AN: Ok, 5 am on jet lag back from my 3 week trip and I have been up for over forty close to maybe 45 or 48 hours straight, but I can't fall asleep because I am not sleepy. Fiji will do that to you I guess, or maybe it was New Zealand or Australia, I don't know. I am hungry though; maybe I'll grab some food. Whatever, back to updates now that I am in the country. I still get that moving airplane feeling every once in a while.

Chapter 7

"Come on," Troy grabbed Jay away from Gracie and dragged her along. Jay stumbled along after him.

"If you want me to keep up and not kill me then you better slow down or carry me," Jay complained. Troy picked her up and carried her up to his secret spot. He set her down once at the top of the stairs. "What's up Capt?"

"I think I screwed up somehow," He said.

"How and with what? I know that this is surprising but I can't read your mind."

"Gabriella, she's mad at me. She won't talk to me, and I don't have a clue as to why."

"You said something wrong most likely. You really should watch your mouth sometimes."

"Not helping Jay!" He said loudly.

"Ok if you are going to yell at me when I don't know anything, then I am leaving," Jay said standing up.

"Don't leave, please," he said desperate, "I'm frustrated and mad and upset and you're here and an easy target, I'm sorry."

"Easy target?" made her more upset.

"It is easy to be mad at you cause I know that you'll always be my sister and friend and we always work stuff out or just yell at each other getting everything out and then forgetting about it. I know that you always care even when I screw up. It makes it easier to be mad at someone when you know that they will always love you than at someone who's feelings are more fickle."

"Forgiven. But stay here and cool down and I am still leaving. I just might be mad for an hour, but then we are fine. I'm am going to find someone to yell at, probably Chad and get to the bottom of your problem with Gabriella, but I am going to do it angry," Jay said and walked back down. Troy felt like he was ready to go punch something, but he wouldn't. Maybe he should take Jay's lead and just be mad.

Jay opened the door to the cafeteria and let it slam behind her. The room went silent. She marched up to Chad and grabbed her by the collar and marched back out, "We need to talk."

"What did I do?" Chad asked, frightened. He knew better that to mess with an angry Bolton, he had the scars to prove it.

"Why don't you tell me? What did you do that sent my brother into a weird, depressed headspace? Wait, you know what, you don't even have to tell me. Just fix it or you will never reproduce. You have until the end of the day before I castrate you," Jay yelled before walking away from a pale Chad. She didn't know if he actually what was up, but he looked guilty as she walked away so she guessed he did.

She threw herself into the bench in front of the piano in the auditorium and started to play a low, angry, and nameless tune. It was fast and low and full of accidentals, though she didn't really have a key anyways so it didn't matter. But it sounded mad and that is all she wanted.

"Sounds angry," someone said from behind her. It was Ryan. Just what she needed. He was seated next to her facing the opposite direction.

"Look out East High we have a genius among us," she said sarcastically as she continued to play.

"Needs words."

She stopped playing and looked at him, "Just shut up and go away, I am in a bad mood. I'm not going to sit here and make small talk with you. I want to sit here and be mad for a while. Ok, got it, understand?"

"Ok, sorry, I just liked the rhythm," he said standing up and walking away.

"You liked that?" She asked to his back, surprised.

"Yeah," he said turning back to look at her.

"I was just letting off steam."

"You should do it more often, beautiful things come from it when you do," He said before leaving.

Jay looked at the door a long time after he left and it closed. "He's insane," she said aloud and it echoed. She started to play again with a more lighter, but still unhappy and slightly melancholy tune.

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"You get yourself all sorted out?" Jay asked that afternoon as they climbed into their car.

"Yeah, how did you know it was Chad that caused my problems?" He asked as they fastened their seat belts and he started the engine.

"I didn't, but he can usually get to the bottom of things, and he looked guilty after I yelled at him so I didn't feel so bad."

"Well he did it. You know how I told you about the guys and the locker rooms and how hindsight doesn't like everything I said."

"Yeah," She looked at him not connecting the dots yet.

"Gabriella saw it all over web cam."

"They didn't!" Jay yelled causing Troy to jump and swerve the car. "I am killing Chad!"

"Not until after the championships," Troy said, "And you tell me how to fix this with Gabriella."

"Do something really sweet."

"Way to state the obvious."

"Sing to her. It connected you in Colorado; maybe it could work some magic here too. Find out her address and sing her the song from New Year's Eve. You just have to put yourself out there a little bit."

"Have I told you lately that you are awesome?"

"Maybe, but I love to hear it," Jay said and they both laughed, "And do it quick, you still to practice the song if you want any chance of not making a fool of yourself at callbacks versus Sharpay and Ryan."

"I know, we need to practice," Troy said, "And that reminds me. Tomorrow morning, get up early, like 5:30 early. The janitors open school at 6:30 about. I figured we'd go to the gym and see what you can do and how your knee feels."

"Fine, but you have to wake me, and politely I might add, I don't want to change my alarm."

"Deal," Troy said pulling into the driveway.

They got out and walked up the front walk. Their mother came bursting through the door, "You are here! I need your help, am so sorry my darlings, but it would help me out so much if you could run some errands for me," She said. She went drabbling on about a convention for her company. She started to pull out endless amounts of lists containing everything she needed. She was a hysteric mess.

"Mom, just calm down, we can do it. Tell us what you need," Troy tried to calm down their frenzied mother.

"This stuff," She handed them a pile of lists, "I just got a call about our CEO coming, and other important people bringing another fifty people and heads of departments, you two are my lifesavers. I love you guys, take my credit card, and get yourselves dinner. I swear I will make it up to you once this all ends, I promise, just until Friday."

"We'll get it mom, we know it is important to you. Go back to work and we will get everything on the list," Jay ushered her back into the house before hopping back in to the car with Troy. "That was interesting, so where to?"

"Make a comprehensive list and I say we start at an office store," Troy pulled out of the driveway and snaked his way around the neighborhood.

"How fun," Jay grumbled sarcastically as she worked, "I hope we have enough room for everything in here, it could get cramped," She said as she wrote, "And where the heck are we suppose to get an old-fashioned, antique record player?"

"I have no idea," Troy said as he pulled up to a stoplight.

"We should have grabbed a phone book," Jay mumbled.

"Put Chad on it, on my orders. He owes me. Have him call us if he finds a place," Troy said taking a left.

"What a good idea, you are smarter than you look," Jay dug out her phone and dialed the number, "Chad!"

"You sound excited to talk to me," He answered, no bothering with a hello.

"Our mom was freaking out so now Troy and I are on a mission to get all sorts of items. And we need an old-fashioned, antique record player, and we are putting you on the mission to find it and then call us about it. And this is all on Troy's orders. Got it? You locate, we get, thanks bye!"

"Woah, woah, woah, wait up, why?"

"We are just getting the stuff from the lists and it is on there so now you have to find it," Jay said hanging up.

"Way to handle that," Troy laughed. He pulled into a parking lot and found a space. They got out of the car and Troy locked it.

"So we need one-inch binders, notebooks, flash-drives – whatever that it – highlighters, pens, pencils, sticky notes, printer paper, ink cartridges, scissors, sounds almost like school supplies," Jay looked over her master list.

"I think the flash drive means those little computer chips that are a couple inches long and you plug them into computers and can put files on them and take the files to other computers that way," Troy said grabbing a cart, "Lets get to it."

Forty minutes later they were walking out of the store. They stashed the bags in the trunks and traveled to a crafts store. "I feel so out of place here," Troy said as they entered. He still had on his practice jersey with his warm up pants. Jay looked at him and laughed, "Ok, so where is the sewing stuff."

"Oh, yeah, like I would know where it is," Jay said, "And I am the one limping with a brace on my leg and in the same outfit as you."

"I thought you would be use to the limp and brace by now."

"I am, but I just thought I would point it out."

Troy laughed and wrapped an arm around her shoulders and giving them a squeeze as they wondered the store, "You are one of a kind, you know that?"

"Too close for comfort," Jay slipped out of his grip, "But I know, and so are you."

"Which may be why we fit together so perfectly," Troy said as they found the right section and started to find items needed.

Over three hours and seven stores later, they had almost everything, except that danged record player, Chad never called them back. Irritated, Troy punched in Chad's number to his phone and hit the call button, "You found it yet dude?"

"What the record player?" Chad asked confused.

"Yes, the record player."

"Yeah, my mom had one in our basement she got from her great aunt or something. We took it to your house; your mom said she would call you. I am guessing that she didn't."

"Oh, no she didn't, sorry," Troy said, looking at the ground.

"It's all good man," Chad said.

"Ok, gotta go, see ya tomorrow dude," Troy hung up, "He found one and took it to our house, where our mother never called to tell us like she was suppose to."

"These are times when she is your mom and not mine anymore," Jay laughed.

"Yeah, yeah, dinner? I am starving," Troy said as they climbed in the car.

"That makes two of us," Jay said as he started the engine.

"Where to my dreamer?" Troy said pulling out of the parking spot, "I can hardly see out the back of the car, we have so much stuff."

"How about to Grandma Rose?" Jay laughed at his difficulty.

"Perfect, good, fast, home-style dinner," Troy agreed. Grandma Rose was an old diner; an old couple founded it and was now being run by the children and grandchildren. Troy parked down the street from the diner, there was never any parking close by unless you were lucky. It was a fairly busy place. The two teens realized how late it was when the street lamps flicked on. "Maybe we should call mom and dad," Troy suggested.

"Yeah," Jay nodded. As she did, Troy looked over and saw some shifty looking guys across the street. He didn't like it, something looked wrong with them. And he always felt like he had to protect Jay. He took Jay's hand and pulled her closer and enlaced his fingers with hers. "Mailbox," He said lowly as she looked at him.

Her eyes flitted around the street before landing on a bunch of shady guys all by a mailbox. She nodded ever so slightly as they walked by and entered the diner. Troy held the door open for her. They took a seat. Linda, a granddaughter of Grandma Rose, came up to them. Linda went to East High and she smiled at them. "Hey Linda," Jay smiled politely at her. She liked Linda. Troy just nodded as he seemed to send weird vibes at her. Maybe he didn't like her; Jay would probably never know what was going on in his head.

"What can I get you to drink?" Linda asked.

"Coke for both of us," Jay said.

"I'll be right back," Linda said before disappearing.

"I need to wash my hand, I feel so dirty," Jay said standing up.

"Oh yeah, me too, me too," Troy nodded in agreement. They traveled back to the restrooms to wash their hands. It was something they almost always had to do after having an awkward, not that you could tell, weird moment of a more intimate touch like holding hands. It was something done for protection, but made them both feel like they were doing something really bad and dirty.

After meeting back up at the table, Jay said, "Why are you so callous towards Linda, she really nice."

"You know in Colorado when you talked about making me your da-" He stopped as Linda came back over with their drinks. They ordered food before Troy continued, "Dating idol with a million first dates that were more like one night stands only without doing anything?'

"Yes I do," Jay recalled.

"She was one of those millions of first dates that didn't go anywhere."

"Really?" Jay held in a laugh.

"Yes, now shut up, she's coming," Troy said. Linda brought over their food and Jay tried to control her laughter.

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AN: Ok, there it is, the next chapter. I hope to have the next one up in the next day or so. I am going out of town this weekend for the fourth of July, but it is a one-night thing and I still maybe able to get something up, but there is a good possibility that I won't. Please leave me a reviewing telling me what you liked or disliked. I still like to hear from you even if you absolutely hated it. And I know this is sort of a filler chapter so there wasn't much there.