ACT TWO WAS ABOUT TO begin as Big Red and Luna paraded through the lobby announcing the two minute warning. The girl had been all over the place, answering requests from Miss Jenn as well as some of the cast. When she had a free moment, she hoped to find her boyfriend who she hadn't seen since she walked away from the Getcha Head In The Game scene.
Instead though, she ended up going to see her mom in the audience to see how she was finding the show, specifically how she thought Ricky was doing onstage. Of course, her mother only had good things to say about it. Mrs. Crawford loved the show, and was amazed by how well everyone was doing, especially Ricky as she knew it was his first time being the lead.
By the time Luna had made it backstage, Act two had already begun. She was pulled all different directions to help fix make up and costumes. She was exhausted. How did she go from being an honorary member of the crew (crowned by Carlos) to interim stage manager to full on crew member who had to do anything and everything?
Luna had managed to slip away during a calm moment to stand on the side of the make shift stage to watch the current scene that was supposed to be Troy and Gabriella.
"So this is your real stage?" Nini recited with a smile. The guy in the #14 Bolton jersey turned around to reveal himself to be EJ Caswell, not Ricky Bowen who it was supposed to be. A gasp was let out of Nini's mouth along with Luna's who was watching from side stage.
"I guess you could call it that. Or just a smelly gym," he played it off, reciting Troy's line. The audience saw as the girl and boy on stage covered their mics to have a side conversation about the whereabouts of Ricky. Luckily, Nini put her trust in EJ, continuing the scene as normal.
Miss Jenn appeared next to Luna, whisper yelling, "Where is Ricky?" Luna shrugged frantically.
"I don't know," she replied, before quickly adding that she would go find him. Luna searched every single inch of the backstage area and all the dressing rooms. No one had seen him in a long while, but Carlos informed her that last he heard Ricky was looking for her, needing her help.
In a frantic rush, she pushed the door open to the hallway just outside the gym where she had planned to go see if Big Red had seen his best friend in the audience. To her surprise, she found Ricky leaning against the wall outside the gym.
She let out a relieved sigh, which he heard causing him to lift his head up. "Ricky! There you are! You had me so worried. Carlos told me that you needed me?"
She paused, taking a look at what he was wearing. That was not a Troy Bolton outfit. "Why aren't you on stage, babe?" She asked softly, fearing that something was wrong.
He sighed, walking closer to her. "Where have you been?" He asked, avoiding her question.
She waved it off. "Miss Jenn has had me running all over the place doing things, and I saw my mom during the intermission. By the way, she thinks you're doing really awesome out there," Luna trailed off, realizing he changed the subject, and he should be on stage right now. She softly asked again, "Ric, why aren't you out there? Why is EJ playing Troy?" She grabbed his hand as he looked down at his feet.
"Freaking Todd is here, all cuddled up to my mom. Lu, I literally want to punch a wall because I'm so mad about it," he admitted frustratedly. He pulled at his hair. Luna immediately reached out and pulled his hand away from his hair, now holding both of his hands in hers.
"I'm sorry, babe. Your mom probably had good intentions bringing him here. But you shouldn't let this throw you. Don't let it stop you from performing the role you earned," she encouraged, smiling slightly.
Ricky shook his head, lips twitching a little as he held back a smile as his girlfriend's smile had always been contagious to look at. "I can't go back out there. Nini has someone really important in the audience watching her. This could literally change her life. There's no way I can go out there now. I would ruin it for her, which is why I asked EJ to replace me."
Luna admired how much he was looking out for Nini, but she was one hundred percent sure he would not ruin it for her. "I heard Kourtney talking about the dean of the performing arts school earlier," she noted. "I think it's great that you want the best for Nini, but I'm not sure that you having someone replace you is helping her odds. You should've seen the look on her face when she saw it was EJ and not you. She was definitely thrown off, Ric, which is why you need to go back out there."
He stood firm in his place. "Luna, I can't. I'm not in the right head space to perform on stage right now. Not with my mom's boyfriend in the audience, messing with my mind." She nodded, unsure of what to say to convince him.
Speak of the devil, Ricky's mom had pushed through the doors of the gym, entering the hallway where the couple stood still holding hands. Both of their heads shot to look at the woman. "There you are! Are you okay?" Mrs. Bowen asked, eyes flickering between the two teenagers.
"Yeah, fine. Check your texts," Ricky muttered, holding onto Luna's hand tightly.
Mrs. Bowen stared at the girl for a moment, who offered the woman a tight lipped smile, feeling awkward to be standing there with them. Luna knew Ricky wasn't going to let go of her hand anytime soon so she couldn't escape. "Hold on, who is this?" She asked her son, motioning to the girl next to him.
Ricky's eyes widened for a second. "Oh yeah, this is Luna, my girlfriend. Lu, this is my mom," he introduced. Luna reached out to shake her hand, which was taken nicely.
"Really great to meet you, Mrs. Bowen," Luna smiled a little more brightly.
Mrs. Bowen smiled back sweetly, "It's lovely to meet you as well. You're even prettier than how Ricky described you!" Luna blushed, thanking Ricky's mom. The attention was turned back to the boy. "So what's going on? Is it stage fright? Because people are counting on you, honey. You've made a commitment to this."
Ricky scoffed, "You're one to talk about commitment." His mom's face contorted in shock as did Luna's.
"I think I should go backstage to check on everyone," Luna interjected quietly, trying to leave Ricky's tight grip on her, but he wouldn't let her.
"No, Lu, please stay," he begged. She nodded, swallowing thickly. He turned back to his mom. "It's not about nerves, okay? It's about doing something for somebody I care about."
Mrs. Bowen looked to Luna for answers, but the teen just shook her head. "Okay, Ricky, what's going on?"
Ricky's voice got louder. "Why'd you bring him to the show, mom?"
"Who? Todd? I wanted him to meet you. I didn't tell you beforehand because I didn't want to throw you off," his mom replied, not seeing the problem.
Ricky rolled his eyes. "So you waited until I levitated above a basketball hoop and had to see him put his arm around you in the audience?" His mom tried to speak, but he cut her off. "How do you think Dad feels, huh?" He yelled angrily at his mom.
Luna gripped his upper arm. "Ricky, stop," she warned, glaring at him. She didn't want to be in the middle of this, but because she was in the situation, she was going to make sure he didn't say or do anything he regretted. She wanted to calm him down, much like he has done so many times for her before. He just glanced at her once, loosening his grip on her a little as he relaxed a bit, taking a deep breath.
"No, it's okay, Luna." Mrs. Bowen offered a small smile to the girl, appreciating the gesture to calm her son down. "Ricky, I think your Dad is happy that I'm happy."
"You were plenty happy before the show started! You and dad were hugging! I saw you," He pointed out, voice cracking ever so slightly. "It was like how it used to be."
This broke Luna's heart. The feeling being all too familiar with her own parents. When her dad returned, she noticed moments when everything felt like it used to. They were happy. Until they remembered why her dad came back in the first place, but they often pushed that to the back of their minds. She knew how Ricky was feeling, and it hurt her heart. She couldn't help him because she herself never figured out how to feel better about it all.
"Not all couples are meant to be together. People change," Mrs. Bowen explained.
Ricky had enough of this conversation. He rushed out the words, "I've gotta go. I want to support Seb during this song. I'll see you later, Lulu," he said, pressing a quick kiss to her cheek.
Without a response, he had rushed towards the doors of the gym, leaving the two ladies frozen in their spots.
"It was nice to meet you, Mrs. Bowen. I better get back to the show as well," Luna offered her own goodbye to Mrs. Bowen before rushing in the other direction to go backstage to check in with everyone.
•••
Luna had explained in passing what Ricky was going through to Gina. She had sent her best friend out to check on her boyfriend while she had to fix Ashlyn's sweater that had torn when it got caught on a sharp edge.
"Hey, what happened to you?" Gina asked even though she already knew, entering the hallway where Ricky was.
Ricky chuckled, leaning against the HSM memorabilia table. "It's a long story, but I could ask you the same thing."
She let out a little laugh as well. "Also a long story. I got a last minute flight."
He bitterly chuckled. "Oh yeah? So did Todd."
Gina moved closer to him. "Yeah, Luna told me actually. I came out here to check on you on her behalf."
He smiled slightly to himself, knowing his girlfriend cared so much about him. "Well thank you for coming out here, Gina. I appreciate it. This is Nini's big moment so I figured the best thing I could do was just step back and watch."
Gina nodded before suggesting, "Okay, then let's go watch." She motioned towards the door to the gym.
Meanwhile, Luna stood on side stage as she watched Ashlyn deliver her lines, sporting her newly fashioned sweater that she had just patched up. The music to Breaking Free started to play throughout the gym, EJ and Nini walking on stage from opposite sides.
The door opened quite loudly shortly after the scene began, catching both actor's attention. Luna peered out seeing it was her boyfriend and best friend entering. Nini kept her gaze on Ricky, feeling frozen in place all the sudden. She didn't feel right being on stage when he wasn't.
EJ felt the same way. "I'm playing to lose. I'm not the Troy that should be up here," EJ stated.
"And I'm not the Gabriella he wants," Nini replied before leaning in to whisper in EJ's ear. He nodded with a smile. EJ stepped off stage while Nini walked down the center of the aisle of the audience, heading towards Ricky.
EJ immediately went towards Luna, pulling the stuff out of her hands and placing it on the chair next to her. "Time to show me how to act, wildcat," EJ said before he grabbed her hand, pulling her out on stage. The same thing was happening to Ricky. Nini had pulled him up on stage with her, whispering that it was Ricky and Luna's time to shine. The two former actors left the stage, leaving Ricky and Luna on stage alone, holding microphones.
Luna was scared. She wasn't meant to be on stage. She hardly ever sang for anyone, but now she was put on the spot to sing in front of an entire audience. "I can't do this, Ricky," she whispered.
He just smiled at her. "Yes you can. Your voice is really good. I heard you when you sang with Ashlyn. Just look at me, Luna. You got this." Ricky nodded to the orchestra who started to play the song. He began to sing, staring into her eyes, "But your faith, it gives me strength."
She joined in with him after a shaky breath, "Strength to believe... We're breaking free!"
"We're soaring!" He sung with a huge smile.
"Flyin'" She sang back playfully. "There's not a star in heaven that we can't reach."
Luna couldn't believe she was doing this. Her mom was surely surprised that she had managed to score a duet with her boyfriend on stage in front of a bunch of people. With each passing word sung, she felt more comfortable being out there. Singing with Ricky felt freeing, like she truly was breaking free.
When the song ended, the audience erupted in applause and cheers. Luna bashfully smiled at the crowd before hurrying off stage with Ricky.
"What the heck just happened?" Luna asked to no one in particular. This caused the people around her to chuckle, while Ricky grabbed her hand again, giving it a squeeze.
Nini walked with Luna and Ricky back to the dressing rooms. "I figured I owed you guys one after what I've put you through, which Luna I am so sorry for what almost happened at tech rehearsal. It was all me, not Ricky at all."
Ricky smiled gratefully at Nini as they walked, thankful she cleared his name. Luna also smiled at the girl. "It's okay, Nini. I totally get it. You loved him, so it's hard to just move on from that person just like that. I appreciate you apologizing though. I'm ready for all three of us to be all good and be friends." Nini agreed enthusiastically.
Ricky scoffed, sorting through the clothing rack for his outfit for We're All In This Together. "Babe, did you really just friend zone me?"
Luna rolled her eyes with a smile, walking over to him. She immediately found his outfit and gave it to him. "Technically, you never left the friend zone since we are still friends. But now you have been promoted to have the title of my boyfriend."
"I like being your boyfriend," he commented with a smirk.
"Go get changed, loser. You're on in three minutes," Luna ordered. He saluted her before heading to another dressing room to get changed.
She turned to Nini, "For real though, no hard feelings. What you did tonight for me and Ricky, although incredibly unexpected, it was really cool. I haven't felt that free in a long time as I never put myself out there. So thank you. I feel like me and you are going to be great friends."
"It was no problem. You guys deserve it, honestly." Nini grinned. "As much as I would love to continue to reconnect, I need to get changed. I'll see you out there," Nini said, before rushing out of the room to get changed. Luna didn't know what she meant by her seeing her out there, but she assumed that she would end up being pulled out on stage at curtain call.
And that's exactly what happened. Luna was watching side stage with Carlos and Miss Jenn when Gina pulled all three of them in the middle of the stage. Miss Jenn got to say her line that was cut out of the movie, while also getting her own applause and recognition. Carlos was pulled forward from the group by Seb, applause ringing out louder for him. It was then her turn as Ricky came to her side, grabbing her hand to pull her forward. Luna gave a wide smile to the crowd as she bowed for them, earning cheers from them.
When the confetti rained out informational stickers about the robotics club, Ricky and Luna found each other once again. He picked her up and spun her around as she laughed. "You did it wildcat!" She yelled over the loud music.
"No, we did it," he grinned, kissing her lightly before they split again to celebrate with other people, promising to find each other later.
•••
The great debacle over who the big basket of flowers were for was solved. There was a card hidden in it that said it was for Ashlyn "because you get me." Who sent them you ask? The one and only Big Red. It was clear as day that these two needed to be more than friends. It was such a sweet sentiment.
Ricky was looking for Luna after the show, once everything had calmed down. He found her in the adjacent dressing room with Gina, where she had just been crying. She was telling Gina how this was going to be her last hoorah with all the cast and crew since her time was running out. There wasn't good enough words coming to Gina's mind to ease her best friend's fragile state.
Ricky showed up just as the girl had finished crying, getting ready to go out into the lobby to find her mom. When Gina saw Ricky enter the room, she offered a quick goodbye to Luna as she would see her in the lobby in a few minutes.
"Hey Lu, you okay?" He asked, seeing her tear stained face.
Luna stood up gathering her things, throwing him a quick thumbs up. "Yeah, all good. Just sad Gina is leaving again," she fibbed, staring into the mirror as she cleaned up her face.
"I'm sad too," he noted. "But you'll see her again, we all will." Luna froze in the mirror, taking a deep breath to settle herself.
"I suppose so." She grabbed her bag, noticing the letter she had written for him. It described the whole ordeal of how she was running out of days, filling in details of her life that she hadn't told him and wouldn't get the chance to, but also outlining that she wished he would live the life he has always wanted, even though she was gone. Luna pulled out the letter, handing it to him. "Um, I wrote this for you. It explains a lot of things that I could never say to your face, and it's really important that you read it."
Ricky let out a little laugh, not knowing the underlying importance of it. He started to open it, but she immediately stopped him. "No! Don't read it now. You have to wait 16 days. Please don't read it before then," she begged with pleading eyes.
He turned serious. "Woah okay. I won't, babe. I promise," he replied, putting it into his backpack. He thought it was odd that he had to wait a certain amount of days, but he was okay with waiting if it made his girlfriend happy. "I guess since you gave me something, it makes me feel less silly for doing this." He pulled out another box, holding the R necklace.
She took the box with a smile. "Ric, you didn't have to give me anything." He just prompted her to open it. "Babe... This is so cute! R as in Ricky?"
He nodded. "Took a page from Troy Bolton's playbook and thought it was a cute idea." He smiled. She turned around, silently telling him to put it on her. He clasped it behind her while she took a step forward to look at it in the mirror.
"I love it, Ricky. Thank you," she grinned, hugging him. He chuckled, wrapping his arms around her. "Such a crazy night, but I've loved every second of it. So glad I got to experience tonight with you. You were amazing."
Ricky agreed. "I had no idea how much fun theater was going to be, but you're right. I loved every second of it, especially getting to sing with you on stage. Now you were awesome, Lu."
Nini popped her head in the room to address them. "Sorry to interrupt, but Luna your mom is looking for you, and Ricky your parents want to get pictures of you." They both thanked her before she disappeared again, leaving the two alone.
"Well I guess that is my cue to leave. I'll talk to you later, babe," Luna said, grabbing her bag once again and heading towards the door.
Ricky was conflicted internally with what to do next. Earlier he had planned out what he was going to say when he gave her the necklace, but he chickened out. It was now or never. He finally spun around and spit out the words he had been dying to say, "I love you!"
She froze in her spot, slowly turning around. "What?" Her lips twitched a little, but she needed him to say it again.
Ricky chuckled nervously, walking towards her a bit. "I love you, Luna Crawford. I've loved you since the first time I saw you at that party where you kissed me during a silly game of spin the bottle, and then I drove your tipsy ass home. I've loved you since I walked in on you and Ashlyn singing in the auditorium when you guys thought no one was listening. I've loved you since you opened up to me about your father, letting me see a different side of you than what you usually show people. I've loved you since you opened your door on the night of homecoming when you looked so gorgeous that I was sure that I was dreaming, thinking this couldn't be real life. I love you because you got on the stage tonight and sang with me even though you had never done something like that before. You trusted me and went along with it. You've stuck with me even though there have been a lot of little bumps in our relationship. No matter what you've been by my side, encouraged me, and helped me in any way you could even though you had your own problems. You put me first. And I love you for it." He paused, looking into her eyes before grabbing her hands. "I mean it, Luna Crawford, I love you."
Luna was speechless. The boy in front of her just poured his heart out to her, saying everything she had ever wanted to hear from someone. She felt loved and appreciated, but overall she felt special. He had never said those words to anyone else. He spoke of how he feared saying it because of his parents lack of using those words. Despite that, he was able to say it to her, and actually meant it.
She shushed him, preventing him from continuing to ramble on in his adorable way. "Ricky Bowen, I love you too." Luna grinned, watching as his eyes widened and a huge smile appeared on his face. "Don't say anything, just kiss me already." He chuckled, wasting no time to cup her face and bring his lips to hers. This kiss felt different to both of them. It wasn't rushed or sloppy, but it was slow and passionate. Maybe it was the difference between liking and loving someone.
They pulled apart after a while, breathing heavily. "Wow," Ricky said, causing the girl to blush. He pecked her lips once more.
"We should go," she motioned to the door with a grin. He nodded, agreeing that their families were waiting. Luna let out a sigh before saying, "Wait, one more." She rushed to kiss him once more, smiling widely.
Ricky grinned, "You're adorable, Lu." She just shook her head, taking his hand to lead them out to the lobby. The show had a lot of ups and downs, but ultimately the night was perfect. East High couldn't have asked for a better production of High School Musical: the Musical.
[Definitely the longest chapter I've written for this book at 4065 words, so I would appreciate any votes and comments! This is not the end of the book so stay tuned!! 5 more chapters til the epilogue): ]