Okay, so this is the start of my new story. I know, I'm starting quite a lot of new ones, but I promise I will update this regularly. I started this because I felt I needed to add a high school story to the mix. I know I already have 2, Utah Dreams and WTYT but those are on hiatus and the three stories I will now be focusing on more now are this story, Try Again and Always Right. Anyway, I hope you guys enjoy this.

And just to let you know. They are sophomores, i think. I'm not used to the American schooling system, so if you know what you would be 2 years before you're a senior, can you please tell me thanks.

Disclaimer- I don't own anything. Not HSM, not any of the characters except for original ones.

Enjoy!

Taylor tossed and turned in her bed. She couldn't get to sleep with all the things that were on her mind. She should've been happy; in fact, she should've already been asleep so that she could be ready for the long day ahead of her tomorrow. It would be the first day of summer and her friends had planned out a whole day of fun for them. Turning on her side once again, Taylor sat up straight in her bed. Maybe a glass of water would help clear her mind and allow her to get some rest. Slipping on her slippers, she lightly went down the stairs, careful not to awake her parents or her older brother, Tyler. As she descended the stairs, she heard some sounds. As soon as she stopped, the sounds stopped.

Taylor shrugged off the sounds, and continued going. Again there was more noise. Making sure that she was being as quiet as she could be, she completed going down the stairs and decided to investigate the noise. It seemed to be coming from her living room, so she tip toed towards the wall and slowly pushed the door. She only opened it a little bit, as to not create a lot of noise from the creaking. However, when she peeped inside, she gasped when she saw 2 men, all in black, faces covered, rummaging through her living room. Quickly stepping back from the door, Taylor pondered on what she should do. At this point her heart was racing. She had to go and wake up her parents. That was the only thing she could think of doing. Her thoughts were interrupted by a voice which belonged to a figure that had appeared from the kitchen.

"Hey!" it yelled, staring directly at Taylor. Taylor's breath suddenly shortened and she quickly ran for the stairs so that she could at least get her parents to come down. She knew her dad kept some kind of weapon underneath their bed just in case of an emergency. The man however was just as quick and he caught up to her as she was halfway up the stairs.

"MOM! DAD! TYLER!" she yelled, hoping that they would hear her cries and wake up.

"Was that Taylor?" Mrs McKessie asked her husband, sitting up straight as she looked over at him. He too had the same worried expression on his face.

The man then wrapped his hand around her mouth and roughly pushed her down the stairs. Taylor's fall created a loud noise and she landed with a thud.

"What was that?" Mrs McKessie once again questioned. Her husband however had already gotten up and reached underneath his bed for his gun. As he stood in the hallway, his wife right behind him, he saw his son. He too had heard Taylor's voice and the loud thud that followed. Unlike his father, he had settled for holding a baseball bat.

"What the hell just happened?" another voice harshly whispered, appearing from the living room and staring at the scene. Taylor's head was throbbing and back spots were invading her vision.

"She was looking through the door", he began, pointing at the door that the other voice had just come out of. His voice was softer than the gruff voice before. He sounded younger. "and she was about to go upstairs, I'm guessing to get her parents, so I caught her and pushed her down the stairs."

"Jeez, Evan. Why did you do that?" the man inquired, rubbing a hand over his covered face, from the skin around his eyes, Taylor could tell that he was a black man. She looked over at the man he had just called Evan. He was the one that pushed her. Even though all she could see were his eyes and nose and lips, she could also see the blonde hair that fell into his emerald eyes.

"What was I meant to do? She was about to go up there and get her parents! If anything, Martin, you should be thanking me!" The big dots blurring Taylor's vision started to get bigger and Taylor found it harder to concentrate on her surroundings let alone move her body.

"Whoa! Wh-what happened? I thought you guys said nobody was gonna get hurt?" This other voice sounded softer, just like the one that belonged to the guy who pushed her. Evan. Taylor took note of that, she was taking note of as many things as she could just in case she made it out alive and she had to go for a questioning. As he said this, he made his way over to Taylor and he bent down to make sure that she was okay.

"Evan pushed her down the stairs!"

"I did the right thing!" Evan answered, throwing his hands up in the air. The other young voice glared at him before taking off his gloves and reaching out to touch Taylor. Immediately she began to cry.

"Hey, hey. Stop. Please don't cry. Please. Just shh." He soothed, putting a finger over her lips. As soon as he did so, her sobs turned into quiet hiccups.

Mr McKessie quietly leaned over and took a look downstairs to see what was going on. When he saw his little girl sprawled out on the floor, her body shaking as if she was crying, eyes began to tear up. He turned away and quietly made his way back to his son's room in which they had agreed to stay in just in case they were spotted. "Dad, what's going on?" his son whispered, scared for his little sister.

"There are three of them," he choked out, shaking his head, "Taylor's on the floor. I'm guessing that sound was her falling down the stairs."

"So what are we going to do?" Mrs McKessie asked, placing a hand over her chest. "We can't leave Taylor down there with them like that! I'm calling the police." She hurried over to her son's dresser and she dialled 911.

Taylor shifted her eyes to look at the boy, who seemed to be much gentler and caring than the other two? One thing that stuck out to her most was his piercing eyes. They were an electric blue and she was pretty sure that she wouldn't have a hard time remembering those eyes. At this point, her hearing was starting to become muffled, so she tried as hard as she could to concentrate on the men's appearance. "Take her to the living room, Troy. And I'll figure out what we're gonna do with this mess. And make sure you're quiet and she doesn't scream. If her parents are still sleeping we don't wanna wake them now." Martin stated, once again rubbing a hand over his covered face and glaring towards Evan, who just shrugged and smirked. Troy nodded and faced Taylor.

"I'm gonna pick you up now, okay?"

"Why you being so nice? Just pick the bitch up and dump her on the sofa." Evan said, scrunching his face up at Troy's gentleness. Troy couldn't believe he was best friends with this idiot. This was his entire fault he was in this mess anyway. He was the one that convinced him to take part in a job that he had been given by this random man. But then again, the only reason why Troy agreed was so that he could pawn some of the stuff that they would've got. He needed the money. Both he and his father needed the money. It was a simple job. Get in, get the goods, and get out. But Evan had just complicated it even more.

"Because this isn't how this was supposed to happen, Evan!" he replied as he gently scooped Taylor up in his arms and made his way over to the living room, where he placed her down softly and gave her a small smile. Taylor, however, turned and faced her cushion whilst she softly began to sob. Troy instantly felt horrible, so he started to softly stroke her hair. "Hey, please stop crying." Evan rolled his eyes strolled over to Taylor and slapped her, knocking her out cold. "EVAN! WHAT THE FUCK WAS THAT FOR?"

"Hey, keep your voices down! They might hear you." Martin immediately stopped when he heard footsteps descending the stairs, reaching for his gun and warning Troy and Evan to be ready, he slowly made his way over to the side of the stairs, keeping his body as flat and as close to the wall as he could. The other two were stood up, and had their weapons ready to attack.

Mr Mckessie could feel his heart speeding up the more steps he took. He took his gun off safety, ready to hurt whoever it was. When he reached the bottom, he turned his head to peer into the wide open door of the living room where he saw his baby girl lying there, lifelessly. "Tay-" he never got to finish his sentence as Martin appeared and smacked him across the side of his head with his own gun, knocking Mr Mckessie out. Sighing, Martin beckoned for Troy to come in and drag him into the living room.

"Use the curtain cord to tie his hands together. Do the same for the girl." He stated, reaching down and picking up the firearm that he guessed was going to be used on him. Troy dragged Mr Mckessie into the living room and followed Martin's instructions, being much gentler when tying up Taylor. He didn't want her in any more pain than she was already in. Running a hand over his face, Martin made his way back into the living room.

Not hearing anything happening, Mrs Mckessie became worried. "I'm going down there; the police should be here within the next 10 minutes."

"Mom, don't! They might hurt you!" Tyler insisted, blocking his mother from going any further. "You come straight after me, stay behind me mom." She nodded and followed her son down the stairs. Unluckily for them, Evan had heard them descending the stairs and as soon as Tyler's foot reached the bottom, baseball up and ready to swing, Evan had placed his gun on his temple. Tyler gulped. Evan chuckled at his nervousness.

"Give me the bat." He insisted, as one hand reached out and took the bat from his hands. "Thanks."

"I'm gonna kill yo—" Like father like son, he never got to finish his sentence either as Evan raised a hand and brought it down, slamming it into the side of his face, knocking him out also.

"Troy." He started, smirking, "We got another one. Here, use this to tie him. And gag this one too." He told him, reaching into his pocket and handing him two bandanas.

"Evan! I don't like this! No one was meant to get hurt!" Troy ran a frustrated hand through his hair.

"Did you take your gloves off? What the fuck is wrong with you Troy? Your fingerprints are probably everywhere!" Evan yelled, staring at his best friend's hand.

"Where's my husband?" They both turned towards the voice and saw a woman in her robe at the top of the stairs, her dark, thick hair that stopped at her shoulders. Her face was stern despite the tear stains on her cheeks. Evan chuckled bitterly whilst Troy just dragged Tyler away, not wanting to look at Mrs Mckessie. "Where are you going with my son?" Evan scratched his head with his gun as if to think.

"Listen lady."

"Mrs Mckessie." Evan rolled his eyes and shrugged.

"Yeah, whatever. Why don't you just come on down, drop any weapon you might be holding and we'll take you to your family. We don't wanna complicate this anymore than it already is." Mrs Mckessie was on the verge of tears. Why did they have to choose her family? Why? She raised her hands in the air to show him that she had nothing in her hands as she slowly went down the stairs. When she reached the bottom, Evan grabbed onto her roughly and was about to drag her to the living room when Martin pushed him out of the way and took Mrs Mckessie's arm, except gentler and more comfortable.

"Thank you." Mrs Mckessie whispered to Martin, who just nodded, and led her to the living room.

"This may hurt a little." He told her, before tying her up to the back of the chair and allowing her to sit on it.

"Why are you doing this?"

"Listen l—Mrs Mckessie, if it wasn't for your daughter coming downstairs, we woulda been on our way out by now with our goods."

"Evan, shut up. Gosh, this is why I told Jeffrey not to let rookies in to do this job with me." Martin yelled, losing his temper with the boy.

"Rookie? I'm not a rookie! Maybe he is," he started, pointing at Troy, who was now sitting next to Taylor whilst looking down at Mrs Mckessie, face filled with sorrow. "But I'm not! You forget this isn't my first job. I usually do these things alone. If you two weren't here, I would've escaped by now." Martin's reply was cut short when Mr Mckessie's groans sounded.

"Untie me now!"

"I don't think so, old man." Evan laughed, squatting down and chuckling even more when Mr Mckessie winced when he reached out to touch the side of his face. Not a moment later, did Tyler also wake up, straining against the bandanas he had been tied with. He tried to talk, but because of the gag in his mouth, it came out muffled. "Hmm. Not so tough now, are you? What were you saying before? Bout you're gonna do something to me?" Tyler moved violently against the chair before finally giving up. "That's what I thought." Suddenly, a moan filled the room and Troy instantly became nervous when he felt Taylor move from leaning on him. As she looked up at him, she caught those sparkling blue eyes again. He smiled down at her and reached out to check the side of her face, which was quickly turning black and blue due to the smack she had received. He frowned when she jumped away from his touch.

"Hey, I'm not gonna hurt you. I just wanna check if it's that bad." Taylor nodded slowly. This guy was much nicer than the other two. He seemed as if he didn't want to be here. He seemed as if he didn't want to be in this mess. "Does it hurt?"

"Y-yes." She replied, pulling back and attempting to touch the bruise for herself. It was only then that she realised that she had been tied up.

"Leave my daughter alone!" Mr Mckessie shouted to Troy. Troy looked down as Taylor stood up to go to her father. Her legs had not been tied. Troy had just tied her hands and allowed her to rest on the sofa. Taylor flopped back down on the sofa, her head spinning. Troy quickly helped her sit up and flashed a quick smile. "I thought I told you to step away from her."

"Sir, I'm only trying to help. I'm not like my dickhead of a friend; I didn't want this to happen, so I'm trying to help." Mr Mckessie just looked away towards Martin and Evan who seemed to be arguing in the hallway.

Taylor stared at the boy's hand, still trying to register as much as she could. Troy caught her stare and sighed. He smiled at her and he wasn't surprised when she didn't smile back. Looking back up towards the hallway, he wondered what the two were arguing over. He didn't notice however, Mr Mckessie slip out of his restraints and lean over, grabbing the gun that had been left on the drawer near him. His wife smiled as she saw what her husband had achieved. Evan and Martin walked back into the room, Martin running another gloved hand over his masked face. His anger was visible however when he reached for his gun and began pointing it around the room.

"Which one of you called the cops?" Silence. "I SAID, WHICH ONE OF YOU CALLED THE FUCKING COPS?" He yelled, still going around the room. Troy, whom was beginning to get even more nervous, started pacing the room.

"What am I gonna do? I can't get caught. I can't get arrested; I have my whole future in front of me! My dad! What will he think?" Troy vented, his chest rising and falling violently. Evan shook his head and placed a hand on Troy's shoulder. He was about to speak when, Mrs Mckessie spoke.

"I called the cops you bastards!" Martin became enraged and he moved to strike Mrs Mckessie when two shots were fired towards him. Collapsing onto the floor, he was faced with an angry Mr Mckessie, whose face was twisted in anger and a gun held in his hands. Evan turned and another two shots were fired, this time hitting Mr Mckessie's chest. Before he dropped to the ground, he was able to fire another shot, which hit Evan's torso and caused him to slump down to the ground. Troy was by his side in an instant whilst Taylor ran towards her father, her mother and brother crying out for him and attempting to move despite their restraints.

"DADDY! Dad. Dad, please! Dad, don't, d-don't go. Please!" Taylor cried, shaking her father in an attempt to keep him alive. Because she knew that if he closed his eyes, he wasn't coming back. Mr Mckessie gasped and smiled when he saw his daughter looking down at him.

"I l-love you, ba-baby girl." He coughed out, as Mrs Mckessie began to cry louder and scream out his name and Tyler started to move more violently against the bandana, tears rolling down his cheeks. "I love you a-a-all." Taylor's tears were uncontrollable at this point.

"NO! Daddy, please! I love you. Please don't leave me. Please don't leave us!" Mr Mckessie smiled up at her one more time, his mouth filling with blood, before his eyes rolled up and turned lifeless. Taylor's shoulders moved aggressively as her tears overwhelmed her body. Damn these restraints. If it wasn't for the cord, she would be cradling her father. Hell, if it wasn't for the restraints, her whole family would've been holding Mr Mckessie. Taylor looked away and towards Evan, who was lying on the floor with Troy talking to him. She wanted to go there with all her might and shoot him more times for killing her father, but instead, she continued to look on at her father, her tears trailing down her cheeks and onto him. That was when the sounds of a siren blared loudly into the house. The flashes of red and blue filled the room, lighting up each of their miserable, tear stained faces. Looking down at her father again, Taylor started slowly rocking back and forth, humming a song that her father would sing to her in her younger days. It somewhat soothed her.

"Evan man, don't go! Please, don't do this. Evan." Troy cried, shaking his best friend, his mind having the same fear that Taylor's had. Troy ripped off Evan's mask and let out a small smile when he saw a smirk on Evan's face. "I'm gonna get you to the hospital and you're gonna be okay, man. I promise." He stated, 2 tears rolling down his masked face. Evan just shook his head.

"I promised you.. Th-that I wouldn't let you get in trouble. So don't worry about me, man. Go. You have a-a lot rooting for you." Troy shook his head even more.

"I'm not leaving you, Evan!"

"Listen. This isn't up for discussion, I'm not gonna let you give up your dreams. Go!" There was a loud banging at the door.

"Open up in there! Or we're forcing our way in!"

"Come on, Evan. I'm getting you out of here." Evan just pushed Troy off and removed the ruby ring that was on his right hand. His hand shaking, he placed in Troy's hand and gave him one last smile before his eyes fluttered and he too gained a lifeless look in his eyes. Troy let off a loud wail before placing the ring in his pocket. Looking around at his surroundings one more time, he turned to the Mckessie family.

"I'm so sorry for all of this. I truly am." Taylor nodded. This boy was genuine, he truly didn't want for any of this to happen. She could hear it when he was talking and the constant way he ran a hand over his masked face. Also, he couldn't stop apologising. Her mother saw this in the boy too. The bangs on the door became louder and they knew that it meant they were going to force their way in. Taylor sighed brokenly, hiccups from crying so much causing her body to shake.

"Go through the kitchen and towards the back there's a door. Go into the garden and keep going straight. There should be another door. Unlock it, and it should lead you back out into the streets." Taylor spoke, her voice low, and her head down. Troy stared at her. "Hurry. They'll be in here in a minute."

"Th-thank you! And I seriously mean it, I'm sorry it had to go down like this." Mrs Mckessie nodded and allowed another tear to fall as her gaze fell back upon her husband. He was so close to her yet so far due to the restraints. Troy took one last look at the broken family and ran, following Taylor's instructions.

Taylor looked around as the cops burst in. Her family would never be the same. She knew for a fact that this would be the worst summer she had ever had. She couldn't help but think that Evan was right. If she hadn't gone downstairs, none of this would've happened. Her thoughts seized when one of the cops pulled her away from her father's body and took off the cord from her wrists. Taking one last look at her dad, she felt fresh tears appear again. As much as she would've liked to, she knew she would never forget this night. She would never forget the three men who changed her family's life forever.

She would never forget not being able to hold her dying father in her arms.

Most of all she would never forget the blue eyes of the criminal she freed.

Taylor shot straight up as she dreamed of that horrific night again. It had been two years yet she still had dreams about it. They all ended in her seeing those blue eyes again. She ran a hand over her face and sighed. Reaching into her drawer, she pulled out a picture of her father and herself when she was younger. Taking a shaky breath, she allowed a silent tear to drop from her eye, down her face and onto the picture. Get back to sleep, Taylor. She thought, placing the picture back into the drawer and pulling the cover over her head.

Somewhere on the West Side of town

"I've had it, Troy!" Jack Bolton yelled, causing his son to jump up in shock. Jack pointed a finger at Troy. "I'm not gonna deal with your bullshit anymore. I'm done." Jack began making his way upstairs and into his room, with his son hot on his heels. He didn't know where he went wrong. A little over 2 years ago, his son was so innocent. He had everything going for him. He was fun spirited, smart, amazing at basketball and popular. But ever since that friend of his died, he's gone off the rails. He's still amazing a basketball and he's still popular, but everything else went away when the Evan boy died. He was getting into trouble more now and Jack was simply tired of it.

"What's that supposed to mean?" Troy asked, running a hand through his hair. It was no longer shaggy like he used to have it 2 years ago; it was now sort of spiked up, but not all of it. (Think Zac Efron now, this Zac Efron is much hotter if you ask me)

"It means, I'm sending you to live with your mother. I already called her and she's coming to pick you up tomorrow at 3. I think moving is the best thing for you right now."

"No! Dad, she lives in the East side of town!" that place brought back too many memories for him. He could still see her pleading brown eyes now. Pleading with him not to take it any further and to help them. Troy shook his head, getting rid of the memory.

"My decision is final Troy. For the rest of summer and the next semester, you're staying with your mother. Now I love you, son. But a parent can only take so much. You've changed. I feel like I don't even know who you are anymore, son." Jack sighed as he tried his hardest not to let his tears fall. "I've already talked to the principal, and you'll be enrolling at East High for your senior year. I honestly hope you change for the better over there." Troy watched him retreat to him room and he rubbed his hand on the back of his neck. Sighing, he fingered the ruby ring on the chain of his necklace and headed upstairs to pack. Knowing his mother, she would come early, and he wanted to be early.

Taylor stood by her locker, getting everything out of her locker. Today was especially hard for Taylor as it was the first day of her senior year and she had to start it without her father's usual drive to school on her first days. She looked up as the locker next to her shut and she was looking into the face of her best friend, Sharpay Evans. "We're finally seniors!" she squealed, jumping a little bit in her heels. Taylor gave her a weak smile and closed her own locker, leaning on it. "Oh Taylor, come on, flash me a smile." Taylor gave her a fake smile and continued on her way to her first class. "A little birdie told me that we got a new boy, and apparently he's cute too."

"Is that so?"

"I hope he is, we need some eye candy at this school." Taylor giggled with her but stopped when she bumped into someone who had just walked out of the principal's office. Looking up, she found herself staring into a pair of familiar eyes. She knew she had seen them before, but she just couldn't figure out where from. The person however instantly remembered her.

"Taylor." He gasped when he saw her. Taylor raised an eyebrow at Troy and tilted her head to the side.

"Have we met before?" Troy sighed and shook his head, giving her a small smile. If she didn't recognise him, it was much better that way. He felt completely horrible for what had happened that night.

"N-no, we haven't. I'm Troy. Troy Bolton."

Probably the longest chapter I've ever written LOL

But anyway, you guys know what to do,

R&R

MissMercedesJade