It's five years after High School Musical was put on at East High. Nini decided to go to the music conservatory. Now, she's making it big in the acting industry. What will happen when Ricky, now singer/songwriter, and Nini reconnect?
I spent the week after my meeting with Rebecca preparing for the audition. A few days go by, and I finally get an email from Rebecca with all of the details. It's in five days. A sense of anxiety and panic immediately sinks in. This is getting very real.
I've done a few auditions before, but this is by far the biggest. I can just hope I do the best that I can, and maybe I fit the image they are wanting.
Ricky's POV:
I know that this week is going to be stressful for Nini, considering her big audition is coming up. I texted her to see if I could do anything to help her.
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I have no idea what I'm getting myself into with this line reading stuff, but I think it'll make her feel more confident at her audition.
I get ready and head over to Nini's apartment.
I knock on the door and she answers in seconds with a bright smile. "Hey!" She says. "Hi." I reply. She opens the door wider and I step inside. "Thank you so much for coming over." Nini says.
"Oh, of course!" I reply. "So, what exactly do you need me to do?" I ask. She laughs. "I need to practice the scene that I have to go over with them. They're probably going to give me another scene to improv at the audition, but they already gave me a packet with the scene they want everyone to know."
"Okay, sounds good! What character are you auditioning for again?" I ask. "I'm auditioning for the part of Aliyah, who is one of the daughters of the king and queen of Alayria Isles. It's a royal mystery kind of thing." Nini explains. "Wow, that sounds cool." I reply.
"Okay, so I made a copy of the script, so you can hold one too. I kinda already memorized some of my lines. You're going to read the lines of William. He's a knight." She explains, as she hands me a thick packet.
I flip through it. "Dang, this is a long scene." I say under my breath. Nini laughs. "Not really, honestly." She replies. "Not all of it is lines. Some of it is descriptions of the character and what the audition will be like." I nod, trying to understand.
"Okay." Nini says before drawing her hands in front of her face and taking a deep breath. "Ready." She says. Before my eyes, I see her mold into someone different. Someone, almost, regal.
"What are you doing here?" She says in an urgent, low whisper. I look down at the lines in my hand.
"I couldn't just leave you! What kind of person do you think I am?" I reply, trying to act knightly. By her dip out of character to stifle a laugh, I could tell I wasn't doing amazingly.
"Will, my parents are already furious with you." Nini says in a gentle, soft murmur. "We can't be seen together, now. It'll only make things worse."
"Ali, you know I can't stay away from you." I whisper back. Something tightens in my throat as I read that line and look up to meet Nini's eyes.
"Yes, you can, and you have to. I care too much about you to see you get hurt." Nini replies, staring into my eyes. Tears start to fill them.
Damn, she's good. I think. In the script, it's written for Aliyah to turn away and start to walk away, but William pulls her wrist and turns her around.
I grab Nini's wrist and pull her around as I hold the script in my other hand. We're only a foot apart now, and her eyes study mine.
"I love you....Ali." I say, my eyes not leaving hers. For a split second, that I was only able to notice because I know her, she slipped out of character.
Nini's POV:
I bite my lip hard to distract myself for a moment. This shouldn't be this hard. Just stay in character, Nini. I think.
"I-I have to go." I say, reciting the lines that I carefully memorized. "N-...Ali, please!" Ricky says. He's trying to not look at the packet as much as he can, which makes me smile.
"I'm doing this because... I love you. I know this is hard, but ...I-I have to do this." I say, before turning around and walking a few steps away.
"That was great!" Ricky says as I turn back around to face him. "Thanks, you did really good for never having read the lines before." I reply.
"I tried." He replies, sheepishly.
"I think I feel good about it now." I say after a second. "Do you want something to drink?" I ask. "Sure, I'll have some water." Ricky replies as he sits down on the couch. I go to the cabinet and grab a glass for him and a glass for me.
I hand Ricky the glass of ice water and sit down on the chair opposite from him.
"I know you're going to do great, Nini. So don't worry about it too much." Ricky says. "Thanks, Ricky. I really hope I get the part. But if I don't, then it just wasn't meant to be." I reply
"They'd be idiots not to give you the part, but I agree. If this doesn't work out, something else will." Ricky says. I smile.
After talking for a while, Ricky stands up and stretches. "I think I'm gonna head out..I gotta a meeting with my manager to go to." He says. I stand up and walk with him to the door. "Thanks for helping me." I say.
"Of course." Ricky replies. For a split second, I see his eyes glance down to my lips. It happened so fast I feel like I might've imagined it.
He goes in for a quick hug, and I wrap my arms around his middle. "I hope your meeting goes well." I say as he opens the door. "Thank you. I'll see you later." He replies, before walking outside to his car.
I can't help but smile, even after he is long gone. Why do I feel like this? I think. This...us... can't happen.
I go into my bedroom and sit down at the piano. I get out my songbook and start to write, because I have to get my feelings out on paper.
