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𝗕𝗜𝗚 𝗣𝗟𝗔𝗡𝗦
chapter four:
ej, the director !
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SO EJ AND Val could keep track of who was auditioning, they had everyone fill out these sheets telling them a little bit about themselves. Once they had finished filling it out, Maddox would take a Polaroid picture of them to put a name to the face for the sheet, and then they would audition. Violetta sat in her chair next to Athena, her knees tucked into her chest and the clipboard resting against her legs. Some of the others had started to audition as she wrote, like Carlos, Ashlyn, and Ricky.
Name. Violetta Chase.
Bunk. Honeycomb.
Role. Dancer, extra, ensemble.
Age. Sixteen.
Vocal Range. More alto.
Dance Experience? Have been my entire life.
Special Abilities. I'm really good at punching people's arms. EJ can attest to that.
Notes. I'm just looking to dance.
Violetta went up to Maddox after filling out her sheet. She took a glance to the stage, where Athena was standing now. Athena had evidently finished filling out her sheet and had her picture taken while Violetta was writing. Violetta gave her a reassuring smile before looking back at the camera, placing a wide smile on her face with her hands tucked behind her back.
Athena killed it at her audition — obviously. Violetta then made her way up onto the stage, letting out a deep breath for a moment. She locked eyes with EJ for a moment, who gave her a slight wink of reassurance. Violetta, despite the mixed emotions she felt earlier, gave him a grin back.
Val pressed play on the speaker, restarting the medley of Frozen songs that all of them were auditioning with. Violetta started to sing For the First Time in Forever — the Broadway version, trying to ignore the way Val was walking around her with her clipboard. The smile on her face involuntarily slipped off when Val and her locked eyes.
She seemed nice enough. Violetta just couldn't help the insecurity that creeped up on her. She loved EJ, and EJ loved her, too — she knew that. But Val evidently seemed really important to him, so . . . why didn't he tell her?
Violetta shook off her thoughts and continued to audition through The First Time in Forever, to Do You Wanna Build A Snowman?, and then back to The First Time in Forever. She really wanted nothing more than to dance, but the singing was important, too, if she was going to be in the ensemble.
Finally, the song ended, and Violetta stopped singing. She grinned as the whole room clapped for her, and smiled even wider when she noticed EJ clapping a little louder than the rest. Violetta descended down the steps from the stage and took her seat next to Athena, who gave her shoulder a gentle squeeze in congratulations.
The singing auditions went on until everyone in the barn had gone up on the stage. Once no one was left, EJ and Val called for a small break. Violetta stood on the stage, her arms crossed across her chest. She was currently talking with Athena, Ricky, Carlos, Kourtney, and Ashlyn about the auditions, and all of them were complimenting each other. Violetta glanced over for a moment, only to see EJ walk up to the stage with Val behind him.
"Oh, where are the scripts?" Kourtney asked EJ.
"Scripts?" EJ repeated, sounding a little confused, which made Violetta frown slightly.
"For the scene work auditions?" Gina added, walking up to join them on the stage, her headphones around her neck.
"We're doing a show with no script?" Carlos questioned. "What is this? Curb Your Enthusiasm?"
"Yo, Mr. Director-Man," Ricky interrupted, raising his hand that had originally been resting on Athena's back. "All right, where do you want us all to stand?"
"Can everyone just wait one second?" EJ pleaded, and Violetta frowned more deeply at how stressed he sounded. "Please?"
Maddox cleared her throat, gaining their attention. "What if they all just, uh, acted out the lyrics from the songs? You know, like a dramatic reading." She cleared her throat again awkwardly when they were silent. "I don't know, I'm just a stage manager."
"I think it's a good idea," Athena admitted with a reassuring smile.
"Thank you," EJ whispered to Maddox, sounding very relieved.
Kourtney went first for their dramatic readings. "Don't let them in, don't let them see. Be the good girl you always have to be. Conceal, don't feel." Kourtney's voice started to fail her, and Violetta watched her in concern. She struggled for a moment, her eyebrows knitting in thought. "Put on a show."
The doors to the barn suddenly swung open. Violetta looked over to see that it was Jet. He was a new camper that, according to EJ, was very closed-off and guarded. Violetta raised her eyebrows at him.
"Sorry, auditions started over an hour ago," Maddox stated firmly, crossing her arms over her chest.
"It's okay," EJ reassured Jet as he started to back away towards the doors. He moved his way through the circle to stand at the front of the stage. "Everyone's welcome to try out."
"I'm not so sure about this," Jet voiced.
"Nobody's judging you."
Ricky then hopped off the stage. He picked up the sheet music for For the First Time in Forever and handed it to Jet.
"Come on," Ricky encouraged.
He patted Jet's shoulder before backing up to the stage. Ricky sat on the edge of the stage, leaning his back against Athena's legs. Violetta stared at Jet in curiosity as she slowly walked towards the front of the stage, stopping in place next to EJ. EJ seemed to notice her presence and reached down, interlocking their fingers together. Violetta smiled a little to herself and gave his hand a squeeze.
Jet started to sing. He started out quiet, presumably from nerves, but his voice got louder as he gained confidence. Violetta blinked in shock. He was incredible. Athena then walked off the stage and rushed over to the piano, pressing her fingers onto the keys as she played along to the song. Jet, who was still singing, looked over at her, and Athena gave him a reassuring grin.
He then started to belt out the song. Violetta's jaw fell slightly open in shock at his powerful voice. He then hit a pretty high note, and Violetta let out a small laugh of amazement. This kid was truly amazing.
Jet finished singing, and Athena stopped playing the piano. Violetta squeezed EJ's hand multiple times, looking up at him. He looked down at her, looking just as impressed as she was. Ricky started the applause, standing up from the stage and clapping rapidly. Violetta let go of EJ's hand to clap along with everyone else.
Ricky approached Jet. "Dude, are you kidding me?"
"That was so good," Gina commented.
"You were incredible," Athena said.
Jet, however, didn't look as excited as the rest of them. He threw the sheet music down on top of the piano and left the barn, the doors swinging shut behind him. Violetta's eyebrows knit in thought as she watched him leave. She knew a lot about being guarded. Jet was hurting in one way or another. She just didn't know why.
Ricky rolled up the sleeve of his snowsuit. "I have chills."
After doing more scene work, which included a very good rendition of Violetta and Athena acting out Do You Wanna Build a Snowman? with Athena as Anna and Violetta as Elsa, the auditions finally ended. Violetta walked away from the barn across the green grass with EJ, her arm linked through his while his hands rested comfortingly in his pocket.
"You killed it, you know," EJ told her. "I know you just wanna dance, but you would be a really good Anna. That's not up to me, though."
Violetta shook her head. "Nah, no way. That's definitely Athena's role." She paused for a moment, staring up at the blue sky. "You know, today was . . . interesting."
"Tell me about it. Val told me to act like I knew what I was doing, but I have no idea what I'm doing. I'm totally and completely drowning up here."
"You're not drowning," Violetta insisted. "But maybe cut back on the acting. Be yourself, babe."
"I really don't think anyone wants that besides you," EJ replied. "And even you don't want that sometimes."
"That's not true, and you know it." Violetta nudged his side for a moment. "Nobody can live up to the legacy of Miss Jenn in a day. You're going to be fine, and you're going to be great. And just like Miss Jenn has help from Carlos, you have help from . . . Val."
EJ didn't seem to notice the way the smile left her face, or the weird tone in her voice. "Yeah, Val's the best."
Violetta looked up at him, her mind spinning with thoughts. "EJ, listen to me. If you're too stressed about this whole directing thing, don't add me to your list of worries. We can . . . pull back, or something."
"Hey, no." EJ slipped his arm out from her grasp and looked down at her so intensely she forgot her own name for a second. He reached out and took her hands. "You and me and our love is the only thing that I'm not worried about. But maybe it wouldn't be the worst idea if we did pull back and kept a professional distance at rehearsals."
"Oh, 'cause you're so professional," Violetta commented, nodding her head a little and scrunching her nose up with a smile. "So we're gonna be on opposites side of the room, you can't grab my hand like you did earlier, and no gazing at each other with stars in our eyes."
"You mean like this?"
EJ's eyes then softened as he looked down at her. It made a dopey, lovesick look splash across his features. Violetta felt butterflies swarm in her stomach from it against her will, and she giggled at him, squeezing his hands before letting go.
Violetta pushed his face away from her when she walked past him. "Yes, like that."
EJ slung an arm around her shoulders. "You wanna go for a swim?"
"Absolutely I do. I thought you'd never ask." Violetta then ducked out from under his arm and started to run. "Race you!"
EJ ran after her. "No fair, you didn't give any warning!"
"Sorry, I couldn't hear you because you're so slow!"
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THE NIGHT HAD wound down to a close. Dinner had been eaten, EJ had been kissed goodnight (this is a very crucial part to Violetta's night routine), Violetta had showered and gotten changed in her pajamas, and now she was just relaxing. Well, more so she was decorating the bulletin board by her bed. Her and Athena had come up with an idea to bring pictures with them to camp to decorate their bunks with, and they were doing that with some thumb-tacks that they had found in the cabin. Violetta couldn't help the smile on her face as she pinned the pictures up.
The first picture was of her and her next-door neighbor, who she babysat often. Her name was Rosie, and she liked to claim that her and Violetta were best friends. One day when they were outside playing, Rosie had begged Violetta to take a picture of them. So Violetta had gotten down to her level, and Rosie had immediately wrapped her arms around Violetta's neck. Violetta put her arm around Rosie to hold on and smiled, taking the picture. It was actually framed in Rosie's house, now.
There was a picture of the cast of High School Musical on opening night. Standing in a line in front of their makeshift stage in the gym at East High was Miss Jenn, Natalie Bagley, Seb, Carlos, Kourtney, EJ, Violetta, Athena, Ricky, Nini, Gina, Big Red, and Ashlyn. All of them were smiling wide in their curtain call outfits. It had been taken by Kaden, one of Violetta's close friends.
Another one was of her and Athena. They had been out on a walk at night in Salt Lake City with Ricky and EJ, and Ricky had stopped them, insisting they had to take a picture because the sky with the mountains looked cool. Violetta had her arms wrapped around Athena, and Athena had placed her hands on Violetta's arms, leaning back into her. It had been taken by Ricky.
There was another cast picture, but this time it was the cast of Beauty on the Beast of opening night. All of them were in their costumes — Big Red as LeFou, Ricky as the Beast, Athena as Belle, Carlos as Lumière, Kourtney as Mrs. Potts, EJ as Gaston, Violetta as a Silly Girl, Seb as Chip, Nini as a fork, Gina as Babette, and Ashlyn as the Wardrobe. Each one of them were doing a different pose to act as their characters, so Violetta was pretending to swoon over a flexing EJ. It had been taken by Miss Jenn.
Of course, there was a picture of her and EJ. It was actually of them on EJ's senior Prom night, which yes, he had asked her to. They were in Violetta's bedroom before leaving to go to the Prom. EJ was in his suit and Violetta was in her dress. He had his arms wrapped around her waist while Violetta leaned back into his chest. His head was leaned forward while hers was thrown back, the two of them laughing. It had been taken by Athena, who had helped Violetta get ready.
There was a solo picture of EJ, too. For some reason, while they were at the mall, they had decided to go on the carousel — don't ask her why, she still doesn't know. He was on a dinosaur, and he was mid-laughter, his eyes slightly squinted shut. Violetta hadn't even told him to pose, it was just a pure candid picture. She remembered how fast her heart raced when she originally took it, and it still made her feel that way. It was truly her favorite picture of EJ because he looked so happy.
Finally, the last picture was of Violetta by herself. She was wearing a dark blue tank top and black leggings, her curly hair spilling over her shoulders. Her knee was tucked up and she had her hand resting on it, and her cheek was pressed against her hand as she smiled with her eyes closed. EJ had told her to smile out of nowhere, so she just posed in that way. It was her favorite picture of herself, just because of how content and relaxed she looked. Maybe it was her favorite because it showed how content and relaxed she could be around EJ.
"Hey, did Maddox ever come back after dinner?" Gina inquired, making Violetta look at her after pinning the last picture up.
Violetta snuck a glance at Maddox's empty bunk. Now that she really thought about it, Maddox hadn't come back to the Honeycomb at all after dinner.
"She probably has some super top-secret important camp tradition business to attend to," Kourtney responded, playing with a butterfly pop-it toy.
"Is it bad to say she's kind of a lot?" Ashlyn asked. "And that's coming from me, someone who is also a lot."
"She's chill," Violetta protested, because she was actually starting to like Maddox, even if they had known each other for only two days.
Athena nodded in agreement. "I just think she wants all of us to be friends and bond . . . which, we already are. Also, if she wants to do her cool rituals, I am glad to play along."
"Mmm-hmm," Kourtney and Ashlyn hummed together, looking at each other.
"Guys, she's harmless," Gina voiced, sitting on the swing in the cabin that was wrapped with colorful lights.
Violetta let herself fall back onto her bed, her head hitting her pillow. She turned and looked at the picture of her and EJ on her bulletin board. Today had made her all sorts of weird, and she just hoped that feeling wouldn't last.
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I did this in now or never so I thought it would be cute to include in this book too :) here's the pictures vi was hanging up!
(yes, I am aware that this is gab's actual daughter)