Whoa, she's finally back? No way!

Haha. I know, I couldn't believe it either. It's been three months and two days since I've updated this, and I am very sorry for that. My life has been hectic, and seeing how it is now summer, almost everything is cooling down. Luckily. Plus there's this incredibly long list of things that lengthened the update time. But I'm not going to go there, don't worry.

By the way, there's not a ton of humor in this chapter, but it does help the story get going. :)

Enjoy!

The Mental Guy

Chapter 8- New Facts Learned

Nobody's POV-

Troy continued his way from the kitchen, and into the living room of the house, laughing uncontrollably. He walked past his father's opened bedroom, as he shook his head in amusement. He knew Jacob would have cracked one of these days. Obviously, the day had come.

Just as he began walking towards his room, he heard his name being called. He rolled his eyes slightly, walking backwards and toward his dad's room instead. He opened the door and poked his head plus half of his body inside.

"Yeah, Dad?" He answered in a bored tone, having calmed down from his hysterical laughter. He definitely wanted to avoid talking to his father at all times. He surely was going to get into trouble for ditching midst having detention.

"How was school today, Son?" Jack asked, as Troy's eyebrows rose in surprise.

Why hadn't he said anything about the skipping?

Troy took a full step inside of the room. "Good, I guess." He shrugged.

Jack smirked at his eldest son. If he was going to act nonchalant towards him, he'd do the same thing in response.

"Really," He pressed, taking a good look at his son. He suddenly noticed how he had changed from such a caring young boy to the rude teenager before him. "How could you tell when you weren't even there for half the day?"

Troy shook his head. He knew his dad wouldn't let it slide so easily. He pondered for a moment on what to say, before finally coming to a suitable reason. Well, at least it was suitable to his taste.

"Supernatural powers." He replied smugly.

Jack rolled his eyes in aggravation. He chuckled falsely, before stopping abruptly. "Very funny, Troy. But I'm not laughing." Troy smirked.

"I was." He answered taking a step close to his dad's bed. He was going to enjoy annoying his dad. "Plus you were, just a second ago." He reminded. "It might not have been legit, but it's still laughing."

Jack huffed, knowing he was proven wrong. "Why do you always want to pick a fight with me?"

"Well, it's pretty easy when you don't have a lot of comebacks." He responded, his tone of voice almost sadistic.

"What happened to the old Troy?" Jack pursued curiously, changing the subject to what he was thinking of earlier. "You know, the one that was polite and respectful to his family? The one that was my son and acted like it?"

Troy's eyes hardened at the mention of the past. He rolled his eyes inwardly at his father, "He died, along with his mother." He told him, coldly.

"Troy…" The elder Bolton spoke, as Troy shook his head determinedly.

"Don't, Dad." He responded. He shook his head as he backed away from the bed. "There's nothing you can say or do." Troy ran a hand through his hair, heading for the exit.

"Troy-" He tried, wanting him to come back. "Troy!" He called out, and his son's response was a slammed door.

Disappointed, Jack leaned his head against his headboard. "Why didn't you tell me Lucille?" He asked aloud, hitting the bedside in frustration. He looked up to the book case adjacent from his door and onto his first wife's picture.

He sighed in sorrow before he spoke his next words softly. "I know what I did was wrong, but I didn't think it would cost me our son…" He trailed off, as he began to think of a time where everything was almost perfect.

Flashback-

"Daddy!" A four year old Troy exclaimed, happily running up to his father.

Jack grinned at his son, as he set down his suitcase, lifting Troy up and onto his shoulders.

"Hey there, Sport." He greeted, shaking Troy's arms softly. "Where's your mommy?"

"She's right here." Lucille answered. She stepped out from the kitchen, and walked up to her husband of five years. She gave him a half hug, gingerly kissing his cheek. "Edward's coming over today." She announced, smiling.

Jack gave another smile in return, as he let the now squirming Troy off of his shoulders.

"Great. Is he bringing-" He began, but was cut off by the doorbell.

The couple shared a happy glance, as Lucille headed towards the door to answer it. She opened it, and there was Edward himself.

"Hey Luc, hey Jack." He greeted the two, walking inside of the house as he held his daughter's hand tightly in his own. Lucille smiled at the younger version of one of their old friends, as she closed the door behind them.

"And how have you been, pretty little thing?" She greeted playfully, tickling the younger brunette. She was automatically greeted by a fit of giggles and a faint 'good'. She smiled and stood up and went to join the conversation her husband and Edward were currently in.

"How's the project going, Lucille?" Edward asked, directing their conversation to her.

She smiled at the mention of one of her prized hobbies and career. "It's going great. The boss really likes my paintings. She's particularly interested in 'Hollow's Woods'." She responded.

Jack was about to add in his opinion of her most recent project, but was interrupted again. But this time, not because of the door bell. But because of the abrupt giggling of the two kids.

The three turned around, and all shared a similar, scheming glance, as they watched their two kids interacting.

"They're going to make a cute couple one of these days." Edward winked at the two. "Troy's the perfect one for her."

Lucille smiled softly at her son and his potential wife. "And she's perfect for him."

End Flashback.

Jack clenched his eyes shut; trying to void the pain and guilt he was feeling for the remembrance of his late wife, and his old friend that had passed away.

--

A tall figure, with blonde hair that was slightly spiked up, walked into the halls of East High with his girlfriend. He had his left arm, linked with her right one. He was wearing a green shirt, with pink wide-legged pants. Covering his green eyes, were a pair of large black sunglasses that he hoped hid his face and helped him from being recognized.

"Jakey, take off those sunglasses." Sharpay chastised, taking them off for him. "They look weird, plus they don't match our outfits!" She told him, motioning to their clothes with her free arm. "That's not a good thing."

He groaned, after seeing most of the school look at him in bewilderment. "Pay, I'm begging you!" He exclaimed, trying to pull his best sad face. "Can I please go home and change into something that's not pink?" Sharpay raised an eyebrow, clearly not seeing anything wrong with a pair of pants being pink.

"Why? It looks fabulous on you." She told, smiling, as he shook his head.

"No it doesn't. People are staring!" Sharpay took a look around them, and saw that everyone else was clearly staring at them. She scowled, putting on her fierce, 'what-are-you-looking-at' face, as the audience immediately cleared.

The blonde turned back to Jacob. "See Jakey? Now they're not." She giggled. "Come on let's go!" She exclaimed, taking a hold of his hand, pulling the reluctant boy along with her.

And as the couple went down the hall, whispers of gossip could be heard…

"Was that the Jacob Bolton?" Alyssa asked, her face contorting into a disgusted expression.

"Ew, he's turned gay on us!" Jane sneered, watching the guy she'd liked before walk down the hall with Sharpay. Alyssa nodded in agreement.

"Good thing Sharpay got him after all." She replied. "You know, I heard from Gabriella that The Mental Guy is actually Jacob's brother." She added.

Jane gave her a look of curiosity. "Montez? And Troy?"

"Yeah." She nodded, and a plan was made inside of Jane's head.

"Let's go get the second best brother then." She said, smirking. 'Sharpay won't be able to have both of the Bolton brothers eating out of the palm her hand.' Jane thought evilly.

--

Troy Bolton was confused and pissed.

He looked back once, before continuing down the hall. He turned left after the hallway had stopped, hoping to avoid them.

This morning, his alarm clock had run out of batteries, as it didn't wake him up. By the time he got up himself; it was already late into the morning, which led him to not having enough time to complete his normal morning routine. His hair was left down, the dirty blonde hair, and his newly dyed bright blonde hair mixed together in harmony, as it gave him a messy mop head with highlights. He couldn't find any of his 'mental' clothing, so he had to settle for a wrinkled t-shirt, and ripped jeans.

But that wasn't the end of his bad luck. When he finally got to school, most of the snobby girls that usually ignored and sneered at him were all over him. Crowding around his locker, following his every step, forming a circle around him, even flirting with him. Nobody was leaving him alone!

He sighed in aggravation as he saw yet another girl flirtatiously waved at him. He awkwardly waved back, wincing after hearing the girl shriek loudly.

"Oh my god! He just waved at me! Kitty! Big news!"

He growled angrily at the ruined peacefulness he had, continuing to stalk down the new hallway. Just as he was about to enter homeroom, a younger guy –presumably a freshman- walked up to him. Troy rolled his eyes at the interruption.

"What do you want kid?" Troy asked, his anger clouding over his common sense.

"Are you really Jacob Bolton's brother?" He asked, trembling slightly.

"If I say yes will you get out of my way?" Troy demanded, realizing why all of the girls were starting to come on to him. The freshman nodded. He sighed loudly before answering the frightened freshman. "Yes, now leave will ya?" The younger teenager nodded in thanks, before running away from him.

Troy shook his head, walking into the room. The moment he stepped foot inside of the class, Mrs. Darbus' turned to him, before glaring at him with spiteful eyes. Obviously, he had interrupted her another one of her lectures.

"The right way to act properly in my homeroom would to be on time Mr. Bolton." Mrs. Darbus scolded, Troy nodded not really interested in what she was saying.

He muttered a sorry before walking to his seat in the middle of the room. He sat down biting his lip, angrily putting his hood over his head, as he laid his head down on his desk, ignoring all of the lustful stares from the other girls.

"Now, before I was so rudely interrupted by Troy, remember that in two weeks…"

--

"So I can't keep my classes?" The brunette asked dejectedly. She was currently in her guidance counselor's office, having just received the news that she would not be able to keep her current classes.

"I'm sorry, Gabriella." Ms. Karmen apologized. "But after you registered out of your classes, other students registered in them. And you are aware of the recent budget cuts we had."

Gabriella nodded her head. "Yeah, I guess it's my fault then." The guidance counselor smiled softly at one of her favorite students.

"I'm sorry, Dear." The brunette shook her head, not wanting the elder to feel bad.

"No, no. It's fine." Ms. Karmen sent her a disbelieving look. "Really. Thanks anyway." She pressed, standing up from her chair, ready to leave.

"I'll call you up to my office if anything changes?"

Gabriella smiled in gratitude. "Yes, please."

The brunette was answered by another smiled, as she left the guidance counselor's office. She walked out into the hall, and started to look around for the guy she'd spent the entire day with last night again. Having no luck once more, she frowned deeply.

"Where is he?" She muttered to herself.

She'd been looking for him the entire morning, but she didn't see him. She didn't get to see him during homeroom either, because she had just skipped it, having the meeting with Ms. Karmen. At first she had wanted to find him to do the bet already, but now she wanted to tell him that she was transferring out of the classes. If only she knew where he was currently at.

-

Gabriella sighed, and ran a hand through her hair as she continued to walk down the hall, when she suddenly felt herself colliding with another body. She looked up, and saw the same guy posing as the clown, she had seen yesterday at the NM Fair.

His head of curls bounced up and down as he gave her a sheepish smile. "Sorry about that."

She smiled, and shook her head. "No, it's fine. You're Chad, right?" He raised an eyebrow at her, before grinning at her in realization.

"And you're Gabriella aren't you?" Chad asked, continuing when she accepted the identity with a nod. "It's nice to meet you."

"It's nice to meet you too." She replied happily. "Err, without the clown costume, of course." She joked. "What were you doing there anyway?"

He grinned, remembering the kissing scene with Troy and Gabriella the past night. "I got a part time job there."

"Sounds like… fun." She commented slowly, her mind wondering why a guy would want to be a clown.

Chad shook his head rapidly. "Not if you have to deal with little children with a phobia of clowns." He winced, feeling his headache from the night before act up again. "Their parents hit really hard, trust me."

Gabriella giggled at the warning. "I'll take your word for it." She replied, as her curiosity began to act up once again. "Could I ask you something?"

"Yeah?"

"Why aren't you in New York?" She asked, as Chad gave her a look of slight disbelief.

"Troy got that far with you, huh?" She nodded. "Well, basically? I'm visiting here with Troy for the next two months." As she opened her mouth to question why, he butted in. "Don't ask why, I'm not sure if I can disclose that info yet."

She rolled her eyes. "You're exactly like Troy." Chad chuckled, shrugging in response.

"What can I say? We're best friends. We rub off on each other." He told her, raising an eyebrow at her abrupt giggling.

He suddenly winced figuring out what she was laughing at. He shuddered inwardly at the mental image he'd gave himself. "Not in that way, of course." He added quickly.

Gabriella nodded unbelievingly. "Sure." He rolled his eyes.

"Now, where was I? Oh, yeah." He paused remembering where he was. "Well, we're so similar to each other, that I wouldn't be surprised if he came in these halls one of these days, with an afro just like mine." The brunette laughed at the image of Troy in an afro.

" Well, maybe a little worse, but close enough." Chad added in an afterthought, making Gabriella laugh even harder than before.

He laughed along with her, as a comfortable silence fell between the two.

"You're funny, you know that right?"

"I've been told that." He laughed. "Let's see what progress you've made with him." He said a moment later.

"Has he told you the mac-n-cheese story yet?" Chad asked curiously.

Gabriella laughed, and nodded. "Yeah, it was hilarious! How did Jason cause such a ruckus?" She asked rhetorically.

"No one knows." He shrugged, chucking a little bit.

"So what can you tell me?" She questioned, after their laughter had died down. She looked up at him, and saw that he was deep in concentration. She pursed her lips up, waiting for his response.

"Just a small bit." He answered, much to Gabriella's relief. She was almost sure he was going to say no.

"But don't worry. When the time comes, he'll fill you in himself." He gave her a look of encouragement. "You can be the first to crack The Mental Guy." He winked, as he paused and thought of what he could tell her without having his hair cut off the next morning.

"First off, Troy's not really mental, as you've noticed. It's an act he puts on." She gave him a look of confusion. "He does it so nobody comes near him, or even tries to." Chad explained, as he chuckled seeing the look of confusion that still decorated her face.

"He had a bad experience with girls during 3rd grade. Both he and I don't like to relive it." He elaborated, shuddering for effect. "It wasn't pretty, and by it, I mean the girls." He laughed.

"But once he warms up to you, he'll put it away, no matter where you're at. Don't worry."

--

Gabriella laughed as she parted from Chad. He had told her small tidbits about Troy that definitely helped the mystery of his past. So far, she had learned that Troy wasn't always as secluded as a child, he definitely had his reasons for acting mental, and as a kid, he had an imaginary pig friend named Arnold. The most important piece of information was that he began do the act after hectic changes in his life style.

Gabriella covered her ears when she heard more of her schoolmates' shrieking. She groaned inwardly, which cute guy were they for this time?

She turned her head, and to her surprise, she finally saw him. Strangely enough, he was the one the screams were meant for. He was currently surrounded by girls, as he tried to walk through the halls. But the most peculiar thing was that he looked like he did the first day she met him at the diner.

"Pukey!" She exclaimed, frowning when he didn't reply. She then reminded herself that he hated that nickname. She decided to call him by his regular name. She hoped that it would actually attract his attention and he would actually respond or look at her this time.

Gabriella took a deep breath before yelling as loud as she could, "Troy!"

Still nothing.

She sighed, as she called his name once more, when he began to pass her. But still no response from him. He just carried on his way, walking down the opposite direction, cringing and wincing every other scream the girls emitted.

She shook her head in confusion, as she walked the other way.

She began to piece together the reasons of why he would avoid her. She had analyzed what had happened, as she remembered the first day she'd talk to him. He had wanted no one to hear him. She found one reason; he was ignoring her because they were at school.

Her eyes widened, as Chad's words went through her head. "But once he warms up to you, he'll put it away, no matter where you're at."

Right now, she really hoped that being at school was the reason.

--

Troy stayed crouched inside the bathroom stall. He sighed, as he leaned his head against the front of the stall's door. He knew that he would regret it later, seeing how it was dirty, but right now? He could care less. He was tired, stressed, scared, and aggravated. He was tired from running from the girls all day, stressed by the loud, obnoxious screams and stalkers that followed throughout the entire day. He was scared, because he could've sworn that there had been three guys checking him out. Last, he was aggravated that he hadn't gotten the chance to talk to Gabriella.

He had heard her call him Pukey, and then reverting back to calling him Troy. He was eager to talk to her and to start the bet, but after what he'd seen happen when he waved or even looked like he was paying attention to one of his crazy stalkers, they'd only scream louder. He had really felt bad that he had ignored her, and he only hoped that Gabriella would still talk to him.

Troy stayed inside the stall and waited for a while longer, until he couldn't hear any other sounds of heels clicking outside of the boy's bathroom. The final bell had rung about five minutes ago, and he was just waiting to hear silence. After finally hearing nothing, he got out of the stall, and opened the door. He sighed in relief once he saw that the girls that had been following him had all left.

He walked out of the bathroom, and jumped in surprise when he saw a brunette standing right in front of him.

"Hello, Troy."

Do me a favor, and click on that small box?

It'll make me really happy. ;) Plus it'll give me a good idea of who's still interested in this story.

Oh, and once again sorry for any mistakes. I tend to write into the night, and I'm usually tired by then. x)

-Ilyilyx3

P.S. Did anyone see what's funny about the chapter title? Review it, and I'll dedicate the next chapter to you. :D