Taylor
I walked through the busy hallway the next morning at school. I saw Zeke and Chad talking by the lockers so I walked over to them.
"Dude, I cannot wait for this party you're throwing tomorrow. I know it is going to be crazy." Chad said as I walked up to them.
"Hey guys." I greeted them. I hugged Zeke and gave Chad a kiss on the cheek. "Zeke, what made you want to throw a party?"
"Well, you know I just wanted to throw one before we start getting super busy with practice and constant games. Besides my parents are going out of town tonight and they won't be back until Monday." Zeke answered with a smile as he twirled the basketball on his middle finger.
The smile on my face faded when I saw Sharpay walking down the hall towards us. I cleared my throat. "Girlfriend alert. "
Sharpay walked over to us with a small smile on her face as she greeted us. "Hi Taylor." I waved and smiled. I wanted to reassure her that she and I were on good terms. She looked over at Chad and gave a slight smile to him before turning to Zeke.
Chad sighed, "Tay let's go. You still need to go to your locker." Chad and Zeke fist pounded each other before Chad and I walked away to my locker.
"So, are you going to watch me practice after school?" Chad grinned as I opened my locker.
"I thought practices were closed and private?" I asked as I turned around to face him.
"Yeah, but the yearbook committee normally comes to take pictures." Chad said.
"Only problem with that is that I am on student council, Danforth, not yearbook. Two different clubs." I turned back around to take some books out of my locker.
I bet Troy would've knew that there was a difference.
TROY
The bell rang as I walked into my morning class. I sat in my seat and noticed Taylor was flipping through the pages of a notebook. She would write something down fast and then flip a page. I don't even know if she noticed I was there. I glanced over in her direction until Gabriella came up and started talking to me.
"Alright class, today we are doing group work." Darbus came in with a stack of papers in her hand as she approached her desk.
"Do we get to pick our partners, Ms. Darbus?" A kid from the back asked.
Ms. Darbus scoffed as she approached the student. "Hm, that is a wonderful question Jason. I have never thought to do that in all my years teaching."
I sensed her sarcasm and chuckled. I noticed Taylor picked her head up and looked at me.
"No. I will be picking the partners as always. For this assignment, I am letting you guys do it in the hallway or anywhere in the school. But I need these assignments back before class is over." She said as she approached the front of the class.
"Now, for your partners." A huge grin came upon her face. It was quite creepy.
"Zeke, you will be partnered up with Ryan." Darbus said. I turned around to see Zeke and Ryan shake hands with each other with smiles on their face.
"Taylor, you will be paired up with..." Darbus put her glasses on as she looked at the sheet.
I hope it's me. Pleaaase let it be me.
"Montez! Mckessie and Montez!" My eyes grew wide at the two Darbus paired up with.
I watched the interaction between the two girls.
Gabriella
"When you get you're pairing I need one person from each group to come up and get a paper. Then you may move out into the hallway." Darbus said as she finished calling off names.
I cannot believe this. I looked over at Taylor who had already got up to get a sheet of paper. She stood in front of the class looking at me.
"Are you going to join or am I going to do this by myself?" she asked me.
I gave her a devilish smile before getting out of my seat. I walked over to Troy and leaned down and whispered something in his ear before giving him a kiss.
"PDA Montez! You know I don't allow it." Darbus said.
"Sorry." I looked over at Taylor. "Now I am ready."
I walked over towards Taylor, taking the paper out of her hand as I continued to walk out into the hallway.
"So, it looks like we have to answer questions about the reading from last night. We had a reading from last night?" I looked at my phone as I texted Sharpay and Troy.
"Well maybe if you weren't on your phone constantly you would have known." Taylor responded as she took the paper out of my hand. "Should I just do this all on my own?"
"You're not the only smart one, okay?" I said. "I've been getting A's all my life."
I continued texted on my phone as I responded back to a text message from Troy. I smiled as I typed and then placed my phone in my back pocket.
"You may not be the only smart one, but you are the only one that isn't focused." Taylor said.
I stopped in my tracks and took the paper from her and looked at it. I read one of the questions and walked over to a nearby locker. I put the paper against it and began writing the answer. I reviewed it before handing it back to Taylor.
"Happy?" I questioned with an attitude before I continued walking.
"Ecstatic." I heard her mumble something under her breath.
CHAD
I can't believe Darbus paired me up with Sharpay. All she's doing is texting on her phone. It is really getting on my nerves. I'm glad we are not in the classroom though. I've been trying to find Taylor while doing this assignment but I haven't seen her.
"How are we supposed to get any work done with you constantly texting on your phone?" I asked Sharpay.
I guess she sensed that I was annoyed because she looked up at me and quickly put her phone away.
"Sorry, Gabriella keeps texting me. Of course, it is nothing important though." She responded as she looked at the first question on the worksheet.
It was very awkward as we walked down the quiet hallway together. She and I didn't have anything in common except that we knew Zeke. Sharpay walked over to a window where there were some seats and she sat down.
"I guess you can answer this question. Why didn't max like his friend's girlfriend?" She read the question aloud. She looked at me.
"He didn't like her because Max and Lacey are two different people. They didn't have anything in common. They hang with two different crowds." I answered.
Sharpay nodded her head as she wrote the answer down on the paper. She looked back up at me.
"Is that the reason you don't like me?" she asked.
I walked over to the chair that was next to her and I sat down in it.
"Look chad, I like Zeke. He is the sweetest guy I have ever met. If you're worried that I would ever hurt him... that would never happen." Sharpay said.
"I'm not worried about that." I said.
"Then what's the problem?" she asked as she answered another problem on the page.
"Look, I am just tired of y'all coming up in here thinking that y'all better than the rest of us. You always getting something handed to you. It's sickening to see." I said.
"You think that all white people are like that?" Sharpay asked with a concerned tone.
"Just the ones I've come across." I said as I gritted my teeth. "Ya boy comes through here and he gets my spot handed to him. I worked hard to get that position. And he gets it after only being here no more than a week?" I questioned.
"I heard about that and I'm sorry. But what I am trying to understand is are you mad at the fact that he's new and he took your spot? Or are you madder because the team found someone that was better than you?" she asked before she placed the paper down in front of me.