Drugs or Jesus
Troy opened his eyes, only to see the sun piercing through the window. He blinked, shielding his eyes. The last thing he could remember was taking his first sip of coke - everything after that seemed fuzzy. He vaguely remembered Gabriella dragging him to his room and something about throwing up, but other than that, it was all a blur.
"Urgh," He mumbled, rubbing his aching forehead. "What the hell happened?"
He glanced over to see Ryan and Chad, passed out on the floor entangled in each others arms.
"Oh, damn," Troy mumbled to himself. "Did those two hook up last night?"
"Don't think so," A foreign voice called out. The blonde demon herself entered the room. Troy felt the change of the mood in the room as soon as the evil drama queen sauntered in.
"Sharpay?" Troy called out, rubbing his tired eyes. "What-what happened? Why do I feel like crap on a stick?"
"You got high, doofus," Sharpay remarked cynically, twirling a lock of her conditioned hair. "So, how was it? Did you have fun?"
Troy scratched his head, his eyes wandering around the room in confusion. "I don't remember anything... did I have fun?"
"Oh yeah. Me and you were together last night."
Troy furrowed his brows, "Huh?"
"Ya' know, we made passionate love out back. It was AMAZING! You kept telling me how great my body was and-" Sharpay lied, being cut off by Troy's girlish screams.
"AAAAAAAH! WHAT?!?!?!!?!?!" He jumped up, covering his fully clothed body with a blanket.
Sharpay laughed, clapping her manicured hands together in delight, "Calm your balls, lover boy. I'm only joking. This time..."
Troy sighed, catching his breath as he laid down in his bed once again. Suddenly, he noticed, the wretched smell of someones waste and turned to face Chad's lifeless body.
"EW!" Sharpay shrieked, jumping back into the hallway. "What kind of animal shits all over the floor and then falls asleep in my gay brother's arms?!" Sharpay shouted. "I'm sooo out of here."
Troy held his nose and stepped around Ryan and Chad, into the hallway. Noticing that the door to the girls's room was open, he slowly crept in, closing it behind him. Taylor was curled up in a ball under the covers on her bed, and all the way across the room, Gabriella sat awake, staring at him on hers.
"Gabriella..." He began, slowly advancing towards her bed.
She glared at him. He noticed a pair of stained yellow flip-flops in the corner and scratched his head. Since when were her favorite pair of shoes stained?
"I see you're awake," She muttered bitterly, turning on her side to avoid staring into his eyes from across the room.
"Yeah, uh... what happened last night?" He hoped she could supply the needed information that he craved.
She crossed her arms over her stomach, mumbling. "Why don't you tell me?"
"Uh... all I know is what Sharpay told me, which is that I got high," said Troy.
"Well, she's not lying to ya," Gabriella stated with a hint of attidude in her tone. "Why don't you just go back to Sharpay and ask her all about it."
Troy frowned in confusion. "Why are you so... agitated? I didn't do anything to you. You're the one who cheated on me with that cowboy and then dumped me for him. If anything, I should be the one pissed at you."
Gabriella sat up on her bed, staring at him blankly. "Just because I broke up with you doesn't mean I don't still care about you."
"You sure have a funny way of showing it," Troy grumbled under his breath.
Gabriella heard his comment, rolling off the side of her bed to stand.
"You know what, I bet you don't remember anything that happened last night. You have absolutely no clue what happened after you... smoked and/or injected some kind of drug," Gabriella asserted as she approached him, her eyes glazing. "I don't think I need to warn you of drug addiction and how it always starts with the first dose-"
He put his hands to his face, rubbing his temple. "Gabriella, you really don't need to say all this. I know about it all. We took a class on this for half a semester."
She suppressed further words, just staring at his expression. He returned a similar stare at her and they stood there for a few seconds, just waiting to see what the other would do next.
"Don't turn to drugs because of me, Troy," Gabriella whispered, reaching her right hand up to brush his brown bangs away from his eyes, "I'm not worth it."
Taylor tossed and turned under her covers, stifling a yawn as she awoke, completely unaware of what took place the nigh tbefore and just now.
Everybody just wants to get high
Sit and watch a perfect world go by
We're all looking for love and meaning in our lives
We follow the roads that lead us
To drugs or Jesus
---
Breakfast downstairs was certainly awkward. Taylor eyed everyone at the breakfast table, noticing a familiar streak in the glint of everyone's eyes. Gabriella's eyes looked a bit swollen and her cheeks rather red. Troy refused to look up at anyone and rested a firm gaze on his cereal bowl. Sharpay smacked on her gums loudly as she slurped the glass of milk loudly. Ryan looked
like he had gotten run over by a train the night before with his hair in an array and dirt all over the clothes he had worn yesterday. Chad had stray pieces of grass stuck to his hair and his afro seemed more voluminous than ever, as if had forgotten to wash and groom it. Even Mr. Evans looked rather suspicious as he munched on his scrambled eggs, his eyes shifty and his manner neurotic as he demanded to know why everyone was staring at him despite the fact nobody was actually was.
"Um, were you three up to something last night?" Taylor asked curiously, feeling abnormally out of the loop.
Troy, Ryan, and Chad all exchanged knowing glances. Chad cleared his throat and wiped the white mustache formed from the milk with a nearby table napkin.
"Nope."
Taylor stared at him, making him squirm under her glare.
"I swear, we didn't do anything," Chad claimed. "We just hung out in the backyard and that was it."
Sharpay snorted, trying her best not to squirt out milk in her mouth and swallowed. This didn't go by unnoticed by Taylor, who thus began to stare at Sharpay. Sharpay looked up from her cereal bowl, doing her best to remain clueless.
"What?" She asked, putting her hand on her cheek. "Do I have something on my face?"
"You seem to have a mischievous glint in your eye, like the one you usually have when you know something that others don't," Taylor stated her observations in a professional manner.
"What the hell are you, McKessie? A shrink? Leave me the hell alone! How should I know what those retards on the short bus were doing last night," Sharpay snapped loftily, getting up from her seat and leaving her empty bowl in the sink.
"We were on the short bus last night?" Ryan stated questioningly, blinking in utter astonishment. Chad sighed, resting his chin on the palm of his hand while using his elbow to prop his arm up.
"She was trying to insult us," Troy uttered offhandedly.
"Oh," Ryan's mouth formed into the shape of an 'O'.
"Well, if you'll excuse me," Mr. Evans stood up, discretely hiding the cell phone he was texting from the entire morning. "I have plans this morning to, uh, visit an old friend."
Mrs. Evans smiled warmly, standing up to give her husband a quick kiss on the cheek. "Are you visiting Billy and his wife? Tell Rhonda that it's been too long! Have fun, dear!"
Mr. Evans tensed a tad and just nodded as he headed towards the doorway. "I'll do that. Have a good day, kids."
Sharpay giggle-waved before she exited the kitchen and called out cheerfully. "Have a lovely time, daddy!"
"Oh, trust me," Mr. Evans snickered once he opened the door and stepped outside. "I will."
--
Gabriella sat in the passenger seat of Trevor's pick-up, unable to get the image of what happened with Troy the night before out of her mind.
When Gabriella had kissed Trevor at the county fair, she didn't really think anything of it at first, but when she had seen Troy's face when she got home, her whole thought process had changed. This time, the same thing was happening. Not only had she kissed Troy, but she had kissed Troy while he was high - something she had never seen him do before.
It wasn't as if the kiss meant anything to her - she understood that. But it was strange to think that it meant something to Troy. Wait...had it meant something to Troy or was she just full of herself.
Gabriella sighed, resting her tired body against the leathery seat. Trevor idly hummed something to himself - a song called "All American Girl" by Carrie Underwood that was thumping through the stereo.
And now, he's wrapped around her finger
She's the center of his whole world
And his heart belongs to that sweet, little,
beautiful, wonderful, perfect
All American Girl!
After a bit of driving, Trevor turned to look at her, a smile spreading across his face.
"Ya' know, pretty lady," He started, his eyes darting back and fourth between her and the road, "Ever'time I hear that song it remind me a' you."
Gabriella looked up at him, "Really?"
"A'course!" He lifted one hand off of the steering wheel, placing it on her shoulder. "You've got me wrapped around your finger. You're the center of my world. And you're a sweet, beautiful, perfect all American girl."
"Y'know, I am part Spanish..." She laughed, pushing him playfully.
"Yeah, yeah. Don't ruin the flow, Gab," He replied, leaning in for a kiss. Gabriella happily obliged, but as she kissed him, she couldn't help but picture herself kissing Troy the night before. Suddenly, she pulled away, licking her lips to wipe away the evidence.
Trevor knit his brows, asking "What's wrong, hun?"
Gabriella leaned away from him, resting her head against the cool glass. "Sorry...Sorry, Trev. I...uh, I'm just...I'm not feeling well. Don't want you to catch what I have."
Trevor grinned, "Oh really? 'Cuz you don't look sick to me. Maybe I should...take your temperature." He pulled onto the curb, kissing her neck. "You don't feel like you have a fever to me..."
"Trevor. Seriously...uh, I have a cold sore," Gabriella pushed him away, pointing to a general area above her upper lip. "Yeah, I...uh, I feel it coming on. Right here."
Trevor sighed, stepping on the gas and pulling back onto the road, "Fine, Gabriella. But I don't see anything..."
After another few moments of awkward silence, Gabriella finally asked, "Where are we going, anyway?"
Trevor chuckled heartily, shooting her a slanty grin, "We're going swimming."
Just as he said this, he pulled across a patch of mangled grass, driving full speed into a gravel parking lot. As he pulled in to park, Gabriella rolled down her window, peeking her head out. Her eyes lit up as she saw the sprawling beach and crashing blue-gray water hitting the rocks.
"Lake Kliffstep," Trevor said, hopping out of the car and running over to help Gabriella out of the car.
Gabriella frowned, "But I...I didn't bring my bathing suit..." She mumbled, looking up at him with puppy dog eyes.
"Guess we're going in our underwear, huh?"
---
Troy crashed against the hard ground, smiling goofily up at the clouds. He, Ryan, and Chad had decided to get high again. Chad and Ryan had started digging again and had found a smaller black box filled with joints. Troy happily lit one up.
Ryan and Chad sat next to each other, giving each other back massages near a tree.
"Y-You guys okay back there?" Troy said slolwy, trying to raise his head and catch a glimpse of Chad and Ryan.
Chad was lifting Ryan's shirt up hen Troy looked their way. He immediatly dropped the shirt, grumbling, "Yeah, we're fine..."
"Hey!" Ryan shouted, jumping up from his seat, "What if we play spin-the-bottle?!"
Troy looked up - he might have been high, but he wasn't a freak. "Spin-the-bottle? First of all, we're all guys here. Second, what bottle would we use?"
Ryan snuck around the tree, coming out from behind it moments later holding an empty Vodka bottle. "I found it with the weed," He said nonchalantly, passing it to Chad who scrambled to where Troy was, setting it in between them.
"Dude, I'm not gay," Troy stated in a matter-of-fact sort of way.
Chad rolled his eyes as Ryan took a seat across fromt he two of them. "Bro, listen. Kissing a guy soooo does not make you gay. To be gay, you have to kiss a guy and like it." Chad scratched his head as he finished his sentence, leaning in towards Ryan and Troy.
"So, who's first?"
---
Sharpay groaned as she fixed her hair in the mirror. No one had invited her out with them on thier adventures. Gabriella had run off with the hot cowboy, Chad, Troy and Ryan were, well...doing whatever they ususally did in the backyard. Her mother was sleeping and her father was out visiting a friend.
Just then, she heard Ryan shouting, "YOU HAVE TO KISS ME TROY!"
"WHAT!" She screamed, bolting out of her room and down into the backyard. "WHAT THE HELL IS GOING ON NOW?!"
Chad held up a joint reaching over to hand it to her, "Dude, we're getting high. You want in?"
Sharpay looked down at the rolled up package of weed and sighed, "Why not?" She took a puff before sitting down, noticing Troy's scared expression and Ryan's googly eyes.
"I kissed Troy, Sharpay..." He said dreamily, as if in a trance.
"NO!" Troy shouted, taking another puff, "You pounced on me and slobbered on my cheek. There's a BIG difference, buddy."
Sharpay winked at Ryan before noticing the bottle. "Spin-the-bottle, huh?" She asked, tracing a circle on the glass bottle with her nail. "Can I play?"
Chad winced, pulling the bottle in his direction, "Sure. Fine. Whatever. But it's my turn." With that, Chad spun the bottle around and around. Finally, after about four spins, it landed on Ryan.
Ryan smiled mischievously and giggled, "Fine by me!"
Before Sharpay could shout her objections, Ryan and Chad were rolling around on the grass, making out in flurry of moans and sucking noises. Sharpay grimaced, turning away from the action.
"I think the kissing parts are only supposed to last a few seconds..." Troy mumbled, turning to face Sharpay, who was dry heaving next to him.
Finally, Chad released Ryan from his iron grip and took his place in the circle, wiping his mouth with the back of his hand.
"See, told you Troy!" He said, passing the bottle to Sharpay, "I'm not gay."
"How did that little show just prove that point?" Troy asked, shooting Chad a quizzical look.
"You're only gay if you make out with a guy and like it," He smiled, "Did that look like I liked it?"
"No comment..." Troy replied, turing to face Sharpay as she spun the bottle.
Sharpay looked up and smiled. "It's your lucky day, Bolton."
Oh, c'mon God. Really?! Troy thought to himself as he rubbed his palm to his temples. "Not right now Sharpay, okay?"
"NO!" She snapped testily, grabbed him by the collar. "You guys started this game. If you're gonna play, you have to play by the rules, got it?"
Troy gulped, breathing in deeply before he leaned in. Sharpay was quick to respond leaning in at the perfect angle, making their lips immediatly lock. He felt her arms slither up his back, resting around his neck. He let his hands rest on her waist as they kissed.
Little did they know, however, that Taylor McKessie was standing at the back door, looking on the scene through the back window. That little witch... She thought to herself, before darting back upstairs to send Gabriella a very well-deserved text message.
---
SPLASH!
Gabriella began laughing joyfully as she felt the refreshing lake water against her skin. She turned towards Trevor, smiling at him as she splashed some water towards him.
Trevor grinned at her. "Aren't ya glad you came in?"
Gabriella nodded her head furiously, smiling brightly. "I sure am. Gosh, this feels so refreshing."
"It does," Trevor remarked, treading water while Gabriella floated on her back.
"I haven't swam in a lake for... forever," Gabriella smiled. "The last time I went swimming was at Lava Springs."
"Where have I heard that name before?" Trevor wondered to himself aloud.
"Oh, it's the country club that Ryan and Sharpay's parents own back in Albuquerque," Gabriella quickly explained. "They're filthy stinkin' rich. The bathroom toilets look like they're made out of gold."
"Wow," Trevor deadpanned. "I'm sure Sharpay loves that."
"I'm pretty sure it was she who hinted the idea her dad, actually. Her dad is..." Gabriella paused, searching for the right word, "...wrapped around her finger."
Trevor tilted his head back to rest on the surface of the water and chuckled at her mention of the lyrics from the song they were previously listening to in the car.
"I always got the impression that he was."
Gabriella giggled, swimming towards a channel. "Hey, Trev! What's over there?"
Trevor smiled, swimming freestyle after her. "Oh, it's just another part a' the lake. We can go there, if you want. It's a lot quietter there... a lotta' teenagers hang out over there durin' late summer nights 'cuz no one else is there, usually."
"Sounds perfect," Gabriella winked at him playfully before diving underneath the water to swim towards the channel.
"Wait up, Gabs!" Trevor shouted after her, speed-swimming to catch up with her.
When Gabriella came up from under the water, she rubbed her eyes and opened them, only to see two naked bodies ready to jump into the water. Trevor popped up from underneath the water right behind her.
"Eek!" Gabriella shrieked, shielding her eyes from what she saw. "That is so not what I wanted to see."
"What the hell...?" Trevor mumbled, recognizing the man as Mr. Evans. But why would a happily married man be skinnydipping with a leggy brunette at a nearby lake?
Once the two jumped into the water and re-emerged, their heads visible to Trevor and Gabriella, Gabriella opened her eyes again.
"This is so... strange!" Gabriella whisper-hissed to Trevor. "That guy looks exactly like Mr. Evans!"
"No, I'm pretty sure that is Mr. Evans and the lady sure doesn't look like his sister," Trevor remarked, shivering at the thought. "Let's get outta' here."
"Yeah," Gabriella mumbled; it wasn't her place to make any judgements or assumptions. The two began swimming back from where they came from.
After re-emerging from underneath the water, the two breathed out as a sigh of relief. Good thing Mr. Evans didn't seem to recognize them or else things would have become even more awkward.
"Well, that was weird," Gabriella finally stated, breaking the silence between them.
"Yep," Trevor agreed, playing with the water around him. "Sure was."
"I'll race you across the lake," Gabriella winked at him, a competitive glint flashing in her brown eyes.
"You're on, Montez."
--
Taylor stomped outside, seething in utter rage as she saw her boyfriend make a fool of himself in his attempt to swing down from a pole like a pole dancer, not realizing that the tree was a pole and he appeared to be jumping a tree.
"What the hell are you on, Danforth?" Taylor demanded as she approached the other three, who were lying on the grass laughing hysterically.
"I'm a yummy, jummy, funny, lucky gummy bear! Oh I'm a jolly bear cuz I'm a gummy bear!" Chad sang to himself as he threw himself at Taylor. "Oh I'm a movin', groovin', jammin', singin'-"
"You're not a gummy bear, Chad!" Taylor screamed, attempting to slap some sense into him.
"Owie bowie!" Chad shouted in pain, rubbing the bruise on his cheek. "I'm a gummy bear! Oh, I'm a gummy bear!"
Taylor sighed, realizing it was useless to get any information out of him. She turned to the other three high teenagers.
"Will one of you tell me what's going on?"
Taylor received not legitimate responses since the only person who responded was Sharpay's brother, who mumbled something about the Chupacabra.
Her eyes flew to the joints resting on the grass. She shook her head in agitation.
"This is what ya'll did yesterday, isn't it? What is this, a new hobby or something? Because quite honestly, getting high before noon is just pathetic."
"Eh, chill the fuck out, McKessie," Sharpay snapped, her finger pointing to the dug up box. "There's more for ya, too!"
"I'm not interested in smoking and/or getting high! I am determined to go to Yale this summer and I have been successful in living above the influence for quite some time now and I refuse to break my promise now! I think you all are just a bunch of idiots because you're just hurting yourselves," Taylor asserted her opinion. She noticed Ryan giggling like a school girl and rolled her eyes.
"You guys won't be laughing when I tell Mr. and Mrs. Evans!"
"YOU CAN'T DO THAT!" Troy immediately shot up. "NOOO! DON'T SPOIL THE FUN!"
"WHAT FUN?" Taylor shouted maniacally. "My boyfriend thinks he's... Buster the Portuguese male stripper right now and is failing to climb up a cherry oak tree!"
"That's the fun of it! Watching your retard of a boyfriend act even more of a retard than he usually is!" Sharpay laughed cynically.
"You know what?" Taylor seethed, gritting her teeth in agitation, "I need to make another phone call, so if you druggies don't mind." Her remark was pointed at Troy, but he was to busy smoking to realize that taylor was going to tell Gabriella all about his little trist with Sharpay.
As soon as Taylor excused herself, Ryan went to join Chad near the tree, and Sharpay and Troy were left sitting together, his arms still sitting on her waist, where they were when they had been kissing.
"So that kiss..." He slurred, looking from her lips to her eyes and back.
Sharpay smirked, taking another puff and blowing it in his face. He coughed slightly, but still didn't release her.
"Pretty fantastic, huh," She stated. "See what you missed out on with that Montez girl?"
Troy sighed - he didn't want to think about Gabriella running off with her newfound cowboy at the moment. "Sure, Sharpay. Whatever..."
"So..." She dawdled, running a hand through his glossy hair, "You want to, uh...do it again?"
Troy gave a slight frown, but felt compelled to move forward. Before he knew what was happening, he was kissing Sharpay Evans.
Troy was kissing Sharpay Evans. But not out of love or passion, of course. It was simply because he missed Gabriella's kisses, and he was desperate to make up for that by using someone else. Especially someone who was willing to play along.
When Troy kissed Gabriella, their kisses were filled with romance. Love bubbled over ever time their flesh met. Passion and drive kicked in when their hands wandered. Those were true kisses.
When Troy kissed Sharpay, however, he couldn't feel anything but the sharpness of her fake nails clawing at his skin. It was almost as if his lips were numb. Desperate to regain the passion he felt with Gabriella he pressed his lips down harder against Sharpay's, gaining some sort of dominance as he let her stick her tongue down his throat.
He held her head in his hand, tugging hard on her long blonde locks, wanting to feel something. Anything.
Finally, Sharpay pulled away. "T-that was..." she stuttered, her eyes wide, as if she were in a daze, "like nothing I've ever felt before. I mean, Troy. You...you're an amazing kisser."
He wiped her strawberry-scented lipgloss off of his lips and stood up, taking one last puff of his joint before snubbing it out on the lawn. Helping Sharpay up, he raised an eyebrow, pulling her closer to him, wrapping an arm around her waist. Kissing her once more, he smiled deviously, then darted into the living room and made himself comfortable on the couch. Sharpay happily skipped after him.
---
Gabriella grabbed a towel from the back of Trevor's truck and walked back to the sand shore, laying the towel down next to his.
"You looked mighty fine in that, uh...bathing suit, Gabriella." Trevor smiled wickedly, wrapping an arm around her shoulders. She curled up against him, the water on their bodies causing them to practically stick.
"You're just saying that because I accidentaly wore a red bra today..." Gabriella groaned, slapping his rock solid abs playfully.
He rolled over, propping his head up with his hand, letting his eyes graze up and down her underwear-clad figure.
Gabriella looked up at him and pushed herself up, giving him a mindblowing kiss.
"Damn, Montez," he mumbled as he rolled ontop of her, showering her with kisses. "You sure know how to tease a guy..."