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The Group Project
Two

I freaking hate these rich kids, I thought as the massive door shut behind me. I took a few steps into the foyer when a girl with long blonde hair and a tiara bobbing on her head came running in to greet me – or so I thought. She took one glance at me and immediately turned back around, evidently deciding that I wasn't worthy of her time or attention. Just when I thought my initial judgment had been affirmed, her handsome twin stuck his head out of that room.

"Sup, Ryan?" I asked him, swaggering with my steps across the tile floor over to him.

"Hey Chad," he responded with a shy smile and slight blush on his pale complexion.

"You haven't started without me, have you?" I asked, joining him in the narrow doorway.

"Nope," he said quietly. "We're still waiting on the rest of them to arrive."

"No reason to wait," I said, brushing past him into the room. "Listen up, everyone! We need to get started on research for the paper right away. So let's break the work up into categories to research."

Sharpay interrupted, "Hold up! I'm not about to start working on a project when the rest of the group hasn't even shown up yet. That's unfair!"

"Look, all I said was that we should assign topics to research, we don't need to start researching yet."

"Ugh! I don't even want to think about this assignment yet!"

Martha spoke up, "You don't ever want to think at all."

"Excuse me?" Sharpay glared at her. "Did you just insult me in my own house?"

Martha simply rolled her eyes and crossed her arms over her large chest.

I spoke up, "That's enough! We can't be fighting already, you guys."

Sharpay quipped back, "Well excuse me for defending myself." She then zeroed back in on Martha, "I mean, Christ! What did I ever do to you?"

Martha shook her head and ignored the question, opting instead to remove her phone from her jeans and stare at the device.

I spoke up, "Martha, that was really uncalled for. Can you please apologize?"

Martha sighed, "I'm sorry you felt insulted, Sharpay."

Sharpay laughed, "You're definitely not, but that's whatever. I don't need your non-apology anyways." She flicked her long blonde locks over her shoulder and settled back into her seat.

I said, "Now that that's out of the way…let's start assigning research topics." I clapped my hands together and looked around at the group.

Sharpay shot up in her seat and peered back at me again, "Excuse me, who exactly elected you leader?"

"I don't see anyone else stepping up!"

"Just chill, Chad," she spat. "Wait for everyone else to come and then we'll get to work. I promise. Until then," She reached into the bowl on the coffee table and held a chip out to me, "Eat something. You're obviously hangry after basketball practice."

A smile snuck onto my lips, she probably wasn't wrong. "Fine," I obliged. I took the chip from her and tossed it into my mouth, then crossed around the long couch to join them.

"C'mon, Gabby! Move your feet!" I called behind to my best friend.

"Hold up, Taylor!" She argued back, "We're five minutes early, anyways. No reason to be sprinting like we are."

"Five minutes early is late in my book!"

"Well not everyone can hold themselves to such punctual standards as you."

"They should," I said.

She laughed and pushed the door open, "C'mon," she said.

I followed her into the house and shut the door behind us, when I spotted Sharpay poking her tiara-covered head into the room, then promptly roll her eyes and stick her head back in again. "Ugh, I can already tell this is going to be a long evening," I moaned to Gabriella.

"No, no Taylor. Be optimistic! Certainly we'll make advances one way or another," she smirked and winked at me.

"What is that supposed to mean? I feel like I'm missing something."

"Look, all I'm saying is that even if we don't get farther on the paper, you could get farther with a certain someone I recall you liking," she wiggled her eyebrows.

I scoffed, "There's no way a romance will bloom over a group project."

"You never know, anything could happen." She pushed the door open and we both filed into the large room.

Chad looked over at Gabriella and I and said, "Well look at who decided to finally join us!"

I felt myself melting beneath his eyes, the simple statement and attention electrocuting my core.

Gabriella answered for us, "What do you mean finally? We're early."

"Anyone who arrives after me is automatically considered late."

"In that case, I apologize," she said as we crossed around the couch to take our seats.

"It's alright, you're not the only ones." Chad's eyes shifted down to Ryan and spoke to him, "Isn't that right?" He used his knee to nudge Ryan's.

Ryan chuckled and shyly responded, "Yeah." Even through the fog of my crush for him, I could sense a tension of sorts between them.

Gabriella remained on her phone as I waited for a good time to insert myself into their conversation, but Chad and Ryan were too entrapped in their own little world to let me in. Eventually I redirected my attention back to my friend and asked, "What are you doing?"

"Editing my schedule, what are you doing?"

"Watching you, I guess," I sighed.

Gabriella looked up at me, then over to Chad, and back at me with an acknowledging nod. She locked her phone and laid it face down on her lap.

I said, "At least there's still one of us who has a chance at finding love tonight."

She laughed, "Who on this Earth could I possibly end up with?"

I mouthed the initials T.B.

"You're funny, Tay."

"As you said, anything could happen."

"Anything within reason, Taylor. I think the most popular jock pairing up with a scholastic decathlon geek constitutes as reasonable."

"I don't know, Gabby." I smirked at her, "I just have this feeling about it."