A/N 1 - hey everyone! Sorry it's been a while since I last posted. I had some personal stuff happen, but it's all good now. My best friend, J, also visited and we spent some time together.
A/N 2 - I own nothing of the lyrics to What Is This Feeling or Defying Gravity from the musical Wicked.
A/N 3 - I've been sick for 3.5 days with laryngitis - just got my voice back today.
Hope you guys enjoy this chapter - it was a lot of fun to write! Only six more chapters until the story is finished.
CHAPTER THIRTEEN
(chapter title - Love Thy Neighbor)
A week later
Everyone was heading to the Rehearsal Space for rehearsal after lunch when a limo pulled into the camp grounds.
"Who do you suppose?" Gretchen asked, adjusting her ponytail.
"Didn't Carol say that one of her friends was coming today?" Marshall asked as he followed his friends into the Performance Space.
Everyone was now in the Performance Space, talking quietly with each other when a man entered, wearing jeans and a black T-shirt that said 'THE PROM' across the front in teal, pink & yellow letters. On his feet, he had expensive looking sneakers on.
"Bruno! You're here!" Carol said, going to hug the man.
"I wouldn't miss it for the world, darling" the man said in an Italian accent. He hugged Carol and kissed her on both cheeks before going to join Carol on stage.
"Is that who I think it is?" Rachel asked.
"You bet your ass, girl" Phoebe said.
Mollie and Savanna squealed, putting their hands over their mouths.
"Okay everyone settle down. I want you to meet my friend" Carol said, talking into a microphone, "we have a lot to do today and not a whole lot of time. You guys may know him from Dancing With The Stars, Strictly Come Dancing and his guest star role on Fuller House, give it up for one of my good friends Bruno Tonioli."
Everyone applauded and cheered.
Bruno smiled and watch the run through of the show, offering advice and dance techniques.
"I know I do ballroom style dance, but I'm enjoying doing this form of dance, darlings" Bruno said after rehearsal, "I give you all tens!"
Everyone applauded and thanked Bruno.
Monica, Rachel, Joey and Gretchen approached Bruno.
"Um, excuse me, Mr. Tonioli, can we get a picture with you?" Gretchen asked shyly.
"Of course, darling!" Bruno said, "and please, call me Bruno."
After Gretchen, Monica, Rachel and Joey took a selfie with Bruno, they thanked him and went to join their friends.
"I think we're gonna start with one of the hardest songs to dance to and that's Love Thy Neighbor. Could I have everyone who is involved with the song come on stage, please?" Bruno asked the campers.
Joey, Savanna, Mollie, Ross and the ensemble came onto the stage.
"The rest of you can do what you want - this is the only thing we need to choreograph today" Carol said.
Everyone exited the Performance Space and went to do their own things.
"Gretchen, wanna go on a horseback ride?" Barney asked.
Gretchen nodded and smiled a bit at Barney.
The two of them headed into the stables and with the help of a staff member got two horses - Splash and Sigmund - ready.
Gretchen got settled in Sigmund's saddle and watched Barney get settled in Splash's saddle.
"Shall we?" Barney asked.
Gretchen nodded and gently squeezed Sigmund's sides, "walk on, Sig."
Sigmund nickered and began walking, hearing Barney and Splash behind her.
The two of them rode for an hour before heading back to camp.
Bruno worked with each cast member, going over their dance moves.
"I think my feet are gonna fall off" Monica said.
"You and me both" Joey said, "that Love Thy Neighbor number is gonna be the death of me."
"I know it's still summer, but let's go to the Mess Hall for some hot chocolate" Gretchen said.
Everyone agreed and headed to the Mess Hall. Gretchen, Rachel, Lily, Monica and Phoebe rode piggyback on Barney, Ross, Marshall, Chandler and Ted's backs, laughing. The rest of the friends - Joey and Robin - walked side by side.
After they had their hot chocolate, everyone went to their cabins, anxious for what the following day would bring.
It seemed everyone had gone to sleep when a bugle playing came over the loudspeakers.
"What?" Gretchen asked, looking at her phone - it was 3:30 AM.
Everyone came out of their cabins in various pajamas, standing in the Performance Space. They were either with friends or small groups. There were even a few people in their birthday suits. They seemed comfortable in their skin.
"What's happening?" Joey asked, stifling a yawn.
"No yawn idea" Rachel said, blinking sleep out of her eyes.
Everyone found seats in the Performance Space. They were about to fall asleep when the song Love Thy Neighbor came blasting on the overhead speakers, making everyone jump in unison.
Bruno strutted onto the stage dressed in a bright pink pair of sequined pajamas. On his feet, he wore tennis shoes that looked expensive. He had a broad smile on his face.
"Those of you in your birthday suits, you may want to throw some clothes on that you can run in" Bruno said, a megaphone in his hand.
"RUN?!" The entire camp said in unison.
"But Bruno, it's 3:30 in the morning. This is a time for sleeping" someone said.
"I know, my darling, but from now on, all of us are going to go for a run around the camp. There are motion censored lights around the camp, so you can see where you are going" Bruno said in a perky voice.
Chandler leaned over to his friends, "remind me later to kill him."
"I'll help you hide the body" Phoebe said, her hair in pigtails.
Once everyone was ready for their early morning run, Bruno led the way on a bicycle.
"Something has changed within me
Something is not the same" Gretchen started singing sleepily. Barney looked over at her, smiling.
"I'm through with playing by the rules of
Someone else's game" Barney sang, a little more awake.
"Too late for second-guessing
Too late to go back to sleep" Joey and Rachel sang.
"It's time to trust my instincts
Close my eyes and leap" Robin, Marshall and Lily sang.
"It's time to try defying gravity
I think I'll try defying gravity
And you can't pull me down" the entire camp sang as they ran.
The campers sang Defying Gravity, Don't Rain On My Parade and Alexander Hamilton, a little more awake as they sang and ran.
After the campers did two laps around the camp, they were allowed to go back to sleep, only to be awakened five hours later.
"Is he always this perky?" Lily asked, stifling a yawn.
"Who Bruno?" Monica asked.
"No, The Pope. Of course Bruno!" Lily said, pouring coffee onto her cereal.
"Um Lils" Monica said, seeing Lily's cereal.
"Oh crap" Lily said. She stood up and went to throw her cereal away, opting to grab an apple instead.
"Good choice, darling" Bruno said as he walked by Lily, heading to the table that the staff sat at.
Lily glared at Bruno's retreating back as she headed to her table.
"What?" Phoebe asked.
Lily sat at the table and began eating her apple, "Bruno just told me 'good choice' after I grabbed my apple."
Everyone at the table frowned.
Throughout the day, tempers ran short and there were fights that broke out through the campers. Luckily, it was just verbal fights and not physical fights.
Lily and Robin were two of the campers that got into a verbal fight and weren't speaking with each other, which made their scenes in rehearsal awkward.
"Bruno, will you tell Lily that I'm never speaking to her again for as long as I live?" Robin told Bruno.
"Bruno, can you tell Robin that she's tone deaf and keeps missing her cues?" Lily said, crossing her arms over her chest.
"Ladies, ladies, let's not fight" Joey said, coming onto the stage.
Robin and Lily rolled their eyes.
"Uh, Joey - you're not in this scene" Bruno said, flipping through the script, "we're working on Alyssa and Mrs. Greene scenes right now. Love Thy Neighbor is after lunch."
"Oops. I'm sorry" Joey said, going to sit in the audience and flipped through his script.
After lunch, tensions were still high, but everyone seemed to be getting along, except Robin and Lily. They had completely stopped talking to each other, which was awkward for everyone around them.
Since Lily was done with her scenes, she went to the barn and went to find a groom.
"Excuse me, is it possible for me to ride Absolute?" Lily asked.
"Yeah. Grab his grooming bucket and we'll work on getting him ready together. Do you want to ride English or Western?" The groom asked.
"English, please" Lily said, going to Absolute's stall, smiling at the grey gelding inside, "hi bubba. Wanna go for a ride?"
Absolute nickered softly, turning his butt away from the door so Lily could get him in the crossties in the aisle way.
As she groomed Absolute, Lily talked to him about what was going on with her and Robin.
"I want my best friend back. I miss her" Lily told Absolute as she cleaned out his hooves.
Absolute snorted, flicking his ears back and forth.
Once Absolute was saddled and bridled, Lily led him to the indoor arena and checked his girth and stirrups before mounting him and adjusted her helmet.
The groom closed the gate behind Lily, "I have chores to do, so don't push him faster than a canter. The vet is coming to check on all the horses and give them vaccines, so I'll need him in about an hour, okay?"
"Okay" Lily said, "is it okay if I jump him?"
"I just put all the jumps away, but I could give you a dressage pattern to do. Is there a song you wanna play while you do the pattern?" The groom asked.
"What Is This Feeling from Wicked - it's my go-to dressage song" Lily said, walking Absolute around the arena.
"You have horses?" The groom asked, brushing her ponytail over her shoulder.
"I did when I was a kid. I had a pony named Bullet, then I graduated to my mare - Evaline. I worked at a dude ranch for two summers to be able to afford Evaline" Lily said.
The groom smiled, "that's a pretty name - Evaline."
"She was a beautiful horse - she was a deep chestnut Dutch Warmblood. She had a broad blaze and two back socks. She loved going over jumps and dressage" Lily said.
"What happened to her?" The groom asked as she walked on foot next to Lily.
"She died shortly after delivering her first and only foal - a little filly I named Eva" Lily said.
The groom smiled, "where's Eva now?"
"She's at a stable for kids with disabilities. She's been there five years now. She's six years old" Lily said. She slapped her forehead, "I don't think we've met - I'm Lily."
"I'm Matilda, but you can call me Tilda" the groom - Matilda said.
"It's nice to meet you" Lily said.
"You too" Matilda said, furrowing her brow, "you look familiar."
"I've been here before with my friends" Lily said.
Matilda smiled, "well, I'm gonna do my chores. The pattern for you is on the wall next to the mounting block, along with the jukebox. I'll get your music for you. You wanted What Is This Feeling, right?"
Lily nodded, "yes, please."
Matilda smiled and got the music ready on the jukebox, "when you're done riding, I'll take care of him and get him ready for the vet. You can leave him in the crossties, if you would."
"I will" Lily said, hearing the opening notes of What Is This Feeling?
Lily did the dressage test a couple times before it was time to put Absolute in his stall.
"And I will be loathing, loathing you
My whole life long!" The song finished with Elphaba scaring Glinda, which always made Lily laugh.
As she exited the stable, Lily nearly bumped into a group of people there for a ride.
"Um, guys - you might want to reschedule your ride. The vet is here and he's going to be doing a vet check on all the horses" Lily said.
"Okay. Thanks for letting us know" someone said, smiling at Lily, "hey - you're in The Prom, right and you play Alyssa? Yeah, Bruno's looking for you."
"Shoot! Thank you!" Lily said, running as fast as she could to the Performance Space, "sorry - I'm here!"
"There you are, darling!" Bruno said in a friendly voice, "why do you look like you were just in a hurricane?"
"I was at the stable for a ride when someone said you were looking for me" Lily said, catching her breath.
"Ah. I rode horses myself back in Italy as a boy" Bruno said, smiling, "what is the name of the horse you ride?"
"Absolute" Lily said, "you?"
"Bella and Tango" Bruno said, "anyway, I was wondering if we could work on the final dance number - It's Time To Dance."
"Oh yeah. Of course" Lily said, putting her hair into a high ponytail.
She, Bruno and the small ensemble worked on the dance moves for a while before Bruno excused everyone.
Lily headed to the Mess Hall, hoping to spot her friends at their tables. She grabbed food and went to sit at her assigned table.
"Hey - there's no assigned tables, so you can sit where you want" Savanna said kindly, "so, can I sit with you?"
"Huh? Of course" Lily said, "you haven't seen Gretchen, Barney, Marshall, Ted, Robin, Rachel, Joey, Ross, Chandler, Monica or Phoebe have you?"
Savanna looked around, "not yet. Is it okay if Mollie joins us, too?"
"Sure" Lily said, seeing Gretchen and Barney, "Gretchen! Barney! Over here!"
Gretchen turned at hearing Lily's voice and walked over, "hey girlie!"
"Hey! Where have you guys been?" Lily asked as Barney and Mollie sat down.
"After rehearsal, Barney and I went to the beach, then went for a walk" Gretchen said, lowering her voice, "Barney and I did the deed."
Lily smiled, "how was it? Did you two have protection?"
"It was great and yes, we did" Barney said, also keeping his voice low.
The friends chatted for a bit before heading to their cabins, now closer than ever.
"You think we could be friends outside camp?" Mollie asked.
"Of course" Gretchen said, smiling.
Lily entered her cabin and went into the bathroom to change into her pajamas and brush her teeth, wondering what the following day would bring.