underneath the lights || hsmtmts

baby i got options but i only want you | ricky x gina

gina porter knows better than to fall in love with someone. every so often her mom has to pack up and move somewhere when there's a disaster, and gina has been to far too many high schools, had far too many first days, to give her heart to someone. 

at east high though, she thought she was going to stay, at least through the end of the school year. her mom had promised it, and while it took a little bit of convincing, and a little bit of time, gina did start to believe that she really would be able to make a home here, rather than just live in another house. 

falling in love was definitely never a part of her plan when she auditioned for the fall musical. anything goes was perfectly dance heavy, and given that dance was always her strong suit, she was beyond thrilled that miss jenn had picked it out. sure, she'd always wanted a showmance, deep, deep down in that heart of hers, but she had never anticipated meeting ricky bowen and finding herself truly head over heels. 

gina met ej on audition day and they'd read together quite a few times, he seemed impressed by her and frankly, it was obvious ej was not exactly easy to impress, even upon her first meeting him. but then she wasn't the kind to cave to simple flattery either, or to people who weren't willing to put in the work. he was a senior, and he very much intended to play billy crocker, there was no way around anyone seeing that. given his extensive credits which she only knew because he was eager to share, she didn't doubt that he would get the part. 

sure, ej seemed to want his girlfriend to get the part of reno, claiming she deserved to be the lead instead of the 'back of a cow' (a reference which gina definitely did not understand one bit), but she definitely did not seem at all confident in that part being a possibility for her. the part of hope harcourt though, that seemed far more attainable. plus, as nini had made the argument more than a bit too loudly in the middle of the dressing room before the audition, hope would be in love with billy, and wouldn't ej love to do those scenes with her? 

ej had evidently let the olive skinned girl be, but made clear she should put on her audition form that she was going out for the larger role as well. gina on the other hand had no other choices selected, sure, she could be the heiress, but why go after smaller parts? in theatre they claim 'there are no small parts only small actors', but that was a lie and gina knew it. her mom would roll her eyes if she heard gina try to claim as much. 

when she got cast as reno sweeney however, the incredible female lead, gina had felt so immensely proud of herself despite her unwillingness to admit that she had possessed even a shred of doubt over her casting. the cast list had been posted in the hall and the moment she saw it made her so extremely excited to put on a show that could truly showcase just how talented she was. her teacher clearly believed in her to carry this show, and that right there meant the world to gina who has had a hard time connecting with her teachers given how often she had to pack up and leave.  

at the first rehearsal, the read through, when she sat between ricky and ej, with nini on ricky's other side, gina noticed a great deal of tension between the three of them. especially when miss jenn made everyone hold hands, the dirty look shot past gina over to ricky by ej was unmistakable. while she was familiar with looks that could kill over drama department issues, this seemed a lot more personal than the simply idea of ricky getting the part ej wanted. 

ej certainly did make a big show of how excited he was to play the debonair sir evelyn oakley and show off his character skills, plus to be in that engagement (though a feigned one), with nina, but if he was anything like gina, and she was almost sure he was, he was pissed. having both boys hands in hers, though intended for some type of forced camaraderie by miss jenn, she had to admit the small act of physical affection was sort of nice. so too was the way the pair had exchanged numbers with her before everyone left to go home, though not much time passed between ej putting his number on her phone and nina practically pulling him out the door.