CHAPTER FIVE, drama not allowed

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In order to impress Corbin Bleu, the campers in the play thought of preforming an iconic song from High School Musical 2. They picked the song 'Fabulous'. Everyone who was in the play was dressed up in their summer gear at the pool. "I think he's coming." Ricky noticed and everyone took their places as he pressed play on the stereo.

Carlos starts singing, but then Ricky realized it was just EJ. "And cut!" He calls out. "It's just EJ." He said as he stopped the music and collective sighs filled the air.

"Good job ruining the moment, Caswell." Blythe pouted. 

"Wow, sorry I'm not Corbin Bleu." EJ scoffs, raising his hands in defense. He points at Carlos, who sat on a towel on the ground. "Hey, I don't remember Sharpay wearing chinos."

"Excuse you." Carlos sassily said, standing up. "Flawless skin and sunlight do not mix.

"Eej," Gina chimes in. "Where's Corbin?"

"Look, Corbin's helicopter had a maintenance issue." EJ explains. "He'll be here any second. Are we totally sure about doing this?"

"Obviously." Blythe dramatically said. "When else am I gonna have the opportunity to wear all pink?" She smirked, flipping her hair to the side dramatically. Just like the others who were preforming, she wore an outfit that had all pink or at least pink in it. EJ chuckled, looking at her with an amused expression. 

Carlos nods. "We wanna impress Corbin Bleu. And how else does one impress a person except by performing elaborate musical numbers for them?" He then shouts, "Places, everyone! Someone hand me my sunglasses!" 

The group got into places and went through the whole performance only to realize it was just Dewey walking over tot the pool. "Still no Corbin," Ashlyn announces. "Just Dewey."

Carlos swam back up to be above surface after Kourtney pushed him in the pool. Everyone awed in unison sadly at seeing no Corbin. "Whoo!" Dewey smiles, clapping for the group. "Now that is a catchy song. Is that Ariana Grand?" Oliver laughed along with the others, all amused by Carlos' shocked look at what Dewey said. 

***

Later that day they were in the barn doing some warm up exercises. "Okay." EJ suddenly said. "He really is coming this time. Everyone, act like you're taking this serious and warming up."

"That is literally what they're doing, EJ." Val cut in, smiling as she walks by EJ. They both walked down the aisle of teens. The group stood across from each other as they did warm up exercises. "Take it down to a three. You're at a seven out of ten." EJ sighed and nodded in response.

Then the doors to the barn open and Corbin Bleu walks in with his cameraman. "Corbin's on the clock. It's go-time." 

"Mr. Bleu, sir. We have a killer first read-through plan for today." EJ smiled.

"Right." Corbin nods, smiling as he walks further into the barn. "Okay, yeah, you make the rounds, good. " He then notices Kourtney's outfit, giving her two thumbs up and smiles. "Dope outfit."

Kourtney grins, pointing at him. "Kourtney." As Corbin kept walking down the aisle, Kourtney turns to Ashlyn beside her with a grin. They both smile widely at each other, holding onto each others hands. "Scream!" They both excitedly said quietly, both excited at the fact Corbin liked Kourtney's outfit. 

"Keep warming up, gang." Corbin said. "We're gonna check some sound levels."

"Hey, guess what." Gina said to Oliver with a grin.. "My mom is back."

"Back?" Oliver asks in surprise. "Like back in Salt Lake?"

"Yeah." Gina said excitedly, her eyes lighting up. "She rented a place in Sugar House to be with me for my junior year."

"Gina, that's great." Oliver smiles at her. "I know how much you have been missing her."

"Yeah, but now things will be better since I can live with her again." Gina smiled. 

****

"Welcome to the first 'Frozen' read-through." EJ calls out. "Young Elsa and Anna are on a nature field trip, and will catch up with us tomorrow."

Corbin steps off the stage, patting EJ on the shoulder. "I'll take it from here, RJ, thank you." EJ had a confused look on his face as Corbin got his name wrong. Oliver couldn't help the small chuckle that escaped his lips at the fact Corbin got such an easy name wrong. 

Corbin stands in front of the group, smiling at them. "Alright! Camp Shallow Lake! I am pumped to be back for this full day of rehearsal, figured with opening night only ten days away."

Ricky's eyes widen, but he had a smile on his face. "Ten days away? That's a reason to celebrate. Bring it in." He got up, trying to hug Corbin, who clearly wasn't interested and didn't even acknowledge him which made Ricky sit back down. Oliver sent him a sheepish smile, patting his shoulder to comfort him.

"Look, I understand that some of you know me as a name and not a person. But I'm just a regular guy who buys his groceries at Erewhon and has a personal trainer like anybody else. Alright?" Corbin smiles. "I'm just here to capture some behind-the-scenes footage, so think of me as a fly on the wall. Be yourselves. Let's have some fun. Yeah?"

"Yeah, baby!" Ricky exclaims excitedly, raising his arms in the air. "Let's hug it out! Bring it in, come on."

Corbin faces the camera instead when Ricky got up and tried hugging him again. "And here you have it, folks." Ricky sits back down, looking sheepish. "The very first camp read-through of 'Frozen'. Let the show begin."

****

As the group started the read-throughs, Corbin suddenly paused them and went over to Gina and Kourtney, thinking there was tension between the two. Channing then chimed in with maybe it's because they're in love with the same guy, suggesting that it was Carlos. Oliver chuckled as Carlos had a deadpanned look on his face.

"Yes, it's me. The notorious womanizer of the group."

"Uh, Mr. Bleu, if you're looking for dirt or like, jealous in-fighting, that's just not us." Ricky chimed in.

"Yeah, we all get along." Oliver agreed.

"We're all good friends." Gina added.

"Yeah, like, really good friends. We're basically a drama-free zone." EJ smiled.

"Great." Channing sarcastically comments. "All those Emmy-winning drama-free reality shows."

The group continued on with the script, but stopped again when Gina accidentally read off a line that was Jet's. Turns out that Jet wasn't there the whole time and no one has seen him. Maddox reassured the group Jet is going to be fine and that he's probably just doing this for attention. Oliver had a feeling that wasn't the case and while Maddox tried not to show how worried she was about it, he could tell that she was worried about Jet being missing. 

EJ suggested for Val and Maddox to go look for Jet and then he suggested for everyone to take a break. He added that he was cool in a not so fine voice and explained he would be in the Canteen getting a drink. Blythe had followed him there, offering to go check on him since clearly EJ was stressed about this whole thing. Oliver was glad she did because he was getting worried about EJ. 

****

Oliver is sitting on the couch of the Canteen, his hand intertwined with Gina's and their intertwined hands laid on her lap as they talked. Some of the others were in the Canteen as well, talking or playing games. Val suddenly walked in, informing the group that they lost Jet which caused everyone to gasp and for Maddox to stand up and stare at her in disbelief.

"Wait, Jet's dead?" Oliver's eyes widen in disbelief. He hoped that he was wrong. 

"Sorry." Val apologetically smiles. "Let me clarify. I talked to Dewey and it looks like Jet checked out of camp and went home."

Maddox sits back down, looking upset. "He disappeared on to the open road. A lone minor." Channing dramatically spoke, aiming the camera at the teens. "Thumb n the wind. Hair in the wind, for either fate or foe, to take him away." In a low tone, he looks at Val and says, "That's you."

"Uh, yeah, not quite." Val shakes her head. "An off-duty cop found him at a bus stop and his parents came and picked him up in a Buick." She covered her face, not wanting to be filmed and Channing finally lowered the camera.

"Wait," Ashlyn chimes in, looking concerned. "Why would Jet just leave without telling anybody?"

"So, our most interesting story's happening off-camera." Corbin sighs. "Guys. We really need to make this sing. 'Kay? Something active?"

"'In Summer'?" Carlos immediately suggested with a smile and stood.

"'What about 'Love Is an Open Door'?" Oliver asked with a smile, not knowing that Gina was looking at him with a fond look. 

Unfortunately for Carlos, Corbin liked Oliver's idea better. The problem was that the one playing Hans wasn't there so he suggested Oliver to step in.

"But I'm playing Kristoff." Oliver said in confusion.

"Yeah, but you also look like a 1980s villain." Corbin nodded and both Blythe and Ricky laughed. 

Oliver furrows his eyebrows, tilting his head to the side. "I don't know whether to be insulted or flattered."

"You should be flattered." Corbin tells him. "Villains equal viewers. Kenny Ortega taught me that when I turned down 'The Descendants'."

"I don't think 'the' is in the title of that movie." Blythe mumbled.

"You, sing the song wtih Gia." Corbin pointed at Oliver.

"Gina." Gina corrected him with a chuckle.

"That's right." Corbin nodded with a smile.

As everything got set up for the performance, Oliver noticed Kourtney had handed Corbin a Twix bar which made him chuckle. He knew she had looked things up Corbin liked for him to notice her and so far it worked because she was the only one who's name he remembered. Ashlyn also had offered to pay the piano, despite the fact Val said they already had a backing track for the song. Corbin did like Ashlyn's idea better so Ashlyn got to play the piano.

"Ollie, what's wrong?" Gina asked softly after seeing nervous look on his face when they stood by each other.

"Trying not to panic." Oliver mutters, his nervous gaze on the floor as he fidgets with his rings. "Nervous about preforming in front of a camera for the first time in forever."

Gina smiles softly, nudging him playfully. "Hey, just pretend it's you and me frolicking across a field." Oliver glanced up, looking over at her with a soft smile as butterflies filled his stomach.

As the song continued, Oliver got more confident in himself and he took Gina's advice with imagining them frolicking in the field. Her advice helped him be less nervous and he appreciated her advice. At the end of the song, Gina had dipped Oliver while everyone clapped. Oliver stood up, sharing a smile with Gina.

****

Soon it was time to end the read-throughs and Corbin instructed EJ to give the group a generic goodbye. EJ was confused at first since he wasn't sure if he should be talking to his friends or to the camera. Oliver didn't blame him since he would also be confused in his situation. 

EJ clears his throat, facing the actors on stage. "Um...That was our day. And now it is over. Thank you."

As he walked off to the side, Blythe chuckles and nudges him when he stood by her. "That wasn't awkward at all." She whispered to him, earning a playful eye roll from him.

Corbin smiles at the group of teens. "Till next time, Shallow Lake." He faces the camera, repeating the same thing to the viewers. "Till next time, Shallow Lake."

 "Alright. And cut." Channing lowered the camera once he stopped recording.

EJ walks back over to Corbin with a smile. "Well, how did we do?"

"You guys were perfect." Corbin answered. Everyone smiled at his answer and overlapping chatter began to fill the room.

Ricky then walks over to Corbin. "Thank you so much for everything, Mr. Bleu. I...I think we're both feeling this, so..." He hugged Corbin, who hesitantly and awkwardly hugged him back. Oliver snickered, watching with amusement. He knew about Ricky's bucket list he had about things he wanted to do before he turned eighteen which made things so much more sense. On Ricky's bucket list, Ricky had put hug a celebrity and that explained why Ricky always tried hugging Corbin throughout the day.

****

The Canteen is now set up for movie night. Val is stood outside, collecting tickets from everyone who walked inside. The movie that was planned to be shown was 'High School Musical 3', but after Gina had asked Val for a favor, the movie was switched to 'Camp Rock' which no one was upset about. Oliver had a feeling this favor was for Kourtney after seeing Kourtney mouth 'thank you' to Gina and he knew how 'Camp Rock' was Kourtney's comfort movie. He figured Kourtney must be going through something, but he was glad Gina was helping her out with it in some way.

****

When the movie was over and everyone started leaving and cleaning up, Blythe noticed EJ looking nervous as he paced off to the side. "Hey, Eej, you good?" She asked with a small smile. 

EJ inhales sharply. "I've been better." He admits, earning a concerned look from Blythe. "I got a letter from my dad saying he's not so happy with me taking a gap year. He wants me to go to his training school in St. Louis."

"The one he named after himself?" Blythe raises her eyebrows and EJ nods in response, looking upset and nervous. "He can't make you do something you don't want to, can he?"

"He's my dad." EJ rolls his eyes and sighs. "But I know if he knows this documentary thing is a success, he'll let me stay."

"And you're not leaving without a fight." Blythe guessed, smiling while EJ nodded. She was relieved to find out EJ wasn't going to leave without a fight, she knew he wouldn't. 

"Hey." Oliver greets, joining the two. "Everything okay?" He questioned, looking concerned. He was concerned after he had noticed EJ pacing earlier.

"If this show isn't a success, then his dad is making him go to his training school in St. Louis." Blythe answered, causing Oliver's eyes widen in surprise and he looked at EJ.

"So, I'm guessing your dad doesn't like the fact you decided to take a gap year?"

"Nope." EJ sighs heavily, his shoulders dropping in defeat. "But like I told Blythe, I'm not leaving here without a fight. I'll make sure this show is a success."

A/N olina is adorable though i love ej & blythe too 

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