Parallel Currents

Disclaimer: I do not own HSM.

Chapter One-New Paths

August 28, 2008

Albuquerque, New Mexico

Troy Bolton bounced the basketball against the asphalt and took the shot. A steady one-man clap broke the silence as the ball went through the net and hit the ground again. Turning, he caught his father's wink and grinned back before retrieving the ball and walking across the grass to the driveway where his parents were standing beside Troy's battered pickup truck.

"Ready to go?" his dad asked, glancing towards the boxes and duffle bags piled in the flat of the truck. Troy chucked the basketball through the open window of the passenger side and nodded.

"No time like the present," he replied, but his dad caught the hesitancy in his son's voice.

"You'll call when you reach your aunt's in Arizona and again when you get to Stanford?" his mother reminded him as she hastily swiped a tear from her eye before it could fall. Her son laughed and hugged her.

"Definitely." Troy glanced towards the house again, trying to push the anxiety aside as he faced the reality of leaving. He was leaving for school a week early so that he could stop at Stanford and spend the weekend with Gabriella before backtracking to UCLA in time for freshmen registration. "You have Brie's number if you think I forgot or got lost."

"I left the Google directions on the seat in the truck," Jack informed him with a smirk although he knew it was unlikely for Troy to get lost on his third trip to California in the last two months.

"Then there's nothing left to do," Troy said with as much assurance as possible.

Hugging his parents and climbing into the truck, he yelled goodbye again as he pulled out of the driveway. Smiling as he listened to the truck's soft hum now that the fuel pump was fixed, Troy made a left onto the main road and another right onto the highway. Reaching for his phone, he quickly punched the letters on the keypad and hit send.

Sixteen hours and one thousand miles away, Gabriella Montez grabbed her vibrating cell phone before her professor noticed. Still watching the front board where the instructor was writing out the philosophy readings for the weekend, Gabriella hit a button and read the text message from Troy.

'On my way. -T'

August 30, 2008

Tweed-New Haven Airport, New Haven, Connecticut

Taylor McKessie walked through the airport with her head held high as her heels clicked across the polished floor and her carry-on luggage bounced on its wheels behind her. Hitching her purse higher on her shoulder, she scanned the signs overhead that would direct her to the baggage claim area. Her face held the look of determination that her friends would have recognized and she silently thanked Sharpay for encouragement to wear the black stilettos on her feet. The extra height and grown-up posture ensured that Taylor held her fear at bay while she manoeuvred through the terminal.

In her mind, Taylor ran through the itinerary she had checked and double checked and triple checked before boarding the plane in Albuquerque that morning, telling herself she had forty-five minutes to get her three suitcases and get to the shuttle to Yale. The cell phone in her pocket chirped and she pulled it out to see that she had missed a text while still in the air.

'Troy got here last night, call us when you get settled. –G'

Taylor grinned and felt her heartbeat slow a little, knowing that Gabriella and Troy were also experiencing the overwhelming event of starting school thousands of miles away from home. The nerves picked up again when she reminded herself that Troy and Gabriella were only a few towns apart from each other while Chad and she would be at the opposite end of the country. Not being able to resist, Taylor punched the number two on her phone and held it to her ear.

"Tell me I can do this," Taylor blurted out before her boyfriend could even greet her from the other end. "Tell me this is a good thing."

"We can do this," Chad Danforth repeated for what he was sure had to be the hundredth time since that morning when Taylor had said goodbye at the airport. Some of those times it had been to calm her down, other times he had whispered it to himself.

"Okay. You're right," Taylor said as if she hadn't told him what to say. "I have to catch the shuttle. I'll call when I get to my room."

"Alright. Be careful." They hung up and Chad shook his head at the thought that Taylor McKessie was unsure and nervous for the first time in her life.

But they could do this.

September 4, 2008

Julliard School of Arts, New York City, New York

Kelsi Nielsen clenched and unclenched her hands around the strap of her backpack as she waited on the front steps of Julliard's main building. Students and performers brushed past her as they hurried up the stone steps. Glancing at her watch, Kelsi sighed and looked around for the familiar blonde hair before realizing it would probably be concealed by a hat. A hand on her elbow startled her.

"Looking for someone?" Ryan Evans joked as she gave him a small smile.

"I can't believe we're about to do this," she told him, heading up the step as he followed.

"You said that last night when I helped you move into your dorm," Ryan reminded her as he kept his eyes on the room numbers so they wouldn't miss their room.

"At least we have each other. I can't imagine being Taylor and having no one around." Kelsi almost slammed into Ryan's back as he turned sharply into the room they had been searching for.

"It's Taylor, Kelsi. She'll have her entire floor organized and color-coded into study groups by the end of the week. Besides, as much as I love my sister, this time it's you and me and no sparkles to hide behind."

Kelsi grinned at her friend and made the decision to let nothing stand in her way.

September 5, 2008

University of Albuquerque, Albuquerque, New Mexico

Chad Danforth stopped in the middle of the stairs that led to the third floor of the commerce building. He could have sworn someone was yelling his name, but with all the people around him it was difficult to know for sure. Maybe the person wanted someone named Tad. Or Dad.

"Danforth!" Well that ruled that out, he thought. Turning he tried to pick out a familiar face in the crowd before his eyes fell on blonde hair that Chad just knew was working its way towards him. Sighing, he took a few steps backwards and reached down to haul Sharpay Evans up beside him.

"Evans," he replied with a slight nod, pushing his way up the steps while she followed in the wake he cleared.

"I talked to Zeke and he said that you had decided to try business and commerce and even though I'm doing theatre, I'm taking the first year finance class as an elective and I thought maybe we were in the same class." Sharpay felt herself become irritated at the look of shock on Danforth's face.

"You were hoping we were in the same class?" Chad repeated as if he hadn't heard right.

"Well, yeah," she replied slightly annoyed, "you know all that 'Wildcats stick together' crap we yelled at the barbeque before Troy left? I thought we could try that. Since it's just you and me." Her face was blank as she watched Chad process her comment.

"Alright then, Princess. Let's go wow the freshmen class with your sparkles and my talent," Chad told her, holding the door open as she breezed through. He noticed that her moment of vulnerability had passed and chuckled to himself.

"Great," she announced, "now I need a seat that's not near the front but not so far back that no one notices me. Like, maybe," Sharpay paused just inside the door and let her eyes bounce across each desk in the room until she found the perfect one and pointed, "that one. Can you get that guy to move for me?"

Chad opened his mouth to give his opinion on her request before remembering that his best friends were scattered across the country and his girlfriend would not be able to protect him from Sharpay's glittering wrath until Thanksgiving. With that thought in mind, Chad politely inquired if the nervous boy with glasses could choose a different seat.