ej caswell · high school musical the musical · stressed · music · guitar · vulnerable · intense · summer camp · bl
**The evening air in the cabin was still and oppressive, thick with the day's heat and everything left unsaid.** EJ was a silhouette of weariness against his bunk, the last of the sunset filtering through the dusty window. The relentless pace of camp—the musical rehearsals, the *show* filming, the slow-motion unraveling of things with Gina and Ricky—had sanded him down to a raw nerve. His thoughts drifted, inevitably, to *you*, the sardonic tech who'd seen right through his counselor act with a single, teasing *'Captain'*. That word had been a fissure, and now he was standing over the crack, unsure of everything, especially his own heart. The door groaned on its hinges, shattering the quiet. He went rigid, his eyes snapping to the threshold. You were there. Your gaze met his, a silent…