Troy Bolton and Taylor Mckessie are just two ordinary teenagers who have unseen potential. But when that potential is tapped into and their inhibitions run free what will happen?
A big thank you to everyone who reviewed and enjoyed the last chapter, and also to those who alerted and favourited. It is much appreciated. Here's chapter two. Hope you enjoy!
*
The next morning Taylor woke up to the New Mexico heat and wondered what she was going to do with her day. Rubbing her eyes she sat back on her bed, her head resting against the dashboard. She thought of all the places she fancied going that day; places she could go, probably by herself, without drawing much attention to the fact that she would be alone.
She contemplated just hanging out at the beach for most of the day. She could deck out by the cool ocean front and really delve into her novel. Maybe even get an ice-cream sundae. Tempting, she admitted thoughtfully.
She was stuck at that. It seemed the safest and most presumptuous option but Taylor knew she wanted something more diverse… a little more adventurous. Trying really hard, she thought about all the places in Albuquerque that she used to want to visit but never really got to. Just then a picture of Albuquerque's only aquarium popped into her mind. It was worth a shot and whilst it was on the other side of town, she could easily just drive down there.
Truthfully, Taylor disliked the idea of going down to the aquarium by herself; it would be no fun without company and everybody else there would belong to some sort of tourist crowd or family group. Reaching across the nightstand for her phone, she slowly scrolled down her contact list until she reached Troy's name. Lingering there for a while, Taylor rationalised whether it would be worth calling him.
He did say we could definitely hang out again didn't he?, she thought to herself, trying to reflect back on Troy's words.
Before Taylor could talk herself out of it, she dialled the basketball star's number and waited patiently for it to ring. If he didn't pick up she would just forget it. Luckily, Troy answered on the fourth ring.
"Hello?" his deep voice resounded.
Taylor hesitated, wondering what she was going to say. "Hi Troy, it's me Taylor. Morning." Taylor waited for his response. What would he say? She could hear a noise that resembled Troy attempting to sit up.
"Oh, hey Taylor. Wasn't expecting to hear from you this soon" he confessed. He was certainly surprised to hear from the einsteinette.
Taylor relaxed a little. "Yeah I know. But for once I thought I'd try calling you for a reason other than trying to get a hold of Gabriella" she joked.
"This time in the morning?"
Taylor glanced warily at her alarm clock and immediately tensed up. 6:00 am. She had completely forgotten the time.
"Oh my God, Troy I'm so sorry. I honestly forgot the time, I hope I didn't wake you up" she rambled on quickly. "It's just that sometimes I usually go running around this time…"
"Taylor, lighten up. It's fine, I was already up. I was just pulling your leg," Troy cut across.
Taylor couldn't help but pout over the phone. "Not funny. So why are you up?"
"Same reason as you really. Early morning run", was his quick response.
Taylor slowly nodded her head and silently wondered whether it was Troy whom she had spotted coming out of the park yesterday. An awkward silence lapsed over the phone. Troy cleared his throat.
Taylor took his gesture as a sign to re-address why she had called him in the first place. "Anyway, I was just calling to find out what you were doing today?"
"Nothing really, why?"
"Well, I was just wondering whether you'd like to go to The Deep later on today."
"The aquarium? Sure, why not."
"Great. So I'll text you in a few hours to let you know what time to get there and everything. "
"Fine with me", he replied coolly.
"Ok, bye."
"Bye".
Taylor hung up the phone. She was pretty satisfied with Troy's response. It wasn't as if he had openly refuted it or sounded put off by the idea. If anything he had just embraced it and gone with the flow. Excitement flowed through her body as she realised she would finally get to visit the place of her choice. It was going to be a good day.
*
Driving to The Deep had been much easier than Taylor had anticipated. She had arrived about five minutes ago and was now standing outside waiting for Troy. Leaning against her lime green mini she observed for any signs of his mucky blue truck and spotted it in the distance making its way down the winding road to the car park. She watched as he parked perfectly into an empty bay a few rows away before stepping out and heading towards her.
This was the first time Taylor noticed how much Troy walked with a natural air of confidence and purpose. His blue eyes illuminated his face and tufts of his hair swayed in the slight breeze.
"Hey Taylor", he greeted smiling.
"Hey Troy. Had a nice day?" Taylor replied smiling back. She was glad to see he didn't look as uncomfortable as yesterday.
"Yeah thanks. You? Nice car by the way" he complimented motioning to her car.
"Thanks, graduation present from my dad."
"It's nice. The colour really suits you."
"Thanks", Taylor gushed. "Your car's cool too. I always felt trucks had a certain character to them."
Troy chuckled to her surprise. "That old thing?" he said pointing in the direction of his truck. "It doesn't get very far sometimes. I'm saving for something way better. Let's just say Chad's very relieved; that's for sure."
The pair started to walk to the aquarium entrance.
"Yeah, Chad's informed me of the many times he's had to help you push it home. It's so funny when that boy's annoyed" Taylor spoke fondly of her boyfriend.
Now this is more like it, Troy thought as he held the door open for Taylor. They had stuff to relate to now.
"Thanks", Taylor mumbled walking inside the highly decorated foyer. Troy seemed to be making her say that word a lot. In fact she was all too surprised that he had opened the door for her in the first place. Gabriella constantly boasted of Troy's chivalry and she had commended it, but experiencing it for herself? Now she knew exactly what her best friend was referring too.
The two immediately bought their tickets and headed into the depths of the aquarium, with Taylor walking excitedly ahead.
2 hours later……
Taylor was in love.
The aquarium was officially one of her new favourite places. She never knew aqua-marine animals could be such an attractive group of living things. Everything from the tropical multicoloured fish, which came in all shapes and sizes to the fascinating looking sharks, tickled her fancy. She had thoroughly enjoyed the huge sashay of jellyfish and even managed to spot an electric eel. Learning about their environmental adaptations and behavioural characteristics really stimulated her mind and at one point she had forgotten that Troy had accompanied her.
"…and that's why the sting of certain subspecies of jellyfish can be highly toxic", the tour rep precisely informed the eager crowd. "Any questions?"
Taylor and Troy were now in the final leg of an educational tour. Standing in front of a huge tank, Taylor peered through the glass at a gorgeous looking seahorse. Troy who was standing next to her followed her gaze to where the seahorse lay afloat.
"Did you know that male seahorses are the ones that conceive and not the female ones?" he spoke softly, eyes fixed on the creature.
No she had not known that.
Troy continued. "Their ability to reproduce in this way is what makes them so unique. Kind of like they stand out from the crowd and do something different."
Taylor turned to him. "I'm officially impressed", she stated truthfully. "I would've never had you down as a seahorse expert!"
"Well not all jocks are idiots."
The moment he said it Taylor instantly regretted not biting her tongue. She had not meant to offend him again. Why would she when everything was going so well up until this point. Troy broke the short silence.
"I know", he stated knowingly trying to lighten the mood. "You're just being Taylor. That's another thing I do know."
"Well for the second time in two days I apologise Troy," she genuinely said.
Troy seized the opportunity. "Look, about yesterday Taylor, I honestly have no idea where that came from, so you really have nothing to apologise for. Let's just put it behind us and focus on getting to know one another better, ok?"
Taylor contemplated this for a second before smiling. "No, better than ok", she concluded.
"Excellent! Now let's go eat because you know what, I could actually eat a horse right about now. No pun intended of course", Troy joked making Taylor giggle.
"Well…who can resist pun?" the einsteinette replied causing them both to fall about laughing for the first time that day.
*
The pair were now lounging around outside the aquarium cafe.
"So what do you want to know Miss Mckessie?" Troy asked looking at Taylor.
"Everything to be honest", she shrugged.
To Troy, time spent at The Deep felt much longer than it really was. He had actually thoroughly enjoyed his day and whilst he would never have imagined visiting the old aquarium, especially with Taylor, he certainly wouldn't mind visiting the tourist attraction again.
"Oh c'mon, you can do better than that Taylor. Where are the specifics?" Troy teased sipping on his milkshake.
Taylor swirled her straw around her own milkshake, pondering. "Alright. What I'd most like to know is how you knew basketball would become your livelihood and whether you feel theatre could ever fully compete", she asserted cocking her head to one side.
Troy did not hesitate to answer. "Well for the exactly the same reason you knew learning and academia were yours. For me, nothing seemed to beat the feeling of seeing a basketball shoot through a hoop. Nothing could even top the feeling of being part of a team who will stand by each other, win or lose. It's an awesome feeling." Taylor nodded in understanding.
"And what about theatre?"
"Well, the difference between basketball and theatre is that whilst I grew up loving basketball, my interest in theatre only grew with time. I guess many factors played a role there" he spoke softly, looking into the distance. "Mrs. Darbus realising my potential, overcoming my own fears and doubts about my identity, getting the approval of the people I care most about…meeting Gabriella for the first time……"
"Double majoring in both made a whole heap of sense to me," he revealed.
"Of course. So you're going to USC in the fall aren't you? Or was it UCLA?" Taylor asked unsure.
"I applied to both actually. My decision about college was based mainly on my desire to follow my dreams and, as you probably know, being able to remain close to Gabriella at the same time." Taylor nodded knowingly, thinking back to the drama that had ensued between Troy and Gabriella prior to prom.
"But I picked UCLA," he finished.
"Me too!" Taylor exclaimed, eyes wide.
"Really?" Troy asked genuinely surprised. "I thought you had your heart set on Yale? Wait, that's my question to you. What made you decide to pick UCLA over Yale?"
Like Troy earlier Taylor failed to hesitate. "Well, not only does UCLA rank higher for the course I'm doing but the course there is also more favourable for me."
"And which course is that?"
"Dentistry," she replied with quiet determination looking at Troy. "It's been my life long aspiration. Whilst Yale is a top ranking institute and I didn't struggle to get in, at the last minute I realised that my heart was more set on going to UCLA. Even a fool could see that the course there was more integrated, and I saw that it would give me excellent pre-clinical exposure, which is really what produces the best dentists…So I immediately fell in love with UCLA."
"Oh yeah, congratulations on getting that scholarship by the way. You deserved it. But yes, I do understand where you're coming from," Troy input quietly, noting the sparkle in Taylor's brown eyes.
"Thanks. Well you should considering the fact that you are renowned to step out of your box and follow your heart when it matters," Taylor said matter-of-factly.
"Err, thanks."
He was surprised at the compliment. But Taylor wasn't done.
"That was something I always admired about you. Even when things went wrong you challenged the circumstances."
"I-"
"And my God, the way you used your influence at East High was anything but unimpressive. It had quite a profound positive effect on the student body including myself. So I guess what I'm trying to say is thank you and well done."
Troy really did not know where the compliments were pouring from. The atmosphere between them now was anything but awkward. It was…...to be honest he didn't know what it was; all he knew was that he felt confused.
On the other hand, Taylor was in the same position of confusion. She had only meant to state her mind but she could sense it was taking them places neither really knew anything of.
Troy realising that for now they needed to refrain from asking each other any further questions decided to steer things to a close. Finishing off the last of his milkshake he scraped his chair back.
"Thanks. I'm sure you'll shine at UCLA. To be honest it would be good to have another wildcat there with me. Anyway, another milkshake?"
