General Plot Synopsis: Katrina and Samantha are sitting in the sketchy computer lab, when all of a sudden something interesting happens, and they are really confused.
Chapter 1 (February 22, 2008)
I was sitting in the sketchy computer lab at my college, with my best friend Katrina. Well, actually, she's not my best friend, but for the purposes of this story, she is. I was writing a story similar to this one. One of pure fiction, of course. It snowing really hard, and Katrina was doing her homework. Sort of. Then, all of a sudden, the power went out. It was quite dark. I sighed and got up from the computer that was now off. I tried the door handle, but it was locked. We were trapped in the computer lab, with a whole bunch of computers that didn't even work. Damn.
"Just push," Katrina said.
"Yeah, because that's your solution for everything," I said. "And the door is a pull door." She frowned and got up from her chair. "Go ahead and try. I'm telling you, it's locked." She tried, apparently with all of her effort, but failed to get the door open. "I really hate to tell you I told you so, no, wait, I don't. I told you so." Katrina sighed and sat back down in her chair. [I just asked Katrina what we would do if we were stuck in the computer lab with no power, and she said, and this is a direct quote, "This is the coolest butterfly ever." How is that helpful? I started rummaging through my backpack.
"What are you looking for?" Katrina asked, annoyed.
"Flashlight," I said.
"You keep a flashlight in your backpack?" she asked. I nodded. "Why?"
"For just such an occasion," I said. I pulled out my small blue circular flashlight, and went back to rummaging.
"What are you looking for now?" Katrina asked. I pulled out a small white orb. "What is that?" I didn't say anything. I just turned it on. It started turning pretty colors and emitting light. "Ooh, shiny." She sat staring at it. "You carry that around, but you don't bother bringing a cell phone?"
"You don't evenhave a cell phone," I said. "Don't yell at me." We sat in the semi-darkness for a while. I had my iPod in my ears, so I didn't know if she was trying to talk to me. After a while, it was really pretty dark outside. Then, there was a disturbance in the force. There were people outside the doors to the hallway. "What is that?"
"I think it's a tour," Katrina said.
"It's gotta be like 6 at night. What is a tour doing here? With no power?" I said. Katrina shrugged. I stood up from the floor where I had been laying and looked at them. It was a tour, and they were passing by. I banged on the window. Some of the people looked at me. "HEY! I think we're stuck in here! Can you get us out?" The UNE Tour Guide looked at us and shrugged. She tried to get the door open, but it didn't work. She even tried using her I.D. Nothing worked. Damn.
"Step aside, ladies," said one of the guests. He backed up and broke the door in.
"Hey, thanks," said Katrina. "Wait, are you…The Guy?"
"Yeah," he said. "I'm The Guy. Who are you?"
"Um, I'm Katrina," said Katrina, now very embarrassed. The Guy had come to save. I gathered my backpack, and went to stand in the hall, determined not to get stuck in the lab again. I took a look at the other people standing with the tour guide.
"Um, this is weird. Why are a whole bunch of famous people touring my college?" I said.
"Well," said Zac, "we're obviously here to rescue the pretty girls." Katrina and I looked at each other and squealed. Vanessa frowned at Zac. "But none as pretty as my beautiful girlfriend. Vanessa. Right. I have a girlfriend. I'm straight!" Everyone in the hall looked at him.
"Um, dude," said Corbin. "That was weird. I think we've had this talk before." Zac blushed, even though I couldn't really tell, in the darkness.
"Yeah," said Lucas. "I thought I was the gay one."
"Oh, wait, so you are gay?" I said. "I always told my mom you weren't."
"Oh, he's not," said Vanessa, smiling evilly. Lucas blushed even redder than Zac. Corbin cleared his throat.
"Uh, V? I don't think that's exactly an appropriate topic of conversation in front of people we don't even know," he said. "Yet," he added. I blushed. Katrina wasn't paying attention the stars of High School Musical. She was all wrapped up in The Guy. The Guy was hot, sure, but Zac Efron, Lucas Grabeel, and Corbin Bleu were here!!!! True, they had brought Vanessa Hudgens, but whatever.
"So where's Ashley and Monique?" I asked. Corbin looked around, evidently surprised that they were not there.
"Uh, guys? Where are the girls?" Corbin asked. Lucas and Zac looked around too. Vanessa sighed.
"They're down by the kiosk," she said. "They said it was really pretty."
"It's gotta be, like, 6 degrees down there, you know. It's snowing pretty hard," I said. Lucas nodded.
"So, I hear there's food in this building," he said.
"Uh, yeah, actually, the cafeteria is just over there," said the Tour Guide.
"Um, yeah, I don't think we'll be needing a tour guide anymore," said Corbin. "Thank, though." He put hi arm around me. I had to resist the urge to squeal. The power suddenly came back on. "Huh." That was all the explanation needed. I quickly took my earbuds out of my ears and threw my iPod into my purse. I put my arm around Corbin's waist, still resisting the urge to squeal.
"Listening to anything good?" asked Lucas. I blushed again.
"Um, Hairspray, actually," I said. "So, yeah." Vanessa was frowning at the mention of Hairspray. She doesn't like Nikki Blonsky. We walked down the hall and around the corner to the cafeteria, which was almost empty, being it a Friday around six. I pulled out my ID to pay for the meal, and was about to charge everyone else's meals to my account when the cashier started screaming about how Zac Efron was there. Zac and Lucas managed to get her calmed down and she gave them all free meals. Unfortunately, some freshmen girls had noticed Zac too, and started screaming as well. Zac gave them all autographs and shook them off before Vanessa started getting mad. Katrina found a table to sit at. I put down my bag and took off my coat. I had to fight the urge to plush again when I remembered which shirt I was wearing. [The black HSM one with all of the glitter.
After getting some food, we sat down again. Corbin was apparently very hungry, as he ahd taken some of just about everything. I had my usual fries, salad, and vegetable of the day, all swimming in Ranch dressing. Vanessa wasn't eating anything, but she did have a Diet Pepsi. Zac and Lucas had sandwiches from the sandwich bar. The Guy had pizza, and Katrina had whatever would fit on her tray.
"So what are you guys really doing here?" I asked. Zac looked at Lucas and shrugged.
"Kenny's thinking of shooting College Musical here, so we all came up to look at it," Zac said.
"Who's Kenny?" Katrina asked. "Is he hot?"
"He's the director of High School Musical. And you would probably think so," I said to her. I turned back to Zac. "She won't watch the movies. She claims she doesn't have time." Lucas laughed.
"My sister said she only watched them because I was in them," he said. I laughed.
"The first time I went to watch it, it was the sing along version, and my sister got mad at me for singing along, so I stormed out," I said. Lucas was surprised. "So, technically, I didn't see the first one until the day before the second one premiered. And now I'm so super pumped for the third one." All three boys were looking at me now. "What?"
"You're not going to ask us what happens?" Zac asked.
"Um, no. I'd rather be surprised," I said. "All I need to know is: As seniors in high school ,Troy and Gabriella struggle with the idea of being separated from one another as college approaches. Along with the rest of the Wildcats, they stage a spring musical to address their experiences, hopes and fears about their future. Good enough for me. Besides, you guys haven't even started filming yet. When is that, April 21st ish? Zac and Corbin looked at each other.
"Uh, yeah, that's right," Corbin said. There was silence for a while as we ate our food. When we were finished I showed them how to put their trays away and we left the cafeteria. In the lobby, Zac and Lucas seemed to have spotted someone they knew. "Hey, Olesya, Chris, Ryne!" Corbin said. "When'd you finally decide to show up?"
"Out flight got delayed because of the snow," said Chris. "And Kaycee isn't coming." I thought I was about to have a fit. Olesya Rulin, Ryne Sanborn, and Christopher Warren, Jr. were here too.
"Who's the girl?" asked Ryne. I blushed.
"I'm Samantha," I said. "And this is my friend, Katrina." Katrina waved, and then went back to whatever it was she was doing with the guy.
"Nice to meet you," said Olesya. Ashley and Monique burst through the doors, laughing.
"Oh, there you guys are," Ashley said. "We've been looking for you. What'd you do with the tour guide?"
"Ditched her. Meet our new friends, Samantha and Katrina," Corbin said.
"Hi," I said. Corbin put his arm back around me and Ashley raised her eyebrows.
"You know, whatever. Anyways, we were about to call it a night. So, what do you guys want to do?" Lucas asked.
"Let's have a party," Monique said.
"Sure, but where?" asked Vanessa.
"Um, we could have a party in South Lounge," I said. Everyone agreed. "Katrina, babe, can you take them to South Lounge? I've got to stop by the Feath to get some party stuff." Katrina nodded.
"Do you need someone to go with you?" asked Lucas. "I mean, to help you carry your stuff?"
"Um, sure," I said. Lucas and I set out for Featherman, while Katrina took the other eight stars, and The Guy, back to the South Lounge. When Lucas and I got to my room, I stopped. "Um, my room is kind of embarrassing. That and it's really messy."
"Oh, I don't mind," said Lucas.
"Okay," I said. I opened the door and we went inside. Lucas looked around.
"Um, like Zac much?" he asked, jokingly, referring to my Zac poster.
"Um, no, actually. I got that after I saw Hairspray. They didn't have any Link ones," I said. Lucas spun in a circle, taking in all of my decorations.
"So, you're pretty much obsessed, huh?" he said. "Posters, sheets, pillows, blankets, shirts, the whole caboodle." He looked at my desk. "Hey, look, it's me."
"Um, yeah," I said. "Would you believe that there hasn't been a picture of you since the 7th, and there's not another one until the 3rd?" He looked at me.
"Yes, actually," he said. I laughed. I began unplugging my iPod clock radio and putting it in its box. The box went into my duffel bag, along with both my iPods. "How can I help?" he asked.
"Um, that's okay, I don't really need any help packing," I said. I took both high school musical blankets off my bed and put them in the duffel as well. My pillows followed suit. I looked in my drawers for food, but there wasn't any. "Hope Katrina has food. Remind me I need to go to WalMart."
"You need to go to Walmart," Lucas said. I laughed. "Oh, cool. A guitar."
"Yeah. My mom seems to think that I can teach myself to play. I got it for my birthday," I said.
"Well, I can play," he said. He picked up my pink guitar and started strumming it. "Okay, this is out of tune."
"So tune it," I said. "I don't know how." He looked around. "We'll just take it with us." I threw him the guitar case and started rolling up my piano, and put that in its case. "I think that's all we need, unless you can think of anything else," I said, picking my backpack up again and throwing my cell phone into my purse.
"Nope," he said. He picked up my duffel and we left my room. On the way over to South, I called my mom on my cell phone.
"You'll never believe what I'm doing right now," I said to her.
"Um, writing one of those stories you write?" she said.
"Close, but no," I said. "I'm walking over to South. And you'll never guess who's with me."
"Katrina?" mom asked. I sighed.
"No, mother," I said. "Lucas. Lucas Grabeel." There was a pause. "You don't believe me, do you?"
"Is this like that time you were late calling and you tried to convince us you were in Wisconsin with Doug?" she asked. I sighed again.
"No, mother," I said. "Oh, well, We're at South, now. I'm spending the night at Katrina's. Love you. Bye." I hung up the phone. "Okay, so that wasn't as cool as I thought it was going to be." Lucas laughed. Zac was waiting for us when we got to South. He opened the door and we followed him into the lounge. I put down my back pack and CD case, and Lucas put down my duffel and guitar. "Okay, children, or everyone in this room who are older than me," I said. "This is your party. What do you want to do? Ooh, food." There was a whole bunch of food around. "How'd you get this much food?"
"We stopped by the Hang, and they gave us a whole bunch of free food," said Katrina.
"Because you took Zac?" I asked. Zac laughed.
"Yeah. Had to give all the screaming girls autographs," Zac said.
"No boys screaming over Ashley?" Lucas asked.
"Nope, not one," said Ashley. "Guess Jared is safe." Vanessa laughed nervously.
"Yeah, guess so," she said.
"Vanessa, I would just really like to say something. You and Zac, what you have couldn't be broken up by any screaming fan-girl. You guys are special," I said. "I quote myself: 'Just face the facts. Zanessa is the hottest couple, and no one can break them up.'"
"Where'd that one come from?" Zac asked.
"Um, I made it up in one of my stories," I said.
"She writes about the high school musical people constantly," Katrina said.
"Shut up," I said.
"Okay. So which one of us says that?" Lucas asked.
"Um, Ryan," I said. "But that's not important. My point is that Vanessa shouldn't be so insecure about this whole thing. Your relationship is special." Vanessa smiled the first smile I'd seen her have all afternoon. "I have always wanted to say that to you guys." Zac laughed.
"So, out of curiosity, why aren't you one of the screaming girls?" Vanessa asked.
"I don't know. I'm not really the type to do something that everyone else does. My sister, for instance, she got this insane crush on Zac Efron, the hottest guy in the world, as she says. And I have a tendency to disagree with everything she says. I'm not saying that you're not hot," I added, to the look on Zac's face, "but let's just say, you're not my type." They seemed happy with this answer.
"Come on guys, enough talking. Where are the tunes? I want to dance," said Monique.
"Me too," said Corbin and Lucas. I smiled and passed my iPod to Monique. She started sifting through it.
"Oh, you have great songs," she said. I blushed. The only thing on that iPod was Show Tunes and Disney. "Show tunes and Disney. That's what we're all about." I set up my iPod clock radio to play the songs on. "Come on, let's dance boys." She pushed the play button and I got even redder. High School Musical, of course. What Time is It to be precise. Ashley and Zac stood up to dance as well.
"Come on, V, dance," said Ashley.
"I don't feel like it," Vanessa said. "Why doesn't Samantha dance with you?" I looked at her.
"Really?" I said. Vanessa shrugged. "Wow." I helped Corbin and Zac move all the furniture aside, so that no one collides, as Lucas was saying. I laughed. "that's what you said when…never mind." I blushed. As we waited for the dance part, Olesya and Vanessa were talking with Chris and Ryne. I figured they would dance eventually. Dancing is a major part of their lives. Then it happened.
"Live it up, party down, that's what the summer's all about! What time is it? Summertime is finally here, yeah," my iPod sang. We all jumped into motion and danced until the end of the song.
"Wow," said Olesya, who had been watching. "You're good."
"Thanks," I said.
"I think you could even make Zac look good," Lucas said.
"Hey!" Zac said.
"No, I'm not that good," I said.
"No, you really are," said Ashley. "Have you ever considered a career in dancing?"
Dancing, singing, acting, choreography, writing, Biology, Political Science, Art, you name it, I've career aspirations about it," I said. Katrina laughed.
"She talks about high school musical constantly. Can't get the iPod out of her ears for a second," she said.
"Shush," I said. Zac's cell phone began ringing.
"Hello?" he said to it. "Oh, hey, man. No, what's up? Oh, can we stay here? Sure. See you tomorrow. Yep. Flight's at three? Okay, cool. Thanks." Everyone in the room (including The Guy, who had lapsed into silence) was looking at him. "Um, driver. We fly out at 3 tomorrow afternoon and we have until then to make the decision about College Musical. But I think this place is perfect." Corbin and Lucas cheered.
"Sounds great," said Vanessa. The others all agreed.
"So is our flight at three, too? Or are we not cool enough to fly with the rest of the cast?" Chris asked. Zac cringed.
"Actually, your flight's on Sunday at 10am," Zac said. Ryne rolled his eyes. "But you're cool enough to fly with us. You're just…I'm not in charge of the planes, okay?" Ryne and Chris laughed.
"Chill, man," Chris said. "What other songs you got on here?" He took my iPod and skipped through it. "Oh, I like this one." It was All for One. Vanessa laughed and got off the couch.
"I'll dance this time," she said. Ryne, Chris, and Olesya all nodded and we moved even more furniture aside. I went to sit down, but Vanessa stopped me. "You know, we're a person short." She pointed to Lucas. I thought I was going to have a panic attack.
"Whoa, really? I get to dance with Lucas?" I asked. Lucas shrugged. "That's only like my dream!" [Line from hairspray, if you didn't catch that one. I went and took a place beside for the first part of All for One. "Um, beware, I still don't know this whole thing." Lucas laughed.
"That's fine," he said. We danced. At the end, Lucas laughed again. "You weren't kidding."
"Hey, it's not my fault that you guys only teach a little of it for the dance along. I got the rest from the movie itself. Trust me, it's not easy."
"Your what time is it was amazing, though," Ashley said.
"Well, that was easy. The DVD has the extra on it," I said.
"What other dances do you know, Samantha" asked Olesya.
"Uh, well, We're All in this Together, Bop to the Top, What I've been Looking For, What Time is it, Work This Out, All for One, You are the Music in Me (Sharpay's Version), and parts of I Don't Dance, Fabulous, and Bet on It," I said. "And I'm not really trying to brag. Honest. I just don't have a life." Lucas laughed.
"Sounds like someone has aspirations of being Sharpay," he said.
"That was the original plan. My favorite people before I even watched the movie, my mom would ask, and I'd say Sharpay and Ryan. My sister's were always Troy and Gabriella. And she'd make me sing the Troy to her Gabriella, so I tried to make her my Ryan, but all she did was stand there, while I attempted to push her around, and she wouldn't dance," I said. "Coincidentally enough, the one song she would really dance to was I Don't Dance, but then we had a fight over who got to be who, and she stormed away. So, not to bore you, but then I got a beach chair out of the shed and set it up the in the driveway next to my ladder, and attempted Fabulous."
"So, in conclusion, you have huge aspirations to be Sharpay," Lucas said.
"Pretty much. Probably could have just said that," I said.
"I think that was cool. You had a ladder? For bop to the top?" Ashley said.
"Yeah, I dragged my old fisher price slide into the middle of the driveway to practice the whole ladder ordeal," I said. "Dad got pretty mad when I kept forgetting to drag it to one side after I was finished. I told him that Sharpay has stage people to do that for her. He told me that he wasn't going to be my stage person." Ashley and Lucas laughed.
"I'm curious as to your bop to the top," Ashley said. "Dance it with Lucas?" She pouted.
"As if I need asking," I said. Lucas and I positioned ourselves in the spot we had cleared. Ashley was in charge of the music. She eventually found the song and put it on. I was nervous as hell. I was about to dance Bop to the Top with Lucas Grabeel. I must have done it well, though, because when we were finished, both Ashley and Lucas were very impressed.
"Honestly, though, about that career in dancing," Ashley said.
"I know, I know, but my mom…she's insane. She's like, 'When you finish college, you can go to New York and try for some Broadway' and I'm like, "Mom, I know you think I'm this amazing singer, but I'd rather be dancing' and she's all like, 'Shouldn't you be writing a paper or something?' and I'd just sigh and hang up the phone," I said.
"Whoa, you sing too?" Zac asked. "I wanna hear her sing."
"Guys, I don't…no, that's embarrassing," I said. "I-fine. What do you want me to sing?"
"Got any karaoke on there?" Monique asked.
"Um, just the two Troyella duets and some songs from Hairspray," I said. "I might have the Grease karaoke CD in my CD case. Or, actually, I could take out my computer. There's karaoke for everything on Youtube," I said.
"What do you want her to sing?" Ashley asked the room at large. There was some dissention within the ranks, but eventually, they all agreed upon You are the Music in Me.
"Which version?" I asked, booting up my computer.
"Both," Vanessa cheered. The rest agreed. I rolled my eyes. I went onto youtube and found krazyutubefreak's piano solos.
"All right, you asked for it," I said. I pulled out a big dry erase marker that looked like a microphone from my duffel and threw it to Zac who caught it. "Gonna sing with me?" Zac laughed at the sight of the marker. I took another one and we stood up on the "stage". Ashley, still in charge of music, started the songs, and I went through both of them, with Zac Efron. I still couldn't quite believe it. After we finished both songs, with Olesya and the rest helping with the slower version, there was a lot of applause.
"I love that song," Vanessa said.
"Yeah, great job Samantha," said Lucas.
"I'm having an interesting moment in my head," I said.
"What?" Lucas asked.
"Um, I sort of…never mind," I said.
"Tell us," Zac said.
"Okay, so it's not really a big secret that I'm not the biggest Troyella supporter in the world," I said. "But that's not Zanessa," I added very quickly. "And so, I, uh, sort of, got the idea from a fan fiction that I read to redo the scripts for High School Musical and High School Musical 2, so that they're…well, Ryella. That's what I like to do. I write High School Musical fan fiction. What you guys just said reminded me of that part of the second one." I looked around, but none of the faces seemed angry.
"Um, can we read them?" Zac asked.
"Um, if you really want to," I said. I dug through my backpack to find the two scripts that I had just printed off in the computer lab that afternoon. "Here. The second one was hard, because the whole premise of the second movie is, well, you know. I still have to rewrite two songs, a task that was procrastinated until this weekend."
"Procrastination is not the answer," Katrina interrupted.
"Yeah, because you've never come into class 20 minutes late because you were finishing a project," I said. Both me and Katrina laughed. She actually did that once. I helped myself to the general refreshments, and after a while they had finished reading both scripts. "Well?" I asked, not sure I wanted to hear the results.
"First, these are really quite accurate," Zac said.
"Yeah, the first original script I found on a fansite. The second one I had to transcriptionate myself. Transcritpionate. That's my word. I invented it," I said. "Plus, I had some background information from the books, and a lot of good ideas from other fanfictions that I've written or read."
"If this had been the scripts, I would have done it," said Ashley.
"Me too," said Lucas. The rest of the cast agreed.
"You got rid of my solo," Vanessa complained.
"I'm sorry. It was a tossup between which couple I broke up, and it just made more sense for the other one," I said. "I even contemplated breaking both couples up, but it would have been much too complicated to finish in an afternoon."
"I love how it starts," Ashley said. "Sharpay going to see Wicked and her father bails on her."
"That's…well, it seemed appropriate," I said. "How about the second one?"
"I liked the side note from you, 'I love his face here'," Zac said.
"I do. It's one of my favorite parts in the movie. That and 'Took your advice. Sold it online. You've always wanted to spotlight. Now you've got it. Break a leg. Mah.' Love that," I said.
"Any other favorite parts?" Chris asked.
"Um, 'We are majorly skin tone compatible, Troy!'?" I asked. "And Troy's expressions throughout the entire Sharpay's version of You are the Music in me, oh, and "Everyday. Huh. I can't learn a new song!' I think that's just about it."
"Any from the first movie?" Vanessa asked.
"I don't know. Um, I enjoyed the trivia fact that the snow falling in the first scene is actually instant mashed potatoes, and that it's actually lemon lime drink in the milk cartons. Um, the first time I saw the first movie, I missed the part where Sharpay first says that her and Ryan are brother and sister, so when Taylor mentions it later, I was like 'What?! That's insane!'," I said. Lucas laughed.
"Yeah, we're pretty tight," Ashley said.
"One of my favorite lines from the first one is 'All I could remember was like pink jelly'. Out of curiosity, what is that about?" I asked. Zac shrugged.
"No idea," he said. "So these scripts are really great. If you think like this, you'll probably enjoy the next movie."
"I said I didn't want to know," I whined.
"No you didn't," Corbin said. "You said that the general plot synopsis that Disney's putting out was good enough for you."
"Okay, so I'm dying to know what happens," I said. "So, isn't everyone?"
"Uh, I was going to check with Kenny before asking this, but do you want to come to LA with us?" Zac asked.
"Are you kidding?" I asked. Zac shook his head no. "Yeah, I would. Why, though?"
"You're the only obsessed fan I've ever met who hasn't screamed their head off, demanding an autograph," Zac said. "And you're definitely Hollywood material." That was a lot of information to take in.
"But I couldn't just pack up and come with you tomorrow. I have… well, nothing to do, but I have a lot of stuff, and no money," I said. "And I have my mom and dad, and I'm sure they wouldn't just want me to…oh, what am I saying? Of course! But for what?"
"I'm sure we could find something for you to do," Lucas said. "Definite backup dancer in High School Musical 3, for starters. Maybe something speaking in College Musical. Maybe if we talked to Kenny we could get you something in the third one."
"Oh, wow," I said. "This is really unexpected. I mean, of course I'll come. This is incredible. Are you sure Kenny'll say it's okay?"
"Oh yeah, he said if we found anyone suitable…" Zac began, but his voice trailed off. "Can you excuse me for a second?" I nodded, and he turned around and began conversing in hushed whispers with the rest of the cast, minus Olesya, Ryne, and Chris.
"They always leave us out of everything," Chris said. "I know it's because we're not cool enough."
"Hey, speak for yourself," Olesya said. "I'm cool enough."
"Oh, yeah, just because you did a movie with Lucas first," Ryne said.
"Hey, kids, stop fighting," I said. "I'm sure you're all cool enough. Maybe someday you'll have your own movies." Zac and the rest turned back to me.
"So, to finish my sentence," he said, "Kenny said that if we found someone really talented in this icy place that we could bring you with us, and he'd consider them for a part."
"Wow, you guys, but…wow," I said. "I'll do it. This is an amazing opportunity. I've always wanted this. I just don't think I'll have time to fly out with guys tomorrow."
"You can fly out with us on Sunday," Olesya said.
"That'll make us feel plenty cool," said Ryne. I laughed.
"Can I?" I asked. Zac looked at his cast mates.
"Sure, sounds like a plan," he said. "So that's settled, Samantha's going with Olesya, Ryne, and Chris on Sunday."
"Why am I always last?" Chris asked.
"Because your name is normal," said Ryne. "Our names are cool." Chris sighed. I laughed.
"Sorry, you'll be first next time," Zac said.
"Okay," I said. "I guess I'm going to LA." I had to resist the urge to squeal again.
"You know, it's okay if you squeal," Corbin said.
"Um, thanks," I said. I took a deep breath and squealed. "Okay, now it's out of my system. Katrina!!!"
"Yeah?" Katrina said, looking up.
"Katrina, I'm going to LA!" I said.
"Whoa, you're not serious?" she said.
"Uh, yeah I am," I said. "This is a once in a lifetime opportunity. We basically have tomorrow to get me moved out."
"Um, what?" Katrina asked. "What about school?"
"Katrina, I won't need it. I'm going to LA. I've got a shot at High School Musical," I said.
"Okay," she said. She went back to The Guy.
"Okay, that wasn't what I was expecting," I said, turning back to Zac and the others.
"Well, how about we put some more tunes on?" Monique said. The others cheered. We did Work this Out and We're All in this Together, and the cast kept being amazed.
"I still can't figure out Get'cha head in the Game, though, no matter how hard I try. I get all lost after the this part," I said, making a bad attempt at one of the parts of the dance.
"Yeah, that one's tricky," Lucas said.
"You didn't have to learn it," said Ryne. "That was your choice."
"Will you stop fighting? Ryne, Chris, you guys are just as cool as Lucas, Zac, and Corbin. And just as important to the cast," I said. "After all, what's High School Musical without Zeke and Jason?"
"Not much," said Chris. "You guys are dead without us."
"Oh, yeah," said Corbin. "I'm sure we could never survive." The boys laughed, and Ashley rolled her eyes.
"They have this argument constantly," she said to me. Vanessa nodded.
"Does anyone else feel really ridiculous at the end of Work This Out when there isn't those three beats to hit?" I asked. Vanessa and Olesya nodded.
"That's annoying that they're not on the soundtrack," Vanessa said.
"Let's listen to something else," said Ashley. She grabbed my iPod and started going through it. "Hey, kids! And Monique." I laughed. "Who wants to watch Lucas dance for us?" She pushed the play button, and You Got It filled the room. Lucas laughed, and grabbed my iPod.
"Who wants to watch Ashley dance?" he said, changing the song to Headstrong.
"I love this song," I said to no one in particular, humming along with it. "You're a honey kind of boy, you are. You're a talented kind of boy, you are. And that's just the kind of boy you are. Head up, hands up. These are Headstrong crazy days, when you're minds made up and the music plays. Meltdown, it's not a crush, in a hot, hot room, we're in a rush…"
"Uh-oh, Ash, looks like she's trying to give you a run for your money," Lucas said.
"Ha," I said. "I could never compare to Ashley Tisdale. She's amazing."
"You don't need to refer to her in the third person. She's right here," Ashley said.
"Come on, the Suite Life?" I said. "I mean, I haven't seen a lot of episodes, but I, um, really like the episode the Zac was in, and I really like the high school musical episode."
"So what's your favorite class? Upper. That's a great one," said Zac, who apparently wasn't taking part in the conversation that Corbin, Ryne, Chris, Vanessa and Olesya were having.
"Love that episode. It's hilarious," I said. "Mayor, governor, senator, president, talk show host. Once, those were my priorities exactly, and I'm not even joking."
"I like the high school musical episode, too," said Lucas.
"You watch the Suite Life?" I said.
"Of course!" he said. Ashley gave him a look. "Oaky, no I don't, but I saw that episode. I think Ashley's hilarious in hats."
"Funny, I could say the same thing about you," Ashley said.
"Hey, don't diss the hats," Lucas said.
"I like the hats. I've been trying to convince my brother to start wearing the hats for, like, six months, but he keeps insisting that he doesn't like high school musical," I said. "I love, though, how different Maddie and Sharpay really are. I mean, if I met them somewhere, I'd never believe they were…whatever, you know?"
"Yeah," Ashley said. "And apparently they don't look alike."
"Yeah, but only if you believe that Cole Sprouse looks like Zac Efron," I said. Ashley laughed. "Got a favorite part of that episode, Ashley?"
"Um, London Tipton's really great, really great, really great, London Tipton's really great and deserves the opposite of hate, which is love?" she said. Lucas laughed, as Ashley tried to recreate the awfulness of London's dance.
"Let's start with the number 8. It looks hard, but you just draw a snowman," Lucas said.
"Are you ready to Bop to the Top, because remember, we're all in this together," Zac said. "Okay, you're pushing it to the limit."
"Did everyone see that episode?" Ashley asked.
"Well, it came on right before the HSM2 premiere, I think everyone saw it," I said.
"Queiro puke," said Monique. "That's my favorite part." Ashley was blushing worse than ever.
"Why don't we ever make fun of one of you guys' shows?" said Ashley.
"Because we don't have shows," said Lucas. "We could make fun of Hairspray, I guess," he said.
"Kiss my ass," said Zac.
"Oh, look, he's started for us," I said. I grabbed my iPod and started Ladies' Choice karaoke. "Sing for us, Zac." Zac sighed and took my fake microphone and attempted his way through Ladies' Choice. Not the best singer in the world, I have got to say.
"Not the best singer in the world, I have got to say," said Vanessa.
"Ah, yes, well, that's why you love me," Zac said. They kissed.
"Ew," I said, laughing.
"Ew?" asked Ashley. "Seriously, how old are you?"
"She's fifteen," said Katrina, who apparently has selective hearing.
"Thanks," I said.
"Wow," said Lucas. "And you're in college?" I nodded. "Wow."
"Thanks," I said again.
"Yeah, that's amazing," said Monique. She looked impressed. She took my iPod again, and began skimming through the songs. "Oh, you have Legally Blonde!" She turned on Legally Blonde, and we all got really excited. Then Ashley started assigning roles.
"Okay, Vanessa, you can be Vivienne, I'll be Paulette, and Samantha can be Elle," Ashley said.
"Okay, and I'll be Brooke," said Monique.
"What about me?" said Olesya. Ashley thought.
"Greek Chorus?" Ashley said.
"Thanks," Olesya said.
"Okay, and Lucas can be Emmett and Zac can be Warner," said Vanessa. "And Corbin can be Callahan."
"Gee, thanks," Corbin said. "What about Chris and Ryne?"
"Um, are there any more parts?" Monique asked.
"Thanks, guys, we know we're not cool. But you don't have to rub it in," said Chris.
"Well, Olesya can be Enid, and You guys can fight over Sundeep Padadaman and Aaron Cohen, and all the other little parts, if you want," Monique said.
"And you can be Greek Chorus with me, and Vanessa can help since Vivienne doesn't have much singing parts," said Olesya. Vanessa, Chris and Ryne agreed. I laughed. About an hour and a half later, we were all giggling and laughing our way through the finale. Chris had been reassigned to be Kyle, and it was hilarious. I collapsed on a couch in a fit of laughter after "Emmett Forrest, please make me the happiest woman I know" and the small part that followed it. I was bright red, and everyone was laughing hysterically, especially Katrina and The Guy, who had comprised our audience.
"God, that was hilarious. Besides the fact that that's probably how Lucas would react if someone ever proposed to him," Ashley said.
"You know it," Lucas said. I laughed, still rolling around on the couch.
"Hey guys, what time is it?" I asked. "No serious pun intended." Lucas laughed. Zac looked at his wrist, which did not have a watch on it.
"Like, 9:30?" Zac said. Vanessa pulled her cell phone from her pocket.
"9:42," she said. "You're getting better."
"Um, can I ask the whole thing with Troy and not wearing a watch?" I said.
"Oh, yeah," said Zac. "That's me. I don't wear a watch, and somehow I always know what time it is."
"Is that because it's summertime, or whatever the song was?" Katrina asked.
"No, it's just a thing," Zac said.
"Okay," I said. "It's pretty hilarious."
"So, what do we do now?" asked Monique. "Especially because we just performed an entire musical."
"We could do another one," Ashley suggested.
"Nah," said Corbin. "Let's watch a movie. What'cha got?"
"Not much, you can look," I said. They took my CD case and flipped through it.
"Like musicals much?" Lucas said.
"Maybe," I said.
"Let's watch these," said Vanessa. She pulled out the High School Musical movies. I rolled my eyes. "We haven't seen them in a while."
"Yeah," said Ashley. "And Samantha can recite the whole thing, because she knows it."
"You guys sound like my dad," I said. I sat down on the couch, and we watched both movies straight through.
"And then what happens?" asked Katrina. I laughed.
"That's the great mystery," I said. "October 24th." Zac laughed.
"But you'll know," he said.
"Yeah, but I'm not telling anyone. It's a secret," I said.
"Oh I see. You're the honest one," Lucas said. I laughed.
"You seriously wouldn't tell anyone?" Corbin said.
"No," I said. "I wouldn't like to know beforehand. It should be a surprise when you walk into the theater and watch it."
"Wow," said Lucas again.
"Thanks," I said a third time. By this time, it was pretty late at night, and I was tired. "God, I'm tired," I said.
"Yeah, me too," said Ashley. "Should probably be getting back to the hotel."
"Well, actually, my roommates are all gone for the weekend. I've got six beds," Katrina said.
"Well, there are ten extra, if you hadn't noticed," said The Guy.
"We'll find room. They have a futon, too," I said. "Come on." I gathered all my stuff, and we went up to the second floor, where Katrina's room was. When we got there, the boys were nice, and gave the girls all the beds. Katrina and I took her room, Monique and Olesya took Nicole and Chelsea's room, and Ashley, Vanessa, and Zac took Morgan and Brielle's room [which coincidentally also has a poster of Zac in it. Lucas, Corbin, Ryne, and Chris fought over the futon and couch. I walked out of Katrina's room. "Boys. Please stop arguing. Just go take a couch or two from the Lounge," I said, opening the fridge. "Just make sure you put it back when you're finished." I closed the fridge, not having found any good food in there. I rummaged through a cupboard, but didn't end up finding anything good. Ten minutes later, Lucas and Corbin were back with a couch. I was actually surprised they got it up the stairs. I rolled my eyes and went back into Katrina's room, where she had actually fallen asleep.