— act one, scene nine: we want jazz hands

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     "Sorry if I kept you up too late," Ricky said, his gaze never leaving that of his new friend's appearance.  Megara wore grey sweats and an oversized grey sweater with an alien face embroidered on the right side of her chest.  She dragged her fake fur-lined K-Mart version of Uggs on the concrete as they walked into the school.  "I would've invited Big Red over, but..."

     "He can't dance," Megara finished for him, laughing.  "Yo, you really can't either."

     Wincing, Ricky placed a hand on his chest.  "Ouch."

     Megara shrugged, ignoring him.  "Eh, don't worry about it.  It was fun," she smiled, wrinkles forming around her eyes.  Her cheeks had been so sore from all the smiling and laughing she did the past 24 hours.  It wasn't every day that you got to see Ricky Bowen try to become Troy Bolton, complete with his father giving him pointers and cheering him on, even going as far as rating his last dance a solid twelve out of ten.  "What changed your mind anyway?"

     "Gina, actually," Ricky breathed out.  "Yeah, she uh, caught me at the park."

MEGARA: Gina Porter... skating?

     "She was babysitting," he answered like he had read her mind.  Megara nodded.  "But the point is, she made me realize that I made a commitment to this thing and I gotta stick with it.  Stick with you."

     Megara nodded, letting a laugh escape through her lips.  She had to admit, she found this new hobby of his — and his approach to it — utterly hilarious.  "Right..."

     Luckily, Megara had all the choreography from the movie memorized since she was a kid, which was now proving to be a big help.  "Remember when we'd watch Disney movies like High School Musical at my house because my mom didn't know what to do with us?" Ricky asked, followed by a laugh of his own.

     How could I forget?

     She nodded, her low bun brushing against the back of her neck.  "Yeah, good times," she smiled, more laughter tumbling out of the boy's lips.  Megara was just happy they could laugh about it now because, at the time, they really hated doing anything together.  And now, here they were, helping the other rehearse for the winter musical — something neither party thought they'd ever do.

     "If I remember correctly, there was this time I went to your house, I was early for your family barbeque and you were upstairs showering... the whole house heard you singing When There Was Me And You," Ricky added.  "I remember the look on your face as you stood on the top of the stairs, your wet hair, the red baseball tee-shirt, the pouting," he mocked her.  "I couldn't help but laugh."

MEGARA: He just had to bring up the one memory I managed to push away.  He doesn't remember the part where I felt like literally passing away right then and there.

RICKY: It was adorable.  Truly.  Little Meg was no Ariana Grande, but it was cute.

     "Yeah, well, I remember the time you tried doing a backflip to impress the girls at the trampoline park and you fell on your face," Megara added bitterly.

     Ricky's grin faded.  "Okay, point taken.  And for the record, there was only one girl there I wanted to impress."

     Megara furrowed her eyebrows.  "I don't remember Nini being there."

     "She wasn't," Ricky said quickly before speeding down a separate hall.  

     Megara skipped to keep up, grabbing her cell from her bookbag.  "Okay, I know we're like, eager to show Carlos what you've got, but, can you like, slow down?" 

     "If you're planning on assaulting me, my mother plays board games with the librarian, and we will press charges."

     "You know," Megara spoke up, leaning against the window, mindlessly staring out at all the different coloured cars in the parking lot as she listened to Carlos talk.  "You're funny," she crossed her arms, flashing her pearly whites at the boy.  Carlos gulped as Megara chuckled to herself.

     "I wanna show you something," Ricky cut in.  "Check it out — five, six, seven, eight," he whispered to himself before trying his best to do the dance, which was a lot better than the day before.

     "Wow, you've been practicing.  I thought you quit?"

     "Not doing that anymore," Ricky shook his head, still dancing.  Megara grinned at the sight.  "Still not sure on this last part," Ricky stomped around, finishing, looking at Carlos with raised eyebrows.

     "You're doing spirit fingers, we want jazz hands," Carlos demonstrated.  Megara nodded, making a mental note just in case so she could yell at him about it later.  "Here, yes!  Try it again!"

     "Ricky," Carlos and Megara were both smiling like proud moms.  "That's it.  Did you do this?" Carlos turned to Megara, obviously happy with the results.

     "I only take credit for knowing the routine, rewinding the movie multiple times, yelling at him like Darbus, and practicing with him.  He learned that all by himself, and in one night," Megara nodded to the curly-haired boy, whose smile was growing rapidly.  "You tell anyone about this, and I'll throw your favourite hoodie into a woodchipper."

     "You big softie," Ricky said, unable to stop smiling.  The boy was filled with adrenaline and a sense of euphoria as the pieces of the puzzle were falling in line for him.  Megara shook her head, though she was having trouble keeping a straight face at the sight.  

     "Whatever," she said, uncrossing her arms as she stopped leaning against the wall.  "I gotta go run some shit with Ashlyn, later loser!" she skipped away.

     "She's..." Carlos began.

     "Something else?" Ricky answered.

     Carlos nodded.  "Yes."

     "Yeah.  I know."

     In the two times that Megara had talked to Ashlyn, she had already come to the conclusion that she was pretty much the sweetest person on earth.  "Ash, I swear if you apologize one more time," Megara warned, sitting shoulder to shoulder with the redhead as they went over her original song for Miss Darbus.

     "Right, sorry," Ashlyn said, shaking her head.  Both girls erupted into a fit of chuckles.  Thankfully, they were getting along great, which would be a surprise if they didn't because Ashlyn was the literal definition of sunshine.  Still, Megara was nervous about her performance.  "Okay, from the top?"

     "Sure!" Megara lazily tucked stray hairs from her bun behind her ear.

     "Do you mind helping me with some of the vocals?  I haven't had a chance yet to try an overlay, I've been so busy trying to perfect this thing for baking club—"

     "No worries," Megara smiled at the redhead.  "I'm sure whatever you'll come up with will be brilliant, Ash.  And I'm sure this will be perfect when we perform it live.  Any certain places you want me to come in?" she furrowed her brows as they both stared at the music sheet propped in front of them.

     Ashlyn shook her head.  "Nope, but around here I pictured harmonizing," she pointed with her finger before laying her hand back on the piano keys.  "Just wing it, honestly."

     Megara nodded.  "Alright, you got it," she softly cleared her throat as the girls got into character.  Megara would be forever grateful Ashlyn was taking the time to help her learn a couple of the songs she'd be playing in the musical since she had practically zero experience.  She definitely would be paying her back for all of this somehow.  

     "Seems like a part of me will always have to lose," as soon as Ashlyn started, Megara could already feel goosebumps rising on her arms, even with her sweater.  As they went on and on, Megara chimed in during the chorus, her gaze focused on the keys.  Just as she was starting to get the hang of it, Ashlyn took her hands and voice away from the mix, watching the brunette with a wide grin as she watched her take it by herself.

     "Maybe I should turn around and take the other road, or maybe I'm just looking for what I already know?" Megara sang while she played, and while it came out more as a question than she intended, Ashlyn still loved it.  "I'm just wondering..."

     Then the beat kicked back up.

     This time, Ashlyn continued to sing but left Megara to handle the piano on her own, which she was doing fairly good at.  Oh my God! she wanted to scream.  I'm doing it!  It was like learning to ride a bike again.  If the bike required your fingers to be in multiple places at once as they flew over the keyboard.  And for you to sing at the same time.

     She had completely missed the part where Ricky had followed the sound of music and their melodies through the doors into the theatre room.  She had completely missed the part where Ricky found himself staring at her from the corner of said room, and she certainly missed the part where his eyes nearly popped out of his head once he heard her voice.

#JJ
the drama of it all