don't give up | ricky bowen

seventeen

☆

"oh my gosh, what happened?"

it was nini who was the first to speak out of the theater kids. they'd all just returned from thanksgiving break to find their theater destroyed and overtaken by the fire department.

"it's okay. nobody was hurt. there was a small fire in the theater over the holiday and the sprinklers did their job."

ms jenn did her best to comfort the kids, but it wasn't really working. taryn held back the tears that were threatening to spill. the girl was surprised that this production had come to mean so much to her. e.j. saw that his girlfriend was upset and quickly pulled her into his side to comfort her.

"we're almost done in here, just have to finish up in the faculty room next." a female firefighter interrupted, handing the drama teacher a burnt basketball. "some circuits blew in there over the break. unfortunately, the show cannot go on."

"what?"

"the fire ripped through half of your costumes and the sprinklers ruined a bunch of your sets. i'm sorry, but i'm going to have to red tag the entire backstage area for a month at least."

"did she just say costumes?" kourtney breathed out.

all of the kids were in disbelief. could this be the end of their production that they'd all worked so hard for?

"okay, okay, listen up. hug your neighbor, take a moment, and let's reconvene in the cafeteria after school to talk about options. nini and ricky, spread the word."

"got it, of course." nini responded immediately. ricky, on the other hand, did not.

taryn's eyes drifted over to the boy she once called her best friend. the boy her heart still ached over. he was distracted over something; her eyebrows furrowed as she saw he was texting someone. but who?

all of the people he normally texted were in the room with him.

"ricky!?

"huh? sorry. after school in the cafeteria. got it."

everyone dispersed and went on with their days. the whole day, everyone felt like part of them was missing, but still they carried on. and just like they had been instructed, all of the theater kids showed up in the cafeteria once the school day ended. they all stood around talking, anxiously waiting for the arrival of their teacher.

taryn had a grip on her boyfriend's hand, but couldn't shake the feeling that someone was watching her. she wasn't crazy thinking that either. dear old ricky bowen had his eyes focused on the interlocked hands of his mortal enemy and his ex-best friend.

he'd never get used to them being in a relationship.

"okay, guys." ms jenn called everyone's attention, "wait, where's gina?"

that's when it hit taryn. gina hadn't been there that morning. she's exactly who ricky was texting. a foul taste arose in the blonde's mouth, but she quickly swallowed it.

"i think she's going through a family thing right now."

"okay, prayers to our gina." ms jenn continued as all of the kids took seats. "i'm really not sure what to say. you've all worked so hard. i've seen you grow so much. but if we don't have a theater, we don't have a show."

no one liked that answer.

"come on, ms jenn, we've gotta do something." carlos spoke up.

"i think we... i don't know, i guess we could consider other venues?"