𝐒𝐏𝐎𝐓𝐋𝐈𝐆𝐇𝐓 - 𝐡𝐬𝐦𝐭𝐦𝐭𝐬 (𝐢𝐯) | ✔

⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀𝒗𝒊. 𝐬𝐞𝐜𝐫𝐞𝐭 𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐢𝐫𝐜𝐚𝐬𝐞

𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐬𝐢𝐱
━━ 𝒔𝒆𝒄𝒓𝒆𝒕 𝒔𝒕𝒂𝒊𝒓𝒄𝒂𝒔𝒆

By the time Juliette got to what Ricky had deemed as a secret staircase (the truth was that nobody used it because it smelled weird), the boy was already there, waiting for her with a sign that said 'HOMECOMING, private rehearsal, do not enter' over his face.

    "What are you doing?" the girl chuckled, walking up to be in front of him. Ricky lowered the sign.

    "Hiding?" he asked, as if it were the only possible answer. "Anyway, I wanted to ask you something."

    "What is it?"

    "Would you, Juliette Duchamp, want to go on a date with me tonight?" Ricky took a step forward, getting closer to Juliette. She looked upwards with a small smile on her face.

    "We have been on many dates, Ricky, you do not need to ask me."

    "I want this one to be special. Let a boy have a romantic gesture, will you?" His hand quickly found its place on her cheek, cupping her face as Juliette answered that she would be delighted to go on a date with him. He left a quick peck on her lips before speaking again. "After all, we have to celebrate that we are going to get Troy and Gabriella."

    The fact that Ricky was so sure that they would get Troy and Gabriella worried Juliette. She knew that Ricky would surely score Troy, I mean, he had once before and he hadn't even wanted to audition, but she was not so sure about herself. Knowing her past history with auditions, she did not want to get too excited about it, just in case Miss Jenn decided she was not fit for the leading role. That notwithstanding, she tried to hide the worry and smiled up at Ricky again.

    "By the way, I don't know if you kissing me at school is the best for keeping the relationship on the downlow," she taunted him, although both of them knew that she had loved that kiss.

    "Oh, is it not? I thought–" Ricky began, but cut himself off by kissing her again, this time a longer and deeper kiss that was soon interrupted by a man walking up the stairs. So much for secret. At least he wasn't someone they knew. "Pick you up at 8, okay? Don't have dinner!"

    He was already walking downstairs as he talked, leaving Juliette on the stairs. She rested her back against a wall, her cheeks flushed and her face adorned with a smile as she watched Ricky walk away from her. Her phone, however, brought her out of her own mind.

    'Kourt told me you had auditions today! Best of luck, I'm always proud of you xx' the message read. As soon as Juliette saw who the message was from, her smile became even bigger if that was possible. Nini had left East High to pursue her dreams and, as happy as Juliette was for her, she couldn't help but wish that the girl were still there with them. After all, it was thanks to her and to her breakup with Ricky (even though that sounds awful) that she had ended up dating the boy. If Ricky had never decided to audition just to get Nini back, maybe they would have never talked at all.

    Juliette typed a quick reply, promising Nini that she would tell her all about it as soon as the cast list was posted and then put the phone back in her pocket. Nini was the only one that knew she and Ricky were dating. She had seen the documentary and she claimed she knew Ricky too much to not know that he was head over heels for her and, in turn, Juliette had told her that she was head over heels for him as well. Nini had promised to keep it all a secret and, so far, she had remained true to her promise.

    On her way to the exit, seeing that they were all done for the day, she ran into Dani, who did not seem too happy to be there at all.

    "Oh hey," Dani greeted her when Juliette was too close already to turn around and walk in the other direction. "You're... Featured Background Number something, right?"