Summary: Best friends Troy Bolton and Chad Danforth leave the state of New Mexico to pursue their dreams of playing ball at the college level. Since they've left friends, family and high school girlfriends behind, they meet a whole new cast of characters on their journey, including two original female characters that catch the guys' eyes.

Note from the Authors: Hey Ally here... Cate and I want to thank you all for checking out our little story, it's our first HSM related collaboration and we hope to write more. Before we shut up and let you read the story, there's a couple things you should note.

1. This isn't a Troyella, Troypay, Chaylor or anything like that... in fact, this story's relationships are Troy/Original character and Chad/Original character.

2. This story is going to have some "juicy" stuff as Cate likes to refer to it... meaning there will be some sex and cusing

3. There are a lot of original characters in this story and while most of them have just minor roles, they are important to the story. We have a companion website for the story (link is in our profile) that has character pictures of the main four and all of the supporting, there's also a quick bio for each of the main four when you click their picture; on the site you'll also find a list of songs that remind us of our story and extras like the layout of Chad and Troy's dorm room and of the girls' apartment.

4. The story will probably only be updated about once a week as we have very busy lives and other stories we're writing.

Disclaimers: We don't own any of the High School Musical cast, but we do own all of the original characters and would appreciate if they were not used without our consent.

So without further ado...

Chapter 1

It all started as a joke. They'd never actually planned on being University of Arizona Wildcats.

Best friends since they were in pull-ups, Troy Bolton and Chad Danforth always dreamed of going to college together and playing hoops against the best college athletes.

The summer before their senior year, Troy, Chad and their basketball coach Jack Bolton, who was also Troy's dad, visited several colleges that were interested in Troy as a basketball player and Chad as a baseball player. They'd spent two weeks driving as north as Oregon, as south as Arizona, as west as California and as east to Colorado.

When it came time to applying for schools, Troy and Chad sent in applications to the University of Arizona just for laughs. After all, as Chad pointed out, they could be "Wildcats for life."

But the laughs were on them when they heard back from schools. Oregon State offered Troy a basketball scholarship and the University of Oregon offered Chad a baseball scholarship, but both boys decided that even though the schools were within thirty minutes from each other, Oregon was too far from New Mexico for them. Several other schools that offered Troy scholarships weren't interested in Chad and those that were interested in Chad weren't interested in Troy. And the only school that did want them both was the University of Arizona.

That's how Troy and Chad found themselves driving the six and a half hours from their hometown of Albuquerque, New Mexico to the U of A campus in Tucson, Arizona in Troy's truck pulling Chad's car in the middle of August.

"Can't this thing go any faster?" Chad groaned as he fanned his face with his Sports Illustrated magazine. He and Troy had both lost their shirts earlier in the day because of the desert heat. "We should have driven my car, man! It's got a kick ass ac!"

"Yeah well your car couldn't pull my truck," Troy replied as he glanced at his friend as they drove across the New Mexico / Arizona border. "Anyway, we have like two hours left."

"Guess the Coaches were right about us leaving earlier in the morning," Chad muttered as he dug into the cooler at his feet and pulled out a fruit punch Gatorade for Troy and a fierce Gatorade for himself. "But I never said that."

"Never said what?" Troy laughed then took a gulp of his drink.

The Coaches, as Chad affectionately called Troy's dad and his own stepdad, had suggested to the teenagers that they should start their drive in the early morning and beat the heat and the traffic. But being teenagers, Troy and Chad both decided that they wanted to sleep-in and had waited to leave until the late morning.

Chad sighed as he leaned back in his seat and closed his eyes. As much as he was looking forward to the whole college experience with living on his own and not having anybody to answer to, he was kind of nervous about being so far away from his mom, Delilah. He wasn't a momma's boy or anything… it was just that his mom had been his greatest confident, best friend, cheerleader and everything else a mom is supposed to be.

Saying goodbye to her had been the hardest part for Chad and it was even harder on his mom. Delilah was so proud that her son was going to college and she told anybody who would listen how proud she was of Chad. "First generation of the Danforth family to go to college," she'd brag. "And with a full ride baseball scholarship!"

Sometimes Chad felt that she was making a bigger deal out of it then it really was. But deep down he knew it was a big deal. He was the first person in his family to go to college and the first to have not become a parent before the age of eighteen. His mother had gotten pregnant with him when she was sixteen and it was with the help of her godparents that she was able to finish high school.

For the first thirteen years of Chad's life, it was just him and his mom. He went to a neighbors' in home daycare center, where he met Troy, while his mom worked at a restaurant. Then when he was an eighth grader, Troy's parents introduced his mom to East High's new football coach Paul Walker and before Chad finished eighth grade, he had a stepdad and a new sibling on the way.

Life changed a lot for Chad when his mom married Paul. They moved out of their two bedroom apartment and into a house down the street from the Bolton's. Suddenly having a dad was a hard adjustment at first, but when his little sister Sabra arrived and Chad saw how happy Paul and Sabra made his mom, he tried harder to get along with Paul. He had even tried out for the football team his sophomore year of high school, but after one day of tryouts he and Paul had come home laughing and agreeing that football really wasn't the sport for Chad.

"Chad," Troy said, shaking his friend. "Chad, wake up."

"I am awake," Chad grumbled. "Leave me alone."

"Dude, you gotta drive," Troy told him. "My eyes are starting to hurt."

"Fine," Chad sighed. He opened his eyes and was surprised to find the truck parked in a rest area. "When did we get here?"

"About ten minutes ago," Troy rolled his eyes.

Chad shook his head and climbed out of the truck. He stretched his body and groaned as he popped his neck. He walked around the truck and climbed into the driver's seat.

"Just stay on I-10 W," Troy told him. "And wake me up when we get to Tucson." He leaned back in the passenger seat and closed his eyes, but sleep wouldn't come to him. Instead, he found himself thinking, about the adventure ahead of him, his parents and the girl he left behind.

He was well aware that Chad was more prepared for living on his own than Troy was. After all, Chad's mom had actually taught him how to do the laundry and even if Chad didn't want to admit it, his mom had actually taught him how to cook. Troy's mom, on the other hand, hadn't prepared him at all. Sure, she'd taught him how to make a bed, but who was going to wash his clothes and iron his nice shirts?

It wasn't that his parents hadn't taught him anything, they'd done their best to raise him. They made sure he knew he was loved, had food to eat, clean clothes to wear, everything parents are supposed to do for their children. And sure, they had their problems, but they were a very happy family of three-though Troy knew his mom had always wanted more kids.

Even though he was an only child, Troy's attributed the fact that his friends were always hanging out at his house, especially Chad, to the reason he never felt like an only child. His dad had been the basketball coach at East High for as long as Troy could remember and the guys on his dad's team were always at his house for dinner and to play with Troy and Chad.

Then there was Gabriella… She and Troy had met on New Years Eve of the junior year at a resort then she'd shown up at high school as a new student. They'd caused commotion in the school when they auditioned for the winter musicale Twinkle Towne and got the lead roles.

"We're in Tucson," Chad declared all too soon for Troy's liking. "Direct me to our humble abode."

"You've been hanging out with Taylor too much," Troy rolled his eyes. Taylor was Chad's girlfriend of a year and a half, who had been totally cool with the idea of Chad going to a college twelve hours from her own. It just wasn't fair to Troy, Gabriella had flipped out and been mad at him when he'd told her.

"Yo! Troy! Directions!" Chad said, waving his hand in front of his friend's face.

"Sorry," Troy said, grabbing the directions out of the glove box. He directed Chad to the U of A campus and they snagged a parking spot near the dorm they were assigned to. "You stay with the truck, I'll go check in then I'll come back and you can go."

"Troy, nobody is going to steal out stuff," Chad told him. "Let's just get this done with. I want to take a nap."

They each grabbed a handful of stuff then headed towards the check in tent. After checking in and getting their room number, they headed up the stairs to their second floor hall.

"I get the top bunk," Chad declared as they climbed the stairs.

"Hell, no, you wet the bed," Troy retorted.

"I stopped doing that when I was six, asshole," Chad grumbled. "Now shut your fat ass mouth, you're gonna start nasty rumors about me then I'm gonna have to kill you."

Troy smirked and used his key pass to open the door to their hall. "We're room number 215."

"You just walked past it dumb shit," Chad said as he used his own key pass to open the first door to the left. He hurried over to the bunk bed and threw his stuff on top of it before Troy could. "HA! I got the top bunk, bitch!"

"Asshole," Troy muttered as he threw his stuff on the lower bunk. "I swear to god, if anything wet or dry falls off your bed, I'm going to kill you."

"I'd like to see you try," Chad retorted.

Troy opened his mouth to reply, but a knock on their door stopped him. They both turned and saw a tall, well built guy standing there. "I'm guessing you two are Troy Bolton and Chad Danforth," he said.

"Yeah, that's us," Chad nodded. "I'm Chad, that's Troy."

"I'm your RA Owen Banks," the guy said. He shook Chad's hand then Troy's. "You sound like you've known each other for awhile."

"Since we were in pull-ups," Troy replied. "And I stuck by him when he was the only one in our kindergarten class still wearing them."

"Shut up," Chad said, shoving Troy hard.

"Where are you two from?" Owen asked them.

"Albuquerque, New Mexico," Troy replied. "We got here like twenty-five minutes ago."

"Well, do you guys need any help unpacking your cars?" Owen asked them.

"Sure," Chad replied.

After a couple trips, they returned to their hall and found other guys had arrived. The guys in 219 were best friends Cooper Lewis and Steven Hansen from Sierra Vista, Arizona where their dads both worked at the military fort. They also met Spencer Holland from Salt Lake City, Utah who informed them that he was majoring in Aerospace Engineering.

Chad and Troy were in their room unloading their boxes when Spencer's roommate arrived. They hadn't even seen him when they heard him bellow, "No way! I am not living with a geek!" They exchanged looks then went out to the hall to see what was going on.

Spencer's roommate was standing in the middle of the hall glaring at Owen.

"There's got to be a mistake, there's no way I can be living with a geek," he repeated. "I'm a fucking Vanderbelt for Christ's sake! You should be happy that I'm here at your damn school!"

"Vanderbelt like the famous, old money family?" Troy whispered to Chad.

"No, they were the Vanderbilt's," Chad replied, softly. "This guy is an airhead if he thinks he's related to him."

"What did you call me?" Chad and Troy jumped back when the angry Vanderbelt walked over to them.

"Vance, calm down," Owen said as he put a hand on the young man's shoulder. "Why don't you give living with Spencer a try for a week and if you don't like it we can try to find another place for you." Vance opened his mouth to speak, but Owen held up his hand. "Coach wants all the freshman guys living on campus, so just give it a try for a week."

"Fine, but that nerd better not touch any of my things," Vance declared before storming into his room.

"This is going to be a fun week," Troy muttered.

"Tell me about it," Chad nodded as the hall door opened and a guy and a girl walked in. "Hey."

"Hey, I'm Kevin Parker and this is my girlfriend Amy Stewart," the guy said. "She lives on the floor above us."

"I'm Chad, this is my best friend Troy," Chad replied. "What room are you in?"

"217, the one right next to you," Kevin replied. "Have you guys met our other hall mates?"

Before Troy or Chad could answer the hall door swung open again and two guys walked in.

"What are you looking at?" One of the guys sneered and Troy knew instantly that he wasn't going to like him at all.

"Chill man," Chad said. "I'm Chad, this is Troy, that's Kevin and his girlfriend Amy."

"Did I ask you who you were?" The guy replied before turning to Amy. "Hey baby, when you dump that loser come and find me." He gave her a wink then went into the room across the hall from Troy and Chad's.

"What an asshole," Chad, Troy and Kevin muttered under their breaths. They looked at each other and snickered.

"Who the hell were those guys?" Kevin asked.

"The name tags on their door say Chris Campbell and Eric Carstens," Amy stated. "But, I think I'm gonna go up stairs before they reappear. They give me the heebie jeebies." She shuddered then gave Kevin a kiss before she left.

Troy and Chad shook their heads and went back into their room. They worked hard for a few hours getting their room set up and were setting up Chad's stereo when Kevin came into their room.

"You guys wanna go down to the caf with me?" He asked. "My roommate isn't here, but I'm going to die if I don't get some food like now."

"Sure," Chad nodded.

The three guys walked to the caf that was near their dorm and got in line for the pizza bar. After paying for their food, they found an empty table and sat down.

"So what are you guys majoring in?" Kevin asked.

"No idea," Troy replied for himself and Chad. "You?"

"Business major," Kevin replied. "And Amy's an education major."

"Cool, you play sports?" Chad asked him. "I play baseball and Troy plays basketball."

"I played some tennis in high school," Kevin shrugged.

When they got back to their hall, Kevin's door was open and Owen was talking to Kevin's roommate.

"Guys this is Braeden," Owen told them. "Braeden this is your roommate-"

"Kevin Parker," Kevin said holding his hand out to Braeden. "This is Troy and Chad, they're in 215. Troy's on the basketball team and Chad's on the baseball team."

"Cool, I guess," Braeden said before disappearing into his room.

Kevin shrugged before following him into the room.

"So six out of eleven of us are cool, three are ass holes and one of us is a nerd," Chad said as he and Troy went into their room. "This is going to be a fun year."

We agree with Chad... this is going to be a fun year.. er story... We really hope you guys enjoy it! Please leave us reviews!!