Wildest Dreams | EJ Caswell

𝚝𝚠𝚎𝚗𝚝𝚢-𝚏𝚘𝚞𝚛

Opening night was in two weeks, and the pressure was on; I don't think any of us felt prepared; rehearsal this morning was just proof of that; we had a bit of a malfunction with Ricky taking his beast mask off...

First, it took forever, and secondly, he threw it at me so hard that I stumbled and knocked down a bunch of our tree props; Miss Jenn was overly optimistic, though I could tell she was stressed as she went to her office, most likely so she could panic and private and not worry the rest of us.

Now, we all stood around Slices, waiting for Carlos to show up; he'd organized an emergency drama club meeting but hadn't bothered telling any of us what for, "there you are," EJ greeted him, causing all of us to turn our heads to look at Carlos.

I stepped closer to Carlos, whose eyes were wide, "We all your text, you okay?"

Carlos shook his head, "You guys, mother is freaking out; it's about the Menkies, is everyone sitting down."

Big Red was the only one of us who slid into a chair, "No," EJ shook his head, sharing a glance with me.

"We can't win," Carlos blurted, gesturing wildly with his hands; a bunch of us at a time began questioning why, "Listen, there's math involved... if we don't sweep the technical achievement awards, we don't have a chance. And, no offense Ricky, but...."

We all glanced over at Ricky, who was really struggling with the Beast transformation, "Oh, is this about the transformation?" He asked, offended, "cause I can throw the mask at someone other than Rory."

Being stage manager meant Ricky throwing his prop at me, and instead of him lightly throwing it, he has only hit me in the face multiple times, "You haven't yet." I remark in a teasing manner.

Carlos sighs, bringing our attention back to him, "I hate to say this, you guys; I mean, I know we had a good time over spring break."

At the mention of spring break, I look over at EJ; after that night in his car, the rest of the week was easily one of the best weeks of my life. We would stay up all night talking or going on more late-night drives; usually, being around the guy you like can be awkward, and I worried that my feelings would change our dynamic, but luckily nothing had changed.

"Some of us a little more than others," Seb mumbled, loud enough for everyone to hear.

Carlos sighed, "not today." I knew him and Seb had an issue, but I honestly thought they'd solved it already; I mean their Seb and Carlos, "Honestly, we need to rally behind Miss Jenn; I mean, our sets are made of Plywood and Elmer's glue. We're humble. Humble does not win awards."

Kourtney stepped out of the kitchen, breaking off Carlos' nervous ramble, "and after that order, you have on more, and then two more after that." She instructed Howie, carrying jugs of soda over to us, "fresh soda, y'all okay?" She asked, smiling at us all.

"Carlos was just explaining...."

Kourtney waved off Gina reassuringly, "I heard it all."

"While you were yelling at Howie?" Gina asked.

"Multitasking," Kourtney nodded, with wide eyes, "Look, I'm a designer, Big Red and Aurora are crew people, but amongst the three of us, you're looking at your answer."

"Quit school and get a job at the pizza shop?" Seb asked.

"Oh no," Kourtney shook her head, an amused smile on her face, "we should invent something amazing; something we can run at tech rehearsal tomorrow night. A next-level transformation that out-broads Broadway and out-norths North High." She squeals excitedly at her idea, causing a few of us to chatter in agreement.

"Ashlyn, you have the biggest house," Nini addressed the girl standing beside her, "what if I invited myself and the other girls over, continue the collab thing?"

I look over at Ricky; I'm sure it was hard for him seeing Nini act so okay, "I mean, square footage-wise, my house is slightly larger...." EJ reminds everyone; I elbow him, shooting him a playful glare, "Oh uh, I'm gonna shut up." He laughs slightly, causing me to laugh, an amused smile making its way onto my face

"A hundred percent, yes," Ashlyn answers Nini's question, ignoring her cousins' comment.

"Wait, shouldn't we all stick together?" I suggest, don't get me wrong, I love a good girl's day, but I think maybe us all being together could be good for Ricky, and then I get to spend more time with EJ; sounds like a win to me.

"Oh, no way," Nini moved, linking her arms through Kourt and Ash's, "boys versus girls."

"My basement's free," Big Red offered, raising his hand slightly, "We have a ton of old tools; I'm sure the guys can make something cool."

"Great," Nini nodded, "may the best transformation win."

♡♥︎♡

As we planned, we all met at Ashlyn's a little bit later; all of us girls and Seb, if I'm being honest, I feel like my talents are better suited to be on the "guys team." I've been on the crew since ninth grade, and as the stage manager, I know that theatre better than anyone. "One hundred percent, real faux fur." Kourtney announced, throwing the materiel across Ashlyn's coffee table, "thirty yards."

"Must have been a truly enormous faux animal." Ashlyn chuckles, picking up the corner of the material, "so, what are we doing?"

"Okay, so you know those sequined tops, where if you rub them one way, they're purple, rubbed the other way, red?" Kourtney asked, gesturing wildly with her hands as she spoke; I knew exactly what she was talking about Bella had tons of those.

"Duh," Gina nodded, "love it."

"So, we're going to do that with the Beast cape," Kourtney continued, "but instead of purple and red, it's going to be fur and satin," she draped blue satin over her shoulders, "y'all feel me?"

"Kourt, you are a visionary," I nodded my head in approval; I don't think I'd ever be able to come up with something like that.

"Oh, thank you," She responds, "the boys can build something that spins the Beast around to disguise the transition." Dozens of ideas of what the boys could do pop into my head.

"Wow," Sebastian muttered, "won't that take a while?"

Gina shrugged her shoulders, "I guess I could sleep over tonight," she teased, sighing dramatically.

"I can too," I nod, grabbing my phone out of my pocket to shoot Kirsten a quick text, "EJ's mom loves Bella, so I'm sure she won't mind watching her."

"You guys, I'm all about costumes," Seb began hesitantly, "but I don't know if my parents will be cool with a co-ed sleepover."

"Chip, this is your mother speaking; go call your mother," Kourtney instructed in a serious tone.

I linked my arm through the boys, "I can talk to her if you want; moms love me." I offer; Seb nods, the two of us walking into the kitchen; this was going to be a long night; I just hope the others are working on something already.

Okay but like, next chapter is gonna be rlly angsty... I don't think y'all are prepared🙈