Chapter 1

Troy Bolton slammed his locker shut, glancing down the hall. He spotted Gabriella Montez pulling her hair back into a ponytail. She threw her bag over her shoulder, and grabbed a gym bag out of her locker, then closed it. She walked down the hall towards the gym, passing Troy.

Obliviously, she was heading for volleyball practice. Everyone knew she was the star player here at, East High.

--

"Hey, Gabs," Sharpay said as she saw her friend walking into the locker room.

"Hi, Shar." Gabriella set her bag down on the bench, slipping off her shoes. She took her jeans off, putting shorts on. Then she took her shirt off, replacing that with an East High t-shirt, with the logo.

She tied her tennis shoes tight as she grabbed her volleyball and marched out into the gym. She sighed as she saw coach Barb was here today. She was always yelling at Gabriella, pointing out any flaw she had with her spiking, serving, hitting, jumping. Just anything that she could find.

Gabriella began jogging around the gym; something Barb always made them do before practice.

"Gabs, you okay?" Sharpay asked, jogging next to Gabriella.

"I'm fine. It's just the coach from hell is here today."

"Don't worry. We have a game tomorrow. She might go easy on us."

"Keyword; might."

"Okay, ladies!" Barb yelled, getting the volleyball teams attention. "Over here!"

--

On the other side of the gym, the boys basketball team was practicing, and Troy just finished doing his layups for a warm up. He scurried over to the bleachers his water bottle sat on. He twisted off the cap, taking a swig of the cold refreshing water, run down his dry, thirsty throat.

"Troy!" The coach, and also Troy's dad, yelled.

He sighed, putting the cap back on his bottle. It was hard having the basketball coach be your dad. It made you feel like you had to practice harder, run faster, and shoot better. Actually, just be better all around. If your dad was the coach, it's like you can have practice anytime. But, Troy hated that he felt like he had to be one of the best players on the team. Couldn't he just be good, average? Not, great, and fantastic? Just for once, he didn't want to stand out for something.

"What dad?"

"Stay after practice today."

"Why? I have a huge biology test tomorrow. I need to study."

"Don't worry about that test. Just focus on basketball."

Troy couldn't remember the last time he had to take a test the same day as everyone else. His dad always made an excuse for him. And having the principle being a huge basketball fan, wasn't much help to Troy. He wanted to be a normal high schooler, but his dad wouldn't allow that. He had to be the superstar, the MVP, the champ. His father wouldn't let him be a common teenage boy.

Sighing once again, he dribbled a basketball over to the three-point line. He raised the ball above his head, flicking wrists and following through.

Swish.

--

"Jump, Gabriella! The ball isn't gonna get over the net if your feet never leave the ground!" The coach screamed.

This was a perfectly ordinary practice when Barb was here. She expected them to be pros, to be flawless at everything in volleyball. And if you weren't, you'd hear about it, and so would the rest of the team.

"Alright, alright. Get a drink, girls."

All the girls rushed over to where their drinks rested on the floor.

"I'm gonna choke her!" Gabriella whispered to Sharpay.

"Don't worry, we don't have that much longer."

"I hope. I don't know how long I can take her."

"Yeah,I-" Sharpay began to say, but was cut off by Barb yelling.

"Alright! Hustle over!"

Gabriella looked at Sharpay, with an annoyed look before they hurried over to where she was standing.

"Practices over for today. Go home and rest up for your game tomorrow," She told the girls. "On three."

The girls put their hands into a circle, and screamed, "team," in unison.

--

"Alright, guys. Put the basketballs and cones back. Practice is at 2:30 tomorrow. Don't be late," coach Bolton told the team.

Troy turned and jogged to the locker room, hoping to get out of this extra practice. His hand reached down on the doorknob, just ready to pull it open, when-

"Troy, come here!" His father yelled.

He sighed. This close, he thought. He turned, dragging his feet over to where his dad stood. "Yeah?" He asked bored.

"Work on your three pointers, they were a little off today. We can't afford that in a game. Especially from you," Mr. Bolton whispered the last part, as if he didn't want anyone else to hear it. "And Tanner never would have missed those shots today."

Why did he always have to compare him to his brother? Tanner wasn't even a basketball guy. He was the football champ, but could pretty much do any sport. Troy stuck to basketball and track.

"Yeah, dad," Troy said, walking over to where a basketball sat. He picked it up, dribbling.

Flat.

Annoyed, he treaded over to the closet where all the sports equipment was kept.

--

"Gabriella!" Barb yelled.

She groaned, looking at Sharpay. "What could she possibly want?" She turned around. "Yeah?" She answered.

"Take the net down for me."

"You've got to be kidding me," She said to herself.

"I'll wait in my car," Sharpay said to her, before walking out of the gym.

The volleyball coach smiled. "Thanks, Gabriella," She said, leaving.

Without answering Barb, she paced over to where the net stood. She started dissembling the net, and picked up the two bars, carrying over to closet.

When she stepped in, the door closed.

"Don't let that close!" She heard someone yell, then a bunch of volleyballs, basketballs, and soccer balls fell.

When the noise stopped, she saw Troy Bolton standing there. He glared at her. "What did I tell you?!"

"Sorry, how was I supposed to know you had some weirdo fear of closed doors." She set the bars where they belong on the closet.

"It's not a fear, stupid. The door sticks and the knob won't work," He informed.

"Oh, I'm sure." She shifted on her feet, trying to open the door. She started shaking it.

"It's not gonna open. I told you that," Troy said, standing next to her. He started pounding on the door.

Gabriella sighed, frustrated. She did not want to be stuck in a closet with Troy Bolton. Most girls would kill for that, but Gabriella found disgust in him. There was nothing really that special about him. Not in her eyes, at least.

"You just gonna stand there?" He asked.

She rolled her eyes.

"How the hell do you think we're gonna get out of here?"

She didn't answer, just crossed her arms, praying someone would come.

--

Hours later- well more like ten minutes, but seemed like hours to Gabriella- they sat down on the crowded, smelly floor.

The door knob wiggled. Gabriella jumped up. Was someone finally here? The door swung opened and Sharpay stood there.

A smirk formed on her lips. "Gabriella Montez and Troy Bolton in a closet, who would've thought?"

"Ew," Gabriella said. "It was nothing like that."

"Yeah, it was way more," Troy winked, and walked across the gym.

Sharpay's smirk continued to grow. "Wow, I-"

"Consider our friendship before you open your mouth," Gabriella threatened.

"Never mind," Sharpay said.

"Smart answer."

A/N: Okay, so I'm re-writing this story, because I loved the plot, but hated how it ended up. Some things will be different, and other stuff will still be the same. But if you didn't read it before, no worries. Review please.