𝐎𝐍 𝐒𝐓𝐀𝐆𝐄 - 𝐡𝐬𝐦𝐭𝐦𝐭𝐬 (𝐢𝐢) | ✔

twenty-four

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twenty-four: lover boy
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     Juliette walked along her sisters through the crowded hallways, the twins at each side of her as if they were her bodyguards. She did her best to put on her usual smile, even if inside she was trembling with fear of seeing Ricky. Her sisters, however, saw that the smile stopped at her lips and did not reach her eyes. Even if she was aware they would have to see each other at some point, since that was the day they went back to rehearsal, she couldn't help it but to overthink the whole situation.

     She stopped at her locker, saying goodbye to her sisters and joining Nini and Kourtney. Alex also walked past them, sending Juliette a small smile that did not go unnoticed by the three girls. Since their talk during the career fest, they had not contacted each other again, but an unspoken truce had been placed between them. Juliette excused herself for a second and ran to her.

     "Alex, I..." she waited for the girl to turn around, "I wanted to thank you for what you said to me the other day, I... I truly appreciate it."

     "There is nothing to thank. We may not be the best of friends now, but I never forget the good things that have been done for me." Her tone was neutral, not letting Juliette discern whether she should continue speaking or not.

     "I also wanted to tell you that, um..." her gaze travelled to her shoes, now not as white as when she first bought them. "Ricky and I broke up."

     "Oh my God, why? What happened? Are you okay?"

     The redhead was taken aback due to Alexandra's reaction. Being completely honest, she had expected for her to be happy about the breakup, but she seemed truly concerned, "one disagreement over the other. I am... coping with it."

     "Just so you know, I am not pleased that you have broken up with him. That's not what I meant when—" Alex started, but stopped herself mid-sentence, "nevermind, I hope everything gets better, okay?"

     And with that, she left. However, Juliette did not remain alone for long because E.J. tapped her shoulder from behind and hugged her tightly. Juliette let out a soft laugh that sounded like music for the senior's ears. It had been a day too long since he had last heard Juliette laughing.

     "Good morning, lover boy," she greeted him, but he instead just rolled her eyes. "Oh, are you telling me that driving for hours to pick Gina from the airport because her flight got delayed is not a sign of love?"

      "I don't love her."

     "But you like her," she continued taunting him with a smile on her face.

     "You know very well that that may be but hey, enough about me, have you had breakfast?"

     "I had a coffee and half a muffin, that okay?" Juliette really appreciated E.J. taking care of her in regards to what she ate. Confessing her problems with food had taken a huge weight off her shoulders and he had actually helped her a lot in regards to that.

      "Take this," he handed her a protein bar, which he had in his backpack. Unbeknownst to Juliette, E.J. actually packed more than he was going to eat, just so he could give it to Juliette during the day. "How are you feeling? You know with... Richard and all."

     Juliette snorted at the hearing of the boy's name. "Richard? You sound like my dad. I am... handing tight, I guess. A bit nervous about seeing him but... if he has not returned my messages it is because he doesn't want to talk to me so, I'll just ignore him, I guess. I have to respect that."

     "Well, I'll be there for moral support, okay?" he reassured her, leaving a soft kiss on her head and walking to his class, not without promising to see the girl later. Juliette, on her side, walked to her own class and prayed for it to be the most difficult one in the world, so she wouldn't have time to think in other things.

⊱ ────── {.⋅ ♫ ⋅.} ───── ⊰

     The day, however, was doomed to come to an end. Before she even knew what was happening, Juliette was walking to the auditorium, where they were holding the last rehearsals before opening night.

     By the time she arrived, very few people were there already. She spotted Gina and Ashlyn in a corner, Miss Jenn and Carlos in the other and, last, none other than Ricky Bowen sitting alone in a box. She wanted to approach him as bad as one wants an ince-cream in a hot Summer day, but she refrained from it.

     Their eyes connected for a split second and Ricky flashed her a small smile, but Juliette quickly turned around and walked towards Nini and Kourtney, not wanting to linger too much on the brown eyes that she had fallen in love with. The two girls were going over all the costumes that Kourtney had made for the play, but they stopped their endeavour as they saw the redhead approach them.

     "Jules, how are you?"

     Soon, she found herself engulfed in a warm hug that nearly sent tears to her eyes. Nini and Kourtney had talked to her every single day of the break, much like E.J., and she was immensely grateful for their friendship.

     "Peachy," Juliette replied with a sad smile on her face, "just wished I could talk to him. But hey, Kourt, the costumes are amazing! I thought you were giving small finishing touches over Spring break, not making something catwalk-worthy."

     "All right, let's get started!" Carlos interrupted them not much later. The whole cast was already there, eager to return to rehearsals and finish the play at once.

     "Okay, Wildcats! Let's shake Spring break out of our systems and try the Beast transformation one last time. Remember, this is the triumph of the show, the moment the audience has been waiting for. This has to work."

     "No pressure, right?" Juliette heard Ricky whisper to Ashlyn. The Beast transformation had not looked nice a single time. And they had practiced it for weeks. The now ex-couple had even practiced it at home, but it was no use. Ricky liked to think that it was a sign from the universe but Juliette was sure that he was just using that as an excuse.

     Ashlyn kneeled on the floor as Ricky, Beast mask on, placed his head on her lap, pretending to die. In the meantime, she sat herself in between E.J. and Big Red, leaving her spot as "Beast-mask catcher" to Natalie. She figured that Ricky would be more comfortable if she did not have to interact with her unless it was compulsory.

     "You came back," the boy whispered as Ashlyn caressed his fake beard.

     "If only I'd come sooner," she lamented.

     "Maybe it's better this way..."

     "Don't talk like that, everything will be fine," she shushed him, feeling the character run through her veins. "We're together now. You'll see."

     "I'm just glad I was able to see your face one last..." Ricky clumsily caressed Ashlyn's face, remembering that he was supposed to have a giant paw at that moment.

     As he pretended to choke, Seb began playing the piano and Ashlyn began to sing. The performance of Home never failed to bring tears to Juliette's eyes, no matter how many times she had heard it. She still could not wrap her head around the fact that Ashlyn didn't see herself as Belle, especially when she was the perfect Disney princess in Juliette's eyes. The scene continue, Ashlyn delivering her 'I love you line' while Ricky attempted to remove the Beast mask. After some struggle, he tossed it to Natalie, who was not expecting it and in turn tripped and knocked some of cardboard trees down.

     Everybody around Juliette sighed. The Beast transformation scene was definitely doomed for them. And Miss Jenn did not look like she was taking it in very nicely, since she speed-walked to her office and left them all alone there. This wouldn't have happened if they had done High School Musical 2. Nothing could go wrong when dancing under the sprinklers in a golf field.