Chapter Text
Ricky Bowen strummed his guitar mindlessly. He had played his ex-girlfriend’s song so many times at this point, that he now knew each chord without thinking. It was just the lyrics that might trip him up now. He wasn’t sure why, but they never quite felt intuitive as he practiced them. Even at this moment, though he could sing through the ending pretty comfortably, the words never sounded the way they did coming out of Nini’s mouth.
That’s because she has the voice of an angel , Ricky reasoned. And that was enough of an argument to get him through today.
Plus, he was trying out for High School Musical this afternoon, and maybe if he nailed the audition, he wouldn’t have to surprise Nini at home tonight and sing the song he had spent the last 24 hours committing to memory.
The first notes Gina Porter had ever heard Ricky Bowen sing were accompanied by a gentle guitar on her second day at East High. She didn’t know it at the time, but she would eventually fall in love with that voice. She didn’t even know his name yet. At that point, she didn’t exactly care to.
Growing up, Gina had been jerked around from school to school at the whim of her mother’s job. Every time disaster struck, they had to pick up and move. That could have been a metaphor for something interesting–if she ever took the time to think about it. She wouldn’t. Gina spent all of her freetime (time that might have otherwise been filled up with family, friends, or even a boyfriend if she had the chance to find one) watching leaked Broadway shows shakily recorded on handheld cameras and D-I-Y tutorials on YouTube.
That’s why, when she walked past the junior stairwell right near the principal’s office on her second day of school, Ricky Bowen caught her so off guard.
Can’t help dreaming of you
I guess I’m saying I don’t not love you…
“Excuse me,” the boy raised his voice from his position on the steps and stopped playing abruptly.
He wasn’t sure why he stopped her when plenty of other people had passed him in the few minutes leading up to their chance encounter. He would later reason that it was the heels on her boots that he could hear approaching.
“Do you have thirty seconds?” he continued. It crossed his mind that she might make fun of his situation, but in a school full of kids he had known since Kindergarten, it felt significant to have caught the attention of a perfect stranger.
“Left to live?” the beautiful stranger quipped. “I would not spend them here.”
“That was dark,” he responded quickly. “I’m impressed.”
Gina was completely caught off guard when the boy chuckled at her remark. She had expected him to retract his request. Show some embarrassment even. Not proceed. She was impressed.
“I need a stranger’s opinion on something and you are giving me the vibe that you are brutally honest,” he continued.
Gina impatiently watched the boy place his guitar down beside him and found herself wondering what song he had been playing just moments before. Not enough to ask, just enough to linger. Plus, he looked familiar and it was bothering her that she couldn’t quite place his face.
“Well, now I’m intrigued.” She was.
Gina took a semi-confident step toward the boy on the stairs and prepared herself for his question. She couldn’t help the flutter in her chest as he leaned forward and took a deep breath. She recognized that flutter and she immediately knew what it meant. She had just never experienced it so soon after moving to a new location.
Gina girl, get yourself together.
“I, um, have this ex-girlfriend,” he started apprehensively, “Nini.”
Gina let out a giggle thinking the boy would laugh too. She could feel her face fall immediately when she realized she may have already messed things up with the cute boy on the stairs just a minute after meeting him. New record, Gi!
“Wait, I’m sorry that’s her name? Nee-nee?” His face had not changed.
Gina, why do you always do this?
“Long story.” He waved it off as though that detail was unimportant.
Gina felt instant relief that her laughing at his ex’s name didn’t put him off. Without missing a beat, he dove into the story of how Nini had written a song to tell him she loved him and he could not say it back. Though Gina may not have looked like it, she thoroughly enjoyed romance movies and this felt like the beginning of a John Hughes high school classic. He didn’t really love her. Gina didn’t even know the boy’s name yet, but of that she was unequivocally sure. They were not going to end up together. Anyone with eyes could have seen that.
It didn’t help that Gina could have sworn she heard the couple arguing the morning before by her locker. It wasn’t until he shared the story that she realized why he looked so familiar. She had seen him going back and forth with a small brunette yesterday. The other girl present, the one in a stylish denim outfit, seemed like someone Gina could’ve been friends with if she had grown up in Salt Lake City. Her cute hairstyle and overall vibe are what initially caught Gina’s attention, but the uncomfortable tension between the skater boy and Nini is what kept it.
With the confidence he had given her just thirty seconds ago to speak her mind, Gina said honestly, “maybe you just don’t love her. Full stop.”
Ricky seemed offended by the accusation. As he continued to share his plan with the girl towering before him, he could see that she was losing interest. Something about that thought left a faint pain in his chest. Intentionally repeating her language with “full stop,” like a period on his sentence, he successfully reigned her back in to finish their conversation.
In a complete twist, the mysteriously intimidating girl suggested he sing Nini’s song for his High School Musical audition instead of outside of Nini’s house later that night.
“That feels kind of lame,” Ricky replied. He could already feel butterflies coming up at the thought of singing that song in front of Nini and all of the other theater dorks. Not the good kind of butterflies.
“Love is lame, idiot.” Ricky eyed the corners of her glossy lips as they curved upward with a smug smile. “That’s why I avoid it.”
He couldn’t quite explain the feeling he had from hearing this strange girl call him an idiot. While it probably should have been off-putting, it amused him more than anything else. He didn’t really think she meant it. Plus, she was pretty. Distractingly so. That likely helped with the sting.
“Good luck, Skater Boy,” she offered with a glance at the skateboard behind him and twirled away.
Worried he may not cross paths with her again anytime soon (it was a fairly large school), Ricky scrambled to say just one more thing. “Thanks for the free advice…intimidating girl.”
He knew it sounded stupid as it came from his lips, but the girl threw him a smile and he decided it was worth it.
Find something you like about this school and try not to kill it .
The cold words of Gina’s shitty new principal echoed between her ears as her eyes fell on the school musical’s audition sheet. She knew he meant an extra-curricular just like the drama club and despite her complete disinterest in doing anything that made Principal Gutierrez think he “got through to her” in that awful meeting, she knew she wanted to hear the rest of that boy’s song more than she cared to be defiant. Plus, she had always enjoyed doing the musicals up until her last move.
Gina leaned against the white hallway wall to add her name to the audition sheet. Maybe East High could be different after all .
At auditions, Gina Porter was in her element. Though she had given up musicals two schools ago due to her family’s frequent, unexpected moves, she never gave up dancing. Her mother respected Gina’s devotion to her craft and always made sure to enroll her in the best dance academy each city had to offer–sometimes before enrolling her in school.
As a result of her extensive dance training, the warm-up the choreographer taught the group was a breeze and just by the looks from the new drama club director & Carlos, Gina knew she had Gabriella on lock.
Gina could feel her confidence returning as she took her rightful place–centerstage. She felt the Boston version of herself returning more and more with every dance step. That was the city she lived in with her mom, prior to their move to Florida. She had landed the titular role of Annie in her high school’s production as a freshman before having to leave abruptly just a month before opening night. She didn’t speak to her mother or anyone at her new school for three and a half weeks after that move. To put it simply, she was devastated.
Finally, on this stage, the Boston Gina, the girl who had landed the lead role despite only attending the callbacks at her new school, the star , could breathe again. If for nothing else, she could be grateful to the nameless skater boy from the stairs for giving her an excuse to perform again. She soaked everything in as she hit the final pose of the warm-up and headed off the stage to fetch her water.
Gina wasn’t quite sure what she expected when she finally stumbled on the famous Nini. Maybe not so small. Definitely not so meek. But she could see what a boy like Skater Boy would see in a girl like her. Nini was “cute” personified. The complete opposite of Gina in every conceivable way. And yet, Gina didn’t feel threatened by her at all. If anything, she felt a little bit more excited about what Salt Lake City was going to offer now. Cute boys with pretty voices, a white Christmas, and absolutely no competition in the theater.
As Nini told Gina about her recent experience at summer camp, Gina couldn’t hold back the smile spreading on her face. This is going to be too easy , she thought to herself.
When Carlos offered Gina the sides for her Gabriella audition, she refused and claimed she was already off-book. This wasn’t true, but rather an audition tactic she had learned from her older brother, Jamie: “Do everything in your power to appear overqualified for anything and everything. If being off-book before landing a role is what it takes, make sure you’re off-book by your first rehearsal.” His professional advice never failed her before.
Gina eyed EJ curiously as Miss Jenn offered him the Troy lines. He was cute too–not as cute as the boy on the stairs–so, he would be an adequate leading man in her opinion. She noticed how much he and Nini looked at each other and only wondered about their dynamic for the skater boy’s sake. She couldn’t really care less if her Troy Bolton was dating someone in the ensemble.
Gina breezed through her audition and proudly walked off the stage toward the wing as the other theater kids applauded loudly. She continued to feel secure in her ability to outshine any other contender that day until she heard a loud “am I too late? Am I too late?” from the back of the auditorium. Gina probably looked almost as shaken up as Nini at that moment, believing entirely that the skater boy had chickened out at the last minute. She felt a little disappointed that he hadn’t seen her audition, but figured she would impress him some other time. She was just excited to hear his full song.
Gina felt a slight pang in her chest watching the cute boy hold up his phone flashlight for Nini. When EJ stood up to shine a flashlight on her too, Gina started to consider that pursuing this boy just might be too complicated. She thought he was cute for sure, but she liked the peace her walls afforded her and too much about this boy and his romantic situation screamed messy.
She was all set on putting her barely blossoming feelings to bed for the boy whose name she finally just learned as he tanked the monologue section of his audition, until he pulled out his guitar and opened his mouth to sing. Ricky Bowen. What a pleasant surprise.
His voice was incredible. The lyrics may have needed some work, but he was doing a good enough job selling the material. Gina couldn’t help but feel proud of herself for encouraging him to audition with this song. He blew every tenor rendition of “Start of Something New” they had just heard out of the water. She felt the flutter return to her chest as she spied Miss Jenn smiling at Ricky. Maybe he could be my Troy .
She wanted him to succeed. She wanted to see him win more than anyone she had ever met at school before and that was a strange feeling. Gina felt more nervous watching this boy whose name she had just learned than during any point of her own audition.
You got this , Gina rooted for him from the comfort of her own mind. And he did “have it”–until the ending.
Right at the definitive moment–the love confession & lyrical climax–he choked. The boy who ran in here and interrupted the auditions to serenade his ex-girlfriend choked on the one word that mattered most. Gina knew in her heart of hearts that that was not a random accident, though she felt somewhat responsible for putting him in a position to embarrass himself like that.
Ricky knew he botched it. After all of that preparation, the only word he needed Nini to hear was practically inaudible. He tried to finish strong, but the momentum was gone. He lost her.
After the auditions were over, Ricky walked out with his best friend defeated. He knew he messed up big time and had no idea how he was going to fix it. He should have never listened to that girl from before. He didn’t even know her. What was I thinking?
In the middle of yet another hallway argument with his angry ex-girlfriend, Kourtney pulled Nini away toward the cast list before Ricky had a chance to make things right.
Immediately after Nini stepped away from the cast list in complete shock, Gina fought her way through the crowd to look for her name at the very top. Except it wasn’t at the top. She could feel her lunch coming up as soon as she leaned against the cold, white wall. Taylor and Gabriella’s understudy ? But mousy Nini got Gabriella? This had to be some sort of sick joke the universe was playing on her. Or Miss Jenn. She never lost the lead to anyone before. Ever. Gina had no idea how she was going to tell her mom.
“Congrats,” she croaked out to her new enemy.
Just a few seconds later, Ricky slowly approached the crowd which was seemingly already parted for his arrival. He locked eyes with Gina unexpectedly, and while he wanted to process seeing her face here (did she mention she was auditioning earlier?), everyone was watching him too closely. He took another step toward the cast list before he realized why everyone was watching him so closely. He got Troy. He got the lead.
Ricky wasn’t sure yet if he was happy about the casting or not. He had not really auditioned with the intention of landing the lead role. He wasn’t even remotely prepared to take on that kind of responsibility; but looking at Nini, he knew that he was on the right path and that some force greater than his own was guiding him toward love.