AN: This is my first HSM Story! Woot! Anyway... I want to dedicate it to the families of the fallen. There are too many victims in today's society and that's well to be honest that's stupid...so this is a story for them.


There was a slight mist in the air. Cotton candy clouds of pinkish gray floated through the air surrounding the town and it's occupants with a world of wonder. Swirls of reddish orange that was really more of a mango color danced throughout the sky as leaves left their perches on trees everywhere to join the wind and paint the sky like miniature Picassos and Van Goghs alike. Bird twitter and flitter to and fro with their beaks bursting with newly caught worms for their nearly ready to migrate down south, well what little down south there was, children. All in all Albuquerque New Mexico was a festive sight for sore eyes to all the children ready for it to be Halloween and then Christmas. It was on one such fall day when the unthinkable happened to the Easy High Wildcats.

"Troy! Troy wait up!" Chad called through the throngs of people surrounding him. Looking over Troy grabbed his flailing hand pulling him into the mass of kids surrounding him and talking a million miles a minute about something or another to do with the game last night. Troy was pretty much used to this, as was Chad, but it did get old after a while.

"Alright guys, we really do have to get to class right now, please move." Troy said after he spotted Gabriella and Taylor entering the door. "Thank you thank you, please excuse us." he said pulling him and Chad out of the throng and into a space of pure air. It was a good feeling, being able to breathe again that is. Spotting them Taylor and Gabi hastened over with smiles of joy on their face. "Hey beautiful," Troy said.

"Hey baby." Chad said wrapping his hands around Taylor and pulling her close to him letting his chest melt into hers and landing his lips onto hers gracefully and with ease. She smiled into the kiss and rubbed her hands on his shoulder, something that a couple of years ago she would never have done. "How are you?" Chad asked after they'd separated their lips. His forehead was still touching hers and he could smell the mint on her breath, something that was always nice to know.

"I'm pretty good right now, considering." Her smile lit his eyes up and turning he saw that Troy and Gabi were staring at them in obvious wonder and little bit of amazement. "Come on, we'll be late for class." Taylor said hearing the bell ring for first period; they had homeroom with Ms. Darbus, a true delight—not. It was with Chad's arm around her waist and Troy's around Gabriella's that the group walked down the halls smiling and laughing.

"Quiet class, quiet. I said QUIET! Do I need to assign detentions?!" Ms. Darbus said as the final bell rang. "You're late Jason, take a seat." She said as a boy walked in with a stupid smile on his face only to be replaced with a slight frown as he quickly took his seat behind Taylor. "Alright now, an announcement for the day, as always our fall play is going to be coming up soon and as always I welcome you all to come audition so we can see what hidden talent you all possess. There is a bake sale going on tonight to help support your wildcat basketball team on their way to the state championship so make sure you all go." She said, the last comment getting a little less enthusiasm than the first.

"Excuse me Ms. Darbus?" someone asked at the door. He was a rather tall boy, probably a senior, with dark blonde hair and brilliant brown eyes. Turning she shot him a look that said one, 'what?' and two, 'how dare you interrupt my class?' "Um, you're supposed to go down to the office there's a package or something for you." He said pointing out the door not really worrying about what way he was pointing.

"Well, Taylor you're in charge."

"Yes ma'am."

Troy smiled, shook his head, and waited for Ms. Darbus to leave before getting up and walking back to Gabriella's seat to talk. Chad turned to face Taylor and the room was quickly filled with the buzz of chatter from one side to the other. It was loud and getting louder, so much so that no one really noticed what the boy who'd came to give the message to Ms. Darbus was doing, no one that is, except for Kelsi and Jason. Taking a small box out of the bag that he'd been carrying is what caused Kelsi to jump a little and look around to find someone who could maybe do something only to realize that everyone else was too busy in conversation to care what the kid was doing. When she turned back she saw the kid pointing a gun out the door and pull the trigger that seemed to produce a sound that echoed throughout the school for hours.

Screams erupted into the class as everyone looked around to figure out who had just shot the gun only to see that same kid holding the gun towards them. The door was locked by now and the boy was staring straight ahead no emotions showing in his eyes. It didn't take but two seconds for Chad to push Taylor down to the ground behind him and stare at the boy wondering how many bullets he had and what he wanted. There they stayed for what seemed like hours, maybe even days before the boy made the first move. Taking a step forward he crossed the room making the front row kids shake in his presence as if praying that he'd just want to scare them and not really kill them.

"Who knows what day it is? Anyone… come on volunteers? No one?" A twisted smile entered his face and he looked around the room stopping on some of the smarter kids as if they should know the answer but unfortunately they didn't. "Today, children, well today is the day that you're going to die." He said letting out a laugh and pointing the gun right at a girl in the front row. "So who's going to be first, and who's going to be last?"

"What do you want?" Troy asked, well more like demanded.

"Troy Bolton, basketball star and all around good guy wants to know what I want. Let me fill you in you one shot bobble head," he started. His tone had gone from completely mellow to being that of an investigator interrogating a suspect, cold and cruel. "I don't want money or anything like that. What I want, you can't give me. Nobody gets it anymore, when a kid brings a gun to school it's not because they want something it's because they've lost something. They've lost something that they can't ever get back."

"Let the girls go, just let all the girls go." Chad said holding Taylor's hand in his. There were fearful tears forming in her eyes that she was fighting to hold back. All the guys nodded in agreement that the girls should be let go.

"Shut up you goodie goodie, it's not like everyone doesn't know that the only reason you're saying that is so your little whore will be safe after you guys beat the living crap out of me. Yeah sweetheart I can see you and no way does a guy date you unless he wants something on the side, especially a guy like Chad Danforth. Come here," he said pointing at Taylor. "Yeah you cupcake get up here." Getting up slowly she inched towards the gun that was pointed at her. "Listen to me and you listen good, I want you to take this duck and go tape a square over there, in the back. Not too big you hear?" She nodded her head and he let her go before turning back to the group of kids watching him.

Chad shot murderous looks at him as if telling him with his eyes that if he hurt Taylor he was as good as dead. Troy held Gabi in his arms as she cried on his shoulder. He kissed her hair and told her it would be alright when truthfully he didn't know. Kelsi started to slide behind Jason who started to push her to the back of the room and Sharpay sat beside Zeke shaking as he rubbed her shoulder. "Man, why are you doing this? If things were this bad why didn't you tell someone?" Chad finally said.

"What was I supposed to say, I think tomorrow I'm going to take a gun to school and shoot the class that made my day a living hell? Yeah good idea Chad." Looking towards Taylor and seeing that she was done he moved towards her and grabbed her from behind holding her against him with the gun on her head. "Every guy in this room better get his butt in that square or she's dead." He said. Chad's eyes widened and he was the first to get up and move across the room before turning around to see that every other guy in the room had followed suit and were right behind him. After the last guy had crossed the line the boy all but threw her away from him and told all the girls to get to the other side.


So I hoped you liked the first chapter and well that's about it.