Chapter One: Opportunity
"What are we waiting for? Let's just do it!"
"Patience, Turner. It's all about patience. It's all about waiting"
The two men sat in the front on a large white van. The second man was sitting in the driver's seat, staring blankly out of the windshield and resting his arm nonchalantly out of the open window of the van, a cigarette hanging limply in his hand. He had long, dark hair cascading to his shoulders and though his face showed no obvious expression, his wicked, brown eyes spoke volumes. He had spoken in soft, low voice dripping with barely disguised malice.
Turner, the man who had spoken first was rather more agitated. He was much larger than his accomplice, not with fat but with the sheer volume of muscle on his bones. He was chewing nervously and working his squared jaw busily. He appeared to be nervous although he had been initiating the act.
"Come on, Banes! What's the use in waiting?", Turner asked as he wrung his hands.
"Patience", hissed the man in reply.
Turner could not contain his aggravation, despite the obvious threat that had been in Bates' voice.
"What are we even waiting for?", he groaned.
Banes turned to him. His expressionless face had not changed and he spoke in a voice that was barely a whisper. His eyes burnt with emotion.
"The opportune moment"
Turner knew that he should stop asking questions before Banes became annoyed. He had been on the receiving end of Banes' anger before now and it had not ended well. Whatever the opportune moment was, Turner knew that he should wait for it.
Banes continued, "Look over there, into the house, the first floor, second window from the left. There she is"
...
Gabriella Montez was in the kitchen of her new home. She and her boyfriend, Troy had recently graduated from East High School and had moved on to go to university but as the universities they had chosen were so close together, they had decided to buy a house together in between the two. She still hadn't gotten used to living with Troy, but she knew she enjoyed it.
She had been staring out of the window aimlessly in a daydream about her and Troy's future when he came in and hugged her from behind.
"Hey, babe!", he said, reaching around and giving her a quick kiss on the cheek.
"Hey!", she laughed. She took hold of Troy's arms encircling her waist and pulled herself in closer to him.
"What were you doing?", Troy asked.
"Oh. . .Just. . .Staring out of the window", she giggled at how silly it sounded.
Troy raised his eyebrow at her, "Thrilling. Anything exciting out there?", he asked.
Gabriella sighed and rolled her eyes at his sarcasm, "No. Nothing exciting. That white van over there hasn't moved since this morning, the guys have just been sitting in there. It's a bit weird"
"Nah", Troy reassured her, "It'll just be some welders or something"
Gabriella shrugged and turned around to face her boyfriend. Even though they had been together for so long, she still got butterflies when she gazed into Troy's eyes and she couldn't help but smiling. He bent his head down and gave her a long kiss on the lips.
The kiss was suddenly interrupted by a familiar sound. Troy's phone began to ring and he picked it up and looked at it. He looked as if he was going to hang up but as he glanced the screen, his expression changed. He must have known the number as he picked up.
"Hello? Uhuh. Yeah. Okay. Yeah. No, look, I can't talk properly right now. No. Yep. Sure. Okay bye"
He hang up the phone and turned back to Gabriella.
"Now where were we?", he grinned.
"Who was that?", Gabriella asked, confused. She had tried to listen to the small voice on the other side of the phone to work out who he had been talking to but it had been too quiet for her to decipher. She was slightly suspicious of the mystery phone call.
Troy shrugged, "Nothing, it was no one. Just some guy from university. He's trying to get us to go on a road trip or something. I don't know. Anyway, I have better things to do with my time than talk to him when I have my gorgeous girlfriend right here in front of me"
Troy kissed her again. Gabriella was still slightly confused but as she melted into his kiss, the insecurities faded away.
"Troy, we should really get ready for Sharpay's party", Gabriella tore herself away from the kiss.
"Huh?"
"It's Sharpay's party tonight! In an hour actually. Come on, let's get ready and head of"
Troy sighed and rolled his eyes but nodded his head. The couple made their way up to the bedroom to get themselves ready for the night of fun ahead of them.
...
The two men watched as Gabriella and Troy exited the room, hand in hand.
"The opportune moment", Banes said quietly, "Is nearly here".
