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𝗕𝗜𝗚 𝗣𝗟𝗔𝗡𝗦
chapter five:
flowers !
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VIOLETTA DIDN'T EVEN need to look at the cast list to know who was cast as Anna.
Judging by her audition, Violetta was extremely confident in guessing that Athena would get Anna. And she was right. The next morning, before most of the other girls woke up, Violetta snuck away and went to the barn, where Val posted the cast list.
Violetta had gotten what she wanted — ensemble. All she wanted to do was dance, anyways. The rest of the roles went as followed — Athena got Anna, Ricky got Kristoff (typical), Kourtney got Elsa, Jet got Hans, EJ got Sven (Violetta couldn't wait to make fun of him), Carlos got Olaf, two of the younger girls named Emmy and Alex got young Anna and Elsa, and everyone else — which were the rest of the auditioners, including Gina and Ashlyn — got ensemble.
She was happy with ensemble. Violetta wasn't sure, however, if Gina would be happy with that. After all, she had said that she was going for gold at auditions.
Nevertheless, Violetta was practically bursting with excitement for her best friend, because she knew Athena would be over the moon over getting the main role and playing love interests with Ricky again. She quickly made her way back to the Honeycomb, where Athena was still peacefully sleeping.
"Athena!" Violetta shouted, not bothering to care about how loud she was being that early in the morning. "Athena, you have to wake up!"
Athena groaned in response and rubbed her eyes tiredly — she was never an early riser. "You're yelling. Why are you yelling?"
"I'm yelling because the cast list is posted," Violetta revealed, failing to keep the excitement out of her voice. "You should really come look at it."
"Five more minutes."
"No, now."
Athena pushed herself to sit up and blinked a couple of times. "Is it big news?"
Violetta crossed her arms and gave her a look. "Would I have come get you if it wasn't?"
Athena's eyes widened. "Did I—?"
"Just come with me!"
Athena slid out of her bed and put on a pair of flip-flops and a gray zip-up hoodie that was probably Ricky's. Violetta led her across the lawn to the barn, where more people had gathered around the wall to look at the cast list. She stood back, allowing Athena to push her way past Kourtney, who had been dragged out by Gina. Athena stared at the cast list for a moment before reaching back, and without looking, she found Violetta's arm and started to hit it a couple times quickly.
"Am I awake?" Athena asked. "Please tell me I'm not still sleeping."
Violetta ducked out of the way of her hand. "Oh, you're awake, 'Thena. It's real." She took Athena's shoulders and forced her to look at her, smiling widely. "You got the lead."
"Anna. I — I got Anna."
"Didn't I tell you it was going to be fine?"
Without a second to spare, Athena surged forwards and practically tackled Violetta in a hug. Violetta let out a loud laugh and hugged her back tightly, the two of them rocking back and forth from the force of the hug. After a moment, Athena let Violetta go and continued to stare at the cast list with her mouth dropped open in shock.
"Sisters!" Kourtney exclaimed in a high-pitched voice, grabbing Athena's shoulders. "We're sisters! Oh my God, Athena, it's a dream come true!"
Kourtney squealed in excitement. Athena grabbed Kourtney's hands and laced their fingers together, squealing along with them. Violetta watched them in adoration. She honestly loved how close all of them were.
"Wow!" Ricky's voice stated, and Violetta turned to see him approaching the barn. "I didn't know your voices could even reach that register."
Athena smiled excitedly at her boyfriend and took a step forwards, jumping up and throwing her arms around his neck. Ricky caught her waist in her arms and held her tight, allowing her feet to dangle off the ground. Violetta grinned softly at the two of them, but then her eyebrows knit in confusion. She looked around the group around the barn. Where was EJ?
While glancing around, her eyes caught on Gina's expression. Gina's eyes were fit in a glare directed at a specific person. Violetta followed her gaze, only to see the glare was pointed at Athena. She frowned. Well, that wasn't good.
"Plug your ears, I'm about to join them," Carlos announced, snapping Violetta out of her trance. "I can't believe I'm playing . . ."
"Olaf!" Ricky voiced, and still holding Athena off the ground, pulled his head away from her shoulder and looked at the cast list. "Congrats, bro. And I'm Kristoff. That's . . ."
"A person. Congratulations on being an actual species, Ricky. What? First Lumière and now Olaf. Am I destined to play an inanimate object for eternity?"
Ricky looked back at Athena, seemingly confused. "Who is Kristoff, exactly?"
Athena rolled her eyes and placed her hands on either side of his face. "How you manage to get the lead roles without knowing exactly who they are, I will never know."
"It's because I'm so charming."
"Oh, yeah, I'm sure that's it. Kristoff is Anna's love interest — well, the one that she ends up with at the end. You'll see in the script."
"So we got the leads?" Ricky questioned, his eyes instantly brightening.
"Yes, baby, we got the leads," Athena confirmed, shrieking slightly when he spun her around in excitement. "Okay, okay, put me down."
Violetta sighed as Ricky set Athena back down. She could use a spinning hug from EJ. Those were the best.
"Make way for Madame de la Grande Bouche!" Ashlyn dramatically said, making her way through the crowd. "Make way for . . ." She stopped in her tracks at the cast list upon noticing where her name was, and Violetta winced a little. "The ensemble? I mean, hey—" she turned towards them all "—the ensemble. You can't do a show without the ensemble. There are no small parts, only small actors, right? Don't count your lines, make the lines count."
"All right, all right, everyone calm down," EJ's voice then cut in. Violetta instantly smiled, turning to see her boyfriend pushing through the crowd. He stopped next to her, reaching down and taking her hand, making Violetta's heart race. "Let's just be professionals."
"Professionally, mazel tov. Especially EJ. Personally, I will be backlogging photos of him in antlers for all future possible blackmail purposes."
Violetta pointed at her in agreement. "And I will come to you when I need them. Which I probably will. Actually, let me frame one in my room."
"W-What are you talking about?" EJ inquired over all the laughter from the group.
"Your good friend Val cast you as Sven, the reindeer?" Carlos explained.
"But — no, no. I'm not in the show, I'm directing the show."
"Check the list. Looks like you'll be joining the ranks of character actor-hyphen-directors."
"Oh, like Greta Gerwig!" Gina commented.
EJ shook his head. "No, this has to be a mistake."
"Mistake?" Violetta repeated, looking up at him as they all started to chatter among themselves.
"Reindeers don't direct," EJ insisted, squeezing her hand a little. "Have you ever seen a reindeer direct?"
"I haven't. But there's a first time for everything, right? You can be the first reindeer director. Congratulations, baby, you made it."
"Quiet your voices!" Maddox then ordered, and Violetta turned to see Maddox standing on the porch of the barn.
"Morning, stage manager," EJ greeted. "You got everything ready?"
"Sure do, Rocket Man. It's Newbie Initiation Campout Night, folks. A night in the woods among the wildlife. And spirits. Pack your tents. Oh, and rest your vocal cords. You'll be screaming tonight."
Violetta didn't know what that meant. Suddenly, EJ reached his free hand in front of Violetta's face, wiggling his fingers like he was about to tell something spooky. Violetta turned and glared at him playfully, and he merely responded by kissing the top of her head.
"Oh, and by the way, Carlos, we have cameras in the stage manager's office, but, uh, nice try recasting the show," Maddox added.
Violetta blinked in shock and looked at Carlos. Why had Carlos tried to recast the show? It was clear he was struggling a little bit with not helping Val cast the show like he did with Miss Jenn, but sneaking in and trying to recast everything seemed a little much.
"Uh, well, Mr. Reindeer Director, I will see you later," Violetta told him as people started to trickle away to get ready. "I've got to get back to the Honeycomb to get ready, and apparently rest my vocal cords." She squeezed his hand before letting go. "I'll be waiting for you around the campfire, my lover."
"See you," EJ called after her. "Love you."
Violetta smiled to herself and continued her way back to the Honeycomb. She got dressed in a pair of ripped jeans, a pink lace tank top, white Converse, and an oversized black zip-up hoodie that she may or may not have stolen from EJ. Violetta put her curly hair back into two pigtails, not really having the strength to do anything else to it.
She was standing by her bunk, leaning against the post. Violetta was absentmindedly twisting the silver ring EJ had gotten her around her finger, the very one that said screw it on the inside. She was listening to Maddox talk about how excited she was for tonight.
"It's the most wonderful time of the year!" Maddox stated, sitting on the swing. "Not Christmas, not Tax Day . . ." She stood up from the swing. "Newbie Night! Oh, you guys are gonna have so much fun. Once we reach the camping spot, we start by setting up the tents. Then we gather around the campfire for a little sing-along experience, followed by the world-famous retelling of . . ."
Maddox turned around, only to see that Violetta and Athena were the only ones paying attention to what she was saying. Ashlyn was furiously writing in her journal, Kourtney was meditating, and Gina was rearranging her things on her bed. Violetta gave Maddox a two-fingered salute in greeting.
"Am I talking to myself? I'm talking to myself."
Athena tapped her dangling foot against Violetta's shoulder. "Hey, we're sharing a tent, right?"
Violetta looked up, since Athena was sitting on her top bunk. "You're not sharing a tent with Ricky?"
"No. We've had plenty of sleepovers lately, and you and I haven't had enough. Besides, I am not passing up an opportunity to camp with my best friend."
Violetta grinned mischievously at her. "Wanna pull an all-nighter?"
Athena offered her hand out for a high-five, and Violetta happily obliged. "Absolutely."
Suddenly, the sound of paper ripping rang throughout the cabin. Violetta's eyebrows knit in confusion, but everything made sense when she saw where it came from. Ashlyn had stopped writing in her journal and had ripped out the page, crumpling it into a ball.
"Are you okay?" Gina asked, noticing Ashlyn's frustration.
"A hundred percent," Ashlyn answered. "Just journaling. Reframing the news from this morning so I can make it a win."
"Oh, I get it," Maddox voiced. "You're a Leo Rising."
Violetta's eyes widened and she shared a look with Violetta. Ashlyn was completely obsessed with astrology and knew her entire chart. Yet here Maddox was, mixing things up.
"Capricorn Rising, actually," Ashlyn corrected. "I'm all Earth and air signs in my big three."
"Really?" Maddox continued. "I totally get fire sign vibes from you."
"Look, I know myself. I'm a Ravenclaw, an ENFP, a Madame de la Grande Bouche, and a Samantha."
Violetta tilted her head in confusion. Samantha?
"The American Girl Doll, Samantha," Ashlyn explained, noticing their blank stares. "And I'm definitely a Capricorn Rising."
"Yeah, okay," Maddox responded with a bright smile. "Tonight's gonna rock."
The blinds suddenly shifted. Violetta looked over to see that EJ had lifted the blinds up in the window, sticking his head through it.
"Hey, V, can I talk to you?" EJ questioned.
They all started to complain about how he had stuck his head through the window. Violetta, however, just had a tiny smile on her face.
"It is my head," EJ protested in response to their complaints
Ricky's head then appeared behind EJ's. "Dude, why'd you stick your head in the window? That's kind of weird."
Athena blinked at him. "You do realize you're doing the exact same thing right now, honey? And what are you doing here?"
"I wanted to talk to my leading lady-slash-love interest-slash-girlfriend as well."
Maddox sighed. "I'll allow it."
"Well, now we need to come in the rest of the way," EJ insisted.
"You both got two minutes. Go."
EJ and Ricky ducked down from the window and rounded around to the front of the cabin. Violetta watched as EJ entered the cabin first, holding a bunch of flowers in his hand with that same cute grin on his face that he always had. She felt her stomach flutter and she pouted a little bit.
"Aw, baby," Violetta began, walking over to join EJ by the bay window they had. "You shouldn't have."
"Sorry I'm just barging in like this," EJ replied. He then looked down at her outfit. "Oh my God, I've been looking for that hoodie everywhere. I should've known."
"Well, you know what they say. Love is an open door." She took the bunch of flowers from him, holding them against her chest. "And you should know by now that if your hoodies disappear, it's probably me."
EJ shook his head in amusement. "Whatever. The point is, I know you wanted ensemble because you get to dance, and since you got what you wanted, I decided I would congratulate you. I mean, you've always been a shining star, but . . ."
"Now I'm shining even brighter?" Violetta guessed, making EJ chuckle at her.
EJ nodded in agreement. "Now you're shining even brighter."
Violetta sat down on the bench of the bay window, and EJ sat next to her, placing her hand on her thigh which made her skin heat up even though her jeans. "Well, I guess I've got to start stretching. I've been out of the studio since school ended, and if I get back to school and see that Kaden got his ten pirouettes before me, I'm going to die." She then glanced over, only to see EJ was staring blankly ahead, looking a little sad. Violetta frowned a little and waved her hand in front of his face. "Hey, you still with me? Or did you go into space again?"
"Sorry, I'm sorry. I'm listening, just . . . freaking out a little bit here. Tomorrow's our first read-through, and Corbin Bleu's coming with his camera crew and everything. The scripts aren't ready, which means I have to break down the script tonight."
Violetta felt her heart sink a little. Tonight?
"I — I just want the read-through to be as flawless as it can be," EJ continued. "I mean, Corbin Bleu was Chad. I don't wanna disappoint the Chad, V."
"You're not going to disappoint Corbin," Violetta reassured him. "And listen, I know this is huge for you, but tonight's supposed to be fun. I even told you to save me a spot at the campfire, remember? Maybe you can—"
"Hi," Kourtney interjected, rushing up to them and interrupting their conversation. "Butting in. Um, Corbin? Tomorrow? And we're staying out all night? Is that smart?"
"No kissing in the cabin!" Maddox suddenly shouted, and Violetta looked over to see that Athena was about to kiss Ricky. "And both of your two minutes are up."
The other girls started to giggle over them being interrupted. Violetta, however, looked back at EJ. She placed a hand on his cheek, making her look back over at her.
"You're going to be okay," Violetta told him softly. "Everything's going to be fine."
She then leaned forwards and kissed his cheek quickly. Maddox ushered EJ out of the cabin, and Violetta watched him go, allowing the frown to form on her lips.
∘ ₊ ✧ ──── ✧ ₊ ∘
WHY DO SO MANY OF MY OC'S RELATE TO YOU'RE ON YOUR OWN, KID
violetta is DEFINITELY one of them
I've cracked the code. it's me self-projecting