two weeks later

Soul was sitting in her room humming to herself when the sound of knocking at her window scared her.

Soul turned around finding a laughing Ricky sitting outside of her window, causing her to chuckle as she made her way to let the boy in.

"I don't think my boyfriend would really appreciate random guys crawling in through my window." Soul teased, opening the window.

"Haha." Ricky playfully rolled his eyes as he stepped into the window.

"You do know there's such a thing as front doors right? It's the things normal people use to enter." Soul joked.

"You're a total comedian, today. You should definitely switch careers."

"I know." Soul smirked before smiling at the boy. "What are you doing here Richard?"

"What are you up to right now?" Ricky questioned.

"Nothing I was just gonna hang around here, maybe watch some Teen Wolf or write a song, why?"

"Well, clear your schedule. Today is list day." Ricky grinned, causing the girl to lift her eyebrow at the boy. " I mean, I was thinking since the musical's over now and we have some free time before the next one, I thought it was the perfect time to start on finishing our list."

"Ricky, of course I'm down to do the list today, dude chill." Soul chuckled, grabbing her phone from her bed before opening her bedroom door, gesturing the boy out of it. "Let's try this the right way, shall we."

The boy sent her a fake smile as he passed her out the door, causing her to shake her head as she chuckled before the pair raced down the stairs.

"Mom, I'm going out with Ricky!" Soul called to her mom as the sound of footsteps came closer.

"Oh, hi Ricky. I didn't hear you come in." Stella smiled at the boy.

"Hey, Stella." Ricky smiled at the woman.

"That's because he came in through my window." Soul said, causing the boy to hit her arm as they gave each other a look, causing Stella Walker to laugh.

"I see nothing has changed between you too." Mom smiled, causing the duo to grin. "Ricky, you're still joining us for dinner tonight, right?"

"We wouldn't miss it for the world." Ricky said, tossing his arm over the girl's shoulder.

"We?" Soul asked, confused.

"We." Ricky smiled, nodding his head. "Don't worry, it's gonna be great."

"Well, you kids have fun." Mom said, pulling both teens into a hug before they were on their way to the door.

"Oh, I almost forgot to mention, we have a few people joiningt us today." Ricky spoke, opening the door for the girl, causing her to raise her eyebrow, stepping out the door causing her face to morph into a small smile.

"What are you guys doing here?" Soul pouted, looking around at the group with a smile.

"We heard you guys were going on a little adventure to finish your list and thought we'd tag along." EJ said, wrapping his arm around the girl. "You know, for moral support."

"Aw, I love you guys." Soul said, looking around at all 11 teens, causing them to smile.

"So how many things are we talking?" Kourtney asked, causing the group to chuckle. "It's not more than 10 is it? Please don't be more than 10."

"Well we started off with 15." Ricky explained, causing Soul to nod, pulling the paper out of her pocket. "But we technically can't do the last 2 yet."

"And we've done a lot of these, they're just not crossed off." Soul said, pulling out a pen, drawing a few lines. "Okay so without the last 2, we'd have 5 left."

"That's not so bad." Jet chimed up, causing the group to shake their heads.

"What's left?" Ricky questioned, grabbing the paper from the girl. "I see."

"What is it? Something dangerous, something disguiting." Big Red asked, intrigued.

"Not exactly." Soul spoke. "Two of them you do indoors; pull an all-nighter, HSM marathon."

"Sign me up for that one." Carlos nodded, causing the group to chuckle.

"Then there's ghost stories."

"Don't worry I got you guys covered." Maddox smirked. "You guys will think Susan Fine was for babies."

"Oh, how fun." Ashlyn sarcastically said, letting out a nervous chuckle.

"Then we have, take a trip together and do something that scares you." Ricky read, putting the paper down as he looked around at the group. "Anyone got any ideas?"

The group looked around at each other as they thought.

"How about bungee jumping." Emmy suggested, causing the group to look over at the young girl. "My uncle has his own bugee expedition. He only lives like an hour from here."

"Sounds frightening." Seb said, causing Ricky and Soul to smile.

"Sounds perfect."

That caused the group to chuckle as the duo fist bumped.

...

After a very eventful roadtrip in 3 different cars, the group teens found themselves standing under the bridge the duo would be jumping from.

"Are you guys sure about this?" Gina nervously chuckled.

"Don'y worry G. we'll be fine." Soul reassured the girl by giving her a smile. "Let's go, Bowen."

"Whoo!" The teens cheered as the two friends hiked their way up to the bridge.

"Scared yet?" Ricky asked, standing beside the girl as the workers began kooking the cable to them.

"Very." Soul admitted, glancing down at the water as they carefully stepped over the ledge, before looking over at the boy. "Ready?"

"Let's do it." Ricky said, holding his hand out towards the girl, causing her to grip it.

The duo let out a breath before sending each other a nod, jumping over the edge at the same time, letting out a scream together.

The duo went falling towards the water before they were quickly pulled back up by the rope attached to them.

Their group of friends stood at the bottom as they cheered for the duo as the duo bounced back up before they started swinging back and forth above the water.

Soul let out a laugh as she swung through the air without a single care in the world at that moment.

...

The group all sat around the Walker family kitchen, smiling and laughing with one another as Stella watched the group with a smile on her face.

"Thanks for having us over for dinner, Stella." Gina grinned at the woman as she placed the last pan of lasagna.

"You know, you're welcome here anytime." Mom smiled, placing her hand on the girls cheek before looking around the table at the entire group. "All of you are welcome. Anytime of any day."

"I'm so glad you said that, Ms. Stella. I'll be here every night for dinner because this is delicious." Ashlyn grinned, pointing at her plate with her fork, causing everyone to laugh.

"Why thank you." The woman smiled. "Everything is set up in the basement for movies. There are a bunch of pillows and blankets down, snacks."

"You sure you don't want to join us mom." Soul questioned with a small smile.

"Not this time, I have plans with Lynne, Michelle and Terri." Mom announced, causing Soul and Gina to share a surprised look. "Sully is at Carter's with his friends. So you have the house to yourself tonight. You kids have fun."

"Bye, Ms. Stella."

"Bye, Mom."

"Love you all." Stella blew the group a kiss before making her way out the front door.

"Soul, your mom is amazing." Seb gushed, causing the girl to chuckle.

"Yeah she is." Soul agreed.

"Did you bring it?" Ricky questioned, looking over at the Rodrigez boy.

"Bring what?" Big Red asked.

"Do you think I was gonna let us all get together and not bring it? You should know me better than that, Richard."

"What did you bring exactly?" EJ chuckled.

"Who's ready for a rematch of High School Musical, The Choosical." Ricky announced, drumming his hands against the table, cauisng the group to start speaking at once.

"I'm sorry, did he just say High School Musical, The Choosical?" Jet chuckled, looking at the group confused.

"It's this game Carlos made that's based on the High School Musical movie." Seb explained.

"With the help of our dear Soul of course." Carlos added.

"We played it once as a group last year at one of Ash's parties." Soul spoke. "You have two teams and you battle to see who has the better movie knowledge."

"This time with new and improved questions." Carlos grinned. "And new players."

"I've heard stories but never thought I'd be able to play this infamous game." Maddox grinned. "Sign me up."

"Me too! I love games!" Emmy grinned, causing everyone to chuckle before looking over to Jet.

"Let's do it." The boy agreed, causing the group to cheer as they all stood up, making their way down the stairs.

That night they got to be themselves, not a movie star, not a pop star, just a group of friends having a great time, watching their beloved High School Musical movies.

...

4 months later - Prom Night

"Soul, Gina. EJ and Ricky are here!" Sully yelled up the stairs.

"They're coming." Sarah yelled as she tried to finish her sister's makeup. "And done."

Sarah took a step back, causing a smile to grow on her face.

"Soul, you look like a princess." Gina gushed, covering her mouth with her hands. "EJ won't be able to take his eyes off of you."

"Well you, my friend, look amazing." Soul spoke, grabbing the girl's hand, spinning her.

"Yeah, yeah you're both beautiful. Can we get this show on the road?" Sam stood in the doorway, causing the trio to turn and look at the boy. "Mom's already crying downstairs."

"Already?" Sarah huffed, causing her twin brother to nod. "I'll go tell them you're coming."

Sarah quickly squeezed past Sam as she dragged the boy with her as they left the room, leaving the two best friends in the room.

"I can't believe it's already prom night." Soul spoke, spinning around in her dress, causing Gina to chuckle as she watched the girl. "This year has flown by so quickly."

"I know, you will officially be a high school graduate in a week." Gina grinned. "How do you feel?"

"Old." Soul answered, letting out a chuckle. "It's really starting to hit me that after next week, East High will be just a memory to me."

"Well I hope it's a very close memory." Gina chuckled. "I'd expect to see you at my shows."

"You know I wouldn't miss them for the world." Soul grinned.

"Speaking of shows..." Gina trailed off. "Have you figured out background dancers for the tour yet."

"No." Soul sighed. "I mean, everyone I've seen so far was amazing, it just wasn't clicking."

"Well, what if I told you I was free for a summer tour." Gina spoke, causing Soul to let out a squeal.

"But the movie?"

"Is currently on pause, with the writer strikes." Gina answered, causing Soul to nod. "So my summer is wide open."

"G, this is gonna be so much fun!" Soul squealed, pulling the girl into a hug. "Us on the road together."

"I wouldn't want to be anywhere else." Gina grinned.

"Soul, Gina."

"That's our cue." Soul said, pulling away from the girl, causing them to both grin, locking arms as they made their way out of the room.

The sound of the girl's laughter caused EJ and Ricky to set their sight onto the stairs as their girlfriends came down it.

"Wow."

"Don't you both look beautiful." Terri smiled at the girls from her spot beside Stella.

"Thank you, mommy." Gina grinned, placing a kiss on her mom's cheek.

"Look at you." Mom said, wiping her tears away as she looked at her younger daughter.

"Mom don't cry or you're gonna make me cry," Soul pouted, pulling the woman into a hug.

"You just look so beautiful, bug." Mom grinned before looking over the girl's shoulder, causing her to turn around.

"Uh, you look... wow." EJ spoke, causing the girl to chuckle.

"Thank you, you look wow too." Soul teased, fixing the boy's tie as he watched her with a look of adoration, feeling eyes on her, the girl glanced up meeting eyes with the boy making her smile, causing them both to lightly chuckle before the girl lightly patted the boy's chest. "There you go."

"Ah, can't forget this." EJ said, grabbing something off the table from behind him before turning back towards the girl. "My lady."

Soul smiled lightly as she held her hand out, causing the boy to carefully slide the corsage onto the girl's wrist.

"It's beautiful, EJ." Soul gushed, holding her wrist up to get a better look at the corsage, grinning at the boy, Soul grabbed the matching boutonnières before pinning it to the boys suit coat. "Perfect."

"Picture time!" Lynne happily exclaimed, clapping her hands. "Come stand over here together. Girls in front, boys stand behind your lovely dates."

EJ carefully led the girl towards the other pairs as they grouped together before wrapping his arm around the girl's waist.

"Alright, squeeze together like we love each other." Michelle jokes, motioning the group of theater kids together, causing them to all stand closer eachother as they grinned towards all the parents who had their cameras out.

"Alright now do a silly one." Sarah said, causing the group to make multiple silly faces.

"Okay, no more paparazzi please." Kourtney spoke, holding her hand in front of her face, causing the group to chuckle.

"I never thought I'd hear you say that. Ever." Ashlyn teased, chuckling a little bit.

"Well if we don't leave now, we're gonna miss prom and as much as I love the camera." Kourtney tossed her hair over her shoulder, smiling at the camera, causing her mom to quickly take a picture before Kourtney went back to being serious. "I am not gonna miss my Senior Prom!"

"Alright, you kids have fun." Michelle grinned, causing the group to cheer as they all made their way out of the front door.

On the street stood a limo waiting for the big group of 11 teens.

"Let's get this party started!" Carlos exclaimed, climbing into the limo first as everyone quickly climbed in behind.

...

The group had been in the gym for over an hour; they danced, they laughed, they enjoyed each other's presence.

"Guys it's so pretty in here!" Gina gushed from beside Soul as she looked around the room in awe.

"Yeah, the student council definitely put a lot of work into this dance." Maddox spoke, glancing around the room, causing the group to chuckle as they nodded in agreement.

"All right East High, let's slow it down a bit." Mr. Mazarra spoke into the mic from behind the DJ booth before turning on a slow song.

Mmm
Hey, yeah

"I love this song." Soul pouted as she slowly nodded her head to the song.

"Wanna dance?" EJ asked, looking at the girl beside him, causing a grin to grow on her face.

"I would love to." Soul smiled, grabbing the boy's extended hand, standing from her seat as they made their way to the dance floor.

EJ spun the girl before placing a hand on her lower back as he held his other hand out, causing her to place her hand in his as she put her other hand on his shoulder.

Ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh
Got all this time on my hands
Might as well cancel our plans, yeah
I could stay here for a lifetime

"Have I told you how amazing you looked tonight?" EJ spoke, causing the girl to smile.

"Mm, not in those exact words." Soul teased, causing the boy to look down as he let out a chuckle.

"Well, I think you look amazing." EJ smiled, locking eyes with the girl.

"Why thank you." Soul softly spoke, placing a hand on the boy's cheek with a small smile. "You look very handsome tonight."

So go ahead and drive me insane
Baby, run your mouth
I still wouldn't change being stuck with you
Stuck with you, stuck with you
I'm stuck with you, stuck with you, stuck with you, baby

"So, are you ready for graduation next week?" EJ asked, causing her to let out a sigh. "I'll take that as a no."

"I mean, is that a bad thing?" Soul spoke, glancing at the boy. "High School has honestly passed by so quickly and it just feels like something is ending."

"It also means somethig new begins." EJ added, smiling lightly at the girl. "Babe, you are going to be just fine outside of these walls. I mean you have the best support system in the entire world. An amazing group of Wildcats who have you back-."

"And an amazing boyfriend who claimed he couldn't dance." Soul joked, causing the boy to chuckle.

"Who loves you so much and is very proud." EJ smiled. "You may think you're not ready for this to end but you have something just as amazing waiting for you after."

"I love you." Soul spoke, running her hand over the back of the boy's head with a light smile.

"I love you. More than you know." EJ spoke, pulling the girl into a kiss before the couple pulled away.

EJ twirled the girl, causing her to let out a giggle before he pulled her into his arms, placing his head carefully against hers, causing her to close her eyes as they swayed to the music.

Oh, oh, oh, oh
Got all this time in my hands
Might as well cancel our plans (yeah)
I could stay here forever 

So lock the door
And throw out the key
Can't fight this no more
It's just you and me
And there's nothing I, nothing I, I can do
I'm stuck with you, stuck with you, stuck with you

So go ahead and drive me insane
Baby, run your mouth
I still wouldn't change being stuck with you
Stuck with you, stuck with you
I'm stuck with you, stuck with you, stuck with you

Whoa, whoa, oh
Baby, come take all my time
Go on, make me lose my mind
We got all that we need here tonight

I lock the door (lock the door)
And throw out the key
Can't fight this no more (can't fight this no more)
It's just you and me
And there's nothing I, nothing I'd rather do
I'm stuck with you, stuck with you, stuck with you

So go ahead and drive me insane
Baby, run your mouth
I still wouldn't change
All this lovin' you, hatin' you, wantin' you
I'm stuck with you, stuck with you, stuck with
You, you
Stuck with you, stuck with you, stuck with you

...

1 week later

"Richard Bowen." Principal Gutierrez announced, causing the room to fill with cheers as the boy made his way across the stage with a big grin.

"Go, Ricky!" Soul called out, cupping her hands around her mouth.

The Bowen boy shook hands with the Principal before stopping in the middle of the stage throwing his arms up in success, causing some to chuckle.

"Kourtney Greene."

As the girl received her diploma, she took out her phone taking a quick snap with the graduates in the background.

"Thank you. Thank you." Kourtney spoke, waving at the crowd before making her way back to her seat.

"Big Red Redonovich III."

The redheaded boy happily made his way to the stage, sending the crowd a giant smile and wave.

"Souline Walker."

The crowd cheered loudly as she made her way towards the stage.

"Let's go, Soul!"

Soul smiled from ear to ear as she shook hands with Principal Gutierrez as she received her diploma, turning towards the crowd with a giant grin.

"Now for your class orator, Souline Walker." Principal Gutierrez announced, gesturing towards the girl, causing the room to erupt in cheers as the girl made her way up to the podium, turning to face her fellow graduates and families.

"Principal Gutierrez, faculty, fellow graduates, family, and friends. I just want to start off by saying congratulations to my fellow graduates. I am so proud of every single one of us. The support systems that we have had these past four years are those who have believed in our futures, those who showed us empathy and kindness, or those who told us the truth, even when it wasn't easy to hear. Some who aren't with us anymore but know they are smiling down on you today as they cheer you on in spirit. But if they are here today, I hope you find a way to express your gratitude for all the trials and errors that have led us all to this destination today. I have a few people I would like to thank quickly. My siblings, Sam, Sarah, and Sully, thank you guys for believing in me and in my dreams, no matter how crazy they were, for being wonderful role models, and for all those late-night pep talks that pushed me into being a better student. To all my incredible and amazing friends that I've made here at East High and prior, you all know who you are. Thank you, guys, for all the amazing memories here at East High. I hold you all so dearly in my heart and love you all so much. Thank you, Mr. Mazzara, for helping me find my worth and gain a better perspective on this world. Thank you, Miss Jenn, for being my mentor and believing in me when some days I didn't even believe in myself. You have shaped not only my life but everyone around you forever. Thank you, EJ, for teaching me about patience and self-love, for being there for me, and for loving me unconditionally. I love you. Finally, thank you to my biggest inspiration, who just so happened to have named me and I call mom. Stella Walker. Mom, you never gave me any idea that I couldn't do whatever I wanted to do or be whoever I wanted to be. You filled our crazy and beautiful home with love and fun. You guided me through these incredible eighteen years of my life, and I don't know if you ever realized that the person I most wanted to be was you. Words can't describe how grateful I am to have you as my mom. I love you so much. If you had asked me over a year ago what I thought my life would be like a year from now, it definitely wouldn't be this. I could have never imagined myself standing here giving this speech. I'll admit my high school journey wasn't a complete cake walk, especially after the passing of my father, but with the right group of people, anything can change. From there on, I went on to grow and make everlasting memories with amazing and talented people. Yeah, I'm talking about you, Ashlyn, Big Red, Carlos, EJ, Emmy, Gina, Jet, Kourtney, Maddox, Ricky, Seb, and Nini... I transitioned from a scared girl who spent her nights alone locked away in her room writing songs just to let her emotions out to a driven young adult whose biggest aspiration in life is to just be true to herself and achieve those goals that I used to think were overambitious. Attending East High School has truly been a blessing in disguise, and I will forever be grateful for having the privilege to say I once was a student who roamed these halls. It's a place where one person, if it's the right person, changes us all. East High is a place where friends become family that we'll keep for the rest of our lives. Sometimes the future is uncertain, but don't be afraid of venturing out of your comfort zone. I wish everyone the best with their new journey, but most importantly, always remember, Once a Wildcat, Always a Wildcat. Thank you."

The crowd stood from their seats as they gave the girl a standing ovation as Principal Gutierrez approached her with a giant smile, shaking the girl's hand before reaching up and moving her tassel from the right to the left.

"East High School senior graduating class of 2023!"

The graduating class quickly stood up from their seats, tossing their caps into the air as they cheered.

The four theater kids couldn't contain their excitement as they wrapped their arms around each other into a group hug as they jumped in excitement.

...

soul's prom dress:

corsage and boutonniere:

one down, one more to go :)