thirteen,
going overboard
PHOEBE HAD READ through her lines a few times. She sat at the edge of the stage, staring off as she hummed a melody she had come up with. "Okay, we just need to nail down our lighting and our sound," Miss Jenn announced. "And, ta-da, we've got a show. I need some bodies for the rooftop scene."
"I can do Troy," EJ volunteered.
"Fine," Miss Jenn agreed. "Phoebe, stand in for Gabriella." Phoebe turned at the mention of her name and quickly stood up, walking over to her place. "Do we have a working lightboard? Do we have a working light switch?"
The lighting suddenly turned blue. Phoebe glanced up with furrowed brows only to be met with mannequins in neon clothes. She screamed in shock and jumped back. "My bad!" Clara called out. The redhead had gone back to help Big Red so they could get it figured out quicker and so she had something to do.
"Sorry, everyone," Carlos apologized. "My Uncle Ruben said that there was gonna be some leftover stuff from the fashion show. I guess the theme was 80's rave?"
"In a nuclear reactor?" Ashlyn sarcastically questioned, making everyone laugh.
"Big Red, Clara, do we have anything more flattering?" Miss Jenn asked them.
"We're working on it!" Big Red told her as they searched through the switches. Soon, the lighting turned back to normal.
"Okay," Miss Jenn continued, turning back to Phoebe and EJ. "Troy, basketball stuff. Gabriella, math stuff. Nobody doesn't cry, and we end up here center stage. Gabriella, give us your cue."
Phoebe glanced down at her script before looking back up. "Remember in kindergarten, you'd meet a kid, know nothing about them, then 10 seconds later, you're best friends?"
"Yeah," EJ replied as Troy.
"Singing with you felt like that."
EJ stepped closer to her. "Look, I never thought about singing, that's for sure. Until you." Phoebe looked up at him in confusion. He was giving so much to the scene that he didn't need to. "And now. . . I don't wanna stop. Ever."
"Stop," Phoebe shook her head and backed away from him. "Why are you acting like that?"
"I'm emoting, Bee," EJ responded. "Feel free to join me."
"Well, stop it," Phoebe hissed. "This isn't an emotional scene."
"It's a little weird," Miss Jenn voiced. "Clara, Big Red, can we hit these guys with a spotlight?"
"Looking for it!" Clara hollered.
A few seconds went by before Miss Jenn grew impatient. "Let's not wait for the lights. EJ, Phoebe just stand on your marks and gimme your cue again."
Phoebe sighed and moved back into place. EJ looked down at his script before turning towards her and looking up, fake crying. "I never thought about singing, that's for sure. Until you. And now, I don't wanna stop. Ever." He put his hand on her cheek.
"Going overboard," Phoebe muttered, moving her face away from his hand.
"EJ?" Miss Jenn waved him over to her.
Phoebe watched them in confusion, not knowing why EJ was acting so weird. Then it hit her - Miss Jenn had said in her notes that he lacked emotion. A ladder fell on stage, missing Phoebe by a few feet. She gasped and fell backwards.
"Clara, Big Red, did you guys do that?" Miss Jenn asked as Phoebe tried to calm her heartbeat.
"No," both redheads responded, making the drama teacher jump as she hadn't realized they were right behind her.
Miss Jenn let out a breath and placed her hand on her heart. "Phoebe are you okay?"
"I'll be fine," the girl stood back up.
○●○
PHOEBE PULLED OUT her notebook, flipping to a clean page. Miss Jenn had let her have a few minutes to calm down. She was going to work on lyrics to go with the melody that had been stuck in her head.
Phoebe's mind went blank. She moved to pop her back and accidentally knocked her notebook off of her lap. She groaned, picking it up. The page had flipped to one that was filled out with the title Gross. Phoebe furrowed her brows and began muttering the lyrics. "Not long ago when I saw you there with your hazel-eyed grin and your messy hair. And every girl in the hallway was looking at you. I wonder what I'd say if I knew back then that the hazel-eyed boy'd be my best friend and the one I'd give my heart to-"
Phoebe's eyes widened and she quickly closed the notebook. She'd written the song while EJ was at camp and planned on singing it to him when he got back.
Things didn't go as planned.
Phoebe looked up, eyes searching for EJ. She found him talking to one of the dancers. Feeling someone looking at him, he turned. Phoebe quickly looked away, a new feeling in her stomach. Things had been weird between her and EJ. Finding Gross had only reminded her of how much she'd loved him. She knew she'd always love him, whether it be platonically or romantically. She didn't think she couldn't ever not love him.
"Okay, let's pretend we've figured out the lighting," Miss Jenn walked back onto the stage. "If we've got a sound system, we've got a show. I need someone to sing for microphone levels. Who's not doing anything?" Miss Jenn's eyes landed on her. "Phoebe?"
"Actually, Miss Jenn," Stephanie, a dancer, pushed Kourtney to the front. "Kourtney is an amazing singer."
Kourtney laughed nervously. "I'm a singer, not an actor. This voice is for church."
"Thank you for volunteering," Miss Jenn stopped her before she could leave. She handed her the microphone. "Just sing anything from the show. It doesn't matter what. No judgement." She led her to the middle of the stage. "This is a safe space."
Kourtney raised the microphone slowly. "I believe in dreaming, shooting for the stars. Baby, to be number one, you got to raise the bar. Yeah, we're gonna bop, bop, bop, bop to the top. Slip and slide and ride that rhythm. Jump and hop, hop til we drop and start again. Zip, zap, zop, hop like a mop. Scoot around the corner. Move it to the groove til the music stops."
Kourtney belted out the last note which made the microphone give feedback. Phoebe winced and placed her hands over her ears quickly. When it was over, she took her hands away from her ears and clapped for Kourtney. Phoebe hadn't been expecting the girl to be able to sing like that.
"Kourtney, honey," Miss Jenn stepped closer to her. "That was a wow! Unfortunately, it seems we have now broken the sound system, the lights, and possibly me. Carlos, could you please clear the theater right now?"
"Okay, everyone, um, follow me," Carlos instructed. "We are going to take a. . . long five?" He led everyone off the stage. Phoebe quickly grabbed her stuff and hopped down from the edge of the stage. She gripped Clara's hand and led her into a different hallway.
"Clara," Phoebe reached into her backpack to pull out her notebook again. "I need to show you something really really bad."
"Bee," Clara watched Phoebe flip through the pages of her notebook. "What's wrong?" Phoebe finally found Gross again and gave Clara the notebook. Clara took a few seconds to read through the lyrics. "I don't get it? I'm assuming this was your past self, clearly disgustingly in love with EJ."
"The song itself isn't bad," Phoebe told her. "I actually really love it. . . it's the way it made me remember how I feel that's bad. I thought I was over EJ. . . but I don't think I am."
"Hey, guys-" Big Red's voice made the girls turn. They blinked at him. "We're ordering pizza. Is pepperoni and soy cheese okay?"
"Yeah," Clara nodded.
"It's fine," Phoebe glanced down at the flashlight in his hand and furrowed her brows. "What's with the flashlight?"
"Oh, I'm going to go ask Ricky and Nini if it's cool with them," he explained.
"If they're kissing, you both owe me $20," Phoebe looked between the two redheads.
"Okay," Clara agreed, holding out her hand for Phoebe to shake. "You're on."
"Deal," Big Red shrugged, shaking hands with Phoebe also before walking away.
○●○
CARLOS INFORMED EVERYONE that Miss Jenn had went crazy and wanted to go back to East High. Phoebe looked for something to carry as she finished eating her pizza. Big Red walked by with Ricky and quickly handed her a $20 bill. Phoebe laughed and shoved it into her pocket.
Phoebe turned towards Clara and pulled out the money, giving the girl a smirk. Clara huffed and walked over to the brunette, handing her two 10s. "Honestly, Big Red could've gotten away with it and kept 20 bucks, but no."
Phoebe shot Clara a sarcastic smile, grabbed a box, and walked away.
𝒎𝒆𝒍 𝒎𝒆𝒍 !!