Chapter Twenty-One:
All In This Together
LUCY STOOD IN the wings between Ej and Adam, the latter texting rapidly on his phone, messing with his fedora as he did so. Lucy leaned into Ej who was watching intently with her when Ashlyn came up beside her twin.
"Adam," Ashlyn whispered to her twin brother.
"Yeah?" He muttered distractedly, earning looks from the two seniors stood beside him.
"You know we're putting on an actual show right?" Ashlyn continued to whisper, glancing over her brother's shoulder.
"Thanks, Ash. I'm aware," Adam replied with a small roll of his eyes. Lucy glanced up to Ej confusedly, and he only shrugged in reply. He had no idea what was going on with Adam.
"You wanna get off your phone for ten minutes then, and be part of the team?" Ashlyn retorted. Lucy faked a cough to cover her giggle and Ej squeezed her shoulders gently in a warning, although he looked down at her amusedly.
"Uh," Adam clicked off his phone and tucked it in his pocket, "yeah, sorry. Yeah."
"Forgiven," Ashlyn sighed, looking back at Nini and Ricky performing.
"Okay," Lucy breathed out uncomfortably. She looked up at Ej with a small smile and whispered, "I'm going to check on Kourt before I have to go on. Carlos is teaching her the choreography now."
"Oh jeez," Ej muttered. "That's intense."
Lucy smiled as if saying, you have no idea. She stood on her toes and pressed a quick kiss to his cheek, "Break a leg out there. You've got this."
"You too, Lu," Ej smiled adoringly at her. She went to walk away again, but he pulled her back and pressed a quick kiss to her lips. Her cheeks burned as the twins looked at the two with dropped jaws, and she quickly scurried off to find Kourtney and Carlos.
"Hey! I'm here for support, where we at?" Lucy breathed out, landing next to Carlos as Kourtney looked at her anxiously.
"Hey, how's it going?" Nini breathed out as she came back stage with them, Lucy rubbing her shoulder with a small proud smile before turning her attention back to Kourtney.
"I think she's getting it," Carlos told them honestly.
"Oh my gosh, there's like a hundred parts," Kourtney pouted frustratedly.
"Yeah, that was two counts of eight, but keep drillin' it though!" Carlos tried to reassure her. Lucy shot him a small look of dismay as he walked away and looked back to Kourtney.
"I'm sure you'll kill it, babes," Lucy assured the younger girl, who only looked more upset.
"I don't know about this," Kourtney admitted, taking a seat in a chair across from Lucy and Nini.
"Oh, here. My good luck charm. Vanessa Hudgens' phone from the movie," Nini said, pulling the phone from her pocket as she took a seat across from Kourtney, Lucy standing beside her with her hand on Nini's shoulder. "Trust the process."
"But what if it's a mess?" Kourtney whispered to the two.
"What in life isn't a mess?" Lucy reminded her with a small smile. Nini nodded in agreement.
"And we'll go down together. The three musketeers," Nini said. Lucy grinned at the two happily. She was going to miss them next year. They heard applause over the speakers and all three girls looked up.
"That's our scene!" Nini chirped to Kourtney.
"And it starts in 30 seconds," Natalie announced, poking her head in the room. Lucy's eyes widened and Kourtney and Nini both quickly started to scramble from their seats. Kourtney nearly dropped the phone in the process, but quickly caught it and the three girls ran off together to get to the gym once more.
Lucy's first real scene came soon after, and she was excited to say the least. She had been practicing her fake fall since she was a little kid. Don't ask why, she just thought it was fun. There's not a real reason.
Tripping over her piano, Lucy made a face at the ground and looked up at the ceiling, speaking out the line Miss Jenn allowed her to add when she accidentally said it one afternoon when she actually slipped during rehearsal, "Why me?"
The audience laughed at her line and Ricky and Nini came over to help her clean up the prop sheet music she dropped, "So you're a composer." Lucy stared at Ricky blankly, slowly picking up the music. "You wrote the song Ryan and Sharpay just sang? And the entire show?"
Lucy nodded her head at him slowly and he continued, Nini looking at Lucy with a small smile, "Well, that's really cool. I, uh... I can't wait to hear the rest of the show."
Lucy remained silent as Ricky helped her to her feet, "So, why are you so afraid of Ryan and Sharpay? I mean, it is your show."
"It is?" Lucy asked with a raised eyebrow. The crowd chuckling at her delivery.
"Isn't the composer of a show kind of like the playmaker in basketball?" Ricky questioned. Lucy blinked at him slowly.
"Playmaker?"
"You know, the one who makes everyone else look good," Ricky clarified. "I mean without you, there is no show. You're the playmaker here, Kelsi."
"I am?" Lucy asked hopefully. Nini and Ricky both nodded at her and Lucy made her face brighten a little more. "Do you wanna hear how the duet's supposed to sound?"
She took a seat at the piano again and started to play. Ricky and Nini singing What I've Been Looking For Reprise while she played. Ashlyn came out and said her lines when the song ended, and Lucy quickly stood up to deliver her ramble.
"If you guys wanna rehearse, I'm usually here during free period and after school and even sometimes during biology class. You can come and rehearse anytime. Or you can come to my house for breakfast. I have a piano, we can rehearse there. After school, before school, whatever works. After basketball class... and we can get this worked out..."
Lucy continued to ramble as Ricky looked out at the crowd, holding sheet music and questioned, "What?"
The crowd laughed as the scene changed, and Carter couldn't stop smiling at his daughter from the audience. Tears pooled in his eyes out of pride and he watched his daughter adoringly, so happy to see her finally come back out of the shell she protected herself in for the last three years.
Backstage before status quo, Kourtney was freaking out because she couldn't do the splits like Gina could, meaning she couldn't do the proper choreography.
"Ladies and Gentlemen," Miss Jenn announced as she walked into the room, "it is time for Stick to the Status Quo. This is our biggest act one show stopper, and you are going to kill it because I love you. Any questions?"
"Can't argue with that logic," Lucy shrugged with a bright smile. Ej chuckled from beside her and nudged her shoulder.
"I have a couple hundred!" Kourtney raised her hand in a panic. Lucy smiled sympathetically at her.
"Wait, how is the Taylor dance break gonna work?" Seb asked curiously. "Gina's tray-ography is really complex."
"I can run to the pit and have the orchestra cut that part!" Carlos insisted. There were murmurs of disappointment at the thought, and from the corner of her eye Kourtney caught sight of something, or rather someone, that was her saving grace.
"Or we could just have Gina do it!" Kourtney announced with a grin. Everyone looked over and grew extraordinarily excited as Gina stepped into view more, all of them surrounding her now. Once it was settled that Gina would be playing Taylor for the remainder of the show, Lucy was buzzing.
The show was running smoothly so far, but as Lucy stood in the wings during Get'cha Head in the Game things started to go wrong. Ricky dropped the ball from where he was ascended in the air, and Lucy frowned at him, peaking her head out to follow his gaze. She caught sight of Mr. Bowen and Ricky's mom... who had another man beside her with his arm wrapped around her shoulders.
[Lucy, furiously, to camera]
"How dare she! That b—"
[Presently]
Lucy was quick to try and stop Ricky as he walked back into the wings, "Bowen, Richard— Ricky, Ricky, hey, hey. Slow down."
"Lucy, I can't. My mom—"
"I know, I know. I saw," Lucy tried to comfort him. Her hands were on his shoulders, but he pushed them off of him and Lucy looked at him with a disheartened expression. She was always there for him. Was she suddenly not enough anymore?
"What happened at the end?" Carlos asked confusedly.
"Look, just— has anyone seen Nini? I could really use a pep talk right now. My mom's new boyfriend showed up and I wanna punch a wall. I feel like I need a miracle to face Act Two," Ricky questioned, not looking at Lucy who felt like she could cry right now from how he just pushed her away.
"Nini's in a quick change booth right now, and she seems a little nervous," Carlos informed him.
"Why? What happened?" Ricky asked worriedly.
"Uh," Kourtney piped up now, "I thought I was doing a good thing, but I think it backfired. You see that lady with the clipboard out there? That's the dean from the performing arts school she was looking at."
"You invited her?" Ricky asked, his voice cracking slightly. Lucy just frowned deeply, shaking her head and walking away. Just when she thought she had shaken her off mood, she was right back on the floor again.
Lucy was taking a moment to herself in the hall. She had her hand clutched around her E necklace as she paced back and forth trying to take deep breaths.
"No more crying tonight, Lucy. You're not allowed to cry anymore," Lucy whispered to herself. Her breathing became shallow and she felt her eyes burn. "No. You're not allowed to do this, Lucy. It doesn't matter, Lucy. You're fine, Lucille."
Her full name slipped from her mouth and she thought about Ricky again and how he pushed her away so suddenly. Tears pooled in her eyes and she let out a short scream of frustration, turning and hitting the lockers with her open palm. She winced at the pain and clutched her hand as tears started to fall.
"What was— Lucy?"
"I'm okay," Lucy squeaked, her back turned to the person behind her.
"Oh, Mama Luce," Gina sighed sympathetically, quickly walking over to the girl, "What's wrong? Do you need me to get someone? Ej? Nini? Ricky?"
When she heard his name Lucy only grew more frustrated, "No! No, I'm sorry. I don't mean to yell. I'm just angry right now. I'm fine, I'm fine. Everything's fine, I'm okay."
"Lucy, hey," Gina said softly, turning the girl to face her. "What's going on? Talk to me, and don't just say you're okay. Clearly you're not."
"It's so stupid," Lucy muttered to herself. "I just was already kinda down today because it's my mom's birthday, and then Ricky just randomly pushed me away, like physically pushed my hands away from him while I was trying to comfort him, and I just— I'm angry! Like so angry, because I try so hard to be there for people and I just feel like I'm always everyone's last choice. Why can't I just ever be enough?"
Gina's jaw dropped slightly at the girl's words and she took a moment to process what she had said, before finally she said, "Lucy, that's absolutely not true. I know it feels like that right now, and you have every right to feel the way you do, what Ricky did was pretty crappy considering all you've done for him. I just— Luce, we all mean it with everything in us when we say you're pretty much the glue of this show. You keep us in line, and I'm pretty sure if there was a fire and all of us could only save one person you would be our first pick, kinda morbid but it's true."
Lucy let out a teary laugh at this statement, and Gina smiled triumphantly when she saw the shorter girl smile now, "You are so talented and kind and extraordinarily beautiful, Lucy Carlisle. You deserve the world and so much more. And... boys are stupid. Well, clearly not all of them considering the E necklace you're wearing— very cute by the way, I was wondering when you two would finally get together— but seriously. You are amazing, Lucy, and nobody, especially not a boy, can change that."
Lucy smiled up at her and quickly pulled Gina in for a hug. The younger girl tensed for a moment, then relaxed into the hug. Lucy gave very good hugs. Finally the blonde muttered, "You deserve the world too, Gina Porter. I'm so glad you came back."
"Well, you have Adam to thank for that one," Gina admitted with a smile as the two girls released each other. Lucy made a face of confusion at this then shook her head.
"We're defo talking about this later, but for now, I do kinda want to find Ej. You really helped calm me down, and thank you so much for that, but he just... he's like a big teddy bear, you know?" Lucy giggled, brushing away her tears gently.
"Well you better find him quick then. He's going on as Troy for act two," Gina grimaced lightly, not at the fact that Ej was playing Troy. More at the fact that the switch was happening in the first place.
"Wait, what?!" Lucy exclaimed in shock.
"You didn't know?" Gina questioned.
"No, I've been back here having a breakdown since intermission started pretty much," Lucy sighed, letting out a huff right after. "You have one minor breakdown and suddenly your sorta-boyfriend becomes the lead in your school play. What is this? A tv show?"
Gina smiled amusedly, and bit concernedly at the girl, who looked up with a forced smile, "Okay. Thank you so much again, I really appreciate you, G. I should really—"
"Go get your man," Gina nodded at her with a grin. Lucy laughed and nodded back. She gently squeezed Gina's upper arm affectionately, then ran off to find Ej.
She couldn't find him before the second act and finally gave up, watching him from the wings. He walked off with Carlos when the lights dimmed, and Lucy quickly grabbed Ej's arm.
"Hey, what's going on? Where did he go?" Lucy asked in a hushed whisper.
"I don't know, he just asked me to take over. I figured I would just do it and ask questions later," Ej replied softly. He scanned her face in the dimmed lights and frowned when he saw that her eyes were red. "Hey, are you okay? Why have you been crying?"
"Ej, we have to go change," Carlos muttered. Ej sighed and looked back at Lucy expectantly.
"I'm okay," Lucy managed to say. "Go get changed. You have a show to do."
She forced a small smile at him, and he smiled sadly back. He pressed a quick kiss to her forehead and walked off. Lucy's smile became more genuine as she watched him walk away.
When Breaking Free came around, Lucy stood in the doorway to the Gym with Adam, her arms folded across her stomach. Ej was an amazing singer and it brought a small smile to her face as she watched him, although she felt a small pant of jealousy surge through her when she saw how he was looking at Nini.
"I can't do it, Troy. Not with all these people staring at me," Nini told him when he stopped singing.
"Look at me, Gabby. Right at me," he said, placing his hand on her cheek. "Like the first time we sang together. Like Kindergarten, remember?"
The door opened beside Lucy and Adam and Lucy rolled her eyes when she saw Ricky walk in behind Gina. She didn't mean to, she was just annoyed at him is all. Before the door shut, Lucy pushed past Ricky, and walked out herself. He turned and watched her with a frown for a moment, then turned back to watch the scene. Lucy had to change for We're All In This Together and Final Bows anyway, she felt bad not watching Ej, but she couldn't be bothered to be around Ricky at the moment.
Lucy could finally let out a breath of relief when the show ended, celebrating with the cast when Miss Jenn finally got to say her line. Lucy began to pack up her stuff before the cast party, as she was doing so she felt a pair of arms wrap around her from behind.
"There's my playmaker," Ej muttered in her ear.
"Well if it isn't Troy Bolton himself, even if it was only for like, two-thirds of the second act," she giggled, turning around to give him a hug.
"You were amazing out there, I'm so proud of you," Ej told her as he hugged her tightly.
"I'm proud of you too. You were incredible," Lucy grinned at him as she pulled back, her arms wrapped around his neck still as his hands laid on her waist. He smiled down at her and then suddenly his expression shifted.
"Hey, what was up with you at the start of Act Two, by the way?" he asked curiously. Lucy hesitated for a moment then sighed and shook her head. She did not want to add more fuel to Ej's "I don't like Ricky Bowen" fire.
"It's nothing, honestly. I just... I'm really emotional today, is all," she brushed it off. Ej looked at her with sympathy and pulled her into another hug.
"Come find me if you ever just need a shoulder to cry on or someone to talk to. I'm always here for you," he assured her. Lucy beamed at this and squeezed him a little tighter.
"I love you," she mumbled to him softly.
"I love you too," he muttered back. They held one another for a moment then let go and grinned at each other.
"We should go see our parents before Corbin and Oleysia have to leave," Lucy suddenly reminded him.
"Oh my god, I honestly forgot they were here," Ej blurted, making Lucy laugh as she grabbed his hand and pulled him out to the hallway to go find their parents.
After a semi-awkward conversation with Corbin and Oleysia where Ej and Lucy had to struggle their way through a brief explanation of what happened in the second act, the two stars congratulated the two seniors before they had to leave to go back to LA. They then chatted with Carter and Mr. and Mrs. Caswell for a while, getting big hugs from their parents and each other's parents, before assuring them they would be home after the cast party at Ashlyn and Adam's.
Ej was ready to go, but Lucy quickly remembered she still needed her stuff.
"Oh my gosh, my bag," Lucy rushed out with a small laugh. Ej chuckled at her confusedly.
"What?" he asked amusedly.
"I left my bag in the room before we came out here. I'll be right back, I promise," she told him, she kissed his cheek quickly and rushed off to grab her things.
Smiling and congratulating Gina, who was on her way out of the room that Lucy was entering, she rushed inside, but slowly stopped when Ricky turned around to see who had just entered. The blonde's expression fell as she slowed her pace, and then hardened as she quickly brushed past him to grab her bag from the counter.
"Lucy, wait," Ricky sighed when she brushed past him.
"I have to go, Ricky. Ej's waiting for me," she said dismissively, slinging her tote over her shoulder.
"Can you at least let me apologize?" Lucy sighed and turned to look at him expectantly. "I just... I was frustrated at the moment and Nini always manages to know how to calm me down—"
Lucy scoffed and rolled her eyes. She turned away from him as she said, "Yeah okay, Ricky. I'll see you at the cast party."
"Lucy—"
"No, you know what, Ricky? I love you, and I love Nini, don't get me wrong, but you saying Nini is the one that calms you down? Ricky, I was the one that was there for you when you tried to quit the show, I helped you with the choreography, I showed you a song I wrote that I've never shown anyone before in hopes it would help you come to terms with your mom leaving, I was the one that comforted you after you found out about your parents' divorce, I listened to you rant about Ej for an hour because of all that stuff he said to you. I was there through all of it! And I'm not saying this because I want you to thank me or anything, because I couldn't care less about being thanked for all of that, I'm saying it because I don't deserve to just be used as a filler when the person you want isn't there. I don't deserve to be, literally, pushed to the side when someone better comes along, not when I did all of that stuff for you simply because I cared and I saw something great in you. It's not fair to me, Ricky. None of that is fair to me. I don't deserve to be treated like this," Lucy's expression remained the same hurt one for her entire rant to him. Ricky stared at her, unable to say anything in response.
She was absolutely, 100% right as per usual, and Ricky felt incredibly guilty. He stared at her with his mouth gaped open slightly and Lucy scanned his face for a moment before nodding once and turning on her heel and leaving the room.
Frustrated, Lucy plastered the best fake smile on her face as she left the room, not noticing that Ricky had walked out behind her as she made her way up to Ej. She quickly snaked her arms around his waist and smiled genuinely up at him.
"You all good?" Ej asked worriedly, catching a glimpse of the annoyance in her eyes.
"Mhm. You ready to hit that cast party?" she asked with a grin.
"Absolutely," he smiled down at her, she beamed up at him and pressed a quick kiss to his lips before they made their way outside.
Ricky stood and watched after them in shock as they both left, his parents appearing now as well, not leaving him with time to dwell much on the fact that his pseudo-older-sister was now dating the guy that hates him aka her best friend's ex boyfriend. What was happening with this group? Why was everything falling apart suddenly.
Notes—
THAT'S THE END OF SEASON ONE AND ACT ONE OF THIS BOOK 🥳🥳🥳🥳🥳
Okay, so a couple quick things. I am going to take a little break from publishing so I can start working on season/act two chapters. I'm gonna take about a week to work on the chapters and next Saturday I'll start publishing again.
As for what happened this Chapter, Lucy was struggling a lot with her mom's birthday, already given, and literally everyone has told her at one point (especially Nini and Kourtney) that she takes care of everyone else and never looks after herself, which is why when Ricky pushes her away she gets very upset, and then snaps at him for treating her the way he did.
She do be evolving.
Okay anyway, that's all from me! Leave any questions, comments, concerns you have for me. Thank you all for reading act one of Wake Up, and I will see you all next Saturday when we start season/act two! xoxo
-SMK