chapter eleven
chaos. pure chaos... and lies
What do you know about love was arguably one of the biggest numbers of the show. It was a duet between Anna and Kristoff, which meant that it was a duet between Gina and Ricky. The two were talking backstage with Carlos, who was giving them instructions on their duet while Channing was somewhere.
Dylan sat on the edge of the stage, mindlessly chatting to Kourtney. She looked around to see where EJ had gone but the boy had disappeared.
"I am not looking forward to D see me like this." EJ's voice suddenly admitted.
Dylan's head snapped up, letting out a loud laugh at the full reindeer costume EJ had on. She doubled over, grabbing Kourtney's arm to stable herself. "Oh my god."
EJ sighed. "There it is."
Carlos clapped his hands together to urge them on. "Let's do this."
EJ approached Dylan, albeit slowly because of his costume. Dylan couldn't help but laugh slightly. "Hi."
"Hey." EJ smiled.
Dylan looked at him but she couldn't stop the laughter from falling from her mouth. EJ sent her a look so she tried to stifle it as best she could. "Oh my beautiful rein—" She shook her head, laughing softly. "You look great."
"Do I?"
"Yes." Dylan nodded. She smiled softly at him. "You look lovely in whatever strange outfit you decide to put on."
"Except grey hoodies apparently." EJ commented.
"That's because I steal them all." Dylan shrugged. Dylan glanced over at Gina who was glaring at the boy, turning back to EJ with a furrowed eyebrows.
"Hey guys, um, I know we've barely run this song, so just mark it." Val ordered to Ricky and Gina before Dylan could say anything. "Use the space but be safe. Half-energy."
"Gotta agree." EJ interjected. "No reason to go crazy guys."
Dylan moved away from EJ, walking over to stand with Kourtney as she looked at Gina. "I disagree. Gina, go for it."
Gina apparently took those words to heart, because once the song started, she acted like a whole other person. She pushed Ricky around the stage – quite literally – and acted so confident that Dylan could tell that Ricky's head was spinning. At one point, he even had him push her up against the wall, and Ricky had even grabbed her waist to dip her.
Dylan watched the whole thing in amusement. She knew Gina had a confidence within her but she never thought she'd see Gina act like this. The tension between her and Ricky was off the charts, and Dylan placed her hands on her lips, a small smirk on her face. Interesting.
Despite all of this, it ended sweet. They stood on the platform of the stage, the curtain opened behind them to reveal some lights. They both had small smiles on their faces as they stood close to each other, holding onto the last note.
But then everything faded, and Dylan's smirk fell from her face because Gina suddenly got a panicked look on her face. She dropped her hands and stared up at her friends in concern. Gina suddenly turned, leaving the barn.
"All right, let's take a five, everyone." EJ instructed.
Dylan turned and swiftly walked out of the barn in the direction that Gina went in. She saw the girl leaning up against the tree outside. "Hey, you okay?"
"Yeah, I'm fine." Gina nodded. "It was just a bit much, you know."
"I get it." Dylan smiled. "I'm always here for you."
"Thanks Dyl." Gina hugged her tightly. "You're my best friend, remember that."
"Of course." Dylan stated, a little confused but nodding nonetheless.
Gina smiled at her once more before beginning to walk off. Dylan stared at her, slightly confused but her confused expression turned to a smile once again when Gina gestured behind her, the girl turning to see EJ approaching the duo.
"D." EJ greeted, back in his button-up and jeans inside of the ridiculous reindeer outfit. "Hey."
He placed his hand on her arm. Dylan smiled at him, stepping away slightly. Suddenly, everything was too much for her.
"I know that the reindeer costume is upsetting." EJ continued. "Well, maybe not for you, but... are you mad at me?"
"Mad at you? No. I'm just... confused." Dylan stated. "I think Gina got in my head."
"Confused about what? Look I know today was weird but we'll properly hang out when this whole Corbin thing is sorted out. I promise." EJ reassured her.
"Will we?" Dylan retorted. "Look, EJ, I get that you're trying, okay? But, if you haven't noticed, you and I have been living totally different summers."
EJ nodded. "I know. I know. But I promise tomorrow will be better, okay?"
"EJ, please don't keep making promises you can't keep." Dylan told him pleadingly.
EJ didn't say anything, Dylan nodding as she brushed past him, going back to the barn. She walked back into the barn to see everyone gathering in front of Channing. She caught eyes with Kourtney who did nothing but extend her arm out to her. Dylan went to stand by her and sunk into Kourtney side, the girl putting a comforting arm around Dylan. EJ came back in as well, his faze on anything else but her as she stood at the middle of their group.
"Well I underestimates you guys." Channing admitted, packing up all his equipment. "What a mess. And I mean mess in an award-winning way." He then laughed. "You were terrified. You guys should've seen your faces. That was good. All right, Channing out."
Carlos stepped forwards, waiting until Channing left to turn to all of them excitedly. "Congratulations, everyone. We did it."
"Thanks for being our fearless leader, Carlos." Val told him. "You have a very weird gift."
They all started to chant his name and jump up and down. Dylan let out a sigh, not feeling the happiest but joining in nonetheless. Dylan hugged Kourtney tightly.
Channing suddenly came back in. "Children, I forgot about the group photo. Can't do publicity at the Mouse House without a super fierce cast pic. Am I right?" He held up a sign. "It's Frozen time."
He had given all of them hand-held props and they all gathered on the stage underneath their frozen banner. Dylan sat on the edge on the stage, holding a snowflake on a stick, absentmindedly twirling it between her fingers. Gina and Ricky then came back into the barn, both of them looking positively happier. Channing handed them their own sides, and Ricky sat down on the steps next to EJ, while Gina took her place next to Dylan.
"All right, smile, guys." EJ voiced. "We're almost home."
It suddenly seemed like Gina's mouth before her mind. "Almost home as in Salt Lake or St. Louis?"
"Wait, what?" EJ replied, glancing back at her.
"What?" Dylan looked at Gina, before turning to EJ. "Are you—"
"Are you confused? Welcome to the club." Gina commented.
"What's this about St. Louis?" Channing questioned.
"Uh, it's where the World's Fair was held in 1904." EJ responded. "It's a great city." He gully looked back at Gina and Dylan. "Can we talk about this later? D, please don't be mad."
Dylan couldn't comprehend what was happening, EJ and St Louis, Gina knew about it. She could be spending senior year alone. She looked at Val at the end of the row, the blonde's eyes wide before Dylan turned back to Gina. "Val knew."
"Don't even get me started." Gina spoke through gritted teeth, a protectiveness in her voice.
"Smile." Channing instructed, starting to take multiple pictures. Dylan shuffled closer to Gina, forcing a fake smile on her face. It was must've looked sickly from how sweet she was making it. "Harder, harder. Like you're angry happy. Yeah." After he took a lot of pictures, Channing lowered his camera. "Thanks again. Great day, you guys. The Bleu Man's gonna be so happy. And I can call him cause we're close. Peace."
"Oh well, that couldn't have gone longer." Ashlyn admitted.
"I, for one, am looking forward to being reviled by America." Ricky said.
"You know a simple thank you would do the trick." Carlos responded.
"Guys, can we stop getting worked up over this, okay?" Kourtney pleaded. "If we can't pull this summer together, then we're gonna have bigger problems than just some labels on a poster."
"She's right. I gotta be elsa by the end of the week, and I can't land that high E flat then—then they're gonna edit me out of the show!" Dylan panicked.
"Okay, do you two wanna take it down like 1000?" Carlos interrupted loudly. "Being this ancious all the time is literally bad for you skin."
"Um, I'm sorry. What was that word?" Kourtney asked.
"Anxious?"
Kourtney turned to Gina. "Did you tell what my mum..."
"Wait." Gina voiced.
"Told me what?" Carlos asked.
"Guys, this is all a natural response to a day of high tensions and intense emotions, so let's just walk it off, take a deep breath—" Val began.
Ashlyn rounded on her. "Val, maybe now's not the time for your psychoanalysis. Read the room."
"In my experience, Val prefers to read letters that aren't for her." Gina spoke, venom dripping from her voice.
Ashlyn suddenly laughed loudly at something Maddox said to her. "I'm sorry, what? Wow, that's..."
"Okay—" Jet voiced quietly.
"I have a boyfriend."
Jet looked right at Maddox. "Can you just once stop telling everyone who they are and how they should be?"
Maddox turned to him. "Oh, you're talking to me now?"
"Forget it." Jet started to walk towards the door. "You're just gonna yell."
"Oh, yeah, that's right, Jet. Make me the bad guy, once again."
"Did I miss an episode of our reality show?" Ricky questioned. "Did these two know each other before camp?"
"Look, Maddie, I'm here, aren't I?" Jet protested. "I'm here."
"Yeah, only because you were forced to come here after you literally got expelled from school." Maddox argued. Dylan was even more confused. Why didn't she know anything? "Or are we just pretending that didn't happen?"
"You have never let me explain that."
"Okay, then why don't you also explain why you didn't show up to my fifteenth birthday party? Explain why I lose all my confidence when you're around, and heck, Jet, why don't you explain why you told mum and dad about me and Madison when you found her texts in my phone? Explain that."
Jet didn't reply to her and completely left the barn. Dylan blinked in surprise. Jet and Maddox were siblings and he had outed her to their parents?
Talk about a plot twist.
"Mom and..." Carlos repeated.
"Wait, what?" Ashlyn asked.
"I have done a terrible thing."
"I need to sit down." Ricky stated. He sat down on the stage. "I need to lie down." Ricky then completely laid down on the stage, staring at the ceiling and putting his hands on either side of his face.
"Seems like a lot of secrets floating around." Dylan commented.
EJ approached Dylan and Gina, "Whatever you saw, whatever you read in that letter, it's not what it looks like."
"EJ, it said you were going to St Louis." Gina stated.
"You're going to St Louis." Dylan repeated quietly. The others stared at her in slight shock, they had never seen Dylan as small and vulnerable as she currently was. "I thought you were spending my senior year in Salt Lake."
"I am. My dad—you know how he is. He's trying to make me go to Caswell Success School, but I'm going to change his mind. If he sees that I can make this docuseries a success, he'll let the whole training thing go. I'm not leaving Salt Lake without a fight, I promise."
"I told you not to make promises you can't keep." Dylan insisted quietly.
"And I'm going to keep it." EJ said.
"I just don't get why you didn't tell me. I don't wanna feel like you're keeping things from me."
"Can I be Team Dylan on this?" Val asked.
Ashlyn took a step forwards. "Elton John Caswell, I am so disappointed in you."
Dylan didn't even have it in her to let out a laugh. She always let out a laugh when hearing his name. The boy first told her when he nearly jumped out of her dad's car after he started singing Elton John, thinking he was teasing him.
"Wait, that's what EJ stands for?" Carlos cried.
"Huh." Kourtney let out. "Rocket Man."
"I always assumed you were, like, Eric Junior." Carlos revealed.
EJ blinked at him. "My dad's name is Cash."
"That is on brand."
"You guys!" Ricky exclaimed, sitting up. "Jet and Maddox are siblings?"
Dylan locked eyes with EJ. Against her own will, she felt her bottom lip start to quiver and tears prick at the back of her eyes. From anger, or from sadness, she wasn't sure.
"D, please." EJ pleaded. "I didn't—wait, no..."
She ignored him and walked towards the doors, not even looking back at him. "I said I don't like liars unless it was justified, this wasn't justified."
Dylan pushed the doors open and left him behind. She returned to that same tree she had gone to earlier. Dylan leant against it immediately, crossing her arms over her chest like they could guard her from anything.
"Hey." Gina suddenly appeared.
"Why didn't you say anything?" Dylan asked instantly.
"What?"
"Why haven't you said anything?" Dylan questioned. "We've been together all day, I've asked you multiple times what's wrong, and you've been lying to me too."
"I've been giving EJ a chance to explain." Gina defended.
"He clearly wasn't going to!" Dylan exclaimed. "You told me I am one of your best friends, you told me that you were taking over Nini's duties as my best friend, Nini would've told me. Nini told me he didn't get into Duke and me and him weren't even together. Why didn't you say anything? It would've hurt, but I would've forgiven you so quickly if you told me twenty five minutes ago after lying about it all day, I wouldn't have even been mad at you if you told me yesterday when you found out. What were you trying to achieve?"
"Dyl—" Gina took a breath. "I'm sorry."
"Sorry doesn't cut it." Dylan shook her head. "I didn't expect Val to tell me, but I expected you too. If the shoe was on the other foot, I would've told you straight away. Clearly we're not that close."
And with that, the girl walked off once more. She headed back to honeycomb cabin, sitting on her bed and looking at all her photos. She gently touched the photo of her and her dad. God, she wished he was there.
Ashlyn and Kourtney suddenly appeared, sitting either side of the girl. Kourtney hugged her close. "He's really going to St Louis?"
"Unless he sticks to his promise this time." Dylan answered. "I don't know how long he's had this letter but I assume he's been lying to me for the past couple days. At the read-through, he made me so excited that we'd be together for senior year."
"And Gina?"
"She's known since last night. Been ragging on EJ all day and still decided not to say anything to me." Dylan scoffed.
Ashlyn shrugged and glanced at her. "I could be a better boyfriend than him."
Dylan, despite everything, allowed a small smile to appear on her face – because Ashlyn always knew how to make her feel better. "Ditch Big Red and let's get married."
"I'm so in."
"And I'll be maid of honour to replace Gina." Kourtney stated as Ashlyn joined in their hug.
"I love you guys." Dylan smiled softly.
( 💌 ) isobel's notes
some cute caldez moments early this chapter
JUST TO MAKE THIS CLEAR!!! dylan is not
mad about ej going to st louis she doesn't care
they can make that work, dylan is mad that
he didn't trust her enough to TELL her he was
being forced to go
also gina keeping it a secret pushed her over
the edge so 🤷♀️
but kourtney, ash and dyl at the end my new fav trio