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𝗟𝗢𝗩𝗘 𝗕𝗔𝗖𝗞

chapter eight:
big red's basement !

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"I DON'T WANT the musical to end," EJ admitted.

Violetta looked over at him from the passenger seat. The two of them had been singing songs at the top of their lungs together for almost the full duration of their car ride, where EJ had decided to take the long way home. However, when Violetta noticed she was almost home and had put on Red, EJ had suddenly gone silent. Violetta didn't really question it. Besides, they had just gotten some pretty terrible news.

She sighed. "I don't either. Sure, I've had Athena, Ricky, and Big Red my entire life, but this musical . . . it felt so much like a home."

"I just can't believe Carlos didn't tell us, either," EJ continued.

"Miss Jenn told him not to," Violetta replied as EJ slowed to a stop in front of her house. "Plus, it's not his fault. You can't blame him."

EJ let out a deep breath. "Yeah, I guess you're right."

"When am I not?"

He rolled his eyes. "Okay, whatever. I just wish there was something we could do to help."

She shrugged. "Maybe there is, we just have to figure out what."

"I'll text you later?" EJ asked hopefully as Violetta unbuckled her seatbelt.

Violetta nodded with a small smile, her heart beating infuriatingly against her chest. "Yeah. Talk to you later, EJ."

She then left his car. Violetta walked up her driveway and then the sidewalk that led to her front door. Once she was at her front door, she glanced back over her shoulder. EJ was still sitting there, waiting for her to go inside. Violetta gave him a small wave with butterflies fluttering stupidly around in her stomach. She then pulled out her key and opened the door.

However, she was met with something completely unexpected. Travis and Bailey Chase, her parents, were standing there. Violetta stopped in her tracks, every muscle in her body freezing. Her parents were never home this early. They always came back late at night and left early in the morning. Violetta hadn't even caught a glimpse of them in weeks. At the sound of her, Travis looked up from a pile of mail on the counter and Bailey looked away from the pot she was stirring on the stove.

"Oh," Violetta let out. "Hi. I, uh, I didn't know you two were going to be home so early."

"Hi, Lettie," her mother replied, using her childhood nickname so casually like her and Travis hadn't just let work consume all their time so that they barely saw their daughter. "Your father and I decided to take the rest of the day off."

"Who was that?" her father questioned. "I saw you get out of a car with a boy in it."

"It was friend," Violetta answered simply, walking over to the table next to the kitchen and putting her backpack down. "He was driving me home from musical rehearsal."

"Musical rehearsal?" Bailey repeated, sounding slightly shocked. "I didn't know you were in a musical."

Violetta slightly rolled her eyes — big shocker. "Yeah. We're putting on a production of High School Musical."

"So, this boy," Travis continued. "What's his name?"

"EJ Caswell."

Her father raised an eyebrow. "Cash Caswell's son?"

"I guess so," Violetta voiced, truly guessing because EJ hadn't told her the names of his parents.

"It's good that you're hanging around people with parents like that. Some of your other friends—"

"Some of my other friends what?" Violetta demanded, instantly getting defensive. Her father had never liked Athena, only because he didn't get along with her parents since they were so laid back. "If you're going to say something about Athena, don't. I don't know how many times I have to tell you — she's my best friend."

"Athena's a sweet girl, Travis," her mother agreed, glancing up from the pot again.

Her father let out a sigh. "All right, all right."

Violetta really had enough at this point. "Okay, what's up? Why are you two here suddenly acting interested about my life?"

Bailey stared at her. "I was thinking that we could all have a home-cooked meal — as a family. I'm making pasta with homemade tomato sauce, your favorite."

Violetta blinked. Huh. It seemed to be the same thing every time — her parents would work all the time, suddenly take off one random day, and act like everything was fine. She used to buy it when she was younger, still having her blind hope and optimism that things could change. But now that she was older, she saw right through them.

"If you were here more often, maybe you'd realize my favorite meal changed to Athena's mom's homemade chicken noodle soup," Violetta stated. "I've been going to her house most nights for dinner after rehearsal."

"Sweetie, we have plenty of food in the fridge, why are you—" her mother started to say.

"I don't care how much food is in the fridge. All I've wanted was for you guys to actually be here. It's tiring sitting in an empty house eating all alone. I'm tired. Of all of this."

Violetta then heard her phone buzz from her backpack. She unzipped the front pouch and pulled it out. Once she unlocked it, she saw that Big Red had sent her a text inviting her to come over. Violetta was glad she was able to get away from this whole situation.

"I've gotta go," Violetta told them, walking back towards the front door.

"Where are you going?" Travis demanded.

"Big Red's. He invited me over. We've all had a tough day at the theater department."

"You're leaving?" Bailey inquired, her tone sad.

"Red's family," Violetta replied, opening the door.

"And we're not?"

Violetta turned back around, her eyes flickering between her two parents. "You and I have very different definitions of family. Unlike you, Big Red has actually been there for me. Have a good dinner."

And with that, she left her house.

She took her time getting to Big Red's. It was cold outside, but she didn't mind. She kept her hands in her pockets as she walked down the sidewalk, her mind spinning with thoughts. What the heck? Everything had just happened so fast.

Finally, after a couple minutes, she made it to Big Red's. She entered his house without any warning, since she normally did when she went to Athena, Ricky, and Big Red's houses. They all had keys to each other's houses, anyways. It had been an agreement they had made with each other when they were twelve.

Violetta quickly waved hello to Big Red's parents before walking downstairs to the basement, also known as Big Red's room. When she got down there, she saw Big Red sitting in his chair playing a video game.

"Hi, Red," Violetta greeted.

"Hey," Big Red responded. He glanced away from his video games to look at her as she sat down on the couch. "What's wrong?"

Her eyebrows knit in confusion. "What do you mean what's wrong?"

Big Red gave her a look. "We've been friends for years. I can tell when something's going on with you. So — what's wrong?"

She sprawled out on the couch and laid on her back, staring up at the ceiling. "My parents were home. We got in a fight."

"Do you—"

"No, I don't really want to talk about it, but I appreciate the gesture. Let's talk about something else, though."

Big Red slightly nodded. "Wanna play this game with me?"

Violetta turned her head to look at the screen. "Nah. Talk with me and game at the same time."

Big Red did not do what Violetta wanted him to. He mainly focused on his game, so Violetta started to boo him. It was about twenty minutes later when Big Red finally stopped playing his game and spun around in his chair, giving her a look.

"What?" she asked innocently. "You weren't talking to me. I had to get your attention somehow."

"I wanted to talk about your mom and dad," Big Red admitted. "All I wanted to do was make sure you were okay."

Her eyes slightly softened. "I'm all right, Red. Really, I am."

Suddenly, there were footsteps on the stairs. Violetta glanced over to see Ricky and Athena walking down hand-in-hand, Ricky carrying his guitar case as well. She smiled slightly at them. They were just so cute. Ricky instantly sat in the chair across from Big Red and took out his guitar, starting to strum a tune. Violetta knew it was a way to distract him from his thoughts.

"Hey guys," Athena said. "What's up?"

Violetta didn't really want to tell Athena about what had happened with her parents. Don't get her wrong, she told Athena basically everything, but she looked so happy. Violetta didn't want to be a burden, so she pushed everything down.

"Thank God you're here," Big Red told her. "Vi kept booing at me while I was playing video games."

"Because I was getting bored with you not talking to me, idiot," Violetta argued.

Athena lifted up Violetta's legs, sat down on the couch, and lowered her legs back down so they were draped across her lap. "Well, we're here now. How long have you been here, Vi?"

Violetta paused to think for a moment. "I'm not sure. Maybe half an hour? Red invited me and I really had nothing better to do with my time."

Also known as — she wanted to escape her house.

"I'm so glad you were so excited to see me," Big Red stated sarcastically.

"It's not like I was going to do anything else today. So, I saw your text and thought maybe he'll provide me with some entertainment. This is much better than sitting at home sulking at how our musical is literally going down the drain with Miss Jenn being fired."

Ricky nodded, seemingly agreeing with her. "It's weird not being at rehearsal. How stupid is that?"

"It's not stupid, Ricky," Athena explained gently. "You've gotten used to it, and now it's suddenly been taken away. I also feel really weird about it." She let out a sigh. "I miss playing High School Musical songs on the piano."

"What if we just did the show without her?" Big Red questioned.

"We can't even take a picture without her," Ricky argued. "No offense."

"Nah, you're right, dude."

The doorbell then rang. Violetta glanced back up the stairs, sitting up straighter and taking her legs off Athena's lap. Who could that be?

"Down here, Kaden!" Big Red exclaimed.

Kaden then came down the steps. "Hope it's cool I invited Steph and Rico."

Steph and Rico then came down the stairs as well. Violetta waved at her dancer friends.

"What's up guys?" Ricky inquired.

"Uh, well you guys didn't text back, so I reached out to some peeps," Big Red revealed. "I wanted some company tonight."

"Hey, I texted you back," Violetta voiced. "Was my company not enough for you?"

Big Red rolled his eyes at her. "I didn't mean it like that, Vi. I'm just saying I wanted more people than just the two of us."

The doorbell rang once more, except this time, Big Red seemed confused by it.

"It's open?" he shouted in a questioning tone.

Ashlyn then came down the stairs. "Hey, guys."

Ricky got up from sitting. "Okay, how many people are coming?"

"Uh, that should be it," Big Red answered.

"Actually, give it a minute," Ashlyn said.

About five minutes later, the entire cast of High School Musical were gathered in Big Red's basement. Violetta was sitting on the arm of the couch, and EJ had sat down next to her. She was vaguely aware of the way his arm was brushing against her leg. The basement was deafeningly silent — no one was saying a word and they were just sitting there. Violetta and Athena locked eyes. Athena gave her a confused glance from her place next to Ricky, but Violetta merely shrugged. She had absolutely no idea what was going on.

Natalie was the one to break the silence. "This is a terrible party. There aren't even pretzels. What are we all doing here?"

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

"Fine, I'll say something," Carlos announced. "I'm mad at Miss Jenn."

"Why?" Gina asked with a scoff. "Because she's got a couple 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?"

Athena frowned at that. "I'm sorry, Carlos."

"Define real teacher," Ashlyn countered.

"He's got a point," Kourtney admitted.

"Does he, though?" Natalie questioned.

"Guys," Big Red cut in, trying to stop their bickering.

"So, why are we all here then?"

"Yeah, good question," EJ said. "This is a waste of time."

All of them went silent once more. Violetta rolled her eyes and jammed her elbow into his shoulder. EJ let out a hiss of pain and looked up at her incredulously. Violetta merely raised an eyebrow back.

"Honestly?" Carlos began softly. "Because she gave me a shot. And it's been a long time since someone gave me a shot."

Seb placed a hand on Carlos' knee. "Yeah."

"She gave me a voice," Nini added.

Kourtney crossed her arms across her chest. "Yeah, and now nobody's gonna get to hear it because Miss Jenn screwed up."

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

"I do," Ricky responded, making Violetta tilt her head at him.

"Seriously, dude?" Big Red asked.

"What, because you live some perfect life?" Kourtney questioned.

"He never said that, Kourtney," Athena argued.

Ricky shook his head. "Not at all." He stood up from the chair, Athena standing up as well so she wouldn't fall. "Because she put our show in jeopardy. And now we're all here, maybe for the last time, together. And for some of us, this has become . . ." He hesitated for a second. "I don't know . . ."

Athena stood next to him and took his hand. "A family."

"What team?" Ricky recited.

Violetta let a small smile appear on her face.

"Wildcats," all of them chorused.

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

They all began to just blurt out ideas. Some of them sounded a bit far-fetched, but then again, they were desperate. Violetta suddenly looked at her best friend and her eyebrows knit in confusion. Athena was walking around Big Red's basement, seemingly looking for something.

"What are you doing, Athena?" Violetta inquired, gaining the attention of everyone else as well.

Athena looked at Big Red, taking a deep breath. "Red, do you have a piece of paper and a pencil down here?"

Big Red nodded. He walked over to his desk and got a piece of paper and a pencil. Athena took them from him with a quiet thank you. She then sat down on the ground, placing the paper and pencil in front of her.

"Well, we're theater kids, right?" Athena started to explain. "Some of us are old and some of us are new, but we all have one thing in common: music. Whether it be singing or dancing, we work together in perfect harmony." She looked up at Ricky and gave him a small smile for some reason, but Athena didn't question it. "So, let's put those talents together and make a performance to save our drama teacher."

Violetta nodded in impressment. This was perfect.

Carlos face-palmed. "Why did I not think of that?"

"You're a genius, Athena," Ricky said, and Athena's face flushed.

"We should start with the song, and then Carlos and the dancers can choreograph a routine to go along with it," Nini revealed. "Do you have any ideas of what the song could be?"

"I did have one," Athena responded. "Miss Jenn kind of saved us all in a way. We were all sort of stuck in different situations, and whatever it may be, she helped us get through it with this musical. So, since she saved us, that makes her almost like a superhero. And who's a superhero that has a famous slogan?"

"The Flash," Ricky instantly answered. All of them turned to look at him, and Violetta gave him a confused expression. "What? Run, Barry, run."

Athena blinked at him, seeming just as confused as Violetta. "I was actually talking about Superman, but okay. Anyways, I was thinking we should base the song off of his slogan: Truth, Justice, and The American Way. But instead of The American Way, we have to make it more musical related. So Truth, Justice, and . . ."

"Songs in Our Key?" EJ suddenly suggested.

Violetta's smile grew and she nodded. This was definitely it.

Athena paused from writing the title on the paper and grinned at him. "Exactly. What do you guys say?"

They all agreed with Athena's plan.

Everyone immediately began to agree with Athena's plan.

"Ashlyn, Nini, I could use your help with writing," Athena explained

Nini nodded in reply. "Okay. Let's start."

Violetta stood up as the three of them walked to a secluded part of Big Red's basement. "The rest of us can come up with a dance. Carlos?"

Carlos then began to rattle off some ideas off the top of his head. Meanwhile, Violetta looked over at EJ, holding their gaze together for a long moment. They were helping — and hopefully, this musical wouldn't end.

∘ ₊ ✧ ──── ✧ ₊ ∘

ej redemption arc begins with violetta fight me ab it

also ooooh we met her parents and I came up with that her dad doesn't like athena ON THE SPOT

no but seriously who couldn't like athena