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𝗕𝗜𝗚 𝗣𝗟𝗔𝗡𝗦

chapter fifteen:
sunshine & midnight rain !

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VIOLETTA'S FIRST MISTAKE was waking up and looking to her bulletin board, only to remember that she took off the two pictures she smiled at every morning.

As she sat up in her bed, all of the events of the previous night came crashing back to her like a tidal wave. The ache in her heart was the most prominent, followed by how her eyes felt puffy from crying — which wasn't exactly the best thing, considering tonight was opening night.

She couldn't really dwell on it, though. Even though it was opening night, it was also Ricky's eighteenth birthday, and all of them had agreed to wake him up together for his birthday. Violetta slipped out of her bed and put on some shoes before following the other girls out.

Athena — obviously — led the charge, Ricky's birthday present in her hands. Violetta quietly entered the Yurt Locker cabin after her, followed by Ashlyn, Kourtney, and Maddox (Gina wasn't there for her own personal reasons.) As she came in, her eyes immediately went to EJ. Violetta swallowed nervously and crossed her arms across her chest, resisting every single urge she had to go by his side.

God, this was awkward. Who could've guessed that they would ever end up like this? Certainly not Violetta. This was not in her plans.

She averted her gaze up to the birthday boy. All the other boys in the cabin were awake as well, and the whole group had gathered around Ricky's figure. Honestly, to Violetta, he looked kind of dead, or maybe like Sleeping Beauty. He was laying straight on his back with his hands resting on his stomach.

"Okay, I'm gonna count to three," Carlos announced.

"On three or after three?" Kourtney asked.

"Not this again."

Maddox ignored literally everything. "Happy Birthday!"

At once, every single one of them repeated the phrase excitedly. Ricky, clearly not expecting the loud noise, started to scream and thrash around in his bed. Violetta let out a small laugh, quickly covering her mouth with her hand. After all the sadness she had endured, it was nice to at least feel one moment of happiness.

"And happy opening night to those keeping score," EJ said. "Our show might be in danger, but right now, our focus is Ricky."

Violetta looked at him for a second. Maybe he learned something about last night.

Ricky chuckled and sat up in his bed. "Guys, you shouldn't have. For real, you almost gave me a heart attack."

"It was Athena's idea," Violetta told him.

Athena shrugged. "Gotta start your birthday right."

"You're an old man now?" Jet questioned.

"But wait, there's more," Carlos revealed as Ricky got out of his bed.

Ashlyn blinked in confusion. "There is?"

"Come on in. Your best friend is old enough to vote."

Big Red then came through the door holding Ricky's birthday cake, and at the sight of him, Violetta felt a slight amount of relief spread throughout her. "Please tell me these bunks are air-conditioned."

Ashlyn stared at him in shock. "Biggie?"

Ricky pulled Big Red in for a hug. "Of course you showed up."

"We've spent every birthday together since preschool," Big Red insisted.

"Yeah. And of course you brought a lotto ticket."

"Brought a what now?"

"A lotto ticket?" Ricky repeated. "It's the last thing on my bucket list. That's why you're here, right?"

"You walked on the moon?" Big Red inquired.

"He actually did it all this summer," Jet interrupted, taking a step forwards. "I'm Jet. Who are you?"

Big Red put the cake down on the table in the cabin. "I am Ashlyn's boyfriend."

"My friend first," Ricky muttered in annoyance, making Violetta shake her head in amusement.

Ricky then started to push past the crowd — clearly, Athena had said something to him, probably about the present in her hands. "Excuse me."

Jet turned the cake around so the writing was facing Ricky. "Make a wish."

Ricky then closed his eyes and blew out the candle on the cake. They all cheered, and then Violetta set eyes on her best friend. Athena was smiling widely and was bouncing a little on the balls of her feet, honestly looking like she would explode at any moment.

"Let's give the love birds some space," Violetta suggested. "I think Athena's about to burst."

It probably was best to leave them alone, anyways. Violetta was also kind of itching to not be around EJ — not that she didn't enjoy his presence, but after last night, things were obviously weird.

She walked across the grass by herself for a moment, about to go back to the Honeycomb, when she saw Ashlyn pulling Big Red around. Violetta watched him for a moment. She would never admit it out loud to him, knowing that she would never live it down, but Violetta missed him. The dynamic was always Ricky, Athena, Violetta, and Big Red — that was the way it has always been, and always will be. But now at camp their group was missing one of their parts, and everything felt incomplete and off balance.

And, honestly, Big Red's cluelessness was all Violetta needed. Plus, she really just needed as much support from her best friends as she could right now.

"Red?" Violetta called.

Big Red turned to look at her. "Yeah, Vi?"

Violetta said nothing else. All she did was surge forwards and hug Big Red tightly, burying her face into his chest and wrapping her arms around his torso. Big Red froze at the sudden contact and awkwardly patted her back.

"Uh . . ." Big Red trailed off. "What—"

"Shut up," Violetta mumbled. "Please."

Big Red immediately sensed something was wrong by the tone of her voice and her body language. "Violetta? What's wrong?"

"Breakup."

Well, that hurt.

"Oh my God." Big Red hugged her tighter. "When?"

"Last night," Violetta answered. "I'm sad."

"I know," Big Red responded. "It'll be okay."

"Violetta!" Maddox then exclaimed. "Oh, wait. Sorry, I'll come back later if you're busy."

"No, it's fine," Violetta stated, pulling away from Big Red and giving him a small smile before turning her attention to Maddox. "What do you need?"

"Camp nicknames," Maddox explained, a little excitedly. "It's tradition. I've started handing them out to everyone."

"And I am . . . ?"

"Noodle."

Violetta blinked. "Noodle?"

"Noodle," Maddox confirmed. "Well, one, because you have curly hair. But also, noodles are hard before you put them in water, kind of like you. You had all these walls built up, but when they got washed away, you let the real you shine."

"Huh." She shrugged. "All right, I'll roll with it."

After a while, Violetta started to get ready for the day before making her way to the canteen. The entirety of the canteen had been transformed into a dressing room with makeup tables and costume racks. She had stretched out a little bit before changing into her ensemble costume and doing her makeup.

"Half-hour call, everybody!" Maddox shouted.

Violetta sighed, wiping away some lipstick from the corner of her mouth. She had faith in her dancing, but there was no doubt she always had pre-show jitters. Violetta closed her lipstick when the last person she wanted to see came into the room.

"Greetings, theater children," Channing greeted, and Violetta scoffed, rolling her eyes in annoyance as she looked over at him. "Listen up. You see this camera? There are another ten of them planted throughout the theater. It all comes down to tonight, okay? Big new announcement." He laughed for a second. "We will be live-streaming tonight's Frozen performance on Disney Plus in order to drum up interest in our documentary."

Violetta's eyebrows raised as high as they could go as she stood up from her chair in shock. Sorry, was she hearing that right?

Carlos then literally screamed.

Channing pointed at Carlos. "Save the scream for on stage, snowman. When you find out your carrot's been replaced by a stick of dynamite."

"No," Carlos voiced.

"Dude, what are you talking about?" Ricky asked.

"I — I may throw a few things at you guys, last minute," Channing admitted. "It's — it's fun stuff to shake up the show."

"And by shake up you actually mean change everything we did in rehearsals?" Athena questioned.

"You guys were so great at that last rehearsal, remember?"

Ah, yes, last rehearsal. When Violetta had basically snapped. Yes. Great.

"We need that, but more, okay?" Channing continued. "So just change some dialogue, slap each other, you know, pull some wigs off. It's fun stuff to amp up the livestream, right?"

EJ cleared his throat. "We can do that."

Violetta's head whipped over to him. Huh?

"What?" they all chorused.

"No, we will do that," EJ corrected.

"Excellent," Channing said. "Okay. Have fun, all right? At each other's expenses." He laughed again, one that made Violetta's blood boil. "And if you aren't trending in Brazil at midnight, you haven't done your jobs, okay? Yay!"

Violetta watched Channing leave, a harsh glare on her face. "I'm going to kill him."

"Why would you say that?" Ricky demanded to EJ.

"Elton!" Carlos yelled. "Even I think we shouldn't pull each other's wigs off."

"Exactly," Ashlyn agreed.

"Dude, we're not doing this!" Ricky protested.

"Settle down," EJ ordered. "You guys, I — I was acting, okay? To get that jerk off our backs."

"You sure?"

Athena elbowed his side in a warning. "Ricky."

"Channing may know what makes a good TV show, but we're theater kids," EJ stated. "And we're gonna do tonight our way. Final decision."

Slowly, murmurs of agreement sounded throughout the canteen. Violetta, however, looked at EJ in concern. She didn't forget what EJ told her — this documentary and show was the only way to prove himself to his dad. As much as she hated to say it, this was the one thing that could get Cash Caswell's attention.

"Eej," Violetta called out quietly.

He looked down at her, his eyes softening slightly. "Hi."

Now that she had gotten his attention, she wasn't really sure how to voice her thoughts.

"Um," Violetta began. "I know it might not seem like it after last night, but I . . . . I still care about you. A lot. Your dad—"

"Is tomorrow's problem, V," EJ insisted. He touched her shoulder for a moment, and the touch was so familiar it made Violetta want to cry. "Good luck, Angel."

Violetta watched him go back to his own table. Angel. It sent her mind spiraling.

The half-hour call ended very quick, and soon enough, the show began. Honestly, it was going pretty smooth, considering how it was being livestreamed and how Channing said he was going to throw stuff at them out of the blue. Violetta did her job as a member of the ensemble and whatnot, acting and dancing when needed. The big dance, however, was for In Summer. Violetta put a smile on her face, and even though it probably looked fake, it would get the job done. She practically glowed underneath the stage lights, finally finding peace for the first time in days as her feet moved across the wood.

Finally, the most important song came — Let it Go. Violetta stood off in the wings with Ricky, Athena, EJ, and Jet. Violetta watched proudly as Kourtney stepped onto the stage, starting to sing in her beautiful voice. Kourtney was doing amazing and all the props seemed to be holding up. She clasped her hands together in front of her, smiling softly at Kourtney. From a costume designer to a lead — Kourtney had come so far.

Suddenly, out of nowhere, all the lights in the barn shut off. Kourtney immediately stopped singing and the orchestra stopped playing as the audience gasped. Violetta looked up at the ceiling in confusion. Why did they suddenly just turn off?

"Channing," Athena whispered.

Oh. So that's how.

There was absolutely no way Violetta was letting him get away with this. This documentary had messed with them for too long, and this was Kourtney's big moment. Violetta had to do something.

Violetta gritted her teeth in anger. "I'm really going to kill him now." She squeezed Athena's arm momentarily to get her attention. "I'm saving this. Be right back."

She brushed past the people backstage. There was a set of stairs going underneath the barn that would take her from one side to the other, so Violetta pushed open the door and walked down the stairs. She walked quickly to the other side of the stage and climbed the stairs, coming up to where Maddox and Corbin were trying to fix the lights.

And sure enough, Channing was smirking next to the main power source to the barn, which was shut off.

Violetta's eyes narrowed at him. She walked up to the switch and turned it back on, and at once, all of the stage lights turned on again. Channing turned to her, obviously wanting to protest, but instantly shut up at the harsh expression on her face.

"You are done messing with us," Violetta voiced firmly over Kourtney's powerful singing. "Don't test me. I can throw a good cup of water, but I can throw an even meaner punch."

She gave him one last good glare before rounding around the audience. Violetta was so intent on getting back in the wings she didn't notice she passed a very familiar person on her way. She got back into the wings, and Athena held out her hand. Violetta obliged and gave her a low-five, sneaking in to stand between Athena and EJ.

Kourtney swung off her old costume to reveal Elsa's blue dress and threw her old costume into the wings. Violetta cheered loudly and clapped as Kourtney walked onto the steps prop. She reached up and pulled at her updo, letting down the long braid. Kourtney belted out the last few notes of the song, and the whole audience gave her a standing ovation — not just for her singing, but starting again when the lights were off.

"Yeah, Kourt!" Violetta shouted.

The intermission then came, and everyone went back to the canteen. Violetta sat at her table while Athena stood next to her.

"Ten minute intermission," Maddox announced. "And if anyone sees Channing, punch him."

"Say less," Gina replied.

"Thank you, ten," all of them chorused.

"I'm actually surprised you didn't punch Channing," Athena said to Violetta.

Violetta shrugged casually. "I was close."

Athena laughed a little before looking down at her seriously. "How are you doing? And don't you dare lie to me, Vi."

Violetta sighed — she should've seen this coming. "I'm . . . okay. I'm honestly just trying not to focus on any of that right now because of opening night."

"You can talk to me about it, you know."

"I know. Just . . . later. I promise."

"Wait, did everybody get a card from Nini?" Ashlyn inquired.

Ricky's eyes widened in shock. "Nini's here?"

"Nini's here?" Athena repeated.

Athena then left to go to her own table. Violetta looked down, only to see an envelope with Violetta on it that she hadn't seen earlier. She picked it up and opened it, pulling out a polka-dot card. Violetta opened it and started to read.

Vi,

The bestest friend anyone could ever ask for. Truly — your loyalty to Athena is unlike no other. But by some sort of grace you've extended that loyalty to me, and it's such an honor. You've been such a rock in my life when everything was shaky and you're never afraid to speak the truth, which is something that I so dearly admire. You're incredibly talented and I want you to keep dancing no matter what. Senior year isn't ready for you. Go kill it, tiny dancer.

- Nini

Violetta stared down at the card, warmth filling her chest. She really did adore Nini too — sure, the beginning of junior year had been rough, but they had become close. It felt strange not having Nini with them at camp while she headed out to California, but she could only hope that Nini was following her dreams.

The intermission swiftly ended, and it was time for Violetta's favorite part of the show — Kristoff's Lullaby. She didn't know why she loved it so much. Maybe it was such a heartfelt song about realizing feelings, or maybe it was the set they had it on. Whatever it was, Violetta knew she wanted to watch.

Violetta snuck up in the wings, standing next to Athena, who looked positively lovestruck. She watched Ricky sit and strum his guitar and sing on the pretty set. Her eyes then trailed up, locking with EJ's from across the stage. Violetta felt a pang of hurt ricochet throughout her, and no matter how hard she tried, she couldn't look away.

Everything had fallen apart so fast, and Violetta didn't know if she had the strength right now to start picking up the pieces.

"What is this hollow kind of helplessness I'm feeling? This type of terror is new. And the fact that I can hardly breathe is now revealing how much I've changed 'cause of you."

Violetta had learned to love because of EJ. Like, true, romantic love. Without him, she probably would've been stuck in that continuous cycle of thinking she wasn't good enough. Without him, she didn't know what she was going to do. And that was terrifying.

"You light the world for me, you live life fearlessly, braver than the bravest of us do. You trust, you hope, you dare, you choose to feel and care. I thought that I was strong till I bumped into you. What do I know about love? What do I know about love? Everything I thought I did, you've gone and changed it, kid."

Violetta used to think that she was perfectly fine on her own, and then EJ had gone and messed it all up. She was more vulnerable now, and she couldn't tell if that was a good thing or a bad thing. But all the hurt she had experiences had started to build up her walls again.

"You're what I know about love."

She turned around and left the barn, heading back to the canteen. Violetta had a very long stretch of time before she needed to get back on stage. She sighed as she sat down on the couch in there, curling her legs up on the cushion. The door suddenly opened, and she looked to see EJ coming in. He wasn't wearing the black outfit he had been a couple of minutes ago — now, he was just in a white t-shirt. She watched in curiosity as he walked up to her despite Ashlyn being there.

"V?" EJ began hesitantly.

She looked up. "Yeah?"

"I — I know we're . . . we're over, but can you please come with me?" EJ let out a shaky breath. "I don't want to be alone when I do this."

Her eyebrows knit in concern. "What's going on?"

"Can I tell you when we get there?"

She gave him a tight smile. "Of course."

The two of them walked out of the canteen in the direction of the Yurt Locker. Violetta crossed her arms over her chest as she walked with him, feeling a little awkward. It still felt so familiar being next to him, but things had changed now that she had broken things off — obviously.

"I'm calling my dad," EJ admitted once they were inside the cabin.

Violetta blinked. "Oh?"

"I know it's stupid, but deep, deep down inside, I sort of had this hope that he would be here."

"It's not stupid," Violetta replied softly. "I've had that hope for years. I know how it feels."

EJ paced around a little bit. "Val encouraged me to do it sooner rather than later, and she offered to be there when I did it, but . . . I really wanted nobody else but you."

"I'm here," Violetta promised, her heart lifting the tiniest bit. "Even through everything, I'm still here. I believe in you."

EJ stared down at his phone, his thumb hovering over the screen. Violetta frowned and offered her hand out, knowing that he probably didn't have the courage right now to press the call button. EJ looked at her for a moment before handing his phone off to her. Violetta pressed call on his dad's contact, and she heard it start to ring. EJ took the phone back from her. Violetta gave him a reassuring nod, and he raised it to his ear.

"Hey, dad, it's me," EJ greeted after a moment of silence, the two of them sitting down across from each other. "We're in the middle of Act Two right now, and . . . and I actually fooled myself into thinking you'd be here, but I know you think this is a waste of my time. And — and I know I took a chance tonight that put people over profits." He glanced up at Violette, and she nodded to him. "But just once in my life, I wanna hear you say you're proud of me. Just, I'm proud of you, EJ. How hard is that? Dad? Hello? Did you . . ." he pulled the phone away from his ear. "He hung up."

Violetta felt her heart shatter into a million pieces. Cash had so many reasons to be proud of EJ, but he didn't see any of them.

"He hung up," EJ repeated blankly.

She watched before her very eyes as EJ's eyes filled with tears and how he hung his head. Violetta instantly stood up and sat next to him. He wasn't crying nearly as hard as she had last night, but she could still feel all of the pain expelling from him. Sure, Violetta could be mad at him all she wanted, but EJ didn't deserve any of this.

Violetta placed a hand on his shoulder. "Hey, can you look at me for a second?" EJ picked his head up, and she smiled sadly at the tears running down his face. "I know it would mean something different coming from your dad, but I just want to let you know that I'm proud of you."

EJ let out a sob, and against his own will, he surged forwards and buried his head into her shoulder, wrapping his arms around her tightly. Violetta froze slightly from the sudden contact but eased into it, allowing him to cry into her shoulder. She placed a hand on the back of his head and wrapped her other arm around him, holding him close.

"I know," Violetta voiced quietly as he sniffled. "I know."

"I'm so sorry, Violetta," EJ stated, his voice muffled. "I'm so sorry."

Violetta held onto him a little tighter, blinking back the tears that pricked at the back of her eyes. "I'm sorry, too. I should've understood what you were facing."

"I should've understood what you were feeling."

"That's the problem," she told him quietly. "We're stuck."

"I don't want to be stuck," EJ argued lightly.

"Neither do I." She pulled away to look at his face, wiping away a tear of his with her thumb. "But right now, we have a show to finish. We'll talk more later, but I . . . I think we have to give it time, yeah?"

He nodded a little. "Yeah, okay."

The show finally ended. Curtain call was occurring, and Violetta stood off to the side because she had already bowed with the other dancers. She watched Ricky and EJ take their bows together, and then Athena and Kourtney. Once the two leads bowed, everyone stood in one big line and bowed together.

Kourtney waved her hand, and Maddox pulled a lever from her place in the winds, letting fake snow fall. Violetta looked up at it — it should've felt like a magical moment, but she couldn't stop the sinking of her heart.

∘ ₊ ✧ ──── ✧ ₊ ∘

one more chapter :(

ME AND MY HOMIES HATE CASH CASWELL

and I know y'all are about to flame me for making her nickname noodle but IT MAKES SENSE