It was opening night and Ophelia was trying to forget about the opening night jitters she had and focus on doing mirror exercises she was doing with Ricky. Everyone was in their costumes, getting ready for the show. Nini was running around, handing cards to everyone even if they were just apart of the crew. Ophelia wore the white and blue dress Belle wore at the beginning of the movie while Ricky was dressed as the prince. She had to admit he looked really cute. She would never admit that though.

Nini then walks over to Ophelia and Ricky with a smile. "A little note for good luck." She handed a card to Ophelia, who smiled nervously.

"Thanks, Nini. I need all the luck I can get."

"You guys feeling alright?" Nini asked.

Ricky smiles nervously. "Fit as a fiddle."

Ophelia nods. "Never better."

-ˏˋ "We're screwed." Ophelia and Ricky spoke in unison, staring at the camera with a nervous look as they both showed their sprained wrists. "When I got into theater, I didn't sign up for my co-star to fall on me." Ophelia sighed. "And I'm still very sorry about that." Ricky smiles apologetically at her. "In my defense, that wasn't my fault." He glances at the camera. "I think after 'High School Musical', Miss Jenn got a little gun shy about understudies. So.." "Now we don't have any." Ophelia adds in a nervous tone. She smiles reassuringly at the camera. "Which is perfectly fine. We got this." She wasn't for sure if she was just trying to reassure everyone else or if she was trying to reassure herself. "Yeah, the show must go on." Ricky nervously smiled. Ophelia grabs onto his wrist gently, showing her cast and his to the camera with an annoyed smile on her face. "And these can never come off." .ˎˊ-

Ricky now leaned back in a chair with his hand behind his head and Ophelia had her right arm wrapped around his shoulders, her other hand holding onto his right arm. "So when the Beast was dying, was she holding him up like this? Or..." Ophelia's voice trailed off as she tried to remember how Belle held Beast. Now that it was opening night, nerves and anxiety made her forget a few things of what she needed to do.

"It was like a Renaissance painting. I have no idea how they did it." Ricky admitted.

"This is not good. I'm completely blanking." Ophelia mumbled, standing up straighter.

"Is this because of North High's show last night?" Nini inquires. She shrugs. "'Cause I thought it was impressive, but..."

"No buts, Nini." Ophelia cut in, looking upset. "You know it was like if James Cameron and a circus had a baby." Nerves overtake her features as she fiddles with her fingers, bringing her gaze to the floor. "How-How are we supposed to compete with that? As much as I hate to admit it, Lily was amazing as Belle and I'm not sure that I can be a better Belle than her."

"Howie was so good as the beast," Ricky scoffs. "I'm actually rooting against myself tonight."

"Ophelia," Natalie calls out to her, walking over to the dark-haired girl. She smiles and links arms with her. "Time to bedazzle your wrist."

"Oh, fun." Ophelia sarcastically smiled, chuckling along with the others as she walked away with Natalie.

****

Nini smiles when she found EJ and Fallon. "Guys, there you are! These are for you." She hands them both a card with their name on it. "Don't open them until we get to slices, okay?"

After sharing a look, EJ and Fallon look back at Nini with sheepish expression. "Uh..." Fallon's voice trailed off as she blushed faintly.

Nini raises her eyebrows. "Is there a problem?"

EJ shrugs, a light shade of blush was on his face. "I mean..."

-ˏˋ EJ stood at an empty part of the bomb shelter with Fallon standing next to him. EJ had on part of his Gatson costume while Fallon was dressed as one of the Silly Girls, wearing an orange dress which happened to her favorite color. They both were smiling at the camera as EJ says, "We're actually not going to the after-party because..."

Fallon does jazz hands, grinning at the camera. "We're going on a date!" She excitedly said. She lets her arms lay by her side and pauses, looking nervous. "Wait, it is a date, right?" With a pleading look on her face, she folds her hands in front of her and closes her eyes. "Oh, please let it be a date 'cause otherwise this will be kinda awkward."

EJ laughs lightly, glancing at her with amusement and thinking she was adorable. "Yes, Lonnie, it's a date." Fallon opens her eyes and looks at the floor shyly, blushing faintly while she smiles with relief. "We were supposed to go out a couple weeks ago but then someone broke the harness." EJ explained.

"And Ricky broke Ophelia." Fallon adds with anger overtaking her features. "I know he had no control of that, but yeah, I'm still mad at him for doing that."

"That's understandable." EJ nods, glancing at the camera with a small smile. "So, yeah, it's just been a little crazy."

"So," Fallon drags out the word, taking a deep breath as she smiles. "We rescheduled for tonight after the show. Don't judge me," Fallon points at EJ with a stern look on her face, causing him to chuckle a bit and smile at her with amusement, raising his hands in defense. "But I never been on a date before so, uh," She smiles nervously, ignoring the way she could feel her face heating up as she glances at EJ with confusion. "What do you even wear on a date?"

EJ laughs, his face tinted pink as he shrugs. "I don't care what you wear, you'll still be beautiful."ˎˊ-

Ophelia was talking with Gina and Luca, trying to distract herself so she wouldn't be so nervous about the play.

"Okay, half hour call!" Natalie called out as she walked across the room and everyone cheered excitedly.

"Wildcats! Villagers!" Miss Jenn announces, gesturing for everyone to gather in the middle of the room. "My friends and allies. As you know, there is a judge out there in the audience tonight who is very important to the future of this theater program. He is going to score every performance, our music, our sets." She smiles nervously. "Lord help us, even me. And in two weeks at the Menkies, we could win," In an excited tone, she whispers, "Fifty thousand dollars." Excited cheers and laughter filled the room right after she whispered that.

"So tonight, we are going to put the 'U' in Utah!" Miss Jenn chuckled. Everyone shared confused looks and Seb was the only one who clapped at Miss Jenn's joke, but he only clapped once.

Miss Jenn turns to Ophelia and Ricky with a smile. "And to Ricky and Ophelia, some words of inspiration." Ophelia and Ricky both smile back at their teacher, hoping for a pep talk, but their smile falls and nerves are clear on their faces as their teacher continues. "My deep and shameful disappointment in your recent accident has mellowed to a sort of numbness, so there's that."

Ophelia and Ricky exchange a glance before looking back at Miss Jenn with disbelief. "Those were words of inspiration?" Ophelia inquired, putting emphasis on the word 'those'.

Miss Jenn nods. "Yes, they were!"

"Oh." Ophelia presses her lips together in a firm line and nods. "Thanks."

Miss Jenn smiles and glances around with confusion. "Okay, where is Lefou?"

Footsteps rushing into the room can be heard seconds later, followed by Big Red's voice. "Sorry I'm late." He apologizes, standing by everyone else, holding a bottle of Pepto Bismol. "Just some dry heaving."

Ricky sends him a look. "Dude!"

"Dry!" Big Red exclaimed defensively.

"I could've gone living the rest of my life without having to know that." Luca admitted, his face scrunched up with disgust, and his girlfriend and friends nodded in agreement.

"Um," Ashlyn picks up a big bouquet, showing it to her boyfriend with a smile. "I got you a little something for your big debut. There's a card and everything."

"Oh, wow." Big Red smiled brightly, but then he gagged before he turned around and ran.

Ashlyn turns to face everyone, nervously smiling. "He's ready."

****

Ophelia was hoping to talk with Ricky before the show because she was freaking out now that it was only a few minutes before the first act. He always knew what to say to calm her nerves. So she searched the bomb shelter, and backstage for him but didn't find him yet until she looked in the hallway, stopping in her tracks when she spotted the curly-haired boy talking to a familiar blonde. Just seeing Lily again made her blood boil.

Knowing that Lily was there to watch the play made her more nerves and anxiety skyrocket. There was no denying Lily was amazing as Belle and now she was worried that the next time they saw each other after the play Lily would berate her and call her acting a joke. She knows she shouldn't listen in on Ricky's and Lily's conversation, but when she overheard her name she couldn't help but listen.

"You and Ophelia aren't together, are you?" Lily questions. "If you are, I'm just saying you could do much better than her." She smiles. "I know things might not go well with the others if we did this, but you could take my offer of getting a slice of pizza with me. It wouldn't hurt to just hang out."

Ophelia couldn't see Ricky's face since she was hiding behind the corner at the end of the hallway behind him, but she could hear how defensive he was of her by the tone of his voice. "First of all, it's none of your business even if we were together. Second of all, Ophelia is a wonderful girl, anyone would be lucky to date her so don't ever talk badly about her again. And I'm sorry, but I'm going to have to decline."

Lily looks surprised by his sudden protectiveness, in fact she even faltered and took a step back. "I'm sorry."

Ophelia decides to walk over to her best friend at this moment, hoping to get Lily to scram. "Hey, Rick, can I talk with you?"

Ricky turns around, his hard gaze softening when he locked eyes with her. "Yeah, of course."

"Prince Adam. Belle. Five minutes." Natalie announces when she walked by the three teens. Noticing the uncomfortable look on Ophelia's face with Lily around, Natalie shoots Lily a glare. "Lily, scram." She ordered before she continued walking to the auditorium.

With one last look at Ricky, Lily then turned around and walked back into the auditorium. Now that Ricky has his full attention on his best friend, he noticed her fidgeting with the sleeve of the blue dress she wore which was something she often did when she was nervous or anxious. If she didn't have any jewelry to fidget with, then it was her sleeve or hands. "What's up, Lia?"

Ophelia lets out a shaky breath. "I'm trying to hard not to freak out right now."

Ricky nods in understanding. "Yeah, same here." He smiles softly at her. "But Lia, you shouldn't be worried, you're beyond ready for tonight. This is your first ever play to act in and that is amazing." He smiles brightly at her. "I'm so proud of you for getting this far."

Ophelia's tense shoulders relax when he said those things. Smiling softly at him, she steps forward and wraps her arms around his waist to pull him in a hug. He doesn't hesitate to wrap his arms back around her in a hug, resting his chin on top of her head. "Thank you, Ricky. That means a lot to me. I don't know how you do it, but you always know just what to say to make me feel better."

"You do the same for me." Ricky admits. He grins. "Now let's go be the best Belle and Beast there ever was."

****

Ophelia will always wonder how Miss Jenn convinced Mr. Mazzara to be the narrator. She didn't expect him to agree or to even be good at it. It was as if he was born to be a narrator. Ricky and Steph, a dancer who got the role of the enchantress, did amazing with the first scene. The ones who weren't on stage were now currently back in the bomb shelter where Miss Jenn called everyone together. The scene that was currently happening was one with Gaston and Lefou.

"This is going to be fine. I am mostly proud." Miss Jenn commented.

"Oh, so sweet." Luca sarcastically spoke.

"Right?" Ophelia agrees in a sarcastic tone. "I feel so loved."

"And I heard Big Red has not thrown up in over twenty minutes." Miss Jenn added.

Steph glances at Luca, who she stood by, with an amused smile. "She heard wrong." He chuckled and nodded in agreement.

"Every great performance needs an X factor. Something special that puts it over the top." Miss Jenn explains. "A little birdie has just told me where our Menkies judge is sitting, and I'm thinking that with just a few minor adjustments, we can make this gentleman feel every bit as welcome as the intruder that my mother clubbed over the head when I was a girl."

Seb leans forward, staring at her with confusion. "I thought she just hog-tied him."

Everyone else looks at their teacher with confusion. She nods and smiles. "She just hog-tied him."

Ophelia glances at Ricky, who sat by her and was now dressed in Beast form. "I don't think she just hog-tied him." She chuckled and he chuckled along with her.

"When the next song begins, I have directed Benjamin Mazzara and his lighting-ists..."

"They're called grips." Natalie corrected Miss Jenn.

Miss Jenn nods and continues. "To spotlight our judge. And then I need you all to make him feel especially and uniquely welcome." Confused murmurs filled the room, everyone not for sure how they would make this happen. "Any questions?"

Gina raises her feather duster in the air. "Many questions."

"A lot." Luca answered as he nodded.

"Yeah, I'm very confused." Ophelia agreed.

"Should we just do what we rehearsed?" Seb asks. "Doesn't that feel a little desperate?"

"It feels that way for a reason, Sebastian." Miss Jenn responds. She glances at Carlos. "Besides, Carlos is a seasoned professional who can roll with anything, right?"

Everyone looks at Carlos, who had been unresponsive and looking scared this whole time. He glances at Seb, who looks at Miss Jenn with a nervous smile. "He says, 'help'."

"Well, that's not good." Ophelia mumbled.

****

'Be Our Guest' performance was a big hit. Ophelia thought that Carlos, Gina, Luca, Kourtney, and Seb did amazing with all their parts in the songs and of course the dancers were amazing as well. Ophelia thought she also did pretty well during the scene. 'Be Our Guest' was one of her favorite songs in the whole movie so it was fun to be in it in the play. The group had made it where at one point during the song when the spotlight was shown on the judge they would throw a sugar cube at him. He seemed to be surprised by the gesture but also enjoyed it.

The good thing was everyone seemed to love the performance of 'Be Our Guest'. Natalie announced that there was now a fifteen minute intermission, adding in that if no one bought at least twenty dollars worth of concessions that they do not support art. Ophelia thought that was funny and cool of Natalie to add that in.

Ophelia was in the bomb shelter, talking with Luca who was a nervous wreck. He had just got done talking with his girlfriend in the hallway, complimenting her on her performance and sharing a sweet moment with her, but then they were interrupted by a man named Jamie. Luca never met Gina's brother before and now that he knew her brother was there, he was very nervous to meet him. Not only was Jamie Porter a famous music producer, but he was the older brother of the one and only Gina Porter. He just hoped that Jamie would like him and not disapprove of him dating his little sister. After countless times of reassuring Luca he had nothing to worry about and with Fallon chiming in to reassure him and telling him to 'man up', Luca was finally feeling better about possibly meeting Gina's brother.

****

Ophelia was in the bomb shelter, now wearing the green dress Belle wore during the song 'Something There'. She was pacing around, nervously humming the song. "O, what's wrong?" Nini called out to her. Nini was wearing her normal clothes since she wasn't needed in the play anymore. She had been hanging out in the bomb shelter and had just got done hyping Kourtney up when she noticed Ophelia acting nervous off to the side.

"Okay, I know this might seem like I'm copying her, but I just can't help but think if I should add in a run at the end like Lily did." Ophelia rambles, walking over to where Nini stood in front of a piano. "She sounded like a literal Disney princess." She then grumbles with a pout on her face. "Why does that stupid mean girl have to be so talented?"

Nini chuckles softly and smiles slightly at her. "Ophelia, you're talented as well. I think even more talented than Lily." Ophelia glances at her with a smile when she said that. "But I don't think you should add the run." Ophelia looks at her with confusion, wondering why she shouldn't. Nini takes a step forward, placing both hands on her shoulders. "O, listen to me. You are the best Belle I've ever seen, and I've been in the show before."

"Wow." Ophelia said with surprise, not expecting to get a compliment like that from Nini. She could feel her nerves fading away as she smiles. "Thank you, Neenz. That means a lot to me."

Nini smiles, gently squeezing her shoulders. "No problem, O."

"O," Natalie said to the dark-skinned girl when she walked into the bomb shelter. "Sound needs to check your mic before Act Two."

"Okay." Ophelia smiled slightly and nodded.

Nini removes her hands from Ophelia's shoulders, stepping away from her. Ophelia looks at her with a small smile when she gave her two thumbs up. "Break a leg."

A/N so i've been trying to write more of ophelia's & nini's friendship & i love them so much also rickelia >>>>