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sankta-starkova · 9 months

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LETTERMAN

002; the theatre

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summary: the one where ej and andy reunite after years when they're cast as love interests, finally rekindling their friendship and maybe getting something else out of it as well

wordcount: 1.3k

Ashlyn and Andy sat in the back of the theatre, getting ready for their auditions.

"People! Make sure your audition numbers are clearly visible on your clothes," Carlos yelled out

Most years, the two girls would be cast for low roles, roles that didn't require much work but this year, they were both going to get a role and they were sure of it.

Outside of school, Ashlyn and Andy were really good friends, having bonded over their mutual love for musical theater. But inside of school, they didn't talk often as Andy hang out with Ricky and Big Red who were more of the skater type.

"They aren't that bad, you can actually move," Ashlyn said as she saw Andy sitting at an uncomfortable angle.

"No Ashlyn, I need to look in this direction or I'll throw up over the grossest couple in the world," she said as she sat down, trying to ignore EJ and Nini.

Ashlyn knew about Andys small crush on her cousin. Ashlyn also knew about how during most of Junior High, EJ had the biggest crush on Andy.

"I'm so nervous," she muttered, holding her head in her hands.

Ashlyn looked at her friend. She knew how badly she wanted a role and so did she, "We're both good actors, singers,"

She chuckled, looking up, "You're trying to feed my ego," she said, standing up from her seat on the table.

"We are going to get the roles, probably, hopefully," Ashlyn said.

They did their makeup, staring into the mirrors before they turned to look at Miss Jenn as she walked through the door.

"Okay theater people, lets do this," she said and everyone cheered.

After the dance, they stood in a line, Andy unfortunately next to EJ and she was too close. Too close because she could smell his cologne and it was putting her off.

Miss Jenn started to hand out audition sheets and she passed one for Miss Darbus to Ashlyn before approaching Andy.

"You are giving me major Kelsi vibes, can you play the piano?" Miss Jenn asked as she looked at Andy.

"Yeah. Yeah, I can," she said and Miss Jenn smiled before Carlos handed her the audition sheet.

Miss Jenn claimed EJ as a total Troy before handing him the sheet and Nini a Gabriella sheet.

After Andy's audition, she sat in the crowd, watching as EJ performed his Troy song, Miss Jenn clapping. He was amazing. He always had been and it made her nervous. It always had.

He went and sat down next to Andy, smiling at her, "You did really well, you could do better than Kelsi, maybe a Taylor or even a Gabriella," he said.

She looked at him, a little confused at his current conversation with her. She could feel the blush starting to rise up her cheeks at the interaction.

"Really, but I thought your girlfriend was gonna play Gabriella," she said and he chuckled, obviously not hearing the bitterness in her voice.

"She's gonna be great," EJ stated. Andy ignored him, watching Gina's performance before Nini stepped up, ready to sing.

At least, that was until Ricky ran in screaming, "Am I too late?" Everyone turned to look at him.

"We're all set on Troys. We're low on Chad's," Miss Jenn said, "You can read after the Gabriellas,"

"I only studied the Troy scenes in the movie," Ricky explained, EJ rolling his eyes at the response.

She had not expected him to actually turn up. He had told her that he was going to audition for the musical but she didn't believe he would really do it.

"Troy would have arrived on time," Carlos said and Andy looked back at her best friend, wondering why he suddenly wanted to do this.

Andy furrowed her brows in confusion, wasn't Troy Bolton always late? The comment from Carlos didn't make sense.

"Okay Nini, lets try again," Miss Jenn said before she accidentally poured coffee over the sound system, the lights going out.

Nini was frozen on stage before she started singing, looking down at the floor. Andy watched as Ricky pulled his phone out, lighting her up so they could see her.

EJ huffed, standing up and doing the same thing. Nini finished her song just as the lights came on, everyone applauding her.

She could see that EJ felt like he was being overshadowed by Ricky and could see his insecurities written on his face.

That was something that she had always been able to see in him, those emotions on his face that nobody else seemed to notice.

"You, late boy, let's do the Chad side," Miss Jenn said after she thanked Nini, Ricky getting up on stage with his guitar.

"Don't say anything," Ashlyn whispered to Andy as she saw Nini cuddled up to EJ.

Andy closed her mouth after she was about to make a sarcastic comment, "You know me too well,"

Andy and Ashlyn had been friends for a while but they mainly met through Theater, even if she wasn't fiends with EJ anymore.

"I'm Ricky Bowen, I'm a junior and uh...here it goes," he said before doing a really bad acting job.

Andy felt bad for him as she watched him crumple the script up in his hand, going off script, talking directly to Nini. She stared at Big Red as he stood in the wings, both of them confused.

"Okay kiddo, time to sing," Miss Jenn said, confused at what was going on.

"Um, actually, can I sing something I prepared for myself?" He asked, hand brushing the back of his neck, nervous.

Miss Jenn hummed in response, "I guess so," she shook her head, "Go ahead,"

He grabbed his guitar from Big Red in the wings before starting to play, singing the song that Nini wrote to him to say that she loved him.

Andy cringed when she heard it. She remembered seeing it on her Instagram account when it first came out.

EJ looked up at him confused, watching Ninis look of disbelief. Miss Jenn smiled to herself at Rickys antics, knowing that he was the perfect Troy.

They all applauded before everyone left for Miss Jenn and Carlos to decide who was going to be on the cast list.

She was nervous as she walked out of the theatre hall with Ricky and Big Red, still confused at why he decided to try out for the musical.

"That happened," Ricky said, sighing to himself as the three walked into the hallway.

"I thought it was good," Andy said, Big Red nodding his head in agreement.

"Hey," Nini yelled out, chasing after them, "What are you doing here?"

"I'm auditioning," he said, gesturing to his guitar before looking at Nini.

Andy turned to Big Red, grabbing him and pulling the two into the hallway so the ex-couple could have their moment.

She didn't want to hear then arguing right now, not when she was so stressed out anyway about it all.

"Carlos is posting the cast list!" Kourtney yelled out and Andy rushed over, trying to peer over people to look at it.

She gasped, staring at it with disbelief before rushing to Ashlyn, "You're Taylor!" She said and Andy smiled at her still in shock.

"And you're Miss Darbus!" She exclaimed, the two girls pulling each other into a hug.

"Congrats," Gina said to Nini, the latter had gotten Gabriella whilst Gina was stuck being Kelsi.

"Chad! She thinks I'm a Chad?" EJ asked, his voice breaking slightly as he realised who had been cast as Troy. Ricky.

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Taglist:

#letterman; ej caswell #ej caswell fanfiction #ej caswell x oc #ej caswell x reader #ej caswell #hsm the musical #hsmtmts fanfiction #hsmtmts fanfic #hsm the series #hsmtmts #high school musical the musical the series fanfiction #high school musical the musical the series #high school musical

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amesscott · 2 years

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I am already seeing people say the EJ is going to ruined his relationship with Gina from Rina Shippers. EJ did some stupid stuff when he was with Nini but that doesn’t mean he is going to act the same way with Gina. EJ has become a better person since Nini broke up with him by admitting his mistakes and being more honest. In recent interviews Matt Cornett mentioned that E.J. is trying to making his relationship grow with Gina and have a good relationship with her. 1/2

It seems like to me that EJ is ready to be fully committed to Gina and really wants their relationship to last no matter what happens in the future. EJ has hinted he has dated several girls before Nini I am pretty sure EJ has never been in a serious relationship before and wants Gina to be his first serious girlfriend. I think EJ will either go to his cousin Ashlyn or his childhood friend Val at camp if he ever needs relationship advice on how to make his relationship work with Gina. 2/3

The reason why I said EJ will probably go to either Ashlyn or Val at camp if he ever needs relationship advice is because he is close to both of them. We have already seen EJ turned to Ashlyn for advice in the past. It was recently revealed that Val is EJ’s childhood friend from camp and she is majoring in psychology in college which means Val probably gives good advice. I think EJ will probably go to Val for either advice on college or relationship advice or both at camp. 3/3

Hi, Anon! Oh man, I’ve been trying to just stay on the Portwell tag here on Tumblr, like it’s the safest space at the moment WAHAHA ‘cause I’m sure the Gicky shippers are having a field day with the new scenes in the trailer. Good for them!

Anyway, I agree with your points!

"EJ did some stupid stuff when he was with Nini but that doesn’t mean he is going to act the same way with Gina."

Exactly, Anon! Like you've said, EJ has come such a long way from that! Additionally, I'd like to think that if the Jaime incident taught Portwell anything, it's that pushing each other away isn't the way to go, but talking to each other is!!

"It seems like to me that EJ is ready to be fully committed to Gina and really wants their relationship to last no matter what happens in the future. EJ has hinted he has dated several girls before Nini I am pretty sure EJ has never been in a serious relationship before and wants Gina to be his first serious girlfriend. "

Yes, I agree! If there's anything consistent with the interviews regarding Portwell, it is that they really want the relationship to thrive and that they are going to do their best to be good partners to each other.

Gina and EJ are characters that have been shown to be adamant about the things that they want, so now that they're a couple who wants the same thing for their relationship, I have high hopes that they're gonna get through whatever this season throws at them, together.

Also, absolutely yes to everything about EJ bonding with Ash and Val! Oh, how I've missed the Caswell cousins bonding, like their little moments in "Spring Break" added years to my life. Also, Ash is the #1 Portwell shipper, I will die on this hill, so of course she would do whatever she can to help her two favorite people out.

Also, Val being older and a psych major is really interesting! Definitely presents a new dynamic with EJ, since he's the oldest and is the first one among his close friends to graduate high school and to experience all the uncertainty about the future that it comes with. I think Val can add a new perspective, like you said, about life after high school, college and possibly his relationship with Gina. I imagine she'd be just as supportive about Portwell as Ash is, maybe commenting about how he's different with Gina compared to his past girlfriends (like Nini) and that she's happy for them! Bonus points if Val gushes to Gina about the way EJ talks about her, to help alleviate any insecurities that Gina may have had regarding her relationship with EJ.

#portwell #gina x ej #hsmtmts #text post #answered

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gracestone · 2 years

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I have notice a parallel with E.J.’s relationship with Nini that shows how much different his relationship is with Gina. In 1x02 Nini spends some time with Ashlyn by bonding over their love for writing music. When Nini goes back to the bomb shelter E.J. asks her where she has been. Nini tells E.J. that she was spending some time with his cousin. E.J. looks at his girlfriend at the time very confused why she wants to spend some time with his cousin. Part 1/2

Nini replies “I'm just trying to get in good with the family.” Obviously Nini wanted to make a good impression on her boyfriend at the time family. At the time E.J. didn’t understand what Nini meant it probably wasn’t until 2x11 was when he finally understood what Nini meant. Even though it was never stated E.J. but it’s pretty obvious E.J. wanted to make a good first impression on Gina’s brother Jamie who could possible become his future brother-in-law one day but Jamie had to ruin it. Part 2/2

That's a good point, anon! It's interesting to think about how EJ wasn't worried about potentially damaging the relationship between Ashlyn and Nini when he asked Ashlyn to steal Nini's phone. Ashlyn even made a remark about how Nini would never forgive him or her, but he didn't really care. Because he wasn't thinking that far ahead, and he didn't seem to be that interested in getting Nini to become close with him family.

I do however think that his confusion in the 1x02 scene was more related to him having asked Ashlyn to steal Nini's phone. When Ashlyn left after he asked her that, it was a bit unclear whether she'd do it or not, and I think EJ wasn't sure if she'd told Nini about it when Nini said she'd been spending time with his cousin. When Nini said "Don't be weird. Just trying to get in good with the family." his expression seemed to be one of understanding and maybe some relief.

But it's definitely very different from the way EJ reacted to meeting Jamie. He did seem to care a lot about making a good impression on him and getting to know Gina better by getting to know her family. You can tell by what he was doing with his hands and him not knowing what to say after telling Jamie that he was starstruck because he's related to Gina that EJ was a bit nervous when meeting Jamie, which is just adorable 🥺 We even saw that he cared what Gina's mom thinks of him, since he was a little hurt that she thought he's charming and walks on air (which is more the persona he used to put on than who he really is). EJ is thinking more ahead in his relationship with Gina than he ever seemed to do with Nini.

I don't really think Jamie ruined it. EJ still made a good first impression, but Jamie simply misread the nature of EJ's relationship with Gina because he was too busy projecting his brotherly guilt onto EJ and probably didn't really see Gina as a 16 year old girl (more or less, since we have no canon age for her) but rather as the young girl she was when he last saw her. Still, the fact that he said that he's glad Gina has EJ as a "big brother figure" tells us that EJ did make a good impression. The wrong good impression, but it still means that Jamie thinks that EJ is a good guy.

#hsmtmts #ej caswell #gina porter #jamie porter #portwell #portwell meta #hsmtmts meta #ask

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insomniactalks · 2 years

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In response to the previous ask about Ricky talking about EJ is single for the first time in his life it was mentioned in 1x02 that EJ has dated plenty of girls before Nini but at the time he though his relationship with Nini is different than his previous relationships. I don’t know what his relationships were like with his previous girlfriends expect for Nini but it seems like to me that EJ has never had a serious girlfriend before. I think he was trying to make Nini his first serious GF. 1/2

Maybe Gina will end up being his first serious girlfriend. Val is most likely EJ’s childhood friend from camp maybe we will end up learning more about his past relationships with his ex girlfriends from Val who might bring up every summer he has a new girlfriend at camp. Val possibly being EJ’s childhood friend from camp might be a good way for us to get more of EJ’s backstory. I am convinced the way EJ feels about Gina is something he has never felt before. 2/2

Thanks for the ask, anon! 😊 I definitely think EJs past relationships were more of an expectation placed on him by himself and his father, Cash, to maintain the "successful Caswell family" image (which is mainly the reason why EJ 1.0 even exists). Nini is canonically described as “not like the other girls [EJ has] dated. Nini is real” (1.02) That suggests his past girlfriends/relationships were anything but real and authentic. It was more of a certain image EJ had to maintain. Nini is the first girlfriend EJ had that made him want to be more "real." He went about it the wrong way in S1 (by thinking he should do the “right thing” for his public image) but he eventually learns. LOL 😅 I deff think it’s likely Gina will be his first serious relationship esp because he’s not hiding behind a carefully-crafted image of himself with her. Even when they were enemies/frenemies/allies in S1, Gina and EJ have always been aware of who the other person is and never judge each other for it.😁 Couldn’t agree more with the second part of your ask! I can see Val, if she does end up being EJ’s childhood friend, acknowledge how different EJ seems (for good reasons) with Gina. We can assume Val attended camp with EJ and Nini during the previous summer, where she may have known about the ‘bad deviled-egg’ scheme. Val may know what EJ 1.0 was like, but the new and improved (and overall better) person he is now at camp could be something she points out. Maybe she’s used to EJ having a different girlfriend at camp every year but something has changed in the way he and Gina are around each other (remember, Gina is just as ambitious/goal-oriented/reliable as EJ is as a character). I even think Val may point out to Gina how much EJ has changed as a romantic partner from his past relationships (can you just imagine Val or Ash saying something like, “I see the way he looks at you. He’s never looked at any of his past girlfriends like that”?😭 ) That’s just speculation/hope for S3 but we’re gonna have to wait and see! (Highkey hoping for a Gina and Val friendship over the course of the season and them bonding over dance. 😊)

#hsmtmts #hsmtmts speculation #hsmtmts analysis #hsmtmts s3 #ej caswell #gina porter #portwell #gina x ej #ej x gina #nini salazar roberts #ashlyn caswell #ej x nini #nini x ej #cash caswell #hsmtmts val #ejini #thanks anon!

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