Prom Dress - EJ Caswell ³

"Do you wanna build a snowman?"

EJ then walked down the hill to the crowd that had formed in front of the list. "All right, all right, everyone calm down. Let's just be professionals."

"Professionally, mazel tov. Especially, EJ." Ashlyn pointed toward her cousin, whose eyebrows furrowed in confusion at his personal mention. "Personally, I will be backlogging photos of him in antlers for all future possible blackmail purposes."

Scarlett clicked her fingers, pointing to the redhead. "I'll be needing those."

Everyone laughed, including EJ who chuckled nervously. "What are you talkin' about?"

"Your good friend Val cast you as Sven, the reindeer?" Carlos stated in a confused but amused tone.

He looked around at the people before shaking his head slowly. "No, no. I'm not in the show. I'm directing the show."

"Check the list."

Scarlett chuckled as she nudged him forward, "Looks like you'll be joining the ranks of character actor-directors."

"Like Greta Gerwig," Valentina added on cheerfully.

EJ stared at the list for a moment in disbelief. "No, this has to be a mistake."

Slight chaos began to rise as chatter rose from everyone who was currently crowded around the cast list. Maddox is quick to shut them up though as she bounced out of the barn, dropping a bag loudly onto the floor which caught their attention quickly. "Quiet your voices!" She shouted and EJ smiled.

"Mornin', stage manager. You got everything ready?"

"Sure do, Rocket Man." Scarlett shared a confused glace with Val who was already looking at her. She really needed to ask him what that meant. "It's newbie initiation campout night, folks!" She replied excitedly with a small jump. "A night in the woods among the wildlife. And spirits. Pack your tents. Oh, and rest your vocal cords. You'll be screaming tonight." She chuckled and grabbed her bag as EJ imitated a ghost in Scarlett's ear. Before Maddox turned away, however, she turned back to Carlos. "Oh, and by the way, Carlos, we have cameras in the stage manager's office. But, nice try recasting the show." She smirked before walking away and Scarlett chuckled as Carlos watched her figure walk away in horror.

Everyone began to walk away, doing their own thing before they all had to meet for Newbie initiation and Scarlett turned to Gina, who had been placed in the ensemble along with both Ashlyn and Val. She went to ask if she was okay, knowing that she was eager for the part she had been awarded but she was interrupted by Gina's squeal of delight before she was pulled into a warm embrace.

"You are going to be the perfect Anna!"

Scarlett laughed, tightly wrapping her arms around the girl. "Thank you, I was worried for a second there." She chuckled and Gina laughed, throwing an arm around her shoulder and guiding the pair back to the Honeycomb.

______

Maddox grinned enthusiastically, slightly swinging on the swing she was sitting on as the other girls collected what they needed for the camping that was happening tonight. "It's the most wonderful time of the year. Not Christmas, not Tax day..." She giggled excitedly, jumping up from the swing and skipping around the room. "Newbie Night! You guys are gonna have so much fun." She began folding a sleeping bag as she spoke. "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 re-telling of..." She stopped speaking as she turned to look at the others, the only one who seemed to be listening was Scarlett. "Am I talkin' to myself? Talkin' to myself." She concluded and before Scarlett could interject Ashlyn ripped up the paper she had been writing on.