༺ Actions Have Consequences ༻

     "I know you didn't audition... again... but after your success in the show last semester, I would like for you to participate in this production anyways."

     Megara couldn't believe her ears.  Here she had thought she had just escaped the clutches of the theatre and everything that came with it, and now she was being pulled back in.  Maybe then it was silly of her to think she could watch from a distance.  "You still want to have me in the play?  But I just fought with another kid in front of you," Megara found herself raising her voice, nearly leaping out of her chair, as a distressed Miss Jenn looked at her from across her wooden desk.  The same one Natalie's pet rat had been on last semester when Megara got in trouble before.

     "Yes, and you will be correctly punished for that, but right now I would really just like to understand why you did what you did," Miss Jenn raised her eyebrows expectantly.

     "What was I supposed to do, I thought I was sticking up for him!" Megara exclaimed.  "She was being mean the entire time people were auditioning, including Ricky!"

     "Yes, honey, but there are better ways to handle those kinds of situations—"

     "Big Red is my friend, and I don't have a lot of friends," Megara said as tears swelled in her eyes, threatening to drop, and quite frankly, scaring Miss Jenn.  "I know it was wrong but I was already having a rough day and then when she started picking on them I just got super defensive, something like, took over men and... whatever."

     "Okay honey, what's really the matter here?" Miss Jenn asked, folding her hands together over the papers in front of her, presumably for the show.  Megara knew she kept a lockbox full of her notes and doodled auditions for the shows (apparently EJ had broken into it last semester, she heard from Savannah of course).  But she hadn't the slightest idea what she might have been writing about herself, or for this show, for that matter.

     Megara sniffled through a stuffy nose, eyes already turning red.  She shook her head.  "Nothing.  It's nothing."

     "You know, whatever it is, you can tell me," Miss Jenn calmly said.  "We're a team here and we care for each other."

     Megara stayed completely quiet for a long moment, the only thing moving was a piece of hair that had fallen in her face, only being moved by her shaky breaths.  The rest of her hair was pulled back into a loose braid down the back of the red sweater she wore.  A long black skirt covered her knees and went down to her ankles, frilled socks peering out of black loafers — which Miss Jenn had just told her she couldn't have on the seats anymore so she was nervously tapping her feet on the ground.  She clutched the armrests of the chair as she stared at the soft swirls in the wooden desk.  She knew Miss Jenn was looking at her expectant of an answer, but she couldn't even figure out what was wrong herself.  "I am so sorry, Miss Jenn.  I will be better tomorrow."

     Miss Jenn tilted her head and sighed.  "Sweetie, it's okay to have a bad day every now and then.  Everybody gets them, including me.  Do I wish I got them less and Zack Roy got them more?  Sure.  But they're normal and healthy."

     Megara took a deep breath and shut her eyes.  "What's going on with that anyways?  Is he some guy from your past?"

     "I guess you could say he was my Isaiah back when I was your age," Miss Jenn said with a content hum, seemingly a lot less stressed out than she had been in weeks.  But Megara knew as soon as the show would start, Miss Jenn's nerves would be through the roof again.

     Megara furrowed her eyebrows, bringing her hand to wipe her eye.  "How do you know about that?"

     Miss Jenn shimmied her head as if contemplating her answer, but she decided on being honest with the young girl.  "Ricky kinda clued me in.  He said he thought you might be a little on edge with the breakup."

     Megara sat in silence for a moment before offering a small shrug.  "It wasn't much of a relationship anyways."

     "First love is always hard, but don't let heartache deter you.  Open up your heart, honey.  You might find something unexpected in the places you'd least expect," Miss Jenn said with a small smile.

     Megara squinted her eyes.  "You seem a little too enthusiastic for somebody who's going to be directly competing with the love of her life from high school," she noted.

     "I had a lot of caffeine.  Any other questions?"

     "Nope," Megara collected herself (and her Goofy and Clarabelle tote bag) before heading for the door, closed shut for some privacy.  Megara then slowed her pacing and found herself stopping in place, staring at the wooden door, Miss Jenn going back to scribbling her pen along her paper behind her.  There was one thing still itching her.  "Why did you have me in the play?"

     "What?" Miss Jenn asked.

     Megara turned around completely, trying to loosen her grasp on her tote bag.  "I didn't audition for HSM.  Why did you cast me in the play?"

     Miss Jenn shrugged.  "You were the perfect Kelsi."

     "Why?  You even didn't know me.  Matter of fact, I almost ran you down with my skateboard on your first day here.  If anything, you should have told the principal about it."

     "Honey, part of my job is knowing when to take chances," Miss Jenn said softly.  "You just so happened to be the mysterious kid who also just so happened to be off-book," she said with pointed eyebrows.  Megara bit her lip as she thought about the commotion she caused just by sitting in the audience during the auditions, and how she saved Ricky's ass by basically feeding him Chad's lines.  She couldn't help it that she was the perfect Troy.

     "I just don't get why it had to be me," Megara shrugged again.  She was suddenly feeling lost, and unsure of her place in the theatre, school, and her own life for that matter.  Being in last semester's show was just an accident, something she encountered along the way, but it still had given her a sense of purpose.  Now that she was purposely staying away from this show, she wasn't sure how to feel, or if she had made the right choice.

     "There was just something about you.  My gut was telling me that you were the sparkle we were missing.  It just felt like fate to me.  You're my playmaker."

     Despite still feeling gloomy and unsure, Miss Jenn's words did bring a smile to Megara's face.  "Thanks, Miss Jenn.  I'll... be on my way now."

     Miss Jenn shook her head, pointing the pen in her hand at the girl.  "Stop by the bunker for rehearsals."

     "Why?" Megara furrowed her eyebrows.

     "You're in charge of making sure my Beast performs his best.  There's no room for mistakes, or walking off the stage mid-way performances this time around."

     Megara slowly nodded.  That made it the second time in two days she had heard about it.  "Got it."

     "And I also still have to hand out your punishment for kicking another student."

     Megara groaned.  "I kicked her chair."

     Miss Jenn waved her pen at her again.  "Out.  Go."

     Megara found herself turning back around and leaving her office, frankly a little intimidated by the drama teacher (which she figured was part of the reason that she was such a good teacher).  She didn't plan on spending time in the bunker today, but she still was glad that she would have something to do in her free time since Ricky was now purposely finding himself busy with other things, hobbies, and most likely people.

     It hadn't been too long since the conversation the two had where they agreed on flipping their contract with benefits exclusive to Megara this time.  Still, each day had felt so long (which was crazy, being in the dead of Utah winter), and so much had happened in the last couple of weeks.  Had she seen more of Phillip since he helped her throw the basketball at the end of HSM?  Yes, absolutely.  But just like Ricky, integrating a boy into her life was a big deal for her.

     Yet, she was still surprised to see the two of them talking in the hallway when she turned the corner.

     "Oh, hey guys..." Megara said, both Ricky and Phillip turning their heads to face the girl walking in their direction.  It was just then, staring at the slim boy with dark curls and the stalky boy with dyed-blonde hair, that Megara realized how incredibly dumb her idea was.  As each boy batted their pretty eyes at her, long eyelashes included, she suddenly wished she let Ricky talk her out of it.  "Are you going to the bunker?" 

     "Yeah," Ricky nodded, but Megara saw a fleeting twitch in his eyebrow.  "Are you okay?  You don't look too good."

     Megara wanted to answer that she was fine, but she found that her lips were moving and no words were coming out.  Even then, the movements her lips were trying to move in were interrupted by stutters, so it looked like each time she began to say a thought out loud, she was actually repeating herself over.

     "Are you breathing okay?" Phillip placed a hand on Megara's shoulder, which steadied her.  He glanced at Ricky, and Ricky shared the look back with him, but not a single drop of hate was shared.  And somehow, that scared Megara even more.

     Slowly but surely, she found it in herself to give him an answer.  She nodded, and cracked a smile, never tearing her eyes from his.  "Um, I'm good, Phillip, thank you."

     Ricky cleared his throat, bringing a fist to his mouth and raising his eyebrows.  "Miss Jenn said today's after-school rehearsals are for Belle and Beast only, so looks like I'll be busy all afternoon.  Sorry, honey bun."

     Firstly, Megara visibly cringed at his chosen nickname for her, which brought a smile to Phillip's lips.  Second, she racked her brain for a reason she should be upset over not seeing Ricky this afternoon.  Was there a date she had forgotten to mark on her calendar?

     Thankfully, EJ interrupted her thinking process when he turned the corner around the hallway near them.  However, he also looked like he had seen better days, as he was practically wearing funeral clothes with a black cap covering his eyes.

     "EJ?" Megara asked, ignoring the previous prompt she had been left with.  Going with the unhinged senior of her friend group seemed like a better idea. 

     At the mention of his name, EJ looked up with his usual smile.  He walked over, turning the triangle into a square as he stood in between Ricky and Phillip, right across from Megara.  Despite his cheeriness, something still seemed off.  "Oh, hey guys, didn't see you there.  What's up?"

     "Are you good?" Ricky was the first to ask as the three looked at EJ, already expectant of an answer that was both a complete lie and something that would reveal the truth of how he was feeling.

     "Yeah, yeah, it's... It's my first Valentine's Day without a girlfriend and, uh, stings a little, but, uh, takin' it in stride," EJ said with a nod.

     Valentine's Day.

     How could she have forgotten?  Part of the pride Megara gave herself was from conducting elaborate schemes surrounding the holidays.  There was the matching Halloween pajama Instagram post from October, the fact that she sat in Ricky's lap for all of EJ and Ashlyn's Thanksgiving party, and Ricky had even come to her Aunt Carmen's house for Christmas (and Ricky did in fact post a picture of the guitar she got him on his Instagram).  Not to mention the entire New Year's Eve scheme when they disappeared from the party just to pretend they were making out in the other room.  How could they have missed Valentine's Day?

     "You're dressed in all black," Ricky pointed out.

     "Yeah, just happened, I guess," EJ shrugged.

     Megara knew she had to turn on the acting charm and fast too.  "I'm about to join you in your pity party," she pouted.  "Guess I'll be spending my Valentine's at home with a box of discounted chocolates and Rory Gilmore again."

     "You and your Gilmore Girls," Phillip shook his head, chuckling at the thought.

     "Well, a couple of us were gonna go and see the new Plants versus Aliens movie after school if you wanna come," EJ offered.  "It'll be me, Eddie, Natalie, and Phillip," he motioned to the left of himself where Phillip stood, and gave her an awkward wave.

     Megara felt her heart flip!  Still, just as quick as the mood turned up, her heart sunk back down.  She slowly turned to Ricky.  "If it's okay with you?"

     Ricky waved his wrist.  "Pfft, if it's okay with me?  You... go.  Have so much fun, you deserve it."

     Megara nodded.  "Um, okay.  Well, thanks guys," she smiled.  "Can't wait."

     "What are you guys doing?" Miss Jenn's voice filled the hallway, starting the four teens.  "Places for the first rehearsal of the semester!" she insisted, shaking the stack of papers in her hand (presumably the scripts) at them, encouraging them to flee down the corner and go get ready for the show Megara had already forgotten all about.

     MEGARA: Okay, so Ricky wasn't kidding when he said they'd be staying after school because Miss Jenn was worried about him and Ashlyn nailing the waltz.  Kourtney, as Mrs. Potts, had been having a little trouble adjusting to her role as an onlooker in someone else's love life. To be fair, there was already great pressure put on her shoulders to get this scene absolutely right. Miss Jenn had done the same with last semester's show; starting off with the hardest number since it takes the longest to learn.   During the auditions, Savannah blew everyone away with her cover of "Give Your Heart A Break" by Demi Lovato, so it wasn't a surprise that she got the role of the singing dresser drawer that leads Belle.  So at least Savannah and Ashlyn were having fun on stage, which is more than I can say for Miss Jenn...

     "Okay, great guys, go ahead and take a long five," Megara saw Miss Jenn sigh as the few left the stage.  To be quite frank, Megara would be as stressed out if not more if she had to worry about Ricky being the leading man again.  However, despite his nerves, it seemed like having Ashlyn, Savannah, and Kourtney along with Carlos up there next to him, he was doing a lot better.

     Megara took this moment to stretch out her neck and shoulders, everything seeming so tense today.  "Is it just me, or is it a little warm in here?" she quietly asked KC, who was sitting next to her just as bored.

     KC shrugged.  "Probably 'cause this space is so small and we're all smashed together like a city bus.  Just take off your sweater."

     Megara clicked her tongue, knowing she was only wearing a white tank top underneath.  She knew Miss Jenn didn't care about the dress code, and more importantly, it went with her skirt and shoes, so she begrudgingly decided she would take KC's advice and take it off.  After she slid it over her head, she folded it over and tucked it into her tote bag.

     "Okay, while my Beauty and Beast are on break, I want to quickly run through Gaston's first scene," Miss Jenn announced, peering down at the clipboard in her hands.  "I want to introduce Miss Montez to the cast once again, this time playing a maiden in love with Gaston," Miss Jenn waved her up to the front where EJ and a couple of other girls were already standing.

     Megara groaned as she heard Miss Jenn announce her true intentions for luring her into the rehearsals today as clapping erupted from the drama students around her, including Phillip and Ricky who were clapping the loudest.  "No, no, please don't clap for me," she ran her hands along her skirt as she stepped off the bleachers and made her way to the front.  Megara tucked her bangs behind her ear as she faced Miss Jenn.  "Why do I feel like you all planned this against me?"

     "Hmm, really?" Miss Jenn said rather smugly.  "Look, it's just twenty singing lines."

     "Twenty singing lines?" Megara's eyes widened.  "No, I can't do this, I really can't."

     "Honey..." Miss Jenn placed her hands on Megara's shoulders.  "You are my shining star.  And also... this is your punishment," she tilted her head.  "If you have to have it like this, wouldn't you rather just own it?"

     Megara sighed.  "Yeah... okay, whatever."  She took her place next to EJ, receiving a script from Miss Jenn.  She was already making mental notes about highlighting it since that's what she did with Kelsi.  However, as Kelsi, she mostly had to sit behind a piano.  As she glanced at the script, she quickly noticed how different in attitude and speech this new role would be.  There were parts written in that said, "heart eyes".

     "It's not so bad," EJ tried to muster up a comforting smile for the girl, but she wasn't so much buying it.

     "Give me a while to own up to it, Gaston," she muttered.

     "Okay, here we are.  It's Ashlyn's locker," Big Red came to a stop as Ricky and Megara trailed behind him.  All they knew was that Big Red needed help with something planned as his valentine to Ashlyn, and they pretty much had no choice but to go along with him.

     "This is what you wanted to show me?" Ricky asked, leading Megara to elbow him in his arm, which he clutched instantly.

     "Look, uh, I know Ashlyn is super down to earth, but I gotta be honest.  When I found out she got the lead in the show, something happened inside of me, and then, I had to use the restroom," Big Red said.

     Ricky and Megara quietly looked at each other, confused, before choosing to speak up.  "Okay, you don't have to say every part out loud," Ricky said, tilting his head cutely.

     Megara nodded, crossing her arms over her chest as her sweater was still in her tote bag.  "I have to agree."

     "I'm not the kind of guy that dates the lead in the show," Big Red explained.  "I don't wanna blow it with her on Valentine's Day.  I mean, the whole day is about the color red.  I should have this on lock."

     Megara smiled (for one of the first times that day).  "I love how you're thinking.  Go on."

     "Okay, so, I came up with an idea to do a little singing telegram for her, and it starts with me popping out of this bad boy," Big Red tapped on her locker.

     "You're breaking in," Ricky stated.

     "We traded locker combos as an act of trust.  Her idea."

     "Okay..." Ricky couldn't seem any less uninterested.

     "Ready?"

     "For what?" Ricky and Megara asked at the same time.

     "To give me notes.  I'm gonna run it," Big Red said as he unlocked it, opened the thin door, and stepped inside.

     "Red, are you sure that's such a good idea?" Megara stepped closer to the locker, pressing her ear against it in an effort to hear him better, but it went radio silent.  She turned to look at Ricky, who even looked confused.

     "Uh..." Big Red finally said.  "I think it locked."

     "No," Megara groaned, throwing her head back and running a hand through her bangs.  "Are you being for real right now?"

     "We're going to get help," Ricky pulled Megara's forearm, leading her away from the locker.  "Stay put."

     The two walked off, noticing how completely and totally quiet and empty the hallways were.  On top of that, red and pink decor was strung up everywhere you looked from paper hearts taped to lockers to glitter confetti on the floor.  She was afraid Ricky wasn't going to say a thing, but finally, thankfully, he did.

     "I left your Valentine in your locker."

     Okay... maybe she didn't expect him to say that.  Anything but that.  She turned to him confused, a wrinkle on her forehead in between her perfectly trimmed eyebrows.  "My Valentine?"

     Ricky nodded, bringing his shoulders up for an exaggerated shrug.  "Just a little something.  I kinda owe you for Christmas."

     Megara shook her head, stopping in her tracks.  "Ricky, that was a gift.  You don't owe me anything, really."

     "Still... you're always taking care of me, doing stuff for me, you helped me all last semester with Nini," he walked in a circle before eventually coming to a stop.  She watched his every move as he avoided eye contact, but he finally brought his gaze to her eyes.  "A card is the least I can do."

     Megara chuckled at the fact that he already gave away what he must've slipped into her locker without her knowing.  Still, Ricky was as serious as ever.  "Okay, well, thank you, Bowen."

     He nodded, grabbing her forearms and stepping forward on his left foot to place a kiss on her cheek.  Despite the times he had been at liberty to decorate her face with his lips, she suddenly felt as if this was the first time he had done it.  When he pulled away from her, he searched her eyes for a sign that she didn't like it, but he didn't find a single one.  Her doe eyes only watched as he awkwardly nodded again, mumbling something about taking care of Big Red and how she should enjoy the rest of her day before skipping off.

     Megara furrowed her brows, confused about his sudden hurriedness.  She stood for a moment as she thought over her day, how long it had been and it was barely the end of the school day.  Just as she was drifting far off in her own thoughts, she heard the scuffing of shoes walking behind her.

     She whipped around (braid swinging) to face Phillip, who was coming toward her with his backpack.  "Hey," he chuckled.  "You look like you've just seen a ghost."

     For whatever reason, she felt like a deer in headlights — caught in the act.  Guilt was something she hadn't been expecting, especially because as far as anybody knew, Ricky was her boyfriend through and through.

     But guys don't like girls who have boyfriends.

     Megara quickly shook it off.  "Ah, you just scared me a little, that's all.  Are you, uh, leaving for the day?"

     Phillip nodded.  "Wanna walk me to my car?"

     The word "no" blasted into her mind first, but the word "yes" won by jumping into her throat.  "Yes... yeah... let's go do that," they turned towards the exit doors together, legs weighed down by concrete as she left East High for the day with him.

     KC Alvarez couldn't stop thinking about Gina Porter, and it was eating her up alive.

     She blamed it on the fact that Nini, the other half of the new relationship, was so far from her and therefore she was growing bored of the usual antics at East High without her there to keep her company.  Of course, it would make sense for her to now insert herself in the drama surrounding her friends.  It just so happened that Gina was being extra candid about her loneliness on this particular Valentine's Day.

     Since Gina's mom had left her to live with Ashlyn, KC could sense something was off.  At first, it was all fun and games, like a sleepover every night (which she knew was a big deal to Gina, since she had never been invited to one).  However, despite the constant moving around, KC knew Gina was experiencing a type of homesickness along with just missing her mom.

     KC herself wasn't exceptionally close to her own mom, but she couldn't imagine living away from her at this age, much less in someone else's house.  As Gina sat next to her in rehearsal, going on and on about some old memories of competing in various classes and competitions as a child, she noticed the one thing all her stories had in common was her mom.  And the fact that Gina was so visibly torn about spending this holiday away from her mom was tearing KC from the inside out.

     Something KC always did when she made a mistake was blamed it on her age.  She couldn't stress enough about how underdeveloped her brain was, but that was basically as far as the argument goes.  She didn't have a good excuse for what she would do next, except blame it on a disease plaguing her brain.  And even though she knew it was wrong, she still walked into a teddy bear gift shop on her lunch break and ordered a special one to be shipped to Gina's house.

     Even though at the time it seemed like one small gift, KC still thought about it for the rest of the day, even on her walk to the pizzeria in the evening to pick up dinner for her family.

     "How do I know he's not going to hurt her?" Ricky asked Big Red as he fiddled with the cheese container on the counter.  Rehearsals didn't last as long as he thought they would (surely since they were missing a good portion of their cast, and he still had time to make it to the movie theater but chose against it for Megara to get her alone time with Phillip.  "For all I know, he's just playing her.  He could date anybody.  Why does he have to like Meg?"

     Big Red furrowed his red eyebrows, standing behind the counter Ricky sat at, looking down at him.  "Dude, I asked you what you wanted on your slices?"

     Ricky sighed.  "Just... I don't know."

     KC opened the front door, a quick breeze passing through behind her.  Big Red smiled as she walked over to them.  "Hey, KC."

     "Sup, Biggie," she took out her phone to read her text messages.  "I need to place an order."

     "Go ahead, since Ricky still doesn't know what he wants," Big Red motioned to the saddened boy as he flipped the page of his notebook to start fresh.

     KC nodded.  "I need a medium pepperoni pizza, an order of garlic bread, a box of cookies, a gallon of lemonade, and an extra order of cheesy bread."

     "Stocking up for hibernation?" Ricky asked as Big Red jotted down everything she said, tacking the paper up for the cooks in the back to start working on.

     "Close, family game night," KC explained, glancing at her phone screen.  "Oh shit, Nini's calling but I have to use the bathroom really bad.  I walked all the way from my house."

     "I could... talk to her for a minute if you want?" Ricky offered.

     "Okay, yeah, here," KC handed him her phone, sure enough, a picture of Nini brightened the screen as the words "Nini <3" and "Answer" leaped at him.  Ricky chuckled, he couldn't remember the last time he spoke to Nini, much less answered one of her calls.

     As KC ran to the restroom, Ricky slid his finger across the screen and grinned as Nini's face appeared on the video call.  "Hey... happy v-day!"

     "Ricky!" Nini said.  "What's up?"

     "Nothing, here at the pizza shop, KC had to go to the bathroom but she didn't want to miss you so I am stalling until she gets back."

     "Aww, you guys.  I'm glad to see you're all hanging out today," Nini smiled.

     "Well, right now it's only me, her, and Big Red here, but it was really fun at school earlier.  You would have loved it," he answered truthfully.  "I know KC is not one of the most personable people ever, but even she said she liked the decorations Miss Jenn helped put up."

     Just as Nini was clutching her heart from the thought of all her friends and girlfriend being together on one of the best winter holidays, Big Red's mom walked by.  "Ricky, what are you doing here?" she asked.  "I gave Meggy the day off so you could take her out."

     Ricky smacked his lips together, how could he answer that?  He had no good reason for why he wasn't romancing her at the moment, other than the fact that she didn't like him.  "It just didn't work out," he shrugged.  "She's... with her other friends right now."

     Momma Red shook her head as she walked away.  "I don't know with you kids."

     "Ricky..." Nini said from the other side of the phone line.  "What's going on?"

     The curly-haired boy was quiet for a long moment.  Nini was one of his oldest friends, and lying to her was just something that he didn't have in him.  More than that, she was smart, and she definitely knew when something was amiss with him.  "Nothing, it's just like... this weird patch right now."

     "Does this weird patch have to do with your girlfriend at all?"

     His girlfriend.  While at first the idea of only the two of them plus Big Red knowing about their secret dating agenda seemed like it was the best option, the lies were starting to pile up and he could feel the weight on his shoulders.  Still, he couldn't see telling Nini the truth without talking to Megara about it first, so he aimed for the next best truth he could find.  "I just want her to be happy."

     "Well, you already do a great job at doing that," Nini tilted her head as she offered a comforting smile.  "And whatever you chose to do — and I'm talking about whatever, you know — Megara will understand because she understands you the best."

     Ricky rubbed his arm as he let Nini's words sink in.  Every time Ricky needed guidance, Megara was always there for him with the right thing to say or with the perfect way to comfort him.  "She really does, doesn't she?"

     Nini nodded.  "I think she knows you better than you know yourself."

alexa play yours by conan gray ):
some tweeting for your visual stimulation (:

i literally procrastinated my midterm for this so i hope you like them <3