Despite what happened that night at the school, nothing had changed between EJ and I; me comforting him and being supportive was a one one-time thing... I'm still very set on winning whatever weird competition we have going on.

Two other things had changed in the two weeks since the power outage though, some of it was good, like Nini returning to East High, but the other change that happened was confusing, and it just so happened to include the girl I had come to consider one of my best friends. Gina had been off for about a week now; she felt less upbeat and more closed off as if she were keeping something from everyone... I was too scared to ask, though; sometimes, it's best to let people tell you on their own time.

I'd gotten a flicker of hope when she invited me to Seb's barn a couple of nights back; she and Seb were planning a party for the boy's boyfriend and needed the entire drama department's help to make it happen on such short notice; and although Gina still had her moments, she was finally beginning to act like herself again, she'd even asked me to help with a performance for Carlos' birthday.

"Okay, then towards the end, we're gonna bring Carlos on stage and place the crown on his head," Gina instructed me; we'd just gone over the dance and song one last time, it was a lot, but I've got it, hopefully. "Do you think he'll like it?"

"Are you kidding?" I ask her in disbelief, "he's gonna be obsessed with this."

"Good," She nodded; she was taking this gift for Carlos very seriously; I'm glad they were able to work it out, "I wanna go out with a bang."

"What do you-"

"Hey, Gina," Ricky walked up behind Gina, cutting me off, "you got a second?"

I nodded for Gina to talk to Ricky before walking off the small stage, out with a bang? What did that even mean, we were opening the night? Before I could think too much about it, someone behind me placed their hand on my shoulder, causing me to flinch, startled.

"You good, Garcia?" Of course, it had been EJ, who wore a teasing smirk when I turned to face him, "sorry, I didn't mean to scare you," I could tell he wasn't sorry from the way he smiled.

"Did you need something?" I ask him, crossing my arms across my chest, "or did you just come over to annoy me?"

EJ shrugged his shoulders innocently, "Can't I do both?" I stared at him blankly, waiting for him to say what he came over to say, "do you wanna do your interview for Carlos' birthday video?" He sighed, giving in.

Oh right, he was doing a birthday video for Carlos; while I had been too busy, EJ did take Mr. Mazzara up on his offer to join the AV club. "Yeah, okay," I nodded; EJ smiled triumphantly before pointing over in the direction of his filming setup. Behind the camera was a bale of hay, with barely anything in the background. "This is your filming set up?"

"Yeah, is it okay?" He asks, knitting his brows together.

I tilt my head to the side, already envisioning ways I can make it better, "it's fine, it's just a little...." I pause, trying to find the right word, "bland. Do you mind if I fix it up a bit?"

EJ gestures towards it, "go for it." I was off before he could finish his sentence, grabbing some spare décor that hadn't been used yet.

I cover the bale of hay with a spare tablecloth first, making it look a little cozier; I was going to put streamers up next; I stepped onto the hay bale to elevate myself, reaching towards the low hanging beam to pin it up. I push myself onto my tippy toes, stumbling slightly, steadying myself before I could fall.

"Do you need some help?" EJ asked, walking over.

I shook my head, keeping my gaze focused on the streamers, "I'm fine." I stumble again as I'm reaching out, this time nearly falling off the unsteady bale of hay.

"You're gonna fall," EJ informed me, "just let me do it, Aurora." He sounded impatient.

I pinned the end of the streamer in, finishing my small task, "See," I gestured to the décor hanging up, "I didn't need your help, and I definitely wasn't going to- "

Before I could finish my sentence, my foot got caught in the tablecloth I'd put on the makeshift seat, causing me to stumble off, right into the arms of EJ, "what was that? You definitely weren't going to what?" He smirked at me teasingly; my hands were on his chest, his on my arms, steadying me.

I pushed myself away as soon as I regained my balance, shooting him a glare, "Maybe if you hadn't been distracting me, I wouldn't have fallen?" I remark, walking behind the camera to look at the finishing touches of the décor.

EJ walks over to, standing beside me, "Oh, so you find me distracting?" He asks; I don't have to look at him to know he's probably smirking, "what about me exactly do you find distracting? Is it my eyes? My smile? Maybe it's-"I elbow him, causing him to stop; we both know that's not what I meant, "Fine, I'm done." He held his hands up in defense, "thanks for the help."

I shrugged my shoulders, "anything for Carlos," That's why I'd gone to the trouble; I hadn't done it for EJ.

"EJ, why don't we do a camera test before you start interviewing everyone else." Mr. Mazzara walks over; I didn't quite understand why he was here, though to be honest, he and Carlos had never really gotten along very well. He was growing on me, though; he wasn't at mean as I thought he was.

"I should probably get changed anyway; I'll do my interview after?" I ask him; Carlos was going to be here any minute, and I still wasn't in the costume Kourtney made for me.

EJ nodded, "Yeah, sounds good."

After I put my costume on, Carlos arrived shortly after, everyone taking their seats after that, "Hey Everyone," Nini greeted the small audience from the stage, "I think I kinda, you know...."

"It's Carlos' Quinceanera," Ricky finished her sentence, the two of them sharing a cheesy grin, "Gina, Aurora, get on up here."

Our friends cheered and applauded as we walked on stage, both in our matching outfits. "Testing, testing," Gina held her hand up the mic attached to her ear, "Carlos Rodriguez," she smiled at him, "We um, haven't always seen eye-to-eye when it comes to running rehearsal, and honestly, I sorta had no idea what to get you tonight."

"But then, I remembered this clip of you from the seventh grade," I chime in, smiling at him.

"And I realized, oh...." Gina continued her speech, "so we're actually the exact same because I remember when I was in the seventh grade, or uh, all the places that I was that year... and I would just dance and dance alone in my bedroom to stay busy, and escape; but the difference between us is, I never would have put that out into the world and I never would have left that up on Instagram, after some of the comments you got.... "

I nodded in agreement, "I remember when you posted it; I'd always been kind of, I don't know, ashamed of my Spanish heritage." I admit, shrugging my shoulders, "I hated that I was different, that people treated me differently because I didn't look like them... but you, you made me proud to be a Latina. Becoming friends with you made me feel so much less alone," I admit; it was true though, especially when EJ ditched me, Carlos was the first person to pick me up and help me find my place, "So, tonight, we are going to recreate that dance from the seventh grade...."

Gina nodded, "Because we might not share a choreography brain, but I think you know we share a dancer's heart." Gina added, her voice quivering, "and no matter what happens tomorrow or the day after that, we just keep on dancing." I reach over to squeeze her hand, the two of us stepping over to the side to drop the curtain for the projection, "roll the tape."

Little Carlos comes up on the screen, sharing the list of things he wants for his 13th birthday, then he begins showing a dance. Gina and I walk in front of the curtain as the video ends, the intro of our music playing, "whoa," Gina sings, the curtain dropping to reveal the rest of the dancers, "it's time to turn it up, let the music take over your body and dance like everyone is watching." I dance along with her, moving my skirt around, as Gina sings the first verse.

"This rhythm's hot like the sun, don't you dare disagree," I sing the pre-chorus, "if you think so, then come and join me," Both Gina and I remove the detachable skirt, revealing pants that match our jackets, all designed by Kourtney.

Despite not being a dancer, I keep up with Gina, moving around between the three male dancers on stage to do Gina's salsa-inspired choreography. As we get to the end, I run to the side of the stage, where Seb has dragged Carlos over, "different in so many ways but when we hit the stage," Gina and I sing in unison, as I take his hand, pulling him to the Center of the stage, "we all share the same thing, a dancers heart." Gina places the crown we got for him on his head as we sing the final note, applause erupting from the small audience.

Carlos pulls us both into a hug, "I love you guys," He exclaims once we've pulled apart, a bright smile on his face, "day ones."

We pull Carlos into one last hug before ushering him to the front of the stage. "Give it up for Carlos, everyone," I yell, clapping my hands; our friends whoop and cheer even louder; I share a smile with Gina as they cheer for Carlos.

As everyone cheers, I catch EJ's green eyes, watching either Gina or me instead of the birthday boy, the same look from auditions on his face...

Long overdue... but here's is the first Quinceanero chapter... next chapter is gonna include some possible jealousy and a whole lot of angst!!
Hope you enjoyed❤️