"EVERYONE GIVE A WARM welcome for Channing," EJ said when everyone came from behind the curtains.
"Pretend I'm not here," Channing said, now filming the group.
"No welcome for Channing."
They did the first scene with Emmy, Alex, and Carlos for Little Bit of You. Carlos ended up snapping at both of the girls then he realized that forgot to tell them about the plan from that morning. Then they moved on with the schedule and it was the Anna and Elsa scene at the coronation. Theo and Gina worked out some plans during the Little Bit of You scene and Gina would throw a cup of water on her sister and that would be successful to check off the to-do list.
"This is nice, Elsa. Us talking." Gina read as Anna.
"Yeah, it is." Theodora recited as Elsa.
"Maybe we could do it more often?"
"Is this bitch for real?"
"Um..."Gina closed her script and turned to Theo.
"I'm so sorry. Can we cut? Are you really gonna deliver your line like that?" Theodora questioned.
"If you wanna talk line readings, don't get me started," Gina said dramatically.
"Or what?" Theo questioned. She whispered water to Gina. "Come on. Let's get..."
Gina splashed a cup of water on her sister and she gasped. "Oh, bitch, no you didn't."
"Shouldn't have gotten me started," Gina said then walked past, bumping her shoulder. "Oops.."
"Now, you hold on one second, Miss Thing." Theo walked off the stage. "That was good, but that water was cold."
"I'm sorry, Thea," Gina said with a little giggle.
"Sorry for the name-calling," Theo added.
It was time for the Hans, Kristoff, and Anna scene. EJ, Ricky, Gina, and Jet all gathered on the stage in front of a wheelbarrow with ice. Gina and Jet stood off stage waiting for their cues to start the scene.
"And action."
Gina walked out of the wings and bumped into the prop with a laugh. "Oh, I'm sorry, I'm so sorry."
"Oh, no, are you okay?" Jet responded.
"I'm fine. How embarrassing. I..."
Jet shook his head and looked at EJ. "Director, I don't get Hans. He's kinda lame. Can we get him to be rougher or something?"
"Are you questioning me as a director/actor?" EJ argued.
"I think that's something I would do."
"Let's keep going."
Ricky stepped up from the prop. "Hi. Can I ask you lovebirds something?"
"Lovebirds?" Gina repeated. "No, um, we've actually never met."
"But we're meeting now." Jet recited in a deep voice.
Gina stared at him in confusion. "Yeah...we are."
"Great," Ricky said. "Do you like cold drinks?"
"Very much," Jet replied in the same tone as before.
"Oh, lord have mercy." Theo shook her head.
"I need you to say more cuss words and be more foul-mouthed," Carlos said as he approached her.
"What do you want me to say?" Theodora asked. "I'm already saying the stuff that'll get me kicked out of heaven."
"Say whatever. And start flirting with Jet."
"Do I have to?"
"Yes!" Carlos exclaimed.
Suddenly a loud cry sounded from Maddox. "It is just so hard to see my...man with another lady." She took out a handkerchief and fake-cried, crossing over the stage.
"Ugh, what a baby," Kourtney commented.
Carlos turned to her. "Well, that's a little judgy."
"Well, you're a little loud and excitable man."
"What are you gonna do about it?"
Kourtney then lifted her hand and lightly slapped Carlos's face. Carlos gasped dramatically and held onto his face. "Ow! My face! I've been slapped."
Kourtney walked off and Val approached Carlos with the to-do list and he checked off the slapping part of the list. "Go out there and flirt," Carlos told Theo.
The Porter girl sucked her teeth and then walked out on stage. "Hey, Jet. That scene was pretty cool." Channing turned the camera to the two of them.
"You think so, Theo?" Jet wondered, closing his script.
"Yeah. I mean, you did great." Theo responded with a smile. Gotdamn I'm rusty.
"Well, I'm glad you enjoyed it. And that scene with Gina was...hot." Jet mentioned, flirting back.
Theo hummed in amusement. "Is that so?" She placed a hand on his chest.
"Yeah. Very."
"I'm glad you approve."
Another loud cry from Maddox sounded. "Oh! I can't believe this! And I thought she was my friend."
"Kiss," Ricky whispered.
"Say what?" Jet and Theo chorused.
"Jet, kiss Theodora. Theodora, kiss Jet." Ricky explained to them. "It's good for publicity...amongst other things."
The Porter girl knew what he was talking about. This must've been his way of being a matchmaker and thinking they liked each other that he'd pull a stunt like this. That ain't cool, Ric.
"I swear...ima cut you." Theo removed her hand from Jet's chest. "What is wrong with you?"
"Do it for the show, Teddi. It could be good." EJ jumped in.
"Yeah, uh, that's not happening." Jet agreed with Theo. "We barely know each other."
"As you can see we're both uncomfortable with this," Theo stated, crossing her arms.
"Exactly why it's good for the both of you." Ricky smiled at them.
"Fine! Fine." Jet blurted out then turned to Theo. "You don't have to do this if you don't want to though."
"I'm gonna start singing like a canary," Ricky said, knowingly. "I have a lot of Theo's secrets to spill out into the world."
Theo rolled her eyes at her friend's attempt to make them kiss. "Sorry, but it's not gonna happen."
"Huh?" Jet tackled on.
"I can't do that to Maddox. She's my friend and it just won't happen."
"It's not like she will know. We can keep it a secret."
"No thanks." Theo shook her head and then started to walk off but Jet grabbed her arm. "What the hell?"
"Just go with it," Jet whispered then pushed her back gently then cupped her face and kissed her. They pulled away and then cleared their throats. "Now she knows I'm crazy about you."
"Damn," Theo muttered a little louder than she should've. Her eyes widened and then she walked off.
"Doesn't she say that unless she..."EJ started to wonder.
Ricky's eyes widened. "I knew it." He mumbled in victory and lifted his arms up into the air.
"What a drama Queen," Kourtney commented, playing along.
"Don't get me started." Gina agreed.
***
A little later about fifteen minutes, everyone was getting ready to watch Ricky and Gina's performance of What Do You Know About Love. It was still a little tense after the whole affair scene thing, but it was only a matter of time until it got back to normal. Channing was taking a bathroom break and Carlos was talking to Gina and Ricky about their number together. Soon enough EJ came out of the dressing room wearing his reindeer outfit, it was honestly the funniest thing ever. Gina was very lucky.
The older Porter girl was leaning against a prop waiting around for everyone else to get for Channing to come back. Jet approached her with his hand on his neck, rubbing it nervously as he approached her.
"Hey, Theo. You good?"
"Yeah. I'm great."
"The whole...kissing thing wasn't too much, was it?" Jet questioned with concern. "It didn't freak you out or anything?"
Her voice went up an octave. "Me? Freak out? I'm great. Just bloody fantastic."
"T, your voice went up an octave," Kourtney told her.
"No, it didn't. I'm great." The Porter girl smiled nervously.
Channing walked out of the bathroom, holding his camera in his hand and toilet paper dragged on his foot. The others were laughing at him as he walked up to the stage.
"Hey, guys, um, I know we've barely run this song so just mark it," Val informed Ricky and Gina. "Use the space, but be safe. Half-energy."
"Gotta agree," EJ interjected. "No reason to go crazy, you guys."
Gina smirked to herself and Theo knew that smirk all too well. She was about to cause some chaos. All hell is about to break loose.
Everyone watched as Ricky and Gina went all out with the number. The younger Porter girl pushed Ricky around and it seemed like his mind was spinning because Gina was so confident about what she was doing. The tension between the two of them was wild and anyone with eyes could see that. However, the number ended on a sweet note and it was very quiet in the room. Gina walked off the stage and out of the barn.
"All right, let's take a five, everyone," EJ instructed then followed after Gina.
Ricky sat down on the stairs, Carlos followed his actions and sat next to him. "Ricky, that must've been hard for you. Being Gina's jilted ex and all."
"Heart-wrenching," Ricky said then stood up, pushing the camera out of his face and walking out of the barn.
After what seemed like a while Channing packed up his stuff and then stood in front of everyone while they looked at him anxiously. "Well, I underestimated you guys. What a mess. And I mean a mess in an award-winning way." He laughed. "You were terrified. You guys should've seen your faces. That was good. All right, Channing out."
Carlos stepped forward once Channing was out of sight and turned to them with a happy smile on his face. "Congratulations, everyone. We did it."
"Thanks for being our fearless leader, Carlos," Val told him. "You have a very weird gift."
They all started cheering and chanting Carlos' name in victory. Channing then walked back into the room.
"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 handed out different hand-held props to everyone. Gina and Ricky came back into the barn together, Channing handed them each a prop and they sat down in the spots for the photo. "All right, smile, guys," EJ instructed. "We're almost home."
"Almost home as in Salt Lake or St. Louis?" Gina asked.
EJ turned around. "What?"
"Are you confused? Welcome to the club."
"What is this about St. Louis?" Channing pressed.
"It's where the World's Fair was held in 1904," EJ added. "It's a great city." He turned to Gina. "Can we talk about this later?"
"Do not get me started."
Channing snapped a few photos. "Thanks again. Great day, you guys. The Bleu Man's gonna be so happy. I can call him that '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.
"Hey, everybody chill the eff out," Theo told them.
"If we can't pull this summer together, then we're gonna have bigger problems than just some labels on a poster." Kourtney snapped.
"Okay, so you wanna take it down like a thousand? Being this anxious all the time is literally bad for your skin." Carlos informed her.
"Uh, I'm sorry, what was that word?"
"Anxious?"
Kourtney turned to Gina. "Did you tell him what my mom..."
"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 advised.
"Val, maybe now's not the time for your psychoanalysis. Read the room." Ashlyn remarked.
"In my experience, Val prefers to read letters that aren't meant for her," Gina commented.
Ashlyn then laughed loudly at Maddox, "I'm sorry, what? Wow. That's...I have a boyfriend!"
"Okay, can you just for once stop telling everyone who they are and how they should be?" Jet said to Maddox.
"Oh, you're talking to me now?" Maddox questioned.
"Forget it." Jet shook his head. "You're just gonna yell."
"No, yeah, that's right, Jet." Maddox followed him. "Make me the bad guy, once again."
Ricky glanced at Theo, "Did I miss an episode of our reality show? Did these two know each other before camp?"
"Look, Maddie, I'm here, aren't I?" Jet raised his voice. "I'm trying."
"Yeah, only because you were forced to come here." Maddox retorted. "After you literally got expelled from school. 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 15th birthday party? Explain why I lose all my confidence when you're around me. And heck, Jet, why don't you explain why you told Mom and Dad about me and Madison when you found her texts in my phone? Explain that."
"Mom and Dad..."Carlos trailed off after Jet left the barn.
"Wait, what?" Ashlyn questioned in shocks
"I have done a terrible thing."
"I need to sit down." Ricky sat on the steps. "I need to lie down." The Bowen boy lay across the stage and covered his ears. Theo sat down next to Ricky and sighed shaking her head. She rubbed her hands through Ricky's hair to calm him down knowing his situation of when his parents used to argue.
"I guess there are a lot of secrets floating around," Gina spoke up.
EJ walked over to her. "Whatever you saw in that letter, it's not what it looks like."
"St. Louis, EJ?" Gina tilted her head. "You let me think we were gonna be neighbors."
"And we will be." He insisted. "My dad is trying to make me go to Caswell Success School. But I'm going to change his mind. I know if he sees that I can make this docuseries a success, he'll let up on the whole training thing. But I'm not leaving Salt Lake without a fight."
"Then why didn't you just tell me? I don't want to feel like you're keeping things from me. Ever."
"Can I be team Gina on this?" Val wondered, shooting a look toward EJ.
"Elton John Caswell." Ashlyn stepped forward. "I am so disappointed in you."
"Wait, that's what EJ stands for?" Carlos asked wide-eyed.
"Huh." Kourtney let out. "Rocket Man."
"Another thing I didn't know." Gina scoffed.
"I always assumed you were, like, Eric Junior," Carlos admitted.
"My dad's name is Cash." EJ reminded him.
"That is on brand."
"You guys!" Ricky exclaimed, sitting up. "Jet and Maddox are siblings?"
Gina started to leave the barn.
"Gina, please..." EJ pleaded.
"No, I get it. You acted like an old version of yourself. Or maybe it's the real EJ of Shallow Lake." Gina walked out for the barn.
EJ was about to follow her out but Theo stopped him. "Don't even."
"I want to talk to her."
"You didn't want to talk to her before, so what's the point now?" Theodora remarked. "I told you not to hurt her, and look what you did." She walked out of the barn and went to find her sister.
The older girl found Gina sitting in the Honeycomb cabin crying. She went over and wrapped her arms around Gina as she cried on her shoulder.
~•~
There's not much to say...I think the chapter said it all