Troy Bolton dribbled and backed up against his defender. He faked a swivel to the right and turned to the left, facing the basket. He stepped back once and jumped for the shot, his momentum still carrying him backward slightly as the ball flew through the air and swished down through the net. A perfect score.

His defender, also his coach and his dad, Jack Bolton, laughed, panting for breath, "Nice shot, Troy! At this rate we'll crush that opposing basketball team!"

Troy nodded, smiling at the thought, as he also caught his breath, "They're dead!" he said confidently.

"That's the spirit!" His dad said approvingly.

"Are you two going to throw hoops all night?" the voice echoed across gym. Troy's mom walked in wearing fancy celebration clothes. "After all," she continued, "It's New Years Eve. We didn't take a vacation at this ski lodge for you to keep at it with more basketball."

Jack Bolton started to speak but was stopped by a look from his wife.

"Alright, son," he conceded, "Let's stop for now and party," he winked at Troy, who grinned back.

"Right, dad," he said, heading off to take a shower and change into more formal attire.

Gabriella Montez stood uncertainly outside the indoor gym at the ski lodge, the dark night enveloping everything outside. She glanced at the big ski slope and at the main hotel where her mom celebrated the New Years Eve with the rest of the adults. She turned back to the doors of the gym, the bitter cold forcing her to finally open them and face the young adults' party.

It wasn't that much lighter than outside, she realized, in the auditorium. There were some dim lights by the snacks table, and two red Exit signs were lit up, one over the door she had just entered through and one other clear on the other side of the room over another set of doors. Other than that the only things lit where some decorative lights and a disco ball endlessly rotating, seeming to shift the floor and walls.

She clutched her book close and wandered hesitantly toward some couches near a wall, dodging people from all the normal cliches. There was the jocks and cheerleaders section, and behind them the math nerds gathered around a table to debate equation solving techniques and let any lesser fortunate freshman that wanted to learn in on their knowledge. Even a couple goths sat in a corner, hopelessly out of place in the festive environment.

Gabriella dodged a skater returning to his table with a tray of nachos before reaching the couches. She sat down on one and began to read.

Troy walked into the gym and closed the door behind him, shutting off the blast of cold air outside.

He immediately caught a whiff of the snack mixes and sodas, and as he straightened his white shirt from the wind he saw a small stage with a couple of teens singing karaoke while a disc jockey moved to the music as he controlled the tracks from below.

"Hey, Troy!"

He looked in the direction of the voice and saw Jordan, another basketball player he'd met while on Christmas break, motioning to him from the other side of the auditorium.

Troy stepped farther into the room and dodged people as he moved toward around where he'd seen Jordan, occasionally using his extra height of a few inches to look over people's heads to make sure he was on course.

"Hey, man," Jordan said when he reached the spot where a couple of the basketball jocks were talking, "Where were you?"

"Yeah," Matt put in, "Thought maybe you were sick or something."

"Nah," Troy said, "Just practicing basketball. I wouldn't miss this!"

"Well I would," Matt said, "But my mom said I gotta keep an eye on Tiffany."

Troy followed his friend's eyes to a slightly younger girl sitting at one of the tables talking to a group of other girls.

"Don't listen to him, Troy," Jordan said with a wink, "Matt just pretends he'd rather be playing or watching basketball every waking moment of the day. He wouldn't pass up a party any more than you or I would. Would you, Matt?"

Matt grinned, "I guess not," he conceded, "I can practice my jump shot tomorrow, anyway."

"Okay," the disc jockey's voice intoned through speakers strategically positioned throughout the room, "Now we're going to have that random karaoke I promised a while ago..."

Troy toned the voice out and said, "Hey, you guys free for a game tomorrow before you leave?"

"Always free for a basketball game," Jordan grinned, hitting his fist with Troy's.

"Not me," Matt said regretfully, "My mom wants to leave first thing in the morning before the traffic gets heavy. I think maybe..." he stopped talking as a bright light settled on Troy, blinding him.

"Hey, wha...?" Troy started to ask before the speakers drowned him out.

"Aaaand there's our lucky first singer!" The disc jockey's voice came over the speakers dramatically, and he motioned to Troy, "Come right up here, dude!"

Gabriella focused attentively on her book, trying to drown out the chaos going on around her. The story was a cross between genetic mutation and romance with a little science and mathematics thrown in. Just the kind of story she liked.

She was halfway down the page when a bright glare of light shone directly in her eyes. She tried to lower herself so the book would block the light's glare, but a few people began nudging her with winks and grins that told her that something involved her.

She sat up and saw quite a few people staring at her.

"AAAND HERE'S OUT SECOND SINGER!!"

She nearly jumped out of her skin. She hadn't seen that speaker right behind her, but the sound was extremely loud this close to it.

The disc jockey was amiably motioning her over, and several others were cheerfully nudging her in the right direction.

Unsure of what to do, Gabriella set her book down on the couch cushion and made toward the disc jockey and the stage on which he stood.

"No, guys, I don't sing," Troy said, "Really, I don't."

But Jordan and Matt wouldn't listen. They just laughed and shoved him toward the stage with encouraging remarks.

Troy reached the stage about the same time as a girl in a blue-green, long-sleeved shirt did. She looked as unsure as he felt, and then some.

"Right up here," the disc jockey said to both of them, still sounding perfectly cheerful, as he gently moved them into place behind two microphones onstage, facing a projector screen where the lyrics to the songs were displayed.

"Um...actually..." Troy started to protest.

"I've never...I can't..." Gabriella started to add.

"Don't be ridiculous," the disc jockey grinned, "Someday you guys might thank me for this. Or not," he added, moving Troy and Gabriella into their places.

"Oh, just shut up," Troy muttered, giving the DJ a little shove, "Just start the song so we can get this over with and..." his voice trailed off as the DJ flew backward ten or so feet, arms flailing, to land on the sound booth controls. He slid off and hit the floor with a thud.

The room grew silent, except for a voice near the back.

"And then with X squared you have to multiply the numerator by pi and divide by the reciprocal of the original number and then you'll get..." the math nerd stopped his explanation as he realized he was the only voice still talking in the room.

A couple younger adults in charge rushed forward to see if the DJ was all right while Troy and Gabriella stood on the stage too stunned to move.

"Call 911!" someone yelled and an adult pulled out his cell phone.

The DJ suddenly twitched and then struggled to sit up. He looked around sheepishly at all the attention he was getting.

"No, I'm okay!" he protested to the adults surrounding him, "Really, I am!"

He tried to stand up and grimaced, clutching his spine. He shook his head, as if to clear it, and stood on wobbly legs.

"I'm okay," he repeated, trying to make it to the sound booth, "Let's keep the party going!"

A couple of the adults talked in hushed tones to each other for a moment before nodding in agreement and helping the DJ to his seat in the booth.

"Now, Johnny," one said to him, "Let us know if you feel bad at all okay? That was a nasty fall, could have some bad side effects even if you seem okay now."

The DJ just waved him off with a quick agreement and sat down at his seat.

"I'M GOOD, GUYS AND GALS," his voice came over the speakers, "LET'S GET ON WITH THE PARTY!!"

He started the music track blaring through the silence and everyone began to talk again and do whatever they had been doing before the mishap. The DJ flipped a switch and the lyrics appeared from the overhead projector.

Although Troy knew the song by heart, he barely noticed in time when to start the singing.

"This could be the start," he sang, "Of something new..."

Is this the start of something new? He wondered, What happened a few minutes ago? I barely nudged the guy and he went flying! Maybe I'm just misjudging my own strength...

After the song Troy and Gabriella stood outside, near the heating vents, to converse.

"Are you leaving tomorrow?" Gabriella asked.

"Yeah," Troy said, "My dad has to get back to work and I've got school."

Gabriella nodded, "Yeah, me too."

"Do you have a cell phone?" Troy asked.

"Yes."

"Here," Troy handed her his phone, "Put your number in."

"Oh, here," Gabriella said, fishing hers out of her purse, "You too."

They programmed their numbers in as the crowd of people inside started counting down.

"Ten...nine...eight...seven...six...five...four...three...two...one...HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!"

Troy and Gabriella exchanged phones again and checked the numbers and Troy nonchalantly snapped a picture of Gabriella using the camera on his phone.

They stood there in silence for a few moments before Troy said:

"I guess...I guess I'd better be getting back."

Gabriella nodded, "Yeah. Me too."

"Bye. I'll call you."

She nodded, "Yeah. Um...see you."

As Troy walked away he wondered again about the mishap with the DJ, but he easily dismissed it with the thoughts of the girl he had made a friend with. He looked at the picture on his cell phone. Too bad he'd probably never see her again. He sighed.

Back to school.