underneath the lights || hsmtmts

tap shoes and eyeliner | big red x ashlyn

did big red want to audition for the musical? he wasn't entirely sure. the ginger had actually really enjoyed working on the crew of high school musical when they'd done it at east high in the fall. plus... ashlyn was absolutely right when she said it would be the perfect way for them to spend more time together. his girlfriend was a busy person, and there was no denying it even if he tried. it was impressive, especially how she kept her grades so high along with all those extracurriculars. red was definitely not counting on getting any a's for his work this semester.

but working on the crew was one thing, actually auditioning to be in the musical... that was a whole different animal. he recalls his uncle fred telling him that you eat an elephant one bite at a time. maybe he needed to take a smaller step instead of going straight from running the light board to going out for a character.

hell even big red's tap dancing skills were something that he firmly refused to share with most people. ashlyn was one of a select few people, he could count on one hand who knew his secret. well actually no that's not right, it was 6 now... when ashlyn found out and the uh- the epic kiss happened, he told ricky everything... everything including the tap dance ashlyn had interrupted. ricky probably would've made a way bigger deal out of it if he hadn't just gotten done playing a lead in the school musical, but the boys were too focused on their romantic highs to have much of a conversation about the tapping.

the other four people were his parents, who had of course signed him up for the lessons, his sister georgia, who'd been taking dance lessons herself (hence red winding up taking part), and actually nini. nini had taken dance classes throughout childhood, and it didn't take long for her and big red to run into each other. nini preferred ballet, but she and red tap danced together in a class once. there are recital videos of the two of them together in those little sequined costumes he'd never like to resurface... he swore her to secrecy at the time, and she'd kept her promise faithfully all these years. she knew ricky's feelings about these sorts of things, even if he did support her doing them, even as friends in childhood he had his own strong opinions. she didn't question why red didn't want their best friend to know. he was thankful to her for these things even now that he's revealed his secret passion.

ashlyn may have taken his rap performance for an audience of himself (and then her), as an indication he might be more comfortable taking the stage than he let on, but he can't blame her for being so enthusiastic in the face of a new challenge. big red didn't resist change so much as ricky did, but it still made him nervous to be vulnerable, to be putting himself out there again. and at the audition, people would be looking at him, only him... even just that thought alone was absolutely terrifying.

sitting with the theatre group in the lunchroom had become part of his routine nowadays, and it was much more comfortable the longer he spent time with the others beyond ashlyn and ricky. nini being gone had definitely made it both easier and harder to get involved in their group. but sitting next to ashlyn and holding her hand under the table made all the musical references he didn't understand more than worth it for big red.

today though, at the end of lunch, after all this chatter about the auditions and what pieces everyone was planning to sing, big red is with ashlyn at her locker when he decides to speak up.

"ash?"

"hmm?"

"can we maybe um, meet up after school. i didn't want to say this in front of everyone but i'm really really scared to get up in front of everyone and perform... i wondered if maybe you could help me practice?"

ashlyn frowned at his words, setting her books aside for a moment to look at her boyfriend. "biggie, of course we can. i always want to spend time with you..." the stage fright she sort of understands, but she's less worried about people watching and more of what she's doing not meeting the strict standards her family cares about. "and i'd love to help you practice... but maybe try not to think about auditioning too much until after school? i feel like it's going to make getting through three more classes a challenge." she remarks.