Before anyone knew it, it was time for the 'Getcha Head In The Game' scene. It started out great and Ophelia was so proud of her friends for continuing to do so good. But when it got to the part where Ricky was up in the harness and was about to shoot the basketball he held, he froze. Ophelia furrowed her eyebrows, concern filling her as she looked in the direction he was looking at. Her eyes widened when she saw a man sitting beside Ricky's mom, Lynne, and after seeing him kiss Ricky's mom cheek, she realized that man must be her new boyfriend.
Ophelia's heart ached with sadness for him. Ricky was clearly upset over the divorce, but Lynne was insensitive enough to bring her new boyfriend to see most likely meet him at his play. What aggravated her even more was the fact that Lynne had most likely not informed Ricky that her new boyfriend was coming to the play.
The music resumed after Ricky stammered out the next lyric, and he was lowered back to the ground while everyone continued the song. Ricky did his best to keep singing as some of the dancers unhooked him from the harness, but Ophelia could tell he wasn't upset. Ricky attempted to do the same dance like the others, but he messed up and accidentally kicked the basketball into the audience. When he ran off just before the end of the song, and Ophelia exchanged a troubled look with Big Red.
Big Red then announced that now is a time for a ten minute intermission and that there was ten minutes until Act Two. When Ophelia got a text from Ricky saying that he needed her out in the hall, she didn't hesitate to head out to the hallway. Ophelia went out to the hallway to find Ricky dressed in his normal clothes. She frowns when she saw him standing there with an upset expression on his face. "Rick." She spoke softly to get his attention and when he looked at her with teary eyes she felt her heart break. She hated seeing him cry.
She walks over to him, growing more concern for the curly-haired boy when she sees that Ricky is shaky. "Ricky, you're shaking." She stood close enough to him so she can wrap her arms around him in a hug and she found out how tense he was when she hugged him. He didn't take any time to wrap her arms back around him, resting his head in the crook of her neck as he held onto her tightly as if he was afraid she would disappear.
"I can't believe she would bring him." Ricky mutters, his voice laced with anger. "It doesn't make any sense why she would bring him."
"I know it doesn't, and she's wrong to bring him here without even asking you." Ophelia said, now rubbing his back in an attempt to comfort him. It seemed to work because she could feel him relaxing.
Ricky sighs heavily. "Why can't parents just stay together?"
"I don't know, Rick." Ophelia responds. She wished she had a better answer to give him to make him feel better. "But I understand what you're going through. Having divorce parents suck and there's nothing you can do about it. You just have to hope that things will work out for the best." She sighed and rested her head in the crook of his neck, holding onto him tighter.
Their moment was ruined when one of the double doors to the hallway from the gym opens and a familiar voice is heard. "There you are."
Ophelia and Ricky reluctantly pull away from the hug, moving so they were standing side by side as they look at Ricky's mom. "Hey." Ricky greeted.
Lynne looks at Ophelia with a small smile. "You're doing great with the tech, Ophelia."
"Thanks, Mrs-Lynne." Ophelia caught herself from calling Lynne 'Mrs. Bowen', remembering the many times Lynne reminded her to call her by her first name.
Lynne glances at her son with concern. "Are you okay? Is it stage fright? Because people are counting on you, honey. You've made a commitment to this."
Ricky scoffs. "You're one to talk about commitment."
Lynne looks at him with shock. "I'm sorry?"
"It's not about the nerves, okay?" Ricky shakes his head. Lynne then asked him if he was okay, tilting her head to the side, worried about him when she realized it looked like he had been crying. "Why'd you bring him?" Ricky then asked her and that was when Ophelia felt like she was intruding on their private conversation, so she decided to leave.
"I'm just gonna..." Ophelia awkwardly pointed at the double doors leading to the gym as she made her way over there. She walked back inside, seeing that it was now the 'Bop To The Top' scene, and she made her way back to the sound system to see only Big Red there.
"Things still going good here?" Ophelia asked Big Red.
"Great." Big Red smiles. As he continues to work with the sound system, he gestures with a nod of his head towards the doors of the gym. "How's Ricky?"
Ophelia is quiet for a moment before she nods and answers with, "He will be better eventually."
Ophelia watched Big Red work the sound system with an impressed expression. "The last time I was here you didn't even know what all the stuff was for."
"Yeah." Big Red nods, his lips forming into a smile. "When it reminded me that it's similar to how to play a video game I got really good at it."
Ophelia smiles. "That's great, Red."
"You picked up all of these skills today?" A surprise voice asked. Ophelia glanced over in the direction she heard the familiar voice and saw Mr. Mazarra.
Big Red nods. "I think I'm starting to get it." He glances at Mr. Mazarra. "It's kinda like a video game, right?"
Ophelia raises her eyebrows, an amused expression forming on her face upon seeing how surprise Mr. Mazarra is as he watches Big Red do great at the sound system. "Young man, have you considered applying to my robotics club?" Mr. Mazarra questioned.
Big Red looks at him with surprise and then smiles widely. He looks at Ophelia with a grin and nudges her. "You hear that? I might be joining robotics club."
Ophelia giggles a bit and nods. She smiles at him. "I'm proud of you, Red."
****
Soon it was time for the 'Breaking Free' scene. After EJ sang his part, Nini recites her line. "I can't do it, Troy. Not with all these people staring at me."
"Look at me, Gabby." EJ said. "Right at me. Like the first time we sang together. Like kindergarten, remember?"
When Ophelia hears one of the gym's double doors open, she turns to see Ricky and Gina and smiles a little. Ricky appeared to be in better shape than he had been previously. Ricky felt like eyes were on him, so he turned to face the direction Ophelia is in and locked eyes with her. He sent her a smile, assuring her that he was okay. Ophelia nodded and smiled.
"Like kindergarten, remember?" EJ tries again. When Nini stays quiet and keeps looking from the audience to Ricky and then back at EJ, EJ nods to himself and says something that wasn't exactly in the script. "Remember kindergarten? There's nothing like the friends you made back then. And they never really leave, do they?"
Ophelia exchanges a confused look with Big Red before they both look back at EJ and Nini, both wondering what EJ was doing. It seemed like Nini was wondering what EJ was doing because the brunette-haired girl asks, "What are you doing?"
"Something right, I hope." EJ replies. "I'm gonna play to lose. I'm not the Troy you want." He chuckled softly, putting a hand on Nini's shoulder before he walked off. The audience started to murmur with each other as Nini stood there.
"Any idea what's happening?" Ophelia inquired, glancing at Big Red with furrowed eyebrows.
Big Red shakes his head, furrowing is eyebrows. "No idea." He smiles a bit when he notices Nini walking towards Ricky. "But I think what's happening is good."
Ophelia looks in the direction Big Red is at as Nini starts singing. "You know the world can see us. In a way that's different than who we are." Ophelia smiled upon seeing Nini walking over to Ricky, now holding her phone that had its light on. She quietly 'awed', remembering Ricky did that phone thing with Nini at the auditions.
Ricky starts walking over to Nini and they meet each other half way. "Creating space between us. 'Till we're separate hearts." Nini sang, turning off her phone once he was standing in front of Ricky and put her phone away.
Ricky takes ahold of the microphone Nini held, lowering it so he's not speaking into it. He shakes his head. "I'm not really at my best."
"Just look at me, Ricky." Nini speaks softly. She smiles at him. "Right at me."
Ricky smiles a bit and Nini glances over at the orchestra, gesturing with a nod of her head for them to start playing again. They do and she looks back at Ricky, beginning to sing again. "But your faith, it gives me strength."
Ricky joins Nini for the next lyric. "Strength to believe." Ophelia grinned, cheering along with the rest of the audience as the two teens made their way to the front.
At the end of the song, the gym erupted into cheers. "Woo! Yeah, Ricky! Woo, Nini!" Big Red cheered.
"You go, Nini!" Ophelia cheers. "That's our best friend, Ricky!" She exclaimed, pointing at the curly-haired boy. She wondered if Ricky could even hear her over everyone else's cheering, but by the way he was looking at her with a grin she thought maybe he did.
At the curtain call, everyone erupted in applause. Nini and Gina even invited Carlos and Miss Jenn out, and Miss Jenn got to say her movie line, which Ophelia thought was incredibly wonderful. When the drama club bowed, the gym erupted in cheers once more, and everyone was on their feet cheering them on.
"Well, I guess my hope of publicizing the robotics program came too little, too late." Mr. Mazarra spoke sadly.
Big Red grins. "Guess again, rock star." He pressed a button, causing Mr. Mazarra's robotics club stickers to fall in the air like confetti.
"Good job, Red." Ophelia grins at Big Red, pulling the red-haired boy into a side hug. She glances at the robotics club stickers falling with a smile. "I can't believe it actually worked."
"Well, it should've." Big Red smiles at her, wrapping his arm around her shoulders. "You're the one who came up with the idea."
****
The drama club members gather back in the bomb shelter and some of them had already gotten changed into their normal clothes. Ophelia immediately went over to Fallon and Luca to pull them in for a group hug.
"You guys did amazing!" Ophelia commented as they pulled away from the group hug.
"Thanks!" Fallon grinned at her.
The three best friends bring their attention to Seb when he asks, "So, who are the flowers for?"
"Everybody, hold." Carlos responds, looking for a card in the big basket of flowers. He picks out a card. "We've got a card, people. 'To Ashlyn. Because you get me.'"
Ashlyn stands up, looking at her cousin, who stood beside her, with a wide smile. "EJ! Really?"
EJ scoffs, shaking his head. "I didn't write that."
"I did." Big Red stood up, smiling at the red-haired girl.
"Okay, if you guys stay in here any longer, your parents are gonna riot in the lobby." Kourtney announced and that's when everyone dispersed to either go out in the hallway or to go change into their normal clothes.
"I'll see you guys later at the cast party tonight." Luca said to Fallon and Ophelia. "I'm gonna go talk to Gina real quick."
Ophelia and Fallon exchange a grin before they look back at Luca with a teasing smile. "Are you finally gonna go tell her you love her?" Fallon asked him, putting emphasis on the word 'love'.
Luca sends her and Ophelia a small glare, and feels his face heat up. "Shut up. I'm just gonna sing that song I wrote for her."
Ophelia grins at him. "That song that explains how you feel about her."
Luca smiles shyly. "Yeah."
"Go get her, tiger." Fallon grinned, playfully punching Luca. Luca chuckled, saluting to the two girls before he went to go change and then find Gina.
"I'm gonna go change." Fallon said, turning to face Ophelia. She smiles at the dark-skinned girl. "I'll see you at the after-party though."
"Yes, you will." Ophelia smiled at her and while Fallon left to go get changed she went out to the hallway to find her parents.
"Honey, that was amazing!" Her mother, Phoebe, exclaimed, pulling her daughter into a hug once Ophelia got over to her and her husband.
"Yes, the play was so good and you did really great with the tech part of it." Nate comments, pulling Ophelia in for a hug next. "We're proud of you."
"Thank you, guys. I love you both." Ophelia smiled at the two.
"We love you too." Phoebe told her.
"Hey, Ophelia."
Ophelia pulls away from the hug, looking over in the direction she heard the familiar voice. She smiles upon seeing Eric. "Hey, Eric."
Eric smiles at her as he walks over to her. "That play was amazing."
"Thanks." Ophelia grinned.
"Eric," Nate said, stepping to stand beside Ophelia. He nods at the teenage boy, crossing his arms to try and look intimidating. "It's good to see you again."
Eric nods, sending him a small smile. "Yeah," He smiles at Nate and Phoebe. "You guys, too." He glances at Ophelia with a smile. "Are we still on for our date tomorrow?"
Ophelia smiles at him and nods. "Of course."
"Great." Eric grins. "Then I will see you tomorrow." As he walked past Ophelia, he kissed her cheek which made her smile widen and it made her face heat up. When he left, she turned to face her parents with a dreamy smile.
Her parents exchange a knowing look before they both looked back at Ophelia. "You really like that boy, don't you?" Nate asked her.
"Yeah." Ophelia nods, not being able to stop the smile from leaving her face. "I really do."
"It seems like he's a nice boy. And as long as he makes you happy then we're happy." Phoebe smiled at her.
Nate shrugs, acting like he doesn't care, but then Phoebe elbows him. "Okay, yeah," He sighs, glancing at Ophelia with a smile. "If he makes you happy then we're happy too." He really was happy for his daughter finding someone who makes her happy. He just didn't like her growing up so fast.
Ophelia grins at her parents. "Thank you, guys." She pulls them in for a group hug. "You're the best."
Meanwhile, Luca found Gina out in the hallway talking with Ashlyn. "Hey, Gina, Ashlyn." He greeted, walking over to the two with his guitar in hand and a nervous smile on his face.
Gina smiles at him and Ashlyn smiles teasingly at her. Gina rolls her eyes at Ashlyn and glances at Luca. "Hey, Luca."
Luca rubs the back of his neck nervously, looking at Gina with a small smile. "Can I talk to you privately, Gina?"
Gina nods. "Sure."
"Great." Luca smiles a bit, gently grabbing Gina's wrist to guide her over to an empty dressing room. He lets go of her wrist, taking a deep breath. "Okay, so there's something I've been meaning to tell you for a long time now, but I'm not the best with saying it so this song will explain everything."
Gina looks at him curiously, her lips forming into a smile. "Okay. You may continue."
"This song I wrote for you is called 'Sweet Little Something'." Luca spoke, putting the strap of his guitar over his shoulder before he began strumming.
(start video at 0:03& go 'till the end)
After the song, Gina's heart was warmed by the fact that Luca wrote this song for her. Her face hurt from smiling so much and she knew that she was blushing a lot because she felt a warm glow rise up to her face. "Luca, that was-that was really sweet. I loved it."
Luca looks at her with surprise and a hopeful glint in his eyes. "Really?"
"Of course." Gina nods. She smiles widely. "I've never been serenaded by someone before."
Luca smiles shyly. "Well, I'm glad that I'm the first one that got to serenade you." He takes a deep breath before continuing and his face turns a bright shade of pink as he speaks. "Okay, the reason why I wrote you that song for you is because I like you. Like I like you so much that I think I like you more than 'like you'."
Gina chuckles in disbelief, her heartbeat racing as she smiles widely at the brunette-haired boy in front of her. She couldn't believe the boy she likes feels the same way about her. "Seriously?"
Luca nods. "Oh, yeah." He shakes his head and smiles at her. "I wouldn't joke about this." He sighs sadly. "I know that you will be leaving soon, but I just had to tell you how I really feel before it was too late."
Gina continues to smile widely at him, intertwining her hand with Luca's. "I kind of figured you wouldn't joke about this. And I like you too." Luca grins at her as she continues to speak. "A lot."
"And don't worry," Gina continues, gently squeezing Luca's hand. "I'm planning to stay with Ashlyn."
Luca pushes his guitar so its on his back and steps closer to Gina so they're only inches apart. He looks at her with a hopeful glint in his eyes, his lips forming into a smile. "That's really great." He knew he was blushing, and he wondered if Gina could hear how heart beat because to him it sounded so loud, but he didn't really care. He was just beyond happy that Gina was staying. "So I'm guessing you would be okay if I kissed you?"
Gina couldn't help the giggle that left her lips while she nods. "I would be upset if you didn't kiss me."
They smiled at each other, and Luca is the one to lean in first with closed eyes. Gina followed his lead, closing her eyes. Luca isn't for sure what to do with his hands at first, but he eventually let go of Gina's hand to cup both sides of her face. She had even put her hands on hips. When their lips finally meet, it felt like the world melted away. It was as if they were the only two people in the world.
Once they pull away from the kiss, they're both breathing heavily and smiling widely at each other. "That was..." Luca's voice trailed off, not being able to find the right words to say.
"Wow." Gina finished his sentence.
Luca chuckles and nods in agreement. "Yeah, wow."
No one knows what's going to happen in the future, but no matter what happens the drama club knows they're all in it together.
A/N i cant believe i'm finally done with writing the first season! so excited to start writing the second season! i love all of my ocs & their ships so much. there wasn't much fallon & ej content in this chapter but dont worry i got plans for them :)