Disclaimer: I don't own HSM or Savage Garden. BTW, the "The Bad Touch" lyrics belong to the Bloodhound Gang. Thanks for reading! :-)

"Cause I want to live like animals,
Careless and free,
I want to run through the jungle,
With the wind in my hair,
and sand at my feet.
I've been having difficulties keeping to myself,
feelings and emotions better left up on the shelf."

The Animal Song, Savage Garden.

Funny like he always considered himself a reasonable man; he understood things easily, related to it, agreed or not to it. A man was born to use his intelligence, not to act on his senses and lose track of what he was doing, how to react or the control of his emotions. That was really what contrasted people from animals, because apart from that, they were both only emotion and passion, with good and bad instincts. Humans can think, re-think, analyze before doing something. Animals act according to what they feel - hunger, fear, pleasure. He loathed people that didn't use their brains; what was it about thinking with your heart? with hormones? For Troy Bolton, those excuses didn't exist.

But we're constantly proved wrong and shit really hits the fan sometimes.

That unique Friday, Troy Bolton had woken up feeling tired, as though he had been running the whole night. He had this strange sensation that he was partially removed from his actions; his senses were so acute to the point that it surprised him to actually hear perfectly his mother murmuring downstairs in the kitchen while she fixed pancakes for breakfast. He could never hear his mother in the morning, because he believed he suffered from slow brain as he woke up, it was impossible to think properly - another reason why, for him, it was essential to have a routine to follow. Although he knew that what was going on with him was weird, as he came out from the bathroom, he concentrated. His breathing sounded incredibly detailed, as if he could hear the air being inhaled and exhaled, how it traveled inside his body, slowly and constantly. When he ate his mom's pancakes, food had never tasted better. It was like he found himself in a new body.

The entire morning felt like it was all a dream, he walked around as though he was a new Troy and observed people he was used to seeing with different eyes. As if he was an animal, like his body was controlled by his emotions, not his brain. Troy wondered if that was the feeling people had when they were on drugs. He pondered if this strange sensation that was overcoming his body was Gabriella's fault, because the night before she had screwed up his routine when she didn't go to the game. He could only remember his motto of clinging to his routine when everything else was in crisis. It kept him sane after all. That was why it existed.

Coincidentally, as he went to lunch that day, Zeke was talking about his recent addiction to Discovery Channel. The dark skinned teenager was nodding his head enthusiastically, gesticulating excitedly as he told his friends all about the Magnificent Lion, the king of beasts.

"That's what I like the most about animals," he confided, chewing on a piece of bread at the same time he spoke, "They're basic. They pee, eat, sleep. If they feel threatened, they attack. If they don't, they just relax all afternoon, look around and eat bugs."

"Lions don't eat bugs, Zeke." Jason chimed in, shaking his head at his friend's stupidity, "Frogs eat bugs."

"Well, mosquitoes or something," he rolled his eyes, waving his friend off as though what he was saying made no sense, "There are lots in the jungle."

"Idiot," Chad coughed playfully, used to Zeke's way of thinking already. The oldest of them all could memorize thousand of recipes in French, Spanish and Italian, but couldn't even remember about a lion's diet. Priceless.

Jason shook his head one more time, his expression patient, "Lions are carnivores, Zeke. They eat meat."

"Whatever." Zeke argued, "My point is, we should act like animals too. Everything would be so easy. Drama free, you know?" he turned his head around, staring at the chestnut haired teenager that had just joined the table, "Don't you think, Troy?"

Troy almost laughed at the conversation; today, when he felt so weird, they were talking about acting like animals. He thought about the encyclopedias his mother had back home and the countless times she had read to him about the lion and its acute senses of hearing and smell. The way they visualized their prey and hunted it, almost like he did with something he wanted, something he saw as a target.

Talk about Discovery Channel, he mused as his nostrils captured her exquisite scent. Troy would never understand how his brain could memorize, track her sense and react so powerfully to it. It didn't work with Kelsi and that really bugged him because after six months dating the girl, he yet had difficulty to localize her in the midst of a crowd. But Gabriella... it was as if he could smell her scent from miles away, as though he was one of the lions Zeke was talking about and she was his prey.

Ever since Jason introduced Gabriella as his girlfriend to the gang, he found her scent penetrating. It was a mixture of spicy and sweet, mysterious and provocative. Like wild strawberry, but better. Passionate and hot like a volcano, like her taste. Kelsi was calmer, serene, like a lake. Only recently he had realized Gabriella was a volcano erupting, spreading a lake of fire from inside the earth.

"And I am tormented in this flames" Troy thought to himself, feeling the usual flutter in his stomach at the sight of her buying her lunch. Ignore the feeling, he ordered himself, knowing he was a man, and man were made to think and to control whatever weird sensation that was coming from inside.

Ignore her, he commanded his brain, forcing his eyes to move away from her and focus on something else. But she's so hot, came a response from his hormones and automatically he glanced at her again.

As Troy looked at her, he couldn't help but feel envy traveling up his body and consuming his senses. Standing there in the center of the cafeteria was a girl so beautiful that could turn a man's world upside down. And that perfection already had an owner. He only looked at Jason for a second, afraid he'd punch his friend on the jaw for being a lucky bastard. Troy observed her again, so pretty and awesome, actually, too pretty and awesome for Jason, this insecure dude that cracked his knuckles nervously all the time. He wasn't even attractive, he mused shaking his head slightly. Why was she so in love with him? Damn, he's only your best friend. A great dude, Troy, his mind alerted and a red light flashed in front of his eyes, screaming danger over and over again.

"I'm also a great dude," he argued helplessly, admiring how she brushed her bangs from her eyes the most seductive way possible. Troy almost drooled when Gabriella licked her bottom lip slowly after drinking water. Your best friend, his mind reminded him. Someone that would die for you.

Ah, fuck off, he shushed himself. He was seventeen years old and had been acting perfectly all his life. He would only flirt a little bit, nothing wrong with it. After all, everything's fair in love and war, he lied to himself, make it lust and war, correcting himself he almost had to laugh at his behavior. What a great friend he was!

"Don't you think, captain?" Zeke asked again, his eyebrows rose as he waited for his reply.

"Sure," Troy agreed, nodding his head as enthusiastically as Zeke had done before. "Let's start lifting our legs and marking our territory. Principal Matsui will like it a lot."

"You and me baby, ain't nothing but mammals," Chad sang out loud, Zeke clapping like a three year old watching Barney and Friends, "So let's do it like they do on the Discovery Channel."

Troy rolled his eyes, standing up and collecting his empty tray from the table, "I'm gonna go talk to Gabs," at the mention of his girlfriend's nickname, Jason looked up from his fries to his friend, "I kinda wanna buy something for Kels," he lied shamelessly, "She's a girl after all," he added rapidly, "She will know what to buy, right?"

They all nodded and shared fist-bumps, "Hey, man, tell Gabriella I miss her," Jason asked and Troy nodded automatically, "You bet I will, my friend."

There were lots of groups that sat together during lunch, the most famous of them all were the jocks, obviously, commanded by Troy and his friends. Like the male gang, there was a female group too and they all hung out together. They were known as the basketball players' girlfriends, and were as popular as the cheerleaders even though none of the girls were from the cheer team. Kelsi was a great pianist and usually composed songs for the school's musicals. Taylor McKessie was Chad's girlfriend and the president of the science club. Sharpay Evans, Zeke's girl, was a drama queen and Troy wasn't really into her. Gabriella was in the swim team and that meant, as his hormones had stated before, great body.

He felt like a wild animal again, watching from afar, ready to attack a prey that was all by itself, completely helpless. As he walked towards her table, Troy felt the adrenaline rush inside his body, the palm of his hands wet with anxiety, the mad beat of his heart, loud and fast, as though he was a lion ready to jump on a zebra. Now that he was closer to her, scanning her figure appreciatively, how cute she looked with her hair up in a messy bun, how distracted she looked as she ate, his sight became sharper.

Seeing how the muscles of the back of her neck moved constantly as she bent down to bite on her sandwich, Troy couldn't help but think what a delicious meal she'd be. Not literally, obviously. He walked slowly, making his best to control his respiration and don't make any sort of noise so she wouldn't turn around and see him; Troy bent down, his hands cupping his powerful knees, his lips just a whisper from her ear. He held his breath, smirked to himself and nuzzled her neck.

"Grrrr"

It shouldn't be, but it was ridiculously funny to watch Gabriella jump in her seat, her sandwich flying from her hands and the bottle of water rolling over the table. Troy chuckled as he captured the bottle before it fell to the ground and sat beside her. Gabriella had her hand on her chest and she breathed heavily, as though she was having an asthma attack. Damn, she was cute. "What... the... heck... was... that, Bolton!"

"I'm a lion," Troy stated calmly, placing her bottle of water on top of the table again. He turned around, in a way that made his knees touch the side of her leg. He ignored the shockwave that ran through his body and grinned, "We're playing animals today."

Gabriella looked calmer and a faint color of pink was coming back to her cheeks, "Uh?"

"Ask your boyfriend later." Troy drummed his fingertips against the wooden table, "So, why weren't you at the game? I won it for you."

"Cut it out, Troy."

Troy brushed his fingertips against the back of her hand rapidly, "Really. Where were you?"

"Why are you here by yourself?" Gabriella ignored him again, "I don't remember us hanging out often. Not by ourselves."

"Maybe we should start hanging out more often, then." He offered and raised his eyebrows, "Your turn to answer my question. Where were you?"

Gabriella took her time to take a bite off the sandwich and chew it. As she swallowed, she brushed her bangs of her eyes again and shrugged, "I had too much homework."

"Mm hm," Troy nodded his head in disbelief, "And you couldn't see your boyfriend playing and do homework later?"

"I don't think Jason cares," she mumbled, looking over her shoulder to the table where Jason was talking to his friends, "He said it was fine."

"But I care. If I win a game, it's because of you. You should be there."

She blushed a dark tone of red, "Shut up. Don't even mention it."

He shook his head and touched his index finger to the back of her hand. Gabriella pulled her hand back to the safety of her lap. "So, tell me something Gabs. Do you think we should act like animals?"

She frowned and stared at him. "You're cute when you're confused," Troy grinned and continued, "So, should people act on their emotions?"

Gabriella bit on her bottom lip to think of a good answer. What did she usually do? She was completely directed towards emotion or wasn't she? Pondering at this thought, she rested her chin above her palm. Take your relationship for example, she suggested to herself. Gabriella had been the one trying to seduce Jason for a couple of months before she kissed him at the gym. She sometimes yelled, whined, cried when in the midst of an argument, but she also laughed, talked, smiled a lot. She felt anger, disgust, sadness sometimes, but also joy, trust, contempt.

"Yeah, you should. When you think too much before you do anything or say anything, it's not natural. You have to do whatever you feel like doing, always."

Her response made Troy smirk, "Great answer, gorgeous."

He stood up, brushed his thumb over her cheekbone. Without noticing, she leaned her face into his palm and her eyes fluttered closed for only a second. Troy had made up his mind; if she thought it was better to be natural, he'd be natural. Call him a horrible friend, but he'd do whatever he felt like doing... starting now.

Gabriella Montez has always had problems to sleep. According to her mother, she was a baby that wouldn't sleep longer than four hours a night, but was pleased to stay in her crib playing with her bear while her parents rested. She could easily remember pacing around the house in the still of the night, her most precious Barbie doll and her favorite bear keeping her company. She used to tip-toe on her way to the kitchen, afraid to wake up her parents and be sent back to bed. Gabriella had fun drinking cold milk and eating chocolate chip cookies that she firmly blamed her dog for the next morning, since the poor lad couldn't defend himself. She had spent several nights sitting on the living room floor, coloring her books, the television's volume low on her preferred cartoon, her belly full, mind relaxed.

She never cared she couldn't sleep much, she actually liked it. Her mother used to say she was too energetic and that her batteries were super powerful that she didn't need to recharge to be on her feet again. Because of that, when she was five years old she was convinced she was Wonder Woman, but when she broke her arm trying to jump from the top of the stairs to see if she could fly, Gabriella got traumatized and never believed in superheroes again.

Til these days, insomnia was a huge part of her life. She had tried everything to get rid of it, but apparently, her mind thought best in the middle of the night, and she would have to get used to it. So Gabriella spend lots of nights on her balcony, observing the street, waiting for exhaustion to overcome her body. That basically meant she thought a lot and in her recent situation, this wasn't such a good idea.

It was the first week of December and even if the night was cold and the wind blew gelid around her, she only braced herself, pulling up the zipper of her winter jacket that she had put over her pajamas. She sighed, bending over to rest her elbows on her balcony's edge like she did at least twice a week. She was alone, her room silent, her dog sleeping peacefully curled around her foot. Her fingertips caressed the wooden edge with awkward nostalgia, thinking of the last time they stood there together, wrapped against each other, staring at the moon, giggling like little children. She closed her eyes and the image of him playing knight, throwing pebbles at her window invaded her mind. She loved the way the corner of his lips curved and his smile reached his eyes when he saw her on the balcony. She adored when he blew kisses at her, those gorgeous brown eyes shining with pleasure.

She rubbed her hands together, ignoring the temperature of her body. She breathed deeply through her mouth, the ache from the coldness making her lungs protest with every new breath she took. Gabriella ran her tongue lazily over her dry bottom lip as she observed the white fog creeping from the cold over the sea of houses. She tried hard to block thinking about it, but it was stronger than her. Her mind always took her back to what was making her lose sleep nowadays. It always traveled back to her mistakes.

It all started with Jason. Between silly fights and whispered promises, things had changed drastically in her heart. What was supposed to be a smooth relationship, where two people that had much in common decided that hanging out was fun, her innocent feelings became powerful and scary, her warm and docile body burned in long, warm flames and her soft beating heart adopted a constant, almost hurting anxious beat. It was the first time for her, but she recognized all the symptoms she had heard so much about. Gabriella was in love, completely and utterly in love, head-over-heels, on-her-knees kind of love. Unlike the sensations she was used to experiencing in regards to being with someone, the feeling was always very clear and rational. Loneliness and lust, all combined in one sense that was enough to calm her body, but never her eager soul.

When Gabriella Montez met him, it changed, it clicked. It was as if all the missing pieces of a puzzle connected together. She was complete and satisfied, ready to spend the rest of her life loving who he was and what he represented to her. Jason Cross was cute in his own way, smart, sweet and athletic. He had his flaws, obviously, but she didn't focus on it. In her opinion, he was everything she had hoped for and she was convinced they were meant for each other. Jason was everything she could want in a boyfriend; he was supportive, he always had her back, he believed in her. He definitely didn't deserve the things she did to him.

"You are a bad, bad girlfriend," she reprehended herself, as though she could be trained like the pup sleeping around her foot. Thinking coherently, she'd give anything in her possession to rewind time and do things differently. Moments that if she had back, she'd not spend planning a stupid seduction party in the gym's locker room before that game. But she had been searching incessantly for ways to bring her boyfriend good luck, so he could win a game because it mattered so much to him. Gabriella had consulted all of her friends about it, and they all suggested that she should kiss him good luck, because when a couple was in love, this feeling would be so powerful that it would overcome anything. So why wouldn't it overcome bad luck? And it did, after the kiss, the Wildcats started winning games, but she had kissed the wrong boy, and all the luck that was supposed to be Jason's, was now Troy's. How could it be possible that what she hoped for her boyfriend to go to Troy, even though they weren't friends, lovers, meant to be? Her luck should have gone to the one she was bonded with. According to everybody, it only worked when both people were in love. Then why Troy?

It was her only fault, she was certain of it. But also Troy's, because he now really believed that she was some kind of lucky charm. What a silly man he was. Since she started high school at East High, she had heard about the Bolton boy and his freaky way of doing things. Everybody knew Troy had weird rituals before doing everything, but what would be so teased if it were part of an ordinary student's life, was thought about as super cool, just because it came from the school's basketball captain Troy Bolton. Every single person now tried to develop some sort of odd ritual, just to be like Bolton.

Gabriella felt like she carried the weight of the world on her shoulders everyday as she walked around East High School to spot posters with the team pictures, students showing their school spirit in shirts and sweaters. As much as she wanted to end up with that bullshit of being a lucky charm to Troy Bolton and well, stop cheating on her boyfriend, she couldn't help but think what if the ritual was really necessary? What would happen if Troy skipped one step of it? Would they end up losing games all over again? Would she have to see Jason's frustrated expression everyday as he walked into school? She couldn't bear seeing Jason suffer and also, she couldn't accept being the one to disappoint the whole school. Gosh, it was so hard being her right now.

On the other hand, it was only superstition anyway. Maybe it was something fabricated only in Troy's mind. Maybe nothing would happen if they got rid of the ritual. She wished she could talk about this with someone, about the kiss, the game, her relationship with Jason. She had friends, but she knew it wouldn't be a good idea to go talk to Sharpay about it, because she had a big mouth and couldn't keep secrets. Taylor would be so disappointed about it all, she liked Jason so much. And Kelsi...

She hated betraying her friend. She hated betraying her boyfriend. This time she had a bad feeling about the whole situation. An annoying, scary and oh-so-loud voice inside her yelled that she was in serious trouble. Gabriella swallowed and rubbed a hand across her face, knowing that that wasn't what she should be thinking about. The tight chest was only making it hard to breathe, her eyes ached, filled with tears at the thought of losing her boyfriend and friend Kelsi one day because of a stupid mistake. She was tired, so very tired of living a double life.

Gabriella squeezed her eyes shut and took a deep breath. She needed to calm down and sleep. In the morning, she would go and talk to the only person she could discuss the situation with. The one guy that caused all her problems.

Troy Bolton.

"Sometimes this life can get you down
It's so confusing,
There's so many rules to follow.
And I feel it,
'Cause I just run away in my mind"