"Does the dress twirl? I feel like that it needs to twirl." Miss Jenn spoke. She and Ophelia were in the dressing room at school the next day as she helped her pick out a dress for a conference that revealed Quinn's new movie and how she would be the female lead.
"Oh, yes, definitely. The dress needs a twirl." Ophelia agreed with a grin as she went through the clothing rack full of dresses that were put in the dressing room for her.
"Ophelia, I can't believe I'm helping you find a Hollywood ball gown." Miss Jenn gushed.
"Oh, please." Ophelia laughs, rolling her eyes. "You're making it sound like I'm famous."
"You're on your way to be." Miss Jenn smiles at her. "And I'm so proud of you for how far you've come."
Ophelia smiles softly. "Thank you, Miss Jenn. That means a lot to me." She admits. She turns back to keep looking for a dress, pausing when she realized something. "I don't know if I should be doing this..."
"What do you mean, dear?" Miss Jenn asked softly.
"I mean...Like, do I really want to be a movie star? Or do I wanna go to college and be a photographer?" Ophelia questions as she began to ramble. "I haven't had really any time to focus on photography and honestly I miss it. Like, it's been so long since I got my camera out that it's collecting dust." She admits. She sighs. "What if I go to this conference thing and decide I want to stay here and go to college?"
"Whatever you decide, I'll support you and your choices." Miss Jenn smiles reassuringly. "Just follow your heart and what makes you happy."
Ophelia smiles softly at her, appreciating her words. "Thank you, Miss Jenn." She's quiet for a few moments before speaking again, sounding nervous. "And then there's Ricky." Ophelia says, feeling her heart race more as she overthought this. "This movie would be filmed in New Zealand...No one else knows but you, not even my parents know." She confesses. "I'm so nervous and scared about how he'll react and I just-"
"Hey." Miss Jenn gently cuts her off, stepping forward and resting a hand on her shoulder. "Breathe. Relax." Ophelia does as she's told, taking deep breaths and relaxing her tense shoulders. "There you go." She smiles softly. "Now, don't think about the 'what ifs' and overthink. I know for a fact that boy loves you and would support you no matter what you choose. I have no doubt about that."
"Jennifer." Mr. Mazzara peaks into the room before Ophelia could say anything. "A word." Miss Jenn sent her a smile and then walked out to talk with Mr. Mazzara. Ophelia sighed heavily and kept looking through the dresses, pausing when one in particular caught her eye.
It was a dress where the bottom half was a very light pink, almost a white color that was long and big enough for the perfect twirl. The top half was black, the sides of the top half having sparkles that were in different designs and it had small black straps. She grinned, walking over to the closest mirror excitedly. She held the dress up in front of her to see what it would look like if she wore it, her grin widening and eyes lighting up. She knew this was the dress for her and it was perfect.
****
It was now opening night and everyone were getting ready. Ricky had been handing out cards in honor of Nini who had asked him if he could hand out cards for her like she usually did on opening nights. Ricky was confused about not seeing Ophelia anywhere, he figured she would be there somewhere and no one knew where she was when he asked. Then suddenly he turned around when he heard familiar voices and a smile tugged on his lips.
"Did we miss half-hour call? And does it matter if we're not in the show?" EJ questioned, walking into the dressing room, hand in hand with Fallon, who was smiling brightly.
"Yeah," Fallon speaks up. "Hopefully we're not very fashionably late."
Everyone gasps excitedly at seeing the couple who had gone off to college. "You guys are here!" Luca grins. "Ophelia is gonna be so happy to see you guys."
"And I can't wait to see her." Fallon smiles, hugging him back when he hugged her. "Where is she by the way?" She asked after not seeing her in the room.
"No one knows." Luca admitted.
"Wait, what? What do you mean 'no one knows'?" EJ frowned, worry laced in his voice.
"She didn't show up when we all got here." Ricky sighs, walking over to join the group. "She's not answering her phone either and no one knows where she is. No one has seen her since last night." He smiles a little as he looks at the couple. "But I'm so glad you guys are here."
"Sitting out there, watching you guys is the second best place in the world." EJ admitted and Fallon nodded in agreement with a smile as Ashlyn and Carlos came over to hug him and Fallon.
"Where's the first place?" Ricky asked curiously.
EJ glances at Fallon with a fond look that made her blush. "Literally anywhere with you, Lonnie."
Fallon smiles shyly, standing on her tip toes to kiss his cheek. "Same goes for you, Elton." She grinned and he chuckled, rolling his eyes playfully.
"Biggie!" Ashlyn's sudden gasp gained everyone's attention. They all glance in the direction where Big Red was walking into the room.
"I'm not here!" Big Red announces and everyone greets him happily. "But if you notice someone in the audience screaming, crying, throwing up, those are all things that I do." Ricky chuckled and hugged him. Fallon went to go catch up with Luca and the others as Ashlyn talked with her cousin.
Soon enough Ophelia finally ran into the room, dressed as Gabriella in the third 'High School Musical' movie. Ophelia was surprised to see Dani in the room, but she remembered that she was now Sharpay's assistant. Ricky was relieved when he saw her. He had been worried that she wouldn't make it. Ophelia smiled widely and squealed excitedly along with Fallon when they locked eyes. They ran at each other to hug each other.
"O, I missed you so much!" Fallon squealed, not letting her go from the hug.
"I missed you too!" Ophelia giggles, hugging her just as tightly. She then noticed EJ was in the room and grins. "Hey, Rocket man." She teases, earning a chuckle from EJ. When she pulled away from Fallon, she gave EJ a tight hug as well. "I'm so glad you guys could make it."
"We wouldn't miss it for the world, Ophelia." EJ reassured her.
"Can I steal her real quick?" Ricky chimed in with a smile, walking over to the group.
"Of course, Ricky." EJ smiled and Fallon nodded.
Ophelia smiles and walks over to Ricky, the two of them standing off to the side. "What did you need to-" Ophelia cut her own sentence off with a surprised gasp when Ricky suddenly pulled her close to him and kissed her deeply. Ophelia kissed back eagerly, a soft smile tugging at her lips and her heart racing.
"I missed you." Ricky mumbled against her lips.
"I missed you too." Ophelia grins, pulling away slightly to look him in the eyes. "Is that what you wanted to tell me?"
"Well, not exactly." Ricky chuckles. "There's something I actually wanna give you-"
"Wildcats," Maddox calls out, gaining everyone attention and causes the couple to pull away. "This is your five-minute call!" She then turns the lights on and off, causing everyone to freak out and scream which confused her. "You guys don't do the lights thing?"
"We thought you'd be dead again." Ashlyn replied after the lights were turned back on. Maddox chuckled and Ashlyn laughed nervously. Maddox then nodded and walked away awkwardly.
"Change of plans," Ricky's voice brought Ophelia's attention to him and she smiles at him. "Meet me in the dressing room at intermission."
"Of course." Ophelia promised, grinning as she followed his lead when he started to lean in. But when they heard their friends exclaim a familiar name, they pull away and glance over with surprise.
"Mack?" Kourtney gasped.
"Mack!" Ashlyn smiled as everyone else greeted Mack.
Ophelia and Ricky are surprised to see the boy walk into the room, holding a flower. "Don't mind me. I was never here." Mack smiles, walking over to Ophelia and Ricky. "Ophelia, these are for you. It's a hundred year old bird of paradise."
"Oh, um, thank you?" Ophelia said in confusion, not really sure what to say to this as Ricky took the flowers from him for her.
"A friend of mine grows them." Mack explains. "It was John Stamos, guys."
"Wait, hold up." Fallon gasps from where she was at the other side of the room with EJ. She hits EJ's shoulder as she stared at Mack with wide eyes. "That's Mack from Mark and Spark? Dude, literally so jealous of Ophelia that she got to work with a hottie like him."
"Uh, dude, your boyfriend is standing right here and you're hitting him." EJ grimaced, grabbing her hand to stop her from hitting him since she kept doing it.
"Sorry, babe." Fallon apologizes, leaning up to kiss his cheek and earning a smile from him. "I love you."
EJ chuckles and smiles at her. "I love you too."
"Wow." Ricky muttered, looking annoyed with Mack.
"Hey, you still got it!" Mack chuckled, smiling at Ricky and walked away. Ricky mocked him, rolling his eyes. Ophelia laughed when she saw this, smiling when Ricky glanced at her and smiled softly at her.
"Everyone, let's circle up." Miss Jenn calls out, walking into the room dressed as Miss Darbus. "Circle up." Everyone gathers together in center of the room and held hands. "And hands. Hands. My babies. 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.'"
Ophelia's heart clenches as Miss Jenn said this. It made her think about Quinn's new movie that she would be doing. She didn't have much time to dwell on this because then Maddox came in and calls out, "Places!" Everyone screamed excitedly and ran out to the gym.
****
EJ and Fallon sat in the audience with Fallon's family, Kourtney's mom and Luca's family. Ophelia's family, Ricky's family and Big Red and his family even sat nearby them as well along with Seb and his family. Ricky had been surprised when his mom suddenly asked if it was okay to bring a plus one but during the performance of 'Now or Never' he saw that she meant her plus one was his dad which made him smile. Everyone cheered loudly at the end of the first performance. And yes during the song Fallon was singing along every word and yes EJ was too although most of the time he was staring at Fallon with a loving smile.
Now it was moments before Ophelia's and Ricky's next scene. They stood in the wings, grinning at each other. "Look at me and look at you." Ricky commented.
"Yeah, I feel like I'm living in a dream." Ophelia chuckled.
"Same here. I love you." Ricky said, his gaze full of love and admiration as he looked at her.
Ophelia smiles softly, staring at him with the same expression while her heart fluttered. "I love you too." They lean in and share a sweet kiss that was soon cut short because Maddox called out to them.
"Hey, Troyella, you're on. Come on."
"We're kinda..." Ricky started, gesturing between him and Ophelia.
Maddox looks annoyed and rolls her eyes. "Your cue. Let's go." Ophelia giggled while Ricky chuckled when Maddox pushed them out on stage.
They walk onto the treehouse prop for their next scene. "Wow! Another top secret hiding place?" Ophelia laughed with a smile.
"You're the, uh, second girl I've ever had up here." Ricky replies with a smile, standing at the other end of the prop balcony of the tree house. Ophelia glances at him, pretending to look confused. "The first was my mom. She only came up here to get me down." Ophelia chuckles along with some of the crowd.
"Well, I'm honored. This place is so cool." Ophelia recited.
"Me and my dad built it." Ricky responded.
Ophelia glances down, pretending to notice someone. "Was that the coach from UVA down there?"
"Yeah, he's at my house." Ricky chuckles. "Crazy."
"I bet he's already got your name on a locker." Ophelia smiled.
"It's always been my dad's dream. And now I'm gonna end up at his alma mater." Ricky replies, acting as if he was surprised. "Did I just say that?"
"You know, my mom and I have been talking about Stanford University pretty much since I was born." Ophelia spoke.
"Well, you're already in, so that's pretty cool." Ricky voiced.
"Except she won't stop talking about it. It's embarrassing." Ophelia replied as Ricky stood in front of her.
"Come on. She's proud of you. I'm proud of you." Ricky said, taking ahold of her hand.
"The thing about Stanford is that it's one thousand and..." Ophelia walked away from him, pretending to look nervous although it didn't take much for her to be nervous. She then stood in front of the railing, facing the crowd.
"Fifty-three miles from here?" Ricky finishes Ophelia's sentence. "I know. It suddenly seems like the rest of the school year is coming at us so fast." He stood behind Ophelia, wrapping her arms around her waist.
Ophelia realized how similar this situation was for her. She would be going to New Zealand soon and the year had been like it was coming by so fast. And she still hadn't decided if she wanted to go to college to be a photographer or not. "Yeah, I wish it would all just stop. At least just slow down."
****
Ophelia found herself pacing in the hallway while she had a few minutes for a break. Everything hit her all at once. College, the movie, the play. It was a lot to process and it was all stressing her out. She didn't even hear Fallon sneak out into the hallway to check on her.
"O, are you okay?" Fallon asked softly, frowning at seeing her so stressed out.
"Not really." Ophelia admits. She takes a deep breath. "Quinn wants me to be her leading lady for her next movie that will be shooting in New Zealand for six months and that will basically be for like the rest of the senior year and I haven't even decided if I wanna go to college yet and I'm freaking out and-"
"Woah, woah, woah." Fallon cuts her off with a chuckle, putting her hands on Ophelia's shoulders and squeezes them. "First of all, calm down. Take a deep breath." Ophelia did as told and takes a deep breath and exhales. "Okay, now listen. First of all, super super proud of you for getting movie offer, you deserve it. And second of all, whatever you decide to do, I'm gonna support you no matter what. But don't let this all stress you out. Especially in the middle of this play. You've been doing a fantastic job with the play so far and you've worked so hard. Don't stress yourself out, okay? It'll all work out. It always does."
"Thanks, Fal." Ophelia takes another deep breath, smiling softly at her. "I know I already said this once, but I really missed you."
Fallon smiles. "I missed you too, O. And you know I'll always be there for you, right?"
"Right. The same goes for you." Ophelia hugged her tightly, feeling more at ease and ready to keep going.
A/N had to add more of besties fallon & ophelia because i love them & i missed fallon. but poor rickelia they keep getting interrupted :(