CHAPTER ONE: COMPULSIVE LIARS

"RIIIIIIING!" It seemed as if everyone in East High School let out a harsh, angry, annoyed sigh. It was the first day of school and no one really seemed to be happy about it. Except — of course — the excited freshman, who had no idea what they were in for. Troy Bolton, a junior, felt slightly bad for the fresh meat. They had probably heard rumors that East High was a dream school, with it's clean bathrooms, nice teachers, and easy classes. What bullshit, Troy thought. He was the same way when he was a freshman. Though, his opinion changed soon after his first day. Back then, Troy was weak and small. The seniors picked on him and his best friend, Chad, all throughout the year. That summer, Troy and Chad worked-out everyday and grew a good foot or two. They came back new men sophomore year. And everyone noticed, including the girls. Sadly, Chad let his new popularity go to his head. He became a womanizer. Humping and dumping was Chad's best skill. Troy, though he seemed the same way as Chad on the outside, was secretly a one woman kind of guy. When he went to parties, girls would normally throw themselves at him. He would let them go as far as they wanted to go with him, and it usually worked out in his favor. But deep down, Troy wanted a serious relationship. However, he didn't tell anyone about his secret longing for it. He was going to wait for the right girl. Which he thought he'd met a few times, but they all turned out to be the same after a while. He was looking for someone different. Someone who made Troy a better person.

Troy's hands dug into his front pockets, his eyes scanning the hallway. He watched as seniors picked on small freshman, laughing to himself, thinking about how he had been that way. He then looked around again and found a group of girls gazing at him. He smirked, nodding at them, letting them know he saw them. The girls quickly looked away, whispered things to each other then began giggling and running away to their next class. "Gimmie your schedule." Chad said. Troy's attention immediately went to Chad, his hand digging further into his deep pocket. A few moments later, Troy pulled the folded piece of paper out and held it out for his friend to take. Chad snatched the piece of paper from him and opened it up, studying Troy's classes. "We both have English next." He said, his eyes still on the paper.

"Cool." Troy replied, looking around the hallways again. The warning bell rang, letting all the students know they had two minutes to get to their next class. "Come on, the English rooms are pretty far away from here." Troy looked behind him. The hallways were practically empty now. "I'll race you." Before Chad could even answer, Troy started running down the halls. Chad laughed and shook his head, quickly chasing after him.

The two surprisingly reached Mr. Hanley's room before the bell rang. Since it was the first day, there were no assigned seats. All the desks were slightly separated. Troy sat in the corner of the room, Chad taking the seat next to him. Chad noticed a hot blonde girl sitting near them. He chuckled to himself, leaning over and nudging Troy with his elbow. "Check it out." He said, pointing to the girl. Troy looked at her for a moment, only seeing her backside.

"What? I don't see anything."

"Look harder."

It was then that Troy noticed the girl's red, lacy thong was showing. He rolled his eyes, laughing quietly. "You are sucha perv."

Chad was telling Troy about all his summer hook-up's when the bell rang. A few other students rushed to find seats while Mr. Hanley rose from the chair at his desk. Once everyone was settled, he began explaining his class rules and how he would not accept anyone being late without a pass. And just as he finished, a girl walked in. Troy was busy playing with his pencil, but when he heard the door close, he looked up. The girl had long, brown, wavy yet curly hair. Her black tulip skirt came to her waist and a very loose, low-cut white tank top occupied her chest. She was wearing a black, most likely plastic, rosary. Troy let a small, quiet laugh escape his lips. He found it funny how she was wearing a rosary with such a low-cut top that practically screamed 'look at my boobs.' He sat up a bit straighter. This class suddenly got more interesting. Mr. Hanley glared over at her. "You're just in time," He started, "I was just telling the class how unaccepted it is to be late."

"I have a pass." She said calmly, holding up a small slip of pink paper. Mr. Hanley walked over to the girl and took the pass from her, soon examining it.

"Take a seat." He said, placing the pass on his desk. The girl searched the room for an empty desk, and once she found one, she walked through the rows of desks and sat down, dropping her bag to the floor. Troy's ocean-blue eyes followed her. He thought she was absolutely gorgeous. She must have felt his eyes on her because she looked over at him. A devilish, yet friendly smirk formed on her face. They looked at each other for a moment before the girl looked away. Troy smiled and sat back in his chair, stretching his feet out. "Now, every year I have my students stand up and tell the rest of the class about them." The teacher said, hopping up and sitting on his desk. "Mr. Danforth," He said, "You can start."

Chad slowly rose from his seat, looking around at all the students staring at him. He smiled a little, "Alright. I'm Chad, as most of you already know. I'm on the basketball team here. And, uh...." He trailed off, thinking of what to say next. "I like to party." The class laughed with Chad as he sat back in his chair. Mr. Hanley rolled his eyes.

"Thank you, Chad." He said in an annoyed tone. "Mr. Evans, you can go next."

A pale boy stood up. His blonde locks being covered by a fedora. "I'm Ryan Evans. I don't know if anyone here has seen me before, but I'm in basically ever play put on here at East High. I got a sweet car over the summer, and I play golf." Troy heard a few people giggle and laugh under their breath as Ryan sat back down.

"Mrs. Evans."

The blonde girl Chad had noticed earlier got up. Troy glanced over at Chad, who was holding back a laugh. "Hi everyone!" The girl said happily, waving at everyone, "I'm Sharpay Evans, Ryan Evans' sister. I haven't not had a boyfriend since I was ten. My current boyfriend's name is Scott. He's twenty. And together, we're, like, super cute!" Mr. Henley's eyebrows rose. He was surprised at what she had told the glass. But, instead of saying anything, he moved on.

"Mrs. Neilson." Just then, a small, short-hair girl stood up. She wore glasses and looked extremely shy. She sighed before speaking.

"Hi. I'm Kelsi. I'm useless." She sat back down. The class was silently. Troy frowned slightly, feeling bad for Kelsi. No one should feel that way, he thought.

"It's very nice to have you here, Kelsi!" Sharpay said, trying to lighten the mood in the room. Kelsi looked over her shoulder to find Sharpay smiling and waving at her. She waved back, the expression on her face didn't change.

Mr. Henley reached over and grabbed a list of his student's names he had on his desk. He looked down the list and scribbled something on it. He looked up from the sheet of paper. "Mrs. McKessi, tell us about yourself."

A dark skinned girl got up. Chad smiled to himself, eying her skinny, purple jeans that tighten around her large ass. "I'm Taylor." She started, looking over at Chad. She placed her hands on her hips. "Do you mind?" She asked, glaring at him. Chad looked up from her ass to her face. He didn't say anything. Taylor rolled her eyes as she let out a sigh of disgust. Chad chuckled quietly and looked over at Troy, who was still sitting back in his chair, his muscular arms crossed against his chest. "I would consider myself smart. And I'm really into organizing events. I'll most likely be planning this year's junior prom." Taylor smiled a proud smile as she slipped herself back into her chair. Mr. Henley then continued going down his list of students, each one telling things about themselves. Like: I play soccer, I once threw up on my mom, I hope to become president one day.

"Mr. Bolton!" Mr. Henley snapped. Troy was looking out the window. "Mr. Bolton!" He repeated. Troy flinched and sat up, looking around to see if anyone noticed him day-dreaming. His eyes went to the brown haired girl again, who was secretly texting on her phone. He was glad she didn't notice. Troy looked back at Mr. Henley, who was drumming his fingers on his desk. "Your turn."

Troy swallowed, slowly getting out of his chair. He stood tall in front of his classmates. The girl was looking up at him. Troy then grew slightly nervous. "Um, I'm Troy. I play basketball here. And I, uh," He quickly glanced at the girl, then looked back at his teacher. "I really wanna pass this class." Troy could almost feel his cheeks turning red. Why could he say something so stupid? That girl probably thinks you're a nerd! Way to go, he thought. He sat back down, not making a sound.

"Well if you keep staring out that window," Mr. Henley said, "I highly doubt you'll be passing." Troy tilted his head back and shut his eyes tightly, letting out a quiet groan. Kelsi looked up at the clock, seeing there were only a few minutes left in class. "Mrs. Montez." Troy's eyes quickly opened up. Maybe that's her, he thought.

"Do I have to?" The girl asked, her chin resting in her hand while her elbow kept her up.

"Well, it would be nice to get to know you." The teacher replied.

The girl sighed, getting up from her seat. Troy sat up, looked over, and smiled as he noticed that it was her turn. He was surely going to pay attention now. "I'm Gabriella. I know," She looked over at Sharpay. "Super cute name!" Her voice was high and jumpy like Sharpay. Sharpay rolled her eyes, mumbling something under her breath. Gabriella's voice then went back to being clam. "My dad's in the mix of a mid-life crisis, my older sister thinks she runs this school just cause she's a senior, and I think my mom's having an affair." Troy's eyes widened. Did she really just tell the class that? She kept standing.

"Well that was...." Mr. Henley trailed off, thinking of what to say.

"Revealing." Taylor finished for him. Then, the bell rang. Everyone sat up and gathered their things, quickly making their way out of the room. Gabriella took her time. She grabbed her bag off the floor and fixed her skirt. Troy watched. He was curious about her. He got up and started walking towards her. Before he reached her, though, she started walking towards the door. Troy quickly followed. Once they were both in the hallway, Troy shouted:

"Hey! Gabriella!" She didn't turn around or say anything. Troy picked up his pace. Soon, he was next to her. "Hey." He said. His hands retreated to his pockets. Gabriella's big brown eyes glanced up at him.

"Hi." She said, her attention going back to where she was going. Troy thought of something to say.

"Is that true? You know, what you said back in class?" Troy immediately regretted his choice of words. He could have asked how she was, or where she was going. But no. Troy had to be a dumbass and say that. Gabriella stopped in her tracks. Troy froze as well.

"Yeah. Why? Do you think I was lying? Do I look like a compulsive liar to you?"

"Um. Kinda."

"Well I'm not. I really have a sister who's a senior. I really have a middle-aged father and a slut for a mom." Troy was stunned, she really didn't mind telling everyone about her life, did she?

"Oh. I'm sorry, then."

"Don't be."

Troy was quiet for a moment. The conversation was dying. He didn't want it to. Gabriella began to turn away slowly. Troy then blurted out, "I wanna get to know you."

Gabriella smirked, like she did before. She turned again and faced Troy. "Is that some kind of pick-up line? Does that mean you wanna fuck me?" Troy's eyes widened.

"No!" He said nervously. He didn't want Gabriella to get the wrong impression of him. "I think you seem cool."

"Well, at this point, I don't really know if I wanna get to know you," Gabriella started, Troy held his breath. "What's your name?"
A confused expression formed on Troy's face. Didn't he just say it back in glass? He then remember she had been texting. He let out a breath, "Troy Bolton."

"Let me see your schedule." demanded Gabriella, her tone calm and un-interested. Troy quickly dug into his pocket. Nothing was there. Chad must have still had his schedule! Damn it!

"Um, I don't have it. I, uh......lost it."

One of Gabriella's eyebrows arched up. "Okay?" She said, more of a question than a statement. "I guess I'll just see you around then." No! I don't wanna just see you around!Troy thought. His mind searched for something to say, but nothing came up. Gabriella turned her body again and started walking away. He mumbled to himself:

"Yeah. I'll see you around."