𝐝𝐚𝐲 𝐨𝐧𝐞 || 𝐧𝐢𝐧𝐢 𝐬𝐚𝐥𝐚𝐳𝐚𝐫-𝐫𝐨𝐛𝐞𝐫𝐭𝐬 𝐱 𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐝𝐞𝐫

𝗖𝗛𝗔𝗣𝗧𝗘𝗥 𝟮𝟯 - 𝗳𝗿𝗶𝗲𝗻𝗱𝘀𝗵𝗶𝗽?

a/n - vote !

i wait for nini outside her house. she walks out, getting in and closing the door. "cannot believe miss jenn wants us back at school on a saturday," she mumbles. "i know, it's not even 9 o'clock! give me a break," i chuckle, starting to drive.

i hold my phone up so everyone can watch the video north high made and posted on their instagram. "oh my god, that's what's-her-name, lily! from auditions!" seb says, "she isn't just co-directing the show, she's starring in it." "you mean, perfect pitch, looks like an actual disney princess, superfan slash mean girl lily?" ashlyn says. "i'll go with yes..." ej says. "i remember her vaguely," ashlyn says, slightly distressed. 

i turn my phone off as miss jenn walks into the bomb shelter. "thank you all for coming so quickly on a saturday," she says, carlos following her in. i sit on the seat, nini sitting next to me. "or, most of you all. we're missing a teapot and a village idiot," she places hula hoops on the table, carlos putting a bag of pool noodles on the table too. "uh, i think kourtney and big red are at the pizza place," ricky answers. "yeah, kourtney texted in the group. they said they couldn't get anyone to cover their shifts," seb says.

ej slaps him on the arm. "oh... i didn't see that text," miss jenn takes out her phone. "it was fun while it lasted," i whisper to nini who smiles. "i meant... the group chat with me and ej!" seb covers up with a big smile. we all look at him, and he gives us thumbs up. "well, back to the matter of hand. i can tell from your solemn faces you've all seen the video." "it's incredible. even i have no notes," carlos says, "i can't believe they stole our show!" "i think their lumiere is an actual french exchange student," i say. "miss jenn, how are we supposed to beat north at the menkies if they're churning out this a second after changing their musical?" ashlyn notes.

"and don't forget, we have something north high doesn't," miss jenn says. "friendship?" seb assumes. "a brand new original song for the beast and the rose!" she exclaims, looking at nini. nini giggles, resting her head on my shoulder and sitting back up again as everyone claps. "um, and uh, how's that coming along, you guys?" "it's... we'll work on it," nini says. "y/n, you stay here with me for a deep-dive beast character work. nini, take the weekend, skip the workshop, and get the first draft of the duet down for the beast and the rose!" she walks away to carlos. "i can't believe miss jenn actually took up my idea back at carlos' quinceañero of getting you back on stage!" i say, smiling at nini. "i thought it was miss jenn's idea," nini says. "uh... whatever. you're in the show now! and i have to do character work so i'll talk to you later!" i stand up quickly, walking to my bag.

nini follows, picking up her bag next to mine. "can't believe you're back for the show and spending saturday without me," i say, slinging it over my shoulder. "oh, i'll need to write a song for the two of us," she answers, zipping up her bag. "call me after every verse, okay?" i say, making nini laugh. "i'll try." i smile, nodding. she looks up at me, "are you okay?" "yeah..." i look back at miss jenn, "just a little antsy, tonight's the big night," i look back at nini. "ah, miss jenn's first date with your dad!" she exclaims loudly. i quickly cover nini's mouth, looking around. "how loud do you wanna be?" i ask, putting my hand down, "it's one thing to see them flirting on the sidelines, but it's another thing for it to be an official dinner." "y/n! we're circling up in 30 seconds," miss jenn says. i clear my throat, looking back at nini. "go get 'em?" she says, smiling and putting her hand on my shoulder. i chuckle, kissing her quickly before joining the circle.

nini's pov
i sit at one of the booths in big red's pizza place, trying to think of lyrics. i rip a page off my book, scrunching it up. "uh, nini," big red comes up to me, "legally, if you're gonna sit at the best booth and not order something, i'm gonna have to ask you to leave," he says, putting a menu down on my table. "everything i write is mush! i keep trying to write something about how the beast sees the rose as this symbol for love slipping away, but nothing's working," i complain. "is a pizza place really the best place to write a song?" big red asks. "i was at home, but then i read some article about writer's block and one of them was like 'change your environment', so i came here. but then i just read another one which was 'eliminate your distractions', so apparently the internet is one giant contradiction." "well, the internet only gave this place 2 stars, so i totally get it." big red takes my glass cup.

i watch with a smile as kourtney and howie play argue. "why 'ha'? we're both wrong!" howie says as he follows kourtney to the back.

kourtney comes back out, fixing the clothes on the rack. "hey, kourt," i call out. she turns around, and i smile, beckoning her to come to me. "neen, i'm on the clock!" she whisper yells. i beckon again, and she walks over. "okay, you... are totally in love with howie, the pizza guy," i tell her. "uh, remember how i said i didn't want any boy drama, ever?" she says. "you're not denying it!" i sit up straight. "i'm not confirming it!" kourtney laughs, "nini, i'm way too busy to add having a crush to my to-do list." "so you do have a crush!" i yell. kourtney shushes me loudly sitting down across from me as i squeal. "look, i don't know anything about this dude! what if he has a girlfriend or feels weird because we work together? i mean, i am kind of his boss. what id he's not even into me?" she nervously chuckles. "kourt, he drove through an ice storm to give you flash cards. it's called a sign." "yeah, i mean, he's goof at his job!" kourtney says, "it probably didn't have anything to do with me... see, neen, this is so not me. i'm using way too much brain space figuring out what some guy thinks of me! no, no, no." "but kourt..." "no," she decides, "so, how's the song going?" oh, it's fine," i chuckle, looking at the blank paper. 

i pick up my phone as it chimes. "it's just a few distractions," i say, showing her my phone. "oh, this is like ten texts in a row from y/n." "i know, i sent her a selfie of me eating pizza and she was like, 'why you eating pizza without me?' and i was like you're literally doing your show stuff... which is to say, the song's going great." "uh, you don't have anything written down," kourtney looks at my sheet. "i don't... but i will once you tell howie you like him!" i sing, smiling. "the fate of our musical should not be dependent on whether or not i talk to some stupid guy." "hmm," i tilt my head to the side, smiling. "ugh, fine, i'll think about it." kourtney stands up, walking back to the kitchen. i smile, picking up my pen.