Hi all! When we last left our story Troy, Gabi and gang were trying to figure out how they were going to make the callbacks since the date had been changed. They hadn't told their parents about the plan...but parents being parents, Jack, Lucille and Maria know that something's going on.

As always, I own nothing HSM related and have the utmost respect for the actors, characters and the awesome production crew that brought this generation-changing phenomena to our lives! Read, enjoy and review! And thanks to all of you who have kept pushing me to keep this story going, I appreciate the encouragement!

Keep the Zanessa love flowing! -adc

Jack seemed a bit stressed as he walked into the kitchen that evening. Lucille was working on dinner and noticed that one of her two favorite men was missing from the lineup.

"Where's Troy? Dinner will be ready in less than a half hour." She looked at her husband and noticed his concerned face.

"He got out at Chad's. Said he'd be home in a little bit. They're up to something Luce. And I don't like it." The look in Jack's eyes told his wife that he was a worried father, and coach.

"What happened? Did something happen with Gabriella? I thought all that was straightened out last night." Lucille pressed.

"Well she's involved, but this time she and Troy are in it together. As are Chad and Zeke and Jason…and who knows who else. This time it's like somebody is out to get them both and I'm afraid it has to do with my war with Darbus." Jack sat down heavily at the kitchen table and leaned his head back.

"What happened? You've got me completely confused." Luce asked as she placed her fingertips on his temples and gently started massaging. "What's happened since last night?"

"The callbacks for the show were supposed to be on Thursday. Apparently they are now changed to Friday, at the same time as the game and the decathlon." Jack closed his eyes for a moment and tried to release the tension by focusing on the gentle actions from Luce's fingers.

"But that would mean that Troy nor Gabriella could do the callbacks. Was this Ms. Darbus's idea?" Luce tried to ask gently but was beginning to feel Jack's frustrations.

"We had a teachers' meeting after school today. That's when I found out about the change. She said two of the drama club officers had made a request to change the callback date, and that she had agreed to their request." Jack leaned his head forward again and opened his eyes. He turned in his chair and looked up at his wife's face.

He laughed through his nose and tried to smile. "I tried to argue with her. Can you believe it? I tried to argue with Darbus. I told her and everybody else that changing the callbacks would knock Troy and Gabriella out of the running because they both have prior obligations that were happening at the same time. I thought Matsui would back me up and make her leave the date alone."

"Did you get any support from him?" Lucille put her arm around her husband's shoulders. She was in a bit of shock that he had gone this far to support Troy's new interest in music.

"He asked her again if this was her decision or someone else's. She said it was a decision made by the drama club officers. So he just shook his head and blew me off." Jack shook his head and leaned it against Lucille's hip.

"I tried. If Troy asks, I tried. I don't know what else to do. I can't let him out of the ballgame Luce, not this one." He thought back to the conversation he'd had earlier with Troy.

Lucille stilled her hand in his hair. "When did Troy find out about this? How is he taking the news?"

Jack sat up straighter. "That's the thing. Apparently he found out about it this morning. There was something posted on the bulletin board about the change. But he doesn't seem upset about it at all. And neither does Gabriella."

Now Lucille let go of her husband and looked him in the eyes. "You talked to them about this? Both of them?" Her eyebrows lowered as she watched his reaction.

His sideways smile led her to believe that this had been an up and down day for her husband. He had news to share besides the callback mess. Now Lucille wasn't sure what she wanted to hear first.

"Spill it Coach." She ordered her husband.

He loved it when she used his nickname. And for the first time in a long while, he wasn't quite sure how to react to it. So his smile widened, he stood up and gave her a quick kiss on the lips.

"I'm not sure where to begin. The mess and the girly ga-ga stuff all kinda go together." He walked to the stove and lifted a lid off the pot that was simmering.

"Try me." Lucille pushed.

Jack took a taste of the sauce and then quickly put the spoon and lid back down. "During free-period I walked into the gym expecting the team to be in there. Troy was in there with Chad, Zeke and Jase, but they were sitting on the bleachers with Taylor McKessie, Gabriella and another girl. I think her name is Kelsi, she's one of the artsy, drama kids."

Lucille shook her head at her husband's description but waved her hand for him to continue.

"So as I got closer to them they were all hovering around a laptop computer and what looked like a blueprint of some sort. When they saw me they rolled up the blueprint and shut off the computer. If I have to testify against them, that would be a guilty verdict right there." Jack rubbed his hands together. That sight would not leave his mind as much as he tried to push it aside.

"None of them wanted to say what they were doing so I just ignored it. Then I asked Troy and Gabriella to come chat with me a minute." He smiled again.

Lucille's smile grew as she watched his face, knowing she should prepare to hear his version of the 'girly ga-ga' stuff. So she hopped onto a barstool and leaned against the counter top.

"I apologized to her for being rude last week and I asked her if we could start over. Poor girl, when she first walked in she looked scared to death. And Troy looked like he would eat me alive if I dared say anything mean to her. I swear Luce, it was worse than the look you gave me the first time Troy fell off his bike and I told him to get back on." Jack stopped to take a breath.

"So he does care about her, doesn't he?" Lucille smiled again.

"Well if that look didn't tell me then the hand holding certainly did. And the way they looked at each other after we had made amends was pretty sickening, honestly." He shook his head remembering the silly grins that the kids had worn when they stared at each other.

When he looked again at his wife she was wearing a very similar grin on her face. Her eyes were sparkling and it took little imagination to figure out where her mind had wandered.

"Can we at least get them out of high school before you start thinking wedding plans? I'd really like to see Troy make it through at least four years of college too, wouldn't you? Besides, you haven't even met Gabriella yet. How do you know she's the one?" Jack teased his wife and snapped her back into reality.

"Is she pretty Jack?" Lucille smiled at her husband.

"Well, yes, she is quite a pretty young lady. Why?"

"And do they look cute together?" she continued her grilling questions.

"Do I look like your best friend Jill from 12th grade, Luce?" Jack countered. "I am not Mr. Matchmaker here, I'm the gym teacher and basketball coach."

Lucille stood from the stool and stepped directly in front of her husband. "Think back to 12th grade Jack. Do they look cute together?" She put both of her hands in his and held them as she watched his face.

Jack thought for a moment as he stared down into his wife's eyes. His smile grew as the words found their place in his memories. Lucille's smile grew at his realization.

"They look cute together." Those were the words Jack's father had admitted to his mother right in front of Jack and Lucille. The words came just before Jack took Lucille out that evening more than 20 years ago…and proposed.

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"Do you want to tell me the truth now Gabriella?" Maria asked as they walked into their kitchen.

Gabriella tried to look at her mother innocently, but the fact that Maria had used her full first name was enough to frighten the girl. The ride home had seemed just a bit strained with neither of them saying much. And now she knew she was in trouble.

"I'm not sure what you mean Mama." She commented nervously.

Maria turned and looked at her daughter. She pulled one of the kitchen chairs away from the table and pointed at it. "Sit down." She ordered her daughter.

Gabriella did exactly as her mother told her to do. This was wandering into new territory for both mother and daughter Montez. The younger woman watched as her mother turned her back momentarily and looked up toward Heaven. She turned back around, crossed her arms over her chest and somewhat glared at her daughter.

"Your first day at this school, you got detention. Your third day at this school, you got detention. The first Friday at this school you came home crying. Yesterday a teenage boy snuck into our backyard, climbed the trellis and YOU let him in your room!"

Gabriella watched with widening eyes as her mother's voice became more frazzled and yet determined with each word.

"Today I pick you up at school and this same boy stood holding your hand while you lied to me." Maria worked to breathe and was trying so very hard not to overreact as this situation rolled around in her mind.

"But Mama, I didn't lie to you today. Troy and I, we'll try the musicale next year. Really, we will." She tried to interrupt.

"Gabriella I'm not naïve. I believe that you and he will try this again. But you haven't given up on the callbacks this time, have you?"

Gabriella stared at her mother for a moment before her eyes drifted downward. "No." she answered.

"As nice as Troy is, I'm not sure that I like the influence he's already having on you." Maria winced as she made the statement. First impressions were huge in her book and Troy had made an excellent one…even if he had technically broken some laws in the process. But even if she and Troy shared the same goal – Gabriella's happiness – they weren't taking the same path to reach it.

Gabriella sat quietly thinking about what her mother had just said. Not once in her teenage years had she been the subject of her mother's lectures. Not once had she felt her mother's disappointment, until now. Since coming to Albuquerque she had tried to lie to her mother twice, and twice she had failed.

"Do you have anything else to tell me?" Maria asked dryly.

"I'm sorry for lying to you Mom. I am. But I really think that the fewer people who know anything about this, the better we'll all be."

Maria looked at her daughter and shook her head. "I don't like this Briella. I'm not sure what to think about this situation except that I don't like it. I'm afraid for you. Whatever you're thinking of doing, could this affect your school future?"

Again Gabriella looked down. "I don't think so. Although it may buy me more detention time. Please trust me on this Mama, please?"

Maria sighed. "I want to Mija. For the first time in years though, I'm worried about your judgement."

Gabriella stood up and took her mother's hands. "For the first time in years, I have friends Mom. These friends are willing to stand up for me and help me accomplish something that I want to do. I trust them. Can you please trust me?"

"Where does Troy fit into this picture now?" Maria watched as Gabriella pursed her lips together and thought seriously about what she wanted to say.

"He's one of those friends. I trust him. I believe he wants what's best for me. I'm not sure why, but that's what I believe."

Maria pulled her daughter closer and wrapped her in a hug. "I do trust you, My Darling. And I'm thrilled that you have made these friends. I think I just need to get used to that fact. And it's going to take me a while longer before I trust them."

She pushed Gabriella away just enough to look into her eyes again. "I'm still your mother though. If you continue to lie to me, if you continue this rash of school detentions, or if I catch Troy climbing that trellis again…" Maria stopped for a moment and raised her eyebrows pointedly, "I will find it inside of me to take stronger action. Punishment hasn't been a word that I've even had to think about. But I'm not unfamiliar with it. Comprende?"

Gabriella nodded at her mother. Her stomach was turning flips inside of her as she soaked in the words that Maria spoke. She hoped and prayed that this plan would play out correctly so that she and Troy could keep themselves and their friends on the right track.

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Troy walked into his house to the sound of his mother giggling in the kitchen. He rolled his eyes. That sound usually meant one thing when his parents were alone. He walked toward the kitchen but didn't go or even look through the doorway.

"Guys! The kitchen? Really?" He paused for a moment to make sure his voice had registered with Jack and Lucille. "I'm home by the way."

Hugging, and ticklish kisses were the extent of Mr. and Mrs. Bolton's kitchen playtime. Their son didn't need to know that however. Jack relished in the opportunity to embarrass his teenage son, and took those opportunities whenever they came around.

"Geez! Troy! We didn't expect you home for another half hour." Then he purposefully whispered loudly. "Luce, hand me my pants. Your buttons are crooked." Both statements were meant to draw a reaction from their son.

They worked. "Don't rush on my account, please." Troy responded with a pout. "I'll be in my room debating whether I really want to eat dinner now or not."

Jack and Lucille laughed again and then smiled at each other. Lucille gave her husband one firm smack to the behind and then came back to their unfinished conversation.

"So, beyond Troy's love life…they've both accepted this callback change without an argument or fight?" She looked at Jack curiously as they both began to prepare their meal.

"That's the thing. They say they have. But I don't believe it. I talked to Troy a little after practice today. I asked him about the free-period meeting on the bleachers. When I asked if the meeting and the callbacks were connected he wouldn't even look at me." Jack sat the plates on the table and turned back to look at Lucille.

"I told him to forget me as coach and talk to me as his dad. He wouldn't do that either. I'm afraid they are coming up with some plan that is going to end up messing with their futures." Jack admitted.

"Like what?" Lucille wondered out loud. "Jack, they're in high school. And we're talking tryouts for a play here, not some hit list that's been discovered."

"I know. It's silly. But if you could've seen how seriously these kids were talking in the gym… And what worries me more is that you've got Chad's hot head, mixed with Troy's idea-filled brain and then Taylor McKessie is one of the smartest girls in school, along with Gabriella – I suspect… You put them together with some grunt work from the others I mentioned and who knows what they might try to pull off."

Jack's brain was obviously working in overdrive. Other times like these Lucille would laugh at her husband for over thinking situations. Right now, though, she wasn't sure what to think…but she wasn't laughing.

"What do you think they're going to do? Fashion some spectacular power glitch in the middle of the game that would send everyone into the auditorium just in time for Troy and Gabriella to perform their audition piece?" Lucille tried to joke.

Jack laughed just a little and finished putting the silverware by the plates on the table.

She stuck her head out the kitchen door and into the hallway just in time to hear Troy's cell phone ringing. Instead of yelling to him that dinner was ready she wandered the few feet down the corridor and stood outside his door.

"You didn't tell her what we're trying to do though, right? Gabriella, seriously, you can't tell her."

Lucille was intrigued by the little bit of conversation she was hearing. She didn't want to eavesdrop but after what Jack had just told her she was more willing to do just that.

"I'm gonna have some serious making up to do with your mom if all this turns out ok, aren't I?"

Luce hated only hearing one side of her son's conversation. But the next line she heard warmed and worried her at the same time.

"Hey, don't. Don't worry about this. If something goes wrong then me and Chad and the guys take the blame for it. You and Taylor don't worry. We've got your backs."

Lucille retreated to the kitchen. Now she was a bit worried as well. "Troy, dinner's ready. Come eat." She yelled down the hallway.

There was a pause before he answered his mother. She assumed he was finishing his call. "Be there in a minute Ma. Just changing clothes."

"Ah," Lucille thought, "Let the undercover games begin."

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"So your dad tells me he invited Gabriella over. Should we do dinner? Maybe we should invite her mom as well." Lucille started the dinner conversation.

Troy nodded but shivered a little on the inside. After what Gabriella had just told him, he was wading into sinking sand in his relationship with Maria Montez. Last night he enjoyed the brownies she had baked. Tonight he figured he'd better stay away from them because she would likely poison his portion.

"Um, I was just thinking that maybe Gabriella could come by and help me with my chemistry homework tomorrow or Thursday afternoon. You guys could meet and then we could study, you know." Troy attempted to please his mom.

"So I guess it'll be tomorrow then." Lucille spoke up. "Because the callbacks are on Thursday, right?"

Troy had walked into that one. The subject he so royally wanted to avoid was now right there in front of him. He glanced at Jack who was staring at the pasta on his plate.

"They switched the callbacks to Friday Mom. We can't do them because of the game and the decathlon." Troy watched as his mother looked at his father and attempted to act surprised. "Don't Mom. I know you and Dad have talked about this. So don't act surprised. I know you're not."

Lucille gave in to her son and nodded. "You seem to be taking this really well. Are you sure you aren't the least bit upset about it? Have you asked if you can try out another time?"

"We were upset at first. But then we realized that we will have other chances to try out, when basketball season is over and stuff. It'll be fine, really." Troy sounded sincere.

Jack stayed out of the conversation. It wasn't until their meal was almost done that he spoke up. "Troy. I just need you to know something." He kept staring at his plate for a moment until he was sure that Troy's eyes were on him. Once he was sure he turned and looked at his son.

"I respect that you want to try something new with this musical stuff. I trust you and your teammates trust you and apparently Gabriella trusts you. Whatever happens on Friday…just remember that."

"Dad, I will be in that game, 110%. I won't miss a minute of playing time because of the callbacks, I promise you that. And I promise I will do my best NOT to betray your trust, the team's, or Gabriella's."

With that Troy took his plate to the sink and headed back toward his bedroom. Lucille placed a comforting hand on Jack's shoulder knowing he was doing his best to believe their son's words.

She watched them both closely and decided two things. Number one…Troy was just like his father. And number two…she needed to meet the Montez women, both of them, soon.

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