Playing With Fire
Summary: One night drastically alters the course of senior year. Now, graduation is the last thing on their minds as the gang are faced with problems that none of them could imagine, putting their relationships, their futures and even their lives at risk.
Pairings: Chaylor, Troyella.
Warnings: Possible mild language, violence, mentions of adult themes.
3. Secrets Revealed, Secrets Kept
Monday morning. Often so dull, so monotonous. So agonisingly slow. But not today. No, today homeroom was about to see more drama than it had all year. And it was all thanks to the big mouth of Miss Sharpay Evans.
She'd been on her best behaviour; keeping to herself as she usually did in her elite spot at the front of the class. And, while checking her emails on her diamante encrusted iPhone, she had to stop to simply admire her stunning, manicured fingernails. It was then that her attention was captivated by something else in the reflection of her touch-screen. Towards the back of the room, two of her classmates were acting quite uncharacteristically sombre; talking to each other in hushed voices with their eyes low and brows furrowed. Sharpay was intrigued. Something was going on. And she had to know more. Out of concern, of course. So, she leant as far back in her chair as she could and attempted to detect any hint of the grave conversation that was taking place.
Too wrapped up in their woes, Sharpay's 'curiosity' went unnoticed by Taylor and Gabriella and they continued to talk unaware of the eavesdropper.
"So, do you think that's it?" Gabriella asked carefully, knowing that her best-friend was currently in a very sensitive place. "I mean, can you see you two… getting back together?"
Taylor shrugged, propping her elbows up on the table and resting her chin in her palms. "I don't know." She said honestly. She'd spent the entire weekend wishing that he'd call, crying herself to sleep. The hope that they'd patch things up was already starting to fade.
Seeing the devastation in Taylor's eyes made Gabriella instinctively reach out and place her hand on her friend's back. She rubbed in small circles comfortingly. "Hey, you never know." She assured her.
But she wasn't sure what else to say. She'd never been ready for this day. Never seen this coming. Because Chad and Taylor had always seemed so perfect for each other in the most unusual way. And Taylor was so strong, Gabriella never thought she'd see her so broken.
"But, the thing is," Taylor said, drawing in a deep breath and sitting up straight. "He was right." She released the lung-full of air despairingly. "I mean, if I can't accept where he's from then… maybe we shouldn't be together."
She'd been thinking about it. A hell of a lot. And when she faced reality she realised that she and Chad were destined to break-up at the end of the year when they graduated, so maybe it was easier this way. Though, that didn't make it hurt any less. Because, of all the things that Taylor knew in the world, the feeling of having her heart broken was something she'd never experienced. Until a couple of days ago, she'd never believed in the cliché of not being able to eat or sleep, but now she understood. All she could think about was Chad. Everything she did to get her mind off him only succeeded in somehow reminding her of what she'd lost. And she suffered from an awful feeling of emptiness that not even her most laboured efforts could overcome.
"Anyway," she forced a bright smile and averted her attention to Gabriella. "How are things with you? Did that Asher boy get you home alright?"
Gabriella removed her hand from the small of Taylor's back and clasped it within her other hand on her desk. While she shifted nervously in her seat, her eyes darted to the clock. "Ms. Darbus is running late." She observed, changing the subject quite blatantly.
"Gabriella…" Taylor said in a playful warning tone. "What aren't you telling me?" You didn't have to be Gabriella's best-friend to know that she was trying to avoid a subject. But it certainly helped if you planned on coercing it out of her.
After stealing a quick, suspicious glance around the room, Gabriella leaned as close as she could to Taylor. Taylor followed her lead and their heads met halfway between their desks, Gabriella's lips ending up only an inch from Taylor's ear.
"You can't tell anyone, okay?" She whispered.
Taylor nodded eagerly, deeply fascinated by what Gabriella had to say.
Another lengthy pause passed before Gabriella broke the suspense. "He kissed me."
Taylor shot upright in her seat so quickly that she made Gabriella jump. Her eyes were wide, a hand over her open mouth and a disbelieving frown on her brow. Gabriella put a finger to her lips, warning her friend without words to stop attracting attention to them both. But it took Taylor a few seconds to regain her composure. That she had not been expecting.
When she'd finally stopped reeling, Taylor said quietly; "Well, what did you do?"
"I pushed him off!" Gabriella hissed as if it was obvious.
It was obvious. And Taylor didn't need to know that her reaction hadn't been instant. It was already too complicated. Gabriella knew that she had absolutely no feelings for Asher- that she loved Troy with all of her heart- but that didn't stop her from feeling so sorry for the boy she had rejected. And she was angry at herself for sending him the signals that apparently made him feel that kissing her would be appropriate.
Taylor looked as though she wanted to say a lot more but refrained. Instead, she narrowed her many queries down to one important question. "Does Troy know?" When Gabriella shook her head, she continued to ask; "Don't you think you should tell him?"
Frowning pensively, Gabriella shook her head again. "It was a meaningless accident." She dismissed. "Besides, telling Troy about it wouldn't make things any better."
Unfortunately for Sharpay, most of Gabriella and Taylor's conversation had been too cautiously quiet for her to gather any interesting information, and her lip-reading skills had never been very good. But she'd heard that last, intriguing sentence from Gabriella. And she saw that things may have been about to get a little more interesting as neither of the girls had noticed that Troy had already arrived.
"Telling me about what?"
Both Gabriella and Taylor simultaneously jumped out of their skin as Troy dumped himself ungracefully on the seat in front of Gabriella.
"N-nothing." Gabriella insisted hurriedly with an unconvincing smile. Taylor nodded but toyed anxiously with her earring.
Troy rubbed deep into his eyes with the heel of his palm. He could see that something was up. He probably would have pursued the matter if he wasn't so unbearably exhausted. But he'd been up all night, holding his mother until she fell asleep as he'd done the night before and the night before that. Since that Friday evening she'd done nothing but cry and lament the many failures in her life, while Jack Bolton did all he could to avoid his crumbling family. This had left Troy with the continuous job of keeping his mum under control and trying to reassure her that she was loved.
When she realised that she was off the hook, Gabriella allowed herself to relax. In doing so, she found herself taking in the sight of her boyfriend and was suddenly overcome with concern. She'd never seen him looking so worn-out, not even after hours of training. The way his shoulders drooped made him look as though he had the weight of the world resting on him and he had dark circles around his eyes. Even when he blinked it was sluggish as though his body didn't want him to stay awake.
"Are you okay, Troy?" She asked, gently reaching over her desk to place a hand on his shoulder. Maybe she imagined it, but it almost felt as though he shuddered at her touch.
He shrugged, unintentionally knocking her hand away. "Long night." He explained distantly. He didn't mean to be so blunt but he wasn't in the mood for a deep conversation. "I don't wanna talk about it."
But Gabriella wasn't willing to sit by and do nothing as Troy suffered so obviously right in front of her. She got up from her table and crouched beside him. "You can tell me anything you know." She told him, placing her hands on top of his which rested on his lap. She thought for a moment before adding; "Is it your mom again?"
Troy had confided in Gabriella before about all the drama at home. But he never wanted to burden her with his problems when he knew she had so many of her own to deal with. She was just so good to talk to, so supportive and understanding and she always knew what to say to make him feel better. Troy felt confident now, as he looked into Gabriella's loving, brown eyes. She smiled at him warmly in a way that told him that she'd always be there for him, and Troy couldn't have felt more grateful.
He nodded in answer to her question. "But it's alright now." He lied, giving her hand a squeeze. He regarded her admiringly. "I love you so much." He said.
Gabriella's smile was only small, but it meant everything. "I love you too, Troy."
To spoil the moment, the bell rang to mark the start of the day. Reluctantly, Troy rose from the random desk he sat at and he and Gabriella wandered to their own seats while a particularly flustered Ms. Darbus entered the room.
"I apologise for my tardiness, class." She announced, gliding flamboyantly to her table. She settled almost instantly, adjusted her glasses and flicked her scarf around her neck in a most exaggerated fashion. Finally, she looked up at her expectant students. "But as they say in the theatre-"
"Sorry I'm late, Miss D." Chad appeared at the door.
Ms. Darbus opened her mouth to scold him but Chad simply flashed one of his most influential, innocent smiles. It was well-practiced and unbelievably effective and, in the end, Darbus just nodded and allowed Chad to saunter to his seat without punishment.
Sharpay watched, unimpressed. People were acting strangely; Gabriella had a constant look of nervousness and guilt on her face while Troy seemed to be struggling to stay awake, and since Chad had walked in the room, Taylor looked as though she would burst into tears any second. Sharpay could see it all and she was dissatisfied with her current lack of an explanation. She just had to be in on all the latest classroom gossip. She just had to know it all.
And then it dawned on her…
It was the way that Taylor's eyes kept straying to gaze wistfully at the back of Chad's head. And how they hadn't greeted each other like they usually did. Now, it made sense.
"Oh my god…" Sharpay thought aloud, catching the class's attention with her sudden interruption of Ms, Darbus' enthusiastic lecture. Seemingly unaware of- or unfazed by- the fact that all eyes were now on her, Sharpay continued to relish in her discovery. She pointed a dainty finger at Taylor, then redirected it at Chad. "You two've broken up." She revealed carelessly.
A mutual gasp echoed throughout the room as all eyes turned to the mortified couple. Even Ms. Darbus looked momentarily stunned. The classroom now buzzed with hushed voices, confused questions and disbelieving whispers. Sharpay felt a rare prick of guilt as she realised that she probably could have handled that with a bit more sensitivity, but at the same time, she felt almost triumphant at figuring out one of the juiciest bits of news that she'd heard for a long time.
Chad bit down on his lip and tried to avoid all the questioning gazes directed at him by staring down at the mindless scribbles on his desk. Ignoring all the attention was a little tougher for Taylor, however, as she found herself feeling overwhelmed and dismayed. Her whole body flushed hot and a light sweat was building up on her brow. Her palms were sweaty and all she could do was squirm nervously in her seat. But it seemed her lungs were closing in on themselves as each breath she took got smaller and smaller until all she could muster were short gasps. Her stomach was turning, the room spinning, and her head felt like it was about to burst.
This couldn't be because of the embarrassment. This was something else.
She had to get out. She was going to be sick. She could feel the bile rising in her throat. And she had no time to excuse herself. Instead, she jumped to her feet and took a desperate sprint to the door. But unfortunately, it was all too late. Her stomach folded in on itself, and Taylor was powerless to stop her half-digested breakfast spilling out of her open mouth. By some miracle, she'd managed to position herself beside the bin which was to the left of the door, and through a skilled manoeuvre of her entire body, she was able to direct the majority of her stomach contents into the deep plastic container.
The room was silent. Deafeningly so. No-one knew what to do- or if they should do anything at all.
Not thinking, simply acting out of concern and loving impulse, Chad got to his feet. But, although his reaction had been instant, he was too slow. Gabriella already had the situation covered. She hurried past Chad, straight to Taylor, and took her trembling friend by the waist, leading her gently and wordlessly out of the room. Chad couldn't take his eyes off his fragile ex-girlfriend; the way she hunched so painfully over the bin and the way she swayed slightly as Gabriella escorted her away. Rational thoughts only returned once the door had shut behind them. Then, he sank slowly back down to his seat and returned his gaze to his desk. Only then did he realise that his fisted hands were shaking.
Taylor went home after that. She blamed her sickness on exhaustion. She told Gabriella that with the heaps of work she'd been doing recently and the break-up coupled with all that sudden, embarrassing attention in class, her body had momentarily cracked under the pressure. A plausible enough excuse. But something about it just didn't sit right with Gabriella. It seemed as though Taylor was hiding something. And it was a matter that Gabriella planned to push when her best-friend was feeling better.
For now though, Gabriella felt refreshingly contented as she and Troy walked together out of the school's front doors. The day was over, the sun was shining and she was happy and comfortable in the arms of the boy she loved. He had a gentle hold on her at the waist and gracefully guided her down the school's front steps. Gabriella smiled to herself, inhaling his scent and shivering with pleasure at the feeling of his fingers gently tracing her stomach. This was bliss. This was perfect. And, for the first time in three days, she could finally forget about--
"Hey, isn't that Asher?" Troy broke her from her thoughts.
It took her a moment to absorb his words but when she did, her heart started to pound. What was he doing here? Surely he couldn't be there to see them. To see her. But when she followed Troy's line of sight, the scene before her was what she had dreaded. Asher was parked across the road from the school, leaning against his car, staring right at them. Before Gabriella could say anything to Troy- though she wasn't sure what she could say- Asher began to advance towards them.
"Alright, man?" Troy greeted him when Asher was within hearing range. It was strange seeing the boy from West High again without warning, and it was clear that the meeting was no coincidence as Asher had quite obviously been waiting for them. Stranger though, was Gabriella's reaction which had not gone unnoticed by her boyfriend.
Usually friendly and welcoming, Gabriella's attitude towards Asher had completely transformed as she avoided eye-contact and offered no greeting, instead just nodding uncomfortably.
Asher noticed it too. "Yeah…" He answered Troy's question but seemed disinterested as though his thoughts were elsewhere. He regarded Gabriella almost expectantly and intensely engrossed. Troy frowned curiously and looked between the two, oblivious to the reason behind their weird behaviour.
"I was hoping I'd see you out here." Asher said directly to Gabriella whose eyes were fixated on the ground. "You left this in my car on Friday night." He continued, presenting a thick white cardigan- her favourite. He held it out in front of her, and for a moment Gabriella refrained from taking it.
It was more embarrassment than anything else. The awkward situation was unlike any other position she'd been put in. And all the while, there was an underlying fear that Asher would tell Troy what happened between them.
Troy cleared his throat and Gabriella realised she'd been keeping them both waiting. She met Asher's eyes for a second, giving him a tight smile, and reached out for her cardigan.
"Thanks." She said flatly, her hand grasping around the soft fabric. She waited for Asher to release the item of clothing to her but he did not. His grip on the cardigan did not weaken. She was forced to look at him once again.
She shot him a pleading look of anxious uncertainty. He stared back at her with eyes full of want and desire.
Troy watched on, feeling invisible. And confused. And… was that jealousy? Something was making his heart beat faster. And as hard as he tried to force himself- as hard as he tried to tell himself he was just being paranoid- he couldn't ignore the way Asher's hand lingered on Gabriella's.
A/N: Wow! I absolutely loved all the reviews! And that's no exaggeration. Each one puts a smile on my face. The awesomest people in the world are…;
Vfanforlife, pamylz, LadiiBabiiCottonCandii990 (Ashface?... I quite like that nickname you've given him lol), chaylorXtraylorlover101, ChaylorTwilightQueen10 (as a Chaylor-fanatic myself, trust me I know how you feel! But you know I love my drama ;D ), corbinsbabygrl1, italianvballgirl and mzwendy85.
So, doesn't seem like Asher's going away. And Troy's getting suspicious. Uh-oh. Poor Taylor too. (Chad still cares….) But I hope you liked the little Troyella moments ('cos we gotta have some romance!). Plus an appearance from Sharpay! Tell me what you think and thanks for reading!
xX M Xx