chapter eight
read through disasters pt 2

The next day they had all planned to put on a production of Fabulous at the pool to impress Corbin Bleu when he came. Dylan thought it was slightly stupid but she had agreed to dance so she really couldn't back out now. Everything had to pink, of course, so she had on a white bikini top on with pink hearts, pink shorts and a pair of pink converse. Her hair was in braids tied with pink ribbon.

"I think he's coming." Ricky stated.

They all gasped and scrambled to get into their positions. Dylan sat casually on one of the lawn chairs, the choreography running through her mind. Ricky pressed play on the radio, and the music for Fabulous rang out of it.

"It's out with the old and in the with the new, goodbye clouds of grey, hello skies of blue." Carlos sang.

However, when Dylan looked up, she saw her boyfriend sheepishly pushing his way through all of them. Dylan let out a sigh, staring at him with a weak smile.

"And cut!" Ricky shouted, turning off the radio. "It's just EJ."

EJ raised his hands in surrender at all of their disappointed expressions from him ruining their performance. "Wow, sorry I'm not Corbin Bleu." He then pointed to Carlos' trousers. "Hey, I don't remember Sharpay wearing chinos."

Carlos stood up from his towel. "Excuse you. Flawless skin and sunlight do not mix."

Dylan stood up, crossing her arms over her chest. "EJ, come on. Where's Corbin?"

"Gee, I don't know." EJ replied. "Maybe your secret late-night hiking buddy Ricky knows, huh?"

She blinked in confusion at the... jealousy in his voice. Like always, Dylan really had no idea what was going on.

"What?" Dylan let out.

"You're funny and you never make things weird, EJ." Ricky chuckled.

Gina then raised her hand, her eyebrows knit together. "Also I was there and she didn't come with Ricky and I, she was with Ash. Are you alright?"

EJ ignored her, and Gina frowned, which made Dylan frown. "Look, Corbin's helicopter had a maintenance issue. He'll be here any second. Are we totally sure about doing this?"

"We wanna impress Corbin Bleu." Carlos explained. "And how else does one impress a person except by performing elaborate musical numbers for them?" There was the sound of a helicopter approaching and Carlos became panicked. "Places, everyone! Someone hand me my sunglasses!"

Dylan locked eyes with EJ momentarily. His eyes lit up at the sight of her, like they normally did but then he just let out a sigh and began walking away. She stared at his retreating figure, wondering why he didn't give her a kiss like he had since they got together before falling back onto her chair.

Honestly, Dylan just felt like she was going through the motions. The song began again, and Carlos and Kourtney sang to it. She did her choreography, dancing with partners, kicking and twirling herself around. It was all kind of a blur, honestly. She just wanted it to be over, so she just danced like she was asked.

Finally, the song ended, meaning the dance ended. Dylan struck her last pose on the chair and watched as Kourtney hip-bumped Carlos, making him fall into the pool fully clothed. She raised her eyebrows in amusement as Kourtney giggled and fanned herself with the pink fan she had.

"Still no Corbin." Ashlyn voiced. "Just Dewey."

Dewey clapped. "Whoo! Now that is a catchy song. Is that Ariana Grand?"

Kourtney laughed loudly, Dylan standing up to give her a hug, praising her on pushing Carlos. The two girls laughed together as they made their way back to the barn to get ready for the day. Dylan changed into a blue summer dress and her white converse, tying her hair up in a ponytail with a white ribbon. She then made her way towards the barn for their first read-through of Frozen. She twirled a piece of her hair around her finger, having pulled some out to frame her face.

Dylan was nervous, she was playing Elsa and it was Corbin Bleu and he was going to be there with a camera. She stood next to Ricky. All of them were in a circle, doing their usual exercises. Dylan stretched her arms above her head.

"Okay, he really is coming this time." EJ announced, walking down the steps from the stage and holding his binder. "Everyone, act like you're taking this serious and warming up."

"That is literally what they're doing EJ." Val argued. "Take it down to a three. You're at a seven out of ten."

EJ sighed, standing behind the table that was placed there when the gates swung open. The entire group paused, turning to see Corbin Bleu walking in, a camera man following him. Dylan's eyes widened and she had to force herself to let out a breath.

"Corbin's on the clock. It's go-time." Corbin spoke loudly.

"Mr Bleu, sir. We have a killer first read-through plan for today." EJ rushed out with a tight smile on his face.

"Right." Corbin nodded, walking further into the barn.

"Okay, yeah, you make the rounds, good." EJ pulled an awkward face. Ricky stepped forward, almost as if he was trying to hug the man as a greeting but Corbin ignored him, causing Ricky to step back awkwardly, making Dylan stifle a laugh.

"Dope outfit." Corbin complimented as he walked past Kourtney.

"Kourtney." She introduced herself.

"Yeah." Corbin nodded. "Keep warming up, gang. We're gonna check some sound levels."

Dylan broke away from the circle for a moment, her faze set on EJ. He was standing by the piano with Maddox, who was probably the most calm out of all of them.

"Hey." She greeted.

EJ looked over at her and a smile was immediately plastered on his face, a real one, one that made Dylan's heart pound against her chest. "Hey, Dyl, you okay?"

"Yeah, I'm good, I'm okay." Dylan nodded. "Uh, I just wanted to talk to you about something really quick. If that's okay?"

Her eyes went to Maddox for a second. EJ glanced at the girl, who smiled before walking off. EJ looked back at Dylan with a small smile.

"Um, Gina's mum called, she's moving back to Salt Lake. She's renting a house and is gonna live down the street from you." Dylan stated. EJ's eyebrows raised in a mix of surprise and confusion. "And my dad told me that he wants to have a winter wedding, one this year so we have to plan it within the next like five months, um, but I said that was fine because it means that we're both still in Salt Lake because you're still taking a gap year, right?"

"Yeah." EJ nodded in agreement.

"Good." Dylan nodded.

"Are you nervous?" EJ asked.

"What?"

"You're being all awkward, are you nervous?" EJ repeated.

"No."

"You are." EJ let out a small laugh.

"I'm not, I'm just... I'm happy. I'm happy you're staying in Salt Lake and I'm happy I have a year left at East High and I'm happy because that means we can spend time together. You know, as a couple being all disgusting, with dates and movie nights with pizza before everything changes again..." Dylan trailed off with an awkward smile.

"Yeah." EJ immediately agreed, a grin spreading across his face. Dylan, however, didn't detect the panic on his face. "Yeah, definitely."

He then took her face in his hands and pressed a kiss to her forehead. While Dylan saw it as a sweet gesture, a confirmation of his words, EJ knew it was an apology for something he had to fix. Dylan put her arms around his neck, staring up adoringly as his hands slid down to rest on her hips.

"I've been beating myself up over not going exploring with you, Gina and Ricky last night." EJ admitted. "And I know that I've been so busy with the show—"

"EJ, seriously, it's fine. I was Ashlyn anyway so..." She reassured him with a shrug of her shoulders. "It would have been a lot more fun with you, but we'll go on loads of adventures back in Salt Lake, yeah?"

"For sure." EJ agreed. "We will definitely be seeing each other all of the time because of the amount of time we have with each other."

Dylan furrowed her eyebrows, blinking at him. "You're being weird."

"Weird? No, I'm not being weird."

"Hey Dyl, come join the friendship circle." Ashlyn called.

She looked back at EJ and laughed a little before letting him go. She kissed his lips before walking back into the circle where they were all lightly chopping each other's backs.

"We're rolling!" Channing then exclaimed, and all of them moved out of the friendship circle to sit in their seats.

Ej stood at the front of them all. "Welcome to the first Frozen read-through." He walked up to Corbin. "Uh, young Elsa and young Anna are on a nature field trip and will catch up with us tomorrow."

"I'll take it from here, RJ, thank you." Corbin responded, and Dylan let out a small laugh, quickly covering with her hand. "All right! Camp Shallow Lake! I am pumped to be back for this full day of rehearsal, figured with opening night only ten days away."

Ten days. Ten days. Oh god, ten days was not enough to make a play happen. EJ sat in the seat next to Dylan and she immediately grabbed his hand, squeezing it tightly.

"Ten days away?" Ricky repeated. "That—that's a reason to celebrate." He got up from his chair and extended his arms out. "Bring it in."

Dylan stared at him. It wasn't unlike Rickt to act weird, but to try hug Corbin Bleu was on a whole other level, especially since it was seemingly the second time he had tried. Corbin, unsurprisingly turning down in his hug. Ricky awkwardly sat back down, a pout on his lips while Dylan shook her head.

"Look, I understand that some of you know me as a name and not a person." Corbin explained. "But I'm just a regular guy who buys his groceries at Erewhon and has a personal trainer like anybody else, all right? I'm just here to capture some behind-the-scenes footage, so think of me as a fly on the wall. Be yourselves. Let's have some fun, yeah?"

"Yeah, baby!" Ricky yelled. "Let's hug it out!" He stood up again and opened his arms. "Bring it in, come on."

Corbin ignored his hug once again. "And here you have it, folks. The very first camp read-through of Frozen. Let the show begin."

The read-through then began. All of them recited their lines while Val read stage directions – and let Dylan say that Val was doing an astronomically better job than Big Red had for the High school Musical read-through.

"Elsa?" Gina recited.

"Anna takes a step towards Elsa." Val read.

"Don't come near me." Dylan responded.

"Pause." Corbin ordered. He stood up from the table he was at and walked behind Dylan and Gina, Channing following him with the camera. "Sounds like you two really felt that moment. Let's unpack what you're channelling."

"Let me guess." Channing interjected. "Real-life relationship troubles. You both like the same person and it's causing tension. Maybe it's this guy."

Channing turned and pointed the camera at Carlos. Dylan pursed her lips together, trying her very best to stifle her laugh. He was so off. There was no way Dylan and Gina liked the same guy, considering Dylan was dating EJ and Dylan was sure she had noticed some tension between Gina and Ricky. And even if they did, it definitely wouldn't have been Carlos, who was openly gay and had a boyfriend.

"Yes, it's me." Carlos commented in a monotone voice. "The notorious womanizer of the group."

"Uh, Mr Bleu, if you're looking for dirt or like, jealous in-fighting, that's just not us." Ricky revealed.

"We're all good friends." Gina added.

"Yeah, like really good friends." EJ said. "We're basically a drama-free zone."

Just to prove their point, they started a chain of hugs. Ricky put his arm around Gina, who put an arm around Dylan, who put an arm around EJ. They all tugged each other in closer for the camera.

"Great." Channing responded. "All those Emmy-winning drama-free reality shows."

"Okay, let's just... let's move on." Corbin suggested.

"Hey, my..." Ricky started to say, pausing to turn the page of his script. "Ice."

"Kristoff picks up his bag of ice." Val continued. "Anna and Hans are oblivious."

"I'm sorry, so sorry." Gina voiced.

Nobody said anything. Dylan looked up from her script in confusion.

"Uh... that's Jet's line." Ricky announced.

Sure enough, Jet was nowhere to be found. Dylan was confused, and slightly disappointed. He had gotten himself a main role and then hadn't shown up.

"Wait, Jet's not here." EJ noticed.

"Oh, God, I knew he wasn't real." Carlos admitted.

"What's the deal with this Jet kid?" Corbin asked. "Is he troubled?"

"I—I wouldn't say troubled." Ricky insisted. "We're slowly wearing his dark soul down."

"Sounds like our protagonist." Channing said. "Everyone loves a misanthropic emo-boy to root for."

Maddox put down her script. "Jet's gonna be fine. He's probably just doing this for attention."

EJ got up from his chair. "I'm sure Jet is fine. Maddie, Val, please track him down. As for the rest of us, let's take a ten." His voice then raised, and Dylan began to frown. "I will be in the canteen having a cool beverage because I am very cool. Everything is cool, Mr Bleu."

"Hey, Caswell?" Dylan questioned gently.

"Yes, D?"

"You're yelling."

EJ let out a sigh and walked out of the barn. Dylan took a deep breath and stood up as well, trailing after him. The rest weren't far behind. All of them gathered in the canteen, which was a building at camp with multi-coloured windows, games, and snacks. Dylan and Ricky began playing a game of foosball, which quickly got intense. They were also competitive with each other when it came to anything, it was something they had been doing since children.

The door then opened and Dylan looked up from the fame, seeing Val walk in. She frowned in concern as Val looked very upset, and honestly, a little out of it.

"So?" EJ inquired.

"Guys, we lost Jet." Val answered and Dylan's eyes widened in shock.

Maddox shot up from her chair with a dramatic gasp. "What?"

"Oh, uh, sorry. Let me clarify. Um, I talked to Dewey and it looks like Jet checked out of camp and went home."

"He disappeared onto the open road." Channing stated. "A lone minor. Thumb in the wind. Hair in the wind. For either fate or foe, to take him away."

"Uh, yeah, not quite." Val replied. "An off-duty cop found him at a bus stop and his parents came and picked him up in a Buick."

"Wait, why would Jet just leave without telling anybody?" Ashlyn asked.

"So, our most interesting story's happening off-camera." Corbin voiced. "Guys, we really need to make this sing, 'kay? Something active?"

"In summer?" Carlos suggested.

"Love is an open door?" EJ offered, his eye catching on Dylan's for a moment.

Corbin pointed at him in agreement. "Love is an open door. That's the Anna and Hans song, right? And we're missing the Hans part of it."

"It is but..." Gina started.

"yeah, weirdly that's the one song I know." Ricky interjected. "Lily made me sing it in our second date, but I'm happy to jump in and you know—"

"Thanks, kid." Corbin cut in. "Just take a soft smile."

"You'll get em next time kid." Dylan teased, nudging him as she walked around the foosball table.

Carlos pointed at EJ again. "Uh... you. You look like a 1980s villain."

Ricky suddenly let out a loud laugh but quickly tried to hide it by pretending to clear his throat. He turned and walked off, Dylan watching him with a raised eyebrow.

"Thank you?" EJ questioned.

"You're welcome." Corbin said. "Villains equal viewers. Kenny Ortega taught me that when I turned down The Descendants. You, sing the song with Gia."

"Gina." Gina chuckled.

"That's right."

"Sing the song here?" EJ asked. "In—in the Canteen?"

"Big Brother has been on air for twenty-three seasons." Channing added. "They haven't even left the house yet."

"Guys, let's shoot something." Corbin instructed.

Gina and EJ glanced at each other before walking up to the piano. Dylan turned, moving away from the foosball table, watching them attentively.

Ashlyn raised her hand in the air. "I can jump in on piano."

Val walked up, holding a speaker. "Oh, no worries. We already got the backing track, so..."

Ashlyn sat down on the piano bench and looked right at the camera. "Not worried. But here I am, at the piano ready to play"

"I like the piano." Corbin revealed, biting into a Twix bar. "That's humble. Let the needy girl play."

Dylan saw EJ lean closer to Gina, saying something quiet to her. They exchanged a small laugh, just as they always did. Gina and EJ were close, almost like cousins. However, Dylan felt a strange sensation churn in her stomach, one she couldn't quite pinpoint.

Ashlyn pressed her fingers onto the keys, playing the familiar song. Gina and EJ started to sing along, and as they progressed into the song, they got more and more comfortable with each other. Dylan watched them, her fingers absentmindedly playing with the rings on her fingers.

She suddenly realised what the strange sensations was. Envy. Dylan immediately scolded herself, because what did she have to envy? Gina and EJ were literally so far from behind a possibility and the thought of that made Dylan kind of want to throw up.

It was just weird seeing her best friend and her boyfriend acting as love interests playing a love song. She turned her head, only to be met with someone that was just as – or arguably more – envious than her. Ricky stood there with a clenched jaw, a fury in his eyes that Dylan hadn't seen before.

Oh God.

The song finally ended, making Dylan snap out of her thoughts. She lifted her hands up and clapped for them along with everyone else, placing a fake smile on her face. Dylan was off the hook.

However, Ricky wasn't as good as concealing things as she was. Corbin noticed his jealous stare and snapped his fingers to point at Ricky. Channing instantly pointed the camera at Ricky.

"They're pretty good, huh?" Corbin observed.

"Yeah, she's amazing." Ricky replied. "And—And EJ is amazing, right? Everyone's amazing. Best cast ever. I mean..."

Ricky didn't even bother to finish his sentence and turned around, walking right out of the canteen. Dylan watched him with a sigh, a realisation hitting her like a ton of bricks.

Ricky liked Gina.

"Folks, I'm gonna need some B-roll of people acting anxious and confused, all right?" Channing demanded. "We're rolling."

Dylan stared at the door of the canteen. She knew how Ricky was feeling, she understood him. They were more similar they anyone could fathom.

( 💌 ) isobel's notes
ej and dylan 🤭😭
dylan and ricky chapter next chapter
because i love their sibling bond