Chapter Twenty:
Dedication
THE DAY WAS finally here! Opening night. Man, what a ride. If only Lucy was actually excited today.
Sitting at her vanity, her leg bounced up and down nervously. She gently swiped her blush brush across her face, a light dusting of the pink powder brushing across her freckled face.
She sat the brush down and looked in the mirror, scanning her own features up and down. Her eyes fell on a picture stuck between the wood and the actual mirror of her vanity, and on instinct Lucy's hand reached up and her fingers brushed over the piece of paper.
Looking at the picture of her blowing out her candles on her eighth birthday, her mom and dad on either side of her with bright smiles, it allowed for a sad smile to cross Lucy's face.
"Happy Birthday, mama," Lucy muttered. She let out a sigh, put her glasses on and made her way downstairs to meet with her dad.
"Morning, dad," Lucy greeted, flashing a small smile at him.
"Morning, Lucy-Goosey! You excited for your big performance tonight?" Carter asked excitedly.
Lucy laughed and nodded, "For sure, dad. It's... crazy. Doesn't feel like tonight is actually happening."
"Well you kids worked so hard to get here. I'm so proud of you all. You'll be able to look out and see me sitting with the Caswells," Carter mused, a proud smile on his face.
"I'll let Ej and the twins know to keep an eye out for you guys," Lucy assured him with a small giggle. She looked down and noticed two cupcakes sat on the counter, each with a candle in the center. Red velvet. Her mom's favorite. "What are these?"
"You didn't forget about our tradition, did you?" Carter asked worriedly. "We always blow out the candles on mom's birthday."
"Yeah, I just didn't know we were doing it for breakfast," Lucy admitted.
"Well, we can't exactly do it for dinner, now can we? You've got a show to do!" Carter told her. Lucy forced a smile and nodded.
"Okay, yeah. You ready?" she asked him. He nodded, grabbing a lighter from the junk drawer and lighting the two candles.
"1... 2... 3," Carter counted them in.
Both of them began to sing, "Happy birthday to you. Happy birthday to you. Happy birthday, dear Mama. Happy birthday to you."
They blew out the candles and Carter smiled at his daughter, who took the candle out of the cupcake and licked off the icing. Suddenly, Lucy's phone began to buzz and she pull it out to answer.
"Hey—" Lucy was cut off by a loud scream from both Kourtney and Nini. Carter winced behind the camera, and Lucy looked at them both worriedly. "Uhm, ouch? What's with all the screaming?"
"I just got a text from Miss Jenn, since Gina's not here, guess who's playing Taylor!" Kourtney squealed. Lucy's jaw dropped.
"Oh my god, Kourt! That's amazing, you're gonna do so good! I'm so proud, if we were in person I would give you such a big hug right now!" Lucy told her excitedly.
"Congrats, Kourtney! Good luck tonight, girls!!" Carter called around a mouthful of cupcake. Nini and Kourtney both looked at Lucy confusedly.
"Was that?" Kourtney asked.
"My dad and his breakfast cupcake," Lucy giggled, holding up her own for reference. Nini and Kourtney both laughed and nodded understandingly.
"Thanks, Mr. C!" Kourtney called.
"Yeah, thanks, Mr. Carlisle!" Nini added with a giggle. Lucy looked over at her dad who flashed a thumbs up.
"He says you're welcome," Lucy translated, with a small chuckle.
"Oh! Luce, what are your plans before call time?" Nini asked curiously.
"Oh, actually it's tradition that I go get lunch with the Caswells and then the four of us go over to the school from there," Lucy clarified, she looked at the time on the stove.
"Speaking of which, Ej said he was gonna be here at 12 and it's 11:55, and knowing him he will be on the dot, so I have to get my shoes on," Lucy quickly rushed upstairs to grab her shoes.
"Your cupcake!" Carter called after her.
"I'll eat it when I get home! Thanks, dad!" Lucy called back.
"Speaking of Ej, did you two ever talk about what happened during tech week?" Kourtney asked suggestively.
"No, because there's nothing to talk about," Lucy said pointedly.
"Lu, you guys almost kissed. That is something to talk about," Nini reminded her.
"Look, if Ej brings it up we'll talk about it, but right now I'm avoiding my feelings in all aspects of my life, so," Lucy replied, quickly tying the laces to her black docs. Just as she finished doing so, her phone buzzed with a message from Ej. "Speaking of, he is outside my house right now. So I have to go before he starts honking, because he's impatient. I love you both so very much, all the kisses in the world I love you both. Mwah, mwah."
"Bye, Mama Lu," Kourtney laughed.
"We love you too! See you at the school!" Nini added. Lucy giggled, waved goodbye, hung up, grabbed her show bag (making sure everyone's letters were in there first, Ej's was the longest), and quickly raced out the door after saying goodbye to her dad.
"Okay, I'm here, I'm here. Sorry, my dad and I had to do our one tradition and then Nini and Kourt called to tell me that Kourt's playing Taylor, and— I am so hungry. I should have eaten my cupcake this morning," Lucy rambled as she got in the back seat with Adam.
"Kourtney's playing Taylor?" Ashlyn asked, quickly turning around in her seat to face them. She shot Adam a look and he side eyed her for a moment. Lucy could tell the twins knew something she didn't but Lucy shrugged it off anyway.
They had lunch at their normal spot that they ate at every year, then all headed over to the school with one another to get ready for the show before their official call time. Lucy was in the process of handing out everyone's letters that she had written, to everyone that was there so far.
"Hey, you!" Lucy chirped to Ricky who was pacing nervously. "I have something for you... boop!"
She passed him the envelope with Little Brother Richard written on the front and smiled widely. Ricky smiled softly at her and let out a nervous chuckle.
"Thanks, Lucille. It means a lot," he told her. Lucy smiled confusedly at him.
"Of course, why do you look like you're gonna throw up though?" she asked curiously.
"Because I feel like I am," Ricky admitted with a brief chuckle. Lucy smiled reassuringly at him and quickly pulled him in for a tight hug.
"I'm so proud of you, Richard Bowen. You've come so far," she muttered to him.
"I couldn't have done it without you, Lucille Carlisle," he muttered back. Lucy pulled back from the hug, and briefly patted his cheek. They told each other that they loved them, then Lucy skipped off to continue what she needed to do.
She was passing out more letters when she felt someone grab her hand and turn her around. She looked back and came face to face with Ej, smiling brightly at him.
"Hey, E! What's up?" she chirped.
"Wanna go read our letters quick before things go haywire?" He asked her with a smile. She beamed at him and the two quickly ran off to find a secluded space.
"Oh! Hold on!" Lucy said, she quickly stopped at her bag and grabbed a small box, then intertwined her fingers with his again and they found a separate room quickly. They quickly traded their letters and looked at one another with wide smiles.
"Okay, on three?" Ej asked her. She nodded and they counted down, then opened the letters.
Lulu,
This is my fifth time trying to write this letter to you, and no words can even begin to describe how I feel right now. Nine shows together. Nine, not including our shows in your basement, but— wow, Lucy. You have changed so much since we first started performing together. IN A GOOD WAY!!!! You have become so much more confident in the last couple months alone since we started HSM, I don't know what sparked in you, but it's beautiful. You're beautiful.
Lucy, I can't apologize enough for not being there for you after your mom (Happy Birthday, Miss Em) and I wish I could go back in time and slap myself silly for what I did and how I acted. Especially all that dumb stuff I did this year.
You're one of the best, most talented people I know, and I don't know where I— or any of us for that matter— would be without you and your kindness and everything you do for all of us. Everything you've done for me. You make me so happy, Lucy. Happier than I ever thought was possible. Thank you for everything, and congrats on making it to senior year, we did it!!
-EJC
P.S. I have something to say to you that I didn't want to say in the letter, so look up now.
Lucy looked up with tears in her eyes, Ej mirroring her expression as they smiled widely at each other. They stayed silent for a moment, and both of them just smiled widely. Finally in unison they said, "I love you."
"What?!" Lucy laughed, Ej started laughing too and he quickly pulled her in for a hug.
"I love you, Lucy. I love you so much," he said, squeezing her tightly.
"I love you more, Eej," she muttered. They pulled back again and Ej brushed her hair behind her ear to get it out of her face.
"Can I?" he asked softly.
"Yeah," she nodded. Ej smiled and leaned in. Lucy's lips were soft against his as they kissed, and her cheeks burned brightly as he pulled back. They both were smiling and giddy as they leaned their foreheads against one another.
"I have something for you," they said in unison, laughing at the fact that they had spoken together again. Ej pulled a box out of his pocket and passed it over to Lucy. She did the same with her box and they opened them simultaneously. Ej's eyes fell on a dog-tag with a silver basketball charm on the necklace next to it. On the back read his full name and the years they were in theater together.
"Lu, I love it," Ej laughed happily, he pulled it out and slipped the chain over his head, tucking it under his shirt so he could wear it during the show. Lucy, on the other hand, was met with a necklace that had a big E charm on it, similar to the T necklace that Troy gave Gabriella.
"Ej," Lucy gasped, bringing her hand to her mouth in shock. She looked up at him with tear filled eyes. "I'm gonna cry."
"Please don't, Kourtney will be so mad if you mess up your makeup," Ej pleaded. Lucy laughed and shook her head.
"I just, wow. I'm gonna say the line, even though I always make fun of it, but E as in Ej?" she quoted the second movie of the show they were preparing to put on.
Ej laughed and nodded again, "Yeah. If you didn't say I love you back I was honestly just gonna return it, so I'm really, really glad you did."
"Will you?" she asked holding it up for him to put on her.
"Yeah, of course," he agreed, taking the necklace from the box. She moved her hair and Ej clipped it around her neck. She dropped her hair again, then turned back around and threw her arms around his neck. She kissed him again, and he grinned into it, placing his hands on her waist.
"Ej, Lucy, your— oh— my bad," Kourtney stepped back slightly, Lucy and Ej broke apart as they heard their names, laughing awkwardly as they looked over.
"Sorry, Kourt. Uhm, what's up?" Lucy asked nervously.
"Your dads are backstage looking for you, they said they have an announcement and surprise for the whole cast," Kourtney told them. Ej furrowed his eyebrows.
"Our dads?" he questioned. Kourtney nodded, the two seniors exchanged a look and shrugged at one another, following after Kourtney. The younger girl hung back and grabbed Lucy's hand with one hand and her arm with the other.
"I thought you weren't gonna talk about the almost kiss?" Kourtney teased quietly, "although from the looks of it, there wasn't much talking happening anyway."
"Hush," Lucy laughed, swatting her arm, "things changed."
Kourtney and Lucy both giggled then joined everyone backstage, Ej only a couple steps ahead of them.
"Ah! Ej, Lucy, there you are! Okay, everyone, gather around. Mr. Caswell and Mr. Carlisle have an announcement!" Miss Jenn announced. They all stood in a circle with the two men facing all of them.
"First and foremost we want to say congratulations on making it to tonight, we know that it has not been easy, but round of applause to all of you for making it here," Cash started off. Everyone cheered and clapped at this in agreement. "That being said, Mr. Carlisle, here has something to say."
"Alright, hi, guys. I see some familiar faces of people Lucy has brought home— I see you, Ricky. Hi," Carter chuckled and continued, "If you don't know me, I'm Lucy's dad. Lucy has sure told me about all of you, and all of her little ones she's adopted this year. Some of you may know, Lucy's mom passed away from cancer a couple years ago, but before she did, she loved the theater. She is part of the big reason Lucy is here today. Now, I know that if she was still alive, she would be here and at every performance to cheer you all on, but since she can't be here physically, Mr. Caswell and I decided we should do something to cheer you guys on in her honor. So, at the beginning of the year we decided to make a donation to the theater department, but when we were going to give it to you guys your theater burned down. When that happened, we took a step back, and we decided to expand our donation. Cash, I'm gonna cry, you go."
"Well now we know where Lucy gets it from," Ricky joked, earning chuckles around the room, Lucy sticking her tongue out at him from where she stood. Cash smiled at all of them and took over for his friend.
"We have decided that we as a company are going to donate a large sum of money to the East High Theater Department to help rebuild your theater in honor of Mrs. Carlisle. It will be finished by the end of Christmas break in time for your spring musical, and it will be from now on called the Emily Carlisle Theater," Cash finished explaining. Everyone gasped and Lucy promptly burst into tears without warning, Ej quickly pulling her into his side comfortingly as tears formed in his own eyes.
"That is so generous of you all, thank you so much Mr. Caswell, Mr. Carlisle. Wildcats, let's give these wonderful men a big round of applause and a warm thank you!" Miss Jenn announced, tears in her own eyes. Everyone shouted out an ecstatic "Thank You!" to the two men who laughed and nodded at everyone.
"You're all very welcome, but that's not everything. We have two other people here tonight that would like to celebrate tonight with you guys," Cash announced, Carter backed up and called out into the hall, everyone's jaws dropping as Corbin Bleu and Olesya Rulin walked in, aka Chad Danforth and Kelsi Nielsen, aka Ej and Lucy's characters.
"Hey! Hi, guys!" Corbin grinned at all of them.
"Wow, it feels so good being back here," Olesya laughed smiling around at everyone. Cash and Carter gracefully bowed out, assuring their kids they would see them after the show as it was coming down to the last few minutes.
"We just wanted to tell you guys how excited we are to watch your performance tonight, and getcha head in the game!" Corbin told them all, everyone laughing at his reference.
"Would you guys like to do a show circle with all of us before we have to go on?" Nini offered.
"We would love to, but first... where's my Chad and my Kelsi? Ej and Lucy?" Corbin asked looking around.
"That's us!" Ej announced, raising his hand and motioning to him and Lucy.
"Yeah, the actual messes right now," Lucy laughed, gently wiping her eyes so she wouldn't smear her makeup.
"We're coming to stand with you guys," Corbin nodded, he and Olesya each stood beside their respective character's actor/actress.
"Okay, now, what I would like to do is, please think of a word or a phrase from the show that expresses where your head is, or your goals for tonight. If anyone wants to share?" Miss Jenn requested. Everyone looked around silently for a moment, unsure of where to start.
"You're my guys and this is our team," Big Red spoke up first.
"What if you wanna try something really new, and it's a total disaster and all your friends laugh at you?" Ricky added, Lucy smiled sadly at him and drew a heart in the air at him.
"Oh uhm," Nini spoke up next, "Do you ever feel like there's this whole other person inside of you just looking for a way to come out?"
"Do the romp, and strut your stuff," Carlos said next, earning laughs around the room.
"My shower head is very impressed with me," Kourtney mused.
"I'm proud to call you my sister," Ej said to Ashlyn.
"Hey, that's my line! Literally!" Adam piped up defensively, the three relatives all grinning at one another.
"You know what, it's close enough," Ashlyn laughed, then took her turn next. "My nail beds are history."
"Uhm, So lonely before, I finally found what I've been looking for," Lucy finally spoke up, earning some aw's from around the room.
"Without you there is no show, you're the playmaker," Ricky said his line to her from across the room. Lucy pouted at him and the two of them simultaneously drew hearts in the air at one another, making everyone else laugh at them.
"I mean Sharpay's kinda cute too," Seb said next.
"So is a mountain lion, but you don't pet it," everyone said in unison, laughing at each other.
"Win or lose, we're teammates, even if you turn out to be the worst singer in the world," Corbin said next.
"Which we wouldn't know because we haven't heard you sing," Olesya added, earning laughs around the room. The room fell quiet again for only a moment.
"And I'll just say, no matter what happens tonight, we're all in this together," Miss Jenn said tearfully. Everyone looked around at each other with small smiles.
"What team?" Lucy asked with a knowing smile.
"Wildcats," everyone else agreed.
"Okay, Wildcats, take a moment to shake your nerves, because if we had a curtain, it would be up in 20 minutes!" Miss Jenn announced, everyone cheering as they started to scatter. Corbin and Olesya bid Lucy and Ej good luck, then went out to sit in the audience.
Lucy looked over and out of the corner of her eye saw Kourtney looking nervous, quickly making her way over with Nini.
"Hey, you know I have your back out there tonight, right?" Nini reminded Kourtney.
"Yeah, we both do," Lucy agreed, the three girls holding hands together.
"I'll have the words in my hand on stage, but I don't know what to do when you maniacs start dancing!" Kourtney reminded them.
"What you always do, your best," Nini reminded her.
"There's no better person you could be than you," Lucy smiled reassuringly at her.
"Seriously, you're our idol, Kourt," Nini beamed, Lucy nodding in agreement. "Let's just have fun."
"Thanks, Neener, Mama Lu. Oh, I gotta get changed," Kourtney said, suddenly her eyes fell on Lucy's necklace. "Uhm, Miss Lucy. Is that an E necklace I see?"
"Oh my gosh, is that supposed to be like the one Troy gives Gabriella?" Nini marveled. Lucy smiled widely and nodded.
"I got to say the line," Lucy squealed, her two friends grabbing her hands and giggling with her.
"Oh my gosh, you hate that line," Kourtney giggled at her.
"I know, but it's so much more fun to say when you're practically in the scene," Lucy giggled.
"I really have to go now, but sleepover tonight? Or facetime or something so you can spill all of it," Kourtney suggested. Lucy and Nini both nodded in response and the three of them had one last group hug before Kourtney walked away to go get changed. They had a show to do after all.
NOTES—
SO MUCH HAPPENED AH!
Next chapter is the end of the first act of this book!!! Then we're on to season two!! xoxo
-SMK