Tatum's parents hated musicals.

Ever since Maisie and Tatum watched High School Musical and Hamilton one hundred times in the span of one summer, they were sick and tired of listening to musicals. Not to mention, they also thought the idea was unrealisitc and stupid. They didn't understand how the actors would just burst into random song. So if Tatum ever told them that she was in a musical at East High, they would automatically disapprove and give her a hour long lecture how it was a waste of time and she should be doing something better with her time. Tatum actually never participated in a musical before, so she was skeptical about the whole thing at first. However after seeing how the auditions went, Tatum knew that there was never going to be a dull moment with this group of people which wasn't a bad thing. She needed a little bit of spice in her life. She needed to get out of her boring old daily routine. 

As the blonde stepped into the room for the read-through with everyone else, she was immediately amazed. Gasps could be heard around the room. Various backdrops and props were scattered around the room while there were multiple desks that were placed in a circle with name cards on it. Tatum went over to Liam who was setting his things down. From the looks of it, there were noticeable bags under his eyes. "Where were you today?" she questioned, worried laced in her tone. 

"I'm fine," his voice cracked as he kept his back towards her. "I just need time." 

Before Tatum could respond to her best friend, Miss Jenn ordered everyone to take their assigned seats. She sighed softly before she found her seat next to Ricky and EJ. How ironic, she thought in her head. As she slid into the desk, she absentmindedly crossed her arms over her chest and avoided eye contact with EJ. Even though they shared a moment at auditions, she was still upset over what happened with her songbook. Tatum's thoughts were then interrupted by Miss Jenn. "Ginger boy, can you read?"

"Not really," Big Red replied uneasily and confused on the situation. Tatum turned her body slighty towards the conversation. A smile ghosted her lips. 

Miss Jenn only ignored his reply, "Well, you're reading now. Just the stage directions. Thank you." 

With that, the drama teacher found her way to her desk with Carlos following right behind her like always. Big Red turned around and asked the janitor if he knew what it meant which caused both Ricky and Tatum to chuckle in unison. The two of them both glanced at each other and laughed lightly. Big Red then sat down next to EJ defeatedly, knowing that there was no escape now. "Silence your phones!" Miss Jenn ordered loudly to everyone which ceased all the background noise. 

Miss Jenn clasped her hands together in front of her and began her introduction speech, "I realize that you all walked in here as strangers." 

"Actually, EJ's my cousin," Ashlyn pointed out as she gestured to him optimistically. EJ gave out a tight lipped smile and nodded slowly in acknowledgement. However, Miss Jenn completely ignored Ashlyn and gave her a chastising glare. 

The drama teacher paused for a moment then continued with her inspirational introduction. "But after today, you're a family. One tribe, committed to lifting this classic film to new heights." 

Miss Jenn stopped once again as Carlos snapped a picture of himself and his card with the ringer on. She sighed heavily and narrowed her eyes at her student assistant. The choreographer's smile dropped immediately as he lowered his phone and name card onto his desk. "Please take you neighbor's hands," Miss Jenn then directed as she extended both of her arms to the side. 

Tatum glanced over at EJ first who had his hand already out, waiting for her to grab. He gave her a small smile and nodded to her. After a couple of seconds, Miss Jenn urged for the blonde to take his hand. She pressed her lips in a thin line before taking her exes' hand reluctantly and then Ricky's. She inhaled sharply as she desperately try to ignore the tingling sensation that was happening in her right hand that EJ was holding. It felt like their first date all over again.

It all started in Tatum's sophomore year and EJ's junior year. EJ had made the first move after the two had met at a back-to-school paty where everyone was invited. Tatutm was hesitant at first, because she knew of his past relationships and how it didn't work out. However when fine cuisine was mentioned to her, the blonde was quick to accept his offer. When the night had arrived, the water polo co captain had picked her up and drove her to the restaurant that his parents had reccomended for them. It was quite the drive, but the deep conversations they had made it worth it. The two instantaneously connected with each other which led to the first stage of the date which was hand holding. Tatum instantly felt a spark in between them and she had tons of butterflies fluttering in her stomach. Who would've known that Tatum would have this feeling again? For sure, she didn't. She thought she was over him, but now she didn't know what she felt.

Miss Jenn's voice snapped her out of her reality. "Feel each other's energy. Let the silence speak volumes. In a world full of no, this is a space full of yes." 

Carlos, who was sitting next to her, had his eyes closed. He embraced Miss Jenn's words of wisdom. "Nice." he whispered to himself. He then leaned over to her. "Did you just come up with that?" 

"I did," Miss Jenn stated proudly causing Tatum to chuckle. As silence overtook the circle, Nini leaned over to look at EJ who was slouched in his desk, still firmly holding onto Tatum's hand. The brunette smiled at him while he returned one back which caught both of their exes' eyes. As soon as they glanced away, Miss Jenn began to sing the song We're All In This Together. Nini quickly pulled her hand from Ricky's and Gina's grasp. She then pulled out her script and highlighted things. Ricky then dropped Tatum's hand gently and stared at the ground.

Tatum did the same. As Miss Jenn hit the high note at the end, everyone in the circle had somewhat different reactions. Most people were confused, but there were some who were blown away by her pitch like Ashlyn. The red-head had clapped loudly after she was done, but as she noticed she was the only one clapping, she slowly lowered her hands in embarrassment. Miss Jenn thanked her and grinned widely. With that, they moved onto doing different warmup exercises which only took about fifteen minutes. 

They then went over Act One which was kinda of a doozy. Big Red had read all the stage directions in the most monontonous voice eve. Tatum didn't know whether to laugh or cry, because this was something else. After an hour of rehearsal, they were finally released for a fifteen minute break. Tatum decided to use that break to talk to Liam who was highlighting his lines in his script. She sat down in the empty desk next to him. "Tell me what's wrong," she demanded. 

"Like you, I had a big argument with my parents yesterday night," he replied softly. "I'll tell you and Graham everything when I'm ready, okay?" 

She nodded, respecting his wishes. The two best friends then went onto another conversation that dealt with today's rehearsal. "This is quite a group of people," Tatum observed as she fiddled with her fingers. 

Liam exhaled loudly and agreed, "Not what I expected at all, honestly." 

As Tatum glanced up, her eyes found EJ and Nini standing in the middle of the circle, talking to each other. The jock's hand cupped her cheek as the brunette stared at the ground for a minute.  A pang of jealousy shot at the blonde's heart as she watched the two interact with each other. For some reason, the couple shared a lot of public display of affection. She didn't mind when other couples show PDA, but it only made Tatum envious and hateful when they displayed it. Liam took notice of his best friend's sudden mood change. "You know I should be asking you if you're okay?" Liam spoke up. 

She shrugged. "I'm fine. EJ's moved on and it's fine by me."

"I'm not convinced that you're fine," Liam replied, narrowing his eyes suspiciously at his best friend. "I think you still have lingering feelings for him and now that you're working with him on this musical, the feelings are resurfacing." 

Tatum sighed loudly and rolled her eyes. She didn't want to openly admit that she still had feelings for the boy who broke her heart, but who still held a place in her heart. He was the first boy Tatum has ever loved before. "I don't know what you're talking about," she denied as she got up from her seat. With that, the other half of rehearsal was dedicated to reading through Act Two. 

As the next day came, Tatum was in a fairly good mood. When Tatum had got home from rehearsal, her parents had already ate dinner and went into their offices for the rest of night which meant that Tatum could just sneak into her bedroom without having the need to have a conversation with her parents. And when the morning came, her parents had already left for work which Tatum was extremely grateful. She had never gone two days without saying a word to them and it felt relieving.

Not to mention, Liam seemed like he was in a decent mood as well. There was no longer bags underneath his eyes and he appeared like his usual self. The conversation that they had at rehearsal seemed irrelevant now. It only caused Tatum to wonder what happened in a span of a single night that caused his suden mood change. However, the blonde ignored it and went on with her daily school routine until Mrs. Logan sent her to grab the copies in the office ten minutes before the bell rang. As she was going back to the classroom, EJ and Ashlyn were talking by Ashlyn's locker. The blonde was going to ignore them like she usually did, but something caught her ear as she got close.

"She's not like other girls I've dated. Nini is real, she's makes me better," EJ argued, trying to convince himself that Nini wasn't like girls he's dated before. 

Tatum only stopped dead in her tracks as soon as she heard the statement. "So the conversations we had when we were together meant nothing?"

"I'll be on my way now," Ashlyn murmurred quietly. She then scurried off to another part of the campus, leaving the two exes in an uncomfortable situation for both of them. During their relationship, both of them struggled with anxiety. EJ had to deal with getting into Duke while Tatum had to constantly live in her older sister's shadow. The two helped each other the best they could. EJ gave Tatum his undivided attention while Tatum stayed up with him on all of his sleepless nights. Even tho the relationship wasn't perfect at times, the blonde thought she was different from the other girls who only dated EJ for his social status, because she loved him for him. But as she stood there waiting for his answer, she contemplated their whole relationship. 

She laughed sharply before shaking her head. Tatum then began walking back to Mrs. Logan's classroom. She knew that the bell would be ringing any second so she quickened her pace. When she walked into the door, the bell echoed the somewhat quiet classroom. Tatum dropped off the copies on the teacher's desk and then headed for the music room. The blonde had a free period and after that interaction with EJ, she needed to blow off some steam. 

Tatum walked over to the grand piano in the corner of the room. Sitting down on the bench, she grabbed her songbook and flipped to the page where she had started a new song. She placed the book on the music rack. Breathing deeply, her slim fingers danced over the ivory keys of the grand piano, creating a mellifluous melody. The musical aspect of the song wasn't quite figured out all the way, but she had the lyrics already planned out. 

"I wore makeup when we dated, 'cause I thought you'd like me more," Tatum sang softly as she closed her eyes. Letting the music take over her body, she continued with her unfinished song until she heard someone shuffling in the background. The blonde instantaneously froze in her place. She never liked singing in front of people. 

"I didn't know you felt that way."

━━☆

AUTHOR NOTES.

bare with me ahHH, i'm having quite writer's block lately so i'm doing my best. also who do think was in the room with tatum? but also yeah, i'm not great at writing/describing how people play music/piano and singing so just again bare with me. but i love y'alls constant support on this book. i APPRECIATE every single one of you and please continue to show your appreciation in the future, because it makes me motivated to write more frequently. this week is v v busy since this is my only day of freedom. but i have big things planned for this book and be prepared for a lot of angst xxx so sorry abt that. 

but keep voting and commenting your thoughts!!! LOVE YALL 

also the gif i used for this chapter makes me laugh for sum reason.