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𝗜 𝗦𝗧𝗜𝗟𝗟 𝗗𝗢
chapter eleven:
a big decision !
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IN SOME KIND of crazy world that she was living in, Violetta had gotten a call from a producer saying that Quinn wanted her and Mack to star in her new movie, Romeo and Juliet. As much as the thought of kissing Mack any more deterred her, she knew this was her way to be introduced into the dance world, which was all she wanted. That was the whole reason she accepted the role for High School Musical 4, anyways.
Violetta always said that she didn't know what the universe held for her — that it was always bending in changing, and things were always unclear. All she wanted to do was dance, and as her senior year rapidly approached, she didn't know how she was going to go about pursuing dance. But getting that call from Quinn, and also hearing that Quinn specifically wanted her to play Juliet . . . they all seemed like signs from the universe.
The only downside? It was being filmed in New Zealand during the first half of the year — meaning that Violetta would be thousands of miles away from Salt Lake City for the rest of her senior year. Away from East High, away from Athena, away from EJ.
And, so, Violetta was left with a choice — she could either agree, or she could deny. Nevertheless, Quinn had set up a conference in the auditorium for the announcement, which meant that the musical had been moved to the gym. Considering that happened for High School Musical, it felt right.
The only person that Violetta had the heart to tell everything to was Miss Jenn. Violetta didn't tell Athena because she knew she was worried about the whole Juilliard thing, she didn't tell Ricky because he hated change and she knew it would send him into a spiral, and she didn't tell EJ because she didn't want to see the look on his face when she told him she would potentially be going extremely far away after they had just gotten back together.
So . . . Miss Jenn it was. After all, Miss Jenn had been the one to help her a lot with the movie, and had been the one to help her grow overall. They were in the dressing room before the show, surrounded by racks of dresses that Violetta was provided with, trying to choose one. Violetta picked a black dress with sparkles and a lace-up back off of the rack, holding it up to herself and looking in the mirror.
"Does the dress twirl?" Miss Jenn asked. "I feel that it needs to twirl."
Violetta spun around, but sure enough, the dress didn't twirl. "You're right."
"I can't believe I am fitting you for a Hollywood ball gown."
She sighed, picking a pink shimmery satin dress. "I can't believe I'm being fitted for a Hollywood ball gown."
"It feels like yesterday you walked into the auditorium, attached to the hip with Athena, telling EJ to get over himself," Miss Jenn admitted.
Violetta laughed a little, putting the dress back, because it was just not her at all. "I'm definitely still that girl."
"But now, you're a movie star."
She froze for a moment — is that what she wanted to be known as? "Can I be honest with you? I'm not sure if I'm exactly ready for all of this."
Miss Jenn stood up from her chair. "Honey, there is never a good or right time to become a star."
"Yeah, I get that, but there's more to it. I just . . . I can't help but wonder if this is what I really want. And what do I say to everyone? Athena and I always promised we would spend every school year together, and EJ . . . I just got him back, Miss Jenn. I can't go through that heartbreak of losing him again. Especially since it's in New Zealand, and you're the only one I've told.
"Athena and EJ will understand. They love you. And you will not lose either of them, I promise."
Mr. Mazzara then peeked his head through the door. "Jennifer? A word?"
Miss Jenn smiled softly at her before going over to him. Violetta shook her head before looking over at the rack, only for a dress to immediately catch her eye. She reached over, pulling it off the rack. It was light blue and long, all covered in silver sparkles. The top half of the dress was a scoop neck, decorated with tiny sparkly flowers, that smoothed out to a long skirt. Tiny silver chains hung from the front and were attached at the back, meant to rest on the arms while worn.
She didn't even have to look that hard at the other ones to know that this was definitely the one. And it twirled, so bonus.
Violetta got fitted a little more to the dress so it fit her better, and by that time, High School Musical 3 was about to start. She thanked the people helping her before quite literally sprinting down the hallway to the rehearsal room, just about five minutes before show time. Which was bad, considering Martha was actually a big part of the beginning of the show.
"Oh my God, I'm so late," Violetta let out once she entered the room, which was filled with chaos — as expected. "Hi guys."
"Vi, hey," Ricky began, looking at her with wide eyes. "Where have you been?"
"You've been MIA, like, all day," Athena agreed.
"It's a lot to explain," Violetta told them. "Big news. But I promise I'll tell you both later."
"Uh, I actually have something to tell you guys, too." Athena glanced at Violetta, and Violetta swore she felt her heart stop for a moment. That could mean Juilliard, which meant her shot in the dark actually wasn't a shot in the dark. "Like, really big news."
"Wildcats, this is your five-minute call!" Maddox exclaimed. She flickered the lights on and off, making everyone scream. "You guys don't do the lights thing?"
"We thought you'd be dead again," Ashlyn explained.
They then started to laugh together, but it was both awkward and way too long. Violetta stared in between them for a second. Okay, weird.
"We can meet in the dressing room at intermission," Ricky said.
Violetta nodded in agreement. "Sounds good."
Sounds of people saying Mack then entered the room. Violetta looked over, only to see him walking in with a very large plant. She shut her eyes for a moment. Oh God, not this again.
"Don't mind me, I was never here," Mack insisted, walking up to her and holding the plant out. "Violetta, these are for you."
Violetta took the plant, blinking down at it. "Oh."
"It's a hundred year old bird of paradise. A friend of mine grows them." He turned to the group. "It was John Stamos, guys."
"Wow," a very, very familiar voice interjected, followed by Violetta feeling a hand being placed on the small of her back.
"Hey, another wow guy!" Mack voiced.
Violetta knew who that was, just by the voice and the touch. She didn't even need to look at them. Violetta absentmindedly shoved the plant into Athena's hand, not caring about it at all, and launched herself into EJ's arms, smiling so much her face hurt. EJ chuckled and caught her, holding her close and tight.
"You came," Violetta said, pulling away a bit to look at his face. She then glanced down, noticing his suit and the way his hair was gelled up like it used to be. "You look handsome."
"Of course I came," EJ responded. "I wouldn't have missed this for the world."
She smiled just a little wider. Violetta then leaned forwards and kissed him for the first time in weeks, feeling as if she might melt. (This whole thing was still infuriating, by the way. Violetta would never get over the way EJ made her feel ever.)
"Everyone, let's circle up," Miss Jenn announced, coming into the room in her Miss Darbus costume. "Circle up. And hands. Hands."
Violetta pulled away from EJ and slid down from his embrace. "That's my cue."
EJ nodded. "I'll be in the audience." He walked backwards, pointing at her. "You're a star!"
She shook her head, her heart warming yet sinking at the same time. Violetta ignored it for now — right now, all she had to be was Martha. Nobody else. She moved into the circle and held hands with Athena and Ashlyn.
"My babies," Miss Jenn began. I know that some of you are disappointed that we don't have the auditorium tonight because Quinn and her band of Hollywood elites have secured it for some other kind of event. But tonight, after promising the principal that this is now an unofficial event, we have the homecoming gym and an audience of loved ones, and each other. And we have our dreams. And to quote a wise coach, You only have two hours left to be a team. So go out there and hold each other close tonight, because you never know who might be taking flight tomorrow."
Miss Jenn locked eyes with her across the circle. Violetta paused for a moment, suddenly feeling like she was about to burst into tears. Oh God, she couldn't do this. How was she supposed to leave everything behind?
Maddox ran into the room. "Places!"
But she could do this. Violetta could pretend for tonight that this musical was the only thing going on. This was maybe the last time all of them would do something like this together, and no matter what, Violetta knew she had to make it count. She grabbed her Martha cheerleading costume off of the rack quickly before following the others out the door. Athena instantly slung an arm around her shoulders and pulled her in close as they walked backstage, and Violetta accepted it, blinking back the tears in her eyes.
Violetta quick-changed into the cheer outfit, and she had to admit, the Wildcats one for the show felt more like home than the one she had to wear for the movie. She messed with her curls for a moment and held her pom-poms in position as the band's music increased, signaling the start of the show.
Her, along with the other Wildcats and West High cheerleaders, walked onto the stage. They sang along with Now or Never as they started to perform their choreography, and Violetta made sure that it was more precise on her end than ever. Mr. Mazzara — as Coach Bolton — along with Ricky and the other basketball players joined them on stage, but Violetta kept dancing her heart out with Lauryn and Kennedy.
It was always so easy for her to lose herself on stage, but this helped tremendously. Violetta forgot about literally everything else and just moved under the lights to the music. She got herself in a rythym, until everything ended when Ricky slam-dunked the basketball into the hoop. Violetta was snapped out of her trance by the loud buzzer noise, ending her in her final pose. She breathed heavily, taking in the applause. Somehow, when she glanced over, her eyes caught EJ's. He immediately cheered louder, causing her to grin.
"Exit, everyone," Maddox demanded over the comm system. "Cue exit. Come on."
They all moved off of the stage. Violetta acted in a few more scenes as Martha until she got off the stage again. She didn't have much more scenes, so she just decided to stay in the wings and watch Athena and Ricky.
It was the iconic treehouse scene, where Troy and Gabriella talked about college and their future. Violetta watched them fondly until her eyes started to drift, and she found her mother and father standing at the very back by the door, exchanging smiles with Mack. She froze for a moment — ever since that night, her mother would not let the idea of Mack go, no matter how much Violetta insisted that she wouldn't end up with him. Her mother didn't even believe her when she said her and EJ had gotten back together, thinking she was just using it as a way to get out of the Mack situation.
Athena and Ricky continued on, starting to discuss how Stanford was so far away from Salt Lake City — one thousand and fifty-three miles, to be exact. She knew that Athena was thinking about Juilliard here, but Violetta had things to think of her own. Violetta's eyes moved from the door in the audience to the stands, where EJ was sitting there, cast in blue light. Violetta realized that for her, it would be over seven thousand miles.
"Yeah, I wish it would all just stop," Athena said. "At least just slow down."
Violetta wanted nothing more than for that, too. This whole movie thing had sprung up out of nowhere, and she had no time to think about it or anything.
"Can you imagine what would happen if we could have any dream?" Ricky sang. "I'd wish this moment was ours to own it and that it would never leave . . ."
And so Violetta wiped away a tear off of her cheek that managed to fall, turning around and walking away, wondering if she could ever take another goodbye.
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why did they take out I just wanna be with you from the show. I just want to know tim