AN1: I decided to take a tiny break from the Emily/JJ storyline to check in with the pack and see how they were reacting to Emily getting into the play. I tried to make the girls a little catty but also a bit territorial maybe. So far, the only one who knows Emily is with JJ (other than JJ) is Garcia, so the Pack Girls don't know their bf's are safe, hehehe. As for the guys...I tried to make them typical guys.

Chapter 13

The two weeks after the night at the diner passed by fairly quickly for the gang. Emily had auditioned for the school play and she'd won the role of Rizzo. Unfortunately, the role of Sandy went to Jo Marlowe. JJ hadn't auditioned for the play because she knew who would end up playing Danny and she wasn't about to put herself in the position of having to kiss Trevor Langan.

Trevor did manage to get the role of Danny Zuko, while his best friend Jim Steele landed the role of Kenickie. Ryan, Dale and Ruben each landed the roles of the rest of the T-Birds which just made the guys happy. It would be much easier playing the close friends on stage when they were all friends off stage too.

Jo Marlowe got the role of Sandy, Liz Oliviet had wanted the role of Rizzo but lost it to Emily so she settled for the role of Frenchie. Becca and Dani got the roles of Marty and Jan respectively. Monique hadn't auditioned because she wasn't much of a singer. She volunteered instead to work on the sets and backstage stuff so she could still hang out with her friends.

The day Mrs. Hotchner posted the cast list, the girls got together to celebrate. Jo, Dani, Liz, Becca and Monique were at Jo's house that night having a sleepover. They hadn't invited Emily because none of them knew how to approach her. She was, after all, friends with JJ and her crew.

The evening had gone smoothly at first, as the girls talked and laughed and just had a fun time. It wasn't until around 10 o'clock that Monique brought up the subject of the play.

"So, Jo, have you talked to Jim yet about the kissing in the play? I mean is he going to be okay with you kissing Trevor? Come to think of it, are you going to be ok with Jim kissing that new girl Emily?" Monique had a bit of a bad side to her that liked stirring up trouble. She personally didn't have a problem with her own boyfriend Ruben, kissing Liz because she knew it wouldn't mean anything.

Jo turned to look first at Liz, who was dating Trevor, then at Monique, "Jim and I haven't talked yet but I doubt he'd have a problem with it. We're all friends. He knows that Trevor is with Liz. As for the new girl Emily, well...she's not someone I am worried about." Jo spoke confidently. She and Jim had a very open relationship. They were too mature to let something like this mess with them. Besides, she knew that Jim was still crushing on Alex Cabot, she didn't care because she was just killing time with Jim until she could steal Elliot away from his girlfriend Kathy.

Liz listened and, while she knew that most of what Jo had said was BS, she knew there was some truth to it. She knew Jo wasn't concerned about the kissing in the play. Jo wasn't worried about Jim but she wasn't being honest when she said she wasn't worried about Emily. Emily was the unknown element in the play. They all had been in productions together since the seventh grade. They knew how they would react and they all knew that whatever happened onstage would stay onstage and not spill over into the real world. They couldn't be sure it was the same for Emily because they'd never worked with her. So while Jo said she wasn't worried, Liz knew she was, mostly because she herself was worried about Emily.

The others all silently shared Liz's concern. It was Dani who actually voiced them though. "I think we might have to be concerned with Emily. None of us have ever worked with her. We're all used to working with each other and we all agreed a long time ago to leave what happens onstage, in the theater. We don't let it affect our regular lives but, we don't know how Emily is going to be. What if she does her kissing scenes with Jim and she likes them a bit too much? Or one of the other guys? Ryan and Dale are single so I am not too worried about them but, how do we know she's not the type to slip in and steal someone's boyfriend?"

The girls thought about that for a moment before Jo spoke up again, "if she tries something like that, then we'll just have to...educate her on the consequences of trying to steal someone's boyfriend. JJ and her little band of followers have already gotten to her though, so I don't think she'd try to cross them by trying to get with one of the guys. Like you said, Ryan and Dale are single so if they want to be with her I won't stand in the way. But if she tries to go after Jim or Trevor or Ruben well, she'll regret it."

Becca grinned then she thought of something, "hey um...maybe it's just me but, have any of you noticed that Emily tends to stay a little too close to JJ when they are all together?"

"They all pair off Becca, just like we do, it doesn't have to mean anything. You and Ryan sometimes pair up just to keep people from talking too much." Liz pointed out.

"Yeah but, I don't know it just seems to me like she and JJ hang out a lot and we all know JJ is gay. Maybe Emily is with her?"

Silence fell on the girls as they thought about that, they were each mentally reviewing all the times they'd noticed the other group of kids and how each time, Emily and JJ were paired off together.

Monique broke the silence this time, "okay you might be onto something Becca but, have you also noticed that Morgan and Garcia are always together? We know Morgan is single because he still flirts with other girls. Besides, I've also seen Emily and Morgan whispering together so who knows?" Monique wanted to cling to the belief that Morgan was still single. Despite the rejection she got from him a few months ago, she still held on to the hope that he would change his mind one day.

Dani joined the debate with the voice of logic, even if it was tinged with a slight dramatic flair, "while there's compelling evidence for both scenarios, I think the best thing we can do is just wait and watch. Just keep on our toes and make sure Little Miss Emily doesn't try anything that will mess with the play. If she is gay and dating JJ, then we won't have to worry about the guys. But if she's straight then...well if she knows what's good for her she won't try anything with our guys. Last thing we need is some kind of West Side Story crap breaking out between us and JJ's crew."

The other girls laughed at the analogy but they agreed with Dani. After that, they noticed the time and realized they needed to get some sleep. They all turned in, snuggling into sleeping bags on air mattresses.

Trevor, Jim, Ryan, Dale and Ruben were hanging out at Jim's house playing video games while the girls had their sleepover.

Dale and Ryan were battling it out on Mortal Kombat: Deadly Alliance while Ruben ran upstairs to use the bathroom. Jim's bedroom was in the basement which gave him the privacy that teenage boys crave so much.

Jim and Trevor were across the room leaning up against the mini bar that his parents had bought him, though they made sure he only had soda, juice and water in the mini fridge behind the bar.

Jim looked at Trevor for a minute before he said, "so, I heard a rumor today that I think you might be interested in knowing."

Trevor, who'd been watching his friends as they played the video game, turned his head to look at his best friend, "Oh? What'd you hear?"

Jim grinned, "I heard that a certain blue-eyed blonde soccer star almost auditioned for the role of Sandy." Jim watched his friend's face as he spoke, waiting for the reaction he knew would come.

Trevor took that news in with a stoic look on his face but he knew his eyes gave him away. He had accepted a while ago that he'd probably always have a thing for JJ, despite the fact that she was gay. Logically, he knew he'd never have a chance with her but, deep down, his heart refused to believe that she was really gay, that this wasn't some phase that she would grow out of and when she did, Trevor hoped to be right there to be her first boyfriend. But he also knew his buddies loved to give him grief over his crush on JJ so he carefully hid his reaction and said, "really? Somehow I doubt that Jim. She's never gone out for the school plays in the past so why now? I think your information is flawed."

Jim paused a moment then, "well, flawed or not, that's what I heard. Still, it's probably for the best that Jo got the role instead. She's a great actress."

"Yeah she is. I have to say I think I got the better end of this casting deal. I know Jo, I know her acting skills and we're already friends so it won't be weird to play her love interest but, man, how are you going to handle playing opposite of that new girl?"

Jim frowned for a minute as he tried to think about who Trevor meant, he smiled as he called up her face, "Oh yeah...what's her name? Emily something right? Yeah she's a looker. The dark hair and that body, she looks like she could definitely handle the role of Rizzo. Don't worry about me man, it won't be a hardship to kiss her if you know what I mean."

Jim and Trevor laughed at that for a moment before Ruben joined them, "what's so funny?"

"Jim was talking about that new girl, Emily, who's playing Rizzo in the play. She's hot, right?"

Ruben nodded his agreement. "Oh yeah, almost makes me wish I'd gone out for the Kenickie role. But she's new, how do we know she can even act?"

"Act? Who cares if she can act? All I care about is can she kiss." Jim said, only half joking. The guys, like the girls, all took acting seriously. They were all determined to move out to California together after graduation to try to hit it big. "Seriously though, I don't think Mrs. H would've cast her as Rizzo if she couldn't act. It's the singing that's going to be the true test though."

The other two nodded in agreement. The singing was going to be as important as the acting, maybe even more so considering it was Grease.

Before they could get back into a discussion the looks of the new girl, Ryan let out a victory cry as his fighter defeated Dale's in battle on the screen. The three boys moved over to the couch where the guys were playing and after congratulating Ryan on the win, they switched up players and continued playing. All thoughts about the school play were soon forgotten as they shifted their focus to the game.

TBC...

AN2: I'll get back to the main plot soon enough I just wanted to remind everyone of the Pack since, when I get into the whole play subplot they will be around a bit more.

Enjoy!

~A.