┏━━━━━━༻❁༺━━━━━━┓

𝗡𝗢𝗪 𝗢𝗥 𝗡𝗘𝗩𝗘𝗥

chapter nine:
the sweetheart !

┗━━━━━━༻❁༺━━━━━━┛

THE CAMPERS WERE called in early for a meeting at the barn the next morning. Athena got dressed in a blue short-sleeved crop top with yellow flowers on it, yellow jean shorts, and her white Converse high-tops, still a little bit groggy from how early she had to wake up. She tied her hair back into two low pigtails, not bothering to do anything else.

One of her hands interlocked with Ricky's and her other holding her Frozen script, Athena entered the barn in between Ricky and Violetta. Val, Carlos, and EJ were standing at the front of the room in front of the stage, an easel that had a board that said take a seat in the middle of them. There were also three rows of chairs set up. Athena stopped momentarily, her eyebrows knitting in confusion. She shared a confused look with Violetta. What was this?

"Morning, guys," EJ greeted. "Come on in. We don't have much time."

Val gestured to the board. "Take a seat."

"Did EJ say anything to you about what's going on?" Athena asked Violetta.

"No," Violetta answered. She then gave Athena a sarcastic smile. "Maybe you should ask Val instead."

"Are you being serious or are you joking? I can never tell with you sometimes."

"Please don't ask Val."

Athena gave her a concerned look. "Vi, what's going on?"

"I'll tell you after rehearsal," Violetta promised. "As long as I don't explode."

The three of them sat down in the middle row of chairs. Ricky placed his and Athena's interlocked hands in his lap. Athena gave him a small smile before looking back to the front of the room.

"Can we have everyone's attention, please?" Carlos called as everyone settled down.

"Thanks for coming in early, guys," EJ said. "We've been up all night."

"Look, this better be good, because in here, it's still last night," Kourtney cut in, pointing at the side of her head.

"We've been working on a plan to save the show and give Corbin and that Channing guy the reality show style juice that they really want."

"Sorry, save the show?" Gina repeated.

"He — he just wants a little more excitement from us, you know?" EJ revealed. "Like, a little more . . ."

"He thinks we're boring!" Carlos interjected. Athena's eyes widened. Boring? "He's actually missing our rehearsal today to scout out the kids at Deep Lake Camp in Temecula."

"That can't be a real place," Ricky voiced.

Athena blinked at him. "Oh my God."

"But not to worry, because we have a plan," Carlos continued. "And it starts with five little letters."

"Allow me," Val offered.

She pulled away the board that said take a seat to reveal another board. On it, it said the R.C.O.S.L. Athena tilted her head in thought.

Carlos pointed at it. "Watch what happens, fam."

"R.C.O.S.L.?" Gina read out loud.

"No." Carlos pointed to each letter. "It's the Real Campers of Shallow Lake. The franchise I was always destined to join. I mean, you were."

"Look, it's easy," EJ told them. "You know how normally we act like regular people, we pick up on social cues, we care about each other's feelings?"

Violetta let out a laugh. "Oh, we do?"

Athena looked over at her for a moment, elbowing her slightly to get her to stop laughing. She truly had no idea what was going on, but there seemed some sort of rift between Violetta and EJ.

EJ looked confused. "Yes, we do. But now that's over."

"Because the key to any great reality show is the three B's," Carlos added. "Bombshells, betrayals, and bitch slaps."

Athena's eyes widened further. She shared a wide-eyed look with Ricky. Bitch slaps?

"Can he say that?" Gina questioned.

"Look, I love the housewives as much as anyone, but how are we gonna pull this off when we're real students who don't have millions to burn and kids to blame?" Kourtney inquired.

Jet raised his hand. "Can I be Team Kourtney on this?"

"No," Carlos replied. "Here's what we're doing." Val pulled away another board, which also said R.C.O.S.L., but now it had multiple rectangles with titles in them and question marks. "There's the judgy one, the sometimes jealous boyfriend, the one with the dark past, the crier, the sweetheart, the one with the catchphrase, the one who's here for the wrong reasons, the troubled sarcastic one, the shrink, the bad boy, and the instigator."

"Mmm-hmm," Val agreed. "It's a formula, and the formula works."

"Each of you has a role to play today."

Val held up another board that said the campers, and it had their Polaroid pictures that Maddox had taken at auditions.

"I'm sorry, Carlos, did you cast this?" Maddox asked.

Carlos let out a small laugh and pointed at her. "I'm back, baby."

"Isn't this a little . . . tawdry?" Kourtney questioned.

"Was gonna say the same thing," Jet admitted.

"And that's why you, Kourt, get to be the judgy one," Carlos stated, and Val placed Kourtney's picture in one of the rectangles on the board.

The rest of them clapped. However, Athena couldn't help but have a bad feeling about this. What if everything went wrong? What if things got too real?

"But do we want to look like villains on TV?" Ricky interjected.

"I thought you'd want to go sympathetic, which is why you get to be the sometimes jealous boyfriend," Carlos said, and Val put his picture on the board.

"Oh, good."

Athena then let out a small laugh, but quickly covered it with her hand when she saw Ricky was giving her a look. "Nope. I'm not laughing. Nothing's funny."

"Ashlyn, you've got a dark past," Carlos announced.

"I'm dying, yes," Ashlyn voiced. "Guys, this is gonna be fun."

"Gadget, you're the crier. Athena, you're the sweetheart."

"Oh," Athena responded, smiling. "I like that."

"And Gina—" Carlos began.

"Ooh, I think we've already established that I can't improvise," Gina said.

Ashlyn pointed at her in agreement. "She's awful."

"I — I don't even have a comeback for that because I . . . I can't improvise."

"I got you, boo," Carlos reassured her. "You're the one with the catchphrase. Just say the same thing all the time in different ways."

"Okay, what's my phrase?" Gina inquired.

Athena turned to Violetta. "Oh, what's that line she always says?"

"Um . . . oh, don't get me started," Violetta answered.

Gina glanced back at Athena. "And you shouldn't."

Athena's smile slowly slipped off of her face as Gina turned back around. She didn't miss the venom in her tone or the malice in her eyes. Athena instantly got confused again. What happened? Didn't they literally agree to start over not too long ago? What was going on?

"EJ's here for the wrong reasons," Carlos voiced, making Athena snap out of her trance. "Violetta's the troubled sarcastic one."

"Emphasis on troubled," Violetta said.

"Val's the shrink, Jet's the bad boy, and I will the the instigator."

Kourtney scoffed. "I thought we were stretching for these parts."

"Good," Carlos approved. "I want a lot of that today. So, I know that was a lot, but has everyone got all that?" Everyone moved to stand up. "Good, 'cause there's more." They all sat back down. "We have four goals for the day." EJ held up a whiteboard of a to-do list. "Someone needs to run out of here crying, someone needs to get slapped, someone needs to throw a drink at someone, and someone needs to get caught on a hot mic saying something scandalous. Any questions?"

"I have a lot," Athena voiced.

"This is gonna put our documentary on the map," Ashlyn told them. "Get into it, guys."

Val approached Carlos. "Um, Channing's coming in fifteen."

"Oh, Val, that was nice of you to tell him that," Violetta said, crossing her arms and leaning back in her chair. "You know, you're always so helpful with your behind-the-scenes takes."

"Vi," Athena scolded.

"Start getting into character," Carlos instructed. "There's no time to lose, and many, many People's Choice Awards to gain. Come on."

Carlos had some people separate into teams of two to practice fake-slapping. Athena was keeping a close eye on Ricky ad EJ, who were partners, but she was more-so concerned about Violetta. Her best friend was closed-off, more than usual, and didn't seem open to talking about anything.

"Vi, I can't help you if you won't tell me what's wrong," Athena pleaded. "We don't have to talk right now, but I . . . I hate seeing you sad like this."

Violetta sighed. "I wish it were that easy, 'Thena."

"You're an expert on keeping things inside, but you don't always have to," Athena told her quietly.

"I promise I will tell you after rehearsal, after I talk to EJ. For now, let me just focus on being the troubled sarcastic one. Carlos really put my role down to a t."

Suddenly, an actual slap echoed from in front of them. Athena's head snapped over just in time to see Ricky's hand leave EJ's cheek. Her eyes widened and she walked up to the two of them, Violetta trailing behind her, not seeming as concerned as Athena was.

"Huh," Violetta commented, crossing her arms across her chest. "Deserved."

"Did I do it right?" Ricky asked.

"Oh my God, okay," Athena said. She took Ricky's shoulders in her hands and gently steered him away. "You already thrown a basketball at him, and now you've slapped him. I think you've got your fill. Let's not assault EJ anymore, all right?"

"I'm sorry," Ricky replied. "He was saying something about me pretending to get lost in the woods just so I could spend more time with Violetta, which why would I do that, and insinuated that I was leaving you to the side for her, and I just . . . lost it."

"Well, slapping people is not how we solve our problems." Athena glanced over, only to see Violetta walking away from EJ, and he was staring after her. "Something's going on between them. We don't need to add fuel to the fire."

"I thought that's what we were doing today? Adding fuel to the fire? Causing drama?"

"And as the sweetheart, I'm trying to keep everything civil," Athena stated. "Be. Civil."

Ricky sighed. "Fine. I'll be civil. But if he says something about Vi to me again—"

"I will give you another basketball to throw at him."

Channing then came through the door. The room immediately quieted down, everyone standing in stunned silence for a moment. Athena looked up at Ricky, her stomach churning with nerves, and he gave her a small nod.

"Okay," Channing began, looking at EJ. "Let's you and the rest of the Care Bears get this lovefest over with, huh?"

Ricky elbowed Athena gently. "You're the designated Care Bear."

Athena elbowed him back, smiling softly. "I'm okay with that."

"I think you're gonna be pleasantly surprised today," EJ told Channing.

"I haven't been pleasantly surprised since Survivor: Nicaragua," Channing revealed.

EJ looked back at the stage. "Everyone give a warm welcome for Channing!"

"Pretend I'm not here."

"No welcome for Channing!" He talked with Val for a moment. "Alex, Emmy, Carlos, places for A Little Bit of You, please. Kill the lights, please."

Athena and Ricky went into the wings of the stage. Now that the camera wasn't on them fully, Ricky put his arm around her and tugged her in close. Athena leaned comfortably against him and crossed her arms. She watched as Emmy and Alex came on stage with their buckets of fake snow. Everyone else shut the blinds in the barn, and a single spotlight shone on Carlos, who was kneeling in his Olaf costume.

Emmy and Alex started to sing their song about Anna and Elsa making Olaf for the first time. They tossed their fake snow through the air and moved around the stage. Opening the chests on the stage, they pulled out multiple parts for a snowman, like a carrot and a top hat. Athena silently laughed to herself as Carlos immediately got annoyed from how they were placing things on him.

When they knocked the hat off of Carlos' head with the scarf, Athena turned her head into Ricky's chest, her body shaking with silent laughter. Oh my God, it was so cute, but so funny at the same time. She picked her head back up as the song ended, covering her mouth with her hand to hide her laughter as Emmy and Alex threw a lot of fake snow on Carlos.

Carlos shook his head. "Mmm-mmm. Okay. Stop, stop. Turn on the lights." Athena finally let out a loud laugh as Maddox turned the stage lights back on, Carlos starting to take the props off of him. "Um, I'm sorry, but is this supposed to be fake snow?"

"Uh . . . Olaf?" Alex questioned. "You can speak."

"Not to instigate anything here, but this looks like sea salt."

Emmy looked at Alex. "Did I take the wrong prop?"

Maddox suddenly gasped, holding a handkerchief in her hand and beginning to fake cry. "I tried my best, okay?"

"You guys, my head isn't a funnel," Carlos told the girls. "Can we at least try for my feet next time?"

"Are we being punked?" Alex inquired.

"At this point, I'm legally a margarita."

Athena watched as Emmy and Alex looked totally confused. She had a sudden realization that they weren't there for the pre-rehearsal meeting. That meant they had no idea what was happening and now had a bad view of what theater kids were.

They moved on. It was now the scene of Anna and Elsa at Elsa's coronation. Athena stood on stage next to Kourtney, both of them looking down at their scripts. They had actually come up with a plan beforehand to have Athena throw a cup of water at Kourtney, breaking out of her sweetheart role for a moment, projecting that she was tired of being stepped on. The two of them had set out a cup of water beforehand.

Athena sighed. "This is nice, Elsa. Us talking."

"Yeah, it is," Kourtney replied.

"Maybe we could do it more often?"

"Oh my gosh," Kourtney muttered.

"Oh," Athena said.

"I'm so sorry, can we cut?" Kourtney looked at Athena. "Are you really gonna deliver your line like that?"

It's just acting, Athena, she told herself. Kourtney's being judgy on purpose. Be the sweetheart.

"I thought it was okay," Athena admitted. "Why didn't you think it was good?"

Kourtney laughed loudly and threw her script away. "Good? That was awful." Kourtney lowered her voice to a whisper. "Water."

Athena's eyes widened in realization. She turned and went to get the cup of water that they had set out, but somebody else already had it.

Gina threw the cup of water at her. Athena gasped as the cold liquid hit the bare skin of her stomach and sunk into her jean shorts. Her jaw continued to stay dropped as she looked down, watching as the water dripped down her legs. She let out a small scoff of shock and looked up. Gina's face was completely stone-cold.

"Don't get me started," Gina voiced.

Athena had a sudden feeling that Gina wasn't acting. Sure, it could've been for the drama, but Gina wasn't even part of this scene, or a part of Athena and Kourtney's plan. Athena suddenly remembered how mean she had been earlier when she said her catchphrase back to her.

Gina continued to stare at her. "Oops."

Be the sweetheart. Be the sweetheart. Be the sweetheart.

"It's fine," Athena stated, her voice slightly shaking. "Don't worry about it."

She walked off of the stage, vaguely aware of the way Channing was following her with the camera. Athena walked into the back office and shut the door behind her, wanting nothing than to be alone right now. She placed her hands on the desk and let out a deep breath, her mind spinning.

That didn't seem like starting over to Athena. It seemed a lot like when Gina had tried to sabotage her and Nini to get the role of Gabriella in High School Musical, and Athena didn't like that.

Athena found a towel in the office and used it to wipe the excess water off of her stomach and shorts. She took a minute to pull herself together before leaving the office, heading back into the main room.

"All right, let's do the Anna-Kristoff-Hans scene, page twenty-four," EJ instructed as she came back.

Athena walked up onto the stage. She passed by Ricky on the way to the wings. He grabbed her arm gently, making her stop. Ricky looked down at her with an expression that just read are you okay? Athena gave him a tiny nod in response. He pressed a quick kiss to the top of her head and let her go.

Maddox rolled out the prop of Kristoff's wheelbarrow with ice. Both EJ and Ricky were standing behind the prop with their scripts. Athena stood in the wings, and Jet stood in the opposite wings, waiting for their cues.

"And action," EJ stated.

Athena walked out onto the stage and bumped into the prop, laughing as she did so. "Oh, I'm sorry, I'm so sorry."

"Oh, no, are you okay?" Jet replied.

"I'm fine. How embarrassing. I . . ."

Jet shook his head and looked at EJ. "Director, I don't get Hans. He's kinda lame. Can we get him to be rougher or something?"

"Are you questioning me as a director-slash-actor?" EJ demanded.

"I think maybe that's something I would do."

"Let's keep going."

Ricky stepped up. "Hi. Can I ask you lovebirds something?"

"Lovebirds?" Athena repeated. "No, um, we've actually never met."

"But we're meeting now," Jet recited, but he had turned his voice very deep for some reason.

Athena stared at him in confusion. "Yeah . . . we are."

"Great," Ricky continued. "Do you like cold drinks?"

"Very much," Jet responded in the same low voice.

Ricky leaned in closer to him. "What are you doing with your voice, dude?"

"I don't know, but it hurts."

Athena looked at Ricky helplessly, lowering her voice to a whisper. "I'm lost."

Maddox suddenly started to fake cry again, making Athena turn back to the wings. "It is just so hard to see my . . . man with another lady."

She pulled out her handkerchief and fake-cried into it, walking across the stage for the camera.

"Ugh, what a baby," Kourtney commented.

Carlos turned to her. "Well, that's a little judgy."

"Well, you're a little loud and excitable man."

"What are you gonna do about it?"

Kourtney then reached up and slapped Carlos' face. However, it was extremely light.

Carlos gasped dramatically and held onto his face. "Ow! My face! I've been slapped!"

Athena really just wanted to lie face-down on the floor and not come back up for a little while. She was right about not having a good feeling about this.

═ • ° • ✧ • ° • ═

gina girl what the fuck are you up to

actually I know what she's up to lol <3

. . . new note, I updated this because I thought it was sunday. it's monday.

WELL ENJOY THIS EXTRA UPDATE I GUESS LMAO