Disclaimer: I do not own High School Musical.

To paradise-maker786: I sent a reply to answer your question from your review, but since the site is being all screwy right now, you probably didn't get it. Whenever the site's working I'll try to send it again. Oh, and thanks for reviewing.


Chapter Six

Monday, October 23, 2006

Latin. The class Troy dreaded more than anything in the world. He felt dirty every time he noticed Miss Hammond staring at him with eyes that were probably undressing him at that very moment. He dreaded those fateful words that he would inevitably hear before the end of nearly every class, "See me after class, Troy," or "Troy, detention!" He was flabbergasted that no one seemed suspicious of all the attention he was receiving from her.

But of course no one was suspicious. Troy was always acting up in her class, so who could blame her for giving him so much detention. Hell, he was lucky that she didn't tell Principal Matsui and have him suspended. But, then again, no one knew that Miss Hammond had instructed Troy to give her a reason for her to give him detention. Talk back, disrupt class, cuss, show up late, don't do homework, refuse to participate in class, anything, just as long as she didn't come out looking like the bad guy.

He usually chose to show up late. Very late, a half hour or more. It made sense to him. Detention was only supposed to be fifteen minutes, so by being late he didn't have to spend as much time with her. Of course she would usually make him stay later that he was supposed to, but there was nothing he could do about that. It didn't matter anyway. His parents had no idea how much detention he was getting, so he usually lied and said he was at Joey's or he had to homework at the library, something.

It's been nearly a month since the whole thing started. Ever since he has been spending less and less time with Joey – he couldn't stand to look at her, to look at her and know what he's doing to her, how much she would be hurt if she found out. But he was doing this for her, his friends, and his family. He wouldn't be able to live with himself if something happened to them and he could have prevented it.

When he was with her, he did everything he could to convince her nothing was wrong. Luckily for him, she didn't harp on it too much. He told her that he was just nervous because he was preparing for basketball and that this year is very important because he needs to impress college scouts in order to get a scholarship. It seemed as if she believed him. He never told her that he had detention either; he usually said he was going to practice in the gym. Lucky him that she was so trusting, she never went to the gym to check on him.

So right now, he was walking toward his Latin class, almost forty minutes late. As he neared the door he could hear her teaching. "To find the stem of the verb," she was saying, "you must drop the –re from the second form of the verb."

He slowly opened the door. Every eye was on him. "So you finally decide to grace us with your presence, Mr. Bolton?" she said sarcastically. He smiled egotistically. "Well, I hope you can grace me with your presence later today in detention."

"Of course," he replied arrogantly. The entire class noticed her eyes narrow. Only Troy noticed the small smile that quickly disappeared before she continued on with class.

KRMSKRMSKRMSKRMSKRMSKRMSKRMSKRMS

Later that day, after serving 'detention' with Miss Hammond, Troy decided to go to the gym to work on his game. He decided he would shoot free throws. He bounced the basketball a few times, aimed the ball for the backboard, and shot. The ball didn't even hit the rim. He picked the ball up when it rolled back to him. He readied himself for another shot. This time the ball bounced of the rim and back to him again.

Several shots later, and not a single ball had went in the basket. Needless to say he was very frustrated. He couldn't concentrate. He couldn't get Miss Hammond out of his mind. She had a hold of him, she didn't even have to be around him physically, but he could feel her presence anywhere he went. He threw the ball across the court, not noticing that Jason and Zeke had just entered the gymnasium.

He sat down on the free throw line and buried his face in his hands. He was so close to crying, but he would not allow the tears to fall. Jason and Zeke slowly walked toward him. "Troy?" Jason said softly.

Troy jerked his head up abruptly. He didn't know anyone was here. "Are you okay?" Zeke asked as they came closer to him.

"I'm fine," he said as he got to his feet.

"You sure?" Jason asked.

"Yeah, I'm fine," he said annoyed.

"Troy, if there's something wrong, you can tell us," Zeke added.

"I said I'm fine," Troy said angrily, trying to refrain from yelling. He looked at his watch, and, pretending he was in a hurry, said sarcastically, "Sorry I can't stay and chit chat with you guys, but I'm supposed to be home right now." It wasn't a total lie. But before Jason or Zeke had a chance to respond, Troy bolted for the door.

KRMSKRMSKRMSKRMSKRMSKRMSKRMSKRMS

"Where were you?" Jack Bolton demanded as soon as his son walked through the door.

"I was just practicing in the gym," he answered.

"No, you were not," Jack said raising his voice, "I was in the gym after school today and you never showed up."

"I went to Joey's house first, and then I went back to the gym for a little while," he lied.

Jack was seething. "Quit lying Troy!"

Troy was perplexed. "I'm not lying," he lied again.

"Oh really," Jack responded, "If you were with Joey, then why did she call here an hour ago to ask where you were?"

'Shit!' Troy didn't answer. He couldn't think of a way to explain himself out of this one. "Troy Alexander Bolton!" his father bellowed, "you better start explaining right now!"

He still didn't answer. Jack tried waiting, but he was growing impatient. "That's it! You're grounded!" he shouted finally.

"What?" Troy shouted after remaining silent for the past few minutes.

"Don't question me!" his dad yelled, "Go to your room, now!" Troy glared at his father before stomping up the stairs and slamming the door to his room. He threw his things roughly down onto the floor and plopped onto his bed.

'What's his damn problem? I lied, so what. What teenage boy has never lied to his parents? It's not the end of the word. If he knew what I was doing to protect him, he would act a little nicer to me.'

He was interrupted from his thoughts by the sound of cell phone ringing. He pulled it out of his pocket and looked at it. 'Joey Calling' it said. He couldn't talk to her. He couldn't talk to anyone. He was so upset right now, who knows what he might inadvertently blurt out. He couldn't take any chances. He threw the cell phone across the room.

TBC


This chapter was mainly to explain how the whole Troy/teacher relationship is going to work, just so you know. And please review. They can make someone's day.