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𝗜 𝗦𝗧𝗜𝗟𝗟 𝗗𝗢
chapter nine:
I still love you — I promise !
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VIOLETTA SHOULD'VE BEEN touring college campuses like the others, but no. She was stuck at East High, shooting the movie.
She sighed, walking down the hallway while looking down at her phone, dressed in a white East High long-sleeved crop top and red skirt with her curls completely down, pulled back by a headband. Athena was in New York City right now for her Juilliard audition, and Violetta was in the midst of texting her a good luck message, when a conversation happening in the rehearsal room suddenly made her stop.
"Principal Gutierrez, I don't know what you've heard, but the musical is going swimmingly!" Miss Jenn insisted. "In fact, we have an act one run-through tonight."
"Oh, excellent," Principal Gutierrez said. "Then you won't mind me dropping in for rehearsals tonight? To see you all in action. Make sure you have a quorum of sorts."
"Of course. And by quorum, you mean . . ."
"At least eight students."
Miss Jenn hesitated for a moment. "We would welcome your attendance."
"Great," Principal Gutierrez replied. "And Miss Jenn, please be advised that if the turnout isn't sufficient tonight, I will be forced to cancel the musical altogether. And thus end this rather surreal ride that you and I have been on. Good day."
Violetta immediately pressed her back up against the wall, looking down at her phone as Principal Gutierrez left the rehearsal room. She then looked back up once he did, watching him walk down the hallway. Her heart immediately sunk. A lot of people were out of town for college tours today or busy with other things, including the two leads . . . well, Ricky was more so missing than anything else.
But Violetta would not be missing. She had put her foot down, confirming she was going to be Martha, no matter what.
Violetta pushed herself off of the wall and went back to the hallway where everything was. She grabbed her schedule off of her seat and flipped through it, only for her eyes to widen in horror. They had filming basically nonstop, which was interfering with musical rehearsal.
She glanced up, looking at Quinn. An idea suddenly popped into her head — an absolutely insane plan, but sometimes, the crazy plans worked.
Violetta placed a large smile on her face and walked up to Quinn. "Quinn, hey. I just have a quick question, if you have a minute?"
"For my leading lady, thirty seconds," Quinn answered.
She laughed slightly. "Right. So, my schedule says that all the scenes I have left — besides the big reunion song with everybody — are all with Mack in this area of school."
"Fifteen seconds, still no question."
"I was hoping that we could just shoot like crazy and get it all done . . . like, today."
Quinn officially looked at her. "Wow. What an exciting idea. Listen, not only is it not your job to set the shooting schedule, but getting it all done would require a lot of time and a seasoned cast, which, frankly, you are not."
Mack suddenly stepped up beside her. "But V-Force has been killing it. And I think it'd be a relief for the crew if we got ahead of schedule for once."
"Okay, kids, here's some great advice. No is a complete sentence. Thanks."
Violetta, however, was a master at stuff like this — she let out a sigh and glanced at Mack. "Yeah, honestly, I'm really sorry. It was just ridiculous of me to think that just because Maria Jay said Directing is a team sport in her cover story for The Hollywood Reporter, that you would be as inclusive as her."
"Maria Jay?" Quinn repeated. "That hack that directed This is Where the Money Went? A faint shadow of my Sundance runner-up film, Where Has All the Money Gone?"
"Yeah. You know, I heard the cast actually bought her a Tesla."
"I'm hearing awards buzz," Mack admitted.
Violetta nodded. "I hear them too."
Quinn suddenly grabbed her microphone. "Okay, listen up, everyone. Change of plans. Today is going to be a marathon, because I, Quinn, the director of this film, have decided so by myself."
Violetta smirked, waiting for her to walk away fully before raising her hand to Mack. "Up top."
Mack hit his hand against hers in a high-five. "No way."
"Thanks for having my back."
"Any time, V-Force."
Violetta scrunched her nose up a little bit. "We really have to do something about that nickname."
Mack chuckled. "Absolutely not."
The cast and crew got everything ready. Violetta now stood in the Miss Darbus classroom setup next to Mack, moving some of her hair off of her shoulder.
"All right, people," Quinn announced. "Hi, yes. Today, we are attempting to shoot twenty-two pages. If we make our day, we will break the record famously set by the crew of The Revenant who shot all of the forest stuff in an hour because the bear was in heat."
Mack tapped on Violetta's shoulder, and she turned to him. "So, you ready to crush it? No prisoners today, just gotta nail that chemistry. That's our only job . . . as friends." He then punched her shoulder again. "Best friends."
Violetta gave him a small smile. "Thank you for the clarification, but Athena actually gets that title, so . . ." She then let out a deep breath. "Okay, let's do this."
She offered her fist to Mack, who bumped it with his gently. Violetta put her script down and got in position by the camera.
"Action," Quin called.
Violetta locked her hands behind her back and walked up to Mack.
"Thanks again for agreeing to tutor me, Bailey," Mack recited.
"Being a member of Mensa isn't just an honor, Sam," Violetta responded. "It's a privilege."
"Okay. Why is it that numbers can come so easily for me, but I can't for the life of me remember when the Battle of 1812 was?"
Violetta looked at him, smiling brightly. "I think you just did."
Next scene. This time, Violetta was in a black cheerleading top and a red skirt, her hair parted off to the side. Mack stood on a ladder by her, also wearing a black basketball uniform. She held onto the ladder while he put up a banner, saying that are were welcome to both play basketball and be in the musical.
"You sure this is a good idea?" Mack asked.
Violetta nodded. "East High is a safe space for everyone, Sam. And it's up to us to prove it."
"You think this message might change the world?"
"I don't know." She turned towards him, grinning softly. "But I know you've changed my world."
Next scene. They were back in the Miss Darbus classroom, underneath a fort. Violetta's curls were pushed back by a white headband, and she wore a black top, white jeans, and an East High varsity jacket. Mack sat across from her in a similar outfit.
Mack spun the spinner on the game. "Okay. So, I just spun a nine. Which means one, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, nine. We just added three children."
Violetta giggled. "Sam, three children? Do you really think we're ready for that?"
"Babe, it's you and me. We're Wildcats. How hard can anything be?"
Mack then leaned forwards and pressed his lips onto hers. And . . . just nothing. Violetta felt absolutely nothing when she kissed him. Yet Quinn decided to take a photo of it and post it to Instagram, which was absolutely not missed by EJ Caswell.
Finally, they made it to the last scene of the day. Violetta now had the two front pieces of her hair pinned back, wearing a plain black cropped skirt and signature red skirt. Mack was in the midst of showing her something funny on his phone when Quinn started talking.
"Okay, listen up," Quinn voiced. "I just learned that Mack and Violetta are minors. So legally, I have to wrap them in five minutes."
"Sounds good," Violetta stated. "I mean, it's just one more scene."
Quinn stared at her incredulously. "One important scene that requires multiple setups to capture the range of admittedly limited character emotions in the script. I've done the math. We'll never make it."
"We'll make it if we do it in one take. One setup, no stops. Listen, I've danced my entire life and have been singing and dancing here for two years. Based on the fact that I'm mostly a dancer, I know about choreo. I can just walk the Steadicam operator through every move."
"Boom!" Mack exclaimed. "Always done for a oner. Let's do this."
"That is virtually impossible to achieve without a rehearsal," Quinn protested. "But given what we've done today, sure, let's try it. Take that, Maria Jay. Besides, how heavy can a Steadicam be?"
Violetta looked over at Mack and took his arm, pulling him to stand in front of her. "This is just like a slow waltz, okay? Three steps at a time — never more, never less. Just follow my lead."
Mack smiled at her and nodded.
"Set!" a crew member called.
"And . . ." Quinn trailed off, and Violetta let out a deep breath, trying to calm her nerves — she could do this. "Action!"
Violetta took Mack's hand in hers and walked into the Miss Darbus room. "For the past three years, it's been you and me."
"And I wouldn't change a thing," Mack added.
Violetta giggled as Mack put his hands on her waist and picked her up off the small platform. "Not even the homecoming when we were on a break and I danced with that boy, Chester?"
"Only made me miss you more."
"Mmm, what about the time when I missed your Regional Mathletes final to race in the Olympic trials?"
Mack chuckled, following her out of the classroom. "I'm just glad that you won." He then took both of her hands. "Look, the only thing that scares me is what happens when you walk out of this building."
"Hey, I'm not scared," Violetta said, stopping in her tracks and moving closer to him. "You're my person, Sam. And I'm yours."
"But you're graduating, Bailey. And I'm just a junior."
Oh, how Violetta could relate to that.
Mack then let go of one of her hands as they started to walk down the hallway. "You're gonna go and play at some Pac-Twelve school, I know you are. What if you forget about your freaky STEM boy back home?"
"If I ever did that, I think you'd invent a way to quantum teleport wherever I am," Violetta recited.
"That's not even a real thing."
"Hey, I'm just a baller." Violetta walked up the stairs with him. "Just promise me you won't forget me, either. East High is a big place — lots of fish in the sea, as they say."
Mack stopped, leaning his arms on the railing. "And I'm not here to make waves. Besides, I'm too proud of the fact that I get to be Bailey Johnson's boyfriend."
Violetta stared up at him. "I'm proud of you, too."
Mack then leaned down and kissed her — hopefully for the last time.
"Cut!" Quinn shouted.
Violetta quickly pulled away from Mack, running down the steps. "Did we do it?"
"That is a wrap on Mack and Violetta for the day. Which felt like nine days."
Violetta immediately smiled brightly. She turned to Mack and threw her arms around his neck, hugging him tightly. Despite getting off on the wrong foot, she had to admit, they had definitely formed a friendship during the filming.
Quinn nodded to them when they pulled away. "Nice work."
"Oh, thank you," Violetta stated as a crew member handed her her phone. She opened it up, checking the time and seeing there were new messages from Athena and EJ. "There's actually a reason why I wanted to do this in one day—"
"Because we're friends," Mack finished.
"Yep, thank you for that . . . again. Um, and if we didn't, they were going to cancel the school musical that I'm in. And Athena's the lead, the one real role she'd been dreaming of her entire life, so I couldn't let that happen. Long story, really." Violetta then glanced over Mack's shoulder, only for her eyes to widen in shock. "Mom?"
Sure enough, standing in the hallway was her mother. To be honest, with her crazy schedule and her parents' working, she had barely seen her mom. She also hadn't seen her dad at all because he had been on a mandatory business trip for the past week and wouldn't be back until the next. Obviously, their relationship had gotten better ever since opening night of High School Musical, but it was still just strange to see her here.
"I couldn't miss your big day," her mom — Bailey, how ironic — let out, smiling proudly.
Violetta hugged her mom, her eyebrows knit in confusion. "But you missed practically my entire life."
"Well, Hollywood is different. And you were amazing today."
"Um . . . thanks. Well, I'm off to go focus on being Martha, if you don't mind—"
"Oh, Mack, I'm Violetta's mother," Bailey greeted.
Mack shook her hand. "Hi."
"Would you like to come over for dinner?"
"Mom, no," Violetta interjected. "I have HSM3 rehearsals in fifteen minutes, and Mack—"
"Actually, a home-cooked meal sounds kind of fire," Mack admitted.
Violetta slowly looked at him, giving him a fake smile. "Thank you, Mack. But Miss Jenn—"
"Hey, you just saved that lady's musical. I'm sure the others can fill in for one more day."
"Considering Athena is literally on the other side of the country, I'm not so sure about that. And her name is Miss Jenn, don't you forget it."
"Lettie," Bailey urged.
Violetta glanced in between them, her heart practically sinking to her stomach. Yeah . . . there was no way she was getting out of this one.
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AFTER PUTTING HER costume away and getting back into actual clothes, Violetta, Bailey, and Mack all went back to Violetta's for dinner. She had eaten most of the dinner, but kept pushing the broccoli around on her plate. No matter how hard she tried, she couldn't get rid of the guilt sitting inside of her. If the musical truly got cancelled, she didn't know what she would do.
"So, yeah, I was discovered at a Chuck E. Cheese when I was only three years old," Mack explained. "Being a celebrity has its perks, but it's also a big responsibility."
Violetta raised an eyebrow. "Are you having fun?"
"Honestly, that's not the goal. Watching you go for it today reminded me that I need to keep pushing myself to be the very best at all times."
"Sounds like music to my ears," Bailey commented.
Violetta gave her mom a look before turning back to Mack. "Seems to me like you've got it all figured out."
"Oh, for sure," Mack stated. "Sitcom star at ten, comeback role at seventeen. Emmys buzz at nineteen. Oscar disappointment at twenty-two. Married at twenty-five and twins by thirty. Mrs. Chase, can I have some more milk?"
Violetta tilted her head at Mack as her mother poured him some more milk, because honestly, that life sounded less than ideal. "Don't you have, you know, fun?"
"Twins are fun."
"More steak, Mack?" her mother offered.
"Oh, actually, I'm stuffed," Mack replied. "But I really appreciate you switching out some of those ingredients to go paleo."
Bailey waved him off. "Oh, it's the least I can do. I mean, Violetta used to watch you all the time as a kid."
"It was Athena and I's show," Violetta argued.
"My point is, Mack, you're welcome around here anytime."
"And I appreciate that," Mack responded. "So, can I just, like, Venmo you guys for dinner, or should I have my team reach out?"
"Oh, no, honey, it's our pleasure," Bailey told him.
Mack then glanced down when his phone buzzed. "Oh! Excuse me, guys." He got up from the table and answered the phone, walking out into the living room. "Mack Alana."
Bailey looked at Violetta, a knowing glint in her eyes. "I can tell he really likes you."
"Mmm, shame," Violetta said. "Because I don't like him like that."
"He has so much focus on the future for a young man. I mean, Lettie, just . . . you seem so happy these days. Happier than you were when you came back from camp."
"Mom, I don't have a smile on my face every day because of Mack. Mack and I are just friends, and that's all we're going to be, period."
Bailey sighed. "Violetta, come on. You can't still be caught up on EJ."
Violetta let her fork fall onto her plate, leaning back in her chair and crossing her arms. "I broke up with someone that I loved so much it physically hurt. People just don't get over that in mere months, mom." She then sighed. "As if I'll ever get over him."
Mack then came back to the table, his phone in his hands. Violetta picked her head up slightly and let her gaze fall to her window. However, through the glass, she saw a familiar figure — one she hadn't seen in months — standing outside in the pouring rain. The water and the glass made it a little hard to see, but Violetta recognized that figure anywhere. Violetta sat up, her eyes widening and her heart beating fast against her chest. Without a second thought in her mind, she stood up from the dinner table and jogged towards her front door, not even saying anything to Mack and her mom.
"Lettie?" her mother called after her. "Violetta, where—"
She ignored her. Violetta opened her door and went out onto her porch, letting it shut behind her. She then looked down her steps, squinting slightly through the rain. None other than EJ was standing there, his hair sticking to his forehead from the pouring rain. He was breathing a little heavy, but he was staring up at her with a gaze that made Violetta feel weak to her knees.
And . . . yeah, her love back plain had failed. Again.
"EJ?" Violetta began. "What — what are you doing here?"
"I gave Ricky a whole speech about how he can't be the guy who runs away," EJ answered. "And it made me realize that I need to be the guy who runs back. To you. And maybe partly because you did tell me on Halloween night to come visit you."
Violetta stared at him, a small smile playing on her lips. "Perfect timing, because my mom was actually just telling me she thought I was dating Mack. Thanks, Prince Charming."
"Right. Mack."
"Jealous?"
EJ rolled his eyes. "V, come on." He blinked through the rain, letting out a deep breath. "I hurt you. A lot. And I've hated myself every day since that night at camp for what I've done to you, because you are the one real thing I've ever known."
Violetta's stomach fluttered. "EJ—"
"Through everything, you've always managed to knock some sense into me. I — I wouldn't be the person who I am today. And talking with you every day has been the best thing, because you make me feel . . . me."
"EJ—" Violetta said, finally stepping into the rain and going down her steps, walking towards him.
"I don't know how it'll work, but we're not done."
"EJ," Violetta stated firmly, placing her hands on either side of his face and making him look at her. She then softly smiled at him. "Screw it, right?"
Without a second thought in her mind, she pulled his face down to hers and did the one thing she had been itching to do since the Frozen premiere — kiss him. And suddenly, the world turned into high definition, and everything made sense. EJ froze for a moment before relaxing into it. He instantly kissed her back, wrapping her arms around her waist and pulling her so impossibly close that Violetta was leaning slightly back from their bodies being pressed up against each other. She rose up onto her toes for more leverage, kissing him like she hadn't in months . . . which she hadn't.
After multiple long moments, EJ was the first to pull back. Violetta stared up at him, smiling softly. He suddenly removed one of his arms from around her waist and reached his hand into his pocket. EJ pulled something out in his fist and gave her a grin before opening his palm. Sitting inside was the silver ring that he had gotten her, the same one that said screw it on the inside. Violetta had worn it when they were dating, but had given it back to him when they broke up. Violetta's smile widened and she took it, placing it on the middle finger of her left hand — where it always resided.
And when Violetta placed her hand back on his cheek, cold metal on warm skin, to kiss him again, everything felt like home.
∘ ₊ ✧ ──── ✧ ₊ ∘
me when I give both the couples a rain reunion <3333