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𝗡𝗢𝗪 𝗢𝗥 𝗡𝗘𝗩𝗘𝗥

chapter five:
anna & kristoff !

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"ATHENA!" VIOLETTA'S VOICE screamed. "Athena, you have to wake up!"

Nope. It was absolutely way too early for this.

Athena groaned and rubbed her eyes. "You're yelling. Why are you yelling?"

"I'm yelling because the cast list is posted," Violetta explained, and even through her sleepy state, Athena could hear the excitement in Violetta's tone. "You should really come look at it."

"Five more minutes."

"No, now."

Athena sat up, blinking to clear her vision. "Is it big news?"

Violetta gave her a look. "Would I have come get you if it wasn't?"

Her chest suddenly rushed with excitement. "Did I—?"

"Just come with me!"

Athena slid out of her bunk and put on a pair of flip-flops so she wasn't barefoot. She grabbed a gray zip-up hoodie that was definitely Ricky's and pulled it on as she left the cabin. Athena followed Violetta across the lawn to the barn, where a crowd was already gathering around a wall of the barn.

She pushed past Kourtney, who had apparently been dragged by Gina to the cast list. Athena immediately scanned for Ricky's name first. Kristoff. She smiled widely, nothing but pride filling her insides for him. Kourtney got Elsa, Jet got Hans, EJ got Sven, Carlos got Olaf, two younger girls named Emmy and Alex got young Anna and Elsa, and the rest — including Violetta, Gina, and Ashlyn — got ensemble.

And finally, her eyes scanned for her name last, not finding it in the ensemble. She found it at the very top of the sheet. Athena blinked, wondering if she was still dreaming. She reached out her hand and found Violetta, hitting her arm a couple of times quickly.

"Am I awake?" Athena asked. "Please tell me I'm not still sleeping."

"Oh, you're awake, 'Thena," Violetta replied, moving out of the way. "It's real." She grabbed her shoulders and forced Athena to look at her, a wide smile on her face. "You got the lead."

"Anna," Athena breathed out in amazement. "I — I got Anna."

"Didn't I tell you it was going to be fine?"

Athena immediately surged forwards and tackled Violetta in a hug. Violetta laughed and hugged her back tightly, the two of them rocking back and forth. Athena let go of Violetta and looked back at the cast list with her mouth dropped open in shock, seeing ANNA — ATHENA. Was this really happening?

"Sisters!" Kourtney cut in, her voice high-pitched as she grabbed Athena's shoulders. "We're sisters! Oh my God, Athena, it's a dream come true!"

Kourtney let out a squeal. Athena laughed slightly and took Kourtney's hands in hers, lacing their fingers together. She squealed with Kourtney. The thought of them both playing sisters was incredible. Not to mention, Athena absolutely adored Kourtney.

"Wow!" a very familiar voice exclaimed from behind them. Athena turned, her heart racing against her chest at Ricky's morning voice (no, do not judge her.) "I didn't know your voices could even reach that register."

Athena smiled excitedly at her boyfriend. She took a step towards him and jumped up, throwing her arms around his neck. Ricky caught her waist in his arms and held her tight, allowing her feet to dangle off of the ground. Athena could practically feel Ricky's smile against her shoulder.

Neither of them seemed to notice the glare that Gina sent Athena's way, because, yet again, she had stolen another role from her. Not to mention a role that was playing Ricky's love interest. It was all so cliché, wasn't it?

"Plug your ears, I'm about to join them," Carlos revealed. "I can't believe I'm playing . . ."

"Olaf!" Ricky said, pulling his head away from Athena's shoulder and looking at the cast list, still holding her off of the ground. "Congrats, bro. And I'm Kristoff. That's . . ."

"A person. Congratulations on being an actual species, Ricky. What? First Lumière and now Olaf. Am I destined to play an inanimate object for eternity?"

Ricky looked back at Athena, his eyebrows knit together in thought. "Who is Kristoff, exactly?"

Athena rolled her eyes fondly at him, moving her hands from the back of his neck to rest on either side of his face. "How you manage to get the lead roles without knowing exactly who they are, I will never know."

"It's because I'm so charming."

"Oh, yeah, I'm sure that's it." She grinned at him. "Kristoff is Anna's love interest — well, the one that she ends up with at the end. You'll see in the script."

"So we got the leads?" Ricky questioned, his eyes lighting up.

"Yes, baby, we got the leads," Athena confirmed, letting out a small shriek as he spun her around. "Okay, okay, put me down."

Ricky obliged, setting her feet back on the ground. He instead opted for putting both of his arms around her waist so that her back was pressed up against the front of him. Athena smiled to herself at the feeling and crossed her arms across her chest. She leaned against him comfortably.

"Make way for Madame de la Grande Bouche!" Ashlyn dramatically announced, making her way through the crowd. "Make way for . . ." She stopped at the cast list and stopped in her tracks upon noticing where her name was. Athena slightly winced. "The ensemble? I mean, hey—" she turned towards them all "—the ensemble. You can't do a show without the ensemble. There are no small parts, only small actors, right? Don't count your lines, make the lines count."

"All right, all right, everyone calm down," EJ interjected, pushing through the crowd as well. "Let's just be professionals."

"Professionally, mazel tov. Especially EJ. Personally, I will be backlogging photos of him in antlers for all future possible blackmail purposes."

Violetta pointed at her. "And I will come to you when I need them. Which I probably will. Actually, let me frame one in my room."

"W-What are you talking about?" EJ inquired over all the laughter.

"Your good friend Val cast you as Sven, the reindeer?" Carlos told him.

"But — no, no. I'm not in the show, I'm directing the show."

"Check the list. Looks like you'll be joining the ranks of character actor-hyphen-directors."

"Oh, like Greta Gerwig!" Gina commented, pushing away her anger for now.

EJ shook his head. "No, this has to be a mistake."

They all started to chatter among themselves. Athena, however, let out a yawn. She was still excited about getting Anna and playing the lead again, but it was still early.

"You're still tired, huh?" Ricky asked.

"What?" Athena replied. "No, I'm awake."

Her body betrayed her. She let out another yawn. Still in Ricky's grasp, she turned herself around and basically just slumped against him. Her forehead landed against his chest and she moved her body closer to his. She felt him laugh from the rumble in his chest before he tightened his grip around her.

"You sure sound awake," Ricky responded, pressing a kiss to the top of her head. "Also, how do you manage to steal so many shirts and hoodies away from me? I've been looking for that t-shirt for ages."

"Half of my wardrobe is your stuff," Athena answered, her voice slightly muffled. "That's just the way it is. Sorry."

"Quiet your voices!" Maddox ordered, and Athena turned her head to look at the girl on the porch of the barn, her cheek now pressed against Ricky's chest.

"Morning, stage manager," EJ greeted. "You got everything ready?"

"Sure do, Rocket Man. It's Newbie Initiation Campout Night, folks. A night in the woods among the wildlife. And spirits. Pack your tents. Oh, and rest your vocal cords. You'll be screaming tonight."

Athena picked her head up and shared a wide-eyed look with Ricky. What was that supposed to mean?

"Oh, and by the way, Carlos, we have cameras in the stage manager's office, but, uh, nice try recasting the show," Maddox said.

Athena's eyes widened even further and she looked at Carlos. Recasting the show? Okay, maybe it was a little hard for him to not be a part of casting the show like he had done with Miss Jenn, but, like, fully recasting the show? What was he trying to do?

"I've got to go get ready back at the Honeycomb," Athena voiced to Ricky as people started to trickle out. She pulled back from his embrace, grabbing onto his hands and extending their arms as far as they could go. "I'll see you later, though?"

Ricky pulled her back in, smirking down at her as she yelped from the sudden movement. "Yeah, I'll see you later."

"All right." Athena let go of his hands and started to walk off, but she looked at him over his shoulder. "Save me a spot around the campfire!"

"As if I would ever sit next to anyone else."

Athena shook her head, grinning to herself as butterflies rushed throughout her stomach.

She went back into the Honeycomb and got ready for the day. Athena got into a pair of black leggings, a white tank top with small stars on it, black high-top Converse, and a gray knit cardigan. She had tied her hair back into two French braids, allowing most of the pink to be mixed in with her natural hair color, but since her hair was short, the ends of the braids had been tied into small ponytails.

Athena was now sitting on her top bunk, listening to Maddox as she absentmindedly ran the planet Saturn charm on her necklace back and forth along the chain.

"It's the most wonderful time of the year!" Maddox exclaimed from her place on the swing. "Not Christmas, not Tax Day . . ." she hopped up from the swing. "Newbie Night! Oh, you guys are gonna have so much fun. Once we reach the camping spot, we start by setting up the tents. Then we gather around the campfire for a little sing-along experience, followed by the world-famous retelling of . . ."

She turned back around. However, she saw that only Athena and Violetta we're paying attention to what she was saying. Athena offered Maddox a small smile and a wave.

"Am I talking to myself? I'm talking to myself."

Athena nudged Violetta's shoulder with her foot. "Hey, we're sharing a tent, right?"

Violetta looked up at her. "You're not sharing a tent with Ricky?"

"No. We've had plenty of sleepovers lately, and you and I haven't had enough. Besides, I am not passing up an opportunity to camp with my best friend."

Violetta grinned. "Wanna pull an all-nighter?"

Athena held out her hand for a high-five, and Violetta obliged. "Absolutely."

The sound of paper ripping was suddenly heard. Athena looked over to see Ashlyn, on her top bunk, crumpling a piece of paper in her hand while letting out a small huff. She had been scribbling furiously on it for the past couple of minutes. Athena's eyebrows knit in concern. It was clear that Ashlyn was struggling with getting the ensemble.

"Are you okay?" Gina questioned.

"A hundred percent," Ashlyn answered. "Just journaling. Reframing the news from this morning so I can make it a win."

"Oh, I get it," Maddox stated. "You're a Leo Rising."

Athena shared a wide-eyed look with Violetta. Ashlyn was extremely obsessed with astrology. She knew basically her entire chart, but Maddox was mixing things up.

"Capricorn Rising, actually," Ashlyn corrected. "I'm all Earth and air signs in my big three."

"Really?" Maddox continued. "I totally get fire sign vibes from you."

"Look, I know myself. I'm a Ravenclaw, an ENFP, a Madame de la Grande Bouche, and a Samantha."

Athena blinked. Who was Samantha?

"The American Girl Doll, Samantha," Ashlyn explained. "And I'm definitely a Capricorn Rising."

"Yeah, okay," Maddox replied, smiling brightly. "Tonight's gonna rock."

The sound of the blinds opening was heard. Athena looked over to see that it was EJ, lifting up the blinds and sticking his head through the window.

"Hey, V, can I talk to you?" EJ inquired.

All of them instantly began to complain at the way he was sticking his head through the window.

"It is my head," EJ protested.

Ricky's head then popped up behind EJ's. "Dude, why'd you stick your head in the window? That's kind of weird."

Athena tilted her head at him. "You do realize you're doing the exact same thing right now, honey? And what are you doing here?"

"I wanted to talk to my leading lady-slash-love interest-slash-girlfriend as well."

Maddox sighed. "I'll allow it."

"Well, now we need to come in the rest of the way," EJ said.

"You both got two minutes. Go."

The two of them ducked down from the window and rounded around to the front. EJ entered first, holding a bunch of flowers in his hand, smiling widely. Ricky followed in after him, his eyes lighting up when he saw her.

While Violetta went over to EJ to talk by the window, Ricky walked up to where Athena was sitting on her top bunk. He offered a hand to her. Athena took it and slid off, staring up at him.

Ricky's eyes went to her hair. "Your hair looks so cute like that."

"Thanks," Athena responded, her cheeks heating up the tiniest bit. "What'd you want to talk to me about?"

"Oh, right. Um, I wanted to come congratulate you. I would've gotten flowers like EJ, but I didn't know if you wanted anything other than dahlias because I always get you dahlias because they're your favorite, so I decided to come and talk—"

"Ricky," Athena interjected, laughing slightly. "It's okay. I don't need any flowers." She squeezed his hand. "You're enough."

"I know I wasn't really paying attention when we watched Frozen, but I do know that Anna is a really big role," Ricky continued. "How are you feeling?"

She let out a deep breath, absentmindedly rubbing her thumb across Ricky's knuckles. "Okay. Kind of nervous. I mean, I know I played Belle, but this for, like, an actual documentary, so . . ."

"And you're going to be incredible because you're a shining star. Plus, we're the leads. We're Kristoff and Anna. That's incredible."

"Baby, you don't even know who Kristoff is, besides from what I told you."

"Yes, I do," Ricky insisted. "He drives a sled and has a reindeer."

"Okay, wow, you knew more than I thought," Athena commented, giggling a little at the way Ricky rolled his eyes playfully at her. "We'll rewatch it when we get home."

"You know I'll just pay attention to you again."

"No you won't, I'll yell at you." She smiled up at him. "How are you feeling, getting the lead again?"

"Happy," Ricky responded. "Mostly because I get to be with you."

"That was really cheesy."

"It's my specialty, Attie. You know that."

Athena shook her head at him before pressing up onto her toes. She went to kiss him before they were interrupted.

"No kissing in the cabin!" Maddox suddenly exclaimed. "And both of your two minutes are up."

She dropped back down onto her toes, laughing slightly at Maddox and how the other girls (besides Gina) were giggling from them being stopped. Athena held onto Ricky's hand a little tighter as she led him out of the cabin onto the small porch it had. She turned to face him, taking his other hand to hold as well.

"Go finish packing," Athena said. "And for the love of God, please don't bring that snowsuit."

"That snowsuit was a fashion statement," Ricky protested.

"Uh-huh. I'm sure it was."

And finally, for the first time that day, Athena pressed her lips onto Ricky's. She moved up to stand on her toes to be as close to him as possible. Ricky squeezed her hands gently as he kissed her back sweetly. Finally, after a couple of moments, Athena was the first one to pull away, falling back onto her flat feet. Ricky leaned down and pressed one more quick kiss onto her lips, making her smile.

"I love you," Athena told him.

"To the moon and to Saturn," Ricky promised. "See you later."

He let go of her hands and went down the steps to go back to his cabin, EJ trailing behind them. Athena watched him go for a moment, her heart beating against her chest. God, Ricky Bowen would so be the death of her.

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YEAHHHH THOSE ARE MY LEADS ‼️

okay I know I said I would make this book happy but I just NEED a scene where athena just breaks down and cries her little heart out bc it's always been her comforting ricky but I WANT RICKY COMFORTING ATHENA I CRAVE IT