A Mother's Reaction

Disclaimer: I do not own High School Musical or any of its characters or their mothers.

Chapter 1

Lucille gave a frustrated sigh as she went looking for her wayward husband. She knew where he'd be and entered the gym fully prepared to tell them both off. The smile on both their faces as Troy beat his father and scored calmed her slightly so she scolded them lightly instead. "Boys? Did we really fly all this way to play more basketball? It's the last night of vacation. The party, remember?"

Jack looked at her guiltily but Troy looked indifferent.

"Troy, they have a kid's party downstairs in the Freestyle club" she told him, subtly hinting that she didn't want him hanging around with them that evening or holed up alone in the gym or their hotel room.

"Kid's party?" Troy asked looking disgusted.

"Young adults. Now go, shower up" Lucille ordered. She looked at her son, blonde hair blue eyes, fit toned body, not overly short, intelligent, well-mannered and the captain of the most successful basketball team East High had seen in years. She may be biased but surely he was every girl's dream. What few people realised was how shy her son could be. She knew her husband was glad that Troy showed no interest in girls and dating or anything else to distract him from basketball but Lucille was worried about her son.

Jack had had difficulty coming to terms with no longer being able to play competitively when he blew out his knee in his senior year of college but at least he'd had other ambitions and interests to fall back on as well as her support. Troy's whole life centred around basketball, and all his friends were team mates.

They'd had a good holiday but as much as Lucille had enjoyed her son's company she knew it wasn't normal for a sixteen-year-old boy to want to spend the entire week hanging out with his parents. Troy had enjoyed the skiing and snowboarding but he was so competitive that skiing really wasn't a social activity for him. He concentrated on the black runs where there were relatively few skiers his age and hadn't made an attempt to get to know his fellow skiers beyond a polite hello when he shared a ride on the lift up the mountain.

She hoped he'd actually stay a while at the New Year's Eve party and meet some people although it was a real pity that they were leaving in the morning anyway.

-o0o-

Maria was amused when Gabriella came up starry eyed just after midnight to wish her a happy new year.

"You obviously had fun. Are you glad I talked you into going to the party?"

"No, well yes but it was every bit as awful as I told you it would be. They had karaoke, and were dragging random strangers up to sing duets, I thought I was going to die of embarrassment" Gabriella complained.

"Well you obviously didn't, did you make any friends?" Maria asked.

"One, his name is Troy, he got pulled up to sing with me" Gabriella replied. "He didn't like the party much either so we got some hot chocolate and went outside to talk."

"Troy?" Maria questioned as they walked back to their room. "Is he cute?"

"Mom!" Gabriella protested.

"Well?"

"Yeah I guess he is" she said showing her mother the picture on her phone. "He was really nice. He said he's going to call me."

"Where does he live?" Maria asked.

"He didn't say" Gabriella said. "I'll ask when I see him tomorrow."

Maria smiled delightedly, this was the first time since she'd announced they were moving a month ago that she'd seen her daughter happy. This ski trip was a treat while the professional movers packed up all their things and unpacked for them in their new home but while Gabriella had enjoyed the skiing she hadn't made any effort to get to know anyone, spending most of her free time reading.

Maria felt guilty transferring her daughter across the country again in the middle of the school year even though Gabriella had reassured her that she didn't particularly like her school in Chicago and hadn't seemed to have made any close friends. This move was a huge promotion though and that meant they could afford a decent house instead of just an apartment and her company had promised not to transfer her again for eighteen months so her daughter could stay in the same school for the rest of her schooling.

-o0o-

Lucille watched used as Troy played awkwardly with his phone during the flight home next morning. He appeared to be writing and erasing the same text over and over.
"What's the problem Troy?"
"I met this girl last night and I said I'd call her. I forgot we were leaving first thing."
"If you said you'd call then you need to contact her. It's not nice to leave her hanging. you should call her when we land" Lucille lectured.
"Yeah but if I'm never gonna see her again what's the point?" Troy replied.
"Thoughtfulness and good manners is the point" Lucille scolded. "What if she's hanging around waiting for your call?"
"She could call me" Troy replied.
"Trust me Troy, it doesn't work that way. At least send her a message" Lucille entreated.

-o0o-

Maria waited anxiously for Gabriella to call her when she arrived home after her first day of school. She'd been impressed by what she'd seen that morning but the true test of a school was to attend the classes and she was eager to hear Gabriella's impressions. Unfortunately she couldn't get off early enough to be home when Gabriella arrived.
"Hi sweetheart how was your day?" She greeted her trying to be positive in the hope Gabriella would reciprocate.
"I had a great day. Everyone seems nice. I'm not sure my math teacher really knows all that much but she'll be leaving to have her baby in a couple of weeks anyway from the look of it. There's lots of extracurricular activities and the food in the cafeteria is actually decent for once" Gabriella enthused.
Maria laughed delightedly. "That's great" she agreed. "Did you find an extracurricular activity you're interested in?" She hoped Gabriella would choose to become involved in some non-academic activities as well as her usual things."
"I thought I might try out for a minor role in the 'spring musicale' maybe" Gabriella said uncertainly.
"You have a beautiful singing voice and you said you enjoyed singing karaoke on New Year's Eve" Maria encouraged.
"Speaking of New Year's, you'll never guess who's in my homeroom" Gabriella exclaimed.
"The boy you sang with?" Maria asked surprised. "No wonder you're thinking about auditioning for the Musicale."
"No it's not like that. Troy isn't even going to try out though he said he come to watch me if I get in it. He's some big deal basketball player. There are posters up with his picture on them and everything" Gabriella said blushing so hard Maria could almost hear it over the phone.
Maria chuckled. "So he's a jock" she suggested.
"I guess so. He's team captain. His dad's the coach. Thank heavens I'm not doing PE. That could be awkward."
"If Troy's as popular as you say he is you're probably not the only girl hoping to be something more than friends" Maria warned.
"Oh I know. I met this girl Sharpay who definitely wants him. She all but warned me off him and the musicale. I don't think Troy was interested in her though, he appeared awkwardly embarrassed by her behaviour."

"What else can you tell me about this boy? What does he want to do with his life? Is he in any of your classes?"

"Mommm" Gabriella whined.

"Gabriella I want to know about this boy you're interested in" Maria said firmly. "I'm your mother and I care about what's going on in your life."

Gabriella sighed. "His Dad wants him to play professional basketball but Troy is more interested in going into real estate like his Mom. He's in my homeroom and my AP English class" she replied in a monotone.

"Thank you for indulging me" Maria said dryly. "Do you like him as a friend or would you like him to be something more?"

"Half the girls in the junior class would like to date Troy" Gabriella replied.

"That's not what I asked" Maria said. "If Troy asked you out would be hoping for a couple of friendly dates or do you have a crush on him?" Maria was fairly sure she knew the answer but wanted Gabriella to admit out loud what she was feeling.

"I really like him Mom, and I hope he likes me like that too" Gabriella confessed.

"Just promise me you'll get to know him before imagining the two of you in one of your romantic novels" Maria said.

Gabriella laughed as Maria had intended. "Okay Mom" she agreed.
"Now I'm really glad you enjoyed your first day. I'm sorry, I've got to go sweetie. I've got a call coming in on the other line" Maria interrupted reluctantly. It was so great to hear Gabriella speak so enthusiastically about anything other than books.

-o0o-

Lucille arrived home late after Troy's first day of school (technically it was her husband's first day back as well but she was thinking about Troy). She rolled her eyes as she saw the two of them outside playing basketball. "Come on in out of the cold" she scolded. "Troy, go take a warm shower it's too cold to be out there sweating once the sun goes down."

"Hey Mama! You'll never guess what happened?" Troy said happily.

"I'll guess later, now go shower up" Lucille ordered firmly. "And you what were you thinking keeping him out there" she turned to her husband.

"I was thinking that the championship's in two weeks and there'll be scouts from most of the colleges in the Midwest there if we're lucky" Jack retorted.

"He's only a junior there's plenty of time next year to worry about scouts. And he won't be able to play at all if he comes down with pneumonia" Lucille ranted.

Troy came bounding back down the stairs. "I'm starving, what's for dinner?" he asked.

"Troy I've just walked through the door, peel me some potatoes and I'll see what else I can scrounge up" Lucille protested. "So tell me what happened today. Did you like your new classes?"

"They were okay?" Troy replied peeling as ordered. "The girl I met on New Year's Eve transferred to East High."

"That's quite a coincidence. I bet you're glad now that you rang her New Year's Day" Lucille said smiling.

"Yeah!" Troy agreed.

"Thanks Mom" Lucille prompted in a sing song voice.

Troy grinned. "Thanks Mom."

-o0o-

"I'm sorry it worked out like that with your father Troy. I wish I'd been there to meet Gabriella. Will you bring her by the house sometime soon?" Lucille said torn between jealousy that Jack got to meet the girl her son was crushing on and anger that he'd treated her so badly and upset Troy.

"I think you'll like her Mom, she's beautiful and really smart and she's got an amazing voice and she's nice to everybody" Lucille smiled amusedly as Troy rambled.

"I'm sure I will if you do. Are you planning on asking her out?" Lucille asked.

"Not before the championships. Dad would have a cow" Troy answered.

Lucille laughed ruefully. "But you want to ask her?"

Troy looked scared for a moment. "Yeah" he admitted.

"So are you enjoying actually rehearsing for the call backs or just the opportunity to spend time with Gabriella?" Lucille asked.

"Both" Troy replied blushing. "Gabriella's not always able to rehearse at the same time as me. Kelsi's really nice too, she's becoming a good friend."

"So would you like to ask Kelsi out?" Lucille asked.

"No even if Gabriella doesn't want me to go out with her I wouldn't ask Kelsi out. I don't like her like that" Troy replied. "She's a lot of fun to practice with though. I wouldn't mind spending more time hanging out."

"It's good to make new friends, broaden your horizons. See that there is a world out there beyond basketball" Lucille said teasingly.

"Not according to Dad this week there isn't" Troy retorted.

-o0o-

"How was your day?" Maria asked as they sat down to dinner.

"I met Troy's dad today?" Gabriella said.

"Did Troy introduce you?"

"Yeah but his Dad was really pissed at him for missing practice and all but kicked me out of the gym. I hope I didn't get him in too much trouble" Gabriella said uncertainly.

"I'm sure you didn't have much to do with it. It wasn't your fault Troy missed practice. I assume you mean basketball practice?"

"Yeah basketball. Sometimes it seems that the whole school revolves around the basketball championships" Gabriella complained.

Maria laughed. "It was football when I was at school" she agreed ruefully. "It will all settle down after the season. Did you like Troy's father?"

"No he was quite rude and he clearly didn't like me. Most of the others say he's a good teacher though" Gabriella replied.

-o0o-

"Troy was upset by the way you treated his new friend. You were unpardonably rude to someone he's beginning to care about" Lucille said as Jack walked in the door. "You should apologise."

"He missed practice. This is the second time this week and he's never missed before. She's a bad influence. One he can't afford two weeks before the championships" Jack said angrily.

"You can hardly blame Troy for Estelle Darbus's craziness" Lucille protested.

"And where was he today? He had paint on his hands for goodness sake and he wasn't in detention this time."

"So he missed one practice this afternoon. You had him out training at dawn this morning, he had practice scheduled in free period and at lunch which I assume he did since you're not complaining about them. So he missed one practice out of four and I'm sure if you hadn't angered him into storming out he probably would have stayed and practiced until you dragged him home to dinner" Lucille ranted.

"The Championships are next week. Not showing up to practice shows a lack of commitment. A lack of respect for his team that could harm their performance on the court" Jack replied.

"I don't care about bloody basketball!" Lucille exclaimed furiously.
Jack glared at her angrily. In his mind that was almost blasphemy. "Forgive me for caring for our son's future" he spat. "He's got a real chance of a scholarship if he keeps playing at the level he was at before all this kerfuffle with this girl."
"How can you say that of course I'm worried about his future" Lucille protested. "But I'm more worried about his well being now. He really likes this girl and he's been happy the last week. Why do you want to interfere?"
"He'll get over it. He was fine until that girl arrived" Jack retorted.
"I'm beginning to doubt that. Jack can't you see that it's dangerous for Troy to be so single mindlessly focused on basketball. What if he doesn't make it into a college team. He needs other interests and ambitions in his life. He's already nearly the shortest boy on the team. What if he doesn't grow much taller. What if he gets hurt and can't play anymore? I'll admit the timing could have been better but he needs other interests in his life."
"The timing couldn't have been worse" Jack retorted. "All I'm asking is that he concentrate on winning the championship. He can ask her out afterwards."
"But he can't prepare for the call backs after the championship. It's not his fault they're the same week" Lucille argued.
"Singing a silly school musical isn't going to win him a scholarship. And there'll be another one next term if he's even still interested by then."
"Silly school musical!" Lucille yelled. "You didn't say that about them back when we were in high school. Some of my best memories from high school are the times I spent rehearsing and performing in school musicals. I'm glad Troy is taking an interest in something we have in common for a change."
"You know I didn't mean it like that. I loved you in those musicals. You had real talent but Troy's never shown any interest in them before. He doesn't even sing" Jack back-pedalled as fast as he could.

"He can sing. He has a beautiful singing voice and we both know he has the charisma to pull off a leading man role" Lucille said.

"Yeah but he can't act" Jack stated surely.

Lucille broke into peals of laughter. "Of course he can act" she said still chuckling. "Even I barely realise he's acting half the time."

"What are you talking about Luce?" Jack asked completely baffled.

"You're really that clueless?" Lucille snorted. "Troy hates being 'the basketball guy' for your friends. He despises Blair and Alexis and he thinks Tommy Bainbridge is a spoiled brat who deserves a good spanking and he spends half their time together itching to give it to him. And yet all of your friends have no idea of any of that. And apparently neither did you. I'd say our son is one hell of an actor when he needs to be." She thumped his dinner down in front of him before carrying a plate upstairs to Troy.

A/N: This story will be completed to the end of the first movie. Let me know if you want me to continue through the second and third movies.