Title: Where Everyone Is In Pre-School & Troy Is Smart

Author: caricatureofintimacy

Rated: G

Warnings: Everyone is small, and four year old's have the minds of forty year old's. Overliked Gabriella. Not beta'd. Ridiculous. Confused boys thinking boys can have husbands too? I guess.

Pairings: None. They're four. (light light light light Troy/Gabriella)

Word Count: ~ 1700

Summary: Troy has a philosophy he is going to be nice to everyone. A day (spread over many days) in the life of Troy Bolton at pre-school. Where everyday is set the same, and Miss Darbus has a crush on Mr. Darcy. (G)

Where Everyone Is In Pre-School & Troy Is Smart

Troy Bolton was king of the sand pit. It was a well known fact that the best place in the playground was the sand pit, because big bully Chad Danforth was king of the swings and the Evan twins had let it be known to all the kids in the pre-school that the treasure box filled with treasures was theirs; making all logical sense to a four year old that the sand pit was the only place left to own. However Troy had a philosophy, he was going to be nice (because nice meant smiles from the teachers and an extra scoop of ice-cream), and even though he was King of the sandpit, he still let other kids play in it because building a sandcastle was never fun by one's self. This was a good tactic because it made Troy the first candidate when sharing Jell-O's and rainbow coloured crayons.

Playtime existed between 10-11 in the morning and 1-2 in the afternoon. In those two hours Troy (and company) manages to build several sand castles, and mudpie cakes that no one other than Jason is actually willing to eat. Troy didn't really know Jason because he was hardly ever at the pre-school, and that made him a little sad (his philosophy meant him being nice to EVERYONE). Miss Darbus explained that Jason was one of the lucky kids because his mum only worked in the morning, so he got to go home early and spend time with his family. Troy didn't agree because Jason missed out on nap time, and finger painting. And he never got to see the Evan's twins leave the pre-school on their matching pink scooters.

So when Jason left at lunch time Troy made sure he had twice as much fun (and twice as much sleep) to make up for everything the poor toddler missed out on.

Miss Darbus rings a bell and that signals out that it is naptime. Troy hates the bell, even dreads it because when that bell is rung it means 'No more fun time, sleep time' and Troy knows that there is something exciting he is missing out in the world when he closes his eyes and he just doesn't want to miss it. The toddlers, all 30 of them (minus Jason), waddle over to the multi-coloured pigeon holes. Each pigeonhole is equipped with a poorly written label pronouncing that person's name. Inside the hole a blanket and a pillow from home.

Troy's pigeonhole is yellow (Chad got the red one) and it's the last one in line. (Sharpay and Ryan share a pigeonhole because they have one blanket and pillow that they share between them because since the day Troy had met them they had not once separated.) Everyday Troy takes out his Spiderman blanket and pillow, and his snoopy toy and drags it all across the wooden floor to where Miss Darbus is sitting. Troy carefully lays down his Spiderman blanket because he doesn't want to get it ruined, always taking the spot between Zeke and Taylor.

Miss Darbus waits patiently for all the toddlers to collect their things before going to her never-ending bookshelf and picking up a story she had read and loved as a child. –

(Miss Darbus reminded Troy of a witch. His mother had scolded him when Troy had told her but really he was only being truthful. And he hadn't meant an evil witch like Witchiepoo from H.R Pufnstuf, he meant the nice ones like Tinkerbell and Sabrina because they were always glittering and smiling. And wore clothes no other respectable person in society would ever dare to wear in public.)

Sometimes she read Cinderella and Snow White, and other times she read stories that none of the toddlers really understood, but liked because she acted them out like the people did in TV.

When they finally fall asleep, Darbus would turn off the main light and turn on the twinkling fairy lights that were never taken down from Christmas. Then when she was 100% sure that all the toddlers were asleep she would make herself a cup of herbal tea and read pride and prejudice and dream of meeting her own Mr. Darcy.

When Troy's mom asked if he had a best friend at pre-school, Troy said 'no' because he was friends with everyone. His mom looked a little bit worried when he said that but Troy just put it down to weird things his mom does that he will never possibly understand. However Troy was a smart kid for his age. At pre-school he could (sometimes) successfully write his full name without confusing a B for an 8, and knew all the words to Green Eggs and Ham, so Troy started to wonder, was something wrong with him? Or was there something wrong with everyone else? For a while he watched the other kids interact: the Evan's twins had each other and Troy guessed they always would. Taylor had made friends with the shy and quirky Kelsi, and Jason and Zeke were always playing kiddie-basketball until Jason had to go home. Then Troy got bored with watching other people play because there were sand castles to build and mudpies to make.

While making these sand castles and mud pies Troy came to the conclusion that people should be friends with everyone so that no one would be lonely.

Troy was a smart kid for his age.

Finger painting took up an hour of every day. Miss Darbus enjoyed finger painting more than the kids, expressing to the parents that "having a creative soul will nourish them in the future". Most of the parents left bewildered, none of them complained to head staff. Troy had his own special portfolio like every other kid except Jason. Sharpay had brought glitter to school the first day they started and everyone's name was covered in glitter and red sequins.

Every day they painted something new. Whether it was a lion that looked like a red blob or a red blob that looked like a duck, Miss Darbus would smile proudly and give them an extra ten minutes in the sand pit for their good work.

Most of the kids in the class enjoyed finger painting because it allowed them to get dirty without the repercussions of getting yelled at. Ryan and Sharpay loved it the most because it gave them the excuse to change into a new pair of clothes when they got home.

Every five weeks Miss Darbus has a mini-art show that the parents come to and bid little amounts of money on art-works to raise money for the pre-school. Every student, including Troy, makes a masterpiece that sells for nothing more than $10, signed by the artist (with the help of Miss. Darbus) and framed ready and waiting to be taken home by the new owner.

Everyone meet Ms Gabriella Montez, she is our new friend. Taylor, Kelsi why don't you show Gabriella where the pigeonholes are...

Troy had a girlfriend. Sort of. He didn't know exactly what the meaning of girlfriend was, only that when a person had one they were immediately cool and got to hold hands. Troy didn't really want to hold hands with Gabriella; he just wanted to be cool. Plus she had a really pretty smile.

In the two days since Gabriella had been at the pre-school, she had become friends with everyone. Most of the other kid's time was spent wondering where exactly Gabriella came from. Another planet? Another world? Another place? She was just so amazing and no one knew exactly why.

One day (whilst moping over Gabriella running away from him) Troy found Chad – the mean bully – crying. Troy was confused because he had never seen the curly haired boy cry, not even when he ran and fell and scraped his knee. Not even when he saw blood.

Are you okay?

Troy asked because he was nice, smart and had a philosophy. Chad – the bully – looked up and shook his head snot running down his nose and staining his dark features.

You want to talk about it? (Troy didn't exactly know what the phrase meant he just knew his mom said it a lot to her sister when she came to stay with them after a fight with her husband. It always made her feel better. However it took her a long time to explain whatever 'about' was. Troy hoped Chad's story wasn't about his husband, or as long.)

Did your husband yell at you?

Troy asked because it was a legitimate question.

Chad laughed. (Troy knew the phrase would work.)

I don't have a husband silly. Husbands marry wives, and wives marry husbands not the other way around.

Troy was confused. It was a long sentence and there were too many repeated words for him to grasp the true meaning. And for some reason he felt a little insulted. However Chad was smiling and his plan on being nice to everyone worked again!

Ok. Want to go build a sand castle? Or a mud pie?

Sure.

At the end of the day Miss Darbus would sing them a song. One about love, troubles, and even one about time which made no sense at all. Since Troy and Chad had become friends they had begun to leave pre-school together to go to each other's house. When they got home they watched TV and played basketball. Something they would do together for the rest of their lives, always as friends, never anything more. Ryan and Sharpay leave with their nanny of the month, racing each other on their pink scooters to see who can get home the fastest and change into their new clothes the quickest. Similar to Chad and Troy they do this for the rest of their lives, however not at the same place, over webcam, across the world, leading different lifestyles for the first time in their lives.

When the kids leave pre-school every afternoon to go back to their home lives, they count down the hours until they can come back.

The END

(A/N: Because if I didn't end it here I would've gone on for another 14,000 words and it would have had no meaning and no plot and would've ruined the minds of little children everywhere)