𝐃𝐈𝐒𝐓𝐑𝐀𝐂𝐓𝐈𝐎𝐍 , ricky bowen.

003.

"OKAY OUR LAST TROY! OOH, AND HE BRINGS PROPS! LOVE IT!" Miss Jenn beamed. "Whenever you're ready."

Then, the piano started to play and EJ started singing. "This could be the start of something new! It feels so right.. to be here with you, oh oh! And now looking in your eyes, I feel in my heart... the start of something new!" At the end of the song, he winked directly at Miss Jenn & Carlos.

"Well excuse me, Army Hammer just called and he wants his jawline back." Miss Jenn laughed at her own joke as EJ walked off stage, bewildered on the joke. "We're moving onto the Gabriella's!"

First off, it was Gina singing the same song as EJ, just a different verse and a higher octave. "I know that something has changed.. never felt this way, but right here tonight, this could be the start of something new! It feels so right.. to be here with you, oh oh! And now looking in your eyes, I feel in my heart..." as Gina continued to belt her heart out, Hattie looked up to her best friend. "Advice. Please. Now."

Placing her arm around Hattie's shoulder, she whispered, "You're gonna kill it, you're my best friend. You would nail Gabriella, Taylor, Kelsi, whatever. If you could get Ariel and the high notes she sings.. you for sure can get Gabriella."

After Gina, it was Nini. But she didn't want to listen to Nini singing due to the fact jealousy would fill her insides and make her more nervous then she already was. She wanted the part of Gabriella so bad, but Miss Jenn said she gave off the vibes for Kelsi. Was she really a Kelsi? "Hello? Hattie? It's your turn to go on." Pen whisper shouted, pushing her onstage causing her to stumble not realizing how much of Nini's audition she missed.

"What do I need to know about this one?" Miss Jenn asked Carlos as she walked onstage.

"Harriet Hernandez, better known as Hattie. She's been doing musical theatre ever since she can start talking. Okay not necessarily, but she has been in tons of musical productions. She was recently cast as Ariel two years ago in the production of The Little Mermaid." Carlos told the theater director.

"Okay Harriet. Whenever you're ready." Miss Jenn smiled.

Hattie nodded and took a breath, letting herself sing. "I never knew that it could happen till it happened to me.. oh oh yeah. I didn't know it before, but now it's easy to see—" Hattie belted out, "Oh oh oh! It's the start of something new. It feels so right, to be here with you. Oh oh.. and now looking in your eyes, I feel in my heart... the start of something new." Finishing the song with a smile she heard quiet claps. "Thank you." Sitting down next to Pen, EJ and Nini, the next person was auditioning was... Ricky?!

Now that was a shock. He probably came in during Nini's audition which Hattie completely spaced out on. "I thought he didn't like musicals." She whispered to herself as Pen wrapped an arm around her shoulder and leaned her head against her best friend's.

"Hey there." Ricky nervously said, playing with the script in his hands. "I'm Ricky Bowen, I'm a junior, and uh, here goes." Just like that, Ricky's crazy audition started. "I don't get it Troy. What kind of spell is this elevated iq temptress girl cast that suddenly makes you want to be in a musical?" Crumbling the script up into a ball he continues, "I don't know. Maybe it's the way Gabriella always had your back and maybe you can't stop beating yourself up for totally blowing it with her. And look, Troy, even if you never said the l word to Gabriella, because that's like not even a word your parents say to each other anymore. That doesn't mean you don't. Maybe it just means that you're waiting for the right time to say it. So that everyone could hear it! So that she could."

"Okay kiddo.. time to sing!" Miss Jenn instructed awkwardly as the piano started but Ricky was quick to shut it down. "Oh no, actually, if you don't mind I kind of prepared my own song."

"Sure."

Grabbing his guitar from Big Red in exchange for the paper, he made his way back to the center stage and started strumming his guitar and played a song that Nini, Pen, Hattie and Kourtney knew all too well. It was the exact song that Nini played for Ricky, right when she confessed her love for him. The brunette didn't want to relisten to it, so she just spaced out by playing with the 'H' bracelet she had on her wrist and got distracted by the charms on it.

Eventually, she flinched as she heard applause which only meant that the song was over. Thank god. She looked up from her bracelet to see that Ricky left along with Big Red. "How you doing Neens?" Pen asked, taking her arm off of Hattie's shoulder.

"Why.. why now would he do that?" Nini asked bitterly as she got up and walked out, probably to confront him.

"You were so good Hattie! I'm telling you, if you don't get Gabriella.. something's wrong with her!" Hattie laughed and only shook her head as she got up, following the theater people outside with EJ and Pen. "Let's talk about you though! You were amazing in that dance warmup, I swear. I can't even believe you're my best friend. You should be on Broadway!"

"That's your dream job girl. Not mine." When the theater people reached the hallway, they followed the sound of Carlos' voice due to the fact that they are posting the cast list. Already.

Now the nerves were really settling in as she and Pen followed Carlos. She wanted Gabriella. She so badly wanted her. But there were for sure more talented people that deserved the part, like Nini or Gina. He taped the cast list on the wall so everyone could see. Now due to the fact Hattie is 5'3 and Pen was 5'2' the two girls were on their tippy toes trying to read the cast list, but figured they would just have to wait until the taller people got out of their way.

Finally, they moved out of their way and the girls finally got to see the cast list. Looking at the cast list, she widened her eyes and placed her hand over her mouth, getting words of acceptance and encouragement from everyone around her. There was no way. No freaking way.

She was Gabriella and Ricky was cast as Troy.

Nini was her understudy but cast as Kelsi and EJ was Chad.

Finally, Ricky came and spotted the cast list and saw his name under Troy. "I guess you're my Gabriella?"

"Yeah. It's gonna be a pleasure working with you Ricky." She nodded and walked off with Pen, linking her arm through hers, the two girls breaking off in instant squeals.

"Oh my god you got Gabriella!"

"I got Gabriella freaking Montez!"