u n r e q u i t e d

Once again, Troy found himself in the familiar East High auditorium. He took a whiff of the smell that defined theatre to him—a mixture of musty costumes, fresh paint, Sharpay's perfume, and the fresh-baked goodies Zeke took to every rehearsal—realizing that after the performance, he would probably never return. He let his eyes wander over every line and contour of the building, the set, the personal possessions strewn in the wings (despite Ms. Darbus's best efforts, somebody always ended up leaving a book or headband or other unimportant object; she honestly didn't seem to mind as long as it wasn't, heaven forbid, their script), Kelsi.

"Kelsi!" he exclaimed. The petite pianist had, it seemed, taken no more notice of him than he had of her until he called her. She froze for an instant before meeting his eyes, and he was irresistibly reminded of the way she had been before that fateful musical and Gabriella.

Gabriella. His heart sank. Earlier that same day, he had received her heartbreaking call, telling him that not only was she not going to attend prom (which he could have dealt with, he supposed), but that she was not coming back at all. So, yet again, he found himself walking the halls of East High, though this time he had no intention of screaming. He was in a more introspective mood, more like depression than anger.

He started when he realized that Kelsi had been speaking to him, as he had been wrapped up in thoughts of his (ex?)-girlfriend. "Sorry, I'm just..."

"A little out of it," she finished for him. Had she gotten taller? Maybe it was simply that she stood up straighter, was less afraid, more proud of who she was. No longer did she cower at Sharpay; in fact, she positively ignored her for the most part. Kelsi blinked expectantly at him from behind her glasses.

"Yeah..." He ran a hand through his hair, almost nervously. He liked Kelsi, but sometimes she could make him a little uncomfortable. She had a way of staring at people with an unbreakable gaze. It made him feel as if she already knew everything there was to know about Troy Bolton—an off-putting feeling to be sure. "What are you doing here?"

"Uh, last minute preparations for the show?" she said, and he realized what an obvious question he had asked. In response to his apologetic look, she smiled a little and returned his question.

"I wish I knew," he said thoughtfully, shifting his weight. Troy frowned. "But I don't mean to keep you from your work, I'm sorry. I'll just be—"

"Don't," she interrupted. "I'm not getting anywhere tonight. Can't keep my mind on it." She gestured for him to sit. "Tell me what's going on with you. I know that you're missing Gabriella, we all are, but it seems like..."

"She's not coming back."

The words hung in the air for a moment like the chill of death.

Kelsi considered this for a moment. "I'm sorry," she offered.

Troy barely heard. "And then Chad...aw, you know that he's my best friend, but he doesn't get it. Says that nobody's supposed to stay with their high school girlfriends." His voice cracked a little, betraying the emotion behind his words. "What if I don't want us to have a relationship like everybody else? We never have, anyway. Maybe Chad just dates Taylor because he likes the attention or the physical side or whatever it is for him, but that's not why I'm with Gabriella."

"You really love her," she said quietly.

He looked at her for a second. She was very still in her seat, and her smile was almost bittersweet. "Exactly..." he said, slower than before. "I do really love her. It's more than just being in a relationship. You know?"

"I wouldn't," she murmured.

Troy frowned again. "Well, maybe you've never felt exactly this way, but you've been in a relationship before, right?"

Kelsi scrutinized her hands. "No."

The room was strangely silent for a moment. It seemed as if neither Wildcat drew breath.

"But I thought, you and Jason..."

"We were only friends." She pushed a loose curl behind her ear. "I don't know whether he wanted to be more or not, but he never made a move, and I didn't want him to."

"He's a good guy," Troy said, almost unconscious of the words he spoke. Jason was a good guy—maybe a little slow, but his heart was in the right place, and he was loyal. Those were good boyfriend traits, right?

Kelsi smiled that smile again. "Yeah...I just always had feelings for someone else."

He tilted his head a little and looked at her again, as if he'd never seen her before. Maybe it fit with her, an unreturned love. Her eyes had always seemed a bit melancholy, but lately, around Ryan, they had been brightening more and more. Was it him that she had loved for all this time? If so, why was it only now that he seemed to affect her?

Unable to stand his curiosity a second longer, he indulged it. "Who?"

She became even more interested in her hands, and mumbled something. She looked at him, recognized that he had not been able to hear, swallowed, and said, more clearly this time, "You."

His heart felt a little strange. A thousand thoughts bubbled up into his mind, but he wouldn't allow himself to think them. "But you were always so supportive of Gabriella and me," he argued, as if a good enough reason that she obviously could not have that sort of feelings for him would just melt the said feelings away.

"You guys are my friends, of course I'm supportive," she said, as if it meant nothing. As if it was natural for her to just bottle up her feelings for him and pack them away into the recesses of her heart. "I knew it was a hopeless crush, but I wasn't exactly going to date Jason if I was just going to wish I was with you the whole time."

Had the room gotten smaller? Troy could have sworn the proportions of the auditorium were vast a minute before, but now he could feel the ceiling and walls as if they were part of his own skin.

"I mean, Ryan was always supportive of you two, too, you know? And maybe he liked Gabriella more than I ever liked you. I mean, he knew her. He understood her. I actually wrote a song for them to sing, in case...I mean, you know. The summer?"

Troy remembered all too well the jealousy he'd felt as Ryan danced with Gabriella, flirted with Gabriella, ate at Gabriella's house, kissed Gabriella's hand...but he had thought afterwards that it was unfounded. After all, if Ryan had feelings for her, why would he have helped Troy and Gabriella get back together? But now, Kelsi was saying much the same thing. Would he have been willing to do that for Gabriella? He hoped his love for her was as self-sacrificing as theirs.

All of this time, he'd been thinking of how special it was that they were together, and how blessed they were to have found each other. He hadn't thought of other people, hadn't thought of unrequited love. His was returned; how could he be concerned? He almost felt guilty for his happiness (or former happiness, as the case may be).

"Well, you two will be a great couple, anyway," he said, his voice sounding foreign to him in the wake of these many revelations.

Kelsi sighed. "Ryan and I aren't a couple, and we aren't going to be."

"I sure thought you two were going to prom together," he said, in a sing-song voice. Now that the reason for Kelsi's stares and uncomfortableness around him had been revealed, he felt almost released from something. She, too, seemed to feel better, more at ease.

"It's just prom. Besides, how do you know I don't still like you?" She looked at him stubbornly.

He could see her eyes. "Your eyes don't do that thing anymore, around me. When I mentioned Ryan just now, they just sort of lit up."

She flushed, and he chuckled.

"Thanks for the advice, playmaker." He stood up and stretched slightly.

Kelsi raised an eyebrow. "I didn't give you any advice, hoops guy."

"'When you love someone, you do what's best for them'," Troy quoted.

"I didn't say that." She screwed up her face. "Gabriella needs you, Troy. That's my advice."

"I know," he said, laughing a little. "So I have to get going. It's a long road to Stanford."

She smiled and bit her lip. "Go get her, tiger."

He winked. "Okay. Oh, and hey—give Ryan a kiss for me, will ya?"

"Get out of here," she sputtered, blushing and smiling and laughing all at once.

Even though he was gone from the room, his presence lingered. She breathed it in, inspired. Kelsi's eyes lit up, though nobody could see them, and she raced to the piano. Maybe she'd get somewhere tonight after all.