So this is a new story I've been working on. I don't know why when I can't even keep 2 stories at once going. Stupid brain with all these ideas. Obviously it's Chaylor cause they're my favorite and totally awesome. I can't say I know what direction this story is going in, what's going to happen or where i want it to end. I mean, i have ideas for chapters and obviously a plot... How about i just let you guys start with the first chapter and we'll take it from there. Kay? :)
P.S. Just a quick note to TheCreativePenguinLover, thank you for getting your next chapter of Ups and Downs up so i could share this chapter with everyone. Hopefully these stories are helping people get their Chaylor fixes cause i know it sure helps me! ^^
Disclaimer: I do not own High School Musical or any of the characters.
Chapter One
"I now present East High's class of 2008!"
The audience on East High School's football field cheered as the final graduate received his diploma. In a split second, hats were thrown in the air, everyone was cheering and students were running around the field.
It was hard to believe that was four years ago. Everything seemed so much smaller then. Suddenly a bunch of teenagers were being thrown into the world of college. More homework. More studying. More coffee. More pressure. To a bunch of eighteen-year-olds it seemed like just the beginning.
Graduating college was a different story entirely. It wasn't about what there was more of anymore. It was all about the real world. Money. A job. A new home. A future. They may have been twenty-two now, but they were still kids being thrown into the real world.
So when Chad got home from his graduation ceremony everything felt surreal. This was a guy who thought he had his whole future planned out. He'd go to the University of Albuquerque on a sports scholarship. He'd play basketball. Just barely pass his classes. Then get drafted into the NBA. But the thing was, none of that happened. He wasn't at U of A for more than a year. He hardly focused on basketball. And he didn't get drafted into the NBA. Instead he transferred to the University of New Mexico. His major in Physical Education left minimal time to play on the basketball team. And save for a few subjects, Chad did pretty well; he graduated with a 3.45 GPA. It was a shock to everyone, actually. Even Chad surprised himself sometimes. Then there were times were Chad would hardly be surprised. Considering whom he was dating, it was hard not to focus and try to do well.
Chad had been dating Taylor since high school. April of junior year, to be exact. For two people who were nothing alike, they went pretty strong for two years. They brought out the best in each other. Dating in high school was hardly a big deal. It was keeping the relationship going through college that was the problem. While Chad spent a semester at U of A, Taylor went across the country to Yale. They thought their relationship could last the distance. But it didn't. With little time to talk to each other, no physical contact, and a few pictures circulating the Internet they just fell apart. But that was an understatement. They didn't just fell apart. They were completely broken. Breaking up forced them to lose a piece of themselves; neither of them liked it. At that point, Taylor buried herself into her schoolwork and Chad transferred to UNM. It wasn't a good semester for either of them.
Then there was sophomore year. Roughly a month into the first semester, Chad was shocked to find Taylor at the school. She had transferred from Yale in order to be closer to home. Needless to say, it wasn't long before they got back together. All it took were a few shared classes, some lunch breaks together and one all-nighter. Those were meetings that Chad was grateful for; had he not even seen Taylor, he'd have no idea where or who he'd end up with. One semester being away from her was rough. One of nothing to do with her stunk. He was able to get through college because of her. Now they were graduates. It was just a matter of where to go from there.
The first step was dinner. Taylor spent the day celebrating with her family and Chad's parents were preparing a huge party for him the next day. So in that wake of insane graduation celebrations they had to meet up for at least a couple of hours. Odds were that the excitement would die down throughout the week and by next weekend they could go out on a real date. For tonight, it was between Friendly's and Subway in favor of keeping it simple. They decided on Subway, which would be followed by sharing dessert at Red Mango. Chad was out of his house at six on the dot and was at Taylor's by 6:15. Of course there was some brief mingling between him and Taylor's family. More like nearly an hour's worth. They were lucky to get in the car by 7:10. The ride was peaceful, quiet. It was a nice change. Upon arriving at Subway they each ordered their sandwiches – Chad a grilled chicken and Taylor a turkey. With a small bag of Lay's potato chips and a large Mountain Dew to share, they sat themselves at one of the booths and proceeded to eat.
"It feels so nice to get out of the house," Taylor sighed with relief.
"Madhouse much?" Chad chuckled. He'd felt suffocated after only being in her house for an hour.
"Don't get me started," she groaned. "Aside from my mom there was Cassie and Kari, Grandma McKessie, Pop-Pop and Mi-Mi, Uncle Brad, Aunt Ari, cousins Mickey, Shandra, Bailey and Riley, Uncle Art and cousins Ray and Prescott, Mom's best friend, the crazy cat lady from next door, and Uncle Tyrell and his 'special friend' Uncle Danielle."
Chad raised an eyebrow.
Taylor held her hand up and shook her head. "Don't ask."
"About your uncle's 'special friend' or why the crazy cat lady from next door was there?" he asked.
Taylor paused and thought for a minute. "Crazy cat lady," she answered.
Chad couldn't help but chuckle. "You have such a colorful family."
"Oh yeah? What about you and your sisters? Those girls are energetic enough to put my family to shame," she teased.
"You're a girl and have one big sister. Try being a guy with three," Chad responded.
Taylor smiled and rolled her eyes. "The last time it was even this crazy…"
"It was high school graduation," Chad finished. "I mean at least then we were able to chill for the summer before getting everything ready in August but now it's like…you know, what do we do now?"
Taylor shrugged her shoulders. "Find jobs, I guess."
"They make it sound so easy," Chad said sipping the drink.
"It's not," Taylor stated.
"Not for you. Not for Troy," Chad pointed out. "Your internship offered you a job already and Troy might have a position in California. And the guy still has time to plan his wedding."
Troy was Chad's best friend and happened to be dating Taylor's best friend Gabriella. Both went to California, Berkley and Stanford respectively. But everyone knew the only reason Troy went to Berkley was because it was close to Gabriella's school. Unlike Chad and Taylor who had to wait it out two months to see if long distance would work for them, Troy and Gabriella knew after two weeks. Gabriella was accepted early to Stanford and Troy spent two weeks at East High completely depressed without her. Now they were still together and engaged; their wedding was set for later in the summer.
"Troy and I just got lucky. Jobs don't always happen that fast for recent graduates," Taylor told him. "Gabriella graduated last week and she's not working where she interned. She's not even looking for a full-time job until after the wedding."
"Gabs'll get a job, no problem," Chad replied biting his sandwich. "Her, Troy, you…you all know what you wanna do. But for me it's more like where do I go from here, you know?"
Taylor placed her hand over his. "We just graduated this morning, Chad. There's plenty of time to figure it out."
"I know," he nodded intertwining his fingers with hers. "It'd just be nice to know sooner rather than later. They make such a big deal of getting us ready for the real world and how we need to get jobs but then it doesn't happen and we sit around the house like nothing's changed."
"It's different for everyone. Why don't you take a month off to relax and start looking in July?" she suggested.
"I don't know," Chad shook his head. "I'll be fine. You just focus on making your internship a permanent thing." He shouldn't have vented to Taylor. She was right; they only just graduated. They were just getting started. There was plenty of time left to figure out what to do with their lives and find a job. There'd been enough times during school when Chad would vent to Taylor about the world load or that he didn't think he'd have enough time to do it all. He knew she'd never admit it but it affected her, too. The time she spent helping him out with an assignment was time she could have used on her own work and she couldn't put as much energy into it. Sometimes the comfort level Chad felt when he was around Taylor was so insane, he didn't even realize what he was saying to her or that he was venting. He just felt like he could talk to her about anything.
Taylor stood up and pulled Chad out of the booth. "Come on," she said, "I think I know what'll cheer you up." She led him out to the car and took the car keys from him.
Chad looked out the window while Taylor drove. "This isn't the way to Red Mango," he said.
"That's because we're not going to Red Mango," she answered. Within a few minutes they were at the park. Taylor led Chad to the basketball court. She picked up a basketball from the rack and tossed it to Chad. "This always cheers you up."
Chad caught the ball and stared at it. He fiddled with it in his hands a little but didn't do too much else. In the past he'd run around the court, dribble the ball and make any shot he could. But he didn't feel like doing that this time. Instead he tossed it back to Taylor. "I'm not really in the mood."
Taylor quirked an eyebrow. "You never turn down basketball." She tossed it back to Chad.
He shrugged his shoulders. "There's a first time for everything," he said before throwing it back to her.
"Chad I've known you since the second grade. There wasn't a day where you wouldn't want to play," she said. "I just thought since you haven't gotten to play in a while, maybe it'd make you feel better."
"Sometimes things change. People change," Chad replied.
"What are you talking about?" she asked.
"When I was growing up, basketball was my motivation for everything," Chad explained. "If I wanted to stay on the team I had to do well in school. If I wanted to stay on the team I'd have to behave. Then we got together and…I don't know, you kinda made me rethink everything. Like summer of junior year, like two months after we got together, and I went to basketball camp for two weeks. All I could think about was, 'dang, if it's this hard for two weeks what's it gonna be like when I'm traveling in the NBA all the time?' Then I found out you were going to Yale. And my first thought was, 'we need to break up.'"
"But we didn't," she pointed out.
"I know," he nodded. "And two months into freshman year we did break up."
Taylor folded her arms and took a step back. Clearly it wasn't something she liked to think about. "Why bring that up?"
"Because that's when everything changed. And it completely sucked. I couldn't focus on anything, I didn't wanna play basketball…. You know, I just needed to get away from everything. I transferred to UNM to get a fresh start. But it didn't get any better. It was the worst semester. Then you came back. And I didn't even know why or care why," he explained.
Taylor shrugged her shoulders. "I told you, I wanted to be closer to home."
Chad didn't believe it for a second. "No you didn't. You always said you couldn't wait to get outta your house and live on your own, go away to school and be independent. You loved Yale. Why'd you leave that after a year for this?"
It was a question Chad had been asking for a while now. Why? Every time Yale was brought up Chad would ask, 'Why did you leave anyway?' Her answer was always the same. But maybe this time was the final straw. Maybe after being asked twenty-something times already, this time was the time Chad would find out the truth.
Taylor sighed. "Remember when Gabriella told me she got early acceptance into Stanford? But she was thinking of going to U of A instead to be with Troy and I pushed her to choose Stanford so a guy wouldn't hold her back?"
"Yeah," he nodded.
"Our breakup was kind of like that. I never thought I'd feel so strongly about a guy that I'd consider dropping my dream college to going back home to be with him," she explained. "I knew New Mexico had some great schools, but I didn't want to give up everything I fought for at Yale. And I didn't want to admit that it stunk there without you. I thought that when we started college we'd still have time to talk to each other or IM or something. And it didn't turn out that way at all. So when we broke up, I felt like there was no reason to take a break and I just buried myself in my schoolwork. I tried to stick it out for an extra semester but it didn't work out the way I planned at all. Being on my own away from home meant nothing if I had no one to share it with."
Chad raised an eyebrow. "Isn't that an oxymoron?"
"No, but it is contradictory," she answered. "My point is, there was no one there I wanted to spend time with. And I didn't have you to talk to so I could take my mind off of something or feel better. The truth was that I needed you just as much as you needed me and I didn't want to admit it or that my feelings were stronger than I ever gave them credit for."
Chad couldn't help but chuckle lightly. "You could tell I needed you?"
"Well, those tons of tutoring session were kind of a dead give-away," Taylor said.
"Or an excuse to spend more time with you," Chad admitted. "Those times with you made me wanna do better than basketball ever could. And if two months screwed us over imagine what traveling like half the year would do. It kinda makes me glad that I know I'm not going to the NBA, but at the same time it still kinda sucks cause at least then I would have had a plan."
"I'm sensing there'd be a catch there," she stated picking up the basketball.
"The catch would be that either you'd come with me or I wouldn't go at all," he answered. "I still like basketball, but I don't know if I love it enough now to wanna play it my whole life all the time. And it's definitely not worth losing you."
"Why do you think I'm working at a newspaper doing research for political op-ed columns and spell-checking everything instead of actually studying to be a politician?" Taylor replied. "The president would be in office for four years. Traveling would be at least ten times more than an athlete. Add on meetings with the cabinet, ambassadors, and speeches, not to mention possible assassination threats…. If you can't imagine being away from me for half a year, how am I supposed to imagine being away from you for nearly four years? You're not the only one whose plans changed." She tossed the basketball to him and he nodded.
"I know. But this is uncharted territory. Everyone is growing up and moving on with their lives and I just feel like I'm still at the same spot. So what's to stop you from going out and finding someone that's better prepared for this or more deserving of you?" Chad said before tossing the ball back.
"I'll decide who's most deserving of me. And there's no one better suited than you," she answered. Taylor threw the ball back to him and took a few steps closer. "Have you ever heard the saying about letting something go and if it doesn't come back it was never yours?"
"Yeah…" he said slowly.
"Well, you let me go and I came back. So what do you think that means?" she replied.
"That you're mine?" he wondered.
"All yours," Taylor said. She playfully knocked the ball out of his hands and added teasingly, "Besides I stayed up with you three nights in a row actually helping you study for anatomy. Any other girl would just show you her anatomy. So you're not going to find anyone better."
"Like I'd ever look," Chad laughed before wrapping his arms around her.
"For another girl or at her anatomy?" Taylor inquired.
Chad pretended to think long and hard. "Well…" he said innocently.
"Hilarious," she laughed, playfully punching his chest.
"Ow, that hurt," he complained.
"Oh please, you have rock-hard abs. I couldn't even sting you with a punch," she rolled her eyes.
"Sure you could, the same thing happened when you kicked me in the stomach the other night," Chad said before whining again.
"I already said I'm sorry," she replied. "But the next time I know I'm going to have a dream about being one of the Power Rangers, I'll tell you to sleep on the couch."
"That's harsh. You make it hurt so bad," Chad complained.
"Oh ok," she said with a smile, "will a kiss help you feel better?"
"Yes," he answered almost too quickly. He cleared his throat and whined, "I mean, yes!"
Taylor giggled. "You're such a lunkhead." Then she leaned up and kissed him. Chad kissed her back, arms tight and secure around her. He traced circles around her back and he could feel one of her hands move into his hair. It was hard to picture them being such a sweet, mushy couple. Even Chad had a hard time believing it sometimes, especially because the mushy couple was usually Troy and Gabriella. Chad and Taylor were more of a hot, passionate couple. But it didn't mean they didn't have mushy moments like this. If it wasn't talking to her or being around her that made Chad feel so good, it was the closeness. Taylor often told Chad that when she was stressed or upset, anything Chad said or did could make her feel better. Chad was the same way, only on a more physical level. Even if Taylor did something as simple as hold his hand, it'd make him feel better in an instant. Feelings like that were things he could never get from anyone else. So when their lips broke apart, Chad couldn't help but into her ear and whisper what he was thinking.
"You know one day I'm gonna make you my wife."
Taylor smiled at the thought. "Is that a promise or a threat?"
"Oh, definitely a threat," Chad joked. He demonstrated with his deepest, creepiest voice, "One day I will make you my wife or you'll die!"
"Oh no," Taylor giggled feigning fear. "What kind of death?"
"Uh, well…I haven't decided yet," Chad admitted, his creepy voice fading.
"You're so not good at this game," Taylor teased.
"Like you've got a better death threat?" he asked.
"Maybe…" she answered innocently. "But it involves an empty cave by a swamp, luring in some crocodiles, digging a pit, and some yarn."
"Oh God, it's a slow and painful death!" Chad gasped backing away.
Taylor laughed. "Not for you! That scenario's for my boss at work."
"Why do you have it in for that guy?" Chad asked.
"Because he's a jerk who makes me wash his dog," she answered.
"Oh…" Chad said slowly. He knew first hand that Taylor could be sneaky, but he had no idea she could be so sinister. He hated to admit it, but it actually kind of turned him on. "So then…what's my death scenario?"
She smiled and held her hand out to him. "Sharing yogurt in a locked car with your girlfriend."
Chad took her hand and grinned. "Sounds more like a dream come true."
So who's following this story? :D Anyone? No one? Ok, i'll explain. See, i always wondered exactly what happened to the Wildcats. Obviously we know they all went to college and did their own things, but what about after that? And i especially wondered how it affected Chaylor. Not just with their lives, but as a couple in comparison to Troy and Gabriella. And since I just graduated college...almost a year ago (2012) i have a pretty good idea of how it makes a person think or how it affects them and stuff. I mean, i can't speak for all college graduates, but personally for me it's something i can relate to and feel i can write decently enough. Like i said, i know things i wanna put in the story and there are things i wanna write into it and i know the plot (Chad and Taylor are recent graduates trying to work out their relationship as they move on with their lives, essentially). But i don't know what direction i want the story to go in or where i want it to end. So as the story goes on if anyone has any ideas, obviously share them. I enjoy second opinions. ^^
My first thought was the call this story something like "Chaylor: The Post-College Years" but that seemed to long and draggy. So then i tried thinking of song lyrics, which i'm really not good at, and i settled on calling the story Everyday. It's not just kind of like a shout-out to HSM2 where we first got a glimpse into their relationship or that the song is kinda catchy and happy, but 'every day' after graduating college there's this mindset of wondering if you're gonna get an interview or what to do next. Not to mention that when two people love each other as much as Chad and Taylor do, they kind of are there for each other every day. As for this chapter, i started it in February and originally i wanted it to start out at Troy and Gabriella's wedding and Chad and Taylor would have already been (secretly) engaged. But the way the chapter is now allowing for more things to happen in between and get a better idea where they're at romantically and in their lives. And if i do say so myself, there's some pretty funny lines in there (i.e.: the uncle and his 'special friend' vs why the crazy cat lady next door was at Taylor's family's graduation party XD). One of my favorite parts that i know's gonna drive you guys crazy is Chad basically telling Taylor he plans to marry her. I had her reaction planned from the start not just as a way to be kinda funny but to also show how Chad's sense of humor rubbed off on her and they really bring out the best in each other. Cause let's face it, the HSM movies just don't prove it enough. 0=) As of right now, i have up to a portion of chapter 6 written. I don't know when i'll post the second chapter, but odds are i'll have the next chapter of 16 and Pregnant posted before then. Ok, i bored you all enough with this super-long author's note. So go ahead and return to the wonderful world of reality (maybe not) and feel free to let me know what you think of the story! Happy Sunday/Monday everyone! XD