia gasped, placing a hand over her mouth as they crashed.

"Cut!" Ms. Jenn shouted.

"Sorry, Natalie," Ricky called out as he sat back on the floor.

"It's okay. It was just my face," she replied.

"Guess I should practice that throw, huh?" Ricky said to Ashlyn.

"The throw is great, Ricky! The mask is great! This is working!" Ms. Jenn said with another forced smile as she got up from her seat. She then muttered something to Carlos before she walked away from everyone.

"When I told Ricky to make it look cool," Nadia said, looking over at EJ, "I didn't mean to make it turn to chaos."

"Guys! We're on a long five until Ms. Jenn returns," Carlos told them before he ran off, too.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Everyone was at Slices since Carlos had texted to come for some meeting. But, he wasn't even there yet which was odd. So, they just all stood around talking about what to do for the transformation and how to make it better.

"There you are," EJ said and Nadia looked over her shoulder from beside him to see that Carlos had finally come.

"We all got your text," Gina said.

"You guys, Mother is freaking out. It's about the Menkies. Is everyone sitting down?" Carlos asked and everyone glanced around awkwardly.

"Uh, no?" EJ replied as Big Red slowly took a seat in front of him.

"We can't win," Carlos said and Nadia furrowed her brows.

"What?" Ashlyn said.

"Why?" some of them asked at the same time.

"Listen, there's math involved. If we don't sweep the technical achievement awards, we don't have a chance. And, no offense, Ricky, but..." Carlos trailed off as everyone looked towards Ricky.

He looked around at everyone in confusion, before his eyes widened slightly. "Oh, is this about the transformation? 'Cause I can throw that mask at someone other than Natalie," Ricky argued, pointing at Natalie.

"You haven't yet," Natalie pointed out bluntly.

"I hate to say this, you guys. I mean, I know we all had a good time over spring break," Carlos started to say.

"Some of us a little than others," Seb said before Carlos could continue.

Carlos raised an arm toward him. "Not today," Carlos told him in annoyance and Nadia gave them both a look. "Honestly, we need to rally behind Ms. Jenn. I mean, our sets are made of plywood and Elmer's Glue. We're humble. Humble does not win awards."

"And after that order, you have one more, and then two more after that," Kourtney shouted at Howie before she placed some soda on the table. "Fresh soda. Y'all okay?"

"Carlos was just explaining—"

"I heard it all," Kourtney cut her off.

"While you were yelling at Howie?" Gina asked.

"Multitasking," Kourtney replied slowly. "Look, I'm a designer, Big Red's a crew guy. Between the two of us, you're looking at your answer."

"Quit school, get a job at the pizza shop?" Seb guessed.

Kourtney gave him an offended look. "Uh, no, we should invent something amazing. Something we can run at tech rehearsal tomorrow night. A next-level transformation that out-broads Broadway and out-north's North High," Kourtney explained before she started to squeal. Everyone began to agree, them all starting to get hopeful. "Wouldn't that be amazing?"

"Ashlyn, you have the biggest house. What if I invite myself and the girls over after school, continue the collab thing?" Nini asked.

"Ooh," Ashlyn said, looking around at all the girls, who nodded.

"I mean, square footage-wise, my house is, like, slightly larger th—" Nadia cut EJ off by slightly shoving him with her shoulder to tell him to shut up in a friendly way. EJ looked over at her, nodding. "Uh, I-I'm gonna shut up." Nadia laughed, placing a finger over her mouth to stop herself.

"A hundred percent, yes," Ashlyn said.

"Wait, should we all stick together?" Gina asked.

"Oh, no way," Nini said before she went over and looped her arms through Ashlyn and Kourtney's arms. "Boys versus girls." Both Ashlyn and Kourtney gasped.

Nadia and EJ looked over at each other, their eyebrows raised.

"My basement's free. We have a ton of old tools. I'm sure the guys can make something cool," Big Red spoke up.

"Great. May the best transformation win," Nini said.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"One hundred percent real faux fur," Kourtney said, showing it off on the table.

"Ooh!" Nini voiced as she, Nadia, Ashlyn, Seb, and Gina walked into the living room.

"Thirty yards." Nadia reached forward and touched the fur, as did everyone else.

"Must've been a truly enormous faux animal," Ashlyn commented with a chuckle. "So, what are we doing?"

"Okay. So, you know those sequined tops, where if you rubbed them one way, they're purple, but if you rubbed them other way, they're red?" Kourtney asked.

"Duh, love it," Gina said, and Ashlyn and Nadia nodded in agreement.

"So, we're going to do that with the Beast cape. But instead of purple and red, it's going to be fur and satin," Kourtney explained as she grabbed the blue satin and wrapped it around her shoulders. "Y'all feel me?"

"Kourt, you are a visionary," Nini told her.

"Oh, thank you. The boys can build something that spins the Beast around to disguise the transition," Kourtney said.

"Wow. Won't that take a while?" Seb asked.

"Yeah, some of the boys aren't really that smart," Nadia said with a slight smirk, making Nini laugh.

Kourtney shrugged. "I'm in, if you are."

"I guess I could sleep over tonight," Gina joked, making them all laugh.

"You guys, I'm all about costumes, but I don't know if my parents will be cool with me in a co-ed sleepover," Seb told them.

"Chip, this is your mother speaking. Go call your mother," Kourtney told him and he gave her a thumbs up, walking away to go call his mom. Nadia laughed softly and began to sift through all their supplies to gather what they needed.

"Behold, my scissors bucket," Ashlyn said as she lifted it up before placing it on the table.

"Wow," Nadia, Gina, and Nini said in awe.

"Yeah, guys."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Ooh, this is going to be so good," Kourtney said as she put the cape on Seb to test it out. "Carlos would wear it." They all chuckled at that, aside from Seb.

"Does he just walk around in Armani sweatpants?" Ashlyn asked, making the girls laugh again.

"I picture him having all different outfits for all different occasions. Even for when he goes to the bathroom," Nadia said, making their laughter louder.

"I guess," was all Seb said with a slight frown on his face. All the girls looked over at him in confusion.

"Uh, Sebbie?" Kourtney said in confusion.

"Is something going on with you guys?" Nini asked him.

Seb turned around to face them. "I guess you could say he met a group of extremely photogenic guys when he was down in Mexico, and he seems pretty happy. So, now I'm pretty sad," Seb told them and Nadia tilted her head, frowning.

"Seb, come on," Gina said.

"You want to see him happy. That's with you," Ashlyn told him.

"Ehh, but I guess he has to be, out of default, right?" Seb replied.

"What does that mean?" Kourtney and Nadia asked at the same time.

"There's not a lot of other choices for a boy like Carlos here at East," Seb explained slowly as he sat down next to Kourtney.

"No, Seb," Nini said sadly.

"Have you told him how you feel?" Ashlyn asked as she sat down next to him.

"Mmm, not so good at saying the feelings part out loud," Seb said, shaking his head.

"It never hurts to put yourself out there," Nadia said, sitting down next to Nini. "Well, that's what my brother tells me, anyway, even though he can barely do that himself," she added, making them all chuckle.

"Okay. Also, did I see you and EJ giggling at the pizza place?" Nini teasingly asked Nadia as she got up from her seat. Nadia glanced away awkwardly.

"I have some questions in the same general area," Ashlyn added, making them all chuckle.

"Are they...disapproving questions?" Nadia asked slowly, not confirming or denying anything.

Ashlyn sighed. "Nadia, you're, like, one of my best friends. He's my cousin. I love you both and I want what's best for you both," Ashlyn told her.

Nadia looked down at her hands in her lap before she looked back up at the group. "He, kind of, saved me over break. I mean, he's been helping me a lot lately. But, those are just nice things he's been doing since we're friends. There's nothing romantic happening between us at all," Nadia explained, playing it off like it was no big deal.

"Uh, you sure?" Kourtney asked slowly, making Ashlyn giggle.

"Honestly, I don't really know if I could ever date a jock again after my last boyfriend," Nadia told them. "You know, even if I did like him. And I've never really been lucky in anything love related, anyway."

"Me, either," Gina replied. "I've been wrong about one thing before, so I don't know if I could ever trust my thoughts about someone's feelings towards me again," she told them, partially joking. Nadia knew she was talking about Ricky.

"Oh, my God. The chocolates," Ashlyn said, bringing her hands up to her face and laughing.

"Not the chocolates," Nadia muttered, looking over at Gina to see that she was embarrassed. After Gina had told the story about her confessing to Ricky after the HSM musical to both Nadia and Ashlyn, she felt more comfortable to tell them about the Valentine's Day chocolate story.

"What are the chocolates?" Nini asked as she fiddled with a small container.

"Oh, uh, I..." she said with a laugh, "I thought Ricky sent me some chocolates on Valentine's Day and I kind of melted a little, as a friend," Gina told her and Nini looked up, giving her a look. "But he didn't send me chocolates, Nini. It was — it was my mom."

Ashlyn started laughing again and Nadia looked over at her, giving her a look that read 'this wasn't the time' since Nini didn't seem to find it funny.

"Uh...Why'd I never hear about this?" Nini asked with a forced smile.

"I-It wasn't a big deal," Gina told her softly.

"It was funny. We laughed and laughed," Ashlyn assured her, ignoring Nadia's looks as she laughed even more.

Nini let out a short chuckle. "Oh."

Kourtney then stood up. "I think we should move on."

"You know what? I'm gonna go get a root beer," Nini said immediately after, quickly walking towards the kitchen.

Nadia looked down awkwardly, licking her lips.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Meanwhile, at the Big Red's house, they were busy working on the spinning thing instead of talking about chocolates and root beers. "All right, everybody rotate clockwise," Big Red said to the four boys before they rotated the machine with Ricky on top of it. "Your other clockwise." They then turned it the other way.

"I just don't understand what happened. I mean, Seb doesn't seem like the jealous type," Carlos said out of nowhere, returning to the topic of Seb.

"What does he seem like?" EJ asked, placing his hands on his hips.

"I don't know. The farmer type?" Carlos answered, but it sounded more like a question. EJ, along with Marcus and Ricky, gave him a weird look as he blinked rapidly.

"He's worried that you're only dating him because he's the only other boy at school, besides Marcus, of course," Big Red said and Marcus lifted a brow, "that watches Drag Race Canada."

"Oh, I love that show!" Marcus exclaimed, forgetting that this was supposed to be about Seb and Carlos. Ricky gave him a look.

"Wow. That's specific," Carlos said, ignoring Marcus.

"Yeah, Ashlyn texted me. I have a spy on the inside," Big Red revealed as he walked towards them.

Carlos sighed. "Okay. Wow. Why wouldn't he just say something to me?"

"People are complicated, man. I don't think anybody has it together as much as they seem," Ricky told him.

"And some of even less than that," EJ added before he walked over to the wall to lean on.

"Oh, okay, pretty boy, just because you're single for the first time in your life," Ricky teased.

"Yeah, when he isn't making eyes at someone's twin sister," Carlos pointed out and Marcus nodded, leaning against the chair.

"Wait, Nadia?" Ricky asked, looking over at EJ.

"It's not a thing, you guys, okay? I mean, yes, she is the best, but we're buddies, it's cool," EJ explained nonchalantly.

"And counterclockwise, like, 15 minutes," Big Red said and Carlos got up to rotate the machine.

"You're buddies? It's cool? You guys used to hate each other, and now you guys literally always talk, like, every time there's a break. And even where there isn't a break," Carlos said.

"Yeah, he's right," Marcus agreed, not wanting to reveal that Nadia did, in fact, like him because if she found it he did say something, she would kill him.

"I'm just not looking to put myself out there right this second," EJ told them.

"Is it because you're graduating and she is, too?" Ricky asked.

"Or because of your past with her?" Carlos asked, crossing his arms.

"It's because of Nini, actually," EJ admitted.

"Oh," Ricky said, looking away from him awkwardly.

"No, don't worry, I don't have feelings for Nini anymore. I just also don't have the need to get rejected again," EJ told them, looking down.

"Sweet boy," Carlos commented. Marcus felt bad and looked down, still wanting to be loyal to his sister unless EJ really wanted to know how she felt.

"You know, the only thing I'm really proud of in my time with Nini was...letting her go," EJ said, walking over to them again.

"Okay, but does that mean you're going to let the next girl go without even trying?" Carlos questioned.

"Yeah, if you want to date Nadia, you have my blessing," Marcus said, holding his hands up.

Big Red's phone started to ring, so he answered it. "Hello?" Big Red said. "Hey, Kourt." He paused. "You did?" He paused again. "You did?" Another pause. "No, uh, we're doing great here. Semi-great. Verging on failure," he told her before another phase. "Okay, deal. See you there." Big Red then hung up and looked towards the boys. "Kourtney got the original Broadway plans from Howie. We're gonna beat them at their own game."

"Wait, wait, wait. Howie-Howie? I thought they weren't, like, a thing now?" Ricky said in confusion.

"Girls are confusing," Marcus commented. "That's why I don't deal with them."

"She didn't say. The girls want us to meet them at the stage door in an hour. Pack up the lazy Ricky thing. We're going to save our show."

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