Castaways

A High School Musical Fanfiction

Chapter 2

Get Me to the Airport on Time

One week later...

"I'm not going!", Troy announced as he flopped backwards onto his bed.

"Please Troy, it won't be so bad", pleaded Gabriella, as she held up her fuchsia t-shirt.

Troy's t-shirt and 'pimp' hat were crumpled in the corner of his room where he threw them.

"Yes, it will. I'm not wearing that stuff. On the other hand ... it would be kinda nice to see you in that", indicating Gabi's t-shirt.

"I don't know how I'm going to get out of the house in this", she lamented, "my mom will kill me."

"I think you'll look great", Troy said as he wiggled his eyebrows over his sexy 'bedroom eyes'. "Try it on. Please...", he begged.

"I don't know, Troy, I'm not really comfortable with this."

"You're not really comfortable with a lot of stuff, Gabi."

Troy felt terrible as he saw Gabi's face fall and he immediately regretted what he had said.

"Oh God, Gabi, I'm so sorry. It's just ...", he said as he swept his fingers through his hair in a frustrated motion.

"I know, I know, I'm just ...", Gabi said nervously.

"I don't mean to pressure you", Troy continued, "really", he added, almost as an afterthought.

"I know ... I'm just not ready."

"I know and I understand, really, I do", he says as he envelops her in a hug. He closes his eyes tightly as he prays that he is telling her the truth.

:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:

One week later, i.e., the morning the flight leaves

"I look ridiculous", Troy said into his cell phone. He was angrily pacing back and forth across his bedroom floor while wearing the Evans Industries' fuchsia t-shirt.

"I'm sure you'll be fine; just put a button-up shirt on top of the t-shirt", Gabriella told him as she tried to unsuccessfully pull down her own 'T' to cover more of her stomach, all the while balancing her phone between her neck and ear.

"Okay, I'll try that. Hey, I guess I'll meet you at the airport later. Chad's going to be here soon."

"Chad, why's he coming by?"

"My parents are out of town for my great-grandma's 90th birthday, so Chad's going to take me to the airport."

"Then I'll see you later."

"Right, and I'm glad you decided to wear the shirt. I can't wait to see you in it."

"Oh, my mom hasn't gotten a good look at me yet, so we'll have to see what happens. She may throw a big black garbage bag over me or something."

"It won't be that bad. Bye, Gabi."

"Okay, bye-bye."

Meanwhile, at the Evans estate...

"Sharpay! Dad's ready to go! Get down here", shouted Ryan from the bottom of their elegant marble staircase. He was dressed in his Evans apparel, and impatiently looking up the stairs waiting for a reply from his sister.

Sharpay, meanwhile, was standing at her sink in her enormous private bathroom drying her long golden locks, oblivious to her brother's rantings. She was still wearing her white silk robe, but her 'face' was put together to perfection. Her obligatory outfit was laying out on her large king-sized, four poster bed.

Suddenly, Sharpay's bathroom door slammed opened. Standing in the doorway is a elegant woman with ash-blond hair swept into a chic up-do and dressed 'to the nines' in a tailored rose silk suit. The only thing detracting from her perfect appearance was the steam rising from her ears.

"SHARPAY!!", she screamed over the sound of the hair dryer.

Sharpay looked up into her mirror and dropped her dryer in surprise. She quickly picked it back up and fumbled with the switch, turning the dryer off.

"Mom, you nearly gave me a heart attack. What's wrong?"

"What's wrong! What's wrong! The rest of the family has been packed and ready to go for 30 minutes. The luggage has already been loaded! We need to leave. NOW! Sharpay!"

"Oh, why didn't you say so?", quipped Sharpay, "I just need about 20 more minutes – well, better make it 30."

"No, Sharpay! You're taking entirely too long. We're leaving now! You can catch up with us at the airport. Drive my BMW."

With that, she stormed out of the room.

"The 'beemer', huh? Sweet", Sharpay muttered to herself, then calmly picked up the hair dryer to continue with her morning routine.

:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:

Meanwhile back at the Bolton residence, Troy paced anxiously back and forth on the sidewalk in front of his house. He was wearing a blue button-down dress shirt over the obnoxious t-shirt and the hideous hat was stuffed into his duffle bag. He'd be damned if he's letting Chad see him in this get-up. Speak of the devil...

"Where is Chad?", he demanded as he slams his cell phone shut for the tenth time.

Suddenly, a baby blue 1973 convertible Volkswagon Beetle puttered to a stop in front of Troy. Troy quickly grabbed his suitcase, threw it into the backseat and jumped inside.

"Where have you been, man?", asked Troy as he settled into his seat.

"Sorry dude", Chad replied, as he pulled away from the curb. "Bessie, here", he said as he patted the dashboard, "was being hormonal this morning. She wouldn't crank. She's just like a woman. You have to know how to talk to her."

"Well, you must not have been saying the right stuff because we're going to be late!"

"Don't worry. I've got it under control. We'll make it with time to spare."

Troy started to relax and stretched out his legs as much as the small car would allow. Immediately, his feet became ensnarled in something on the floor and Troy reached down to untangle himself. His face was screwed into a confused expression as he pulled up a jump rope and looked at it questioningly.

"Hey, Chad, what's this doing in the floor?", he asked, innocently, as he held up the rope, "You're normally psycho about keeping 'Bessie' clean."

"What!", Chad replied in a panicked voice. "Oh that's nothing, man", he said as he reached over to grab the rope from Troy with the intention of throwing it in the backseat.

However, Troy wouldn't let go of it and they started a tug-of-war with rope.

"Oh, I think there's more to this than meets the eye. What gives, man?"

"It's nothing! I told you. Now give it back!"

As they continued to argue and struggle with the rope, the VW started drifting into the left lane and they didn't see the small red BMW roadster peeling backwards out of a long driveway until it was too late.

KABOOM!

Sharpay's BMW -- correction, Sharpay's mom's brand-new 2007 BMW Z4 3.0i Roadster with 3.0 liter DOHC, 24-valve, 215-hp engine, slammed right into the front bumper of 'Bessie' with a loud crunch.

Once Sharpay untangled herself from the airbags (front and side), she stormed over to the little blue car.

"What do you think you're doing?", she screamed at Chad. "You just ruined my hair, not to mention my make-up!"

Troy and Chad, momentarily stunned by the impact, stared up at her in dismay. Chad recovered first and tossed the offending jump rope into the backseat where it would, hopefully, be forgotten.

"Me! Me! You're the one who ran into me!", Chad screamed back at her as he jumped out of the car through the open window.

"Look at these cars! How did your car get way over on the left side of road in the first place? It's like you were aiming for me or something."

"'Aiming for you'?...", Chad was momentarily taken aback when he got a good look at what Sharpay was wearing. 'Wow, she looks like one of those working girls from an episode of CSI; the cheap, hot looking ones who always end up getting murdered', he thinks to himself. Out loud, he continues, "I would never willingly come within ten feet of you, woman!"

"Whoa, whoa, whoa!", said Troy to both of them, "Guys, calm down. This isn't getting us anywhere. There's no need to panic."

"You idiot, I just crashed my mom's brand new BMW! THIS IS THE PERFECT TIME TO PANIC!", yelled Sharpay.

"Yeah, you're right. I just meant we shouldn't waste our time panicking when it doesn't help anything."

"Yeah, but how are we going to get to the airport now?", asked Chad calmly.

TBC

A/N 1: I don't want Troy to be seen as the bad guy in that beginning scene with Gabi, but anyone who thinks even good guys like Troy wouldn't try to 'pressure' good girls like Gabi, don't know teenage boys very well.

A/N 2: Couldn't resist adding Corbin Bleu's "Jump In" movie reference. Oh, and BTW, did everyone 'get' the mountain lion reference in chapter 1? That's alluding the Chad's comment in the movie that Sharpay is a mountain lion.

A/N 3: Chad staring at Sharpay's clothes. Remember, even though he doesn't like her, he's still a guy. Oh, and he's never seen the clothes before because he's not in the Drama club.

A/N 4: ' Z4 3.0i Roadster with 3.0 liter DOHC, 24-valve, 215-hp engine': I have no earthly idea what any of that means. I copied it off of the BMW website.

A/N 5: Notice the 'whole perfect time to panic' lines just like in the 1st chapter. It's a theme.

I hope you guys are in for the long haul because I haven't even got them to the airport yet and it's a 20 hour plane ride to Australia where I have to get them from hating each other to professing their love for one another as the plane goes down and that's all before they even get to the island. Who knows what will happen on that island (she writes as she looks shiftily about the room)? I personally have no idea, but I do have a good idea of how they'll get rescued.

And of course, this whole writing thing is just a silent cry for help and a need to be noticed, so please notice me and review. Thanks.