Prom Dress - EJ Caswell ³

"Aren't I lucky?"

Scarlett grimaced at the sight of the barn doors the following day. The letter was still fresh in her mind, Cash Caswell's overly dramatic signature haunting her as she wandered up the steps and gently pushed open the doors with the others following behind her.

EJ and Carlos stood in front of the barn stage beside a large, colourful posterboard with Val on the other side. The three of them stood with stoic faces. "Morning, guys. Come on in, we don't have much time."

"Take a seat," Val said in a slightly more chipper voice as she showed off the poster and Scarlett scoffed under her breath.

She and Valentina stepped forward both of them taking a seat as the room began to fill. "Did EJ tell you what this was about?"

"Nope." Scarlett then placed a fake grin on her face as she gasped dramatically, grabbing her best friend's arm. "But you should ask Val!" Valentina laughed nervously whilst dropping her bag to the floor. The brunette sunk into her seat: honestly, she wanted to be anywhere but here in the same room with him right now, but she was here to plan Anna and she was not going to let whatever problems that had begun to surface ruin this experience for her.

"Can we have everyone's attention please!" Carlos called out, gathering the room's attention as EJ rocked on his feet.

"Thanks for coming in early, guys. We've been up all night." The older boy admitted as he scanned the room briefly, his eyes landing on Scarlett for a second. She wouldn't meet his gaze but she could feel it burning into her skin. "We've been working on a plan to save the show and give Corbin and that Channing guy the reality show style juice they really want."

Scarlett's brows furrowed as she shared a look with Kourtney who sat on the other side of her. "Sorry. Save the show?" As far as she was concerned, she, Kourtney and the rest of the crew were smashing it.

"He just wants a little more excitement from us, you know?" EJ tried to explain. "A little more..."

Carlos, who was over EJ trying to softly deliver the news, threw his arms into the air. "He thinks we're boring!" There were collective gasps throughout the room. "He's actually missing our rehearsal today to scout out the kids at Deep Lake Camp in Temecula."

Valentina shared a confused look with Scarlett. "Temecula?" The girl shrugged in response.

"But not to worry, because we have a plan and it starts with five little letters." Val grabbed the posterboard and revealed another one behind it showing off the letters R.C.O.S.L. "Watch what happens, fam!"

The room shared the same perplexed look as Gina replied, reading out the letters as one word. "Ricosel?"

Carlos rolled his eyes as if what he was trying say was the most obvious thing in the entire world. "No. It's the Real Campers Of Shallow Lake." He explained, pointing to each letter as he read out the word that represented it. "The franchise I was always destined to join. I mean, you were."

"Look, it's easy." EJ jumped in, noticing the way the people in the room were just as confused as when they first started this very random meeting. "You know how normally we act like regular people, we pick up on social cues, care about each other's feelings?"

Scarlett couldn't help herself when a bitter laugh escaped her lips. "Do we?" She asked and although it sounded like it was to no one in particular, the girls that were currently bunking with her shared slightly worried glances.

"Yes, we do." The boy replied with slight confusion. Out of all people, Scarlett was the one who cared for people the most. At least that's how EJ saw it. It was easily one of the traits he admired about her the most. "But now that's over." He continued.