HATEFUL LOVE | ej caswell

let the show begin

"I think he's coming!" Nadia and EJ heard Ricky shouted as they walked towards the pool area all of a sudden.

"Did you hear that?" Nadia asked EJ as she furrowed her brows lightly.

"Yeah..." he trailed off before they heard music start to play. They shared a glance and walked inside the fenced-in pool, seeing everyone in different positions.

Carlos:

It's out with the old
And in with the new
Goodbye, clouds of grey
Hello, skies of blue—

"And cut!" Ricky interrupted as he turned off the music. "It's just EJ and Nadia," he said, making everyone sigh.

"Don't sound too excited," Nadia spoke as she gave Ricky a look, although she did wonder where Corbin was. EJ didn't tell her anything about it and she just assumed that maybe he was setting up somewhere in The Cabin.

"Wow, sorry I'm not Corbin Bleu," EJ scoffed. "Hey, I don't remember Sharpay wearing chinos," he said to Carlos.

"Excuse you. Flawless skin and sunlight do not mix," Carlos replied offendedly.

"Anyway...Eej, where's Corbin?" Nadia questioned since she didn't want the others to die of impatience.

"Gee, I don't know. Maybe your secret late-night hiking buddy Dakota knows. Huh?" EJ responded, which made Nadia's eyes widen at his response before she looked over at Dakota, who's lips thinned uncomfortably.

"Excuse me?" Nadia voiced, raising her eyebrows as she awaited EJ's explanation as to what he just said.

"You're funny and you never make things weird, EJ," Ricky brushed off since he didn't want things to start going down, making Nadia send him a quick glare.

"Look, Corbin's helicopter had a maintenance issue. He'll be here any second," EJ assured as Nadia crossed her arms, still on what EJ had just said before. "Are we totally sure about doing this?"

"We wanna impress Corbin Bleu. And how else does one impress a person except by performing elaborate musical numbers for them?" Carlos explained and everyone looked at EJ, nodding. Then, they heard someone else approaching the pool. "Places, everyone! Someone hand me my sunglasses!" Carlos yelled and Gina quickly handed him his sunglasses as they all got back into their places.

He began to sing Sharpay' song again only for him to end up in the pool for...Dewey. Not Corbin. "Still not Corbin. Just Dewey," Ashlyn announced and they all sighed.

"Whoo! Now that is a catchy song! Is that Ariana Grand?" Dewey asked cluelessly, making some of them laugh.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Everyone made their way back to The Barn once they knew Corbin wasn't coming anytime soon. EJ went somewhere private for a little bit while Nadia surveyed everyone, still pissed about what EJ had said.

It was almost like he seemed...jealous. And for no reason, as well.

"Okay. He really is coming this time," EJ announced as he walked towards the group of people warming up. "Everyone, act like you're taking this serious and warming up."

"That is literally what they're doing, EJ," Nadia pointed out, crossing her arms over her chest.

"Yeah, take it down to a three. You're at a seven out of ten," Val told him, backing Nadia up much to her surprise.

Then, all of a sudden, Corbin bursted through the doors with Channing behind him holding a large camera. "Corbin's on the clock. It's go-time," Corbin spoke and everyone froze, staring at him in amazement.