This is a High School Musical: The Musical: The Series fanfiction that follows Blake Sahan alongside her childhood best friend and first love, Ricky Bowen.
This series loosely follows the plot of the show, each chapter being based on every episode. A few notes:
Blake Sahan's faceclaim is Maitreyi Ramakrishnan.
Timeline might be a lil wonky at times, but I tried my darndest to get it right (also might not be perfectly aligned with the show)
There will be a few differences in this series from the show to fit the new storylines.
Some differences include: Gina doesn't fall for Ricky, Ricky and his dad don't move out, and more.
Ricky Bowen has Borderline Personality Disorder (BPD), though it's unknown at first.
Blake has BPD, pre-established.
Disclaimer: All BPD storylines are loosely inspired by my own personal experiences! (beautiful princess disorder sol xoxo)
Also, this series will involve cursing. I don't care. #Let Ricky Bowen Say Fuck! (and they did! hehe thank you s4 writers)
There's gonna be A LOT of those cheesy/cliche tropes and I'm not even sorry.
childhood best friends to lovers
falls first x falls harder
hurt/comfort
one-sided pining
mutual pining
I will add trigger warnings specific for each chapter, but here are some general trigger warnings for this series:
Alcoholism
Addiction
Mental health (mainly Borderline Personality Disorder)
Toxic relationships
Poor relationship with parent / absent father
Death of parent
Occasionally some adult themes
links are currently broken as i'm currently rewriting the first 3 episodes <3
pls be patient with me
Summary: Unexpected tension leaves both Blake and Ricky confused. Ricky leaves Nini a voicemail and ends up hurt. Trouble in paradise for Nini and EJ.
Trigger Warnings: Talks of (Blake's) BPD and therapy (like healthy coping skills), mentions of not having food at home, pills/addiction
"Five, six, seven, eight!"
The words echoed through the black box. Carlos pressed the play button on the music, starting 'Get'cha Head in the Game' from the original High School Musical soundtrack.
A group of background characters in the play, Blake included, started to bounce basketballs, attempting to bounce in sync with the music despite the blindfolds that covered their faces.
She lifted her leg up, bouncing the basketball to the other side and trying to catch it with her other hand. She was supposed to do a twirl next, but the ball bounced away from her before she could try.
Judging by the sound of other basketballs bouncing away and the squeaking rubber shoes against the floor, nobody else had much luck with the moves either.
"Alright guys, come on, get 'cha head in the game," Carlos joked as everybody lifted their blindfolds and chased after their own basketballs.
"Carlos, when can we take these blindfolds off?" A boy with white hair chuckled, basketball in hand.
"When you're able to dribble and pirouette at the same time," Carlos smiled, stating his response as if it was obvious. Blake took a second to breathe after picking up her basketball, giggling softly at his answer.
"Alright," Carlos clapped his hands together, "good reheasal today, everybody! I'll see you all tomorrow, and don't forget to read over your scripts!"
She put her basketball down in the designated bin, grabbing her backpack and waving goodbye to Carlos. She was met with Ricky outside the door of the black box waiting for her.
"Hey, how was practice?" He nodded towards her with a smile as the two of them began walking through the halls.
"Rehearsals," she corrected him with a smirk.
He chuckled and rolled his eyes, "Okay, how was rehearsals, smartass?"
She let out a quiet laugh, "it was fun. We learned to bounce a basketball blindfolded."
"I don't even want to ask."
She shook her head, "I don't know why he's trying to get us to learn the dance blindfolded, I think it's something about making it impossible to learn at first? I don't know," she giggled.
"Hey, okay, so... do you remember how I told you I think Nini and I had a moment earlier?" Ricky quickly changed the subject as the two of them started walking down the stairs.
She hesitantly nodded, "yes...?"
"Well... I think I'm going to call her real quick," he said as he pulled his phone out of his pocket, stopping on the stairwell.
Blake sighed, "I don't know if that's a good idea, Ricky..." She sat on the end of the stairs and watched.
He shrugged, "what do I have to lose?" He started dialing the number in his phone.
She groaned quietly, putting her face in her hands as she listened to the little beeps of the numbers being entered.
She heard the faint sound of Nini's voicemail through his phone, "this is Nini, talk to me, me!"
"Hey, it's me. Your... buddy, Ricky. Sorry to bother you, I know we don't really do voice convos," he used his free hand to animate his words as he spoke them, "but I saw you singing that song with Ashlyn today and I felt like we kind of shared, like, a moment... or a thing? I don't know, maybe a moment is kind of a thing?"
Blake scrunched her nose, an automatic reaction to the words that poured from his mouth. It was clear he didn't think this through.
"Why am I still talking?" He asked himself, whispering underneath his breath, "Anyway, whatever. if this voicemail is too much, or too soon, or you're just not into it... we can just ignore this whole thing and pretend like nothing ever happened, okay? Poof. Gone. Okay... bye."
Blake looked at him, letting out a breath she didn't realize she was holding in as he pressed the button to end the call.
He clicked his tongue, finally moving his gaze from his phone and over to Blake, "Nailed it."
She stood up, the two of them finishing down the stairs and finally leaving the school as he continued to hype himself up, "Crushed it."
She shook her head with a laugh, but denied saying anything when he asked what it was she was laughing at as they skated home.
Instrumentals to the song 'Stick to the Status Quo' from the original High School Musical soundtrack played over the speakers as Blake and the the other extras practiced through a dance number around a cafeteria table that Gina danced on, their moves simply accenting Gina's routine that she was showing off.
Thankfully, Blake was no stranger to dancing. She had a history of ballet when she was younger, thanks to her mom, but as she grew older, she decided that dancing was more her style. Blake went to dance classes four times a week starting when she was eight years old. Just like many other things in her life, the dance classes stopped when her mom passed away. Still, it felt good to get back to her old hobby, if only for a second.
Gina finished out the last bit of the number in a pirouette with a smile as everyone quickly dispersed for a water break. Blake made her way over to Big Red, sitting next to him while he read through a script.
She took a big swig of her water, ignoring EJ sitting next to her and staring. Thankfully, his attention was pulled away from her as Nini walked through the door. Ms. Jenn quickly moved to meet her in the middle of the room.
"Nini! Where were you? We've been here for an hour."
"I'm so sorry," she stumbled, spilling out her explanation, "I lost my phone and basically spent last night living as a hunter-gatherer which, by the way, did you know that there are things that are only on TV at a certain time?"
Ms. Jenn looked at her with wide eyes as she rambled.
"Anyway, I finally picked it up at the lost-and-found and... wait, did you say an hour?" Nini's face fell.
"Gina sent you and me a text asking if we could come in early so she could talk through a new idea," Ms. Jenn explained gently, "you didn't get it?"
"No because my phone was missing..."
"Well, honey," Ms. Jenn began, "you've gotta keep better track of your stuff."
Blake noticed the way EJ's lips turned into a frown, the way he swallowed, looking down at his lap.
Before she could think about it, her attention was soon averted, her gaze now following Ricky. He walked across the room and over to Nini, who finally finished her conversation with Ms. Jenn.
"Hey, Nini, how was your night?" He asked her with a smile.
"Um," Nini pulled her jacket off, "not so hot, actually. Excuse me," she sat her jacket down and pushed past him without a second look.
Blake walked to Ricky's side, "Oh, okay," he cleared his throat as he watched her walk away.
He turned to Blake, whispering "'Not so hot'? Was that about my voicemail?" He raised his eyebrow, a sad chuckle escaping him, "I mean, is that her answer...?"
She shook her head, her mouth opened slightly. She was going to say something, she really was, but he moved on too quickly before she could respond.
"Yeah, that was her answer..." He frowned and walked away, leaving Blake standing there.
"Yo, earth to Blake!"
She had zoned out, but was quickly pulled back to reality when a small foam ball softly bounced off of her face.
"Huh?" she looked to the culprit with slight annoyance. Ricky.
"Are you even listening?" He raised an eyebrow at her.
She sighed. "Uh, yeah. Sorry, Ricky."
"Dude, what's up with you? Where'd you just go?" Big Red's voice caught her attention.
"Was thinking about the homework I have to catch up on," She lied. She honestly just didn't want to hear any more about Nini.
She took a second, trying to think up a way to change the subject, distract them, find any thing to get them off the topic. So she looked at Ricky, figuring why not throw the ball back at him? He threw it at her first, after all.
"...What?" He asked hesitantly as he noticed the mischievous grin on her face.
She raised up her arm and threw the little foam ball as hard as she could at him. He flinched, "Hey!" It bounced off of his chest and onto the floor.
"Payback," she smiled innocently.
The three of them giggled together for a moment before Ricky started up a game of 'catch' — which was just the three of them tossing the little ball to each other in a circle from each side of Big Red's basement that they sat in.
"Okay but seriously, did you hear any of that?" Ricky asked Blake with an eyebrow raised and a smile.
"Yes, don't worry," she lied again, catching the ball from Big Red and quickly tossing it to Ricky again.
"So... what do i do?" Ricky asked both Blake and Big Red.
"Dude, just be yourself," Red looked at Ricky, "be the bigger man."
Ricky caught the ball from Blake, "Okay...." he tossed the ball up in the air and caught it, "pick one?"
Red looked at him, slightly dumbfounded, and sighed, falling backwards onto his bed.
Blake snickered at Ricky's reply, "At least you're self aware," she was only half-joking, "throw the ball!"
Ricky shook his head at her with a smile on his face, proud that he had made her laugh. He sighed and threw the ball to Big Red, "So, you think maybe it's time to move on...?"
Big Red caught the ball, "I mean, I wouldn't. But you also have that other thing..." he threw the ball to Blake, "pride."
She caught the ball and shook her head. While the conversation was undoubtedly silly and made her giggle, she couldn't deny that she was annoyed, too.
"No. Nini clearly isn't into you anymore, Ricky. She deserves to have her boundaries respected. You're just gonna push her away more," Blake sighed, tossing the ball to Ricky before standing up.
She looked away from the two boys, walking to her skateboard, backpack, and helmet.
"Where are you going?" Red sat up, the boys looked at her curiously.
"I'm outta here. Got homework," she shrugged.
"I - Wait..." Ricky tried to stop her, but she was already halfway up the stairs.
It didn't take but a moment before she had swiftly waved goodbye to Red's parents and headed out the front door. Her skateboard hit the ground.
Before she could get her helmet on, Ricky's hand was on her shoulder, "Blake..."
She sighed in frustration, but turned to face him with a smile on her face nonetheless. "What's up, Bowen?"
"What happened?" He genuinely seemed to be concerned, but she shook it off.
"Nothing, it's just late," she assured him.
She could tell he wasn't buying it, but he slowly released his hand from her shoulder and nodded. "Uh, let me go grab my stuff and I'll go with you?"
She shook her head, "don't worry about it."
"Come on, you know I hate it when you skate alone at this time of night."
Blake sighed, "fine."
He smiled at her and ran back inside to grab his things. He usually skateboarded along with her when they left Red's place, he says he hated for her to be alone in the dark. 'It's not like I have to go out of my way for it', he always argued when she'd try to protest.
When the two of them finally arrived to their houses, she kicked up her skateboard, catching it and grabbing her keys from her pocket. "Bye," she tried to be as quick as possible.
"Your dad still isn't home?"
She sighed. "Guess I'm on my own for dinner tonight again," she shrugged, the joke a little more sinister than she meant for it to be. As if she somehow wouldn't be on her own for dinner, even if her father was home.
She was about to turn away, walk inside, do her homework, shower, and sleep. She didn't have time to care about any of this. But Ricky stopped her... again.
"Come over tonight. You know Dad wont mind."
She puffed out a short, sarcastic laugh and looked to the ground beneath her feet. "Yeah, I think I'm good, Ricky. I'm not really hungry anyways," she shook her head.
His worried expression on his face evident, he spoke up, "Look, I don't..." he looked at his house and then back at her, lowering his voice a little bit, "I don't want to be alone tonight, anyways. It just feels so... empty in that house. Like something's missing."
He wasn't lying. But he also wasn't telling the full truth. He was worried about her, he was worried she was starting to isolate again. He knows her history with BPD, and he feared for her. So he told her the half-truth. He knew it'd persuade her to stay, so he said it.
Besides, something was missing. His mom. Hiding away in some other state, neglecting to be there for her son who very clearly needed her. Blake knew how much the past few weeks of this mess had been bothering him. So she sighed, she hesitated but her eyes met his again and she caved.
"Fine."
Ricky unlocked his door, letting her step inside first before following and closing the door behind them. His dad, Mike was asleep on the couch, the tv running Breaking Bad and a box of takeout noodles sat on the coffee table in front of him.
Ricky sighed at the sight of him. "C'mon," he lead her to the kitchen and grabbed two plates, opening up his fridge and pulling out frozen chicken nuggets shaped like dinosaurs.
Blake giggled, "The dino nuggies!" she cooed, a smile on her face. She was reminded of back when they were kids. Her mom would make dino chicken nuggets for the two of them after school every day and bring it out to them in the treehouse. Blake hasn't had any since she was little.
Ricky smiled at her, "you remember the dino nuggies? Your mom used to make them for us all the time..." he began, and Blake finished his sentence along with him.
"...and we would make them fight before we ate them," they said in unison before laughing with each other. He picked up one of the dinos and looked at her expectantly.
She chuckled at his antics but didn't hesitate to join in, picking up a dino and play-fighting with Ricky's. It was silly, but it had the two of them laughing together as they both relived those memories.
"Okay, I think it's time to cook them," she finally stopped, trying hard to contain her laughter in hopes that it wouldn't wake Mike.
Ricky nodded and put them in the microwave, he leaned back against the counter after pressing start on the six minutes. Blake moved over, pushing herself up to sit on the counter next to him, her legs swinging back and fourth softly.
The quiet between them almost became awkward, but Ricky's sleepy father interrupted it when he walked in groggily. "Hey, Ricky," he nodded towards his son, "hey, Blake, you spending the night?"
As if she hadn't agreed to it already, she looked to Ricky for clarification. He looked at her expectantly, hoping she hadn't changed her mind.
Her lips curled up in a small smile before she looked back to Mike and nodded, "Yeah."
Mike only gave a thumbs up in response, yawning as he walked out of the kitchen and to his bedroom.
Blake and Ricky laughed at the awkward encounter right as the microwave went off. When their laughs settled, he turned to the microwave and pulled out the hot dino nuggets, separating them onto two plates.
He went to the fridge and grabbed the ketchup, turning back to the plates and squirting some onto each plate.
"How'd you know I wanted ketchup? What if I wanted mustard?" Blake teased him with a grin, her legs swinging back and forth.
He gave her a knowing look. "I've known you since we were babies. We grew up on dino nuggies. Why wouldn't I know if you wanted ketchup or mustard?"
She jumped off of the counter, grabbing her plate of nuggets as he poured two glasses of lemonade. He grabbed his and they moved to the table.
The two of them sat in mostly silence as they ate, the nuggets being one of the only meals Blake has had the past few days. She hadn't had the time to sneak a few bucks from her dad and buy some groceries recently.
After they both finished their food, they cleaned up and put their dishes in the sink to be washed tomorrow.
Ricky looked at Blake with a smile, "I got you something."
She tilted her head in question, smiling back. "What?"
"Follow me," he said as he led her out of the house and to the backyard, into the tree house.
The two of them climbed up the ladder, only to be met with a box.
"What's this?" She asked him curiously.
"Well I figured since we finally got the tree house cleaned up, but none of the lights worked anymore... maybe I could get some new lights? I got the LED kind, too." He began unpacking the box, grabbing the little remote that came with the new lights, showing it to her. "You can even change the colors," he told her excitedly.
She giggled, taking the remote from him and looking at the colorful buttons on it. "Ricky, this is so fun," she smiled.
He started to unpack the lights, unraveling them and not hesitating to get to work, putting them up on the walls.
She moved quickly to help him and when the two of them finally finished setting the lights up, they plugged them in and used the remote to turn them on. Blake switched through all the colors they could be set to.
"We are actually children," she laughed as they both reacted a bit too excitedly at the different colors. He laughed too, grabbing the remote from her and finally setting the color to a nice blue.
She sighed, "I think it's time for me to take a shower. Mind if I use yours?" she asked him, knowing he wouldn't want her to go home right now anyway.
He nodded, "always."
She smiled at him as he turned the lights off, both of them climbing down the ladder of the tree house and heading inside.
She grabbed some of her clothes from the pile in Ricky's closet that she left for nights like these, and stepped into the shower.
Ricky fell back onto his bed, letting out a small groan of frustration. He tried to focus on the noise of the running water from the shower, or the sight of the ceiling fan whirring above him. Anything to distract him from his mind.
He thought about the other day, when Blake held his hand as she wrapped it up, taking care of his bruised and swollen knuckles. When his stomach turned as he watched her. The way she smiled, or her feather-light touch as she focused on him. He was captivated by the way she made him feel. Safe, loved, cared for. Captivated by how much he wanted to kiss her right then and there. To hold her in his arms with his lips pressed to hers, giving in to his impulsivity.
He could have sworn it was just the moment, just the overwhelming thoughts and feelings from a rough day. He could have sworn it didn't mean anything. So why couldn't he shake the thoughts?
Blake ran her fingers through her hair, washing out the conditioner she just scrubbed into it. The refreshing feeling of the water running down her back made her sigh in relief. Something to focus on that wasn't Ricky.
Ricky.
He didn't make this easy for her. The way he protected her from EJ, albeit in an incredibly stupid way, or the little things he did, like buying new lights for their tree house. The way he noticed that she was sad, insisting she didn't skate home alone. He made her feel safe. He made her feel loved. He made her feel cared for.
It was the safety that scared her. She hadn't been safe since the day her dad decided to take pills, opioids, after her mom died, washing it down with a bottle of vodka. Not that he'd ever hurt her, but the neglectful nature that followed his addictions had clouded any sense of safety she could ever find within him again.
Ricky being the only person left that she felt safe with after she lost both her parents was terrifying, to say the least... because what if she lost him, too?
She finished washing the soap off of her body, turning off the water and grabbing the towel she picked up on her way in. After drying off, she brushed her teeth and got dressed in fresh clothes, discarding her dirty clothes in Ricky's clothes hamper. He'd just add it to the pile again, anyway.
Turning the knob, she opened the bathroom door, the steam flowing out and no longer suffocating in the bathroom. She saw Ricky, laying on his back and staring at the ceiling.
"You okay?" She asked him gently, running a hand through her wet hair as she started to braid it.
He sat up, slightly alarmed at her voice, as if he hadn't noticed that she had already left the bathroom. He nodded, "I'm fine. How was your shower?"
The exchange was confusingly awkward as she answered quietly, "refreshing," she shrugged, sitting on the edge of his bed and continuing her braiding.
Ricky moved, sitting next to her as he watched her fingers move swiftly through her hair, perfectly lacing her locks in a delicate pattern.
"What is it?" She asked him softly, and he didn't even realize he was staring until she spoke.
He opened his mouth to say something, to say anything, but nothing came out. Not a few seconds later, his phone chimed. 'Saved by the bell', he thought.
He didn't hesitate to grab it, reading the text he had just received.
"It's Nini," he informed Blake, the confusing tension that once filled the air was gone in an instant.
"Oh," she breathed out as she finished braiding her hair, wrapping a hair tie around the end to hold it together.
"She said 'hey'... What does 'hey' mean?"
She shrugged, "Not sure. I wouldn't think too much on it, though," she advised him.
For a moment, she almost thought that he'd taken her advice, but she was quickly proven wrong when he began typing, then promptly deleting his own message. He tried again, but his message was gone once more. She watched his thumbs slide across the screen of his phone as he had written out multiple different messages, every single one of them seemingly not up to Ricky's standards.
She sighed, "I'm going to sleep, Ricky. You should, too."
He didn't look from his phone, standing up and saying, "alright, goodnight," before walking over to the futon in his room.
He kicked his shoes off, haphazardly taking off his shirt and discarding it somewhere on the ground, lying down and throwing a blanket over himself.
Blake had to remind herself to breathe, the sight of her best friend shirtless in front of her was nothing new, but it still gave her butterflies all the same. That, paired with the frustration of him actually responding to Nini, however... Well, it was a confusing mixture of emotions, to say the least.
So she crawled into the bed and turned off the lamp on Ricky's bedside table. She bundled up underneath the covers and slowly drifted off to sleep.
"Can you believe she actually told EJ about the voicemail I left her?"
Ricky paced the halls as he let out his anger while Blake leaned up against a wall and listened.
"That's really fucking disrespectful," she replied, matching his frustration.
"Right? You know what? I'm gonna go tell her that right now," He almost yelled.
It was evident that his anger was building more and more, and she knew that the best thing to do to help him was to help calm him.
Ricky didn't realize it, but she knew exactly what to do when he's upset. It's been the same routine since the two of them were young. It wasn't exactly difficult for her to figure out, considering she was the same way.
There were step-by-step rules to it:
1. Match his energy; get angry with him (while staying calm).
2. Validation; remind him that he's allowed to be upset.
3. Breathe; remind him to take a breath, to not let his thoughts consume him (which really isn't easy).
She pushed herself away from the wall, walking towards him. "Okay, Ricky, hey," she stood in front of him, stopping his pacing. Her hands went to his shoulders, "breathe."
His eyes met hers as he complied. He sucked in a deep breath, slowly releasing it.
"Good," she nodded. "I know it's infuriating that she betrayed your trust like that," she spoke calmly, sympathizing with him, "and you are one-hundred percent allowed to be angry. I'd be angry, too. Hell, I am angry. What she did wasn't at all fair to you. But you have to remember to breathe. Exploding is only going to make you feel worse. Don't let this consume you."
Blake and Ricky were similar in that aspect. Easy to let thoughts and emotions take over every inch of their minds.
He nodded at her words, his breathing had calmed down at the sound of her voice. Her sympathizing had worked in making him feel less alone.
"Now that you're calm, if you still want to go and talk to Nini, you should. State your boundaries, tell her that what she did wasn't cool, and then walk away. Alright?"
He agreed, flashing a small smile at her as a silent 'thank you'. She followed him through the halls as the two of them set off to find Nini. They watched as she exited through the front doors of the school, and Ricky dashed to catch up to her.
He pushed through the doors with Blake following closely behind, "Hey! Nini!" He called out to her, "I have to say something to you."
He finally reached her as he began his speech. "I know we're not a couple anymore, okay? I get that. You've been very clear," he sighed, "but... I thought there was a little trust left between us. I thought that I still meant something to you."
Nini sighed at his words, "I just can't do this right now..." She tried to walk away, but Ricky stopped her.
"Fine. Okay. But the next time I spill my guts out to you in a voicemail, do me a favor and keep it to yourself. I don't need to be hearing from EJ that it's wrong and stupid."
"Wait," Nini raised her eyebrow in confusion, "what voicemail?"
Blake wasn't standing far behind when she heard her question him, remembering Nini telling Ms. Jenn that she had lost her phone, and seeing EJ's reaction to the news.
"What do you mean?" Ricky asked her.
Nini answered his question with another question, "you heard this from EJ?"
Ricky's eyebrows furrowed as thoughts flowed through his mind but for Blake, it had already clicked. EJ stole Nini's phone.
Note: I MEANT TO SAY ROCKY, IT IS NOT A TYPO. IT IS A REFERENCE TO THE BOXER. PLEASE STOP ASKING IM GOING TO CRY
Summary: EJ tries to make amends with Blake while Ricky tries to get Nini to see him in a new light.
Trigger Warnings: Blake's home life is tough, abandonment? from parent, violence, this is angsty asf, Ricky makes an oopsie idk
Blake stepped foot into Salt Lake's black box for the first time. Props were all around, and desk-chairs made a circle in the middle of the room.
Each desk had a name tag sitting on it, every name was of characters in the musical. Blake meant to go and read each nametag, but she watched as Ricky and Big Red walked through the door.
She made a bee-line to the two boys, dodging everybody standing around.
"Guys, this place is insane. Have you ever been in here?"
"I haven't," Red replied, studying every inch of the room.
"I have," Ricky informed the two of them, "I've been down here a few times when I came to talk to Nini after rehearsals."
Blake bit back a frown and an eye-roll. As she was thinking of any words to respond with, she got a whiff of Ricky, and she playfully made a gagging sound.
"Ricky, why the hell do you smell like that," she covered her mouth and laughed.
Red snorted at her words with a chuckle.
"Are you wearing Throb again...?" Blake asked him hesitantly, a teasing smile on her face.
Throb. The infamous cologne that Ricky wore every single day when he was with Nini because she told him it smelled nice once. Only this time, he smelled as if he took a full-on bath in the stuff.
"No....." Ricky tried to lie, but Red countered his attempt.
"It's Throb," Red confirmed.
Blake couldn't help the laugh that escaped her lips, "Ricky," she said his name with playful disappointment, and Red quickly joined in on her laughing.
Ricky threw his hands up, "What? You don't like it?" He teased her, using his hands to waft the scent towards her.
"Stop!" Blake laughed, trying to grab a hold of his arms to stop him. He dodged her grasp multiple times before countering her, this time he was trying to grab her arms.
She hid them behind her back, thinking she could throw him off, but he only reached around her and quickly grabbed a hold of her forearms.
"Ha!" Ricky taunted her as he pulled her arms in front of her again and held on. She rolled her eyes, acting as if she was annoyed with him despite all of the giggling.
As they laughed together, just about to continue their conversation, Ms. Jenn silenced everybody. "Could everyone take their assigned seats, please?"
Ricky freed her arms with a smile before he walked away, heading towards his desk that sat next to Nini's.
Blake faced Red, not completely sure where to sit. She looked around the room, finding a few props and tables to sit on along with the other extras and understudies. Red walked with her to find her seat.
"Who is Natalie Bagley and why do I care if her glands are swollen?" Ms. Jenn asked Carlos, who was showing her the screen of his phone.
"Our stage manager," Carlos answered, "Guess she's not coming."
She only heard their voices in the background of her conversation with Red, not even processing their words until Ms. Jenn turned to Blake and Red and asked, "Yoo-hoo, Ginger Boy. Can you read?"
Blake raised her eyebrow and looked at Red, waiting for his answer.
"Uh... Not really..."
"Well you're reading now. Just the stage directions. Thank you," she smiled at him with confidence before walking past him and over to her own seat.
Red turned to Blake and a janitor who happened to be walking by in the back of the room. "Do you know what that means?" He questioned, face full of confusion.
The janitor shrugged, and Blake covered her mouth to stifle the chuckle that escaped her lips. "You got this, Red" she reassured him.
"Don't forget to silence your phones!" Ms. Jenn reminded everybody as they took their seats. "I realize that you all walked in here as strangers," she folded her hands that rested on her desk and crossed her legs, straightening up her posture.
"Oh, actually, EJ's my cousin," Ashlyn said happily. The silence she was met with turned her kind smile into an awkward nod, looking back at Ms. Jenn to proceed.
"But after today... You're a family," Ms. Jenn continued quickly, ignoring Ashlyn's comment, "One tribe. Committed to lifting this classic film to new heights."
Carlos sat next to her, posing with his nametag stating 'Choreographer' in front of his face, the click from his phone chimed as he took a picture of himself.
Ms. Jenn stared at him and he slowly moved his head to face her as she nodded towards his phone, gesturing for him to put it away. He complied, shutting off the screen and placing it down on the desk in front of him.
"Please take your neighbors hands," she proceeded seconds later, grabbing hands with Carlos and her other hand reaching out for Red's. He looked up from the script he was studying, staring at her inquisitively. "Hand," Ms. Jenn repeated to him, and he hesitantly took her hand, an almost fearful look in his eyes.
Blake took the hand of the people next to her, looking around at everybody else questionably taking the hands of their peers.
Ricky held his hand out to Nini, a little bit too enthusiastically. She looked at him uncomfortably, slowly taking his hand too.
"Hands," Ms. Jenn repeated one more time, looking right between EJ and Ricky. They looked at each other, annoyance evident in both of their faces, taking each other's hands and both rolling their eyes in sync.
"Feel each other's energy. Let the silence speak volumes. In a world full of 'no', this is a space full of 'yes'."
As Carlos leaned closer to Ms. Jenn and whispered something inaudible, Blake watched as Ricky looked over to Nini, eyeing his hand holding onto hers. Nini looked towards him, past him, smiling at EJ who sat on the other side. Ricky followed her gaze, his emotions noticeably shifting when he saw EJ smiling back at her.
Blake frowned. She didn't care to see her best friend pining over another girl, but she hated seeing him hurting.
Ms. Jenn's voice pulled Blake out of her thoughts as she began singing 'We're All In This Together' from the original High School Musical soundtrack, slowly and in a high-pitched tone. Blake's brows furrowed as Ms. Jenn continued to sing.
Blake watched Nini pull her hands back from Ricky and the girl sitting next to her, Gina. She took out her highlighter and began highlighting all of Gabriella's lines on her script. Ricky looked at her sadly, slowly taking his left hand back before almost aggressively taking his right hand away from EJ and sighing.
Ms. Jenn articulated the last word of the song she was singing, her voice hit a high note that very few people would be able to hit. A few people nodded, praising her talent, while others looked around awkwardly.
Red pulled his phone from his pocket and started texting. Soon enough, Blake's phone made a quiet ding! and lit up with a new notification.
Blake tried to stifle the snort that she let out when reading his text. Thankfully, Ms. Jenn had finished her song and Ashlyn began applauding her, so nobody focused too much on Blake's laugh.
Soon, they all began learning the dance for curtain call. Carlos started with Ricky and Nini's part. Blake leaned against the wall, trying to make herself scarce in the room. EJ being around made her feel a bit claustrophobic, if she was being honest.
They all watched as Carlos counted, Ricky and Nini dancing in time... well, at least Nini was in time. Ricky seemed to be struggling to focus on the steps of the dance, growing overwhelmed.
EJ moving to stand next to Blake distracted her from Ricky and Nini's dancing, and her body tensed up a bit at his presence.
"Hey..." EJ said slowly, careful to interact.
"What," she asked frustratingly without looking towards him, the scowl on her face unwavering. This was the first time the two had spoken since the day he embarrassed Blake in front of his friends, telling them all about how they had hooked up, claiming that she was an easy target.
"Look... I'm not sure if this is the time or the place, but..."
"It's not," Blake bit back quickly.
Whatever he was going to respond with was cut off by Nini's voice progressively getting louder as she spoke. "You're wasting everybody's time by making fun of something that the rest of us take seriously."
EJ's presence forgotten, Blake was now focused on what was going on in front of her.
"Okay, that's a five! On a break, people! Everybody out, get out!" Carlos shouted, his voice being the only thing to slice the tension between Ricky and Nini. The crowd started to disperse out the door, leaving Ricky and Nini behind. EJ, Red, and Blake slowed behind the crowd, looking behind as they listened to their conversation.
"No, come on... Hey, I take this seriously," Ricky said, walking to Nini who was very clearly over the conversation.
"No! No, you don't," Nini shouted, "you don't take anything seriously, you just... you coast. And the second somebody asks you to make a commitment, you make a joke or you... you sink into some imaginary hole on the floor."
"I didn't sink, Nini," Ricky responded, a hint of sadness in his voice, "I just wasn't ready to say it then..."
Before Blake could hear any more of the conversation, she was out the door and waiting in the hallway while the two argued in the black box.
She sighed, leaning up against the hallway wall with a distance between her and the rest of the crowd. It shouldn't have surprised her that EJ followed suit, once again leaning against the wall next to her.
"I know I don't deserve your attention, but please," EJ almost pleaded for her to look at him as he spoke, "just hear me out?"
She sighed, closing her eyes in frustration as she thought for a second. "Fine." She threw her hands up in surrender, finally turning to face him. She drew in a deep breath. It was time she confronted this. She couldn't keep running out of the room every time EJ was around.
"I'm sorry," he looked into her eyes. If he hadn't done such an awful thing, she could almost say he seems genuine in his apology. "I know what I did was fucked up. Those friends? I don't hang out with them anymore. I shut the rumors down a few weeks ago. I don't deserve to be forgiven or whatever, but I just need you to know," he looked at her with sad eyes as he spoke.
"A few weeks ago? You mean like a few months too late? The damage has been done, EJ. I was harassed and talked about for so long. I was alone in all of it, and you knew that," her words slowly growing louder.
EJ flinched at the escalating volume of her voice, "I know, and I'm not asking for for forgiveness, Blake," he spoke gently, "I just... I wanted to try and make things right. You know, since we'll be working together and stuff... I just," he stumbled over his words, "I'm not that guy anymore."
Big Red finally stepped up to where the two of them stood, and if it weren't for Red's concerned look and EJ's apology for making her cry, she wouldn't have even realized she was crying. Her cheeks flushed with embarrassment as she looked to the ground, "Just leave me alone, EJ."
When she turned to walk away, Ricky had just walked out the door of the black box, his eyes were focused on Blake. She wiped her tears, keeping her head down as she pushed past him and walked out.
"What did you do to her?" Ricky huffed, walking up to EJ.
EJ threw his hands up in defense, "I just apologized, I swear..."
Ricky's hands clenched into a fist, already amped up from his conversation with Nini. An impulsive decision even he couldn't stop himself from, he winded up his arm and his fist collided with EJ's face. "Stay away from her," he hissed before running through the halls to go catch up to Blake.
Ricky and Red busted through the front doors to the school, looking for Blake as Red spoke, "dude! You could literally get expelled for that, you know?" His voice laced with concern.
Ricky looked around for a moment before his eyes found Blake, sitting on the ground against the wall, her knees pulled in against her chest as tears flowed down her face. She sat in peace, letting the wind blow over her face, cooling down her warm skin.
"Blake!" Ricky called out, quickly running to her side. "What did he do? What happened?"
She rolled her eyes and sighed, wiping her tears as Ricky's voice interrupted the peaceful noises of the wind and the rustling tree leaves. "He apologized. That's all."
Red frowned, keeping a little distance between her and Ricky as he watched, concern was all that was in his mind. Concern for Blake, concern for Ricky... Concern for his two best friends.
"He shouldn't have talked to you," Ricky stated, taking in a deep breath as he tried to keep himself calm. He stood up, reaching his hand out to her, "let's just go home."
Before she could take his hand, Carlos ran through the front doors, "There you are!" He shouted, running over to the three of them.
"Ms. Jenn wants everyone back in the room," he exclaimed, taking a minute to catch his breath. Ricky helped pull Blake up from where she was sitting, the three of them ready to leave.
"Tell Ms. Jenn I'm done, okay? Sorry I can't dance like Fred Rogers," Ricky responded in frustration.
"It's Fred Astaire," Carlos corrected him, making Ricky roll his eyes, "Fred Rogers is Mr. Rogers. He never danced, he potty trained puppets."
"Seriously?" Red lost focus, "I was impressed that they made dolls that could cry."
Carlos continued, ignoring Red's comment, "Ricky, please. You have to —"
Ricky cut him off, "Nini's right!"
Carlos frowned at him, and so did Blake.
"I'm taking up space. I don't belong on stage," Ricky finished.
"So untrue," Carlos started, but was quickly cut off by Ricky again.
"Save it, Carlos. You don't want me in this. If I go back, Nini will probably quit. You need her a lot more than you need me."
Blake ignored the tears that stained her cheeks, looking to Carlos as Ricky began walking away.
"Blake?" Carlos looked at her in a desperate attempt. Maybe she could get him to come back. Only instead, she apologized. She wasn't going to stay either.
"I'm sorry, Carlos," she sighed before following suit.
Blake caught up to the boys and Red asked Ricky, "Do you want to go to my house?"
Ricky shook his head without looking at either Blake or Red.
"Alright, we can go to yours..." Red tried.
"Nah, it's, uh... weird there right now," Ricky denied.
"Is your mom back from Chicago yet?"
"No. And I don't think she's there just for work..."
Blake frowned and watched as Red tried to think about why Ricky's mom, Lynne, could still possibly be there instead of here.
"Why would she wanna be there, then?" Red asked carefully.
"Because my dad isn't..." Ricky trailed off, scoffing quietly with a frown.
Red took a minute before trying to respond, "Well, I mean, if you wanted to, we could —" But his words were cut off by Ricky.
"Thanks, bro. Really. I just... need some alone time," he sighed, putting his skateboard on the ground and looking at Blake, "I'll skate you home," he said quietly.
She smiled sadly at Red and the two of them skated off, leaving him standing there.
The way home was quiet, just the sound of the wheels rolling against the pavement and the feeling of wind against their skin. When they got home, Blake didn't want to be alone. She wanted to be with Ricky. But he wanted to be alone, just as he told Red, so she didn't say anything, picking up her skateboard and heading to the front door of her house.
Ricky picked up his skateboard, but he didn't move. Blake was about to look behind her as she noticed the absence of footsteps, but he called her name first.
She turned to him, "what?"
"Can, uh..." he cleared his throat, "can I hang with you? My house is just..." he trailed off.
"Weird," she finished his sentence for him and he looked at her for a moment before nodding.
"Yeah," he confirmed.
She nodded back at him, turning to unlock her door. He followed behind her, shutting the door as they both walked in. She propped her skateboard against the stairwell next to the door, haphazardly discarding her backpack next to it. She sighed at the sight of her dad knocked out on the couch, drunk again.
"Let's get something to snack on first," she suggested, not caring about how loud her voice was. It wouldn't wake him up anyways. He could sleep through a hurricane in this state.
Ricky nodded, walking to the kitchen along with her. He frowned at her dad on the way by. It was nothing new, they were both used to it... but he still felt bad all the same.
She searched through her pantries along with Ricky, not being able to find anything more than some chips and a jar of peanut butter. She scoffed, tears welling up in her eyes.
Blake and her father had been living off of any money her mom left them when she passed. That money, however, was slowly running out while her dad got drunk every waking hour. They rarely ever had food in their kitchen anymore. She didn't even want to think about what they'd have to begin preparing for sooner or later.
"Hey," Ricky said softly, moving towards her and wiping her tears. "We can just order pizza or something. I'll pay," he assured her.
She nodded with a small smile, "thanks," she whispered.
Ricky grabbed a few paper towels, running them under cold water at the sink before returning to her side, carefully pressing the napkin to her face. He traced it along her cheeks, softly wiping the tear stains away and cooling down her face in the process.
The two of them made eye contact the entire time. His eyes comforted her, like a safe haven that consumed her. She could only wish that he would ever feel the same about her.
She broke eye contact, finally noticing the colored bruises along his skin, and his swollen knuckles.
"What the hell happened to your hand?" Blake took his hand, inspecting the injury with furrowed eyebrows.
He flinched, but let her take his hand anyway. "I, uh... may have punched EJ in the face," he told her hesitantly, sounding almost more like a question than an answer.
Blake's eyes met his, "Ricky why the hell would you do that?"
Without breaking eye contact, he didn't hesitate to answer, "I told him to never talk to you again," he cringed in pain as her fingers traced over his bruises.
Blake sighed, "Ricky..." She couldn't pretend like her heart didn't flutter at the thought of Ricky being protective over her, but she swallowed the feeling with a frown. "Don't do stupid things for me," she instructed him.
"He doesn't deserve you giving him any time of day," he clenched his jaw, "I hate that guy."
She let go of his hand, leaving the kitchen and heading to the bathroom to help patch up Ricky's wounds. He followed her without question.
"You hate him because he's with Nini now," she stated, her lips curled into a small smile that she had to force, turning on the cool water from the faucet.
"True," he didn't try to hide it, "but I also hate him because of what he did to you."
She took his hand again, carefully guiding it underneath the running water. She washed the dried blood off of his knuckles and he grit his teeth in pain. She paused as he hissed, looking back at him. "Are you okay?"
He nodded, sucking in a breath, "I'm good. Don't worry."
Blake nodded back at him, cleaning the rest of the blood off of his knuckles. She grabbed a dry towel, one of the softest ones she could find, wrapping it gently around his fist and drying it off.
Ricky looked at her, and he couldn't bring himself to stop. He worried that if she looked up and saw how he was staring, it'd freak her out... but he couldn't look away. He was captivated by her kindness, her gentle soul, the way she focused on him, the way she took care of him, the way her face softened as she wrapped his hand up in gauze to keep it protected.
Ricky and Blake had a rough day, emotions getting the better of them both, he thought. It was the heat of the moment, no doubt... but he couldn't deny how much he wanted to kiss her right now. How he could press his lips to hers, give in to all of the overwhelming emotions, throw caution to the wind and say fuck it.
He didn't see her in that way, no. She was his best friend. She had been since they were in diapers. He wanted Nini. He was in love with Nini.
So he shook the thoughts away, vowing to forget he ever even thought those things. He'd never ruin everything he had with Blake, or with Nini, just because of one hard day.
She looked up as she finally finished wrapping the gauze around his hand. Thank God, he thought. He desperately needed something, or someone, to pull him back to reality and away from whatever was racing through his mind.
He let out a long breath, not even realizing he was holding in one to begin with.
"Is it too tight?" She looked at him with concern, noticing the way he had only just let himself relax.
His eyes met hers and he shook his head, "no," was all he could manage to whisper out.
She nodded, "okay," she breathed out, "you're all patched up, Rocky," she teased him lightly.
He forced out a quiet chuckle, nodding at her. "Thanks, doc."
She took a second, trying to pinpoint the exact moment when the tension thickened between the two of them. But he was looking at her, waiting for her to say something as she looked into his eyes, waiting for her to say anything. So she said the first thing she could think of.
"Follow me."
Ricky nodded, not hesitating to follow along as she led him out the back door.
"The tree house?" Ricky questioned, "It's been years since we've been in there."
She shrugged without saying a word, climbing up the ladder and stepping into the tree house. Ricky quickly popped up behind her as she sat on the ground, the dirty carpet beneath her. Ricky sat in front of her.
"You're my best friend. Always have been, always will be. You and Nini are, like, the only people who get me."
Blake smiled, his mention of Nini not even phasing her.
"You're my best friend. Always and forever," she reminded him.
"Always and forever," he repeated.
"And for the record... I don't think you should quit. You're allowed to take up space. You're not wasting it by being there. I don't care what Nini said," she flashed him a small smile, "I'll even stay, too."
He smiled back at her, "You really think so?"
She nodded in response, whispering, "yeah."
"Okay," he said, holding her gaze, "I'll stay if you stay."
A moment of silence fell between the both of them as he looked around at their surroundings, and his nose scrunched up. "You know... maybe it'd be good to clean this place up... it's kind of disgusting in here," he laughed, lightening up the mood and making Blake laugh, too.
She nodded as he helped her up, the two of them getting to work on cleaning the tree house. Surfaces caked with layers of dust were wiped down, the bean bags were thrown into the wash, and they even used a mini vacuum to finish up the carpet.
Blake would go rummaging around to find some new decor and some fairy lights or something of that nature to add to the freshly cleaned tree house tomorrow. But for now, for the first time in years, the tree house was ready for Ricky and Blake to hang around again... and maybe it's finally time to introduce Big Red, too.
It had been a day since Blake cleaned up the tree house with Ricky, she stood in the black box with Red and waited for everybody to arrive. Leaning against the wall, she crossed her arms and watched as EJ walked through the door, sporting a bandage on his nose.
"I can't believe Ricky punched him," she said to Red, still a little shocked.
"Or that EJ didn't tell Ms. Jenn it was Ricky that broke his nose," Red pointed out. He noticed the pink that shaded her cheeks when she looked to the ground, but he decided not to mention it.
"Guys, I think Nini and I just shared a moment," Ricky said excitedly, greeting Blake and Red suddenly. She turned to face him, taking in a deep breath.
"What?" Red asked him to elaborate.
"I'm saying, Nini and Ashlyn were in the theater and playing the piano and singing and I walked in to tell them that Ms. Jenn is ready for us in the black box, and Nini was singing these lyrics that just sounded a whole lot like our current situation," he said quickly.
Blake looked at him almost dumbfounded, trying to take in everything he had just told them within one single breath.
"Ricky, I don't think —" Red began, but was cut off by Ms. Jenn calling everybody to circle around her. Blake sighed and shook her head, pushing herself away from the wall she was leaning on and heading to join the crowd.
A large cardboard box sat in front of Ms. Jenn as she unpacked all of the bubble wrap filling it, finally pulling out one roll that had something wrapped up inside of it.
Nini showed up, taking a spot next to EJ as he greeted her, "Hey, I missed you. Where have you been?"
Blake watched as she looked from Ricky and back to EJ, "What?"
"Before you came here," EJ elaborated.
"Oh, um, I was hanging out with your cousin," she flashed a smile at him.
Blake shook her head in annoyance and looked ahead of her, seeing Ms. Jenn unwrapping the bubble wrap to reveal an old cell phone. "Here it is, people."
"Is that a garage door opener?" Seb replied inquisitively.
Ms. Jenn looked at him quietly, "no, Seb. This is Gabriella's phone... from the film." Everyone around her let out gasps.
"I plan on creating a time-capsule display in our lobby," Ms. Jenn explained, "if they can have forty sports ball trophies, we deserve a little movie museum."
Her calm voice quickly changed into an excited one when she told everybody, "Okay, people, enough dazzle! Fetch your scripts, please."
Blake sifted through her backpack to grab her own script before rehearsals began.
