Weightless [HSMTMTS]

Chapter 3

As soon as the bell rang, Ten left the classroom and caught sight of Ashlyn in the corridor. He smiled when he saw her, raising a hand to wave when he fell into step with her.

"Hey, Ash. Have you seen Caswell?"

"He should be heading to the read-through now," Ashlyn replied but paused and looked at the other end of the corridor. "Oh look, there he is."

"Yo, what's up? I'm trading in my East High leopards gear to be a wildcat, starting today because, it's the day of the read-through!" EJ announced while holding his phone up. "Blessed to be playing Chad. Swipe up for a link to tickets."

"Hey Caswell." Ten popped his head in and checked if he could see himself on EJ's phone screen before giving a small wave to the camera.

"Hi." Ashlyn leaned in too, flashing a smile to the phone.

"Say hi to my best bud and my cousin, and bye to the both of them. They're the best. Peace!" The grin on EJ's face lingered even when he switched off his phone and slipped it into his jeans pocket.

"You're in a good mood," Ashlyn commented.

"That's his facade, Ash." Ten knew that EJ was quite disappointed with the results despite this supposed cheery attitude.

"It's for the fans," EJ replied solemnly. "Deep inside, I'm a whole bucket of sad." 

"You're still not over the thing where you didn't get the role of Troy?" Ashlyn asked.

"Of course he isn't over it," Ten said as the trio walked together. "He's heartbroken." 

"I put three years into this drama department and now I have to understudy my girlfriend's ex?"

"Life sucks that way," Ashlyn sympathised. "But maybe it'll be good for you to not get what you want for once?"

The soles of Ten's black converse shoes drew a loud squeak against the floor when he came to a halt at that statement.

"That only matters if Ricky is much better than EJ," Ten said, glancing at his best friend. "We'll see that during the read-through and rehearsals."

---

The drama students poured into the room, staring in awe at the props and how nicely the place was set up for them. You couldn't miss EJ's annoyance at the two desks next to each other labelled 'Troy Bolton' and 'Gabriella Montez'. 

EJ walked over and quickly swapped the name stands from Troy Bolton to Chad Danforth, a measure that prevented Ricky from sitting next to Nini.

When he turned around, he was met with Ten giving him a look. He didn't want to back down but Ten narrowed his eyes more, tilting his head towards the name cards.

EJ sighed and reluctantly set the name cards to their original spots. 

"Could everyone take their assigned seats please?" Miss Jenn asked. Eventually, the excitement in the room settled down and she could continue.

"I realise that you all walked in here as strangers," she began. "But after today, you're a family."

The uncomfortable atmosphere between Ricky and Nini was so tangible Ten could physically feel it. It was unfortunate that even after having a whole summer break and getting a new boyfriend, Ricky's ghost still haunted her.

Miss Jenn, however, was completely oblivious. "One tribe, committed to lifting this classic film to new heights. Please take your neighbours' hands." She herself firmly grasped Big Red's hand.

Nini made it a point to not look at Ricky in the eye as she hesitantly reached out for his hand.

"Hands," Miss Jenn said, noticing EJ and Ricky. The two begrudgingly obeyed and EJ cast a look to Ten, who gave an empathetic smile.