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𝗙𝗜𝗡𝗔𝗟𝗟𝗬 𝗙𝗥𝗘𝗘

chapter nineteen:
glad we took a chance
making our own world !

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"CALL NINI," VIOLETTA suggested.

For the past maybe twenty minutes or so, Athena, Violetta, and Ashlyn had been trying to figure out something to do. EJ was being absolutely no help — instead, he had gone up to the attic and brought down a box of toys him and Ashlyn used to play with when they were kids. Despite being the oldest one there, it was keeping him very entertained.

Ashlyn nodded. She leaned forwards and FaceTimed Nini on her laptop. After only a ring, Nini picked up.

"Hey, Ash!" Nini greeted. "Hey, 'Thena. Hey, Vi."

EJ then threw a teddy bear at Ashlyn.

"EJ, we are in the middle of a crisis, EJ," Ashlyn scolded playfully, throwing the teddy bear back at him. "Stop it."

"No, you stop it," EJ countered jokingly.

Ashlyn looked back to Nini. "EJ found some old stuff we used to play with in the attic and he's turned into a six year-old."

Athena turned back around. Sure enough, EJ had picked up a frisbee and was trying to wear it as a hat. He then smirked and threw it at Violetta. Unfortunately, it hit her right in the head. She slowly turned around while EJ's eyes widened. He raised his hands in surrender, but Violetta only shook her head and looked back to the computer screen. Athena laughed slightly at their dynamic.

"Aww, I'm obsessed with all of you," Nini commented.

EJ then put his arm in between Athena and Ashlyn, holding a doll and moving it side to side as he talked in a strange high-pitched voice. "Hi, Nini."

Ashlyn sighed and pushed his hand backwards. "So, how are we dealing with North High? 'Cause we're spinning over here."

Violetta shrugged. "I mean, Athena did suggest she could punch Lily."

Nini pointed at them through the screen. "That, I would like to see."

"Oh, it'll become a reality one day," Athena decided. "But I don't wanna get disqualified. So, Neen, what've you got?"

"You heard Miss Jenn."

"We did," Ashlyn confirmed.

"So, I've been thinking about what we could do, and I thought—" Nini began.

"Okay, right, a song, obviously," Ashlyn finished. "Go on."

"Right. Uh, but I've been a little tongue-tied today, like, as a writer, so . . ."

"We write a song together," Athena offered. "I mean, you, me, and Ashlyn wrote Truth, Justice, and Songs in Our Key, so why not do it again?"

Nini smiled. "I was wondering if you two maybe had the bandwidth to collab?"

EJ then stuck his hand in the frame again, this time covered by a sock puppet.

Violetta blinked at him. "I worry about you sometimes, you know that?"

Ashlyn slowly looked back over to Nini. "Yeah, I think we can find the time."

"Thank you," Nini replied. "Um, oh, and have either of you guys heard from Gina?"

"I can text her," Violetta offered. "You want me and her to put together some choreography?"

"That would be lifesaving. Okay, let's get to work."

While Violetta went to go FaceTime Gina, Athena got a piece of paper and a pencil for both her and Ashlyn. Athena let out a deep breath and tapped her pencil eraser against the notebook she was writing against. Where to begin?

"Do you, by chance, happen to have any of those pieces of paper with your songs on them in your pocket or something?" Ashlyn inquired to Athena after a couple of minutes.

Athena shook her head. "Unless you want a heartbreak ballad about red lights and stop signs, I've got pretty much nothing."

"Listen to your heart!" Violetta called from the other room. "Okay, ready, G? Five, six, seven, eight . . ."

"Listen to your heart . . ." Athena repeated quietly. She then looked back up. "Whenever I think of North High and how they constantly put us down, I always just want to tell them that they haven't seen what we can do. They're so blinded by their Broadway lights and flashy outfits."

"They ain't seen nothin'," Ashlyn concluded.

Athena's eyes widened and she pointed her pencil at Ashlyn. "You Ain't Seen Nothin'." She quickly wrote that at the top of her page. "I think I know where this is going."

Maybe about thirty minutes later, Athena and Ashlyn were finished with their verse while Nini was finished with her chorus. They decided to split up the writing so it wouldn't be as daunting, especially to Nini who wasn't finding much of her creative outlet today. Ashlyn texted Nini their verse while Nini texted Ashlyn back her chorus, and after reading it over, they all knew that this was it.

"Ashlyn," Nini began seriously. "Athena."

Ashlyn nodded. "My hero."

"I just got your text. I love what you two did on the verses."

"And your chorus?" Athena asked. "Impeccable."

Nini clapped for them. "This feels so good, working together. Just us ladies, doing our thing. It's just what I needed." Her eyes then trailed over to Athena. "Do you agree, 'Thena?"

Athena blinked. "What?"

She smiled sadly at her. "How are you holding up? You know . . . with the whole Ricky situation?"

"Oh, it's fine. We're still friends."

Ashlyn stared at her. "Athena."

Athena sighed. "Okay, okay. I'm . . . getting better. I mean, I'm the one who ended it, so . . ."

"Doesn't mean you're not sad," Nini countered.

"But I've really started to look back and heal myself," Athena continued. "That plus spending time with my friends right now is really helping a lot. Seriously, you guys are the best."

Nini nodded before deciding to move on. "Um, let's share this with everyone. Has EJ and Vi heard it?"

"Oh, EJ just disappeared a second ago," Ashlyn answered. "Maybe it's nap time."

Athena shrugged. "Probably. And Vi is still talking to Gina, but she'll be out soon."

"Okay, stand by. I will send you and the gang a file. I hope everyone's okay with learning a song in one hour."

"Hey, what are spring breaks for?" Nini questioned.

Athena pointed to her. "Amen, sister. Let's do this."

So, as it turns out, everyone did do pretty okay with learning an entire number in an hour. There were some arguments here and there — also known as Seb and Carlos bickering — but nevertheless, they got through it.

They all listened to the song together with the tempo and Gina and Violetta matched their choreography with the timing. Once that was finished, they assigned the parts of who would be singing when and with who if they were in the same place. All of them then filmed their separate videos singing the lyrics and dancing to You Ain't Seen Nothin'. Finally, Big Red received all of the videos and edited them together. The final product was amazing and they posted it to the East High drama club Instagram for North High to see.

By the time all of that was done, it was night time. Athena was back on the couch with Ashlyn, sharing a bowl of popcorn while Violetta and EJ played a game of Go Fish (Athena didn't understand why) by the table.

"Got any two's?" Violetta asked in a bored tone.

"No, Go Fish," EJ responded, sounding just as bored.

Ashlyn stared at them. "You could've picked literally any other card game, and you went with Go Fish?"

"It seemed like a good idea at the time," Violetta insisted. "Now it's just boring."

EJ placed a hand on his heart like he was offended. "I was the one who suggested it. Are you calling me boring?"

"That's exactly what I'm saying."

Athena laughed slightly at them. However, her phone screen lit up. She picked it up to look at it, only for her eyebrows to knit in confusion. There was a voicemail from Ricky.

"Hey, you okay?" Ashlyn inquired in concern.

"Uh, yeah," Athena replied, although she was still very confused. "I just have to go listen to this voicemail. I'll be right back."

Ashlyn nodded. Athena got up and walked over to the steps of Ashlyn's house. She went up them about halfway and sat down.

Her thumb hesitated over the play button. What could this voicemail possibly be? Athena shook it off. It was now or never. She let out a deep breath and began to play the voicemail.

"Uh, hey, Big Red," Ricky began.

Athena's eyebrows knit in confusion once more. She was definitely not Big Red . . . unless this was another accidental voicemail incident. Athena sighed and went to go text Ricky he had called her instead of Big Red, but something made her stop.

"I, uh . . . I didn't know who else to show this to. The other day, Athena called me when she meant to call Violetta. She played this song and she sounded so sad . . . I didn't want to say anything because she wanted to keep that song between the two of them, but . . . her heartbreak song also inspired me in a way."

Athena paused the voicemail for a second, still utterly confused, but then her eyes widened in realization. Oh God, Ricky had heard Drivers License. She had accidentally called him instead of her. Her mouth reaching up to her mouth in shock, she resumed the voicemail.

"She said one thing to Vi — write it out. Even though it wasn't said to me, I always trust her advice. If she believed writing her feelings down in a song helped, then . . . well, I decided to try. You don't, um, have to text or call me back about it or anything. I just really have to get this off my chest and I thought you would want to hear it. Also, please don't tell Athena about this. I don't want her to feel like she's being rushed back into things when she just asked for space. So, uh . . . this is Let You Go."

The first thing Athena noticed was how Ricky was playing the piano. Athena felt her breath hitch in her throat. She had been the one to teach him the piano. He had been incredibly rusty when they played the piano together, but now . . . maybe he had been practicing. That kind of made her heart warm, but the lyrics of this song began to make her heart break all over again.

"Close the book before it turns to tragedy," Ricky sang. "Tear the treehouse down, give up the fantasy."

Athena felt like somebody had just impaled her heart with something sharp. Tear the treehouse down. The place where their strong bond had formed had been the same place where their relationship ended.

"Nothing to regret, since the day we met, glad we took a chance making our own world."

Tears instantly began to pool in her eyes. For so long, Ricky and Athena had avoided their feelings in fear that their friendship would be ruined. However, their feelings ultimately got the best of them. They took a chance and became a couple, creating a world where they were in perfect harmony. Athena didn't regret anything, either. She wouldn't trade dating Ricky for the world.

"Perfectly imperfect like it had to be."

Just like Drivers License. Athena had written I know we weren't perfect, but I never felt this way for no one. Ricky also knew that their relationship wasn't perfect — they stumbled trying to figure out everything until they ultimately crashed.

"Who thought that one first kiss would turn into two heartbreaks? 'Cause since we were young I swore I'd never walk away."

Athena remembered the first kiss between her and Ricky. It was outside her house on the night of Homecoming. She hadn't expected it, but she remembered the way her mind went haywire the second Ricky pressed his lips to hers. Yet here they were — broken up with nothing but a promise that they would still be friends and how they would always be there for each other.

"I love you so much that I've gotta let you go. It couldn't last forever, and I hope you find better. I can't forget us, can't pretend we ain't broken. It was good together, now I've gotta let you go. I'm picking up pieces left and right, now that our hearts are both untied. It'll take time, it'll take time. No one can say we didn't try, I'll think of these days all my life. It'll take time, it'll take time. I love you so much that I've gotta let you go. It couldn't last forever, and I hope you find better, yeah. I can't forget us, can't pretend we ain't broken. It was good together, now I've gotta let you go."

At this point, Athena was crying again. She had told Ricky that she loved him enough to let him go, but she failed to realize how much it actually hurt. Athena stared down at her phone in her hand, tears streaming down her face as sat on Ashlyn's steps.

"Yeah, uh, I guess that's it," Ricky continued. "I'll talk to you later, Red. Um, Bye."

The voicemail ended. Athena put her phone down on the steps and hugged her knees to her chest. That was just making her reconsider everything.

"Hey, we're going to pick up Gina from the airport — Athena, what's wrong?" Violetta suddenly asked.

Athena's head snapped up. She hastily wiped away her tears on her face and stood up, putting her phone in the back pocket of her jeans. Violetta stared at her in concern as she padded down the steps.

"I — I have to go," Athena admitted.

"Go? Go where?" Violetta questioned, watching as Athena put on her shoes and jacket quickly. "Athena—"

"I'm going home."

"You can't walk alone at this time of night," EJ protested. "Let me drive you."

Athena shook her head. "No. Go pick up Gina from the airport."

"At least let me come with you," Violetta insisted.

"I really just need to be alone right now."

Ashlyn, who had gotten up to join them at the door, nodded in understanding. "Yeah, okay. Text us when you're home."

Athena gave her a watery smile before leaving the house. She wandered through the streets of Salt Lake City towards her house, tears streaming down her face as she wrapped her jacket around her tighter for comfort — or maybe in effort to keep the broken pieces of herself contained.

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MF PLOT TWIST

ALSO SORRY FOR THE SHORT CHAPTER THE NEXT ONES WILL BE LONGER

anyways saw a post that ricky falling from the air bc of the rope was like trina vega swinging from the lights bc her harness was broken in that one episode of victorious and now I can't unsee it

also joRDAN FISHER IS APPEARING ON HSMTMTS????? FIRST HIM ON THE FLASH AND NOW THIS????? I DON'T KNOW HOW TO PROCESS THIS. THEY REALLY SAID "LET'S BRING ALL OF THE EVAN HANSENS ON THE SHOW"