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“Hey, Feather.”
Gina would like to turn around and face the boy who’s just called her, but Kourtney tightening the straps of her corset keeps her from moving. Apparently, the corset is being particularly difficult, because Kourtney has been pulling and yanking the straps (and consequently Gina) for some time now.
“That way” the girl hears her friend say to the boy. “And don’t make her move too much.”
Gina hears some steps, then EJ appears in front of her.
“Hey, Feather” he repeats, smiling.
“Hey…” she starts, then frowns as she looks him up and down, looking for something in his costume that can be the equivalent of the feathers in hers. “…Foam Abs?” she tries, already laughing at the idea of using that as an official nickname.
Gina hears Kourtney grunt as she tightens the corset even more.
“Ouch. I think that’s enough, Kourt” she warns her friend. “I still need to dance in this thing.”
Kourtney quickly ties the laces. “Fair enough” she says. “Please be careful, I have enough drama as it is” she adds, before stepping away from the pair.
It’s the day of dress rehearsal and nothing is going as it should. Mr. Mazzara is desperately trying to fix the audio issues that already came up, Big Red is going insane with two stage lights that refuse to turn on – even if the lightbulbs are, according to the boy, perfectly fine – and Kourtney is crazy busy between fitting everyone – herself included – and directing some crew volunteers who are trying to fix the stage curtains.
“How are you feeling?”
EJ’s voice brings Gina back to reality. As everybody else, the both of them are standing in the backstage in their costume and stage makeup. EJ looks very funny with Gaston’s big eyebrows and thick sideburns.
“Nervous” she admits, shrugging. “I know I have a stupid part, but the last time I rehearsed Babette’s brigade I almost fell and broke an ankle, so…”
EJ’s face softens and he takes a step closer, placing a hand on Gina’s shoulder and lightly caressing her bare skin.
Lately they’ve gotten very close, to say the least. They went out on two dates and definitely established that there is something romantic in the cards for them. But they aren’t really together yet. Very close, but not yet. They haven’t even kissed.
“Hey, you’re gonna be great. We both know that” he reassures her, his bright blue eyes looking right into hers.
She feels the tense muscles in her face automatically relax in a smile. But that’s when the theatre doors bust open, letting a really upset Miss Jenn in the room.
The teacher’s voice is so high-pitched that she can be heard over all the confusion, even if not in a completely clear way. What Gina can certainly hear are two words: ‘disaster’ and ‘nightmare’.
It takes a few minutes, but eventually the theatre kids realize Miss Jenn is in the middle of throwing a tantrum so they gather up around her and stop talking.
“It’s a tragedy!” the teacher shouts.
“And you’ve told us that at least forty times already” Mr. Mazzara steps in. “Please, calm down and tell us what actually happened” he says, with a conciliatory tone.
Miss Jenn takes a deep breath and recomposes herself.
“Ricky fell on his already injured wrist. We have no Beast” she announces.
Loud voices of complaint and surprise rise from the group for some seconds, until a hysterical gesture from the drama teacher shuts everyone up again.
“It gets worse” Miss Jenn warns. “Ashlyn has chickenpox. We have no Belle either.”
If earlier the kids voiced their surprised reaction, now they look shell-shocked. Nobody dares to say anything.
Gina glances at EJ, who’s staring at Miss Jenn with his hands on his hips.
“I know. I know. The easiest thing for us to do right now would be to panic, but we must solve this situation” Miss Jenn says. “EJ, Ashlyn mentioned that you’ve rehearsed her scenes with her quite a lot of times and you basically know the majority of Beast’s lines. Do you feel like stepping up and be our Beast?”
All eyes - Gina’s included - turn to the boy. He folds his arms and steadies himself on his feet. He nods first, looking at his shoes. Then he raises his head to look at the teacher.
“Yes. Yes, I can do it” he answers, his voice steady and confident.
“Good. Perfect. Gina?”
The girl snaps her head up and shoots a look at Miss Jenn.
“Gina, would you feel like stepping up as Belle? You already know all the songs and choreographies” the teacher asks.
The girl feels a hint of panic spark in her chest. She automatically turns to EJ, who’s already looking at her. He leans in and subtly brush his hand against hers.
“We can do it” he whispers, looking her in the eyes. “It’s always me and you.”
It’s what he said to her on their first date. They had gone out for risotto but Gina was oddly quiet, stiff and on edge. She was so nervous and afraid that things wouldn’t go well and they would ruin the beautiful friendship they had built. And then he told her that. ‘Nothing needs to change. It’s always me and you, only better’. She had relaxed instantly. EJ always knows what to say to fix everything.
She nods almost imperceptibly. “Okay” she whispers to him. He gives her a small, encouraging smile. Then she turns around to Miss Jenn and the rest of the group. “Okay” she repeats, her voice louder and firm.
Miss Jenn smiles and takes a sigh relief.
“Perfect. Now all back to work: if we had a lot to do earlier, now we have even more.”
It’s been two insane days. The kids have been at school from 7 AM to 7 PM, some of them even kept on rehearsing even after school at their houses. There had to be other casting adjustment, since Gina and EJ have taken on the leading roles: Nini is now playing Babette instead of Gina, while Big Red is going as Gaston with Seb doubling as LeFou when he’s not playing Chip. Miss Jenn has managed to cut them some slack from their other classes, as long as all the kids promised to catch up quickly over the weekend after opening night. This way, they could actually manage to memorize their new roles in time for the show.
EJ and Gina have spent almost every minute of their day together, going over every scene they have together a million times and even helping each other with other scenes. EJ basically camped at his aunt and uncle’s house for two days, sleeping over on the couch to dedicate as much time as possible to rehearsing, mealtime included.
It’s opening night, the theatre is filled with people – even Gina’s mom is in the crowd, which makes her even more nervous – and the backstage is swarming with busy kids. Gina has lost EJ in the backstage crowd some time ago, before Kourt had her sit down for makeup, but now she can see him in the corner of the room. He looks handsome in his costume, just like an actual prince. Kourtney had to work extra hard to fix all the costumes. The only one which could still fit with no adaptations was LeFou’s costume. All the others had to be readjusted: Gina’s and EJ’s outfits needed to be longer, Nini’s and Big Red’s, on the contrary, needed to be significantly shorter.
EJ is facing the wall, with his script in his hands. Gina walks up to him.
“Hey, Beast” she says.
He turns around, a smile immediately making its way on his face.
“Hey, Belle” he greets her back. “You’re glowing” he adds.
She smiles. “You too” she replies. Then she nods with her head at the sheets he’s holding. “Last minute revision?” she asks.
He raises his script. “Kinda, but it’s like revising last minute for a test. Pretty much useless, my brain is fried” he comments.
She sighs and lowers her gaze. “Well, I couldn’t even pick up the script, so…” she considers.
EJ puts the stack of papers down on one of the chairs next to them and steps closer to the girl, stretching out his hands to take hers.
“Hey” he calls her. Gina raises her eyes to his. “Whatever happens out there, it’s still impressive that we managed to get here in what, 48 hours? Some Wonderstudies we are, huh?” he says, winking at her.
She tightens her grip on his hands and smirks. “Hell yeah, we are” she responds, but her voice is a little off, almost shaking. Usually mentioning one of their inside jokes instantly makes her feel better, but this time it doesn’t do the trick.
She’s very anxious. Ever since she set foot at East High School she has wanted to play the lead in the musical. She went absolutely ballistic last semester in order to do it. And now she has the lead. The thing is she is feeling terrible for her best friend - who was supposed to be the lead - being sick in bed and she’s totally chickening out about having to play the lead with a grand total of two and a half days to prepare for it.
She’s a performer, but she doesn’t think she can be this much of a performer.
“I would like to do something to make you feel better, but I don’t know if it would actually make you feel better or it would end up making you freak out even more” EJ says, distracting her from her spiraling session.
Gina sighs. “I think I’ve had enough surprises for a while so I’m gonna need you to tell me what it is, so I can decide” she tells him.
EJ smiles shyly. His right eye twitches for an instant and Gina has learned that he unconsciously does that when he’s nervous.
“I would like to kiss you” he puts out.
His voice is low, almost hoarse, but at the same time it might be the sweetest thing Gina has ever heard. When she thought about her first kiss, she had never imagined it to be five minutes before opening night with his fellow impromptu-understudy, with stage panic tying a knot in her throat, making it hard to breathe. But EJ has told her that he would like to kiss her. And for a moment, all the anxiety nestling in Gina’s chest is gone. She smiles. It nothing like she has imagined, but it sounds just… perfect.
“That would very much help me” she whispers, already leaning in.
The knot in her chest completely disappears when EJ cups her cheeks with his warms hands and pulls her closer, reaching down to make their lips meet. Gina can feel his’s smile on her lips, her hands lightly sliding up his sides – careful not to wrinkle his Beast jacket – and, once again, she thinks that all of this is just perfect.
When they pull apart, he brushes on of his thumbs against her cheek.
“Better now?” he asks.
She nods. “Can you just say it to me once again?” she asks. She knows he knows what she’s taking about even if she doesn’t explicitly say it.
EJ smiles and leans closer to her. “It’s always you and me” he whispers to her ear, then places a soft kiss on her cheek. A shiver runs up Gina’s spine.
“Gather up, Wildcats!”
Miss Jenn’s voice brings her back to reality. It’s opening night and they have to go on stage. She laces her finger through EJ’s and pulls him towards where the rest of the group is already gathering around the drama teacher.
“It’s always you and me” Gina repeats to herself as she and EJ walk together. They can totally pull this off.