Chapter 1: Just A Normal Day

The day had begun like any other day at East High School. Cheerleaders practiced their new cheer. Basketball jocks chattered and flirted with the popular girls. Drama club memebers rehearsed their upcoming school play. Braniacs studied and read their chemistry textbooks. But nobody knew what will happen on this disastrous day.

Troy Bolton, captain of the Wildcat basketball team, entered the doors of East High. Girls immediately focused their minds on him and gasped loudly. Their boyfriends managed to distract their girlfriends from the most popular boy in school. It was obvious that every girl had their eye on Troy. But too bad. Troy already had his eye on somebody else, Gabriella Montez.

Gabriella, member of the Scholastic Decathlon team, searched for his best "boy" friend. She spotted him chatting with the head cheerleader, Katie Hodgkins. She could feel her heart rise with anger and jealousy. For one reason, she did like Troy. Ever since she met him, she instantly fell in love with him.

Gabriella marched over to him, extremely jealous. She had never told Troy her feelings for him.

Taylor, president of the chemistry club and member of the Scholastic Decathlon team, searched for Gabriella. Here you are! she thought. She continously tapped on her shoulder.

"Good morning, Gabriella." Taylor greeted cheerfully. "So...did you tell Troy yet?" she asked. Gabriella exactly knew what she meant. Everybody knew her secret, except for Troy, of course.

"What do you mean?" Gabriella pretended to be confused by Taylor's question. She had a confused expression on her face. But it didn't work. Taylor wasn't convinced.

"You know what I mean." Taylor snapped, placing her arms on top of each other. "So did you ask him yet?" she continued, eagerly.

"Well..." Gabriella stalled. "No. I'm just too..." Gabriella searched for the right word. "Shy?"

"Come on. I know you can do it. Everybody knows Troy loves you." Taylor encouraged her. "You're beautiful and intelligent. Every boy would fall in love with you."

Gabriella smiled, gathering all the courage she could muster. She was glad Taylor was her friend. She would always help her with her problems.

"Thanks." Gabriella wrapped her arms around Taylor's neck for a friendly hug.

"So did you watch the game last night?" Katie asked, batting her eyelashes.

"What do you think?" Troy replied, stating the obvious. His dad commanded him to watch basketball games. Jack, his dad, wanted him to be the best at basketball.

"Are you always this sexy?" Katie flirted. Troy smiled back, with no interest. He spotted Gabriella chatting with Taylor. He decided to chat with them.

"How's your morning?" Troy asked, sweetly. Gabriella recognized that voice.

"Fine. Thanks for asking." Gabriella replied, sweetly. She faced Troy and his icy blue eyes. The two future sweethearts stared into each other's eyes for a mystery number of minutes.

"Oh, come on!" Taylor complained, snapping Troy and Gabriella's moment. This was so normal! she thought.

"So..." Gabriella stalled, hoping to someone can break the silence. But Troy was too busy looking into her beautiful brown eyes. She noticed and spoke up louder. "So..."

Taylor just rolled her eyes. Come on! she thought. She decided it was better to head off to class already.

Suddenly, the bell rang. Loud! It snapped Troy back to reality. Gabriella just smiled.

"So...I guess you and me can walk together?" Troy asked, hoping she would say yes.

"I guess so." Gabriella flirted, batting her eyelashes. She took his hand and began walking to class.

Sharpay Evans and her brother, Ryan, entered Ms. Darbus's drama class. She fabulously wore a pink tank top, a pink short skirt, and what do you know? More pink! She wore a pair of pink high-heeled boots. Her brother dressed as perfect.

"Excuse me. Coming through." Sharpay snapped at Kelsi. Kelsi just sighed. Ryan just rolled his eyes.

"Watch out, man. Ice princess coming through." Chad joked, dying in laughter.

"Oh, did Chad Danforth just made his first hilarious joke?" Sharpay heard Chad and insulted him back. She headed towards Ms. Darbus's desk and handed her a present. Ms. Darbus tore it open to reveal a Sharpay doll. The doll wore a pink outfit just like the real Sharpay.

"Thank you, Ms. Evans. Very..." Ms. Darbus searched for the right word to say. Sharpay just smiled like a queen. "Creative."

Sharpay took her seat. Her brother sat patiently at his seat behind her twin sister. He always had to follow Sharpay around. Sometimes he didn't mind. But sometimes, she can be really annoying.

Taylor took her seat right next to Chad. She folded her arms looking like the perfect student. After a few moments, she whispered in Chad's ear.

"When do you think Troy and Gabriella would finally be an item?" Taylor whispered.

"I don't know." Chad replied, clueless. Those were always the same three words. I, don't, and know.

"Seriously, you are no help at all." Taylor complained, sitting back in her seat.

Just then, Troy and Gabriella came in. The two were laughing and smiling. Ms. Darbus noticed them entering and stood up from her desk.

"Glad you can join us, Mr. Bolton. Ms. Montez." Ms. Darbus toned her voice with anger. "Please take your seats." she motioned to their desks.

Troy and Gabriella obeyed Ms. Darbus's order. Both knew the consequences of not following her rules. Detention: Darbus Style.

"Good morning, class." Ms. Darbus greeted, with no interest. "The field trip to the museum of history and arts is at 11:00 a.m. Report at the courtyard by 10:30."

The class groaned. This will be another boring field trip to some old museum. Apparently, there was one Wildcat who looked forward of visiting the museum. It was none other than Gabriella Montez.

Gabriella didn't want to sound like a geek. But she really loved visiting museums. You can learn new interesting facts. But no one knew this was one heck of a field trip!

The bell rang at East High School for third period to end. Kids poured out of their classrooms. Heavy sighs and loud yawns filled the quiet and empty halls.

The Wildcats hurried to the courtyard to meet Ms. Darbus by the buses. Gabriella silently clapped her hands to herself. She didn't want anyone to know she was excited about the trip. The rest of the Wildcats just yawned.

"Since everybody's here." Ms. Darbus started. "Let's aboard the buses!" she continued, motioning to the bus.

The class obeyed and slowly aboard the bus. Chad took his seat on the fifth row. Troy took his seat with him.

"What's up, man?" Chad asked, slapping his hand against Troy's.

"Oh, nothing." Troy replied, dishonest. It was almost close to the truth, but with the "Gabriella thing..."

Suddenly, Troy spotted Gabriella walking to the back of the bus. He decided to confess his feelings for her.

"Where're you going, man?" Chad asked, grabbing his best friend's arm.

"You know what? I think I'm ready to tell Gabriella." Troy responded, confidently. Chad exactly knew what he meant. Tell Gabriella his feelings for her.

"Good luck, bro." Chad encouraged his best friend. He probably needed it right now.

"Thanks, man." Troy responded, smiling. He gathered all the courage and strength he could muster. He slowly walked over to the back row of the bus, where Gabriella and her friend Taylor were chatting.

"Oh hey, Troy." Gabriella greeted, smiling furiously. Troy greeted back with a wide grin.

"I need to tell you something Gabriella." Troy started off, sitting next to her. "I..." Before Troy could finish his sentence, Jack Bolton, Troy's father, boarded the bus, raising his bullhorn.

"Good afternoon, students." Jack hollered, speaking loudly into the bullhorn. "Now remember this..."

The students just nodded without a clue what Jack was lecturing. "Yeah, yeah, yeah." One student whispered to his friend. "Right. Yes. Totally." Another student whispered, clueless.

"Buckle up your seats." Jack ordered, sitting down on the driver's seat. The students obeyed, not wanting to know what would happen if Mr. Bolton became angry.

"So, what did you wanted to say?" Gabriella asked, staring deeply into Troy's blue eyes. Taylor knew what was about to happen.

Troy and Gabriella stared deeply into each other's eyes. Gabriella's heart beating faster and faster. Troy felt a wave of electricity rushing through his body. Not again!, Taylor thought. She was exactly right. It was just like the one this morning.

Jack started the engine. Sharpay Evans and her brother, Ryan, were chatting away with a few members of the drama club.

"So I've been thinking. I think our next school play should be on High School Musical!" Sharpay suggested, cheerfully. She expected for everybody to raise their hands. But she only saw her hand raising up.

"What's High School Musical?" Ryan asked, his head wrinkled in confusion. He had never heard of that movie or whatever that is.

Sharpay examined each of their faces. Each drama club members had blank stares.

"It's about two students who met in a karaoke contest during winter break." Sharpay explained.

Suddenly, a tall handsome boy aboarded the bus. He walked over to the drama club section of the bus.

"Excuse me? Can I sit next to you?" the handsome boy asked, a little embarrassed.

"Of course!" Sharpay exclaimed, scooting closer to the window. She would always take the opportunity to sit next to a cute boy like him. "When winter breaks, the two future sweethearts met in the same exact high school." Sharpay continued explaining her suggestion, clapping her hands wildly.

The drama club still looked puzzled. What is wrong with you people?, Sharpay thought. High School Musical is a great movie. It included her favorite songs such as "What I've Been Looking For" and her most favorite, "Breaking Free."

"It's a musical." Sharpay pointed out. The drama club nodded in complete agreement. Now they understand!, Sharpay thought. Who doesn't love musicals? Everyone loved musicals.

"What are you guys talking about?" the handsome boy asked, eagerly.

"Oh, it's just our school play next month." Sharpay responded, facing the handsome boy. "What's your name?" Sharpay asked, curiously.

"Michael, Michael Davidson." Michael responded, sticking out his hand for Sharpay to shake. Sharpay shook his hand. "I'm a new student." Michael continued.

In the driver's seat, Jack's stomach growled loudly. "Let's make a pit stop." Jack suggested. Everybody nodded and unboarded the bus. Finally a time to be free!

Sharpay and her drama club friends, including Michael, unboarded the bus first. Taylor groaned over and over again. Troy just babbled like an idiot to Gabriella. Gabriella just listened, a little annoyed. And Chad, well, Chad was just being Chad. He was flirting with a cheerleader sitting in the front row.

Gabriella, with her two best friends, entered a white concrete building. The words CINEMA CENTRAL were emblazoned on the yellow and black striped walls. Gabriella looked over her shoulder. A small television was hooked to the wall. A movie preview appeared on the screen.

"The following preview is for the new movie, Final Destination 4: Harver Bridge." the voice spoke from the television. Gabriella decided to watch and relax for a bit. She took a seat with her two best friends. Gabriella felt comfortable, but the comfort was about to last, a few minutes from now.

On the television screen, it projected a group of high school students aboarding a bus. A few seconds later, it changed to a scene where a black-haired girl had a nervous look on her face. The bus began to spin around in circles. Then, the same girl headed out of the emergency exit. She searched for a way to safety. A car came speeding down on her. She backed up and tripped. Clinging to the edge of the bridge, the bus came falling out to sea. Her hand slipped from the bar and went down with the bus.

Gabriella's stomach began to fill with butterflies. Horror movies always make her scared. At least she had Troy by her side. She gulped once, then twice. This is going to be the worst day of her life.