She's with the band
Chapter One
There she goes again,
Pulsing through my veins
- There she goes, Sixpence None the Richer
Before last week, he could pretend that he had no recollection of who Gabriella Montez was.
"Hey, Troy, watch out!"
Before, he would have associated her with dying monkeys and the plague. That's how unhygienic she was.
The football goes whirling through the air, right at him. Thunk.
Now, all he can think about when he sees her, even when he hears her name, is that he wants to ask her out.
"Dude, are you okay?" Chad waves a hand over his face. The sun glares behind him.
Troy groans, rubbing the back of his head.
"That is not a face I want to see this early in the morning."
"I know right – Jason, Troy agrees with me! Your face sucks!"
He wishes he was holding a hammer at that moment and that his license to kill was valid.
Jason rolls his eyes.
"Just leave me alone," Troy mutters, forcing himself up. Chad snatches up the football and throws it to Ryan, who's at least forty metres away. It nearly hits his sister, Sharpay, who's scantily clad in a translucent top that bares the bikini top beneath, and shorts that imitate panties. She laughs daintily at guys who stare.
"Troysie," she coos, wrapping an arm smoothly around his neck and pressing up against him.
"Hi Sharpay," he greets feebly.
"So, you coming to Jackson's party tonight?" she asks, running her fingers through his hair. "I'll be there," she adds, glancing up at him from behind fake eyelashes.
He clears his throat, which is hard to do with her practically unzipping his jeans.
"Uh, I've got... band practice," he mutters. Her hands wander around his waist.
Sharpay does that pout that makes her thighs look fat (but she doesn't know that) and leans up to whisper in his ears. "Too bad. I had... plans for us. Involving a bed" – her free hand drops onto his shoulder at that moment – "No lights. And no clothes."
She watches his Adam's apple bounce, grinning.
"Too bad," Troy manages, unimpressed.
"I'll see you some other night then." She uncoils herself with a snake's grace and struts off. He lets out a sigh.
She mistakes it for uncontained glee.
Troy shakes his head, running his hands through his hair to rid himself of her dead skin cells. His eyes wander to his friends playing football and that's when his breath halts. He makes headway for Chad.
She notices him coming almost as soon as he notices her with Chad.
"You look more basketball than football."
Mentally, she rolls her eyes as he flexes his muscles. "I play both."
He's failing to impress her, but he doesn't know it.
"Cool. My sport is guitar."
"Yeah, well, I breathe guitar," Chad presses.
"Really? I breathe oxygen."
Troy slaps a hand onto Chad's shoulder, hiding clenched teeth behind a smile that doesn't reach his eyes. "Hey – what's going on here?"
She thinks, can he be any more obvious?
Well, he was always like that. And she used to be naive.
Chad is hyperventilating. "I don't know – she says she loves guitar but doesn't breathe it! What's wrong with her?"
"What's right with you?" the 'her' in question shoots back.
Troy lets out breath through his mouth. "Why don't you take a break under that tree, Chad? The shade clears minds like an eraser."
Chad dashes off happily to a tree a mile and a half away.
"I'm not talking to you, you know." She turns around and walks away. He runs after her.
"You just did," he points out.
When she doesn't speak for a few more moments, he decides he needs divine intervention.
"What are you – doing?" she gasps, stumbling backwards as he kisses the side of her mouth. Really, he was aiming for everything but she turned at the last second.
"Did it hurt when you fell from heaven?"
He tries again, praying to get it right; she breaks free of his grasp and slaps him. His head snaps to the right comically.
"What the hell?" She tries to slap him again but he's ready for it. He brings her captured hand to his chest.
"That was an act of God." He hopes his growl is husky and sexy enough.
Her eyes are so wild that he feels a kick in his leg. Or maybe that was just her foot.
"Yeah, well, that was an act of God too," she spits. Silently, though, she thinks his heart beat beneath her palm is making her world rock.
"Why do you hate me so much?" The words spill from his lips like forgotten wine and he can't take the words back. He wishes Chad would tackle him from behind now.
She tries to get an elbow into his abdomen but he switches tactic, dragging her to the ground. She lets out a quiet 'oof' as 180 pounds of drum boy lands on her.
Secretly, he doesn't want her going for his nuts next. Unless they're on a bed.
"Do you really have to ask that question?" she groans, teeth glued to one another. "Isn't it obvious?"
He can feel the contour of her hips under his stomach. If he were a dog, he'd be wagging his tail.
"We were young back then," he insists. She manages to jam her knee into his shin. He sucks in a tight breath, the sound of it delighting her.
"Yeah, and stupid. I should have known you were going to let me down."
She notes, with surprise, that his voice breaks when he speaks next. She convinces herself it's all an act.
"Yeah, I'm sorry... about that."
"You should be." She lifts her chin in defiance. She looks like a fallen angel.
"I don't... think that way anymore." Troy ploughs on into unknown territory. "I want to ask you out right now."
Wrong words, he thinks, as she wrestles a hand out from his grasp and socks him.
"Jerk!"
"A handsome jerk though," he amends, rubbing his jaw.
She can't help it; a giggle slips out. Admonished, she lets out a slew of words that would make a mother faint.
"You only want to because I look nothing like I did four years back." Her face crumples for a second. She wears the same look she had on when her mother died.
"Not true," he tries, even though they both know he's lying.
"Just stop screwing me over, okay Troy? You've screwed me enough already." She comes back with renewed anger.
He switches topics, asking her if she's going to the party Jackson's throwing.
"Why, so we can get a room and drink each other's spit?" she snaps.
She takes the bright red flush on his cheeks as confirmation. "Bastard," she mutters under her breath.
A raven caws as it flies overheard. She sighs, trying to wriggle out of his grip. He's steadfast.
"Get off me," she snarls. Pleading would be too pathetic.
"It was cheesy, wasn't it?"
"What was? Everything you've been doing since you saw me again has been downright annoying." She hopes he hurts as much as she does.
"Did it hurt when you fell from heaven?" he repeats. "Cheesy right?" He cracks a grin.
She rolls her eyes. "How cliché. You have as much charm as a starfish."
"Funny. Did you know starfish don't have brains?"
"Perfectly describes you," she points out in a clipped tone.
"Give me another shot."
He holds her gaze till she looks away.
"I can't."
Chad pinches Troy as he watches her walk away. "Knock knock."
"Who's there?" Troy asks tiredly.
"No one!" Chad yells brightly, knocking Troy's forehead for emphasis. "No one's home!"
"Great one Chad." Jason shares a withering look with Troy.
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a/n: i didn't realise how bloody short this was until i uploaded it. huh.