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𝗟𝗢𝗩𝗘 𝗕𝗔𝗖𝗞

chapter one:
best friends with idiots !

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THE FIRST THING people usually notice about Violetta Chase is her name.

Not because of the meaning — it literally meant purple — but because Violetta isn't exactly the most common name — at least, not in Salt Lake City, Utah, where she's from. However, she wasn't the only one with uncommon name, because her best friend, Athena Blake, was literally named after a Greek Goddess.

Okay, listen. Violetta loved Athena to death. They've been best friends for as long as Violetta can remember, which is why she can so lovingly say with the upmost confidence that the girl was incredibly stupid.

See, Athena was in love with her and Violetta's other best friend, Ricky Bowen. Ricky was in love with Athena as well. Neither of them told each other anything about their feelings despite being so close and touchy-feely. And then — oh, get this — Ricky goes off to date Nini Salazar-Roberts, while he still loved Athena but didn't want to say anything, and Athena was left watching from the sidelines, while she still loved Ricky but didn't want to say anything.

And what was Violetta doing? Slamming her head against the wall repeatedly because of it.

But this story isn't about Ricky and Athena. They've gone through their own ups and downs. Violetta Chase, on the other hand . . . well, let's just say that she had no idea what was coming for her.

This story begins on the very first day of school for Violetta's junior year. Clad in a purple (how fitting) plaid dress layered over a white short-sleeved shirt and her white Converse, she stepped off the school bus. Okay, listen — Violetta hated the school bus. However, her parents were always working (and when she says always, she means it) and she had no siblings. Lonely life . . . anyways, she could've just asked Athena's older sister, Artemis, to take her, but she decided to just suck it up for now.

The building of East High came into her view. Violetta glanced around. Students were bustling around, walking into the building or waiting for their friends outside in the mild air of a Salt Lake City September. Then she spotted one central figure — her best friend herself, standing on the sidewalk, staring up at East High. She was nervous. Violetta could tell. Shaking her head, Violetta walked up to Athena.

"Hey, 'Thena," Violetta greeted, the nickname of her best friend rolling smoothly off her tongue. She glanced around and saw that the boy with curly hair Athena was so stupidly in love with wasn't around, which was strange, because they were usually attached at the hip. "Where's lover boy?"

"Stop referring to Ricky as lover boy," Athena scolded with a groan, making Violetta slightly laugh. "And to answer your question, I'm not sure. Probably with Big Red or something."

Violetta raised an eyebrow and smirked. "Is this finally going to be the year you confess your undying love to him?"

Oh, how she loved to tease Athena and Ricky about their crushes on each other.

Athena immediately turned red. "Violetta!"

"Okay, okay, fine, I'm joking," Violetta reassured her, although she definitely was not joking. She then looked up at the school building which Athena had begun to stare at again. "Anyways, are you ready?"

"I guess so," Athena replied with a shrug. "It's now or never, right?"

The two of them took a step forwards. However, just as they did so, a familiar skateboard suddenly rolled to a stop in front of them. Oh, so there was the boy that was always glued to Athena's side. She placed her hands on her hips and sighed to herself. It was always a fun game to see how lovey they would act towards each other and count up tallies of how many times Violetta wanted to rip her hair out because of it.

Athena crossed her arms. "How many times do I have to tell you to not skate in front of me?"

Ricky took off his helmet. "Not enough, apparently."

Violetta's heart slightly warmed at the way Athena smiled at the boy. It was so nice seeing her best friend in love, but so utterly annoying to see her not do anything about it. Another person then skated up to them as well, and the flamingly red hair belonged to their other best friend, Big Red. Well, at least now Violetta wouldn't have to deal with the two idiots by herself.

"Hey, Red," Athena said to him before turning to Ricky questioningly, and Violetta then noticed how nervous Ricky looked. "What's going on with you?"

"Today's the day, Attie," Ricky responded, slinging an arm around her shoulder. Violetta shared an exasperated look with Big Red before following them into the building. "It's happening."

"Hell yeah," Big Red voiced. "Junior year, baby. Might grow a mustache, might do a lot of things."

Violetta felt disgust rise up inside of her. "If you grow a mustache, I will never speak to you again."

Big Red shrugged. "Better for me, then."

She elbowed him, making him hiss in pain. "Hey!"

"Dude," Ricky interrupted. "I'm talking about Nini. Today's the day we start over. We texted. She sounded neutral. Nothing about bad news or needing to have a big talk. Just, hey. That's good, right?"

Violetta inwardly groaned. Boys were just so incredibly clueless. That's why she didn't deal with them.

"Summers are no man's land, Ricky," Big Red told him. "I don't know what hey means, and neither do you."

"I think it's good," Ricky admitted. "Yeah." He then looked down at Athena. "What does hey mean?"

"If it's coming from Nini, that means she probably doesn't want to talk to you and is just responding to be nice," Athena explained.

Violetta nodded in agreement. Solid explanation.

Ricky rolled his eyes, apparently not wanting to hear that at all. "You're really boosting my confidence here."

"I'm just laying it down as it is." Athena nodded her head in the direction of the hallway, and Violetta looked to see Nini standing there with her best friend Kourtney Greene. Violetta inwardly winced. She had a feeling that this was not going to go over well. "There she is. Just . . . be cool."

"Cool, okay," Ricky repeated quietly to himself as their group of four walked up to the two. "Yo, Nini! What's good?"

Violetta wanted to slam her head against the locker. That was just not how you greeted someone after breaking up.

"How do you feel about right now?" Kourtney asked to Nini.

Nini turned around slowly. However, instead of looking at Ricky, her eyes set on Athena. Violetta raised a hand to her mouth to cover her laughter. Ricky and Athena had completely forgotten about his arm being around her. Athena instantly ducked out from underneath Ricky's arm and moved to stand next to Violetta, her face red. Violetta lowered her hand and tried to keep a straight face.

Ricky laughed softly. "Hey."

"Hey," Nini responded. "Um . . . can we talk?"

Well, that wasn't good.

"Yeah, sure," Ricky approved. "What is it?"

"I met somebody else at camp," Nini revealed, and Violetta's eyes widened — she wasn't expecting that. "I didn't plan—"

"Wait," Ricky interjected, obviously utterly crestfallen. "Wait, is this a joke?"

"Still talking here."

"Oh, snap," Kourtney commented, and Violetta rolled her eyes while Kourtney and Big Red glared at each other.

"I met someone at camp," Nini continued. "Uh, I didn't plan for it to happen, but it happened. He was the Music Man, I was Marian the librarian. It's called a showmance."

"Wait, you went to librarian camp?" Big Red questioned. "That's a thing?"

Violetta let out a frustrated breath. Idiots. She was best friends with idiots.

"Please . . . tell me you're joking," Ricky begged.

"I'm not," Nini and Big Red answered at the same time.

"Come on, Ricky," Nini urged. "You know what you did! Or what you didn't do."

Okay, that wasn't fair. See, here's the thing. Remember how Violetta said that Ricky was dating Nini? Well, before their one year anniversary, Nini posted a video of her singing a cute little song about how she didn't not love someone on Instagram — that someone obviously being Ricky. Ricky panicked at her confession and asked for a break. He then ran off to Athena — typical — and she spent her summer trying to cheer him up. But it wasn't Ricky's fault he couldn't say it. Violetta wasn't Athena, but Ricky trusted her enough to tell her what was going on with his parents. They barely even said those three words to each other anymore. Nini should've been more patient with Ricky instead of blaming him for not saying it back — at least, that was what a good girlfriend should do. Violetta's saying that like she's talking from experience. She doesn't have experience — she's just very good at giving advice.

Ricky and Nini were staring at each other, heartbroken. The tension was high here. Words could not describe how much Violetta wanted to escape right now.

"Good morning, students," Principal Gutierrez then announced over the loudspeaker — their saving grace. "Please make your way to the gym for our annual back-to-school kickoff."

"I don't believe this," Ricky stated. "You're blowing me off for some theater punk you met four weeks ago? At a lake?"

"You kinda dumped me!" Nini countered.

"It was a break. It wasn't a break up."

"I'm sorry, Ricky. But it's a break up now. Now you can spend more time with Athena, which is what you always wanted, right?" Nini's eyes flickered up and down Athena's figure. "Although it looks like you spent plenty of time together this summer."

Violetta's eyes flashed with anger. Oh, absolutely not. Nobody came for Athena Blake, especially not in front of Violetta Chase.

Athena's head snapped up from looking at the ground and blinked at Nini in confusion. "I'm sorry, what?"

Kourtney snapped. "Pop off, girl."

Violetta took Athena's forearm in her hand and placed herself in front of her, ready to step in. However, Big Red beat her to it.

"Stay out of it, Kourtney," Big Red protested.

"You stay out of it," Kourtney said. "I'm dismantling the patriarchy this year, and I'm not afraid to start with you."

Kourtney then took Nini's arm and dragged her away. Violetta glared at their retreating figures until they were gone. The problem might've been between Ricky and Nini, but Nini took it too far. If somebody had a problem with Athena, that meant they had a problem with Violetta. Come on, they were a package deal. Violetta then turned to Athena and saw her facial expression was a mix of confusion and hurt.

Violetta placed a hand on her shoulder. "You all right, 'Thena?"

Athena seemed to snap out of it. "Oh, uh, yeah, I'm okay. I just don't know what she meant by that." She took Ricky's hand in hers, and Violetta and Big Red shared another quick look with each other. "I'm really sorry, Ricky. I know how much you liked Nini."

Ricky looked up and smiled at her. "It's not your fault, Athena. Don't worry about it."

Violetta decided to change the subject for the sake of everyone, her voice laced with sarcasm. "Well, I'm just thrilled to hear what this assembly is about. Who knows? Maybe this will be the first year Principle Gutierrez won't bore me to death."

Unfortunately, she was completely wrong. Violetta was sitting on the bleachers of the gym next to Athena, not even looking down at Principle Gutierrez. She was literally staring straight at the ceiling. The rest of the school seemed to be doing the exact same.

"And I am also pleased to announce that this year, seniors will be allowed to wear baseball hats on Fridays," Principle Gutierrez continued.

"Go seniors!" some random girl shouted from somewhere in the crowd.

"Friday!" another yelled.

"You bored to death yet, Vi?" Athena's voice inquired.

"Almost," Violetta responded. "I'd rather watch one of my dad's weird documentaries than listen to this."

Her parents were almost never around, but her dad always seemed to leave a list of some documentaries he wanted Violetta to watch. However, they were always about something strange. They could be interesting at times, but mostly, they were just boring, like this assembly.

"And now for a special introduction," Principal Gutierrez reported. "This year, East High has a new drama teacher with an announcement that she swore, in writing, would not cost too much money."

That peaked her interest. Violetta finally looked down from the ceiling to see a small woman with strawberry blonde hair walk towards the center of the gym. She turned to Athena, the two of them sharing an interested look.

"Why, Big Red?" Ricky asked. "Why do things have to change?"

Big Red shrugged. "Some things never change, dude. I've been wearing the same socks for three days."

Violetta, who was at the end of their group on the bleachers, instantly scooted farther away from Big Red, Athena and Ricky following in suit. Disgusting.

"Please hold your applause," the woman instructed before pulling out a t-shirt cannon. "Go Wildcats!" She fired it, and the t-shirt hit a boy in the face. "Yeah."

Violetta leaned closer to Athena. "Does she know that we're actually Leopards and not Wildcats?"

Athena elbowed her side. Violetta smiled and looked back down at the woman.

The woman handed the cannon to Carlos, a boy in the grade younger than them, and took the microphone from the podium. "My name is Miss Jenn, and when I heard that the high school where High School Musical was shot had never staged a production of High School Musical: The Musical, I was shocked as an actress, inspired as a director, and triggered as a millennial."

Violetta straightened up in interest. A musical of High School Musical? That would literally be . . . okay, she's just going to say it, iconic. All of the other musicals done here Violetta wasn't really into, but this one . . . she had to try out. She literally loved High School Musical, and all of the dance numbers were amazing. Violetta had to be a part of that.

"Auditions are tomorrow after school. This show could change your lives, and I'm saying this as a background dancer from the original movie. Third from the left, back row, red headband, and those are my real teeth." Carlos attempted to take the microphone from Miss Jenn, but she kept her grip on it and linked her arm through his. "Oh, and meet your student choreographer, Carlos. You know him as captain of the color guard. I know him as an unpaid, rising star. But seriously, I have no budget."

The bell rang. Violetta grabbed Athena's hand and pulled her up from the bleachers. They had to discuss this, now. Violetta needed to convince Athena to try out with her. She didn't even acknowledge saying goodbye to Ricky or Big Red and just dragged Athena into the crowded hallway.

"Can you believe it?" Violetta asked, her eyes practically glowing with stars. "High School Musical: The Musical. 'Thena, we have to try out."

Athena shrugged in response. "I don't know, Vi."

Violetta held up her hand to stop her before Athena could go on some sort of excuse about why she didn't want to. "Uh-uh. You are not missing out on this opportunity. Athena, you can sing beautifully and can play the piano. You'd be perfect for Kelsi. Please, just try out with me. It won't hurt."

There's no doubt in Violetta's mind that Athena could've gotten the role of Gabriella. However, she said Kelsi so that Athena wouldn't be scared of committing to a huge role like that for her first musical. Plus, Kelsi would be a good fit for Athena. Violetta on the other hand . . . Martha Cox all the way with some other roles as dancers.

"I promise I'll think about it," Athena told her. "Anyways, I have to get to math. I'll see you later."

Violetta made her way to her English class. And as she went, she couldn't help but think that this junior year wouldn't be as ordinary like the other school years. Little did she know how true that was going to become.

═════════ • ° • ✰ • ° • ═════════

ALL VIOLETTA WANTED to do was dance.

She had been enrolled in dance classes ever since she was about three. The dance studio was practically her second home and she absolutely adored the sport. However, as she sat through her boring lessons while retaining no information, she tried to resist the urge of getting up and just doing some ballet because she hated staying still for long periods of time.

Finally, the bell rang for lunch. Violetta entered the crowded hallway and glanced around before her eyes set on her best friend's figure. Just the person she wanted to talk to. She walked up to Athena and pulled one of her headphones out of her ears with a smirk. Athena turned to her with wide eyes but instantly calmed down upon noticing it was just her.

Athena took her headphone back. "You really had to interrupt the best part of the song, didn't you? What do you want, Vi?"

"Did you think more about auditioning for the musical?" Violetta asked immediately, because that's all she wanted to know.

"No, I haven't, actually. I was being a good student and paying attention."

Violetta scoffed — she knew that was just an excuse. "We all know that's not true."

Athena let out a sigh. "To be honest, no, I haven't thought about it. I don't even know how to audition for a musical. Like obviously I have to sing, but what song?"

"Wake Up," Violetta suggested. Athena shrugged, and Violetta's eyes narrowed. "Athena, that song is amazing. You're an incredible singer and songwriter. Please don't put yourself down like that."

Over the summer, Athena had showed Violetta this incredible song she had written. Wake Up had an intricate melody and some of the best lyrics she had ever seen. When she had heard it, Violetta couldn't help but picture a beautiful lyrical dance to it in her head.

"I know, I know, it's just . . . I wrote that song for Ricky," Athena admitted. Violetta raised an eyebrow. She didn't know that. "It was after I saw how distraught he was after not being able to say I love you to Nini and everything going on with his parents."

"And this is the perfect opportunity to perform it," Violetta urged, because it was — that song deserved to be shown to the world.

"It's personal."

"It's beautiful."

Athena shook. "I promise I'll think more about this when I get home, all right? But right now some French fries are calling my name."

Violetta couldn't help but agree. After waiting on line in the lunch room to get food, the two of them got their lunch. They stopped in their tracks to try and find their friends before Athena nodded her head in one direction. Violetta looked over to see Ricky and Big Red sitting at a circular table. The two of them made their way over to that table and sat down.

"Hey," Athena greeted to them.

"Did you know?" Ricky instantly questioned.

"Know what?"

Ricky pointed. Violetta followed his finger to see a sight she never thought she would see. Standing at the other side of the cafeteria was Nini, tucked securely under EJ Caswell's arms.

Violetta had stated earlier she didn't deal with boys. But EJ Caswell . . . well, she buried it deep down, but she could admit they he might have been an exception to that. EJ was the typical jock, but something about him just made Violetta instantly want to gravitate towards him. It was infuriating, but he had always been stuck in her mind ever since she saw him for the first time in her freshman year. Violetta sort of forgot about her crush every once in a while because she knew it would never ever happen — definitely not now because of Nini — but every time she saw EJ, he managed to make it come back again.

"She's dating EJ Caswell?" Violetta said before she could stop herself. "Ugh, she's so lucky."

Athena slapped her arm. "Violetta!"

"What?" Violetta placed a French fry into her mouth. Athena even knew of Violetta's stupid enamor towards him. "Come on! He's exceptionally hot, co-captain of the water polo team, and senior class treasurer." And like a stupid school girl, she let out a dreamy sigh and placed her chin in the palm of her hand, still staring at the boy. "What more could a girl ask for?"

"Yeah, I mean, what are the odds that the guy she hooks up with at camp goes to East High?" Big Red added.

"Apparently, the odds are exceptionally good," Ricky argued.

Big Red's face slightly fell. "I'm sorry, dude. What are you gonna do?"

"I don't know. No offense, but the one person I go to for advice is currently on her honeymoon in the cafeteria."

And there was the reminder of why Violetta shouldn't deal with boys.

"Oh," Athena said in a small voice. Violetta looked up at her in concern as Athena stood up and disregarded her lunch. "I — um, I have to go."

Ricky instantly stood up too. "No, Attie, that's not what I meant."

Athena forced a smile — trust her, Violetta could tell. "I know what you meant." She then slung her bag on her shoulder. "I'll see you later."

"Athena—"

She left the cafeteria.

Violetta stared at Ricky. "You're literally the dumbest person on the planet."

Ricky sighed and sat back down. "I know."

"I'm glad you're acknowleding it. Dude, saying that in front of Athena was so out of pocket. You go to that girl for everything, and now you're making her feel like she's not good enough. Nice going, genius."

"You really don't have to scold me, Vi."

"But I'm still going to," Violetta argued. "You better apologize to her. Not right now, give her some space, but later. If you don't, I'll know."

Their rest of the lunch was silent. And yet, Violetta still found herself glancing over at the figure of EJ Caswell one too many times, more than she'd like to admit.

∘ ₊ ✧ ──── ✧ ₊ ∘

. . . um, so I may have missed my girls violetta and athena a little too much.

this chapter sucked but we're gonna move on OKAY

ever since writing my two ricky bowen fics, many people have been asking me to write a violetta and ej book because they're too iconic and I didn't really go into much detail about their relationship. so here this book is 🥰 plus athena's in this book so I can still have some piece of her lol

and this is filling the gaping hole in my heart until hsmtmts season three is released. I think I'm going through withdrawals

also kind of ironic how gabbie is the fc for this when all of the books are titled with why don't we songs and jack is her ex . . . anyways 🏃🏻‍♂️🏃🏻‍♂️🏃🏻‍♂️

LOL OKAY welcome to love back! <3