𝐉𝐮𝐬𝐭 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐚 𝐦𝐨𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭 - 𝙀𝙅 𝘾𝙖𝙨𝙬𝙚𝙡𝙡

↳ 07

"Sharpay heads for class, hears singing, opens the door to the biology lab." Big Red starts reading the scenic directions on the script in a very stiff tone.

EJ glances at the redhead, a look of mild disbelief on his face due to the awkwardness of Red's tone. That boy can't read.

"She finds Gabriella and Taylor washing their hands." Big Red continued to read out loud. While EJ's gaze returns to his own script, Ricky's eyes are fixated on his best friend, his mouth hang open out of shock.

Autumn looks briefly at Big Red, her lips pressed in a thin line to suppress any laughter that threatened to escape her mouth. Her eyes glanced at EJ for a moment, only to see he was already looking at her. However, once their eyes met, EJ quickly averted his eyes to Nini, who seemed uncomfortable with Big Red's reading as well.

"They turn to find there are no paper towels in the dispenser. They..." Red proceeded, totally skipping the punctuations, and this time Miss Jenn interrupted him.

"Stop. Don't run it all together. Read the punctuation." Miss Jenn says, a kind smile on her face although everyone could clearly see she was trying to remain patient.

After a few seconds of silence, the red-headed boy started to read once again. "Sharpay comma heads for class period."

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ᴍɪss ᴊᴇɴɴ, ᴅʀᴀᴍᴀ ᴛᴇᴀᴄʜᴇʀ

There's an old adage in the theater. "Abysmal read-through, a brilliant opening night", or something like that. The important thing is to have patience and trust that a breakthrough will happen.

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"And they are hearing the songs in their heads period." Red continues to read slowly and stiffly, causing Miss Jenn to snap.

"And that's Act One. Let's take a break." Miss Jenn announces. Autumn stands up, following Gina towards Ashlyn's seat on the opposite side of the circle.

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Bɪɢ Rᴇᴅ, Jᴜɴɪᴏʀ

That was, hands down, the worst experience of my life. I would take the SATs every week if I never have to do that again.

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EJ and Nini stand up from their respective seats, meeting in front of Ricky's now empty seat.

"Wow. If that kid's our stage manager, we'll be lucky if the curtains open." EJ states while taking off his East High personalized jacket.

"Hey, give him a break." Nini says, playfully punching her boyfriend's shoulder. Their exchange seems to catch Autumn's attention and the brunette turns to the couple.

"Yeah, it's his first time reading loud since the fifth grade Science Fair. Or so I've heard." Autumn remarks, chuckling. Obviously she wasn't around long enough to know, but she gathered quite a bit of information by Ricky's tales.

"No, no, no, don't get me wrong, tulip. I like the guy, I was hoping we'd get through Act One by Christmas." Autumn laughs at his statement and Nini looks between the two of them, confused by the sudden nickname.

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ᴀᴜᴛᴜᴍɴ ᴄᴀᴍᴘʙᴇʟʟ, ᴊᴜɴɪᴏʀ

So, it's been a few days since the auditions. During that time, EJ and I had some time to talk – mostly via ig. It all started when he was doing a live video to promote the musical to his followers and he invited me to say a few words, since I'm the leading lady. Since then, we just... kicked off. He likes to call me tulip because it's easier to say and it's my favorite flower. He's a really cool guy, unlike how Ricky described him. He's just... kinda misunderstood?

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"I was also hoping we'd get to sing the songs." EJ said and Autumn hummed in agreement, tunning out their conversation when her eyes landed on Ricky. The skater boy was a few meters away from Nini and EJ, leaning on a random piece of fourniture with his phone on his hand.

On that exact moment, Autumn's gaze fell on Nini's phone, which was buzzing from a notification. "Who's that from?" EJ enquired, frowning.

Autumn turned back to Ricky, raising an eyebrow to silently question him if he had anything to do with the occurrence. Ricky only responded by slightly shook his head. "No, it's nothing." Nini answered, sitting back on Kelsi's chair.

EJ's head turned sharply towards Ricky, who was now playing on his phone, and the first glared at him, assuming he was the one texting Nini.

Autumn's attention shifted to Seb as he sat next to Ashlyn. "Cool glasses." He compliments, smiling brightly. Autumn was in awe, that boy could certainly light up any room he walked in.

"Thanks. They're my grandma's." Ashlyn answered, continuing to highlight her lines on the script. Gina was sitting on Ashlyn's other side, reapplying her own makeup.

"I have the same ones at home." Seb revealed, the smile on his face never faltering, even when she shot him a weird look.

"Really? Why?" The Caswell girl asked, trying to understand Seb's point.

"So, I can see when I'm milking." He answers and Autumn laughs when Ashlyn looks directly at her, mouthing 'milking?'.

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Sᴇʙ Mᴀᴛᴛʜᴇᴡ-Sᴍɪᴛʜ, Sᴏᴘʜᴏᴍᴏʀᴇ

I'm sort of obsessed with musical theater, which makes me stand out a little bit in my family. They raise cattle and sheep. I just wanna raise the roof.

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"I saw you during auditions. You're Seb, right? I'm Autumn." The girl introduced herself, extending her hand for him to shake.

"It's a pleasure to meet you." The blonde boy responded, shaking her hand. They exchanged excited smiles, engaging in a conversation about musicals.

Meanwhile, Miss Jenn and Carlos were speaking on the other end of the room, staring between Ricky – who was still texting someone – and Autumn sitting by Seb, Ashlyn and Gina.

"What happened to our Troy and Gabriella?" Miss Jenn teacher asked her choreographer, confused. "Where are the sparks?"

"Should we think about recasting?" Carlos asked, looking desperately at the older woman.

"Maybe." Miss Jenn answered, looking around her students until her eyes fell on EJ's figure. "How do you feel about sports boy?"