Troy Bolton (I)

"So what's the answer to this one?" I frowned, attempting to fake concentration.

I heard her sigh silently. "Well if you take the cube root of x here, and then move the y onto the other side..." she explained, using her pencil to point at various factors in the equation.

I watched her soft mouth speak freely, but ignored the drone of mathematical words pouring out of them. She paused, her eyes narrowing slightly as though the maths problem had offended her somehow. Then she smiled in realisation, talking more exuberantly, and pointing at the paper more fervently...

Troy.

I thought dreamily of how she managed to sugar-coat my name merely by stating it.

Troy. Mmm...

"Troy!"

"Whaa-" I jumped out of my daydream.

"You're not even listening!" she pouted.

"Brie of course I am! You just said to divide by the square root of x, and then substitute to find y." She didn't have to know that I've been scoring consistent high A's in maths ever since I first held a pencil.

She frowned suspiciously at me. "Yes. And that's the answer." She pointed to her working out.

No, actually it's not. You forgot to square the x before substituting. But I smiled nonetheless. "Thanks Brie, you're the best!" I kissed her on the cheek, making her blush.

"Ermm I guess I'll see you tomorrow then?" she gathered her books, and bit her lip shyly.

As if it was even a question. "Of course! And Gabriella?"

"Yes?" her muffled voice sounded from under the table, as she attempted to retrieve a stubborn pen.

I chuckled, crawling under myself. I found the pale blue Stanford pen easily in my reach, and held it out to her. "Will you go out with me?"

She looked up to meet my gaze in shock, hitting her head hard on the bottom of the table, which caused her to fall onto her ass. "Ow..." she laughed through the momentary tears that hung in her eyes.

Not exactly how I imagined it to go. I shook my head slightly, and pulled her into my lap. She lay her head in the crook of my neck, and I could feel her breathing regulate as she relaxed against me. I, however, couldn't relax. "I'd hate to break this moment Brie, but you kind of still owe me an answer..." I played with her small hands in mine, anxiously.

I felt her smile. "I thought you'd never ask."


Ryan Evans (II)

"Ellaaaa" I dragged out her name, pouting, as she closed her notebook before I could read the next part.

"Ryaaaaan" she mimicked me, doing a better impression of a persuading pout. "Get your own book."

"But I like reading yours." I told her truthfully, making her blush a little, to my satisfaction.

"Evans, Montez – stage, now." Ms Darbus interrupted commandingly.

I rolled my eyes, and pulled Gabriella up by the hand.

The previous shocking blue stage lighting mulled down to a warm amber, and faint sounds of the waves on the shore could be heard in the background. Our hands never left each other.

I looked at the nervous girl in front of me, waiting for a sign. Gabriella never did like the dancing scenes. She closed her eyes and took a deep breath in, before finally nodding her head without uttering a sound. I clicked my fingers dramatically, and pulled her close to me, trying to ignore the effects that her light touch had on my skin. She gripped my arm and looked dead into my eyes without a blink. Our bodies moved in sync with the scratchy music – faster, slower, in constant contact. My character coercing hers out of her shy shell. Her heels clicked on the wooden flooring tirelessly, not a step out of beat, following my lead. Time for the climax of the song. She spun wildly away from me, until only our fingertips barely touched. I pulled her back roughly to me, before all contact was lost.

"You're right." She whispered breathlessly, her lips inches away from mine. "There could never be anyone but you."

And for a moment, I believed those words to be true.

An unsteady applause began in the audience, dragging us back to reality. Gabriella jumped away from me bewilderedly, letting go of my hand as if it burned. My hand instantly felt empty, and I ruffled the back of my hair with it, just to use it.

"Well done everybody, that's enough for today. We're back here tomorrow for Act 2: Scene 4." Ms Darbus announced, looking at just us, obviously unsettled by what she had witnessed.

"So, Gabriella... Do you need a ride home?" I turned to her, breaking the awkward silence.

She looked at me with wide eyes, before registering what I said. "Oh no, it's okay. Troy's giving me a lift once he finishes basketball practice." She said hurriedly.

"Troy's over there." I murmured lowly, jerking my head in that direction.

She gazed over at where I had pointed. "Troy!" she shouted in surprise. "I thought you had 20 more minutes of practice"

He walked up to us casually, and gave her a lop-sided smile, "I would've but practice was cancelled, so I was just doing my homework at the back, waiting for you."

She stepped closer to him, smiling. "You didn't have to wait for me. Ryan could've given me a ride home."

Yes, Bolton, I could and would've with pleasure.

"Eh, it was no trouble Brie. Besides I actually got homework done, and I get to spend more time with my beautiful girlfriend." He put his arms around her waist. They stared at each other for a few sickeningly loving seconds.

Wait... Girlfriend?! "Girlfriend?" I asked neutrally.

Troy looked over to me, beaming. "Oh yeah, we got together earlier on today. Finally huh?" He tickled her lightly, and she giggled in response.

"Yeah man, congratulations." I forced a smile.

He smiled genuinely in return, too nice to see anything amiss "Thanks dude. You'll find your girl soon." He hit my arm good-naturedly.

I nearly choked. My girl was his. "Yeah hopefully." I kept the smile on. I glanced at Gabriella, but she pointedly avoided my gaze, biting her lip. "Well I've got to go now, see you around Bolton. Bye Ella." The nickname slipped by accident.

"Later Evans" Troy nodded, still grinning.

I began to walk away.

"Goodbye Ryan."

"Think twice before you touch my girl,

Come around and I'll let you feel the burn"

- Eve 6