Chapter Four: WHAT?!
Kazu: *hides the last cupcake in bag* Hello people!!
Ashley: People on ff.net don't hate me!
Rika: Uh...?
Ashley: I got reviews! Thank you Raye, Angel, 9-gungaw In4, Akino Matoumiken, RukiMakino, EvilVidel, Digifreak103, Dark Shadow, and Sam! *gives them all a cookie, except Digifreak103 who has something against cookies*
Kazu: *inspecting a cookie* What kind of cookies are these?
Ashley: Chocolate chip.
Kazu: Where from? *takes a bite*
Ashley: School.
Kazu: *spits out cookie* WHAT?!
Ashley: My school cookies are the best ever. No one makes cookies better than my school...well, actually, wherever my school gets the cookies from...
Kazu: *devours cookie* Yum...
Ashley: Rika? Care to do the honors of the disclaimer?
Rika: Arg...Ashley doesn't own neither West Side Story or Digimon. She owns the character Ashley, of course, and Amber owns Amber.
Ashley: Good. Anyway, back to the fic. Couldn't you see the ending of the last chapter coming? Okay, going back to the fic now...^_^
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Where we left off...
"Congratulations Rika...you've got the part of Maria."
"Wait a second, WHAT!?"
"Brittany had an accident, we need a Maria, and you are perfect for it!" Mrs. Tenner said really fast.
"No way, never, no can do," Rika cut in.
Mrs. Tenner looked like she was about to cry. "Please Rika, you're the only hope to this play! Without you, the play won't be put on at all, and look at all the hard work we put into this!"
"You're expecting me to learn all of the lines in three days, and be ready to perform in front of hundreds of people?!"
"Yes, please Rika. We need you to do this..." Mrs. Tenner said, putting on worried look.
"Mrs. Tenner...I can't!" Rika told her again.
"You CAN! Please, please, please!" Mrs. Tenner got on her knees, begging, "PLEASE!"
Rika looked at the assistant principal in disbelief. Mrs. Tenner was practically begging and whining for Rika to be in the play.
"I'm sorry...I can't..." Rika muttered.
"Rika?" Ashley said, who was watching all this from the sidelines, "Be Maria. You have to be Maria."
"Stop ganging up on me," Rika said, watching Ashley and Mrs. Tenner beg, "I'm not going to be Maria." But, even then, her words sounded weak.
Isabelle ran up to the scene, freaking out, "THE PLAY IS RUINED! RUINED! RUINED!"
"It's not ruined...find another Maria..." Rika said, "I can't do it."
Soon, to Rika that is, it seemed like everyone was ganging up on her, pleading her to be Maria.
"G-guys...I can't...I just can't. Can't you listen?" Rika said, softly, weakening with every second.
"Please?" everyone begged.
"ALRIGHT! EVERYONE JUST SHUT UP!" Rika yelled suddenly. Suddenly, the backstage got very quiet, except for the distant voices coming from onstage. "You want me to be Maria. I don't want to be Maria. But, somehow, I am the only person who can be Maria. So, I will be Maria if you guys just LEAVE ME ALONE!"
Everyone silently cheered, being quiet enough to not upset Rika again.
"Thank you Rika! Thank you!" Mrs. Tenner said over and over.
"If you want me to be Maria, LEAVE ME ALONE!" Rika repeated, as everyone scattered in opposite directions.
"What have I just gotten myself into?" Rika asked herself.
~~A~F~T~E~R~~R~E~H~E~A~R~S~A~L~~
Everyone was hanging out at Jeri's house, getting a break from all the practicing. No one except Ashley there knew Rika had the part of Maria now. Ryo was sitting on the couch, relaxing.
"Well, you look confident now," Henry said, walking by.
"I've finally decided I knew the words well enough to say them in my sleep," Ryo explained.
"What did you do?"
"I feel asleep during Algebra. And when Evan woke me, I shouted out, 'Buenas noches, Maria!' All the class thought I was crazy or something."
"Hmm...that would have been interesting to see..." Henry laughed.
"It was...but now everyone in that class thinks I'm insane," Ryo said.
"Hey!" Jeri exclaimed, walking up to the two boys, "Have you seen Rika?"
"Yeah, she's in the backyard," Henry answered.
"Oh, thanks." Jeri opened the sliding glass door to find Rika sitting underneath a tree, looking through a script.
"What are you doing?" Jeri asked. Rika immediately hid the script.
"Nothing, nothing at all," Rika said hastily.
"Right. You're hiding something. What is it?"
"Hiding something? I have no clue what you're talking about..."
"Rika..." Suddenly, Jeri saw the script behind the tree. She quickly reached out and grabbed it.
"Hey! Give that back!" Rika said, standing up.
Jeri opened the script and read the first page, "Why do you have a West Side Story script? You don't have a part."
"Uh...I...um...wanted to look through it."
"What's the use?" Jeri said, sighing, "The play is probably gonna be canceled. We have no Maria. Brittany broke her leg, and then Mrs. Tenner said she'll look backstage for someone to be Maria - " Jeri stopped. She just realized what she had said.
"Jeri?"
"Rika...I'M SO HAPPY FOR YOU!" Jeri jumped up and down and started hugging Rika, "Are you gonna tell the others? Do they already know? Was I the last one to figure it out?"
"Jeri, Jeri. Slow down. Only Ashley knows. I don't even want this part. I was forced to play this part. I don't want to tell the others either."
"You HAVE to, Rika!" Jeri said, "They need to know. Anyways, they'll figure out sooner or later. WAIT!"
"What?" Rika asked.
"We don't have another practice until the play. So, unless you tell them now, they won't know till the play."
"And that's a GOOD thing..."
"No, it isn't. They need to get over the shock now. Or, if you tell them before the play, they'll be too shocked to go on," Jeri explained.
"Makes sense," Rika slowly said, "But I don't want to tell them."
"Come on Rika! At least come back inside..." Jeri made a puppy dog face.
"Oh, alright. I'm not going to tell them though."
"Whatever you say, Rika. Whatever you say."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
After some video game playing, the subject of the conversation landed on the play.
"We don't have a Maria...how will we go on with it?" Amber said.
"Well, I'm sure Mrs. Tenner found someone to fill the part," Jeri said, trying not to look at Rika. Rika rolled her eyes.
"What if she didn't? We'd have to cancel it. All the hard work gone to waste..." Takato said.
"I'm SURE Mrs. Tenner found a person," Jeri said again.
"I agree," Ashley added.
'What are they trying to do?!' Rika thought, 'Kill me of embarrassment?'
"How do you two know?" Ryo asked.
"We just, you know, KNOW..."
"We know everything."
"Oh-kay..." Takato said, "Anyways, if they don't find a Maria...maybe they'll postpone the play."
"But they DID find a Maria..." Jeri announced.
'Yep, they're both in on a plan to tell the others without actually telling them.' Rika guessed.
"Okay, spill it you guys," Ryo said, "Who is it?"
"You think we actually KNOW the person who is going to be Maria?" Ashley asked innocently.
"You just said you KNOW..." Amber said.
"What if we don't wanna tell you?" Jeri exclaimed.
"Well, I'd just KINDA like to know the person who I have to kiss like four times," Ryo spoke up.
"Do we know this girl?" Henry asked.
"Maybe..."
"Yes or no."
"Yes."
"How well do we know her?" Ryo asked.
"Hmm..."
"That wasn't a 'yes' or 'no' answer!" Ryo pointed out.
"Too personal of a question. Ask another one." Jeri simply said.
"How am I supposed to know?" Ryo threw up his hands in frustration, "It's not like it's someone in this room."
"Yes." Ashley suddenly said.
"It is?" Takato exclaimed, surprised.
"Well, is it Amber?" Henry asked.
"Me? No way. I can't even act!" Amber said.
"Ashley?"
"I'm Anybodys. And I told you, I didn't want the part of Maria."
"Well, you WERE backstage when Mrs. Tenner was looking for a person to play her, and you know the lines better than anyone," Kazu said.
"Trust me, I'm not gonna play the part of Maria," Ashley proclaimed.
"Alright...Jeri?"
Jeri giggled. "No."
"Come on!" Ryo said, exasperated, "One of you must be lying. The only girl left is - " Suddenly, he stopped. Everyone turned to look at Rika.
"What?" Rika said, "You guys think I'M Maria? Hahahaha..."
Ashley and Jeri gave Rika a stern look.
"Alright, alright! Mrs. Tenner begged and pleaded and whined!" Rika shouted, "I couldn't get out of it! And everyone said I was their only hope left, and without me the play would be ruined!"
Kazu, who was completely lost, asked, "What do you mean?"
"What I'm TRYING to say is: YES! I'M MARIA!"
The room went deadly quiet. Until, a couple minutes later, Kazu, who was pulling off a Kayla (1.), said, "Wait just a dog gone second. Doesn't that mean Ryo and Rika have to KISS? And more than just once?"
Neither Ryo or Rika said anything. Except Kazu, of course.
"Hahaha...this MUST be joke. Rika isn't gonna play Maria. It's a joke guys! A joke!"
But, nobody believed Kazu.
'Rika? RIKA is MARIA?!' Ryo thought, 'I have to kiss RIKA? This must be a dream come true!'
'Great!' Rika thought, 'Now everyone knows...'
'It's a joke! A funny joke! Hahahaha...' Kazu thought.
'Wonder how Ryo is taking the news.' Ashley thought.
'YAY!' Jeri thought, 'Everyone knows now!'
'Maybe Ryo and Rika will get together because of this...' Amber thought.
'Hmm...maybe this is an evil sceme to get those two together.' Henry thought.
Kenta walked in the room. "Why is it so quiet in here?"
That's when Ryo fainted.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Kazu: Strange way to end a chapter...
Ashley: GO CLAY! ELF BOY ROCKS!
Rika: Elf boy?
Ashley: Clay Aiken. I'm writing this on the commercials of American Idol.
Kazu: I like Ruben.
Ashley: Clay will win, even though I totally love Ruben too.
Rika: What about the others?
Ashley: Don't get me wrong, I like the others too. HAHAHA...CLAY'S NOT IN THE BOTTOM TWO! YAY!
Rika & Kazu: O_O
Ashley: Okay, I'm just going to skip ahead, and say REVIEW! I do have more cookies, just to let you know. Please review. It's makes me very happy...and liked! So, in conclusion, REVIEW!
(1.) Kayla is a girl in my class who is very slow at picking up on things, especially jokes.
(Next chapter: DEFINITELY the beginning of the play.)
Kazu: *hides the last cupcake in bag* Hello people!!
Ashley: People on ff.net don't hate me!
Rika: Uh...?
Ashley: I got reviews! Thank you Raye, Angel, 9-gungaw In4, Akino Matoumiken, RukiMakino, EvilVidel, Digifreak103, Dark Shadow, and Sam! *gives them all a cookie, except Digifreak103 who has something against cookies*
Kazu: *inspecting a cookie* What kind of cookies are these?
Ashley: Chocolate chip.
Kazu: Where from? *takes a bite*
Ashley: School.
Kazu: *spits out cookie* WHAT?!
Ashley: My school cookies are the best ever. No one makes cookies better than my school...well, actually, wherever my school gets the cookies from...
Kazu: *devours cookie* Yum...
Ashley: Rika? Care to do the honors of the disclaimer?
Rika: Arg...Ashley doesn't own neither West Side Story or Digimon. She owns the character Ashley, of course, and Amber owns Amber.
Ashley: Good. Anyway, back to the fic. Couldn't you see the ending of the last chapter coming? Okay, going back to the fic now...^_^
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Where we left off...
"Congratulations Rika...you've got the part of Maria."
"Wait a second, WHAT!?"
"Brittany had an accident, we need a Maria, and you are perfect for it!" Mrs. Tenner said really fast.
"No way, never, no can do," Rika cut in.
Mrs. Tenner looked like she was about to cry. "Please Rika, you're the only hope to this play! Without you, the play won't be put on at all, and look at all the hard work we put into this!"
"You're expecting me to learn all of the lines in three days, and be ready to perform in front of hundreds of people?!"
"Yes, please Rika. We need you to do this..." Mrs. Tenner said, putting on worried look.
"Mrs. Tenner...I can't!" Rika told her again.
"You CAN! Please, please, please!" Mrs. Tenner got on her knees, begging, "PLEASE!"
Rika looked at the assistant principal in disbelief. Mrs. Tenner was practically begging and whining for Rika to be in the play.
"I'm sorry...I can't..." Rika muttered.
"Rika?" Ashley said, who was watching all this from the sidelines, "Be Maria. You have to be Maria."
"Stop ganging up on me," Rika said, watching Ashley and Mrs. Tenner beg, "I'm not going to be Maria." But, even then, her words sounded weak.
Isabelle ran up to the scene, freaking out, "THE PLAY IS RUINED! RUINED! RUINED!"
"It's not ruined...find another Maria..." Rika said, "I can't do it."
Soon, to Rika that is, it seemed like everyone was ganging up on her, pleading her to be Maria.
"G-guys...I can't...I just can't. Can't you listen?" Rika said, softly, weakening with every second.
"Please?" everyone begged.
"ALRIGHT! EVERYONE JUST SHUT UP!" Rika yelled suddenly. Suddenly, the backstage got very quiet, except for the distant voices coming from onstage. "You want me to be Maria. I don't want to be Maria. But, somehow, I am the only person who can be Maria. So, I will be Maria if you guys just LEAVE ME ALONE!"
Everyone silently cheered, being quiet enough to not upset Rika again.
"Thank you Rika! Thank you!" Mrs. Tenner said over and over.
"If you want me to be Maria, LEAVE ME ALONE!" Rika repeated, as everyone scattered in opposite directions.
"What have I just gotten myself into?" Rika asked herself.
~~A~F~T~E~R~~R~E~H~E~A~R~S~A~L~~
Everyone was hanging out at Jeri's house, getting a break from all the practicing. No one except Ashley there knew Rika had the part of Maria now. Ryo was sitting on the couch, relaxing.
"Well, you look confident now," Henry said, walking by.
"I've finally decided I knew the words well enough to say them in my sleep," Ryo explained.
"What did you do?"
"I feel asleep during Algebra. And when Evan woke me, I shouted out, 'Buenas noches, Maria!' All the class thought I was crazy or something."
"Hmm...that would have been interesting to see..." Henry laughed.
"It was...but now everyone in that class thinks I'm insane," Ryo said.
"Hey!" Jeri exclaimed, walking up to the two boys, "Have you seen Rika?"
"Yeah, she's in the backyard," Henry answered.
"Oh, thanks." Jeri opened the sliding glass door to find Rika sitting underneath a tree, looking through a script.
"What are you doing?" Jeri asked. Rika immediately hid the script.
"Nothing, nothing at all," Rika said hastily.
"Right. You're hiding something. What is it?"
"Hiding something? I have no clue what you're talking about..."
"Rika..." Suddenly, Jeri saw the script behind the tree. She quickly reached out and grabbed it.
"Hey! Give that back!" Rika said, standing up.
Jeri opened the script and read the first page, "Why do you have a West Side Story script? You don't have a part."
"Uh...I...um...wanted to look through it."
"What's the use?" Jeri said, sighing, "The play is probably gonna be canceled. We have no Maria. Brittany broke her leg, and then Mrs. Tenner said she'll look backstage for someone to be Maria - " Jeri stopped. She just realized what she had said.
"Jeri?"
"Rika...I'M SO HAPPY FOR YOU!" Jeri jumped up and down and started hugging Rika, "Are you gonna tell the others? Do they already know? Was I the last one to figure it out?"
"Jeri, Jeri. Slow down. Only Ashley knows. I don't even want this part. I was forced to play this part. I don't want to tell the others either."
"You HAVE to, Rika!" Jeri said, "They need to know. Anyways, they'll figure out sooner or later. WAIT!"
"What?" Rika asked.
"We don't have another practice until the play. So, unless you tell them now, they won't know till the play."
"And that's a GOOD thing..."
"No, it isn't. They need to get over the shock now. Or, if you tell them before the play, they'll be too shocked to go on," Jeri explained.
"Makes sense," Rika slowly said, "But I don't want to tell them."
"Come on Rika! At least come back inside..." Jeri made a puppy dog face.
"Oh, alright. I'm not going to tell them though."
"Whatever you say, Rika. Whatever you say."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
After some video game playing, the subject of the conversation landed on the play.
"We don't have a Maria...how will we go on with it?" Amber said.
"Well, I'm sure Mrs. Tenner found someone to fill the part," Jeri said, trying not to look at Rika. Rika rolled her eyes.
"What if she didn't? We'd have to cancel it. All the hard work gone to waste..." Takato said.
"I'm SURE Mrs. Tenner found a person," Jeri said again.
"I agree," Ashley added.
'What are they trying to do?!' Rika thought, 'Kill me of embarrassment?'
"How do you two know?" Ryo asked.
"We just, you know, KNOW..."
"We know everything."
"Oh-kay..." Takato said, "Anyways, if they don't find a Maria...maybe they'll postpone the play."
"But they DID find a Maria..." Jeri announced.
'Yep, they're both in on a plan to tell the others without actually telling them.' Rika guessed.
"Okay, spill it you guys," Ryo said, "Who is it?"
"You think we actually KNOW the person who is going to be Maria?" Ashley asked innocently.
"You just said you KNOW..." Amber said.
"What if we don't wanna tell you?" Jeri exclaimed.
"Well, I'd just KINDA like to know the person who I have to kiss like four times," Ryo spoke up.
"Do we know this girl?" Henry asked.
"Maybe..."
"Yes or no."
"Yes."
"How well do we know her?" Ryo asked.
"Hmm..."
"That wasn't a 'yes' or 'no' answer!" Ryo pointed out.
"Too personal of a question. Ask another one." Jeri simply said.
"How am I supposed to know?" Ryo threw up his hands in frustration, "It's not like it's someone in this room."
"Yes." Ashley suddenly said.
"It is?" Takato exclaimed, surprised.
"Well, is it Amber?" Henry asked.
"Me? No way. I can't even act!" Amber said.
"Ashley?"
"I'm Anybodys. And I told you, I didn't want the part of Maria."
"Well, you WERE backstage when Mrs. Tenner was looking for a person to play her, and you know the lines better than anyone," Kazu said.
"Trust me, I'm not gonna play the part of Maria," Ashley proclaimed.
"Alright...Jeri?"
Jeri giggled. "No."
"Come on!" Ryo said, exasperated, "One of you must be lying. The only girl left is - " Suddenly, he stopped. Everyone turned to look at Rika.
"What?" Rika said, "You guys think I'M Maria? Hahahaha..."
Ashley and Jeri gave Rika a stern look.
"Alright, alright! Mrs. Tenner begged and pleaded and whined!" Rika shouted, "I couldn't get out of it! And everyone said I was their only hope left, and without me the play would be ruined!"
Kazu, who was completely lost, asked, "What do you mean?"
"What I'm TRYING to say is: YES! I'M MARIA!"
The room went deadly quiet. Until, a couple minutes later, Kazu, who was pulling off a Kayla (1.), said, "Wait just a dog gone second. Doesn't that mean Ryo and Rika have to KISS? And more than just once?"
Neither Ryo or Rika said anything. Except Kazu, of course.
"Hahaha...this MUST be joke. Rika isn't gonna play Maria. It's a joke guys! A joke!"
But, nobody believed Kazu.
'Rika? RIKA is MARIA?!' Ryo thought, 'I have to kiss RIKA? This must be a dream come true!'
'Great!' Rika thought, 'Now everyone knows...'
'It's a joke! A funny joke! Hahahaha...' Kazu thought.
'Wonder how Ryo is taking the news.' Ashley thought.
'YAY!' Jeri thought, 'Everyone knows now!'
'Maybe Ryo and Rika will get together because of this...' Amber thought.
'Hmm...maybe this is an evil sceme to get those two together.' Henry thought.
Kenta walked in the room. "Why is it so quiet in here?"
That's when Ryo fainted.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Kazu: Strange way to end a chapter...
Ashley: GO CLAY! ELF BOY ROCKS!
Rika: Elf boy?
Ashley: Clay Aiken. I'm writing this on the commercials of American Idol.
Kazu: I like Ruben.
Ashley: Clay will win, even though I totally love Ruben too.
Rika: What about the others?
Ashley: Don't get me wrong, I like the others too. HAHAHA...CLAY'S NOT IN THE BOTTOM TWO! YAY!
Rika & Kazu: O_O
Ashley: Okay, I'm just going to skip ahead, and say REVIEW! I do have more cookies, just to let you know. Please review. It's makes me very happy...and liked! So, in conclusion, REVIEW!
(1.) Kayla is a girl in my class who is very slow at picking up on things, especially jokes.
(Next chapter: DEFINITELY the beginning of the play.)