Disclaimer: Not mine, don't sue. I'm a poor college student, I can't afford it. Characters, concept of HSM, etc. belong to Disney.

A/N: I'm glad this story is getting a good response. There doesn't seem to be a market for Jason centrics anymore…there doesn't really seem to be much of an HSM fandom anymore, but that's alright. I love writing this story, which is why I'm taking it slowly, to enjoy writing it.

Here's chapter 2. Basically, it's during September of Jason's sophomore year. I've taken liberties with canon-the musical takes place earlier, and in sophomore year here, so that Jason can meet Kelsi, which will become rather important. This takes place at the end of September/beginning of October.

Also, auditions for Twinkle Town take place in this chapter. Gabriella moved to East High at the beginning of the year. I really played with canon. A lot.

Same warnings as before apply. With a STRONG warning for language this chapter.

Enjoy!

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"Where the fuck have you been?"

"I have school, dad, and then basketball. We've been through this every goddamn day this week."

"It's five-thirty. I told you I wanted you home at four, didn't I?"

"Dad, what can I do? Skip basketball? Coach is already pissed enough that I missed all last week-"

The slap that cut Jason off echoed loudly in the entryway of the tiny apartment.

"You wanna end up where you were this summer, huh, Jason? Keep running your mouth."

"Like that's ever stopped you," Jason muttered darkly, clenching his fists at his side to avoid touching his face to examine the damage. Lately, Andrew Cross' fists had been finding purchase in more visible places, most notable Jason's face and arms. In the past, the damage had been easy to hide, under t-shirts and sweatshirts, but it was getting harder to do so as bruises and black eyes seemed to remain on Jason's face for weeks.

"Excuse me?"

"You heard me," Jason spat back, straightening up, facing his father full on. There was a flash of anger in Andrew's eyes, making Jason regret his outburst almost immediately. He had barely a second to prepare himself before a fist caught him full in the jaw, driving him to his knees.

"You never fucking learn, do you? How many times have we gone through this?"

The end of Andrew's question was punctuated by a vicious kick to the ribs, forcing Jason sideways. Jason curled protectively around his ribs, knowing that any chance of defending himself had disappeared as soon as Andrew had gotten him on the floor. Sure enough, the first kick was followed by two more, the second accompanied by a loud crack.

"Fu-" Jason whispered, tears pricking at his eyes. He knew immediately that one of his ribs was broken, and injury he'd not sustained in at least a year, though he knew the pain from many other incidents.

"You're weak, Jason. You always have been. I didn't ask for a son like you. Fifteen fucking years old, and all you can do is cry like a two year old. Fucking useless, you are."

The end of this speech was greeted by several more kicks to Jason's now unprotected abdomen, and a final kick to the head. Jason gasped, stars exploding behind his tightly clenched eyes, agony blossoming behind his temples.

"You've been a fucking burden since your mother, Jason. I wish you'd died with her."

Andrew shook his head, finishing his brutal attack with one more kick to the head, turning on his heel and walking to the living room, beer bottle swinging in his hand.

Cracking open one eye, Jason made sure Andrew was sufficiently occupied with the television and his beer before attempting movement. His first attempt at rolling to his side sent him hurtling toward unconsciousness. Breathing heavily, Jason ceased moving, trying desperately to control the nausea that had settled in his stomach.

His summer stint in the hospital had left him more vulnerable to head trauma, as he'd found out only too soon after being released. Any small blow to the head sent him nearly into oblivion, fiery pain spreading across his head, driving him nearly insane with agony. This was the worst attack he'd endured since the summer, and Jason was pissed. He'd lost control, egged Andrew on. If he'd shut up, he might have made it without the extra kicks to his head.

Scoffing, Jason tried again to move, successfully managing to roll to his side with minimal increase in the pain he was feeling. Slightly encouraged, he stopped to catch his breath, before completing the roll onto his stomach. His broken rib pressed painfully against the floor, Jason struggled to draw breath. Positioning his hands under his body, he managed to push himself off the floor slightly, dragging himself into a sitting position.

Stars exploded behind his eyelids, and a soft whimper escaped his lips as his arm instinctively curled around his ribs. Andrew had really worked him over this time, and Jason thought miserably of basketball practice the following day, knowing he was going to have a difficult time making it through without raising a red flag with Coach Bolton.

Steeling himself, Jason slid to the nearest wall, bracing himself against it. Taking a breath, he slowly pushed himself to a standing position, leaning heavily against the wall for support. His first step towards his bedroom nearly sent him crashing back to the floor as a dizzy spell overcame him. Leaning back against the wall, Jason waited for it to pass, the room spinning dangerously before him.

When he was sure he'd be able to take another step, Jason set off for his room, one step at a time, carefully not to jostle his broken rib, moving as slowly as he could. The painstaking process took him nearly half an hour, and when he finally reached his room, thanking god that Andrew had remained occupied, he collapsed onto the bed, unconscious within seconds.

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The next morning, Jason gingerly extracted himself from his car, tears nearly pricking his eyes as his rib jostled painfully. He suppressed a yawn, reaching back into the car for his coffee and backpack. As soon as he'd regained consciousness, nearly three hours after he'd first passed out, Jason had set about bandaging his ribs, downing four Advil for his headache and shuffling to the living room to check on Andrew. Finding his father unconscious on the sofa, he'd started working on his homework, not finishing until nearly five in the morning. It was merely his routine-what he did every day.

Groaning, Jason slung the backpack gently over his shoulder, his coffee in his left hand as he began the painful walk toward the school.

"Jason! Hey, Cross, wait up!"

Troy's voice rang clearly across the parking lot as he ran to catch up to Jason. The latter paused, turning slightly to greet his friend.

"Holy shit, man, what the fuck happened to your face?"

"What?"

"Jase, you've got a black eye bigger than a basketball, and your cheek is all torn up. What the hell happened to you?"

"Nothing!" Jason answered quickly, too quickly for Troy's liking.

"Jason-"

"Troy! Jason! Hold up!"

"We weren't going anywhere," Jason muttered as Chad Danforth joined them.

"Jesus Christ, Jason, your face!"

"We're finished discussing it," Jason said dismissively, as though the matter were solved. He turned and walked purposefully toward the school's entrance.

Chad and Troy shared a look behind Jason's back, each knowing exactly what the other was thinking. Something wasn't right with Jason, and it was becoming clearer every day.

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"Fuck."

The simple word was all Jason need to convey his feelings as he struggled to put his backpack in his locker. Homeroom was starting in two minutes, and Darbus would kill him if he were late-again.

"Need some help there?"

The soft voice at his elbow startled Jason enough that he dropped the backpack, cursing violently as he made to retrieve it.

"I've got it," the petite girl stopped him, easily bending down and picking up the bag, forcing it into Jason's overstuffed locker. "See? It fits." She flashed him a dazzling smile, and Jason found himself awed. He vaguely recognized her as the drama club's composer, the girl who sat in the front of homeroom and never talked.

"You're-you're Kelsi, aren't you?"

"And you're Jason. Jason Cross."

He returned her smile, his pain momentarily forgotten as he truly looked at her for the first time. She was wearing a knit hat, perched lopsided on her head, complimenting her oversized sweater and pink leggings. For the first time he could remember, Jason was focused on something.

"What happened?" she asked, genuine concern etched on her face.

"Oh, this? Brother. We get a little rough with each other, you know? Just brothers being brothers, though."

"It looks pretty awful though. Does it hurt much?"

"Not really. It's just a bruise," Jason replied quickly, shutting his locker door and shifting his first period books into his arms. "We should get going, anyway, Darbus will be-"

Jason was cut off by the warning bell, signaling that they were two minutes from being marked tardy.

"Shit," he cursed, turning on the spot, wincing when his broken rib protested the jerky movement. Catching the look on Kelsi's face at his outburst, his face flushed immediately.

"Sorry. I'm sorry. I just-I hate being late."

"It's okay, Jason," Kelsi replied sincerely, smiling to let him know she meant it. "You need help with those books? You look ready to fall over."

"Uh-yeah. Yeah, that'd be great. Thanks."

Kelsi slid Jason's heavy history book onto her own pile, repositioning her books as the two set off for homeroom, each smiling happily.

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"Finally, auditions for this year's winter musicale will be held during free period. Our very own Kelsi Nielson composed and wrote this year's show, something which we are very, very proud of. Now, on the subject of the recent ban on cell phones-"

Jason let Ms. Darbus' voice fade from his ears, his eyes becoming slightly glazed as he let his mind wander. He knew his propensity for tuning out conversations gave him a reputation for being stupid, but it wasn't entirely true. Jason wasn't the best in the class, but he made good grades; the constant daydreaming was a habit borne of his attempts to escape his father's abuse at home. He'd mastered the technique of traveling mentally to another place as a way to cope with his father's beatings.

Jason's mind strayed to Kelsi, and how much she had affected him that morning. He'd never really taken notice of her before-she sat in the front of the classroom, was nearly always the first to leave the room at the bell, and she rarely spoke. She followed Sharpay and Ryan Evans around everywhere, and was constantly in the drama room or the music room, even for hours after school.

He didn't know that she was a composer, though-Jason was beyond impressed that she had written and composed an entire show on her own, and he filed away a mental note to see the play. As his thoughts strayed away from the musical and back to Kelsi, he found himself looking in her direction, a smile gracing his face as he saw her scribbling furiously in a notebook, paying as much attention to Ms. Darbus as he was.

For the first time since meeting Troy and Chad, Jason felt he had a fresh start with someone. Kelsi knew nothing of his past, and he planned to use that to his advantage. When he was ready, he'd tell her some of what he'd gone through as a child. As it was, he was planning to ask her to eat lunch with him that very day, more than eager to strike up a friendship.

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"Didn't learn your lesson last night, did you?"

Andrew Cross' voice rang out clearly from the darkened living room, nearly sending Jason crashing to the floor in surprise. He'd entered the apartment well after eight, hoping and praying that Andrew had already passed out. When he'd seen the darkened entry way and living room, Jason had thought he'd made it, before Andrew's declaration let him know otherwise.

"Basketball. Coach-"

"Jack fucking Bolton is not the problem here, Jason. You are."

Andrew stood, walking slowly toward Jason, who remained rooted to the spot in utter terror. Andrew held a baseball bat in his left hand, smacking it idly against his right as he walked toward the teenager.

"Dad, I swear to God, I had basketball practice."

"You said basketball ends at four, Jason. It's eight-fifteen."

"Okay, so I stayed after to work on homework. Please, dad, I was just-"

Andrew cut off the rest of the sentence with a violent swing toward Jason, who ducked just in time to avoid being hit.

"Who were you with, Jason? Troy again? You spend so much fucking time with him, I'm amazed he hasn't brought the cops banging down the door."

"Troy doesn't know anything, dad, I swear to fucking god," Jason pleaded, a note of panic in his voice. Andrew was angrier than he'd been in a while, and Jason was cowering on the floor, arms raised protectively over his head to avoid a repeat of the summer's events.

"I don't think so, Jason. You see, Troy suspects something. He has to. You're weak. You can't keep a secret, can you? I bet you've told everyone, and they're coming this very moment to cart me off, huh?"

"No, dad, I'm not fucking kidding, I haven't told anyone!"

The end of Jason's panicked statement was greeted with a blow from the bat, brought down hard on his left arm. Screaming, Jason fell fully to the floor, clutching his injured arm to his chest.

"Then why the fuck did I get a call this afternoon from Matsui, huh? Seems to think you've been getting in a few too many fights with your "brother" lately, showing up with too many bruises. They're suspicious."

Jason's heart sank. Someone had brought the matter to East High's principal, necessitating the call home. Jason ran quickly through everyone who'd seen him that day, from Troy to Chad to his teachers and Coach Bolton. Fleetingly, he thought of Kelsi, but immediately wrote her off, as they'd only just begun talking that day, and surely she wouldn't betray him so soon.

"Dad, I haven't told anyone. I haven't fucking said a word, I swear to god that I haven't."

"See, Jason, I just don't believe you. I don't have the patience to deal with CPS right now. I'm getting a little fucking tired of your antics, you worthless piece of shit. I should've just killed you years ago."

"Then just fucking kill me," Jason screamed, his anger at the situation boiling over. His arm was killing him, throbbing mercilessly as he held it to his chest.

"Maybe I will," Andrew snarled, bringing the bat down again on Jason's already injured arm. The teenager screamed again, only ending when his voice gave out, leaving him sobbing.

"You're the worst son I could've asked for, you know that? You're a failure, and you're the reason you're mother is dead. Why the fuck they left me with you, I'll never know."

"Fuck you, dad."

"Excuse me?" Andrew's voice was dangerously low, the bat swinging ominously at his side.

"You heard me."

"You haven't learned, have you Jason? Shut-your-fucking-mouth." The final four words were accompanied by blows to Jason's chest and abdomen, leaving the teen curled around himself, sobbing brokenly into the floor.

"Keep your mouth shut here, and at school."

With one final kick to the ribs, Andrew shook his head, looking with disdain at his son, lying crumpled on the floor.

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"Have you seen Jason today?" Troy asked Chad, worry creeping into his voice. He never met me in the parking lot, and he wasn't in homeroom."

"He wasn't in English, either. You think-"

"I don't know what to think anymore, Chad. He's showing up with all these bruises on his face, and hiding god knows what else from us. He's quiet, he's intense-I mean, he's always been like that, but never so much so. I'm worried about him."

"I know, me too. I think I saw him talking to Kelsi yesterday, that composer chick, you know? The one who wrote that awful show you went out for yesterday?"

"Nielsen? Why was Jase talking to her?"

"Who knows? Seemed kinda odd, but they had lunch together. Maybe she's seen him?"

"Worth a shot. She's probably in the music room."

Together Troy and Chad set off for the music room, sure enough finding Kelsi sitting at the piano bench, playing through a song spread out in front of her.

"Kelsi?"

She looked around, frowning slightly.

"Troy Bolton. What's up? Come to tell me you're not actually doing the musical?"

"Far from it. Have you seen Jason?"

"Jason Cross?"

"That's the one."

"Not since yesterday. Why? Is he alright?"

"He's not in school. I'm-we're-we're worried about him."

"Is this because of the bruises on his face?" Kelsi asked, standing up and shuffling her music into a folder, sliding it into her backpack. "I saw them yesterday, he was having trouble with his locker. Seemed like he was nursing a broken rib, too."

"I noticed. I went to the nurse about it, she sent me to Matsui. Apparently he said he'd call Jason's dad, see if anything was going on."

"Where's his mom, then?"

"You don't know?" Troy asked, his voice dropping immediately as sadness filtered into his tone.

"What?"

"I mean, I guess Jason just didn't want to tell you until he knew you better but-Jason's mom, she died. When he was four."

"Oh my god," Kelsi breathed, feeling tears prick at the corners of her eyes. She had felt an inexplicable connection to Jason the day before, drawn to his clearly damaged psyche almost like a moth to a flame. Something about him just screamed out to her, made her want to hug him and let him know everything was going to be alright. It seemed her instincts were well placed, as Jason had clearly suffered at least once in his life, if he wasn't continuing to suffer now.

"Do you guys-I mean, his dad-"

"I've always thought Andrew Cross was an asshole," Troy stated bluntly. "He never came to Jason's games, never picked him up from practice. I mean, I wouldn't doubt that he'd lay a hand on Jason, but it's kinda a big step from absent to abusive, you know? Jason never says anything about what it's like at home, I mean-none of us have ever been over there."

"Do you know where he lives, though?"

"Yeah, out on Flischer Street," Chad replied, pointing over his shoulder by way of demonstration. "I saw him going into an apartment complex on my way to the doctor one day."

"You think we should go see if he's alright?"

"Couldn't hurt. We'll take my car during free period. Let's meet in the parking lot, okay?"

"See you then."

When free period rolled around, Troy went out to his car to find Kelsi and Chad already waiting for him. Unlocking the car, he waited from them to get settled before starting up the engine and pulling out of the parking lot. It was a ten minute drive to Jason's apartment, spent in tense silence. When they pulled up outside the building Chad indicated, the three got out of the car, walking silently to the door and locating the name Cross above one of the buzzers.

There wasn't an answer, and when Troy tried a second time, they were rewarded once again with silence. Cursing, Troy tried the outer door to the lobby, surprised when it opened easily.

"Great security, huh?"

"This isn't exactly the greatest part of town," Kelsi replied, a note of sympathy for Jason in her voice. "I can't believe he lives out here, there isn't anyone our age around here at all."

"No wonder he never had us over," Chad muttered, shutting the door behind them as they entered the tiny lobby.

"Guess we're taking the stairs," Troy gestured at the stairwell across from the door, the only other feature of the tiny space. "What number did that say?"

"4C."

"Let's go."

The three teens trudged up four flights of stairs, finally reaching the fourth floor. Locating the door to apartment C, Troy raised a hand, knocking insistently.

"No answer."

"Try again."

Troy knocked again, this time listening for any sound inside the apartment.

"I'm coming, hold on a fucking minute."

A voice that clearly belonged to Jason's father sounded through the door, sending shivers down Kelsi's spine. Andrew Cross did not sound like a pleasant man, and when he wrenched the door open a moment later, she knew her assessment was correct.

"Mr. Cross?" Troy asked, looking the man up and down in disgust. "Is Jason home?"

"Who the hell are you?"

"I'm Troy Bolton, and this is Chad, and Kelsi. Jason wasn't in school today, so-"

"It's none of your fucking business where Jason is. He's sick, didn't feel up to going to school today."

"What's he got?" Chad asked, clearly disbelieving Andrew's claim.

"The flu. Now clear out."

"Can we see him?"

"Excuse me?"

"Can we see Jason, make sure he's okay? We're worried about him, you know, if he's sick we'll need to get his homework-"

"Fuck off, Bolton."

"Excuse me?" Chad asked, his voice rising in anger. "You speak to Jason like that?"

"I talk however the hell I want to. Now get out."

"Not until we see Jason," Troy insisted, folding his arms and staring down the man. Andrew sighed, knowing he wouldn't get the teen to budge.

"He's in his room, that one there. Fuck off after you see him, I don't need you lot here all night."

Apprehensively, Troy watched Andrew walk back into the living room and sink onto the couch, opening another beer. He then led the other two to the door Andrew had indicated, knocking tentatively.

"Fuck off, dad, I'm not in the mood."

"Jason?"

"Troy? What the fuck?"

The sound of shuffling footsteps preceded Jason opening the door, looking in shock at the three people standing in the hallway.

"What are you doing here? How did you find me?"

Jason's questions went unanswered, as all three teens found themselves staring at Jason's left arm, bound up in a cast and sling, held close to his body.

"What happened to your arm?"

"I fell. Hit the concrete. Broke it in two places."

"Really, Jason, what happened?" This time Kelsi voiced the question, her voice soft and filled with pity, forcing Jason to look away to avoid seeing her expression.

"That's what happened. Now why are you here?"

"We were worried, you weren't at school and-" Troy trailed off, his eyes glued to something he'd seen on Jason's bed. His eyes traveling to Jason's sleeve, his sinking suspicions seemed to be correct. Jason was wearing a three-quarter length sleeved shirt, the sleeves falling just below his elbows, the left bunched above his cast. A thin line of blood was clearly visible seeping through the right sleeve, something Jason had not noticed.

"Jason, what is that?"

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A/N: Kinda cliffhanger, but I think you can guess. So that's that. Troy's getting suspicious, Jason and Kelsi are beginning to notice each other, and Jason's life pretty much sucks.

Next chapter has Troy trying to get Jason to talk to him, open up about the cutting and the abuse, but Jason just keeps shutting off. Also will have some of Kelsi being there for him.

Until we meet again,

jetsfanforlyfe