chapter seven
bad rehearsals, breakups and parental issues

Dylan made her way into the bomb shelter, her hair a mess as it blew behind her. She hadn't put on very sensible shoes, her black heeled boots on her feet making it extremely hard to run through the halls in. She held her bag tightly on her shoulders, her jacket slightly damp from the drizzle outside.

Dylan was running super late, her mum had phoned, drunk and crying about how she was a bad mother and she missed Dylan. It was guilt trip, Camila Sanchez had done it about thousands of times since she left. The whole point of the phone call was to make Dylan feel bad, for Dylan to apologise and beg for her to come back and when she wouldn't a flip would switch inside her mother's mind.

She suddenly changed, going from sad and crying to angry and mentally abusive. Camila would say how she hated her and she was a disappointed, that she was a mistake and the worst kind at that.

"Hey, what have I missed?" Dylan asked Ashlyn, as she stood next to her.

"Well, we're supposed to be blocking today but Natalie lost her emotion support hamster, Nini found out about EJ deleting her voicemail and they had an argument so now they aren't together anymore. Oh and Ricky isn't here yet so EJ has to do the song with Nini." Ashlyn explained.

"Oh wow."

"Yep." Ashlyn nodded.

"Well we told him it was a bad idea, he didn't listen. But go Nini for finally sticking up for herself." Dylan added.

"Yeah, I agree." Ashlyn turned to look at the brunette, "Why are you late anyway?"

"Mum problems." Dylan stated, "I wish all I had to deal with was the consequences of my own actions but unlike Mr Billion Sorrys over there the rest of us having bigger things to deal with than breakups that were entirely our own fault."

Dylan often got like this when she spoke to her mother, snappy, even more sarcastic than usual. It was her way of coping with her mum. If she was judgemental and snappy then maybe it would push people away before they could leave.

It was self - sabotage, she knew that but it was built into her; if she hurts them before they hurt her, it would hurt less when they eventually fought back. If she could push everyone away before they could leave maybe it would be less painful.

Ashlyn understood this and so instead of saying anything simply wrapped an arm around her shoulders, Dylan laying her head on the red haired as she did.

Dylan turned to the stage, watching as Ej and Nini started singing. It started off well but Nini didn't seem to enthusiastic about singing with the Caswell boy. EJ crossed over to the other side of the piano to be closer to Nini. Dylan's eyes widened slightly, as she watched with an amused smile on her face. You could tell the whole group was trying to ignore the obvious tension with the two, but that was kind of impossible as Nini began to a bunch of runs during the do do do do do do do do do do's. Ashlyn and Dylan shared a look.

When the song was finished, the room was encaptured inn awkward silence. They all stared at the two on the stage, Dylan looked up at the ceiling, suddenly finding it very interesting as she tried not to laugh. Well, that was definitely something.

"Okay, freeze." Miss Jenn ordered, standing up from her hair. "Nini, sweetie, this reprise comes at a decisive moment in the story once your hearts have joined. It's a love song."

Nini pointed between herself and EJ, "Were you not getting that?"

"I'd like you to get to his heart without cracking his ribcage."

"Sorry I'm late. My mom caught an earlier flight." Ricky ran into the bomb shelter, dropping his stuff on the floor, "Where are we?"

Everyone's attention snapped to the Bowen boy. Dylan's eyebrows furrowed slightly. He looked just as much of a mess as she did. His hair was dishevelled. as if he had been running his hands through it, his jacket wasn't on his shoulder probably. Dylan glanced down, taking not of his shaky hands, and not to mention his entire facial expression screamed heartbreak. And of course, the mention of his mum explained everything. Lynne Bowen was never at home, she was always in Chicago.

Dylan made a mental note to check up on the boy.

"Scene seven." Miss Jenn answered, a slightly annoyed expression on her face.

"Right, I don't have it. Can I borrow—"

"You need your script Ricky and a pencil, since it's a blocking rehearsal." Miss Jenn told him.

"Can I borrow a pencil?" Ricky asked Nini before Ashlyn piped up.

"Oh you can share mine."

"And I have an extra copy of the script you can use." Dylan told the boy.

"No!" Miss Jenn protested, "Actually he can't. When you come to rehearsal people, you come prepared."

Then Natalie ran in, a box in her hand. Ashlyn stood up, going over to ask her about her hamster. Dylan discreetly walked up to Ricky as he also turned to look at Natalie, and wrapped her arms around his waist from behind, placing her chin on his shoulder.

"Are you okay?" Dylan whispered in his ear.

"No." He stated, turning around and hugging her back.

"Wanna talk about it? If anyone gets it, it's me." Dylan wondered, pulling back to look at him properly.

"I-it's just my parents are getting a divorce and I think my mum is moving to Chicago a-and Nini hasn't said anything about the voicemail I left her, everything is just falling apart." Ricky explained, his bottom lip trembling slightly.

"It's going to be okay, Rickster. I swear it gets better." Dylan smiled, hugging him once more before she stepped back against the piano and turned to Miss Jenn as she began talking again.

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

"I wan an emotional support coyote." Dylan mumbled, Nini hearing and laughing slightly.

"Miss Jenn I know the scene—" Ricky tried to speak,

"Would you just wait for me in my office please, thank you." She ordered Ricky.

"Wait are we done?" Ashlyn asked, confused.

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

Dylan sighed, she was stressing all morning about getting to rehearsal on time, and now it was ending nearly an hour early. Everyone began to leave the room, Dylan following after everyone. She spotted a certain Caswell in the hallway, and Dylan being Dylan, made her way over to him.

"I told you so." Dylan sang as she caught up to EJ in the hallway.

"Okay no need to rub it in." EJ huffed.

"Well if you had just listened to me or your cousin then this never would've happened." Dylan shrugged. She looked over at Ej face, his expression full of sadness and disappointment.

Dylan sighed, "Look Ej, Nini's upset, I mean you're the second guy to hurt her and I know you've tried to apologise she told me earlier when I went to see if she was okay. But you need to give her some space. Some people don't just get over things no matter how much you wish they would."

"Yeah okay. Thanks." Ej smiled weakly.

"And if that doesn't work you can always sing her a billion sorrys." Dylan smiled, walking off leaving Ej to scowl in her direction.

"That wasn't cool Valdez." Ej called after her.

Dylan spun of her heel so she was facing him as she continued down the hall, shrugging, "A billion sorrys Caswell but to be honest i don't care if i'm cool or not that's your job."

( 💌 ) isobel's notes
this chapter was kinda a filler
chapter to be honest. It showed
how Dylan's mum is like
and how it affects her — we will
get further into that so don't
worry. also it showed more
of ricky and dylan's friendship
which i love by the way.
Mr Billion Sorrys as a nickname
yes please and dylan will be
dreaming of an emotional
support coyote from now on as well