What Happens Now?

Chapter 7

Ms. Jenn was focusing on her 2 leads.

"What's happened to our Troy and Gabriella?" Ms. Jenn asked Carlos. "Where are the sparks from the audition?"

"Should we think about re-casting?" Carlos responded.

"Absolutely not." Ms. Jenn replied. "My instincts are impeccable. And I'm not afraid of a challenge.

"This one might be impossible." Gina begins to listen to the conversation. "She won't even look at him."

"Don't underestimate me," Ms. Jenn told Carlos. "I come from strong stock. My mother bounced back from an autopsy." Carlos looked scared.

"Okay, people we're back."

The Next Day

Nini, Carlos, and Ms. Jenn are sitting in the auditorium waiting for someone.

"Hi," Ricky said when he walked in. "I'm so sorry I'm late. I promise it won't happen again." Ms. Jenn and Nini stand.

"Thank you both for an early start today," Ms. Jenn told them. "Let's begin."

"Wait it's just the 2 of us?" Nini asks.

"Mmmhmm," Ms. Jenn answered. "We're diving into page 97."

"You mean the last scene?" Ricky asks.

"Mmmhmm," says Ms. Jenn

You wanna rehearse this? It's not even a scene, it's just 1 line." Nini said.

"I have one too," Rocky said looking at Nini.

"And then there's the kiss," Ms. Jenn told them.

"Uh... there was no... I-I- I don't remember a kiss in what we read yesterday," Nini stammers.

"It was very much there in the original film," Ms. Jenn said.

"I only remember a hug," Ricky said.

"The kiss ended up on the cutting room floor," Ms. Jenn said. "A little racy for its time."

"Oooh, too far," Carlos said, not looking up from his phone.

In Ms. Jenn's office

"It makes no sense," Nini said. "Why would you start at the end of the play?"

"Because if you don't know what Hedda Gabler does in the last scene, how can you play her in the first?" Ms. Jenn answers.

"But I do know what happens in the last scene," Nini argued. "It's a hug, not a kiss. And who is Hedda Gabler? What musical is that?"

"One that very few people paid to see. It's very dark."

"Ms. Jenn did you put that scene back in because-"

"Sweetie I added the kiss because our production needs it. I have also added a cowbell, a ballad for the drama teacher, and a wildcat cheer for the curtain call."

"That all sounds great but I... I just can't kiss Ricky right now. Or not yet, anyway... I have a new boyfriend. He's playing Chad."

Ms. Jenn takes a deep breath. "Nini, trust the process. Your character only has eyes for Troy."

Outside of her office

EJ leaned against the wall beside Ashlyn's locker. "Hey what's up," Ashlyn said to him."

"Go away," EJ told her.

"No, you go away. You're in front of my locker." EJ took a step to the side. Ashlyn struggles a bit to open the locker.

"I can't believe this," EJ tells Ashlyn, annoyed. "Ricky's got Ms. Jenn wrapped around his finger. She added a kiss... between them."

"EJ stop," Ashlyn told him. "He's not bribing our director."

"He's trying to break us up, Ashlyn."

"You're paranoid,"

"Really?" EJ asks. "Then why did he text Nini at the read-through? And why didn't she tell me who it was?"

"Because she doesn't have to tell you anything. Dating her doesn't mean you own her."

EJ pauses and looks around. "I need you to borrow her phone for me."

"Borrow? As in steal? Ok, you've just gone up like 3 levels of crazy."

"Ashlyn-"

"If she ever found out-"

"She won't-"

"She could. And if she did Nini would never forgive you! Or me! You wanna take that risk?"

"Ashlyn, please. She's not like the other girls I've dated. She real. She makes me better."

The bell rings. Ashlyn stands there. She sighs and walks away.