Alright sorry for taking so long (again). I've been pretty busy with a bunch of personal things in my life, but I try to write as much as I possibly can.
Chapter 14: After The Magic
"Ugh!" Sharpay stormed into one of the dressing rooms, located backstage of East High's auditorium. Though it wasn't technically her room, Sharpay used it for everything. A dressing room, more locker space, her own personal study room, and even a place to relax. Right now she needed a place to relax. "I bet she planned this!" she huffed, plopping down on a small pink couch.
"I don't think so." Ryan said. He had been the only person to follow his sister out of the cafeteria, when she had stormed out. She had cause quite a scene. He had practically needed to run to keep up with the upset Drama Queen.
"Yeah because you're just another person who thinks Gabriella Montez is such a nice, sweet girl." Sharpay accused. "It's such an act." She said in disgust.
"Why would Gabriella be plotting against you?" Ryan asked, wishing he could take those words back the moment they left his mouth.
Sharpay glared at him. "Oh shut up Ryan!" she snapped.
"Fine." Ryan rolled his eyes, making sure that she couldn't see.
"You were supposed to stop this from happening." She told him after a moment of silence.
"What? By asking Gabriella to the dance?" Ryan asked in shock. "Did you not hear Troy? He said he is falling in love with her. Clearly it's been going on for a while." He pointed out to his sister.
In response, he got another glare. "Just leave me alone Ryan!" Sharpay got up and started pushing him towards the door.
"Hey stop!" Ryan tried to stop her, but Sharpay was stronger than she appeared. "I'm older you know, you should treat me with a little more respect."
"Yeah by three minutes, big deal!" Sharpay opened the door she had slammed moments before. With one final push, she got Ryan out of the room, and slammed the door again right away.
Ryan turned to the door. "Yeah well you should still treat me a little better you know!" he yelled through the door.
"Hey Ryan." He heard from behind him, and turned quickly.
"Zeke?" Ryan was a little shocked to see the basketball player standing there. He was even more shocked to see a container of cookies in his hands.
"Is Sharpay okay?" Zeke asked. To Ryan's surprise, he looked a little worried. "I saw her leaving the cafeteria, she looked pretty upset." He said.
"Oh she's…" Ryan started, and heard a slam come from inside of the dressing room. "Just peachy." He finished. "She might not feel like talking at the moment though."
"Oh okay, well I can wait." Zeke replied.
"Alright…" Ryan thought there was something odd about Zeke right now, but he shook it off, figuring that today was just going to be a strange day no matter what.
From inside the dressing room, they both heard another one of Sharpay's upset huffs. "Oh she's so going down."
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Troy and Gabriella had managed to escape the cafeteria, accompanied by their friends, except Zeke, who had seemingly disappeared. "Should I be scared that Sharpay Evan's stormed out of the cafeteria?" Gabriella asked, sounding a little nervous.
"Maybe…" Taylor told her.
"I would be." Chad said honestly, shrugging.
Troy shot him a look, before wrapping an arm around Gabriella. "Don't worry I'll protect you baby." He smiled at her. She rolled her eyes but smiled happily anyways. Troy looked back at Kelsi and Jason who were having a hushed conversation. "Okay what's up with you two?" he asked. They both looked up, falling silent immediately.
"Come on, out with it." Chad urged.
"Okay…" Jason scratched the back of his head. "I have a date for the dance." He told them all.
"Ooh." Troy, Gabriella and Taylor nodded, figuring it out right away.
"Who?" Chad asked stupidly. Troy rolled his eyes at his friend.
"Me." Kelsi replied simply.
"This day is like tell all day isn't it?" Chad laughed lightly. He looked at Troy and Gabriella. "Finally, you two just admitted it, now Kelsi and Jason…who would have known?" he laughed lightly.
"We're just friends." Kelsi and Jason said in unison. They looked at each other and blushed a little.
"Yeah so were Troy and Gabriella." Taylor said. Everyone else laughed.
"I can't believe you never told me man!" Chad said to Troy. "I even asked you if there was something going on with you and Gabriella….don't you remember that?"
Troy simply shrugged. "It was a secret." He told Chad.
"Yeah, that's really stopped you before." Chad muttered sarcastically.
"Troy." They all suddenly heard. "Gabriella." Everyone froze when they saw Mr. Bolton standing a few feet away. He had a completely unreadable expression on his face.
"Hi…coach." Troy said a little uneasily, dropping his arm from around Gabriella. She found it strange to hear him being called coach, especially by Troy.
"Could I talk to the two of you for a moment?" Jack Bolton asked.
"Uh…sure." Troy glanced at Gabriella, who looked a little helpless. Their friends moved to the other side of the hallway to wait for Troy and Gabriella. "So…news travels fast in this school." Jack started. "I heard about what just happened in the cafeteria."
"Oh boy… Gabriella whispered to herself. She was beginning to get a little overwhelmed with everything going on.
"Um….yeah…I…" Troy stuttered.
Suddenly his dad let out a little laugh. "Why do you both look so terrified right now?" he asked, looking amused.
"Because…" Troy said. He thought it was pretty obvious.
"Don't worry, I'm not mad or anything. A little shocked maybe, but not upset or anything." His dad went on. "I mean…you two? You are like…"
"Believe me, we didn't exactly plan any of this to happen." Gabriella cut in, trying to explain.
"Yeah, it just sort of happened." Troy added.
Mr. Bolton put his hands up. "You don't need to explain it to me." He told them both. "But I think you need two need to tell the rest of your parents what's going on."
"That would be the next step I guess." Gabriella sighed.
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On the other side of the hallway, their friends were talking and waiting for Troy and Gabriella to finish. "I hope they aren't getting in trouble or anything." Kelsi said, looking a little worried.
"Nah, coach doesn't look mad or anything." Jason assured her. "Things are going pretty quick though…Gabriella is already meeting one of Troy's parents." He said stupidly.
Chad looked at his friend. "Jason, they've been friend's since they were born…I think they've met each other's parents before." Chad told him.
"Oh…yeah." Jason sighed and leaned against the locker.
Taylor shot Chad a glare. "Changing the subject…when did something start going on with you two?" she asked, looking at Kelsi and Jason. "I had no idea you two ever talked to each other."
"Yeah well sometimes when you two are bickering about who knows what…we actually have civilized conversations." Kelsi explained. "Did you know Jason plays guitar?" she asked happily.
"You play guitar?" Chad asked Jason, sounding completely surprised. Jason nodded with a smile
Taylor rolled her eyes. A moment later a strange look came to her face. She had missed Kelsi and Jason bonding because of stupid bickering with…Chad. She didn't like that at all. "Okay listen Danforth," she snapped her fingers in front of Chad's face to get his attention. "Now that our friends are dating, I guess we're going to have to form some sort of truce." Taylor said, slightly unwillingly.
"Truce?" Chad asked. "What are you talking about?"
"I think we should try to stop our constant…bickering or whatever they like to call it." She said with slight disgust. Weren't couples supposed to be the ones who bickered? "What do you say?" she asked Chad.
"I'll keep my mouth shut if you can keep yours shut." Chad told her, holding out his hand for her to shake.
Taylor laughed. "You better believe I will." She shook his hand.
"Good." Chad nodded. "Oh and McKessie?" he asked.
"Yes?" she replied. She tried to pull her hand away from his but Chad held on tight. "Hey, let go of my hand!" she tugged harder.
"Do you have a date to the winter dance?" Chad asked randomly.
Taylor stopped tugging and stared at him in shock. "No…" she finally answered. "I don't really want to go with anyone." She told him.
"Well good, neither do I." Chad said. "Why don't we go with no one together?"
Taylor looked completely confused. "Uh…sure."
"Good." Chad said again. He let go of her hand. Smiling at the half shocked, half confused look that was still plastered on her face.
"Is there something in the air today?" Jason looked around jokingly.
"Alright, see you two later." They all heard coach Bolton say from across the hall. When they looked, they saw Troy and Gabriella coming towards them. Thankfully, their smiles hadn't faded at all, and they looked just as happy as before, as well as relieved.
"Okay, we're done." Troy said when his dad was out of earshot.
Gabriella was more focused on her friends. "What's going on here?" she asked them. Chad and Taylor were standing a little awkwardly.
"Chad just asked Taylor to the dance." Kelsi filled her in, trying not to laugh in the process.
"I did not." Chad argued.
"Yes you did." Jason laughed.
"No…Taylor told me that she didn't want a date, and neither do I." Chad explained. "We're just going without dates but together…right Taylor?" she asked.
"Right." Taylor nodded.
"That's the most ridiculous thing I've ever heard." Troy blurted out. He started laughing a little.
"Troy!" Gabriella elbowed him in the side to get him to stop laughing. He did and rubbed his ribs in pain.
"I wouldn't talk if I were you man." Chad pointed out. "You just stood on a table in the cafeteria and made a fool of yourself."
"Yeah, for a good reason." Troy defended himself.
Gabriella sighed. "I think it's good that you guys are…sort of going together." She said to Taylor and Chad. "Now we can all be together."
"She's right." Kelsi nodded.
No one else disagreed. There was a moment of silence before Chad asked, "So how did things go with coach?"
"They went fine…" Troy said a little uneasily.
"He wasn't mad or anything?" Jason asked.
Troy shook his head. "No, of course not."
"We just have to tell the rest of our parents now." Gabriella said, a little nervous smile on her face.
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Later that afternoon, after Troy's basketball practice, which Gabriella had happily watched, she and Troy hopped into her car and headed to her house. Earlier that day, they had agreed to go over to her house for a while after school, so that they could hang out alone. No friends, no fellow students whispering and smiling as they passed in the halls.
There was only one thing not to be excited about. Her mom was sure to be home.
Gabriella opened her front door and the two of them walked into the front hall. "Hello? She called. "Mom?" They waited a minute and there was no reply. "She must be out." Gabriella shrugged. "You want something to eat?" She asked Troy.
"I'm starving actually." He replied.
"Well what are you standing around for?" Gabby gave him a look before turning and heading for the kitchen.
"I'm right behind you." Troy told her and followed.
Just as she was about to step into the kitchen, Gabriella suddenly stopped on the spot. Troy almost ran straight into her. "Mom." She sounded a little shocked.
Troy looked up. "Mom?" he said, a little shocked too.
Both of their mother's were sitting at the kitchen table, tea in front of them. "Oh, hi Troy. I figured I'd just see you at home later." Mrs. Bolton said happily. "No basketball practice today?" she asked.
"It ended." Troy replied.
His mom looked at the clock. "Wow. It's later than I expected. I guess time just flies when you're having fun." She laughed.
"Yeah…it just flies…" Troy sighed
"So what are you two up to?" Mrs. Montez asked him and Gabriella.
Gabriella glanced at Troy. "We're just hanging out." She told her mom. "But Troy's hungry from practice, so I figured I'd get him something to eat."
"Oh, alright, well there's lot's here." Her mom replied happily.
Troy and Gabriella turned away from their moms, who immediately went back to talking and drinking their tea. Troy looked over at Gabby. "You think now would be a good time…we could just tell them together." He asked in a whisper.
"Yeah it would be perfect timing I guess." Gabriella nodded. "How do you think they'll react?" she asked, peeking over her shoulder at the two older women.
Troy shrugged. "We wont know unless we just do it." He said, watching her nod along. "Want me to…."
"No it's okay, I'll start this." Gabriella whispered and shook her head. She turned around to face their moms again. "Mom…there's something I need to tell you." Gabriella said a little nervously. She decided to go straight for it and get it over with. "I have a boyfriend…actually, for a while now I have…"
"A boyfriend?" her mom repeated, interrupting her. "But what about Logan?" she asked.
Gabriella instantly wished she hadn't said anything. "Mom! We broke up…you know that." She said. "And can you please not talk about my ex boyfriend in front of my new one?" she asked, before glancing at Troy. "Sorry." She whispered to him.
"But your new boyfriend isn't even here." Mrs. Montez argued her daughter.
Gabriella sighed. "Yes mom…he is."
They waited while their moms both realized what was going on. "You two?" they said at the exact same time.
"Yeah…" Troy replied with a little nod.
There was a moment of silence before Gabriella's mom turned to Troy's. "Our crazy little dream came true in the end I guess." She said with a little laugh.
"Exactly what I was thinking!" Mrs. Bolton laughed.
"What?" Troy interrupted them, completely confused.
"Well…." His mom replied. She seemed to be looking for the best way to explain it. "When you two were little we couldn't but help but have this crazy fantasy of you two falling in love when you got older." She said with a little far off smile.
"It's almost like it's meant to be." Gabriella's mom had the same look on her face.
"Right…" Troy sounded a little unsure.
Gabriella sighed. "This day has been weird enough that I just have nothing to say to that.." she shook her head lightly. "Come on, let's go upstairs." She told Troy, grabbing a plate of brownies from the fridge.
"Sounds good to me." Troy nodded and followed her.
When they were out of the kitchen, their mom's seemed to snap back to reality. "You better keep that bedroom door open!" Gabby heard her mom yell.
"Right mom…got it!" Gabriella sighed again and rolled her eyes. She turned on the stairs and looked at Troy, who was laughing now. "You still think telling everyone was a good idea?" she asked, raising an eyebrow.
Troy was silent for a moment. "Yep." He nodded simply. He started walking up the stairs and grabbed a brownie on his way past her.
"Hey I didn't say you could have any yet." She told him just as they made it into her room.
Troy turned around to face her. "Sorry." He shrugged, hands out at his sides.
"Hey where'd that brownie go?" Gabby asked. He wasn't holding it anymore.
He pointed to his stomach, with a look like a five year old caught for taking cookies from the cookie jar. "I ate it." He told her.
Gabriella just laughed and shook her head. She sat down and leaned against the end of her bed. Troy did the same. She grabbed a brownie and picked at it a little. "So did you really mean what you said today?" she asked after a while. "Up on the lunch table?" She added.
"Yeah." Troy nodded without hesitation. "Of course."
Gabriella smiled. "Good." She said. That had been exactly what she wanted to hear.