Disclaimer: I obviously don't own High School Musical or I'd be filthy rich by now. I also don't own the lyrics used in this and/or other chapters. I do, however, own all the ideas for the Twinkle Towne musical, including the summary, plot, script, original songs, and anything else you might not recognize.
A/N: The 'cultural reference' I was referring to was Katey Miller. That is the name of Romola Garai's character in Dirty Dancing: Havana Nights(which is one of my favorite movies, by the way). There's a huge surprise in this chapter that I hope no one saw coming, because if they did, it wouldn't really be a surprise. Anyway, enjoy!
Us Against the World
Chapter Three:
Conversations
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"Just let it die, with no goodbyes
Details don't matter, we both paid the price
Tears in my eyes..."
------------------------------
"Gabriella, I don't know what I'm going to do," Taylor said over the phone in desperation. "I've tried to apologize, but he won't even let me get a word in. He hates me, Gabriella, he hates me."
"Well," said Gabriella, making herself comfortable on her bed as she clutched her cell phone between her ear and her shoulder. "He has a reason to be mad, you know."
Taylor sighed. "Yeah, but I thought you were on my side."
"I am on your side," Gabriella reassured her. "It's just that Chad has every right to be angry. It's going to take him some time to forgive you."
"If he forgives me," stated a depressed Taylor. "It's just that . . . I truly care about him. I know I've been horrible to him in the past, but I didn't really know him then. I guess it didn't help that I was a little jealous of him, too. He was popular and had friends—real friends—like Troy, Zeke, and Jason. Everyone knew who he was and they all loved him. Well, it wasn't just him, I suppose. It was mostly Troy, but I wasn't exactly nice to any of them."
Gabriella let Taylor rant about how difficult she had been and how awful she was to always insult the school's athletes.
"And then, I tried to break up you and Troy. God, I was an idiot!" she exclaimed. "Would you have hated me forever if our plan had worked?"
"I don't know," Gabriella replied honestly. "Even though you planned it, it was Troy's fault. Still, it was terrible of you do something like that."
Taylor groaned. "I'm so sorry. What if you and Troy had never made up? It would have been all my fault! It's just that Chad asked me to help him and I wanted you to join the Scholastic Decathlon team so badly. More than that, I wanted your friendship. Besides, Chad was so different than I had imagined him to be. We kind of think the same way and I found myself liking him more and more. Oh, Gabriella, what am I going to do?"
Gabriella sighed. It was the fourth time that night Taylor had asked her what to do. She switched the phone to her other ear before answering. "We'll think of something, Taylor, don't worry. Take my advice and give Chad some time; he'll come around."
"Are you sure?"
"Well, no, but I think he will. Do you want me to talk to Troy about it? Perhaps he can convince Chad to talk to you?"
"No, no, no, no," Taylor immediately protested. "I don't want anyone to force him to talk to me. Besides, I doubt Troy even wants Chad to talk to me."
"Troy doesn't know what happened," said Gabriella.
"What? Chad didn't tell him?"
Gabriella shook her head out of habit, even though Taylor couldn't see her, "No, I don't think he's told anyone. He would have told Troy first and foremost and yet, he hasn't."
"Gabriella?" asked Taylor warily.
"Yeah?"
"Thanks for listening to me. I know I sound crazy, but to tell you the truth, if you had told me a month ago that I would be stressing out over a boy—Chad Danforth, nonetheless—I know I would've thought I was crazy, too."
"No problem," responded Gabriella. "It'll work out; you'll see."
------------------------------
Gabriella made her way to the music room the next day before school. Kelsi was already playing quietly on the piano.
"Hey," greeted Gabriella.
Kelsi hit a wrong note and quickly turned around, a hand pressed to her chest.
"I didn't mean to startle you," Gabriella said.
"Oh, it's okay," said Kelsi. "I'm just not used to having people around. Besides, I'm a little jumpy in the mornings."
"Yeah, I can see that. Anyway, where should we start?"
Kelsi ruffled through a stack of sheet music sitting on the piano before pulling out a few pages. "Your second solo," she said, sitting down on the black bench and placing the music in front of her. "Ready?" She poised her fingers over the ivory keys and began to play the introduction to a song called, 'What's the Matter with Love (These Days)?'
They ran through the song twice before Kelsi abruptly decided to take break. "Classes start in three minutes, anyway," she said, looking at her watch.
"Troy and I will meet you back here after school," Gabriella reminded her. There were no musical rehearsals on Wednesdays, yet Ms. Darbus had suggested the two brush up on the numbers from the third act.
Kelsi nodded absentmindedly. "Um, Gabriella? Can I ask you something?"
"Sure," said Gabriella, putting the sheet music in order.
"It's about . . . boys," Kelsi hesitantly told her.
Gabriella placed the music on the piano. "Oh," she said, feeling like a mother talking to her daughter. "What is it?"
"Well, there's one that's following me," said Kelsi. Upon seeing the alarmed look on Gabriella's face, she quickly corrected, "Not exactly following. More like, he's always trying to help me and talk to me." She leaned in closer and whispered, "He even asked me to go to a movie with him this Friday."
"What did you say?"
Kelsi seemed surprised that Gabriella had even asked. "I said no, of course! I told him I would be busy with a sonata all weekend."
"Why did you do that? You could have given the poor guy a chance, Kelsi. He obviously likes you."
"No, I don't date," said Kelsi. "Furthermore, he's . . . not my type."
Gabriella giggled. "If you don't date, then how do you know what your type is?"
Kelsi just shrugged.
"Wait a minute," said Gabriella, as she had a revelation. "This boy wouldn't happen to have been Jason Cross, would it?"
Kelsi blushed as she busied herself with several pages of music.
"I knew it!" exclaimed Gabriella. "I thought he liked you!"
"He can't like me," said Kelsi.
Gabriella crossed her arms. "And why not?"
"Because . . ." Kelsi stated blankly, scrambling for an excuse. "Boys don't like me. I'm not smart or pretty or popular . . . or—or any of those things that guys like."
"Kelsi, you are pretty and you're very talented. How many girls our age have written full-length musicals, let alone composed and performed every song?"
"It's not a big deal," said Kelsi, staring at the ground. "To most of the school, I'm invisible."
"Maybe that was true before, but not anymore. Troy, Zeke, Jason, Chad, Taylor, and I know you now. Besides, people can't see you if you don't let them." The bell rang at that moment. "I'm going to go," said Gabriella, gathering her things. "But I really think you should give Jason a chance. Just see what happens."
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"You're really coming along on that solo," Troy told Gabriella on the phone that night.
Gabriella smiled. "I have been practicing with Kelsi."
"It's not just that; you're really getting good with that whole 'stage presence' thing that Ms. Darbus is always complaining about. You kind of seem to become an unrequited lover."
"I am," Gabriella said without thinking. Her face turned so red, she could feel the heat rise from her cheeks. Good thing Troy wasn't there in person.
An awkward sort of silence fell between them.
"So, um, about that date . . ." Troy finally said.
"Yeah?" Gabriella asked eagerly, ready to move on from her slip-up.
"I was thinking we could spend the whole day together, you know, hang out . . ." he waited for her reaction.
"That sounds good," Gabriella told him. "I don't want things to be weird."
"Me neither," agreed Troy. "Then that night, we could do the typical date stuff. Dinner and a movie?"
Gabriella held back a laugh. 'And Taylor said we were too complicated for something as simple as that.' "Yeah, typical date stuff," she repeated aloud. She could hardly believe her luck: she, Gabriella Montez, was going on a typical date with Troy Bolton. Boy, would the girls at school be jealous.
"How's Saturday?" asked Troy. "We can easily waste a whole day in Albuquerque."
"Saturday's good," said Gabriella. "You can show me the sights." She was only half joking, as she had yet to explore the city.
"Well, let's see," said Troy, thinking about all the places he could possibly take a girl he truly liked. "We can go to the BioPark," he said. "They've got the Albuquerque Aquarium, the Rio Grande Botanic Garden, the Rio Grande Zoo, and Tingley Beach. It's not actually a beach anymore," he informed her. "It's mostly nature trails and picnic areas. There's also a Shakespearean community somewhere, but I've never been to it."
"Oh, let's go watch a play!" exclaimed Gabriella.
Troy remained silent for a second before asking, "You're joking, right?"
Gabriella laughed. "Yes, Troy, I'm joking. I wouldn't make you sit through that. Besides, it doesn't sound like the perfect date to me."
'Great,' thought Troy. 'Now I have to make this the perfect date.'
"Actually, there's not too much to do in Albuquerque," he admitted.
"What happened to, 'Oh, we could easily waste a whole day in Albuquerque'?" teased Gabriella.
"Okay, so maybe I lied."
Gabriella smiled, "It doesn't matter what we do, Troy. Just spending the whole day with you will be perfect," she told him. "Besides, you're taking me out for that dinner and movie, remember?"
------------------------------
"Troy, who were you talking in your room with your door locked?" asked Mrs. Bolton.
"Oh, um," Troy rubbed the back of his neck as he put the cordless phone on the charger. "Gabriella," he replied sheepishly.
"Oh, Gabriella," repeated Mrs. Bolton. "I should have guessed. You know, I've heard nothing but non-stop comments about her from both you and your father and I have yet to meet her. Why don't you invite her over for dinner some time?"
Troy furrowed his brow. "Dad was talking about her?"
"It was mostly about how she was distracting you from the championship game and landing you in detention, but I think he's okay with it now," his mom explained.
"Yeah, I think he was trying to tell me that the other day," said Troy.
"You know your father," said Mrs. Bolton. "He always has a hard time expressing his feelings. He just doesn't have a way with words like some people. It's a wonder he was able to sweep me off my feet," she said in reminiscence. "Anyway, when can I expect your girlfriend for dinner?"
Troy blushed slightly. "Gabriella's not exactly my girlfriend."
"You haven't asked her out?" his mom asked disbelievingly. "I thought you liked this girl."
"I do, Mom. We have a date this Saturday," he told her with a smile. "We're taking things really slow. I don't want to mess it up."
"That's sweet, Troy. But you might want to pick up the pace; you never know when someone else might beat you to it."
Troy rolled his eyes, "Sure, Mom." He made his way to garage where he grabbed a couple of basketballs. "I'm going to go shoot some hoops!" he called over his shoulder before walking out the door.
------------------------------
"Dude, can I talk to you?" came Chad's voice.
"Sure, man," replied Troy, his breathing slightly ragged. Chad had called while Troy was working on his free throws and coming up with some new plays. Good thing he always kept his phone on him. "What's up?"
"It's . . . Taylor," Chad told him tentatively.
"Oh," said Troy, lying down on the grass near the court. He had figured Chad would eventually come to him, but hadn't expected it to be so soon.
"Has Gabriella already talked to you about this?" asked Chad suspiciously.
"She just told me that Taylor did something to really mess up your relationship."
Chad sighed. "Yeah, but I haven't exactly been helping. She's even tried to apologize a couple times, but I just ignored her."
"Taylor's always been stubborn," Troy told her. "Remember that time our class was raising money for the new panda bear exhibit at the zoo? She refused to turn in the money until we reached the amount they needed. Not to mention she believed you were a mindless jock until about a month ago."
"Hey, she thought that about you, too," objected Chad. "In fact, I think she still believes that you're not only a mindless jock, but the captain of all mindless jocks. She only puts up with you because you're with Gabriella."
"Ha ha," Troy said sarcastically. "What I was trying to say was that Taylor's really stubborn. So, if she actually came up to you and apologized, more than once even, she obviously cares enough to swallow her pride and face you. And you just brushed her off."
"I know, don't remind me," said Chad dejectedly. "What am I going to do?"
"Just go talk to her, man. I'm sure she'll take you back."
------------------------------
"Well, if that's the way you feel, Arnold, then I'll just pack my bags!" exclaimed Gabriella, stomping angrily across the stage.
"If this about Hope—" began Troy.
"No, this not about Hope," Gabriella said the name with distaste. "You spend all the time you want with her and any other girl, as far as I'm concerned!"
Troy shrugged, "She happens to be the daughter of Nicholas Doherty, you know, the Broadway director? She was trying to get me a part. I thought that's what you wanted, Minnie. I thought that's why we came to the city."
"That is why we came to the city," said Gabriella. "We were going to be big."
"We are going to be big . . . and if Hope just happens to help us get there, then what's the problem?"
Gabriella groaned with aggravation. "The problem is, Arnold, that Hope will help you get there. What about me? I thought we were in this together."
"We ar—"
Again, Gabriella cut him off. "No, Arnold, we're not. Not if you're all over some floozy that happens to have money and connections."
Troy stepped closer to Gabriella, lifting her chin so he could look into her eyes. "You're all I ever wanted, Gabriella."
For a second, Gabriella believed him.
"CUT!" shouted Ms. Darbus. "What is going on here, Mr. Bolton?" she asked angrily. "I thought you knew your lines!"
"That is my line, isn't it?" asked Troy in confusion. What had he done wrong?
Gabriella began to giggle softly behind him, along with the dozen extras and crew members. "Now who messed up, Bolton? That's what you get for bugging me about always calling you Troy."
It was then that Troy realized he had said 'Gabriella' instead of 'Minnie.'
'Way to go, Bolton,' he thought with a slight blush. 'Way to get caught up in the moment.'
Kelsi suddenly entered the auditorium, power walking down the aisle with a thick stack of folded papers in her hand. "Ms. Darbus!" she exclaimed. "They're here, they're here!"
Ms. Darbus turned to face her, the anger draining momentarily from her features. "What's here?"
"The rough drafts of the programs!" she said with a colossal smile. "Here, take a look." Kelsi passed around the programs to Ms. Darbus and the few students who were watching the rehearsals from the first row.
Troy jumped off the stage and then helped Gabriella down. They hurried to Kelsi to see what was so important. "Here," said Kelsi, shoving a couple programs in their direction. She seemed ridiculously happy.
On the outside cover, written in a fancy, flowing script, were the words:
East High School Proudly Presents
Twinkle Towne: A Musical
Written and Composed by Kelsi Nielsen
Produced by the East High Drama Club
With Special Thanks to Ms. Melanie Darbus
Spring 2006
Some elaborate stars and the classic Greek comedy/tragedy drama masks accompanied the words. On the inside left flap, there were profiles of the main characters under the large title, Starring:
Troy Bolton as Arnold Bradshaw
Troy is a 17-year-old East High junior involved in
Varsity basketball, baseball, and soccer.
This is his first year in the Drama Club
and his first role in an East High musical.
Gabriella Montez as Minnie Greer
Gabriella is a 16-year-old new East High junior. She
is a member of the Scholastic Decathlon Team
and a new member of the Drama Club. This is
her first role in an East High musical.
Alan Anderson as The Incredible Mr. Schain
Alan is—
Troy stopped reading at Alan's profile. "Cool," he said, nodding his approval and handing the program back to Kelsi.
"Did you see?" she asked. " 'Written and Composed by Kelsi Nielson;' that's me!"
Gabriella laughed. "Yes, Kelsi, that's you. You even get your own profile."
On the inside right flap, Kelsi did, indeed, have her own profile.
Kelsi Nielsen – Composer/Writer
Kelsi is a 17-year-old East High junior. This is her third
year in the Drama Club and her first ever musical
production. She plays the piano and acoustic guitar
and has been composing songs since she was ten.
Kelsi also won the East High Short Story Writing Contest
earlier this year. Congratulations on all your achievements!
"You're going to be famous, Playmaker," Troy told her with a teasing grin.
Kelsi blushed. "I can't believe my musical is actually going to be performed . . . in front of an audience!" she said with glee. "And you two," she looked at Gabriella and Troy, "will be perfect as Arnold and Minnie. It's just like I've always dreamed."
Troy and Gabriella exchanged looks. "Um, we'll try our best to make you proud, Kelsi," said Gabriella.
On the inside middle flap was a summary:
Arnold Bradshaw and Minnie Greer, two childhood friends
from a small Indiana town, are determined to
become Broadway stars. They pack up their bags
and head to New York City, with hopes as high as
the Statue of Liberty. However, life, love, and
making it big isn't always as easy as it seems.
Follow Arnold and Minnie as they face the vicissitudes
of 1929, as they live their dreams, as they realize
there is more to life than performing, and as
they end up falling in love during the process.
'Twinkle Towne is a robust musical, filled with laughter,
song, dance, and drama!'—Wildcat Weekly, five stars.
------------------------------
Friday was as uneventful as a Friday could be. For Troy and Gabriella, there were classes followed by more Twinkle Towne rehearsals. Troy did notice, however, that Chad had taken Taylor aside to talk to her during lunch. She hadn't joined them at the table afterwards, leaving Troy to wonder if the outcome of the conversation was a positive one.
Today was Saturday and he had yet to speak to Chad about the Taylor situation. It had slipped his mind after school and this morning, all of his thoughts were focused on one thing: Gabriella. Their date was today. Well, really, it was tonight, but they were going to spend the whole day together as a prelude to the usual dinner and a movie.
In his room, Troy smoothed his shirt and ruffled his hair with a still-damp towel. He ran his fingers through it once and then clapped his hands together as he let out a deep breath.
"Okay," he said to himself in the mirror. "Don't screw up, Bolton. Try not to embarrass yourself too much."
He rubbed his hands on his ripped jeans as his palms became a little sweaty and grabbed his keys before going down the stairs, two at a time. He dug his cell phone out of his pocket and flipped it open. The bright white numbers flashed 10:42. He was supposed to pick up Gabriella at eleven. Though she only lived about ten minutes away, he liked to be a little early, especially for something as big as this.
"Bye, Dad!" he yelled as he headed out door. His mom had already left for work. She was a real estate agent and becoming quite popular in the New Mexico region. She had even started attending out-of-state conferences and was ranked thirty-eight on the list of the country's top fifty real estate agents.
"Don't do anything stupid, don't do anything stupid," Troy muttered as he turned the key in the ignition of his black, Land Rover LR3.
He sighed, resting his hand on the gearshift. "Here we go."
------------------------------
Troy pulled up in Gabriella's driveway shortly afterwards. Her mom, too, had already left for work and so she was home alone. In fact, she was downstairs watching for him through the living room window.
'He's early,' she thought with a smile.
Gabriella hurried out of the house, firmly pulling the door shut behind her. She giggled slightly as Troy immediately jumped out of the car to open the passenger side door.
"Save that for tonight," she told him.
Troy only grinned. "Ready?" he asked.
Gabriella nodded, sliding into the leather seat. "How far is this BioPark?"
"Not too far," answered Troy. "It's in Barelas, which is this really old-fashioned, historical neighborhood," he explained. "I'd say about twenty minutes."
The two continued to chat for the next ten minutes, talking about everything from their favorite foods to Jason's sudden interest in Kelsi. Gabriella was surprised at the ease with which she could talk to Troy. She loved finding out little things about him and could tell him practically everything. Sometimes, she felt as if he could understand her thoughts or emotions with just one look.
"I can't believe Jason has a crush on Kelsi," Troy said with incredulity.
Gabriella nodded her agreement. "He's got her completely freaked out, Troy," she told him.
Troy switched lanes as they passed a sign that said, Albuquerque Biological Park – Next Two Exits.
"Oh no," Gabriella suddenly clutched the armrest as she leaned forward. "I forgot my cell phone."
"No big," Troy took his eyes off the road for a second as he shot her a smile. "You can use my mine."
Gabriella shook her head. "Wrong, it is a big deal. My mom gets really worried when I don't have my phone and she doesn't know your number. If she calls me for something, my phone will be ringing away at home."
"I think you'll be okay. I mean, your mom knows you're with me and if something happens, she'll be the first to know."
"You don't get it, Troy. One time, my mom couldn't make it to one my science competitions and it ran late. The bus was two hours late getting us back to school and my mom had called the police because I forgot to tell her. She thought I'd been kidnapped or something," Gabriella explained. "She watches too many Dateline Investigations."
"Well, why don't you call her at work and tell her you left your phone at home? You can give her my number in case she wants to talk to you."
Gabriella stayed silent for a long while. "It's not only that, Troy," she finally said. "It's just that . . . I'm expecting a call from—" she hesitated for a second before finishing, "from a friend."
"A friend?" asked Troy, glancing at her from the corner of his eye. She was twisting the short strap of her purse around her finger.
"From Sun High," she said. "It's someone I've known for a long time and it's really important."
Gabriella looked at him, genuine concern etched on her face. Troy sighed, unable to resist her sad face.
"I guess we can double back," he said, taking the first exit.
She grinned and gave him a slight hug from the passenger seat. "I promise, just let me get my phone and then, we can spend the rest of the day together."
"Deal."
------------------------------
"I'll only be a second," said Gabriella, as she unlatched her seat belt and stepped out of the Land Rover. She heard Troy's door open and slam shut.
"I'll go with you," he said, walking around to her side of the car.
Gabriella smiled. "It's okay, Troy. I'm a big girl; I can get it myself."
"I know; I just want to come," said Troy.
They walked up the path to the door. Gabriella searched for her house keys in her small purse.
"Oh, I see," she said playfully. "You thought you take this wonderful opportunity we've been given."
Troy gave her a confused look. "What opportunity?" he asked.
Gabriella found her keys at last and unlocked the door. "I just figured, empty house, cozy couch, dangerous you and maybe me."
She opened the door and Troy followed her in. "Dangerous me?" he asked with a laugh. "And what gives you the idea that I would be like that?"
"I might have heard some rumors," she replied in a purposely vague fashion.
"Such as..." Troy left the sentence hanging.
"Such as you and Breanna Phillips at her house last summ—" Gabriella's breath suddenly caught in her throat.
Ms. Montez was standing in the kitchen, pouring a glass of water. She placed it on the small dining table, in front of a boy with dark brown hair who had his back to Troy and Gabriella.
Even though she could only see the back of his head, Gabriella softly asked, "Tyler?"
The boy turned around instantly, a massive smile on his face. "Gabriella!" he exclaimed.
Gabriella smiled back brightly and ran into Tyler's open arms. He picked her up and swung her around, causing her to laugh happily. After setting Gabriella down and enveloping her in an affectionate hug, Tyler did the one thing Troy hadn't been able to do: he kissed her.
------------------------------
"Now every time I see you, I pretend I'm fine
When I wanna reach out to you
But I turn and I walk and I let it ride..."
------------------------------
Lyrics – Mariah Carey, Don't Forget About Us
Ridiculously Long Author's Note: Yes, it's a cliffhanger! Completely evil of me, but sorry, it had to happen. I actually thought about starting his chapter with Tyler's return and explaining the whole thing. Instead, I think I'll explain things in the next chapter, because really, there's not that much to explain. However, I will say, this not another fic where Gabriella's villainous boyfriend comes back and tries to steal her away from Troy, often abusively/forcefully or something to that extent. Tyler's not a bad guy. Just thought you should know. My stomach churned as I typed that last bit.
By the way, I decided to use the name Tyler because of xochrissy's fic, White Shadows. It's an awesome Zanessa story that you should definitely check out if you haven't already. This is kind of my tribute to it. So if you're reading this, xochrissy, I hope you don't mind!
Troy's mom is a real estate agent because it's impossible for his dad to be a basketball coach and live in the kind of house that they live in. She needed a well paying job (note how she's a really rich real estate agent). In addition, I've always imagined the Boltons and Evanses to have a lot of money. Even the Montezes are well off for only having two people in the household. By the way, the LR3 isn't that expensive; it's only about $40,000 or so, so it's reasonable for Troy to have one.
Also, the BioPark, Tingley Beach, the Shakespearean community, etc, are all real. I did some research and tried to find something for Troy and Gabriella to do, but really, I couldn't find much. Anyway, I tried to base them around the Paradise Hills area because they have a country/golf club (as featured in HSM 2) and nice homes. It seemed like the most logical area for our characters to live in, not to mention, it's right in Albuquerque and seems to be kind of a posh place. The travel distances are approximate, but close, and yes, Barelas is actually an historical Albuquerque community. Breanna Phillips is the actual name of one of the cheerleaders from the movie. There was no photo, so I hope she's one of the prettier ones.
Oh, there's a line I borrowed from Boy Meets World. It's very obvious if you've seen the show and the episode, though I did switch two words. I changed the musical from winter to spring because there's no way you can have auditions in January for a winter musical.
Sorry I was so slow with this update! Chapter five decided to just write itself while I was in the middle of typing chapter three! It's a good chapter, too...I can't say if Troy & Gabriella get together, but I think you'll like it...parts of it, anyway, so stay tuned!
