Welcome back to May's installment of 'Starburst'. In this chapter, it's Nini's turn to audition and Ricky gatecrashing. What could possibly go wrong?
Disclaimer: I do not own 'High School Musical: The Musical: The Series' or Ten from "Weightless". Ten and Jeonghan belong to my friend @zealous_light. I only own my original characters. Enjoy the chapter.
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After a long round of Troy auditions, it is time for the Gabriellas.
A couple of girls were really talented and could easily fit the role. Even Number One-I mean Gina pulled off an impressive audition and wowed everyone with her singing.
A while later, it was finally Nini's turn. And EJ was giving words of encouragement to his girlfriend before she went up.
"Ok, I could really use some last-minute tips. Like right now." Nini turned to her boyfriend for help. But she was speaking in some accent.
"Hey, you're doing the thing now." EJ noticed.
"What thing?" Nini questioned, not noticing her behavior.
"The thing you talk in a vague British accent when you're nervous." EJ pointed out.
"Babe, why am I so awkward?" Nini groaned, leaning close to EJ's chest.
Cress is pretty sure EJ finds Nini's nervousness as adorable, but decides Nini is already nervous enough as it is to embarrass her boyfriend in front of company.
"Listen to me: you got this. Alright? There is nothing for you to be nervous about. You went on this summer for the lead role with 20 minutes notice. You didn't miss a beat. And you did that yourself. You've got this." EJ started giving his words of encouragement and reassurance to his girlfriend.
Aww, this is sweet. EJ is unnervingly sweet whenever he's dating someone. The guy's a romantic. But then again there's only a certain amount of mushiness Cress can handle.
"He is such a hopeless romantic." Cress muttered over to Ten.
"Definitely." Ten nodded. When EJ had a rebound crush on Cress back in their freshman year, the guy had this whole 20 minute imaginary 'falling in love montage' that is mostly French romance films and K-drama inspired.
"I really appreciate..." Nini smiled, before realizing "Oh my god, I'm doing it again."
"Yeah you are. A total weirdo." EJ jokingly agreed. "And a hundred percent real. And that's why I love you."
"Don't worry, Nini. You'll do great." Ten chimed in.
"Yeah, good luck out there!" Cress agreed with Ten.
"Any intel on her?" Miss Jenn asked Carlos.
"Nini Salazar-Roberts. Harmless chorus girl. Usually plays farm animals and trees." Carlos replied.
"Ok Nini. Whenever you're ready." Miss Jenn told the girl.
Nini took in a deep breath, and prepared herself to sing.
All of a sudden the doors swung open and an obnoxious voice called out.
"Am I too late? Am I too late?"
That voice. Something about that voice makes Cress instinctively ball her hands into tight fists. That is the MOST annoying voice she has ever heard in her life.
"Whomst the frock is that rakefire?" Cress asked out loud, her face obviously scrunching up in disdain and disgust. She didn't even BOTHERED to look back at the party-crasher. Because that's how irritating the voice is.
Yes, her mom forbade her (and the rest of her siblings) from swearing in front of the younger kids (mostly her baby brother and also her niece and nephews). So Cress had to be creative and dig up old fashioned swear words to compromise.
"Rakefire?" EJ frowned in confusion.
"It means someone who has overstayed their welcome." Cress explained.
"Makes sense." EJ nodded, quietly agreeing with his friend's nickname.
"That, Cressie, would be the rejected Prince Charmless trying to win Nini back." Ten responded, noticing EJ looking rather bristled by the unannounced appearance of Nini's ex-boyfriend.
"We're all set on Troys, we're low on Chads though." Miss Jenn stated. "You can read after the Gabriellas."
"Troy would have arrived on time." Carlos chimed in.
Ten was silently agreeing with Carlos's opinion, he was never fond of tardiness and lack of punctuality.
"Nini, let's try it again." Miss Jenn decided to resume the audition, regardless of how awkward it's become with Nini's ex barging in.
"You got this, babe! Whoo!" EJ started to cheer on his girlfriend.
"See, this is why the Initial T-Shirts could have come in handy." Cress whispered. "It's flashy in a flattering way."
As if the universe just wants to test its luck, Miss Jenn accidentally spilled her drinks over and onto the electrical system in front of her, causing all the lights to go out.
"Nobody panic!" Miss Jenn called out, trying to defuse the situation.
"It's fine, Miss J. I like dark humor." Cress smirked, causing a few of the theater buddies to chuckle at her joke. "Plus, this is probably the only time EJ here can set Ten up on a blind date."
"...I think my body temperature just dropped a few degrees celsius." Ten muttered, but loud enough to be heard by his two friends.
EJ used a hand to cover his mouth and hide his amused expression. While Cress instantly chortled, a few others started to chuckle as well.
Ten would describe Cress as a person who effortlessly lights up a room, her positivity is infectious and has a way of making others smile.
"Wooow Cress, way to brighten the mood." Natalie rolled her eyes. Cress wasn't sure if that pun was intentional.
"Thanks Nat. I've been told I can light up the room." Cress joked back in response. A couple of her peers (Ten included) playfully groan at the pun choice.
"Nini, let's wait for the lights to come back on. I don't want this to throw you." Miss Jenn called out in the dark.
Ten started to sigh at the predicament. How could it get any worse?
"I'm not thrown." Nini spoke out, before she started singing 'The Start of Something New'. It was a little shaky at first (probably the nerves), but it sounded good so far.
Ricky started fumbling into his pockets before retrieving his phone to flash a light at Nini. Nini looked slightly surprised by her ex's action, but decided to continue singing.
Out of the corner of Ten's eye, he noticed EJ fumbling to find his phone but intervened.
"Oh no you don't. What are you doing?" Ten stopped his friend, using his iron grip to hold onto one of EJ's hands.
"Cressida." Ten eyed his friend, before Cress pulled EJ back to his seat by force.
"Cress, how could you?" EJ frowned, looking rather betrayed by his friend basically force-gluing him to his seat.
"Sorry. Ten's using his Tiger Teacher voice." Cress whispered back. Ten can be unnervingly strict when he tutors Cress for finals week, so she's learned better than to question Ten's choices.
"How can I let him do that for her when I'm literally her boyfriend," EJ hissed over, giving Ricky the stink eye.
"Valid point, how about you sic me on him and call it even?" Cress whispered out her suggestion, sounding a bit too eager than intended.
EJ quietly contemplated (and almost agreed with) that idea.
Neither Ten and EJ would ever admit it out loud that Cress is probably the strongest one out of the trio. She joined the school wrestling team after her breakup with Yvonne one year and has gotten buff since. Seriously, don't let her height and figure fool you, she's strong enough to win over EJ at arm wrestling.
"It's better if you don't go up there. Make him look desperate." Ten voiced out his reason. "Besides, it could make Nini feel awkward"
"The more he makes himself look desperate, the less likely Nini would want to take him back. Trust me, nothing turns many people off like a creep who can't take a hint." Cress found herself agreeing with Ten's opinion.
"Are you projecting your exes onto my girlfriend's ex?" EJ raised an eyebrow at his short friend. "Also, whose side are you on?"
"The one that's winning. And right now it's Ten." Cress gestured to Ten.
"I'm only doing this because you said so, and I want what's best for Nini." EJ huffed, taking a seat back down.
"Good to see you finally listening to me...even if it's for her." Ten muttered to himself. He didn't want EJ to look like the jealous boyfriend, and instead let others see Ricky as the jilted ex that he is.
But I suppose setting Cress on Ricky is also a good idea...but no. Ten knows that he and his friends are better than that.
The lights eventually came back on when Nini was almost done with the song.
"Dang, she is amazing!" Cress whistled under her breath, impressed by how great Nini's singing was.
"Ok, well thank you Nini. I only needed 32 bars, but I appreciate the commitment." Miss Jenn concluded.
"You, late boy!" Miss Jenn turned to look at Ricky, "Let's do the Chad sides."
"But he didn't even get a number, and he charged in at the very last minute unannounced. How is that fair? Won't that be cutting the line for all the other guys auditioning as Chad?" Cress muttered out loud, motioning to some of the Chad auditionees.
A couple of her friends (especially Ten) subconsciously nodded and agreed with her statement. But then again, most of the guys were auditioning for Troy and maybe Ryan, so not a lot of contenders for Chad Danforth.
Heck, even if Cress was one of the last-minute auditionees, at least she got a number and patiently waited in line for the role. But nooope, guess we're making a free pass to this 'Main Character' wannabe then.
Unfortunately, Miss Jenn didn't seem to hear her. Nor did Ricky for that matter. So the rat-faced mutiny went upstage to rehearse his lines.
And let me tell you this: The moment words spewed out of Ricky's mouth made Cress tuned it out.
"Hey there, I'm Ricky Bowen. I'm a Junior." Ricky briefly introduced himself, "And uh...here it goes."
"Total wildcard here." Carlos informed Miss Jenn.
'Carlos should have offhand mentioned that Ricky just happens to be Nini's ex-boyfriend...' Cress chewed back her opinion, but decided to watch how the trainwreck would unfold.
And so Ricky Bowen started rehearsing some lines, but he sounded like a machine deprived of oil and productivity to function properly.
And to be honest Cress wasn't really paying attention. Her train of thought had drifted off on how she's gonna call her cool new friend 'Mister E' to vent to him later about today.
Learning how to lip-read was something not on Cress's bucket list, but here she is trying to lip-read Ricky Bowen just to avoid listening to him talk.
Eventually, Ricky stopped reading the script and improvised. And from what Ten would tell her later that day, it was a bit of vaguely expressing his inner feelings towards the One Who Got Away.
"Ok kiddo, now time to sing." Miss Jenn spoke out. Seb reached forward to play the piano.
"Actually, if you don't mind. I've prepared a song of my own." Ricky whipped out his guitar and started to strum.
While Cress could barely give a crap about Bowen, something about the guitar chord seemed all too familiar. Everyone who knew and followed Nini's social media gasped in shock.
That song he choose to sing...just happened to be Nini's 6 month anniversary song she posted barely a few months back, the one where she confessed her love to him (and apparently from what Kourtney told Cress, the song that caused them to break up)
"He is not singing this..." Nini shook her head in disbelief.
"Does he have no shame? At all?" Cress squinted her eyes.
What kind of desperate person would charge into auditions unannounced to audition for the male lead just to win back his ex? And also singing the song said ex specifically wrote to commemorate their six month anniversary?
'Where have I heard that voice before...' Cress wondered.
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Flashes back to Sophomore year before summer break
Cress was planning on buying the last chocolate pudding from the lunch lady...but some kid with a mop of brown curls got to it. She didn't know their name, but she was 100% sure it was a freshman.
From that day forth, Cress had dubbed the Chocolate Pudding Thief as her number one enemy.
Yes, she is petty like that.
[ Plot Twist: it was Ricky as a Freshman buying the said pudding for Nini. ]
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The only other time she despised someone that much was when she was a kid on Halloween, and some little boy in a Chip Potts costume got the last chocolate bar from one of her favorite neighbors.
[ Unsurprising Plot Twist Again: It was Ricky in preschool. The guy's been her unknown arch nemesis since day one. ]
The longer Ricky sang out his (supposed) heartfelt song, the more it solidifies Cress's opinion. She has little to absolutely no respect towards this guy.
Then, something hit a chord within Cress.
"Oh my gosh. It's HIM! The Chocolate Pudding Thief!" Cress realized, as her fists tightened.
Look, Bowen is probably semi-ok-looking to some people and obviously has a decent enough singing voice, but he's the ex of her best friend's current partner. So, as of now: he's Cress's public enemy number 1.
Honestly, Bowen's performance was somewhat impressive, but also extremely pathetic in a way that he's only joining the audition just to win his ex back.
From the corner of Ten's eye, he could notice EJ was fuming with rage and jealousy (understandable, since that's his girlfriend's ex)...but so was Cress for some reason. Then again, Cress has the tendency to be openly hostile towards EJ's girlfriends' exes.
Ten just hoped that Ricky won't get casted as the main lead with Nini as the female lead. Or else it would seriously put a strain on EJ's relationship and hurt him.
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A short while later, Miss Jenn has apparently handpicked all the roles for the casting list even though everyone had just auditioned
"Why are you so ticked at Bowen, Cress?" Ten decided to ask his friend. "I mean, I get why Caswell is annoyed at him. But, why you?"
"It's him." Cress continued to scowl at Ricky.
"Him who?" Ten raised his eyebrows in confusion.
"That Chocolate Pudding Thief! From the last day of our Sophomore year, remember?" Cress told her friends, trying to jog up their memories.
"You were so upset you missed the last pudding that you sulked for the rest of the day." EJ remembered it well.
"And immediately got over the anger when I gave you my pudding cup." Ten quipped in.
"You are always such a considerate guy." some of Cress's anger cooled off, as she flashed a tiny smile at Ten.
Outside the theater, Cress spotted Nini confronting Ricky about his poor comeback. And then Carlos went to pin the casting list.
"I don't not love you." Ricky softly said, his gaze stuck on Nini's silhouette.
Oh no, he did not.
"Move it, Rat Nest!" Cress walked past Ricky.
"We literally just finished the auditions!" Ten blinked in disbelief, "doesn't that seem too quick?"
"She better not have eye-balled the casting choices." Cress muttered, starting to rummage through her bag to find her stress ball.
"Cress, I have not seen you this mad since Bryce from the bookstore kept stalking and asking you out." EJ pointed out, earning a frustrated growl from his friend.
So back in their Junior year, Cress frequented this bookstore in town and a part-timer their age had a crush on her. (ok maybe the correct word was Obsessed with her) The creepy kind. Bryce kept following her around and asking her out each time she visited. Cress got increasingly agitated when she told him she's Aromantic and not interested. She even had Ten and EJ accompany her whenever she's at the bookstore because she didn't feel safe. It made matters worse when Bryce claims that 'she's just confused' and 'hasn't met the right guy to fix her'. And then he tried to kiss her.
She broke the sucker's nose for that.
Her family members were proud of her standing on her ground. So was EJ and Ten, but Ten personally thought there's a better way to do things.
Anyways, back to the plot!
"Well, an obnoxious shriek has a way of getting on my nerves." Cress resplied, venting out her frustration onto the poor stress ball.
"I'm sure that Miss Jenn and Carlos carefully selected the cast. We should trust her." EJ assured his friends, before he looked at the casting list.
"You're listed here as a Dancer and as Zeke Baylor." EJ informed Ten.
"And says here that Cressie got the role of Jason Cross." Ten read the list again, and grinned at Cress.
"Epic! I can now throw balls at you guys for no reason!" Cress whooped, pumping her fists into the air. Unfortunately, her grip on the stress ball had slipped from her hands and accidentally hit the back of the Kaison's head.
"Whoops, sorry Kais!" Cress apologized to her friend.
"It's ok." He smiled back, returning the ball to her.
She kept reading the casting list and caught sight of her theater friends getting some impressive roles.
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East High's Casting List for 'High School Musical'
Troy Bolton - Ricky Bowen (Understudy - EJ Caswell)
Gabriella Montez - Nini Salazar-Roberts (Understudy - Gina Porter)
Taylor Mckessie - Gina Porter
Chad Danforth - EJ Caswell
Sharpay Evans - Seb Matthew-Smith (Understudy - Marissa Martinez)
Ryan Evans - Rico Rojas
Mrs Darbus - Ashlyn Caswell
Kelsi Nielson - Lumi Song
Coach Bolton - Kitt Hudson
Zeke Baylor - Ten Chittaphon Leechaiyapornkul
Jason Cross - Cressida Kormos
Marta Cox - Stephani Sosa
Ensemble - Marina Martinez, Sean Seabury, Marissa Martinez, Marisol Martinez, Kenidee Hudson, Kaison Cottons, Kaden Day, Adeline Connors, Percy Hughes, Andres Newton, Helen Brookes, Ezra Davis, Shannon Powell, Amaya Reed, Chuck Phillips
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"Steph, you got Martha! And Seb, you're gonna be the most Fabulous Sharpay ever! Congrats on getting Mrs Darbus, Ash!" Cress quickly beamed and congratulated her friends. She quickly dug into her bag to fish out some bags of cookies for Steph, Ashlyn and Seb respectively.
"Risa! You're Sharpay's understudy!" Marisol exclaimed in glee, as she hugged her triplet sister.
"We all got in! Way to start Senior Year!" Marina cheered. She was glad that she and her sisters got roles in the show. Even if it's minor, it's the thought that counts.
"Congrats on getting Sharpay, Sebastian." Marissa gave Seb a curt smile, as the blonde boy smiled shyly in return.
"Nini, you got the main lead!" Kourtney exclaimed.
"What? Let me see that!" Gina charged up front to reread the casting list. Cress could tell that Gina didn't seem very happy with the results, but tried to look professional
"Oh fudge nah." Cress followed EJ's gaze when she saw her tall friend's name.
"You have got to be kidding me..." Ten uttered out in disbelief.
"She thinks I'm a Chad?" EJ groaned in dismay.
"Unfortunately so." Ten half-heartedly replied.
"Well your dad is the Chaddiest middle age man I know so..." Cress gave a half-shrug. Cash never had the best impression on Cress (and vice versa) because she's the 'bad influence best friend'.
Welp, even if the whole casting choice didn't go as planned. At least Ten still has his best friends by his side...
Because dear Universe, please give Ten the strength and willpower to go through the upcoming relationship drama
...And to stop Cress from throwing hands at Ricky Bowen.
Or Caswell from letting his insecurities get the worst in him, and then instigating Cress for pranking Bowen.
Let the show begin...
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And that's about it for this month's chapter. Now we've officially finished episode 1 of HSMTMTS, and here's to more chapters and Cress's misadventures in the future.
Chapter Talk: -
(1.) Nini's audition scene in Starburst goes about the same as 'Weightless' (with Ten intervening to stop EJ from making Nini feel awkward, and to make Ricky look more desperate). Cress is on the fence and agrees with both of EJ's (attempting to one-up the ex and be the supportive boyfriend) and Ten's (being the mature one and not putting Nini in a tough spot) stances. But Cress's idea of 'putting the ex in their place' usually involves getting into a boxing match.
(2.) Ricky is gonna be Cress's number one enemy...until season 2's Lily comes along. She just loathes him with a burning passion. Regardless of how Ricky may try to extend the olive branch of friendship to her, she is never gonna accept it. Cress's existence alone is to be a good friend EJ can rely on, and also to purely dislike Ricky Bowen.
(3.) The fact Ricky's indirectly made himself Cress's enemy since day one shows that he's never getting into her good graces. Attempting to unknowingly romantically charm her won't work, she's Aromantic and has higher standards than dating someone who looks like a live action low sodium version of 'Roddy' from Dreamworks 'Flushed Away'. For those reasons alone is enough to have Ten make sure Cress is not within the same proximity as Ricky to prevent her from going Gremlin Mode.
(4.) From the initial concept of 'Starburst', Cress is always gonna end up playing as one of Troy's basketball teammates. And since Ten got the role of 'Zeke Baylor' (also Sharpay's admirer, but ironically Ten and Seb view each other like brothers), Cress's airheaded tendencies makes her a great fit for 'Jason Cross'. While there's debate about her fitting 'Martha Cox' better, Jason seems to be a better option for a few reasons.
(5.) There will be more side characters getting their share of spotlight in Starburst (like the Dancers: Steph, Kaison, Kaden) alongside some of the Senior Class Theater Kids (EJ, Tonya Freeman, the Martinez Triplets) so can't wait for them to have more interactions. We know that Troy and Gabriella have understudies, so Marissa Martinez will be Sharpay's understudy and will play as a mentor figure to Seb at mastering the Queen Bee confidence.
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Also here's a deleted outtake that I couldn't fit in, because it kinda deflates the dramatics. But it still deals with the Golden Trio's friendship (and aftermath of the auditions) :-
Once EJ had driven Nini and Kourtney back to Nini's place, he and his two best friends were sitting on his home's front porch.
"Time to get ice cream and binge-watch movies tonight. Who's in?" Ten muttered out loud, looking extremely tired.
"Me." EJ grumbled, burying his face in his hands. "I'll go get us ice cream later."
"I'm in." Cress nodded, groggily raising a hand. "I stress-baked yesterday night so there's a ton of baked leftovers."
Since Ten and his friends weren't of age to drink their sorrows away (and also promoting alcoholism is not ideal), they turn to ice cream (and other dessert treats) instead. It's much healthier too.
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Thank you so much for reading. Feel free to let me know what you think about this chapter in the comments section. Have a nice day and see you next time!