It's summer time! Troy Bolton and his pals from East High land jobs as counselors at a Summer Camp, where he falls head over heels for one of his fellow counselors—Gabriella Montez. Troyella!

Camp Alby: Orientation" copyright jokerjem; November 27, 2008

This is a derivate piece of fiction featuring characters copyrighted and trademarked by Disney Enterprises Inc. It is based upon High School Musical, copyright 2006 by Walt Disney Enterprises Inc., all rights reserved; and High School Musical 2, copyright 2007 by Walt Disney Enterprises Inc., all rights reserved. The author is not connected with nor is this work authorised by Walt Disney Enterprises Inc., or any other motion picture studios. This work is solely intended for posting on Fanfiction, for the benefit and enjoyment of its intended audience. No commercial or financial benefit accrues or is intended to accrue to the author as a result of said posting. Any unauthorised copying or redistribution of this work might subject the party responsible for such unauthorized copying or redistribution to legal action by the owners of the aforementioned copyrights and trademarks.

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Camp Alby: Orientation

Troy, Chad, Taylor, Ryan, Sharpay, Zeke and Kelsi all stood in a straight line wearing blue long sleeved shirts that read "Camp Alby." They were quiet as they listened to Head Counselor Fran call out into a megaphone:

"Welcome counselors! In your first two days here at Camp Alby, you will be doing training exercises, not only to better teach your campers, but also to build better team working skills with other counselors…"

Troy let Fran's voice drift out of his consciousness. His eyes wandered around the large rec room. It had wood paneled walls and a large fireplace made of stone at the far end. From his walk around the camp earlier, he knew the place was huge. He hadn't had an opportunity to check out the basketball court yet, but he knew from brochure pictures it was a pretty sweet set up. He'd be spending a lot of time at the court this summer, as a Basketball Counselor.

Chad, Troy's best friend and basketball buddy, nudged his shoulder. "Maybe we should have just taken those waiter jobs."

"Nah. Think about it, man. Working at this camp means no parents breathing down our necks all summer, telling us what to do."

"Too true," Chad agreed.

"Hey, who's that?" Troy pointed to a pretty girl with long brown curly hair standing at the end of their line next to Kelsi.

"I don't know. One of the other counselors I guess."

"She looks familiar." Troy studied the girl's face, its soft curves and expressive smile. "I think maybe she just moved into my block."

"Oh yah?" Chad sounded more interested now. "Maybe she'll be going to East High next fall. Kinda cute."

"Who's kinda cute?" Taylor, Chad's girlfriend, whispered over to them. Her raised eyebrows indicated that she didn't like Chad checking out other girls.

"Hey, hey, now, just some girl Troy was noticing," Chad said and pointed over at the girl in question. "That other counselor over there."

Taylor studied the girl too and said, "I guess we've got all summer to get to know her."

All summer, Troy thought. He liked the idea that he had months of time to get to know this girl.

"Alright everyone! Pair up! Pair up!" Fran's voice called through the microphone.

Troy automatically turned to his buddy Chad—he always paired up with his basketball buddy on the court when it came to running drills, but Chad was already turning towards Taylor.

"Hey, sorry man," Chad said, looking over his shoulder at Troy as he put an arm around his girlfriend. "We're not on the court now."

Troy couldn't help but smile as Taylor giggled and snuggled into his friend's shoulder. He looked around and saw that most everyone had paired up already.

Sharpay with Zeke. Duh, she was probably trying to sucker him into baking him more cookies, even though she would never commit to being exclusive with Zeke.

Ryan and Kelsi were paired up. They worked well together, Troy knew, both on the stage and off.

And Chad and Taylor, which left—the girl with the curly hair.

He walked towards her smiling, his stomach flipping a little. She was so pretty. She smiled tentatively at him, and he grinned. Troy was never one to be shy around anyone. He'd learned how to handle his nerves on the court. He was a confident guy, but something about the way she smiled and held out her hand to him made him want to check to see if his fly was down. He reached out to shake her hand, and it felt warm in his own. He squeezed it a little.

"Hi. I'm Troy. Bolton."

"Nice to meet you, Troy. I'm Gabriella. Montez." She had a soft voice, and it made something in his spine shake. Troy squeezed her hand again and let go. Gabriella. Such a pretty name. It suited her. She was so cute, and much shorter than him that she had to crane her neck back to look into his eyes. He liked the way she smiled, and the way her cheeks seemed to glow. He liked the way her hair curled, all springy and thick—he had to stop himself from lifting up a hand to touch a lock that caressed the side of her face.

"Hey, we're wearing the same shirt!" Troy joked in an effort to cover up any awkwardness. "Weird coincidence. Great minds think alike huh?"

Gabriella frowned looking confused. She stared at his shirt and down at hers.

"We're all wearing the same shirt. Oh." She laughed.

"Okay!" Fran called out. "Our first exercise is about trust. It's important that all our counselors trust one another and be responsible. If you are all going to be working together, you must trust each other."

Troy looked over at Zeke and gave his friend a thumbs up. Good luck trusting, Sharpay, he thought.

"Each of you will take turns falling into each other's arms, and catching each other. When you fall backwards, your partner will catch you. You must trust them and know that they are there."

He looked down at Gabriella who was biting her lip.

"So, Gabriella—you ready to put your life in my hands?"

She laughed nervously and pushed a lock of hair from her face.

"I'm not sure. Are you a responsible guy, Troy?"

Troy heard the fear in her voice, and he looked into her eyes, and said sincerely. "I am."

She exhaled. "Okay." And then she turned around with her back to him.

"I should also add that I'm really great at catching things. Basketballs. Fish."

Gabriella laughed and turned her head around to smile at him.

"Hey now, don't look. No cheating. This is about trust."

"Ready now?" Fran called. "On three counselors. One. Two. Three!"

A brief moment of hesitation, and then Gabriella was falling back into his arms. He caught her, felt the warmth of her back, and the caress of her hair over his hands. She'd gone into a straight fall back, and he laughed into her upside down face as he pushed her back upright. She stood up smiling and laughing, and they both turned together to survey the other counselors.

Taylor had caught Chad, though she was massaging her arms. "You're heavy!"

Ryan had caught Kelsi.

Sharpay, however, hadn't caught Zeke at all because Zeke hadn't fallen. Instead, his back was still to her, and he was taking large heaving breaths.

"Fall already, Zeke!" Sharpay yelled as she tapped a pink sneakered foot. "I'm not gonna wait forever."

And just as he was falling, Sharpay turned around to huff off, and Zeke landed on the ground with a smack.

Troy went into team captain mode. He reached out a hand to help Zeke up and slapped him on the back. "Walk it off, Zeke. Walk it off."

Zeke hobbled a bit, and cracked his back. "I'm fine."

Fran beeped the megaphone. "And now switch places."

Troy turned to Gabriella. He remembered the tickle of her hair on his hands and he wondered if he would tickle if she touched him.

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"Are you sure you're going to be able to catch me?" Troy asked. "I'm a pretty big guy."

Gabriella looked up at him. He was really tall—and cute. When she moved to Albuquerque with her mom, she never thought she'd meet someone like Troy. Guys like that lived in Hollywood and dated models—but it wasn't just that he was cute. Something about his smile, his eyes, made her think she could really trust him—really like him. The question was: Would he like her. It was always hard for her to make new friends when she moved. Would Troy be one of them?

"I think I can catch you," she told him. "I work out you know?" She flexed her biceps.

"You do?" Troy looked impressed. "Let me see." His hand reached out to squeeze her upper arm, and she liked the contact. It made her stomach clench. "Yah, pretty buff." He turned around with his back to her.

"The question is, Troy, are you ready to put your life in my hands?" she asked, mimicking his earlier question to her.

"Are you responsible?" Troy frowned playfully, and she liked the way one of his eyebrows lifted.

"I'm a straight A student—that must say something about responsibility."

"And how about catching things?" he asked, blue eyes glowing.

"Awful! At basketball and fishing."

Gabriella took a deep breath as Troy stepped close to her. She could smell his aftershave and soap on him. She felt the warmth coming from his chest as she gazed up at him. This could be dangerous…

"How about falling stars?" he whispered, leaning down. "Can you catch those?"

She felt mesmerized by his eyes. He was so close, she could see his individual eye lashes. She fought the impulse to put her hands on his shoulders. Was he going to kiss her? She leaned closer, felt her eyelids drooping, never mind they were in a room with other people. Never mind he was almost a stranger. Guys like Troy Bolton came around once in a lifetime.

It's like catching lightning the chances of finding someone like you
It's one in a million, the chances of feeling the way we do

"I can catch falling stars," she breathed.

"Great!" Troy laughed and stepped back. "Then we won't have a problem. I'm a big basketball star at East High!"

Gabriella snapped out of her trance as Troy turned around.

"One, two, three!"

He was still laughing as he fell back, and Gabriella caught her falling star, felt the tingle of electricity, of magic as she touched him and pushed him upright.

Troy pulled her into a laughing hug and she smelled him again. So strong. So safe.

Yes…this could be very dangerous indeed.

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Reviews please! This is my first ever fanfiction attempt!