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𝗜 𝗦𝗧𝗜𝗟𝗟 𝗗𝗢
chapter twelve:
I'm so proud of you, violetta !
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HAVING A SMALL role in the show, plus being a dancer, Violetta had a lot of free time in between scenes. Now, she could've been using that time for something productive — like stretching, or going over choreography, or reviewing lines — but instead, she paced outside in the hallway.
She was already wearing her outfit for her next scene — a yellow crop top under a jean jacket, paired with a floral skirt and white sneakers. Violetta knew that she would be busy at intermission, and with the news weighing down on her, there was only one person she really wanted to talk to — the very same person who didn't have anything going on in the show, but instead was sitting in the audience.
Violetta sighed, shaking her hands out as her stomach twisted with nerves. The door suddenly creaked open, and her head snapped up to see EJ come out, the one she truly wanted to see. He let the door shut behind him, drowning out the noise of the crowd. Violetta knew it was only a matter of time before I Want It All was happening.
"Hey, you," EJ greeted. "I'm not playing Troy tonight, by the way."
She smiled fondly, remembering seeing EJ in the Troy costume after Ricky freaked out. "I know. But thank you for showing up."
"Of course. Anything for you, V."
Violetta twisted the ring around her finger nervously. "After everything, I've done some soul searching, and . . . I'm so sorry, EJ."
EJ shook his head. "You have absolutely nothing to apologize for, babe."
"Maybe, but last summer, I got so hurt when I found out you were supposed to be leaving Salt Lake. I sent myself into a spiral, thinking that you weren't telling me everything because I did something wrong, or you didn't trust me anymore."
"I don't know what I was thinking."
"But now I'm the one keeping secrets," Violetta admitted, her chest starting to feel tight. She instantly reached out, taking one of his hands and interlocking their fingers together, giving it a squeeze when she noticed the confused look on his face. "I haven't told Athena." She looked up at him fully. "I haven't told you."
EJ squeezed her hand back. "Okay."
Violetta let out a deep breath. "Quinn wants me to star in this big movie that starts shooting in January, and wants me to leave school. It's a six-month shoot in . . . in New Zealand. Which means it's the second half of Athena and Ricky's senior years." Her voice then dropped lower. "My senior year."
He blinked at her.
"Please say something," Violetta pleaded.
"Not going to lie, that was a lot at once, V," EJ stated.
"And the second thing . . . I'm supposed to leave tonight." Violetta felt her bottom lip tremble, and her eyes burned from tears pricking at the back of them. "I didn't want to tell Athena because she's dealing with her own big thing right now, I didn't want to tell Ricky because he would probably freak out, and I didn't want to tell you . . . I didn't want to tell you because I just got you back. Just like you didn't want to ruin my summer, I didn't want to ruin your night." She shook her head. "I can't just let an opportunity like this go, but I don't want to leave."
"Violetta. Look at me." EJ put his free hand on her chin, lifting up her head so she could look at him. "There's a lot of things I would have done different. But right now, all that matters is you." He moved his hand from her chin to her cheek, rubbing his thumb back and forth on her skin. "I'm so proud of you, Violetta."
She sniffled. "Thank you."
"And if there's one thing I know about you, it's that you always find someway to make things work," EJ continued. "Athena and Ricky will understand, just like I'm understanding right now. Listen, V, I love you. That will never change, not even in New Zealand." He kissed her forehead. "Go live out your dreams. You deserve it."
Violetta nodded. "I love you more."
"Definitely not possible." He then glanced back at the doors when the audience laughed. "Do you want me to stay with you a little bit longer?"
"I think I have to go, actually. Big dance sequence, you know."
"And you're going to kill it, just like you always do," EJ responded. He then leaned down and kissed her fully, just for a moment. "Congratulations on the movie. I always knew the universe was going to make you a star."
He then let her go fully and turned around, walking back into the gym. Violetta stood there, watching him go for a moment. His reaction made her feel a lot better, but it also made her feel a lot worse, because she would have to leave him.
Violetta then went back down the hallway and entered from the back entrance of the gym into the wings. All of the dancers, plus Carlos, Kourtney, and Dani, were already there.
"Vi, hey," Kennedy said. "You okay? You've been missing for a little while."
"I'm fine," Violetta replied, even though she definitely wasn't completely fine, watching Carlos, Kourtney, and Dani go out onto the stage. "Just . . . a little nervous, I guess."
Wasn't nervous for the number, no. She had that down pat. Nervous for the movie and for the future? Absolutely.
"Imagine having everything we ever dreamed?" Kourtney began.
"Don't you want it?" Dani asked.
But she couldn't focus on that right now. Right now, she had a show to put on, a dance to do, a crowd to please. She moved her curls off of her shoulder as she watched them get closer and closer to the chorus. Violetta let out a deep breath and smoothed down her skirt before putting an overly large, excited smile on her face.
"Don't you want it all?" her and the rest of the dancers sang.
They made their way out onto the stage, making two groups with Dani at the very center while Kourtney and Carlos went up on the stairs prop. Violetta continued putting her heart and soul into the choreography, knowing that tonight could very well be the last night she would be doing this.
She went off the stage at the end of the chorus and barely had time to catch her breath before she rolled a prop in so Kourtney and Carlos could add new things to their outfits. Violetta then ran back off the stage and did the fastest quick change of her entire life into the black outfit with pink boots.
Violetta went on with her choreography, the same one she may or may not have helped make extravagant with the help of Gina and Carlos. She could really only describe this number as extra, but it was extremely extra in the movie, so it made sense to bring it to real life.
And then the song ended, and Violetta held her final pose — posing on the stairs with a bright smile. She breathed a little heavily and scanned the audience for a moment, just to catch eyes with EJ. He gave her two thumbs-up, making her smile widen even further, if that was possible.
Violetta then scurried off the stage while Jet got on. She put her pin feathers down to the side, but nothing — and she meant nothing — prepared her for who was waiting in the wings.
"Excusez-moi, ladies," a very familiar voice said, one that she hadn't heard in months and had really hoped she would never hear again. "Excusez-moi. You look very beautiful. You are the heart of America. Very American. Unlike me. I'm Antoine."
She looked up in disbelief. Sure enough, standing there was Antoine — that weird French exchange student from North High who had played Lumière in their production of Beauty and the Beast. The very same one who was that infuriating blonde girl's henchman (Violetta didn't like to speak of her name) and was weirdly infatuated with Ashlyn while she was dating Big Red.
Violetta stared at him. "What are you doing here?"
Antoine squinted at her. "Oh. Scary girl. I remember you."
"I also remember you. Unfortunately."
"Vi," Big Red cut in, who had apparently noticed Antoine from the audience, placing a hand on her shoulder. "You can go. I've got this."
"You're lucky that I actually have things to do," Violetta responded. "While you're at it, maybe just leave backstage."
She rolled her eyes and turned, making her way out of the gym and into the hallway to go into the dressing room. If there was something she learned, opening nights always had some sort of surprise. First it was EJ going on as Troy when Ricky dropped out, then it was Ricky's harness going missing, then it was Channing turning off the lights during Kourtney's solo, and now it was Antoine showing up completely out of nowhere.
It always left her so confused.
Violetta wasn't in too many more scenes after that, so she got dressed in her next costume — a white tank top with a blue and yellow patterned skirt, paired with white sneakers. Athena and Ricky had done great with their Can I Have This Dance? scene, but it was time for another big number — A Night To Remember.
Kaden pointed to her as they lined up outside the back of the prop. "At the end for the big dance, make sure to start on your left foot."
"Got it," Violetta replied. "And don't drop me, please."
"I've never dropped you before."
"Yeah, and now's not the time to start."
Their conversation was cut short by the band starting. Ricky and Jet went out first, followed by Athena and Emmy, then Kaden and Rico. Finally, it was Violetta's turn. She shared a small smile with Ashlyn before Ashlyn opened the doors, and they walked out.
Ashlyn flipped her hair over her shoulder. "Yeah, it's the night of all nights, got to look just right."
"Dressing to impress the boys," Violetta sang, trailing her hands down from her stomach to her hips.
Ashlyn then extended her hand out to her, and Violetta took it. The bounded down the steps to the girls' side of the stage, which had all of their puffy skirts that the rest of them were trying on while the boys tried on their blazers.
Athena raised her arms over her head before dropping them, wearing a green skirt. "Should I go movie star glamorous?"
Violetta came up besides her, lifting her palms up with one of her hands holding a purple skirt, and the two best friends grinned at each other under the stage lights. "Sassy or sweet?"
"Don't know, but no one better wear the same dress as me," Violetta and Emmy harmonized, bumping their hips together.
Violetta had approximately zero-point-five seconds to get her skirt on, but since it was velcro, she managed to get it on in time before the skirt choreography started. The boys formed one line on their side of the stage while the girls formed their own lines before they slid into one. Violetta was at the very back before the line split off and they went back to their own sides of the stage. Their choreography continued until the very end of the chorus, where she skipped off to the side with everyone else while Kourtney and Carlos took the stage.
So, Violetta had come to learn that this musical was really all about quick-changes. She practically ripped her outfit off before slinking into a sparkly silver dress that had a slit on the side and throwing on a pair of silver heels. Violetta let out a deep breath and scrunched her hair up for a moment to give it more volume before grinning and sauntering out onto the stage.
While Ricky and Athena went down the very center together, everyone else got with their partner. Violetta instantly grabbed onto Kaden's hand, who was wearing a gray suit, and he guided her across the floor. (And yes, she did start on her left foot.)
The main thing about dancing with a partner was trust. Kaden was one of her closest friends that she meant from the theater program, and they got along really well, so trust was abundant. They danced together while singing. And, honestly, Violetta was having so much fun. Just dancing and singing with her friends made her almost forget about everything that was going on.
So, thankfully, Kaden didn't drop her — as if he would, she was just joking around with him. However, towards the very end of the number, Violetta noticed Seb get up from his seat in the audience. Her eyebrows knit in confusion as she watched him go, but finished her choreography. While her and Kaden held their final pose, she glanced back to see Seb had gone straight to Carlos. Ashlyn quickly moved out of his way, and Seb grabbed Carlos before kissing him fully. Carlos froze in shock, his eyes wide, and looked at the audience.
"This means we're a thing!" Seb yelled.
The crowd burst into cheers after a moment of silence. Violetta smiled, watching them kiss again. Hey, maybe this was a sign that couples really did make it.
"This is your fifteen minute intermission," Maddox announced.
Athena pointed to her. "Dressing room?"
Violetta nodded in agreement. "Meet you there." She glanced back at Kaden. "Thanks for not dropping me."
"Thanks for starting on your left foot," Kaden said.
"I'll see you for Act Two, but I've got to go."
Violetta turned and quickly hurried off the stage, heading for the wings. Her mind was set on getting to the dressing room, like she promised, but that unfortunately wasn't going to happen.
Miss Jenn stepped in her way. "Violetta, they need you for a quick sound check for the press conference in the auditorium. They just told me."
She let out a small laugh of shock. "But Miss Jenn, it's intermission. I promised—"
"Honey, I'm sorry. Hollywood waits for nobody."
Miss Jenn grabbed her hand and pulled her away. Violetta glanced back for a moment, her heart sinking. If Athena and Ricky never found out, then what was going to happen?
∘ ₊ ✧ ──── ✧ ₊ ∘
kaden <3