They've been planning this for weeks. The whole nerd gang going on a trip to Okinawaii for a much needed vacation. They've finished all their academic agendas to make way for the trip. It was a celebration for their graduation day. For the past months, everybody has been droning along, fatigued from dare they say it, thesis. And now, they're bursting for a break. They were travelling by plane. Well, more like Fred's private luxury jet plane.
'Welcome friends! To my Pterodactyl!" Fred sluggishly raised his hands up and caressed the sleek jet. Wasabi whistled upon entering and plopped down on a leather reclinable. "You know Fred, even if you gave me a stupid name, I'm still thankful you became my friend." he chuckled and snuggled into the seat. He was then given a fancy looking cocktail by one of the flight attendants. "Yeap! Very thankful."
Hiro bound to the captain's cabin and marvelled all the possibilities he can improve on. "I've never tried tinkering with a plane." He tried holding the handle. "Don't even think about it, little bro." Tadashi grabbed the back of Hiro's shirt and placed him in his seat. "We can't afford a real ride on this plane much less pay for any damages dealt." he patted his hair. Gogo placed her bag in the upper compartments. "I call the music!" she connected her phone to the jack beside the captain's wheel. Fall Out Boy played loudly in the background. Honey Lemon was standing by the aisle just observing her friends. She couldn't believe she's finally found the people who she can be truly herself with. Abuela would be delighted that she's doing wonderfully. "Guys! Picture!" she chirped. The gang gathered around for the snap. Yes, abuela would be delighted when she sees this.
"Honey!" Tadashi called at the end of the aisle closest to the cockpit. She placed her bag in the compartment above. "I knew you'd want a seat by the window and all the other's have claimed theirs." He gestured to the last window seat in the plane. Honey Lemon smiled warmly. Tadashi had always done her favours she never asked for. A cup of peppermint tea when she's flustered, a rush to the chemicals store when she's lacks some compounds, a jacket when she forgets hers at the apartment. There was even a time that he volunteered to take care her dog, Conchito, when she went home for the weekend to Puerto Rico.
Hiro snickered and Tadashi sent him a pointed look. "Hey Honey!" Hiro piped across her. "Don't you think my brother looks extra fresh today?" there was a smirk on the younger brother. Tadashi's face sprung red. "I mean go ahead Honey! Take a whiff, it's not like he took three hours to dress up today whining to me that he needed to look ext—"
"You can shut up now Hiro. It's not like I'm the one paying for your tuition right?" Tadashi covered Hiro's mouth and messed up his hair. Honey chuckled at their antics. "You're right, Hiro. He does look fresh." she teased along. Tadashi looked at her sheepishly and plopped back down on his seat.
Recently, Tadashi has been quite peculiar. Honey was a lot of things and she certainly wasn't stupid. She read him. But she didn't want to assume knowing the hurt that follows after. In the whole history of "romance" in her life, she had always unknowingly assumed too much. Too often did it end in disappointment. There were things she didn't want to dwell upon and therefore, as much as she finds herself attracted to Tadashi, she tries to suppress it.
A familiar piano note broke away from the loud drums and the electric guitar riffs which peaked Honey's memory of grade school days. She covered her mouth in disbelief. It wasn't just her that recognised the song, it clicked to the whole gang. All of them disbelievingly looked at Gogo Tomago, who was blushing profusely and sinking further into her seat.
"Na na na na, na na na na yeah… you are the music in me."
"Gogo Tomago, no way." Wasabi looked at her. "Well well well, our punk princess seems to have a touch of softness inside her." he chuckled.
"I knew it! Gogo was a fan when she was a kid! She wasn't always AC/DC and Kansas!" Fred jumped in his seat. "Haha! Gimme 5!" Fred held out his hand and drudgingly slapped five dollars in his hand.
"I…That was my little sis…" Gogo struggled for words. She mentally slapped herself when she realized she put her phone in shuffle all.
"I don't get it. What is this?" Hiro looked confusedly at everyone. Why was everyone treating this song like it was an obvious fact.
"Right, it's not your decade. Only 90s kids know." Wasabi chuckled. "Your brother never had the singing phase? Carrying a basketball everywhere even if he sucks at playing ball?" Wasabi laughed.
"Your harmony to the melody is echoing inside my head. A single voice, above the noise and like a common thread."
Every smiled, knowing exactly the lyric that follows by heart. Honey saw that Gogo was suffering fro embarrassment when Troy's part ended.
"Hmmm, you're pulling me."
"When I hear my favorite song I know that we belong!" she sang along to relieve Gogo. If her friends were as big fanatics as she was, she knew they'd play along.
"Oh! You are the music in me." the man beside her sang. Tadashi was smiling nervously. Never had they heard Tadashi even utter a note in their years of friendship. "Yeah, it's living in all of us, and i's brought us here because!" he looked at the others for help to end the awkwardness. "You are the music in me!" his toes curled.
"NA NA NA NA OH! NA NA NA NA YEAH! YOU ARE THE MUSIC IN ME!" Fred stood on his seat and belted out. And just like that, all the tension washed away. The whole plane erupted into song. Suddenly, they weren't 21 years olds post college graduation in the brink of adulthood. Suddenly, they where spirited 10 year olds again singing along to the songs of their pre-teen days. None of them knew each other before college, but everyone bonded along with their common love for the old Disney show. It amazed Honey that they all still knew lyric by lyric as if they sang it yesterday.
Gogo was smiling again, relieved of her embarrassment. She loved high school musical despite it being a little farther off her usual genre. It reminded her of dancing along to the songs back in grade school after classes with her friends. Tadashi knew Troy's part by heart. He recalled wearing red baseball tees everyday to school and carrying a basketball wherever he went. He fostered a huge crush on Gabriella Montes and thus he promised he'd marry a smart and pretty girl. Perhaps he had Gabriella Montes to blame for this crush he's been harbouring for Honey Lemon who was everything he looked for in a girl. Said girl was distractedly really into the song. She was recording the whole thing on her phone, trying to capture the heartwarming moment with her best friends.
Everyone laughed merrily when the song ended. Honey ended her recording and held the phone to her chest. She will treasure this memory with all her heart.
"I still don't get it!" Hiro protested, annoyed from being the only one who was oblivious to the song.
"It's okay little bro, because.." Tadashi ruffled his hair. "WE'RE ALL IN THIS TOGETHER. AND WE KNOW THAT WE ARE. WE'RE ALL STARS AND WE SEE THAT!" they all sang again as the plane took off for Okinawaii.
Hiro frustratedly sank in his seat. Honey handed him a laptop and some earphones, the Disney intro was playing as Hiro took it. "I have the trilogy. Go ahead and watch it." Honey smiled warmly and winked. By the end of the plane ride, Hiro was singing along to them all.
