┏━━━━━━༻❁༺━━━━━━┓

𝗣𝗘𝗥𝗙𝗘𝗖𝗧 𝗛𝗔𝗥𝗠𝗢𝗡𝗬

chapter three:
the auditions !

┗━━━━━━༻❁༺━━━━━━┛

IT WAS THE day of the auditions, and to say that Athena was nervous would be an understatement. She sat in the dressing room with Violetta, both the numbers ten and eleven displayed clearly across the front of their shirts so Carlos wouldn't yell at them. Athena's stomach bubbled with nerves and she kept wringing her hands together.

Violetta suddenly scoffed. "Can you believe EJ is saying that him and Nini have no competition here? Like, I get it, they're talented, but do they really have to downgrade other people like that?"

Athena raised an eyebrow at her. "Didn't you say that he was the perfect guy yesterday? And haven't you had a crush on him since freshman year?"

"Okay, that's besides the point. Maybe I don't like guys who are so confident that they're getting Troy Bolton that they show up in costume with a basketball." She soon noticed that Athena's leg was rapidly bouncing up and down. "Hey, 'Thena, don't worry. You're going to kill it."

Athena sighed. "I just don't know where Ricky is. He told me he would be here."

"And he will be," Violetta reassured her. "Ricky has never broken a promise to you. Why would he start now?"

She went to respond, but the room went silent after a knock on the door from Miss Jenn. "Okay, theater people. Let's do this."

The room erupted in cheers. Athena shared a panicked look with Violetta for a moment. Violetta squeezed her shoulder in effort to try and calm her down. The two of them hopped off the counter they were sitting on and followed the rest of the crowd to the auditorium.

Athena and Violetta stood in the wings, watching as Carlos taught a small group of people choreography to the piano version of Stick to the Status Quo. All of them picked up on it fairly quickly, especially the girl who had the number one on her shirt. Athena watched as the girl added high kicks and completely put everything she had into the dance moves. She blinked a couple of times in surprise.

"Great!" Carlos praised. "That's it for the warm-up."

"Warm-up?" Athena whispered urgently to Violetta. "That seemed like a whole number to me."

"Everyone, pair up," Miss Jenn announced. Athena and Violetta looked to each other, but Miss Jenn immediately shut them down. "Not with a friend. Theater is a community."

The girl with the one on her shirt approached Nini. Meanwhile, EJ looked to Violetta, and the two of them walked towards each other. Violetta sent a wink to Athena before turning back to EJ to introduce herself. Athena looked around for a moment before a blonde-haired boy with the brightest smile she had ever seen came up to her.

"Hi," he greeted, sticking out his hand for her to shake. "I'm Seb."

Athena shook his hand and couldn't help but smile at his positive attitude. "I'm Athena."

"Pretty name," Seb complimented. "Let me guess, you're trying out for Gabriella?"

Athena's eyes widened and she immediately shook her head. "Oh, no no no, not Gabriella. I'm trying out for Kelsi."

"Sorry, you just seem like you would be a really good Gabriella."

"Well, thank you," Athena replied. "Who are you auditioning for?"

Seb's cheeks flushed red and he turned his attention to the ground. "Ryan."

"Are you sure?" Athena asked, a knowing look on her face. "Because you would make a really good Sharpay."

He looked up from the ground and immediately started smiling again. Athena felt her heart glow and the two of them walked towards the middle of the stage. The entire group of people auditioning began to do exercises with the partner of their choice. Sooner then Athena would have liked, Miss Jenn told everyone to line up so she could see who everyone would read for. Athena immediately gravitated to stand next to Violetta in line with Seb on her other side.

Miss Jenn went down the line. She gave scripts for people to read for Ryan, Taylor, Chad, and gave a red-headed girl a script to read for Ms. Darbus. To absolutely no one's surprise, she gave the girl with the one on her shirt to read for Gabriella and EJ to read for Troy. When Miss Jenn got to Nini, she told her that she should read for Kelsi. Athena's stomach twisted in nerves. If Nini auditioned for Kelsi, there was no way she would get the role. Not in a million years. Nini, however, politely declined and asked to read for Gabriella instead. Miss Jenn then moved on to Violetta.

"Martha," Miss Jenn said at once.

Violetta grinned widely in response and took her script from Carlos. Miss Jenn then stopped in front of Athena. Athena clasped her hands in front of her and offered her a small smile.

Miss Jenn sent a smile back. "Kelsi, yeah?"

Athena nodded. Carlos handed her a script, and she told him a quiet thank you. She opened it as Miss Jenn moved onto Seb.

"You're reading for Ryan, right?" Miss Jenn questioned.

"I think he'd rather play Sharpay," Carlos told her in a hushed tone.

Miss Jenn turned back to him. "I love that. That is so fresh."

Seb collected his script. Athena squeezed his arm gently in excitement before looking back to Violetta. Seb went to take his place at the piano while Athena and Violetta sat next to each other on the stage floor, ready to watch the auditions.

First went the Taylor's, then the Chad's, then the Ryan's, and finally it was time for the Martha's. Violetta quickly read one scene and sang a small snippet of Stick to the Status Quo. Athena may have been biased, but she thought Violetta absolutely killed her audition. Then it was time for the Sharpay's, and Seb performed a part of Bop to the Top and read a small scene. He absolutely crushed it as well.

Then it was time for the Troy's. Athena checked the time on her phone again, and her heart sank realizing Ricky was so late he was going to miss the auditions. She wondered where he was.

EJ did his Troy audition, and he did really well singing Start of Something New. Of course he was perfect lead material, there was no doubt about it. Athena, however, couldn't help but think him dressing up as Troy was a bit tacky.

For some reason, Miss Jenn decided to have the Gabriella's audition before the Kelsi's, meaning that Athena would be the last audition. She tucked her knees into her chest and watched as the girl with the one on her shirt auditioned. There was no doubt in Athena's mind that she was lead material. Nini then went next. Her voice was quiet at first, but she soon gained confidence and went above and beyond in her audition. She sang a little more than was was needed, but it definitely showcased her talent.

"Okay, and finally, it is our only Kelsi audition," Miss Jenn voiced. "Number ten."

Athena tucked her hair behind her ears nervously. She stood up and walked to the middle of the stage, holding her script tightly in her hand. Athena suddenly wished Ricky was here. He always had a way of calming her down.

Miss Jenn leaned closer to Carlos. "Tell me about her."

"Athena Blake," Carlos replied. "A little quiet. Talented pianist from what I've heard, but she's never been in a musical."

"Hi Athena, I'll read for Sharpay, and you'll read for Kelsi, all right?" Miss Jenn instructed. "We'll start at the top of the page. Whenever you're ready."

Athena took a deep breath and imagined herself as Kelsi's shy yet frantic character in the scene. "Oh, actually, if you do the part with that particular song, I imagined it much slow—"

"If we do the part?" Miss Jenn read as Sharpay. "Kelsi, my sawed-off Sondheim. I've been in seventeen school productions. And how many of your compositions have been selected?"

Athena nodded nervously. "This would be the first."

"Which tells us what?"

"Uh . . . that I need to write you more solos?"

"No. It tells us that you do not offer direction, suggestion, or commentary. And you should be thankful that me and Ryan can lift your music out of its current obscurity. Are we clear?"

"Yes, ma'am," Athena rushed out in a frightened tone. "I mean, Sharpay."

"Nice talking to you." Miss Jenn set down her script and beamed at the girl. "That was wonderful, Athena. Now, for the song part, I was thinking Kelsi's slow version of What I've Been Looking For—"

"Oh, um," Athena interjected softly. "I actually have an original song I'd like to audition with, if that's okay."

Miss Jenn straightened up in her chair, obviously intrigued. "That's perfectly okay. Go ahead, sweetie."

Athena gave her a quick nod. She turned and walked over to the piano. Seb, who was seated on the bench, immediately got the message that she needed to use it and stood up. She gave him a gracious smile and sat down on the bench, setting her script on top of the piano.

She took a deep breath. Athena softly placed her fingers on the piano keys, staring down at them for a moment. Building up all of the courage she had, she began to play the opening notes to Wake Up.

"Here's the one thing I want you to know, you got someplace to go," Athena sang, her voice slightly quiet. "Life's a test, yes, but you go toe-to-toe. You don't give up, no, you grow."

She glanced over, only to lock eyes with Violetta. Violetta had a wide smile on her face and nodded her head to encourage Athena to keep going.

Athena continued, her voice gaining confidence with every word. "And you use your pain, 'cause it makes you you, though I wish I could hold you through it. I know it's not the same, you got living to do, and I just want you to do it. So get up, get out, relight that spark, you know the rest by heart."

"Wake up, wake up if it's all you do, look out, look inside of you. It's not what you lost, it's what you'll gain, raising your voice to the rain. Wake up your dream and make it true, look out, look inside of you. It's not what you lost, relight that spark, time to come out of the dark. Wake up, wake up."

Athena felt all her nerves fade away, and her stomach blossomed with excitement from performing her own original song in front of people for the first time. "Better wake those demons, just look them in the eye, no reason not to try. Life can be a mess, I won't let it cloud my mind, I'll let my fingers fly. And I use the pain, 'cause it's part of me, and I'm ready to power through it. Gonna find the strength, find the melody, 'cause you showed me how to do it. Get up, get out, relight that spark, you know the rest by heart. Wake up, wake up if it's all you do, look out, look inside of you. It's not what you lost, it's what you'll gain, raising your voice to the rain. Wake up your dream and make it true, look out, look inside of you. It's not what you lost, relight that spark, time to come out of the dark. Wake up, wake up."

She got so caught up in her song that she didn't notice the doors to the auditorium opening. Ricky ran inside, but immediately slowed in his tracks once he realized that Athena was singing. He stared at her in wonder and adoration as her melodious voice filled the auditorium. Everybody else was silent as they also stared at the girl in awe. Ricky's heart began to beat faster, though he didn't understand why. He loved Nini, so why was just the sight of Athena making him reconsider everything?

"So wake that spirit spirit, I wanna hear it hear it. No need to fear it you're not alone, you're gonna find your way home." Athena stopped playing the piano for a moment after she belted out her high note. "Wake up, wake up if it's all you do." She pressed her fingers onto the keys, playing the melody once more. "Look out, look inside of you. It's not what you lost, it's what you'll gain, raising your voice to the rain. Wake up your dream and make it true, look out, look inside of you. When you're feeling lost, relight that spark, time to come out of the dark. Wake up, mmm, wake up."

She played the final notes of her song before stopping. Nobody said anything for a long couple of moments.

"Attie . . ." Ricky let out before he could stop himself.

Her head snapped over to him, and she stood up from the bench. "Ricky."

"Ricky?" Nini inquired incredulously, turning to face him.

He looked back to Athena. "Am I too late?"

"Just a little," Athena responded.

"We're all set on Troy's," Miss Jenn told him. "We're low on Chad's. You can audition now." She looked back to Athena. "That song was wonderful, Athena. You have a real talent. Take a seat."

"Thank you," Athena replied before going to sit back down next to Violetta.

"I only studied the Troy scenes in the movie," Ricky admitted.

"Troy would have arrived on time," Carlos insisted.

"Um, no he wouldn't have," Violetta argued. "Troy was late to literally everything. The audition, the callback, the pool date in High School Musical 2. So I think Ricky's doing pretty well in my opinion."

The room went silent again. Violetta looked back to Athena and shrugged.

"Okay, um, you, late boy," Miss Jenn continued. "Let's do the Chad sides."

Ricky took a script and went to center stage, standing there awkwardly. "Hey there. I'm Ricky Bowen, I'm a junior, and here it goes." He let out a deep breath and began to read. "I don't get it, Troy. What kind of spell has this elevated IQ temptress girl cast that suddenly makes you wanna be in a musical?"

Ricky shook his head and crumpled up his script, throwing it to the side. Athena's eyebrows furrowed, but her eyes widened in realization as he began speaking his own feelings about him and Nini instead of acting. She sighed and leaned her head on Violetta's shoulder, making the girl wrap an arm around her comfortingly.

"I don't know," Ricky stated. "Maybe it's the way Gabriella always had your back, and maybe you can't stop beating yourself up for totally blowing it with her. And look, Troy, even if you never said the L-word to Gabriella, 'cause that's, like, not even a word your parents say to each other anymore, that doesn't mean that you don't. Maybe it just means you were waiting for the right time to say it so that everyone could hear it. No . . . so that she could."

Athena frowned. She lifted her head from Violetta's shoulder and resisted every urge to run up to him and give him a hug.

Awkward silence rang through the auditorium, and in effort to get rid of it, Miss Jenn moved on. "Okay, kiddo, time to sing."

"Oh, no, actually, if you don't mind, I kinda prepared my own song?" Ricky rushed out.

"Own song?" Athena asked quietly to herself.

He never mentioned anything about auditioning with his own song. Then again, Athena never told him she would be auditioning with the song she wrote for him. And Ricky didn't know Wake Up was about him, either. Athena decided she was going to keep that to herself until the time was right.

Miss Jenn looked taken aback. "Sure."

Big Red (Athena had no idea where he came from) handed Ricky his guitar and he slung it across him before he began to strum. Athena was confused until she recognized the tune as the song Nini wrote for Ricky for their one year anniversary. She sat up straighter and looked at Nini, who was staring at Ricky in shock.

"Oh, no, he is not doing this," Nini said quietly. She quickly turned to Athena. "Did you know?"

Athena rapidly shook her head. "No, I had no idea." She placed a hand to her forehead. "Oh, Ricky, what are you doing?"

"So much has happened, think of what we've done, in the time that the Earth has traveled 'round the sun," Ricky sang. "Winter, spring, summer, and we're back to fall, we've been together hand-in-hand through it all. It's just three little words, yeah, it's not a big deal, it's not like I can help feeling all that I feel. And by now, I'm sure you're thinking it's so obvious, but just in case it's not what I'm saying is this, what I'm saying is this. I think I kinda, you know, I think I kinda, you know. Like the way that we flow, like the way that we go. And I love, I think I kinda, you know, I think I kinda, you know, you know, you know."

Nini was staring wistfully at the boy, but his gaze wasn't focused on her. Ricky, involuntarily, was staring right at Athena who was smiling softly at him, making his heart go haywire, though he still didn't know why. Athena was completely oblivious to this fact, of course. She couldn't help but smile because she always asked him to sing to her when she was upset, and whenever he did she always said he had the most beautiful voice. Vice versa as well. This was just proving it to everyone, and even though singing this song was kind of a bad move on his part and would probably make Nini mad, Athena was proud that he was auditioning.

"You know how we can talk all night, and not run out of things to talk about?" Ricky continued. "It's rare that something feels this right, it feels so right. I think I kinda, you know. I think I kinda, you know, you know, you know. I think I kinda, you know, I think I kinda, you know, you know, you know. I can't help dreaming of you, guess I'm saying I don't not love you."

Ricky mumbled the last part, making Athena frown again.

"You know, you know, you know," he finished.

Once more, the room went silent. Ricky smiled awkwardly and put his guitar back in the case before walking out of the auditorium with Big Red. Nini followed after him, looking both heartbroken and angry.

Athena watched after them. "I'll be right back, Vi."

Violetta nodded, immediately understanding her thought process. "Go. I'll see you in a few."

Athena walked down the steps of the auditorium and jogged out into the hallway. She followed the sound of Nini's voice and hid behind the wall, peering around the corner.

Nini was just telling Ricky about how the old her had her heart broken when his gaze had focused on someone behind her. Footsteps had caught his attention and it turned out to be his best friend. For some reason, Ricky couldn't stop staring at her. Nini turned her head and followed his gaze to Athena who was watching their conversation in concern. She sighed, turning back to the boy.

"Seriously Ricky?" Nini asked, Ricky still not tearing his eyes away from Athena. "You still haven't told her? How dumb are you?"

Ricky snapped out of his trance and looked down at her. "What are you talking about? Nini, I've always believed in you. Believed in us."

"Seriously, just go for her," Nini urged, nodding her head towards Athena. "Even when we were dating I knew that she was always on your mind."

He kept on trying to deny his feelings. "No, Nini. You're always on my mind."

She shook her head. "Ricky, you showing up here, it's just . . . confusing everything. It's not fair to me and it's certainly not fair to her either. Choose her, Ricky. She's the one you're meant to be with."

Athena was confused. Who were they talking about?

Their conversation was cut short as Violetta came running down the hall with the rest of the theater kids. She grabbed Athena's hand to pull her along. "Come on, the cast list is up!"

Athena felt her heartbeat quicken from the information and followed Violetta. The two pushed their way towards the front of the crowd, hearing murmurs of both excitement and disappointment. Athena and Violetta finally made it to the front and stared up at the cast list. She searched the cast list for Violetta's name which was listed next to Martha Cox. Athena then anxiously searched the piece of paper for her name and finally found it next to Kelsi Nielsen. A smile adorned her features, but it slowly dropped when she found it also listed next to something else.

"Vi, please tell me that next to my name it doesn't say Gabriella Understudy," Athena said slowly.

Violetta looked at it and her eyes widened. "Oh my God, 'Thena, you got both Kelsi and Gabriella's understudy!"

Athena felt a nudge on her arm, and looked to see it was Seb smiling at her. "I told you you would be a great Gabriella."

She looked back at the cast list, immediately finding Seb Matthew-Smith listed next to Sharpay Evans. "And I told you you would be a great Sharpay. Congratulations, Seb."

"Chad?" EJ cried out. "She thinks I'm a Chad?"

Athena blinked. If EJ didn't get Troy, then . . .

She trailed her eyes up and down the cast list. And, sure enough, at the very top, was Ricky Bowen listed next to Troy Bolton. Athena glanced over at Ricky who was slowly walking up to the cast list.

"Holy crap, dude," Big Red commented.

Ricky stared at the cast list in shock. EJ was glaring at him harshly, making Nini grab her boyfriend's hand and lead him away. Athena placed her hand on Ricky's shoulder which seemed to snap him out of his trance.

"It worked," Ricky breathed out. "I'm Troy."

Athena felt butterflies at the small smile on his face. "Yeah, you are, Ric. I'm so proud of you."

He then turned to her. "And you got Kelsi . . . and Gabriella's understudy."

"And I'm Martha!" Violetta cut in.

Ricky seemed to ignore her as he wrapped his arms around Athena's waist and picked her up. Athena laughed as she wrapped her arms around his neck to hold on as he spun her around in a circle.

And as Ricky hugged her tightly, there was only one thought prominent in her mind: things are about to be real interesting.

═ • ° • ✧ • ° • ═

yes I did make athena sing & write wake up and no I do not regret it

yes I did make athena audition last so ricky could see hers instead of nini's and no I do not regret it

this chapter is also really rushed so I'm sorry but the auditions are so long