Scarlett grimaced at the sight of the barn doors the following day. The letter was still fresh in her mind, Cash Caswell's overly dramatic signature haunting her as she wandered up the steps and gently pushed open the doors with the others following behind her.
EJ and Carlos stood in front of the barn stage beside a large, colourful posterboard with Val on the other side. The three of them stood with stoic faces. "Morning, guys. Come on in, we don't have much time."
"Take a seat," Val said in a slightly more chipper voice as she showed off the poster and Scarlett scoffed under her breath.
She and Valentina stepped forward both of them taking a seat as the room began to fill. "Did EJ tell you what this was about?"
"Nope." Scarlett then placed a fake grin on her face as she gasped dramatically, grabbing her best friend's arm. "But you should ask Val!" Valentina laughed nervously whilst dropping her bag to the floor. The brunette sunk into her seat: honestly, she wanted to be anywhere but here in the same room with him right now, but she was here to plan Anna and she was not going to let whatever problems that had begun to surface ruin this experience for her.
"Can we have everyone's attention please!" Carlos called out, gathering the room's attention as EJ rocked on his feet.
"Thanks for coming in early, guys. We've been up all night." The older boy admitted as he scanned the room briefly, his eyes landing on Scarlett for a second. She wouldn't meet his gaze but she could feel it burning into her skin. "We've been working on a plan to save the show and give Corbin and that Channing guy the reality show style juice they really want."
Scarlett's brows furrowed as she shared a look with Kourtney who sat on the other side of her. "Sorry. Save the show?" As far as she was concerned, she, Kourtney and the rest of the crew were smashing it.
"He just wants a little more excitement from us, you know?" EJ tried to explain. "A little more..."
Carlos, who was over EJ trying to softly deliver the news, threw his arms into the air. "He thinks we're boring!" There were collective gasps throughout the room. "He's actually missing our rehearsal today to scout out the kids at Deep Lake Camp in Temecula."
Valentina shared a confused look with Scarlett. "Temecula?" The girl shrugged in response.
"But not to worry, because we have a plan and it starts with five little letters." Val grabbed the posterboard and revealed another one behind it showing off the letters R.C.O.S.L. "Watch what happens, fam!"
The room shared the same perplexed look as Gina replied, reading out the letters as one word. "Ricosel?"
Carlos rolled his eyes as if what he was trying say was the most obvious thing in the entire world. "No. It's the Real Campers Of Shallow Lake." He explained, pointing to each letter as he read out the word that represented it. "The franchise I was always destined to join. I mean, you were."
"Look, it's easy." EJ jumped in, noticing the way the people in the room were just as confused as when they first started this very random meeting. "You know how normally we act like regular people, we pick up on social cues, care about each other's feelings?"
Scarlett couldn't help herself when a bitter laugh escaped her lips. "Do we?" She asked and although it sounded like it was to no one in particular, the girls that were currently bunking with her shared slightly worried glances.
"Yes, we do." The boy replied with slight confusion. Out of all people, Scarlett was the one who cared for people the most. At least that's how EJ saw it. It was easily one of the traits he admired about her the most. "But now that's over." He continued.
"Because the key to any great reality show is the three B's." Carlos took over. I mean, this is his speciality. "Bombshells, betrayals and bitch slaps."
It's almost as if the main reason they're all here is to sit and gasp as the room sits in shock at his answers to their problems before Kourtney begins to question whether this is the smartest option they have. "Look, I love the housewives as much as anyone, but how are we gonna pull this off when we're real students who don't have millions to burn and kids to blame?"
Jet lifted his hand before pointing towards the girl in front of him. "Can I be team Kourtney on this?"
Scarlett slightly jumped at his voice. "When did he come back?" She asked in a hushed whisper and Valentina shrugged her shoulders.
"No," Carlos responded and without any room for further setbacks, he got straight into their plan. "Here's what we're doing. There's the judgy one, the jilted ex, the one with the dark past, the crier, the one with the catchphrase, the one who's here for the wrong reasons, the shrink, the bad boy, the one who storms out, the smitten and the instigator." He explained and Scarlett dreaded to hear what she was going to be assigned to.
Val hummed in agreement. "It's a formula, and the formula works."
"Each of you has a role to play today," Carlos said as Val held up a board with all of their pictures on.
Maddox scoffed as she saw the board. "I'm sorry. Carlos, did you cast this?"
The boy grinned with a chuckle before clapping his hands sharply and pointing toward her. "I'm back, baby!"
Kourtney leaned back in her seat. "Isn't this a little tawdry?" She questioned and Jet nodded behind her.
"Was gonna say the same thing."
Scarlett smirked as she spared a quick glance behind her. One second he didn't want to be here and the next he was back and hanging on to every single word Kourtney said. Kourtney seemed to share a similar curiousness as she turned around for a split second before bringing her attention back to Carlos.
"And that's why you, Kourt, get to be the judgy one." The room slowly began to clap and the girl smiled, tucking a piece of hair behind her ear before Ricky spoke up.
His hand was slightly raised in hesitance. "Do we want to look like villains on tv though?"
Carlos grinned, knowing he cast this in the perfect way as everything began to fall into place. "I thought you'd want to go sympathetic, which is why you get to be the jilted ex. Ashlyn, you've got a dark past."
The redhead grinned. "Yes, I'm dying." She let out a small chuckle. "Guys, this is going to be fun."
"Gadget, you're the crier. And Gina..."
She cracks her fingers nervously. "Ooh, I think we've already established that I can't improvise."
"I've got you, boo. You're the one with the catchphrase. Just say the same thing all the time in different ways." He explained and she nodded. "EJ is here for the wrong reasons, Val's the shrink, Valentina is smitten, Jet's the bad boy, Scarlett is the one who storms out and I will be the instigator."
Kourtney scoffed. "I thought we were stretching for these parts." She looked him up and down and he nodded.
"Good." He replied with a nod of impress. "I want a lot of that today."
Scarlett lifted her hand slightly. "Is it really a good idea to have me storming in and out if I need to be here for most scenes?" She questioned, realising her words seemed slightly self-centred but she had a point. They wouldn't get very far if she was in and out of the room all the time.
Carlos shook his head. "That's what we want. What's more dramatic than the lead of the show running out in a huff?" He questioned and she shrugged, coming up blank with any sort of excuse to try and get out of the elaborately thought-out plan. "Okay, I know that was a lot, but has everyone got all that?" The room nodded, hurrying to get their bags and escape before he shut that idea down. "Good. 'Cause there's more." Scarlett groaned as she dropped her belongings back onto the floor. "We have four goals for the day. Someone needs to run out of here crying, someone needs to get slapped, someone needs to throw a drink at someone and someone needs to get caught on a hot mic saying something scandalous. Any questions?"
Honestly, those top three all sounded very inviting at the moment as Scarlett sunk back into her seat, her hand shooting up into the air. "Many questions."
Ashlyn leant forward in excitement, ignoring the brunette. "This is gonna put our documentary on the map. Get into it, guys!" She exclaimed as Val reminded Carlos that Channing was due in the next fifteen minutes.
Scarlett rolled her eyes as Carlos began instructing them to get into character. She was already over today and it had only just begun.
___
Channing had shown up a few moments later and placed himself in a corner alongside his camera with the request to act as if he wasn't there so the group continued with rehearsal. They went through 'A little bit of You' before Scarlett and Kourtney took the stage. The pair held their scripts in their hands as they recited their lines.
Not even 30 seconds in did Kourtney shout cut. "I'm really sorry, can we cut? Are you really gonna deliver your line like that?" She questioned, tones of disgust evident in her voice.
"You really wanna talk line readings?" Scarlett let out a bitter laugh before storming away and returning with a glass that just happened to be full of water. She threw it over the girl who gasped.
Kourtney shook her head as she held her arms up, picking at the now-drenched clothing. "Oh, you did not!" Scarlett smirked, barging past her and away into the side wings, the girl quickly following.
Once they were out of sight, they both broke out into bright grins, high-fiving at the fact they had managed to tick off one of the goals for today. Scarlett then realised how soaking Kourtney's clothes really was and quickly apologised (even though it was the girl's idea) before dragging her into the bathroom to try and dry the material before they were needed for another scene.
Soon after the brunette was scrambling for her script and rushing onto stage just as 'Action' was called. She stood on stage with EJ, Jet and Ricky, along with a kart full of prop ice. She staged a laugh as she wandered into it. "Oh, I'm sorry! So sorry."
"Oh, no. Are you okay?" Jet read out his line, a look and voice full of sincerity which caused Ashlyn and Kourtney to shake their heads and direct his line of sight to the posterboard where he was cast as the bad boy.
Scarlett smiled. "I'm fine. How embarrassing. I..."
Jet slammed his script shut, turning his attention to EJ. "Director, I don't get Hans. He's kinda lame." Scarlett's eyes widened in shock as she watched the two boys. "Can we get him to be rougher or something?"
"Are you questioning me as a director/actor?" EJ responded, a smirk on his face as Jet shared a puzzled look with Scarlett. He evidently wanted to be anywhere else but here just as much as she did.
He shrugged slightly. "I think that's maybe something I would do."
"Let's keep going."
Ricky then stepped forward, briefly glancing at his script. "Hi, can I ask you two lovebirds something?"
Scarlett chuckled gently. "Lovebirds? No, we've actually never met."
"But we're meeting now." Jet recited, his voice now much lower than before and Scarlett had to bite her cheek to stop herself from laughing.
She clicked her tongue. "Yeah, we sure are."
Ricky nodded, "Great. Do you like cold drinks?"
"Very much." Jet was still using that ridiculous voice but Scarlett quickly smiled to herself this time.
Suddenly she shut her script and rolled her eyes. "This is ridiculous." She grumbled under her breath before storming out off the stage and into the back of the barn, away from Channing who gasped at her exit. She has never been more thankful for a role in her life. Carlos grinned at her as she passed, giving her a quick thumbs up.
___
Later on, they had one last scene to go over which happened to be one of Scarlett's favourite songs from the musical. Carlos swiftly came up to them after chatting with Channing. "Okay. He's on a ten-one." She and Ricky shared a puzzled look causing the boy to roll his eyes. "That means peeing in Hollywood. Alright, this is the last song of the day, so let's go out and really sell it. Capise? Remember, Ricky, you've got unresolved feelings for Scarlett. Scarlett, this is the one time I want you to ignore me and not walk out. It writes itself."
"Does it?" Ricky questions and the pair share a look as Carlos glares at the boy.
He chooses to ignore his question as he directs his attention to the girl. "Scarlett, what's your motivation?" She pauses, her brain racking for an answer. He groans, "You're angry at your boyfriend and you're using your ex-boyfriend to get under his skin. Basically, have fun torturing EJ."
Scarlett smirked with a small nod. "That I can do." She replied confidently.
"Speaking of which..." Ricky started. "Where is EJ?"
The door behind them slowly opened and all three of them turned to see EJ walking out of the room dressed head to toe in a Sven costume. He walked out, two limp legs dragging behind him as he stopped in between Ricky and Scarlett. "Hi."
No matter how mad she may have been at him in that moment she couldn't help the string of giggles that left her as she took in the sight of him.
"Hey, Buddy," Ricky replied, patting his fur-covered shoulder.
EJ nodded in her direction. "Scar."
She smiled awkwardly, her nose scrunching as she did so. "Aren't I lucky?"
___
Carlos was quick to push them toward the stage as he heard the flush in the bathroom and they hurried to sit in natural positions before Val came over. "Hey, guys. I know we've barely run this song, so just mark it. Use the space, but be safe. Half-energy." She instructed.
"Gotta agree. No reason to go crazy, guys." EJ added on but the pair ignored him.
Scarlett wasn't sure what Ricky's plan was, but she was aggravated and motivated and she was going to put on the best show this barn had ever seen. To save the documentary obviously.
Maddox pressed play on the small speaker that sat on top of the piano and the music blasted through the room. "Hans is not a stranger."
"Okay. So, what's his last name?"
Scarlett hummed playfully. "Of the southern isles."
"Foot size?"
"Foot size doesn't matter!"
Ricky grinned as he got to his fee."But knowing a man before you marry him kinda does."
Scarlett smiled brightly. Go time.
She stood to her feet as she sang her next line, pushing Ricky as she strutted past and into the side wings of the barn. He quickly followed as they managed to stay in perfect harmony whilst dancing throughout the space they had. One moment she was against a wall with him leaning over her and the next she was sat on a set of moveable stairs as he pushed her around the stage toward a rack of costumes.
She was quick to hop off and skip behind it as Ricky grabbed a Fedora from the top and place it on top of his head. She waltzed past EJ who stood dumbfounded at the performance before him and Scarlett smirked.
The rest of the song went smoothly, the pair ending on a small podium and the fedora once on Ricky's head and found its way to Scarlett's as they caught their breath. She stared at him for a moment before quickly climbing down and dropping the hat onto the rack they found it on before storming out of the barn.
"Alright, let's take five everyone."