The entire week Soul has been steering clear of Carlos; everytime he tried to talk she'd walk the other way, she would only talk to him if it has something to do with the musical or rehearsals.

Soul was making her way to the bunker when she saw almost the entire cast standing outside the door, with Nini and EJ in what looked like a heated argument.

"Hey, is the door locked or something?" Nini asked as she approached the group as she pointed towards the door to the bunker. "Why can't we get in?"

"Oh. Natalie Bagley's missing her emotional-support hamster. He got loose." Ashlyn explained. "Carlos and Gina are helping her find her. Him, It."

Soon the sound of a familiar high pitched scream came from inside the bunker.

"I think they found it." Ashlyn says.

Not long after Natalie and Carlos emerged from the room as Natalie was holding a small shoe box.

"I need a moment." Natalie says as she quickly walks away and up the stairs.

"Is he dead?" Georgie asked with a sad look.

"No." Carlos answers. "Now she thinks he's in her gym locker."

"Why the screaming?" Ashlyn asks.

"That was me, she stepped on my toe." Carlos explains as he turns to the cast. "We're ready to begin, people."

Everyone filled into the bunker and took a seat while Nini and EJ got on the stage and stood like 3 feet apart, awkwardly.

"Can you move a little closer to each other?Little more?" Miss Jenn asked the duo as Nini took one step to the left and EJ walked closer. "Come on guys, we're blocking this as a love story, not a SARS epidemic."

"I think that chair was over there." Carlos said pointing at a chair that was in front of him and pointed to the other side of the stage.

"Oh, I can move it over in the scene." Nini offers walking over and picking up the chair.

"Feels awkward." Miss Jenn says.

"It's light. I can lift it above my head and walk." Nini says.

"Sweetie, no one is walking with furniture on their head." Miss Jenn tells her. "This isn't The Lion King. Strike the chair, please."

"With what?" Big Red asks confused.

"Take it away. Remove it." Miss Jenn explains as Big Red gets up and moves the chair off the stage. "Troy, once the intro begins, cross downstage and plant yourself at the piano. Which should be further downstage, okay?"

Big Red stood back up and was about to push the piano that Soul was sitting at but was stopped by Miss Jenn.

"No, dear, that would be upstage." Ms. Jenn explains, so Big Red went on the other side of the piano and pushed it. "Okay, Gabrielle, you slowly approached the piano and rest an arm on it, naturally. Can we make sure her book bag is off stage, right?"

"Sure. Um..." Big Red said as he turned to Soul and Seb. "Which way is that?"

Seb pointed towards the way he was sitting and Big Red picked up the bag and walked off the stage.

"Okey-dokey." Miss Jenn calls turning back to the two on stage. "Take it from, 'Wow! Now, that's really nice.'"

Lets just say that went the exact opposite of what Miss Jenn asked. For starters Nini slammed her arm down onto the piano and sang somewhat aggressively.

"Nini, sweetie, this respire comes at a decisive moment in the story, once your hearts have joined." Miss Jenn explains as she stood from her seat and walked closer to the stage. "It's a love song."

"Were you not getting that?" Nini asks, sarcastically, pointing between her and EJ.

"I'd like you to get to his heart without cracking his rib cage." Miss Jenn says.

"Sorry I'm late." Ricky says running into the bunker. "My mom, she caught an earlier flight. Where are we?"

"Scene seven." Miss Jenn says,

"Right. I don't have it, Could I borrow..." Ricky asks.

"You need your script, Ricky. And a pencil." Miss Jenn says. "It's a blocking rehearsal."

"Could i borrow a pencil?" Ricky asks, turning to Soul.

"Yeah, sure." Soul said, grabbing her spare pencil off the piano, sticking it out towards him.

"No, actually he can't." Miss Jenn says before Ricky had time to take the pencil. "When you come to rehearsal, people, you come prepared."

Soon Natalie Bagley comes running into the bunker with her box looking sad.

"Did you find him?" Ashlyn asks Natalie.

"No, just my cherry lip balm." Natalie says with a sniffle. "But it had Elliot's teeth marks in it."

"I'm sure that wouldn't hurt him." Ashyln says, rubbing her arm.

"It's sparkly." Natalie explains with hurt in her voice.

"Then it'll be easier to find him." Seb said, standing letting out a light laugh. "If he smiles."

"Natalie, we feel your pain, but I was just explaining what a constructive rehearsal requires." Miss Jenn explains. "Focus. And honestly, another day like this and I am showing up with my emotional support coyote." 

"Miss Jenn, I know the scene." Ricky says.

"Would you wait for me in my office?" Ms. Jenn says turning to Ricky as she turns around to grab her binder. "Thank You."

"Wait, are we done?" Ashlyn asks.

"We are, Mrs. Darbus." Miss Jenn says. "Take a note. This is what a frustrated drama teacher looks like. Go. Scoot. Come back when you're ready to be punctual, park your distractions at the door, and take the work here seriously."

Soul quickly grabbed her script and pencil and made her way over to her bag that was by Sully and his friends.

"Soul, can we please talk?" Carlos asked from behind the girl as she quickly stuffed her thing into the bag.

"Um, I can't right now I have to go." Soul said zipping the bag up, putting it on her back. "Maybe next time."

"Well are you still able to come over for our HSM marathon." Carlos asks.

"Um, I'm not sure. I'll let you know." Soul said before sending a quick smile his way before turning back towards Sully and his friends. "Come on children."

Soul quickly grabbed onto Sully and Carter's hands before dragging them out of the bunker with the other four following close behind.

"Soul." Soul heard Carlos call but they were already out of the bunker before he had the chance to sat anything else.

"Soul, slow down." Sully says as they already made their way down the hall and round the corner. "I think we are far enough."

"Yeah, I think you're right." Soul said, letting go of their hands before turning to face them. "So about dragging you guys."

"I-it's fine." Carter said with a smile on his face and his cheeks bright red.

"Why were we dragged out?" Mara asks as the others nodded in agreement.

"Is everything okay with you and Carlos, I thought you were close?" Sully asked.

"We were. I mean we are, just something happened and I don't want to talk about it." Soul explained and they all nodded understanding. "So what are you guys up to?"

"We usually walk home." Zak explained. "But we were planning on heading over to Carter's to hang out since we got time before we need to be home."

"Do you guys mind if I tag along?" Soul ask as all of their faces light up. "I honestly have nothing else to do. I would hang with Sarah but she is home sick"

"You want to come over to my house?" Carter quickly asks but was hit in the arm by Wyatt. "I-I mean, sure, if everyone is okay with that."

"Of course!" Sully says smiling at his older sister. "It'll be fun."

"Yeah, it'll be great to have another girl around." Georgie adds as Mara agrees.

"Hey, we're not that bad." Wyatt defensively says.

"Whatever you say." Mara says laughing as both girls wrap their arms around Soul's and they walk out of the school together.

Soon the boys raced after the girls and they all made their way towards Carter's house.

....

After spending an hour at Carter's house with Sully's friends, Soul got a message from Sam that he was here.

"Hey Sul, Sam's here." Soul say as they both stood up to grab their bags. "Thanks for letting me come, I actually had fun with you nerds."

"We actually prefer the word geek." Wyatt corrects which caused her to laugh.

"I prefer nerds." Soul said shaking her head. "Anyways see you guys later."

Soul made hee way up the stairs as Sully said his goodbye to his friends and out the door to Sam's truck and hopped in the front.

"Hey." Soul say as she closed the door, turning to face him. "How was practice?"

"It was alright." Sam answered with a shrug. "How was hanging out with Sully and his friends?"

"Surprisingly, it was actually a lot of fun." Soul said with a smile. "I didn't expect to have as much fun as I did."

"Aww is little Soul turning into one of the nerds?" Sam asks jokingly as he ruffles the e girl's hair as Sully gets into the back seat. "Alright seatbelts."

....

Know you put on a happy face
You need someone whose gonna stay
I know you're crushed under the weight
Wanna hold you up
Wanna hold you up
You keep things bottled up inside
I wish you'd give someone -

Soul was cut off by the sound of a knock coming from her window,causing her to turn to see a soaking wet Ricky who gave a small wave. She quickly made her way over to the window and opened it letting him in.

"What are you doing here?" Soul ask as she closed the window behind him as the sound of thunder roared and turned around to face him. "And in the rain?"

"Um, I just really didn't want to be at home right now." Ricky explained as he took a seat at the end of the bed as she sat next to him. "I was going to stay at Big Red's but I couldn't sleep with his machine. I was thinking of going to Nini's but I don't think she'd want to see me. So I came here."

"Of course. You're always welcomed here." Soul said, sending him a soft smile.

"Also some guy answered the door and said you didn't live here anymore but I decided to climb the tree like I used to." Ricky explained. "Who was that guy?"

"That would be my mom's new husband, Jeff." Soul told him as he nodded in understanding.

"So do you want to talk about it?" Soul asked after a few minutes of silence just sitting next to each other. "Wait, you need something more comfortable and less wet. I'll go ask Sam really quickly."

Before Ricky had the chance to respond she quickly exited her room closing the door behind her and walked into the room next to herself .

"What's up buttercup?" Sam questions looking up from his phone over to his sister. "Everything okay?"

"Yeah, everything is fine." Soul say with a smile but he gave a look knowing that she was lying. "Okay, fine. Ricky is here and I was wondering if he could borrow some clothes to sleep in?"

"What is he doing here?" Sam asked while getting off his bed and walking over to his dresser to grab some clothes.

"He's having family issues so I told him he could stay here." She explained as Sam turned and handed over a pair of sweats and a t-shirt. "Also he told me that he knocked on the door and Jeff answered and told him that I didn't live here anymore."

"I'm not surprised." Sam says letting a breath frustrated sound before sending a smile. ""Tell Ricky I said hey."

Soul only nodded and made her way to the door.

"Wait, Soul." Sam calls, causing the girl to turn to look at him. "I like your song. I mean it sounds great."

"Thanks Sam." Soul said, sending him a bright smile before making her way through the door and back into her room.

Soul walked in to see Ricky holding something in his hands with his back towards her standing by the desk.

"I got you some PJ's." Soul says, causing him to quickly puts down what he had and  turns around as she smile. "Also Sam says Hey."

"Thanks. I'm going to go change real quick." Ricky says, sending her a smile before heading into the bathroom closing the door behind him.

Soul made her way over to her desk and picked up the thing Ricky sat down; a picture of Soul and her late dad.

"I miss you dad." Soul say quietly before putting the picture down and took a seat on her bed as her door opened with a thud. Soul turned to see Jeff with a beer. "Can I help you?"

"Yeah, there was this little redhead boy who came by looking for you." Jeff says, walking more into the room looking around. "But I told him you didn't live here anymore."

"Of course you did." Soul said with a scoff. "Is that all Jeff?"

"You know I'm getting really tired of your attitude little girl." Jeff says, as he stopped at the girl's desk looking at all the pictures. "You need to learn some respect."

"And you need to learn what sober means." Soul said glaring at the back of his head, as she saw the bathroom door open slightly and Ricky's head popped out but Soul motioned for him to stop and he closed the door quietly.

"Hmm." Jeff said picking up the picture of Soul and her dad before he threw it across the room at the wall right next to her head. "You might want to clean that sweetheart"

"Don't call me that." Soul said on the verge of tears. "You will never replace my dad." 

"We'll see about that." Jeff says, before dropping his beer bottle on the ground.  "Clean that up."

Jeff leaves the room with the slam of the door behind him, the power cut out and Ricky rushes out of the bathroom over to her.

"Are you okay?" Ricky asks, grabbing her head, checking it.

"Ricky, I'm fine I promise." Soul said as she grabbed his hands as she looked up at him.

The two sat in that spot for a few seconds before they both started to lean in... but quickly separated by the sound of a knock on the door. Ricky quickly hid on the side of her bed just as the door opened and in came Sully.

"Hey Bub, what's up?" Soul asked standing up and made her way over to him. "Shouldn't you be heading to bed?"

"Yeah, I was just coming to say goodnight." Sully explained. "I also wanted to say thanks for hanging out with me and my friends today, it really meant a lot to me."

"No, of course. I had a lot of fun." Soul say, before pulling him into a hug. "Night Sully, I'll see you in the morning."

"Night, Soul." Sully said, sending a big smile. "I Love You."

"I Love You Too." Soul said wearing the same smile on her face.

Sully made his way out of the door as she closed the door behind him locking it.

Soul turned around just as Ricky stood back up from the floor.

"So are the blankets still in the closet?" Ricky asked,scratching the back of his head.

"Yeah, why?" Soul asked, taking a seat on the bed until it clicked. "Don't be silly Ricky, you can lay in the bed with me like old times."

"You, sure?" Ricky asks and Soul nod with a smile as she pat the spot next to her on the bed. "Okay."

They both laid down in the bed facing away from each other.

"Night, Ricky." Soul said.

"Night, Soul." Ricky said.

Soul leaned over and turned off the light.

🎥

Soul, East High Junior

'Me and Ricky almost kissed... Do I still have feelings for Ricky?'
🎥

🎥

Ricky, East High Junior

' We almost kissed. Do I have feelings for Soul? Wait, I still like Nini. Don't I?'
🎥

............