It was a big day for the kids of Disney High. The High School Musical play was finally going to be performed for the student body and everyone was excited. Naveen, Esmeralda and Phoebus brought some serious credit to the casting and the entire senior year were heading to watch their classmates sing and dance and act. The rest of the school were excited too. After all, everybody's a secret HSM fan.
The play started at midday, 12, and then the moment everyone had been waiting for was later on tonight.
Prom.
Meaning it was an even bigger day for the seniors.
"Why have they done the play and prom on the same day" Esmeralda huffed, shoving a water bottle and a sandwich into her bag. She had stayed at Pocahontas' that night but now was heading to quick rehearsal that morning,
"I've got too much to do now, I should have quit the play like you"
"Es, it's going to be fine" Pocahontas assured her, still in bed "You've got loads of time"
"I haven't even got a dress" Esmeralda sighed
"You've got three" Pocahontas corrected her
Esmeralda folded her arms, "They're all ugly!"
"OK OK" Pocahontas sat up, pulling her hair back behind herself "You've got the red one, that's nice!"
"I look like I'm going on a holiday in Spain" she said
"What's wrong with Spain?"
"Ugh" Esmeralda groaned, "It's just ugly"
"The dark purple one, it's your signature colour!" Pocahontas reasoned, "You're like Elle Woods of purple, and I'm sure it still has the tags on!"
"It is nice" Esmeralda nodded, "But I don't know... I just don't know if I want the usual..."
"So what do you want?" Pocahontas asked, "I mean look at Cindy, she's got that huge expensive ball gown and that's not like her"
Esmeralda tilted her head a bit, "Something neutral"
"Like mine?"
Esmeralda frowned, "not the lace"
"Es do you want a plain white t-shirt because from the sounds of it you don't want anything" Pocahontas laughed, but Esmeralda's eyes widened
"Yes!"
"Yes? What?"
"A plain white t-shirt!"
"You're kidding?"
"Well not a t-shirt... I have a dress!"
"You do?" Pocahontas was really confused now
"Yes!" Esmeralda grinned, "Anyway, I've got to get to school-ugh- you better get front row seats later!"
"Of course" Pocahontas agreed and Esmeralda rushed off. Pocahontas lay back down, still confused. What the hell did she mean a plain white shirt?
At 12am, after most students had to drag their friends out of bed that Saturday and most of the senior girls had finished getting facials for Prom later, the students of Disney High began to pile into the huge auditorium excited to watch the school play.
Jasmine, however, had been in touch with Flynn and Aladdin that morning and was slightly nervous. They met outside at 11:30, the boys were extremely tired and had forgotten about the play almost entirely but were happy to help.
"Wait wait" Flynn yawned, "so Vanessa is singing for Ariel- no"
"No" Jasmine said, "Vanessa is making Ariel sing for her"
"Like lip-syncing?" Flynn asked, quite shocked "What a bitch"
"Remember in sophomore year she tried to bully me" Aladdin frowned
"Oh yeah, before you became friends with us! God I hate her"
"So you'll help, right?" Rapunzel asked gleefully
"OK OK" Flynn recounted, "So Vanessa's lip syncing and you want us to catch her out... but how?"
"Have you ever seen the Lizzie McGuire movie?" Jasmine asked
"Oh god" Aladdin sighed, "What's gonna happen?"
"We're going to turn down Vanessa's mic" Jasmine smiled,
"And how's that going to work?"
Jasmine smiled, so did Mulan. Rapunzel, Aladdin and Flynn stared on confused... they hadn't quite seen the Lizzie McGuire movie.
"Welcome, welcome!" Clopin stood centre stage, Crab was beside him "Thank you for coming, my! What a turn out this year, I suppose you're all quite excited and I hope you know we've all worked very hard on this!"
"So please enjoy and support all of your very talented school mates!" Crab clapped, and the curtain opened and there was a small round of applause.
A small instrumental played through the speakers and the scene opened on Eric. He was dressed casual and playing around with a basketball on the bare stage, acting the scene with his father and mother. The acting was great, but everybody was anticipating the first song.
Vanessa came on stage as the meek Gabriella, barely meek. Her hair was still very voluminous, her lips still quite red. When she was forced on stage to sing with Troy, she badly played off Gabriella's nervousness and the audience, bias to her nastiness, were quite cold toward her. Eric, however, was quite dashing playing off Troy really well.
'Start of Something New' came on, Eric's singing was great. Acting nervous through it was even better and everyone was very shocked to hear Vanessa's perfect voice... everyone but those who knew who it actually was. There was a big cheer for the song, for 'Vanessa's' perfect voice.
The play wore on, when Esmeralda showed everyone whooped,
"What's 'impossible' Troy?" she acted, "I didn't think impossible was in your vocabulary?" she slayed in her pink little number and her Sharpay smirk was to die for, giving Vanessa's a run for her money.
Get'cha Head in the Game was great too, Eric did a brilliant job, even if he slightly messed up a few dance moves not that the audience noticed. Then came Esmeralda and Naveen's first number, the one everyone was quite excited to watch. The first fun song
Naveen played very stylishly, his dancing was great, his hips moved very sharply and he and Esmeralda were sassy as possible. They seriously were stealing the show.
"It's hard to believe that I couldn't see!" Naveen shrugged,
"That you were always right beside me!" Esmeralda joined, again, the audience were stricken with their voices. Melodic and brilliant.
"I've never had someone who knows me like you dooo-"
"Hey, Let's go!" Flynn turned to Aladdin, who nudged Jasmine and the three snuck out of their seats along the rows, unseen thanks to the performance from Naveen and Esmeralda, backstage.
People were rushing around and Clopin was stood on the stage left watching the performance, his foot tapping, his head nodding. Crab was in the audience, a focused expression and his foot tapping too.
"We can't be seen" Jasmine whispered, "and if we get caught-"
"RELAX!" Flynn whispered harshly, "We're part of the trade, right Al?"
"Sure" Aladdin shrugged, "That... and if you look confident people won't question you"
Jasmine dropped her shoulders, trying to appear confident.
"Right, come on" Aladdin said, and they headed around to the microphones.
Esmeralda and Naveen were still on stage singing, giving them plenty of time until-
"Shit" Flynn breathed,
"Flotsam and Jetsam" Jasmine sighed "I forgot about them- they run the audio!"
"What now?" Flynn asked,
"I have an idea" Aladdin nodded.
.
A minute later, Flynn strolled right into the audio booth
"Flotsam, Jetsam" he said casually, "Ladies"
"What do you want?" Flotsam hissed
"A little bit of attention from you two lovely things" Flynn smouldered,
Jetsam scowled
"I just love girls with... green hair"
"Go away" Flotsam sighed, "We're busy"
"Well don't you want to go out there and raid the cafeteria?"
"What?" Jetsam scoffed, "Why would we do that?"
"Because it's a Saturday" Flynn said, "and all the ice creams unguarded.. and free"
The twins glanced at one another and shrugged, "That's not a bad idea" Flotsam agreed,
"He is a trouble maker" Jetsam whispered, "Sure let's go"
"Great!" Flynn said enthusiastically, "Bye then!"
Flotsam and Jetsam began giggling cruelly, "Oh no!"
"What?" Flynn gulped,
"You're coming with us, in case we're caught"
"Er- sure" Flynn grinned and the three headed off. They walked off and as Flynn passed Jasmine and Aladdin, who were hiding round the corner, he coughed loudly as a signal for them to go and he headed awkwardly to the cafeteria with Flotsam and Jetsam who would soon realise the freezer was actually locked and that the school didn't even sell ice cream...
"What do we do!" Jasmine panicked
"I don't know how to use this stuff" Aladdin rubbed the back of his neck, "WAIT!"
"Wait!" Jasmine said at the same time as him,
"They're labelled" they said at the same time
The mic toggles on the machine were all labelled with little labels, 'Gabriella' 'Troy' 'Sharpay' 'Naveen' 'Understudy 1' 'Understudy 2'
"Ariel's got to be Understudy 1" Jasmine nodded,
"So what do we do?"
Jasmine poked her head out the booth door,
"They're not singing yet" she observed, "Wait"
They fell into the stools and waited, listening very carefully for the time when Vanessa would begin singing and they'd out her
"I have an even better idea" Aladdin said quickly,
"What?" Jasmine cried, "What! Quick!"
"Come on" he nodded, and he adjusted the microphones. He edged Vanessa's upward so it was silent and moved Ariel's slightly, unlinking the two.
"Quickly!" he grabbed at her hand and pulled her along, behind the main curtain where a few crew members were walking around
"Where's Ariel?" he whispered
"She- she said she's behind the back up curtains"
Aladdin nodded and then glanced behind him at the second pair of huge red curtains and then in front of him at the main curtains, that had closed on Troy and Gabriella and Kelsey who were discussing Sharpay and Ryan and Kelsey being a 'playmaker'.
"I know what you're thinking" Jasmine said with a smile,
"So do you want to hear how the song's supposed to sound?" Kelsey/Tiana asked Troy and Gabriella
"They're about to sing" Jasmine said, "The ropes are over there!"
Then it began.
"It's hard to believe that I couldn't see" Eric sang.
Silence.
Vanessa was singing, but the sound wasn't coming out and there was murmuring from the audience. Eric looked at her, an expression of complete panic and then sang his parts,
"But you were always right beside me" he sang the reprise, but Vanessa was backing now, walking backwards slowly, scared... an expression of total anger.
Ariel, however, knew nothing was wrong. She was singing, little did she no Vanessa was on the other side of the curtain like an idiot until-
"NOW!" Aladdin said, and they yanked the rope. The curtain came flying to the left and Ariel stood, singing visibly.
The entire audience gasped and Ariel suddenly looked up, aware she was on display, aware what was happening. She stopped singing, stammering and bright red she glanced at the entire room, then spotted Jasmine and Aladdin who were stood smugly.
"YOU!" Vanessa yelled angrily, pointing her long finger at Jasmine and Aladdin, "YOU PULLED THE ROPE!"
"So what if we did?" Jasmine shrugged
"YOU MADE ME LOOK LIKE AN IDIOT YOU FOOLS!"
"That's what you get!" Jasmine yelled
"OKAY OKAY!" Crab stood up quickly and jumped up onto the stage, "Ladies and gentlemen I am sorry, if you could give us a ten minute break and the show will go on!"
There was a serious chatter from the crowd now, even the staff were confused.
"You saw that right?" Belle whispered to Adam whom she had dragged to the play, "She was totally lip syncing!"
Adam shrugged, "Serves her right getting caught"
"Oh my gosh!" Pocahontas worried, "It didn't seem like anyone knew did it? Crazy!"
"That Vanessa- that poor Junior!"
"Wasn't that the littlest Triton sister?"
The audience bustled and theorised while backstage Crab and Clopin were very angry
"I cannot- will not- believe this!" Clopin cried, gathered around his cast, "Vanessa how could you!"
Vanessa pouted, "Oh it was simple really, she made it way to easy"
"Disgraceful!" Crab retorted "Disgusting!"
"And you two" Clopin pointed at Jasmine and Aladdin who had been dragged over, "You ruined the play!"
"We had to do something!" Jasmine argued
Clopin was silent.
"Alas, the show must go on" he finally said, "Vanessa- out of the theatre now"
"But-"
"Now!" Crab repeated
"That's not fair!" she yelled, "That little mermaid-haired kid has ruined everything!"
"Get out, NOW!" Crab shouted and Vanessa stormed off.
"Thank God she's gone" Esmeralda muttered
"Tell me about it" Tiana shrugged "She was getting on my last nerve"
Eric shook his head, "I- I can't believe I didn't know"
"Don't worry, none of us did" Phoebus said
"You don't understand... she made out Ariel was some annoying kid who was nasty to her every chance"
Ariel's eyes widened, "What!"
"She said how you were always making snide comments, telling her she couldn't act..."
"That was her!" Ariel cried, "Oh... she has been awful!"
"I'm sorry, Ariel... I'm sorry that I believed her" Eric frowned,
"Never mind all that" Aurora shook her head, "Are we going ahead with this thing or not? I've got Prom later and-"
"Now now, don't worry" Crab soothed, "We have our understudy, do we not?"
Everyone turned slowly and stared at Ariel.
"Me?"
Clopin stood again centre stage
"I'm so sorry about all of this ladies and gentlemen there have been a few... problems. Nevertheless we shall continue!"
Everyone clapped,
"Our understudy Ariel will be taking the role of 'Gabriella' and if it is quite alright with everyone we will continue from where we left off"
Ariel came onto stage, as Gabriella, she was really nervous it was true but beside Eric she felt more at home. Then they began the song Vanessa never started, 'What I've been Looking for Reprise' and suddenly all the fear of messing up melted, because Eric was looking into her eyes.
The production continued, with 'Status Quo' Esmeralda held Sharpay's fierceness greatly and Aurora played preppy almost too well. Phoebus was great too, comical. He spent a lot of the time getting reactions from the audience and the other half being quite nervous.
Then came Ariel's solo and the entire audience stared up at the stage.
"It's funny when you find yourself looking from the outside, I'm standing here but all I want is to be over there' and Ariel was singing the ballad, sure, but the words were relative. She was finally saying all she had wanted too to Eric for the past year, he had hurt her and she really liked him and suddenly she was where she wanted to be.
The audience cheered when she had finished, Mulan even teared up a tiny bit
"I have never been more proud!" she told Jasmine, who couldn't stop smiling
Then came 'Bop to the Top' and this truly was the moment that half of the student body were waiting for. Esmeralda and Naveen strutting around in Spanish wear singing the possibly most fun song
"Yeah we're gonna bop bop bop, bop to the top!"
"Wipe away your inhibitions,"
Every move was perfect, they smiled and actually... they looked like they were having fun! Naveen couldn't stop laughing as he reached the top of the ladder and Esmeralda gave him a quick hug before the fell back into character, giggling and pouting.
"God they were brilliant"
"That was great!"
"Hahaha, that was fabulous!"
Backstage, whilst Esmeralda and Naveen finished off Ariel and Eric stood, waiting to rush on and ask Mrs Darbus for a second chance
"Ready to break free?" he joked,
Ariel shrugged, "I'm actually nervous"
"Nervous?" he asked, "Ariel, you're making the show! You're way better than Vanessa ever was!"
"Thanks" she smiled sadly, "but this is the most anticipated song...what if I mess up?"
Eric looked down, unsure what to say but then he glanced up and took her hand in his. He lifted it slowly upward and placed a small kiss on her hand,
"You won't mess up" he said quietly, "you're too amazing"
Ariel blushed. And then they headed back on stage where they were ready to sing Breaking Free.
Ariel and Eric began singing and suddenly they were united. Their voices meshed like waves, strong and gentle all at the same time. The entire school were watching mesmerised and the cast members watched from the stage sides, beaming. They were all so much happier with Ariel than with Vanessa too. But as amazing as Breaking Free was... what was to come next was even better.
Eric and Ariel rushed off to change into their Wildcats outfit for the final scene, white red and gold. Esmeralda was already in her white sparkled jeans and tank top, Aurora was in the little white skirt and shirt and Naveen's red hat was very bright.
"Ariel, quick!" Esmeralda said excitedly, "your dress is the cutest!"
Ariel rushed with Esmeralda into a small changing room and quickly changed into the red dress that she completely adored. It was the same shade as her hair and complimented her beautifully
"Oh that is gorgeous!" Esmeralda sighed
"Oh it is!" Tiana said, rushing inside
"I'm half tempted to steal it for prom" Esmeralda joked,
"Come on guys, we've got to be on for the final scene!"
The girls rushed off and onto stage,
"Remember what Clopin said, girls" Esmeralda said, "Have some downright fun with this scene!"
They all giggled and nodded and then ran on stage as the final song began,
Eric grabbed her and twirled her around, "You know the lyrics right?" he whispered in her ear
She nodded, and Eric started singing.
'We're all in this together' was truly magical. Something about having Ariel in the cast made it even more fun, light. The seniors had prom on their mind, the end of school really was nigh and this was perfect closure for their last school curricular.
"WE'RE ALL IN THIS TOGETHER ONCE YOU KNOW THAT WE ARE-" the cast were free-dancing, as Clopin said they were having some downright fun with the scene! Wild, dancing, giggling between the singing. And then, so were the audience bar a few teachers
The audience were on their feet, clapping, swaying, dancing, SINGING!
"We've arrived because we stick together, champions one and all!" Esmeralda sung, strutting off stage and pulling at Pocahontas' hand, who joined her best friend and ex class member on stage
"Es!" Pocahontas protested, but she began to dance with her best friend anyway
Then it was Aurora, dragging Cindy and Philip, then Tiana with Charlotte and soon the stage was filled with seniors. All singing, all dancing and when the song finally ended everyone drew a deep breathe and began laughing.
The audience cheered, like they had done when Disney won the soccer game, and the teachers clapped too. The non-cast members stepped off stage and resumed their seats as the curtain shut.
"ARIEL" Eric called over the bustle, the curtain closing now and the stage darkening
"What?" she laughed,
"I know it's a little off the track- but what are you doing tonight?"
Ariel's laughter faded and she stared wide eyed, "N-nothing!"
"Well do you want to come prom with me?"
Ariel squealed, speechless. She didn't even have to reply he just pulled her in under his arm.
The curtain closed and the very lively crowd settled, grabbing their bags, taking their seats but most of the seniors hadn't moved.
"Let's go" Jasmine said, "We can see Ariel later, she's invited us round for pizza"
"Sure" Rapunzel smiled and they began to leave but suddenly, a huge yell was heard.
Esmeralda, Flynn, Phoebus, Pocahontas, Aladdin, Naveen, even Tiana, Charlotte, Cinderella and more were stood on stage in front of the already closed curtain.
"Hey!" Esmeralda had called, seemingly the leader of the lot,
The staff blinked up at her with stern impressions, daring her to cause a problem. The students stood in awe waiting for what they thought was going to happen.
Then it did
"WHAT DO WE WANT" Esmeralda called
"JUSTICE FOR ELSA" the entirety of half of senior year called on stage
"WHEN DO WE WANT IT"
"NOW!"
"WHAT DO WE WANT?"
"JUSTICE FOR ELSA"
"WHEN DO WE WANT IT"
"NOW!"
"WHAT DO WE WANT?"
"JUSTICE FOR ELSA!"
The chant continued, Anna's face pinked and lit up
"Guys!" she giggled to her friends, "They're getting help for Elsa- so- so she can go to Prom!"
"This is great!" Mulan grinned
"So liberating!" Jasmine agreed
"Let's go!" Anna skipped, and she pulled at her friends arms and dragged them on stage.
The four Juniors stood on stage with their schoolmates, Rapunzel fell into Flynn
"Hey!" he cried, "How cool is this, fighting the power!"
She began chanting,
Aladdin grabbed Jasmine's hand and they began too,
"Silence!" the teachers were trying,
"Enough!" Cruella cried
but the students were winning this one.
"WHAT DO WE WANT!" Esmeralda boomed
"JUSTICE FOR ELSA!"
"WHEN DO WE WANT IT!"
"NOW!"
Then, Elsa was pulled through the door by Meg and Hercules and tears welled in her eyes as she heard the chanters and saw her classmates up there fighting for her
"You did this for me!" she half yelled, tears rolling down her face
"Come on!" Hercules said excitedly and the three of them ran onto stage too.
"Elsa!" Pocahontas cried and she pulled her into a hug, "We're going to get you your Prom!"
"Who- I mean... who did this?"
"It was Esmeralda's idea" Pocahontas explained through the chanting, "She found it sad you weren't aloud your Prom"
Elsa began sobbing, happy tears fell down her face.
"WHAT DO WE WANT!"
"JUSTICE FOR ELSA"
"WHEN DO WE WANT IT"
"NOW!"
"What's going on?" the cast were behind the curtains, downing bottles of water, "Where did Esmeralda go?"
"Where's Esmeralda?" Crab cried from backstage, "And Phoebus, Naveen- where's my cast!"
"I think... they're on stage" Eric said sceptically, and they peaked out and heard the chanting more clearly now
"They are!" Ariel cried, "They- they... what are they saying?"
They all listened
"JUSTICE FOR ELSA!" Ariel yelled quickly, "Come on!" she grabbed at Eric's hand and the two were on stage too now, chanting and fighting for Elsa.
Clopin ran on stage too,
"Where are you going?" Crab snapped, "They'll all be in trouble for this!"
"Oh but I do love a good rally!" Clopin laughed
"Do you even know what they're rallying for?"
Clopin shrugged, "It must be progressive- JUSTICE FOR ELSA!"
Soon the entire student body (and Clopin), both in the crowd and on the stage were crying the chant until finally the teachers gave up.
"ESMERALDA HUGO!" Walt called, grabbing a microphone from Crab backstage and the feedback caused everyone to grab their ears, then they all stood staring at their headmaster waiting for a detention call
"You students ought to be ashamed!" Frollo screamed, "Fighting for nothing! Quieten down!"
"You should have detentions each and every one of you" Cruella agreed,
"Children should be seen and not heard" Hades spat,
"We're fighting for what we believe in!" Pocahontas argued,
"Now now, that's enough" Walt said rather calmly to both staff and students, "You have all shown initiative and attention to something you believe in and worked together peacefully for it and for that I commend you"
There were bitter mumbling from the staff,
"Peacefully?" Jafar scoffed,
"Elsa Winters" Walt called, "Were you aware of this... protest?"
"N-no sir" she stammered, "Meg drove me here-"
"We set it up" Esmeralda said, "No one misses prom"
"We drove her here" Meg confirmed,
"She had no clue" Hercules said
Walt smiled somewhat, "Elsa Winters, I very much hope you have a prom dress-"
The entire student body cheered, whooped, laughed and hugged
"Now everyone get home before a change my mind- don't you all have a prom to get too?" Walt finished with a little chuckle and a shake of his head,
"Great job everyone" Aurora called to her castmates, "But I've got to rush off if I want to look flawless tonight!"
"Me too, I haven't even got a dress yet" Esmeralda sighed
"Oh my goodness!" Aurora screeched, "Esmeralda are you kidding!"
"It's fine" she shook her head, "I'll find one" but Aurora wasn't convinced
"Well... Bye guys!" Aurora called,
"Yeah I'm going too" Tiana rushed around,
"See ya later!" Naveen said too, heading home
And then just like that, Prom was beginning.
WO Hey guys! Hope you enjoy, This chapter is so not well written I apologise but prom is starting soon so leave reviews, let me know what you think. Any ideas on the unseen dresses yet?