The Midas Touch
Disclaimer – I own nothing. Seriously, I'm on the run for the Five-O for stealing the laptop that brings you this story, and making my way to the town hall, in the midst of all the chaos of the alien invasion…
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"And I've still got to finish my history essay.." Troy complained, flopping down onto his bed with a reasonably content sigh.
"Which one?" Gabriella asked, snuggling down into her chair.
"The one on Greek mythology." Troy replied, flicking absently through his textbook.
"Oh, right." Gabriella said, nodding slowly. "Who are you going to do it on?"
"I don't know yet." He replied with a sigh.
"Well you better get to work, those two thousand words aren't going to write themselves, and you've only got another five days."
"I know, I know." Troy said, resting his head on his hand. "I was thinking of doing it on King Midas."
"Okay then, where was Midas king of?"
"Umm.." Troy thought, racking his brains, remaining silent.
"What do you know about him?"
"Well, I know that he did the touchy goldy thing.. And that's about it really." He started, before adding exasperatedly. "Gah, I'm gonna fail!"
Troy heard Gabriella giggle on the other end of the phone. "Well, I can come over and give you a hand, if you like."
Troy smiled to himself, before replying. "I appreciate the offer, but you and I both know that if you come over here, no essays shall be written."
Gabriella giggled knowingly, before she agreed. "Summer's almost over, Troy, you have to do it sometime… We could always go to the library, and do it there."
"Sounds like a plan. Tomorrow good for you?"
"Oh, you just reminded me; Sharpay told me to tell you that we're all going out tomorrow."
"Going out where?" Troy asked quizzically, quirking his eyebrow to himself.
"The mall." Gabriella replied casually, awaiting his response.
"Oh no, I'll be damned if I'm going on another shopping trip." He said sharply, sitting up.
"Chill, Troy, we're going to the movies, at the mall, and then for a bite to eat, at the mall. No intentional shopping at all." She explained, smiling widely to herself.
"Knowing Sharpay we'll just end up stopping at every other store to, and from the Cineplex, and then every store on the way to wherever we end up going to eat."
"Yeah, probably." She replied with a giggle, before standing up, and walking over to her bed, listening to Troy.
"Well, I better try and make a start on this damn essay then. What time at the mall tomorrow?"
"Uh, I think Shar' said three. I'll come by after lunch tomorrow, and we can go to the library before, or something."
"Sounds good, I'll see you then, baby."
"Okay, bye bye."
"Later."
Click.
Troy smiled briefly to himself, his mind scanning over what he recalled of the previous conversation.
"Well, better get to work." He mumbled to himself, as he rose from his bed, and made his way to his desk.
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Troy slowly stirred, and lifted his head from, what seemed to be one hell of an uncomfortable pillow, only to realise that he had fallen asleep at his desk, his head in an old Greek Mythology textbook of his mothers.
He groaned loudly, placing his hand on his neck, before rolling his head around on his shoulders.
"Ouch.." He muttered to himself, prodding lightly at the crick in his neck. He glanced briefly at his watch, before getting up from his desk.
"Shower time." He said quietly, heading out of his room, and down the hall towards the bathroom, stripping off on the way.
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A short while later, Gabriella pulled up outside of the Bolton family home, and prepared to go inside. She sighed softly to herself, before inspecting herself in the rear view. She smiled, tucking a stray strand of hair behind her ear, and exiting the car.
She walked the short distance between the side walk and the front door, and paused. She took a deep breath, and moved to knock.
The door opened quickly, just before she made contact with it. She got pulled inside by Troy, twirled around, and dipped, before he planted a soft kiss on her lips.
"And hello to you too." She replied after she recovered, and was back on her feet. "You ready to go?" She asked, glancing about briefly before letting her gaze settle back on Troy.
"Yeah, lemme' just go grab my books." He said, before retreating up the stairs, and into his room.
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"And then Apollo came and gave him normal ears again, cause he'd shown that he had changed his ways..." Troy repeated, after Gabriella explained it to him for the second time.
"Right, you got it." Gabriella said with a smile. They'd been at the library for almost two hours, and fortunately, Troy had managed to grasp the tale of Midas after only two and a bit run throughs.
"Finally. Lets get out of here and get to the mall."
Gabriella giggled softly, before standing up and heading out of the library, and back to her car, Troy in tow.
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"Ugh, where are they?"
"Chill out, Sharpay, they're only ten minutes late.." Zeke reasoned. He was sat on a bench at the entrance of the mall, his arms wrapped around Sharpay's waist, who was sat on his lap. Jason, Kelsi, Chad and Taylor were also dotted about in pairs, on nearby benches.
"Ten minutes leads to fifteen minutes, and fifteen minutes leads to twenty minutes. And twenty minutes leads to half an hour, which is half of an hour!" Sharpay ranted, although she was soon soothed by Zeke nibbling ever so gently on her earlobe.
"Hey guys, sorry we're late." Troy said to the nearest couple, Jason and Kelsi, his arm around Gabriella's waist.
"Don't apologize to us." Jason said, standing with a smirk. "Apologize to Sharpay. She's been going flipso bananas waiting for you two."
"I didn't think we were that late…" Troy mumbled, as they approached Sharpay, Zeke, Chad and Taylor.
"Troy Bolton!" Sharpay said angrily, standing and approaching him, Zeke following, and uttering a 'Cool your jets, Shar', that went unnoticed.
"Sharpay Evans…?" Troy said cautiously, raising an eyebrow at her.
"You're late." She said simply, tapping her foot at him, frowning with a glare.
"You're an excellent timekeeper." Troy commended, smiling sarcastically.
Sharpay rolled her eyes, though her gaze softened as she turned to Gabriella. "Hey Gabi." She said, smiling, before grabbing her wrist, along with Kelsi's, and beckoning for Taylor to follow.
"Come on girls, lets go shopping."
Troy's jaw gaped lightly, before chorusing with the rest of the boys.
"No!"
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A/N – Hey folks. Nothing much to say really, except that I'll be updating roughly the same time next week. Don't forget to R&R, if you don't mind, and feel free to hit me up with any suggestions you have. Vanessa Anne Hudgens is damn fit as always, and you stay classy, San Diago.