Hidden Potential

Troy Bolton and Taylor Mckessie are just two ordinary teenagers who have unseen potential. But when that potential is tapped into and their inhibitions run free what will happen?

Disclaimer: I don't own High School Musical or anything affiliated with it. As for everything else, if you know it, I don't own it.

*

It was a mere two weeks into the summer.

Many of the wildcats called it 'The last summer'. It was not because it was their last summer to enjoy. Rather it was the one last time, before the Christmas period that is, that many had to share with their families, freely eating around the dinner table every evening, laughing, arguing or just enjoying good banter with one another. It was for many the last few precious weeks they had to spend with best friends, all together giggling and basking beneath the wonderful Albuquerque sunshine, being scorched by the heat and simply enjoying the comfort of each others company. The once clear faces of teachers, and favourite places in the school grounds amongst other things would soon become a nonchalant blur in the world of higher education. Beloved pets would no longer be seen on a daily basis, regular weekend hang-outs would soon become a distant memory and neighbours would, for many, be replaced by new neighbours. But perhaps more importantly, for many wildcats this summer was especially significant because it marked the beginning to an end; an end to being a blameless, and somewhat dependent youth who had long been gently ushered into a comfort zone of family, friends, school and fun. Sooner or later it would be time to grace more of the world of adulthood and leap into the exciting and independent lifestyle that college had to bring.

But that was sooner or later. Now was now.

*

Outside the night sky was pitch black. From a birds eye view, a few leaves rustled into the quiet Albuquerque night and a stray cat could be spotted wandering around here or there. Two teens, Troy Bolton and Taylor Mckessie however, were among the majority of people who were fast asleep.

3:00am

Troy

The teen had drifted into a deep, deep slumber. Face down on his bed, he had been in the same position since falling asleep hours ago.

Taylor

Taylor rolled over once to find a better sleeping position; her hair roughly tussled above the rim of her duvet. Almost immediately she was dreaming again.

6:03am

Troy

Troy was already up. He really enjoyed the feeling of the wind rustling through his hair this early in the morning. As his feet pounded the pavement of his all too familiar street, dawn slowly began to break, revealing the warmth of the sun. His breathing was uneven but steady, eyes focused on an invisible fixed point ahead. Hot beads of sweat began to form on his forehead and with every movement he made they would trickle down to the junction connecting his throat and chest, collecting just above the skin there. Running beneath the giant sycamore tree for the millionth time since he began running this early in the morning five months ago, Troy shuffled his iPod to something a little more adrenaline pumping. 'Pump It' by the Black Eyed Peas blasted through his headphones. Now that was more like it.

Taylor

It was just another ordinary summer day for Taylor Mckessie. It was too hot in Albuquerque in summer and it was always at this time of the year that she wished every public place would be so kind as to install some sort of air conditioning device for poor souls such as herself. She had just woken up to the shrill sound of her alarm. She rubbed her eyes and sighed. Chad had recently installed some sort of loud beat boxing effect into her alarm system and whenever it went off it certainly got the job done.

She hopped out of bed yawning and stretched out her bed aches before heading for the bathroom. It was time for her morning run.

6:27am

Troy

Troy had been sprinting non stop for the last twenty minutes or so. He was now at the tether of his street, just a few houses away from home.

A content sigh escaped his lips as his speedy sprint slowed to a steady jog.

"Morning Troy!" a shrill voice called out. Out of habit, Troy whipped his head around ready to respond as he normally did without stopping.

"Morning Mrs. Ricket!" he chorused back, waving as he zoomed right past the old woman's house. Troy thought he heard her yelling something in the distance, something about chocolate chip cookies. No time to stop, he thought as he sprinted his final leg all the way home.

Taylor

She had really become accustomed to the sound of the ocean. In the last few months Albuquerque beach had become Taylor's favourite place. It was a beacon of peace and a light of many good memories she had had with the people she loved. She had been running for eleven minutes against the backdrop of the cerulean sea. Overhead, sparrows had begun circulating the orange horizon, honking to the rhythm of the crashing waves below. To Taylor the view was stunning. She stopped to take it all in. She took a deep breath to steady her ragged breathing. Large pulses of sweat were dripping from her arms but each time they would form, the cool breeze from the ocean would blow them away.

After taking in the view she realised she had to finish her run. She had planned on completing it in exactly fifteen minutes, stretching for five and still having enough time to drive home for her seven o'clock coffee.

It was not like the teen had anything special planned for the day. Most times sticking to a schedule was just her thing and that's the way she liked it.

6:55am

Troy

Sure, he was supposed to have finished jogging ages ago and that is exactly what he did. Except that now he was running again. In all honesty he had no idea why, apart from the thinking time that running gave him, but even then that was not a good enough reason as to why. He had all summer to think. Troy had now detoured into the local park and had spotted hoards of sunflowers lying in the grass. Sunflowers. Almost immediately an image of Gabriella materialised into his mind. He smiled to himself.

6:59am

Taylor

Sure, she was a little off schedule but that didn't bother Taylor. Stopping at a set of red lights, the sun by this time had exploded into its full glory and everything in her line of vision was lit up. To the right, rows upon rows of nice looking houses adorned the street. She had never noticed how Victorian some of these houses were before. To the left, a few early bloomers were walking their dogs and she even spotted a guy who looked about her age emerge from the park exit before swiftly jogging around the corner.

So there are others, she thought as she pulled away.

8:01am

Troy

The outside heat had punctured Troy into yet another sleep. He had tried ringing Gabriella but it went straight to voicemail. After hanging up, he had concluded that she was either still asleep or up running around after the kids at camp.

8:48am

Taylor

The delight of her morning coffee had somewhat prohibited Taylor from sleeping as she wanted, so after she had showered she went about checking her mail.

Chad had sent some pictures to her inbox. Complacent warmth spread throughout her body as she sighed. In one of them, he was posing with his cousin, his goofy smile illuminating the picture. Oh, how she missed Chad. She had underestimated exactly how much. He had travelled to Jamaica at the start of summer to visit some of his relatives. She had honestly hoped he was having a good time and by the looks of things he was certainly having the time of his life.

Troy

He absolutely hated this heat. Even with the air conditioning on full blast in his house it still felt like torture. He rolled out of bed for the second time that day and checked his phone clock.

12:15pm

Troy groaned. He had not meant to over sleep. Lying back on his bed, arms folded behind his head he contemplated what he was going to do with his day. Everybody was either preoccupied with summer vacations abroad, camp or some form of summer job to earn some extra cash before college. Troy had of course worked throughout the school year so there was no need for that now. He just wanted to relax and pass the time until his best friend, girlfriend and all his friends returned home.

Just then his stomach produced a low growl. He had not eaten.

"Alright, alright let's fill you up", he murmured getting up.

Taylor

The mall was always a busy place at this time of year. Walking quickly she dodged as many shoppers as she could. Clutching her bag of brand new books she knew she should not have spent her money on more books but she just could not resist. Everything was half price and besides the book store was nice and cool. As Taylor headed to the food courts to get some lunch she noticed that it was fully packed. No worries, she would just go to the big Starbucks on the third floor and grab a hot sandwich instead.

Troy

He had summoned up some sort of energy to come down to the mall. That way he could get some fresh air, grab some food and maybe purchase something good, who knew.

"That's three - twenty please", the cheery cashier chirped behind the counter.

Handing over a five dollar bill Troy took time to see if there were any free seats in the food court. There were none. Everywhere was packed. He unconsciously took his change, grabbed his takeaway bag and headed for the third floor. Starbucks should have some seats.

Thankfully the queue in Starbucks was quite short. Troy ordered himself a vanilla latte and found a sofa chair next to the window. He set his food and drink down on the table and proceeded to devour his fries. He wasn't really a Starbucks kind of guy. In his opinion the coffee was somewhat overpriced and over-hyped but giving the circumstances he would gladly stay.

"Troy?"

A smooth female voice spoke to him. Wait a minute. Troy knew that voice. He looked up half way through his burger to see the familiar face of Taylor Mckessie. Of course…she was still in town wasn't she?

"Can I sit here?" she asked nonchalantly not waiting for his response. She motioned to the spare seat opposite him.

"Uh, yeah sure", Troy replied as he went back to eating his burger. He watched Taylor briefly as she sat down and began reading her newspaper. He cleared his throat.

"Hey, Taylor if you finish reading that paper, would you mind if-"

"Here", she stated casually without waiting for his response again. Troy looked at the paper she had just shoved in his direction. When he looked up at her again she was sipping on her drink and proceeding to turn the pages of a book that had magically appeared into her hands.

Troy was a little taken aback at her brusque demeanour but he honestly had nothing to say to the brunette in front of him. They always only spoke when the others were around. But still it was better to make small talk than to sit there like a plum. He took a sip of coffee.

"One mozzarella, tomato and pesto Panini!" the waiter announced trying to get Taylor's attention.

"Thanks", was her quick response as he set it down.

Troy could not pretend like they were not in this situation. Sitting before him was his best friend's girlfriend and not forgetting his girlfriend's best friend. Since sophomore year they had roamed in the same friendship circles and she had pretty much just been there. Wherever Chad was, Taylor was. Wherever Gabriella was she was there too and yet there they were, sitting in silence and he was not even able to conjure up some sort of funny memory or past moment they could possible relate on.

"I know. This is just as insipid for me as it is must be for you", Taylor's voice broke into his thoughts. He focused on her. She was now eating and reading at the same time but she did not look up at him.

In the event of what she had just said he had two options: He could remain quiet and let the comment pass or he could delve into it and expose his ignorance. He preferred the former over the latter. After a brief moment Taylor caught on.

"Insipid", she mouthed dryly, "It just means, dull, bland, you know plain. Don't worry it took me forever to grasp it's meaning, let alone use it in the right context."

And like a flash of lightning, there it was. His ignorance exposed.

"Sure", he nodded before looking out the window. He braced himself.

"No offence Taylor or anything but I completely forgot you were still in the neighbourhood."

"No offence Troy but me too", she chuckled. It was the first time she had smiled since sitting down. It suited her.

"Ok well that makes it better I guess, but still. Work with me here", he said nervously running his hand through his hair.

She finally looked him in the eye. He had never noticed how rich in colour her eyes were before. Their malty brown colour sparkled and danced around her pupils. It reminded him of Gabriella's except that Taylor's had a deeper shade to them; a much deeper shade.

"Ok, so what do you suggest?"

"Don't you find it strange that we have nothing to communicate on?" he asked.

"No, not particularly but in reality we have plenty to talk about. The weather, politics, education, summer……"

Troy had to resist the urge to laugh. He hardly knew this girl and all effort he was making were being thwarted by her quick sense of humour. He settled back into his sofa a bit more.

"Oh really? Please do go on", he smirked sarcastically.

"Gladly", Taylor fired back with mock enthusiasm. "How about we weigh the advantages of public vs. private education or maybe even the benefits and cost effectiveness of air conditioning in all public places. I'll start. The benefit of Starbucks is that it's air conditioned. Wanna know why it's cost effective? Simple, I hand over some bucks and enjoy the benefits of a cool drink and cool air at the same time."

Troy let out a hearty laugh.

"But in effect, I see what you're saying", Taylor continued smiling.

"Yeah?" Troy replied leaning even further back and folding his arms.

"Yes. We should maybe try and get to know each other better. Better late than never I always say. Besides I have absolutely nothing important to do until Chad and Gabi get back anyway. "

"Ditto."

"Cool."

The waiter came to collect their dirty utensils.

"I concur. Better yet, let's seal it with a pinky promise", Troy suggested wiggling his little finger and smirking.

"Last time I checked Mr. Lunkhead we were high school graduates not kindergarten kids remember?" Taylor slipped out half heartedly.

"Ok, ok I was kidding." Troy chuckled and that's when it hit him.

"Ouch." Taylor who had gone back to reading her book instantly looked up.

"What is it?" she demanded.

Silence as Troy just shook his head as if it were nothing. It was nothing wasn't it? He looked out of the window again. He seemed to be doing alot of that.

"Troy?"

"You know…that word lunkhead," he calmly spoke.

"Oh, is that all?" Troy did not want to admit it but deep down it actually bothered him that she thought of it as something so insignificant. She had been doing it for years and it never ceased to amaze him how much it offended him to hear it.

"Don't take this the wrong way or anything Taylor but I hate it when you call me 'lunkhead'. Some people do it and for some reason it passes. But for as long as I can remember it felt so…so impersonal every time you did it. Like an imaginary wedge was being forced between us and I don't know, maybe that's why we're where we're at right now."

Troy took a deep breath. He did not know where all that had come from. He watched as Taylor's resolve switched from stunned to offended to soft all in the space of a second. Finally she spoke.

"Troy…I never knew it bothered you so much. I sincerely apologise."

Neither did I, he thought.

"That's ok", he said. "Honestly, it's fine, just ignore what I said." It was suddenly really hot in here. Troy could thankfully feel his phone vibrating in his pocket. It was his dad.

"Hey dad", he spoke into his phone.

"Hey, son are you still at the mall?"

"Yep, why?" he asked sparing a quick glance at Taylor.

"Your mother wants you to pick up some flour on your way home if that's ok."

"No problem."

"Thanks son, see you later."

"Bye dad." After Troy hung, he turned his attention back to Taylor.

"Right, I'm gonna head off. Got some stuff to do for my mum," Troy declared standing up.

"Ok, well it was nice seeing you," Taylor managed to say. She could see the boy before her was still a little uncomfortable so she was not going to try and convince him to stay.

"Bye Taylor. We'll definitely hang out again sometime. You've got my number don't you?"

Taylor nodded and before she knew it his tall, slim frame had slipped out the door. So much for getting to know one another, she thought. She sat stunned for a few minutes thinking over what Troy had said before going back to reading her book.

*

On the way to his car Troy wondered what he was going to do with the rest of his day. He had not meant for his little outburst but the situation was a little out of his zone. It really was no big deal, so why did he feel like it was so important to voice his thoughts to her?

Looking down at his phone he scratched his head. There was a text message from Gabriella.

He would call her the minute he got home.