HATEFUL LOVE | ej caswell

auditions

Nadia made her way back into The Cabin, trying to search for EJ. She came across a door that had been shut, remembering that EJ had backed up towards there before she had to explain to her brother what happened.

She opened the door up, seeing Val placing her hand on EJ's shoulder, making her eyes go wide. They quickly turned around, Val taking her hand off EJ's shoulder. "Nadia, hey," he said, going over to pull her more into the room as he shut the door behind her. "I was just explaining to Val the problem."

"Oh, were you?" Nadia asked since it definitely didn't seem like that when she opened the door, glancing over at Val.

"Yeah. It's nice to meet you by the way, Nadia. I thought that you'd be some kind of monster from the way EJ used to describe you, but I guess he was wrong since you two are together now," Val spoke with a lighthearted smile.

"Oh, yeah. Very wrong," Nadia confirmed, not sure what Val had meant by that. "Anyway, did you two decide how we were gonna attack this problem?"

"Not really," EJ admitted, scrunching his face up.

"Well, I was thinking maybe I should cast the show. Alone," Val suggested.

"Wait, no, that's the one thing I was excited about," EJ whined.

"Bias is a thing. Your guys' subjectivity could affect the results," Val pointed out and Nadia couldn't deny that she was right.

"Well, if you're such a pro, maybe you wanna direct the show, too?" EJ asked, which made Nadia give him a quick, hurt look.

"Nice try," Val grinned with raised brows before she walked around the couple, going to leave. "Act like you know what you're doing." EJ sighed, not knowing if that was possible or not.

"Why would you ask her to help us?" Nadia asked once she left the room.

EJ looked over at her, noticing Nadia's serious expression. "Well because we clearly don't know what we're doing, Nads. She just seems, I don't know, more qualified."

"Yeah, but this is supposed to be our thing," Nadia told him.

"This is our thing. We just...might need a little help, you know? I've known Val for years, she's good at helping," EJ explained and Nadia looked down, licking her lips. He placed his hands on her shoulders, making her look back up at him. "Don't worry. This will still be our thing, okay? I'm just...nervous."

"Yeah...me, too," Nadia replied, although she had been nervous for different reasons.

"Yo! We are ready!" Val called out to everyone, making Nadia and EJ share a look before they began to walk out of the room. "It is time to introduce you to your director..." Val trailed off as he and Nadia stepped up onto stage. "Rocket Man himself, EJ Caswell."

Everyone started to clap slowly, not knowing what was going on. "And I'm your co-director, Nadia Coleman," Nadia added since Val wasn't going to, making Marcus clap more for her. "Thanks," she mouthed. She also noticed that Dakota was still there, also clapping. She sent him a small smile, sucking in a breath.

"Act like you know what you're doing. Act," EJ muttered to himself.

"No Corbin Bleu?" Ashlyn questioned disappointedly.

"Oh, yeah. He's directing the show about the show. It's confusing," Marcus explained since he had been standing right there.

"How do you know?" Gina spoke up.

"Uh, well, that's — that's what I'm assuming. I-I don't know for sure," he stammered, forgetting that he was supposed to act surprised.

"Circle up," EJ instructed, his voice cracking. Everyone quickly began to circle up, grabbing into each other's hands.