Eleventh Grade Social
Chapter #1: The Meet'n'Greet, with complimentary embarrassment
Disclaimer: Congratulate me. I've just won the rights to HSM in a chook raffle! NOT.
A.N: I have succumbed. I have joined the Dark Side. (Their cookies are delicious, by the way.) I have written an AU HSM fic. Usually I'm rather reserved about these things. But now I've written one. Those are awesome cookies.
At the high school dance
Where you can find romance
Maybe, it might be love!
'We Go Together' – Grease
In a certain town in a certain sunny part of the United States of America, there lived a rather privileged pair of twins. Though Ryan and Sharpay Evans shared an interest in acting, they did lead semi-disparate lives. You see, they went to different schools. Ryan attended East Boys' College, while Sharpay attended East Girls' College. On the other hand, the two schools happened to be side by side, which is a fact that will be important later in this tale.
Ryan, it was often said at EBC, didn't appear to fit in with the boys he hung out with. He was in the drama club, and secured all the lead roles, while his friends were all on the uber-masculine basket-ball team. Then again, it wasn't exactly common knowledge that Ryan was instructing Chad Danforth in dancing. Chad wasn't the only one with a secret, either. Jason Cross was a flautist. Zeke Baylor worked part-time in a patisserie, not a sports store. And what about EBC's golden boy, Troy Bolton? Well, he was actually fairly good at singing.
Even Troy's parents didn't know, and they lived in the same house as he did.
Sharpay had her own circle of friends, but unlike the boys, they didn't hide their talents. Sharpay, like her brother, had a dream of being a star on Broadway, but she also got really into fund-raising for the local animal shelter. Taylor McKessie was a brainiac, but she was also a talented sketcher. Kelsi Nielsen composed music in her spare time. Martha Cox was arguably the best dancer in the school. And EGC's next dux, Gabriella Montez? She was also a singer.
All ten were in eleventh grade, and as such the Combined Schools Social was coming up in exactly a week. Ryan's friends were freaking out about what on earth they ought to wear to such an occasion. (Basketball after-party experiences seemed to count for nought.) Sharpay and her friends, on the other hand, had all bought their dresses, shoes and bags over a month ago. As there was a week until the dance itself, the faculties of the two schools decided that they would hold a barbecue, a sort-of taste of what was to come. It was held at EBC, since they had the bigger campus. All the eleventh-grade girls moseyed over, and the gym was filled with the guys and girls.
"Why do they all look the same?" Jason asked Troy quietly as they queued up for hotdogs.
"It's the uniforms," Troy replied. And he had a point. As private schools, EBC and EGC had uniforms, and they weren't designed to flatter. EBC boys had to wear beige trousers, white shirts and red ties. EGC girls had to wear navy-blue skirts, white blouses and red ties with the school crest embroidered in beige thread not only on the tie, but on the blouse breast-pocket as well. All in all, not very sexy.
Inevitably, Ryan and Sharpay merged their friendship groups. Then they both flitted off to find their drama buddies.
"Well, this isn't awkward at all," commented Zeke, breaking the uncomfortable silence.
"Let's introduce ourselves," Troy suggested. "I'm Troy Bolton."
"Martha Cox," said Martha.
"Jason Cross," said Jason.
"Taylor McKessie," said Taylor.
"Zeke Baylor," said Zeke.
"Gabriella Montez," said Gabi.
"Chad Danforth," said Chad.
"Kelsi Nielsen," said Kelsi.
Silence fell again, and they stood around, avoiding each others' eyes, until Chad suggested moving to a bleacher to sit down. Which they did quite promptly, and a tentative enquiry from Jason brought out the information that Kelsi and Gabi were quite musical. So Jason, to the amusement/bemusement of his friends, started to discuss scales with them. Chad, following his friend's lead, discovered that Taylor had an older brother who was a Lakers fanatic, but Taylor herself had never understood the game. So Chad took it upon himself to explain it to her. Martha and Zeke found a common interest in hip-hop, while Troy stood next to Jason and looked self-conscious.
When Jason and Kelsi's conversation turned to five-eighths, Gabi took it upon herself to relieve poor Troy, and they discussed Batman for the next forty-five minutes. Yes, Batman.
"I have Batman boxers," Troy told her, just as Ryan returned to the group.
"Well, that was the wrong moment to come in on," Ryan commented. Troy turned fire-truck red.
It then emerged (or rather, it was blared over the loud-system) that there was going to be entertainment provided by a duet between two students – one girl and one boy. And the choice of boy and girl would be random.
"Oh, dear," Troy muttered under his breath. What had possessed the faculty to do that? Now they couldn't be sure it wouldn't be Ryan. It could be anyone. It could be Troy, for Pete's sake. This was not good.
"Oh dear," Gabi muttered under her breath. What had possessed the faculty to do that? Now they couldn't be sure it wouldn't be Sharpay. It could be anyone. It could be Gabi, for goodness sakes. Gabi couldn't get up in front of 250 people and sing!
Predictably, Gabi's and Troy's names were the ones that were drawn from Ryan's hat. Chad didn't help matters much by sniggering as they made their way over to the microphones.
"Never knew I could feel like this/Like I've never seen the sky before/Want to vanish inside your kiss/Every day I love you more and more/Listen to my heart, can you hear it sings/Telling me to give you everything/Seasons may change, winter to spring/But I love you until the end of time," sang Troy. "Come what may/Come what may/I will love you until my dying day."
Gabi noticed that she felt nauseous, and slightly dizzy. Breathe, Gabi, she told herself. She felt normal again as soon as she stopped hyperventilating. She took a deep breath and dived.
"Suddenly the world seems such a perfect place," she sang. "Suddenly it moves with such a perfect grace."
"Suddenly my life doesn't seem such a waste," they sang together.
"It all revolves around you," sang Gabi. She smiled. This wasn't so bad. It wasn't as though it was a total solo.
"And there's no mountain too high/No river too wide," they sang. "Sing out this song and I'll be there by your side/Storm clouds may gather/And stars may collide –"
"But I'll love you," sang Troy.
"I'll love you," Gabi echoed.
"Until the end of time," they sang together. "Come what may/Come what may/I will love you until my dying day/Oh, come what may, come what may/I will love you –"
"Oh I will love you," Gabi sang. "Suddenly the world seems such a perfect place."
"Come what may/Come what may/I will love you until my dying day," they finished on a crescendo. The stunned gym was silent for a moment – but only a moment. Within two seconds they were on their feet, stamping, clapping, cheering, whistling, and whatever else humans do to show that they enjoyed a show.
The next fifteen minutes passed in a blur for Gabi. Later, she dimly recalled Sharpay coming up to her, squealing with delight that she'd found her replacement understudy. (Oh joy, oh rapture.) As the girls made their way back to their campus, Taylor and Martha acted as bodyguards for Gabi, since there were many girls who now wanted her to be their friend. Was there something about Troy? Speaking of whom, inexplicably, Troy's name, photo and number ended up in her phone, and hers must have ended up in his because he texted her that night, saying that maybe they could meet at the social?
"And the best part," Gabi told Kelsi as they bussed home that afternoon, "is that I didn't even faint!"
A.N: Next chapter: Troy and Gabi become joined at the hip, and Gabi somehow doesn't notice.
The song Troy and Gabi sing is called 'Come What May.' It's from the Moulin Rouge soundtrack, and I chose it because it's the only duet I know that isn't from an opera.
Random fact: You know, I have a personal gripe about Gabriella's nicknames. Who calls a person 'Brie'? Brie is a cheese. Last time I checked, neither Gabriella nor Vanessa Anne Hudgens was yellow and gooey. So she's 'Gabi' in all my stories. I also must warn you that I don't spell things in the American way – mom, honor, G.L.A.M.O.R.O.U.S, et cetera. Just so you know.
Reviews are greatly appreciated!