Chapter One
Troy Bolton pulled up to his best friend Gabriella Montez's house and honked the horn.
A few minutes later, Gabriella was laughing at Troy when she got into the car, still in the process of brushing her dark hair.
"So now that we are not dating anymore, you just honk me out of the house?" she said between fits of laughter.
"Well, I learned when we were going out that when I am standing at the door waiting for you, you take all the time in the world. But when I am sitting here laying on the horn, you get out here a lot faster because you don't want to hear the horn for 10 minutes." Troy explained with a grin as he pulled out of the driveway and headed to school.
"You're early today. What gives?" she asked him. He was a good 10 minutes early from the usual pick up time.
Troy turned onto Madison Avenue and stopped at a red light before telling her. "I have to find the team before first period to tell them that there is no practice today. During free period or after school."
"Whoa. Coach Bolton not having a team practice? Is he sick?" Gabriella asked. She remembered how upset the coach was the previous year when she was with Troy during a practice.
Troy chuckled. "Not exactly… I don't think… no. He and my mom are going to social services today."
"Social services? Like adopting kids? Are your parents thinking of adopting??"
"No. Not exactly." Troy sighed. "How can I explain this… You know my mom is a social worker, right?" he looked over at her.
"Of course." She replied.
"Well… this case she just got… all the other social workers have given up on it. So my mom took it. This kid apparently doesn't talk. Ever. And since mom is good at getting kids like that come out of their shell, we're… we're taking him in." Troy grumbled.
"You don't sound happy about it." She observed.
"Well, I'm not exactly jumping for joy about having some mute living in my house." Troy explained as he pulled into the school parking lot and began hunting for a space in the Senior lot.
"I'm sure everything will be fine Troy. Your mom is great with kids." Gabriella reassured him.
Both teenagers got out of the car and began walking into campus to find their friends.
"Its just going to be weird having a mute stay at my house." He told Gabriella as they approached their lockers.
"Mute? Your parents still taking in that foster kid Captain?" Troy's best friend Chad Danforth asked as he walked up to the couple with his arm around his girlfriend, Taylor McKessie, Gabriella's best friend.
"Horrible, I know." Troy replied.
"Oh will you stop it Troy. Your parents are going something wonderful for this kid. Who knows what he has been through that made him unable to speak." Taylor shot at Troy. "Stop being a jerk and try to make the best out of the situation."
Troy was slowly backing away from Taylor as she ranted. When she finished, he looked back at Chad. "Your girlfriend scares me, Chad. Really." He told him. The other three just laughed in response.
"Yeah yeah. Laugh it up guys. Any idea where the rest of the team is? There is no practice today."
"If I had to guess, Jason is probably with Kelsi in the auditorium and the rest are probably in the home-ec room with Zeke for breakfast."
"Sharpay with him?" Gabriella asked.
"I wouldn't doubt it. She is always in there when he is baking. I think she is the official taster for everything nowadays." Taylor told her.
"We need to get going. The bell is gonna ring and the guys need to know about the cancelled practice." Troy explained.
"Yeah. We'll see you two in class later." Chad kissed Taylor goodbye and Troy gave Gabriella a kiss on the cheek.
The group separated and went off in their individual directions just as the first bell rang.