One Thing
Chapter 1
A/N: Prequel to 'Sparks Fly', High School Musical 2 from Taylor and Chad's perspective. It is not necessary to read 'Sparks Fly' before you read 'One Thing'. As mentioned at the end of 'Sparks Fly' I will be writing High School Musical from Taylor and Chad's perspective as well. Feel free to wait until then to read the stories in order. This particular story was inspired by 'One Thing' by One Direction. Anything that you recognise (movie dialogue or song lyrics) belong to the creators and everyone involved in the movie. Anyway I hope that you enjoy this story as much as I enjoy writing it :-)
It was the final day of the school year before summer arrived and Taylor was not looking forward to it. She and Gabriella had spent the last two months applying for summer jobs only to be turned down in place of college students. At this rate it looked like Taylor would be spending the entire summer trying to find a job rather than earning money.
Taylor reluctantly got ready for school, the only good thing about the day was that she would get to see her boyfriend Chad. They hadn't been dating for very long but Taylor could already tell that she wanted him in her life for as long as possible.
As Taylor headed downstairs her phone vibrated in her hand, she smiled as she read the message from Chad, 'hey babe, ready for the last day? Bring on the best summer ever. Chad x'. Taylor quickly typed a response, 'hey, not really ready for looking for a job but it should be a good day in general. Can't wait. Taylor x P.S. nice use of a kiss ;-)'.
Chad had only just started texting Taylor with a 'x' at the end, signifying a kiss and Taylor thought it was really sweet. Although she had been sworn to not tell a soul, so naturally she told her best friends but warned them not to say a word to the guys.
The day felt like it dragged on forever, Taylor and Chad didn't have any classes together for the whole day, until homeroom which was always at the end of the day on the last day of school.
Chad was standing outside the classroom when Taylor walked over with Gabriella who immediately retreated inside to see her own boyfriend.
"Do you wanna grab an ice cream after school to celebrate being another year over?" Chad asked.
Taylor smiled, "I'd love to except my sister is home for the weekend and my parents are desperate for us to have some quality time together. I can go out tomorrow."
Chad nodded, "it's a date."
Taylor blushed a little, it was still a fairly new relationship.
They both quickly walked into the room and took their seats as they spotted their homeroom teacher Ms Darbus coming down the hall, best not be on her bad side on the last day of school.
Unfortunately for their friend Zeke that's exactly where he ended up. Not only did Zeke walk in late, he also decided to talk, loudly, to Jason while Ms Darbus was giving one of her speeches that no one really paid attention to. This landed him a seat on a tiny wooden chair with a cone shaped hat on his head that read 'Shhhhh'.
Taylor watched Chad whispering back and forth with Troy and hoped that Ms Darbus wouldn't notice, they were nearly in safe territory with the final bell about to ring in less than two minutes.
"So what's your favourite summer memory Ms Darbus?" Jason asked.
Taylor rolled her eyes, Jason meant well he just didn't get that no one wanted to listen to Ms Darbus drone on about her summer vacations from when she was their age.
With less than a minute to go until summer vacation could begin the room was filled with the echo of 'summer' as each student got more excited at the prospect of being free of school for a couple of months.
The final bell rang and chaos ensued.
Who would have thought that everyone would be excited for summer vacation?
Taylor and Martha were walking behind the boys and listening to them talk about summer jobs. Taylor felt a little jealous when Zeke said that his parents were going to match whatever he made. Taylor's parents were the type who believed you had to earn money for yourself, they had also specifically said that they wouldn't be giving her any money over the summer, if she wanted money she had to get a job and earn it. Getting a job seemed to be on everyone's mind that afternoon.
The boys came to a stop by Troy's locker and Taylor and Martha walked past them. Taylor turning to smile at Chad, she heard him mumble something to his friends but had no idea what it was.
Taylor and Martha walked down the halls discussing job prospects themselves.
"How's job hunting going? I guess your parents are like mine and not Zeke's," Martha questioned.
"Yeah, my parents want me to get a job to learn the difficulty of juggling money, they won't be giving me any money this summer. Gabriella and I have had like five job interviews but we keep getting beat out by college kids," Taylor informed Martha.
"Yeah, same here," Martha agreed, clearly annoyed about the whole situation.
As they walked past a hallway Kelsi walked over to them and the three walked and talked.
"I guess I'm back in the babysitting business," Martha continued.
"Hey Martha, hey Taylor," Kelsi acknowledged.
"Hey Kels, what are you planning to do this summer?" Martha asked.
"Grow, write music, grow," Kelsi explained.
Martha and Taylor smiled at her.
Troy suddenly came running and leaping past them, Taylor realised instantly why, they were right around the corner from Gabriella's locker. At the same moment Chad came up beside Taylor and took her bag from her. Taylor smiled gratefully at him.
"Ready for an amazing summer?" Chad asked Taylor, "I have the perfect plan for the perfect summer with the perfect girl."
Taylor smiled, "think you can get me a job in your summer plan?"
"When I have one myself I'll let you know," Chad teased.
Taylor shook her head at him good-naturedly, "what's your plan for after we leave here today?"
"Troy's Dad wants us to play two-on-two, no rest for the basketballers. Next year every game will have college scouts, even though it's summer we can't afford not to work on our game in the break. It could be my only chance of getting a scholarship," Chad explained.
"You'll get a scholarship Chad, I know you will," Taylor encouraged.
Chad gave her a small smile, "college will be a fortune if I don't. I guess we're both looking for jobs this summer."
"As long as we spend time together as well I can deal with not going on dates. A simple home cooked meal and a movie is enough for me," Taylor smiled.
Chad laughed, "yeah cause I should be trusted in the kitchen."
Taylor laughed as they rounded the corner.
Taylor spotted the necklace that Troy was putting around Gabriella's neck and she immediately put an arm out in front of Chad to prevent him from ruining their moment.
Taylor felt her heart swell as she watched her best friend fall even more in love with Troy. She had known Troy since first grade and not once had she seen him being romantic, Taylor had to admit she was impressed, she didn't think he had it in him.
Chad shared a look with Taylor, a look that clearly said 'did you know about this?' they both subtly shook their heads.
Who would've thought that Troy Bolton was a closet romantic.
Just as they were about to kiss a freshman, who was clearly a big fan of Troy's, walked over with his yearbook opened for Troy to sign.
Taylor sighed, not all romantic moments were meant to last.
Chad decided he'd had enough of waiting and called out to Troy, "hoops come on let's go."
Taylor shook her head at Chad's antics as she waited for Troy to follow Chad and she could tell Gabriella how beautiful the necklace was.
Troy sighed, "sure, sure, cause I'm not busy or anything."
Troy walked away and Gabriella turned to Taylor. The two friends looked at each other impressed by Troy's gift, there was a hint of surprise in the look too.
Martha and Kelsi followed the girls, all four were grinning at how sweet Troy was.
They rounded another corner and came face to face with the guys, Chad took Taylor's hand and they led the group to the exit.
Chad let go of Taylor's hand a moment later as they walked past the Evans' lockers.
"So here's my plan," Chad said using both hands to draw a circle in the air, "for the next two days we relax and enjoy that we're on vacation. Then on Monday we will be refreshed and be able to find a job."
Taylor smiled adoringly at Chad as he retook her hand in his, "that sounds like a perfect plan."
Taylor and Chad were followed by their friends as they walked out of the front doors of the school. It was finally summer time.
Chad lifted Taylor off the ground and spun her around in his arms, they were both laughing and smiling. It was a great way to start summer, together.
They said goodbye to their friends and headed to the parking lot, Chad promising to meet Troy, Zeke, and Jason at Troy's house in an hour.
Chad held Taylor's hand the entire walk over to where Taylor spotted her sister waiting.
"Do you want a lift?" Taylor asked.
Chad smiled, "that'd be great. I guess this means that I'm meeting your sister?"
Taylor laughed, "yep, don't be offended if she isn't very nice to you. She's not a big fan of me dating. To Hailey I'm still her baby sister who she has to protect."
"Maybe I should just get a lift with Troy," Chad suggested uncertainly.
Taylor smiled, "you don't have to be worried. She probably won't even acknowledge you, trust me it's not a bad thing."
Taylor squeezed Chad's hand and they walked over to a light blue car.
"Tay Tay," a woman squealed in excitement.
Taylor laughed, "hey Hails."
The two hugged tightly.
"It's so good to see you Honey Bee," Hailey said as they pulled apart.
"It's good to see you too Miss Bossy," Taylor laughed.
Chad raised his eyebrows at their nicknames for one another.
Taylor smiled as she explained to Chad, "I'm sweet like honey and she's bossy."
"I started calling her Honey Bee when she was two, Taylor was the sweetest toddler. When she was three she started calling me Miss Bossy cause I'd boss her around, I was eight, didn't know that she knew what I was doing," Hailey laughed.
"Hailey this is my boyfriend Chad, Chad this is my sister Hailey," Taylor smiled as she introduced the two.
"Good to meet you Chad, it's nice to put a face to the name," Hailey smiled as she shook his hand.
"It's good to meet you too," Chad smiled.
"Can we please give Chad a lift home before we start our girly afternoon?" Taylor asked.
Hailey shrugged, "sure it'll give me time to grill him."
Taylor rolled her eyes, "ignore her, she's just jealous."
"That you got a hot guy and I'm in the friend zone with a hot guy, ah yeah definitely jealous," Hailey agreed.
The three got into the car and drove the ten minutes to Chad's house.
"What time do you want me to be at yours tomorrow?" Chad asked.
Taylor smiled, "10:30?"
"I'll be there," Chad smiled.
Chad kissed Taylor's cheek before getting out of the car. Taylor climbed into the front passenger's seat before Hailey drove off.
"Where to first? The mall or ice cream?" Hailey questioned.
"Hailey there's ice cream at the mall," Taylor laughed.
Hailey looked at her in confusion for a minute, "oh right, yeah, duh. To the mall we go."
Taylor laughed, "so how have you been sis?"
"Well let's just say the hot guy who friend zoned me is dating the biggest bitch in the college. I had to beg Mum and Dad to let me come home for the weekend so yeah it's been fun," Hailey said, pain clearly in her voice.
"I'm sorry Hails," Taylor said softly, "wait why did you have to beg Mum and Dad to be able to come home?"
"They were happy for me to come home until I told them that I was thinking of dropping out and I needed to see my family to get a new lease to be able to go back," Hailey explained.
"You're planning to drop out?" Taylor asked shocked.
"I don't know. I'm not really into studying to be a lawyer anymore," Hailey said, "I kinda want to be a teacher."
"I bet Mum was thrilled about that when you told her," Taylor teased.
"She did say 'I told you so' a few more times than should be considered mature," Hailey laughed.
"Only as Mum can," Taylor laughed.
After helping Troy's Mum bring the groceries in Troy was willing to talk to the guys about his earlier phone call.
"So who was on the end?" Chad asked.
"Believe it or not a country club. Have any of you heard of 'Lava Springs'? It's here in Albuquerque," Troy asked.
"I might have heard Sharpay mention it," Zeke offered.
"Never heard of it," Jason and Chad agreed.
"Well the manager Mr Fulton offered me a job and I requested that he offer jobs to all of us and the girls. He agreed, he just has to speak with the Lava Springs board first but he said we should all have summer jobs on Monday," Troy grinned.
"For reals man?" Chad asked surprised.
"Yeah. I told him that there were other wildcats in need of jobs, he said to give him your names, I included the girls, then he said he'd get back to me. He should be calling me over the weekend and we all start on Monday," Troy explained.
"Sweet," Jason and Zeke grinned.
"That's awesome man," Chad grinned himself.
That night Chad called Taylor to tell her the good news.
"Hey Tay, we're probably going to have jobs come Monday morning," Chad said before Taylor could even say 'hi'.
"What do you mean?" Taylor asked curiously.
"Troy might have just gotten us all jobs at 'Lava Springs' it's a country club here in Albuquerque," Chad explained.
"Seriously?" Taylor asked in shock excitement.
"Yep, he's going to know by Sunday night, we'll have to start work on Monday morning if we get the jobs," Chad continued.
"That's amazing! Looks like our summer is going to be better than I ever imagined," Taylor smiled softly.
"It'll be amazing with or without a job Tay. I promise I'll make it amazing," Chad smiled.
"I have to go Mum and Dad are home. I'll see you tomorrow, how are you getting here?" Taylor smiled.
"I'll get the bus if Dad can't drive me. I'll see you tomorrow beautiful," Chad said.
Taylor blushed, "okay, I'll see you then."
They both hung up.
Taylor slept better that night than she had for the last few months knowing that her job search might have come to an end.