The Musical | Ricky Bowen × Reader

The callback meeting

"And sometimes it all arrives at once. 

The anxiety, the fear, the voices that scratch your confidence like a chalkboard and somehow all the oxygen in the room suddenly becomes water and you begin to wonder if you have what it takes to grow gills. You wonder if you can blend in with the fish. you wonder if you will ever breathe again.

And the answer is, not every building that shakes will collapse. The answer is, not everything that chips will crumble. The answer is, this is temporary. And yes, yes you will."

- Rudy Francisco, Helium.

...

"Alright, kiddos. Let's get down to business," Ms. Jenn says, crossing her arms.

"I'm sure you all have some questions regarding callbacks before we get started. So, now's the time to ask them, or forever hold your peace," Carlos says, taking a seat next to Ms. Jenn. EJ, Nini, Ricky and I look at each other, expecting someone to speak up. After a few minutes of awkward silence, EJ breaks the ice.

"Why was there even a need for callbacks? You said casting was all about 'instincts' so what made this choice any different?" EJ asks, clearly upset.

"Well, the auditions didn't exactly go as planned. Two of you were late,"—she stops to look at Ricky and I—,"and there was a blackout. I'm going to admit that at the moment, yes, we're indecisive, but we just want to make sure we cast the people best fitting for the leads. Callbacks would definitely help with doing so," Ms. Jenn explains.

"So, how exactly would this work? What do we have to do?" Ricky asks.

"That's what this meeting is for—to give you more precise instructions," Carlos replies.

"Here's how it's going to work. You must be in the auditorium on Thursday at 3:30 sharp. No excuses," she stops to look at Ricky and I once again. Okay, Ms. Jenn, we get it. No need to keep bringing it up. 

Ricky and I look at each other, and he rolls his eyes; he must be thinking the same thing. I chuckle, as does he. Nini seems to notice this, and then she shrugs EJ's arm off her. EJ doesn't seem to notice, he's too wrapped up in this meeting. Surprisingly, Ricky doesn't seem to notice either.

"You must perform a scene from one of the high school musical movies, however, the song you choose is not required to be from any of the films."

"It's preferred, but like Ms. Jenn said, it's not necessary," Carlos chimes in.

"And you must arrive to the audition in costume. If you like, you can also work on choreography with Carlos. That's all," Ms. Jenn instructs.

"You can go now," Carlos says, dismissing us.

I begin to make my way to my locker, when I feel someone tap my shoulder. I turn around to see Ricky standing behind me.

"That meeting was...intense," he says, looking a little uneasy.

"Yeah, I didn't think there would be that many rules. I mean, how are we supposed to put together a scene, rehearse a song, and learn choreography to it in like, six days? That's insane," I sigh.

"It really is. I guess I should say goodbye to my social life for the next few days," he jokes, but he looks really worried about this. Then again, so am I. I have so much to do in such little time. There are so many assignments I need to do, tests I need to study for, and now this? I'm not sure I can do this. My grades are surely going to suffer, and my parents will kill me. Ricky seems to pick up on how much I'm panicking and says:

"But we've got this. Everything will be okay, and we'll rock our callback," he smiles. When did he become the optimistic one? I'm still thankful nonetheless. Right now, he's keeping me relatively calm, which I something normally only Mia can do.

"Thank you," I say, returning his smile. I just hope he's right.

***heyy my lovelies!!! I just want to thank you all for 200 reads. It really means a lot. Thank you for all the support! Cya in the next one :)
- Ella <3