DIsclaimer: I do NOT own anything in this story...
All I knew was that it was hot. Sweltering. It had to have been at least 90 degrees or higher. And there wasn't any source of shade within a mile's radius with the exception of those smelly, sweaty dugouts. Talk about gross. Welcome to New Mexico, right? I wasn't even sure why I was there at the staff baseball game. I really didn't even like the staff here at Lava Springs. But Ryan was insistent I go, and I think my mom wanted some sort of peace for a few hours, and me being the kind hearted sister I am, finally (after much pleading and negotiating on his part) gave in. That was before I realized how boring (oh, and did I mention hot?) baseball games actually were. There were a number of occasions where I was seriously considering taking one of the parked golf carts and leaving. But Ryan's eager face would flash my way and I would actually feel guilty. Me! Sharpay Evans would feel guilty. So there I was, stuck in the crowded bleachers, "cheering" people on I didn't even know, let alone like, smack dab in the middle of Brainiac Numero Uno and Brainiac Numero Dos.
Okay, just to clear things up, I still CANNOT (all CAPS) COMPLETELY (all CAPS again) get over stupid Gabriella Montez. What is it about her I can't stand? Her stupid petite little figure, dumb wavy dark hair, doofus looking brown eyes, "perfectly" bronzed skin, and an ambiance of innocence cascading heavily around her. I could probably write and entire series of why I don't like her entitled: "Gabriella Montez: The Not So Innocent Brainiac of Albuquerque." Oh yes, I can see write through her, like last year's spring fashion line from Calvin Klein. But to save the boredom and explicit details, I will simply sum it up to: SHE RUINED (or still is) EVERY ASPECT OF MY ENTIRE HIGH SCHOOL LIFE/CAREER. So that might be a little over exaggerated, but it's a true story. She stole my musical, my school, my summer, and on top of all that, she stole my guy.
Troy Freaking Bolton. How do I even describe that 5' 10 ½'' hunk of man candy? He's wonderful, smart, cute, ah-mazing, and used to be all mine. That is, until stupid Gabriella happened Troy and I had dated for two and a half years. Since freshman year of high school. It's a long time, I know. He said I was the only girl for him. Bull fucking shit. If I was the only girl for him, Gabriella Montez would be Miss No-Self-Esteem-Whatsoever, be part of the UNPOPULAR math club and would NEVER dare to speak to Troy Bolton. But of course, that isn't so. Troy just went along and decided to dump via TEXT MESSAGE over CHRISTMAS BREAK saying: "Pay, ur a very special girl and i'll luv u 4ever, but I think we need 2 break up, im vry sry, hope we can b friends, happy xmas!" Fuck him. I tried so desperately to get over him for five long months, especially since he and the FMGWSBAM (Freaky Math Girl Who Steals Boys AND Musicals) stole my part in Twinkle Towne. Troy didn't sing. He would never sing with me and now he comes back over break and is suddenly the next Micheal Jackson? And to be brutally honest, Twinkle Towne was a real bust and the only reason it was a 'SOLD OUT SHOW' was because Troy and the FMGWSBAM was in it. Anyway, the whole 'How to get over Troy Bolton in 10 days' therapy didn't work. So I decided to go on a TBF, Troy Bolton Fast. No dreaming, thinking, talking or looking at that god from above. And believe me, it wasn't easy.
Then, suddenly, right before school got out for the summer, I had a stupid epiphany or what Oprah calls it, "An ah-ha moment." I thought it would be absolutely genius to hire Troy to work at the country club. Worst mistake of my life. In one long sentence (deep breath) it brought Troy and Gabriella even closer (they kissed, eww), Troy probably hates my guts, I looked like an idiot, the "Wildcats" were here all summer, I lost any chance of being with Troy again, and on top of it all, I lost my brother (explanation to come). Because all of that was on my To-Do List. Me and my big ideas.
By now, the sun was starting to let up and make its trek downward and all I really wanted to do was leave the country club altogether. The cheers around me sounded muffled and faint, but loud at the same time. This was not Major League Baseball, it wasn't even high school, why was everyone so excited. My dork of a brother was at the pitcher's mound, with an unreadable expression plastered across his pale as a ghost face (he doesn't tan at all, no matter how long he's outside). I called this his deep in thought face. Then, there was Troy Bolton, stepping up to the dirty square thingy in the dirt, with his signature cocky grin. I called this the "Over confident Hotter than ever" face. I didn't let him see me look at him. Gabriella waved, and I saw him return it out of the corner of my eye. Stupid Troyella shit. I let my eyes wander to his figure ready to bat with an annoyed I-don't-want-to-be-here face. And that's when the unthinkable happened. The thing I never thought would ever happen, especially after my horrible scheming (and failing) charade. He shot his ah-dorable, award winning smile at me. No cocky little smart ass grin, but his sweet I-want-to-be-with-you smile. The one I had been so used to for those blissful two and a half years. Then he winked at me with one of those dazzling cerulean blue eyes. God, he was gorgeous. But Gabriella, being the smart, but completely oblivious one she was, didn't catch that it wasn't meant for her, so she continued to wave and keep that stupid big grin on her stupid face that I wanted so desperately to just smack off.
"Isn't he just the sweetest thing?" she asked me in her sickly sweet nasally voice. Gag me now someone please. I didn't respond, but rolled my eyes once her attention was back on screaming at Troy. Ryan threw a decent pitch causing that ump to yell, "Strike One!" Gabriella kept shouting even louder in my ear, "Go Troysie! Go Troy! Go, go go!" Annoying as hell. Another pitch, another strike. By the look on Troy's not-so-smug face, I could tell he was getting frustrated with my non athletic male counterpart. Ryan had many hidden talents, some I didn't even know about and hope I never find out. The Evans' were always full of surprises.
And then it happened all too fast. Ryan threw the next pitch, and all I heard was a loud crack. Gabriella screamed, causing me to jump. The crack wasn't the normal kind you'd hear at a baseball game and the ball soars through the sky and then there's this spectacular home run. Nope, none of that, not here. It was a crack you would hear if a tree branch decided to depart from its trunk and take a ride with gravity. The crowd fell silent. I looked over the top of my large sunglasses to the spot where everyone seemed to have their eyes fixated on. Troy was standing there with a broken bat. Split. Right in two. Bummer.
All he was doing was staring at it. Then, he looked at everyone else around him. Chad walked up to him and told him something nobody in the stands could hear. Troy picked up the broken remains of the used-to-be bat. And everyone started cheering much, much louder than before. Not for Troy, but for Ryan. Oh God, help me please.
"Evans is the man!"
"Woohoo! Yah, go Ryan!"
"He needs to pitch for the school!"
People started exiting the bleachers and were heading out to the field to congratulate my brother. I noticed Troy walk over to him and hand him the broken bat, patting him on the back. I rolled my eyes, as some people started lifting Ryan up on their shoulders and someone was starting to start a chant, that soon proved to be successful. Oh God, more noise. I had to get out of there.
By now, the stands were just about empty and I didn't care if anyone saw me, I was leaving. Pronto. Everyone had their attention on another Evans' anyway. I'd congratulate him later.
I made my way back to the main building, after hijacking a golf cart. The probability that it was Troy's was one hundred percent because of the shiny number 14 on the front and the scent of his intoxicating smell. No, I am NOT a stalker, I'm just TBO, Troy Bolton Obsessed. Just not quite stalkerish.
Kathy, our Lava Springs head secretary, was behind the oval shaped counter with a blue tooth headset on. She was in a furious conversation with someone, so she didn't notice me walk into the lobby. Besides her, there wasn't a living soul, except for the giant tank of salt water fish on the side. The room where mother usually has her stupid yoga classes Ryan takes with her on occasion, had its door shut and the big yellow sign with large black letters reading, "CLASS IN PROGRESS! DO NOT DISTURB!" That sign was definitely my fault and I knew it.
I could hear the baseball crowd coming from inside. I looked out the giant glass window and saw Ryan, Gabriella, Troy, Chad, and Taylor leading the group. I sighed as I heard my pink bedazzled cell phone go off.
"Sis!"
"Hey, Ry, congratulations on your game," I said, feigning excitement.
"Yeah, it felt awesome, thanks for being out there, I could tell that was the last place you wanted to be," he said.
"Oh, no, no, no, I...uh, enjoyed it Ry," I responded, knowing I sounded so unconvincing.
"Mmhmm, thanks for trying," he replied sarcastically. I smiled. "Listen, a bunch of us are going out to get some pizza in town, want to come with us. I know it's your guilty pleasure."
I shook my head. I heard someone yelling in the background, whooping like a wolf or something. It was probably Chad. I wasn't up to celebrating with the Wildcats. That was the last thing I wanted to do. Which brings me to my point about my "taken away brother." Ryan had been, shall I say, "a newly accepted Wildcat" after his dancing charade and love of baseball with Chad and the Wildcats aka CATW. I wasn't totally accepted, but I didn't want to be. Independent Party of One. I didn't need any of those high-school-sport-loving wildcats. Gag. Okay, maybe I needed a few of them.
"No, I''m kinda tired," I made up, faking a yawn. "I'm not up to buddy-buddy conversation with CATW."
"What, what's CATW?"
"Oh...never mind. The answer is no. I'll talk to you later, okay?"
"Yeah, okay bye." I heard the phone line click. I shoved my phone back into my pocket and started for outside, hoping the group would be diminished by now. Luckily, most of them were gone, especially the ones I did NOT want to run into. I made a mad dash towards my parked and ready to go pink convertible with the large white "S" on the front. Slamming the door shut, I put the keys in the ignition and was just about to pull out when a hand suddenly appeared on the door side of the passenger seat. I knew that hand anywhere. And it belonged to a one Troy Bolton.
"Where you going?" Troy asked, his head blocking the sun from my eyes. I looked up at him. His cutoff shirt was soaking wet with sweat and his hair was slightly messy with some of it hanging down in his beautiful eyes. He cocked his head, making his hair leave his face. I didn't respond, but put the car into drive. I got a mere yard before he was back at the passenger side yet again.
"Hey, you didn't answer me, where are you going?" he asked. Why did he care? Wasn't he supposed to go celebrate with my brother and his perfect little girlfriend. Damn her.
"Away from here I suppose," I answered, taking my foot off the break and trying once again to leave. Only this time, he opened the door and slid inside into the passenger seat. Fuck.
"What are you doing?"
He looked at me so casually, so nonchalantly it almost made me smile. "Coming with you."
"Huh?"
"I'm. Going. With. You."
"Why?" I asked, genuinely confused. Why the hell was Troy coming with me? The real question, why the hell was he even in my car.
But Troy just shrugged. I shook my head and made sure nobody was around. Deserted. Odd, how the hell did he get out of pizza celebration? I continued driving until we were out of Lava Springs completely and now just on open road. We drove in silence for a while or so. I was so confused. Troy had barely given me the time of day prior to this, at least since our return from the holiday break. And now here he was, winking at me and taking the liberty of escorting me to where ever I planned on going. That, I was unsure of still.
"So where exactly were you planning on going?" Troy asked. I saw him glance at the speedometer. "...at 90 miles per hour?"
"Away," I answered shortly, taking a curve way to fast. I could actually see a flash of slight fear on Troy's face as he held onto the side of his door. I grinned. As I went around a canyon, the city came into a better view and the eerie silence took over again. Damn that silence. I hated it. But I didn't know what to say to him when the last thing he practically left me with was no good reason as to why he broke up with me.
"Pay, c'mon, just tell me where were going." His voice was so soothing, so calming. Pay. So simple. He was the only one who ever called me that. I used to love it and couldn't help but wonder if I still did.
"It's not we, it's me."
"What? What do you mean I can't go with you?"
I still didn't even know where I was headed. "I...I want to be alone."
Troy didn't reply, but slouched back in his seat. I let out a slow and shaky breath. I was getting nervous and I could tell I was starting to become more and more stressed with his presence in my convertible. I turned into a subdivision, a nice neighborhood, all too familiar to me. My car finally came to a halt in front of a nice looking house with a well kept green lawn that I hadn't been to for months. Troy looked up as I turned the car off.
"Hey, this is my house..."
"Yes, so get out."
He frowned and just stared at his house for a moment. I wasn't sure if he had heard me or not, I had said it pretty sharply. He reached for the door handle and paused for a moment.
"Troy...? Did you hear me? Are you even listening?"
And before I knew it, that son of a bitch grabbed my car keys from the ignition.
"Troy! What the hell!? Give those back!" I shouted angrily. More stress caused by him.
He got out of the car and held the dangling keys above his head. "Just stay here, okay? Please...? I'll be right back, I promise." Before I could answer him, he was already half way up his lawn. I watched him disappear into his house. I sighed and leaned back, slumping into my leather seat. Great. This was just great. I wanted some alone time, and I got Troy Bolton. Not that I minded. Really.
I tapped on the steering wheel and looked around aimlessly. I hadn't been to Troy's house since a week or so before Christmas break. I glanced up at the window I knew was his. I couldn't see him. What was he doing and what the hell was taking so long?
After another fifteen minutes, I finally saw Troy come out of the house, and I had to say, much hotter than when he left. He had on a blue polo that matched his eyes perfectly with a pair of khaki cargo shorts. One thing about Troy Bolton was he cleaned up nicely. Very nicely. He had a large Eddie Bauer backpack on his shoulder with a pillow and another sack in his hand.
"I hope you aren't planning on staying the night," I said, half jokingly, half serious.
"Nah," he answered, putting his stuff in the trunk of my car. He came around to the driver's seat of the car. "Alright, now please step out of the car Miss Evans." Troy opened my door with his hand out. I looked at him hesitantly. I wasn't sure what he was planning on doing. Did he really expect me to get out of the driver's seat of my car when I had no idea what he was doing.
"Troy, what the hell are you doing?"
"Ahh, miss, that is for me to know and for you to find out."
"Ha, real clever, real original." I surprised myself by actually getting out and walking around to the passenger seat. I didn't think I had ever been to the passenger seat before. We started driving in the opposite direction of the city. I wasn't sure where he was going, but suddenly, things were becoming smaller and things more familiar. The city was becoming smaller, the sun becoming closer, things becoming oddly comforting, and me, becoming more and more intrigued. The entire drive was dead silent. No words, no questions. Troy didn't even try to break the silence. The area was becoming less crowded and more ruralish. But as soon as Troy parked the pink little car, I knew where we were.
It was a beach. A beach I knew all too well. I looked at Troy who simply shrugged and was getting out of the car. I shook my head and got out.
The breeze was soft, gently caressing the sides of my face. The shore and beach were beautiful, breath taking, especially with the setting sun. There weren't many people there, just a couple walking the other way, but you could tell by all the scattered footprints the beach had been a getaway to many earlier that day. I felt Troy's presence behind me.
"Familiar at all?" He laughed and walked to the right. I turned my head and watched him descend down down some large rocks, heading towards the more rocky, non-swimming part of the beautiful oasis. After much debate on my part, I ran up to catch up with him.
"Where are you going?" I asked, my eyes searching the landscape. He looked at me with curious eyes.
"You don't know?"
I shook my head. He let out a soft chuckle.
"Then I guess you'll find out."
He kept walking until he reached a large rock on top of a hill. I watched him walk down it. I followed him cautiously, very cautiously. The sun wasn't high anymore, making it harder to see.
"C'mon, it's never taken you this long to get down here!" he shouted, looking back at me. I sucked in a deep breath and almost stopped for a moment. I couldn't keep my eyes off of him. It was Troy Bolton for Pete's sake. But he looked amazing. So stunning, so mouth watering, so oh-so gorgeous. I finally made it down after he had turned and was already gone. It wasn't exactly a cave that he had led me to, but more of a secret oasis, once shared by two best friends since the sixth grade.
Troy set the bags down. "Ta-da, memories rushing back?"
"Slowly," I replied, somewhat sarcastically, somewhat genuinely. I couldn't believe what was happening. I hadn't had a real conversation with this guy for months, and now here he was taking me to a hideout we used to go to as kids. I stayed back and watched as Troy laid out a blanket and started a cozy fire. I was still so confused as to what the occasion was, or what was going on, or even why the hell he was being so romantically pure. He sat down on the blanket next to the fire.
"Troy, what are you doing?"
Instead of answering my question, he spoke up, "Hey, so are you going to just leave me here all lonely and what not or are you actually going to join me over here?"
I walked over quietly and sat down on the farthest end away from him, with zero expression on my face. He pulled over his sack and started rummaging through it.
"So, let's see, I have...marshmallows, the big puffy ones," he started, pulling out a bag of Kraft marshmallows, "graham crackers, low fat, Hershey's chocolate, low nothing and.... I was going to wait until your birthday to give you this, but what the hell, I don't think three days is going to hurt, right?" Troy pulled out a box covered in cellophane. "Here."
I slowly took the box from him. He had a birthday present?!?!?
"Fudge straight from Mackinaw Island, butter pecan, because I know that's your favorite. All the way from northern Michigan. It's fresh too, trust me. I got it the other day," he explained. I stared at the box. If there was one thing in this world I could NEVER pass up, it would be butter pecan fudge from Mackinaw Island. God, it was to die for. I loved it. In fact, the last time I had had it was two years ago when we flew to Sault Saint Marie to visit my mom's sister, Anne. Troy had come with us and I ended up eating so much fudge that I literally threw up. All over. When we were in this really nice restaurant. Like really expensive, fancy restaurant. And I didn't make it to the bathrooms. The worst part of it all, it was all over Troy and I thought then for sure that he wouldn't want to go out with me anymore because I had just threw up all over him. My entire family was appalled. I, on the other hand was so sick I just wanted to get back to the hotel and hide my face from the world forever. Troy hadn't really said much and was simply shocked that he had just gotten thrown up on. But being the most amazing guy in the world, he and I went back to the hotel and he helped me get cleaned up, and then cleaned himself up. And then we ended up making out in the hotel room for the rest of the time and I got grounded when we got back to Albuquerque.
Troy had to have been thinking about the same thing as he kept laughing to himself. Looking back on it, it actually was pretty funny. There was one thing I knew for sure though. I had fallen in love with Troy Bolton.
"Thanks," I finally mumbled out, breaking the silence. Now it was just starting to get weird.
"No problem."
There was silence again. His head was bent and was fidgeting with something on his backpack. I set the box of fudge aside, away from the fire so it wouldn't melt. Troy's sudden exertion of confidence seemed to be slowly weening down to not much, since he wasn't really saying anything to me or anything at all. He looked up towards the setting sun, which looked absolutely gorgeous and then directly at me.
"Do you know why I brought you here?" he asked me.
I had no idea. "Um, not really."
"Any idea whatsoever?"
I shook my head.
"Yeah, I don't know either."
That answer shocked me. Did he just say he had no idea why he brought me here to this place that was so special to the both of us? What?
"I'm sorry," he said.
"For what?" Now I was confused.
"For wasting your time. I'm sorry, this was a bad idea..." He got up and started to put the stuff back into his bag that he had just gotten out. But this time I stopped him and spoke up.
"You didn't waste my time," I spoke, gently placing a hand on his. He stopped almost instantly and looked at my hand on his. I quickly withdrew it as a look of confusion spread across his adorable face. "Sorry."
He stopped putting the stuff away and settled back down and looked at me with fierce eyes. No matter how hard or how bad I wanted to tear my eyes away from his, I knew I wouldn't be able to. Not a chance in hell.
"I missed you," he confessed after a solid five minutes of staring at each other. He looked away when he said it though, obviously somewhat embarrassed for saying it. Wait, rewind. Did he just say he missed me?????
"I...." Speechless. That's what I was. Troy Bolton had just said he missed me. Was I hearing right? After everything I had done that summer, he was saying he missed me??? Okay, where were the cameras?
"You don't have to say anything Pay," he spoke in a soft voice. He looked into my eyes again and again I was hooked. Couldn't stop staring at him.
"I won't," I replied, "except for one thing."
He smiled a little. "Of course."
"Why?"
"Hm?"
"Why did or do you miss me?"
He sighed and shrugged. "I don't know...I just have and I just realized it for some reason. I mean, being at Lava Springs all summer and seeing you here and seeing how much you tried to, eh, get my attention and what not..."
"I was not trying to get your attention."
This time he just gave me a look with a little grin. "Really?"
"Okay, maybe I was trying to get your attention..."
"Right, so....I just missed you, and Gabriella is nothing like you at all, I mean, she's a great girl and all, sweet and smart, but she's nothing like you at all."
"Well, I'm really glad to hear that."
He laughed. "Yeah..."
There was silence, no sun, a crackling fire, and all the ingredients for s'mores that was just taunting me to no end. Troy was quite oblivious to the fact that it was smacking me in the face as the seconds ticked. I was really wanting them. Bad. But, him being Troy, he was completely clueless.
"Well, I'm kind of digging these marshmallows, too bad they're just sitting here...not being eaten, in all their glory...." Troy didn't say anything, instead just looked at me and before I could even get open that bag of Kraft marshmallows, Troy was next to me, the soft lips I had longed for for ages were on mine, so eager, so wonderful. Instantly I kissed him back because it felt right. I dropped the bag onto the blanket and let him take over the kiss. We laid down onto the blanket as his arm snaked around my waist and everything was perfect yet again. Pure bliss. My tongue traced his bottom lip and he slowly parted them, letting them meet. I hadn't felt happier in a long time. A really long time. A really, really, REALLY long time. You get my point. I felt his hands rest on the sides of my waist and I let mine play with his mess of brown hair. I hadn't ran my hands through the mop top in such a long time. And to think, just hours ago, I had been ranting to you about how my life sucked and how much I hated Gabriella and how much I was in desperate love with a one Troy Bolton and now here I was, realizing that my life didn't suck that bad and that I missed Troy Bolton as much as he missed me.
A/N: Okay, so here's just a oneshot I had partially written a long time ago, so I somewhat improvised. I actually really like it, except for the end. I think it's kinda rushed, but it's alright. I could make this into an actual STORY if you wanted, but I'd need ideas and more of a plot/drama. Of course. I really should go and update Dear Sharpay Evans because that seems to be my major hit, seeing as i just updated 10 years and got ONE review for it!!!!!!!!!!!!! ONE!!!!!!! If you haven't gone and read it and reviewed go do it NOWW!!!!!!
Anyway, thanks for reading and please leave FEEDBACK aka a REVIEW letting me know what you thought and if I should make it into a STORY. Thanks! REVIEW REVIEW!