It's the Real Thing
AN: All righties, here's chapter three :) Plotting and secrecy, mwahaha! Sounds like some weird thriller movie… okay, I'm done rambling… promise…
Disclaimer: I don't own High School Musical… nothing funny here people…
CHAPTER THREE: Why Don't We…?
While Troy was snoring away on his bed, his mother was waking his father up. Jack Bolton opened one bleary eye, saw his wife, and immediately closed it again. Lily Bolton sighed and prodded him in the shoulder. "Jack, I know you're awake, get up! We're going to meet the Montez's," she spoke. Jack feigned sleepiness as he stretched and blinked rapidly.
"Oh, right! I knew that," he lied. Lily let out a laugh as she surveyed his crumpled clothes and messy dark blond hair.
"Oh honestly, you act like a five-year-old sometimes," she said affectionately, pulling him up from the comfortable couch. "Now please go get changed."
He grinned ruefully and shuffled off to his bathroom to change as his wife waited impatiently at the bottom of the stairs. "Ja-aack, you take more time in the bathroom than a woman does!" she called, tapping her foot impatiently. Her red-brown hair fluttered as she shook her head. "That man and bathrooms…" she muttered, preparing to make her way upstairs to drag him out.
The extreme measure wasn't needed, however, as Jack appeared two minutes later with washed hair and fresh clothes. His wife smiled approvingly.
"At least you made use of your time in the bathroom," she laughed, placing the note she had written for Troy on the kitchen table. Jack scurried around, trying to locate his shoes.
"I'm sure Troy must have… aha!" he cried in delight, unearthing his dress shoes from the depths of the hall closet. Lily crossed her arms, standing by the door. Jack slipped into his shoes and looked momentarily disoriented. "The car keys…?"
"We'll walk," interrupted Lily, opening the door. "They're just a few houses down as it is. And it'll do you good," she added playfully, exiting the house. Jack looked put out.
"And what is that supposed to mean?" he huffed, locking the door behind him. Lily rolled her eyes and ignored him, setting out for their old friends' house.
"I'm so glad they invited us over," she declared happily. "I haven't seen Sienna in absolute ages…"
"You saw her last week!" muttered Jack in disbelief. Lily shot him an icy look, and he wisely held back his words.
They paused in front of one of the white houses. Lily rang the doorbell and waited with a smile on her face, while Jack attempted to hide behind her – he knew what the women's greeting would be like. Sure enough, Sienna Montez opened the door and let out a delighted scream. Both women fell into each other's arms like schoolgirls.
"Sienna, it's been so long!"
"Oh Lily, you are looking absolutely fantastic! Come in, come in! Hello Jack!" Jack Bolton smiled slightly and nodded in reply.
Dominic Montez appeared behind his wife, looking slightly uncomfortable at her behaviour. He met Jack's eyes and chuckled softly. "Ahh, Jack, how are you? Still a basketball fanatic?"
"Always," grinned Jack, stepping into the house after Lily. "I seem to remember I managed to get you hooked too, still keeping track of the game?"
Dominic threw back his head and laughed heartily. "Of course!" he exclaimed. "Why don't we follow Sienna and Lily into the living room?"
The four friends settled down on the comfortable armchairs, the women chatting away animatedly and the men deep in conversation about some basketball game. Evening darkened to night as they laughed and argued together.
Invariably, the talk turned to children. The Montez's gushed about Troy, whom they saw quite often on the TV due to Dominic Montez's basketball obsession. Lily and Jack smiled proudly and politely inquired about their own daughter. This set Sienna off in a long talk about how Gabriella merely refused to come home from Manhattan, and her being without all alone in her apartment…
"Wait," interrupted Jack with an excited gleam in his eye, "she's alone? Your daughter, I mean… she's single? How old is she?"
Sienna stopped, slightly irritated with Jack, but answered his question with good grace – "Gabriella's twenty-three and refuses to even date anyone. That girl has something against the opposite sex…" she replied.
Lily had caught on to Jack's idea and couldn't suppress a beam. "Oh, I know, I know! Troy's twenty-five, it's about time he got married…"
Dominic Montez looked at them all with a quizzical expression, but Sienna had caught the hint. She pressed her hands together in delight. "Oh my, what a good idea!" she exclaimed happily.
Dominic scratched his head. "Am I missing something here?" he asked, rather unhappily. The other three laughed and looked at him. He blinked in confusion. "Well? Will someone enlighten me?"
Jack explained. "Your daughter's single. My son is single. They both need to get married soon. Why don't we…?"
Dominic's eyes brightened in understanding. "I approve!" he affirmed, nodding his head. "Gabriella needs someone, and Troy would be perfect for her!"
Lily's face flushed slightly in enthusiasm. "You know, they'd make the perfect couple…" she said dreamily. Her husband gently waved his hand in front of her face.
"Lily? Come back to us," he joked, sitting back to sink deeper into the comfort of the armchair. "Personally I feel it's a great idea myself - " "Because you came up with it," murmured Lily, eyeing him mischievously, " – so why don't we do it instead of discussing how great it is? You say your daughter lives in Manhattan?"
"Oh yes," nodded Sienna Montez. "But she's coming home in about a week, I think… no, wait, two weeks, end of February."
Lily stifled a shrill squeal, clapping her hands like a four-year-old. "That's wonderful! Because Troy's visiting us until about that time too!" she exclaimed.
Dominic grinned widely. "We can have them meet up a couple of times, have Troy buy the ring, and get them engaged before they leave to go back to their respective cities… where does Troy live?" he asked curiously, really getting into the plan.
Jack replied with a smile. "Bronx!"
Dominic laughed quietly.
"Everything's just going our way, isn't it?" he said. "So then we can plan out their wedding by, say, end July? We can fly over there for it, and then they can settle down in Manhattan or the Bronx or wherever!"
The other three nodded, their eyes shining with glee. Sienna sighed contentedly. "I was starting to think I'd never find someone for Ella," she admitted. "But it's so nice to know that she'll marry a kid that I know so well!" She beamed.
Lily frowned slightly. "You know… what if they don't like each other?" she said slowly. Dominic brushed the question aside with a wave of his hand.
"Nonsense. They'll love each other… if only for us," he added, grinning. "But they'll get along fine, don't you worry Lily." He patted her hand. Jack agreed.
"Yeah, don't fret Lily. I'm positive they'll love each other."
Lily glanced at the clock on the wall and let out a startled gasp. "Oh Sienna, Dominic, we should be going… it's already eleven…" she said, getting up. "All that needs to be done is to convince Troy to stay a little longer, so he and Gabriella can meet up a few more times… that shouldn't be too hard."
Jack nodded, getting to his feet as well. "Pleasure seeing you, as always," he spoke, smiling at his friends. The Montez's smiled back, all four of them caught up in their plans of getting their children married.
Sienna interpreted their feelings in one sentence, filled with relish. "Oh, this is going to be so much fun!"
AN: Well there you go! Evil parents plotting behind their children's backs :P If it seems confusing, I'll try to explain a bit – why would Troy and Gabriella marry people they've never seen? Couldn't they just refuse?
The answer is a bit complicated. Basically arranged marriages were pretty common a few generations back, and if you didn't agree to them, your family name was dishonoured and your parents disowned you. Nothing so drastic would happen here, but Troy's and Gabby's parents would probably stop talking to them and in a way "disown" them by ignoring their calls or whatever, and not letting them into the house and such. Yeahh, and you thought your parents were a pain? ;)