Disclaimer: I own nothing related to High School Musical or Disney, any songs or familiar names/places that may appear are not mine either. i do not own the Broken Wing series either.

Title: Foolin' the World

A/N: please, please review =) it always makes my day to see that people are enjoying my story, so please make my day =) hope you like this chapter! the next one, after this, will be very intense and hopefully pleasing.

Can't Stop

Troy's PoV:

"Hey Baylor." I said to Zeke as I entered the room, throwing myself onto Spade's obnoxiously tidy bed. I had to admit, I was in a good mood today. Despite the confession, diary revealing shit in therapy and all those hours in school…I was feeling good.

"Hey, Troy, Chad." Zeke nodded at us lounging on his bed, "What's up, guys?"

"Troy," Chad laughed from the table, "had to stand in the corner today in class." I rolled my eyes. Correction. Despite being around Chad all day every day, I was feeling good.

Zeke joined in the laughter. "Again?" Chad nodded relentlessly instigating more laughter between the two. They laugh too much. I thought.

Uncaringly, I shrugged, while running my shoes up and down Spade's clean sheets, "I don't know the answers." I glanced down, checking on my work. Kinda dirty, not nearly satisfying enough. I put my shoes back down and starting moving my feet up and down again.

"Actually," Chad laughed on, "The hysterical thing is, he totally does." What the hell?

Ever since I was released from the corner of idiocy, Chad has been on my case for knowing these answers when I so clearly don't. I mean, if he's been sneaking some of the good stuff into the room, where's his group loyalty, his group compassion, his group care? I want some booze too, damn it!

"Danforth are you hard of hearing? Is that Afro becoming a bit too big for your ears to handle?" I began wiping my shoes on Spade's bed harder, "I've been telling you for the past 15 minutes that I don't fucking know the answers to the questions!"

Unsurprisingly Chad ignored me and stood from the chair. "Troy Bolton." He announced dramatically and then jumped right into humming the jeopardy theme song, "What is…liar? DING DING DING DING! Correct! Ladies and gentleman, Chad Danforth wins the million dollar prize money!" He leapt from his seat and practically flew towards me, flinging himself onto the bed I was on, and began hopping up and down over me. It was a habit of his, as a roommate, your forced to grow accustomed to.

"You're insane, Chad." I spat out between my harsh laughter. The Crazy Chad smile was just impossible not to laugh at.

"Good thing," he bent his knees and jumped off the bed, landing a good few feet away from me, thank god, "I'm in a rehab center then, huh?"

I shook my head, holding back my smile. Sometimes the best way to respond to Chad is to completely ignore him. "So, Baylor. Sloaner said you and Cross were at it again."

"Oh…yeah." Zeke looked around the room nervously.

I narrowed my eyes intrigued for once. I've never really been interested enough to ask Baylor what the deal was between him and Cross. To be honest, I'm pretty embarrassed to be intrigued by that now. Life must seriously be getting boring if drama between two dudes in a rehab center is the only thing left to keep me awake.

"Yeah!" Chad exclaimed, truly interested, "What's with you two? You're always at each other's throats."

"We just…don't see eye to eye." More nervousness, "We don't view things in the same way." I scoffed at his apprehension and answer. If that wasn't the most vague, sweet-assed way of describing a feud then I'd have to be living in candy land to hear it.

"If by that you mean you just wanna knock the guy's face in for being a mother fucker," Oh how I loved that springy haired boy, "Then I'd have to say…story of my life." Chad replied nonchalantly.

I finished my masterpiece, 'Dirt a la Spade's Bed,' and sat up pointing towards Chad, "Second that."

Zeke was about to say something else to us when the door to our room opened, revealing an annoying, anger-invoking voice. "Boys, we have to go to dinner."

How well I knew that voice. How badly I wanted to squeeze the throat that created that voice. "Shut it Spade!" I ordered. He tried glaring at me for my language, but it looked more like a drooling baby squinting its eyes from the intensity of the sun. Immediately I laughed at his stupidity and, thankfully, he clapped his hands in that 'chop chop' kind of way and left the room.

Grudgingly, I got up from shit brain's bed and did a once over of my beautiful piece. Some field crap here, some barn dirt there, and even some eggs from breakfast. How they were on the bottom of my shoe baffles me, but hey, take the good when it comes right? So crap, dirt, egg… perfect. I walked over to the door, trailing behind Baylor and Danforth who were a foot ahead of me. I was about to tap Chad on his shoulder when he turned around lifting an eyebrow, "Garbage disposal?" He questioned, referring to Spade.

I smirked. "Bull dozer."

Chad smiled his Crazy Chad smile obviously pleased with my suggestion. "I'll drive."

I clapped Danforth on the shoulder. "I'll strap him down."

I didn't understand this routine. Everyday was fucking the same. Chores that killed your body and shredded your insides. Cleaning pigs shit and cow manure at the ranch. Piling stacks and stacks of hay outside the barns. Busting our backs and every bone that makes up our skeleton by slaving away out on the fields. And then school, one of our buddies, not even old enough to be out of college, pretending to know things by lecturing us for hours on end. Damn, we feed them like dogs, you think they'd be nice like dogs. And then of course there was mandatory, seat assigned dinner. Meeting new people, making small talk as if we weren't living in the shittiest place possible, hearing these idiots talk about the rules…I was gonna vomit on the spot.

Or faint on the spot.

As luck may have it, seems Sloane figured today would be a good one to have Miss Montez seated at the same table as me. Joy. To. The. World. Might as well put my plan to action. I concluded as I came up to the table and the seat with my nametag on it. "Hey, ladies." I greeted Montez, or rather Montez's back, and the redhead across from her.

"Troy!" the redhead across from my designated seat screeched, "I'm so glad you're at our table today!"

I smirked while glancing at Gabriella analyzing her reaction to this. I don't even know what I was searching for. Jealousy? Annoyance? Indifference? "Yeah well," I kept my eyes on Gabriella who's own majestic coffee orbs were on her nametag as she folded and unfolded the edges delicately, "I guess it's your lucky day. Yours too Montez."

She barely blinked as she tilted her head to the left and settled her eyes on me coolly. I got flashbacks from our first day here. "Oh yes. That penny I found earlier today is really working its magic."

"Well, now you see why I call you Sunshine, Sunshine. You're just so pleasant all the god damn time."

"Aw." She replied sarcastically, "Well I just can't help but be a ray of sunshine when I'm around you, Jack."

I frowned down at her but I'm sure my eyes sparkled, or whatever the chicks say, from amusement, "You want an explanation for Two-shoes?"

"I think I get it."

"Um," A perky, upbeat voice interrupted my reply, "Troy do you know her?"

I looked over at Redhead, "She's in my group."

"Oh…" Redhead seemed to mull this over for some time and then finally a smile sneaked its way onto her face, "Okay."

There it was again. Just like with Brittany in the bathroom. Why were these psychos happy about Montez being in a group with me? I mean besides the fact that they're psychos. They're still human and they still get jealous. And if any trace of jealousy surfaced then I'd spot it in an instant. But nothing. Just pure pleasure.

"C'mon Troy!" pursued Redhead, "you're sitting next to me!"

"God," Tom Something from Redhead's left complained. "Shut up Casey!" Redhead looked at him appalled. Tom Something was a Gay Spade, according to how me and Chad nicknamed people who were rule freaks. So I guess Tom Something saying shut up was a shock to Redhead, his group member.

"Bolton!" A shout, Danforth's shout, reached my ears from down the cafeteria, "Come here!" He was waving his arms wildly, not caring that the whole army of babysitters were eyeing everyone like hawks. Good. That's what life here should be. Uncaring and thoughtless.

The animated sound of Redhead pulled my attention back to my table. "What!?" She asked Tom Something rudely. The way I most enjoyed it since things usually get more entertaining that way.

"You're kidding, right?" Tom Something responded incredulously, subtly mocking Redhead's stupidity. "You've had what? One dinner with Bolton? Suck in the drool."

"You're just jealous of him." She scowled. Maybe I was pissed from my sore body, or maybe all these typical high school drama fights were taking their toll on me. Nonetheless I started clenching my fists in annoyance.

"Bolton!!!" Danforth yelled again, only adding to my irritation.

"Jealous?!" I faintly heard Tom Something say, "He's a jerk! No offense man."

"Yo! Bolton!" Chad persisted, "Get over here for a second!"

Closing my eyes as tight as I could, as if doing this could erase all my problems, I looked around my shoulder to Chad a few tables down and yelled back. "Alright! Don't make me slap you upside the head! I'm coming!!!" For a moment Chad just stared at me, debating whether or not to insult me for my threat. But after awhile he just nodded and sat in his seat, waiting for me.

I could still hear Tom Something and Redhead bickering and as I glanced back at them and their red faces all I could think of was Sharpay and Evans. I rolled my eyes, how many Sharpay and Ryan duos were in this place? A mild groan knocked me from my thoughts and I was drawn to Gabriella's thin frame, as if silence doesn't already create a force for me to stare at her. Her head was in her hands, clearly just as frustrated with the old married couple as I was. I smirked, though she couldn't see. "I'll come back," She lifted her head to look at me, somehow knowing I was addressing her, "And save you from this madness, Sunshine."

I walked away, not before seeing the laughter in her eyes only enhancing their beauty to that of sunset level, no actually stars, no…just Gabriella Montez level. She had a level of her own. Ah, damn it. When was I going to stop being such a sap around that goddess? When was I going to initiate the plan!?

"Bolton!" Chad graciously interrupted my self-reprimanding thoughts as I neared his table.

"What!?" I asked impatiently, needing to get back to Gabriella to act indifferently towards her, if only to prove myself I could. That she didn't own me and even my thoughts. That I wasn't turning into a lovesick fuckin' puppy, basically chasing his tail since it seemed Gabriella would never accept me.

"What's," I instantly paid attention to Chad's words, wanting to get this over with as fast as possible, "going on over there?" he asked.

I ignored the force telling me to actually slap him upside the head for sidetracking. "You know, the usual."

"Usual as in…"

"Fighting about me." I told him abruptly, "Now what'd you want?"

"And you're fueling the fire, am I right?" he Crazy Chad smiled.

I sighed, letting out my anger. If Chad could calm me with his Crazy Chad smile I seriously was getting soft. "Not today."

The confusion emitted from Chad like gas from a car. He knew I loved 'fueling fires.' Everyone in our group, if they knew anything about me from these past 10 days, knew that. But then the confusion was extinguished from Chad like a candlelight being blown away. "Ah." He said. He was looking past me, at my table.

"What?" I asked, "What 'ah?'"

"Montez." He stated.

I played dumb. "Montez…?"

"Don't jump her and do her at dinner." He smiled cheekily, "That's my only advice."

I rolled my eyes. I wonder how long I could keep rolling my eyes before they finally stayed that way permanently. "Your confidence in my control is charming, Danforth." He merely shrugged. Another eye roll. If my eyes do freeze, I'm making everyone in this place pay my hospital bill. "Why'd you call me over?"

Chad hooked his thumb down the long rectangle table and my eyes settled on a couple of blonde guys a year or so older than us. "They're having a basketball game after dinner." informed Chad, "It's their free time. You wanna crash with me?"

I raised my eyebrows impressed and oh so damn grateful. "Hell yeah!" I could hug this springy haired boy, "Good work, man!" The smile on my face was ear to ear as we did our handshake.

A basketball game! I thought excitedly as I walked back to Montez and Old Married. A basketball game! A nice, bloodless way to kick some ass!!!

"You seem cheery."

I looked at Gabriella, still smiling slightly. "Cheery." I paused, pretending to think, "Not a word I normally hear to describe myself."

"I agree." She smiled maybe at what I said or maybe because of my own smile, "So why are you so cheery?"

"Chad said something I liked."

"What?" She giggled and my heart pounded so hard I swear a guide would come over and strike me with the club for impolite beating, "Did he profess his love to you or something?"

I held back a laugh. "That obvious? I mean I could feel I was flushed, who wouldn't be if the man you love just said they love you back." I picked up a spoon and examined my face from the reflection, "Maybe I should splash some water on my face…or my dic- "

"But really, Troy." I knew she'd interrupt my 'inappropriate remark' "If you're planning something stupid then stop-"

"Quit worrying, Mom." I interrupted back, "Everything'll be fine. Better than fine actually."

"See, now I'm worried. You're going to get our group in trouble."

"Nah."

She grimaced at my three-letter word, "I'm going to talk to Chad. He won't do it if I talk to him."

I faltered at her words. If I was still staring at my face in the spoon I would've noticed my smile twitch a bit, a clear sign of jealousy. "You two ever talk before?"

"We've had dinner twice together."

I thought about this. About Chad's Crazy smile and about Gabriella's probable sweet tooth for sweet guys, of course they hit it off. "And you bonded." I said to Gabriella.

"Not at all." She shocked me and I raised an eyebrow at her. "But he'll listen."

I looked away, trying not to roll my eyes, "Lay off, Montez. We won't get in trouble."

"Past events make me think otherwise."

"You always talk like that?"

"Like what?"

"Like…" I turned to look at her again. She was still staring directly at me, "Smart?"

"I can dumb it down for you, if you want." She pointed to me with her index finger, "You Troy. You trouble."

See. With all my determination focused on being indifferent towards her and then her comment just now, they made me spit my next words out. "Does a death wish make you talk to me that way?"

Immediately she winced, as did I, and she shifted her eyes away from me while mine remained on her.

See. With all the hurt I felt from hurting her, something I didn't know would be so utterly painful for me maybe even more painful than her pain, I just spat out an apology. A clear, genuine, "I'm sorry." I've never exactly apologized for something and meant it. This girl did things to me.

"Please." She wasn't looking at me anymore. "Don't do anything to get our group in trouble."

"You'll be fine, Madre." Spanish lifts moods right? "If I have to I'll just pull you out of shit like before."

"Even if you can, you and Chad will be…"

"Even better off than the rest of you, stuck in your rooms bored shitless. Besides, I'm sure with the power of Chad's and my love shining through, not even Sloane and her drones can get to us."

I still wasn't able to see the brown depths of Gabriella's eyes, completely understandable, but I did see, from the side view I had, her left eye crinkle from a silent laugh. "Oh?" She asked jokingly.

"Oh yeah." I nodded to emphasize my point and she turned her head to the left some inches to steal a glance at me, "That's the power of true fuckin' love, baby." Gabriella set her head back to its previous position, hidden away, but I could still see a fleeting glance of the true smile settled on her perfect features. It brought a smile to my face…it brought a smile to my face.

"Bolton," Tom Something killed my joy, "If you swear again I'll have to tell my guide."

"Shut up!" Redhead argued.

I hated that. No Redhead should have to defend me. "Quiet Do-Right." I said to Tom Something, "I'll be a perfect little angel from here on out, all right? Saint Troy, I promise."

"Way to go." Deadpanned Redhead.

"You have a problem Casey?" Tom Something continued the fight.

"Yeah you created Saint Troy."

To my right a quiet noise caught my attention. Gabriella was holding back a laugh by putting her fork, with chicken on the end, to her mouth.

"You finished?" I asked while swiftly snatching her fork and quickly biting the chicken, chewing for longer than I wished. It was pretty much just chicken flavored rubber.

Gabriella's open mouth, that was ready to eat, quickly turned to me in astonishment and fake, from what I could see, anger. "Troy!"

"It's cool, Montez." I appeased with a full mouth, "This is terrible." I swallowed the rubber, "I just saved you."

She rolled her eyes and I refrained myself from telling her she better be careful or her eyes might freeze like that. "Shut up." She mumbled, smiling slightly.

"Woo wee! Manners Montez! Don't make me report you, missy."

She pushed her plate of rubber towards me, still smiling. "Here. Eat your food and shut up."

I smiled back. "Yes ma'am."

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