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twenty-five: the documentary
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Before they realized it, a month had gone by already. After the amazing time they had had at camp, it was strange to be back in Salt Lake, not together in a cabin but in their own houses. Thus, they had taken a habit of making a group call every single night before going to sleep, as if they were all together. Camp Shallow Lake was truly a magical place.
At the moment, however, all the girls were in a limousine that was taking them to the premier of Frozen: the musical: the documentary. The night before, Gina had invited them all home to get ready together, claiming that they would be less nervous that way. The only novelty was that, now, Maddox was with them. She had become one more of the group and it was as if she had been there her whole life.
They took that brief time in the car to give each other the final touches: a hair that was out of place, an eyeliner that had smugded slightly, the fake eyelashes that were not perfectly glued... and when they arrived, they got out of the car one by one, smiling at those taking photos at the entrace.
Who would have told those kids that had to devise a plan to keep High School Musical going that they would be in front of tens of cameras who wanted them.
They all looked dashing, with their dresses and heels, walking confidently to the red carpet. By the time they arrived, the boys were already there.
Juliette smiled at Carlos before setting her eyes on Ricky. She felt her hands began to tremble as he looked at her, their eyes connecting. Juliette was not sure what to do, but the boy extended a hand towards her, signalling for her to join him and Corbin for the interview. The rest of the group were already having their pictures taken.
"We're at the world premiere of Frozen: the Musical: the Documentary," the man spoke to the mic while he smiled at the cameras in front of them. "I'm with Ricky Bowen and Juliette Duchamp. You ready for fame?"
"Oh, boy. I'm not sure about that. You know, I'm just enjoying a chill, quiet life back in Salt Lake City."
"Juliette?"
"Yeah, no, Ricky's right. We're all right now living our normal lives, just how they were before so... I don't know," she replied, smiling. Her parents and sisters had made sure to remind her to always smile at the cameras. Oh, and the twins wanted for her to look for some cute rich boys for them.
They walked the red carpet, Ricky and Juliette following one another. At a given point, blinded by all the flashes, Juliette felt an arm surrounding her waist, which made her jump. That prompted a chuckle that sounded like music to her ears. Raising her gaze, she saw an extravagantly-patterned suit tht only one person could pull off. Ricky was looking down at her with a huge smile on his face, prompting her to smile as well. Both of them posed for the cameras, his arm around her waist and her fingers grazing the little sking that her dress dared to show. In the meantime, Juliette put her hands on Rikcy's chest, looking sideways at the photographers.
They barely had any time to talk but they were ecstatic to be there. All of them got together at the end of the red carpet got the opportunity to hug, congratulate and compliment each other at how amazing they all looked.
"We're the cast of Frozen: the Musical: the Documentary and you're watching Disney Plus," they all screamed as they drew the signature Mickey Mouse silhouette on the air. They'd always wanted to do that.
After some group pictures, they sat on the chairs that the crew had prepared for them on stage, ready to get a glimpse at the trailer before anyone else. So far, the nerves had somewhat settled, but they were sure they would return as soon as people began walking into the room. After some indications and updates, Corbin played the trailer.
"Summer", they heard his voice, "time to kick back, relax and have fun. Right? But when you take the first-ever student production of Frozen and add a bunch of drama kids to the mix, sparks fly."
Images of them arriving to camp began appearing on scream, making them all smile in excitement.
"Gina is my sister", Kourtney talked to the camera. "I mean, you know Gina. Gina. Gina. Gina. She's fantastic, right?"
"I'm sorry, she said what?" Gina laughed on screen. "You think you know someone."
"I didn't say... That wasn't about you, I swear," Gina excused herself, looking at Kourtney.
It was E.J.'s turn to talk now, "honestly, you come to Shallow Lake one way and you always change."
"E.J. and I are in a really good place. We're solid."
Images of E.J. and Val played, as the Ricky on screen claimed that he had a lot of questions about them.
"That wasn't about you! I was talking about the characters in Frozen!" he clarified. "Mr Bleu?"
"There was a lot of new people this Summer." An image of Maddox looking at Ashlyn from behind her appeared on screen. "Some more memorable than others."
"I've never been to Summer camp and I'm open to anything happening," the aforementioned girl claimed.
"That? Yeah, that's gonna be a thing."
"Oh, God, we should not have signed that release," Ashlyn said.
"I've got a boyfriend back home, and I can't wait to see him again," Carlos was heard as images of him and another boy around camp followed one another. "Honestly, I didn't come here to make friends."
"I expect that what they say about Shallow Lake is true," it was Juliette's turn now. "It's supposed to change you."
Scenes of her and Ricky rehearsing What do you know about love? began playing. Those scenes that, although they had been performed especially for the documentary, they wished could have remained private. Those were followed by images of her and Ben in the bonfire and walking back to the girl's cabin at night.
"I'm in love with the girl playing Elsa and it's eating me alive," Jett told the camera.
"I'm in love with Juliette," Ricky was heard, clearly caught without his knowledge.
"He's not Ricky," Juliette appeared on screen, once again recorded without her permission.
"We all saw that one coming," Jett revealed.
Images of all of them in out-of-context situations began flashing the screen: Ashlyn looking at Val, Maddox and E.J. talking late at night, Juliette and Ricky hugging, Kourtney, Gina and Carlos whispering to one another...
"This Summer is gonna get hot," Kourtney said just before Big Red appearing confessing he was bisexual.
"Wow, good for him," Ricky smiled uncomfortably. Not at the confession but at everything that had just happened there.
None of them knew what to say and, one by one, all of them got out of that room, calling partners, agents and parents. Soon, only Ricky and Juliette remained in the room, alongside Corbin, who looked as shocked as they all were. Promising that he was going to try and fix that, he walked out as well.
"What the fuck was that?" Juliette whispered to herself.
"Is there anything we can do to stop this documentary for coming out?" the boy asked her.
"No." Ricky scoffed at the decision of the girl. She, in turn, took a deep breath and made a step towards him."He's wrong, you know? Jett. He said we all saw this coming but I certainly didn't. Not that night in my treehouse, not all those times E.J. and Ashlyn had to drag me out of bed, not when you appeared at camp with your stupid guitar and your stupid smile. Ricky Bowen, I told you once and I'll tell you again, what a plot twist you are, you come when you're least expected. This was not how my Summer was supposed to go. And if you want me to shut up right now, I'll do so but I needed you to know. This is not the start of something new because it was always you. I tried to convince myself that I was over it but every single song I wrote was for you. We don't know what will happen once this documentary is out but this moment? This is all we have right now. And I needed you to know that I love you, Ricky Bowen."
She was finally able to breathe again. She waited for Ricky to say something but he just stood there, dumbfounded, looking at her. He simply walked up to her and cupped her face, kissing her with all the accumulated desire. Their lips moved in perfect synchrony, muscle memory kicking in and remembering that they were made for one another.
It was as if all the pieces of their hearts, those that they had so hard tried to fix with band-aids, moved together all at once. They relaxed into each other, letting their hands move and pulling each other closer. It had always been them. Ricky and Juliette. No matter what.
lxngbottom speaks!
last chapter before the epilogue!
you have no idea of how sad i am that
i have to stop writing these two until the next
season comes out. i'm literally bawling my eyes out.
i hope you're liking this story and enjoying
it as much as i am. and thanks for the 10k
reads! you never fail to make me happy!
comment what you have thought about
SUMMERTIME SADNESS and whether you would
like for me to write some little one-shots
about these two until season 4 comes out
xoxo <3