AN: Thanks for all the great reviews! They made me want to update really soon.
Chapter 2: Behind Blue Eyes
A good looking young man made his way through the hallways. He was tall, but not tall enough to be considered a giant. He walked around admiring the silence that he never knew these hallways could hold. There weren't massive amounts of people running every which way, there was just him walking in the empty space of his second home. Troy Bolton's footsteps echoed in the empty hallways of East High. Even though he only graduated four short years ago, it had seemed like a lifetime. For four years he walked through the hallways as a jock, a popular, 'one of the chosen' as his best friend Chad liked to call it. And now he was the assistant basketball coach with his dad being the head coach. He made his way into the cafeteria to pick up lunch before any of the kids got there. One bad thing about sticking around East High was that he still had to eat the cafeteria food which, surprisingly, was not any better tasting or teachers than it was for students. The former Wildcat superstar thanked the cooks for his lunch and made his way back to his dad's office, which unfortunately was still located in the boy's locker room.
"Hey dad." Troy said as he set his lunch down on his dad's desk. "What's the game plan?"
"I think I'll move Max to shooting guard for the next game." His dad said, not bothering to look up from his clip board.
"You sure about that dad? I mean he can hit his shots, but you willing to take Greg out of shooting guard?" Troy said as he crammed a piece of greasy pizza into his mouth.
"Greg can still take the shots at small forward, but if I move Max it will give him more confidence. Which means more points, which means more wins." His dad explained. Troy always wondered how his dad did it. How could he organize the team so that they didn't have a loosing season since Troy himself was captain? Right there and then he witnessed how he did it, but still he had no idea.
"I guess that's why you're the coach."
"Exactly. And maybe one day you'll be coach, but for right now you're the assistant coach and practice starts in three hours." That was his dad's way of telling him that he needed Troy to get everything ready for practice.
"Sorry dad, I can't help today. My Chemistry class got moved to up to three." He wiped his mouth of the greasy pizza and headed towards the door. "I'll see you tomorrow dad."
His dad reluctantly waved goodbye as Troy left his office.
Troy looked around the locker room. His locker was number 75, the captain's locker. This locker room knew all of his secrets. Who he liked, what happened on his dates, his secret passions, everything. And this was the place he told his dad that he didn't want to take any of the scholarships he was offered for basketball. That he wanted to move out, go to school and work. This is where his dad stopped speaking to him for three weeks because he didn't want a scholarship. His dad had barely talked to him freshman year of college. That nearly tore Troy apart. He and his dad were always so close, and then it all just stopped. Then his mom forced them into a room together until they came to an agreement. That is when Troy became the assistant basketball instructor. It wasn't a dream job, but it was a way for him and his dad to become close again, so he took the job when he started his sophomore year.
Troy got into his car and drove off to the college. He sat in his Chemistry class staring off into space. It's not that he didn't like chemistry, he did, kind of. But his teacher looked like he dad a stick permanently stuck up him but and his voice was so monotone it was surprising that he had stayed awake this long. Troy watched the clock tick by the seconds, which made the class seem significantly longer than an hour. When the class was finally dismissed Troy filed out with the rest of his classmates that he didn't even know. That was something that bugged him about college. No one knew anyone. In High School everyone knew Troy and his friends; teachers, students, staff, everyone. And Troy tried his best to know everyone, even though he came up short sometimes. But here in college, people didn't know each other. Everyone just went their own way, not bothering to get to know other people.
He looked at his watch, not even two o'clock. There was no way he was going back to East High just for basketball practice, so Troy headed towards his work office. He worked for the largest contracting business in New Mexico for about 3 years and has never hated any second of it. Troy always thought it was a miracle that he was hired. The only experience he had had was building tree houses with his dad and High school woodshop.
Tory pulled up to the modern looking building. The building seemed too nice for contractors, but Troy never complained. It made him feel worth while walking into a building as nice as that one.
"Hey Susan." He greeted the receptionist. Troy leaned casually on her desk. She was pretty, his age, but she felt like a sister to him.
She looked at him, meeting her blue eyes with his and smiled. "Hey Troy. You're not supposed to be in today." She said, putting her work aside.
"Yeah, well I had nothing better to do so I though I'd come in and see if we got any new jobs that I might get."
"Well," she reached into a pile of papers and pulled out s form. "We did just get a call for a huge project up near your high school."
"Oh yeah?" he took the form from her. "You think I could get it?"
"Maybe if you batted your long lashed blue eyes at them." She slyly smiled.
Troy laughed, "I don't think Mr. Banks would go for that."
"Mr. Banks is out sick." She told him, "Mrs. Jones is in charge today."
Troy's eyebrows raised in interest, "Really?"
"Yeah. She's in her office now. I'll put all of her calls on hold longenough for you charm her."
"Thanks Susan." He flashed her a smile of gratitude and quickly made his was to Mrs. Jones's office. If Troy got this job it meant money. And money was always good.
"Mrs. Jones?" Troy knocked on her open door.
Frustrated, she looked up from her work. But her face lit up the second her eyes landed upon Troy.
"Troy! Come in! Sit!" she said cheerily. Troy graciously took a seat in one of the chairs in front of her desk. "So what's up?" she asked.
"Oh not much with me, but what's going with you?" he asked. Troy had to be careful. He didn't want to let her know that he knew about the big project, but he wanted the job.
"Well, I'm a little annoyed actually. Right before you walked in Susan faxed me a new job that is huge and they want us to start as soon as possible."
"Really?" Troy asked, trying to sound clueless and interested.
"Yeah. I mean do people not think that we have other orders coming in? That we are willing to drop everything just for them?" Troy's boss looked at the forms again.
"Do you have a crew set up yet?"
"Not yet." She sighed, "But I think I'll send you, Bobby, Joe, and the other good ones who aren't already taken. That is, if you can Troy. I know you have that whole basketball thing to do most afternoons."
"No." Troy said quickly. "I can do."
She smiled, "Excellent. I'll expect to see you back here tomorrow to get you final assignment."
Troy nodded and smiled politely as he got up and left her office.
"Thank you so much Susan." Troy said as he came back, "But she said she had just gotten the fax."
"Yeah, well I thought it might be good for her to know about the project before you trick her into putting you onto the crew."
"I did not trick her." He defended himself, "I just made sure she knew that I was in her eyesight when she was putting together the crew."
She laughed and turned back to her work, "Whatever Troy."
Troy said goodbye to Susan and got back on the road. He looked at the clock and it hadn't even been an hour. This new job won't only bring hum money, but it will also keep him from being bored out of him mind for half of the day.
He turned up the radio and started to sing along. "We're going down, down in an earlier round. And sugar we're going down swinging. I'll be your number one with a bullet. A loaded god complex, cock it and pull it. We're going down, down in an earlier round. And sugar we're going down swinging. I'll be your number one with a bullet. A loaded god complex, cock it and pull it."
AN: Hope you liked it! And remember reviews are love!
