𝐒𝐔𝐌𝐌𝐄𝐑𝐓𝐈𝐌𝐄 𝐒𝐀𝐃𝐍𝐄𝐒𝐒 - 𝐡𝐬𝐦𝐭𝐦𝐭𝐬 (𝐢𝐢𝐢) | ✔

six

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six: wish granted
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By the time they entered the barn, all of them were already there. Luckily, auditions had not started so Juliette ran to join Ashlyn, Carlos, Gina and Kourtney, not without noticing E.J.'s concerned look.

"Is everything okay?" Ashlyn asked, as soon as she joined the circle.

"Yeah, just had a hard talk with Ricky. I'll tell you later."

"Hey, there she is!" they heard E.J.'s voice over theirs, making them turn around just to see her hugging a beautiful blond girl. Gina, whose smile fell off her face, walked to one side of the stage and left her backpack in one of the chairs.

"Hey everyone!" she greeted them with a smile when she stepped on stage. "I'm Val and, not too long ago, I was just like you: waiting in the wings for my chance at stardom. Then I went to college and my dreams of Broadway were instantly dashed by my Intro-To-Movement professor, who said I wasn't convincing as a human being."

Ashlyn, laughing louder than anyone, probably due to her nerves, simply muttered "wow".

"But now I'm a psych major. And I'm also your choreographer. The director will kick off the auditions in just a moment."

"Corbin Bleu," Ashlyn exclaimed, clueless as to what awaited her. "Whoo!"

While they waited for the director to step on stage, everyone spread around. Juliette, in order to calm herself, stepped outside the Barn, going over the Frozen songs in her head. It was already hot outside and the camp was full of life: people laughing by the pool, groups of friends playing patty cake, kids worried about their first auditions... She, however, decided to walk towards the pool, away from the whispers and nervous laughs of the Barn.

Ben was there, on a red swimsuit, directing the swim team, where she recognised Oliver and the two girls from her cabin. As soon as he saw her, Ben told everyone to take a five and approached the girl.

"Hey carrots," he smiled. Normally, she would get mad at the nickname but, seeing that he had taken a habit of changing it everytime he saw her and that he always looked at her with a bright smile, she was unable to. "How are auditions going?"

"Hey, smurf-eyes," she replied, making him chuckle and look downwards. "Haven't started yet, I just needed to get away from all the audition bustle."

"Are you an experienced actress?"

"Oh, yeah, with a total of one musical in my resumé," joked Juliette. "Art crew was always my thing."

"The dashing story of a gorgeous redhead who stepped into the light after years of being hidden backstage. Coming soon. Hey, if you do get Anna, I expect to be mentioned in the acknowledgments."

"Wish granted."

"By the way, was everything okay earlier? You looked like you had been crying."

"Yeah, don't worry. It's too long a story to tell now, I should head back," she tried to calm him, assuring him that she was okay. Ben, however, was not happy with that and furrowed her brows.

"Well, you can tell me over the bonfire tonight. Good luck with auditions," he wished her, booping her nose with a smirk. "And tell that curly-haired boy that I'm not going to murder you, he can stop looking."

Juliette looked to a side, only to find Ricky looking at them, trying to be subtle but failing miserably. "Good luck with the team," she replied. "See you later."

—

"It is time to introduce you to your director," Val began, making everyone in the barn rush towards her, "Rocket Man himself, E.J. Caswell."

Hesitant claps could be heard all across the room, which made E.J.'s smile falter. Juliette, however, sent him a reassurant smile as he told all of them to circle up and hold hands. Taking Miss Jenn's example, he began to sing a high-pitch rendition of 'Do you wanna build a snowman?', which was interrupted by none other than Ricky, once again arriving late to an audition.

"Now, that's tradition," Carlos pointed out, making Juliette chuckle.

"For those of you who I technically know," E.J. told them, as soon as they were organized for auditions and with their music sheets in hand, "today, you're not Wildcats. Today, you're a bunch of blank canvases, strangers to me. Today, we've never met."

"Maybe don't talk," Val whispered besides him, walking towards the speaker to play the music.

One by one, they got up on stage to sing a few lines from 'From the first time in forever', one of Juliette's personal favourites from the film. As Ashlyn sang her part, Ricky walked up to her, but Juliette did not turn around. She didn't need to, she recognized him instantly. His cologne flooded her nostrils and she would identify the sounds he made when walking with her eyes closed.

"I remember when you made me sing this song," he whispered, not wanting to interrupt the conversation. "I learnt to play it just because you liked it."

She smiled softly, "I couldn't help it. You have an amazing voice."

As the other sang with Val walking around them, Maddox was in charge of taking their pictures for their sheets.

"So, who's the boy?" she asked, when Juliette's turn came up.

"The curly-haired dressed in winter attire," she chuckled. "We had a good chat today, actually."

"He's cute, but not worthy of your tears. I'm glad you're sorting things out," the older girl smiled back, as she took her picture. Juliette, however, was too focused on looking at Ricky while he sang to even look at the camera. "You look at him like he could bring you the stars."

"He did once," Juliette remembered. "I told him how much I liked them and, the next day, he and my sisters glued glow-in-the-dark stars all over my bedroom ceiling."

"I hope everything turns out well for the both of you, even if that is letting the other go."

"Thanks, Maddox, I really do appreciate it," Juliette smiled, getting up from the table she had sat in for her picure and walking out the room to join her friends.

"Where are the scripts?" she heard Kourtney ask. "For the scene work auditions?"

"We're doing a show with no script? What is this? Curb Your Enthusiasm?" Carlos spoke as Ricky interrupted, asking E.J. where to stand.

The ex-senior was clearly overwhelmed, until Maddox suggested that maybe they could act out the lyrics from the songs.

"That's a great idea," Gina agreed and E.J. distributed the lines for each of them to act. Before they could finish, however, a boy still unkown to Juliette walked into the barn, making all of them turn around.

"Sorry. Auditions started over an hour ago."

"It's okay. Everyone's welcome to try out," E.J. stepped in front of all of them as the boy was turning around to leave.

"I'm not so sure about this," he confessed.

"Nobody's judging you."

And at that moment, as the boy began to sing and Ashlyn walked to the piano for musical accompaniment, the whole barn fell silent. It was as if they were hearing an angel sing. While all of them had great voices, the voice of this boy (whom Juliette learnt was called Jet) marvelled everyone, leaving them completely speechless. This Summer's musical was going to be difficult to top and that excited and worried Juliette at the same time.