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𝗜𝗡 𝗧𝗢𝗢 𝗗𝗘𝗘𝗣

chapter fourteen:
the nail painting party !

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SPRING BREAK HAD finally arrived, and Violetta couldn't have been more ready for anything. Between homework, tests, play rehearsals getting more and more intense, giving EJ attention, and trying to balance being there for both Athena and Ricky, all she really wanted to do was sleep.

EJ had invited her over to spend the day at Ashlyn's house. He had been sleeping over there for the past couple of days as well. Violetta had accepted, because spending time with her boyfriend and one of her friends would be beneficial. She had also asked if Athena could tag along. Violetta didn't want Athena to be stuck in her room all day surrounded by pictures of Ricky on her wall. EJ had told her she could come, and it took a bit of convincing, but Athena finally accepted.

Violetta rang the doorbell. The day was crisp, and she had on EJ's Duke sweatshirt that he had left at her house and a pair of black leggings. Her and Athena waited for a moment before Ashlyn finally opened up the door.

"Hi, guys," Ashlyn greeted, stepping aside to let them in. "Oh, the computers are already set up for the Zoom meeting in the living room. I think it's opening in a couple of minutes."

As if they weren't aware the Menkies were coming up, Miss Jenn had set up a Zoom meeting for the cast so they could discuss a little bit while everyone was on break.

"How's living with EJ been?" Violetta asked Ashlyn, taking off her shoes by the door.

Ashlyn paused for a moment as the three of them started to walk into the living room. "Interesting."

She let out a small laugh. "I can only assume. Speaking of him, where—"

Violetta was immediately cut off by two arms wrapping around her waist and picking her up off the ground. She let out a small shriek of surprise as they spun her around for a moment. Once she was set back down, Violetta whirled around. EJ was staring at her, laughing down at her. He was wearing a blue muscle tank, which made him look infuriatingly good.

"You are ridiculous," Violetta said while slapping his shoulder lightly, although she couldn't help the smile on her face.

"Hey, you," EJ replied, leaning down and pressing a quick kiss onto her lips. "Oh, nice sweatshirt. Wonder where you got it."

"From my boyfriend. You should really meet him sometime."

"I should. He sounds like a lucky guy."

Violetta nudged his ribs with her elbow, starting to walk back into the living room where Ashlyn and Athena had disappeared. "I like to think he is."

EJ put an arm around her shoulder and kissed the top of her head. "I am."

"Guys, the link is open," Ashlyn called. "Stop being gross."

All four of them gathered around Ashlyn's computer, only to greet everyone before Violetta and EJ would move to the other computer to have more space. Ashlyn clicked on the link, and they joined the Zoom.

"What's up?" Ashlyn and EJ said together in a funny sort of voice.

Violetta shook her head in amusement before looking at the screen. Miss Jenn was in the bomb shelter at school, Nini was in her bedroom, Carlos was on a beach in Los Cabos since he was on vacation, and Seb was in his barn.

"Hi, y'all!" Nini exclaimed.

EJ then took Violetta's hand. She allowed him to lead them over to the other computer set up in front of a chair. EJ sat down and patted his lap, urging her to sit. Violetta sat down on the edge of his knee before he took her waist and his arms and pulled her to sit back farther.

"Sorry, our parents all went to Park City together and left us to watch the house," Ashlyn explained as to why her and EJ were together. "We've been streaming old movies."

"Yeah, watched Scary Movie last night," EJ revealed. "Ah! What a classic."

"Never heard of it," Seb admitted.

"You guys are watching like, old, old movies," Nini stated. "Hey, Athena, what are you and Vi doing over there?"

Athena shrugged. "Violetta got invited over, and then I was dragged along, so we're just, you know . . . here."

"That's a new necklace, Athena," Miss Jenn announced. "It's pretty."

Ever since Athena had given Ricky her necklace back, she had been wearing a new one. Violetta had gotten it for her, actually. It was a silver chain with a simple A charm on it. Violetta had a similar one that had a V on it that Athena had given her.

Athena reached up and lightly touched the small charm. "Oh, thanks.  Vi got it for me."

"Well, I wanted to tell you guys—" Miss Jenn started to say.

Kourtney then joined the Zoom, sitting in the dining room of Salt Lake Slices. "Sorry we're late. Emergency in the kitchen."

"What's up?" Big Red recited once he joined in the same exact voice Ashlyn and EJ did earlier, also sitting in Salt Lake Slices.

"This is why we're soulmates," Ashlyn said.

"Yeah, okay, folks, let's focus," Miss Jenn interjected. "Now that we're all here . . . wait, no, where—"

Gina joined as well, backing away from her camera to show she was in an airport since she was going to visit her mom in Louisiana. "Hey, everyone. I'm here, I'm here. Sorry, um, I couldn't find an outlet and my flight's delayed. Apparently my plane has a mechanical issue, so . . . fun."

"Oh, dear. Are you safe?"

"I spent my childhood in airports. I am no damsel in distress."

"Okay, looks like we are only missing Ricky," Miss Jenn noted. "Athena, have you heard from him?"

Violetta sent a concerned glance to Athena. Miss Jenn didn't mean any harm by that, but she didn't know her and Ricky were broken up. Violetta had heard the details of their actual breakup from Athena. Her and Ricky had agreed to give each other space until they felt ready to come back together. It would be beneficial to them, but that still didn't mean that it would hurt any less. Also, not to mention that Ricky hadn't replied to anyone once he left to go to Chicago to see his mom.

Big Red spoke up for her. "Uh, I think Ricky is taking some alone time, or mom time, or both. He's in Chicago."

"Okay, I'm sure you're wondering why I've gathered you all here," Miss Jenn continued. "Opening night is only three weeks away, folks. That means we need to stay focused. And I know I can't — won't make you work over the break, but I needed to remind you, face-to-face, stakes are high. Please, for the love of theater, do not take the word break literally. Be safe. Okay, well, have fun. Stay in touch. And now you have this link, so hop on anytime. I'm basically the queen of modern technology, so . . ."

All of them waved to each other. Instantly, they scrambled to get off the Zoom as fast as they could so they wouldn't be the last person to leave, all while saying not it. EJ reached forwards and clicked the leave button before leaning back in his chair.

Violetta slumped dramatically against EJ's chest, who caught her, like he always did. "Yo, what should we do? No offense, Eej, but I really don't wanna watch Scary Movie."

"Oh my gosh, let's paint our nails," Ashlyn suggested in excitement, standing up from the couch. "Let me go get everything."

Violetta watched as Ashlyn ran upstairs to get her things, letting out a small laugh. She loved her enthusiasm.

Athena pointed at EJ from her place on the couch. "What color are you doing?"

EJ blinked at her in confusion. "What?"

"Your nails. I was thinking you could do maybe a dark blue, or maybe a red to match your letterman jacket—"

"I never agreed to having my nails painted."

Violetta turned to look at him, raising an eyebrow. "Well, you are now. And since I know Ashlyn will agree to it, it's three against one. So ha, you lose."

"What is EJ losing?" Ashlyn questioned, returning to the room holding a box of nail polish.

Athena giggled. "I love how you automatically assumed it was him losing something."

"With Vi saying it, it wasn't hard to guess."

"We're trying to convince him to paint his nails," Violetta revealed.

Ashlyn's eyes widened. "Oh my gosh, yes!"

EJ rolled his eyes playfully at them. "Oh boy, here we go."

"Come on, it'll be so fun! Think of it as, like, our spring break project."

He finally caved in with a sigh. "Okay, okay, fine."

"Yes!" Violetta exclaimed.

She stood up from his lap, making him drop his arms from around her waist. Violetta turned towards him and took EJ's hand, pulling him up from the chair and leading him over to the table. She knelt by the table and looked through the box of nail polish.

Violetta was completely unaware the way EJ was staring at her in adoration. Something seemed to have shifted inside him as he stared at his girlfriend. He sort of had an inkling of what that was, but . . . he didn't want to scare her by letting her know what he really felt. Soon, for sure, but not right now. 

"So 'Thena suggested we could do a dark blue or a red, but I was going to say you could do a gold or a yellow," Violetta said. When he didn't answer, she looked up to see him looking at her, his eyes glazed over. Her heart raced against her chest. "What?"

"Hm?" EJ hummed, blinking and snapping himself out of his trance. "Oh. Uh . . . I like this blue and this pink."

He reached over and picked out the two bottles of nail polish. Violetta grinned up at him and took his hand, setting it flat on the table. She opened up the bottle of blue nail polish and started to paint his thumb with the blue.

"Okay, but if you're doing mine, I get to do yours."

"That's going to be a disaster," Violetta stated.

"I'm so glad you have so much faith in me," EJ responded.

"Have you actually ever painted nails before?"

" . . . no."

Violetta nodded. "That's what I thought."

"Come on, V, please," EJ begged.

She sighed. "Fine. I want red so it can match your letterman jacket when I steal it again."

"Hey!"

═════════ • ° • ✰ • ° • ═════════

THEIR NAIL PAINTING party had ended. Miss Jenn had called another emergency Zoom meeting, due to Howie telling Kourtney (Violetta didn't know when they started talking again) that North High was going to be dropping a shady video about East High because they were on spring break. It didn't make a lot of sense to Violetta, but whatever.

Her and EJ didn't join Ashlyn and Athena on the couch right away. Instead, they were standing in the corner of the room. Violetta was inspecting her nails that EJ had painted for her. They looked fine — EJ had been extremely concentrated and had only gotten a little bit on the side of her fingers.

"Huh," Violetta commented. "Not bad, honey."

"Was this the ultimate test?" EJ inquired. "Have I finally succeeded as a boyfriend?"

Violetta narrowed her eyes playfully at him. "You've got a couple more tests to pass."

"Oh God."

She laughed a little at him. "Come on. We should go see what this video is all about."

"Who has time to talk when you're busy posting selfies with random guys in a cabana?" Seb snapped, his voice filled with jealousy.

Violetta's eyebrows knit in confusion as she sat down on the couch with EJ, Ashlyn, and Athena. This seemed very out of character for Seb. However, it seemed that Carlos being on vacation without him was really setting him off.

"What's up?" EJ greeted Kourtney, who joined the call with a wave.

"Wildcats, quiet!" Miss Jenn shouted, using the exact same tone Sharpay did during Stick To The Status Quo. They all shut up. "I've called you all here for a very serious reason. It seems Zack Roy has yet another trick up his sleeve."

"Miss Jenn, they just dropped the video on their Instagram," Nini revealed.

"Are you ready?"

"Ready, Miss Jenn."

"Kids, Nini is going to share her screen so we can all watch together."

Nini took a deep breath. "All right. Three, two, one."

She shared her screen. The video from North High appeared and started to play.

"East High," Lily's voice began as a video of somebody driving past the front of school was shown.

Violetta rolled her eyes in annoyance. Oh, just wasn't it so typical how this stupid blonde girl was narrating the video?

"For decades, the students of this institution have had greatness thrust upon them." The video showed pictures of the gym on opening night, one of their cast pictures, and pictures from the original High School Musical movies. "They've had fame. They've had popularity. But do they deserve it?" Multiple question marks and the word why flew around Zac Efron's face before a circle with a line through it appeared over him. "No." A picture of North High faded in. "We say it's time to give another school a shot at the spotlight. North High has spent its spring break on an immersion trip with nothing but theater in their hearts and minds." Multiple clips of Times Square in New York City were shown. "Meanwhile, East High has been slacking off in style, almost as if they know they can't win." Multiple pictures of them then popped up. There was Carlos on vacation, Ashlyn and EJ with hand puppets, Gina in an airport, and a screenshot of Nini's music Instagram page that now had over fifteen thousand followers.

Violetta scoffed. This whole video was pathetic and just screamed fan behavior. Like, seriously? They were this insecure.

"Okay, okay," Miss Jenn interrupted frantically, and Nini stopped sharing her screen, making the video go away. "We've seen enough."

Violetta looked at her friends on the screen. Everyone had shocked and incredulous looks on their faces. Violetta was honestly sick of North High. Why were they so obsessed with East High? The only answer was that they were just jealous, honestly.

"Did you just watch what I watched?" Carlos inquired in exasperation. "That was insane."

"Yeah, everyone, calm down," Miss Jenn instructed. "We just need a plan. If we want to beat them at their own game, we need to play by their rules . . . but, add a twist, of course. Let's do something subtle, but public, two show them that we're still in this to win it."

"I don't really do subtle."

"But you sure do public," Seb argued.

"We're on it, Miss Jenn," Nini responded.

Miss Jenn nodded at them. "Godspeed."

They all left the Zoom. Violetta felt movement next to her. She turned to see Athena had leaned back into the couch and had crossed her arms.

"You look mad," Violetta told her.

"I'm going to punch Lily across the face so hard that her little blonde ponytail comes out," Athena admitted, and Violetta nodded in agreement.

"You already almost did that when we went to North High," EJ said.

"Yeah, and I'd do it again."

"I don't think punching someone is Miss Jenn's idea of subtle," Ashlyn told Athena. "So, let's brainstorm to try and come up with some ideas."

They were going to get North High back. For sure.

∘ ₊ ✧ ──── ✧ ₊ ∘

the season three finale . . . I'm speechless

vi wearing the duke sweatshirt <3333

also athena and violetta would do that super freaky girl dance together on tiktok and absolutely kill it try to change my mind