HSM – The Reunion
By: Poetic Dream
Written and published 06/07/08 ((LOL. 6.7.8. – yes I'm a dork))

Read, Enjoy, and Review!!

Oh, and one more thing – for those of you that missed the FANfiction part of the URL, well, the characters of High School Musical do not belong to me. I'm just some crazy 18-year old girl who likes to mess with them on the weekends ;)

"Good evening and welcome back Class of 2008!" Martha Cox, the class valedictorian said as she stepped up to podium set up in the East High School gym. There were cheers and claps from the whole room before she continued.

"I cannot believe that it has been ten whole years since we left our lives and marks in the halls of East High. But it has…"

Outside in the hall leading to the gym, one of East High's alumni was running late – just the way he had planned it. Not so he could make a grand entrance, but so he could skip the initial awkward "hellos" and "so, what have you been up to's?" The man slipped in quietly, and spotting an available seat, sat down and put his briefcase at his feet so he could listen to the rest of his former classmates speech.

"…and I still believe that we're making out marks. Sitting here today we already have:

An NBA player, who just signed a multi-year contract to play for the Notre Dame Celtics"

'Chad,' thought the late-comer 'it has to be.'

"A professional sports agent, representing such athletes as Tiger Woods, Michael Phelps, and Ben Roethlisberger" Martha continued.

'Jason'

"A well sought after chef that currently owns five 5-star restaurants and is developing another to be opened right here in his hometown!"

'Zeke, of course'

"Of course, I can't forget to mention the men and women in this room that have chosen to be what some would consider the hardest, but most rewarding job there is: stay at home parents. Finally, last but they've never been last, at least while they were here, two of our own Wildcats are currently starring in Broadway's production of Legally Blonde! So be proud guys. We survived high school and now we're all finding out how to survive in this big scary would, one day at a time – see you in another ten years Wildcats!"

'Of course the Evans duo would end up on Broadway – together no less!'

There were more cheers and claps as Martha walked off the stage to join her fiancée.

"I always figured that girl was a whore." The man that was sitting at the table jumped. He hadn't realized someone had say down beside him.

"What are you talking about?" He asked.

"Martha – what, have you been living under a rock, Bolton? Her new fiancée, that one she's over there showing off? That's Jason Cross.

"Oh. But why would Martha want to be with Jason?" Troy asked, before he realized what he had done. Ryan finally took his eyes off Martha and instead stared at the former basketball star. Troy knew that look. Ryan was going into gossip mode.

"Wow, you really must have been under a rock. Have you not even seen the news lately? Cross was the one that just signed the 18 million, plus signing bonus, deal with the Celtics."

Troy was surprised at the news that it wasn't his former best friend that was the NBA star, but he was still confused as to what Ryan was trying to get at. "So?"

"Lunk-headed as ever, I see. So, that basically proves that she was the one that broke up his marriage with Kelsi."

Troy was beginning to feel very insulted. He'd been nothing but nice to Ryan and all he could do in return was call him slow and anti-social.

"Well, I don't exactly keep my TV tuned to the Entertainment channel all day, like some people."

"As if I enjoy it? I don't, Troy – it's my job. I'm a personal assistant for a very popular actress. I have to make sure they're not saying shit about her."

"You? Really? I would have sworn that when Martha said there were two people on Broadway…"

"That she meant my sister and I? No. Well, you were half right. But the other person was Gabriella, not me. Sharpay was always the one that loved the spotlight. I was only in it to serve her – so now I get to do what I'm good at for tons of money plus free vacations to the Bahamas."

"I guess that makes sense." Troy was beginning to feel bad that he hadn't really kept up with his classmates after graduation. But then he remembered why he hadn't, and looked for an escape route from the former drama king.

"Well, it was nice talking to you Ryan." He tried, standing up. "I'm going to go find Chad and Taylor. I'll see you around." He said, sticking out his hand.

"Oh no you don't, Bolton." Ryan tanked the other man back down into his seat by his outstretched hand.
"I've spilled all my guts and gossip, now it's your turn. What have you been up to for ten years?"

Troy groaned inwardly. He had been so close, too. Well, maybe he would still get out of it. If anyone found out…

"Since when were you ever interested in anything but your little world? Who's this big actress that you're working for?"

"I'm afraid I can't say. Privacy issues, you understand."

"No, actually, I really don't. I'm not exactly the big star that everyone predicted I'd be." 'Shit,' thought Troy. 'I'm right back to talking about me!'

"Ah! I guess you're not. So, what do you do nowadays? Hmm?" Ryan was openly prying now, and Troy tried his best to look annoyed at the blonde.

"Really, not much of anything. I've coached a few games here and there, almost gotten married twice, and tried running a marathon – gave up after the 15th mile though." Troy said with a forced grin.

'That sound believable,' he thought, 'even if it's a bit lame.'

He was waiting for Ryan to respond (as the blonde was just staring, dumbfounded, for the moment) when he saw his escape. Chad was making a bee-line for the food table.

"Well, like I said Ryan – nice talking to you! Later!" Troy said quickly, determined not to be sucked back into that conversation again. But this time Ryan didn't stop him, so Troy quickly walked over and patted his old friend on the back.

"Troy!" Chad spun around. "'ow arg yah buhd?" he tried to say, with a mouth full of chocolate cheesecake in the way.

Troy grinned and gave him a half hug. "Same old Chad, I see. Hair and all." He said, gesturing to the taller mans afro.

"Hey, I tried to get rid of it," Chad protested. "But my lady still likes it for some reason, so I've still got it. Anything to keep her happy."

"Aw, how sweet. Does Taylor know you're still calling her your lady?"

"No way, man! Do you think I'm stupid? So how've you been? I think the last time I talked to you is…wow has it really been since the wedding?"

"I guess so. Time really flies, huh? I've been good – keeping busy at least. How are you? How many kids?"

"My life is like, perfect, man. Seriously. I mean, the athletes are a pain in the ass sometimes, but since they pay me, I put up with them. And I've got 4, and one more on the way!"

"Congrats, Chad!"

"Yeah, I'm pretty much a baby-making machine!" Chad grinned.

"Too much information there, bud." Troy grinned back and nudged him in the stomach. "So where's that wife of yours? I want to congratulate her too."

"She's…uh…hmm. She must have gone to the bathroom." Chad said, not seeing Taylor in the room. "Apparently the 2nd trimester is the worst for that kinda thing. You'll see her at some point, I'm sure."

"Good. Well, I'm going to go find Zeke and see if I can't get a free meal out of him."

"Alright, cool. Catch up with you later, T!" Chad said as he went back to the food laid out in front of him.

Troy was circling the room, hiding from some, and giving others a polite nod or wave, at least until he felt like he was being watched. He turned around, only to find Ryan coming straight for him.

"What, you thought you could just get away with giving me that shitty answer? Not going to happen, sorry pal. I work with liars. I know how to spot them." He said. Troy couldn't understand why Ryan was so fixated on him, but he was quickly figuring out that Ryan wasn't going to leave him alone 'til he got the truth.

"Fine, I'll make you a deal. You tell me who you're working for, and I'll tell you what I've been working on since we left high school – the truth this time." Troy finally gave in.

"Well, well. Look at who became a top-notch negotiator. Alright, Bolton. But we have to shake on it." Ryan said, putting his wine on the table beside him and holding out his hand.

"What are we, ten?" Troy countered, but put his beer on the table as well and shook Ryan's hand.

"I work for Anne Hathaway. No, you can't have her number." Ryan said, seeing the look on Troy's face. "If she even finds out I told you her name, I could be fired. Your turn."

Troy took a deep breath.

"I've been writing a book."

Ryan looked disappointed.

"A book? That's it? Here I was expecting you to say you were some kind of male stripper or call boy. Wait – it's taken you ten years to write a damn BOOK?"

"Well, it's the content of the book that I didn't want leaking out." Troy replied. "Besides, it's not that easy to exactly recall four years of your own life so quickly."

"Okay, you've got me. So, what – you were a male stripper and now you're writing of your sordid affairs and the like?"

"Ryan, you're a pervert. No." Troy sighed. He was in this far, he might as well finish. Troy reached for his briefcase and pulled out a rough draft of his book. He handed it to the blonde, waiting for the explosion.

"Oh. My. God." Ryan was speechless for the second time tonight thanks to Troy Bolton.

"I know, I know, it's stupid, but…"

"That's not your name." Ryan said obviously, pointing to the corner where William Jackson was printed.

"I know, it's a pseudonym. That was by grandfather's name. I wanted to see if anyone would pick up the book and recognize themselves – all the names have been changed, of course."

"So, I'm in here?"

"Of course. It would be a hard job to write about my time at East High and NOT mention the great Ryan Evans."

Ryan gave him a grin. "So, what's with the title?"

"It's a working title. It'll be changed before printing."

"That's good, 'cause 'High School Musical'? That's just stupid. You wouldn't be able to give these things away!"

"I know. My agent likes it though. She says it's simple, and sums up the climax or something like that. It's the part about all the spring musical stuff when Gabriella fist came here."

"You should fire her."

"Sure, Ryan." Troy said, trying to make the man happy. "Okay well, really, it's been – interesting – catching up with you. I've got to go. I have an early meeting tomorrow." He said, taking back the rough draft.

"I'll see you around then, Bolton." Ryan said with a wink. "Now that I know you haven't dropped off the face of the earth, I'll see you on your book tour."

"Only if you bring Annie" Troy joked.

"You got it."

Troy left East High laughing. He hadn't gotten to see Taylor, or even Gabriella, but he vowed that after the book came out, he'd make a better effort to reconnect with his old friends.

A/N: Well, there you go. My take on HSM in ten years! Hahaha. Just as a note, I don't really have anything against the cannon couples in HSM (except Troy/Gabriella, but that's another story…) but this is what my twisted little mind came up with. So if you don't like the non-canon couples, sorry. I don't like Martha/Jason, but I wrote it 'cause it worked out that way. Heh.

Now, back to working on Blackout.
…unless I get a sequel idea for this…which I may or may not already have :P Hah. I'm a jerk, I know.

Poetic Dream