THE SOMEDAY TRILOGY: THIS MOMENT

Chapter Disclaimer – Acknowledgement to Fountains of Wayne for the lyrics from 'Stacy's Mom' that I have utilised

A/N – This is directed toward anyone who had not read the first part/the entirety of the first part of this series – or who needs a 'recap' re. some original characters. Paula, Monica and Liana are all members of the cheer squad. Paula is the head cheerleader, is good friends with the Wildcats and particularly good friends with Troy. Monica and Zeke used to date. Liana is notoriously flirtatious and is rather 'friendly' with the boys.

Also, just to clarify, that I am using an 07/08 calendar for this fic and writing as though they graduate in 2008 – although this story will actually be finished in '09. But yeah… just acknowledging this. So T/G met on the NYE of junior year aka eleventh grade a.k.a the second last year of high school; which was the NYE of 06/07. In this story, it is currently December 2007. Not December 2008.

A continued everlasting infinite thanks to Audrey for her beta-ing brilliance.

And finally – if anyone missed it or doesn't have me on their Author Alert, I posted a TxG one-shot called 'Equifinality' that I wrote for the ZA Secret Santa Fic Exchange, which is dedicated to the fabulous Nel (Persephone Lemonade) so check it out if you like. :-)

Chapter 10

Day possesses no key here
Where moon sheds the cold twilight
This moment is eternity

Nightwish 'This Moment Is Eternity'

Gabriella couldn't remember the last time she'd been on an overnight class trip and actually wanted to go. There had been a few over the years; the middle school she'd attended in eighth grade had a class trip for each year level; a biology camp in freshman year which involved camping by a lake and studying marine and plant life. Each time she had begrudgingly attended.

But this time, she was actually looking forward to the occasion. It wasn't really a trip with a purpose. She knew that there was a lake, and suspected there would be sailing or some other boating activity – which she wasn't particularly looking forward to. There was a ropes course at the camp which was technically designed as a team building trust activity – and she was a little scared about there being a high ropes section. Although the student council had been told to 'organise' the night time sessions, they'd actually been given very strict guidelines and the plans were pretty dorky. But despite the negatives, it was three nights to hang out and spend with her friends. It was the first time when she'd been to an overnight trip and actually had a solid group of friends that she was looking forward to hanging out with. Friends to stay up late past curfew whispering with and to save her a seat in the mess hall. A boyfriend to sneak kisses with – who Gabriella had no doubt would try to coerce her into sneaking around to facilitate a whole lot more than kissing.

Elena Montez watched in a moment of surreal disbelief at just how content her daughter was as they arrived at East High, ready for Gabriella to get on the bus and head to the recreation centre which was about two hours east from Albuquerque for three nights. Her daughter had excitedly grabbed her small suitcase and her pillow from the back, given her a quick hug and practically pushed Elena back into the vehicle. She watched from the drivers seat with a reminiscent smile as Gabriella pulled her suitcase across the lot toward where some of her friends were waiting by the bus; Kelsi with a small suitcase similar to Gabriella's, Zeke with a suitcase and a plastic Tupperware container under his arm. She let out a small sigh, gave her daughter one final wave good bye, and then drove away.

"It's the Gabster!" Zeke called brightly.

Gabriella set her suitcase down, and stood with them forming a small circle. "Please don't ever call me that again," she requested politely.

Gradually the Wildcats gathered; the girls greeting each other with hugs even though they'd seen each other just hours earlier when leaving Martha's house. The gathering East High seniors were divided into home room groups; with Mrs. Carrol and Mr. Lambert's classes on the first bus; and Ms. Darbus and Mr. Newman's classes on the second bus. Jack Bolton was present, to Troy's relief he wasn't chaperoning the trip. He was just there to assist with head counts, ensuring that all present students had paid and handed in parental permission slips. The plan was for Troy and Chad to stop at their houses only to pick up fresh clothing and then to drive straight to school; where Jack would take Troy's keys and come back with Lucille later to drive the truck safely home.

Jack was moving items of luggage from the drop off zone where students had been asked to leave their bags, to the storage area under the bus. Ms. Darbus approached, checking off the name tags on the bags in accordance with the list of students who had been marked as present.

"Now, as a parent and not as a teacher – a word of advice is that you're going to have to keep your eye on my son and his girlfriend," Jack said lowly.

Ms. Darbus rolled her eyes. "I'm sure your son would be highly impressed if he knew you were making such a remark to me, Bolton."

"But I'm serious, Darbus. They're like…"

"Ahhh, to be seventeen and in love again," Ms. Darbus interrupted somewhat whimsically. Jack folded his arms, glaring at her momentarily. She sighed, and returned his stare. "Jack, I give out detention to students who have a cell phone within my vision. You really think I'm going to tolerate any funny business? Especially from the class vice president and the basketball captain who are role models to other students?" Ms. Darbus asked, hands on hips, eyebrows raised.

"I suppose not," Jack relented. His cell phone began to vibrate in his pocket; he pulled it out and read a text he'd just received from his son.

Dad, were running l8. Just getting off I40. Shuld b on time. Can u plz tell Darbus?

Jack sighed impatiently, rolling his eyes at the typical behaviour of Troy and Chad.

"Let me guess, your son and Mr. Danforth are running late?" Ms. Darbus remarked wryly, seeing the perturbed expression upon her colleagues face.

"It seems so."

The arrival of the Evans' twins interrupted the exchange between Coach Bolton and Ms. Darbus. The appearance of any other student wouldn't have been such a big deal. However Sharpay didn't arrive anywhere without making an impression. A class trip – which she didn't even particularly want to attend – was no such exception. A long black stretch limousine pulled up – and as teachers and students looked on, they half expected a red carpet to be rolled out from the doorway. Instead, the driver of the vehicle, Hernandez, dashed around to the passenger side to open the door – and out stepped Sharpay. Students had been informed that dress code for the trip was warm and casual, with one nicer outfit to be brought. The student council had also advertised that any funny little costume items that students may have, might be useful to bring.

Sharpay, of course, had deemed 'casual' as meaning a pair of light wash designer jeans; tall black Ugg boots; a white, fitting turtleneck; and a neon fuchsia cropped puffy jacket. She stood with her dog carrier perched on top of the limo, having plucked Boi from within as she now farewelled her beloved pet. Ryan had swiftly followed her out from the vehicle. They had a whole series of cars at home, Mrs. Evans was perfectly capable of driving and had come along in the limo to farewell her children – and so he hadn't been impressed when Sharpay had insisted upon arriving in the limo. He kept his head down and went around to the back with Hernandez, retrieving his own suitcase as the driver took out Sharpay's.

Ryan had managed to successfully do a great deal of the damage control at home. He'd convinced Sharpay that Boi was not allowed to come with them. And he'd talked her into only bringing two oversized suitcases, as opposed to the original three and a half she had already packed. He'd also calmed her down with her last minute 'it's not fair, why are mother and daddy making us go on this trip?' Sharpay hadn't been on an overnight school trip since elementary school. Back then, she hadn't reached the point of caring about sleeping in a single bedin a dormitory and having to eat in a mess hall. Ryan pointed out to her that it would be a good means of preparing for dormitory life in college, and that everyone was going and that she would be left out of the gossip if she didn't attend. The final calming point had been revealing student council plans for the third night of entertainment, plans which hadn't been released to anyone yet.

In many ways, he didn't blame his sister for her hesitance. He wasn't exactly suited to dormitory life or random outdoor activities either; especially not during winter. But he recognised it was only for three nights and that as class president there was no option but to attend. Ryan approached the camp like he did with everything in his life – with an optimistic smile. It was a chance to have fun with his friends for a few days, to get away from his father's increasingly incessant talks about colleges and majors that didn't interest Ryan in the slightest.

As Ryan and Hernandez took the suitcases over to the pile, Derby Evans emerged from the limousine and went over to some other parents to engage in social chit chat. Ryan stopped by to greet his friends, exchanging handshakes with Jason and Zeke and hugs with the girls.

"How's everyone today?" Ryan asked brightly.

"Tired. This is way too early," Jason grumbled.

"It's a quarter to two," Kelsi pointed out, squeezing her boyfriend on the arm.

"It's a Sunday and a quarter to two," Jason clarified, before declaring breezily, "I should still be at home in my boxers and a wife beater."

"You think Sharpay brought enough stuff?" Taylor asked, gesturing toward the two oversized pink suitcases. "I'm surprised Darbus let her bring that much."

"I sorta embellished upon the truth and said that some of it was props that I'd brought for the third night of entertainment," Ryan admitted quietly. "I'm pretty sure that Ms. D saw through the lie, but it was enough for her to say it was fine."

"What is the third night of entertainment?" Zeke asked.

Gabriella and Ryan exchanged knowing smiles. "You'll find out later today," Ryan said with a mysterious smile.

"Ryan?" Sharpay's voice sounded from behind. It wasn't her usual demanding, snappy tone. Rather, it was imploring and vulnerable – alike to her tone when she wanted something which even she knew wasn't within her rights to have.

Ryan turned around to look at her sister who was still clutching onto her dog, stroking its fur.

"Yeah?"

"Are you sure I can't bring Boi with me?" Sharpay asked.

Ryan sighed. "I'm sure, Shar. Besides, he won't want to come."

"Hello Boi, aren't you so…" Gabriella began to say in a baby voice, and reached out to hand toward the dog to pat him. Boi promptly emitted a low growl, causing Gabriella to trail off and snatch her hand away.

"Boi!" Sharpay reprimanded, holding him out in front of her and looking at him sternly. "Be good!" She then glanced at Gabriella, who appeared a little hurt. "Sorry, I think he's a bit intimidated by all the people here."

"It's okay," Gabriella said, giving Sharpay a small smile.

The Evans twins returned to the limousine to hand Boi over to Hernandez and to farewell their mother. Sharpay and her mother exchanged a small kiss on each cheek, whereas Ryan and his mother had a big hug and exchanged their private index finger kisses. Ryan practically had to drag Sharpay over to where students were gathering closer to the bus, preparing to board.

"Good bye Pumpkin! Bye Duckie!" Derby called loudly.

Zeke and Jason couldn't even try to hide their laughter. "Which one are you, Pumpkin or Duckie?" Zeke snorted.

Ryan merely glared and didn't say anything.

"He's Duckie," Sharpay answered promptly.

"Sharpay!"

"What? I don't want them thinking she calls me Duckie."

Finally students were allowed to board the bus. Gabriella was glancing worriedly out into the parking lot, she knew that Troy and Chad would be cutting it fine, but this was cutting it far too fine for her liking. The engine of the bus had been started to allow air to begin to circulate throughout the vehicle. Teachers were going along the aisles head counting. Over the rumble of the bus, the sound of blasting music was heard entering the parking lot. Gabriella looked up to see Troy's truck screeching to a halt.

"You know I'm not the little boy that I used to be, I'm all grown up now baby can't you see? Stacy's mom has got it going…"

The music cut and the guys leaped out to grab their bags from the tray of the vehicle and began to hurry over in the direction of the awaiting bus.

Jason leaned across Kelsi to yell out the window. "Hurry up you fu-uuu… dgers," he finished lamely, suddenly occurring to him that the teachers were gathering just outside the bus. Chad didn't hesitate to flip him off. The guys quickly handed over their bags and had their names marked off on the roll. Troy gave his keys to his dad, shared a brief manly half hug and then stepped onto the bus.

Ryan and Sharpay were seated next to each other, with Gabriella behind them with a spare seat next to her – which he deduced was for him. Across from Gabriella, Chad had slid in beside Zeke. Kelsi and Jason were behind Gabriella, with Martha and Taylor across from Kelsi and Jason and behind Zeke and Chad. Troy briefly greeted people, exchanging obligatory greetings and handshakes as he made his way up the bus toward where his friends were seated about three quarters of the way toward the back. He collapsed into the empty seat beside Gabriella, falling into her embrace and pressing a lazy, light kiss to her forehead.

"You look… umm… like shit?" Gabriella offered, taking in her boyfriend's pasty skin and the look of agony in his eyes.

"I feel like shit," Troy confessed.

"Did you drive like this?" Gabriella asked.

"Nah, I drove," Chad revealed, overhearing the exchange from across the aisle. "We just swapped after picking up our shit so that his dad wouldn't know I drove."

"I um… after I… talked to you on the phone, I thought you crashed?" Gabriella said tactfully.

"I'm sorry about that," he said quietly, staring into her eyes. He wasn't apologising for falling asleep – he was apologising for the call itself.

"You already texted to apologise this morning, and I already told you it's fine and that I didn't care," she replied, squeezing his hand.

"Yeah well um, Chad and the guys whose dorm I was staying in, Jack and Shaun, they came back and woke me up. So I sorta went back to the party," Troy revealed.

Gabriella rolled her eyes, and glared over at a somewhat sheepish looking Chad. "You knew he had to drive this morning and you went and dragged him back to the party?" she asked, her tone disapproving.

"Hey, it's not my fault that Troy's a weakling and can't hold his alcohol," Chad said, shrugging.

The bus began to move, slowly making its way out of the bus bay.

"Hey Gabriella, here's that magazine article you didn't finish reading last night," Taylor said, handing the magazine across. Troy automatically reached out to grab the magazine that Taylor was holding out to pass to his girlfriend, peering at the page as he handed it over.

"What is this?" he asked, suddenly perking up.

Gabriella's eyes widened and yanked it away. She turned around to glare at Taylor before turning back to Troy. "It's Taylor's idea of being funny."

Troy narrowed his eyes. "Um… I'm gonna come back to this later. But right now, I kinda want to sleep. Sorry I'm not going to be much entertainment for this bus ride."

"Here, you take the window," Gabriella prompted, immediately standing up and motioning for him to slide along the seat. He didn't have the energy to protest, and after shuffling over he propped up his pillow against the window.

"Oh, before you go to sleep!" Gabriella said suddenly.

"Mmm?" Troy's lazy tone enquired.

"Mom called your mom this morning and agreed to this whole joint family vacation thing."

Troy smiled, not opening his eyes. "Awesome. Can't wait," he murmured.

Gabriella watched him in amusement for a moment, before retrieving her iPod from her small carry on bag, and then snuggling up against his side.

"Oh look, we get our own bathroom!" Kelsi squealed. "When I went to band camp – don't laugh at that! – we had like, four cabins of girls sharing one mass bathroom that you had to walk outside to get to."

"It was like that at cheer camp," Paula agreed, also pleased with the bathroom situation. Two showers and a toilet for eight of them was perfectly doable, especially since there was an extra sink and mirror in the room itself.

"It was a bit cleaner at cheer camp though," Monica pointed out, her nose wrinkled up upon examining the situation for herself.

"I really like these bunk beds. This little shelf is very practical," Taylor said, gesturing to the shelves that ran long the wall of each of the beds. "And I'm glad there's a reading light."

She had already taken out a few of her possessions to place along the shelf; including her toiletry bag, her novel, a notebook and a pencil case.

"Are you sure you're okay with having the top bunk?" Gabriella asked from below her. "Because it really doesn't bother me if…"

"It's fine," Taylor cut in. "Really. It's not like we're going to be in here very often. Besides… you may come in a little later than me, so…"

"I will be in here by curfew every night and not out any later," Gabriella said firmly.

A slight snort sounded from Liana, who was sitting on her top bunk that she was sharing with Monica.

"What was that noise for?" Gabriella asked a little stiffly. She didn't exactly not get along with the flirty cheerleader – but Liana wasn't Gabriella's favourite person by a long shot.

"You're dating Troy Bolton. There's something wrong with you if you don't sneak out for a late night make out session with him at least once," Liana said frankly.

"I'm also class vice president, and I'm not particularly fond of the idea of being caught in such a position," Gabriella responded.

"So you don't get caught," Liana said simply. She pointed down to her suitcase that was open on the floor. "Hey Mon, can you pass me my make up kit?"

Monica rose from where she was perching on the bottom bunk beneath Liana to grab the kit and pass it up to her friend.

Gabriella was watching as Sharpay quietly went about trying to make her bed. They'd been told to bring sheets and a pillow, and that blankets would be provided. Sharpay was holding up the sheet set that the cleaner had left for her, pouting as she attempted to make the bunk. She took pity upon her, and rose from her bed.

"Do you want a hand?" she offered.

Wordlessly, Sharpay shoved the sheets into her hands. Gabriella had been in Ryan's room a few times, and knew that Evans' twins were accustomed to having their beds made for them into neat hospital corners. The bunk that Sharpay was sharing with Paula was positioned lengthways against the wall. Gabriella found the fitted sheet, twisted it around so it was length ways, and handed Sharpay one end.

"You take that end," Gabriella instructed.

Sharpay narrowed her eyes but didn't protest, merely took the sheet from Gabriella and went to the opposite end of the bed. As the girls placed the fitted sheet onto the bed, Martha moved across to the communal set of drawers to set up her iPod speakers.

"Who wants music?" Martha enquired.

"Ohh awesome, good work," Paula said brightly, pleased that someone in their room thought to bring iPod speakers with them.

"Okay, now I'll show you how to fold a hospital corner, the cheat way," Gabriella told Sharpay. "So you take your fitted sheet and tuck it in at the bottom end of the bed, making sure the top is as high as you want it to be. Then you take this part here, fold it up like this…"

Sharpay tuned out a little as she watched Gabriella demonstrate.

"Do you want to do the other side?" Gabriella asked.

Sharpay cleared her throat. "Could you just show me again? I wasn't quite clear on the last bit."

Gabriella wasn't oblivious, but humoured the blonde and quickly demonstrated with the other side. She then handed the comforter to Sharpay. "You can do that part."

Sharpay blinked and cleared her throat. "That doesn't need to be on precisely, I just need to throw that on," she said airily, tossing the item onto her bed before turning to the task of her suitcase. She'd been horrified to see only a tiny closet and eight hooks along the wall by the door, which became the home of each of the girls' coats. She quickly took out a few of her items which needed to be hanging up, taking up about a quarter of the closet.

"Leave some room for the rest of us," Monica said a little crisply.

"You know what, I don't have anything I need to hang up," Kelsi said quickly.

"Neither do I," Martha chimed in.

"Me neither," Gabriella said. "So, you're fine to leave all of that in there, Sharpay. Oh hey look, you brought your own hangers, you could hang up a few things along your bunk maybe, if Paula doesn't mind."

Paula smiled obligingly. "That's more than okay. As long as the ladder isn't covered up so I can climb up the top."

"And hey, it'll be like your own curtain," Gabriella pointed out.

"That's a good idea," Sharpay conceded, before adding quickly, "Although I would have thought of it myself."

A loud rapping came at the door to the girls' cabin. Paula was currently standing closest to the door and went over to open it – revealing Ryan in the doorway, and Troy standing just behind him.

"Why hello," Ryan greeted her. "Just here as Student Body President to check up and make sure that everything is fine with your cabin," he droned in a speech that he'd clearly made at a number of cabins already.

Troy meanwhile was glancing around, his face brightening up as he realised that he'd finally found the occupant of a cabin he'd been trying to find.

"Your cabin is so much cooler than ours, you better not have any complaints," Troy remarked.

"What are you doing here, you're going to get in so much trouble," Paula asked, rolling her eyes.

"No, I am not. I am here as Ryan's assistant. And he was legitimately asked to do this job," Troy insisted, and strode straight into the cabin.

"Troy, get out! You can't go in there, you'll get in so much shit if Darbus sees you!" Ryan exclaimed.

"Oh please, there's like ten minutes left til we have to meet in the common area," Troy said dismissively, heading straight over to check out Gabriella's bunk.

"Wildcat, they're right, you'll get into so much trouble. They were really clear about the rules about curfews and boys and girls not allowed in each others cabins. They even threatened to suspend people," Gabriella pointed out.

He shrugged and perched on the edge of her bunk. "I'm not worried."

"You seem brighter now that you napped on the bus," Taylor observed.

"Isn't it amazing what some sleep can do for a hangover?"

"Are you guys all in the same cabin?" Martha asked.

The girls and boys had been divided into two groups during cabin allocations so hadn't heard the allocations of the opposite gender.

"Yup, we're with Zeke and JC and Chad; and also Marcus, Gavin and Wes," Troy answered.

"Hey Shar," Ryan said, spying his twin setting out her outfits in a pseudo wardrobe along the rim of the bottom of Paula's bunk. "You doing okay?"

"I'm fine thank you," she said haughtily, tossing her blonde locks over her shoulder.

"Mr. Evans, what are you doing?" Ms. Darbus' voice asked from behind him.

Troy's eyes widened – now glad that he had entered the room because had he been in the doorway he would have been spotted.

"In there!" Gabriella hissed, shoving him in the direction of the small toilet room. He allowed her to push him inside – and then grabbed her arm and dragged her in with him, closing the door behind them. A few stifled giggles took place from just outside the toilet door.

"Troy!" Gabriella hissed.

He lifted his finger to his mouth, indicating she needed to be quiet. He then pulled her even closer to him, and pressed his lips to hers. As long as they were trapped inside a small room, they may as well make the most of it. She reciprocated the kiss for a moment, when his tongue ran along her bottom lip she parted her lips and granted him access to the warm, wet cavern of her mouth – but then yanked him away. He wasn't deterred, and immediately latched his lips to the smooth flesh of her neck.

"Oh okay then," Ms. Darbus's muffled reply came through the door. "Girls, just letting you know that you now have less than ten minutes to be at the common area. We're going to be indoors, so you need not worry too much about putting layers on for the cold."

"Thanks Ms. Darbus," Martha said politely.

Ms. Darbus then glanced around inside the cabin. "Where is Miss Montez?" she asked suspiciously.

"She's in the toilet," Taylor answered, technically not lying at all.

Gabriella hadn't had the will to push Troy away from his suckling of her neck, and he chose that precise moment to lightly nibble her skin – and an involuntary moan escaped from her mouth.

"Miss Montez?! Are you okay?" Ms. Darbus immediately asked, moving into the cabin.

"I'm fine!" Gabriella yelped. "I'm just… getting changed."

"Okay…" Ms. Darbus said, giving the bathroom one final glance before moving away. "Dear, if you're not feeling well, make sure you let us know and you can go see the nurse."

"I'm fine, really!" Gabriella insisted.

"All right then. Seven minutes girls. And Ryan, you'd best move to your next cabin to complete your duties."

"Sure thing, I'm on it."

There was a momentary silence before the door closed.

"The coast is clear," Martha said from outside the toilet.

Troy immediately broke into a fit of laughter.

"Troy!" Gabriella exclaimed, the toilet door bursting open. "That's not funny at all! God knows what she thinks I was doing."

"And you managed to give your girlfriend a hickey, good work Bolton," Liana smirked.

Gabriella stared in the mirror looking mortified, and then turned back to thwack Troy on the arm. "Troy!"

"Oh, you love me," Troy said cheekily.

"At the rate you're going, you're trying to change that fact," Gabriella said darkly, striding over to her suitcase to try and locate a scarf.

"It's winter, you can wear a scarf and it's all good," Troy pointed out. "Anyway I'm out of here. That was a close call. I'll see you all in the common room."

He glanced back at Gabriella who was still looking somewhat annoyed as she wrapped the scarf she'd located around her neck.

"Gabi, are you annoyed with me?" Troy asked softly.

She glanced up. "No. But I will be if you don't get out of here."

"Promise?"

"Troy! Go!"

"Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to the class trip for the Class of 2008!" Vice Principal Summers announced.

The senior year broke out into applause, with a few hollers and whistles sounding throughout the cosy indoor meeting place. It was a large room, carpeted, with a fireplace up one end. It had been designated as one of two key meeting places – the second being the mess hall.

After arriving at camp, being given cabin assignments and then forty five minutes to settle into their homes for the next three nights; students met in the common room for the first official meeting of camp. Most of it was fairly logistical – camp booklets had been handed out on the bus and were now going through in detail. The schedule for the next few days was outlined, as well as an explanation of how students would be broken up for activities. It was a rotating schedule – with a morning and an afternoon activity on Monday and Tuesday, and a morning activity on Wednesday. Canoeing, a ropes course, arts and crafts, groupwork and leadership development, and cooking were the five activities being rotated through. Arts and crafts was an excuse to have the senior students create decorations for both the winter dance on Friday night; and the spirit week in the first week back after winter vacation. Cooking was an excuse to have students assist kitchen staff by making snacks for morning and afternoon tea breaks throughout the camp.

The cabins of students were assigned into five mixed gender groups for the purposes of these activities – through a stroke of lucky intervention; the Wildcats were all assigned to the same activities group. These activities groups were then used as the basis for who was to assist at each meal time – with assistants required to assist with both serving and clean up of each meal.

The teachers went through the various rules and procedures of camp – such as that teachers were to come around with wake up calls in the morning an hour before breakfast time; that there was free time designated within which students were confined to particular areas and banned from matriculating in each others cabins; that there would be a bed time and rules in relation to curfew that must be strictly adhered to.

The final piece of information detailed were the activities planned for each of the three night sessions. The student council was 'in charge' of running the first and third nights, with the second night designated as a 'futures exploration seminar' which noone really understood the meaning of. The first night was an indoor games night. The third, Ryan Evans took pleasure in being able to stand and announce to his classmates.

"On our final night, we will be holding a 'non-talent' show. I mean, if you have an actual talent and want to perform, go for it. But what we're wanting is for people to participate. We're not looking for technical, perfectly prepared acts, because then we would have let you know about this in advance. We're just looking for random fun, the stage is yours to do whatever you want. Maybe you can drink a gallon of water in a minute. Or you do some random impression. Or you can fold paper origami. Whatever – the floor is yours. You just need to sign up your act before the show – to either me or Gabriella – and just let us know what you need, like if you want music or something. If you have an act you want to do that you need something for that you don't have with you, let us know because we brought… a lot of random stuff. You can also consider this a bit of a trial if you were thinking about auditioning for the official East High's Got Talent show after winter vacation."

The remainder of Sunday afternoon was spent broken up into activities groups, selecting a group 'name' and going into more detail in relation to the activities that would be taking place over the next two and a half days. The activities group featuring the Wildcats was named 'The Party People' – per a dumb suggestion from Chad which no one else seemed to have a better idea to counter. The first night vibe of the senior trip was nothing short of buzzing. The volume of the mess hall during dinner time reached a decibel which small rock concerts would reach. The indoor games night went by without much of a hitch, with the Student Council being provided by the school with a list of dorky games to select the least dorky from to lead students in playing. The free hour between the games session and the 11pm curfew was spent by most hanging around in the common room and mess hall; there was a supper of cocoa and a couple of cookies provided. Troy had pressed a tender good night kiss to Gabriella's lips at the beginning of the free hour and then escaped to his cabin, taking a quick shower before collapsing into bed forty five minutes prior to curfew.

Monday morning proved far more eventful, with the 'Party People' designated to complete the ropes course. One brief high ropes section brought to surface Jason's fear of heights, with him blatantly refusing to participate. The high adrenaline of the morning was followed by the quiet calm of the afternoon arts and crafts. To Gabriella's surprise, Troy had been notably absent during their afternoon free session between arts and crafts and dinner time. With the exception of the occasional stolen kiss throughout the day, they'd hardly spent any time alone at all. She'd made a comment to this about Taylor in their cabin, which Liana had overheard and actually had the audacity to jokingly suggest that perhaps Troy was having it off with another girl. Gabriella had merely glared at the flirtatious cheerleader and immediately moved on from the suggestion.

Monday dinner time was an allocated session for the 'Party People' to assist with the meal service. During the day they'd determined who was going to volunteer for serving duty and who was going to volunteer for cleaning duty. Troy had quickly finished his meal and then seconds, and made his way over to the dish area. As students finished with their plates, cutlery and cups, they were to place them in large plastic bins ready to be taken and washed up. Gabriella immediately rose and followed him. He was holding onto the detergent bottle, preparing the sink of hot water.

"Troy?" Gabriella asked from behind.

He turned around, smiling at the sight of her. "Hey stranger," he said, greeting her with a half hug and a kiss to her forehead. "Ready for wash up duty?"

"Are you upset with me?" she asked.

Troy's face clouded into an expression of confusion. "No! Not in the slightest. Why would you think that?"

"Just… when you disappeared during our free hour. I guess I thought that maybe you would have been dragging me off into a bathroom again," Gabriella said teasingly.

"Sounds like you wish I had been dragging you into a bathroom again," Troy smirked, his hand resting on her hip.

"I may not have protested… much," she confessed, with a sly smile. "But no really, it wasn't a big deal. Just when we were hanging out during arts and crafts and then you disappeared, I thought it was a bit strange. But like, I'm not upset or anything. I just, well, I guess I thought I'd make sure that you were cool. That you weren't upset about me getting upset with you yesterday, or about Saturday night, or…"

"Gabi?" Troy interrupted. "You want to know what I was doing? The truth?"

"Uh no, just lie to me," Gabriella joked.

"I'm doing this thing in the non-talent show tomorrow night," he confessed. "I was sorta preparing."

Gabriella's eyes lit up. "Really? Like, something you could then audition for East High's Got Talent with?"

Troy snorted. "Absolutely not. This is the epitome of the non-talent part of tomorrow night. It's a big joke."

"Why can't you tell me what it is?"

"Because, I can't. But that's what I've been doing. If it were up to me, I would have been ravishing you in a private corner. I mean…" he lowered his voice. "A drunken wank is nothing in comparison to the real thing."

"Troy!" Gabriella exclaimed, blushing and glancing around. "You don't actually think that we're gonna… like here, on a school trip, where there are teachers hovering about every moment of the day and we're sharing rooms with seven other people?"

"If I think practically and logically I realise that it's unlikely. But you see, the male brain pretty much works on a level where any time and any place is a viable option," Troy attempted to explain.

"Hey guys, you're getting an early start," Ryan said cheerfully, carrying over a tub of dirty plates. Kelsi was trailing behind him with a tray of dirty cutlery.

"The faster we do this, the sooner we…. Okay, so the sooner we get to go to this 'futures' seminar," Troy said. "Hmm, maybe we shouldn't be working efficiently."

"They'd just stall until we arrived," Ryan pointed out.

"True. Damn. Okay, so the sooner we do this, the sooner the futures seminar starts, and then if it ends early we get more time during the free session tonight," Troy declared triumphantly.

"Sounds like a plan."

The click-clack-click-clack of a pair of heels sounded, and Sharpay appeared in the doorway to the kitchen. She was carrying her own dirty dishes.

"Oh good, there you all are," she said, and dumped her plate into the tub that Ryan had set down on the bench; and her cutlery into the tray that Kelsi was carrying. She then sat down on a chair that was in the corner.

Liana followed, carrying another tub with dessert bowls. "Sharpay, you could have helped me carry it!" she complained.

"Why?" Sharpay asked simply.

"Because you're meant to be on clean up duty as well. This tub was really heavy!"

"Oh please, the bowls are made of plastic," Troy said, rolling his eyes. "Don't you try to pretend you're some weak bimbo, Lee, I've seen you doing all those cheerleader lifts and things."

Liana sat down in a chair beside Sharpay. "Whatever," she huffed.

"Um, I'm going to go get the bucket with the plastic cups," Gabriella said.

"I'll help," Ryan said, and followed her out back into the main mess hall.

"Hey, do you know what this thing Troy is doing tomorrow night is?" she asked curiously.

Ryan's face broke into a smile. "Yes," he confirmed. "But I can't tell you. And he really can't tell you either. You'll just have to wait and be surprised. More importantly, were we still going to go in it, for fun?"

Gabriella hesitated. "I'll just check with Troy that he's okay with it."

Ryan stopped in his tracks, pulling Gabriella aside into a nearby storage room. "Why should you have to check with Troy?" he asked incredulously. "Please don't tell me that he still has an issue with you and me being friends??"

"No no, I think he's cool with it all," Gabriella said.

"You think?" Ryan repeated.

"Well, we haven't really talked about it since we had that little mini fight just before the fall musical."

"Interesting."

Gabriella sighed. "Spit it out, Ry, you're never very good at hiding that you want to share something."

Ryan smiled sheepishly. "I just… I think you should talk about it, is all. I know that the current 'issue' of the relationship is the future and whether to plan for it and what's going to happen. But if you don't look after the little day to day issues in the mean time… there might not be a future to worry about, is all."

"It's ironic that I get my best relationship advice from you," Gabriella mused.

"Why is that ironic?"

"Because you're dancing about avoiding telling Chase bluntly that you're interested in him."

Ryan sighed. "Now that is complicated, you make it sound so simple but it's not."

"Why is it complicated? Because you're gay?" she asked quietly.

"Because I'm gay, because I'm not out about being gay, because I met him online, because he's in college, because he lives three hours away, because I haven't done the relationship thing, because I might be moving away in six months anyway, because… do I need to keep listing?"

"You like him, right?"

"Yes!"

"If anything, some of that should make it easier. So you tell him that you like him and it goes badly. You don't have to see him, you don't have to deal with him. Clean rejection, wipe him from your life, move on."

Ryan sighed. "Yeah. Maybe."

The group finished with the cleaning up – well, the group minus Liana and Sharpay who sat to the side. At least Liana half pretended to help, occasionally taking some of the dirty items from the plastic bins and placing them into the industrial sink. Sharpay remained sitting, retrieving a nail file from the clutch she was carrying and working on perfecting her nails.

The futures seminar wasn't entirely boring. The focus of the presentation was upon reaching your goals regardless of what the outcomes of your SATs and college applications may be; with information presented about community colleges and apprenticeships and other means of finding a way of working your way into your field of choice. After a group lecture, students were asked to break into discussion groups, where they were going to be given some questions to think about and share thoughts and feelings with their peers. The Wildcats immediately formed a circle – with Sharpay somewhat awkwardly glancing about the room.

"Hey Sharpay, you coming with us?" Kelsi asked, touching the blonde's arm.

"Um, do you want me to?" Sharpay asked hesitantly.

"Of course, come on!" Kelsi prompted, indicating for Sharpay to drag her chair over to join in with their group.

Meanwhile, Ms. Darbus had been around the room, handing out sheets with discussion questions to each of the groups. It wasn't an official exercise, there was no test on it, there was no bring back. In fact students were told that they weren't obliged to share with their peers, if they wanted to just sit and quietly listen they were welcome to abstain. The sheet had been handed to Martha, and she glanced at the first question.

"Where do you see yourself in 10 years, and what do you hope to have accomplished in the meantime?" Martha read aloud.

The group fell silent.

"Jeez, they couldn't have started with something easy like what's your favourite colour?" Chad said, breaking the silence. A light laughter followed.

"I'll go first, that's easy," Sharpay declared.

"Go on then, if that's easy," Chad said.

"I will have graduated from Juilliard, and be starring on Broadway in New York City and I will win a Tony Award. Between shows I will record an album which I'll win Grammy's for. And then I'll move out to Hollywood, most likely Beverly Hills, and spend some time working on films. And win an Oscar, of course. I'd also like to win an Emmy, but that may not be realistic within the next 10 years."

"Good to see you aren't setting your sights too high," Taylor remarked.

Sharpay missed the sarcasm, and smiled triumphantly. "Well, show business is volatile so I need to be realistic about it." She glanced at Zeke, who was sitting beside her. "What about you?

Zeke cleared his throat. "I want to go overseas and study with some renowned dessert chefs; then come back to the United States and establish my own restaurant," he revealed.

"I'd like to be performing on Broadway in New York, or on West End in London. Or doing choreography. Either way," Ryan said.

"I think I'm going to study education," Martha revealed.

"You're not gonna be a famous hip hop dancer," Jason teased.

She blushed. "That's a hobby, not a career choice for me."

"Well my hobby is my career choice," Jason said. "I want to have finished in film school, and I just want to be working in either movies or television, with the path looking good. I don't care if I'm not quite there yet, I just want everything to be moving in the right direction."

"That's a good attitude," Martha said with a nod.

Jason glanced to his left at his girlfriend. "Kels?" he prompted.

"I'll be doing music. In whatever way, shape or form, I'll be involved with music for the next ten years and for the ten years after that and for the ten years after that," Kelsi declared. "I enjoy song writing, both doing compositions for original musicals and lately I've been really enjoying working on some potentially mainstream music. I guess… as a tangible goal, I'd like some songs that I've written to have been recorded by prominent artists and make the Billboard Charts."

"Maybe it'll be your songs that Sharpay will win her Grammy for," Zeke suggested.

"What about you, Chad?" Kelsi asked.

Chad shrugged. "Umm… well, college ball is up next. From there… who knows. Some guys reach college level ball and they thrive with it and get even better and then opportunities arise to go further. Others just sorta plateau, it's like an extension of high school ball, just more serious. I think I want to study business. I'd be interested in getting involved in the behind the scenes of an NBA team."

"I used to think that I wanted to study science, do my post graduate, do research, make discoveries…" Taylor trailed off. "I'm not sure anymore. I think I see the next ten years as a chance to delve around and work out what it is that I'm meant to be doing with the rest of my life."

She shifted uncomfortably, not particularly comfortable with her admission that she was feeling somewhat uncertain about her direction. "Gabriella?"

"I hope to have finished my undergrad and a post graduate degree. And I would like to have worked doing research of some sort, but also worked practically. And have gone backpacking. Ohh, and have lived for at least six months in Spain, and another six in Italy – where I want to become fluent in Spanish and Italian. Oh, and I'd like to have published a novel. Oh, and own my own house. And…"

"Okay, it's in ten years, not within your life time," Chad interrupted.

Gabriella blushed. "I just… there's so much that I want to do. And I don't see it as a case of having to pick and choose what it is that I want to do from it all. I see it as a challenge to do as much as I physically can."

"She'll do it. I bet you that when we're at like our ten year reunion, Gabriella's going to list off her accomplishments and we'll all be flabbergasted," Zeke said, flashing her a smile.

She glanced over at Troy, squeezing him on the leg. "Troy?"

Troy was silent for a moment, his eyes trained on the carpet. "In ten years… I'll be approaching 28 years of age…"

"Which means you'll be nearly at the age to retire from the NBA and be rolling around in your wads of cash?" Jason supplied.

Troy didn't respond. "In ten years, I hope that I am happy and healthy and surrounded by people that I love," he said simply, glancing at Gabriella ever so slightly. "The rest… I dunno about. I don't really care about it either. If I get the happiness and health and am around people I wanna be around… then I'll have everything that I could want."

Another silence fell among the group of ten.

"I think Troy's answer beats all of ours put together," Kelsi said softly, smiling at Troy.

At 10:30pm, Troy and Gabriella were sitting by the edge of the lake, each dressed warmly plus Troy had brought along a spare blanket from his cabin for them to sit on and have wrapped around them. He was sitting with his legs stretched out in front of him, whereas Gabriella had her legs tucked to her right side, leaning to the left onto Troy's right shoulder.

"It's so beautiful here," Gabriella murmured.

"It doesn't bother you that it's out of bounds?"

"A little. But you seem to do this to me. Like over summer with the golf course, and swimming in the pool," she pointed out wryly. "I went along with it then."

His right arm was wrapped around her protectively, his head leaning on top of hers. "Hey Gabi?"

"Mmm?"

"You know your list of schools you've applied to?"

"Yeah?"

"I know you said you don't really have preferences among them yet but… where does Yale sit in the mix?"

Gabriella hesitated. "Um… I don't know yet. Why?"

"Well… Yale is just over an hour away from UConn. And I was thinking about taking one of my official visits there."

"Oh yeah?"

"Yeah. And umm… I've been trying to get into contact with the coach from Boston University. The information that you and Taylor brought back when you visited Massachusetts was interesting."

Gabriella's right arm snaked across Troy's abdomen. "Are there any schools in the San Francisco area you are interested in?"

"Near Stanford?"

"Mm hmm."

"Well Sacramento doesn't want me, they want Chad," Troy pointed out wryly. "I've contacted the people from UC Berkeley, but am waiting to hear back."

"What about NYU or somewhere there?" Gabriella asked. "And is there anywhere other than Boston University in that area that you're interested in?"

"You're not helping me here, you're just listing all the places you've been applying," Troy pointed out wryly.

Gabriella sighed. "Chad told me that UConn is really awesome. I think that if a school that is that awesome is contacting you and offering an official visit, then you should go for it," Gabriella said honestly. "I think that a part of being happy for you, will be about taking the best opportunities you can get."

"Define best?" Troy said quietly. "The best opportunities… the best in terms of what? Just because UConn do really well in the NCAA competition, doesn't mean it's the best for me. Maybe the best for me is gonna be somewhere else."

"I know what you're asking me to do," Gabriella said softly. "You want me to make it easy and tell you that Yale is my top priority and then you can go and hunt down the UConn offer. But it's not that easy, it's not that simple. You can be realistic and you can acknowledge that the important things in life are happiness and health and having people that you love around you. That's a healthy outlook to have in life. But you're not going to ever be happy if you don't strive to reach your dreams. I want you to get the best opportunity possible for you to advance forward with your dreams. That is what I want for you. I believe that if you do that… then everything else will fall into place."

"Maybe I already have one of my dreams right here," Troy murmured, tucking a strand of hair behind Gabriella's ear.

"You're so corny," she murmured.

"Only with you," he said, the gap between them closing and their lips meeting in a soft kiss. A soft kiss that became a tender kiss, a tender kiss that became a probing, passionate kiss.

The sound of a throat clearing behind them sounded, and Troy and Gabriella froze, sheepishly pulling apart and glancing behind them to see Ms. Darbus looming.

"Are we not allowed to be here?" Gabriella stammered.

"No. You're not. Curfew is in five minutes, I suggest you make your way back to your cabins," Ms. Darbus said sternly.

Wordlessly, Troy and Gabriella stood up. He grabbed the blanket and folded it lengthways and then wrapped it around his girlfriends shoulders. Ms. Darbus waited for them to pass her, before bringing up the rear behind the pair.

Troy leaned across and murmured into her ear, "At least it wasn't Mr. Fulton giving us a strike."

Author's Note - Coming up next chapter, the East High senior class trip continues, and we also have the East High Winter Dance! What does Troy have planned for the non-Talent show? Will Gabriella and Troy find privacy with Darbus's constant vigil? Find out next time...

And in the mean time, your feedback would be totally off the hook. :-)

-Dani xo