anyone else (ricky bowen; hsmtmts¹)

one. welcome back !

CHAPTER ONE!

"No, I completely understand that your life is amazing with your new hot senior boyfriend, and I'm glad you had a great time at camp, but if I have to hear about it one more time I will do a double Van Gogh and cut off both of my ears," Eliza told Nini and Kourtney as she slammed her locker. She didn't mean what she said, but while Nini had her breakup with Ricky over the summer, Kourtney and Eliza were there to comfort her. But no one asked Eliza why Luke hadn't acknowledge his girlfriend of two years that morning. Except a week before their two year anniversary, which was supposed to be today- Luke broke it off with Eliza.

But as on cue, Eliza saw Luke at the end of the hallway. The Junior hallway. She turned and walked in the opposite direction- Nini and Kourtney shared a look before following Eliza.

"Eliza, are you okay?" Nini asked. "And please don't lie, we'll call it out before you start."

"Everything's fine. I'd really love to hear about you and EJ again, might help me take my mind off- Wait, the show's going to be HSM."

"Yeah, wait- have you been avoiding Luke this morning?" Nini questioned. Usually between the welcome assembly and lunch, Eliza would be with Luke. Except she wasn't, the girls had finally realized that Luke had been nowhere near Eliza.

"I've been avoiding him because we broke up, and no, I don't want to talk about it, I'm over it," Eliza lied. That's all she wanted to do, rant until she forgot what she felt about Luke, but she hated showing her real feelings. Her older sister had always call her dramatic so she hated showing her feelings. "I think I'll audition for Gabriella. I can play her in my sleep- either her or Sharpay... but let's be honest, if she's a typecast- I'll be Gabriella."

"Well, EJ and I were going to try to bring the romance into the showmance," Nini responded, giving Eliza a small smile.

"That's if EJ gets cast as Troy. He's not really a Troy, no offense," Eliza stated.

"Wait- you and Luke broke up?" Kourtney questioned, stopping in the middle of the hallway. The hallway was full of freshman, who all rushed away. "Are you okay?"

"No, but it's okay. Apparently he wanted to start fresh before our junior year. Like completely fresh, sans girlfriend. He's going to have to focus on football this year and next year. And I'm too much of a distraction to him," Eliza rambled. "Oh my god, I didn't want to cry today." Eliza took a deep breath, but it didn't help. Without saying anything, she rushed to the nearest restroom.

She stared at herself in the mirror- she was grateful the bathroom was empty and that Nini and Kourtney decided not to follow her, but waited beside the door. She dug out her makeup bag from her backpack and fixed her makeup, before walking back out into the hallway.

"So, both Luke and Ricky are on my list this year- bringing down the patriarchy will be even more sweeter," Kourtney told Eliza and Nini.

"Thanks, Kourt," Eliza hugged her, before they all went towards their next class.

🏀

"Yo, Liza!" Eliza stopped in her tracks. She actually liked cheerleading and not even being near her ex-boyfriend was going to make her quit. Except now, she's thinking of walking up to her coach and quitting. Even after working her hardest and getting co-Captain this year. She turned around and saw Luke in his football uniform- his practice jersey that had the letter E sewed into it. He did that himself during a Home-Ec class their freshman year.

"Luke," Eliza responded. She shifted her bag on her shoulder. She was squinted as the sun shone on her face. "My dad's expecting me home for dinner soon."

"We're still friends, right?" Luke asked. "When we last saw each other, I didn't think that would be the last time we actually talked to each other."

"You're joking. You broke up with me a week before an anniversary, and you think we can just go back to being friends like nothing happened? A lot has happened in the last two years, and I can't just forget everything," Eliza responded. "Now, if you'll excuse me, I have to get home and practice for the school musical." Eliza said before walking away. Don't look back, she begged herself. She played with the ring on her finger as she walked closer to the school building, as she reached the door to the girls' locker room she looked back. Luke was preoccupied by doing laps.

🏀

"How was school?"

The dreaded question of the day. The Parks family had one rule: everyone ate at the table at Dinner time on weekdays, no matter how busy anyone is. It's nice, because no one ever missed dinner and most times it was the only time Eliza saw her parents. Only one person was missing- but she had the excuse of living in a different state and following her dreams.

"I am in the same class as Penny again!" Eliza's younger sister, Liliana, smiled. "We even sit beside each other! I love third grade!"

"That's great, lovey," Mr Parks told his youngest daughter. "Anything new happen today, Eliza?"

"I'm auditioning for the school musical tomorrow," Eliza spoke up. "It's been awhile since I did a show, I feel like it's time to-"

"I think your grandpa would be proud of your continuing with theater," Mrs Parks spoke up. Her grandpa had introduced his granddaughters to musical theater, Nicole and Eliza were both naturals, but Eliza's other interests took priority, especially after Nicole left Utah. "Is it a specific show you wanted to do?"

"It's High School Musical- and I'm going for the lead, Gabriella," Eliza finished. "So is Nini. She went to Camp Shallow Lake in the summer and she played the lead there. Is it okay to feel nervous?" Eliza was the one who introduced Shallow Lake to Nini, but Eliza had chosen cheer camp the past two summers. She wanted to pass the legacy of Camp Shallow Lake to one of her best friends.

"Being nervous is good, but if I remember correctly, you had memorized the entire movie when it first came out and acted it out almost everyday with Nicole."

Eliza poked at her food at the mention of her older sister. "I'm actually not really hungry- and I already got homework- AP classes don't care it was the first day. Can I be excused?"

"Of course," Mrs Parks said. "I'll put your plate in the microwave in case you get hungry later."

I changed a few things (if anyone had read it when I first published it.)

But I've been working on this story for a while (since Christmas) and have written up to half of the second season.

Hope you guys enjoy this story as much as I enjoy writing it. (I love Ricky Bowen)