𝐎𝐩𝐞𝐫𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧: 𝐁𝐞𝐬𝐭 𝐅𝐫𝐢𝐞𝐧𝐝 || 𝐑. 𝐁𝐨𝐰𝐞𝐧

𝒯𝒽𝑒 𝒯𝓇𝓊𝓉𝒽 𝐻𝓊𝓇𝓉𝓈

"And after the movie, we had this little picnic in that field by my house." Jenna was practically beaming as she lingered next to Dylan's locker. "And he got those gluten-free cookies I love -- and it was just so cute, Dyl."

Taking her backpack out of her locker, Dylan sighed. "As happy as I am for you, I dunno how I feel about hearing the cheesy details."

Jenna frowned. "We are not cheesy."

"You're like cheese fondue."

Rolling her eyes, Jenna crossed her arms. "Fine, since you're so obviously hinting that you want to change the subject." Dylan shrugged. "What's going on with the musical? Is EJ gonna play Troy now that Ricky quit?"

"We'll find out today." Dylan replied. "I'm meeting with Miss Jenn after rehearsals later. If things go according to plan, EJ will be Troy and Ricky will be ancient history. And all will be right with the world...minus the big global issues, obviously. "

Jenna was nodding as she glanced down. "Hm..."

Dropping her head to the side, Dylan huffed. "What now?"

"I just...Look, I'm not his biggest fan either. But I can't help feeling bad for him, you know?"

"Who?" She frowned. "Wait -- Ricky?" Jenna shrugged. "Why?"

"I mean, he earned that part in the show. And he's heartbroken right now, and -- "

Dylan scoffed. "Heartbroken is curling up in your bed with ice cream and listening to Adele. He's just stuck in the first stage of grief."

Jenna tilted her head. "Denial? How so?"

"It's obvious! He's in denial that it's over between them -- that's the only reason he's doing this." She crossed her arms. "Of course, maybe him quitting means he's finally facing the music."

"...Yeah, maybe."

When that was all she said, Dylan rolled her eyes. "Your moral compass makes me wonder how we possibly became friends." When her phone chimed, she took it out of her skirt pocket. "Anyway, I told Ashlyn I'd meet her in the auditorium to work on her ballad."

"Okay." Jenna stopped her before she could go. "Just...all I'm saying is that you should try to go semi-easy on him, okay? Whether he's feeling heartache or he's denying things or...whatever, you can't argue that he's hurting."

Dylan bit her lip. She wished she could argue with that. But, unfortunately, Jenna has a way of making good points.

Huffing, she patted Jenna's shoulder. "See you later."

~ ✮ ~

"The party has arrived~!"

Looking over, Ashlyn laughed when she found Dylan skipping onstage to join her at the piano. "There she is!"