Hello everyone!
If you're someone who is reading my other story, In Your Eyes, then you'll know that I've mentioned that I had an idea for another story.
This will be extremely different than anything I've ever written.
Hopefully you'll give it a chance.
-This is a prologue-
I don't know when I'll have the first chapter up of this story.
I might wait until In Your Eyes is finished, or I'll be writing them both at the same time.
I haven't decided yet.
Maybe your reaction to this could help me decide.
Reviews would be highly appreciated.
So... here's the prologue for my new story, Redemption
Disclaimer I don't own any of Disney's characters
He'd always been an excellent poker player, always knowing exactly when to fold his cards or risk it by going all in. He was also great at finding ways to cheat, a professional card counter.
So there was no doubt that Troy Bolton knew when someone was calling a bluff.
The word expulsion was a foreign word, an impossible scenario when it came to Troy's case.
He had a reputation to uphold, no matter who protested against it.
He was West High's jock on court to please his father while off court he was the one who was known for rebelling.
Sometimes Jack Bolton wished he had a daughter.
Oh, how much easier it would be.
Instead, he had his son pegged as the town's "bad ass" , the one that young kids would whisper about behind dumpsters, the one who had rumors flying left and right about him.
People say that he'd taken down every player on East High's basketball team, even when one had drawn a knife. That explained why there was a scar that girls swooned over, right above his right eye.
In reality, Troy had fallen off his bike when he was only six.
Troy was legendary.
He didn't inherit his fighter habits, that Jack knew.
No one could explain the mystery that was Troy Bolton.
But Troy heard the hurtful words murmured by people whenever he walked by. They were always judging, wondering where a once sweet and caring boy had gotten all this anger from.
"He died along with his brother five years ago," The old man who stopped occasionally to talk to one of his neighbors said with a nod, voicing what everyone else thought about Troy, not knowing that Troy had heard every word.
Nate Bolton. He was every parent's dream. With skyrocketing grades, Nate passed all of his classes with the snap of his fingers. Intelligence had came easy for the older Bolton.
As if his wits weren't enough, Nate had been blessed with a strong arm, securing his spot as quarterback on West High's football team. He'd received a full ride to college because of that arm and after the summer of 2003, he would've attended school at the University of Albuquerque.
That very summer the Bolton's lives were altered significantly when Tricia Bolton received the call that her oldest son was involved in a fatal car accident. A reckless drunk driver had blown a red light, catching Nate Bolton off guard and ending his prestigious life.
Now, five years later, Troy had never recovered from losing his older brother, his hero. No one had gotten over Nate's death, but everyone else coped with the pain.
Troy drank his sorrows away and fought his anger with his strong fists.
Fortunately, Troy did have one thing in his favor.
Most of West High worshipped him.
He was their star athlete, captain of the basketball team that his father coached. Troy's aggression showed on and off court.
When it came to girls, Troy broke hearts. He wasn't interested in having relationships. All he wanted was to be satisfied. He would make it clear to a girl when he was finished with her.
Besides, Troy didn't believe in love.
"What happened to my son?" Tricia asked, wiping at the unshed tears that lingered in her eyes. She feared for him. She didn't know where she had gone wrong as a parent. She felt as though she had failed miserably.
Troy shrugged as his mother pulled her car into West High's parking lot. There was a meeting being held at this very moment, deciding Troy's future.
He'd been warned multiple times about his incessant fighting on school grounds. Usually Jack Bolton, who was well respected at the high school, could pull a few strings to keep Troy out of trouble.
Now, sitting in the lobby of the high school, Tricia's body trembled, hoping for the best fate for her seventeen-year-old son.
Jack Bolton exited the main office where the meeting was being held, his head shaking with disappointment.
"What?" Tricia dared to ask her husband.
"He's been expelled."
"What?" Troy asked, shocked. Honestly, he had thought that this was just another false alarm, a small setback with the principal. Expulsion wasn't in his vocabulary. He was the king of West High. How was it even possible that they could expel him? Had he any power at all?
"This has happened one too many times," Jack stated. "This is unfixable."
"Fucking Danforth," Troy cursed under his breath. There was no one he hated more than Chad Danforth, captain of his rival school's basketball team. Two nights previous, East High had lost against West High by only two points, the winning basket scored by Troy.
Chad Danforth was known for running his mouth and when the two boys met outside of the locker rooms…well, Troy Bolton was known for talking with his fists.
It was like any other fight he'd been involved in. He didn't know what made this one so different, what had made Principal Burns finally draw the line.
Maybe now he could finally drop out of school, Troy thought hopefully.
"What does that mean, Jack?" Tricia allowed a tear to slide down her cheek. What was going to become of her baby?
"What option to we have? Trish, we have to enroll him at East High."
Troy stopped breathing, clenching his fists together repeatedly, feeling as if he'd misheard his father. East High was what had gotten him into this mess.
He hated Chad Danforth, Zeke Baylor, and Jason Cross. No, he hated the entire school. There would be no way that he would attend classes there. Not now, not ever.
"There's no fucking way," Troy said calmly.
"Language," Jack hissed. "You don't have a choice."
"Can't you pull some kind of stunt to keep me here, or have you got no control at all," Troy tested. He knew he was on thin ice but East High? Never. He refused.
"From the looks of it, it seems like you're the one with no control."
"Ship me off to some other country. I'll walk through the doors of East High when hell freezes over," Troy stated smugly.
"Did you hear that, Trish?" Jack asked lightly, trying to cheer up his broken wife.
She shook her head, wiping at her tears.
"I think the temperature in hell just dropped drastically."
"You'd fucking know."
"Language," Jack warned his son for the second time. Troy rolled his eyes. It was unnecessary for him to be there. He couldn't care less about what school he went to, as long as it wasn't East High.
Tricia bit her bottom lip, almost laughing at her husband's ability to make light of every tough situation. She loved him for it. "Actually, I think I heard that, too."
"What? Mom, you're going to the dark side," Troy said, refusing to plead. He was Troy Bolton, he did not plead for anyone. "Listen to me…"
He was trying to grasp something that couldn't be touched. His future had been already decided for him. It was like the entire meeting was premeditated.
"I'll make a few calls," Jack said, ending the conversation.
"Mom, do something. I can just picture it. They wouldn't be welcoming me to East High, they'd be welcoming me to hell."
"East High is what's best."
"You wouldn't know what's best if it bit you in the ass."
Tricia frowned. "What was that?"
Troy groaned. Even though he didn't give a damn, he still felt like he owed his mother some sense of respect. She'd been through plenty and he didn't want to make anything worse for her. "I guess I'll have to get used to the new class?"