First Day of Senior Year.

The sound of the bell ringing caused Soul to look up from her phone before she went to open her locker.

"Soul!" Ashlyn and Gina called, approaching the girl with big smiles.

"Ash! Gina!" Soul exclaimed, pulling the duo into a tight hug.

"Soul, can I get a quick pic?" A random girl asked, approaching the trio with her phone in hand.

"Yeah, sure." Soul said, quickly smiling at the girl's phone before she walked away.

"Okay, Miss Pop Star." Gina teasingly said, letting out a chuckle, causing Soul to smile at the girl. "How was LA?"

"It was absolutely amazing!" Soul said, slamming her locker shut, locking arms with Gina as they made their way down the hallway.

"Okay, so, I think the move here is to wait till she texts you again. Then leave her on read, for like an hour. Then do the thumbs up reaction and turn your phone off. It'll drive her crazy, but in a good way." Ashlyn spoke into her phone, causing Soul and Gina to let out a chuckle.

"Are you, like, recording a podcast?" Gina questioned the red-headed girl as she quickly typed away on her phone.

"No, I'm sending Maddox voice memos. Kind of our thing." Ashlyn explained, causing Soul and Gina to share a look before looking down with grins on their faces. "What?"

"No, I'm..." Gina started, glancing over at Soul causing her to shrug. "Well, I think I'm just trying to figure out why you're ghost writing texts for Maddox to send to her ex-girlfriend."

"Actually, they're not exes anymore." Ashlyn said, looking over at the duo after punching her locker to open it. "She's going through something, and I just want to be there for her."

"Well, I know she's my cousin and all but I just hope she's there for you, too." Soul softly spoke.

"She sent me, like, a million texts about Big Red." Ashlyn reassured the duo, causing them to nod.

"Okay, anything helpful?" Gina asked.

"She said to support him in his semester abroad. Give him space, but also be there for him." Ashlyn spoke.

"So you and Maddie are sending each other relationship advice." Soul asked, causing the Caswell girl to nod.

"Yes, that is a good way of describing what we are doing." Ashlyn said, causing Soul to chuckle lightly.

"We're juniors now, Ash. Eyes on the prize." Gina stated.

"Wait. What's the prize to find the prize?" Ashlyn asked intrigued.

"It's just a figure of speech, Ash." Soul said, letting out a chuckle, as Ashlyn gave her a serious look. "It's for you to figure out. Now come along children. The Senior wants to get to class on time."

Gina let out a chuckle, wrapping her arm around Soul's, leaving the redhead to catch up with them as they made their way to the rehearsal room.

"Come in. Come in." Miss Jenn ushered the kids in.

"And Seb is apparently not coming today. And he's officially turning this into a feud, which, actually, respect from a reality show plot line perspective." Carlos beamed. "But come on!"

"I know. I keep expecting Big Red to pop out of my locker with confetti." Ashlyn spoke. "Change is hard."

"Yeah, but change can also be beautiful." Gina added. "Right, Soul?"

"Definitely." Soul said, nodding her head slowly. "But I also really miss my boyfriend... it's 50 / 50 really."

"Okay, so I know we've got our big pep rally coming up in a little bit. But I wanted to grab you kids early for a special sneak preview of our show." Miss Jenn announced, causing everyone to gasp. "Wait, where's Ricky?"

"What a surprise Richard Bowen's runnin' late." Carlos stated.

"Yeah, see? Some things never change." Gina said, letting out a fake chuckle, causing Soul to raise her eyebrow.

"Way to make it less obvious, G." Soul sarcastically but quietly said, patting the girl on back, causing them both to chuckle.

Sorry! Hello." Ricky greeted, walking into the room. "I was in the bathroom thinkin' about Senior pranks, so..."

"Too much information." Miss Jenn ushered the boy to a seat.

Ricky took a seat right behind Soul and Gina, causing Soul to wiggle her eyes at the girl, causing them both to chuckle before she turned to look at Ricky.

"Richard, the senior."

"Souline, the senior."

🎥
Soul, Esst High Senior
Senior year! I can't believe it's finally here. You see growing up me, Ricky and Nini made this stupid bucket list that we wanted to complete before we all graduated. Ricky's idea of course. And I bet we had like a hundred things on it... I haven't seen that list since Freshman Year. And now that Nini's gone... I doubt he keep it.
🎥

"Wildcats. This year, a special factor went into my decision about the musical. Some people may think they know you now that they've seen you on TV. but they don't know the real you. Not really. And I want this show to be a safe space for you, where you can all sparkle and nothing is going to outshine you. And so, my babies..."

Miss Jenn rushed to the covered board that was standing in the middle of the room.   

She removed the sheet to reveal a poster that read High School Musical.

"High School Musical. Again?" Gina stammered.

"Now, Carlos!" Miss whisper yelled, causing the boy to quickly jump from his seat as he put something on the board.

"High School Musicale?" Soul stated, confused. "Isn't that the same thing?"

"Oh, my bad." Carlos said, flipping it around, making it a 3.

"High School Musical 3?" Ricky cheered as everyone happily clamored amongst each other.

"I knew it was smart to come here." Emmy beamed with excitement.

"Okay. Ahem." Miss Jenn spoke as the bell rang, causing the teens to go quiet. "Auditions are Friday, and I have not precast this. So come with your hearts full and your minds open."

The theater kids all made their way to the pep rally in a group.

"Apparently, there's some big announcement today." Carlos explained as the group took their seats on the bleachers.

"Hmm, let me guess. A happy Soul, typing quickly on her phone with an occasional giggle." Gina said, causing Soul to glacé over at her best friend. "You're texting Elton John, aren't you?"

"Maybe." Soul answered, happily typing on her phone before putting her phone down, looking back over at Gina. "He was just telling me to have a good last first day."

"Aw, my little heart. My favorite OTP is still cute even with the distance." Ashlyn said, placing a hand over her heart, causing the trio to chuckle.

"Good morning. Good morning." Principal Gutierrez greeted the students and staff. "All right, listen up. Listen up, everybody, settle down. It's hard to believe it's the start of another year at East High."

"Let's go, Seniors!" Ricky shouted, causing Soul and Kourtney to cheer along with the rest of the Senior class.

"This year, we have a special announcement. Ooh. Somethin' that's gonna impact all of us that are still here at East. So, I want you to welcome, and I'm obligated to say this phrase, the OG Coach Bolton."

Bart Johnson appeared from behind the curtain, causing the students to cheer in disbelief.

"Oh, my god. Ash, look up." Gina said, shaking the girl's shoulder as the redhead was typing away on her phone once again.

"My name's Bart Johnson but many of you know me as Coach Bolton from the High School Musical franchise." Bart introduced himself. "Can I get a drum roll, please? Thank you... Folks, we're getting the whole gang back together to make High School Musical 4: The Reunion. A movie that's gonna shoot right here in East High. Please join me in welcoming the new stars of the franchise. You know him from his hit canceled sitcom, Mark and Spark, and you know her from her viral TikTok videos that have taken America and parts of Latin America by storm, it's America's favorite couple, it's Mack and Dani!"

"Oh, my gosh, I'm freaking out.  Mark and Spark is my comfort show." Gina said bursting with excitement.

"Oh, yeah?" Ricky asked.

"I literally had a cardboard cutout of Mack in my room growing up." Gina admitted, letting out a laugh, "And I would kiss it every night before bed."

"She's literally not kidding. Every time I stay over at her house it's the only show she wants to watch." Soul teases, smiling at the Porter girl, causing Gina to bump shoulders with her as she grinned. "That cutout is creepy, G. It's as if Justin Bieber and Johnny Tsunami  had a bad... okay, bad comparison but it's still really creepy."

"Well, I gave up after Season 1 but he's adorable." Ashlyn says.

"I never saw it. I've never seen that program." Ricky added.

Ashlyn and Soul used their hands to fan Gina as she was overexcited, smiling from ear to ear as her face was growing redder by the second.

"I guess I should say something." Mack spoke into the mic, causing the crowd to chuckle. "For seven years, I grew up in front of you on  Mark and Spark where my talking dog Spark taught me valuable lessons. From friendship to food. And, yes, I am talking about episode 617, where Spark taught me to cook spaghetti al dente."

"Al dente!" Gina exclaimed at the same time.

"I see someone has watched every episode, I appreciate that. And in my role in this new movie. I will play the co-captain of both East High's basketball team and the drama club." Mack announced.

"Isn't that literally Troy." Soul spoke, causing Gina and Ashlyn to shrug, keeping their eyes locked on the boy.

"Is it woke? Is it throwback? What if it's both? What if it's High School Musical 4?" Mack exclaimed. "Well, guess what? It is."

"Thank you for your kind words, baby." Dani spoke, pushing the boy out of the way, causing Soul to raise her eyebrow. "I am so honored to be here and to be making my acting debut in the franchise that launched so many careers, and also Bart Johnson's."

"So, the tea is, she lip-syncs and can't actually sing live." Carlos gossiped.

"Okay, we're on the same side of TikTok because I saw the same exact thing." Emmy spoke.

"And for all of my haters who say I can't actually sing live, I just wanted to say this." Dani said, removing the mic from the stand as she handed it over to her boyfriend. 

Soul was impressed with the girl's vocals and her riffs.

After she finished everyone quickly stood up cheering for the girl.

"Follow me and keep your energy contained." Miss Jenn led the group back into the school after the pep rally. "I'm told we have a special visitor meeting us in the rehearsal room."

Kourtney let out a loud gasp, "If it's Dani, somebody stop me from saying something stupid."

"If it's Mack, somebody stop me if I flirt with him." Carlos adds, causing the teens to chuckle.

"Excuse me, hi." Miss Jenn greeted the security guard that was blocking the hallway with caution tape. "My students and I need to get back to our rehearsal room."

"No can do. This hall has been rented out by Homecoming to pre-light for a scene." The man explained.

"But homecoming isn't for like, a month." Ashlyn stated confused.

"It's a code word, Ash." Soul explained, causing the guard to nod as the group still looked confused. "They use them all the time in Hollywood to keep something hidden a secret. Movies, Celebrities. Harry Styles is Furry Boa... and I should have not said that out loud."

"Between us, 'Homecoming" is the code word for High School Musical 4." The security guard announced, causing most of the teens to cheer loudly.

"Between us, you should not be a security guard." Miss Jenn told the man.

The group had to go a different route to get to their rehearsal room.

"Everyone, take a seat. I'm sorry we had to climb through the bushes." Miss Jenn apologized. "Ashlyn, I did not know you are allergic to shrubs. Hopefully, whatever this is won't take too long."

"Corbin's on the clock." Corbin said, entering the room, causing the group to gasp.

"Mr. Bleu?" Carlos said in disbelief.

"All right, look, you guys, I'm gonna make this quick." Corbin explained.

"Is your helicopter waiting?" Ricky jokingly asked.

"You're funny. It's a private jet." Corbin said, pointing at the curly haired boy. "I am aware that the Frozen documentary turned out.. Differently than any of us expected."

"Seb isn't talking to me."

"Big Red is in Cairo for six months."

"My mom's first husband disappeared under mysterious circumstances." Emmy said, causing everyone to look over at the small girl as Kourtney moved over a bit even though she wasn't by the girl.

"I hear you. And I think I found a way to make it up to you." Corbin spoke.

"Please don't say another documentary." Soul begged. "1 is enough for the next 100 years."

"No. No, no, no. It's something way better." Corbin reassured the group. "Allow you to invite some friends to explain. Lucas! Mo!"

The group happily cheered as Lucas Grabeel and Monique Coleman walked through the door.

"Hey, Wildcats!"

"So, we want the fourth movie to feel authentic, a little bit more grounded, and absolutely accessible to new generations." Monique explained.

"So, what's the plot of the movie, you ask?" Lucas says, asking the question everyone was wondering.

"We didn't, but I was going to." Ashlyn blurted.

"Okay. It is our 15-year high school reunion. My character, Chad, is married to Taylor. Martha is a world-class choreographer. Troy and Gabriella are in couples therapy. Ryan is happily partnered." Corbin explained.

"With twins on the way." Lucas added, causing the girls to aw and clap.

"And the future of East High Drama Department is on the line."

"So it's a horror film?" Miss Jenn asked with full seriousness, causing the OG trio to laugh.

"No, not at all, Jessica. The real hook of this movie is that Miss Darbus is retiring. So, the next generation of theater kids is absolutely freaking out."

"So it's a comedy?" Ashlyn questioned.

"We need you to be featured extras." Lucas informed the group, causing almost everyone to gasp.

"Front and center in every scene with Miss Darbus." Corbin announced.

"I mean, what better way to cast a drama class than with real drama students?" Monique stated.

"Wait, is Alyson Reed in this movie?" Ashlyn happily asked.

"Um. who?" Carlos asked, confused.

"Carlos, are you serious right now." Soul asked in disbelief as everyone else looked confused. "None of you know who Alyson Reed is? She is literally an icon."

"Thank you, Soul! She was Cassie in the A Chorus Line movie. The original Miss Darbus, you guys." Ashlyn said, causing it to click for the group.

"Alyson is in, 100%. She still has her original costumes."

"And her wigs."

"That was a wig?" Carlos asked, shocked. "Okay, I'm obsessed with Hollywood. Soul, I see why you wanted this life."

"Um, excuse me." Kourtney raised her hand. "If we're going for authenticity here, then I think Mack and Dani should consult us. The real-life kids at East High."

"Oh, I love the integrity of that." Corbin admits.

"Yeah, great. You can cover Dani. Any volunteers to show Mack around?" Lucas asked.

"Right, like somebody who grew up loving his TV show." Ashlyn teasingly said. "Maybe a certain single somebody named Gina, who kissed a cardboard cutout of him every night."

"Perfect. Gina, you are on Mack." Monique announces.

"Well, this is fun." Ricky spoke from beside Soul, causing her to give him a small smile as she patted his back.

"Right? Rehearsals start this week. Prepare for your entire lives to change. This time, for the better." Corbin promises, causing the group to cheer.

...

That night Soul was sitting on her bed, typing away in the theater group chat when there was a knock on her door, causing the girl to look up from her phone.

"Hey, honey." Mom said, poking her head into the room with a warm smile on her face. "May I come in."

"Of course. " Soul said, placing her phone on the bed beside her as her mom made her way into the room, closing the door behind.

"So, how was your first day of Senior Year?" Mom asked, taking a seat beside her daughter.

"Very eventful." Soul answered, causing the woman to raise her eyebrow. "Well they're shooting a new movie at our school. And they want the theater kids to be featured extras in the background."

"How fun." Mom beamed, placing a hand on the girl's knee. "What kind of movie?"

"It's actually High School Musical 4." Soul explained, causing her mom's eyes to go wide, making Soul nod with a chuckle. "Exactly. They have all of the OG characters back at East High so that's exciting. They also have this famous couple playing the new leads. Gina used to be absolutely obsessed with the guy growing up."

"That sounds like fun." Mom said, causing the girl to nod.

"Right. Oh, we also found out the musical today." Soul said, patting her mom's leg. "Kelsi may be making a return."

"You kids are doing High School Musical, again?" Mom asked, confused, causing the girl to chuckle.

"High School Musical 3, actually." Soul corrected, causing her mom to gasp.

"How fun! And it's your senior year, bug." Mom said, smiling at the girl. "Must be fate."

"Yeah." Soul grinned.

"So how's everyone? How's EJ?" Mom asked, causing Soul to smile.

"Everyone's great, very excited for everything." Soul explained. "And EJ is doing good. He says he's just settling in to college life."

"And how are you guys doing being apart?"

"We're amazing. I mean of course I miss him like crazy. But, you know, we facetime when we can." Soul spoke. "But there are some days where he's busy or I'm busy and we can't talk so we might text and I'm okay with that. I know I'll see him soon. We've even talked about meeting up during the break... besides I trust him."

"That's great, honey." Mom said, squeezing the girl's hand. "I know you may think it'll be forever that you guys are apart but I promise you, it's not. Besides, I think the distance is good for you two. It'll help you think about the long term."

"Right." Soul said, sending her a small smile, pulling the woman into a tight hug. "Thanks mom."

"Anytime, bug."