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𝗜𝗡 𝗧𝗢𝗢 𝗗𝗘𝗘𝗣

chapter twenty:
I've loved you since the first
time you picked up your ukulele . . .
oh wait, wrong speech !

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THE WHOLE THEATER group sat in the booths of Salt Lake Slices for their celebration for finishing opening night. Violetta felt a lot happier than she did before. Maybe it was the way she was nestled comfortably into EJ's side at the booth they shared with Athena or Ricky, or maybe it was the way all of them were joking around after a day filled with stress, or maybe it was how she had sang songs in the car with EJ like normal. Nevertheless, her heart started to glow after it had been in the shadows for a little while.

Ashlyn raised her cup of soda in a toast. "Tonight was one for the record books."

All of them cheered. Violetta smiled and picked up her own cup of soda, knocking it with Ricky's from where he was sitting diagonal from her. She felt EJ press a kiss to her temple, and her smile only widened.

"I literally don't even remember being on stage," Carlos revealed.

Seb put his hand on top of Carlos'. "The rest of us will never forget it."

Athena nodded in agreement. "For real, Carlos. You absolutely slayed in Be Our Guest."

The bell to the restaurant then chimed, signaling that somebody had entered the restaurant. Violetta blinked in confusion. Slices had been closed for a private event, which they were at, and everyone was here. Violetta turned, only to let out a scoff and roll her eyes in annoyance. None other than Lily and Antoine had entered. Violetta was hoping that she would never have to see Lily and her stupid little blonde ponytail ever again after tonight, but here she was, ruining her plans.

Literally nobody wanted them there. To show how much they didn't, all of them let out a chorus of boo's.

"Okay, easy, easy, easy, easy, Wildcats," Lily said. "We just came to congratulate you all."

"Congratulate us?" Athena repeated in shock.

"Especially you, Athena." Violetta's eyes momentarily narrowed, but Lily seemed completely serious — there wasn't a hint of malice in her tone or on her face. "I mean it."

"Uh . . ." Athena trailed off, and she shared a glance with Violetta, who just shrugged helplessly. "Thanks, I guess."

"It is true," Antoine stated. "Your show had a beginning, a middle, and an end. It was wonderful."

A moment of silence, where everyone from East High stared at Antoine and Lily either incredulously, in confusion, or a mix of both.

"And Big Red, you were also in it."

"Okay, well, thank you guys for dropping by, but this is kind of a private party," Ricky announced. He stood up from the booth and pulled Athena up as well. "So if you could, uh—"

"Bye," everyone voiced.

They continued on with their own various forms of goodbye so they could get Lily and Antoine to leave. Athena and Ricky ushered them to the door, and Violetta was a little worried that Lily would try to get under Athena's skin again.

Violetta waved. "Bye, b—"

"V," EJ scolded.

"What? She deserves it. Look me in the face and say she isn't one. Go ahead. Oh, right, you can't."

He shook his head. "You and your aggressiveness."

"Hey, at least I didn't punch her," Violetta insisted. "I was close to on numerous occasions. She survived another day."

"Maybe you should've joined kickboxing instead of dance."

"Nah. I can knock somebody out with a fan kick given the chance."

EJ blinked at her. "I am so afraid of you."

"Great," Violetta replied. "That was my goal the entire time. Making my boyfriend scared of me so he would always listen to me. This is a good thing we have going on." She then tuned back into the conversations from everyone else, not noticing how EJ looked down at her with a lot of adoration. "Can't believe they showed their faces."

"The audacity," Natalie commented as Athena and Ricky came back to the booth.

"Can you guys imagine if they actually win at the Menkies?" Big Red asked.

Menkies. That word was so stupid. All of this exhausting rivalry, and for what? A competition?

Violetta groaned to show her annoyance. "Who even cares anymore? At this point, I'm just ready to take a nap."

Athena pointed at her. "Amen, sister."

Kourtney nodded. "Honestly, and don't sue me, but I kind of don't care anymore if we win or lose to this competition."

Violetta honestly agreed with Kourtney. She was just so tired of everything. Everyone in the cast had this immense pressure on them, especially with the rivalry with North High. Athena and Ricky were at the forefront of it all, and it even caused them to break up. That wasn't what high school theater was supposed to be. Violetta joined theater to dance and have fun with her friends. That was exactly how High School Musical was, but Beauty and the Beast felt way more structured and rigid. And to be honest, Violetta had a lot more fun playing Martha than she had playing one of the Silly Girls.

"I actually feel the same," Gina admitted.

"Okay, I thought it was just me," Carlos responded.

"I mean, we did it, right?" Big Red questioned to them as a whole. "We already got everything we wanted."

"But just let this whole competition go, after all this work?" Ashlyn inquired.

EJ removed his arm from around Violetta's shoulders, making her look up at him as he stood up. "If I can have a, uh, senior moment here."

Violetta's eyes glinted. "Oh boy, here we go."

"Quiet, V. I've won a bunch of trophies over the years, you guys. But I'd trade it all for this group right here tonight."

EJ started to get choked up at the end. Violetta stared up at him, and all of those emotions that she felt during the curtain call came rushing back at her. They were a little heightened only because she could see the tears shining in EJ's eyes. Tears of her own glassed over her eyes, but she blinked most of them back. No more crying tonight.

Violetta held out her hand to EJ, giving him a small smile. EJ instantly took it and sat back down next to her. Their eyes met, teary eyes to teary eyes. She squeezed his hand comfortingly. EJ leaned over and pressed a kiss onto her cheek, and Violetta felt her heart race against her chest at the familiar feeling.

"So, what are gonna tell Miss Jenn?" Natalie asked.

Nobody had an answer. Miss Jenn was arguably the one who cared the most about this competition out of all of them. Breaking the news to her was going to be . . . rough. Violetta wondered how they were going to tell her, but there was no time for preparation, because Miss Jenn came marching into the restaurant with her chin held high, Mr. Mazzara trailing after her.

Miss Jenn waved around a large manila envelope that was decorated with silver swirl stickers in the corners. "The envelope, please. Wildcats, I have in my hands the nominations for the Alan Menken Awards for Excellence in High School Musical Theater. I haven't opened it yet, but who's ready for the biggest moment of the year?"

None of them said anything. All they did was just stare at her. Violetta absentmindedly twirled one of her curls around her finger, feeling very awkward all of the sudden.

Miss Jenn leaned in closer to Mr. Mazzara. "Am I muted?"

Ricky, thankfully, spoke up for all of them after clearing his throat. "Uh, Miss Jenn. We were kinda thinking, you know, maybe we won already."

"Yeah," Nini added. "Maybe we don't need or want to see what's in the envelope?"

Miss Jenn froze for a second before she ultimately let out a breath of relief. "Oh, thank God. I had to stop four times on the way here because I was physically ill."

Violetta let out a small laugh with everyone else. It suddenly felt like a huge weight was lifted off of everyone's shoulders. Violetta might've been okay, but others (cough, Athena, cough) would probably have a mental breakdown at the nominations they got and being faced with actually performing at the Menkies.

"It was five," Mr. Mazzara announced.

Big Red hold up his bottle of Pepto-Bismol. "Hey, I get it."

"So, it's settled," Miss Jenn stated. "We're dropping out of the competition."

"I think it's for the best," Athena revealed.

All of them were quiet, waiting for Miss Jenn to do something.

"But what am I gonna do with this?" Miss Jenn questioned, pointing to the envelope in her hand.

Kourtney approached Miss Jenn, holding out her hand. "Oh, give me that. We got a pizza oven."

Miss Jenn smiled at all of them brightly as she handed Kourtney the envelope. They all cheered as the two of them went off towards the kitchen to, quite literally, burn the competition away.

EJ looked down at her. "On a scale of one to ten, how tired are you?"

"Eleven," Violetta answered. "I've been on a decline ever since Be Our Guest. I think that has to be the most energy I've put into a dance . . . ever. Which is saying a lot."

"Oh. I was just going to ask you if after this if you wanted to hang out and watch High School Musical 3."

Violetta gave him a knowing look. "So you can relate to the characters on having their last high school musical?"

"You know me too well," EJ replied.

She glanced up for a moment, only to see Athena following Ricky out of the restaurant. Violetta gave her a quick wink. They would be okay — she was sure of it.

"Better than anyone," EJ added.

Violetta blinked. "Yeah?"

EJ cleared his throat — his heart was racing against his chest, but he couldn't hold it in anymore. "Can we talk?"

"Sure," Violetta agreed.

He slid out of the booth and tugged on her hand that he was holding, making her stand up as well. EJ started to leave her towards a quieter corner of the restaurant where no one was. Violetta stared at the back of his head, her mind spinning. A significant other asking to talk always seemed to be a bad sign, even though Violetta and EJ's talks were rarely ever bad — well, except for that time when she told him he got rejected from Duke.

EJ sat down on top of one of the tables. He pulled Violetta into him with their hands, and she stood in between his legs so that they were face-to-face. EJ reached out and took her other hand as well. Violetta continued to look at him curiously, but all EJ did was stare at her and say nothing.

"So . . ." Violetta began.

"It's the end of my high school theater career," EJ said. "It's also just the end of my high school career."

Violetta nodded slowly, her heart already starting to sink. "I know."

"But it's not the end of us." EJ squeezed her hands. "I'm making sure it's not the end of us. I could tell that's why you were crying."

Violetta sighed — curse him for knowing her and her emotions too well. "Everything kind of hit me all at once when I watched you take your bow. I just . . . I'm not ready to let you go, Eej."

"Neither of us are letting go," EJ promised. "I'm taking a gap year. I — I have no clue what I want to do, but all I do know is that I want you by my side for whatever it is, because my love for you keeps me going."

Violetta froze, and she blinked in shock.

Oh.

Oh.

So there it was. The emotion that she had been so scared of her entire life, the emotion she stupidly thought EJ wouldn't share with her, the emotion that overpowered everything else. Violetta felt her heart soar, and everything turned golden.

"You've never said that before," Violetta said quietly.

He nodded slowly. "Well, I do."

Violetta grinned at him, a blush covering her cheeks that she didn't even mind. "I love you, too."

EJ smiled back at her. Violetta let out a small laugh and leaned forwards, instantly attaching their lips in a kiss. It felt the same, yet different at the same time. This one was way more passionate than all the others, thanks to the confession that just happened.

Neither of them knew what other plans the universe had for them. However, if there was one thing for certain, Violetta Chase was in too deep, and she didn't care at all.

∘ ₊ ✧ ──── ✧ ₊ ∘

𝑻𝑯𝑬 𝑬𝑵𝑫

oh.

well, that happened I guess

WHO WANTS A DT FOR BOOK THREE WEEEEE