by Disney Books
“What thing?” she asked.
“The thing where you talk in a vague British accent when you are nervous,” he said. Luckily, he knew how to talk her down—and out of the accent.
“You’re a total weirdo,” he joked. “And one hundred percent real. And that’s why I love you.”
His words sank in, and Nini thought back to the night when she’d said those same words to Ricky. She shook off the memory and went out onstage. Just as Nini was about to start her audition, Ricky burst through the auditorium door.
“Am I too late?” he called.
“We’re all set on Troys,” Miss Jenn said. “We’re low on Chads. You can read after the Gabriellas.”
“But I only studied the Troy scenes in the movie!” Ricky said.
“Troy would have arrived on time,” Carlos told him.
E.J. gave a loud cheer of encouragement for Nini, which startled Miss Jenn and made her spill her coffee on the lighting board in front of her. The stage lights went dark. “Nini, let’s wait till the lights go back on. I don’t want this to throw you.” Miss Jenn said. “I’m not thrown,” Nini said. And she began to sing “Start of Something New” a cappella. Ricky held up his phone flashlight to shine it on Nini, and E.J. leapt up to do the same. Caught between them, Nini stayed focused and imagined herself as Gabriella, red dress and all.
Miss Jenn was impressed. She made some notes just as the theater lights came back on.
“You, late boy—let’s do the Chad sides,” she told Ricky.
Ricky took the Chad pages and read two sentences, then crumpled the paper up. He ad-libbed his own lines. “Maybe it’s the way Gabriella always had your back. And maybe you can’t stop beating yourself up for totally blowing it with her.”
Miss Jenn looked down at her script. “Was this in the movie?” she whispered to Carlos.
Ricky went on, looking at Nini. “And look, Troy, even if you never said the L-word to Gabriella, because that’s not a word your parents even say to each other anymore, maybe it doesn’t mean you don’t. Maybe it just means you were waiting for the right time to say it.”
E.J. put his arm around Nini. Ricky loved his girl?
Just when Nini thought things couldn’t get more awkward, Ricky reached for his guitar and played her song, “I Think I Kinda, You Know.”
Miss Jenn was wowed. “I think that’s all we need today,” she said.
Ricky left the stage and Nini ran after him. She caught up with him in the hallway.
“What are you doing here?” Nini asked. “You hate musicals.”
“That is harsh,” Ricky said. “The new me thinks musicals are…awesome.”
Nini narrowed her eyes. “Well, let me tell you about the old me,” she said. “The old me had her heart broken, and then she went away and found herself. And you don’t get to show up now just to try and…confuse things!”
“You think that is why I’m here? No, I always believed in you,” Ricky said. “In us. Even if I sucked at showing it. That’s why I’m here.”
Carlos pushed past Nini and Ricky waving a sheet of paper. “Clear!” he yelled, followed by all the students who had just auditioned.
“I…don’t not love you,” Ricky said under his breath.
Carlos tacked the cast list up. Miss Jenn had “instincts” and wanted to post the cast right away.
Nini and Kourtney saw the list first. Nini was Gabriella! Gina won the part of Taylor, and would be Nini’s understudy.
E.J. backed away from the list. “She thinks I’m a Chad?”
“Holy crap, dude,” Big Red said as he saw the list. Ricky lifted his eyes. His name was first on the list…in the part of Troy Bolton.
The first High School Musical read-through was in the basement of East High. Carlos had set desks in a circle with cast name cards on each. E.J. noted right away that he was not sitting next to Nini and was about to switch the seating assignment, but he caught Ashlyn’s eye and left the cards alone.
Kourtney, who had joined the costume crew, looked at Ricky and Big Red across the room. “How are you going to get through seventy-four rehearsals with him?” she whispered to Nini.
“I won’t make eye contact,” Nini replied. She’d waited a long time to be the lead at East High. She wasn’t going to let Ricky ruin this for her.
Miss Jenn was about to begin the read-through when Carlos told her the stage manager, Natalie Bagley, wasn’t coming. Miss Jenn looked around until her eyes landed on Big Red. “Yoo-hoo, ginger boy, can you read?”
Big Red mumbled, “Um…not really.”
Miss Jenn handed him a script. “Well, you’re reading now. Just the stage directions.” She sat down at her assigned desk and smiled at her cast. “I realize that you all walked in here as strangers, but after today, you’re a family,” she said. “Please take your neighbors’ hands. Feel each other’s energy. Let the silence speak volumes. In a world full of no, this is a space full of yes!”
Nini took Gina’s hand and then looked down at Ricky’s hand in hers. Her nose twitched when she smelled his cologne. Did he think spraying a whole bottle of cologne would cover up what he had done and win her over? She pulled her hand away.
E.J. rolled his eyes as Big Red haltingly read the stage directions. At the rate they were going, act one could last all month. Everyone was relieved when it was time to take a break.
“I was hoping we’d get to sing the songs,” E.J. said to Nini.
“I guess Miss Jenn wants us to really pay attention to the lyrics,” she replied.
“Yeah, but she can’t sing them like you can.” He leaned down to kiss his girlfriend.
Nini smiled at the sweet gesture, but the kiss was interrupted by her phone vibrating. She quickly glanced at her phone and giggled.
E.J. noticed. “Who’s that from?”
“What?” Nini asked, tucking her phone away. “Oh, it’s nothing.”
E.J. looked over at Ricky, who was staring at his phone. He narrowed his eyes.
Across the room, Miss Jenn whispered to Carlos. “What happened to our Troy and Gabriella? Where are the sparks from the audition?”
“Should we think about recasting?” Carlos responded.
“Absolutely not,” Miss Jenn told him. “My instincts are impeccable. I’m not scared of a challenge.”
Miss Jenn came up with a plan to warm up Nini and Ricky. She called an early-morning rehearsal for just the two of them. “We’re diving into page ninety-seven,” she told them when they arrived at the auditorium.
“You wanna rehearse this?” Nini asked, flipping to the back of her script. “It’s not even a scene. Just one line.”
“Then there’s the kiss,” Miss Jenn said.
“Um, I don’t remember a kiss,” Nini said.
Miss Jenn smiled. “It was very much there in the original film. The kiss ended up on the cutting room floor. A little racy for its time.”
Nini was flustered.
Later in the day, Miss Jenn called Nini to her office. “Sweetie,” she said, “I added the kiss because our production needs it. I’ve also added a cowbell, a power ballad for the drama teacher, and a Wildcat cheer for the curtain call.”
Nini listened. She didn’t want to get into the whole Ricky history with Miss Jenn. “It’s complicated,” she said. “I just can’t kiss Ricky right now. I have a new boyfriend. He’s playing Chad.”
Miss Jenn leaned across her desk. “Nini, trust the process. Your character only has eyes for Troy.”
Nini didn’t know that E.J. was standing outside Miss Jenn’s door. He was fuming. What hold did Ricky have over this new drama teacher? He’d gotten the lead, and now Miss Jenn had written in a kissing scene? He found Ashlyn at her locker and vented his frustration. He also voiced his concerns about Ricky trying to win back Nini. Ashlyn told him he was paranoid.
“Really?” E.J. huffed. “Why did Ricky text Nini at the read-through? And why wouldn’t she tell me who it was?”
“She doesn’t have to tell
you,” Ashlyn said. “Dating her doesn’t mean you own her.”
E.J. shifted his feet. “I need you to borrow her phone for me,” he said.
“As in steal?” Ashlyn said, closing her locker. “You’ve just gone up three levels of scary. If she ever found out, she would never forgive you. Or me. You want to take that risk?”
“Ashlyn, please,” E.J. said with a sigh. “She’s not like the other girls I’ve dated. Nini’s real. She makes me better.”
At rehearsal after school, Carlos was teaching the cast the curtain call number. This made no sense to Nini and Ricky, since they hadn’t even gotten through the first scene. Carlos explained that according to The Big Book of Broadway, you start with the dance that takes the longest to learn.
“Okay, people!” Carlos yelled. “Let’s take it from three counts of eight before Troy and Gabriella’s entrance for the bows.”
Ricky was in way over his head. He tried to do the steps, but he really was not a dancer. He started to have a little fun with the off-rhythm moves. Nini was not amused.
“What was he doing?” Nini asked Carlos.
Ricky looked at Nini. “Why are you talking to him? I’m right here.”
“Because you’re not here,” Nini said. “At least not for the right reasons.”
The whole cast stopped to listened in on their conversation.
“Ricky,” Nini began, “you hate musicals. You only did this so we’d be in each other’s grills.”
Carlos clapped his hands. “Back to the dance!” he commanded.
Nini couldn’t stop. “Now you are wearing some weird cologne on your neck and wasting everyone’s time by making fun of something that the rest of us take seriously.”
Ricky looked hurt. “I take this seriously.”
“No, you don’t,” Nini replied. “You don’t take anything seriously. You coast. And the second someone asks you to make a commitment, you make a joke or sink into some imaginary hole in the floor.”
“I didn’t sink, Nini. I just wasn’t ready to say it then. But I went to that audition to show you—”
Nini interrupted him. “Only because I’d met someone else. You wanted to drag me back into tenth grade like my summer never happened. But if you really cared about me, you’d let someone who wants to play this part play it.”
Ricky nodded. “Like E.J.?”
Carlos stepped between them. “Can we at least try the dip?” he begged.
Ricky pushed past Carlos and passed Miss Jenn as she walked in. “Where are you going, Troy?” she asked.
“It’s Ricky,” he said as the door slammed behind him.
Big Red followed Ricky into the hallway and out of the school.
“Operation Troy was a huge mistake,” Ricky told his friend. “I’ve made things worse.”
Carlos flew through the school doors. “There you are!” he said to Ricky. “Miss Jenn wants everyone back in the room.”
Ricky kept walking. “Tell Miss Jenn I am done,” he said. “Sorry I can’t dance like Fred Rogers.”
“It’s Fred Astaire,” Carlos said. “Fred Rogers is Mr. Rogers….”
“Save it, Carlos,” Ricky said. “You don’t want me in this. If I go back, Nini will probably quit. And you need her a lot more than you need me.”
Ricky just needed some alone time to think about Nini, the musical, and what was going on at home. He took off on his skateboard.
Gina had been watching the drama from a nearby bench. She realized if Ricky stayed in the show, that there was a good chance Nini would drop out and she could take over the lead. She followed Ricky to the skate park.
“Hey, you,” Gina said, greeting Ricky.
“Gina, what are you doing here?” Ricky asked.
“Babysitting. My neighbor asked me to watch her kid,” she said. “So is it true? You dropped out?”
“I haven’t made it official yet,” he said, shrugging. “But yeah, I guess so.”
Gina shook her head. “That sucks,” she said. “Having you there gave us all street cred. I mean, you’re not a drama geek. You’ve never sung a song outside of your shower.”
“Did Miss Jenn send you?” Ricky asked.
“Please,” Gina said, laughing. “I think I scare her.”
Ricky laughed. “You are a little scary.”
“I’m a transfer student. You either eat or get eaten,” she told him. She watched his face. “That’s why I was stoked when she cast you. Outsiders keep everyone else on their toes. You kept us real. Look, you don’t need Carlos to tell you how to move. You have your own style.”
Ricky wasn’t sure what to make of this conversation. He went off to skate as Gina put her earphones back on and sat back listening to “Breaking Free.” Ricky felt free on his skateboard, too. The skate park was a great place to clear his head and think about his next move. He decided that if he stayed up all night practicing the steps to prove to Nini that he was serious about the show, she might realize that he wasn’t willing to quit on them.
During fifth period the next day, Nini spotted Ricky and Carlos in the back corner of the library. Hiding in the stacks, she saw Ricky doing the dance number for Carlos—perfectly. She left before they saw her. Ricky’s efforts surprised her and made her think twice about what she was feeling toward him. She ducked into the auditorium to avoid E.J. coming down the hall. Inside, she found Ashlyn sitting at the piano singing.
“Miss Jenn asked me to compose a song for my character,” Ashlyn said. “I’m playing Ms. Darbus.”
“I know who you’re playing,” Nini said, smiling.
“We don’t have to talk about E.J.,” Ashlyn said, feeling uncomfortable. “Do you want to talk about E.J.?”
Nini’s phone was buzzing. “Oh, this has to stop,” she said, looking at the screen.
“It doesn’t matter who texted you,” Ashlyn said, thinking of E.J. “It’s no one’s business.”
“One of my moms has been texting me fortune cookie messages to keep me balanced,” Nini told her.
Ashlyn tried to get out of the awkward silence by playing a few chords on the piano. Nini joined her in the soulful song “Wondering.” It was all about regrets. While the two girls got lost in the song, Ricky walked in. Nini wondered how much of the song he had heard.
“Miss Jenn wants everyone downstairs,” he told them.
Nini stared at Ricky for a minute, then quickly grabbed her things and joined the cast. Miss Jenn was showing off her High School Musical memorabilia—Gabriella’s phone from the movie. Everyone oohed and aahed at the phone.
E.J. looked down at his bag and saw Nini’s phone. He looked over at Ashlyn and mouthed, Thank you.
“You’re welcome,” Gina said, coming up behind him. “We want the same thing, hon, but it’s gonna take a little teamwork.”
E.J. watched Gina strut off and wondered exactly what she meant.
“Places for the top of the ski lodge!” Miss Jenn called.
E.J. zipped up his bag with Nini’s phone and slung the backpack over his shoulder.
Ashlyn left rehearsal and found E.J. waiting for her in his car. He looked upset about something.
“She told him she loved him,” he told Ashlyn.
“Who?” she asked.
“Nini. I found an archived post on her Instagram,” E.J. told her as he looked down at Nini’s phone.
Ashlyn took a deep breath. “E.J., you can’t just go snooping around someone’s phone like a creepy stalker.”
“I play to win, Ash,” E.J. said. “Have we met?”
E.J. showed her Nini’s anniversary song video.
“Whatever, that was four months ago,” Ashlyn said. “They are over. Ancient history. There is no Ricky.”
Just then, Nini’s phone rang, and Ricky’s face appeared on the screen. Ashlyn moved the phone away from E.J. “Don’t answer it!”
The call went to voice mail.
“You need to return this,” Ashlyn said. “And do not listen to that voice mail.”
E.J. lowered his head. “I will…I mean…I won’t,” he said.
Ashlyn stared at him. “You’re gonna listen to it, aren’t you?” She shook her head with disdain and got out of the car. “Forget the ride. I’ll walk home,” she said.
E.J. couldn’t stop himself. He listened to the message from Ricky, who poured his heart out to Nini. Hearing the song Nini and Ashlyn sang, he wondered what Nini was thinking when she sang those lyrics. “You can just ignore this whole message and we can pretend it never happened,” Ricky said. “Okay? Poof. Gone.”
And with one tap, that is what E.J. did to Ricky’s message. Deleted. Poof. Gone.
Nini had spent the evening looking for her phone. The next morning, she rushed into rehearsal, where the cast was in the middle of “Stick to the Status Quo.”
“Nini,” Miss Jenn said. “Where were you? We’ve been here for an hour.”
“I’m sorry,” Nini said. “I lost my phone, and I finally picked it up at Lost and Found….” She stopped and looked around. “Wait, did you say an hour?”
Miss Jenn moved closer to her. “Gina sent you and me a text asking if we could come in early so she could talk through a new idea. You didn’t get it?”
Nini shook her head. “Um, no, because my phone was missing.”
“Well, honey,” Miss Jenn said, “you’ve gotta keep better track of your stuff. A real triple threat means singing, acting, and being organized.” Miss Jenn smiled at Gina. “Gina pitched a new dance break for Gabriella and Taylor in the middle of ‘Stick to the Status Quo.’ She got Carlos to work it all out with her, and it’s dazzling!”
Gina held up two bedazzled lunch trays.
Nini glared at Gina. Was it possible that Gina had stolen her phone? Gina scheduled an early-morning rehearsal that she knew Nini would miss, and then choreographed a new dance number she knew Nini couldn’t do. If Gina was willing to steal the spotlight, what else was she willing to steal?
“Gina really wants my part in the show and she’s basically willing to kill me to get it,” Nini confided in Kourtney later when the girls were at Nini’s house.
