This story was created during the 2023 SAG-AFTRA & WGA strikes. Without the hard work of these incredible unions, the world of High School Musical The Musical The Series wouldn't exist. For more information about how you can help with the ongoing strikes, please refer to the link you can find on my profile.
Pre-Chapter and Pre-Story Authors Note #1:
Alright, for those who I may have shared this with before, I know what you're thinking. Why does this story look different? Didn't I already do that once? Well, yes. However, there are two primary reasons why I'm choosing to redo this story.
Number one, throughout the six chapters that I had shared before deciding to completely redo everything, I noticed after the fact that most of them had, at least to me, multiple and noticeable grammatical errors. In several instances, I flat out used the wrong word when I meant an entirely different word. With that, prior to, and after, the release of High School Musical The Musical The Series Season 4, I wanted to take the time to go through each of my previously-released chapters and perfect them to the best of my ability. I wanted to make the best version of this story that I can, especially because I felt like I rushed several aspects of it in order to get the chapters out on time, and that's not how I want to do things anymore. I want to make sure I'm taking the time to get things right.
Number two, and as an extension to number one, I want to take the time to really expand the story. There's several plot points that I barely addressed in the previous iteration of this story because I was trying to get the chapters done as quickly as possible, and that is no longer an acceptable train of thought for me. I want to tell a nice story that addresses everything that I want to address, which is also compelling, interesting, and special. With that, you'll notice that all of the chapters are a little bit (and in some cases a lot) longer than they were when originally released. This is so that I can truly expand the story, in ways I haven't been able to do before. I was inspired to do this when doing my HSMTMTS rewatch ahead of Season 4's release (which at the time of this re-release happened over two weeks ago). I saw things, especially in Season 1 (which is one this first section, The Start Of Something New, is based off of), that I feel like I could use and expand this story and make it a whole lot better. In addition, there are several instances where the story is completely different than it was previously. Upon doing my HSMTMTS rewatch, I've completely changed the trajectory of Emma Wood, there were several things I noticed that I could do differently, so now I'm taking the time to do them differently.
I hope all of that makes sense. With that, please enjoy this first chapter, anf get to enjoy the entire first section (10 chapters in all + interludes), for you to enjoy over the coming weeks, as all of us in the Wildcat faithful celebrate and enjoy, and even shed some tears, as we watch and enjoy the final season of High School Musical The Musical The Series for a long time to come…
Pre-Chapter Authors Note #2: The following songs are used throughout the course of this chapter:
Start Of Something New - High School Musical
Once Upon A Time - Descendants 3
With that, please enjoy the opening chapter of Emma's Journey At East High.
A teenage girl, with long brown hair tied back into a ponytail, purple leather jacket, and purple headphones, is seen in front of a microphone and laptop. Currently, she's singing her heart out on a new cover for a new YouTube venture that she's trying out. The song she's singing? Well, I think it'll come to mind rather quickly.
"It's the start of somethin' new / It feels so right to be here with you, oh / And now, lookin' in your eyes / I feel in my heart / That it's the start of somethin' new / It feels so right to be here with you, oh / And now, lookin' in your eyes / I feel in my heart (Feel in my heart) / The start of somethin' new (The start of somethin' new) / The start of somethin' new"
As she shuts off her recording, she speaks, to give an introduction.
"Hey, I'm Emma Wood. I'm a queer singer, songwriter (or at least I'm trying to be a songwriter), and a musical fanatic. Hamilton, Glenda, and, as you just heard, the DCOM musicals. My all-time favorite? The High School Musical trilogy. I love the story, I love the soundtrack, and I love everything in-between. Music and musicals are a big part of my life. They give me something to look forward to, and most important of all, they help to distract me from the miserable things going on in my life right now."
This was about a week ago. I'm at the end of the table. My parents, Julia & Brad Wood, were having a massive argument, again. I still didn't fully understand what was going on. They have had several arguments like this for weeks before this, about various topics. Today, however, it was about me. Both were accusing the other of not being there for me when I was needed most. At this point, I got up and left the table. What made the situation worse is that they never even noticed I left. I was so irritated and upset that I cried myself to sleep that night.
Now, here we are today. As I finish recording my cover of Start Of Something New from the first High School Musical movie, my mom comes into the room, to deliver some heartbreaking news.
"Hey mom, what's up?" I asked.
"Sweetie, have you noticed the fights that me and your father have been having lately?" My mother, Julia Wood, asks me, with pain in her voice at having to even ask the question in the first place.
"It's kind of hard not to notice, if we're being honest." I replied, looking away from her for a brief moment, almost in disbelief at everything that had happened.
"I know, and we're sorry for that, and we're both very sorry with how much we've been ignoring you. That's not fair to you, and it's not fair that we haven't been completing our parental responsibilities." My mother says, clearly distraught by how poorly they have been treating me.
"That's great and all mom, but what are you trying to say to me right now? You both have been ignoring me for such a long period of time. Why the change of tune now?" I asked in confusion.
"Well sweetie, I came to tell you that your father and I are getting a divorce. We filed the paperwork this morning, and we're heading out this afternoon to get it finalized. We feel that's going to be best for the two of us, and for you, going forward." My mother replies, getting straight to the point and not going beyond that.
I knew that this day would come, but still. It hurt me to see that my parents were separating, even if they as of late haven't been treating me as well as they should be. I live by the motto of treating others the way you want to be treated, and that's what I've been trying to do, but it hasn't worked and probably will never work. Still, it hurt me that my parents were in that state of mind. I was on the brink of crying. Even though I expected it, there was a part of me that was in a state of shock this was happening. I couldn't believe it.
"I'm sorry sweetie. Once it's finalized, you can choose who you want to live with it. For now, stay here and watch the house while we're gone." Was all that my mother could say, as she proceeds to walk out the bedroom door.
"Sounds good." Was all I could say in response.
With that, my mom was gone. Off she and my dad were to getting divorced. Again, I had been expecting this for weeks. Things between them weren't going well, at all. They had been ignoring each other nearly all-day, every day for weeks. They had mostly been ignoring me for weeks. It wasn't smooth sailing. Nowhere even close to that. Nonetheless, I was saddened to see their marriage dissolve. It didn't make me feel that great, that was for sure. However, I was given a blessing to take my mind off the news, when I receive a shocking phone call, regarding my good friend, Nina Salazar-Roberts.
Let's explain this one. How did we end up meeting? Me and Nina Salazar-Roberts, or Nini as she's known (to think we call her Nini all because of Ricky having trouble saying Nina when the two of them had first met), met at a random park in Utah about 3 years ago, the night before I was going to pay a visit and take a tourist tour of East High. She saw me sitting alone, and asked if I could sit with her. I said yes, and then from there, we got to know each other. I found out she was a theater kid, she found out I too was a theater kid, and we both love musicals. So yeah, we hit it off and we hit it off well. Even though she lived in Utah, and I lived in Atlanta, Georgia, we talked over Facetime as often as we could. We sang together, laughed together, and so much more. It was great, especially considering the fact that I have had a horrible track record in terms of making friends. Whether it's just because of my shy personality, or my autism diagnosis, or something else entirely. I had a lot of troubles, and Nini made it easy, and now here we are.
Anyway, with all of that out of the way, I answered the Facetime call of Nini's current boyfriend EJ. Now, last I checked, they are about to go into auditions for High School Musical The Musical (side note: it's mind-blowing to me that it's been this long and the school where the High School Musical movies were shot has never once staged a production of High School Musical The Musical), so why is EJ calling me now, and why is he calling me period? Unless Nini's doing the thing…
"Hey." EJ says when he can see me on Facetime.
"Is she doing the accent when nervous thing again?" I asked.
"Yeah. If you could help calm her down quickly, that would be great." EJ requests.
"You got it." I said in response.
For context, Nini has had this tendency to talk in a British accent whenever she gets really nervous. It's just been her thing, and now I have to try and help prevent that from happening any further…
"Em? What are you doing?" Nini asks, in amazement and in a British accent.
"Trying to help you out of your nervous state of mind." I revealed.
"It's just that… there's something off-limits to me about all this. I just don't know what it is." Nini confesses.
"Whatever it is, get your head in the game and pull yourself together. This is your moment. Don't waste it. Own it." I reassured her.
"That means a lot." Nini states.
"That was the point." I said in response, sarcastically.
"Of course." Nini says.
"Now go on. Go fly Nini. You're born to be brave, and it's time to show it." I said, confidently.
"Damn right it is." Nini says in response, as she runs off to get started.
I then hang up, so I can give Nini and EJ time to do their thing and kick some butt and get the roles.
Nini is always one of the most talented people imaginable. After all, she got the chance to go on as the lead in The Music Man at summer camp when Emily Pratt got sick. Twenty minutes' notice was all she had and now look at her. She just needs to have more confidence in herself. If she is as confident as she is when she is helping me to cheer me up during some of my darkest moments, we're in great shape…
Banging at the door.
What on earth could that be? I guess I'll go see what's going on. I get to the door, I open the door, and there's a police officer at the door, with two more sitting in their cars right outside the driveway.
"I'm Officer Johnson of the Atlanta Police Department. That's officers Miller and Jackson. Ma'am, are you the daughter of Julia & Brad Wood?" Officer Johnson asks.
"I am, yes. My name is Emma Wood." I replied.
"Ms. Wood, we came here to inform you we will have to ask you to leave the house. Pack some things if you need to, but we'll have to ask you to leave." Officer Johnson states.
"Why's that? I live here." I stated, confused as to what was going on.
"Yes, you may live here. However, the house is under police investigation now. Your father just shot your mother outside of the station, which is on the way to the courthouse to meet with the clerk to formally send in their divorce papers, and then shot himself after he had repeatedly refused to comply with our commands." Officer Johnson states, as professionally as he can.
"So they're both dead now?" I asked, tears building up in my eyes, knowing that I probably already knew the answer the officer was going to give me.
"They are. We will take you to wherever you can stay in the meantime, but we will need to inspect the house for evidence, and we can't have you in the way. We'll give you the time you need." Officer Johnson replies.
"Thank you officer. I'll be back out in a little bit." I stated, making sure to not let my emotions out in front of the officer, out of fear of embarrassment.
As I began packing up my laptop, microphone, posters, clothes, and more [I knew I wasn't gonna live at this house on my own, too big, no way], I started crying. Both of my parents were about to get divorced, but they were still gonna be alive. That is until my dad decided to shoot both my mom and then himself. I'm not only an only child, but now I gotta figure out how to live on my own. What am I going to do…?
Music & Singing Start
"Me (singing): Here I am alone, and maybe I deserve it / And my friends, well, they're mostly non-existent / And that's on me / I had a cause to help but did I help it? / Or did I see myself in a way that wasn't true? / This is not my father's fairytale / And no, it's not my mother's fault I fail / So when my story finally comes to light / I need to make sure the story that they write / Says once upon a time this girl flies higher / Once upon a time she's trying to make things right / Once upon a tie that binds / I'm changing my heart / To change their minds / That's got to be my once upon a time / This once upon a time / Maybe I'll finally see my once upon a time / This time"
I then finished packing my stuff, and then, out the door I went. When I stepped outside, I turned back to look at the house for the final time as a resident. I know that I'm not going to be able to stay here. It's simply too big of a living space for little ol' me to be roaming around it. That being said, I'm gonna need to figure something else out, and I'm gonna need to figure something else out rather quickly, because I don't exactly have any family nearby. I'll just have to trust the process, and see where the world takes me.
Thankfully for me, there's a nice little cafe downtown that's a chill place to hang out. I drive down, with my stuff in my car (I fear it might get stolen but I really don't have much of a choice). This can be where I try to figure out what I need to do and how I am going to do it, but my head is in a million different places of thought right now, so it's going to be hard…
Oh great, Nini's calling. Just what I need right now.
"Hey Nini, what's up?" I asked.
"I got the part!" Nini squeals with excitement.
Oh My God. Did she get THE part?
"You got casted as Gabriella?" I asked in amazement.
"Yes!" Nini squeals again, with even more excitement this time.
Now, we're both squealing in excitement. I can't believe she's done it. Well-earned Nini, well-earned.
"I guess your motivational pep talk really helped me." Nini says, gratefully.
"I have my moments, and so do you. This is absolutely incredible! You deserve this so much." I said, excited for Nini.
"I just wish Ricky wasn't trying to get in the way…" Nini casually confesses.
Wait, did she just say Ricky? As in, the same Ricky that said "let's take a pause while you're going off to summer camp", which put Nini in a sad enough state to the point where I was flying out from Atlanta to Salt Lake City just to comfort her? Who else would she be talking about I suppose…
"What do you mean by getting in the way?" I asked.
"He showed up to auditions, played my song I wrote for him, and then he got casted as Troy over EJ, who ended up with Chad, and now he's Ricky's understudy." Nini reveals.
Welp. This can only mean one thing…
"You don't think he's trying to win you back, or get back on your good side, or something like that, do you?" I asked her.
"He claims that's not what he's really trying to do, but I believe that's what he's doing, yes." Nini replies.
"Alright, so Nini, I know this is going to be an uncomfortable position for you to be in, but you gotta move on past it, and focus on what's important. Don't let Ricky ruin this for you." I suggested.
"I won't. I'll let you be on your way. Talk to you soon." Nini says.
You may have noticed that I chose not to tell Nini about what happened with my parents…
This is her big spotlight moment, and I'm not going to ruin it for her. She needs this, and I'm not going to ruin it. No way in hell. That being said, however, I don't know who I'm going to be able to tell about this, but I need to figure it out and fast…