Valentine’s Day

Can we actually just... Talk for a second?

**Valentine's Day** is the third episode of second season of the Disney+ Original Series *High School Musical: The Musical: The Series*. It is the thirteenth episode in the series overall. The episode was first released on May 28, 2021 on Disney+.

## Synopsis

Nini briefly travels home to Salt Lake to surprise Ricky for Valentine's Day, unaware that he has proceeded to Denver to surprise her as well. He later returns and the pair stay in contact through phone calls; however, they fail to find a time to see each other in person during Nini's visit. Gina begins to miss her traditional Valentine's Day gift from her absent mother, and she finds comfort in talking to Ricky. Kourtney begins working as the assistant manager of Big Red's family pizzeria and struggles to earn the respect of long-time employee Howie. Rehearsals for *Beauty and the Beast* begin and Ashlyn worries that she doesn't match the established appearance of Belle. Big Red reassures her and plans her a spectacular surprise for the holiday. Carlos and Seb also celebrate their first Valentine's Day together. Lily reveals to Miss Jenn that she will be moving to North High to participate in their musical.

## Full Summary

Nini went back to Salt Lake for Valentine's Day to serenade Ricky in front of his house. But as Nini began playing her song, a girl poked her head out the window and both of them screamed. This was because unbeknownst to Nini, Ricky and his dad had moved to a new apartment. Meanwhile, Ricky had also planned a surprise of his own and went to Denver to serenade Nini as well. However, one of Nini's schoolmates told him that Nini went back to Salt Lake.

Kourtney took inspiration from Nini following her dreams and going to Denver, and is now the new Assistant Manager for Salt Lake Slices. She was trying to fold a pizza box when a loud employee of hers barged in the room. Kourtney tried to discipline him as the new boss, but he didn't take her seriously and instead complained about the order Kourtney put the condiments in and acted stuck-up. He didn't even bother to get her name correctly.

After what happened the night before, Ricky had taken the bus home and hadn't slept at all. Nini stayed over at her mom's place and the two of them FaceTimed each other. The two of them couldn't believe that they missed each other the other night and planned to see each other after school. They talked about how Ricky forgot to tell her he moved and what happened after they realized that the other wasn't where they thought they were. Ricky told her about the song he wrote her and Nini told him that she did the same thing for him. Nini was asking him to play her his song when E.J. interrupted and told Ricky it was time for rehearsal. E.J. himself was having a bit of hardship that Valentine's Day since it was his first one without a girlfriend. Because of this, Ricky realized that the guy wore all black, but E.J. brushed it off.

During rehearsal, Miss Jenn had their Belle and Beast (Ashlyn and Ricky) practice the waltz during "Beauty and the Beast" with Kourtney singing. Kourtney's pride was still wounded after how Howie acted, and Miss Jenn told her to "sing out." Meanwhile, Ashlyn was still insecure about being Belle because she felt like she didn't look the part. A few moments later, Big Red came up to her to tell her that he has a surprise for her as a Valentine's Day gift and ran off.

Carlos went over to Seb after rehearsal was over to give him his Valentine's gift—a sled. It was because Seb mentioned something about sledding once, and Seb was flabbergasted by the expensive gift. It didn't help that Carlos was excited for his gift and Seb didn't feel like the drawing he made for him was good enough for his boyfriend. Which is why Seb lied and said there was a special present from his farm, to which Carlos is overjoyed.

Big Red and Ashlyn have exchanged locker passwords as a sign of trust, and Big Red intended to make himself and confetti spring out of the locker when she opens it. The reason why he planned a surprise that elaborate was because he felt insecure that the girl he was dating was the lead in the show and that he wasn't good enough. Big Red got trapped in the locker and Ricky ran to get help, but Ashlyn was already on her way to her locker with Gina, so Ricky didn't make it in time. Gina was encouraging Ashlyn that she was already perfect and that she was better than any cartoon princess. Ashlyn opened the locker and Big Red fell out of it while the streamers and confetti went to the floor. His surprised was ruined, so he told her to meet him at Slices after school and ran off. As he ran away, Ashlyn and Gina were still shocked by what they just saw.

Kourtney was looking for a place to practice her singing when she saw Seb playing the piano. Kourtney told him about how she wanted to be a little more careful with her singing because the last time she sang solo, she broke an entire sound system. She also told him how it was uncomfortable for her to perform onstage. Seb continued playing the piano and told her how it helps him brainstorm stuff and how he needed to find Carlos a grand Valentine's gift.

Ricky was practicing "Even When" for when he and Nini would meet up when the doorbell rang. Ricky, thinking it was Nini, danced his way to the door and opened it... revealing Gina. She apologized because she showed up unannounced, and he let her inside. They joked around for a while until Gina told him about how her mom seemed to have forgotten their Valentine's Day tradition where she'd give Gina a stuffed bear. She told Ricky that she came to him thinking he'd understand what it was like to live away from your mom. Ricky told her that he did understand, and she went on to tell him how there's just some things that she tells only to him. He told her that they do that for each other. Their conversation was interrupted when Nini called Ricky to tell him they won't be able to meet later that day because her mom got into a skating accident. Ricky was disappointed, but a sad Gina suggested that he should play it to Nini over the phone and that every girl loves a sweet gesture. Ricky told her that she'll get hers too when she left without another word.

As all this drama was stirring, Lily visited Miss Jenn's office to tell her that she's moving to North High. She disappeared quite suddenly and silently that Miss Jenn was a bit freaked out and called for Mr. Mazzara. After that, the two teachers went to slices for some pizza.

At Slices, Big Red was ready to sing his song for Ashlyn when she interrupted him so they could talk. Ashlyn told him about how insecure she was being the lead of the show, but Big Red assured her that she was perfect and that he thinks she should play the princess in everything. He opened up to her about how *he* was insecure about dating her, the lead of the show. The two of them reconciles and spent the rest of the day together.

Seb and Carlos were watching the whole thing and the latter gushed about the redheads while the former was really nervous. Seb took a deep breath before handing Carlos the same pouch he gave him earlier with the same token saying to look under the table. Carlos reaches under the table and found a pot with a seedling in it. At first, he was weirded out by the gift, but Seb explained that he thought that maybe they could have something that grows with them, and Carlos was touched.

Miss Jenn and Mr. Mazzara arrived at Slices and were about to place their orders when they saw Mike. Miss Jenn got all flustered and Mr. Mazzara encouraged her to talk to Mike. Miss Jenn thanked him before going to where Mike was as Mr. Mazzara stared after her sadly.

Someone rang the doorbell to Ashlyn's house, and Gina opened the door to find a box of chocolates on the porch. Just as she picked it up, she got a text from Ricky saying thank you for her advice earlier, and because he was the only one who Gina talked to about Valentine's Day and her mom, she thought he sent the chocolates.

Kourtney was in the kitchen of Slices when Howie arrived and he told her about the delivery he made and how he got a large tip. He said it was because it was the first time the banana peppers weren't all covered in parmesan, thanks to Kourtney's new way of stacking them. He gave Kourtney half the tip, and she tried giving it back, but he put it on her table. He told her he'd see her tomorrow and told her his name. Just as Howie left, Kourtney got a text from Seb. He made a new arrangement of the song just for her and she played it while singing along. Big Red and Ashlyn overheard her singing and danced to the song.

Ricky and Nini called each other at the same time, so they both went to voicemail. The two of them played their songs for each other, and for some reason, the songs blended in quite well. They finished singing, and Gina, after about an hour of contemplating it, sent Ricky a text to thank him for the chocolates just as her mom texted her if she got the chocolates and how she was sorry that it was late. The episode ended with Ricky and Nini looking at their phones that just got notifications, while Gina regretted sending Ricky the text.

## Cast

### Starring

* Olivia Rodrigo as Nini Salazar-Roberts
* Joshua Bassett as Ricky Bowen
* Sofia Wylie as Gina Porter
* Matt Cornett as E.J. Caswell
* Julia Lester as Ashlyn Caswell
* Dara Renee as Kourtney Greene
* Larry Saperstein as Big Red
* Frankie A. Rodriguez as Carlos Rodriguez
* Joe Serafini as Seb Matthew-Smith
* Mark St. Cyr as Mr. Mazzara
* Kate Reinders as Miss Jenn

### Guest Starring

* Roman Banks as Howie
* Olivia Rose Keegan as Lily
* Alex Quijano as Mike Bowen

## Songs

* Beauty and the Beast- Dara Reneé (Kourtney)
* Red Means Love- Larry Saperstein (Big Red) and Julia Lester (Ashlyn)
* Even When/The Best Part- Joshua Bassett (Ricky) and Olivia Rodrigo (Nini)

## Videos

Olivia Rodrigo, Joshua Bassett - Even When-The Best Part (HSMTMTS - Disney+)Julia Lester, Larry Saperstein - Red Means Love (HSMTMTS - Disney+)
## Trivia

* This is the first appearance of Roman Banks as Howie.