Disclaimer: I do not own High School Musical, Finding Nemo, Into the Woods, or The Little Mermaid.

A/N: The first part of this chapter is a recap of the dates with a bit of insights offered by the other girls. In the second half…well, something happens.

Chapter 14: Discussions

Kelsi invited the girls over to her house the day after Gabriella's date with Troy. The plan was to discuss the pros and cons of each date to decide on the winner.

"Hey, is Gabriella here yet?" asked Sharpay as Kelsi let her into the house.

"Not yet, but Taylor is in the living room." The girls headed to meet Taylor where they chatted until Gabriella arrived, which was shortly thereafter.

"Shall we get down to business?" suggested Taylor. The three gestured for her to continue. "Okay, I know we talked about it over the phone, but let's go over your date with Ryan again."

"Oh, and be sure to include your feelings on what her did." added Kelsi.

"Well, even though they're technically from the night before, I loved the flowers. The note was incredibly romantic and made me feel so special." Sharpay smiled knowing her plan had worked.

Kelsi and Taylor were taking notes. "Get that dreamy look off your face," Taylor said, "and keep going."

"Right, so, he picked me up at six. I liked that he was punctual." The girls made a note. "He took me to my favorite restaurant that served one of my favorites…Italian food, yummy! I was so excited at first because I never get to eat there, but when the food came I suddenly remembered why. The food is extremely expensive. I asked Ryan if he knew I didn't care about all his 'family money' and he told me here knew. He alsoeHe added that I deserved it. That made me feel like a princess."

"Aww," squealed Kelsi and Taylor. Again, Sharpay smiled at how her genius plan had worked out.

"Then we had dessert, and the tiramisu was so delicious. When we had finished, he took me dancing. By the end of the night, my feet were a bit sore, but I had so much fun. It was totally worth it in the end. He then dropped me off, gave me a kiss on the cheek, and then I called you girls."

"That sounds like the perfect date," sighed Sharpay.

"It does sound wonderful," agreed Kelsi.

"Now, move onto Troy," said an impatient Taylor. "Leave out now detail since you didn't call last night."

"I would have called, but we didn't get back until eleven-forty-five."

"Wow, that's almost two hours later than Ryan." Everyone looked at Kelsi, who had just stated the obvious.

"Anyway,' Taylor said as she diverted her attention back to Gabriella, "continue please."

"So, he showed up at my house at seven."

Sharpay interrupted her. "Ha! Seven!? That's an hour later than Ryan!"

"He showed up at seven in the morning."

"Really?" asked Taylor.

"Yep! My mom let him in because I was still asleep. He made my mom and me my favorite breakfast foods. It was so good. He woke me up and made me eat it in bed."

"He made you breakfast in bed!?" Gabriella nodded. "I wish Jason would do that for me."

"Then he cleaned his mess in the kitchen while I got ready to go out. I thought it was so sweet to do that. He even washed the dishes!"

"Basketball-boy cooking and washing dishes," pondered Taylor. "Who'd have thought?"

"He wouldn't tell me where we were going, but I was so excited when I saw the zoo!"

"A zoo? Eww…aren't those, like, smelly?" asked a disgusted Sharpay.

"I love zoos! It was the perfect first date location." Taylor and Kelsi made a note of that as Sharpay began the fuming process. "When we were done, we grabbed lunch at a small café. Then we went to the Bolton residence where we had a movie marathon consisting of several of my favorite movies."

"Which movies?" wondered Kelsi.

"Umm, we watched Finding Nemo, Into the Woods, The Little Mermaid, and a few others."

"Cool," Kelsi responded.

"So, around six, we began to cook dinner. He asked me to help, which I found to be sweet. I tried to help, but I was only slowing him down, so I just took a seat on an island stool and watched. A man who can cook is hot!"

"Tell me about it," commented Sharpay, who was temporarily brought out of her fuming state. The other girls laughed at Sharpay's far off look.

"Anyway, the dinner was delicious. We then went for a walk to an ice cream parlor. When we finished there, he said for the rest of the night, I got to choose what we did, so I opted for more walking."

"Why? I'd much rather be driven around. Walking would ruin my shoes." Sharpay said.

"It's romantic walking as a couple underneath the city's stars. We stopped at the park and played on the playground for a while. He pushed me on the swings. It was like something out of the movies. I love it! Then he walked me home, also gave me a kiss on the cheek, and I got ready for bed because it was a quarter 'til midnight."

"Now, that sounds like the perfect date," stated Taylor.

"Yeah, I agree," Kelsi added.

"It was great. Oh, and before I forget, he was a gentleman the whole night…opening doors and such."

"What about the date with my brother?"

"Well, I enjoyed it, too, Sharpay."

"You did, Gabriella?" smiled Sharpay.

"Yes, I did. I enjoyed both actually." Sharpay's anger began to boil again.

"Okay, well," began Taylor, "what do you say we pick a winner for this competition, and then add up the results?"

"Troy, what's wrong, man?" asked Chad. He and Troy were hanging out today. They were p laying video games, and Chad just won his fourth game. Usually Troy would cream Chad.

"I'm fine."

"No, you're not. I know because I'm winning."

"Maybe you're getting better...or maybe I'm getting worse."

"Or maybe you're distracted. I know something's up, so spill." He paused the game, put the controller down, and turned to face his best friend.

"I've just been thinking," Troy said as he sat on the edge of his bed, playing with his hands as he looked down at them.

"About…" prodded Chad.

"I'm not sure about this competition thing anymore. Actually, I was never sure to begin with, but Gabriella wanted me to do it, so I agreed."

"What is it that you're unsure about?"

"It's just, I think if Gabriella really cared about one of us, she would just be able to choose."

"Maybe she has chosen, but doesn't want to hurt anyone's feelings."

"Or maybe she hasn't chosen. I really, truly believe that if she really loved me, she wouldn't need these events to choose me." Troy continued staring at his now motionless hands.

"Troy, if you love her, tell her."

Troy's head shot up to look at Chad. "Who said I loved her?"

"Not that anyone had to say it, it's obvious, but you just did…in a way."

"Well, it doesn't matter. If she returned those feelings, she could easily choose me."

"I still think you need to tell her. Besides, it will probably score you major bonus points."

"Didn't you hear anything I said!?" shouted Troy as he jumped off his bed. "This competition is completely stupid! I'm not doing it anymore!"

Now it was Chad's turn to jump up, but him because he was worried. He couldn't let Troy give up. Not when Troy was close to getting the girl of his dreams. "Troy, the competition is over. The girls are going to announce the winner tomorrow. There's no point in no longer doing it when you've already finished. Just, hear the results tomorrow. If you and Gabriella are meant to be, you will be announced the winner."

Troy sighed. He walked over to his window, leaned against the wall next to it, and looked out as he thought. Chad anxiously waited for Troy to say something. Still looking out the window, Troy said, "I know what I have to do, Chad."

A/N: There you go…another chapter. Yes, the second half was much better than the first.