"hey nini! wait up!" ej called out as he raced the girl down the east high stairs. he hadn't seen her all day and knew something was up.
nini, her attention firmly set on descending the steps, appeared to be in a hurry, deflecting his attempts at conversation. "i don't wanna be late."
ej's curiosity got the better of him as he continued to trail her down the hall, inquiring, "what's up? where were you during lunch?"
without breaking stride, the brunette offered a fabricated excuse, "i had a costume fitting."
"but why haven't you answered my texts?" he asked once more getting on her last nerve.
exasperated, nini paused and turned to face him, her voice carrying a note of annoyance as she muttered, "could we not do this right now, please?"
the entire drama club observed with bated breath, their attention being grasped by the scene as they waited for the rehearsal room door to be unlocked.
following the revelation of last weeks event, manny felt compelled to disclose the truth to nini. she recounted the story of how ej had given the necklace to her during their previous relationship, only to conveniently pass it on to nini, his new girlfriend. now, the mendoza girl was left to sit back and watch.
she honestly didn't take much joy in it. while this whole thing started to get back at nini, she started to feel bad for her, realizing she had just been manipulated and played for a fool.
"do what? are you mad at me?" he inquired, his eyes betraying his unease.
acutely aware of the growing audience around them, anxiously scanned her surroundings, nini exasperatedly sighed.
"you're mad at me." ej deduced, casting his gaze downward, "look, there was no fitting at lunch."
"fine." nini huffed, "wanna know where i was at lunch? i was at the computer lab bribing some hacker to crack into my phone to recover a message you deleted when you stole it!"
manny's brows raised. she didn't know ej was the one that stole nini's phone, but she couldn't say she was surprised either.
"wait.. why do you think that i—" ej tried to deny it, already caught red-handed.
"oh, please." nini scoffed, "gina and manny aren't the ones i need to worry about, are they?"
the whole club was nosily staring in the hall, kids were recording, and manny was just sulking in the caswell boy's defeat. he's had it coming for months.
ej, noticing the disapproving glares, attempted to steer the conversation away, gently reaching for nini's arm and suggesting, "can we talk about this over—"
"don't. manny already told me everything. you can take this back, destroy it for all i care." nini dismissed him, tossing the necklace against his chest and turning around.
the caswell boy's eyes met manny's in anger as she returned his fierce gaze, unapologetically.
"nini, wait.. i was spiraling, okay?" ej desperately explained, only further frustrating the brunette. "i couldn't believe how great things were going over the summer, and i wanted to make sure you wouldn't leave the second school started!"
"that's not an excuse for giving me something that you bought for another girl!" nini shouted at him, hurt in her tone.
"it wasn't like that! i thought it would keep us together!i mean, how else was i supposed to get you to stick around? last week i told you i loved you and you couldn't even say it back. you said it to ricky, and.. i know you guys have more history.."
"yeah, ej. ricky would never steal my phone." nini interrupted making a valid point. he would never do that.
"no, i know. he just leaves you sad voice messages on it instead." ej quipped rolling his eyes. "don't make this about ricky!" the girl argued.
"that's what this is about!" ej shouted back, "i'm just trying to hold onto what we had over the summer."
"yeah, i was too. but you know what? summer's over." she declared, effectively signaling the end of their relationship. ej's face dropped as he stood by frozen, watching nini slowly turn to the rest of the club.
"hey, uh, is the door locked or something? why can't we get in?" she awkwardly questioned to ashlyn, trying to get the heat off her fight with ej.
"oh. natalie badgley's missing her emotional support hamster. he got loose." the redhead explained. "carlos and gina are helping find her.. him.. it."
without a moment going by, an earth shattering scream erupted inside, striking the halls immediately.
manny jumped practically six feet in the air, grabbing hazel as she heard sudden yell come from the rehearsal room. "i think they found it." the anderson girl pointed out, her eyes widening.
🎶
"sometimes a relationship needs one person looking after the other." ej kept defending to nini as they waited for the doors to be unlocked, trying to salvage the relationship in any way possible. "it wasn't divine intervention that got you into marian the librarian's costume."
"what does that mean?" nini furrowed her brows, seeking clarification. ej's face dropped, as though he had accidentally unveiled something he hadn't intended to.
"you were responsible for emily pratt spending opening night with her head in the toilet?" she slowly realized. "i believed in you!" he clarified, taking a step forward.
"answer the question." nini demanded, her emotions tumultuous. ej scoffed, lowering his voice, "take it down a notch, i slipped her a bad deviled egg. i didn't think it would actually work."
nini let out a low audible gasp, shaking her head in disbelief. "you got to play the lead, didn't you? was that gonna happen if i hadn't stepped in?" the caswell boy questioned, trying to rationalize his actions.
nini, on the verge of tears, couldn't find words and stormed out through the exit, leaving ej in her wake.
"what did you say to her?" ej turning his head to spot her, forcefully grabbed and pulled manny to the side.
"uh, the truth." she responded, her voice tinged with a nervous gulp out of surprise.
ej's eyes bore into hers, filled with frustration, "stop playing games and tell me what you said, manny. i've had enough of your manipulating. you spent all of last year trying to drag me down with you, and now her?"
manny refused to be shaken, lightly chuckling at his thinly veiled insults. "don't make this about me now that you got caught. this is all on you."
the caswell boy scoffed, "you just couldn't handle the fact that she's with me now, when the reality is that you spend so much time trying to drag everybody else down to distract yourself from the fact that you're alone!"
feeling the sting of his words, manny's frustration boiled over, and she slapped him across the face.
in the midst of the drama, the doors finally opened revealing natalie badgley storming away with carlos close behind, hamster-less. "i need a moment."
"is he dead?" ashlyn worriedly asked.
"no. now she thinks he's in her gym locker." carlos informed them, annoyance evident in his tone.
"why the screaming?" hazel furrowed her brows. "that was me. she stepped on my toe." carlos admitted. "we're ready to begin people!"
"miss jenn just talked to ricky, he's running late." carlos walked over, disclosing to manny who was still aside ej, radiating frustration.
"who cares?" ej rolled his eyes dismissively.
"hmm. you might, considering you're his understudy. we're blocking the troy, gabriella duet. you're on, lovers." carlos quipped with an air of confidence, striding backstage with the rest of the group.
"oh. god." manny monotonously stated, giving one annoyed glare before heading inside.
🎶
in rehearsal, manny stood on one side of the stage while ej took the other. neither wanted to be near the other right now. "can i get you to move a little closer to each other?" miss jenn pleaded.
manny turned her head to glance at him, lightly huffing as she moved half an inch to the right.
"little more." miss jenn chuckled softly. ej waved his arms out as he moved a bit closer, as a sign of hopefully a truce, but manny wouldn't budge.
"come on guys, we're blocking this is a love story, not a SARS epidemic." miss jenn chuckled.
"i think that chair was over there." carlos pointed out, referring to the stage setting. "oh, i can move it over in the scene!" manny suggested, immediately going to grab the chair. really, she just wanted an excuse to get away from ej and hopefully have something to put in between them.
"feels awkward." miss jenn grimaced. "no, it's light! i can lift it above my head and walk!" manny assured them.
"sweetie, no one is walking with furniture on their head. this isn't the lion king." miss jenn instructed, making her awkwardly put the chair down and walk back over towards ej.
"strike the chair, please." miss jenn whispered to big red, their new crew member. the job was against his will. manny and hazel shared a glance, knowing he had no idea what he was doing.
"with what?" big red questioned. "take it away. remove it." she explained.
"troy, once the intro begins cross downstage and plant yourself at the piano." miss jenn gave notes as big red moved the chair. "which should be further downstage, okay?" she advised once again.
everyone watched in silence as big red awkwardly pushed the piano the wrong direction, "no dear, that— that would be upstage."
"okay, gabriella you slowly approach the piano and rest an arm on it, naturally." miss jenn advised. "can we make sure her bookbag is off stage right."
"sure.. um." big red whispered. "which way is that?" he asked seb who was sitting at the piano. seb pointed the correct direction.
"okey dokey! take it from— wow, now that's really nice!" miss jenn instructed. "wow, now that's really nice!" ej started acting as troy, trying to seem a bit more natural than manny was acting right now.
"hmm." manny mumbled.
as the music started playing for what i've been looking for, ej began walking over to the piano while manny didn't move.
"it's hard to believe, that i couldn't see, that you were always there beside me." ej sang uncomfortably.
"thought i was alone, with no one to hold, but you were always there beside me." manny slowly made her way to the other side of the piano, harshly setting her arm atop it.
"this feelings like no other." the two harmonized together, manny glaring at him in anger now. "i want you to know."
"that i've never had someone who knows me like you do, the way you do. and i've never had someone as good for me as you, no one like you." manny clenched her jaw in the midst of singing, so roughly you could hear the frustration in her voice.
"so lonely before, i finally found—" the brunette scoffed mid song, "what i've been looking for."
"do do do, do do do do do do, woah oh oh, mmm." manny uncomfortably finished the song as the two now stood in silence.
"okay, freeze!" miss jenn raised her hand, breaking the awkwardness. "manny, sweetie. this reprise comes at a decisive moment in the story, once your hearts have joined. it's a love song."
manny wore a fake confused look, pointing between herself and ej, "were you not getting that?"
"i'd like you to get to his heart without cracking his ribcage." miss jenn remarked, the gravity of the situation evident in her expression.
"i think we're beyond that point." manny pursed her lips.
"sorry i'm late!" ricky frantically stormed in, the urgency etched on his face. "my mom, she caught an earlier flight. where are we?" the boy tossed his belongings aside, rushing up front near manny and ej.
"scene seven." carlos informed.
"right.. i don't have it. could i borrow.." ricky sighed, his shoulders slumping.
"you need your script, ricky. and a pencil. it's a blocking rehearsal. " miss jenn firmly stated, her tone emphasizing the importance.
"could i borrow a pencil?" he turned to manny, his expression pleading. "you can share mine!" ashlyn offered, jumping up from her chair.
"no, he can't!" miss jenn interrupted sharply. "when you come to rehearsal, people. you come prepared."
before miss jenn could finish her thought, natalie badgley stormed in, still freaking out over her hamster, "was he in your gym locker?" ashlyn shot up to ask.
"no, just my cherry lip balm. but it had elliot's teeth marks in it." the girl sobbed. "oh, i'm sure that wouldn't hurt him." ashlyn assured her.
"it's sparkly." natalie sniffled. "then it'll be easier to find him!" seb mentioned getting a look from everyone, "if he smiles." the boy nervously chuckled.
"natalie, we feel your pain. but i was just explaing what a constructive rehearsal requires. focus. and honestly, another day like this and i am showing up with my emotional support coyote." miss jenn
"miss jenn, i know the scene." ricky interrupted.
"would you wait for me in my office, please?" miss jenn requested as ricky obliged, slowly making his way out of the room. "thank you."
"wait, are we done?" ashlyn asked noticing miss jenn was already packing up her things. "we are ms. darbus. take a note. this is what a frustrated drama teacher looks like." miss jenn announced, pointing at her facial expression. "go. scoot. come back when you're ready to be punctual, park your distractions at the door, and take the work in here seriously."