— act two, scene seven: when there was me and you

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     "Are we rocking with the hat?" Megara asked Rita and Savannah as she stepped out from behind the curtain to reveal one of the costumes she'd be wearing during the play.  The dark-haired Latina looked like she had stepped right out of a 2000's movie — and honestly — was pretty close to Kelsi's look.  All she needed was lighter hair, but with white pants, a red tank top, and a sheer white sash tied at her waist, she wasn't too far off.

     "Oh my God, yes, you look like a Bratz doll!" Rita exclaimed as Savannah clapped her hands together and squealed.

     "Uh, yeah, until I put these on," Megara said, bringing thin framed glasses to her face.

     "Aww," Savannah wrapped her arms around Megara's figure.  "My little baby's in the musical!"

     "She's not supposed to be here," EJ walked by, lazily pointing in Rita's direction.  "All rehearsals are closed, remember?"

     Rita's smile faded.  "Is that true, should I leave?  K.C. said she needed emotional support, but I never asked Miss Jenn."

     Savannah rolled her eyes.  "Don't mind him, he's got his panties in a twist 'cause his date ditched him last night," she turned to see EJ was still standing there, facing her.  The other two girls fell silent as they watched the two send glares back and forth.  Finally, Savannah just stuck her tongue out at him, looking not a day older than five as she did.  To Rita and Megara's surprise, he did just the same but with wilder eyes before storming away.

     "Are you sure working together is such a good idea?" Megara propositioned the fated question everyone had somehow managed to hold in since the beginning of rehearsal for the play.

     Savannah wiggled her arms, awkwardly shrugging off the topic.  "It's fine.  It's just slightly more difficult than it was before, with two huge personalities on stage.  Not all of us are as lucky as you."

     Wrinkles formed on her forehead as Megara knitted her eyebrows together.  "What do you mean?"

     Before Savannah could speak, a set of thin but firm arms wrapped around Megara's waist from behind, slightly scaring her and making her heart rate go up.  "Hey, there's my playmaker," Ricky said, rocking the girl from side to side.

     When he loosened his grip on her, Megara turned to face him, understanding the horror on her friends' faces.  "Oh my..."

     "Pretty good, right?"

     Megara couldn't help but laugh.  Not even the awkward chuckle, but the deep laughter that came from the bottom of her stomach.  "Oh my God!  No yeah, you look the best.  It is serving Troy," she managed to say between laughs.

     Ricky grinned, flipping his hair to the side.  "Thank you, I try."

     "Okay, guys.  We're gonna get one in for practice, okay?" Big Red announced, alerting the six main members of the cast to the center of the stage for the cover of the program.  Megara was relieved she would just be taking some one-on-one headshots later.  "We're all gonna jump on the count of three.  Ready?  One, two, three."

     "Oh, my gosh."

     Megara, Rita, and Savannah watched as the group tried and failed at their picture for a long time.  Eventually, they all became very agitated with each other.  "I can't look at Ricky.  Is that a problem?" Nini said, giggling.

     "Okay, let's take a five," Big Red said.

     "On five or after five?" Ricky asked before walking off, making a laugh Megara had been holding in finally escape.

     "I think he's mad at us."

     "Did we get a good photo for the program cover?" Kourtney asked as she and Gina hovered over Big Red's shoulders.

     "That's a question I'm not ready to answer," Big Red answered with a smile.

     "Hey, jumping on cue is much more complicated than it sounds, okay?" Gina chuckled.

     "Here," he passed them the camera to overlook the pictures for themselves.

     "Okay."

     "Hey, speaking of complicated," Big Red walked up to K.C., who was looking over sheet music in her hands.  She was standing next to Ricky and Megara, previously telling them about an idea she had for one of the songs.  "What happened with Gina on Friday?"

     K.C. shrugged.  "Dunno."

     Big Red was slightly confused by this answer.  "Okay, but did you find out what happened with her and EJ at the dance?"

     "Dunno about that either."

     He was even more confused by this answer.  Even Ricky and Megara shared a look.  "Okay, should I just live vicariously through someone else?"

     Megara rolled bubblegum in her mouth around with her tongue, preparing to make it into a bubble.  "Probably."

     "Guys, let's just start," Natalie stood up.  "Flip to When There Was Me and You in your script."

     "Oh, should we maybe wait until Miss Jenn gets here?"

     "Well, I don't know.  Apparently nobody's in charge."

     Just then, Carlos came strolling into the room, making everyone shift their attention to him.  "Okay, people, let's stage a number.  I'm late," he clapped his hands together.

     "Is Miss Jenn coming?" Nini asked.

     "Miss Jenn had a small personal matter to attend to and won't be here today.

     "Oh, is everything all right?"

     "Good question.  Everything's fine.  Why would you guys even ask that?" Carlos said, earning various confused looks from everyone.  "Of course, today is the day I'm supposed to stage the boldest concept of the entire show.  The good news is, the idea kinda sells itself," he thought out loud as he touched Nini's shoulder gently.  "Okay.  Gabriella, I need you downstage on this mark.  Troy, stage right.  Chad, stage left box.  Other boys, find a box."

     This is where Megara made an unmistakable face of both confusion and of someone who was appalled.

     "Are they onstage with me while I'm singing?" Nini asked. 

     "Yes, they will be frozen in various poses to come.  As the ballad builds, Nini, you will be wandering through a forest of boys."

     "Wait.  What does that mean?"

     "Do you know what a forest of trees looks like?" Carlos asked.

     "I do."

     "Okay, but with boys.  And—"

     "No, I'm sorry, why?"

     "Because your heart has just been shattered and you can't stop thinking about how amazing Troy is.  Let's go!"

     "No, I'm sorry, but at this point in the show Troy just sold me out to his teammates," Nini said.

     "Well, she's got a point.  What Troy did was kind of unforgivable."

     "Yeah, and it was only Troy, not an entire team of people," Megara pointed to the boys on the boxes, not caring about the attention she was drawing to herself.  "Much less Chad, who she's never even had a conversation with," Megara gestured towards EJ.  When she saw what she thought could be interpreted as a look of approval, Megara sent her a quick and soft wink.

     "Respectfully, Carlos, I think the last thing anyone wants in this moment is four more versions of him."

     "Maybe she could chop down the trees."

     "Or... what if she's surrounded by a forest of loving and supportive sisters," Kourtney twirled her fingers in the air around her, signaling towards the girls sitting around her — including Megara who was on her left.  "Okay?"

     "Hey, that's a good idea."

     "Is it better if she just sings a solo acoustic version?" Ricky raised his hand.

     "Anything's better than this," Megara chimed in.

     "Okay, you guys, this is not a democracy!"

     "Carlos, are you okay?  'Cause it's not that deep.  We can all come back when Miss Jenn gets here."

     "Well, she's not here, and I don't know if she's ever coming back."

     "Wait, what?  Is this a joke?" 

     "She's in deep trouble, you guys," Carlos looked around the room.  "They're saying that she lied on her job application, and there's a school board meeting in less than 24 hours, and she's probably going to lose her job.  I wasn't supposed to tell any of you, but I'm trying to do my best here."

     "I can't believe it."

     "What are we even doing in rehearsal?"

     "Wait, how can we have a show if we don't have a teacher?"

     "You know you could have told me," Seb said quietly.

     "Miss Jenn asked me not to," Carlos responded.

     "Wow, Carlos.  What else are you not telling us?"

     Megara rolled her eyes.  "Yo, chill on Carlos."

     "Hey, let's all breathe for a second," Ashlyn said.

     "Do you wanna be in charge?" Natalie asked.

     "She didn't say that," Kourtney bit in quickly.

     "You know what?  I... I need a minute," Nini announced.

     "Right there with you," Kourtney said before getting up and leaving.

     "Honestly, same."

     "Wait.  Wait.  I... Wait.  Guys."

     "I'm sorry, Carlos.  Come back when Miss Jenn's here."

     "Rehearsals are officially cancelled until further notice!" Carlos yelled out, before noticing that Ricky, Megara, Gina, and K.C. were still in the room.

     "You alright, dude?" K.C. asked, still holding sheet music between her fingers.

     "Yeah, go get a matcha and chill out," Megara said, only half joking, but her face was one hundred percent serious.  Carlos gave the small group a quick nod before storming out.

     "Well, that fell apart fast," Gina said.

     "Nothing fell apart," Ricky said, grabbing Megara's attention from where she stood next to him.  "It's all gonna be okay."

     "Yeah," K.C. said, setting her music down at the piano before taking a seat on the bench.  "Everything's gonna be okay."

     "Do you know something I don't know?" Gina asked, looking between the two of them.

     "She's Miss Jenn.  She's unstoppable," Ricky said, but Megara could easily detect the worry in his tone.  "The whole show's unstoppable."

     "But what if it does stop?"

     K.C. shook her head.  "It can't stop.  It just can't."

     Ricky nodded in agreement.  "We still have too much work to do."

     "Yeah."

     "Hey, Kay, why don't you play us your version of the song?" Megara changed the subject, leaning her body over the piano.  "I was looking forward to hearing it, the more you were talking about it."

     "Yeah, I'll do that when you sing," K.C. scoffed.

     Megara looked over her shoulder at Ricky, who was sitting on one of the building blocks with his guitar nearby.  She was pleased to see he was already sharing that knowing glance with her.  "Yeah, okay.  And then we can compare it to the acoustic idea Ricky had."

     "You serious?" he asked.

     Megara nodded.  "Yeah, this is a safe space, right Gina?"

     Gina nodded.  "Yeah, it sounded cool."

     Megara leaned her elbows back on the piano as she wiggled her eyebrows at the curly-haired boy.  "We've got the time."

    "Hey girl," Savannah said, aware of the look she was receiving from Kourtney as Nini's guard dog.  "Are you okay?"

      Nini hesitantly shook her head.  "Yeah, yeah, I'm okay.  You?"

     Savannah honestly didn't know how to answer that.  "Um... yeah," she nodded.  "I'm doing fine."

     Before the conversation could go any further, EJ and Ashlyn appeared next to them, the latter looking less than impressed with herself and more than likely dragged into something she didn't want to be — especially knowing EJ.  "Savannah," the guy bowed his head, his weirdest way yet of acknowledging her.  "I need a moment with Nini.  Nini, can we talk?"

     "Right now?"

     "Yeah, I'll get to why in a sec, but Miss Jenn isn't the only person with secrets.  I really need to get some stuff off my chest."

     Savannah scoffed, crossing her arms over her chest.  "Yeah right.  That's rich."

     EJ turned to her, almost scaring her with the glimmer of sincerity in his eyes.  "Sav, I need to talk to you too, but... later."

     Savannah then furrowed her eyebrows.  Nini sighed, "Like what?"

     "How much time you have?"

     Ashlyn and Kourtney shared a look between each other.  "I think I'm gonna..."

     "Yeah," Ashlyn looked at Savannah and nodded down the hall, mouthing 'come on' before turning on her heel.  Savannah herself gave Nini and EJ one last look before nodding and leaving, excusing herself from what she was sure was going to be an even more awkward conversation.  If that was even possible.

     Ricky Bowen could not believe his eyes.

     And neither could K.C. Alvarez or Gina Porter.  Back in the drama room, where it was just the four of them joking around since everyone had left, Megara Montez was shamelessly busting out the notes of When There Was Me And You.  Complete with Vanessa-like singing, she laid her back against the wall, dramatically looking on and swiping her forehead with the back of her hand as she sang, "now I know you're not a fairy tale, and dreams were meant for sleeping.  And wishes on a star just don't come true..."

     "Oh my God..." Gina said, unable to contain the grin on her face.  Gina turned to K.C., who had equally wide eyes as the shorter girl's fingers graced the keys of the piano.

     "'Cause now even I can tell that I confused my feelings with the truth," Megara grabbed one of the prop feathered boas and wrapped it around Ricky's body gently, almost breaking character once she saw his face.  "Because I liked the view when there was me and you—" she let the boa fall before sprinting to the other side of the room where the students usually sit in the stands.  "I can't believe that I could be so blind!  It's like you were floating while I was falling and I didn't mind—" Megara clutched her heart as she softly hit the note she was aiming for.  She literally felt like she was on top of the world as she stood on top of the wooden boxes.  "'Cause I liked the view... I thought you felt it too.  When there was me and you..." she trailed off, stepping her converse shoes back on the floor and back to reality.

     "Now how am I supposed to compete with that?" Ricky asked, pretending to pout for a second before returning to his smiley usual self.

     "I feel like I should have gotten it on video," Gina added.  "Something tells me this doesn't happen very often."

     "Thank you, thank you," Megara sighed as she picked up Ricky's water bottle from his backpack and took a big swing.  Wiping her chin with her hand, she said, "I'll be here all week."

     "Meg... you should audition for the next musical, like for a real role," K.C. said as the girl closed her music folder.

      Megara chuckled.  "Yeah right."

     "I'm being serious," K.C. deadpanned.  "You could probably get one of the leads."

     Megara waved her hands.  "Alright, this is why I didn't wanna sing, just drop it," she returned the water bottle to Ricky as she took a seat next to him.  When she saw the look on his face, she groaned.  "No chance, no way!"

     Ricky nodded.  "Alright, be that way," he said, picking up his guitar.  "But if I had your voice I definitely would."

     Silence loomed over the small group for a moment as Megara let Ricky's words sink in.  "But if I had your voice, I would just go record a song and win a Grammy.  Are you gonna sing the song or what?" she cocked her head as he looked into her deep eyes, fearing the ocean that roared behind them.

#JJ
not megara having the main character moment 😋