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𝗙𝗜𝗡𝗔𝗟𝗟𝗬 𝗙𝗥𝗘𝗘

chapter twenty-one:
the truth comes out !

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ALL THE GIRLS — plus Seb — gathered in Ashlyn's living room. After a quick trip to Target for some supplies, they basically got everything that they needed . . . plus a couple snacks just in case they got hungry.

Kourtney laid out some fur on the table. "One hundred percent real faux fur."

"Oooh," Nini replied.

"Thirty yards."

"Must've been a truly enormous faux animal," Ashlyn commented.

"So, Kourt . . ." Violetta began. "What exactly are we doing?"

"Okay, so you know those sequined tops where if you rub them one way, they're purple, but if you rub them the other way, they're red?" Kourtney described.

"Duh, love it," Gina voiced.

"So, we're gonna do that with the Beast cape. But instead of purple and red, it's going to be fur and satin." She dramatically wrapped some blue satin around her. "Y'all feel me?"

"Kourt, you are a visionary," Nini told her.

"Oh, thank you. The boys can build something that spins the Beast around to disguise the transition."

"Wow, won't that take a while?" Seb asked.

Kourtney shrugged. "I'm in if you are."

"I guess I could sleep over tonight," Gina responded, making them laugh because she actually did live in Ashlyn's house.

"You guys, I'm all about costumes, but I don't know if my parents will be cool with me at a co-ed sleepover," Seb admitted.

Kourtney looked over at him seriously. "Chip, this is your mother speaking. Go call your mother."

Seb pointed at her and walked off to the kitchen to call his mom. Ashlyn them dramatically turned around, holding a bucket of scissors.

"Behold, my scissors bucket," Ashlyn announced. She placed it down on the table proudly. "Yeah, guys."

Athena laughed slightly. And once Seb joined them again, they all started to work.

About an hour later, they had successfully attached the faux fur to the blue satin. Kourtney had Seb stand in front of the mirror to model their creation. Athena sat on the couch, eating some Goldfish for a break (she had done a lot of cutting and measuring, okay?) while staring down at her phone. It was on Ricky's contact — she was debating on calling him, but she decided now wasn't the time. She sighed and locked her phone.

"Ooh, this is going to be so good, Carlos would wear it," Kourtney said.

"Does he just walk around in Armani sweatpants?" Ashlyn questioned.

"I guess," Seb answered, his voice sad compared to how the rest of them were laughing.

Athena frowned and put down her package of Goldfish. "Sebbie, don't lie this time. What's going on with you two?"

Seb turned to look at everyone. "I guess you could say he met a group of extremely photogenic guys when he was down in Mexico, and he seems pretty happy. So, now I'm pretty sad."

"Oh, Seb, come on," Gina voiced.

"You want to see him happy," Ashlyn added. "That's with you."

"But I guess he has to be, out of default, right?" Seb inquired.

"What do you mean, Seb?" Violetta asked in concern.

Seb sat down on the couch next to Athena, making her place a hand on his back and rub it comfortingly. "There's not a lot of other choices for a boy like Carlos here at East."

Nini shook her head. "No, Seb."

"Have you told him how you feel?" Ashlyn questioned.

"I'm not so good at saying the feelings part out loud," Seb revealed.

"Never hurts to put yourself out there," Gina said. "Or so I've heard."

"At least two of us here have perfectly stable relationships," Athena muttered, gesturing to Violetta and Ashlyn.

Violetta sighed. "Athena."

"Oh, by the way, how are you, 'Thena?" Nini began. "You know, with the whole Ricky situation."

"Not well," Athena admitted. She threw her phone down on the couch in frustration. "Him and his stupid Vans and high-top Converse are making me rethink my entire decision."

Seb looked confused. "Why are his shoes making you rethink your decision?"

"Because he looks so good in them. It's so ridiculous."

"Why don't you just tell him how you feel?" Gina suggested. "You were the one to initiate the breakup, so maybe you should be the one to initiate the the make up."

Violetta gestured frantically to Gina. "You hear that, Athena? That's what I've been saying, and you're not listening to me!"

Athena shook her head. "It'll just confuse and hurt him even more. That's quite literally the last thing I want." She looked down at her hands. "He doesn't need that right now."

"Come on, I saw you two talking at rehearsal today," Gina said. "You should've seen him. He stared at you like you were his whole universe."

"Literal heart eyes," Ashlyn agreed.

"Trust me, I've been wrong before, but 'Thena . . . I'm right about this one."

"Oh my God, the chocolates," Ashlyn suddenly voiced.

Athena winced slightly to herself and looked down at the floor. She really didn't want to be reminded of that incident. Athena remembered how helpless she felt when they were trapped at the school when Gina kept bringing up the Valentine's chocolates she thought Ricky had sent her. Back then, Ricky and Athena were doing better than ever. But now, hearing chocolates and being reminded of their Valentine's Day together, it was like a stab to the heart as she was reminded of what had went wrong. She didn't really understand why Ashlyn was bringing it up now . . .

"What are the chocolates?" Nini inquired, since at the time she had been stuck at the hospital with her moms.

"Oh, um . . ." Gina trailed off. "I . . . I thought Ricky sent me some chocolates on Valentine's Day, and I kind of melted a little, as a friend. But he didn't send me chocolates. It was my mom."

"Did you know about this, Athena?" Nini asked.

"Hmm?" Athena hummed in response, looking up from the ground. "Oh, uh, yeah, I did. On the day of the really bad storm."

"It was funny," Ashlyn stated. "We laughed and laughed."

Athena nodded slowly, letting out a fake laugh that almost sounded real. "Yep. Real funny."

Violetta looked at her worryingly. "Athena—"

"Anyone else want a root beer?" Athena questioned, standing up from the couch. Everyone just stared at her. "No? Okay. Uh, I'll be right back."

With that, she left to go to the kitchen, her heart feeling like it was being crushed yet again at the reminder of what she had broken.

--- ☆ • ♫ • ♪ • ♫ • ☆ ---

AFTER SOME MORE time — with Athena not really speaking much, mostly lost in thought — and some begging from Kourtney, Howie actually sent her the original Broadway plans from the Beast's transformation that North High was allegedly using. They took the finished Beast cape and went to school after telling the boys to meet them there.

Instead of meeting at the stage door, they actually found EJ and Big Red walking in the hallway while they were also walking towards the stage. They had this sort of spinning contraption for Ricky made out of a table and some of Big Red's old skateboards — which Athena was surprised about, because she knew him and Ricky were very attached to their skateboards. She was also wondering where Ricky himself and Carlos were.

"These two are for the pizza shop," Big Red listed off, trying to eliminate some of the keys on his key ring. "This one's for the front door of my house. This one's for my bike lock, that one's for Athena's house—"

"You have a key to Athena's house?" EJ inquired.

"She gave me, Ricky, and Violetta ones in case of emergencies."

"Also known as we all gave each other keys to each other's houses when we were twelve," Athena explained.

Big Red then turned around by the stage door and held up a key. "Oh! I haven't seen this one in a while."

"You do have the key, right, babe?" Ashlyn asked.

"Yeah, I narrowed it down to this half of the chain."

Big Red then attempted to open the door. However, none of the keys he narrowed down would fit in the lock. Athena rocked back and forth on her heels as she waited for him to actually open the door. However, the stage door then opened to reveal Natalie.

"You could've just knocked," Natalie told him.

They all went into the stage. Once everything was settled, they took the blueprint for the Broadway transformation and laid it out on the stage. All of them gathered around it and stared down at the diagram. Athena tilted her head ad it. For a Broadway show, this transformation seemed very . . . simple.

Gina was the first one to speak. "Wait. So, in the Broadway show, all they did was suspend the Beast in the air, and then he takes the mask off."

"Wow," Nini stated.

"Seems almost . . . anticlimactic," Violetta commented. "Like, it's this whole big thing, and he just . . . takes off the mask?"

"But combine this with the wire from Get'cha Head in the Game, we're golden," Ashlyn voiced. "Do we still have Ricky's harness?"

"Ooh, it's in the costume shop somewhere," Kourtney replied.

"Everyone, let's meet back in fifteen," Natalie suggested.

"Thank you, fifteen," they all chorused before dispersing.

Athena stood up and joined Violetta at the contraption for Ricky. Kourtney took the blueprint from Natalie and spread it across the top so they could all have a better look.

"So . . ." Seb trailed off.

"So, this came from Howie?" Big Red asked.

"Yeah, good luck getting a comment out of her," Nini responded. "I've been trying for an hour."

"Okay, the comment is, he's finally figured out my love language," Kourtney announced.

Violetta raised an eyebrow. "Which one is it? Physical touch? Words of affirmation?"

"Uh, gifts, music, flattery, and begging."

"Hi," Carlos suddenly greeted, coming out of literally nowhere.

Seb turned to face him. "Hi."

"Can I steal you for a minute? I'm really nervous, so please say yes before I change my mind."

Seb hesitated for a moment. "Yes."

Athena shared a knowing look with Violetta. Oh, they were so going to make up. How sweet.

Seb left with Carlos. After about maybe five minutes later, Big Red approached Athena holding Ricky's harness that he had worn during Get'cha Head in the Game. Now, that harness didn't exactly match up with a good memory — since when Ricky was in it on opening night he completely panicked due to seeing his mom with Todd in the audience — so Athena didn't really know how this was going to play out.

"Thought you might want to get Ricky," Big Red admitted. "He's somewhere with Carlos and Seb . . . but I know you two have wanted to talk, so now's your chance."

Athena took the harness with a gracious smile. "Thanks, Red."

"Wait," Big Red cut in, grabbing her arm to get her to stop. "Lily called Ricky tonight."

Athena raised an eyebrow. "Oh?"

"Yeah. She said something about how they're the same because they're both the leads and how nobody really likes her."

"Hm, wonder why," Athena replied sarcastically. "Well, she can shoot her shot and let me know how it goes. I'll be back in a few."

She left the stage. Now, she didn't know exactly where Ricky, Carlos, and Seb were, so she just started to wander around the halls. However, she heard the sound of singing and anguitar from the bomb shelter. Her eyes knit in thought as she quietly entered the room.

However, the sight in front of her instantly made her heart warm and a soft grin spread across her lips. Carlos and Seb were dancing in the middle of the room, Carlos singing a song about choosing Seb in a heartbeat while Ricky was playing the guitar and adding backup vocals off to the side. None of them noticed her, so she kept her distance and continued to watch.

Finally, the song ended. Athena cleared her throat, making all three of their heads snap over to her.

"Sorry to interrupt," Athena began. "You guys okay?"

Seb beamed at her. "Yeah."

She held up the harness for them to see. "Well, we have a Beast to transform, so . . ."

Seb instantly left the room, but Athena turned to see Carlos and Ricky sharing a tight hug. Butterflies rushed throughout Athena's stomach upon noticing how happy they both seemed, especially Ricky. Carlos then left the room, leaving only Ricky and Athena inside.

Athena smiled gently at him. "That was really sweet of you to do, Ricky."

He shrugged. "Yeah, well . . . they have something worth fighting for." He paused for a second. "And so do we."

She nodded slowly. "Guess we should talk, huh?"

Ricky sighed. "I think we really have to go, Athena. You know, transformation and all."

He brushed past her, just the feeling of their shoulders touching sending tingles throughout her body. Athena squeezed her eyes shut for a moment. She had to tell him. Bottling it up and keeping it a secret wouldn't be beneficial at all. She let out a deep breath before completely blurting out the first thing that came to mind.

"Tear the treehouse down, give up the fantasy," Athena stated.

Ricky stopped in his tracks and turned to look at her. "What?"

"Glad we took a chance making our own world," Athena continued.

He blinked in surprise. Shock was written all across his face and he seemingly didn't know what to do.

"And I know we weren't perfect, but I've never felt this way for no one," Athena recited, now moving from his song to hers because she knew he heard it.

"'Cause you said forever, now I drive alone past your street," Ricky finished, his voice extremely quiet.

Athena nodded. "I accidentally called you."

"And I accidentally called you," Ricky added.

She offered him a small smile. "Songs can mean everything, Ric. The way we both accidentally called each other . . . I don't think it's much of a coincidence."

Ricky was silent for a moment.

"We feel right, you and I," Athena revealed. "I know that now with absolute clarity. If only I hadn't been so stupid—"

"You're not stupid," Ricky cut in.

"Yes, I am." She smiled sadly at him. "I messed up. I let you go, and I was so wrong—"

"You were doing what was best for you."

"And in the process, I only hurt and confused you," Athena countered.

"No, you didn't," Ricky replied. "We both needed space. I know I didn't want it at first, but . . . it was the right decision for us."

Athena paused for a moment. "Guess we'll both write another song about it?"

Ricky laughed slightly. "No. Not this time. This time—"

However, before Ricky could finish his sentence, Big Red came bursting into the room.

"Hey, you know how I told you that you could talk to Ricky right now?" Big Red questioned, and Athena nodded. "Well, I lied. We really have to get going with the transformation."

Athena sighed and looked back to Ricky. "Later?"

Ricky nodded with a soft smile. "Yeah. Later."

The three of them left the bomb shelter to go back to the the stage. Ricky got strapped up into his harness and put on his Beast mask while Athena put on the blue traveling cloak. Athena kneeled next to Ricky while he laid on the ground, and they began to act out the scene of the transformation.

"I, I, I . . ." Ricky fought to get out, pretending to be as pained as the Beast.

"Please," Athena said, and the next line came out extremely truthfully. "I love you."

Ricky pretended to choke before flopping onto his stomach.

She looked over at Big Red. "Now."

Slowly, Big Red began to spin the wheel that would bring Ricky up on the ropes. Athena stood up and backed away as Ricky was lifted up into the air. She stared up as he got higher and higher.

"Y'all, this is some Broadway stuff," Kourtney announced.

"We're gonna win," Natalia breathed out. "You guys, we're actually gonna win."

"We're gonna make Miss Jenn so proud," Carlos added.

However, everything then went wrong. Once Ricky was at the full height, Athena saw the rope holding him up was beginning to unravel. Her eyes widened and her body froze in shock.

"Athena!" Violetta's voice shouted.

However, it was too late. The last thing Athena saw was Ricky falling straight towards her with a scream before she landed on the ground, a sharp pain shooting through her wrist.

═ • ° • ✧ • ° • ═

BIG OOF

rip ricky bowen, gone but never
forgotten 😔🕊

anyways TIM FEDERLE FOR THE LOVE OF GOD YOU HAVE TWO MORE DAYS TO MAKE RICKY BOWEN HAPPY I'M WATCHING YOU I'VE BEEN WAITING FOR WEEKS

also can close as strangers by 5 seconds of summer stop being ricky and athena's song rn I really don't need that