CHAPTER FOUR, drama free zone

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In order to impress Corbin Bleu, the campers decided on preforming the iconic song 'Fabulous'. Each time they started preforming, they realized it was either EJ who walked over to them or Dewey. Soon the campers are in the barn, doing warm up exercises when EJ announced that Corbin was actually coming this time. Just moments after he announced that, Corbin walked into the barn with his cameraman following him.

"Corbin's on the clock. It's go-time." Corbin smiled.

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

"Right." Corbin nodded, walking around the room. 

"Okay, yeah, you make the rounds, good. " EJ mumbled.

Noticing Kourtney's outfit, Corbin smiles and gives her two thumbs up. "Dope outfit."

With a grin, Kourtney points at him. "Kourtney."

Ophelia chuckles, staring at her in amusement. She then leans over to whisper to her. "Looks like your plan for Corbin to notice you worked." Kourtney grinned back at her excitedly and nodded. Kourtney had a plan to get Corbin to notice her and after finding out Corbin's favorite colors were black and gold she decided to wear that today when he came to the camp.

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

"I still can't believe a celebrity is right in front of us." Fallon admitted to her best friend. She stood beside Ophelia's right side while Kourtney stood beside her left side.

"I know." Ophelia chuckles, nodding in agreement. "I even pinched myself to check if this was real."  Ophelia noticed that Luca and Gina were talking and they both seemed excited about something. Then a few moments later Luca went over to stand by his friends, standing by the other side of Fallon.

"Guys, guess what? Gina's mom is moving back for her junior year and is renting a place in Sugar House." He grinned.

"That's great." Ophelia smiled. She was happy for Gina and her mom. 

"Yeah, we know how close they are so I bet Gina is super happy." Fallon chimes in with a smile. "Good for her."

****

Soon it was time for the read-through. "Welcome to the first 'Frozen' read-through." EJ smiles at the group. "Young Elsa and Anna are on a nature field trip and will catch up with us tomorrow." He added, walking over to Corbin.

Corbin pats his shoulder, walking over to the group followed by his cameraman. The fact that they were now rolling made Ophelia feel more anxious but also excited. "I'll take it from here, RJ."  EJ furrows his eyebrows, staring at him in confusion. "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 stands up, his lips forming into a smile. "Ten days away? That's a reason to celebrate. Bring it in." He opened his arms, trying to hug Corbin.

Corbin raises his eyebrows at him, looking amused and chuckles. "Thanks." He said, but he didn't hug Ricky and so Ricky sat back down. "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? 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 hands in the air and stands again. "Let's hug it out! Bring it in, come on."

Corbin doesn't even seem to acknowledge him and faces the camera. "And here you have it, folks." Ricky looks sheepish and backs up to sit down. "The very first camp read-through of 'Frozen'. Let the show begin."

At one point during the read-through, Corbin stops them. "Pause." He stands, walking over to where Ophelia and Kourtney sat by each other. "Sounds like you two really felt that moment. Unpack what you're channeling. Let me guess. Real-life relationship troubles."

"You both like the same person and it's causing tension." Channing, Corbin's cameraman, said. He faces the camera at Carlos. "Maybe it's this guy."

Ophelia and Kourtney shares an amused look as Carlos had a deadpan look on his face. "Yes, it's me. The notorious womanizer of the group." He sarcastically remarked.

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

"Yeah, we're all friends." Luca 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."

"Okay, let's just...Let's move on." Corbin went back to the desk he sat at as Channing aimed the camera at him.

"'Hey, my," Ricky pauses reading his line as he flips the page over. "'Ice'."

"'Kristoff picks up his bag of ice. Anna and Hans are oblivious.'" Val read off the stage cues.

"'I'm sorry, so sorry.'" Ophelia starts to read when she realized something. "Wait," Her eyes widen and she grimaces. "Oh, crap. That's not my line."

"It's Jett's." Ricky noticed.

"Where is Jet?" Fallon asked in confusion. "He should be here."

"I haven't seen him here the whole time." Luca admitted.

"Wait," EJ said after everyone looked around the room for him. "Jet's not here."

"I knew he wasn't real." Carlos commented.

"What's the deal with Jet? Is he troubled?" Corbin inquired.

"I don't know about troubled." Ophelia shook her head.

"Yeah, we're slowly wearing his dark soul down." Ricky agreed.

Corbin shares a look with Channing. "Sounds like our protagonist." Channing speaks. "Everyone loves a misanthropic emo-boy to root for."

Maddox stands up. "Jet's gonna be fine. He's probably just doing this for attention." She smiled nervously, trying not to show she's nerves but it was obvious. 

"I'm sure Jet is fine. Maddox, Val, please track him down." EJ suggests, standing up. The two girls nod and leave the barn. "As for the rest of us, let's take a ten. I will be in the canteen having a cool beverage because I am very cool. Everything is cool, Mr. Bleu."

"EJ." Fallon said worriedly when his voice raised at the end.

"You're yelling." Carlos pointed out. EJ just sighed and walked away. 

"I'll go check on him." Fallon offered, not even caring if the camera was aimed at her (which it was) as she followed EJ out of the barn.

****

During the break, the group went to the Canteen which was a building that was basically a hang out place. It had sitting areas, a ping pong table and other different games. Ophelia leaned against the wall as she watched Ashlyn and Ricky play ping pong. They both were pretty good at the game and the trio had decided that she would be up against the winner of Ashlyn's and Ricky's match.

When Val suddenly came back in looking upset, everyone's attention was turned on her. "So" EJ asked, hoping she had some good news about Jet.

"Guys, we lost Jet." 

Gasps filled the room at her announcement. Maddox stands, staring at the blonde in shock. "What?"

"Oh." Val grimaces. "Sorry. Let me clarify. I talked to Dewey and it looks like Jet checked out of camp and went home." Maddox calmed down a bit as she sat back down. 

"He disappeared on the open road. A lone minor." Channing dramatically said, panning the camera around at the worried teens. "Thumb in the wind. Hair in the wind for either fate or foe to take him away."  He whispers the next thing, pointing at Val. "That's you."

"Uh, yeah, not quite." Val responds. "An off duty cop found him at a bus stop and his parents came and picked in up in a buick." She explained, trying to cover her face when Channing aimed the camera at her and he lowered the camera after she said that.

"Wait," Ashlyn frowns. "Why would Jet just leave without telling anybody?"

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

Carlos stands with a smile. "'In Summer'?"

"'Love is an Open Door'." EJ suggested.

"Yes, ooh, I love that one." Fallon grinned at him.

EJ grins back at her. "Yeah, I know, babe."

Carlos sits down with a frown as Corbin poinst at EJ. "'Love is an Open Door'. That's the Anna and Hans song, right? And we're missing the Hans part of it."

Ophelia nods, looking nervous as she fidgets with her rings. "Yeah, it is.."

"Yeah, weirdly, that's the one song I know," Ricky chimes in, noticing how anxious Ophelia was and he knew that she would feel better if they would be able to sing it together. "Lily made me sing it in our second date, but I'm happy to jump in, and you know..."

"Thanks, kid. Just take a soft five." Corbin interrupted him, putting a hand on his shoulder.

"O?" Fallon asked her best friend in concern when the dark skinned girl suddenly stood up, looking nervous.

"I just...I need a minute." Ophelia mumbled and she left the Canteen, earning concerned looks from her friends. 

"I'll check on her." Ricky offered and was quick to follow his best friend outside. He found her sitting at one of the benches at the camp near the Canteen. He knew she was anxious by the way she was fidgeting with her rings and bouncing her leg. "Hey." He said softly, sitting beside her. "What's up?" He asked, not bothering to ask if she was okay when he knew she wasn't.

"I'm just...Trying not to freak out." Ophelia admits, her voice shaky as she took a deep breath. "But it's hard. This is my second time being in a play and first time ever preforming in front of a camera and having the performance be seen by millions." She said nervously. "I can't do it."

"You don't have to right now." Ricky reassures her, his eyes full of concern for her. "I'm sure someone else can fill in for you while you take a break. Lia, you're gonna be amazing as Anna, okay? You're so incredibly talented and people are gonna love you." He said as he looked at her fondly.

Ophelia looks at him with a soft smile, her eyes lighting up at his words and butterflies swarmed in her stomach. "Thank you, Ricky." Then something caught her eye. A piece of paper sticking out of his pocket. "Hey, what's that?" She asked, pointing at it.

"What?" Ricky asks, furrowing her eyebrows and glances at what she's pointing at. His eyes widen and he looks nervous. He grabs the paper to fold it up better and put it back in his pocket better. "It's nothing."

"It's something." Ophelia corrects, looking curious. "Come on, tell me. What is it?" She questions, reaching over to grab the paper, grinning when she was successful. "'Things to do before I'm 18'." She read off.

"Lia, give it back." Ricky looked embarrassed while trying to grab it from her. 

Ophelia stands to step away from him as she reads paper. "'Eat twenty hot dogs in a row'?" She chuckles a bit. "'Hug a celebrity." Her eyes widen in realization. "Oh, everything makes so much sense now. I was so confused when you kept trying to get a group hug."

"Okay. I also love you guys. But, yeah, that's mostly the reason." Ricky chuckled and tried to grab the paper, but shepulled it out of his reach.

"'Walk on the moon'." Ophelia read off. "'Play the lotto'." 

"This is torture." Ricky commented although he was smiling as he tried pulling the paper from her, causing her to giggle and turn away.

"'Fall in love again'." Ophelia read off. "This is the last one but it's crossed off." She realized, furrowing her eyebrows.

"Yeah, you get the point." Ricky said, managing to grab the paper from her this time.

"Why is the last one crossed off already?" Ophelia asked curiously and she almost sounded hopeful. "Who did you fall in love with?"

"I'm not telling you that." Ricky shook his head, looking away to hide the light shade of blush on his face and he put away his bucket list in his pocket. 

"Come on," Ophelia encourages, poking  his arm with a smile. "Tell me, Rick. I mean, whoever you've fallen in love with must be awesome enough to get your attention so I gotta know who had stole your heart so I can meet her." She sighs. "Okay, just at least tell me about her." 

Ricky finally caved in, knowing she wouldn't stop until she got an answer. "She means a lot to me." He admits. "She's beautiful and talented. Sweet and caring, but also sarcastic and feisty. She always knows the right thing to say to cheer me up and put a smile on my face." 

Ophelia's heart skips a beat as she starts to realize who exactly he's talking about. "She sounds like a great girl." She spoke, not even realizing they've stepped closer until just then and her heart raced at seeing they were only inches apart.

"Yeah, she's, literally, perfect." Ricky responds, staring directly at her, his face red and his heart felt like it was pounding in his chest. "She doesn't even know how perfect she is." 

As they stared at each other fondly, the tension was so thick in the air you could cut it with a knife. "You're talking about me?" She realized, but it sounded more like a question since she wasn't a hundred percent sure. 

"I thought it was obvious." Ricky replies with a small awkward smile, rubbing the back of his neck nervously. After taking a deep breath to calm himself down, he smiles softly at her, cupping her face with his hands. "I love you, Lia." 

Ophelia's eyes widen, her heart fluttering at his words. He didn't just liked her, he loved her. Since she was African American sometimes it was hard telling if she blushed, but at the moment you could faintly see a light shade of blush on her face. "I love you too." Ricky's eyes lit up at her confession, his face turning more red as she continues. "And I know it's, like, super cliché saying this, but I've been just too scared to say it since I didn't know if you felt the same way, but I'm so freaking relieved that you do." 

"Same here." Ricky admits with a chuckle. He couldn't help but glance down at her lips and her seeing this made her heart skip a beat. "Can I kiss you?" He asked hopefully.

"Yes." Ophelia replied. Then before she knew it, they both were leaning in and sharing their first kiss. She felt like she was on cloud 9. She couldn't believe this was happening. 

Neither one wanted to pull away, but as Ophelia's opened her eyes again, something caught her eye that made her pull away from Ricky. He looks at her with concern. "You okay?" 

"No, I'm good. It's just. I thought I saw someone." Ophelia answered, glancing in the bushes near them.

Ricky takes his hands away from her face and move to stand by he and look in the direction she's looking at. Rustling can be heard in the bushes and then they catch the sight of Channing with his camera hiding in the bushes. "Hey!" Ricky glares at him, moving to stand in front of Ophelia to block the camera's view of her. "Get out of here! This is private!" 

After realizing he was caught, Channing was quick to get up and run away with his camera. "That jerk." Ricky mutters, running a hand through his curls. "I can't believe he was spying on us."

Ophelia grimaces, fidgeting with her rings anxiously. "I wonder how much he got on camera. Hopefully not much."

Noticing her anxiousness, Ricky grabs her hand and intertwines their fingers together. "I'm sure we'll be fine." He reassures her. "So, let's forget about Channing ruining our moment and see if you wanna be my girlfriend." He smirked.

Ophelia giggles a bit, rolling her eyes. "Was that your way of asking me out? Kinda was excepting something more."

Ricky chuckles and shakes his head. "No, it wasn't." Letting go of her hand, he wraps his arms around her waist and pulls her in for a kiss. "This is me asking you out." He whispers as he kisses her. She kisses him back, smiling into the kiss. When they pull away, they're both grinning at each other. "Lia, will you be my girlfriend?"

"I would love to, Rick." Ophelia replied softly, staring at him with love and adoration.

Ricky smiles widely, his eyes lighting up and his heart fluttered at seeing the way she was looking at him. "Great." They both pull away, intertwining their hands together. "Let's head back to the others, girlfriend." He grins, nudging her playfully. He still couldn't believe Ophelia was his girlfriend. He felt so giddy at the moment. "I'm sure they're worried about us." 

Ophelia giggles, smiling at him. "Okay, boyfriend." She nudged him back, both of them chuckling as they walked back to the Canteen.

****

When they got back to the Canteen, they made sure to let go of their hands so no one suspected anything. They had decided to keep their relationship a secret since there's a lot going on already and they weren't sure how the others would react. After the break was over, the group moved back to the barn to continue on with rehearsals and at the end Ricky even managed to get a hug with Corbin. 

"8pm, don't be late, we're watching 'High School Musical 3' tonight!" Val announced.

With a grin, Carlos walks down the stairs. "We're getting ready for the nights of nights. The nights of nights."

"Fun fact," Corbin speaks up, pointing at Carlos. "I weirdly never saw that one, so..."

Carlos looks crushed as Corbin walks away. "Corbin Bleu is just a character in a documentary. He can't hurt me." Ricky chuckled, patting his shoulder comfortingly and walked out with him.

"Ah." Kourtney grimaces. "God bless his thirsty Broadway heart."

Ophelia, who was standing by her on stage, chuckles and smiles. "Hey, I think we were the best big sis, little sis duo ever."

"Me too." Kourtney said excitedly while grinning at her. "We totally killed it today. And guess what? My mom sent me a bomb care package." She admits, walking off the stage with Ophelia as their arms link together. "My old 'Camp Rock' poster...Yes, that's my comfort movie." Ophelia giggles along with her at that. "Brand new hair gel."

"Oh, so she understands the struggle." Ophelia remarked with a smile.

Kourtney laughs. "Totally. Somehow she always knows what I'm going through."

Ophelia smiles at her, but then she realizes maybe Kourtney was going through something. "Kourt," She stops walking, causing Kourtney to stop. "Are you sure you're okay?" She asks softly, staring at her in concern. "You know you can tell me anything, right?"

"I know." Kourtney nodded, taking a deep breath. "But I'm good, okay?" She smiles, hoping to reassure Ophelia so she wouldn't keep asking. 

"Okay, if you say so." Ophelia replied suspicously. She felt like Kourtney wasn't telling the truth, but she got the hint Kourtney didn't wnat to talk about it so she didn't say anything else.

"Come on," Kourtney grins, trying to change the subject. "Let's go, I wanna get into my comfoy clothes before the movie." Ophelia chuckled, rolling her eyes playfully as she followed Kourtney out of the barn.

****

Soon everyone is gathered in the Canteen where movie night was being held. Val was outside, taking everyone tickets. Before Ophelia went inside though, she talked to Val and asked if she could change the movie to 'Camp Rock' for a friend who really needed it. Thankfully, Val allowed it and she hoped this would cheer Kourtney up and help her at least a little bit with whatever she's going through.

Ophelia is currently sitting on a blanket beside Ricky, their hands intertwined under the blanket as they watched the movie together and ate popcorn. Fallon and EJ sat in front of them, sharing a blanket as well with EJ's arm around her. At one point during the movie, Fallon chuckles as she speaks up. "I don't understand how Mitchie could lie like that. I'm a horrible liar and it just seems too complicated."

"Well, it's not like this character's exactly lying." EJ said and Ophelia raised her eyebrows when she noticed he sounded a bit nervous. As if he was hiding something from Fallon. "She's just not telling everyone the whole truth about her situation."

"Which is lying." Fallon nods. "Liars are, like, some of the worst people in my book. I don't do well with them." EJ stayed quiet after that, causing Ophelia and Ricky to share a look. Hopefully if EJ was hiding something from Fallon that it wasn't anything bad and that he would tell her soon. 

****

After the movie was over and everyone was going to their cabins and cleaning up the Canteen, EJ pulls Fallon to the side. "Lonnie, I gotta talk to you about something important." He admits. "And it's been killing me each time I don't tell you." He takes a deep breath, looking anxious about it. "My dad sent me a letter saying that he wasn't happy with me taking a gap year and he wanted me to go to his school in St. Louis."

Fallon's eyes widen, her mouth opening in shock. "What?" She asks in surprise. Then she looks sad, her shoulders dropping in defeat. "You're leaving?"

"I'm not leaving without a fight." EJ quickly said, hoping to show her he didn't want to leave. "I don't wanna leave Salt Lake, okay? I don't wanna leave you and the others." He intertwines his hand with hers, gently squeezing it. "Especially you."

Fallon's heart skips a beat at this, her face turning a bit red. "Then what can convince your dad to do the gap year?" 

"I'm hoping that if this documentary thing is a success, he'll let up on the whole training thing." EJ said. 

Fallon was hurt at first that he didn't tell her about this right when he got the letter, but she knew how stressed he was with directing the play and being in it at the same time. She could tell how much he didn't want to leave and knowing that made her heart flutter. "Well, then," She smiles at EJ, squeezing his hand. "This better be the best show ever."

A/N ah! rickelia is finally together ! 

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