𝐒𝐏𝐎𝐓𝐋𝐈𝐆𝐇𝐓 - 𝐡𝐬𝐦𝐭𝐦𝐭𝐬 (𝐢𝐯)

⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀𝒗. 𝐟𝐞𝐚𝐭𝐮𝐫𝐞𝐝 𝐛𝐚𝐜𝐤𝐠𝐫𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐝

𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐟𝐢𝐯𝐞
━━ 𝒇𝒆𝒂𝒕𝒖𝒓𝒆𝒅 𝒃𝒂𝒄𝒌𝒈𝒓𝒐𝒖𝒏𝒅

"So, what was that about?" Juliette asked Gina as they both walked to their lockers, Ashlyn joining them on their way there. "Did you talk to him?"

    "Of course not! He was beyond rude yesterday."

    "Maybe he just wants to apologise," Ashlyn suggested, earning a roll from Gina's eyes.

    "People like him do not apologise. Maybe he thinks a follow will fix everything."

    "Well, you know what they say... never meet your idols," Juliette contributed, opening her locker. A small slip of paper fell from it and she did not even have to open it to know what it was. Ever since they had watched Secret Admirer, Ricky had made it a habit to leave small notes for her to find, sometimes with song lyrics and sometimes with cheesy messages that she claimed to hate but actually loved. This one said "do you like raisins? How do you feel about a date?".

    She could not help it but let out a soft laugh, which attracted Gina's and Ashlyn's attention. Showing them the note, she heard Ashlyn sigh.

    "I miss Biggie." Her own phone, however, interrupted her.

    "Haven't you been texting Maddox like non-stop?" Gina asked her, although she already knew the answer. Ever since they had come back from camp, Ashlyn and Maddox had messaged each other every single day, even though Ashlyn claimed it was purely platonic and they both had their respective significant others.

    Ashlyn avoided the question as she replied yet another text and took out her books for class. Sadly, Gina was still a year younger than they were and she had to walk all the way to the other side of the school, but Ashlyn and Juliette had first period together, alongside Carlos, Kourtney and Ricky. It was one of those rare times in which they all shared a class (Seb should have also been there but he had been M.I.A. for some weeks now, according to Carlos).

    Class would have been deadly boring if they had not received an e-mail (which they definitely shouldn't have read in the middle of chemistry class) telling them that they would have a private dance rehearsal later that day and would, therefore, be excused from class all afternoon. The only concern they had was that Miss Jenn's auditions were taking place that afternoon as well and they did not want to let anyone down.

    "Ready to claim the Troy and Gabriella spots?" Ricky whispered at her while their teacher's back was turned.

    "I wouldn't get too excited, Ricky. Anyone could get the role," she whispered back and quickly returned her eyes to her notebook before their teacher could yell at them. A note from Ricky landed on top of the page she was writing in, telling her to believe in herself just as he believed in her. With a shy smile, she continued paying attention.

    Class went by relatively fast, even though Chem was definitely not Juliette's best subject. Before she knew it, however, they were all walking to the rehearsal room already, although they stood in front of it, unsure how to proceed.

    "You guys, we're actually rehearsing for High School Musical 4," Gina screeched, making all of them cheer in excitement.

    "Hollywood? More like Holly-will," Ricky tried to joke, making everyone turn around to look at him.

    "Babe, don't say that ever again."

    "Wait, 'babe'?" Kourtney asked, looking at Juliette. Her blood froze for a second once she realised what she had just said, but she tried to brush it off the best she could.