Autumn and EJ walked into the bomb shelter together, laughing about some cute joke one of them has said. When the brunette looked around at the crew members present, her eyebrows furrowed in confusion upon seeing them sat down, instead of rehearsing gleefully like usually with Ms. Jenn. Speaking of the woman, she was nowhere in sight.
"Have you guys heard anything from Carlos or Ms. Jenn?" Natalie asks the pair while Autumn placed her bag on the ground, sitting down beside the Bagley girl, Nini, and Seb. EJ grabs a chair and sits down next to Autumn, earning a curious look from Nini and a knowing grin from Gina, who was sitting a few feet away.
"She's never late." Nini points out, her face scrunched up in confusion, just like everyone else's.
"It's weird, Carlos is not responding to texts," Seb announces and Autumn hums, her gaze falling on Big Red and Kourtney. They were viewing the photos the ginger boy had taken a few hours earlier.
"Did we get a good photo for the program cover?" Kourtney questions Red, to which he scrunched his nose, not knowing how to respond.
"That's a question I'm not ready to answer." The boy responded, making everyone laugh. It had, indeed, been a tricky photo shoot.
"Hey, jumping on cue is much more complicated than it sounds!" Gina exclaimed. Autumn nodded, agreeing with her best friend. They all were certainly very uncoordinated - Big Red must've had a lot of funny pictures.
Suddenly Natalie stands up, a script in her hand. "Guys, let's just start. Flip to When There Was Me and You in your script." She instructs and Autumn rises from her seat, grabbing her script in the process. She took a deep breath, mentally preparing herself to sing the iconic song about Gabriella's heartbreak.
"Should we maybe wait until Ms. Jenn gets here?" Ashley asks Natalie, fumbling with the pen in her hands. "It doesn't seem like she would want to miss this dramatic, heartfelt performance."
"I don't know, apparently nobody's in charge." The stage manager replies, trying to keep the order in the room.
At that moment Carlos bursts in, looking more distressed and energetic than ever. "Okay, people, let's stage a number." The boy says, his tone way too high to be natural. Then, with a nervous giggle, he adds. "I'm late."
"Is Miss Jenn coming?" Nini inquires Carlos. The brunette visibly struggles to come up with an answer and Autumn places her hand on his shoulder, attempting to calm him down a little.
"Miss Jenn had a small personal matter to attend to and won't be here today," Carlos explains, trying to sound as natural as possible.
"Is everything alright?" Autumn asks, earning a 'Good Question' from Seb, who was perplexed by his new boyfriend's actions.
"Everything's fine. Why would you guys even ask that?" Carlos answered nervously, starting to prepare everything for the rehearsal.
⠂⠄⠄⠂⠂⠄⠄⠂⠂⠄⠄⠂⠂⠄⠄⠂⠂⠄⠄⠂⠂⠄⠄⠂⠂
ᴄᴀʀʟᴏs ʀᴏᴅʀɪɢᴜᴇᴢ, sᴏᴘʜᴏᴍᴏʀᴇ
Of course, today I'm supposed to stage the boldest concept of the entire show. The good news is the idea kind of sells itself.
──────────
ᴀᴜᴛᴜᴍɴ ᴄᴀᴍᴘʙᴇʟʟ, ᴊᴜɴɪᴏʀ
Is it just me or Carlos is acting very strange today? Did something happen...? Anyway, I hope he's alright.
⠂⠄⠄⠂⠂⠄⠄⠂⠂⠄⠄⠂⠂⠄⠄⠂
"Okay, Gabriella, I need you downstage on this mark. Troy, stage right. Chad, stage left box." Carlos says, indicating Autumn, EJ, and Ricky to their respective places. "Hum, other boys, find a box."
"Are they on stage with me while I'm singing?" Autumn asks, confused. Wasn't When There Was Me and You supposed to be a sad ballad? A crowded stage didn't really pass that image.
"Yes, they will be frozen in various poses to come as the ballad builds. Autumn, you'll be wandering through a forest of boys." Carlos explains, making everyone look at him weirdly.
"Wait, what does that mean?" Nini questions from her seat.
"Do you know what a forest of trees looks like?" Carlos replies, to which she responds 'I do'. "Okay, but with boys."
"I'm sorry, why?" The Campbell asks, beyond confused by the ridiculous idea. "C, I love you, but that is kind of... bizarre."
"Because your heart has just been shattered and you can't stop thinking about how amazing Troy is." He explains it like it's obvious. "Let's go."
The music starts to play but, instead of singing, Autumn just signals for the music to be turned down. "That makes no sense, Carlos. I'm sorry, but at this point in the play Troy just sold me out to his teammates." She reasons. The girls start to argue in agreement and, in the blink of an eye, total chaos ensues, everyone talking at the same time.
"Okay, you guys, this is not a democracy!" Carlos shouts, getting everyone's attention.
"C, are you okay? Because it's not that deep, we can all just come back when Miss Jenn gets here." Autumn states, walking towards the Latino boy.
"Well, she's not here and I don't know if she's ever coming back." He finally snaps, unable to hold that information to himself any longer. "She's in deep trouble, guys. They're saying that she lied on her job application and there's a school board meeting in less than twenty-four hours and she's probably going to lose her job. I wasn't supposed to tell any of you, but... I'm trying to do my best here."
Autumn embraces Carlos, hugging him tightly. "I'm so sorry. I know you're doing your best, buddy." She says softly, letting go of the boy when she hears everyone arguing. Nini quickly exits and, one by one, the crew leaves the bomb shelter, remaining only Autumn and EJ.
Autumn sighs, leaning into her boyfriend's side as he places his arm around her lower back. "I don't know if we'll still have a show, so I need to tell you this... It would have been an honor to play the Gabriella for your Troy." The young girl whispers as EJ kisses the top of her head.
"It would've been an honor for me, too. You're very talented, Autumn." He said, trying to comfort her. "And we'll find a way to help Miss Jenn and save the show, don't worry. The whole school is going to hear you sing and then everyone's going to know how gifted my girlfriend is."
"Oh, girlfriend, is it?" She asks, a little chuckle leaving her lips as she nudges his side. "Is this official then? Am I the girlfriend of the almighty EJ Caswell?"
He smiles, leaning down to peck her lips. "You know I'd give the world to you if you asked, tulip. All you had to do was say the word, and I'd give you anything. I... I know I mess up a lot, but I love spending time with you. Do you want to be my official girlfriend?"
"Do you really have to ask?" Autumn replies, grinning as she moves to kiss him one more time. "I'm already yours, silly. We should go now, let's grab some food and try to come up with a solution for Miss Jenn's problem together."