chapter eleven
a whole lotta songs

Ashlyn and Dylan were walking down the halls after the horrid rehearsals. They were following EJ, trying to convince him not to talk to Nini and give her some space as they both knew it would end badly. The two gave up as EJ caught up to Nini and begged her to listen to him. Kourtney, who was with Nini, laughed as Dylan moved closer to EJ and Nini, trying to listen in on their drama. She shared a look with Ashlyn, the two nodding at each other before linking arms with Dylan and pulling her from the scene.

"I wanted to watch." Dylan whined, a pout on her lips while her two friends laughed.

"We know." Kourtney stated, amused.

"You're both mean. Now I have to find other people's drama to watch." Dylan sulked, resulting in both girls next to her laughing.

Kourtney veered off, waving goodbye to the girls, stating she was off to find Carlos or Seb. Dylan and Ashlyn continued down the corridor. They were chatting about nonsense, mainly discussing what the hell just happened. The brunette laughed at something Ashlyn said, her laughs filling the empty hallway as she turned a corner and walked into the auditorium. Ashlyn, with furrowed brows, followed the girl onto the stage, wanting to see what the Valdez girl was about to do. Dylan walked over to the piano, sitting at it and playing a few random keys.

"My dad taught me how to play piano when I was like five." Dylan stated as Ashlyn sat on the bench next to her.

"Really?" She let out a small laugh.

"Yes, he had all these songs he wanted to play me." Dylan told her. "It was the only real time I spent with my dad when I was young, he was always working. My mum was the one who took me out, the amount of time we'd spent watching musicals in the theatre..."

Dylan let out a laugh as she trailed off. Ashlyn looked over at her. "Is that why you hated it to begin with?"

"Still do." Dylan remarked making Ashlyn laugh slightly. "But yeah it is. Anyway enough depressing stuff I wrote a song."

Ashlyn hesitated before she responded. She knew how closed off Dylan could get. Ashlyn and Dylan had had multiple deep talks at their sleepovers and during school but this was the first time Dylan's mum had been brought up, and Ashlyn knew that talking about it was the best way for Dylan to fully get her emotions out and stop pretending her mother's abandonment didn't affect her. Ashlyn sighed, before smiling.

"Seriously!" She sounded excited. "Can I hear it?"

"Only if you sing it with me." Dylan told her.

"Okay, deal."

Dylan nodded, taking a breath. She grabbed her bag from where she had dropped it on the floor, digging through it until she found her notebook. Dylan opened it, flicking through to the right page. She put it on the little ledge, Ashlyn reading perfect harmony as the title.

"I wrote this thinking about like all the new people I've become friends with because of the drama club, but I would say you're the best one I've made, so...yeah." Dylan shrugged, letting out a nervous laugh.

Ashlyn smiled as Dylan began to play the piano as she sung, "When I first saw you, didn't know what to think but something about you is so interesting. I could see me and you being best friends, the kind of friends that finish each other's sentences. When I can't think of the right words to say."

Dylan wrote this song only a few days ago. It was after homecoming, and she couldn't sleep so she wrote a song about the incredible friends and night she had had. The first line was mainly about Gina and Ashlyn, the two people she got closest too since she joined the production and found the most interesting.

Ashlyn joined in, "I just sing oh, oh, oh. Oh, oh, oh. Come on and harmonise with my melody. And we'll sing oh, oh, oh. Ain't it a perfect harmony?"

Ashlyn closed her eyes briefly as she sang her part, a smile on her face as she understood the lyrics Dylan had written. "I would've never thought I'd be here with you to start a friendship that is so brand new. It's so amazing, I have to say never met someone that had so much in common with me."

When Dylan imagined who she'd be singing this song, Ashlyn was obviously the first person who came to mind. The song just seemed to fit Ashlyn's vibe and voice and Dylan couldn't ask for a better duet partner for this specific song.

The two girls share a smile as they sang. "Now I can look into your eyes all day and just say oh, oh, oh. Oh, oh, oh. I wanna harmonize with your melody and we'll say oh, oh, oh. Ain't it a perfect harmony?"

The eyes lyric, although she'd never admit it, she had written about EJ, because, boy did he have nice eyes. Dylan didn't really know what changed at homecoming, but it was like she had realised how... pretty EJ Caswell actually was. Now, her feelings for him didn't change, she still did not like him but she couldn't stop thinking about his eyes staring at her when she got home from homecoming.

Dylan took another breath before beginning the bridge, her hands flying over the keys while she played. "Sometimes in your lifetime, you look and you search for someone just to care."

Ashlyn joined in. "Look around and it was there and we didn't need to go no where."

Dylan had wanted her entire life for someone to simply care for her, especially since her mum left. She knew her dad cared for her, and so did Nini and Kourtney but she wanted someone new. And suddenly, walking into the auditorium one day had brought her many people who loved her.

They both sang the high note, Ashlyn singing in a slightly higher octave than Dylan as they smiled at each other once more. "When I can't think of the right words to say, I just say oh, oh, oh. Oh, oh, oh. Come on and harmonize with my melody and we'll sing oh, oh, oh. Ain't it a perfect harmony?"

They both looked at each other, Dylan singing her line while bumping shoulders with Ashlyn. "You got me,"

Ashlyn nodded. "I got you."

"I got you," Dylan laughed slightly.

"You got me." Ashlyn pushed Dylan's shoulder this time.

"Yeah, you got me." Dylan shook her head.

"I got you." Ashlyn placed her head on Dylan's shoulder.

"A perfect harmony." The two sang the last line together, holding the last note for slightly longer as Dylan rested her head on top of Ashlyn's. The two girls sat like that for a few moments after they had finished singing, just enjoying each other's company before Ashlyn sat up.

"Dylan that was incredible!" She wrapped her arms around Dylan.

"Thank you." She laughed slightly, hugging her back. "Lunch?"

"Most definitely." Ashlyn laughed, the two once again standing up and linking arms, making their way out of the auditorium and in the direction of the cafeteria in order to get food, laughing along the way. Once they reached the cafeteria, they sat at the table with Seb, Carlos, Kourtney and Nini, the five laughing and joking around.

Perfect Harmony.

✿✼:*ﾟ:༅｡.｡༅:*･ﾟﾟ･⭑

Later that evening, everyone from the cast of high school musical the musical were gathered in Big Red's basement. Big Red had messaged them all, saying it was supposed to be a party but currently they were all sat in awkward silence as no one really knew what to say. They were all trying to process Miss Jenn's lies. Dylan was leaning on Ashlyn as she tried to catch up on some missed sleep.

"This is a terrible party." Natalie spoke, "There aren't even pretzels.What are we all doing here?"

"We all ended up in the same basement after after a really bad day so someone should say something." Ashlyn instructed, finally sick of the silence.

"Fine, I'll say something. I'm mad at Miss Jenn." Carlos announced.

"Why cause she's got a couple skeletons in her closet?" Gina questioned.

"No. Because she's giving up. She was the first teacher to not see me as a punchline and now she's not even a real teacher." Carlos explained.

"Aww Carlos, I'm sorry." Dylan mumbled, rubbing her forehead.

"Define real teacher." Ashlyn commented.

"He's got a point."

"Does he though? Why are we all here then?" Natalie asked again.

"Yeah good question." EJ commented. "This is a waste of time."

"Honestly, because she gave me a shot." Carlos admitted. "And it's been a long time since someone gave a shot."

"She gave me a voice." Nini added.

"Yeah and now nobody's gonna get to hear it because Miss Jenn screwed up." Kourtney spoke.

"Okay, does anyone here actually care if her past is a little bit sketchy? Anyone?"

"That's a good song lyric." Dylan muttered.

"I do," Ricky answered, making Dylan look at him.

"Seriously, dude?" Big Red questioned.

"What, because you live some perfect life?" Kourtney commented.

"That was harsh, Kourtney," Dylan reprimanded.

Ricky shook his "Not at all."

He then stood up, "Because she put our show in jeopardy. And now we're all here, maybe for the last time, together. And for some of us, this has become . . ." He paused. "I don't know . . ."

"A family," Nini finished, the two of them staring at each other smiling weakly for a moment.

"What team?" Ricky inquired.

"Wildcats," everyone chorused with small smiles.

"Okay, wildcats," Ashlyn began. "So what are we doing about it?"

All of them began to rattle off ideas, most of them being pretty bad. Dylan sat up, an idea swirling in her head as Ashlyn's words from earlier echo in her mind. The brunette looked around, quickly turning to Big Red.

"Red, do you have a piece of paper and a pencil down here?" She spoke up, making everyone look at her.

Big Red nodded. He walked over to his desk and got a piece of paper and pencil. He handed it over to her, the girl sitting down on the ground and placed the materials down. "Well, everyone here is a theatre kid right or that's what we're called anyway. So what do we have in common: music. No matter when you joined the theatre, where you came from or who you are everything comes back to theatre."

She looked up and locked eyes with EJ, him giving her a supportive smile. "So, let's put those talents together and do a performance to save our drama teacher."

Everyone stared at her in shock. Not because they didn't think she could come up with such a good idea but because they were confused on how none of them came up with it quicker.

Carlos then slapped a hand to his forehead. "Why did I not think of that?"

"You're a genius, Dylan," Nini voiced, making her face dust a light pink.

"Actually Ashlyn gave me the idea." She smiled at the girl before writing down their first lyric.

Maybe her past is a little bit sketchy.

( 💌 ) isobel's notes
more ashlyn and dylan friendship :)
a new song with some insight to how
dylan feels about all her friends