[FEATURED BY WATTPAD]
To make his ex-girlfriend jealous, Ricky pursues Julia, the high school nobody. But when real feelings emerge, things take a complicated turn.
(HSMTMTS, Season 1)
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DURING REHEARSALS after-school that evening, Julia waited patiently for Ricky and Nini to enter the backstage drama room. She was told in the early hours after lunch that day by Miss. Jenn that she showed the main leads the costume designs. Since the students who were playing Sharpay and Ryan were already shown their outfits, she was only waiting for the main leads.
Just then, the door opened and Nini came rushing in. Frantic apologies escaped her mouth as she took off her backpack and placed it beside her.
"It's fine," Julia smiled, pausing the girl's retort. "Ricky's later!"
The smile on Nini's face faltered a bit. "He will be here?"
The door opened again and Ricky walked in as if nothing had happened. Being tardy was his usual, so it wasn't surprising that it didn't matter to him anymore. Either that, or he didn't realize his mistakes often.
He looked up and his eyes lit up when he saw Nini. It took him a few seconds to notice the other girl in the room, but they didn't reciprocate the same gaze on her.
"Uh, hi guys," Ricky said sheepishly, his eyes still on an annoyed-looking Nini.
Julia sighed and forced a smile, finally catching the attention of both the other students in the room. Taking off an outfit from the clothing rack behind her, she held it higher for both of them to see. It was a red skirt that would go just above someone's knee and a plain white t-shirt. It was clear to see it was Gabriella's outfit for Nini.
"Is this mine?" Nini smiled lightly, her eyes focused on the beautiful but simple dress in Julia's hands. She took a step closer and traced a hand against the cotton fabric. "This is kind of nice..."
"I remember from the HSM films, Gabriella had quite the sense of style," Julia added in, earning a smile from Nini.
Meanwhile, Ricky was scrolling through his text messages. He didn't even notice when Julia took out his outfit until she called out to him. "Yep!" He slowly looked up from his phone and cringed at the clothes hanging on the hanger.
It was a red jersey that had a large 'Wildcats' logo stitched to the front, much like the basketball ones the kids from the original movies wore. Along with it were some plain red shorts of the same color. "That's...interesting."
Julia spoke up as if knowing what he was thinking, "The team's just trying to resemble the original movies as much as possible," she hung the clothes back up.
"I like mine!" Nini smiled brightly, earning an awe-like expression from Ricky and a kind smile from the other. "Thanks so much, Julia!"
After a few more minutes of talking, Julia guided them through most of their major outfits and props. She gave them some headers on the proper portrayal of their characters and how they're supposed to act with the other characters.
Quickly after, however, Nini excused herself because she had a date with her boyfriend, EJ and that she had yet to get ready. Although Ricky looked far from happy for her, Julia cheered her on, feeling genuinely happy for the girl who was quickly becoming one of her good friends.
Ricky came to notice the change of attitude and personality that Julia had when talking with Nini, compared to when she was talking to him. There was a feeling of discomfort for her whenever he was around. It had him wondering if there was something bothering her, or maybe he had done something wrong.
It can't be, he thought. The two barely knew each other, much less shared a decent conversation. The night before didn't count because he was just too depressed to think rationally.
"Uh, Ricky?" Julia started. She looked to be embarrassed, or maybe she was hiding in a laugh.
He turned to look at her and his eyes grew large when he saw what she had taken out from the furthest part of the clothing rack. It was a long-haired wig, much like what the original Troy Bolton's hairstyle was in the movies.
It wasn't long until she laughed. There was a kind of harmony in it. He hadn't ever seen Julia laugh before. She only ever gave him a light smile, but seeing her now made him want to keep looking. The desire to make her keep laughing, just so he could see her beautiful grin again.
"I'm sorry," she paused, but another chuckle made its way out of her mouth. "This is funny to look at."
He laughed lightly, shaking his head in response to her childishness. "I don't want to wear that..."
"Can you try it on?" She glanced at him briefly before throwing the wig into his hands. He hesitated, wanting to deny, but also wanting to agree just for the laughs.
Ricky exaggerated a sigh before messily tucking in his curly hair and placing the wig on top. His body was facing the opposite way. He wanted to surprise her with the new look.
"Don't laugh, okay?" He said worriedly, and she quickly said that she wouldn't. Slowly turning around, her mouth gaped wide open, taking in the new look.
"It's nice, really," her cheeks were turning cherry-red and all he wished was to hide away in a cave for as long as it took for her to forget the way he looked with the wig. He glanced in the mirror and couldn't help but let out a laugh himself.
Soon after, they filled the small room with hysterical laughter. It echoed-out the loudness from the backstage crew outside, and for a moment, the two just stared at each other with teary eyes.
"I don't think I'll ever stop laughing if I have to wear that," Ricky's chuckle died down, but his cheeks were red with emotion. He placed the wig back on the top shelf. "I'm very much content with my current hairdo."
Julia looked at him for a moment but turned her attention. Her mind was drifting back to the events of the night before. She didn't want to repeat what happened, so her gaze was keptconstant on the ground.
Ricky didn't seem to notice, but found it strange that she looked the other way out-of-the-blue. "So, I-" He paused, rubbing his neck nervously. "I've been having trouble memorizing my lines..." When she didn't look up, he continued. "Can I, uh, get your help?" Y'know, since you're the backstage manager..."
She smiled slightly in his direction, but it didn't look genuine. "Maybe talk to the drama teacher?"
He cleared his throat and nodded. He was quick to exit the room, wanting some space away from the awkwardness that took place just a few minutes prior. He wasn't sure why, and he sure as well wasn't sure how...
All this time he was after one girl; but suddenly, he had the urge to grasp the attention of another individual.
