A/N- Thankyou to Berry (xghost-writerx) for all her help with writing this. If it wasn't for her randomness and odd sense of humour this would never have gone up and definately wouldn't have sounded this good!!
Disclaimer: Sadly i own nothing except "Big T" (although Berry owns him really!)
The Ace of Spades - Chapter 1
"Sugar?" Chad called to their table from the counter of the coffee shop.
"Yes honey" Troy replied sarcastically as Ryan laughed.
"Ha ha, do you want sugar?"
"Please!" He replied as he rolled his eyes. Chad didn't seem to have the ability to remember their orders even though the three friends visited the shop every day after practice and had done for the past three years!
Troy and Chad were world class basketball players and had played for the LA Lakers for the past three years. Ryan choreographed the half time shows for the team. He made sure he scheduled rehearsals at the same time as the boys' practices as Martha and Kelsi all participated in the half time shows. This way Ryan, Troy, Chad, Martha and Kelsi were all free from work at the same time.
Chad slowly ambled between the empty tables towards Ryan and Troy; carefully so as not to trip over the cable that connected the wall to a battered vacuum cleaner and disgruntled janitor. He'd already learned that lesson. The hard way. The way that left him with a distinct coffee smell in his hair and a distinct coffee mess all over the shop floor; much to the pleasure of the cleaning staff!
As he reached the table and put the cups down, Chad recalled "Oh Troy, I invited Big T to the game on Sunday if that's okay?"
"Oh yeah, I was thinking about inviting him but I wasn't sure what you might think!" Troy replied.
He laughed, "What am I gonna do jump up and run screaming from the building?"
"That's what you did when you found that spider in your living room!" Troy mocked, barely able to contain his incessant and oftenfacetious laughter.
"I thought it was... a...a...a cockroach AND I thought we agreed never to speak of it again!" He retorted angrily, his eyes wide, half in fear from the memory, and half in shock that his supposed 'best friend' had actually brought up that episode...again!
"Well, you started it..."
"NO YOU DID"
Knowing he wasn't going to win, Troy backed down, "Sorry, I guess I did start it but it was too funny. It would have been a crime to allow you to forget something that humorous! Especially when it involved you screaming like a little girl" Chad scowled in response, unable to deny that when it came to 'creepy crawlies' he often reverted into 'little girl' mode.
All the while Ryan sat there, bemused as to exactly what the two of them were talking about. "Big T?" he questioned, waiting for one of them to divulge further.
"Oh, he's just a guy we know who played in our U of A basketball team. He was a great guy but had to stop playing cos he had a knee injury that just kept coming back." Troy revealed.
"We haven't seen him in a few years!" Chad added wistfully as he reminisced.
"So what are you guys doing on Sunday then?" Ryan asked expectantly after a short pause in the conversation to sip their coffees.
"Playing poker" Chad replied with a smirk as he snapped out of his spell, "and Troy here is going to lose...again!
"Hey I was ill the last time we played"
"Yeah" he laughed and exclaimed with a smirk "Like you've been ill the last 50 times we've played! Have you ever played, Ryan?"
"No, but I'd like to try though!"
"Oh cool". Chad and Troy carried on reminiscing about "Big T" and although Ryan kept asking questions and hinting that he wanted to play poker with them, he was gradually getting more and more aggravated with their lack of interest. He ground his teeth together and tapped his fingers on the coffee cup rhythmically as he watched his two friends converse.
"So where are you having it?" Ryan quizzed hoping this would be the question that would spark an invite!
"At Troy's" Chad answered quickly.
"Sorry dude, didn't I tell you... Gabi's parents are coming over for the weekend so we can't do it at mine!" Ryan cheered silently in his head...hopefully he would get an invite now!
"Oh" Chad sighed "Well we can't do it at mine... you know what Tay's like when it comes to me gambling. She seems to think that if I'm playing in a place with my possessions I'll end up betting them!"
"Which you would... cos we both know that you can't stand to lose anything!"
"Hmmmm" Chad sighed again.
"How about you do it at my apartment... there's plenty of room and none of our parents will be there! Plus, Sharpay's staying at the moment cos of the whole 'Zeke' thing and Kelsi and Jason live right downstairs."
"He's right dude, it probably is easier to have it there! Thanks Ryan. We'll speak to Gabs and Tay and arrange a time" Troy said happily, at least now it wasn't his fault that the poker night wasn't going to go ahead.
"Yeah, thanks Ryan, I didn't realise you had planned to go out that night!" Chad added.
"Neither did I" he mumbled under his breath in anger.
Troy and Chad sipped their coffees quietly for a few minutes before Troy realised, "Oh, Did you want to come too?"
A/N - Hey guys, This is my first fanfic and i would love to hear what you think. I'm not gonna be one of those people that demands reviews to get chapters but if you have the time please review - its taken a whole lot of willpower to put this out to be scrutinised and i'd love to get an idea on what people think!!