I couldn't figure out from whose perspective to make this chapter, as I didn't really know what I was going to do with this chapter; but I eventually figured it out and typed it up in one day, muahaha. I love summer Thank you all so much for all this support, crushie (oh so faithful crushie 3), dreamer 3097, Dreamgurl868, and hundredandthree-xo!!! Review please, as always, and enjoy!

Chapter Three: The Refreshing Change

Finally, that Sunday afternoon, the big meeting came. The meeting where we would find out what we were casted as for East High's rendition of "Westside Story".

"Playing Officer Krupke will be Jackson Frederick. Playing the part of A-rab will be…" I couldn't help but zone out. I knew all of these people and war fairly good friends with most of them, but I was too nervous. My name hadn't been read off yet…there was still I chance that I might get to be Tony.

I glanced over at Troy. He was looking fairly nervous, but had the air of someone who was pretty certain was of his future.

But Troy didn't know just how badly I wanted this role. I had been practicing the songs far more than normal, even without Sharpay's ordering me too. I had had this feeling that maybe—just maybe—this year, things might change. I had no idea why I felt this way, but I was undying optimistic about the summer musical. I recalled a Saturday morning from not to long ago.

It had been a very sunny day and dreadfully hot; a usual summer day in Albuquerque. Armed with a cool glass of raspberry lemonade, I climbed up into the tree house I had built for Sharpay and me many years before, before our father added on the rehearsal studio. Now that that door was locked against me, I was more than happy to return to the small wooden home full of so many fun memories; the perfect place to practice singing.

Could be
Who knows?
There's something due any day
I will know right away
Soon as it shows
It may come cannonballin' down through the sky
Gleam in its eye
Bright as a rose!

Who knows?
It's only just out of reach
Down the block, on a beach
Under a tree
I got a feeling there's a miracle due
Gonna come true
Coming to me

Could it be?
Yes it could
Something's coming
Something good
If I can wait
Something's coming I don't know what it is
But it is
Gonna be great!

With a click
With a shock
Phone'll jingle
Door'll knock
Open the latch!

Something's coming, don't know when
But it's soon
Catch the moon
One handed catch

Around the corner
Or whistling down the river
Come on - deliver
To me
Will it be? Yes it will
Maybe just by holding still
It'll be there!

Come on, something, come on in
Don't be shy
Meet a guy
Pull up a chair
The air is hummin'
And something great is coming

Who knows
It's only just
Out of reach
Down the block, on a beach
Maybe tonight
Maybe tonight...

Sitting in the theatre seat, I now chuckled. I gladly preferred singing solo in the shadow of tree branches than dancing with Sharpay in the brilliant light of the studio.

"Playing Riff will be Wes Skropka." Wes, one of my closest friends, looked very excited; it was a big dancing part. But, as most of the other boys in the theatre, he was sad he had not gotten to be Tony. I was happy for him that he got such a big part, but another part of me moaned; being Riff had been my back-up plan if I did not get to be Tony (which was most likely going to happen anyways).

"Playing Anita will be Sharpay Evans." I glanced over at my twin. She was ready to scream already; I could have sworn I saw steams of smoke coming out of her ears. No role other than the main role was good enough for Shar; I knew handfuls of girls who would have died to be Anita.

"Playing Maria will be Gabriella Montez." I was glad of that; Gabbi deserved it, she was a fantastic singer and actress. I sent a smile at her down the row for congratulations.

Darbus was narrowing down roles to name, and Troy and I were still left to be casted. Finally, the moment came—when our dramatic teacher would name who played Tony. I would have crossed my fingers, but one look at Troy's confident face and I prepared myself to be disappointed. The only other good role left after that was Bernardo, which would mean I'd have to be my sister's boyfriend in a play…again.

"Playing the lead role of Tony will be…." She paused, letting the class fall into silence, aching with anticipation. Why could she not just spit it out like every other normal theatre teacher?? "Playing the star of our play is Ryan Evans. Bernardo will be played by Troy Bolton…"

I stared at Darbus in shock. She must have read those two parts wrong….there was no possible way I could have beaten Troy in an audition…there was just no way!

It was painfully obvious everyone was sharing my thoughts.

"Umm, Mrs. Darbus?" Kevin asked timidly.

"What, Mr. Baylor?"

"Are you sure you read the parts of Tony and Bernardo in the right order?"

"Yes, I'm positive," she snapped impatiently. "Ryan will be playing Tony, and Troy will be playing Bernardo. All line must be memorized in two weeks; am I understood? No scripts allowed in two weeks! You are now dismissed for a two hour break"

Very loud arguments broke out everywhere. I felt like a codfish, my mouth opening and closing noiselessly. I gaped over at Troy and Gabriella, seeing how they were reacting to the news.

Troy had his face in his hands; he wasn't crying, just shocked and looking extremely angry with the world. Gabriella was running a comforting hand through his hair, and when she looked up our eyes met. Could she have…yes, she gave me a warm smile. I—of course—smiled back. She was actually happy for me that I had gotten the role!

A thought bowled over my brain. If I was Troy, and Gabriella was Maria…we would have to kiss each other. Not only several times in practices, but also for all three different performances. I felt my heart leap with insane joy. I was going to get to kiss Gabriella Montez and not get clobbered by her boyfriend; it was too much to believe. My eyes widened in full comprehension of the task ahead of me. This was going to be really, really delicate grounds to tread on.

I winced, seeing Sharpay steaming over to my way. Really not wanting to face her furious face at the moment, I slipped out of the theatre, ignoring the rain as always, and wandered the grounds by myself, brewing things over.

"A lot on your mind?" Gabbi appeared out of nowhere beside me. I smiled. She was positively beaming, and I felt that she was cheerful for the same reason I was; rain was pounding against our heads.

"Just a bit." I blew my hair out of my eyes. "I still can't believe I actually landed the main role in a play without my sister…it's a bunch to handle"

"I'll bet," she sympathized.

"I'm also surprised that you and Troy were not paired together as a couple," I added, trying to be a truthful as possible. "You have in all the last plays, and I could tell he wasn't terribly happy about these arrangements." She sighed and nodded. "Are you happy with them?" I hadn't meant to actually ask that question; it had just kind of slipped out.

She gazed at me for a long time. "It will be a new experience working with someone other than Troy…a refreshing change." I was relieved to see her smile again. "I am looking forward to getting to work with you." We walked together in silence for a little while before she suddenly giggled. I sent her a questioning look.

"Sorry, it's just that I'm sure I'm making you feel so awkward," she giggled. "This whole deal is awkward, and we are just walking like lumps on a log next to each other, knowing we have to be lovers in a play soon"

I smiled. "I still don't get how that is funny"

"It's a girl thing," she winked, sending shivers up my spine. Not the same kind of shivers that I got when Sharpay glared at me; these were good shivers. "Do you have your lines still?"

"Yes." We had been required to bring them to the meeting so we could highlight our parts.

"Why don't we go flop in one of the common rooms and run over some lines"

"Sure"

We took our time walking over to the Oz Dorm; it was the farthest away, and we both loved the rain. You would never have thought that a week ago she had hated rain with a passion.

Highlighters at the ready, Gabriella and I flipped through our hefty scripts. Together we read through my scene with Riff; she put on a low voice as I read my lines, highlighting as I went. I sent her into a fit of giggles when I imitated Anita in the dress shop scene. And then at last it was the school dance.

"Aww pooh; we don't get to have any fun dance scenes," she complained. "It looks like all we do is stand by the side egging people on and clapping. How dull"

I laughed. "We're too refined to dance with such rabble." My attempt to make her giggle worked.

"That's right," she replied in a snooty tone. "Oh wait, here we go. Finally some big action! We actually get to take steps!" I gave a large, over-dramatic gasp.

"Tony and Maria walk? What is this madness?" Gabbi giggled again, this time sending goose bumps all over my arms.

"And we stare at each other 'like we are the only ones in the world'," Gabbi snickered; now mimicking Darbus's enthusiastic and unbelievably kooky voice. I snorted loudly. To prove her point, she stared at me with eyes about twice the size of her own so that she looked like she had overdosed on caffeine pills. I stared right back. The staring contest lasted less than ten seconds before we both collapsed into helpless laughter.

"Alright, you have a line first," she laughed, trying to regain her composure. Breathing deeply, I directed my brain to Tony mode.

"Have we met before?" I asked in a low, uncertain voice.

"I know we have not." Gabriella had sobered up remarkably well.

"You're…not thinking I am someone else?"

"I know you are not"

"Or that we've met before?"

"I know we have not"

"I…I knew something never before was going to happen, had to happen," I told her earnestly, feeling Tony's rush to tell her this, "but this is so much more—"

"My hands are cold," Gabriella said. "Yours too." She paused. "So warm." Maria was talking about Tony.

"So beautiful," I responded, meaning every syllable of it. Even in a too-big-for-her sweater, sitting cross-legged on a squishy couch pouring over a script Gabriella looked beautiful.

"Beautiful," she repeated.

"It's so much to believe…you are not making a joke?" Tony asked, worrying some "falsehood" might be at hand; who wouldn't if a girl like Gabbi was staring at you from across the floor.

"I have not yet learned how to joke that way," Gabriella responded seriously, and then turned warmer. "I think now I never will." She paused again. "And then we kiss." She blew me a kiss, smirking.

"Yah, Gabs; I'm sure we can just blow each other romantic Romeo and Juliet kisses and stay five feet away from each other at all times." She giggled.

"Get your hands off, American!" she said in a low, whiny voice; Bernardo.

"'Nardo!" she protested in her regular voice.

"Stay away from my sister!" Bernardo again.

"Sister!" I cried out, finding it creepy to even imagine Troy and Gabriella being siblings.

"Couldn't you see he is one of them?" Gabriella scolded herself.

"No; I saw only him." There was such a dreamy-like feel in the way she said everything that made it sound to my ears that only had her mind set on one person.

"There's only one thing they want from a Puerto Rican girl," Gabriella said in her Bernardo voice.

"That's a lie!" I insisted, willing Maria to believe my words. "Later Tony," I said, speaking for Riff now. "Get away!" That was me being Chino. "Stay out this Chino; don't listen to—"

"She would listen to her brother before she listened to you!" Gabbi said. "And that's pretty much all we have for that scene together, besides us looking wistfully at each other and you find out my name…next is the balcony scene, I think"

"Righto," I said in my best British accent. "Let's pop off to that page then, shall we?"

That had to be one of the most awkward weeks in my memory. In choreography we started out with learning the school dance scene. Gabriella and I sat on the sidelines chatting while the rest of the boys were taught basic dance steps by the choreographer, Harper, so they'd have something to do in the background, as well as moves for the Mambo competition. Gabs and I were positioned on opposite sides of the stage and told to walk towards each other fairly slowly, but to be just so close to each other by the right count (also so that people would learn how to dance around us). With three couples in the background doing the exact same thing, we did a small little dance around each other, involving some snaps as well. It was stupidly easy, but I noticed that everyone else was having some issues with it. I had to remind myself that they had never been in one of Sharpay's dance rehearsal. That was one thing I would not miss at all.

And then came the very long and tedious blocking time. The opening scene took almost two hours, during which the Sharks, the girls, and me had an intense game of hangman. Finally, the scene and I had both been dreading and looking forward to; the school dance.

Still tripping over their own feet in the dance number, everyone else managed to scrape by. Gabriella and I, scripts in hand, walked slowly towards each other (on beat; so there, Harper!), staring into each other's eyes.

"Have we met before?" I asked in a low, uncertain voice.

"I know we have not," Gabriella responded, her warm eyes gazing into mine. I felt tingles go up my backbone. Geez, was I always going to have this problem around her? I glanced down at my script, forgetting my line.

"Keep staring into each other's faces!" Darbus bellowed from the front row, and I snapped my attention back to Gabriella. At least I had something pleasant to focus on.

"You're…not thinking I am someone else?"

"I know you are not"

"Or that we've met before?"

"I know we have not," she beamed, as if my face required her utmost attention.

"I…I knew something never before was going to happen, had to happen," I told her earnestly, "but this is so much more—"

"My hands are cold," Gabriella said.

"Now hold out your hands in a kind of prayer-position." Gabbi did so. "And Ryan, you wrap your right hand around them. Say the line"

"Yours too"

"Make sure to look down at your hands, the both of you, when you do that part. And then Ryan, lift your hand up slightly, and Gabriella you guide it up to his face and stroke his cheek with your hand." We both blushed, and the kids sitting out in the audience snickered. "Oh grow up," Darbus snapped at them, and Gabriella did as she was told. My backbone caught on fire. "You say your line…"

"So warm," Gabriella was fighting back a laugh.

"And Ryan, you lift up your left hand and stroke her cheek before you say the line"

The overhead lights shone down on Gabriella's dark skin, making it look the exact color of cinnamon. A baby pink lipstick danced across her delicate mouth, and her chocolate brown eyes were full of warmth. Dark brown tangles of her hair were clipped behind her head in a refined pin.

"So beautiful," I responded, not having to look down at my script.

"Beautiful," she repeated.

"It's so much to believe…you are not making a joke?" I asked. I almost felt like this whole scene was a joke, with me being a gag; I was almost preparing for Darbus to jump on the stage, yelling, "Just kidding! Now let's really get down to business and get Troy in there"

"I have not yet learned how to joke that way," Gabriella responded seriously, earnestly looking deeper into my eyes. "I think now I never will"

Kelsi began leading back in the piano as our arms dropped back down to our sides, and people began to enter back into the scene from the shadows. My heart was racing so loudly I was surprised Gabbi wasn't hearing it as we leaned slowly, ever so slowly, towards each other.

"SLOWER!" Darbus screeched. "Your lips mustn't touch until the whistle blows! And if you don't kiss romantically enough, I will make you redo the whole scene again from the beginning of Mambo!" All those dancing around us groaned. My hands fidgeted nervously as Gabbi's lips became closer and closer to mine, our eyes very gradually shutting. With only about a centimeter's space to breath between us, I heard the whistle blow. Already heading there, our lips collided in a gentle kiss.

My brain blew a fuse. Every vein in my system was on fire as I kissed her. It hit me; this was my very first real kiss. I had had to feign kissing other girls before, but that had been in middle school plays where you use silhouettes or put a thumb in between you and your partner. Now in high school, with Troy and Gabbi there, I had never been in a part big enough for a kiss scene. So here I was, lip-locked with Troy Bolton's girlfriend before the entire class; and loving every second of it.

Oh my, I do love Westside Story. I know this chapter wasn't terribly accurate when it comes to real life; in the musicals I'm in at least, we have three casts, not one; we don't go to the auditorium until the week of techs, and we pause and stop and get rearranged and stutter over our scripts WAY more. Anyways, R&R, as always I love all these reviews, it makes me feel so special