WOW! 18 reviews for the past chapter! YAY! Well, I did have an extremely crammed inbox XD I still haven't gotten all the alerts for the reviews, but I guess those were just lost in the glitch. Still, I'm counting the votes by hand as they appear.
I can't believe there's only one more chapter and an epilogue to post… -sniffle-
Basketball Game
Troy looked over at the glowing numbers from a watch on one of the game onlooker's wrist. It read '1:59'. Troy snapped his head around after staring a bit too long, trying to 'get his head back in the game'.
The other team took possession of the ball while he was watching the clock and Troy tried to keep up with them as they ran towards the other side. He caught the gaze of Zeke, in which he nodded at, signaling that it was time for their plan to go into action.
Zeke ran out in front of one of the kindergartners to try and steal the ball from, who tried their best to avoid him, but ended up brushing past his shoulder. Although it didn't really happen, Zeke flailed his arms and went down, making it appear that he had gotten hurt.
Gasps from the crowd erupted, with Zeke's mother running up to him. Their teacher stopped the game, and went to check the four-year-old lying on the ground.
"I'm fine. Just a little scrape." Zeke concluded, trying to make his mother less worried, but give an excuse to make everyone have to go to the nurses' office.
"Well, let's get that checked out by the nurse." Ms. Shannon took Zeke's arm, with half the crowd coming along with him. Troy was, of course, among these people and small children.
"Troy! I'll come with you." His father offered, putting his hand on Troy's small shoulder.
"No, it's fine. I'm grown-up! I can do this myself. It's just seeing if Zeke is okay." He said matter-of-factly.
"I guess you are," His father chuckled, amused. "Well, I'll see you when you get back."
"Okay!" Troy waved, running off into the building after the small crowd.
Read-OffAlthough it was Gabriella's turn to get up, she saw the numbers on the digital clock, and smiled. She nodded, like Troy, signaling to the girl in the audience that the 'plan was a go', as Chad had called it earlier.
Ashley saw the nod, and got up as Gabriella and the kindergartner that had beat Kelsi earlier were walking up to the stage. The teacher turned around.
"Is there anything you need?" The teacher asked, her voice etched with concern. Ashley had begun to sway, putting on a really good act. Her face was even a bit pale.
"I- I f-feel sick." Ashley stuttered, holding her stomach.
"Can we get a trashcan over here?" The teacher asked, going to the ill-looking four-year-old. A student went and grabbed a trashcan from the corner of the spacious room, scurrying to get it to the teacher.
"Thank you, dear," The teacher smiled warmly at the child, turning her attention back to Ashley. "Do you need to go to the nurse?" She asked, feeling the preschooler's forehead.
"Y-yes." Ashley nodded, taking deep breaths. She was being an excellent actress.
"Well, you don't have a fever, but it's best to get this checked out. Children, you can talk among yourselves while I take her to the nurse." The kindergarten teacher gently took Ashley's hand.
"Wait!" Gabriella called, running from her seat to the teacher. "Can I go?" She asked as sincerely as she could.
"Gabriella, honey, you need to stay here. You might catch was she has and get sick." Her mother said, coming up behind her.
"But mommy, she's my friend!" Gabriella responded, giving her mother a pleading look. Her mother sighed reluctantly.
"Okay. You can go." Her mother shook her head, but didn't have the heart to hold Gabriella back from a good friend.
"Thank you!" Gabriella squealed, and rushed out the door. However, it was not only Gabriella leaving, in fact, half the crowd was going with her…
CallbacksThe Evans twins finished their little 'duet', taking a bow as they receded off the stage. Their parents gave them a standing ovation, along with Ms. Darby, but the others in the crowd just politely clapped, looking slightly bored.
Ms. Darby stood up and stretched, looking around for Troy and Gabriella. They, however, were nowhere to be seen.
"Troy? Gabriella?" She asked lazily, somewhat hoping that the two would appear. Her number one pet peeve was lateness and she couldn't stand to have to wait for the two to show up.
"No one? Okay, good. Done." She said with a shrug. Now she could save the trouble having to listen to two more four-year olds singing Christmas carols.
"Ms. Darby! We're here! We can sing!" Came the squeaky male voice from the doorway.
"Yeah! We're here!" Gabriella squealed, coming up behind him.
"As I have stated many times, music class will not wait for anyone." Ms. Darby huffed out of her annoyance.
"But Gabriella sings really good!" Troy pleaded.
"Well." Gabriella corrected.
"Really well." Troy concluded. He tried to smile for Gabriella, standing next to him. He dreaded the thought that they had gone through all the trouble of planning and faking accidents to get here, only to be shut out because they were simply five minutes late.
"You two don't even have your CD with you!" Ms. Darby was just about to make another excuse, as another four-year-old seemed to pop out of nowhere.
"Yes they do!" Kelsi said excitedly, waving around the CD that she had practiced with the two. After Kelsi had entered, so had some parents. As more of the crowds from both events went into the classroom, it was filled with voices. It seemed the nurse didn't want anybody disturbing her patients.
Out of the crowd, Taylor, Chad, and Jason waved from afar. It appeared that they had drawn everybody to where all the commotion was going on, hoping to get a positive response from the crowd.
"We'd be happy to do our performance again for the crowd." Sharpay pointed out with a fake smile.
"It is simply not possible. Also, I don't see your flashcards anywhere." Ms. Darby responded stubbornly.
"Well, that's showbiz." Ryan shrugged, trying to redeem himself to his sister, who was still angry with his antics earlier.
"Oh no you don't!" Kelsi warned. "They have flashcards. I had my mom make an extra stack, and I put them behind the chair over there." Kelsi pointed, and Gabriella went to the chair, finding the flashcards.
"You really don't want to do that." Sharpay warned.
"Oh yes, I do." Kelsi retorted, with confidence building in her for the first time in her four-year-old life.
"Now that's showbiz." Ms. Darby replied, amazed that the small-brained children she taught were smarter and had a bigger vocabulary than she gave them credit for. Gabriella squealed once more and Troy's face lifted. They placed the flashcards onstage, in their designated place, and got ready.
Troy gave another encouraging smile to Gabriella, who weakly smiled back, taking her first look at all the people in the music classroom.
He cued Kelsi to play the CD, and the music began to start. Troy, however, began to see Gabriella on the other side, nervously fidgeting. He missed his part, going over to Gabriella to see what was wrong.
"I can't do it Troy. I can't with all these people." She whimpered.
"Just look at me. Remember? Like kindergarten." He smiled, and even as a four-year-old, Gabriella felt her heart melt. Troy cued Kelsi again; who patiently started the music player for the second time.
"Rudolph the red-nosed reindeer… Had a very shiny nose… And if you ever saw it… You could even say it glows!" He began, Gabriella watching him and holding up her flashcard that included a picture of a light bulb.
"Like a light bulb!" She said with more enthusiasm than she felt. She sang the next line, Troy holding up his flashcard. Soon, the song was in full swing with the crowd even singing along. This was just what they needed to get into the Christmas spirit.
In the back, two parents walked in, drawn in from hearing the voices of their children that had disappeared to go to the nurses' office awhile ago.
"Wow." Ms. Montez gasped. Was this really her Gabriella?
"That your daughter?" Jack Bolton asked.
"Sure is… Is that your son?" She asked out of curiosity.
"It's hard to believe, but yes." He said, still amazed.
"Then you're Jack Bolton, right?" She asked.
"Yes, I am. How'd you know?"
"Well, Troy was with your wife at the mall. She talked to me about the town, since we were new here."
"Oh, yes. Danielle mentioned meeting you to me," Jack Bolton added with a smile. "Is this amazing or what?" He asked, referring to the two on stage.
"I know. Gabriella has never had more than one friend in our many moves." She shook her head.
"Troy's had friends, but I can't believe how none of them ever affected him like this. I was wondering why he's been happy the past few weeks. Now I know why." Jack chuckled again, wondering if the two even knew their parents were standing in the back.
"I know what you mean. Gabriella's had a light in her eye that I've never seen before," Ms. Montez said, a smile crossing her face. "This is probably the start of a long friendship."
"I couldn't agree more." The two nodded, as the two four-year-olds on stage began the final strain of the song.
"Rudolph the red-nosed reindeer…You'll go down in history!" Gabriella finished.
"Like Columbus!" Troy held up his flashcard with a picture of three ships on it. The crowd applauded like crazy, standing up and encouraging the two on stage. They took a bow, both smiling ear splitting grins. Their parents quickly slipped out the door to the room, but Gabriella captured a glimpse of her mother with a huge smile on her face.
Sharpay and Ryan came out behind them, taking their bow. The crowd began to exit the room, and only the newly formed 'social group' of preschoolers stayed behind.
"That was the best thing I've ever seen!" Taylor gushed.
"The best thing I've ever heard!" Chad continued, referring to what Taylor said.
"Thanks." Gabriella smiled confidently. One glance at the digital clock on the desk for Ms. Darby told the four-year-olds to hurry it up, they didn't need to be late back to their activities.
"We better get going! Zeke said that he would try to get back right after the callbacks." Jason said, pulling Chad and Troy out the door. Sharpay and Ryan went to the bathrooms to change back into their normal clothes. Taylor, Kelsi, and Gabriella rushed back to their read-off. The quick good-byes by the basketball guys and the read-off girls were a bit depressing for the group, hoping they could enjoy the success longer, but they needed to get back to where they were… well… needed.
Gabriella, Taylor, and Kelsi got back to the read off, with little time to spare. As Gabriella walked into the room, some of the adults and kindergartners applauded her. She caught the gaze of her mother, shrugging when her mother gave her an amused smile. Before the events began, she went up to Ashley.
"Thanks so much for doing this." Gabriella gave her new friend a hug.
"No problem! I even got to watch part of it after the nurse took my temperature! You guys were great!"
"Thanks again." Gabriella giggled, the kindergarten teacher ushering her back to the front.
Jason, Chad and Troy were also back at their designated activity. Zeke had arrived moments before, being able to see part of their performance as well.
"You two will win for sure!" Zeke said as they got back onto the court.
"I hope so." Troy said with a large, goofy grin on his face.
Now was the moment of truce. They had beaten the first obstacle, but could they come back for a triple win? The read-off and the basketball game?
That was so fun to write! Okay, so I decided, due to popular demand, that I'll most likely do more than just do one playtime pair. So… Now I need suggestions and some more nominations! Only one more chapter of the story (where the winners will be announced), then an epilogue, so hurry to vote!
Also, I posted another oneshot that's called 'A Flower for Your Troubles'. It's a Troyella, so hopefully many of you would like to read it. It got some really good feedback, so maybe you guys could add to that? –smiles-