— act two, scene eleven: the real-time midlife crisis

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     Megara felt crinkles in her forehead form as she joined the rest of her cast members in their small group, following the sound of firefighters working in the room and the smell of smoke.  The day was like any other — she came to school sporting jeans and a cream-colored crew neck complete with a pair of dusty red Converse and her hair in two braids, expecting nothing exciting or eventful to happen.  She recognized a head of curls quickly and noted he was standing by some of the other guys from the club.  She pulled one of her dark blue earbuds out of its place, the sound of Frank Ocean getting quieter as she tried to focus on what was going on.

     "Fire ripped through half of your costumes and the sprinklers ruined a bunch of your sets.  I'm sorry, but I'm gonna have to red tag the entire backstage area for a month at least," one of the firefighters explained.

     "Did she just say costumes?" Kourtney asked in disbelief.

     "Oh my God, I'm so sorry, Kourtney," Megara said in a sincere voice, placing a hand on the girls shoulder in the most comforting way that she could.

     "Okay.  Okay, listen up.  Hug your neighbor, take a moment, and let's reconvene in the cafeteria after school to talk about options," Miss Jenn instructed.  "Nini and Ricky, spread the word."

     "Got it," Nini was the first to understand and nod.  "Yeah, of course."

     "Ricky?" Miss Jenn tried to get his attention.  "Ricky?"

     "Huh?" everyone turned to Ricky as it had been obvious that he wasn't paying attention.   "Sorry.  After school in the cafeteria.  Got it," he finally nodded.  Megara pressed her lips together and held back a sigh.  So much for an uneventful day.

     "He spent the night?"

     On the way to the cafeteria after learning about the fire that took place, Megara couldn't help but spill some details about her Thanksgiving break to her friends, especially to Rita who hadn't been there to see it all happen.

     While Megara dressed in comfortable winter clothes, Rita sported a burnt orange skirt with a black turtleneck.  Savannah didn't believe in seasonal colors as much as the others did, for she was still wearing bright pink jeans with a white lace long sleeve.  And K.C. looked similar to Megara, except her sweater had a worn-down Green Day logo on it.  The four definitely had different ideas of style and comfort, but together they worked perfectly.

     Megara sighed as they entered the chilly cafeteria, their sounds echoing as their small class were the only ones at the school after hours.  "Could you be any louder?"

     "Sorry," Rita quickly said.  "I just had you mistaken for someone who actually let a boy get a glimpse at the real you."

     Megara shuddered.  "No, never that."

     Rita grinned, but Savannah actually chuckled.  "You should have seen her, Rih.  They were all over each other."

     "Was not," Megara defended herself.

     "Was too!" Savannah quickly exclaimed as they took seats at one of the lunch tables.

     "No chance, no way!" Megara nearly shouted with a look of disgust, earning some looks from some of the other students.

     "Nothing to see here," K.C. said with an obviously fake smile.

     "What are we talking about?" Big Red approached the girl group of four.

     "Don't ask," K.C said.

     Rita sat at the top of the table on Megara's right and rubbed her knees with her hands in an effort to keep warm.  "Apparently Megara and Richard are in love and I missed it," she explained.

     Big Red snickered.  "Oh that," he said before seeing the look on Megara's dead serious face.  "Um... yeah, I think Ricky is more smitten, but you didn't hear that from me," he nodded and flipped a quick finger gun.

     "Hear what?" Ricky asked as he walked up from behind Big Red.

     "Ah, just the man I wanted to see!" Megara said quickly before anyone could ask any more questions. She patted the spot on her left with an eager smile.  "Come sit."

     "Okay," Ricky smiled as he swung up the table quickly and took a seat promptly next to her.   Big Red sent them an encouraging smile before taking a seat near their feet. 

     Even though the drama club was experiencing a bit of a rough patch with the fire and everything, Megara couldn't help but smile as she thought at the memory of them singing on these very cafeteria tables in an effort to save Miss Jenn's job.

     "What are you thinking about?" Ricky whispered, garnering Megara's attention.  "Is it me?"

     Megara snickered, bringing her hand to his cheek and swiping him away.  "In your wildest dreams," she whispered back.

     "Wait, where's Gina?" Miss Jenn asked loud enough to capture their attention and stop their conversations.

     "Who knows," K.C. answered with a grumble that surely didn't go unnoticed by her group of friends.

     "I think she's going through a family thing right now," Ashlyn awkwardly tried to ignore K.C.'s comment.

     "Okay, prayers to our Gina," Miss Jenn said before following up with a deep sigh.  "I'm really not sure what to say.  You've all worked so hard.  I've seen all of you grow so much.  But if we don't have a theatre, we don't have a show."

     "Wait, what?"

     "Come on, Miss Jenn, we've gotta do something."

     "I think we... I don't know, I guess we could consider other venues?" Miss Jenn suggested.

     "Oh, oh, what about the old Kingston downtown?"

     "It's condemned."

     "The Lucky Ducky Puppet Pavilion?"

     "It's a massive Starbucks now."

     "How about the El Rey?" Carlos suggested, to which everyone agreed.

     "Any other ideas?"

     "Miss Jenn, I feel like you just had a really weird reaction to what I just said."

     "Sorry, what did you say?"

     "Carlos is asking if we can try and use the El Rey Theatre."

     "My Uncle Ruben is the listing agent, and the last thing they had in there was a fashion show, like, four years ago," Carlos explained.

     "This place has 500 seats."

     "Four ninety-eight, but who's counting," Miss Jenn said and then shook her head as if discounting the thought.  "I can't imagine we'd be able to get in on such short notice."

     "Sounded like a yes to me!  The El Rey Theatre it is!  Miss Jenn, aren't you excited?"

     "Yes, I am that feeling.  Wildcats, let's grab all the props and costumes that didn't get damaged, and let's load out."

     "Why do I feel like there's a story there I'm unaware of?" Megara asked out loud to no one in particular.

     "There most likely is," Rita answered her back, earning nods from the small group of six.

     Since she had been hanging around so often and the club was in the midst of its frenzy, Rita had decided to help pack up and move as much as they could from the show and offer her time for anything else they might need.  Right now, it seemed like she was providing emotional support to Kourtney and Big Red as she helped them move what little props were saved from the fire.  KC quietly walked beside them.

     "On your right, heads up!" Seb and Ashlyn appeared behind them giggling as they carried a trunk full of stuff from their show.

     "Sorry!" Seb said through laughter.

     "Don't apologise!  This is, like, a weird adventure!" Ashlyn exclaimed.

     "Looks like the cast is in pretty good spirits," Kourtney said after Ashlyn and Seb were out of earshot.

     "Yeah.  Actors, man.  Fire or no fire, they still have their charm and perfect skin," Big Red countered.

     Rita chuckled.  "Yeah, seriously.  Either y'all are rubbing off on Megara, or I didn't realize how careless she was in the first place."

     "It's a little silly, but I feel like I lost a little piece of myself when those costumes went up in flames," Kourtney frowned.

     "I hear you.  That papier-mâché basketball took me three weeks to make."

     "Three weeks?" Kourtney asked, mixed between amazed and confused.

     "I kept gluing my fingers together," Big Red shrugged.

     "Wow, I'm glad you had the sheet music with you at home then," Rita said as she turned to her sister.

     K.C. shrugged. "I guess."

     "Right this way, follow me.  Smell that smell, the theatre," Miss Jenn instructed once they arrived.  It had been a somewhat boring ride since Megara opted to sit with KC in the back of the bus (who ended up taking a nap on the ride over), leaving Nini to sit next to the open seat next to Ricky, which ended up leaving Megara even more anxious than she was before.  "Mould, it's a sign of life.  Everyone, watch your step.  And let me know if you haven't had a tetanus shot recently, okay?" Miss Jenn said as she watched everyone settle in.  "Okay, good.  Okay!  Let's have some real talk.  Welcome to tech rehearsal.  I don't know if you've noticed, but most of the tech in this particular theatre appears to be hand-cranked.  Natalie Bagley, my dear, my stage manager, this is your chance to be the hero.  Where is she?  What is it?  What's happening?" she slightly started panicking as she saw everyone looking around confused.

     "Natalie Bagley's getting her wisdom teeth out."

     "Okay.  Okay, so, I'm down a stage manager, my "Taylor's" MIA..."

     "Gina's okay," Ricky waved his hand.  "She's a fighter and she'll be back for opening night, right?"

     "Did she text you?" KC asked, surprising Ricky by how serious the small girl looked.

     "Uh, no," Ricky shook his head.

     "Did she text you?" Nini repeated KC's own question to her, but before she could answer, a beanbag fell from the ceiling and landed in the middle of the stage, catching everyone by surprise.

     "Totally normal," Miss Jenn reassured them.  "Just, heads-up, from now on.  All righty.  Big Red, do you know how to hang a light?"

     "I know how to hang out?" Big Red said, unsure.

     Since she was standing right next to him, Megara raised her palm to him so he could give her a high five.  "Nice," she said with a head nod.

     "Cool," Miss Jenn.  "Carlos, let's set marks to light Status Quo.  Troy and Gabriella, find somewhere quiet and run the rooftop scene.  It's been a while and I need you opening night ready by dinnertime, okay?"

     "We're staying through dinner?" Ashlyn asked what the rest of them were thinking.  "I have baking club tonight... which is completely irrelevant in the midst of our tragedy."

     "Mind if I borrow him?" Nini approached the dark-haired girl, throwing her off as she hadn't expected it.  Like at all.

     "Hm?" Megara asked, leaning forward.  This was the first time they had talked directly to each other since the day of the auditions, each time after that it had been because of rehearsals and someone else was always in the room.

     "Ricky," Nini clarified.  "Is it alright with you if we go practice our lines by ourselves?"

     It hit Megara then that because she was presumed his girlfriend (and that Nini respected it) that Nini was asking her if it was okay if they would be locked in a room together with absolutely nobody else around.  Normally, girlfriends would probably say no to that.  But Megara said...

     "Um, yeah, don't be ridiculous," with the wave of her hand.  "He's all yours," she said, watching as Nini then smiled and walked out of the room with Ricky following behind.

     He mouthed a quick "thank you" and sent her an enthusiastic thumbs up.  She sent him an obviously fake smile with a matching thumb up, to which he just rolled his eyes.  But Megara didn't care about that.

     Ricky and Nini were about to be alone in the same room for the first time since their breakup.  Megara wanted to feel relieved, everything they had been working so hard for was about to pay off, yet she only felt more stressed out and overwhelmed by everything going on.  She reduced herself to the side of the stage since she wouldn't be needed for a while anyways, and brought her knees to her chest and hands to the sides of her face.  Yet the only thing she could think of was Ricky and Nini off in another part of the theater, probably laughing over something incredibly dumb he said, and there was nothing she could do to stop it.  Matter of fact, she caused this.

     Shut up, she thought to herself.  There was no reason to overthink what could go wrong.  She was sure that Nini would easily fall for Ricky again, and she knew Ricky was still deeply into Nini, and that was that.

     "Yikes, this place is not creepy at all," Nini commented once they found an empty storage room nearby.

     "Right?  Wow," he nervously agreed.

     "Yeah."

     "So, how you been?" Ricky asked.

     "Fine, and you?" Nini barely raised her head to look at him.

     "I'm okay.  Look, about the other night at Ashlyn's party—" Ricky began.

     "Oh, no, it's totally fine.  I get it."

     "You do?"

     "Yeah, I mean, you have a new girlfriend, you get to call her super sweet pet names, what is there to discuss?"

     He thought Nini must have been referring to when Ricky briefly called out to Megara and said, "I've got your coat, sunshine," and helped her put it on before they left the party to walk home.  Ricky smiled at the thought.  "Cool, then we don't have to talk at all."

     "Sounds like a plan," Nini added, taking a seat at the piano against the wall.  "Page 53?"

     "Page 53," he agreed.

     "This should be fun."

     Ricky relaxed his shoulders and stretched his arms.  "If I mess up, don't tell Megara.  We've been practicing nearly every day and she thinks she's good enough to become a life coach or something."

     "You guys... practice together?" Nini asked.

     Ricky nodded.  "I'm all about the work," he cleared his throat before going on to read the script.  "Remember in kindergarten, you'd meet a kid, know nothing about them, and then ten seconds later, you're best friends?" 

     "Yeah."

     "Singing with you felt like that.  I never really thought about singing, that's...  Actually, sorry, do you remember, in kindergarten, when I couldn't pronounce your name?"

     "You had a hard time with vowels back then," Nini nodded.

RICKY: I couldn't say my A's.  So, I called her Nini.  And it just sorta stuck.  Megara too, of course now she would probably kill me if I didn't call her by her government name — and sometimes she still gets mad when I call her Meg, but there was a time, it was such a long time ago when I used to call her mouse because it was the closest I could get to her full name.  We actually used to have a lot of dumb nicknames that didn't really make sense to each other — I'm not even sure they made sense to ourselves.  But it was so much fun.  I should bring that back.

     "I still can't think of you as a Nina," Ricky shrugged as he leaned up against the wall.

     "You could just call me buddy," now he knew she was referencing when at Ashlyn's party he said, "see you later, buddy."  It was honestly between that or pal.  Megara gave him some tips for getting under her skin, and it had been working.

     "Sorry about that one," he said with a light chuckle.  "And just for the record, I was Richard Bowen until first grade, when you started calling me Ricky.  So, pot, kettle."

     "Okay, I'm sorry, but nobody under the age of 50 should be named Richard, and I couldn't look you in the eye.  And it was better than any nickname Megara had dubbed you, right?  Remember curly fries?  Or Peter Pan?  Or even string bean?"

     Ricky laughed.  "Ouch, but fair point.  Was it the name or the fact that I microwaved your Bratz doll that year?"

     Nini furrowed her eyebrows together.  "I didn't have any Bratz, I used to play with Barbies."

     "Oh," Ricky seemed a little taken aback by this answer.  However, he seemingly quickly shook it off.  "How about we warm up our voices a little bit?" he suggested as he took a seat at the piano next to Nini and began pressing a singular key.  "Me, me, me, me, me, me, me, me, me Nini, Nini, Nini, Nini, Ni—"

     "All right, Ricky, let's focus," Nini tried redirecting his attention to the scripts in front of them.

     "Oh, hang on," he felt his back pocket buzz, and for a moment he thought it might be Megara was an update with how bored she was.  "It's Gina," he said before clicking on the text she sent him.  "Sorry, drama with my mom's job.  I think we have to leave a day early.  Let KC know it's nothing personal."

     Even though Nini seemed a little bit confused, she sighed and placed a hand over her heart.  "Oh, I feel so bad for her."

     "I can't even imagine.  After all that work, just up and leaving," Ricky (the boy who couldn't handle change) said.

     "I get it, though.  Moving is a big deal.  I mean, I just mentioned this performing arts school I was looking at to Kourtney, and she was not exactly thrilled for me," Nini said honestly, and he could tell she had been holding it in for a while.

     "Wait, that's amazing," Ricky turned to face her.  "Like a drama school?"

     Nini nodded.  "It's in Denver.  Yeah, it's never gonna happen.  It's, like, super-elite.  They'd never take me."

     "What?  You're, like, one-in-a-million talented."

     "What are you talking about?" Nini said with a knowing smile.  "You've never left Salt Lake, you don't know how much talent there is out there."

     "That's not fair," Ricky countered.  "My parents took me to Disneyland once and I met a very talented Minnie Mouse," he said proudly.

     "Yes, Minnie Mouse, your first crush," Nini quirked her eyebrow as she flashed another knowing smile.

     The stupid smile from Ricky's face slid off as he realized what she was getting at (or maybe was overthinking it from his own thoughts about the current state of his love life), and he turned his gaze to the concrete wall in front of him.  Now that she said it, he wasn't even sure who he did have a crush on first.  He always thought he could never have a chance with Megara in a million years, so he retaliated with her attitude with antics.  But there was a reason he wanted to meet Minnie Mouse, and it was the same reason why Megara was dubbed mouse — there was one other Disney character the dark-haired beauty had been obsessed with as a child before her Beauty and the Beast phase.

     "Hey, guys?" Big Red called out in search of the duo, swinging open the door to the storage room.  "Oh hey, guys.  We're ordering pizza while Miss Jenn is having some kind of real-time midlife crisis."

     "It's possible Ricky's having one too," Nini motioned towards the boy sitting next to her.

     "You good, dude?" Big Red asked.

     "Um, yeah..." Ricky said, but he still sounded a bit unsure.  "We'll catch up later."

     "Okay..." Big Red nodded.  "You both good with pepperoni and soy cheese?"

     "Yeah, oh, yeah," Nini quickly agreed, waiting for Ricky's response.

     Finally, the boy swallowed the lump in his throat and responded back with, "Yeah, that sounds good to me."

#JJ
meg and nini i will avenge you i promise