Okay... chapter two. It's finally here! We wanna start off by thanking everyone who read - but more so those who bothered to review - the first chapter. You guys all deserve a chocolate covered Troy... but we're too greedy to share so all you get is another chapter. Sorry!
We won't hold you up for any longer, apart from saying we hope you enjoy the aftermath of those homicidal heels, sending a huge thanks to Holly and all her beta-ing fabulousness, and informing you all that the K half of team KJ is completely and utterly miserably sick with the flu, and reviews are better than any medicine (wink wink).
Thanks again for the awesome response to chapter one! Catch you on the flipside,
Team KJ! (aka Kylie and Jessa)
Chapter Two: The Condition
You have to feel kinda sorry for Taylor. The walk home must have felt like it lasted an eternity for her: my patient, sweet, mediating best friend.
She somehow managed to hold Sharpay and I at an arm's length from each other for the majority of the walk, ignoring our shrieks of protest, and pulling Sharpay away when she managed to duck under Taylor's arm and grab a fistful of my hair.
We were still screaming at each other when we arrived back on campus – Sharpay was just pissed that I had ruined her dress, but I was mortified that I had been thrown out of a nightclub... in front of The Hotness, aka Troy Bolton.
"There is no way this can be salvaged," Sharpay wailed dramatically. "You and your god damned issues with walking in a fucking straight line!"
"I TRIED to tell you it was a mistake to make me wear heels," I screeched. "Now, thanks to you, we not only got our asses hauled out of a club, but it happened IN FRONT OF TROY!"
"Oh, boo hoo," Sharpay spat back. "If you two would just get over yourselves and have sex already, I wouldn't have had to bother trying to make your retarded feet look hot, and maybe then I wouldn't have to throw out a five HUNDRED dollar dress! This is ALL YOUR FAULT!"
"Urgh!" I groaned in frustration, Taylor rolling her eyes as she continued to drag us along the pavement. "You probably have seven more just like it, Shar. God! Get over it! I'm never going to be able to look Troy in the eye again – MY LIFE IS OVER!"
Both of us froze – clutching our cheeks as we felt a sudden sharp sting.
"TAYLOR!" we screamed in unison.
"Will you two just quit it? For Christ's sake, you sound like a couple of twelve year olds! Now, if you don't shut up – the both of you – Shar, I will tell Zeke that you took secret pictures of him baking that you keep under your pillow, and Gabi, I will tell Troy exactly what you said about him in your sleep last weekend."
"You wouldn't..." we both whispered, glaring at her.
"Oh, you just try me," Taylor replied.
Sharpay and I looked at each other before glaring back at Taylor. In sync, we took a step towards her, our expressions venomous. Taylor just stood there, hands on her hips, biting somewhat nervously at her bottom lip.
After Shar and I took another step, Taylor sensed the danger. She backed up quickly, pulling her heels off her feet before turning and taking off, quick as a flash.
"Get back here!" Sharpay screeched, as the two of us high tailed it after Taylor, through the campus gates and towards our dorm building.
Taylor reached the heavy front doors ahead of us, and pushed them open, sprinting towards the stairs. I overtook Sharpay and shoved my way through the doors, gaining on Taylor as she took the stairs two at a time. She was heading towards the door of my dorm, pulling out my keys – which I had stashed in her handbag at the start of the night for safe keeping – and fumbling with the lock.
She was just turning the handle when Sharpay crash tackled me from behind, sending me hurtling forward into Taylor, the three of us crashing through the now open door and landing in a tangled, smelling-like-beer heap on the floor of my room.
I felt Sharpay's nails digging into my back, and I'm pretty sure I got Taylor in the ribs with my knee as we all struggled to get off of each other. My hair was a knotted, sticky mess and as I pushed it back out of my eyes, I suddenly noticed that we weren't alone.
Poking the other two girls sharply, I looked up from my spot on the floor towards the bed, where an attractive blond haired girl with stunning green eyes was perched, watching the three of us with a bemused expression on her face.
"Uhh... hi?" I offered lamely, blowing more beer-drenched curls out of my eyes.
"Hey," the girl replied with a small wave. "I'm Chelsea Fitzpatrick."
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I was sulking. Pouted lips, crossed arms - the whole shebang. There was no other, perhaps manlier, way of putting it. The night, one I'd been hoping would hold all sorts of wonderful Gabriella-like possibilities, was now ruined. All thanks to Sharpay and her need to overreact. As if she didn't have the exact same dress as the one Ella had accidentally ruined in about a hundred different shades of pink.
On top of my dreams of Gabriella spontaneously deciding that we were meant to be together forever being dashed against the rocks, I also had to worry about what was happening to my poor girl right then, without three huge bouncers to keep Malibu Barbie - now with new psycho killer action! - off her.
Chad, Zeke and I had found a table after the spectacle of our girls being thrown out had come to an epic conclusion. It was all I could do not to run out the door after them, ready to risk life and limb and slay the blond-headed dragon, rescuing a gorgeous - albeit slightly damp - damsel. Unattractive images of what Taylor was now most certainly dealing with popped into my head as I planned my escape. I had to make sure that witch hadn't stabbed Ella with her hot pink stiletto.
"Troy. Troy!"
Chad snapped his fingers in front of my face, finally grabbing my wandering focus.
"Yeah?" I replied, slightly annoyed that my train of thought had been interrupted.
Zeke and Chad exchanged a very irritating look, one that said they knew the exact destination of said train of thought, before Zeke asked, "Do you wanna stay or go, man? The night is kind of moot for me without Shar here."
"That girl's got you wrapped around her talon," Chad muttered, rolling his eyes in the process. There're plenty of good lookin' ladies here. We could still get our party on!" He bounced in his seat, doing what I could only assume was his own sad version of dancing. Under Zeke's glare, he shrank in his seat, his 'dance moves' thankfully coming to a halt as quickly as they had started.
"I'll take that as a no vote from Chef Boyardee. What about you, Hoops? You're young, single and moderately attractive. I'm there's some half-blind girl around here that would have you..."
And he had been my best friend for so long because?
"As tempting as you make it sound," I said dryly. "I've gotta go with Zeke on this one. No girls equals no fun."
"You mean 'no Gabriella equals no fun'," Zeke interjected with a smirk.
My eyes narrowed, causing him to whistle innocently as he suddenly seemed to find the other side of the room so very interesting. "And I was on your side, you asshole."
"Oh, you two love sick puppies suck," Chad complained as he slumped in his seat, looking more like a toddler then a twenty year old man.
"I'm not a love sick puppy," I protested weakly, knowing full well that the guys wouldn't buy one second of that crap.
With a sigh, Chad backpedalled. "Love sick mountain lion then. Is that better, princess?"
Arguing was futile, as if I could really scrape together a valid defence in the first place. Love sick as exactly the right term for me. In fact, one glance at a dictionary under "love sick" and boom! - there would be my name in bold print. At least Zeke was going out with Sharpay. He had an excuse for not wanting to stick around and have what some people might consider a good time. Me? I had zilch. Then again, no one in their right mind would even think about dancing with another girl while dating Sharpay. Somehow - using her evil powers of EVIL - that girl would know and then it would be game over for her ickle Zekey Muffin.
"Whatever, dude," I responded at length, propping my chin up on one hand.
"Ah, such a compelling comeback. Really, Troy, where do you get them?"
Luckily, Zeke was there in a pinch to save me the headache of procuring a reply that actually had some bite. "Come on, Chad. You know Taylor would kick your ass if you stayed here without her while she dealt with the aftermath of that lovely little incident."
I watched with smug satisfaction as Chad's face blanched while he pictured the beating - both physical and verbal, probably simultaneously - that his girlfriend would deliver if she got wind of Chad's apathy towards the mess she'd been stuck with. Grinning evilly, I made a noise, accompanied by the correct hand gesture, like a cracking whip.
Both Chad and Zeke stared at me, their eyebrows raised in almost identical signs of incredulity.
"This joke coming from you...? Tiny bit ironic, don'tcha think?" Chad mused.
My mouth opened and closed a few times as I attempted to formulate the perfect repartee. Sadly, nothing came to me. All I could do was hang my head in shame.
Once again, Zeke took pity on me - seeing that he had once trailed hopelessly after the girl of his dreams while she remained totally oblivious - and said, "Give the guy a break, Chad. Gabriella is pretty fine."
"Hey!" I exclaimed on impulse, jealousy flaring up inside me before I could stop it, even though Zeke was one of my best friends. Not to mention the fact that he was totally taken with the Ice Queen. Or the fact that he had actually been backing my play.
"Nice one, Zeke," Chad whined. "Now he's gonna go off on that tangent about how 'Ella's not just hot. She's beautiful inside and out'. Blah blah blah. Seriously, it makes him sound like a pre-pubescent girl!"
"Hey!" I repeated, this time more forcefully. "Sitting right here, dude!"
"I really need to find some new people to hang out with..." Zeke murmured to himself as he shook his head.
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"So Taylor tried to grab me, but I bumped into this guy carrying a huge tray of drinks and his beer spilled all over..."
"ME!" Sharpay moaned dramatically. Taylor covered her eyes with her hands, shaking her head, and I rolled my eyes before continuing with my explanation as to why we were currently on the dorm floor, slightly damp still, and smelling like stale beer.
"So she-devil here decides to get revenge, and dumps a whole pitcher of the stuff right over MY head, causing the bouncers to haul our butts out of the club. It was totally humiliating. Seriously. I was mortified."
Chelsea – whom we had determined was my new (and – so far – normal) roommate was in stitches.
"Oh please, you're only embarrassed that Troy saw the whole thing," Sharpay drawled.
"Troy?" Chelsea questioned.
"Troy Bolton – my best friend," I replied, with a pointed glare at Sharpay.
She scoffed. "Oh yeah, you're best friend. The best friend who... AAARGH!" she shrieked as my fingernails dug into her leg.
"Oh... are you ok?" Chelsea asked, concerned.
"She's fine," I smiled brightly. "She's has this... condition. Tragic, really. Causes her to... shriek in pain at, err... random times."
"Oh..." Chelsea looked sympathetically at Sharpay, who growled deep in her throat, venom practically shooting my way.
If looks could kill... well, it's safe to say I would be dead.
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Outside the club, I was desperately trying to come up with a good excuse to get away from the guys and see for myself that Gabriella was still in one piece. Chad was making it, more than likely on purpose, very difficult for me. The sadistic bastard. Didn't he realize that after a situation as embarrassing as the one Ella had just been involved in, she was going to need some serious comforting from her most loyal best friend? And no, I'm not talking about Taylor. I mean me. Comfort involves hugging and running my fingers through that soft, curly hair and kissing those full... okay, maybe not that far. I'm not that lucky. I would never be that lucky until I at least got past step one - ditching Zeke and my soon-to-be former best guy friend.
"What do you mean you don't wanna come over and play Prince of Persia II?! The graphics are phenomenal. Way better then the first one!" Chad insisted, apparently flabbergasted that, unlike him, I had better things to do then play some lame video game. That being said, however, I wasn't sure how they could have topped the graphics from the first game. They had to be pretty damned good...
Wait!
Gabriella could potentially have been suffering from death by high fashion footwear and I was thinking about video games? I'd been hanging around Chad way too much.
"Nice try, Geekboy," I said, earning myself a glare - which, by the way, I can never really take seriously when it comes from under that huge head of hair. "I think I'm just gonna call it a night. School does start tomorrow, after all."
"And we all know how well-rested and alert you want to be for your classes," Chad commented sarcastically.
True, I might not have been the world's most enthusiastic student but there was no need to insult my work ethic. That was just uncalled for.
"I'm turning over a new leaf this year!" I shot back, of course coming out with the first stupid thing that floated into my over-crowded brain.
Both Chad and Zeke burst out laughing, further belittling my scholastic habits, which I found a bit rich considering the source. In any case, I took it as my opportunity to slip away.
"See you jerks later!" I called over my shoulder as I took off at a jog in the direction of my dorm. They probably could have guessed that I wasn't actually going home but hey - I had to try to maintain some measure of dignity after all that 'love sick puppy' nonsense Chad had been spewing.
"You always run home, Troy?" Chad yelled at my retreating back.
Zeke joined in, probably because he didn't appreciate being called a jerk. "Yeah, isn't Gabriella's dorm the other way?"
I rolled my eyes but didn't bother to respond, instead pitching my pride to the wind and switching over to the street that would bring me straight to Ella. After a moment, I slowed to my normal pace. She may not have been as inclined to kiss a sweaty knight in shining armor...
It took me a sickening minute and a half minutes to reach her building and take the stairs - two at a time - to her floor. I stopped for a few seconds to run my fingers through my hair, checking my reflection in the glass of a fire emergency case just outside her room. Everything appeared to be copacetic so - and I definitely didn't puff my chest out in a masculine fashion as I did this - I pushed open her door and rushed in, ready to face hell, high water and the razor sharp fingernails of Sharpay Evans.
"She'd better still be completely intact, Evans, or else I'll pluck those feathers off that stupid dress and..." I began in my deepest, most authoritative, and okay, kind of loud, tone before the scene inside her dorm room fully registered in my idiotic head.
Sharpay Evans was not there at all. Neither was Taylor. Gabriella was sitting on what I recognized as her bed from the previous semester, peering up at me with curious eyes. A pretty girl I'd never seen before sat across from her on the room's other single bed. She looked like she desperately wanted to laugh her ass off but didn't know whether or not she should. Silence hung in the air as they both stared at me.
Yeah... awwwwkward.
"Chelsea," Gabriella finally said, too polite - bless her - to let my embarrassment continue. "This is Troy Bolton. Troy, this is my new roommate Chelsea Fitzpatrick."
Well, damn.
I suddenly found myself hoping that what they said about first impressions was a load of crap.
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After finally getting rid of Taylor and Scarlett O'Hara, I jumped in a hot shower and scrubbed my beer-drenched hair, before changing into my most comfy pair of sweats and an old Wildcats t-shirt - which I'm reasonably sure had belonged to Troy once upon a time – and flopping down on my bed.
"So," I said suddenly, crossing my legs and facing Chelsea, who mirrored my position on her own bed. "After that sufficiently awkward introduction on behalf of me and those losers I call my friends... tell me about Chelsea."
The blond laughed, her shiny, straight locks perfectly framing her face. "Well, I..." she trailed off and the two of us turned our head towards the door of our dorm as a loud banging noise echoed through the corridor, the sound coming closer and closer before our door was flung open and my heart almost stopped beating.
"She'd better still be completely intact, Evans, or else I'll pluck those feathers off that stupid dress and..."
I bit my lip as I stared up at Troy, observing his reaction as he scanned the room and realised that Sharpay wasn't there, and that I was, in fact, still very much alive. I looked over at Chelsea, who was apparently having some intense inner conflict over whether or not now was an appropriate time to laugh. I wouldn't have blamed her if she ran towards the hills screaming the next time I told her I was going to introduce her to one of my friends.
"Chelsea," I said finally. "This is Troy Bolton. Troy, this is my new roommate, Chelsea Fitzpatrick."
Aaaand, insert awkward silence here.
Troy looked at Chelsea. Chelsea looked at me. I looked at Troy. Troy looked at me. I looked at Chelsea. Troy... decided to finally talk.
"Uh... hi, nice to meet you," he said quickly before turning back to me. "Ella, where'd Taylor and the She Devil go? Are you ok?"
I almost melted into a huge puddle of loved up slop at the sound of his nickname for me rolling so naturally off his tongue. He was the only one that could get away with calling me 'Ella'. The memory of the day back in senior year that he decided he needed a nickname for me – something sweet but not too lame or clichéd, and something that no one else called me – was still so clear in my mind.
He had knocked back everything everyone suggested (Gabi? Nah, that's what everyone else uses. Gabs? Sounds like 'scabs'. Brie? Cheese... Doll-face pumpkin pie? Chad, don't push me... My little schmoopsy hunny bunny? CHAD!!) until he ignored them and turned to me, asking 'Ella, what do you think – any ideas?'
A smile had spread across my face. "Ella?" I had questioned. Troy had frowned a little.
"Oh...that just slipped out – I...I didn't..." I just kissed him on the cheek. He blushed. 'Ella' stuck.
"El?" Troy waved his hand in front of my face.
I couldn't help but giggle as I snapped back to reality, and Chelsea looked on in amusement. "Taylor dragged Shar out by the hair when she tried to stab me with four inches of hot pink stiletto."
"It's terrible, really, isn't it?" Chelsea piped up, her voice sympathetic. "The whole thing with your friend and her...condition."
"Condition?" Troy looked at me, his head cocked and his eyebrows knitted together – making him look like an adorably confused little boy.
"Uh, yeah – you know...The Condition...?" I said, glaring at Troy. "The one that makes her...shriek spontaneously at err...spontaneous...err...times..." I offered pathetically. Spontaneously at spontaneous times? For a supposedly intelligent young woman, I have to say...I was sounding kinda dumb.
Lucky for me, Troy was on the ball for once and caught my pleading look. "Oooooh, that condition," he nodded – a little too enthusiastically, but I could live with that. He looked at Chelsea, placing a hand over his heart. "Truly, truly awful."
And the Oscar goes to...
Chelsea shook her head sadly, and Troy turned back to me. "Condition aside, did she hurt you at all?"
"No, no – she just..."
"Urgh," Troy cracked his knuckles and Chelsea winced at the sound I had grown so accustomed to. "When I get my hands on that girl... I... So help me, if she had hurt you... Uuurgh, she had better have her running shoes on when I... Are you sure you're alright?"
I reached up and took his hand, nodding. "Yes, Troy. I'm fine – really."
It was then I realised I could totally milk this.
"It's just..."
"Just what?" he asked, his gorgeous face completely full of concern – which made him all the more attractive in my book. For a split second I felt guilty for making him worry. It passed as soon as he sat down beside me and wrapped one of his strong, muscular arms around my shoulders.
"I just... might... need a hug?" I looked up at him with my best puppy dog eyes. Please feel free keep all comments that contain the words 'flirt', 'tease', 'vixen' or 'slut-faced hoe-bag' to yourselves, kay? Thanks.
Troy smiled down at me, gently raising a hand to my face and brushing a long, damp strand of hair back behind my ear before wrapping me in a tight hug.
"Uh... I might, uh... I might just go... take a look around. Y'know... get some fresh air. Fresh... midnight air..." Chelsea stood up and grabbed her phone. "Uh... Guys?"
Neither of us noticed as she backed quietly out of the room, closing the door behind her.
And so the end of another chapter draws to a close. Let us know your thoughts!
Up next: More about Chelsea, and Sharpay tells it like it is.
Until then, contribute to the Cure Kylie's Cold fund by leaving us some love!
Kylie and Jessa
Xox
