I have no affiliation to anything, anybody, or anyplace in the High School Musical series. This is purely for fictional and entertainment purposes.

Summary: East High School is filled with drama, relationships, and betrayal. There's no way to escape the fear, the intensity, and the love that occurs each day. You just simply have to survive the fever.

Wildcat Fever

Secrets

Troy walked up to Gabriella's locker the next morning, hoping that the conversation they had last night improved their relationship. "Hey, Gabby."

Gabriella didn't face him. She continued to rummage through her locker nonchalantly. "Hey."

Troy sighed. "Listen, I know you are probably still upset about yesterday."

"Probably?" scoffed Gabriella. "That's the understatement of the year."

"I'm disappointed in myself for the way that I acted towards you. I don't want to be that way with you, okay? You don't deserve that kind of behavior, especially from me." Troy pursed his lips together.

Gabriella turned towards him, slamming her locker shut. "Troy, I'm not mad anymore. I'm not confused. I don't even know what I am feeling lately." Troy furrowed his brows at that. "But, all I know is that I don't know who you really are. I don't even know this Troy."

"Gabriella..."

"I'll see you later," she mumbled. She began to walk away, but soon bumped into Sharpay. "Sorry."

Sharpay glared at her and scowled her lips. "If you keep talking to Troy, you will be given Hell. I can promise you that."

Gabriella watched as Sharpay and Troy walked away together and rolled her eyes, not wanting to see another sight of the "golden" couple at East High.

Jack read the local newspaper in his office that morning, reading about the upcoming Wildcats season in the sports section. He noticed how the newspaper seemed to put more notice on Chad than Troy. He scowled and balled it up completely in his hands. He tossed it into the wastebasket and sighed heavily.

"Damn Danforth." he mumbled. "Troy better work his ass off today."

His cell phone began to ring. He looked at the caller ID. "Hey, Lucille."

"Hi, honey. I was wondering if you and Troy would like me to order pizza tonight," suggested his wife. She was currently busy at home, washing a few dishes. Sometimes she hated being a housewife. It wasn't what she had expected for her life.

Jack shrugged, picking at his nails. "I don't know. Troy and I will be practicing for the better part of the evening at the gym and the park."

Lucille sighed. Here we go again. "Jack, don't do that."

"Why not?" asked Jack.

"You already pressure him enough at practice. Don't cripple the boy," pleaded Lucille. "He is only sixteen years old."

"That's the perfect age for him to get ready for the professionals. Lucille, you don't understand." Jack rolled his eyes.

Lucille pursed her lips with aggravation. "You're right, Jack. I don't understand. I don't understand why a father wouldn't even be remotely interested in the well being of his son."

She hung up and sighed heavily. Sometimes she couldn't stand that man. She had found him to be such a Casanova back in high school, but he was looking to be more of the villain lately. She couldn't take it on most days. But, she stayed with him because of Troy. It would just crush him if they separated. They already had a broken piece of the family missing. They didn't need another.

Taylor spotted Gabriella at one of the red tables in the cafeteria and strode over quickly, earning a glare from Sharpay on the way. She sat down and sighed. "Hey."

"Hey," replied Gabriella. "I saw that glare between you and Sharpay. What was that all about?"

She simply shrugged. "I just don't like the popular crowd."

"Like Troy?" asked Gabriella.

"Especially him."

Before Gabriella could ask why, she spotted Troy walking in. They only had a one second glance before he suddenly bumped into Chad on the way to a table. She watched cautiously as they stared each other down.

"Bolton," growled Chad.

"Danforth," muttered Troy. He was about to walk away when his lunch got knocked over by the same person. All of the food he had spilled on to his shirt. He glared at Chad once again. "Bitch."

"What? No longer feeling perfect?" taunted Chad. "What are you going to do about it?"

Troy pushed Chad, causing him to stumble backward. As a response, Chad pushed Troy even harder. The push caused Troy to actually fall on to the ground with a grunt. He didn't even look at Chad. He only looked toward Gabriella, who looked scared beyond words. He watched as she ran out.

"Damn it." He got up and immediately ran after her, not caring if anybody saw him or if people began whispering the latest rumors.

Sharpay watched her boyfriend run off and scoffed. "What the hell?" She watched as people began making up rumors about Gabriella and Troy.

Things were beginning to fall apart.

He finally caught up to her at her locker, but stopped. She was grabbing some sort of pen from her locker. "Follow me."

Troy followed her and was surprised that she led him into the gym and into the boys locker room. He stopped in his tracks. "Gabriella, what are you doing?"

Gabriella turned around. "I always care around a Tide pen with me. You never know when you might stain a shirt."

Troy chuckled. "Is that so? You're very convenient."

"I'll need to get that gunk off first," she said, gesturing to the tiny pile of food stuck to his shirt. She paused nervously. "Um..."

"Don't be nervous," muttered Troy. He swiftly took off his shirt, leaving him bare in only his jeans and shoes.

Gabriella couldn't help but admire his perfect abs and perfect biceps. He had the perfect body. She suddenly spotted a mark on his right pec. "What's that?"

He looked down, noticing her gesture to his tattoo. "Oh, that." It was a date. "I don't normally like talking about it."

Gabriella nodded, grabbing his shirt. "Okay." She walked toward the sinks and began dabbing water on the spots, getting the gunk off.

Troy sighed after a few minutes. He sat down on a bench. "I had an older brother."

"Really?"

"Yeah," he nodded. "He was eighteen. He was supposed to go off to U of A. He had a scholarship for the basketball team. My dad was so proud. I wanted to be just like my brother."

Gabriella glanced over at him. "What was his name?"

"Jeremy." Troy smiled distantly. "He was my role model." He then frowned. "A week before the first tryout, he was out with some friends. It was a red light. He was supposed to turn right. When he did, there was another guy that decided to drive drunk." He paused somberly. "The car hit Jeremy's side directly and he died on impact. I was only thirteen."

Gabriella stopped her actions and turned around to look at him. "Oh my gosh. Troy..."

"July 7th, 2010." He shook his head. "I never stopped crying that day."

"It's okay for you to cry now," whispered Gabriella.

Troy gave her a small smile. "No. I've run out of tears for now." He decided to change the subject. "I wanted to ask you...why did you run away back there?"

Gabriella resumed her cleaning and turned back to the sink. "I didn't know what to do. Seeing you on the ground...I just didn't know how to handle that. I didn't want to go to you and have people start talking. That wouldn't be good for your image."

Troy chuckled. "My image?"

"Don't you care about it? I mean, that's why you act weird around me in public. Right?" she asked pointedly.

"I don't care what people think," he said, standing up.

"I had a feeling you would run after me," muttered Gabriella.

"You looked pretty dejected back there and I didn't want to leave you by yourself," admitted Troy, getting closer to her.

Gabriella simply ignored his comment, not truly believing it. If he didn't care about his image, then he would have talked to her like the real Troy. Not some stranger. He wouldn't have waited until she left the lunchroom, either.

"How do you feel about me?"

She nearly splashed the water all over her clothes when she heard his blurted out comment. She shook her head frantically, washing his shirt even more. "I don't know what you are talking about."

Troy turned off the water and, in the process, turned her around to face him. He could see how nervous she was to be around him. "I don't mean to scare you."

"You don't," she denied. She didn't want to meet his gaze, but it was hard not to with his impeccably, gorgeous blue eyes. "Troy, don't."

"Don't do what?" He leaned forward slightly, the tips of their noses brushing against each other. "This?"

"What the hell is going on here?!" shouted a deep voice.

They both looked to find Jack staring them down dangerously. Gabriella simply shoved Troy's shirt in his face and ran off, completely mortified. She was only mortified because Troy had actually stepped away from her when he saw his dad. It let her know who he was at that moment and it made her mad and embarrassed.

"What are you thinking, Troy? Canoodling with that girl?" asked Jack, grimacing.

Troy glared at him. "Hey. She is not just some girl. Her name is Gabriella. I happen to like her a lot."

Jack chuckled. "That's funny. You don't have time for a girl. You barely have time for that blonde girl. Your mind should only be on basketball and that scholarship that you will earn next year."

Troy gritted his teeth and growled. "God! Shut up for once, okay? Why do you have to keep controlling my life?!"

"I gave you that life, Troy!" shouted Jack, pointing at him. "I can take it away if I want to."

"Are you threatening your own son?" asked a flabbergasted Troy, chuckling dryly.

Jack simply shrugged.

Troy sighed heavily and walked away, putting his shirt back on. He didn't even care about the stains. He had to catch up to Gabriella. When he reached the hallway outside of the gym, he spotted her leaning against the wall. She was near tears.

"Gabriella, I'm sorry."

She looked at him angrily. "Sorry for what? For showing me who you really are, even in front of your dad?"

"What?" asked Troy, confused.

"Troy, you pushed me away when you saw him!" She shook her head quickly. "No, I know what you were doing this whole time. You were messing with my feelings."

"Gabby, I wouldn't..."

"Don't call me that!" she shouted, pushing him back when he tried to get close. "Just leave me alone."

Troy's heart was breaking already. And, she wasn't even his. "I'm sorry."

"Stop messing with my feelings. Don't talk to me, okay? Until you figure out who you really are and who you want to be around me, don't talk to me." She walked away and disappeared around the corner.

Troy watched her and sighed, wanting to erase this entire day.

Jack watched through the gym door window as his son walked away sadly. All he did was shake his head as he held the phone to his ear, needing time away from all of the chaos in his life and the gym. His son was going against his dream, all for some girl. What was wrong with him?

"Hey, it's me." He paused, listening on the other end. "Yeah. Tonight. Eight?" He hung up and walked back to his office, needing some stress relief with the Jack Daniels he kept in his cabinets.