How's this for getting another chapter up quickly? I had nothing really to do tonight and as much as i wanted to write some more, i'm kind of experiencing some slight writer's block, :/ More on that in the a/n at the bottom. Also it's been a little bit since some Chaylor stuff on here so i figured we should fix that. Hope you guys enjoy!
Disclaimer: I do not own HSM. The only things i could possibly own are the plot line and the characters i make up. But how cool would that be to own HSM, right?

Chapter Eleven

Late June was always kind of a hectic time for Chad. If he were still in school, he would have just been let out for the summer and head off to basketball camp within a couple of weeks. Between that last final exam and leaving for camp there'd always be some family thing. Someone in his family would be graduating or moving or something. This year was different. Chad was one of the youngest members of his family so except for a couple of younger cousins there was no one left to finish school or celebrate any milestones for the summer. It was surprisingly calm.

That was why it was so surprising to hear from one of his counselors at basketball camp. To make a long story short, he told Chad that though they'd love to have him back there were no more open positions for the summer. However he was nice enough to forward Chad's resume to another camp, one that would be starting in mid July. Naturally to wait out the stress and nerves Chad texted Taylor to keep her posted. Her responses were slow, being at work and all, but for now it would do. Chad needed something to keep his mind occupied, wondering if this would work out or not, and going back and forth between texting and watching TV seemed to help. Such time, unfortunately, was interrupted when Mr. Danforth called asking how the job search was going. Chad explained the situation and his father, being the strict parent that he was, urged Chad not to sit and wait for these people to contact him; Chad should be applying to other jobs in between. But this was possibly Chad's first chance at actually getting an interview and he would rather focus on getting that over with than adding stress by applying to more places. Eventually Chad gave in and agreed offered to apply at a nearby Starbucks. Chad arrived at the coffee shop a half hour later and asked the cashier for an application. Chad looked around for a good place to settle down until he spotted Mary at one of the tables. Like Savannah, Mary was fairly easy to spot in a crowd. But it wasn't because of her hair. It was because of the stuffed Pikachu backpack she often carried around, as Chad discovered upon his conversation with her that night during the baseball game.

Mary was a fairly short figure. Her long black hair was tied in braids and her bright yellow tank top matched her backpack near perfectly. She sort of seemed like a child; one wouldn't even know she was into sports until sparking a conversation with her. Chad saw her as, to an extent, a combination of Troy and Gabriella, which perhaps made her so easy to talk to. It would also explain why, even after a short period of time, Chad considered her such a good friend. Though Troy and Taylor haven't met Mary, Chad was thankful that they were supportive of his new friendship and there seemed to be little jealousy.

"Hey Pikachu," he greeted.

Mary looked up from her notebook and eyed Chad as he took the seat across from her. "Now hold up, Pikachu and I have a drill. You can't talk to him till he gives me the clear." She glanced at her backpack for a moment and then back at Chad. "You're clear. If you can understand him, that is."

"Hilarious," Chad said sarcastically. "Whatchya working on?"

"I'm taking a math course for the summer session at U of A," she answered. "I'm hoping it'll help me even out my odds when it's time to pick out Fantasy Football teams."

Chad cringed. He may have been a sports guy, but the one sport he could never tolerate was football. Though one could hardly blame him when every year at East High the football team would play pranks on the basketball team. But hey, it wasn't Chad's fault the basketball team was so much better – that honor mainly belonged to Troy.

"Yeah well consider yourself lucky you're still in school and don't have to worry about the real world yet. It sucks out here."

Mary scrunched her nose. "Grouchy much?"

"Hey you would be, too, if you were forced to apply to all these places you didn't want to," Chad said defensively. "I might have something at a camp but according to my dad it means nothing and I need to keep trying till I get a yes or no."

"Have you thought about grad school?" she asked.

"What do I need grad school for?" Chad replied.

"Higher education. Master's degree. Prolong going into the real world you hate so much?" she suggested.

Chad scoffed. "Yeah, with what money?"

"Oh I dunno, the magic money tree that gives you anything you want?" Mary asked in her most childlike voice.

"I wish," Chad sighed. "Everyone knows the magic money tree doesn't exist."

Mary's eyes widened. "There's no magic money tree anywhere? Dang, I can't believe my grandmamma lied to me!"

Chad let out a laugh before starting to fill out the application. The first few answers were easy; they were just basic questions. Then he filled out his high school and college information. As he did that Mary leaned forward glancing at the paper curiously. Chad glanced up. "Can I help you?"

"Pikachu wants to know if you work here, if you can ever get him a tall late with chocolate and pineapples at all," she answered.

Ok, so the sports part of her personality was right on the money when comparing Mary to Chad's friends. But perhaps she was a bit past the naivety of Gabriella.

"No comment," Chad responded.

"You're mean," Mary pouted.

"Not mean," Chad mumbled. His phone went off and he read a text message from Taylor. Didn't seem like her day at the Albuquerquian was going much better than any of Chad's job hunts. He texted her back saying he was at Starbucks filling out an application and asked if she wanted to join him on her lunch break.

"Who ya texting?" Mary asked curiously.

"My girlfriend," Chad answered putting his phone down.

"Ooooh I wanna see what you're saying!" she said eagerly reaching for his phone.

Chad snatched it back. "Don't you have math or something to do?"

"Well I'd be much better at it if the questions were sports related. Or about your love life. That'd make it way more interesting to pay attention to," she replied.

Chad looked at her doubtfully. "Are you sure we're both twenty-two?"

She shook her head. "No, I'm pretty sure my brain's like fifty years away from turning twenty-two."

Chad raised an eyebrow, confused. "Isn't fifty more than twenty-two?"

"And that's exactly why I suck at math," she answered.

Chad stared at her blankly before typing another text message to Taylor. On second thought unless you wanna deal with someone with the mind of a 3yearold, stay at work.

"Anyway did you see the game last night?" Mary asked, changing the subject.

"The Cubs game? Only a couple of innings. I was a little…" Chad paused to think of the right word, "occupied."

Mary smirked. "With your girlfriend?"

"Ok, yeah. So?" Chad replied. "You can be all occupied when you get your own girlfriend. Or boyfriend, I guess."

Mary was about to respond when Chad read another text message.

"Hey is it cool if Taylor joins us?" he asked.

"I get to meet this notorious girlfriend?" she asked.

"I haven't even told you much about her," Chad pointed out.

Mary pouted. "I still wanna met her."

"She'll be here in ten. Try to be on your best behavior," Chad said.

"You say that like I have no good behavior," she replied.

Chad scoffed. "C'mon, I could totally tell you had no good behavior after our first conversation."

"And yet you're still friends with me," she reminded him.

"Yeah…what are the odds I can take that friendship back?" Chad asked.

Mary rolled her eyes. "Hilarious," she said sarcastically.

Chad was about to go back to filling out his application when Mary spoke up again.

"Hey when you're done do you wanna play a game of Horse?"

Chad shook his head. "I don't think so."

Her face fell. "Why not?"

"Just…" he paused to find the right explanation, "haven't felt like playing much ball lately."

"Oh…. That's depressing," Mary frowned. "How come?"

Chad's answer wouldn't have been any different than the one he'd given Taylor: he changed. Chad used to think that basketball could solve everything. If he was sad, he could go into his backyard and shoot some hoops. If he were stressed, he'd say that if he could make 100 baskets then there was nothing to worry about. If he weren't feeling well, he'd find some basketball game or movie to watch. But it wasn't that easy anymore. Chad couldn't just go out and play basketball and hope at the end of the game he'd get a call from someone who wants to hire him. Needless to say, Chad didn't think he could count on basketball to take his mind off of his problems anymore. Someone had taken the place of that. Still, even if Mary were his friend it didn't mean Chad wanted to go into detail about something. It wasn't to say Chad was uncomfortable talking to her; he just felt better going to Taylor.

"Just don't feel like it," he answered.

"Why not?" she probed.

"I just don't," Chad sighed. "Look, can I just finish filling out this application and get it over with?"

"You sure about that?" she asked. "Cause it looks like you got company coming your way."

The next thing Chad knew, Taylor was standing behind him with her arms draped over him.

"Hey you," she greeted.

Chad smiled. "Snap, I've saved," he said to himself.

"Heard that," Mary said. "And I resent that. I am hardly dangerous."

"Hope so," Taylor mumbled before occupying the empty seat.

"What was that?" Mary asked.

So much for the no jealousy thing. "Mary will you please tell Taylor there's nothing for her to be jealous about?"

Mary was about to respond before Taylor interrupted.

"I am not jealous," she insisted. "I'm just making sure she knows you're taken."

"Anybody could tell we're taken," Chad replied. "Before I even introduced you as my girlfriend Eddie was calling you Mrs. Chad."

Taylor folded her arms. "That's just to get under my skin," she answered stubbornly.

"Does it work?" Chad raised an eyebrow.

"I plead the fifth," she mumbled.

"Hey you're cute," Mary said to Taylor, changing the topic.

"Thank you…?" Taylor responded, not sure how to react.

Chad, on the other hand, did. "Hey if you're gonna compliment my girlfriend, call her what she really is. Hot."

"My bad," Mary muttered.

"So…you must be Mary then," Taylor said.

"That's me. And this is Pikachu," Mary said referring to her backpack. "And by the way you don't need to worry about me stealing your man."

"Because you know he's taken?" Taylor wondered.

"No, because I'm gay," Mary answered.

Chad smirked. "Told you, you had nothing to worry about," he teased Taylor.

Taylor stuck her tongue out at him.

"C'mon, is that all you got?" Chad chuckled.

"No. I'm just going to give it to you later," she stated simply.

Mary laughed. "Cute and feisty. I can see why you like her."

"She has that gift," Chad said.

"So what'd I miss?" Taylor inquired taking out her lunch.

"Well in the contest of What's Worse, Math in the Summer versus Job Hunts, we're in a deadlock for first place," Mary answered.

"Well filling out this application is a lot of work…" Chad started.

"What kind of math?" Taylor asked Mary.

"Some weird algebra or something. I hate it," Mary complained. She glanced at Pikachu. "Well if you think it's so great why don't you try it?" she questioned her backpack.

Taylor raised an eyebrow at Chad. "Does she do that a lot?"

Chad smirked and nodded. "How much do I get it now?"

She thought for a minute. "Half my sandwich and whatever I give you tonight."

"Deal," Chad agreed happily taking half. This was why he wanted Taylor to join him; no matter how crazy things were Chad could always count on Taylor to take his mind off of it somehow.

"So are you job hunting, too, Taylor?" Mary wondered.

Taylor shook her head. "No. I have a job. An annoying, stupid job. But a job nonetheless."

Mary scrunched her nose. "Well if you hate it so much why are you working there?"

"Because it was either let my internship hire me or let them hire some poor sap who doesn't know what they're getting into," she answered.

"Sounds like a hell hole," Mary stated.

"She spends her days washing her boss' dog," Chad responded. "Doesn't sound like any dream job I've ever seen."

Taylor raised an eyebrow at her boyfriend. "Oh, and your dream job is to work at Starbucks?"

Chad pouted. "That was a low blow."

"I'm sorry," Taylor said.

"I told you I'm only applying here to make my dad happy. Why would you even say that?" Chad replied.

"I'll let you guys talk it out. I need another latte anyway," Mary said deciding to give the couple some space. Taylor waited until Mary was out of earshot before talking again.

"He's just trying to help you find a job," Taylor said.

"By forcing me to take any second-rate job just to earn a few bucks?" Chad replied. "If that's helping I don't wanna see what hurting is."

"Chad..." she started.

He shook his head. "Forget it. Maybe I should just scrap this application and go home." He picked up the paper and was about to crumble it up when Taylor put her hands on his.

"I'd rather work some second-rate job than work with the bitches I'm stuck with," she told him.

"So why don't you quit?" Chad asked. "You're brilliant, Tay. You could get any job you want."

"And if I stay where I am now maybe down the road it'll help me get a better job. I'm not going to find that by working at a fast food chain," she explained. "The Albuquerquain is fine for now but I know it won't be for long. I'm only there for the experience and because I know there's at least one person there I can use as a reference for a future job. If I go out there not having some set field I know I can get into and with next to no experience, I'm not going to get very far. And whether I can get into politics or if I stick with journalism I know that being a cashier or cook won't help me in either of those fields. I want to amount to so much more than that."

"So if I take a job here I'm not amounting to anything?" Chad asked. This talk wasn't helping him much.

"I didn't say that," she shook her head. "You're still trying to figure out the field that bests suits you. My education and experience allow me some direction. Yours just happens to be a little more vague. There's nothing wrong with working a part-time job and doing something else on the side. That's where you get so lucky, Chad. Because those two things will help you in the long run. Between those you have a better shot at finding what you're looking for."

"Do you really think so?" Chad asked meeting her eyes.

"I know so," she promised.

Chad wanted to believe her. Taylor did make a compelling argument. Working a job and if he could find something on the side to do then maybe it would help. Maybe it wouldn't be so bad. And Chad needed all the chances he could get. But even things that sounded nice didn't come without doubts.

"But come on, what skills do I even have for this job?" he asked putting the paper down.

"You mean aside from strong, charismatic and charming?" she asked.

"You forgot hot," Chad pointed out.

"And hot," she added with a giggle. "You're a hard worker, observant, great with people…"

"So are a lot of other people," he shrugged his shoulders.

"But you also seem to forget that you do have experience," Taylor reminded him. "We spent a summer working at Lava Springs. And I'm sure if you put any of the Evans family as a reference that'll only make you a stronger candidate."

Everybody in Albuquerque did know the Evans family. And Chad and Taylor, along with Troy and Gabriella, had the privilege of working at the Evans' country club one summer in high school. There was no denying that if the family liked someone then anyone in New Mexico would want to hire that person. The fact that two of their classmates in school were Ryan and Sharpay Evans and that Chad occasionally kept in contact with Ryan didn't hurt either.

"You really think I have a shot at something?" Chad asked.

"I know you do," she nodded.

Maybe Chad didn't have anything to lose by filling out the application after all. And if someone as smart and successful as Taylor believed in him then there was no way Chad was just going to give up.

"Thanks Tay," he said.

She smiled and kissed him. "Any time, anywhere."

"Awww that is so sweet!"

Chad and Taylor turned to see Mary sitting across the table, staring at them and hugging her Pikachu.

"How long have you been sitting there…?" Chad asked.

Mary shrugged her shoulders. "Two minutes, maybe? But please, don't stop on my account."

"I'm guessing you like romance movies, too?" Taylor inquired.

"Meh, a little bit of everything, really," Mary admitted. "Besides you guys are entertaining to watch. Except in my mind you were outside and it was raining you were in a trench coat under an umbrella talking all dramatic in a super mushy feel-good end-of-the-movie type scene."

Chad paused. He glanced at Taylor and then at Mary. "Ok is there any chance of me and Taylor finishing lunch alone?"

"Alright, fine. I can take a hint. But you still owe me a basketball game," Mary decided with a sigh. She placed Pikachu on Chad's head while she gathered her supplies.

"Hey Mary?" Chad asked.

"Yeah?" she asked.

"Why's your backpack on my head?" he replied.

"Oh, he wanted to feel your hair before we left," Mary answered.

Chad took the backpack off his head and handed it to Mary as she got up. "Did he like it?"

Mary looked at Pikachu and had it make a nodding motion. "Pikachu says yes."

Taylor giggled and ran her fingers through Chad's curls. "I like it, too."

First thing's first. What do you guys think of Mary? Obviously she's named after Mary from Jump In cause Corbin was in that movie which made it awesome. Also the idea of giving her a Pikachu backpack is kinda based off of me cause i carry a Stitch backpack everywhere so i thought that'd be fun. I'm just saying, if you could have a backpack that held your basic things that also doubled as a stuffed animal wouldn't you wanna carry it everywhere? ;) Anyway i thought this'd be a good way to introduce Chad's new friend to Taylor and really see how they all play off of each other. Actually seeing Mary also gives a bit of insight as to why Chad gets along with her. I also wanted to make it evident that Mary and Chad are not shipped together and do not belong together so i threw a few things in there to reinforce that. You'll probably see more of that later, but Mary will definitely be back. And of course I had to add a few Chaylor moments in here to make up for the lack of in the previous chapter. ;) I think that about covers everything in this chapter. Right now i have up to chapter 35 written. Crazy, right? A couple of those later chapters took a few days to write, that's how bad it's been. Tonight i wanted to get a little written before my weekly viewings of addicting shows like Degrassi and Teen Mom (yes, i am a crazy person by the way) but i really wasn't sure what i could put in. Right now the story is going up until October and i have a few ideas for a few chapters and what should take place where, but it's a matter of what happens in between because i don't want to keep jumping around or spend too much time on one part. So that's a bit of a problem. I'm also debating on adding more characters and whether they should be male or female, especially since we already established there's no major threats to Chaylor. So i'm not really sure where i'm going with some of the ideas yet. As usual, i'm open to suggestions. Anything for inspiration, right? Not like the things i watch on TV cause i think we all realized by now that's not the direction to go. Ok, i'm gonna shut up now and let you guys move on to whatever else you wanna do tonight. :3