Wake Up | E. Caswell [SLOW UPDATES]

three | if it's all you do

Chapter Three:
If It's All You Do

WHEN LUCY GOT home that night, she waited for her dad in the kitchen. She worked on her homework at the island, High School Musical playing on her laptop as she worked out her geometry equations in her notebook. She heard the door open, and her dad called out to her.

"Lucy, I'm home!" Carter called.

"In the kitchen!" Lucy called back, keeping her eyes trained on her notebook as her pencil glided across the paper.

"Hey, sweetheart. You feeling better?" he asked, kissing the top of her head and rubbing her back gently as he made his way to the other side of the island. "I talked to Mr. Caswell after you got off the phone with him, he told me what you said."

Lucy frowned slightly and reached over to pause Get'cha Head in the Game. She looked up at her dad and rest her head in her hand.

"I think so, I don't know... I auditioned for Gabriella like I told you I was going to," she started.

"Right, Kourtney was very excited about both of her friends getting leads," Carter nodded. Lucy smiled slightly and nodded.

"Yeah, I chose Gabriella's ballad from the turning point in the movie, from when she and Troy break up," Lucy clarified. She took in a deep breath and looked down at the table. "I used mom as inspiration to draw out my emotions, dedicated the performance to her, figured my last first audition of the school year could be in memory of her... kinda broke down after that. I didn't even get the part, which is okay. Nini is playing Gabriella, and I'm happy for her. It just feels like I'm letting mom down kinda."

"Hey, you could never let your mom down, ever. Unless you, like, did drugs or murdered someone," Carter explained, Lucy laughed at this and he smiled when he heard it. "I'm serious though, what part did you get in the musical?"

"Kelsi, the pianist. She brings Troy and Gabriella together," Lucy explained. Carter smiled and nodded.

"That's funny," he chuckled, "because that sounds exactly like your mom when we were in high school. Did you know she got Mr. and Mrs. Caswell together? EJ's parents, not Ashlynn and Adam's."

"I didn't... she did that?" Lucy asked, she was learning a lot about her mom today.

"She did. Cash heard your mom playing a song for Mrs. Caswell to sing in the auditorium one day, and he fell in love with her. Mrs. Caswell, not your mom," Lucy laughed at his clarification. "So your mom, decided to push them together. She asked Mrs. Caswell to meet her in the auditorium at lunch, and asked Mr. Caswell to help her with her math homework, and when he agreed she told him to meet her in the auditorium at lunch as well. They both showed up, your mom wasn't there, and Cash asked her out."

Lucy smiled at her dad, her chin still in her hand as she smiled at the story, "That's really beautiful, dad. I never knew that."

"Yeah, well, your mom had a way of doing stuff like that. My point is though, it's still a good role, it's like your legacy. She would be proud of you no matter what role you got," Carter informed her. Lucy smiled and nodded at him.

"Mr. Caswell said that too," she told him.

"Smart man," he pointed out. Lucy laughed again and Carter smiled at his daughter, a thought crossing his mind as he held up a finger. "Wait here, I have something for you."