𝙡𝙤𝙣𝙜 𝙨𝙩𝙤𝙧𝙮 𝙨𝙝𝙤𝙧𝙩 • 𝘳𝘪𝘯𝘪 𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘴𝘩𝘰𝘵𝘴

i want you back

[ in which ricky and nini are thinking of each other one summer night in la; s3; lily doesn't exist! ]

"if you told me one year ago that you were willing to play three leading theatre roles by the time we're about to be seniors, i wouldn't have believed you," big red says as he falls back onto his bed in pure euphoria. excitement and satisfaction beam through his face. he's a little out of breath after having to be chased by ej caswell during one of the campfire games earlier.

ricky rolls his eyes playfully, setting his drawstring bag down on the opposite bed to his best friend's. in truth, he couldn't believe it either.

one minute he's a skate rat. the next a theatre geek.

and he would have never imagined he would agree to spending an entire summer in la , away from the familiar comforts of home, just to be in another musical.

miss jenn was apparently regretful of the way thing unfolded last semester; she thought there was far too much work and competition that it overwhelmed what theatre was supposed to be about: having fun. making memories. living in the moment.

so with the addition of her own money, she managed to get enough funds to send the entire ensemble to a theatre camp in la. "a new environment can work wonders," she said.

the irony was that they were faced with another competition: the camp was divided into groups and each was to put on a show at the very end of the summer. the wildcats being wildcats chose to do camp rock - they loved being meta.

but this time they weren't too serious about winning. they wanted to of course, but they weren't going to repeat the mistakes they made with the menken awards.

for ricky though? things have been great! for the most part.

"just my luck that gina is playing demi lovato," ricky laughs half-heartedly, taking his phone out to scroll mindlessly through instagram. "ej has been giving me dagger eyes all summer."

"your fault for constantly being romantically linked with the same girls as him."

"shut up."

"it is kinda strange though," big red wonders aloud. "you're more of a nick jonas to me. why didn't miss jenn choose ej as the lead instead? it's like she's asking for the drama."

"i don't know either. probably another one of her instincts."

"have her instincts ever been right?"

ricky's about to respond when his eyes land on a photo he was just about to scroll pass. it's a picture of nini and gina's brother jamie by the piano. the caption reads: soon. 

it's been months since he actually talked to the girl... there was just no reason to. no, more like he felt as if he shouldn't have a reason to.

it's crazy to think they're in the same city though. as far as he knows, she's working on some music in la. that's why she couldn't join the gang in camp.

"have her instincts ever been right?"

shutting off his phone, ricky stares absently at ground. "once."

"yeah you're right. ashlyn as belle was the best thing ever. still is," big red says dreamily, unaware his friend meant something else. "anyway, we should get some sleep. we're starting act two tomorrow. big day."

after some shuffling and fixing around, the light goes off in their bunk and big red's  jungle sounds echo in the room.

but ricky doesn't plan on sleeping just yet.