thanksgiving break was finally over, which meant it was back to working on the musical.

evangeline was walking with the theatre group when they all saw firefighters, a burned curtain, and a stressed miss jenn.

"oh my gosh.. what happened?!" evangeline asked, looking at her surroundings.

"um.. there might have been a small fire in the school during break." miss jenn admitted, gripping onto her clipboard.

"jesus christ." maria said, clearly shocked.

"don't panic! we'll find a way to fix this." miss jenn assured. "the show will go on."

"the show cannot go on." a firefighter said.

"wait, what?" nini's voice cracked.

"the fire burnt some of the costume and props and the sprinklers ruined most of your sets." they explained.

"great." evangeline spoke, displaying a fake smile before she walked out.

many kids sat in the cafeteria were brainstorming on what they should do. a few kids kept attempting to protest, trying to get miss jenn to continue the show.

"i'm sorry, everyone, but if we don't have a theater, we don't have a show." miss jenn sighed.

"what if we check out other venues?" maria suggested.

"hit me."

many students gave suggestions, throwing them at her but only for them to be turned down.

  "how about the 'el rey'?" carlos suggested, getting many students to agree.

"any other ideas?" miss jenn asked ignoring carlos' suggestion.

"miss jenn, i feel like you just had a really weird reaction to what i just said." carlos admitted.

"i'm sorry, what did you say?" miss jenn asked, acting clueless.

"carlos is asking if we can try and use the 'el rey' theater." nini repeated.

"my uncle ruben is the listing agent, and the last thing they had in there was a fashion show, like.. four years ago." carlos said.

everyone in the room began to have a discussion on the venue, coming to an agreement that they wanted to hold their production there. after a call from carlos' uncle, they got approved of holding the show there.

"wildcats, let's grab all the props and costumes that didn't get damaged and let's load out." miss jenn told the group, causing the students to cheer and head for the rehearsal room.

the students began packing up everything that didn't get damaged by the fire, which took a lot of time.

"hey, evie?"

evangeline paused what she was doing, before turning to the voice that called her name. it was maria.

"listen, i just wanted to apologize for what happened back at the p-"

"what was that.. at the party?" evangeline interrupted, crossing her arms.

maria sighed, slightly giving up on trying to apologize, "i-i can't tell you, evie."

"then don't. stop trying to talk to me, maria."

the group carried flashlights and turned them on,
walking into the dusty and eerie building.

miss jenn instructed the group to move all the statues and pillars aside, figuring out on how to control the lights.

as the group collectively figured it out, evangeline stepped away, just to get some fresh air. she passed a door that was slightly open, hearing something rummaging through a box they had. she slightly peeked in, seeing e.j. rummaging through the box.

she walked in before silently closing the door behind her, attempting to not startle the brunette. "what are you doing?!" she whisper-yelled, grabbing his attention quickly.

the boy slightly jumped, attempting to hide the box behind him, which he failed to do miserably. "i'm just uh.. cleaning the stairs!" e.j. lied, acting as if he was actually dusting the stairs.

"e.j. don't lie, what are you actually doing in here?"

"..i'm looking through miss jenn's theatre box." e.j. admitted, scooting away to reveal the labeled box.

"what are you even looking for? she told us to not look through it."

"nothing, can you just.. go, evangeline?"

evangeline's brows furrowed, showing that she was slightly annoyed but confused at the same time.

once she left, everyone ended up on the stage, still trying to figure out the lights and other equipment, which stressed a few people out.

"troy and gabriella, practice your lines somewhere quietly. kelsi, please do the same." miss jenn instructed.

"but what about everyone else? i kinda need sharpay and darbus in order for me to practice.."

"evangeline, please.."

evangeline mouthed 'okay', before shifting her focus towards ricky, who was already looking at her.

"it's been a while so i need you all opening night ready by dinnertime, okay?" she further instructed, earning a thumbs-up from evangeline.

the trio walked by each other, slightly distancing themselves, not wanting to make any sudden interaction. they lit their flashlights, hoping to not find anything concerning in their path.

something fell which caused evangeline to flinch, shaking it off soon after.

"you okay?" ricky asked, placing a hand on her shoulder.

"yeah.. i'm fine." she replied, brushing him off.

nini opened an empty room full of old props while evangeline moved her flashlight around the room.

"yikes." nini spoke, coughing from the dust.

"this is not creepy at all." evangeline joked.

ricky found a light switch and turned it on, causing every light source in the room to turn on.

"okay, wait, i found a bathroom on my way here, i'll be back." nini mentioned, before turning towards evangeline, "could you.."

"hold your script?"

"yeah.. if that's okay..?"

"not a problem, i'll wait here so i can return it to you."

"you're the best, evangeline." nini spoke, giving evangeline a genuine smile before walking off.

evangeline sat on a stool near the door, flipping through her own script in silence.

"so... how've you been?" ricky asked, attempting to make conversation.

evangeline shrugged, "just.. fine, you?"

"i'm okay." ricky responded, not sure of what else to say.

silence fell once again.

"look, about that night at ashlyn's party..." ricky started.

"no, it's fine, i'm not bothered by it." evangeline shrugged.

"you aren't?" he asked.

"no, what's there to talk about?!" evangeline snapped, visibly frustrated with ricky. "ricky, i'm seriously just trying to focus on this musical, can you please stop talking to me?"

"you know what? fine, we don't have to talk at all."

"great."

"for the record, you're the one pushing me away so that's that." ricky spoke out of pettiness.

"and i thought we were done talking." evangeline sighed.

it was silent once again. though, this time, it was a painful silence.

"angeline, i'm sorry," ricky started, grabbing the girl's attention, "i didn't kiss gina back that night, i didn't even do anything with her at the party!"

"alright..?"

"i just miss you and.. i want to be your friend again."

evangeline sighed, "i'm just so angry, first you and then maria. im just so..." her fists tightened.

"what about maria?" his eyebrows raised.

"nothing, just... i was angry, i thought i lost you because i did something... what did i do to deserve this?"

"you didn't do anything, i swear! i've just been suffering through some parent stuff... my mom has a new boyfriend."

"holy shit, ricky, are you okay?"

ricky just shrugged, "im doing fine."

evangeline leaned her head on the boys shoulder, "i guess we're both going through things. i'm sorry i took my problems out on you."

"i'm sorry too, i would never want to lose you, angeline, these past few days without you have been hell. i need my number one girl by my side," he smiled and wrapped on arm around her, giving her a side hug.

"your number one girl? since when?"

"since i threw your diary away in elementary."