Fourteen years, two months, twenty nine days. That's how long Juliette Mason was encased in ice for, mirroring Captain America without all of the cool superpowers. Her life is turned upside down as she realizes what's going on all those years later...
"So how was my dancing?" EJ asks as we walk to his car, bringing a smile to my face.
"Alright. I've had better dance partners," I joke, although I've danced with Kenny Ortega, so I'm technically not joking, but he doesn't know that. Kenny and I had a father-daughter kind of relationship; he made sure I wasn't taken advantage of by any of the cast, while I looked up to him as a mentor.
"Oh, really? Like who?" Umm... I can't tell you.
"Well, wouldn't you like to know?" I can never tell him.
"Yes, I would." He turns towards me, and my heart flutters a little. Having a crush is so weird. "Or you can just tell me I'm the best."
"No can do." A smirk plasters itself on my face, and EJ takes that as an invitation to dance with me again.
"Oh really? Then how am I supposed to figure out who I'm behind?" By accepting defeat, buddy. No one can beat Kenny's dancing and that is a fact.
"I guess you'll have to figure that out." I wink, before leaving him to stand in front of his car dumbfounded. I have my own ride and I'd prefer not to have to drive back here tomorrow to get it. I am an independent girl capable of driving her own single a*s back home.
My mom would have to disagree. "You were about to get a ride home from a boy and you declined? I swear, you must be blind."
"And how would I be blind, mother?"
"He likes you. Guys don't just offer girls a ride home. That much is blatantly obvious. Did you at least get his phone number?" Sometimes, having a fairy godmother for a mom is a tad annoying.
"He's in the musical. I see him every single day. All he was trying to do was be nice to me," I reply, heading up to my room to go over everything in my head that happened tonight. The pictures with Ricky and Big Red, dancing with Ashlyn and Carlos and a lot of people I don't know, watching as Gina pours pink punch on EJ's head, helping EJ clean his suit jacket and his hair, and slow dancing with EJ for an hour. I think they mentioned something about the pictures being posted to... Instachat? That's not right. The only social networking site I can think of is MySpace, and I know it's not that. I do still remember my login information, but I barely used it to begin with, so I haven't bothered to look it up since I woke up. Not that it has even been mentioned by anyone else, so I doubt it's as popular as it used to be.
Looking up MySpace on Google, the first thing I'm drawn to is not the first website to pop up, but the navy blue logo on the side of the page and the blurb underneath. From 2005 to 2008, it was the largest social networking site in the world. Well, that died quickly. Yeah, I'm not going onto that site again.
What I should do is create new social networking accounts. Wait, I think I had a Facebook, too. Oh, sh*t. I have to delete that now. Before someone at East High finds it. Looking up Facebook, I remember my login information, not that it was all too long ago in my mind, and the first things I see are a hundred posts from people back then saying they wished I was still there.
I wish I was, too.
Zac Efron: We will always miss the legendary songwriter that took a chance on all of us #HSM #YouWillLiveOnInOurMemories
-> Vanessa Hudgens: Completely true. Without Juliette, none of us would be where we are today
-> Monique Coleman: She had faith in all of us, even when we didn't deserve it
-> Corbin Bleu: She even convinced me to dance :'')
-> Zac Efron: That's right! You were dead set on never doing a pirouette, let alone several dance numbers :'')
-> Kenny Ortega: I have to believe convincing you to dance was her greatest achievement
-> Kenny Ortega: Aside from writing the entire soundtrack and rewriting half the script
It was my greatest achievement, Kenny. Writing the soundtrack and the script was great and all, but Corbin Bleu was dead set on never putting on dance shoes. It took four doughnuts, two hundred dollars, and the promise to help him write a song to convince him. We never did get around to doing that song.
"What are you up to?" My mom opens my door to see me with the Facebook profile still in front of me. "Yeah, I was tempted to shut it down, but occasionally, I liked reading what the cast had to say about you."
"I'm going to have to shut it down." My mouth curls into a sad smile as I read these comments for the last time, before finding the button which ends it all.
"If I were in your shoes, I have no idea what I'd do. But, letting go of the past is one thing that will have to come eventually." Everything from back then has to leave before I can fully accept life in this day and age.
That starts with deleting my MySpace and Facebook accounts, and ends with building new social networking accounts, and a life that matches the one I've been telling everyone at school.
It starts with forgetting Jennifer Poppoli was ever a friend to me and accepting Miss Jenn as my drama teacher.
The only thing I'm bringing from the past is my love of music, passion for songwriting, and my lucky number.
My lucky number is fourteen. Through every twist and turn, it has been there, and even though letting go of the past is hard, I just have to remember that when one door is closed, somewhere a window opens.
This chance at a new life is my window, and I need to take it.
AUTHOR'S NOTE: Hey, everyone! I hope you guys liked reading more about how much Juliette still thinks about her old life and her trying to finally move on and let go of the things she hasn't told anyone else about. What did you guys think about this chapter? Let me know by voting and commenting and I'll see you guys in a few days! (Also, the most recent episode of HSMTMTS made me so stressed. I have no idea what's gonna happen to Ricky :( )
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