#for a costume Rizzo wears in one five-minute scene | Explore Tumblr posts and blogs

seriestrash · 8 years ago

Text

You Me Her

1 || 2 || 3 ||

Chapter Four: Drama Club

Word Count: 2674

↠ ♥ ↞

After Kai whisks Riley away from Lucas and Maya, he leads her out to the courtyard where they first met that morning. The boy sits himself on an empty table top and rests his feet on the bench seat attached. Riley quietly sits herself adjacent to him at the end of the seat.

“Back to the scene of the crime..” Riley lets out a nervous giggle.

“Again I stress, that was not me.” Kai crinkles his nose in disgust at himself.

“And bursting through doors crying like a weirdo isn’t me either.” Riley tries to make light of it even though she was actually embarrassed. “May I ask why you were out here?”

“Well considering I already know why you were upset I suppose it’s only fair I share my truth.” Kai sighs.

Riley deflates a little once she’s reminded how people know her business without her even having to explain it. Still, Riley tries her best to listen respectfully as Kai gives an explanation.

“I’m in this group chat with the other kids in the drama club and we were discussing auditions for the winter musical- Which is Grease, by the way.” Kai continues. “And I said I was going to audition for Danny Zuko and they laughed at me.”

“Why?” Riley asks cautiously as she had a feeling this could get heated.

“Apparently I look too soft.” Kai says with an eye roll.

Riley had thought it - not that he wasn’t right for the part - but Kai certainly did have an innocent look about him. In the short time Riley’s known Kai, she realises looks certainly don’t describe a person, not this person anyway. Even though there were in the same year level Kai was never on Riley’s radar so that morning was really the first time she’s processed his existence. At first glance Riley got immediate shy guy vibes from him. He had that soft and pure look to him that the other drama club members mentioned. After Kai handed her a tissue out in the courtyard Riley felt a kindness from him and when he whisked Riley away in the hall moments earlier Riley sensed a protective nature. In the conversation that follows and many more after this day Riley realises just how the opposite Kai is to how he looks. It’s not that he isn’t pure it’s just that he’s confident, bubbly and so personable. Definitely not shy. Riley can’t believe how many people he knows. It has her questioning her own friend group and Riley wonders if it was healthy how consumed she was with so little people but then she thinks about quality over quantity and ends up on a thought spiral for hours.

“So I came out here to prove to them I wasn’t soft.” Kai continued.

Riley nods along as he speaks, not saying much herself.

“What do you think?” Kai asks. “Do you think I’m soft?”

“Ugh..” Riley isn’t exactly how to answer without offending the boy.

“Oh my god you think I’m soft!” Kai groans.

“No, no, it’s not that!” Riley scrambles quickly. “If I’m being honest you do have a... sweet... look about you but it’s acting. How can anyone say you’re not able to play a part?”

“Thank you!” Kai exclaims. “It’s not like I’d wear my glasses and snort on stage. I’d be in costume acting like Danny.”

“Exactly!” Riley nods with a smile. “I say you quit the teen rebel act and put that energy into your audition.”

“I knew this friend thing was a good idea.” Kai wears a wide grin. “Now, you’ve got the ‘too pure to be pink’ part down so I think we should work on the ‘You’re the one that I want’ Sandy.” Kai eyes Riley.

Riley squints at him wondering if Kai realises he’s just used the same sort of remark on Riley that offended him in the first place and as if he read her mind because Kai mumbles an explanation how he means it positively. Like she’s already nice so they didn’t need to work on that aspect of the roll. Either way Riley wasn’t offended but more so shocked at what Kai was suggesting.

“You think I should audition for Sandy?” Riley gives him a quizzical look.

“Did you want to be Rizzo or someone else?” Kai is confused at her shock.

“They’re a bit.. I don’t know.. Major rolls?” Riley laughs nervously.

“Your point?” Kai coaxes his head. “You audition for the main and then if you get something smaller you get something smaller.”

“I can’t be Sandy.” Riley shakes her head.

“Why not?” Kai questions.

“Well for starters I have brown hair...” Riley scrambles nervously. “Sandy’s blonde.”

“Riley please, it’s 2017, I could audition for Sandy.” Kai chuckles. “I don’t think being a brunette will hurt your chances.”

“I don’t know.” Riley shakes her head.

"Have you ever acted before?” Kai questions.

“I played Juliet in Romeo and Juliet back in middle school... But that turned out to be a disaster.” Both the play and the promise that Lucas made her after it.

“We could do a joint audition!” Kai beams. “That way you’d be less nervous having a friend up there with you! We could be Abigail Adam’s very own Danny and Sandy... You know if Danny was more interested in sleeping with Kenickie.”

Riley lets out a soft and genuine giggle which makes Kai smile. “So you’ll be my audition partner?” Kai asks.

Riley’s just about to nod when another doubtful thought flows into her mind. “Grease is a musical... I don’t sing.”

“There’s a difference between don’t and won’t.” Kai says with a crooked smile. “We can work that out together.”

Riley nods finally. “So you don’t think I should start small? Maybe go for a minor roll or something?”

“You’re Juliet, Riley.” Kai holds her gaze. “You’re not.. Capulet number five.”

Kai was so encouraging of Riley and they were practically strangers but his terminology like calling her his friend after five seconds of knowing each other was so inviting and it really made Riley feel good about things too.

It’s clear to Riley that the play is important to Kai and he’s placed faith in her with their audition, something of such monumental importance. Something about Kai- Everything about Kai, his confidence, kindness and blind faith in Riley saw her taking her own leap of faith and actively agreeing to audition with him for the lead rolls.

After the new friendship was born it was only three days until auditions for the musical so the two teens worked religiously on their lines together every afternoon. Kai quickly deducted Riley was more of a ‘won't than don't’ in regards to singing so he helped her loosen up and they had fun with the songs.

The two watched the movie three times over for ‘research' and each time they’d end up bouncing on Riley’s bed singing the tongue twister of a final song over and over for practice. Three days with Kai and Riley was back to her giggly self. Given, any moment of Riley’s spare time was poured into her new friendship which really took her mind off other pressing issues.

Riley is quite trusting and easily places her faith in new people. This isn’t always a good thing as it can turn out negatively for her but Riley’s newfound friendship with Kai was anything but negative as her faith was put in possibly the best person she could and as time would tell Riley had made a lifelong friend in Kai.

The afternoon of the audition arrives and Riley nervously finds a seat in the auditorium. Kai is busy as an existing member of the drama club. He and the other nine students - a few from each grade - were all given jobs by Ms. Mitchell - the drama club teacher - to ensure the auditions ran smoothly.

Riley sits anxiously in her seat and watches as student after student takes the stage. Riley believes each one to be a hundred times better than her. Fifteen minutes in Riley is approached by someone.

“Is this seat taken?” He asks quietly not wanting to interrupt the audition process.

Riley smiles softly at the boy and motions for him to take the seat. The whisper belonged to Noah Pearson a boy in Riley’s year level. She knew him from her English class although they’d never actually spoken. Noah is intimidatingly good looking and also a star player on the football team despite only being a freshman. Had Riley of not seen him around school before she might have been nervous in his presence but Riley had first hand witnessed his kind nature so she felt instantly at ease with him.

“So, are you auditioning or just spectating?” Noah whispers.

“Auditioning... Regretfully.” Riley lets out a quiet and nervous chuckle.

“I’m sure you’ll be great.” Noah gives her a warm grin. “Your English speeches are always so effortless and captivating.

Noah’s short but kind statement boosted her confidence entirely. “Thank you.” She whispers back. “What about you, are you watching or auditioning?”

“Watching of course!” He giggles nervously. “You’ve seen me stutter through my speeches in class. Performing isn’t really my thing.”

Before Riley could attempt to build his confidence, Ms. Mitchell calls a short intermission and Kai approaches Riley to tell her they’re on next but when he spots Noah he scrunches his face into a scowl.

“What are you doing here?” Kai snaps. “You and your football pals here to make fun of the drama geeks?”

“Kai!” Riley frowns at him.

“I was just watching.” Noah says sheepishly.

After another moment of awkwardness goes by Noah decides to leave and Kai’s scowl follows him on the way out.

“Kai that was mean.” Riley continues her frown.

“I’m looking out for you, Ri.” Kai takes the seat previously occupied by Noah.

“I don’t understand... Noah was being nice?” Riley knits her brows together.

“Probably because he wants to get in your pants.” Kai crosses his arms.

“He wants to what?” Riley squeaks.

“Oh my sweet, Riley,” Kai gently strokes Riley’s shoulder. “Ever since word got out that you’re officially single it’s like you’ve become every meatheads main target.”

Before Riley could process Kai’s statement or question it further Ms. Mitchell is calling them both up to stage. Riley takes a few deep breaths and tries to remember the confidence that Noah’s words instilled in her. Although, any of the bravery she found washes away the moment Riley steps on stage as she witnesses Maya and Lucas slip into two seats at the back of the auditorium. They were only there to show support to their friend but the surprise certainly shook Riley into fumbling her audition. Kai held his own and tried his best to help Riley though her parts.

After practicing for three days Riley knew Kai had all the potential to be Danny Zuko but ultimately the mediocre audition landed Kai as Putzie and Riley as Jan. The minor roll made Riley feel more comfortable about the play but she still felt horrible about ruining Kai’s bigger goals and she continuously apologises for it. Kai was anything but mad and he brushed off her apologies every time, assuring Riley that he knew the part of Danny was always going to go to someone older and that he was still a T-Bird so he could stick it to the bitches in the drama club that said he wass more suited for Eugene.

Somehow Kai manages to turn Riley’s complete frustration about it all into a positive and he even convinces the brunette to join the drama club. Kai is quick to give Riley a rundown of each member. He concludes that six of the nine students that weren’t him were indeed snooty and not worth her time and the three others - including himself - were pretty cool. With this in mind Riley still goes in trying to eliminate preconceptions of the other students and give them all a fair chance. Still, Riley also concludes that six of the ten - now eleven - drama club members were also not really her crowd. Maybe it was the fact that the other members were freshmen so they didn’t have a sense of higher importance than the ‘snooty’ students but whatever it was about the other three they certainly made Riley feel welcome.

After the announcement of the rolls the rehearsals began immediately as the play was set to open in one month. So again all Riley’s free time is sucked into the production. Also, with the play came the expectation that Riley spend more time with the drama club so at lunch and after school Riley found herself having less time to hang around her friends as she was trying to build new friendships with these kids. A process that is bittersweet for Riley. On one hand she felt happy in the new environment and it got her away from having to watch Lucas and Maya be, well, Lucas and Maya but on the other hand Riley missed them. Another thing that goes in circles for the quirky teen as she spends time away from them and longs to be with them but when she does eventually hang out with them she slips into her down mood and longs to be anywhere but there.

Riley is known to have a dramatic flare with her over the top reactions and neurotic thinking when it comes to certain situations. Sometimes this trait is seen as cute amongst her friends but she’s not oblivious to the fact that sometimes she can be ‘too much’ for them so she has tried her best to be more rational about things. Although, Kai encourages this part of Riley and he basks in every bit of her wacky reactions. Hanging around Kai made Riley feel special and ultimately happy so naturally she wanted to spend more time with him. At first Riley sticks to her whole stance about how she’s unaffected by Lucas and Maya even though Kai had seen her crying about it but still he smiles along and sticks to the trivial stuff with her but eventually Riley opens up to him and their lines of communication are opened completely and there isn’t anything the two couldn’t discuss with each other.

Having Kai and the drama club was a perfect out for Riley and she felt bad for thinking of it as that. She felt bad that she wanted to escape her friends but she also felt like she was using the drama club and Kai. Kai knew this and he encouraged her to use him whenever she wanted because he truly cared about her emotional state and he knew how she overthought it all. They were friends now and she’s supposed to use him and he was happy to be used in anyway she needed.

Eventually it wasn’t an excuse anymore, Riley found herself wanting to be with them and it made her feel guilty when she thought it over at night in bed. Riley knew it wasn’t her friends fault and she’d never want to pass blame onto them but Riley couldn’t help but feel so down whenever she’s with them. Riley thought maybe it was her fault for more reasons than one but the main being that she created a fairytale scenario for all of them which made reality hard to live up to. With that being said Riley’s mood was being uplifted by her new drama pals and it left Riley feeling that she could be happy in all aspects of life including the one with her her original friend group.

Just as Riley’s working out a healthy balance between the two, one spills into the other before she’s ready and Riley realises that as much as she hopes for it to be different sometimes hope isn’t enough because other feelings are stronger. Riley realises that hope isn’t the most powerful thing in the world because sometimes other feelings can be stronger.

↠ ♥ ↞

End Notes: Firstly, sorry this chapter took so long! I was trying to rejig it and yeah blah blah.

Secondly, I hope it’s not a cruddy chapter as I’m trying to build the other journey Riley’s about to take with new people in her life. The last paragraph may be vague and confusing but next chapter is when her two worlds collide as we embark into Riley’s sophomore year.

The next two chapters after this are very Lucas x Maya x Riley based so stay tuned! This story is more than Lucas choosing Maya and then wanting to be with Riley. It’s a journey about Riley and her growth after ski lodge. Each chapter are important parts of that journey. This chapter being the friendship established between Riley and Kai.

As always I appreciate any feedback given! I hope you’re enjoying thus far. I know I said it was a trial period but I’m pretty invested in the story now so hopefully you stick with me :) x

#rucas #rucas au #rucas fic #rucas fandic #rucas imagine #you me her

111 notes · View notes