Wildest Dreams | EJ Caswell

𝚎𝚒𝚐𝚑𝚝𝚎𝚎𝚗

A couple of hours later, as I'd planned, we all stood in the nearly empty halls of North High; Carlos and I had worked together to make sure the plan was foolproof, we'd be in and out; we just want our mask back, that's all.

"The plan is simple," Carlos began to explain our plan to everyone else, "Based on that Instagram post, the mask has to be in their costume shop, we know from their Instagram overshares that North High has dance rehearsal today, so they'll be in their dance studio."

Gina's eyes widened, "they have their own dance studio?"

Carlos doesn't answer her question, "we're raiding their costumes and not leaving until we have our mask."

"Isn't this kind of trespassing?" Seb has been the most skeptical of our plan.

It technically was, but if I say that Seb will only get more anxious, "We're gonna be fine," I reassure him instead, "they'll be plenty of people still here for after-school clubs; we just need to blend in...." My eyes move over to Ashlyn, who somehow was able to find a bright yellow North High hoodie, "Though, Ash, you may have taken the camouflage thing a little too far."

"Oh, no," She glanced down at her sweater, "today, I am Diane. I play volleyball, and I love North High." She yelled the last part, glancing over her shoulder.

"Diane, is it?" Big Red asked, chuckling to himself, "how would you feel about dating a guy from East High?"

"Oh, a forbidden romance." Ashlyn nods her head.

"Focus!" Carlos scolded the two for getting distracted, "Okay, who's gonna be lookout."

EJ holds his hand up, "I can do it."

"Oh," Gina mumbles, "Maybe I should, if you leave me unsupervised with their costumes, I cannot promise I won't go all Gina 1.0 in there."

"You won't be alone," Kourtney reassured her, linking her arm through hers.

"Okay, so it's decided," I nod, smiling at Gina and Kourtney, "EJ, just make sure you stay calm and act natural, okay?"

EJ nods as Carlos begins speaking again, "You got this. Everyone ready?"

Everyone smiles, nodding their head enthusiastically; Ricky leans forward, putting his hand in the center of the circle, "what team?"

"That's probably not a good idea," I shake my head.

At the same time, Carlos says, "wait, maybe we shouldn't yell."

Everyone puts their hand in the center, yelling, "wildcats." They follow it by cheering; Carlos and I share a wide-eyed look.

"Let's go," Ricky walks away, taking the lead.

"Strong start," Carlos nods, wringing his hands together.

"C'mon," I link my arm through his and Seb's, "someone has to keep them out of trouble," I glance over my shoulder at EJ before walking away, "Just text if you need anything, okay?"

EJ nods; I felt kind of guilty leaving him all alone in the hallway if I'm being honest, "Okay."

We found the wardrobe room a couple of minutes later, it full to the brim with various costumes; it's going to be impossible to find our Beast mask quickly. "Okay, everyone," I gain everyone attention, "we need to spread out, Nini, Kourt, Ricky, you take that side of the room," I point to the far end of the room, "Big Red and Ashlyn," I point to another area near the center, "you're over there. The rest of us, right here."

I purposely make sure I keep Gina and Ricky on opposite sides of the room; the last thing we need is him saying something dumb and upsetting her; no offense to my best friend, I love him to death, but he doesn't always think before he speaks.