A/N: Wow, you guys are the best reviewers I've had for any story so far! Eight reviews in one day?? I can deal with that. Lol. Thank you so much for reading. Keep R & Ring!! WARNING: This chapter is a songfic. It's based on my favorite song. Sorry if you hate it. I get that a lot. ) : By the way, it helps the mood if you listen to the song while you read this part.
Two
Crush
"Ms. Montez," Ms. Darbus, East High's current drama teacher, stated obnoxiously. "So nice of you to finally join us."
"I'm sorry, Ms. Darbus!" Gabriella pleaded breathlessly, clutching her side. "I got held up in Algebra… and I ran all the way here!" she lied easily.
"It will have to do for now," the teacher answered, dismissing the poor excuse with a wave of her bejeweled hand. "I was just telling the cast how regretful I am for the accident that will prevent Mr. Jameson from participating in our musicale."
"What?!" Gabriella gasped, jumping up from her seat in the back row. "But Brandon… I saw him yesterday! What could have happened?"
"Well, Gabriella," Sharpay trilled. "If you had been here on time, as the rest of us were, you would have heard that Brandon broke his leg trying some ridiculously stupid stunt on his skateboard. I mean seriously, how naïve can you get?" She pinched her small, dog-like nose up like she'd smelled something bad. The cast broke into peals of muted laughter.
"That's quite enough, Miss Evans," Ms. Darbus scolded. "Take your seat. We will, of course, need a replacement… someone with a wonderful voice, that can memorize lines with great speed."
"I'll do it!" Sharpay's hand shot up in the air.
"I'm ecstatic that you're so… eager to be in our production, Sharpay," Ms. Darbus explained. "But the replacement we need is going to have to be male. Unless you would like to sing a love song to Ms. Montez?"
Sharpay blushed, sinking back into her chair.
"Now, do we have any volunteers?" Ms. Darbus boomed. "None? Really? Well, this simply will not do!"
"Sorry I'm late, Sharpay!" Troy breathed, bursting through the door. "I know I promised I'd be here for you… but I was… I got… caught up…"
Gabriella smiled, remembering the kind words he had offered in the upstairs garden. He was truly amazing, and she found herself wishing that he could take the same kind of interest in her.
"Miiiiiiiisssssttteerrrrr Bolton," M. Darbus cooed, smiling maniacally. "Perhaps you would like to audition for the lead?"
"Of the musical?" Troy replied disbelievingly. "Umm, no offense or anything, but I don't think singing's really my thing…"
"Nonsense!" she argued. "Surely you can read music?"
"Slightly…" Troy mumbled. Gabriella giggled. "I mean… I play guitar… a bit… but I don't think I could…"
"Now, Troy," Darbus ordered, the question gone from her voice. Troy gulped audibly, skipping the steps to join her on the stage. "Gabriella?"
Gabriella followed close behind. "Yes Ms. Darbus?"
"Let's go from the top of the final number. Kelsi?"
Kelsi Nielsen, pianist at East High School, took her place dutifully behind the baby grand piano, tapping the keys to the introduction. Troy gulped again as a microphone was forced into his hand by Ms. Darbus, who then proceeded off of the stage.
Gabriella took a deep breath, and started her verse:
Ooh, oh oh. Oh. I hung up the phone tonight.
Something happened for the first time, deep inside.
It was a rush, what a rush.
'cause the possibility that you would ever feel the same way about me
About me is just too much, just too much.
Why do i keep running from the truth?
All I ever think about is you.
You've got me hypnotized,
So mesmerized.
And I just got to know.
Troy inhaled, blending his voice with her soprano.
Do you ever think, when you're all alone,
All that we could be,
Where this thing could go?
Am I crazy or fallin' in love?
Is this real or just another crush?
To you cut your breath, when I look at you?
Are you holdin' back, like the way I do?
'Cause I've tried and tried to walk away,
But I know this crush ain't going away.
Gabriella's voice dropped out, and she stepped back, giving him space for his section. Troy shuffled the music sheet in his hands before falling into the second verse, his eyes locked on Gabriella's.
Has it ever crossed
your mind See it's a chance
we've gotta take
When we're hanging, spending time girl, are we just
friends?
Is there more, is there more?
'Cause I believe that we can make this into
something that will last
Last forever, forever
Their hands joined, Gabriella and Troy crashed back into the chorus, louder than before:
Do you ever think, when you're all alone,
All that we could be,
Where this thing could go?
Am I crazy or fallin' in love?
Is this real or just another crush?
To you cut your breath, when I look at you?
Are you holdin' back, like the way I do?
'Cause I've tried and tried to walk away,
But I know this crush ain't going away.
Gabriella's turquoise skirt flounced around her calves as she danced around the stage.
Why do I keep running from the truth?
All I ever think about is you!
Troy took over, thinking that the words he sang expressed perfectly what he had been dying to say to her ever since he'd first laid eyes on her, his sophomore year.
You've got me hypnotized,
So mesmerized,
And I just got to know
Gabriella and Troy grinned as their fellow Wildcats, all except for Sharpay, had begun clapping to the beat.
Do you ever think, when you're all alone,
All that we could be,
Where this thing could go?
Am I crazy or fallin' in love?
Is this real or just another crush?
To you cut your breath, when I look at you?
Are you holdin' back, like the way I do?
'Cause I've tried and tried to walk away,
But I know this crush ain't going away.
Going away.
Going away.
Going away.
"Bravo! Bravo!" Ms. Darbus shouted, clapping wildly. "We've found our lead!"
Troy simply smiled, unable to find the heart to refuse Ms. Darbus's offer. Instead, he found Gabriella's shaking hand, wrapping his own around it. The duo bowed, basking in the endless applause.
"But… Ms. Darbus!" Sharpay protested lamely. "He isn't even in the drama club! This… this decision is… unacceptable… I say we vote on it!"
"Very well," Ms. Darbus nodded. "All those in favor of making Troy Bolton our leading man say 'I'."
"I," Jenna Watsford, a senior, motioned.
"I," Gabriella repeated.
"I," the rest of the drama department shouted, cheering loudly.
Troy blushed. "I guess I'm in, then."
Gabriella squealed, throwing her arms around his neck in a warm embrace. This did not go unnoticed by Sharpay. "Get your hands off of him, you wretch!" she screamed, shoving her backward, dropping the polite façade altogether.
"Sharpay!" Troy shouted, holding her back from Gabriella. "What's wrong with you? She didn't do anything to you!"
"Oh, didn't she?" she squealed, stomping her sequined, pink stilettos on the carpeted theater floor. "She just practically convinced her love for you up there, and you're not doing a thing about it, Troy! You're my boyfriend!"
"She's a junior," Troy rebutted, unthinking.
Gabriella frowned, tears forming in her widened eyes. "I knew it. I'm just your best friend's little sister. Is that it, Troy?" she sobbed, leaving without giving him a chance to answer.
"Gabby, I… you… it's just… Thanks a lot, Sharpay. You're the best," he said sarcastically. "This isn't working for me anymore. We need to break up."
"B-but, Troy!" she begged, her bottom lip poking out. "We were a shoo in for prom king and queen! You can't do this to me!"
"That's all I'll ever be to you, Sharpay!" he shouted, earning a few curious glances from his new fellow drama students. "I'm just a prize to you! You had all you wanted for a while, and now you've ruined it. You've ruined my friendship with Gabriella, and now you've ruined our relationship. I've had enough of this!"
"Troy!" she called uselessly, trying to stall him as he sprinted out into the hallway, toward Gabriella, she was sure. Sharpay sulked. She was going to ruin Gabriella Montez if it killed her.
A/N: What did I tell you? That chapter was sooo longer than the last one. So we should get like… 30 % more reviews, right? Right. So get to it. lol. And again, I apologized if you have something against that song. But I thought it fit into the purpose of this chapter. Oh, and one more thing, REVIEW!