XIX. that's how you get the girl

Marlowe was panicking. Like, full on panicking. She'd been doing well the whole play but this particular act, it meant a lot to her. It was the one that showcased her voice the most, her dancing and acting, and like everything else in her life, Marlowe wanted it to be perfect. She wanted to be perfect. And that often took a large toll on her. One mistake caused her to rethink everything. She couldn't mess up on this. For all she knew, a scout could be watching and considering her for college, or something even bigger than that.

She was dressed in a replica of Sharpay's sparkly blue dress for Bop to the Top. Kourtney decorated her eyes with sparkly blue eyeshadow and dotted her cheeks with pink blush. "I feel sick. I think I'm going to throw up again." She fanned herself.

Kourtney paused clipping one of the flowers into her hair. "No throwing up!" She exclaimed and guided her to sit down in the chair. "You have nothing to worry about. You're gorgeous, you're talented, and you have good hair. You're the whole package, baby girl."

"What if I mess up? What if I mess it up for everybody? I can't afford to mess this up—"

"Hey!" Kourtney interrupted her rambling. "I know you Marlowe Aguilar, and you're everything but a failure. I've never seen you fail at anything, and you're definitely not gonna fault today." She encouraged. Kourtney finished her hair. "Look at you. Beautiful! You got this girl!"

Marlowe inhaled deeply and she went to fix other people's makeup. She stood from the chair and started pacing. "I believe in dreaming. Shooting for the stars. Kickin' and a scratchin', grindin' out my best." She sang at a fast pace, her voice shaky. "Yeah we're gonna bop, bop, bop, bop to the top. Slip and slide and ride that rhythm—" Marlowe stopped singing when she turned around and saw EJ sitting in the chair wearing the #14 jersey. "Whoa. Hey, big boy, what's going on?"

EJ looked at his reflection with a terrified expression. "I'm Tory." He uttered.

"You're Troy?"

"I'm Troy!"

"You're Troy!" Marlowe exclaimed and wrapped her arms around his neck. "EJ, that's wonderful! Wait, what happened to Ricky?"

"There's a scout in the audience here for Nini. He doesn't want to mess anything up for her. And since I'm the understudy, here I am," he explained and touched one of her arms that was wrapped around his neck.

"Oh. Well, I'm so happy for you! This is what you wanted right?"

EJ looked at her in the mirror. "Of course it is. It's all I've been wanting. But what if I mess up."

That's when Marlowe realized how similar they actually were. They spent so many years despising one another when really, EJ thought the same way she did. He was scared to mess up. He was afraid that people would hate him if he didn't perform perfectly. But EJ was just a boy. A teenager. As Marlowe went to encourage him, she realized she needed to take her own advice. "EJ, you've worked so hard for this. Your progress is amazing. You're going to do so good out there. The last thing you should be worried about is disappointment anyone or yourself."

An unknown look glazed in EJ's eyes. He swiftly stood from the chair, her hands falling from his shoulders, and he stood in front of her. "I can't thank you enough for how much you've helped me through all of this.  You're, like, my guardian angel." He expressed with a soft expression.

Everything startled to settle in. How she felt about him, the way he made her feel, how much happier Marlowe's life was since EJ decided to bother her that day. It hit her like a tidal wave. "I was wrong about you," she blurted out.

EJ blinked.

"What I said to you that day in the hallway, I was wrong. You're not conceited. You're not selfish. You're not that frustrating boy I knew from Romeo and Juliet. I thought I knew exactly who you were but I was wrong." A smile stretched on her lips. "You're one of the greatest people I've ever met in my life, EJ. I'm so sorry about the years of being horrible to you, but I think you're amazing."

EJ didn't have time to react before Natalie announced that he was supposed to be on stage. He could only look at her, his face unreadable but soft, his gaze light as he examined how beautiful she looked in the blue dress she was wearing. For so long he doubted himself entirely because he knew what people thought of him,  what she thought of him, but her mind was changed.  EJ changed her mind and Marlowe no longer looked at him with disgust or anger or annoyance, but like he was a star in the sky that she couldn't stop looking at.

Natalie called for him again and Marlowe pressed her hands to his shoulders. "Good luck out there, Green Eyes."

There was that indescribable feeling. That white hot feeling he got every single time she was around. EJ never felt that way with Nini, he always tried to convince himself that he did, but it was how clear as day. They weren't friends. They were something more.

Marlowe and Luca stood backstage with the others and watched the next act. "Wow, so this is your real stage."  Nini spoke while walking out onto the floor. When she saw EJ, she began to falter.

He grinned her way. "I guess you could call it that. Or just a smelly gym." He acted as Troy.

"What's going on? Where's Ricky?" She whispered to him, putting a hand over her microphone.

"Oh god, Nini, don't do this." Marlowe groaned and held her head.

EJ looked at the crowd awkwardly and handed her the ball. Nini tossed the ball to the basket but she missed.  "Whoa." He laughed and went to catch it. "Don't tell me you're good at hoops, too?"

Luca leaned towards his sister. "Mars, where's Ricky?" He whispered.

"He freaked out and couldn't do it. But EJ's good.  Don't give up on him."

"Um. . ." Nini took an awkward pause. "I once scored 41 points at a league championship game."

"No way." EJ gasped. 

"Uh, yeah, in the same day I invented the space shuttle and microwave popcorn."

Knox came up behind the twins and cringed at the scene. "Yikes, this is bad."

"She's acting unprofessional. He's trying," Marlowe grumbled.

"No argument there. But you can clearly tell they have no chemistry."

"Yeah, you should be you out there, Marley." Knox hummed, causing her to nudge him in the ribs.

"Miss, I'm sorry. This is a closed practice." One of the actors playing Coach Bolton said while walking onto the floor with Ashlyn.

On cue, Knox walked around the twins and onto the floor, holding a basketball. 

"Dad, practice is over," said EJ. 

"Uh, no, it's all good. I'll be getting on my way." Nini quickly said and ran off the stage.

Marlowe released an exaggerated sigh. "What the hell is she doing?" 

Knox looked confused on what to do next. "Uh. . . We can stay and shoot some hoops. Right, bro?" He improvised and punched EJ on the arm.

Luca grinned. "He's so cute."

"And I expect to see you back in detention pronto to prepare for the musicale, young man." Ashlyn said and strutted towards them, lowering her glasses.

"Hang on. East High is about basketball, not dance numbers. If you wanted to do theater, you should have stayed in New York, Ms. Darbus. Boom!"

The lights dimmed and it was time for Ashlyn's performance. EJ and Knox quickly ran off stage. "Did I mess up? She caught me off guard—"

Marlowe quickly stopped him. "NO! No, no, you were great! I don't know what's wrong with her but you did so good." She encouraged and patted his arm.

Knox smirked. "How was I?"

"Your one line was perfect, honey." Luca answered while smiling.

EJ glanced up and down at the twin's costumes. "Oh wow, you guys look great."

"Damn, Kourtney knows her stuff."

The Aguilar twins smiled at them.

When Marlowe heard the music start to Bop to the Top, she had to hold down the nauseating feeling she got. Her hand was latched onto Seb's and he squeezed it. "Good luck, angel!" He whispered with a wide smile.

"Remember. Do the rump and strut your stuff!" Carlos told them and gave her an air kiss.

"Gracias." She breathed out and prepared herself.

On the other side of the stage, Luca strutted out and smirked at the audience. "Mucho gusto."

Marlowe came out and fanned herself. "Aye que fabulosa." She let out and the crowd started to cheer

The twins started dancing to the middle of the floor where the ladder was. "Rae aye aye aye!"

"Arriba."

"Quieres bailar?"

"Mirame."

"I believe in dreaming and shooting for the stars." Marlowe sang and stepped forward.

"Baby, to be number one, you got to raise the bar," Luca followed and did a shimmy.

Marlowe smirked. "Kicking and a scratching. grinding out my best."

"Anything it takes to climb the ladder of success!"

The twins danced and sang in unison and the audience was eating them up. Sabrina and Mateo watched them proudly from where they were sitting.

"Work our tails off everyday
Gotta bump the competition
Blow them all away."

Marlowe and Luca smirked at each other and did the iconic choreography.

"Yeah we're gonna
Bop, bop, bop, bop to the top
Slip and slide and ride that rhythm
Hump and hop
Hop till we drop
And start again
Zip zap zop hop,  flop like a mop
Scoot around the corner,"

Their linked hands and started doing the salsa, having fun with it. "Move it to the groove until the music stops,"

Miss Jenn came over and watched them from the sidelines. "Oh my gosh, they're doing amazing." She spoke highly.

"You should've been here for all the others musicals. They kill it every time." Carlos told her.

"Yeah, Marlowe's the best leading lady." Seb added and watched his best friend with a joyful smile

Miss Jenn took in the information and watched the girl dance with a thinking expression on her face.

"Yeah we're gonna
Bop, bop, bop, bop to the top
Wipe away your inhibitions
Stump, stump, stump, do the rump,

And strut your stuff!" Marlowe sang with her whole heart.

"Bop, bop, bop, straight to the top
We're going for the glory!"

The twins started climbing up the ladder. "We'll keep stepping up and we just won't stop," Luca sang.

"Stop!" Marlowe added flawlessly.

"Till we reach the top
Bop to the top!"

The song ended with the twins ending pose and the audience immediately starting cheering in hollering, their mother and mother cheering the loudest. Marlowe flashed the crowd a dazzling smile, feeling like she was literally on top.

Luca hopped down from the ladder and helped her down. The two giving the crowd two more flashy smiles before exiting off the floor. Miss Jenn, Seb, and Carlos were there to meet them and they were cheering. "That was perfect!"

"Amazing!"

"Oh, I am so proud of the two of you!" Miss Jenn said and pulled both of them in for a hug. "Oh, Marley honey, you're shaking."

"Yeah," Marlowe nodded and felt her whole body shake. "I think it's a good thing. I think I also might need to sit down."

She quickly guided her to the back to get water.

After chugging two bottles of water, the shakes started to ease up and Marlowe exited the dressing room,  seeing Ricky and Gina standing in the hall. "Hey guys." She greeted them.

"Hey, Sharpay!" Ricky said back with a wide smile. "I watched you and Luca. My favorite performance of the night."

"Marley, you've been doing amazing."

With a flushes face, she waved her hand. "Oh, stop. It's easy when it's your brother you're dancing with." Marlowe looked at Ricky and put a hand on his shoulder. "Are you doing okay? I know about your mom's. . ."

"Boyfriend," he finished and nodded. "You can say it. It's okay."

She frowned. "Boyfriend. I'm sorry this happened on your big night."

"Don't be." He shook his head and took her hand.  "This is more of your big night. You've worked your ass off for this since day one and you're doing amazing. I'm so proud of you."

She smiled widely at him. "Thanks, Richard. That means a lot."

"Shall we go inside and watch?" Gina suggested.

"Lead the way, Taylor." Marlowe joked and she chuckled.

Big Red dimmed the lights and EJ and Nini came out onto the floor wearing their Breaking Free costumes. The music started to play. "We're soarin, flying. There's not a star in heaven that we can't reach. If we're tryin, so we're freaking free," EJ sang, looking Nini in the eye to try and get her to work with him.

But she couldn't and she was a nervous wreck. "I can't do it, Troy. Not while all these people staring at me."

"Look at me, Gabby. Right at me," he told her as Troy and bent down slightly to meet her eye level. "Like the first time we sang together. Like kindergarten, remember?"

The doors to the gym opened and Marlowe, Ricky, and Gina came walking in. It caused Nini to look away from EJ and right at Ricky. He looked over his shoulder and his eyes found Marlowe, seeing her give him a supportive smile from the door. "Like kindergarten, remember?" EJ said again, getting back into character.

Nini sighed softly and looked at the audience. The only thing she could focus on was Ricky and how he wasn't the one on the floor with her.

The senior looked back at them again and the awareness started to settle in. But this time, it didn't hurt like it used to because EJ had realized something else. Something else he wished he had perceived a while ago. "Remember kindergarten?" He said to Nini again, more heartfelt this time. "There's nothing like the friends you made back then."

Marlowe narrowed her eyes. "What's he doing?"

Ricky and Gina only shrugged.

"And they never really leave, do they?"

"What are you doing?" Nini asked him.

"Ssomething right. I hope," he admitted. "I'm gonna play to lose. I'm not the Troy you want. And if I'm being completely honest, you're not the one I want either. . ."

The audience looked confused, as did Marlowe, but Ricky and Gina knew exactly what he was talking about.

EJ put his hand on Nini's shoulder and walked off the floor, causing the audience to murmur. She stared at Ricky again from where he was standing and she lifted the microphone to her lips. "You know the world can see us. In a way that's different than who we are." She started walking up to him. "Creating space between us till we're separated hearts."

Marlowe took the moment as a sign to step back. Gina followed her action. Ricky sighed. "I'm really not at my best."

"Just look at me, Ricky. Right at me." Nini whispered.

In that moment, Marlowe knew it would always be Ricky and Nini. It was inevitable. They were each other's person.

The music started to play again. "But your faith, it gives me strength,"

"Strength to believe." Nini and Ricky sang together. "We're breaking free!"

"We're soarin. Flyin!" He belted and the two of them together through the audience.

"There's not a star in heaven that we can't reach. If we knew trying, yeah, we're breaking free."

EJ entered the gym again and stood by Marlowe's side. She looked up at him with a smirk. "Not bad, Caswell. Not bad."

He grinned back and looked at Gina. LSome wonderstudies we are, huh?" He scoffed.

She nodded with a grin on her face. "Hell yeah, we are. Thank you. For buying me that plane ticket."

"It just didn't seem fair for you to miss all this."

"He's right," the third party nodded and she looked at the girl. "You're one of us, Gina. Always."

Gina smiled at both of them thankfully.

Marlowe leaned to the side and bumped the older boy with her hip. EJ smiled and bumped her back, making her face light up. "Your singing was beautiful, by the way. Like always." He whispered.

She looked up at him. "And your emotion was beautiful. Like always."

"You know the world can see us in a way that's different than who we are."

The musical was over and Big Red played the ending song. The band came out and started to perform. "Together, together, together everyone!"

Ashlyn came running out of the path and the audience clapped loudly for her. She did a graceful bow.

"Together, we're there for each other every time."

The boys came out carrying Marlowe and Luca on their shoulders. The audience seemed to go extra crazy for them and the dazzling twins held each other ma hands up, showing off. They sat them down safely and the two of them bowed.

"Together, together, come on, let's do this right."

Gina and Kourtney came dancing out and Marlowe cheered for them. "Yeah, ladies!"

"Together, together, together everyone."

EJ and Knox came out in their basketball uniforms, twirling the balls on their fingers.nLuca clapped for them and Knox came running over, kissing the boy on the lips.

EJ backed up on the floor and found Marlowe. She wrapped her arms around his neck and he lifted her up, spinning her around.

"Together, together, come on, let's have some fun. We're all in this together once we know that we are, we're all stars, and we see that."

The leading lady and leading man came running out lastly, holding hands. They both took a bow. Ricky gave Nini a push forward to have her own moment and the audience cheered loudly for her, especially her moms.

"We're all in this together. When we reach, we can fly, know inside we can make it. We're all in this together once we see there's a chance that we have and we take it,"

"Yeah, you really got it goin—" Marlowe sang but was interrupted by Nini whispered something in her ear. Her eyes widened and she quickly nodded, hitting Luca on the arm to tell him.

Gina and Marlowe ran off the stage and grabbed Miss Jenn and Carlos. She grabbed Carlos's hand and pulled him with her. They met Nini in the middle with her holding a tray with a red apple on it. "You know what to say!"

Miss Jenn smiled at her and looked at the audience. "IS THAT THE LAST APPLE?"

Carlos jumped into Marlowe's open arms and she giggled, squeezing him tightly.

"This is kind of the best." Ricky admitted over the loud music and cheering.

"Oh, honey, wait till you see what I picked for the spring musical." Miss Jenn said and gave him a look.

Marlowe smiled and looked behind her, holding her hand out for EJ. He smiled and took it. They skipped to the front with everyone. "Wildcats everywhere, wave your hands up in the air. That's the way we do it. Let's get to it. Come on, everyone."

When the musical ended, it started pouring rain outside. Marlowe and Luca were being smothered with hugs and kisses from their parents when she heard the doorbell ring. "I'll bet it." She announced and left Luca to be smothered by their mom. When she opened the door, her eyes widened when she saw EJ standing there with flowers in his hands, shaking like a ghost from the rain. "EJ, are you insane?"

"It's you," was the only thing he said.

Her eyes widened in shock. "What?"

"It's you, Marlowe. I think it's always been you and I'm so sorry that it's taken me so long to realize it!" EJ continued, his voice loud from having to talk over the pouring rain. "I've been racking my head around what to say and how to tell you how I'm feeling but I was too afraid. I think tonight with Nini finally gave me that push.!I don't want Nini or anybody else. I want you, Marlowe."

Marlowe blinked rapidly and breathed out a laugh.
"EJ—"

"I'm serious, Marley! I want you. I-I-I'm tired of trying to pretend I don't. Every conversation, every phone call, every text, and every time I've woken up in the morning, you're always the first thing on my mind and I don't want it to stop. I like you. Like I really, really like you. I like you to the point it makes me want to throw up,"

She let out a string of giggles and she held her chest, feeling like she was in a movie. This couldn't be real? How was this real?

EJ motioned to the now damp flowers. "You said you've never gotten flowers before so I went and bought some before I came here. I know I used to be horrible in the past and I've had to work hard to prove to you that I've changed. You've helped me change, Marley. It's you—"

His words were cut off by Marlowe taking his face in her hands and pressing her lips to his. Nearly dropping the flowers, EJ's arms circled around her waist and pulled her closer. They were now completely soaked by the rain but Marlowe didn't care.It was the last thing on her mind. The first thing was him. It had always been him. Butterflies fluttered in her stomach and she got that feeling she always wished she got when she watched rom coms. This was her rom com moment.

Marlowe pulled away and looked him the eye, and she giggled. "Come inside before you get sick, Caswell!"

She quickly ran inside and EJ stood there in the rain. He looked into the camera and smiled. "And that's how you get the girl."