Summary: The musical's going great until Gabriella gets sick 2 days before it. And guess who the understudy is...TROYELLA ONESHOT! SLIGHT TROYPAY!
Troy ran all over the school looking for Gabriella. It wasn't like her to miss school, but knowing her, it must be something urgent.
"I give up. She's absent." Troy thought to himself. He was just about to head for his locker when he saw Gabriella's friend, Taylor.
"Maybe she knows where Gabriella is." he thought.
He called for Taylor and she walked over to him. "Yeah Troy?"
Troy smiled and asked "Hey. Do you know where Gabriella is?"
Taylor said "Ohhh. Sorry. She's out sick. Her mom called me this morning and told me. She said that she was probably going to be out for the next week or so. Again, sorry."
Troy's mouth dropped. "What? The musical's tomorrow and we're the lead roles! If she doesn't show up then..." he said as his voice trailed off.
His eyes widened, he thanked Taylor, ran to his locker, grabbed his stuff, and he rushed out the door, thinking "Please, please, please be ok Gabby!"
--
When he got to Gabriella's house, he rang the doorbell and waited for an answer. Mrs. Montez answered the door.
When she saw Troy, she smiled and said "Oh Troy! Hi! I was expecting you. Come in!"
He smiled and followed her upstairs to Gabriella's room. He could hear her coughing.
"Ohhh. It doesn't sound good in there."
Mrs. Montez looked at him and said "Trust me. It doesn't LOOK good in there too. Be careful."
He nodded and cautiously opened the door. He walked in and almost passed out when he saw Gabriella. Her face was a deadly pale, her nose was "leaking", her eyes were red and puffy, and there was a river of used tissues surrounding her bed. He just stood there and stared.
When she finally stopped coughing, she opened her eyes and looked at her boyfriend. She smiled and said "Hi Troy! How's it go-" she was cut off by an oncoming sneeze. She franticly grabbed for a tissue and sneezed in it.
Troy flinched and asked "Feeling any better?"
Gabriella looked at him sadly and said "Unfortunately, no. I have the flu. Last night I was dizzy, hot, and had all of the flu symptoms."
Troy came for 2 reasons. To see Gabriella and to ask the dreaded question about the next day. Troy took a deep breath and said "So, how long does this last? Please say this is one of those 24-hour flu's! Please say what Taylor says isn't true!"
Gabriella looked disappointed and said "Sorry. The doctor says that this will probably last all through next week. Sorry Troy. You'll have to perform with Sharpay."
She grabbed for another tissue and sneezed leaving Troy devastated.
"Aw man! This is a LOVE performance! I don't want to kiss her!"
Gabriella looked at him and said "You're not alone. I don't want to see my boyfriend kiss someone else either. But it's for the show. Uh-oh. I think I'm gonna-. Bye Troy!"
She kicked off the covers and ran to the bathroom. You could hear everything she was doing from outside the door. That wasn't what was making Troy sick. It was the thought of having to kiss his enemy. He walked out of her room and down the stairs. He told Mrs. Montez everything and said goodbye. He walked to his car and drove home thinking "How am I going to survive this?"
--
When he got home, he went to his room and tried to do his homework, but couldn't focus. He couldn't help but think about Gabriella and the musical.
"I can't believe I have to kiss HER! That is so messed up! Of all weeks for her to get sick, why does it have to be THIS week? I need to find a way out this. Wait. What are you saying? Do it for Gabriella. Dang. You must love her a lot if you're going to do THIS for her. Hold on a sec. Why are you talking to yourself? Stop it!"
He was barely on the second question when his dad knocked on the door.
"Troy? Can I come in?"
Troy hid his homework under the sheets of his bed and said "Yeah."
Mr. Bolton entered the room and asked "You ok?"
Troy nodded and said "Yeah. Why?"
"Because you seem a little tense. Everything alright with Gabriella?"
Troy thought and said "Actually, not really. She's sick and the musical's tomorrow. That means I have not only have to perform with Sharpay, but I have to KISS her too! Now, you tell me how wrong that is and I'll feel a little better."
Troy's dad looked at him and said "Gee. That was an earful. And yes. That is messed up. How does Gabby feel about it?"
Troy sighed and said "She was the one who made me realize it. She doesn't want me kissing her but said that this is the only excuse for kissing another girl."
His dad thought for a moment and finally said "Let me just say this. Just try to replace Sharpay's face with Gabriella's. If that doesn't work, you've been through worse things in your life. That help?"
Troy pretended to think and said "No not really."
Troy's dad got up and walked to the door saying "Least I tried. Night Troy."
Troy waved and said "Night. Work on your words of wisdom. They stink."
Mr. Bolton laughed and closed the door. As Troy sat on his bed he thought "Maybe I could try that face replacement thing. Ok, that's enough drama for one night. I'll do my homework in free period tomorrow."
He showered, brushed his teeth, and got in bed. He drifted off thinking "It'll be fine. After all, things are never as bad as they seem."
--
The next morning, Troy woke up feeling better about the following night. His dad's lousy advice seemed to help a little. He was going to think about nothing but Gabriella's pretty face the whole day. Then when he got to the musical, he was going to look at Sharpay and imagine Gabby's face instead of Sharpay's. Of course he wasn't going to TELL Sharpay about it.
"Perfect! Now you have to thank dad."
When he went downstairs for breakfast, he ate, got his stuff, and said "You know dad, you're not that bad at this advice thing. Thanks."
His dad smiled and said "No. Thank you. See you at practice."
Troy waved and walked to the bus stop. He couldn't help but feel that it was going to be a very interesting day.
--
The whole day, he followed his plan (Except for free period when he had to do his homework). He daydreamed the whole day and never got in trouble, but came close in homeroom. Ms. Darbus was taking attendance and called Troy's name.
After 3 tries of "Troy Bolton", she finally shouted "BOLTON!!"
He was so surprised, he fell out of his seat. When he got back up and sat down, he quietly said "Here."
She glared at him and continued with roll. His cheeks turned blood red, but he continued to think about Gabriella. But he also made a mental note to come back to reality once in a while so that he doesn't get caught.
After school, he went to the final rehearsal. "Remember. Picture Gabriella, not Sharpay." he told himself. He got through the rehearsal without a problem.
Ms.Darbus was thrilled and Sharpay was suspicious. "I had more screw-ups than him. Why? Usually he would be miserable because he's not performing with his precious Gabriella. He's up to something, and I'm going to find out what it is."
Ms. Darbus dismissed them and they went home, ready for the rest of the night.
--
At 6:30, the cast had to be at the school and hour early for costumes and makeup. 45 minutes later, they rehearsed any scenes they needed help with. Finally at 7:20, the audience started coming in.
Troy looked out at the crowd and had his last minute thoughts about Gabriella. "You're acting with Gabby, not Sharpay. Come on. You can do this. Just go out there and do what you do best. This is just like rehearsals, except NO mistakes. You can do it. Don't let Sharpay get to you."
At 7:30, Ms. Darbus introduced the the play and said a few words. Finally she said "And now ladies and gentlemen, Twinkle Town!"
The crowd cheered and Troy and Sharpay walked onstage.
"Show time!" Troy said to himself. The curtains opened. Troy had the first line.
"Oh hello Minnie! Fine day isn't it? How are you?"
Sharpay had the next line. "Oh Arnold! Haven't seen you in a long while! And yes. It is a fine day. What have you been up to?"
When Sharpay turned around, her face transformed into Gabriella's.
Troy flinched and then realized "Oh wait. This is supposed to happen! But whoh. Didn't know it would be like that!"
He continued with his lines and the play went well. He didn't' see Sharpay's face once, which was the plan all along. Everyone except Troy was seeing Sharpay's face.
It all went perfectly until Sharpay couldn't take it anymore. She thought that Troy was going to mess up sometime since he was perfect so far. She thought that he was going to sabotage the musical since Ms. Darbus made Troy work with Sharpay. So she decided to get rid of Troy before he had a chance to ruin everything.
When they started Breaking Free, Sharpay formed a plan.
"We're soarin', flyin' there's not a star in heaven that we can't reach"
Sharpay started her line and the first step of her plan.
"If we're tryin', so we're breakin' free" As she sang, she knocked Troy with her hips. He jerked to the side.
"You know the world can see us, in a way that's different than who we are" As he sang "are", he knocked Sharpay with his hips too. Sharpay realized that this was war.
"Creating space between us, 'till we're separate hearts" When she said "Creating space", she bumped Troy with her shoulder so that there was A LOT of space between them.
This continued until Sharpay lost it. When they finished singing the "More than hope, more than faith" part, Sharpay just couldn't take it anymore.
She threw the mike off the stage and lunged at Troy. She pinned him on the ground and started to rip at his hair and scream in his face. She scratched at him so much that she ripped his shirt off!
Troy also lost it and threw Sharpay off of him (He also lost the image of Gabriella). He secured her on the ground and started to rip at her hair and scratch her.
Sharpay tried to get him off of her, but it was no use. Troy was too strong.
She finally kicked him off and they started some real action. They punched and kicked and smacked and scratched and screamed and did everything in the book to hurt each other.
Ms. Darbus finally came out on stage and screamed "STOP IT THIS INSTANT!!"
Sharpay was on top of Troy with her arms supporting her. Troy knocked her arms and her and her lips fell on Troy's. They had kissed.
The audience's mouths dropped.
Ms. Darbus couldn't move.
Troy and Sharpay didn't realize what was going on until they opened their eyes. When they finally realized what was happening, Sharpay threw herself off of Troy and they started gagging.
After a moment of that, they ran to their dressing rooms and locked the doors. Sharpay went to the bathroom and cried. Troy went to the bathroom and continued gagging for a minute. Then he thought about what just happened.
He suggested calling Gabriella, but decided against it. He wanted to wait a little. Then he thought about how much trouble he was in.
He not only had a fight in school, but he had a fight with a GIRL! They were probably calling the cops right now. He could be suspended or worse.
EXPELLED!
That would look horrible on his record and he would never get into a good collage. That means that he would never be a professional basketball player!
"Slow down Troy! You don't know what's going on out there yet. And you're not going to for a while. Just stay in here and cool off."
In about 5 minutes, there were voices outside the bathroom. "Maybe he's in the bathroom." Mr. Bolton said.
Troy's first thought was "I am so grounded for life."
When the bathroom door opened, Troy could see feet outside. They checked every stall and came to the last one where Troy was. They tried to open it, but it was locked. That was a dead giveaway to Mr. Bolton that his son was in there.
"Troy come on. Open the door. I promise that you won't be in any trouble. I just want to talk."
Troy slowly unlocked the door. His dad motioned for him to come out. Troy got off of the toilet seat and walked into the dressing room.
They sat down and just stared at each other for a while until Mr. Bolton finally said "Wow. That was tough to watch. What happened?"
Troy said that it was Sharpay who started it.
"Yeah I know that. But why did it happen?"
Troy confessed everything. He told his father everything that he was thinking about. He just talked until he couldn't talk anymore. His dad just sat there taking it all in.
"I think it's time I gave you my lousy words of wisdom again. First of all, nobody's calling the cops. If someone was severely hurt, then we would call them. But that's beside the point. I know how you're feeling with Gabriella. I feel the same way about your mom. I love her to death. I went through a similar thing in high school. We were at a party and I was dared to kiss the most popular girl in school. You're mom didn't want me kissing her but realized how I kind of needed to. So I got it over with and we all moved on with our lives. That's what you need to do. I recommend telling Gabriella and explain how much you didn't want it to happen. Knowing her, she's going to forgive you. After that, you just need to move on with your life. Now, you're not in trouble with me but as for the others, you're dead. Might as well get that over with too. Come on."
Troy and his dad walked out of the room, ready to face the music. They went to the girls dressing room and found Sharpay, the rest of the cast and adults. When Sharpay saw Troy, she looked at the ground and started crying again. Everyone tried to comfort her, but she pushed them all away. They all looked at Troy with a "Help us" look on their faces.
Troy slowly walked over to her and said "Sharpay? You ok?"
They now looked at him like he was stupid. Of course she wasn't ok, physically or mentally. She had bruises and cuts all over, just like Troy. And as for her spirit, that was crushed too.
Sharpay looked up at Troy with a tear stained face and sobbed "Why do you care? You hate me don't you? Just like everyone else in school, you can't stand me. Don't even try to deny it because my body proves it. You finally got your chance to do what the whole school wanted to do. Beat the crap out of me. Just say it. You know you wanna. Just do it."
By now, Troy felt like crying. But he had to stay strong and tell Sharpay what was on his mind.
He pulled up a chair and said "Sharpay, I didn't want to do what I did. I had to defend myself and I guess I just lost it in the process. I'm sorry, but you're wrong. I don't hate you. Nobody does. You're just kind of mean to people and they give the impression of hating you. They might want to hurt you once in a while but their just afraid of you. You're not alone. Some people want to beat me up sometimes too. When I win a game, the other team might want to just come and knock me unconscious. But I deal with it. My friends help me out. Your friends can help you out too."
As Troy mentioned his friends, this brought more tears to Sharpay's eyes.
"Too bad Ryan's my only friend. I've never been invited to someone's party or been involved in anyone's social life. I don't have any girl friends. I had my eye on a boy, but the recent new girl got to him first."
When Sharpay said the last part, he realized why Sharpay's been hating on Gabriella. She was about to make a move on Troy, but Gabriella got to him first.
He felt so bad. He motioned for the others to get out of the room. They looked at him as if saying "Are you sure you won't start another fight"
He gave them a "I'm positive" look and they walked out.
Once they were gone, Troy pulled his chair closer to Sharpay and said "Sharpay, I'm sorry that you don't have any girl friends and I'm even more sorry that you wanted to go out with me but couldn't. Even if Gabriella didn't make a move, I still don't think it could've worked out."
When he said that, Sharpay just cried harder. Troy tried to choose his words more carefully and said "Look, I think I can help you out with your situation but you have to promise me one thing. You can't tell Gabriella that you wanted to make a move on me. She might feel bad and break up with me. Deal?"
He put out his hand toward Sharpay. She looked at it and shook it saying "Deal."
Troy smiled and said "Ok. On Monday, go to somebody's table at lunch and invite them to the mall or something. Then if they don't go, just apologize for everything you've probably done to them and explain why you want them to be friends with you. Same with a guy. Get to know him and be friends first. Then when you're ready, make a move on him. That help?"
Sharpay thought about it. She finally smiled and nodded. Troy also smiled and said "Alright. Now, let's go and finish the performance. Then we'll face our punishment. Ok?"
Sharpay wiped her eyes and agreed. They got into brand new costumes and a lot more makeup to cover the cuts and bruises. At about 9:30, they finished the play. Afterwards, they found out that they were suspended for 2 days. They agreed that it was fair and after that, they did the hardest part. They called Gabriella and explained everything. Gabriella couldn't believe it but like Troy, she had to deal with it and move on with her life. She did want them to go over to her house and talk though. That's just what they did. They went over and had a talk about it. But they didn't mention Sharpay liking Troy. After that, everything was fine. They went home and slept until noon, since they didn't have to go to school.
--
In 2 days, they returned with everyone happy to see them. At lunch, Sharpay did just what Troy told her to do. She sat at a table of 6 girls and invited them to the mall. Luckily, they've been waiting for her to talk to them. They happily agreed and they instantly became friends. After lunch, Sharpay thanked Troy.
Also, in about 2 weeks, Troy saw Sharpay kissing Zeke Baylor at the mall. He smiled and got Sharpay's attention by clearing his throat loudly. She looked at him and smiled. He smiled back.
By the end of that week, Gabriella was back. Her and Troy had a party that night to celebrate. The whole school was invited, even Sharpay and Ryan. It seemed that no one feared Sharpay anymore. She actually got the whole school to like her in under a month. There was no more conflict, no more anger, no more fear. Just a happy high school, happy high school couples, happy high school friends, and happy high school musicals.