A/N: Minions, my newest work of…something. High School Musical goes to Camp Rock.
Pairings: Start – Troypay, slight Ryelsi. End – Troyella, Chaylor, Ryelsi, Zekepay, Jartha.
Notes: This is slightly AU, warning for that.
Notes 2: The word "sophomore" can also mean immature. Look it up.
Sharpay Evans never says she's sorry. Even if she really means to. But she doesn't. So here's the story of the first time she used the word. It was the summer before her junior year in high school, and she was with her brother and basically their entire school at their usual summer camp. It was her favorite thing about the summer. She went every year. But we'll get back to her later.
Gabriella Montez was your typical middle class high school sophomore. She had been transferred from school to school, because her mother's job took them everywhere. When her mom's company finally stopped transferring them, they were settled in East Albuquerque, and there was only a day of school left. Ms. Montez thought it pointless for the last day of school to be Gabriella's first day of school, so they spent the day at their house, setting it up. They were taking a break and watching the TV, when a commercial came on advertising a summer camp, that really intrigued Gabriella.
"No, Gabi," Sonya, Gabriella's mom said. Gabriella had been asking if she could go to the camp for three straight days.
"But why not?" Gabriella asked.
"I already told you," Sonya said. "We just don't have enough money this year. Maybe next year."
"Next year may be too late," Gabriella said. "We've never taken a chance on anything before, and your company transfers you before we can do anything about it. Come on, mom."
"If I promise to call the camp, will you stop bugging me about it?" Sonya asked..
"Yes!" Gabriella said. She handed her mother the scrap of paper she'd written down everything about the camp on, and Sonya went over to the phone.
"I'm dialing," she announced. "Are you going to stand there and watch?"
"No," Gabriella said, immediately. "I'm going out. See you when I get back."
"Pick up some burgers!" Sonya called after her. Gabriella walked out of her newest new house, and in the direction of town. She heard a beat banging from down the street, and decided to check it out. There was a guy singing in the small garage of his house. Or at least, Gabriella hoped it was his house. She didn't even notice she was staring until the singing guy noticed her and stopped playing his music.
"Can I help you?" he asked quite rudely.
"You're…really good," Gabriella offered as an explanation.
"Please, tell me something I don't know," the boy said. "And don't try telling me you're new, because I know that too."
"I'm sorry, I'll just go," Gabriella said, immediately evacuating the boy's property and scurrying down the sidewalk towards town. The boy resumed his playing after she left. She couldn't help but notice he was really cute. She noticed him again as she walked back to her house with some meat for burgers and some buns. 'Only in America,' she thought, 'do they sell hamburgers in packages of ten, and buns in packages of eight.' It was dumb, but when she finally arrived back at her house, her mom was positively grinning on the back porch.
"Guess what!" Sonya announced.
"I got burgers?" Gabriella guessed.
"You're going to summer camp!" Sonya announced.
"I…am?" Gabriella asked.
"Yes! I called the camp, they said they had scholarships available, and they even offered you a job in the kitchen so that you could go for free!" Sonya announced.
"That's incredible!" Gabriella said. "I can't wait! When does it start?"
"Monday," Sonya announced. "And I'll drive you there myself."
Gabriella spent most of the weekend packing a single bag of clothes, which involved a lot more trouble than it was worth, of course, because it involved unpacking, repacking, and re-repacking, and un-repacking, and every combination of the words possible. When Monday finally arrived, Sonya, true to her word, drove Gabriella to the camp and dropped her off, promising to visit if Gabriella wanted her to. Gabriella was overwhelmed. There were a ton of people there, almost all of which carrying an instrument of some kind. If they weren't carrying an instrument, they were sitting emo-ly under a tree drawing or writing, and even some of them were carrying an instrument.
A limo in a particularly hideous (in Gabriella's opinion) shade of Barbie Pink and plastered with the initials SE pulled into the camp, and two people exited it. One boy, one girl, both blond. The boy was wearing a pink hat in another particularly hideous shade of pink, with a shirt to match, and carrying a guitar case across his back. The girl flipped her hair over her shoulder, almost hitting the boy in the face, but he took it in stride. She pulled her sunglasses down onto her face, and straightened her shirt set, in a similar hideous pink color, and surveyed the camp. She noticed Gabriella watching her, and Gabriella immediately stopped looking, and went to find her bunk.
Sharpay Evans was the girl getting out of the limo, of course. Her brother, Ryan, was accompanying her. He was useful, mostly because he played the guitar and didn't complain about singing in the background. Of course, that was what Sharpettes were for, so it was mostly the guitar.
"Well, Ry, we're here," Sharpay said to her brother.
"I'm aware, Shar," Ryan said. "We've been here for several minutes now. People are staring. Let's just get to our bunk."
"So let them stare," Sharpay said. "They'll be staring even more when we win that trophy." There was a trophy given every year to the best act at the Finale Performance. Sharpay won every year and she planned on keeping that way.
"I'm going to assume your use of the word 'we' was accidental," Ryan said. Sharpay pretended not to hear him, and strutted away in the direction of their usual bunk, #6. Why he was allowed to bunk with her, being a boy and all, they never figured out, but he always had been before. They arrived at their bunk, with the usual five beds in it, and claimed their usual beds, dropping their suitcases on them. Halfway through the unpacking process, the director of the camp, Ricki, showed up.
"Mr. Evans, didn't you get the memo?" Ricki asked.
"What memo?" Ryan asked. Ricki flipped through the pages on her clipboard, and unearthed a piece of paper, which she handed to Ryan. Sharpay read it over his shoulder.
"I'm being kicked out of my bunk?" Ryan asked. "I've lived in this bunk for the past six summers! I always bunk with my sister and the Sharpettes!"
"Not this year," Ricki said. "There's a bunk across camp that I'm sure you'll find appropriate."
"I seriously doubt it," Ryan said, starting to throw his stuff back into his suitcase.
"Do I have to remind you that we are Sharpay and Ryan Evans?" Sharpay asked Ricki. "Our parents are very, very, very highly prized contributors to this camp. I'm sure you wouldn't want to lose their support." Ricki blinked.
"My decision is final," she said, before exiting the cabin.
"Can you believe her?" Sharpay asked Ryan.
"Yes," Ryan said, throwing the last of his stuff into his suitcase and zipping it up. "And so it starts. Come and visit me?"
"Ha," Sharpay said.
"Oh, well, I'll be back," Ryan said before also leaving the cabin, and trudging across camp to the cabin number listed on his memo, #9. Inside his new cabin was Troy Bolton, captain of the East High Wildcats basketball team, and lead singer of the newest band on the block. Ryan sighed.
"Oh, hey, Ryan," Troy said. Ryan sighed again. "Are you our last bunkmate?"
"Unfortunately," Ryan grumbled, dropping his suitcase and guitar case on the last bed that didn't have anything on it yet. "What is this, your second year now?"
"Yep," Troy declared proudly. Ryan sighed again and rolled his eyes.
"I take it your little band thing is here," Ryan said.
"You know it," Troy said. "Well, I gotta go, so I'll see you later, maybe?"
"Looks like it," Ryan grumbled, as Troy left the cabin. Troy walked across the camp and into Sharpay's cabin.
"Hey, Shar," Troy said.
"Hi, Troy!" Sharpay said. "What's up?"
"I'm not allowed to see my girlfriend whenever I want?" Troy asked.
"It's ex-girlfriend, actually," Sharpay said. "So, no."
"Oh, well, if that's the way you want it," Troy said. "Ex-girlfriend it is. So, besides your brother moving into my cabin, what's up?"
"I think I asked you first," Sharpay said.
"Oh, well, then, I was wondering if you wanted to grab a bite to eat," Troy said.
"I suppose I could fit that into my busy schedule," Sharpay said. They left the cabin together. "So, how's the band?"
"They're coming, I think," Troy said. "Well, I hope. Otherwise it's just me and your brother in a cabin together all summer. And that gets old pretty fast."
"I bet," Sharpay said. They walked into the dining hall and people squished to the sides to make room for the "it" couple at camp. Or at least, they looked the part. They spotted Ricki across the room, and both sighed.
"I don't like her," Troy said.
"Me neither," Sharpay said.
"What do you have against my Aunt Ricki?" Troy asked.
"She made Ryan move into your tent and wouldn't have any of my threatening Evans-ness," Sharpay explained.
"Well, that sucks," Troy said. They sat down at a table with their food, not realizing Gabriella was watching from across the room. Well, they shouldn't because neither knew her.
"Who are they?" Gabriella asked her kitchen friend, Zeke, who was also at the camp on a scholarship, like her.
"Sharpay Evans and Troy Bolton," Zeke said. "They're…annoying. He's got this new band, and she's won every award for six years. I wouldn't be surprised if she tries to get him to sing with her this summer."
"He lives down the street from me," Gabriella remembered suddenly. "I saw him the other day singing in his garage."
"He does that," Zeke said.
"You sound like you know him," Gabriella said.
"I used to be in the band," Zeke said. "But then I quit." Gabriella didn't press the issue. "Plus he goes to our school. Everyone knows him. He's the captain of our basketball team."
"You guys any good?" Gabriella asked.
"Sure," Zeke said. "We're the best." There was a pause. "Did you mean at basketball or music?"
"Either," Gabriella said, walking back into the kitchen with Zeke. "So how long have you been coming to this camp?"
"This is my third year," Zeke said. "I came two years ago on whim, and loved it so much I came back again last year, and this year I was supposed to come with the band but let's just say that didn't work out. So, there's an open mic tonight. You gonna sing?"
"How do you know I sing?" Gabriella asked.
"Didn't until just now," Zeke said. "You any good?"
"Oh, I don't know," Gabriella said.
"Well, you don't have to be. There's other things to do here. Do you dance? Write? Paint? Draw?" Zeke asked. Gabriella shrugged.
"Nah, I mostly just sing," Gabriella said. "In a group, though. Church choir is all. I tried to solo and fainted. I just looked at all those people looking at me and next thing I knew I was staring at the ceiling. End of solo career."
"Well, I'm sorry to hear that," Zeke said. "I'd sing with you if I was any good."
"Well, are you?" Gabriella asked. Zeke laughed and shook his head.
"No. No way. Troy and Chad have all the talent, I'm afraid," Zeke said. "Shall we eat?" Gabriella nodded, and the two of them grabbed trays and some food and went to sit down with some of Zeke's friends.
"Gabriella, this is Taylor and Martha," Zeke said. "Girls, this is Gabriella."
"Oh, so you're the one who's friends with all the girls," Gabriella joked. Taylor rolled her eyes.
"Hi, Gabriella, I've never seen you around before," Taylor said. "Do you go to East?"
"Well, no, not right now," Gabriella said. "But I will when school starts. My mom gets transferred around a lot."
"Oh, so do you sing or dance or something?" Martha asked. "I dance, mostly."
"Um, yeah, I sing. A little," Gabriella said.
"That's cool," Taylor said. "So what about school? What do you usually do for after school stuff?"
"Well, at most of my old schools I was on the math team or something like that," Gabriella said. "Science club, Scholastic Decathlon, that kind of stuff."
"Taylor's the president of that kind of stuff," Zeke said. "All that smart stuff that we normal people can't understand."
Ryan walked into the dining hall, looked around and sighed. He always came with his sister, but she was nowhere to be found at her bunk.
"Hey, Ryan!" someone called, sneaking up behind him.
"What the– Oh, hi, Kelsi," Ryan said. "Lots of new music to work on this summer?"
"Yeah," Kelsi said. "I've got a new prototype song, if you want to come over later. Just remember the rules."
"No telling Sharpay because she'll steal it and make me sing it," Ryan recited.
"Exactly," Kelsi said. "Food?" They both got their food, knowing all too well that Sharpay would, indeed, steal Kelsi's song and make Ryan sing it with her. That hypothesis had been proven the summer before with the "You Are the Music in Me" fiasco. Kelsi had written the song for herself and Ryan, but Sharpay had stolen it, ran up the tempo, and performed it with Ryan instead. It had been terrible, at least in Ryan's and Kelsi's opinions.
"You know, I hear the food this year is supposed to be better," Sharpay said, loudly. "I don't know, though. It seems kind of dry. Oh, Zeke, maybe you could be a little more careful next time?" The majority of the table Sharpay was sitting at laughed. Zeke frowned and went back to eating his own chicken. He didn't think it was dry.
"Don't listen to her," Gabriella said. "She doesn't know what she's talking about. She's probably never cooked chicken in her life."
"I never do listen," Zeke said. "She's always saying stuff like that. We all used to be sort of good friends-ish, but then, you know…"
"You quit the band," Taylor, Martha, and Gabriella said at the same time.
"It seems like that's when all your troubles started," Gabriella said. "Why'd you do it?"
"It was just too much to deal with, and the guys were just annoying all the time, and Troy was all like slave driver-y. I mean, as if I don't get enough at basketball practice," Zeke said.
"Well, like father, like son," Taylor remarked. Martha spotted Kelsi, who was with Ryan, and waved them over. Ryan and Kelsi, exchanging glances, went to sit with Martha, Taylor, Gabriella, and Zeke.
"Who's the new chick?" Ryan asked.
"Don't call her a chick," Taylor said. "That's discrimination." Ryan rolled his eyes like he always did.
"This is Gabriella Montez," Zeke said. "Gabi, this is Ryan and Kelsi." Gabriella shook hands with Ryan and Kelsi.
"So, you sing?" Ryan asked, not impressed by the new girl.
"A little," Gabriella said. "It's nothing much." Ryan grunted in response.
"He's usually not this weird," Kelsi whispered to Gabriella. "But he's having an off day."
"I got thrown out of my bunk," Ryan said, trying very hard not to glare across the room at Ricki. "And made to live with the several surviving members of…Rebound." He rolled his eyes again and picked at his chicken.
"That's the band," Zeke said to Gabriella, who nodded in understanding.
A/N: Um, so, that was the first chapter. I don't own Camp Rock, or High School Musical, or…anything. Ever. Okey-doke? Thank you for reading! Please, leave me a review, because the only one I've gotten is from my mom who said "I like it." I like that review, and I'd like to have some more, if you want to give them to me. It's real simple.
Samantha.
PS, was it just me, or did anyone else feel like watching Camp Rock was watching High School Musical 1 and a half? Because I totally got that vibe. I was, like, ten minutes into it, and I was already casting this fic, which I started writing the Sunday of premiere weekend. Just asking. Not that I am comparing Meaghan Jette Martin and Ashley Tisdale in any way. Or Joe Jonas to Zac Efron, because we all knows who wins there. ;)
PS2, I read on wikipedia last night that there's a possibility for Camp Rock 3. Just putting that out there.