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

Chapter Thirty-Two: Girl's Night

We shopped for four hours that Saturday, travelling to every thrift store in Salt Lake trying to replace our costumes. Unfortunatley, a lot of the ones that we lost were main cast costumes, so we had to hope that we could find stuff we could use that looked movie accurate. We lucked out, and managed to get every costume we needed, including a bright red tank-top and gold pants that were basically an exact replica of Kelsey's outfit from 'We're All In This Together'.

Now, we were at my house, in my newly refurbished music room, gathered around my piano, belting basically every musical soundtrack we knew, from classics like Grease and Guys and Dolls, to more modern ones such as 'Dear Evan Hansen' and 'Be More Chill'.

We all burst out laughing as we finished a, quite frankly, pitchy rendition of 'I love Play Rehearsal'.

"Ok, we should take a break. Miss Jenn will kill us if we lose our voices before opening night." I said.

"Well, what should we do now?" Nini asked.

"Well...what do girls typically do at sleepovers?" Kourtney asked, giving all of us knowing looks. "We've been here for how long? And the topic of boys and dating hasn't come up once?"

'Well, if you're volunteering a conversation, why don't you tell us about your love life, Kourt?" I asked her.

"Honey, you know, if I was interested, I could snag any man I dang well please." She said. "But unfortunately for the male population, I am a strong, independent woman who loves herself and don't need no man."

"If only we all could be like Kourtney." Nini said.

"I mean...that kind of has to come first, right?" Ashlyn asked. "I mean, you can't really expect someone else to love you if you don't love yourself first."

"So, how much do you love yourself exactly?" I asked. "I just kind of wanted a time frame so I'm not surprised when you and Big Red inevitably end up together."

"What?!" Nini asked, smiling. "Ashlyn and Big Red?'

"No! No." Ashlyn said, shooting me a look.

"They've totally been giving each other eyes." I said. "She mentioned the whole 'EJ-Ricky, Basketball-Face' incident, and he said the only thing he'd throw at her is a brighter spotlight, because he likes the way she sings'."

"Oh my gosh, that is literally the cutest!" Nini exclaimed.

"Well, regardless of what happens with Big Red, I'm with Kourtney. I love myself, and I don't need a guy to tell me who I am."

"Well, good for you guys." I said.

"What about you?" Kourtney asked me. "How are things with EJ?"

"Things with EJ are good." I said. "We are working on the whole self-confidence thing, and he's got some of his own issues we're trying to work out together but he's just...he's so sweet and supportive." I looked at Nini and Immediately got uncomfortable. "But um...you knew that."

"No," She said. "I knew the EJ he wanted me to see. The 'Perfect, on Paper' version. You've got the real thing, anyone could see that."

"You are, probably one of the most graceful human beings I've ever met." I told her, causing her to chuckle. "So are you and...Ricky..."

"I don't know, if I'm being honest." She said. "I mean, we kind of had a moment at the El Rey, but everything just kind of seems so complicated."

"Yeah, but...Ricky's changed a lot since the musical," Ashlyn said, "Maybe he's finally ready to be the guy you want." Nini shrugged.

"I don't know, maybe."

"Are you getting him an opening night gift?" Kourtney asked. Nini looked around the room innocently. "Oh come on, girl. You're like, the queen of opening night gifts."

"Ok, yeah, I'm gonna get him an opening night gift." She said. She looked at me. "What about you? Are you getting EJ anything?"

"Yeah, I have something in mind." I said.

"Well? Are you gonna tell us what it is?" Kourtney asked.

"Nope! Top secret." I told them. They all groaned in exasperation, causing me to laugh.

~~~

Later that night, we lay in my room, spread out all over the place. It was like, two AM, but I was fairly certain nobody was asleep.

"You guys awake?" I asked.

"Yeah." They all answered in unison.

"Can I just mention...how grateful I am for this entire experience?" I asked. "Going from someone who never had friends to having so many incredible ones, its...its life changing."

"Well, we love you, girl!" Kourtney said. I smiled.

"Yeah, I'm kind of really sad that I didn't talk to you guys more before now." Nini said. "I mean I had Kourtney, obviously, but you two are seriously amazing, and I went basically our whole lives without knowing it."

"Isn't that what this is all about?" Ashlyn asked. "Theater is a refuge for the outcasts; a place where you can talk to people and become friends with those you wouldn't normally. I breaks down the barriers that society put up for us."

"Well I'm glad it did," I said, "because if I'm being honest...I don't know where I would've ended up without this musical."

"What do you mean?" Nini asked. I sighed, staring up at the ceiling.

"I mean, before doing this musical, I...I hated my life, I mean, I truly did. I was just counting the days until graduation because I thought, if I could just get to college, I could figure out what I wanted to do and I wouldn't need anything from anybody, but I was just telling myself that because I didn't think anyone could actually like me...you guys made it so that I could actually enjoy my life instead of just enduring it and I can't...I can't think you enough."

"Aw...Meg." Nini cooed, causing us all to laugh.

"Sorry, sorry. I'm just...I'm so grateful for this whole experience and I can't...I can't believe that tomorrow its all gonna be over."

"Just because the musical's over, doesn't mean that we are." Ashlyn said. I smiled.

"Yeah...because 'High School Musical, we never have to let it go'." I sang.

"Its the best part we've ever know, step into the future, and hold onto High School Musical. To celebrate where we come from-" We all stopped singing at once, bursting into fits of laughter until the door opened and Mom stuck her head in.

"Girls, I'm glad you're having fun and all," She said, "But its nearly three o'clock in the morning and you have a show tomorrow. Go to sleep."

"Ok, Mom." I said.

"Sorry, Mrs. Kline!" Ashlyn called after her. Mom chuckled, shaking her head and shutting the door again.