Chad and Taylor held hands while he walked Taylor back home. They talked till the sun began to set and Chad decided that it was time that he leave.
"I always have fun when I'm around you." Chad said.
"That's because I'm the best." Taylor laughed.
"You are the best." Chad looked over at Taylor and their eyes met.
They reached Sharpay's house and they stood outside on the porch.
"I'll see you tomorrow, Tay." Taylor smiled.
Taylor leaned and kissed Chad on the lips and then pulled back. "Aren't you forgetting something?"
Chad grinned before kissing Taylor on the lips and then pulled back. "No."
"I meant your books." Taylor laughed. "But that too."
They walked in the house and Taylor ran upstairs and quickly grabbed Chad's things and brought them back downstairs to him.
"Thanks Taylor." Chad said as he grabbed his things.
The door opened and Ryan walked in with bags of food.
"You're leaving already?" Ryan asked Chad.
"Yeah, but we should hang out sometime." Chad suggested.
Ryan nodded his head and walked in the kitchen. Taylor gave Chad one last kiss before he left. She closed the door and began to head up the stairs until Ryan called her name.
"I know you said you didn't want anything but I got you a frosty anyway." Ryan placed the food out on the table.
Taylor slowly walked in the kitchen and stood by the table. Ryan looked up at Taylor to see her staring at the drink.
"You welcome." Ryan said.
Taylor looked up at him and grabbed the frosty. "Thank you."
Footsteps were heard and soon Sharpay came down the stairs with headphones around her neck.
"Bout time you got back here, I was starving." She said as she grabbed her food and then ran back upstairs.
"If you don't mind me asking, why aren't you in college right now?" Taylor asked.
Ryan looked up at Taylor and smiled, "when my mom calls and says she needs someone to watch two teenagers while she and my dad are away, I come to the rescue."
Taylor nodded her head. "Well thanks again." She walked out of the kitchen and up to her room.
Taylor closed her locker the next morning when she was at school. Sharpay was going on about Ryan and Taylor couldn't understand why Sharpay seemed to not like her brother. Taylor didn't ask any questions, she just left it alone while they walked to class.
"You ready?" Taylor sat down next to Chad.
"Ready as I'll ever be." Chad responded.
"Okay up first we'll have Chad and Taylor." The teacher said.
Chad and Taylor got up and walked to the front of the class. Taylor stood at the podium and began to speak about what she learned about Chad. She didn't share his personal information, just the basics.
When she was finished she stepped up to the side and let Chad stand at the podium. He looked down at the notes he wrote about her and then folded the piece of paper up and put it in his pocket.
"I spent a lot of time with Taylor while we worked on this project." He started and he looked back at her. "And I learned that we are sort of the same."
Chad looked down before he continued speaking. "We like to do the same things, we act the same sometimes. The only thing that isn't the same about Taylor and I is that she's smarter than me." Chad laughed a little. "She makes me think about things and life." Chad looked back at Taylor. "She's an amazing person. Not to mention that she's a good drawer."
Chad looked down at his feet and then looked back at the class. "She's been through some really tough stuff in her life. But she still keeps her head held high and I admire her for that. That's it."
The class applauded the two as they went to take their seats. The next group was up next and they were presenting.
"That was really nice, of what you said." Taylor whispered and smiled.
Chad looked down at Taylor and all he did was nod his head. After being in the class for 45 minutes, the bell rung.
"I will give you your grades tomorrow. You may leave." The teacher dismissed the class.
Taylor walked out of the classroom with Chad. "I won't see you again till lunch." Taylor said.
"Have lunch with me on the roof." Chad smiled. he received a blank stare from Taylor, "Taylor we spent lunch on the roof before."
Taylor smiled, "Okay, I'll meet you there."
At lunch Taylor was able to make it up to the roof without being seen. She smiled when she saw Chad standing by a whole bunch of flowers. He picked one and gave it to Taylor.
"Thank you, it's beautiful." Taylor sniffed the flower and smiled.
"You're beautiful." Chad looked at Taylor.
Taylor smiled and walked over to the bench and sat down. "I think you're losing your reputation, Danforth."
Chad sat down next to her and leaned back. "What does that mean?"
"You're not the person I heard about. Before I met you Sharpay told me about all this stuff about you. The stuff she told me isn't what I see now."
"There's always someone that can change a person. Zeke changed Sharpay's evil ways. Gabriella got Troy to sing in musicals and still play ball." He said.
Taylor looked at him. "What about you?"
The made eye contact, "You got me to get in touch with my inner feelings. I'm mushy when I'm around you. I never been like that to any girl other than my mom."
Taylor smiled, "I feel special."
Chad leaned down and kissed Taylor passionately on the lips. "my mom wanted me to invite you to dinner tomorrow night."
"Do you want me to come to dinner?" Taylor asked.
"Of course." Chad said.
"Then I'll be there." Taylor smiled.
Taylor was walking to her locker with Trevor when a guy approached the both of them.
"Taylor McKessie, what are you doing friday?" The boy asked.
Trevor and Taylor looked at each other and then back at the boy.
"I'm sorry who are you and how do you know my name?" Taylor asked.
"I'm Roger, the boy in your chemistry class, and I'm on the basketball team." Roger smiled.
"Well what do you want?" Taylor asked.
"A date, with you." Roger responded.
Taylor stared at Roger and then looked at Trevor who was shaking his head at Roger.
"I'm sorry bro, are you two-." Roger started speaking until he was interrupted by Trevor.
"No, we're not. Taylor is like my little sister." Trevor said.
"Oh okay, so Taylor that date?" Roger smiled.
Taylor looked at Roger, "I'm sorry but I'll have to pass. It's nothing personal."
After not hearing a response from Roger, Taylor spun on her heel and proceeded to walk to her locker with Trevor who followed.
"No one knows you and Chad are dating do they?" Trevor asked Taylor when she opened her locker.
"Nope, and I hope to keep it that way." Taylor responded. She put a few books in and took a few books out. "I just don't want people all in my business."
Taylor closed her locker and looked at Trevor who was just shaking his head. His cell phone buzzed and he looked at it and smiled.
"What is it?" Taylor asked.
"Nothing, I'll catch up with you later." Trevor said before he gave Taylor a hug and walked away, still looking at his phone.
Taylor wondered where Chad could be. She hadn't seen or talked to him since lunch. She grabbed her things and walked towards the gym. She walked inside to see Chad shooting hoops in the gym.
"Hey Wildcat." Taylor smiled.
Chad made the last shot and looked up to see Taylor and smiled. He began bouncing the ball more and began to make another shot.
"What are you doing in here?" He asked.
"I was wondering where you were." Taylor responded.
She sat her things down and walked towards him. She held her hands out for him to pass her the ball. Chad chuckled.
"You don't play basketball." He said.
"Why do you say that? Because I'm a girl?" she asked.
Chad nodded his head and laughed.
"Just pass me the ball." Taylor said.
Chad passed Taylor the ball and she stood in front of Chad at the freethrow line. She bounced the ball on the ground a few times before she shot it.
"So you think you got skills?" Chad asked.
He picked Taylor up and spun her around before placing her back on the ground. Taylor and Chad both leaned in.
"McKessie! This is a private practice." Coach Bolton came out of the locker room.
Taylor and Chad both pulled back and looked at the coach.
"Sorry coach." Taylor's smile disappeared and she looked at Chad. "I'll see you around."
She ran backwards to her stuff and walked out of the gym. She left the school and walked home to see Ryan watching TV in the living room.
"Hey, is Sharpay home?" Taylor asked Ryan.
"No, she said something about hanging out with some guy after school." Ryan replied, not taking his eyes off the of the TV screen.
Taylor nodded her head and began to walk up stairs until Ryan called her name.
"Come watch this movie with me." He looked back at Taylor and their eyes met. "I don't bite."
Taylor walked back down the stairs and sat in the chair next to Ryan.
"What is this?" she asked.
"Romeo and Juliet." Ryan replied.
"I've seen this one, it's really good." Taylor said.
"Yeah I like how they aren't allowed to be together but they wind up being together anyway." Ryan looked over at Taylor.
She felt Ryan staring at her and took a deep breath.
"So why are you staying here? I heard you lived next door." Ryan asked.
Taylor kept her eyes on the TV screen. "I have my reasons."
"You're mysterious; I like that." Taylor looked over at Ryan to see him with a smile on his face.