A\N: Here we are again! xD There´s going to be more scenes with Skipper and Julian. Also, thanks to everyone who reviewed last chapter. It really helps me to write. ;)
During break, Rico came up to Kowalski and asked him if he was okay, due to his space-out earlier. Kowalski nodded, not offering an explanation though. "So." Julian pranced up to Skipper and Marlene, his hips swaying in a way disturbing for a guy. "No needing to be shy, I was seeing you hiding back there." "That belongs to the scene." Skipper explained. "And you were obviously liking what you saw." Julian continued, grinning at Skipper. "What´s that supposed to mean?" The leader replied, annoyed. "Okay, break´s over! Let´s go back to the rehearsals!" AT called out. Julian batted his fake eyelashes at the otter and penguin in front of him before walking away. Marlene was the only one near enough who heard Skipper´s low growl.
They left off where Sharpay and Ryan finished their dance. "Alright!" Roger stood up and adjusted his glasses. "Are there any last minute sign ups?" Troy and Gabriella stood up from where they sat and quickly snuck back to the mopping cart.
Antonio patted Stacy´s back with and encouraging smile. "Don´t be encouraged! The theatre needs more than just singers. It needs fans too." Stacy nodded bravely as he told her to buy tickets, then left the stage. Private stood up and quickly ran after Sharpay. "Oh actually," He began as Julian turned around. "If you do the part, I imagined it much slower-" Julian chuckled, cutting him off. "If we are doing the part?" He repeated, raising his eyebrow. He quickly glanced around to make sure the most are out of earshot of their conversation. "Kelsi." (s)He began. "My sawed-off Sondheim." Sharpay patted her shoulder, showing a bit of disgust upon touching the other. "I´ve been in 17 school productions. And how many of your comprostionsny have been selected?" Private thought for a split second. "This would be the first." "Which tells us what?" Julian reduced his voice as if he was talking with Mort. "That I need to write you more solos?" The penguin offered weakly as a response.
Sharpay´s expressions changed and so did her tone. "No, it tells us that you do not offer direction, suggesti-ouns or commentary." The small penguin stepped back as Sharpay angrily came toward him, backing him slowly to his seat. "And you should be thankful that me and Ryan are here to lift your music out of its current obscurity. Are we clear?" She snapped. Private fell back in his seat, answering immediately. "Yes ma´am! I mean Sharpay!" Julian studied the other´s face to make sure he had gotten the info right, then smiled sweetly. "Nice talking to you!" He said nicely, lifting the microphone to his lips so everyone could hear the sweetness, and not guess he had just been threatening the younger.
"Any last minutes sign-ups?" Roger called out again. Marlene looked at Skipper. "We should go." The leader whispered. "No? Good. Done!" With that he clicked off the lamp and headed toward the exit. Marlene hesitated before jumping out of their hiding place. "I´d like to audition, Ms. Darbus!" Skipper´s beak dropped open before he groaned and face-flippered. "What?"
"Timeliness means something in the world of theatre, young lady. The individual auditions are long over and there are simply no other pairs." Roger turned away, before suddenly, "I´ll sing with her!" The two others turned toward the voice. A black flipper came in view, before the owner stepped out of the shadows. "Troy Bolton?" The tone in Darbus´ voice clearly stated her thoughts. "Where is your sports passé or whatever it´s called?" "Team." Skipper corrected. "Ah!" Roger seemed to taunt. "But I´m here alone. Actually, I´m here to sing with her." He nodded toward the girl beside him. The drama teacher walked up to them. "Yes, well, we take these shows very seriously here in East High." Her voice already told them what her answer will be. "I called for the pairs audition and you didn´t respond. Free period is now over." Roger walked past them. "She has an amazing voice!" Skipper tried. Ms. Darbus stopped. "Perhaps, the next musicale." She said, then walked out. The disappointment clearly showed in both of their faces.
Private had finished stacking the papers and stood up from his stool. He tried to step around the stool, when his foot got tangled up and he tripped, papers flying everywhere. Skipper and Marlene quickly rushed over to help the young pianist gather his papers. Kelsi was surprised, but grateful for the help. "So, you´re a composer." Skipper stated. Private nodded, taking the papers from Troy and Gabriella. "You wrote the song Ryan and Sharpay just sang?" Again, just a shy nod. "And the entire show?" The third nod. "That´s really cool." Private was just about to stand up when suddenly a wing was offered. He hesitated, before accepting it and Skipper pulled him up. "I can´t wait to hear the rest of the show." "So, why are you so afraid of Ryan and Sharpay?" Troy continued. "I mean it is your show." Private was a little taken aback by that. "It is?" "Isn´t the composer of a show kinda like the playmaker in basketball?" "Playmaker-?" "The one that makes everyone else look good. Without you there is no show. You´re the playmaker here, Kelsi." "I am?" The young ´girl´ smiled now. Skipper nodded. "Do you wanna hear how the duets supposed to sound?" Private asked, sounding a little more cheerful than shy. He waddled excitedly over to the piano. Marlene grinned at Skipper before they followed the other to the instrument. He placed his flippers onto the keyboard and begun playing.
Kowalski leaned forward to AT. "How in the world can he play piano without fingers." AT shrugged. "I´m asking myself the same thing." She replied, as the music floated through the theatre. Troy began singing the boys part, much slower than how Ryan sang it. Kelsi helped Gabriella start her part, then the otter sang alone. Once again, the music sparked something when Skipper looked at Marlene. She must have felt it too as they sang, meaning every word. "And I´ve never had someone, as good as me as you. No one like you! So lonely before, I finally found. What I´ve been looking for…" The music ended with a soft flow. For a second, silence filled the air. "Wow, it´s beautiful." Troy commented. "Bolton! Montez! You have a call-back." Those seven\six words were the best ones Darbus had ever said. "Kelsi, give them the duet from the second act. Work on it with them." The teacher put on her glasses, before walking out. Kelsi immediately picked up the sheets and started talking, her words flying over Troy´s head though, as he took in what just happened. Skipper flipped through the sheets for papers, blinking startled. "What?"
That´s when AT jumped up. "Cut! That was awesome guys!" The three actors came off stage. "Okay, so the next room we´re shooting in is the lunchroom." Yay! I´ll be the French fries!" Mort called out happily from where he was still tied in the chair. "I´ll be the dessert!" Julian joined in. Some groaned at the stupid duo. Skipper couldn´t help but say, "I think you would fit better in playing the garlic, Ring-tail!" Julian glared. "Garlic is disgusting and stinky. I am not either one of these!" For a second, no one said anything. "Disgusting fits you like a middle name, Julian!" Skipper retorted. Rico leaned in to smell the lemur. "Eww!" he muttered, holding his nostrils shut. Julian grabbed his tail, offended. "You! You are the stinky, fishy penguins!" He yelled, face getting a bit red. "Julian, they were just-" AT started, but was cut off by the lemur. "You are the ones being disgusting! Especially him!" He jabbed Rico in the stomach, causing the maniac to throw up some goo on his feet. "The feet! They´ve been dirtied!" Mort wailed, throwing himself onto the feet. "See?" Julian stuck his tongue out at Skipper, who just smiled smugly and held up a picture of the king digging in his ears with his toes. "Ewww!" The others made. "So, that proves you are garlic." AT face-palmed. "Guys, don´t tell me you´re seriously arguing who is garlic!" "You wouldn´t understand!" Skipper crossed his flippers in front of his chest. "What´s there to understand? You´re basically ripping each other's heads off because Skipper called Julian garlic! Garlic! A plant!" "This is being about pride!" The king stiffened.
"Alright, so Rico, Bada, Bing, Leonard and Mort, you sit right here. Pinky and the other cheerleaders will spread out here in this area. Table two are the brainiacs. Becky, and who else plays brainiacs?" AT asked. No one answered. "Okay, then Lulu, Phil and Mason-why don´t you two have any roles?" "Fey picked them out." Kowalski explained. "Kay then. You four play the geeks and for the last table, we need skater dudes and dudettes." Stacy volunteered, and the chameleons, Shelly and Barry joined her.
"So, Julian, what you have to say, or scream, is this." AT handed him the sheet and pointed to a part. "Okey-doke…what does it say?" "You have to start with, ´Call-back?´ then scream horrified." "AAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHH!" Julian imitated it perfectly. "Uhm, good, but you have to say ´Callback?´ and then scream." "Callback?" "Yes and now scream." "Why?" "Because it´s in the script." "And why does Champagne scream?" "Because she´s angry!" AT growled. "At what?" "AT THE CALL-BACK!" "Oh, okay ahem." Julian cleared his throat. "Call-backs?" He inspected his nails then glared at the pink sheet with the two horrid words on them. "Seriously? You dare to have call-backs?" The king was yelling now, his face all red an angry. "DON´T YOU KNOW WHO I AM, YOU SILLY PAPER?" He jabbed it…and broke a nail. "Ho-h-how DARE YOU BREAK MY NAIL! DON´T YOU KNOW WE DON´T SPEAK WITH VIOLENCE?" The lemur dragged the rest of his nails against the sheet, creating a rip. "I HATE YOU!" He screamed. Half were staring at him, the other half was either laughing too hard, like Skipper, or killing him with glares, like AT. She grabbed his wrist and dragged him off, to lovingly explain it all to him one more time.
"CALLBACK? AAAAAAHHHHHHH!" The scream echoed throughout the school and fell into the outside spaces. Everyone stopped with what they´re doing. A certain lemur was hyperventilating in the hallway. Julian fanned himself hysterically as Ryan read the paper in front of them in horror. "Call-back for roles Arnold and Minnie next Thursday. 3:30pm. Ryan and Sharpay Evans. Gabriella Montez and Troy Bolton." "Is this being some kind of joke?" Julian´s voice cracked with the excitement. "They didn´t even audition!" Then her brother had this glorious idea. "Maybe we´re being punked!" "What?" "Maybe we´re being filmed right now. Maybe we´ll get to meet Ashton!" Even the thought of meeting him didn´t calm Sharpay down. "Oh, shut up, Ryan!" The basket ball team behind them laughed as they approached the drama stars. "Wat´s wong?" Rico mocked, stepping up behind them. His eyes fell on the article. His smile slowly faded as he read it. "Wat?" The basket ball player searched for an explanation in Ryan´s and Sharpay´s faces. The whole crew started to gather around to read the news. Julian let out a whiny groan and stalked off in his high heels. Bada ripped the bulletin board off the wall and read it…or at least pretended too. Mort jumped up and down in the gorilla´s ankle height, trying to see. "I can´t read it! I can´t read it!" He whined.
Sharpay paced the upper lunchroom area, throwing her head around violently. Then she marched up to the table where Private was writing on some pages and Ryan was sipping calmly on a milkshake. The dive marched up to where the two were lunching. "How daring of her to sign up! I already picked out the colors of my dressing room!" "And she hadn´t even asked for permission to join the drama club." Ryan threw in. The paw slammed down on the table obviously frightened Private, who quickly looked away and gathered his papers, which were actually for the enemies. "Someone´s gotta tell her the rules!" Julian hissed. "Exactly!" Her brother agreed, then stopped. "And what are the rules?" "Ohhh!" Julian glared at him before sauntering back to the railing, where she could overlook the entire down level of the lunchroom.
Cheerleaders, brainiacs, skater people, and others were all categorized at their own tables. AT was down there too, helping Mort with his part, since the mouse lemur played Zeke. The only awkward thing is, she had to be dressed as a cheerleader to fit into the picture. Some snickers were heard at first, but T quickly took care of that. She guided Mort in a half-troubled pacing. The mouse lemur looked adorable, a miniature basketball tucked under his arm, and some tiny clothes swishing against him. Suddenly, Mort´s face showed determination as he began singing. "You can bet there´s nothing but net. When I´m in a stove and on a roll. But I got a confession, my own secret obsse-ion. And it´s making me lose control." Rico, Bing and Leonard assembled the others. "Everybody gather ´round!" The crew formed a semi-circle around the lemur.
"I can bake!" Mort beamed proudly. Everyone´s looks changed from curiosity to shock. "Wat?" Rico asked, wanting to make sure he heard correctly. "Yes! I can bake worms, snakes, flies, my tail-" "Not another sound!" His ´friends´ sang, almost seeming offended. "Someday, I hope to bake a perfect garlic sandwich!" Mort whispered hauntingly. "No, no, no, no! No, no, no! Stick to the stuff you know!" The team threw their arms up in desperation before surrounding Mort once more. "If you wanna be cool, follow one simple rule! Don´t mess with the flow, no, no! Stick to the status quo!" Leonard threw him a basketball, which Mort caught-with his face. He landed on the floor, sitting down hard.
"Look at me and what do you see?" Becky slowly put down her history book to reveal her smile. "Intelligence beyond compare! But inside I am stirring, something strange is occurring. It´s a secret I need to share." Now she had everyone´s attention. "Open up dig way down deep!" Becky looked toward Kowalski, who shook his head madly. "Hip-hop is my passion!" The lighting of shock struck the others. "I love to pop and lock and jam and break!" Becky got carried away as she demonstrated the dance moves, bumping into her upset fellow geeks. "Is that even legal?" One wanted to know. "Not another peep!" They threatened her. "It´s just dancing! Sometimes I think it´s cooler than homework." She confessed, realizing her mistake too late. "No, no, no, no! No, no, no! Stick to the stuff you know! It is better than far, to keep things as they are. Don´t mess with the flow, no, no!" The brainiacs danced around with their books before turning toward the poor badger. "Stick to the status quo!" Stacy´s disappointment clearly showed as she sat down again.
"Listen well, I´m ready to tell. About a need that I cannot deny!" Barry had all the focus of the world given to him by his skater buds. Well, the main reason why is so that he doesn´t accidently touch one of them. "Dude there´s no explanation for this awesome sensation! But I´m ready to let it fly." One chameleon stared dully at him, but seemed interested. It was a good choice to put Shelly and Stacy in, because…uh, let´s just say chameleons weren´t meant to sing. Not their stuff. "Speak your mind and you´ll be heard!" Stacy reached out to pat Barry´s back, then quickly drew back again. "Alright, if Troy wants to become a singer, then I´m coming clean. I play the cello!" "Awesome!" Stacy cheered. One chameleon blinked green, purple, green and red. Barry demonstrated what a cello is. "A saw?" Shelly asked, horrified. "No, dude…tte, it´s like a giant violin!" "Not another word!" The rejecting hands almost hit Barry in the face. "Do you have to wear a costume?" Stacy mocked. "Coat and tie!" Barry beamed proudly. BIG mistake.
"No, no, no, no! No, no, no! Stick to the stuff you know! If you wanna be cool, follow one simple rule! Don´t mess with the flow, no, no!" The dudes and dudettes gathered around Barry, almost pleading with him to tell them it´s not true. "Stick to the status quuuuuooo, no!" It seemed like suddenly the whole lunchroom erupted with singing and dancing. "No, no, no! Stick to the stuff you know! It is better by far to keep things as they are, don´t mess with the flow no, no! Stick to the status quo!" Then everyone was off, dancing all over the place, cheerleaders reading books as geeks danced with skaters. Martha\Becky was shaking on the table with Leonard, while Barry and Rico were break dancing on the floor. Mort bounced happily on top of the ball as Bing tried to drag the bow across the cello. It was a mess of dancing students. Then, everything came to a halt. "This is not what I want!" Sharpay glared at the chaos. "This is not what I´ve planned! And I just gotta say, I do not understand!" Ryan sprang up from his seat and joined the king. "Something is really-" "Something´s not right!" "Don´t interrupt me~" Julian sang angrily. "And we gotta get things back where they belong!" The pair sang. "We can do it!"
"Gotta play!" Barry sprang up. "Stick with what you know!" The others lectured him. "We can do it!" "Hip-hop hurray!" Becky said enthusiastically. "She has gotta go!" The disgust was too big to overlook. "We can do it!" "I can bake!" Mort cheered. "Keep your voice down low!" Now everyone was involved with the singing. "Not another peep." "No!" "Not another word." "No!" "Not another sound." "No!" "EVERYBODY SHUT IT!" Julian yelled out. Silence as a certain otter walked in, carrying her lunch try. "Why is everybody staring at you?" Marlene asked Kowalski. "Not me, you." "Because of the call-backs? I can´t have people staring at me, I really can´t!" Marlene confessed with panic.
"NO! No, no, no! Stick with the stuff you know!" Everyone was back with the singing fever. "If you wanna be cool, follow one simple rule, don´t mess with the flow, no, no! Stick to the status quuuuoooo! No, no, no! Stick with the stuff you know! It is better by far to keep things as they are. Don´t mess with the flow, no, no!" Marlene and Kowalski were having much trouble getting away from the mass, trying not to trip over feet and legs. "Stick to the status, stick to the status, stick to the status quo!" Then it happened. Marlene´s feet slid over a wet spot on the floor and her lunch went flying up, up, right onto the chest of Sharpay, who had came to ´talk with her´. Dead silence followed after the horrified gasps.
A\N: R&R! Aaaaannnd, CLIFFHANGER! XP Unless you already know HSM. XD