Prom Dress - EJ Caswell ³

"Come on then, Kelsi."

Scarlett finally let go, finding a spare seat behind EJ. She turned her prop around and lifted it to her head as EJ addressed the group. Channing set up the camera. "All right, smile, guys. We're almost home."

"Almost home as in Salt Lake or St. Louis?" Scarlett questioned not even registering what she was saying before it was out.

"Wait, what?"

She scoffed slightly as EJ turned to her. "Are you confused? Welcome to the club."

Channing grinned excitedly at the sound of more drama. "What's this about St. Louis?"

"It's where the World's Fair was held in 1904. It's a great city." He smiled at the man before turning back to the girl behind him. "Can we talk about this later?"

She didn't meet his eye as she looked toward the camera. "Whatever."

Channing wasted no time in snapping a few photos, reminding them to smile as the flash repeatedly went off. "Thanks again. Great day, guys." He sent them a quick thumbs-up before letting himself out.

Everyone stood up, moving away from the clump of people they had created. "Well, that couldn't have gone longer." Ashlyn laughed awkwardly.

"I, for one, am looking forward to being reviled by America."

People began to filter out and Carlos wafted his sign about as he scoffed. "A simple thank you would suffice."

"Guys, can we just stop getting so worked up over this, okay? If we can't pull this summer together, then we're gonna have bigger problems than just labels on posters!"

"Okay, do you wanna take it down like 1000? Being this anxious is actually bad for your skin."

"Did you tell him what my mom..." Kourtney turned to Gina who quickly shook her head and Scarlett didn't say a word as she watched everything unfold. God was this summer a mess.

"Guys this is all a natural response to a day of high tensions and intense emotions. Let's just walk it off, take a breath." Val tried to diffuse the situation but it only seemed to cause things to overflow again.

Ashlyn shook her head, "Val, maybe now is not the time for your psychoanalysis. Read the room."

Scarlett let out a harsh, bitter laugh. "In my experience, Val prefers to read letters that aren't for her."

Maddox then pulled Ashlyn to the side as Valentina strolled over to Scarlett, attempting to calm her down and stop her from saying anything that she would regret the next day or cause her to become the bad guy in the situation. Whatever Maddox had said to Ashlyn however set off an entirely separate argument as Jet wandered over, slightly nudging Gadget's arm.

"Can you just stop telling everyone who they are and how they should be?"

Maddox scoffed as she turned towards him, forgetting about her previous conversation. "Oh, you're talking to me now?"

"Forget it. You're just gonna yell." Jet shook his head as he began to advance on the barn doors and make a quick getaway.

"Oh, yeah. That's right, Jet. Make me the bag guy, once again."

Ricky tried to diffuse the tension. "Did I miss an episode of our reality show? Did these two know each other before camp?"

His attempt at humour went unnoticed and Jet turned back around, pointing his finger at the girl. "Look, Maddie, I'm here, aren't I? I'm trying."

She laughed sarcastically. "Only because you were forced to come here after you literally got expelled from school! Or are we just pretending that didn't happen?"