"I don't know if any of you know this, but I happen to be scared of night bugs." Nova whispered as she tittoed through Seb's barn, lamp in hand.

"Night bugs?" Nini asked with a odd look.

"Bugs but only the ones that come out at night." Ashlyn answered for her, "Please, don't make me relive the camping trip."

"I don't wanna ask." Big Red said honestly.

"No, you don't." Ashlyn agreed, looking around in a panic at the noise, "Why do I hear sheep but don't see sheep?"

"Oh, that's Jimmy. He has social anxiety." Seb smiled over at her before nodding at Nova, "Did you say hi to your cow?"

"I did, he has grown so much." Nova placed a hand on her heart.

"You have a cow?" EJ looked down at her in questioning.

"Yes, Seb let me name it when I was sobbing over you having a new girlfriend, on audition day." Nova spoke bluntly with a nod, Ricky holding back a snort at her words.

"I'm team Jimmy. I don't camp, glamp, or sleep without my silk pillow case." Kourtney spoke with a shake of her head and a knowing look.

"Explains why your skin is so clear, Kourt." Nova gapped at her.

A sheep bleat echoed from not too far away, EJ screaming as he ducked behind Nova. Laughter escaped a few of them, Nova pulling EJ back up, "You guys can imagine how he was watching Halloween."

"Listen, i'm sure Seb and Gina have a good reason for bringing us to his barn so late, on a school night." Ricky looked toward the pair before back to Nini, "Not that I mind the romantic setting."

Nova faked a gag.

"Romantic is debatable. But I like where you're headed." Nini went on, Nova tried not to cringe. It wasn't that she wasn't happy for Nini and Ricky, she really was. But at times, things they said so openly infront of everyone, just gave her the worse ike.

"Okay. So, we gathered you guys here tonight cause i've got this idea." Gina spoke up a second later, "And because we only have 48 hours to pull it off, it's gonna take all of us."

"The whole family." Seb smiled around with a wink Novas way, "Twin sister and all. So, I talked to Gina and we thought we could throw a big surprise party to celebrate the guy Carlos is."

"And the quinceañero he always wanted and never got." Gina added in with a cheeky smile, "It's a birthday party but seriously zhuzhed up. Cause Carlos is one of the good guys."

"Okay, somebody say something because maybe this is a terrible idea?" Seb asked as he looked around at his fellow theater nerds.

"It's an amazing idea. I'm in!" Nini gushed with a wide smile. The group began to cheer together, all indicating they were in on the idea.

"For Carlos." Ricky put his hand out.

"For Carlos!" they all yelled, putting their own hand in.

"EJ, I am just saying. Hufflepuffs and Gryffindors are super cute together and we could easily be Harry and Cedric for halloween." Ashlyn heard the conversation between Nova and EJ before they walked into the barn. When they came rounded the corner though, she had to smile. Neither looked like they bothered to color code together, which wasn't a surprise. EJ was in a mauve blazer while Nova went with a green, classy jump suit.

"You two look amazing." Ashlyn smiled as she approached the pair.

"Tell EJ that for the halloween party at the lake house, we have to be Cedric and Harry." Nova looked at her with a serious look. Now that she was closer, the Caswell girl saw her sparkly eyelids.

"Halloween? That's, like, ten months away." Ashlyn gave a odd look.

"Thank you!" EJ agreed, setting up the camera from close by.

"My dad wants to plan ahead. He's already ordered the floating head and smoke machines." Nova spoke up as Ashlyn pulled her aside, "Unless you want to match with me?"

"Me, you, and Big Red?" Ashlyn asked her with a chuckle.

Nova gave a dramatic gasp, "Ron, Harry, and Hermione!"

"Open the door!" Seb's voice came from the other side of the barn, the pair turning back with their own looks of excitement and panic. EJ and Ricky grabbed the door, pulling it back harshly as Carlos and Seb appeared on the other side.

"Happy birthday, Carlos!"

"Wait. This can't be happening." Carlos looked to Seb as he tried to fix his hair.

"It is!" Seb gushed.

"I'm not wears my my party outfit." Carlos pouted. Nova hurried to hug him tightly, "Nova, switch outfits with me."

"I always had the feeling you were an aquarius." Nova hugged him tightly with a goofy grin, "And, don't worry. Seb and I have the party outfit covered."

Carlos' eyes watered as he walked in, accepting all the cheers while Ricky and Nini ran to the stage.

"Yes, Nini and Ricky!" Kourtney cheered.

"Hey, everyone! I think you kinda, you know.." Nini teased into the mic.

"It's Carlos' quinceañero!" Ricky added in after her. The group began to cheer again while taking their spots on the hay stacks, "Gina, get on up here."

Nova watched EJ fix the camera to be on Gina better, smiling slightly at how serious he was taking it all.

"Testing, testing." Gina spoke into the mic, "Carlos Rodriquez. We, um, haven't always seen eye-to-eye when it comes to running rehearsal and honestly, I sorta had no idea what to get you tonight. And then Sebbie showed me that clip of you in seventh grade, dancing. I was like.. 'Oh, okay, so, we're actually the exact same.' Because I remember where I was in seventh grade, or, uh, all of the places that I was that year. And I would just dance and dance alone in my bedroom to stay busy and escape. But the difference between us is, I never would have put that out into the world and I never would have left that up on instagram after some of the comments you got...Haters gonna hate. Anyways, um, tonight i'm recreating your dance. Because, we might not share a choreography brain, but I think you know we share a dancers heart. No matter what happens tomorrow, or the day after that, just keep on dancing."

They all applauded her speech. Nova smiled, crossing her legs as she looked over at Seb. He'd been her Carlos, and she was his Gina. The speech made Nova realize that, who her best friend was no matter the differences they had.

"Hello world." a seventh grade Carlos waved when the tape began to roll, "This is a time capsule because someday I hope I am studied. It is almost my thirteenth birthday, and in some cultures that makes me a man. As a man, I demand the following gifts for my birthday. A new phone, a Tony Award, and someday... i'm putting this out there early, a quinceañero. Now, please enjoy this dance I made up. It is on fleek."

Carlos began a somewhat of a tango it seemed, rolling his hips and fist all at once. EJ went to look over at Nova to see if she'd been laughing, only finding her gone. Before panic set in, a pair of arms went around his waist and a chin dug into his shoulder. Glancing back, he gave Nova a smile as she hugged him from behind.

"Yes, G!" Ashlyn called as Gina waved her dress, standing infront of the projector after it stoped, the music began to play as she circled her hands above her head.

'It's time to turn it up
Let the music take over your body
And dance like everyone is watchin'
Your moves inspire me
To be the best I can be
Not alone, but in harmony, fearlessly
This rhythm's hot like the sun
Don't you dare disagree
If you think so, then come and join me
When you move, I move, we move
Together as one
It don't matter who you are
When we dance, we're all stars
Differеnt in so many ways, but when we hit the stagе
We all share the same thing
A dancer's heart
The truth in every turn
One, two step, I have learned so much from you
And the way you groove
We got nothin' to lose
This rhythm's hot like the sun
Don't you dare disagree
If you think so, then come and join me
When you move, I move, we move
Together as one
It don't matter who you are
When we dance, we're all stars
Different in so many ways, but when we hit the stage
We all share the same thing
A dancer's heart
Turn the music up, let the rhythm move your body
No more to discuss, go and grab someone
Stranger or a friend, it don't matter in the end
Let this feelin' take over your life
When you move, I move, we move
Together as one (together as one)
It don't matter who you are
When we dance, we're all stars
Different in so many ways, but when we hit the stage
We all share the same thing (we all share the same thing)
A dancer's heart
When you move, I move, we move
Together as one
It don't matter who you are
When we dance, we're all stars
Different in so many ways, but when we hit the stage
We all share the same thing
A dancer's heart'

Carlos hurried to the stage to hug Gina immediately, the crowd all cheering for her outstanding performance. EJ could only hope that when Nova finished clapping, she'd put her arms around him again. But to his dismay, she ran off quickly with no word as to where she was headed.

"You ready for this?" Nova asked as her and Seb hurried behind the barn to prepare.

"Nervous." he said honestly, "I need to warm up."

Nova and Seb began to preform Sharpay and Ryan's warm up movements, yelling at the other before taking a deep breath. Nova held his hands, "You've got this. It's gonna be perfect, okay?"

"Okay." Seb inhaled with a red face, hugging her tightly. Nova did back, rocking slightly, "Thank you."

"Always." Nova hugged him a second more before pulling back, "See you in the crowd."

"Where'd you go?" EJ asked Nova as she came back in, taking a set on the haystack next to were he'd been filming.

"Shh, look." she pointed toward the stage, where Seb took a seat at the piano and inhaled shaky.

"Carlos. Hi. Um, I think you know that there is nothing greater than the love we share for power ballads originally sung by iconic women." Seb spoke with a soft smile, laughter coming from their friends, "Yes, you're my boyfriend but you're also sort of my hero. Heres something I've never told you. That video from when you were 13 has 1,000 views. I would say roughly 100 of them were from me. I was 12 years old, and hiding in my room, in every sense of that word. Uh, your post kinda went viral. Simi-viral for Utah. Um, I didn't know who you were, I barley knew who I was. I just knew that I felt inspired. So, I just keep on hitting repeat. So, thank you. And, happy birthday."

Nova didn't realize she'd been crying until she felt someone whip her face. Turning, she was met with EJ's hand, now pulling away from her cheek.

•

kylie speaks

don't hate me, i skipped
seb's part bc it makes me
emotional and then my mom
will be like "you're crying?
you never cry" and then invalidate or be dramatic about my feelings lololol.
anyways, i have something
super juicy and kinda upsetting
coming up but it'll be good to
build up that tension again, i've
missed it. and ik we all lowkey
love ricky wnd nova, can't wait
for the spring break chapter!