A year later , I finally get around to updating this story. Sorry. This chapter was written in November 2007, and was last edited on 15th January 2008. I really love the idea behind this story, and after getting a message asking if I was gonna continue, I've decided to stop fretting over not being able to write anything for My Sliders, and work on this for a bit.

Since it's been a year since I last touched this, I can't remember everything I actually had planned for it. So rather than spend time trying to think what they were, I'm focusing on the three main topics that really drove the story from start to end.

Again, sorry for the year wait.

CHAPTER TWO

"We have some important rules here, Mister Bolton."

Cassandra Yates walked Troy Bolton through the halls of the Delia Derbyshire Centre. They passed many rooms, seemingly occupied by one person each.

Troy was paying attention to her voice, but not taking everything in yet.

His mother had left just a few minutes ago, after giving him a hug which he refused himself to respond to. If she was the one sticking him in this place, why should he bother to hug her goodbye. She'd as much as done that already last night, when she refused to listen to his claim that he was not gay.

Which was true.

Troy Bolton loved girls. He loved their fronts, their bottoms, and tops. Never had he thought that about a guy.

So he had given Ryan a quick kiss as a means of showing friendship after their performances were finally over. It hadn't meant anything. There certainly wasn't going to be another one. It was a friendly thing he had done as response to Gabriella's joke about Ryan not getting one after he had given both her and Sharpay a friendly kiss.

His parents were totally over-reacting.

"Rule number one, and the most important. You must never act on your homosexual tendencies."

Troy just blinked as she said it. What point was there in saying the same thing again? His mother didn't listen. His father wouldn't listen. Why would this stranger listen.

But he said it to himself anyway.

"I'm not gay."

"And just you keep saying that to yourself and you'll be off to a good start."

A few more rules were mentioned as they made their way to the room that would hold Troy. Things about not talking about gay-ness unless in session, no contact being allowed with the outside except on visiting days, and a few other ridiculous things that, in Troy's mind, made this place seem more like a prison than a reparative centre.

Or ex-gay centre as Troy was beginning to see it.

His room was tiny. A single bed, a small chest of drawers, a lone chair, and a laughably dirty yellow rug at the foot of the bed.

"Pack your things away, Mister Bolton. Dinner is served at 2pm, and after that, you will receive a copy of the shedules we have here." Miss Yates smiled an unwelcoming smile. "You will be expected to follow it and the rules to the letter. If you do, by the end of the treatment, you will be fully cured, and can go back to your normal life."

Miss Yates closed the door, leaving Troy standing next to the bed, bag still in his hand. He dropped it to the floor and sat on the bed.

"This place sucks." he said aloud.

The lunch hall was at the opposite end of the building to where Troy was. He half expected Miss Yates to return to his room to take him there. After unpacking, he'd stared out the closed window. Not much to look at. The garden of the centre was flowing with flowers, but to Troy, couldn't compare to the view from his own bedroom window.

A bell had rung at 2pm, obviously signalling dinner. Troy had left his room, amidst the other teenagers who also were heading to the lunch hall. He counted at least eight other people around his age in front of him, and at least six behind him, all treading the three or four corridors to the hall.

"You new here?" a shorter boy beside him asked as they were walking.

"Yeah, came in an hour ago." Troy replied, trying to look at the boy and the way he was going at the same time.

"I'm Bugs." the boy said, quietly saying in his head, 'he's cute'.

"Troy." came the reply. "How'd you get that name?"

The boy smiled in response.

"I used to keep bugs as pets. The name just stuck."

The hall wasn't as big as Troy had imagined. Just a bigger than average room, with six tables that Troy later found weren't all filled at the one time. Over in the corner opposite too where they had entered where three large vending machine-type items that held trayed food, which had been filled only ten minutes before.

"There's a couple of seats empty at our table." Bugs said taking a tray, watching Troy take another one.

"Thanks." Troy replied as he followed the boy to a table with two others at it.

Being introduced to Nancy and Devon, Troy took a seat opposite Bugs.

"So how old you Troy?" Nancy asked, picking at her food with a fork.

"17"

"Looks like you'll be in me and Bugs' group then. Poor Devon here's the only one of us not 17 yet."

Devon put on a face that clearly meant 'piss off', but two seconds later started laughing.

"Sorry, I can never hold facial expressions."

Troy took a bite out of a couple of chips.

"How long have you's been here?"

"Nearly a week." Bugs spoke before taking a swallow from a can. "Nance and Dev about four days. And him there," he pointed to the empty seat opposite Devon where a tray and can sat untouched, "he came in yesterday."

"But we've managed to convert him to the Scooby Gang." Devon called, a bit too loud.

Troy looked at Bugs, who just shrugged his shoulders.

"Not my idea."

Nancy looked over to the door and back to Devon again.

"where is he anyway? If Yatesy sees he's not here, he'll get in trouble."

"There he's now." said Devon.

Troy turned instinctively to see. His face sagged and he dropped the fork back onto the plate.

As the guy reached the table, Troy just stared.

"You have got to be kidding me." the guy said.

Troy shut his mouth as the guy sat down.

How could he be here? At the same place as him. At the same time. Spending the next few weeks in the same group as Ryan Evans... This was not going to go down well.