Didn't Know It Before( An EJ Caswell/HSMTMTS Fanfiction)

Chapter Twenty-Nine: The Show Cannot Go On

I felt pretty good walking into school on Monday. I was in love with my outfit, which consisted of a pair of black, ripped skinny jeans with roses embroidered on them, a plain white t-shirt, white low-top converse, and to top it all off...EJ's Letterman jacket. My hair was also curled and tied into a half ponytail with a red ribbon, and I was wearing my glasses.

My good mood was interrupted however, when I stumbled upon the state of the stage.

There were firemen everywhere, lugging around hoses and cleaning materials and there was a big hole where the door once was that was dripping with water. My jaw dropped as I found it, along with Ashlyn, EJ, Seb, Nini, Carlos, Big Red, Ricky, and a bunch of the other cast members.

"Scuse me kids." One of the firefighter's said, moving past us into the room.

"Oh my gosh, what happened?" Nini asked.

"Its ok," Miss Jenn told us, "Nobody was hurt. There was a small fire in the theater over the holiday, and the sprinklers did their job."

"We're almost done in here," The firefighter told her, holding a charred, smoking basketball in her hands, "Just have to finish up in the faculty room next. Some circuits blew in there over the break. Unfortunately, the show cannot go on."

"What?"

"The fire ripped through half your costumes and the sprinklers ruined a bunch of your sets. I'm sorry, but I'm gonna have to red-tag the entire back stage area for a month at least." She handed Miss Jenn the smoking basketball before resuming her job.

"Did she just say costumes?" Courtney asked. I put a hand on her back.

'Ok...ok, listen up!" Miss Jenn said. "Hug your neighbor, take a moment and let's all reconvene in the cafeteria after school to talk about our options. Nini and Ricky, spread the word."

"Got it, yeah, of course." Nini said.

"Ricky?" Ricky was looking at his phone, no doubt texting Gina. "Ricky?!"

"Huh, sorry? After school in the cafeteria, got it." Ricky said. Everyone dispersed, but I lingered back, staying until it was only Miss Jenn and I left standing.

"Miss Jenn, I know I'm not the stage manager this year, but if you need anything that will help us get the show back on its feet, don't hesitate to ask." She nodded.

"I appreciate that, sweetie, and I just might take you up on that." I nodded, turning and following the others.

~~~

We all stood in the cafeteria after school, talking about what would happen if the show got cancelled.

"Is anyone else starting to wonder if this show is cursed?" I asked, standing beside Ashlyn.

"I don't think anyone said...the m-word." Ashlyn said. I sighed.

"Ok, guys!" Miss Jenn shouted, clapping her hands to get our attention. "Wait, where's Gina?"

"I think she's going through a family thing right now." Ashlyn reported, sitting down on the table. I sat down beside her.

"Ok, prayers to our Gina. I'm...really not sure what to say. You've all worked so hard. I've seen all of you grow, so much, but if we don't have a theater...we don't have a show."

"Wait, what?" Everyone started talking at once about what that would mean, and what we're gonna do.

"Come on, Miss Jenn, we've gotta do something." Carlos said.

"I think we...I don't know, I guess we could consider other venues?" Everyone began talking again.

"What about the old Kingston downtown?" Ashlyn suggested.

"Its condemned." 

"The Lucky Ducky Puppet Pavilion?" EJ asked.

"Its a massive Starbucks now."

"Wait, couldn't we just do it in the gym?" I asked. 

"The school board would never allow it." Miss Jenn said.

"How about the El Rey?" Carlos threw in. Everyone agreed with him all at once.

"Yes!"

"Brilliant, dude!"

"I went there like six times."

"Any other ideas?" Miss Jenn asked. Everyone stopped talking immediately, looking at her.

"Miss Jenn, I feel like you just had a really weird reaction to what I just said." Carlos pointed out.

"Sorry, what did you say?" 

"Carlos is asking if we can try and use the El Ray Theater." Nini replied.

"My Uncle Ruben is the listing agent and the last thing they had in there was a fashion show, like, four years ago." Carlos walked over behind Miss Jenn, dialing his uncle's number.

"Whoa, this place has five hundred seats." Seb said, having looked it up on his phone. We all crowded around him, looking at his phone screen.

"498, but who's counting?" Miss Jenn muttered.

"Wait, that's actually pretty sweet." EJ said.

"I can't imagine we'd be able to get in on such short notice."  Carlos began speaking Spanish as his Uncle answered the phone.

"Si, si, si."

"Sounded like a yes to me!" Ashlyn said, causing everyone to cheer.

"The El Rey theater it is! Wildcats, lets grab all the props and costumes that didn't get damaged and let's load out."

~~~

I was walking down the hall, carrying a box of hats, and EJ was walking next to me, holding a big, red, metal box.

"This is crazy, right?" He asked. I nodded.

"Yeah, it is. But its kind of fun though too, isn't it? Scraping everything together, making it work despite the circumstances.  We seem to be good at pull everything together last second." He shrugged.

"We're actors. When things go wrong, we improvise." I chuckled at this. "Also, can I just say that you look a lot better in that jacket than I do, which is really saying something because...I look fantastic in that jacket."

"Thank you, and yes, yes you do." We turned the corner, just about running into Carlos, who looked down at the box in EJ's hands.

"Hey, maybe I should carry that." He said.

"Why?" EJ questioned.

"No reason."

"No, I'm fine to carry it." EJ said, as we walked past Carlos. 

"Its just a little bit sensitive." Carlos argued.

"Are we still talking about the box?"

"Its actually Miss Jenn's show file. Script breakdowns, set sketches, and all of her audition notes."

"You mean this says why which people got which parts?" EJ asked.

"Probably shouldn't have told him that." I said quietly.

"No further comment, thank you." Carlos took the box, hugging it to his chest and proceeding down the hallway. EJ looked at me and I shook my head.

"Don't even think about it, Ege."

"Think about what, Meg?" He asked, gently taking the box from me as we continued down the hallway.

"You honestly mean to tell me that you didn't have every intention of taking that box and finding out why you were cast as Chad?"

"Pssh, no! Why would I do that?" I shot him a skeptical look. "Ok, so I'm curious. Aren't you!"

"Miss Jenn is constructive, EJ. She never meant for anyone else to see those notes, so if you were to read them, and hear something you don't like, that's on you." I pointed out.

"I'm not gonna read them."

"For your sake, it'd be best of you don't." I told him. "I'm gonna go get another box." I kissed him on the cheek before turning and walking back over to the place where everything was piled up.