S O M E D A Y
PART ONE: Once Upon A Time
SUMMARY: Relationships and friendships both flourish and falter amidst the pressures of senior year and life in general. A hopefully original take of senior year at East High. All characters; TxG CxT. M for coarse language, sexual references/depictions
DISCLAIMER: I do not claim to be responsible for the creation of this brilliant set of characters. I just play with them. And make them act out my kinky fantasies.
AUTHOR'S NOTE: This chapter is not only long but it's fairly dialogue heavy and there's actually a whole heap going on very subtly. If it's not progressing something it's setting something else up to be progressed soon. So if you want to really get everything, don't even attempt to skim. Word? Off the hook. Read now...
Chapter 25
Troy could recall a period of his life when Sunday mornings had been purely a time for sleep. In fact the only portion of Sunday morning he would see would be in the form of late Saturday night; then remaining lolling around in bed until early Sunday afternoon. However since so many other aspects of his life had gone through such a transformation, it was no surprise that even the sacred Sunday slumber had been affected. Training was scheduled to begin at precisely 9:00am at the Redhawks gym. After two hours of training, Troy was expected to arrive at the Evans mansion no later than 11:30am for his final day of rehearsals for the call back audition the following day after school.
One would have expected Troy to roll out of bed at the last minute possible, given the gruelling day that lay ahead. Rather, he was up and ready to leave even before his father had finished his morning coffee.
"You do know it only takes about fifteen minutes to get there?" Jack remarked in amusement, as Troy was ready to leave the house at 8:20.
Troy nodded. "Uh huh. See you there."
Jack suspected Troy was going to Gabriella's, however for once his fatherly instinct would not have been further from the truth. In fact Troy had decided to leave early in the slight hope that Chad might also get there a little early. However the plan backfired, with the exact opposite occurring – Chad was five minutes late. Then, during each of their three short breaks, Chad was speaking on his cell phone.
"Hi Taylor," Zeke called out.
"I'm not talking to Tay," Chad hissed snippily.
Zeke's eyes widened, hands held up defensively. "Well, so-rry!"
Troy was agitated. Confronting Chad about why he had withheld the information about his mothers separation was inevitable. And Troy preferred to get it over and done with. But the fates seemed to want to put off the conversation. As soon as training finished, Chad took off with Jason and Zeke in tow.
"Have fun at rehearsal!" they called out to Troy.
"Uh yeah... see you tomorrow I guess," Troy responded, a little miffed at their somewhat coldness. And annoyed that an opportunity to talk to Chad had passed by.
All Troy could do was go on about his day as planned; showering up and heading straight to the Evans property. Twice in one week he had been there. It was officially a record for him. He'd felt nervy about their one on one rehearsal earlier in the week, and despite the gruel fest it had been with the wrath of the combined Evans duo, it had been okay. And now they additionally had the assistance of both Kelsi and Gabriella. Troy smoothly pulled up to the gate and buzzed himself in – and as he glanced towards the visitor parking bays, he was already perplexed at what he saw. He spotted Chad's bomb of a car, along with Martha's Hyundai.
"What the fuck?" he said out loud to no one in particular.
Troy cautiously headed toward the door, and only moments after ringing the doorbell Ryan flew the door open.
"What the fuck is Danforth doing here?" Troy demanded.
"Hello to you too," Ryan said, amused. "Everyone is in the lounge."
"Everyone? I thought this was just me and you and Kelsi and Gabriella?" Troy said, confused.
"Nope. We are all here," Jason's muffled call came from down the elaborate hallway came.
Ryan led Troy down and into one of the lounge rooms. Troy was bewildered to see Taylor and Martha poring over a book; Zeke and Chad fixated to the PS3; and Jason sitting with a guitar on his lap, Kelsi instructing.
"What the fuck is going on?"
"I told you he wouldn't want us here," Chad said smugly, his eyes not leaving the television. "YES! Beat that, Baylor!"
"Exactly why I want you all here. Because he doesn't want you here. Troy, if you're going to make it in life as a performer, you're going to have to perform under all sorts of pressures that you don't want."
"I don't want to make it in life as a performer. I want to play professional basketball," Troy said matter of factly. As he spoke, he walked across the room and stood behind the couch where Gabriella was poring over her script. He leaned over and kissed the top of her head as he squeezed her shoulder affectionately. "Seriously though, Taylor and Martha are one thing, they are least are bright intelligent people with analytical ability and... what not. But those three, seriously? How are they supposed to help me?"
"Gee, thanks Troy," Chad said. "Glad to know you care about our opinion. COME ON! Faster!"
"Anyway, we're not here to help. We're here coz we were told we could use the PS3 and eat all the food we wanted," Jason said honestly.
"They will help you by making you feel comfortable about performing in front of people. If you can't perform in front of your friends..." Ryan began to say.
"Don't you remember that little thing called Twinkle Towne last year? Half of the town was there for that," Troy pointed out.
Ryan cleared his throat. "Well... I do remember you disappearing on opening night because of nerves..."
"Oh come on, it was my first show!" Troy said defensively, feeling embarrassed at the reminder of just how freaked out he had been. "And what about the talent show?"
"Oh please, you came on after Mrs Hoffenfeffer's sock puppet act. You could have sang out of key and made up lyrics on the spot and you would have been superior. Anyway, we all know you had ulterior motives there so it doesn't count." Troy was about to protest again, but Ryan held up his hand. "Come on Troy, just trust me here. They're not doing any harm. They won't be paying attention anyway."
And in perfect illustration of Ryan's point, Zeke let out a cry of, "A-ha! You beat THAT Danforth!"
Troy let out an exasperated sigh, and collapsed onto the couch beside Gabriella. She took his hand in hers, squeezing softly.
"If it means anything, I told him you wouldn't like this plan," she said with a small smile.
"Gee thanks for the back up, Gabriella," Ryan said sarcastically.
However his words weren't registered by either of Troy or Gabriella, as Troy had his hand cupping her face and a thumb caressing her cheek. He leaned forward, lips meeting softly.
"We've got no time for this," Ryan cut in, thrusting a sheet of paper into Troy's lap.
Troy reluctantly pulled away from Gabriella and glanced down at the sheet. "What's this?
"A schedule. sheet. If everything goes according to plan, you'll be home by 5 and have the time you requested for homework and what not, and even time to run through everything once more within your own preparation time. If you feel so inclined to do so."
"Then what are we waiting for, let's get this done," Troy said, summoning a fake cheeriness that was far from the desperately tired and overwhelmed that he was actually feeling.
"That's the spirit. Then we are going to start with the scene reading and get it over and done with since I think it's the easiest part."
"Great. Gabriella and I were working on it during our free periods like you asked," Troy said, and proceeded to rifle through his backpack.
"What are you doing?" Ryan asked.
"Umm... getting my script?"
"Script? No no. You don't need a script."
"Uh, yeah I do."
Ryan exhaled. "I thought we went through this?"
"Went through what?"
"That you needed to have the scene memorised."
Troy stared at Ryan, horrified. "No! No you never said that. You've told me to do a lot of things, all of which I've done. Not one of them was to memorise the scene."
"Well isn't that obvious?" Ryan said, somewhat impatiently.
"No! It's not. Do you remember how long it took me to remember my lines for Twinkle Towne last year?"
"And yet you learnt an entire song in like a half hour for the talent show," Martha offered.
"That's... different. It's... musical... and catchy. And we cheated! The lyrics were on the sheet music at the piano, weren't they Kelsi?"
Ryan was in his commanding mode, and not in the mood for Troy's excuses in the slightest. Apparently there was more in common between himself and his sister than he would like to believe.
"We will run through the scene once with your script," Ryan allowed. "After which I am removing the script. You WILL know this by tomorrow. It's ONE scene Troy. And I guarantee you that Theodore will know every line perfectly. Gabriella? Are you ready?"
Gabriella had already been informed by Ms Darbus that her presence and involvement in the call back was necessary, in the form of the run through of a scene with each of the boys. She was highly impressed with Ryan's efficiency, and couldn't help but smile in admiration of her friend and the effort he had put in just to help Troy.
"Whenever you are," she replied.
"Eat shit Danforth!" Zeke cried. "I officially rule and you…"
Ryan marched over to the PS3, and pulled the cord out of the television.
"NO!" Chad and Zeke gasped in unison.
"My high score!" Zeke added despondently. "It better have saved itself."
"You're no fun Evans," Chad grumbled.
Nevertheless, the boys shut up and watched as Troy and Gabriella brought the lives of Mike and Nina to life. The first run through was delightful. Kelsi's face was bright as they performed. This was the delight of the script writer; being able to see one's work come to fruition. From the moment the plot line had come into her brain, when the lyrics had flowed from her hand and the notes had played themselves on the piano - there was Troy and Gabriella; and Troy and Gabriella only to play these roles.
"I really really wanna see this show," Jason remarked in awe once the reading was over. "And that's just one scene. Kelsi, this is awesome."
Kelsi blushed slightly. "Gabriella fixed that scene so much."
Ryan went over to Troy, taking the script from him. "Okay. We run through it again."
Troy cleared his throat. "Right. Excellent. Let's do it."
He stood, waiting expectantly.
"You start the scene Troy," Gabriella said helpfully.
She of course already knew the lines for the entire scene.
"I do?" Troy snatched the script back from Ryan, scanning over it. "So I do. Okay... one second... okay. I can do this. Ready?"
Gabriella nodded.
"You can't really tell me that you WANT to be with that jerk," Mike said.
"Don't call him a jerk. He's not a jerk," Nina replied.
Silence.
Troy scratched the back of his neck. "Ryan, we could be here for a while man."
"I'm sensing that," Ryan said darkly, his tone dripping with annoyance. Mentally he was trying to work out how the schedule was going to be affected if they actually sat and allowed Troy to go through and memorise his lines. Finally, he said, "Okay. Let's leave it for now. But Troy, seriously, it's one scene. You should be able to learn it. At least learn it well enough so that you can have the script on the floor and just glance down if absolutely necessary."
Logically, Troy knew that Ryan was right. He SHOULD be able to memorise one scene. When it came to school work, Troy wasn't too bad at rote learning. It was practically how he'd made his way through half of his courses until Gabriella's arrival and insistence upon actually interpreting and understanding material. However every time he stood without the script in front of him and opened his mouth – his mind was blank.
Troy exhaled. "Fine. I'll... I'll do my best.
"Now, Gabriella. Let's talk about you," Ryan said.
Gabriella was immediately concerned. "I know that wasn't my best performance," she stammered. "But I promise that by opening night I'll…"
"Gabriella, I wasn't going to criticise your performance," Ryan interrupted. "I'm going to talk about preparing you for your role in tomorrow's audition."
"Huh? Don't I just… do the part? Shouldn't we be focusing on preparing Troy?"
"We're here to ensure Troy gets the part. And with the scene reading, your role is going to be crucial in defining whether this happens."
"It will be?"
"Yes. Gabriella, what I need is for THAT performance there - to be identical to that which you portray when you are reading opposite from Theodore."
She stared at Ryan, somewhat confused. "But... isn't a part of your whole reasoning why Troy is better for the part that he and I work together on stage better than I would with Theodore?"
"Yes. Yes it is. But Theodore will suggest that it's still not fair because you two are dating and therefore of course he has had the opportunity to practice with you and be accustomed to your style. He might suggest that there is bias, that you purposely performed at a lower standard when you were acting across from him."
"But I AM better with Troy. Not because I am purposely worse with other people though."
"Okay. But tomorrow, you need to be the same with both of them. I would rather if you were flat and dry with both of them to be honest. But I think Troy responds better when you are performing better."
"How do you expect me to take him seriously?"
"Use your magnificent skills and imagine he's Troy."
"So you want me to take a drug because that might be the required state to get my imagination working that actively."
"You should be able to imagine my presence at any given moment," Troy said flirtatiously.
"I prefer the real thing," Gabriella responded, blushing slightly.
As much as Ryan supported the relationship between the two, he required focus, and immediately stepped between them, sensing an impending kiss disrupting the flow of proceedings. "We'll work on it. Perhaps later on you and I can run it a few times and I'll do my best to act my worst. But now, I want to move on to styling."
"Styling?" Troy repeated, ears pricking - and not in a positive way.
"Yes. We have to organise your costume..."
"Costume?!" Troy said incredulously. "Costume?! This is an audition. Last year I wore my freaking tracksuit and got the part."
"That was last year. This is this year. Now do you want my help or not?"
Troy sighed. "Yes. Yes I do."
"Then we will organise your costume. Now come with me."
"Can we have the PS3 back?" Jason asked hopefully.
Zeke was already reconnecting it, not even waiting for Ryan's response.
"I suppose. For a while," Ryan relented. "Oh, there's food in the kitchen if you want it guys."
The PS3 was abandoned. "Can I eat something?" Troy asked, glancing in the direction of the kitchen.
"I have scheduled you a break later on."
"How kind," Troy said somewhat sarcastically.
"I'll get you something," Gabriella offered.
"Upstairs. Come on," Ryan prodded.
As Troy became a life sized Ken Doll within Ryan's sea of costume items, the rest of the group were now congregating in the casual kitchen area.
"Who are you texting?" Martha asked Zeke.
He was skillfully eating a giant club sandwich with one hand and texting with the other.
"Monica. She finishes work at 2 so I'll probably take off around then."
"You're so smitten with her, it's adorable," Gabriella said with a smile, as she scoured through the fridge for a collection of Troy's favourite foods.
"Adorable?" Jason repeated. "It's disgusting. I'm surrounded by fools in lust."
"You're just jealous," Martha teased.
"Huh?" Jason asked, oblivious to Martha's insinuation.
She jerked her head in the direction of the bench, where Kelsi was sitting at a stool listening to her Ipod as she scoured through the script. Jason glanced over, a small smile creeping onto his face.
Meanwhile, Taylor also had been sitting at the bench with a sandwich on a plate, clutching onto a book. Chad approached her, and brushed her arm gently.
"Can we talk?" he asked quietly.
Taylor felt trepidation within. She abandoned her sandwich and book and wordlessly followed him. They wound up in the very dining room where they had been when he first asked her out a couple of weeks before the end of summer vacation. She couldn't help but reflect upon how ironic that was. Back in the location of the beginning as she could feel the end coming.
"Before you say anything," Taylor said. "If this is where you say it's not me it's you but I'd like us to be friends... can we just skip it because I don't think I can handle hearing that without vomiting."
"WHAT?!" Chad exclaimed, genuinely flabbergasted. "What on earth makes you think that I would wanna end this?"
"Uh... this last week or so of weirdness?" Taylor pointed out as though it were obvious. She added quickly, "And yes on Friday you told me about David leaving which I am totally sympathetic about. But… it's been weird for longer than that. Please don't even try to deny that."
Chad couldn't deny it. He knew he'd been acting all crazy. He was very well aware of the fact. But breaking up?
"Taylor, I don't want us to break up," Chad said.
"You don't?"
"No!"
"Are you sure?"
"I thought we established that we weren't going to be carbon copies of our friends? What's with this sudden bout of insecurity here?"
"This is Taylor here you're talking to. And I'm sorry if it bothers you but I have insecurities. Yes, I really do. I thought you of all people understood that. And I don't think it's unreasonable that I was to be somewhat freaked out by your behaviour. Because it is NOT like you to shut down, to shut me out."
"Well tell your insecurities to shut up because you're barking up the wrong tree."
"Then what tree should I be barking up? Because you can't tell me that I was imagining things with all the weirdness."
Chad sighed. "No. You're right about that. Fuck... it's complicated. I'm not used to sharing stuff, okay? I've just been weird coz I've been sorting through stuff in my brain. I'm not used to thinking about bigger stuff but between senior year and hanging around smart girls all the time, suddenly it seems that my brain wants me to care about this bigger stuff. And to be honest I don't really want to talk about it because I'm still trying to sort through it all myself. I feel stupid for letting it affect us but I really didn't realise that you were as freaked as you were."
Lie number 1. He had known she was freaked. Hence making the step to smooth things over.
"I was freaked," Taylor said quietly. "This last week made me realise how...how quickly I've come to want you around. I might not NEED you, I'm still me and I'm still ridiculously independent and stubborn but... I want you around. I didn't like the idea of us ending in the slightest."
"Tay, even I am not stupid enough to just end something that's just starting. If there was something I wanted to talk about with you, something you'd done to bother me - I'd talk about it, yeah?"
Lie number 2. It was her comment which had started the whole thing. It was her comment that caused a sudden need to actually care about who he was and who he wanted to be.
I'm dating Chad Danforth, for crying out loud.
"Okay," Taylor said quietly. "And if you decide that you want to talk about all the big stuff... I'm pretty good with that kind of thing."
"I know you are."
"I just want everything to go back to how it was. Can we do that?" Taylor asked earnestly.
Back to how it was…
Back to before one comment from Taylor had made Chad question everything he was, whether he was good enough. He'd never given a shit what anyone thought about him. But what she thought meant more than anything.
Back to how it was…
Back to a time before life became stressful. Before his guidance counsellor was calling him in to talk about his average grades and college aspirations. The future had always seemed too far away to care about. Now, it was coming faster than he would like.
Back to how it was…
Back to the days before his mom was crying herself to sleep every night. Before his little sister started coming into his room to steal his Ipod so she could turn it up so loud that she couldn't hear their mom crying. Before they'd lost a second income from the house, before his mom started working a second job just to have enough money to pay the electricity bill.
Back to how it was…
Chad smiled at Taylor, capturing her waist with his hand and pulling her forward. "Of course," he murmured, lips meeting lips.
Lie number 3.
"All right stop stuffing your faces I need you all again!" Ryan called out as he bound down the stairs.
Kelsi and Martha diligently appeared. Taylor and Chad also strolled in, hand in hand. He sat down on one of the large, cushy arm chairs and motioned for Taylor to squish in with him. Ryan poked his head into the kitchen where Zeke and Jason were standing in front of the open refridgerator.
"you can bring it into the lounge room, come on!" Ryan said impatiently.
"Have you always been this moody?" Jason asked.
"Look, I'm letting you eat all the food you want in exchange for helping me when I want you to help me. And I think I've found Mike's style but I need your opinions here. Especially yours Kelsi, I mean, you're the one with the clearest vision of Mike. So it'll be up to you to approve. TROY! HURRY UP!" Ryan called up the stairs.
Troy's footsteps were heard clumping down the stairs. He appeared moments later. His arms were folded across his chest in a clearly disgruntled, uncomfortable manner. Dressed in a white v neck tee, black leather jacket, dark blue skinny leg jeans and white converse – Troy was feeling more than a little out of his comfort zone.
"That is perfect, so so Mike. Like this mish mash of styles... he's a lost soul, trying to find his place in the rock world, trying to find his own style by copying everyone else's," Kelsi said, eyes dancing. "It's like 50s rocker meets Elvis meets metro meets... I don't know what it is but it works. Troy, how do you feel?"
"I feel like a fucking tool," Troy declared honestly.
"You look like a fucking tool," Chad said with a snort.
Ryan shot Chad a dark look, Taylor hit Chad on the arm in a silent plea to shut his mouth.
"I like it. I don't know anything about musicals or costuming or fashion but it looks good to me," Taylor said helpfully.
"Troy, why do you look like you're about to go to a funeral?" Ryan asked.
"I'm sorry man, this just isn't me."
"No, it's not you. It's Mike. That's what acting is about."
"I get that. But… well… I am questioning whether wearing these skinny jeans for a long period of time might impact upon my… abilities…"
"Abilities?" Jason said blankly.
"You have abilities?" Zeke jibed.
"Where's Gabriella? I think she will have an opinion here," Martha pointed out.
"GAB!!" Chad shouted at the top of his lungs.
Taylor winced, her ears practically ringing from the sheer decibel of Chad's call.
"Yeah yeah, hang on, I was just washing…" Gabriella appeared from the bathroom, stopped in her tracks and trailed off mid sentence. "Wow."
A smirk was toying on Troy's lips as he studied his girlfriend. She was very blatantly checking out every aspect of what he was wearing. He knew that stare. He OWNED that stare.
"And there you have it, the outfit is approved," Ryan said knowingly.
"Hmm?" Gabriella said a little absentmindedly.
"Gabriella you've got a little something here," Taylor said, motioning to her lower lip.
"Huh?"
"Stop drooling."
Gabriella looked embarrassed and tore her eyes away from Troy. She plopped back down to sit on the couch, but there was no hiding that her eyes were intently flickering back to run over Troy. He was feeling a little hot and prickly under Gabriella's gaze. Or perhaps it was the tightness of the jeans and the leather jacket that was making him hot.
"What's in there?" Jason asked, gesturing to the plastic bag in Ryan's hand.
"Hairspray wax and other stying products. Time to give Mike a hair style."
Troy found himself with something other than Gabriella to focus on. He turned back to Ryan.
"Ryan, I appreciate your help, and I can see the benefit of a costume but HAIR STYLING?"
"Troy. You keep questioning my methods," Ryan said calmly. "I know you guys don't always take Sharpay and I seriously when it comes to performing. But she and I have been doing this just as long as you've been playing basketball, if not longer. If you were going to try to teach me how to play basketball, I would not question your methods. So for one last time, GO WITH ME HERE."
Troy sighed. "Fine."
Ryan gestured for Troy to sit on the chair in front of him and proceeded to style his hair. As he worked, an upbeat peppy pop song began ringing.
"What is that God awful noise?" Chad complained.
"Okay like everyone I know is here, who earth is calling me?" Gabriella pondered as she fished through her hand bag.
"No really, what the fuck is that song?"
"Taylor McKessie, keep your mouth shut," Gabriella warned, as she located her phone. "Hello? Oh, hey Jess. No that's fine."
"It's the techno remix of the song that she and Troy had to sing at the lodge on New Years," Ryan informed Chad.
Chad laughed. "That's cute."
Gabriella glared at Ryan, stepping over to hit him on the arm. Ryan didn't hesitate from slapping her back. Troy narrowed his eyes at the slight banter.
"Ow!" Gabriella exclaimed.
"You didn't tell me to keep my mouth shut," Ryan said defensively.
"No Ryan just hit me is all... I'm at his house. NO! You know that very well thank you," Gabriella said into her phone. "Oh okay... I'll just ask him."
She covered the mouth piece and turned to Ryan. "Jess has been trying to call you, she has an appointment after school on Wednesday and just wants to check whether we are still meeting on Wednesday lunch instead."
Ryan nodded. "That's right. Usual room."
Gabriella relayed the information to Jess. "Okay I'd better go... And you're so wrong about that. You are. I'm hanging up now. Bye..."
"Can I get a drink?" Troy complained.
"I won't be long I promise," Ryan said.
Gabriella, without even being asked, jumped up and headed toward the kitchen to fulfil Troy's request. Kelsi trailed behind her.
"What was that about on the phone?" Kelsi asked curiously. "With the, no, you know that very well, and you're so wrong about that?"
"Oh... Jess from the student council keeps going on about how me and Ryan have something going on. Which is clearly ridiculous because I'm rather infatuated with Troy."
Kelsi nodded. "Yes. That's a part of why."
"A part of?"
"Well, Ryan wouldn't exactly want to go out with you now, would he?"
Gabriella studied Kelsi carefully. "Are you saying..."
"That I know? Yeah."
"Ryan told you?"
"No. I just know. Hang around someone long enough and observe them checking out the male ballet dancers who audition for the musical and I kinda worked it out for myself."
"Oh. How did you know that I knew?"
"Just knew," Kelsi said simply.
"Does it bother you that he told me?"
Kelsi paused. "A little but not really. Ryan and I have worked together with the drama club for a while and been in similar circles, it's really got nothing to do with our friendship."
"Kelsi! I need your approval on Troy's hair!" Ryan's voice drifted in from the lounge area.
Gabriella picked up the can of soft drink. "Come on. We can talk about this later."
They returned to the lounge room and Gabriella handed the can to her ever grateful boyfriend.
"No no, that's not right," Kelsi said stubbornly.
"What do you mean, that's not right?" Ryan asked.
"This is my composition and I am telling you that this is not what Mike looks like. The costume is perfect. But that hair is dreadful."
"Then you style it!"
"Guys, I'm not a fucking Barbie doll," Troy said, becoming impatient.
"Technically that would be a Ken doll," Martha offered helpfully, from where Chad was currently losing to her in a game of Guitar Hero.
Ryan sighed. "Okay give me a second."
A few swoops of the comb later and he declared, "There."
"No," Kelsi said, just as stubbornly as before. "I can't explain why but I just know that isn't right."
"Oh goody. Everyone is here," a bored female voice said from behind.
Troy swivelled around to see Sharpay in the doorway, clutching onto a series of shopping bags.
"How was the sale?" Ryan asked.
"Fabulous. I got the latest Prada flip flops half price in the most adorable colour and my God what are you doing?"
"Huh?"
She pointed at Troy. "What are you doing?" Sharpay demanded.
"Working out Mike's style."
"Well, that isn't right."
"Told you so," Kelsi said smugly, not even taking a moment to contemplate the irony that it was she and Sharpay who were in agreement and than Ryan was out on a limb.
Ryan's frustration boiled over; he dramatically threw his arms in the air and proclaimed, "That's it then, I give up."
"Who ever thought my hair could be the centre of such controversy and drama," Troy contemplated out loud.
Ryan stalked over to sit next to Gabriella, a pout on his face. She put her arm around his shoulders consolingly.
"I really don't think that Troy's hair is going to make or break the audition," she said tactfully.
Sharpay set her shopping bags to the floor and came over to study Troy's hair. "This is atrocious."
"Thanks Sharpay," Troy said sarcastically.
"Your normal hair would be better than this. How much product did you put in here, Ry?" Sharpay went to run her fingers through Troy's hair, but suddenly retreated. "Umm… do you mind?" she asked, a little awkwardly. The connotation was will you get in trouble if I touch you?
Troy's eyes shifted sideways to where Gabriella was sitting with Ryan.
"It's fine," he told Sharpay. "If it means that we can get this ridiculous part of today's rehearsal over."
It took Sharpay less than ten minutes to rid the hair of Ryan's disaster and style it perfectly. Kelsi looked positively delighted.
"Yes! THAT is it. Perfect perfect perfect. Sharpay is officially the queen of hair styling and you are officially required in the Troy prep tomorrow afternoon."
Sharpay narrowed her eyes. "You just assume that I am available? I do have a very busy schedule, you know. I do believe that I might have a prior engagement and…"
"No you don't. You have rehearsal with the rest of us and as president of the drama club you have to be at the call back anyway," Ryan said.
Sharpay sighed.
"You know I still don't see how my hair should have anything to do with whether I get the part," Troy said, hoping this would seal the deal. It seemingly worked.
Sharpay glared at him. "Image is everything Troy. I suppose I am available to help. Seeing as I so don't want that Theodore twit to have a major role in my final fall production at East High."
Troy stood up. "Fantastic, organise it all."
"Where are you going?" Ryan asked. "We're about to get ready for the dance segment."
"I need to pee if that's okay Ryan," Troy said a little testily.
Ryan relented. "Oh. Yeah sure, go for it. Don't get changed though. You'll now have to get used to dancing in those clothes."
Twenty minutes later, Ryan was questioning whether Troy had drowned in the toilet bowl.
"Gabriella, can you go find him?" he asked.
"Umm... sometimes people just take a long time to use the bathroom," she pointed out, not wanting to be vulgar.
"He said he was peeing. He would have said he needed to use the bathroom. Please go."
Gabriella pulled Ryan aside, out of earshot from the group. Not that the group would have been paying attention anyway. Guitar Hero and a platter of food held everyone's attention. The styling session had officially lost even Kelsi's interest - her real interest was in the final part of Ryan's schedule, going over Troy's solo.
"I think you're stressing him out a little," Gabriella said tactfully.
The truth was that she had witnessed Troy's increasing frustration; which only fuelled the amount of pressure Ryan was placing upon him; in turn increasing frustration levels - it was a vicious cycle.
Ryan sighed. "I know I'm being a bit crazy here but... I'm doing this for him. I thought he might appreciate that."
Gabriella had suspected as much. "You're doing this for him to try and prove that there's nothing going on with you and I?"
"I'm doing this so that he can see that I am actively willing to help him. And that a person who is actively willing to help someone wouldn't exactly be out to try to steal their girlfriend," Ryan admitted. "I know you say that you and he sorted it but to be honest with you, I don't think the whole issue has disappeared."
Gabriella sighed. "I've been in denial about that."
"Obviously."
"I'll go find him. You know, if you just came out, you would make our lives a whole lot easier."
"Your life might be made easier, but not mine."
Gabriella proceeded to wander outside. Knowing Troy, if he was indeed in a state of being frustrated or stressed, then he wouldn't be hiding in a bathroom. He'd be out getting fresh air. And surely enough, she found him out on the tennis court - the tennis court with a basketball hoop at the end.
"Wildcat?" Gabriella said questioningly.
"Who the fuck does that guy think he is?" Troy demanded snippily.
"Uh..."
Troy sighed. "I know he's your friend and all but I don't think I can take this. I have no problem with being guided, and for all of this week he's been fantastic. To the point that I'm thinking if it's a case of, keep your friends close and your enemies closer. But today, he's like... Sharpay. On crack. With a penis."
"I don't think that's the intent."
Troy took a deep breath. "I just needed a break. I'm not out here crying or stressing. Like... this isn't the be all and end all for me. He's making it seem like if I don't get this part, HIS universe will be over. If Theodore happens to transform into a human being and perform in character, then I'm fucked and I accepted that a few days ago. I'll be cut but I won't cry over it."
"I don't think that this is about you getting the part, Troy," Gabriella said.
"So it is a, keep your friends close and your enemies closer," Troy said somewhat bitterly.
"No," Gabriella said firmly. "Maybe, keep your friends close so that they realise that they are in fact friends and NOT enemies?"
Troy was silent.
"Do you and I need to have another talk about this?" Gabriella asked hesitantly.
Troy abruptly took a jump shot - and missed wildly, the ball falling short of the hoop by over a foot.
"Fucking jeans. I can't even jump properly."
"Troy?" Gabriella persisted.
"Let's go back inside," Troy said. "I'm good. Just needed some air."
"We do need to talk about this, don't we."
It was a statement, not a question. And it was a statement that Troy couldn't deny. They had both been happy to remain in denial about the matter for a while and pretend that the extent to which they'd already addressed the matter was satisfactory. But now that she'd said the words out loud, Troy couldn't pretend that she was wrong.
Troy sighed. "Can it wait? I don't want Ryan to get even more testy than he already is."
Gabriella nodded. "It can wait."
He nodded, and picked up the leather jacket he had tossed haphazardly onto the ground.
"Troy?"
"Yeah?"
Gabriella stepped toward him, and took his hand in hers.
"I love you," she said earnestly.
Troy took a breath, and nodded. "I love you too."
"We're still going to have to talk about it."
"I know. And... we will. I promise."
In the short time that the pair had been outside, a new addition had been made to the 'support group', in the form of Monica.
"Hey Mon, sup?" Troy greeted her.
"Looking hot Troy," Monica said with a smirk, looking up and down at his outfit. "Came to pick up Zeke and heard you're about to perform a little dance for everyone, couldn't resist but to stick around."
"Why don't you just come to the show when I get this part and you can see it then," he suggested.
"But I'm already here now."
"Are you ready? If you're not... umm... I guess you can take a bit more of a break," Ryan said, somewhat hesitantly.
"Nah man it's all good. Just needed fresh air. All the fucking hairspray you were using was making me giddy. All ready to go now. I put on my dancing shoes and all."
"You haven't changed your shoes though," Jason pointed out.
Troy was exhausted. Between Ryan in his hyperactive super coach form; and the reappearance of Sharpay who had remained hanging around to 'assist' - or rather, to criticise - he was completely and utterly fucked. There was no other word for it.
"You had this perfect when I choreographed it the other night! You're an athlete, dance is sport - why is your leg flopping all over the place?!" Sharpay demanded.
"It looked good to me," Monica offered. "Especially for someone with no dance training."
"What would you know?" Sharpay snapped.
"Uh, I do study dance just like you guys."
"Cheerleading is not dancing."
"It is a form of dance and even if you say it isn't, I have studied 'real' dance since I was seven so I think I know what I'm talking about," Monica retorted.
Zeke's eyes were moving between the two girls, his girlfriend and the ex unrequited love of his life.
"Okay, no arguments are necessary here," Gabriella said, trying to be the peacemaker.
"I'm just saying, don't be so hard on him. I don't know hardly anything about this show, but from what I've heard, Mike wouldn't dance technically perfect anyway," Monica pointed out. "It makes sense for the style to be a bit rough around the edges."
Troy collapsed on the couch. "I take back everything I said when I wanted you to leave. I agree with what you just said. Look, at least I have the steps memorised."
"True. You can't have a sheet of paper with the dance steps written on the floor," Martha mused.
"Okay can we go now?" Zeke complained.
Monica slapped him on the arm. "Don't be rude."
"Why is it rude to want to spend alone time with my gorgeous wonderful girlfriend?" Zeke asked, smiling at her, and leaning over to kiss her softly. He whispered something into her ear.
Sharpay rolled her eyes, Chad and Jason made mature gagging noises while everyone else just sat and waited patiently for the display to end.
"Okay, we'll be off now," Monica announced, standing up immediately.
"Troy man, good work, see you tomorrow everyone," Zeke said in a hurry, practically pushing Monica toward the door.
Chad snorted. "Have fun rooting."
"We will," Zeke called over his shoulder.
"Ryan, do I have time to grab a drink?" Troy asked.
Ryan nearly made a comment about being behind schedule due to his disappearance and the hair kerfuffle, but then relented. "Um, sure."
Chad jumped up, following Troy into the kitchen.
"Man, I swear Zeke and Monica are like fucking rabbits," Chad complained.
"You're just jealous."
Troy glanced around, dawning on him that he finally was alone in a room with Chad.
"Uh can I talk to you about something quickly?" Troy asked.
"Sure man, what's up?"
Troy paused. Time was of the essence. The way things had been lately, he might never get a chance to talk to Chad alone. "Err... okay. I'm just gonna ask. Why didn't you tell me that David split?"
Chad's eyes widened, completely shocked. He'd sensed that Troy wanted to talk about something relatively serious but he wouldn't have picked that one in a million years. "How did you know? Did Taylor tell you?"
Troy blinked. "Great, you told Taylor and not me. No, my mom said something about it, like she assumed that I knew about it."
"Stupid gossiping parents," Chad muttered.
"Dude, seriously, why didn't you tell me?" Troy asked.
Chad shrugged. "Dunno. It happened during the week and you were busy with training and rehearsals and Gab... it wasn't a personal thing. I can't stand the guy, you know that, so it's all good really."
"Troy, hurry up!" Kelsi's voice called.
"Chad... I'm never too busy for you man," Troy said, very seriously.
Kelsi's head popped into the kitchen. "Troy! Come on, let's get this over with. I know you need to get home to study."
Chad sighed. "Go on, it's cool."
"Dude..."
"You're needed. You know. Important stuff to do."
And with that, Chad strode out of the kitchen and left Troy behind.
Author's Note: So I am really bad with describing outfits to the point that I don't bother most of the time. I did a whole Homecoming dance chapter without a single specific mention of what any of them were wearing (other than in the context of Gabriella undoing Troy's belt and removing his tie... maybe I should acquire a fashion editor...) but please, please tell me that you got that the Mike costume was based off the Elle photoshoot and the rolling around in the grass with V shots?