Summary: With junior year nearing its close, the gang is experiencing new drama that could very well tear them apart; pregnancy, betrayal, and anger. They all must learn to grow up before they reach their senior year.

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

Wildcat Fever

The Stranger Underneath

Finally, the weekend was here.

Since that evening, Troy and Gabriella had been on better terms. Troy still hadn't revealed to her the extent of his drinking problem, though he was cutting back. It was like he was trying to quit cold turkey. He still had his flask, but he hadn't taken a drink since that day. Honestly, it made his body feel funny, but he needed to be good for Gabriella and their baby. They had a baby appointment soon and he was eager to see if they could find out the sex, though they both highly doubted it because she was still in her first trimester.

They both arrived at school that Friday morning and held hands as they walked up the school together, both talking about what they believed was a kick from the baby instead of Gabriella's stomach growling or something.

"It felt like a kick to me!" exclaimed Gabriella.

Troy shrugged. "Isn't it still supposed to look like an alien?"

"Hey!" Gabriella lightly hit his chest. "That alien is your son or daughter."

"Son," confirmed Troy, smirking at the thought.

"I want a daughter," said Gabriella, opening up her locker.

"Too many girls," complained Troy.

"If we have a son, I'd never hear the end of sports. We'd have to live at the Staples center or something," said Gabriella, wincing at the thought.

"Really?!" Troy grinned broadly.

"I was kidding," giggled Gabriella, looking up at him as she leaned back against her locker. "You're so cute."

Troy smiled down at her and got closer to her body. He placed a hand on the locker next to her head and kept the other hand on her waist. "You're beautiful."

Their lips met each other as Gabriella's hormones and Troy's attraction to her ignited together in a blazing fire. They didn't really care that they were in school right now. Kissing and making love while pregnant was absolutely amazing.

Until it got interrupted.

"Ew. Okay, save that for a janitor's closet," cringed Sharpay, approaching them with Chad and Taylor.

Troy kept his hands on Gabriella's body as he rolled his eyes. "Whatever. What's up?"

Sharpay grinned and turned to Taylor. "Party at your house tonight!"

Taylor felt like she was literally going to laugh in her face. "Excuse me?"

"Come on! You have a great place, right?"

"I guess, but…"

Sharpay interrupted her. "We need to throw a party. We haven't had one in like…" She gasped. "Oh my gosh! Two weeks!"

"Why can't you have it at your house?" asked Chad, putting an arm around Taylor's shoulders.

Sharpay faltered a bit, but shrugged and flipped her hair behind her back. "They have their own social planned or something. I don't know. We just need to have it at Taylor's house."

Taylor pondered it for a moment. "Well, my parents are away for the weekend. I guess we could have it there."

Sharpay squealed. "Oh great! I'll make sure to tell everyone!"

Taylor was about to protest telling everyone, but she was already gone. She sighed and shrugged, looking at Gabriella and Troy. "Are you guys coming?"

"I'm not," said Gabriella, shaking her head.

Troy looked down at her with furrowed brows. "Why not?"

Gabriella giggled lightly. "Troy, I'm pregnant. All of that smell from the alcohol and the smoke isn't good for the baby."

"Oh, right." Troy nodded and smiled at her. "Well, we can just stay home tonight and watch a movie or something."

"No, Troy. You go. Have fun. I really want to catch up on my homework and rest a little. I think my feet are starting to swell," she murmured, grimacing at the thought.

"Are you sure? I can stay home with you, baby." Troy caressed her cheek gently.

Gabriella bit her bottom lip. She loved it when Troy touched her and cared for her body like it was a work of art. But, she couldn't be a tyrant. Not yet. "As much as I would desperately enjoy you all over me, I need to study. You go have fun."

"Okay, if you say so."

"I do say so," she smiled.

Troy smiled back at her as the bell rang. He held her hand close to his chest. "Let's get to class, my beautiful girlfriend."

"You guys make me gag," said Chad, following them before he began whispering sweet and ironic comments in Taylor's ear.

It was a mess.

There were at least three kegs scattered around the house and the backyard. There were ten coolers total filled with beer and soda. Somebody was selling drugs outside. One group was smoking pot in the living room. Half of the space upstairs was filled with horny couples. And, to make matters worse, somebody had started a body shot game in the dining room with naked girls lying on the table.

Taylor chewed on her thumb as she looked around. To say she was scared was an understatement. She was beyond terrified that her parents would come home Sunday and find out somehow that she had a massive party. She would be grounded and she wouldn't be able to see Chad until her graduation…from college!

"Hey." Sharpay touched her arm, causing Taylor to jump. She had a red cup in her hand and handed it to Taylor. "Will you lighten up? This party is great!"

"Easy for you to say. I'm just lucky that nobody is teasing me for that one party," glared Taylor.

Sharpay put her hands up in defense. "Hey, everybody is over it because I told them to get over it. Now, have fun. This party is just getting started."

"What?"

"Hey, everybody!" shouted Sharpay. "Let's play seven minutes in heaven!"

People began shouting as they formed a circle in the middle of the living room, still drinking and still smoking. Chad came up to Taylor and put his arm around her. "Come on. Let's play. It might take your mind off of things."

Taylor caught her breath as Chad nibbled on her earlobe. "Okay."

They sat together in the circle, but before the game could even get started, Sharpay barged over to them and stood them up. "Okay, you two. Everybody is still confused on whether or not you guys are even together so you need to go first and prove it to us."

"Prove what?" asked Taylor as she shuffled over to the closet with Chad.

They both looked at her from the closet. "Prove to us that you are still hot for each other. I mean, the sexual tension is practically coming off of you."

The door shut, wrapping them in darkness. Chad looked at Taylor and chuckled, watching her fidget. "What is wrong?"

"This is so crazy. I don't throw parties. I'm not popular. I'm not good enough for any of this," she explained frantically.

"Hey." Chad touched her cheek. "I know you are good enough for me. You are more than good enough for me."

She looked at him and sighed. "Really?"

"Really. Now, let's just forget about those people and focus on each other," he smirked, getting closer to her as he nuzzled her nose.

Taylor grinned and nodded, taking his lips with hers as they collided together against the coat rack.

Maybe the party wasn't that bad.

Gabriella walked out of the bathroom after taking a relaxing bubble bath, finding Lucille sitting at the kitchen island with a cookbook in her hand. She smiled and sat next to her. She had grown really close to Lucille ever since her own mother left. Lucille taught her so many things about the pregnancy and how to properly care for another human being. She was grateful to have Lucille every day.

"What are you doing?" she asked.

Lucille sighed. "Oh, just trying to figure out dinner for tonight. Where is Troy?"

"He is at some party." She looked at Lucille's wary expression. "Don't worry. I told him to go. He promised he would be responsible."

"He better not come home drunk. That wouldn't really be father material," she grimaced.

Gabriella paused, chewing on her bottom lip. "Have you heard from Jack?"

She shook her head and shut the book. "Nope. I couldn't care less. He just needs to stay far away from us. He is nothing but trouble."

"That's for sure," murmured Gabriella, rolling her eyes.

Lucille watched as Gabriella rubbed her belly protectively. "I can already tell you will be a wonderful mother."

"Really? Sometimes I worry that I will be too overbearing or too lenient with the baby," she said.

"No mother is perfect, Gabriella." Lucille smiled sadly. "Jeremy was a good kid. And, I'm glad Troy had him to look up to. It's still hard every day considering he is gone. But, his spirit is still with me. Sometimes I still try and be a good mother to him."

"What was Jeremy like as a child?" asked Gabriella.

"Oh, he was a wild thing. He would run around with his cape pretending he was a superhero. He would try to save ants from being crushed on the ground or he would see a stray dog and bring it to the house because he was afraid it would get run over. Jeremy was one smart kid." She paused. "When we had Troy, Jeremy was all over him. He vowed from day one to be the best big brother. And, he was. He gave Troy advice about life and girls in general. I say it worked out all right." She glanced at Gabriella with a smile.

Gabriella giggled. "Do you think Jeremy would have liked me?"

"I know he would have loved you," she said, putting an arm around her.

They both sighed before Lucille spoke up. "You know what? Let's order a pizza and watch some Ryan Gosling, huh?"

"That sounds perfect," said Gabriella, smiling as she watched Lucille grab the phone to order the pizza.

Gabriella glanced down at her belly and rubbed it gently, smiling. "I promise to always protect you."

Chad and Taylor could barely keep their hands off of each other after their little escapade in the closet. All they did was kiss, but when the closet door had opened, it was safe to say that the entire school now knew what their status was.

After that, Chad whisked Taylor away to one of the bedrooms. He wasn't sure if he wanted to have sex with her yet, but he just wanted to be close to her. Whatever happened, happened. He had protection either way.

Chad rubbed her bare waist as he kissed her neck, feeling Taylor's hands on his bare back. She was only in her bra and jeans and he was only in his shorts. "Taylor…"

Taylor ran her fingers through his curls with a smile. "You are really good at this, you know."

Chad laughed and looked at her. He stroked her cheek gently and just looked into her eyes. His heart was pounding and it felt like he had butterflies in his stomach. He had never felt like this before towards anyone. This wasn't some fling to him. This was more.

"Taylor, I…"

"Troy! Troy! Troy! Troy!"

They both looked towards the closed door, hearing the commotion that was downstairs. Chad furrowed his brows. "What the hell?"

"Should we go check it out?" asked Taylor, worried about what might be going on.

"Stay here, okay? I'll be back," he promised, kissing her once before throwing his shirt back on.

He walked out of the room, making sure to shut the door behind him. He ventured downstairs and tried to find where the commotion was coming from. He finally noticed a circle of people surrounding the dining room table. He kept hearing cat calls and Troy's name being chanted. Chad was worried that he was going to find something that would not be good at all.

He pushed through the crowd and stood there in shock at what he was seeing. Troy's shirt was off and his lips were in between two bare breasts that was covered with salt and liquor. On the girl's neck was a lime wedge. Troy licked the salt up from between her breasts and to her neck before grabbing the lime wedge. He took it out of his mouth before kissing the girl squarely on the lips. He stood back up and threw his hands in the hair, shouting out loud.

Chad immediately grabbed his arm and towed him away to a corner in the living room. He glared at him, being aware of the fact that he smelled like alcohol. "What the hell are you doing, man?!"

Troy laughed and pointed over to the dining room table. "Dude, did you see that? Oh, man. Tasty."

Chad pushed him backward. "Dude! You have a pregnant girlfriend sitting at home who trusted you to come here!"

"Oh, Gabriella doesn't need to know everything. It's not like I can do body shots off of her, anyway. She's too big," he said, waving his hand in the air dramatically.

"I can't believe you just said that. Are you really that drunk to be this stupid?" asked Chad, shaking his head.

"I'm perfectly…" Troy let out a small belch before chuckling. "…fine."

"What is wrong with you? Why are you acting like your father?" asked Chad.

Troy glared at him and pushed him. "Don't compare me to my father. I am nothing like him."

"Oh, yeah? You can't live without liquor and you are being a dick. That seems like a pretty good comparison to me, daddy's boy."

Troy suddenly threw a punch to Chad's jaw, knocking him to the ground. Chad stood up and pushed Troy against the wall before punching him in the face. It felt wrong to do that, but Chad had to do something to knock some sense into him.

Obviously it wasn't working as Troy pushed Chad to the ground and the two began beating each other senselessly. Before it could escalate, Taylor came running down, fully dressed. She grabbed Troy and pushed him aside before helping Chad up.

"What the hell is going on here?" asked Sharpay, approaching the scene.

Chad wiped blood from his chin and glared at Troy. "I found this idiot doing body shots off of a naked girl."

Taylor stared at Troy in shock, who didn't seem too bothered. "What?"

"Troy, what is wrong with you?" asked Sharpay, shaking her head.

Troy laughed. "Why is everybody freaking out about this? I didn't do anything wrong."

Sharpay walked up to him and slapped him, shocking everybody around them. "Troy, you are being a complete jackass right now. I'm actually becoming friends with your pregnant girlfriend. I will not let you break her heart, do you understand me?"

Troy leaned down towards her face, smirking. "We used to have fun together, Sharpay. Want me to do a body shot from your chest?"

Sharpay gasped and slapped him harder this time. "You bastard."

Taylor watched her walk away before going up to Troy and shaking her head. "Gabriella will never forgive you for this."

She slapped his other cheek and followed Sharpay.

Chad walked up to Troy and shook his head. "Gabriella needs to know."

Troy slowly walked towards him and got close to his face with a drunken sneer. "Tell her. What do I care?"

"You care about her, Troy. How much alcohol have you had tonight?" asked Chad. This was not his friend.

"I'm pretty sure he has had at least two bottles of liquor," said somebody from the crowd.

"I saw him drinking from a flask," said another.

Chad shook his head and pushed Troy backward again. "Gabriella doesn't deserve you, man. She is going to find out and when she does, you can kiss her and the baby goodbye because she is not going to want to be around this version of you."

"This version is me and all of me," said Troy. "When are you going to realize that? I'm always going to have my father's blood in me."

"So what? It doesn't mean you have to be like him. Be the guy that Gabriella fell in love with. Be the guy that is destined to be a good father. One that will put your own father to shame," explained Chad. "This version is not you."

Troy chewed on the inside of his cheek as he watched Chad walk away. He simply shook his head and grabbed his flask, taking another swig before disappearing into the crowd.

He had better things to do.