LEMONADE | Ricky Bowen

11

RICHARD 'RICKY' BOWEN

"If the plays over why would we still be dancing?" I asked utterly confused towards Carlos who shook his head and happily explained,

"It's a curtain call, you're the last two to come out. We want to bring the audience to their feet!"

I looked at him confused and cocked my head to one side, I was confused but why would I be surprised I don't like musicals and I never have.

While Nini began to talk to Carlos I scanned the room and I didn't even notice I was looking for someone until my gaze fell upon her.

Lennon.

"Okay people. Let's take it from three counts of eight. Right before Troy and Gabriella's entrance for the bows" Carlos ordered and everyone began to move back to their places.

I skipped backwards and stood right next to Lennon who chuckled at her phone and then back up at me.

"Looks like your girls gonna put up a fight every step of the way" she said motioning to the fact that she wanted the practise to stop before it had even started.

"She's not my girl" I mumbled under my breath and she looked at me with a raised brow.

"Wow, really? I thought youdve had her wrapped round your perfect little finger already" Lennon chuckled towards me and I threaded my brows together.

"What's your problem?" I asked raising my voice enough for it to sound intimidating without everyone else hearing.

Her eyes flickered up to mine and they glossed over with tears but none escaped her eyes.

"It doesn't matter" she barely said as if there was a frog in her throat.

"I'm sorry" I tried calling after her but she rubbed her eyes as if they were irritated and left her position next to me.

I watched her march towards Seb and take a seat on the piano stool, he was supposed to be doing the music for the curtain call but she couldn't stand by and watch and found herself pressing the keys too.

Me watching her was the whole reason to why I started off the dancing wrong and off beat and everything went wrong.

I didn't even know what I was doing, my feet were slipping all over the place and my head felt exactly the same.

I was annoyed at myself, for being a shit dancer, a shit boyfriend, a shit person for upsetting Lennon.

"I'm sorry" I apologised as I messed up the steps and attempted to cover it up with jazz hands.

"What is he doing?" Nini rudely asked Carlos and so I turned to her with a sour look.

"Why're you talking to him? I'm right here" I snapped and she scoffed and shook her head.

"Because you're not here. At least not for the right reasons" she snapped back at me and I could barely control my anger.

"What's that supposed to mean?" I asked her in a hushed voice.

"Exactly what I said, Ricky" Nini replied to me and I could barely keep my frustration in. I looked to the piano to see Lennon, she was watching me intently and I hated it.

God couldn't this scene have gone as well as mine and hers had.

"You hate musicals. You're only doing this so we're in each other's grills" she responded and honestly she wasn't far from the truth.

I did hate musicals, that much was obvious.

"Back to the dance, please!" Carlos almost begged but Nini just didn't listen and I had no choice but to stand and watch as she carried on.

"Now you're rubbing some weird cologne on your neck and wasting everybody's time by making fun of something that the rest of us take seriously"

I stepped back in complete shock and once again looked back to Lennon, god why couldn't I stop doing that?

"Okay that's a five. On a break, people! Everybody out! Get out!" Carlos shouted forcing the other cast members to scurry away.

"No, come on. Hey, I take this seriously." I said stepping forward to Nini, I couldn't focus not because of our confrontation but because I'd also noticed that Lennon in her attempt to get all her papers together had dropped them more than once and was now frozen in her place.

"No! No, you don't. You don't take anything seriously. You just, you coast. When someone asked you to make a commitment, you make a joke or you sink into some imaginary hole in the floor."

"I didn't sink, Nini. I just wasn't ready to say it then... I went to that audition to show-"

"Because I had met someone else!" She cut me off shouting and I watched Lennon flinch "You wanted to drag me back into tenth grade like my summer never happened. But if you really cared about me, Ricky, you'd let somebody who wants to play this part play it."

"Like EJ?" I asked and laughed shaking my head yeah well things don't always work out the way you plan.

God, if it was up to me she wouldn't be my Gabriella anymore anyway.

"Can we at least try the dip?" Carlos asked but I stayed silent because suddenly I'd just realised what my brain had admitted "What just happened? Why aren't we dipping?"

I looked towards Lennon she looked both in shock and as if she was shaking, I used my eyes to plead to her and so she stepped forward and grabbed me by my jacket arm.

"Mission accomplished! A precious piece of the original HSM is on its way." Miss. Jenn smiled.

She entered the now empty room and her smile faltered, but Lennon was dragging me past her with no hesitations.

"Where are you going, Troy?" She called after me but I tightened my grip on my skateboard.

"It's Ricky." I snapped back.

Once in the halls Lennon stop moving she stepped back and looked at me,

"Look, I'm sorry for shouting at you. This was wrong, me getting involved in this was wrong" I admitted and she stood without saying anything back.

That was a first she always had a smart remark.

I groaned and through my hands in the air in disbelief,

"Nini hates me, You hate me."

She still didn't say a word so I stormed off out of the building.