By Kai's initial reaction to the board, he at first suspected that she had seen her results. But it quickly dawned on him that she had just seen his. He grinned, wondering what her reaction was going to be to her own achievement if she had reacted with a squeal to his. He chuckled as she finally saw it, exploding with a reaction that could (and probably would) be taken as annoying and disruptive to most boys his age, but to him he found it cute.

"See, I knew you would get it." he told her excitedly, grabbing her hand for a moment before letting go as he scanned the rest of the names. He was beginning to feel a nervous little flutter inside his chest as he read the list, thoughts starting to circle. What would this be like? He reminded himself that he and Kai now had to be an onstage couple. He cast her a sideways glance which she probably didn't notice, thinking over the idea. How would they do? Would it make things awkward for them?

No. he told himself sternly. Nothing bad is going to happen because of this. It's just acting. It's not like we're actually a couple, and it's not like either of us will be hurting the other one. It's a play. It's going to be fine. He couldn't help but hear that little whisper in the back of his mind however. But I do genuinely like her. It won't ALL be entirely fake.

Kai exclaimed happily that Kyle was going to be Artie, and her excitement alone seemed to summon the boy to them. Eric was a little confused as to why he seemed so happy about it, and why he was so suddenly getting into character considering how hard it was to rope him into it to begin with. Perhaps he was just trying to make Kai happy. Eric wasn't quite sure how to react, it was almost weird how Kyle was acting. He was weird and hyper to begin with, but this wasn't...normal. He sort of gave him a soft grin and went along with it, but he was pretty weirded out.

Kai didn't seem to notice a shift, so Eric tried to shrug it off. Things only became more awkward when Anna and Mary showed up. Eric wasn't tense persay, but it was still a little strange for him to be around Anna. He hadn't told her that he was aware, so it was just even more intense. He cast Kai a knowing glance, shifting a little closer to her side like he always did when he was uncomfortable. He couldn't help but wonder if these kinds of actions were the things holding Anna back from saying anything to him about her feelings, or if he was just that scary for her to not want to approach him. Of course it could be neither of those and for some other reason, but he was personally glad she hadn't said anything, even though it was awkward. He wondered if it would be infinitely MORE awkward for her to tell him than for him to just know and her be unaware of it.

The rest of the day went smoothly, classes going about as normal and lunch just about as interesting as school lunch was on a normal day. As the end of school began approaching, Eric found himself becoming more and more antsy and nervous for practice. The directors had told them that practices would last roughly an hour and a half each day, and on the days before the performances the practices would be about two and a half hours in order to crack down and get all the little things fixed.

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Eric slung his bag over his shoulder, the bell echoing throughout the halls. He and Kailey had the same last hour class, so he didn't have to worry about going to find her which was nice. "You ready guys?" Kyle asked, fidgeting a little with his watch. Eric nodded, adjusting the straps of his backpack nervously and glancing over at Kai more than once. As usual, she was a source of comfort and being next to her helped calm his racing heart.

As they walked out of the class and down the hallway towards the auditorium, Eric made sure to match his gait to Kai's and keep next to her instead of rushing into Kyle's quick footsteps and fast speed. Out of earshot from the other boy, Eric quietly spoke to her.

"Are you nervous at all?" he asked. "I'm starting to get nervous, and I really hope I don't regret auditioning." He wasn't going to quit, no matter how nervous or stressful it could get, but...he was seriously considering why he had auditioned in the first place. He wasn't built for this, was he? He wanted to avoid talking about any onstage kissing or relationships for now, or...at least until it was brought up by the directors. He wanted to gauge her reaction, but he somehow felt like her reacction would be more genuine when it came from the mouths of the directors rather than if it came from him.

If he said anything she may try to find a different wording or mask her genuine reaction to potentially keep from hurting him. He didn't think that she'd find it gross, but...part of him did worry that she would.

"I just hope I do good is all." he said. Once he realized how nervous he sounded he let out a couple of chuckles, shaking his head and looking at her once more. "I'm sorry, I probably sound like an absolute idiot. I don't know why I'm so nervous..." Eric pushed open the doors to the auditorium, holding it open for Kai before following her in.

Once he stepped, his eyes rested on the directors who sat on the stage together. One male and one female. The male Eric recognized as the theater teacher here, and he had been at the auditions. Seeing them both made everything seem more real, and out of instinct he quickly reached over and gently slipped his hand into Kai's. He hand't realized he'd done so until he felt the contact of their skin. He quickly looked at her, his icy blue eyes wide with a sudden apologetic panic.

"Sorry," he said, a cute embarassed smile crossing his face. Even though it was an embarassed one, it was still a smile and therefore still lit up his features.

Kai's words were comforting to an extent, but Eric was still nervous. He tried calming himself down, and eventually it worked. He stuck himself close to her for as long as he could, but when Kyle and the rest of the group showed up it was hard. By default, he was split from her, but he didn't let it bother him. That was...until the director intentionally split them up into two main groups: main cast and secondary members.

Eric was thrust into a group of kids that he didn't know too well, but he was glad that he at least had Kyle to talk to. His friend said nothing about it shockingly, but Eric was aware that Kyle noticed him glancing over at Kai every few minutes or so, as if he couldn't keep his gaze off of her for very long. They practiced a few different scenes, and Eric slowly began to warm up to everything.

About half an hour in, he was comfortable being on stage and with the people he was surrounded by. He even found himself not minding too much when Anna hung around a little more than usual, although he assumed it was because she was warming up for her part as well. His blue eyes noticed more than once the small flock of girls that were surrounding Brian, and he still felt a small flare of jealousy bubbling inside, although he was happy to see that Kai wasn't one of the many milling about.

A small grin came upon his face as he recognized Kyle's upset expression about the whole Brian ordeal as well, although his jealousy was probably more fair than Eric's was, considering Kyle seemed to be the one to always have girls around.

In the end it didn't matter too much, because practice still got done, and everyone was soon enjoying themselves despite small annoyances like Brian. After practice was over, Eric grabbed his script and stood by the stairs leading up to the stage, away from most of the crowd. Kai approached him, and his eyes instantly lit up as a smile crossed his features.

"Yeah no, I'd love to." he answered her. It seemed as if they both wanted to practice a little more on the musical aspect of it, and Eric knew that by directors order Kai had to. So it wasn't a big deal nor a shock when they began making their way towards the music room. Once inside, the door shut behind them with a click. Eric glanced around, finding it a little unusual that no one else was in here. Usually the music teacher stayed after, but maybe he'd had to leave a little earlier than normal.

They headed into the empty practice room, and Eric noticed with a small amount of glee that there was a piano stashed inside. Kai began talking to him about Liv and Maddie, and he nodded, agreeing with her words. He remembered the episode. "Yeah, I feel like everything about him should have been an obvious red flag for her. I mean...it's Liv but she's smarter than that, come on." he chuckled, walking over to the paino and brushing his fingers ever so lightly over the keys as to not make any sound with it.

He couldn't help but also remember the moment that Liv and Holden shared in a music room similar to this one, and he didn't doubt that Kai was reminded of the same thing. She asked him what he'd like to work on, and he shrugged, thinking. "Um...well I know the director asked you to be able to project your voice a little, so...maybe one of your songs?"

He set his script down on top of the paino but remained standing, lightly moving his fingers of one hand down the keys to the tune of do re mi, a simple scale of c major.

"God, it's been so long since I played." he said aloud, giggling a little. "My mom made me take lessons when I was in elementary school, and I quit in seventh grade because I hated the teacher." He chuckled, knowing how petty he sounded. "But I liked playing. I guess I just sort of.....forgot how fun it was." He wasn't the best by any means, but he knew enough to play with both hands and play a few things by ear without any sheet music.

"We could run through a few scenes of dialogue if you wanted, too." he said casually, pulling out the paino bench and sitting down, although he sort of scooted over a bit as to leave room for Kai if she wanted a seat beside him. He bit his lower lip for a second as he looked at the keys, trying to remember what notes were what and where to place his fingers. The general vibe of the room was casual, and he didn't have anything specific to really work on, although he was glad that Kailey invited him to stay after. It made the stressfulness of the beginning of practice seem worth it, to spend some extra time with her.

Her mother's strict guidelines and rules crossed his mind, about how she wasn't supposed to be alone with a guy, but he was a little scared to say anything about it. He didn't want to make it seem like he was trying to hint at anything or make her uncomfortable, but he couldn't help but wonder if she was thinking the same thing. He remembered Christmas last year and how they had gone to the park alone together, and her mother hadn't said anything against it then. However there had been that little run in with a cop that had sort of made up for her mother not saying anything.

He was glad that they both looked a little more mature now than before, so there wasn't such a drastic difference, but Eric still looked older than her by a few years, even though he was only one year ahead of her, and barely that.

He slowly pushed on the piano keys, listening to the notes and how each one sounded before finally putting together the theme song of Liv and Maddie by ear. It took him a few minutes, but he'd finally gotten there, even if the time between measures was slowed down because of him scrambling to remember what notes were where and which ones came next.

"Okay I think I've wasted enough time," he finally said, giving her a shy smile, grabbing his script and flipping around on the bench so his back was facing the keys. He opened up the small booklet and began scanning over some of the lines. It was amazing how copyright worked. Of course the lines weren't word for word what they were in the show, but it still was pretty close and he couldn't help but wonder about all the little fine details of copyright.

"Is there a section you specifically want to work on?" he asked her casually, his eyes still scanning over the different scenes. Despite this being kind of against Lisa's rules, Eric still liked the quiet and calmness of it all. He enjoyed personal one on one time with a friend, especially Kailey. There was a few moments spent of them looking through the script, trying to find certain sections and work on them together. Eric didn't have too many lines, but he went over them with her anyway, and since she was a main character, Eric would take up the lines and roles of other people and say them so she could practice too. "How confident are you in having to sing in front of a lot of people?" he asked her curiously.

He knew he would be nervous as all get out, but he hoped that he would do well after so many times of doing it. After practicing for a few more minutes, tossing lines back and forth at each other, an idea hit him.

"Hey, are you busy after we get out of here?" he asked, his tone slightly hopeful. "I don't want to like...invite myself over or anything but I was just thinking...we haven't had a movie night in awhile." By this of course he meant that he hadn't been able to just come over by himself and hang out with her in a long time. Most times they hung out one on one they ended up watching a movie or tv, and he honestly would never complain about it. He enjoyed it, and for a good few months now it hadn't been like that. Every time he would go over it would be a planned group activity, and for awhile now it had been Eric, Kai, and at the very least one other person.

He sort of looked down at his hands, forcing himself to keep his gaze off of her. He felt his cheeks start to warm up, but he forced himself to quit blushing. "I see you everyday and stuff but.....you know I like extra time." He cast her a glance over his shoulder, a shy and embarassed grin crossing his face, making him appear younger.

Her face was hesitant, but she shrugged and went ahead anyway, "He wasn't pretty to me. There was no way that his looks were distracting enough from all the red flags, ya know?" She wasn't sure if they were going to work together, or what. She was the one with the most singing parts, so it made sense that they would focus on her stuff more, yet Holden sang quite frequently, even Diggie would get his moments to shine. Kai wasn't sure if she should say anything about him using God's name lightly, but decided to let it go for now. He was giggling, and she didn't want to ruin the moment.

"Yeah, you have to have that good teacher, to really do well. Sometimes it doesn't even matter how good the teacher is, as long as you have fun. Think you can play well enough to play the melody part that I am singing? It might help keep me on tune, and I'll have to sing louder than the piano." She went over to sit by him, not seeing any other convenient seats, "I suppose we should do both, and use our time wisely." She sat quietly listening to him play for a moment. When he was finished, she figured that meant that he wouldn't be playing the melody to whatever song she chose to practice.

"Wasting time is fun," she nodded knowingly. She had been a bit concerned for Kyle's feelings. It was sort of apparent today, that while Kyle was funny and had a great personality, not only was Brian considered a pretty boy, but he had a decent personality himself, and Kyle seemed to be treated as old news by the females. "How is Kyle doing being upstaged by Brian? Does he care much?" she asked curious if Kyle had said anything. "Wow, some guys get all of the girls. I'd be too intimidated to try to get some guy's attention that was surrounded by that many girls. It'd be so uncomfortable wading through all of the competition, and then it might make the guy real swell headed, that he's so desired. I also wouldn't want to be another empty headed girl following the crowd. I'm honestly really surprised at Mary, but I guess that's the craziness of crushes."

She peeked her head over his shoulder instead of going to get her own book, which she had left with some of her stuff just a few feet away. There had been quite a few edits to the script to get it to fit into one show, since there were so many seasons. It was impressive how they had managed it. She grinned at him, "I think it might be easier if we did one where it's mostly just the two of us." She also remembered that a lot of it could get awkward. "How about the scene where she steals the giraffe, and all of that drama, and then we can sing one of the songs the band sings together?" she suggested. She'd get the chance to act like an awkward dork, and other than Liv having a crush on him, it was definitely one of the least romantic sections she could think of.

Inhaling deeply, she let out a sigh. The quiet was so different from the bustle of earlier practice. It was nice to get time alone with Eric. It was just different in a good way to not always be in a group with him. Even though she loved all of her friends, and was close to her girls, she didn't feel like they could really talk. There was also something about being in a group where you didn't always feel like you were with certain people. On one hand, she kinda wanted someone around when they started doing more romantic stuff, but on the other, she wanted to do whatever the first time themselves, so they could work through the possibly awkwardness by themselves. As she began to think about it, it shouldn't be a big deal at all or awkward. Now that she thought of it, she couldn't remember any kissing, and hugging was no big deal for them.

They did their practice, and she winced after hearing herself sing. She definitely did not have the range that Dove Cameron has, and wasn't sure how to remedy that. Obviously, she wasn't expected to sing as fancily, but she had a hard time hitting each note, which was why she often sang softly. "Um...not at all, which is why I sing softly," she explained. "But practice makes perfect. Momma is going to be sick of these songs by the time I am finished with them."

Her head cocked to the side, as she was relaxed and listening to him. "Besides the usual stuff, no I am not." She grinned, as he apologized for inviting himself over, "Luckily, you are one of the people I don't have to get away from to recharge," which meant that she could handle surprise on the spur of the moment inviting him over. She could just chill with him the way she did with her family members. She had been so busy and caught up with life, that she hadn't been thinking about doing anything with her friends in a while. Sometimes, her mother would organize things for her, but often Kai was supposed to take initiative herself.

"I'd love to have you over. I'll text my mom," she told him. She had to tell her that she was ready to go anyway. Her smile became more shy, "Awww. It's nice to have confirmation that you like to hang out with me. I assume so, since you keep saying yes, when I ask you to come over, but you never know for certain." She thought about teasing him, but decided that might be like punishing him for doing something positive, because she didn't want to discourage him. Soon, her momma came to pick them up, and they went to her home. She chattered about the day, revealing that she had the role she wanted.

Lisa stated how proud she was, and certain that she would do well, and she congratulated Eric on getting the role he wanted. Kai was guessing that her momma was trying to figure out how much physical affection would be involved, but Kai wasn't going to talk about that in front of Eric, and her mom was tactful enough to keep her curiosity to herself. Once they were home, they made a staggered beeline to the hanging out room. Kai moved around quickly shedding her school supplies and belongings in the places they were supposed to go. She also got herself a drink of water, and made sure that Eric's needs were provided for.

After plopping herself down on the couch, it wasn't long before Eric followed her lead, and made himself comfortable. She had a few things out for him to help her choose what they should do. "We could watch Avengers, Frozen, a disney show, or something else you can think of," she began to list some options, not sure what else to add. "Of course these aren't the fully list, but it'll help me decide what direction you want to go. I'm good with watching whatever, so it's all up to you. I don't like making decisions." She left him to pop some popcorn, even though she didn't need it. Dinner would be served in a few hours, and her momma would want her hungry and ready to eat.