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𝗡𝗢𝗪 𝗢𝗥 𝗡𝗘𝗩𝗘𝗥

chapter sixteen:
happy birthday !

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WHEN ATHENA WOKE up the next morning, there was only one thing on her mind.

It wasn't that it was opening night — okay, maybe that was definitely somewhere in her mind, but she could stress out about that later. Right now, it was the fact that it was Ricky's birthday. He was turning eighteen, and even though everybody was concentrated on the show, Athena brought everyone together with the idea that they should wake him up together to make his birthday a priority.

As if she couldn't make his birthday a priority. It was literally one of the things she was focused most on when summer began. After everything Ricky had been through in the past year, Athena wanted to make his birthday as special as possible. That was still her goal, even now, with all of the pressure of putting on Frozen.

Athena tip-toed into the Yurt Locker cabin, holding Ricky's wrapped present in her hands. Violetta, Ashlyn, Kourtney, Maddox all followed after her — Gina, for her own reasons, wasn't there. The rest of the boys were awake, and all of them gathered around the cabin, staring at Ricky's figure. Athena instantly smiled at the sleeping state of her boyfriend. He was laying on his back with his hands resting on his stomach.

"Okay, I'm gonna count to three," Carlos instructed.

"On three or after three?" Kourtney asked.

"Not this again."

Maddox apparently couldn't contain herself. "Happy Birthday!"

All of them instantly echoed after her, Athena probably the loudest. She then started to laugh as Ricky got completely startled, thrashing around in his sheets as their wishes scared him.

"And happy opening night to those keeping score," EJ added. "Our show might be in danger, but right now, our focus is Ricky."

Ricky let out a small laugh and sat up. "Guys, you shouldn't have. For real, you almost gave me a heart attack."

"It was Athena's idea," Violetta revealed.

Athena shrugged, giving Ricky a soft smile. "Gotta start your birthday right."

"You're an old man now?" Jet questioned.

"But wait, there's more," Carlos stated as Ricky slid off of his bed.

Ashlyn blinked. "There is?"

"Come on in. Your best friend is old enough to vote."

Big Red then burst through the door with Ricky's birthday cake, making Athena's smile widen. "Please tell me these bunks are air-conditioned."

Ashlyn stared at him. "Biggie?"

"Of course you showed up," Ricky said, hugging Big Red.

"We've spent every birthday together since preschool," Big Red replied.

"Yeah. And of course you brought a lotto ticket."

"Brought a what now?"

"A lotto ticket?" Ricky repeated. "It's the last thing on my bucket list. That's why you're here, right?"

"You walked on the moon?" Big Red inquired.

"He actually did it all this summer," Jet cut in, stepping forwards. "I'm Jet. Who are you?"

Big Red set down the cake on the table. "I am Ashlyn's boyfriend."

"My friend first," Ricky muttered as Big Red and Ashlyn hugged.

Athena patted Ricky's shoulder. "It's okay, sweetie."

Ricky's eyes trailed down to the box in her hands. "Is that my present?"

"Yes." Athena tucked it closer into herself as Ricky reached for it. "Blow out your candles first and then I'll give it to you."

Ricky's eyes widened, and he pushed past the crowd. "Excuse me."

Jet turned the cake around as Ricky sat down. "Make a wish."

Ricky closed his eyes and blew out the candle. Athena smiled in excitement as everyone cheered.

"Let's give the love birds some space," Violetta suggested in amusement. "I think Athena's about to burst."

She was. All she wanted to do was kiss her boyfriend and give him his present. Athena was bouncing a little on the balls of her feet, watching in anticipation. The others started to trickle out, which included Ashlyn dragging Big Red outside, until it was just the two of them.

Athena placed down her present on the table, the brightest smile on her face before she jumped up. Ricky's eyes slightly widened as he suddenly got an armful of teenage girl. Athena giggled as her legs flew around his waist, her arms thrown around his neck. Ricky wrapped his arms around her waist and held her tight, pulling her up just a little bit higher to sit more comfortably around his hips.

"Happy Birthday!" Athena exclaimed, attempting to hug him tighter in the position that she was currently in.

Ricky laughed, and Athena felt him do so since their bodies were basically pressed up against each other's. "Thank you, Attie."

Athena pulled away slightly so that she could look at his face. "You're eighteen!"

"I am. Is that why you jumped on me?"

"Yeah, what else was I supposed to do?" She laughed slightly. "I can get down."

"No way," Ricky refused, not releasing his grip on her at all. "I'm quite enjoying my birthday starting with an armful of Athena."

Athena let out another giggle before leaning forwards and kissing him gently. Ricky instantly kissed her back, just like he always did. The two of them smiled into it before they eventually pulled away. Athena, however, leaned back in and pressed a quick kiss onto his forehead.

"Okay," Athena began, getting down from his embrace. Ricky's hands stayed on her hips as she reached down and grabbed the present off of the table. "Present time."

"Really?" Ricky asked. "I finally get to know what it is?"

Athena smiled and held it out to him. "Here you go." Ricky took the present from her and sat back down in the chair. Athena watched in nervousness as he held it in his lap. "It's, um, it's not much, but I hope you like it."

Ricky started to unwrap the present. Once all of the wrapping paper was gone, it revealed a small red box shaped like a heart. There was a small picture pasted on the lid of the box of them. It was a selfie that they had taken one day while sitting on Athena's couch. Athena had her arms slung around his neck and had pulled him in closer so that she could kiss his cheek. Meanwhile, Ricky was smiling brightly, so brightly that it seemed to shine through the picture. On either side of the picture was a crescent moon sticker and a planet Saturn sticker. And above it, written in Sharpie, was Lyrics That Remind Me Of You.

"I know you have your bad days," Athena explained quietly. "Or days when you feel secluded, or days when you feel anxious and you want to let your mind spiral. I never want you to feel like that, so I made this. Two hundred individual song lyrics that make me think of you so that maybe you can see how much I truly love you. So you can open it when you're sad, or whenever, really—"

She was cut off by Ricky placing the present down, standing up from the chair, taking her face in his hands, and kissing her again. Athena slightly froze from the sudden movements, but nevertheless, she rested her hands on his arms and pressed up onto her toes in effort to get closer to him. Ricky pulled away first, staring down at her in amazement.

"It's not much?" Ricky questioned softly. "Athena, this is everything."

Athena's heart rate decreased — it was still pounding from being so close to Ricky, but at least she didn't feel so nervous about him liking her present anymore. "Yeah?"

"Yeah," Ricky confirmed. "You're the only one who knows how to really calm me down, and this . . . it'll remind me that you're by my side."

Athena grinned. "Always."

Ricky's thumbs ran back and forth on her cheeks. "You're incredible, my love."

Athena felt a whole swarm of butterflies rush through her stomach. "Thank you. I'm glad you like it."

Ricky glanced back over at the box. "Can I open one?"

"You can open them whenever, so sure."

He let her go and walked back over to the box. Ricky lifted up the lid, revealing a whole bunch of little slips of paper inside the box. Well, two hundred to be exact.

Ricky let out a small laugh. "You weren't kidding when you said paper."

Athena shrugged. "I told you it was a big hint."

Ricky picked one of the slips of paper. He took it out of the box and put the lid back on. Athena watched as he unfolded the little slip of paper. She could see her handwriting on it through the paper due to the sun shining into the cabin.

"When I hear my favorite song, I know that we belong," Ricky read out loud. He looked up at her. "Are all of these High School Musical lyrics?"

"Not all of them," Athena responded. "There's a lot of Taylor Swift in there."

Ricky shook his head. "I don't expect anything less from you." Ricky put down the slip of paper and walked back over to her. "Thank you."

"Of course. Only the best for my boy." She glanced back at the door. "Uh, I should probably go and get ready, considering I'm still in my pajamas. We have a long day ahead of us, so . . ."

He nodded. "No, yeah, I get it." Ricky took his hands in hers. "See you later."

Athena smiled at him. "I love you."

"To the moon and to Saturn," Ricky promised. He leaned down and kissed her gently. "Can't wait to see you kill it tonight."

"Same," Athena responded. "See you."

Athena walked out of the cabin, feeling all fluttery inside. She glanced up at the sky — it was still a little early in the morning, and the sun was starting to peek through the clouds. It was also getting warmer, which Athena knew was going to be awful later in her Anna costumes, but it felt nice now, just in her pajama shorts and Ricky's t-shirt, which had been her standard pajamas for the entirety of the two weeks of camp.

It was hard to believe that this was the last day. So much had gone on in these last two weeks that camp had felt like an entire month. And yet here it was — the last day before all of them would go back home.

"Oh, Athena," Maddox's voice called, snapping Athena out of her thoughts.

Athena looked over at her, a smile appearing on her face. "Hi, Maddox. What's up?"

"It's tradition that we all get a camp nickname, so I'm handing them out to everyone."

Athena's eyes turned pleading. "Please don't tell me it's Sweetheart. I've had enough of that, if I'm being honest."

Maddox shook her head with a small laugh. "No. Actually, it's Glue."

Athena's eyebrows knit in confusion. "Glue?"

"Yeah. Among your little group of Wildcats, I've noticed that you're the one that kind of keeps everybody together. You check up on everyone, you make sure they're okay. I think it's fitting. Especially with Lover Boy."

"Lover Boy?"

"Oh, that's Ricky's nickname," Maddox explained. "Even more fitting, if you ask me."

Athena giggled and nodded her head. "I think Lover Boy does fit him well." She then reached forwards and pulled Maddox into a tight hug. "Thank you, Gadget."

Maddox froze for a second before she hugged her back. "No problem . . . Glue."

Athena pulled back and squeezed Maddox's shoulder before wandering back towards the Honeycomb. She could see it in the distance when somebody else stopped her again.

"Athena!" a voice exclaimed.

She turned. Approaching her was Emmy, the girl who was playing the young version of Anna — and, in other words, the young version of Athena.

"Can I bother you?"

"You never bother me, Em," Athena reassured her. "What's going on?"

"What if I get up there tonight and forget how to sing?" Emmy inquired.

Athena gave her a tight smile. "Listen. I felt the exact same way when I went on as Belle. But you, Emmy, have such a big heart, and from what I've seen at rehearsals, your voice matches it."

"When I sing alone, I sound okay."

"That's the thing. You're never alone, especially not here. Even though we have our setbacks, theater is a family. You just have to trust the process."

Emmy smiled up at her and nodded.

"Aw," a very, very familiar voice commented from behind Athena.

Athena's eyes widened and she turned around, only to see Miss Jenn standing there. "Miss Jenn?"

"Happy opening night!"

Miss Jenn extended her arms out. Athena let out a small laugh of amazement and sunk into her teacher's arms, hugging her tight.

"Oh my gosh, hi," Athena voiced, pulling away just slightly. "I didn't know if you were coming back or not."

"I wouldn't miss this for the world," Miss Jenn stated.

Athena then glanced back at Emmy and placed her hand on her shoulder. "Miss Jenn, I have someone that I'd like you to meet. This is Emmy."

"I play young Athena," Emmy explained. "Just minus the pink hair."

"Then you are a very lucky girl," Miss Jenn told her, locking eyes with Athena momentarily, who grinned. She reached forwards and took Emmy's hands. "Now go out there and find your voice."

Athena nodded in agreement. If it wasn't for Miss Jenn, she wouldn't have found her voice, either. She wouldn't have gotten to sing Breaking Free, play Belle, or play Anna. Athena owed the entire world to Miss Jenn.

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y'all thought it was the lottery ticket . . . y'all really did

I'm actually crying so hard right now please they're so sweet :')