Troy paced in front of the theater department bulletin board as he waited for Ms. Darbus to put up the final cast list for the spring musical. For the first time in trying out for productions had he really wanted a roll with such a fierce passion, the last couple days had been killing him not knowing.
Clicking of heels and loud bangles brought him out of his trance and he saw Darbus approaching with a pink sheet of paper in her hands. He stopped dead in his tracks and watched as she smiled at him, passed him, and hung up the list on the wall. When she had turned back around the corner Troy made a mad dash for the board.
Running his finger down the list he finally found his own name, and then he slid it over to the left hand side to see which character he would be playing. When he saw the name 'Link' atop the pad of his index finger his mouth dropped open and he let out all the air he had been holding in. He had gotten it, he was going to be Link! His fist raised in the air and he let out a loud, "Yes!"
All of a sudden there was a hand on his back and laughter filling the small corner of the hallway. "Wow, so I take it you got the part you wanted." Ryan smiled at Troy before he read over the list himself, once he had seen his role he nodded and decided he could live with it.
Even though Troy knew that Ryan wasn't the type to show his disappointment he also knew that Ryan loved the theater and wanted the biggest parts he could always tackle. For a slight second Troy felt guilty for swooping in the year before and taking the lead from him then and now again, but that feeling of achievement wouldn't let go of him "Yeah, I did. I hope you did too."
Shaking his head Ryan smiled at Troy's effort to not seem smug, "I didn't but the guy that got it totally busted his ass and deserves it. Plus who doesn't love Corny? I mean the guy has style, excited to work those suits." Both young men laughed and walked to class together discussing the upcoming musical and how tough they knew Darbus was going to work them.
Taking his seat in English he still couldn't keep the smile off his face, and people took notice, especially Kelsi who had known the night before he was getting the role. Darbus had consulted her to help chose who got what role, it had taken her all not to tell him the night before. She sat down next to him with Martha and nudged his shoulder, "Congratulations Troy."
Smiling at both girls he nodded, "Thanks, and congrats to you to Martha. I am looking forward to playing your Link."
Martha too was nearly bouncing her chair and hadn't shut up about it since Kelsi ran into her in the hall and said her congrats to her as well. "Thank you Troy, I am excited too, I can't wait to start in." Her attention was quickly drawn away by one of her other friends that came to congratulate her and talk about the upcoming production.
Kelsi laughed, but was truly happy for Martha, she knew how badly that she had wanted the role and to try theater. Turning back she saw Troy staring at her, like he was waiting to ask her something. "Troy? You okay?"
He nodded his head slowly and started to pick at some fringe on a hole in his jeans. "Yeah, it's just now I am realizing how much this is meaning. Not only the pressure of everyone expecting me to do well, but myself. I worked hard to get his role and want to make sure that Darbus knows she picked the right person."
She had never seen Troy so serious about his role in a drama club play, which meant it was really a big deal to him. Placing her hand on his she made him look up and smiled up at him, "You'll do great, you always do and with this much passion in you for the role you're gonna knock it out of the park."
A laugh escaped him and rocked his body, "Thanks Kelsi, but could I ask you another question?"
Opening her notebook she began to get ready for class, "Of course, ask away."
Back to fiddling with the fringe he kept his gaze on the floor and spoke barely above a whisper, "Would you mind helping me, like get the vocals just right and the character too. Like I said, I want to get this perfect and you always have that way of explaining things so that I get them and can accomplish them."
Feeling honored and completely flattered she smiled up at him, "I would love to help you, after all that's what I am here for. To help you guys practice and get everything right, just grab me any time you want to practice."
Troy beamed with a smile and reached across to hug her, "Thank you, thank you, thank you! Could we start today after the meeting?"
His actions caused her to laugh out loud and she patted his arms that were around her shoulders, "No problem Troy, and yeah that is okay."
Then the bell rang for class to start and they all attempted to focus on the words coming out of Mr. Chessen's mouth.
By lunch all of East High knew about the cast list and who was playing whom in the production of 'Hairspray'. It was all the gossip that the lead pair wouldn't be Troy and Gabriella for the first time since they tried out last year. Some were happy and some weren't Troy felt horrible that Martha was getting some negative people to rain on her parade. But when he passed her in the lunchroom she was still all smiles and talking to her friends about it, and that made him smile.
Taking a seat next to Chad and Gabi he smiled as many congratulations were thrown at him again. Chad made a joke and ruffled his hair, but he saw that Gabriella was a bit quite and somber so he poked her, "Hey what's wrong?"
Picking at the salad on her plate she sighed and turned her head to Troy, "I am just kind of sad I didn't get the lead is all, I mean Amber is still a pretty important character but I wanted the lead. And plus we won't get to play opposite each other like last year."
Troy took a bite of his sandwich and placed a hand on hers to calm her, "Hey, we get to play opposite in the beginning, plus to be honest Gabi you had to know they would pick a girl that met the physical needs of Tracy. Nothing against Martha because she totally deserves the role, she can dance, sing, and really wanted the role."
"So did I, I could have worn a suit or something." She was starting to cry and he had no idea what to do, he was never good around crying girls. Thankfully he didn't have to as she picked up her tray and slowly walked out the lunchroom with her head down.
Troy watched her walk out and felt like there was something he should do but he really had nothing, Martha deserved her role and Gabi would just have to deal with that. He went back to his lunch and quickly fell into easy and regular conversation with all his friends at the table.
The day had passed as normal as most, but by the end of last period Troy was anxious to get to the meeting for the play and then start in with Kelsi. When the bell rang he picked up his book and waited for Gabi by her locker, when she approached she still seemed upset. "Hey, come on Gabs, this is gonna be an awesome experience for us all."
"Easy for you to say you got the role you wanted, and the lead no doubt." She slammed her locker and walked away from him, he had to jog a bit to catch up with her. Sighing he ran his lose hand through his hair, there was no removing her from this mood.
"Come on you know that isn't fair, I worked just as hard, and so did Martha. You can't hold grudges against people that didn't do anything but try their hardest." She ignored him and kept walking down the aisle of the theater to sit beside Sharpay and Ryan who were already reading the script and humming the songs to each other.
He stood in the middle of the aisle starring at her, unsure if he should sit next to her and try to talk to her some more or just let her cool. When he felt someone brush past him he turned to find Kelsi setting her bag down next to the end seat of the left side seating. She smiled up at him and he returned it. Looking once more at Gabi he found her picking at her nails so he decided to sit with someone just as excited as he was about this. "Hey Kels."
Another smile spread across her features, "Hi Troy," she looked over to the center seating and found a pair of bouncing Evans and one sad looking Gabriella. "I take it that Gabi wasn't to happy with the casting?"
A sigh escaped Troy and he looked up through hooded eyes, "Yeah, she just really wanted Tracy, or the lead I am not sure. She knows Martha deserves it, we just need to give her time to accept it, she will be fine." One more grin was shared between the two before Mrs. Darbus entered the theater and began the meeting.
She had them introduce themselves and get all their scripts, it was a typical first meeting for any production. After all the generalities were made and rules and goals discussed Mrs. Darbus released them and told them to be ready to start in right after school the next day.
As they all stood to leave Troy grabbed Kelsi, "Are you still okay with getting some stuff done tonight, or no?"
Gabi had stood and waited for him to come and walk her out but when she saw him talking to Kelsi she didn't feel like waiting. Troy saw her leave but was more concerned with getting started on perfecting his character. Lifting her bag to her shoulder Kelsi nodded, "Yeah, I have to pick up my younger brother and sister right now but you can come over, say about six o'clock?"
"Sounds great, I will be there, and thanks again for agreeing to help me out Kelsi, it means a ton." Troy picked up his own back pack and began the climb up aisle of the theater and out to their cars. Hoping in his car he watched her drive off and followed her out of the parking lot and headed home to start some research of his own before he met up with Kelsi later.