Half a Heart •Ricky Bowen•

4

Ella stood in front of a mirror in the backroom while Kourtney took measurements for her costumes. She took a deep breathe, "You nervous?" Kourt asked, stretching Ella's arm out to measure. "The only people I have performed for are Ricky, and my dad. Nervous is an understatement."

"Girl don't worry. You think the people out there have more experience than you? They don't. Yeah some of them have been in some plays or musicals, but there are other people who are new to this just like you. You got this."

Ella's heart felt full at Kourtney's kind words. "Can I hug you?" Ella jokes, "One second let me get this last measurement... okay now you can." Ella embraced her friend as she left to follow the rest of the cast into the room where they would be doing a read through.

Ricky walked by her, a strong scent emitting off of him. "Woah wait, what's that smell?" Ella asked, breathing through her mouth now.

"Throb! Remember that cologne I got bombarded with at the mall with Nini? She said she liked it.. And you said you liked it too." Ella put a hand on his arm, "I like the subtle smell of it, right now you smell like a Hollister store."

"Could everyone take their assigned seats please?" Ms. Jenn called out. Ella took her seat next to Ashlyn, grabbing her script out of her backpack. Ella couldn't help but hear Ms. Jenn tell Big Red that he would be reading the stage directions. She let out a quiet snort, knowing Red would hate every minute of it.

Ms. Jenn began to explain that this group of students will become a family, as of right now however, Ej Caswell was throwing the sharpest daggers at Ricky. She asked for everyone to hold hands for this speech, Ella couldn't help but stifle a laugh at the face Ej was making. Ricky easily held onto Nini's hand, which anyone could see was making her uncomfortable.

"Feel each other's energy. Let the silence speak volumes, in a world full of no, this is a space full of yes." Before anyone knew it, she began to sing 'We're all in this together'. Ella bit down on her bottom lip, trying not to let out any noise. Ricky looked up at Ella, his eyes falling straight to her lips.

He zoned out for a few seconds, his eyes trailed over every feature of her face. How she got little wrinkles next to her eyes everytime she smiled. How the sunlight entering the room highlighted the honey color in her eyes. He couldn't help but notice how her lip gloss made her lips shine. How he just wants to know what it would be like to kiss- his thought shut off as he felt Nini release his hand. Ms. Jenn hit that last high note, extending it out for a few seconds. Everyone's eyes widened as they all stared at each other, unsure of what just happened.

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Ella hung her head in her hands, she was seconds away from falling asleep over Big Red's monotone reading. She absolutely loves the kid, but reading out loud was not his best trait. Ms. Jenn instructed him to add fragments to his sentences instead of jamming all the words together. That did not help the case.

Ms. Jenn called a break, Ella immediately stood up from her chair and walked over to where her phone was charging. Big Red and Ricky stood next to the girl, Ricky pretending to be on his phone while he was actually glaring at the couple.

"You know Rick, if you want to be slick you might as well just grab a bullhorn and announce that you're creepily watching them." Ella whispered to him as he broke his gaze to look at her, " I mean she's got a point dude." Red agreed.

Ricky let out an exaggerated sigh, Ella rolled her eyes. "Come here dork." She instructed, opening her arms out for him to hug her. This hug felt different to both of them, they didn't want to let go. Sadly they had to when Ms. Jenn pulled Ricky aside to talk to him.

"You guys confuse me." Big Red brought up. "What do you mean?" She questioned, sitting next to him. "One minute you guys are actually best friends, the next minute you guys are acting like a couple. I mean did you not see the way he was singing to you at auditions?"

"Woah, wait. Wasn't he singing to Nini? The whole reason as to why he even auditioned in the first place?" Those questions she had in her head earlier were back. "I mean maybe he was, but then why was he looking at you the whole time and not her?" He asked. "Okay people, we're back!" Ms. Jenn called out, Red got up from his spot and walked back to his chair.

Ella sat there, pondering for a second. " I don't know why he would."