Chapter Eleven Wednesday, February 12, 2003 ( Two days before the Valentine's Dance. )

"Did you hear?" Chuckie whispered to me in study hall.

"About what?" I asked.

"Cliff Harrison," he replied.

"Who in the name of all things good and holy would even think about naming their kid that?" I asked.

"He's the high school star quarterback," Chuckie said. "The gay one."

"Yeah, I know who he is," I said. "He still has the world's worst name."

"He came out," Chuckie said.

"When?" I asked.

"Yesterday," Chuckie said.

"Why?" I asked.

"Nobody knows," he said. "But then some assholes from his team got really mean, and he punched their lights out."

"Cliff punched some homophobic asshole's lights out?" I asked.

"Yeah," Chuckie said. "He had to go to the hospital and everything."

"Nice," I said.

"Cliff got a detention," Chuckie said.

"Is that all?" I asked. Chuckie nodded. "And I care why?"

"Because you're gay," he said.

"So are you." I responded.

"Yeah, but no one that knows me is going to deny that. You're Troy Bolton," he said. "Troy Bolton. Do you get the picture?"

"No," I said.

"In five years, you will be the guy in our high school," he said. "Basketball season will be over. You'll be just waiting for the school year to end, and we'll probably end up at the Prom with Ruby and Sapphire…"

"That would be awesome," I said. "Why did you bring this up?"

"Because what happens when you decide you want to come out?" he asked. I suddenly realized there were a whole bunch of people around, although no one seemed to be listening.

"Um, I do?" I guessed.

"No," Chuckie said. "You have to self defend yourself against the homophobic assholes on the football team."

"And so you're saying, I should just…not?" I asked.

"No," he said. "I'm saying you have to be careful. You're Troy Bolton."

"You can stop saying that," I said. "But what about you?"

"You don't worry about me," he said. "I'm Chuckie. No one cares about me."

"Aw, that's not true," I said. "I care about you." He snorted. "I do! And if any homophobic assholes are out to get you, then I'll punch em out for ya."

"Thanks," Chuckie said, smiling, even though he really didn't mean it. I did mean it, though. If any homophobic asshole ever tried anything on anyone, I'd stand up for em. Cuz I'm against that. And it's bad. I'm also against racism and sexism, although I'm not sure where those fit in.

Friday, I met up with Ruby and Sapphire after school.

"Hey girls," I said.

"Hey, Troy," Ruby said. "Where's Chuckie? Don't tell me I'm all by myself."

"Nah, he'll be at the dance," I said. "He has to. Otherwise I'll drag him out of his house by his…"

"Ear?" Sapphire suggested.

"Sure," I said. "So, what's new?"

"Nothing," Sapphire said. "I still hate the seventh grade."

"Did you hear about Cliff Harrison?" Ruby asked.

"Why does everyone have to bring him up?" I asked. "My dad already talked to me about him, dissing homosexual athletes for all they're worth, which, evidently, isn't much. I wanted to punch him, but he would have grounded me, or something else dumb like that. Chuckie already talked to me about it, telling me to 'be careful' because I'm 'Troy Bolton' or something else dumb like that. And Principal Hatcher already gave us an assembly about how we should embrace the thought of unity, or something else dumb like that."

"Well, you do have to be careful," Sapphire said. "You're Troy Bolton." I raised my eye brows. "You know, Troy Bolton!"

"So, we've established my name…" I said. "Anything else you want to say?"

"No, that was pretty much it," Sapphire said.

"Well, I'm not afraid," I said. "I don't care."

"You're not going to go jump on any tables and just…come out, are you?" Ruby asked. "Because it doesn't seem like something you're emotionally ready for."

"How would you know?" I asked.

"Cliff Harrison's our brother," Sapphire said.

"Ohh," I said. "Oh. Oh, well. This is weird then."

"Yeah," Ruby said. "We don't really remember five years ago, cuz we were, like, seven, but we think he was going through the same thing you are right now."

"No, nothing in the world can be as complicated as this," I said.

"Troy, hon," Sapphire said. "We know about the Evanses."

"Oh, okay, then," I said. "Really?"

"Yeah," Ruby said. "We're not stupid."

"Fine," I said. "But, wait a sec, your last name's not Harrison."

"No," Ruby said. "That's…a long story."

"Mostly, our mom divorced his dad before we were born," Sapphire said. "But kept the last name…"

"Okay, I didn't ask," I said. There was a pause.

"Our last name's Eaton, Troy," Sapphire supplied. "Thanks for asking."

"I know," I said. "Thanks for sharing."

"Is it time to go to the dance yet?" Ruby asked.

"No," I replied. "It's only 4."

"Shouldn't you be at home?" Sapphire asked. "I don't know, say, getting ready for the dance?"

"It takes me, like, ten minutes to get ready," I said. "Plus my dad's my ride home." My dad happened upon us just then and informed me it was time to go home. We got in the car and my dad struck up probably the most awkward conversation it was possible to have.

"So, which one of those girls are you dating?" my dad asked.

"Uh, neither," I said. "Sapphire's just my date to the dance."

"Uh-huh," my dad said. "That's what they all say."

"It's the truth!" I said. "We're just friends."

"You just said she was your date," my dad said.

"Forget it, dad, I'm not discussing this with you," I said. We didn't speak again until we got home, and which point I scurried up the stairs so that I didn't have to answer anymore questions. I heard my parents talking downstairs.

"What happened to you two?" my mom said.

"He's denying that he's dating one of the Eaton twins," my dad said.

"You mean those cheerleaders he's always talking to?" my mom said. "They're such nice girls. Not like Sharpay Evans."

"Why can't he just date someone sensible?" my dad said. "Like…Sarah Brown." Man, if they knew what she did in her free time… I sighed and stopped listening. My parents needed to get a serious clue. I sat down in my window and stared across the street. A girl and guy (who I assumed where Sarah and her current soccer player boyfriend of the hour) were in Sarah's room. I couldn't see anything in Chuckie's window. I assumed he was sitting on his bed, reading a book like he did a lot. Or, at least, I did, until I saw him down on my lawn. I opened my window.

"What are you doing down there?" I asked.

"Come on down," he said.

"Bad idea," I said. He shrugged a sort of "your loss" shrug, and proceeded to leave. "Wait, come back." He came back, and I jumped from my window to the tree, and climbed down.

"You're good at that," he said.

"Yeah, I figure it'll come in handy when I want to go to parties and mom and dad won't let me," I said. "Whatcha doing here?"

"I'm not going to the dance," he said.

"And that's because you're…running away from home?" I asked, looking around for a suitcase. I didn't see one.

"No, because I'm not going," he said.

"But I already promised Ruby you would," I said. "C'mon, she'll be mad if you don't go. She'd come to your house and pull you out by your ear."

"I bet she would," he said. "But I'm still not going."

"Yes, you are," I said.

"Make me," he said, opening his arms wide in a challenging gesture.

"I will," I said. "You are my boyfriend, and we are going to the Valentine's Dance."

"You know, your parents could have just heard you say that," Chuckie said. "You didn't even look around first."

"I don't care," I said. "How's that?!"

"A little weird," he said. "Did you eat some…funny brownies?"

"No!" I said. "My parents aren't that old. I'm serious."

"Doesn't sound like you," he said. "Who are you and what have you done with Troy Bolton?" I rolled my eyes.

"So are you going to the dance?" I asked.

"No," he said.

"What are you afraid of?" I asked.

"Everything!" he said. "Especially getting kicked off the basketball team because I'm gay! Basketball's basically the only thing I have."

"That's not true," I said. "You have me. And you have your family. And you have all that…other stuff you do."

"But how much longer do I have you?" he asked. "Eventually you'll get bored of me, and drop me for Ryan."

"You'd still have me," I said. "Eventually you'll get a real boyfriend too. And we'll still be friends."

"You promise?" he asked.

"Of course," I said. "Pinky promise." We pinky promised. "Now get ready. We're leaving in an hour." It was already five o'clock. He smiled at me, pausing a moment before giving me a hug and hurrying back to his house. I eyed my window warily, before going in the side door and hurrying back upstairs. Dylan was sitting on the floor in the center of my room.

"So, here's a good story," he said. "I was waiting in the hall for you to come out so I could talk to you, and then you didn't come out for a while, and so I came in here, and it turns you went out your window."

"Yeah, I know," I said. "Your point?" I picked up the screen that goes on my window that I'd taken out so many times that one of these days it was just going to fall off and stay there and put it back in my window, then closed the window.

"My point it you went out your window!" he said.

"And that's…bad?" I asked.

"Yes," he said. "You're not supposed to."

"No, you're not supposed to," I said. "I can do whatever I want."

"Why?" Dylan asked.

"Because I am 12, and you are 9," I said. "And so there."

"Whatever," Dylan said. He left and I heard him slam the door to his room.

"Don't slam doors!" my mom yelled from downstairs. I could have predicted that she'd say that. The phone rang from downstairs. Someone answered it, someone who I assumed to be my mother, especially when she yelled "TROY!" up the stairs. I went over to the top of the stairs.

"Yeah?" I asked.

"Do you want the girls to come over here and pick you up, or can you find your own ride?" she asked.

"Why are you asking me?" I asked. "You're the one who has to drive me if you say no." My mom turned back to the phone.

"Yes, that would be lovely," she said. "About what time would you be here to pick him up?" I went back into my room. My mom could be really weird sometimes. An hour later, Ruby and Sapphire were in my living room, waiting for me to figure out which direction I wanted to comb my hair, not that it mattered. It was a semi-formal occasion, of course, I was wearing nice clothes. When I got down to the living room, I found my parents talking to Mr. and Mrs. Eaton. I cleared my throat to let them know of my arrival. My mom came over and straightened my shirt (like it mattered) and then started informing me of "the rules". Chuckie showed up about halfway through these rules, and smirked. He'd gotten the same talk before he'd left the house, I could tell. Ruby was wearing a maroon dress, and Sapphire was wearing a navy one. We all piled into Mr. and Mrs. Eaton's minivan, and they drove us to the dance. We all held a conversation in the backseat.

"So," Ruby said.

"So," I repeated.

"This should be fun," Sapphire said.

"Why are you going with us?" I asked. "I mean, it's not like we're real 'boyfriend' material." I could tell Mr. and Mrs. Eaton were eavesdropping from the front seats, but I didn't really care.

"We like to do our part for society," Ruby said.

"I still can't believe I didn't know you were Cliff's sisters," I said. "It's such a small world."

"You're Cliff Harrison's sisters?" Chuckie asked. Ruby and Sapphire nodded. "Wow. Impressive."

"Yeah," Sapphire said. "Not so much. So, Troy, did you get that whole 'I don't want homos messing up my team' speech from your dad, yet?"

"No, I think he's saving that one for the next time it comes up," I said. "I did get the 'they get into your brain and screw around in there' speech though."

"Oh, that's a new one," Ruby said. "Haven't heard that one. How's it go?"

"Pretty much like I just said," I said. "It's not true."

"It could be," Chuckie said, fairly. "I mean, really."

"Are you trying to say that you got inside my head, convinced me I had a crush on Ryan, and then used that as material to ask you out?" I asked. "Cuz that seems a little far-fetched."

"Yes, that is exactly what I'm getting at," he said.

"So," Sapphire said, changing the subject, "who do you think Sharpay is bringing to the dance?"

"Doesn't she have that new guy, Will?" I asked. "The one on JV?"

"Yeah, I think so," Chuckie said. "JV sucks."

"Yeah they do," Ruby said. "Sometimes they're not even worth cheering for." I laughed. "No, really."

"No, I know," I said. "I was laughing because I forgot you two were cheerleaders."

"Yeah, we have that problem," Sapphire said. "I don't look good in red."

"Of course you do," I said.

"No, Ruby looks good in red," Sapphire argued.

"You're identical twins," I said. "You both look good in everything!"

"So, Troy," Ruby said, changing the subject, "what is this affinity you seem to have with twins?"

"Whaddya mean?" I asked.

"Well, me and Sapphire are twins, and Chuckie and Sarah are twins, and Sharpay and Ryan are twins…" Ruby said. "What is this thing you have for twins?"

"I don't have a thing for twins!" I said. "There's just…a lot. Of them. Around. Me."

"Sure," Sapphire said, rolling her eyes. The car came to a halt in a parking space outside the school and we all hopped out. Mr. and Mrs. Eaton were chaperoning. The dance itself was boring. For about the first six and a half minutes. Then Sharpay showed up. She "happened" to walk by the table were Sapphire, Ruby, Chuckie, Chad, and his date, Erica (another cheerleader, go figure), were sitting.

"Girls," Sharpay regarded her cheerleaders, who all flashed huge fake smiles at her. "Boys." I moved an ear, a move I'd been perfecting for about a week. Chuckie waved and Chad didn't do anything at all. "So."

"No, Sharpay," all six of us said at the same time.

"Fine," Sharpay said. She and Will stalked off to where Ryan and Kelsi were sitting. Jason and his cheerleader, Aimee, came over to our table.

"Can't we ever find dates that aren't cheerleaders?" I asked no one in particular. Chuckie laughed.

"So, where's Zeke?" Jason asked.

"Oh, I think I remember him saying he couldn't come," Chad said. "Something about a grandparent or a hospital…maybe both."

"Aw," I said. "That's too bad. Poor Zeke."

"Yeah," Chad said. "Anyhoo, why can't we ever find dates that aren't cheerleaders?"

"Because no one else likes us," I said. "We're too egotistical."

"That would do it," Chuckie said, shrugging. Chad frowned at him for a moment before shaking his head and looking away.

"You don't think she's going to get up there and sing, do you?" Chad asked, obviously referring to Sharpay.

"Hope not," Ruby, Erica, Aimee, and I all said at the same time. Then we laughed.

"If it were up to her, she would," Sapphire said. "Fortunately, it's up to Principal Hatcher and Ms. Darbus."

"Well, then, I wouldn't put it past them," Aimee said, laughing.

"Me neither," I said. "She has Ms. Darbus right in her hip pocket. You know, if she ever wore anything with pockets."

"No, that's too unfashionable," Erica said, laughing. "Heaven forbid you actually have a pocket."

"Maybe pockets are just out this season," Chuckie said. "I seem to remember I was reading in– Why is everyone giving me that look?"

"We're not," Chad said. "Sorry, go on."

"Never mind," he said.

"So, does anyone actually know which musical they're doing this semester?" I asked. "Not that I care, but it would be interesting to freak her out with our knowledge of what it is."

"I thought they were doing, um, Les Mis," Erica said.

"Oh, that's a good book," Chuckie said. "It's about–" He was interrupted by the sound system, that started playing a "good song" according to Ruby and Sapphire, and they pulled us off to the dance floor portion of the cafeteria. Aimee, Jason, Erica, and Chad weren't far behind. Sharpay contented herself with frowning at us. We repeated this cycle of alternately talking about nothing and dancing until the dance was over, and they made us leave. Mr. and Mrs. Eaton drove us home.

"So, wasn't that fun?" Ruby asked us.

"Yeah," Chuckie said. "It was. Oddly enough."

"Why does Chad keep looking at you funny when you start to say stuff?" Sapphire asked.

"Oh, it's cuz he knows, and he's, like, spotting me, or something," Chuckie said. "As if I need a spot."

"Sure," Sapphire said. "So, he knows about you, and not him, right?"

"That is correct," I said. "And that's the way uh-huh uh-huh we like it uh-huh uh-huh."

"Dude," Chuckie said. "Not judging? A little gay."

"Thanks," I said. "But seriously though, I mean…I don't remember. What do I mean?"

"I have no idea," Sapphire said.

"Me neither," Ruby said helpfully. Chuckie just shrugged.

"Okay, helpful," I said. "So when my parents ask me if I kissed any girls tonight, and I say no, they'll be…happy, right? Because they told me not to before I left the house."

"I think you do a lot of things your parents tell you not to, but…" Sapphire said. Then she leaned over and kissed my cheek. "That's one of the better ones."

"Aw," I said. "Thanks. You're cute too."

"I didn't even think of that one," Sapphire said. "You're really cute. It's a shame you're gay…"

"Yeah, well, what about you two?" I asked. "Any real boyfriends in your future?"

"No," Ruby said. "We have already decided that we are going to marry identical blond twins. And, well, there just aren't a lot of those around."

"There's really not," I said. "Dibs on Ryan."

"You can have him," Sapphire said. "I'm not interested." Ruby just blushed. "She likes him." I just laughed. "Ruby, you cannot have Ryan Evans. He may be cute, but he's gay, and Troy has dibs."

"Fair enough," Ruby giggled. I rolled my eyes. The car came to a stop in my driveway (or it could have been a sketchy abandoned parking lot where they were planning on sacrificing us to the Gods of sketchy abandoned parking lots. I couldn't tell in the dark) and we all got out. Sapphire and Ruby accompanied us into the house, as did Mr. and Mrs. Eaton. My parents thanked them for driving us, because they had to stay home and watch Dylan, blah, blah, blah. Then the Eatons left and Chuckie went home.

"How was the dance?" Dylan asked, as I passed his room.

"Fine," I said, continuing into mine.

"Didja kiss your girlfriend?" Dylan asked, following me.

"She's not my girlfriend, and no," I said. "Go back to your own room."

"Okay, but I'm watching you," he said. He went back into his room. I could tell that he was onto me, but what could he possibly do? He was three years younger than me. I don't think he would've understood. I think he was just making sure I didn't break any more rules (i.e. kissing my girlfriend, climbing out my window…). It still made me uneasy.

A/N: Whoa. So, I'm really cranking these out faster, huh? Just say yes and nod along. I do not recommend that anyone try popping the screen out of their window and climbing out it. It's a bad idea, and I'm not promoting it. On a more interesting note, I don't own…High School Musical, as usual. I will, however, (hopefully) own a copy of HSM: the Concert DVD as of tomorrow… (Fingers crossed!!)

Anyhoo, thanks for reading (it warms my heart) and please review (it fills my heart with cake and puppies (something me and my friends say)). So. Yeah. Do that.

Samantha.

PS, it didn't even occur to me until about six hours ago, that their power goes off on Christmas Eve in RENT, and it did a couple chapters ago. That was completely unintentional. (And I don't own that either!)