Chapter 29

When Chad and Troy finally returned from dirt biking, there was a just enough time left for them to shower, change clothes, and head down to the lake before the barbecue officially got underway.

As they approached their lodge site, they both spotted Gabriella sitting alone on the girls' lower deck staring out at nothing in particular, the expression on her face appearing sadly distracted.

"I wonder what's up?" Chad said, noticing that Brie didn't seem like herself. "Your girl looks like she's got something heavy on her mind."

As Troy drew closer to where Gabriella sat, he too got the impression that something was wrong. When he was finally standing at her side, he leaned over and kissed her on the cheek with a smile.

"Hey babe. Sorry I'm late. That dirt bike stuff was awesome. Way too much fun. But I promise it will only take me a few to shower and change and then we can head down to the barbecue."

For a moment Gabriella looked at him with unseeing eyes, but then regained her focus and spoke.

"Hey Troy. You just getting back?" she asked.

He and Chad looked at each other and laughed.

"Ummm…yeah…just a few seconds ago. We kind of lost track of time which is why we're running a little late. But like I said, I just need a few minutes to get it together and then we can go have lunch."

She looked at him strangely and then nodded that she understood.

"Brie, where's Taylor ?" Chad wondered. "Did she already head down to the lake?"

At the sound of her best friend's name, Gabriella seemed to instantly snap out of her daze and become totally present. She finally "saw" Troy and Chad even though they had been standing there next to her for several minutes, and the look she gave Chad was one of near hostile confusion.

"No. Taylor's upstairs in her room," Gabriella offered, coming across cool and detached.

"Oh!" Chad said, a little taken aback by his friend's mood. She was usually so nice and upbeat with him but that was definitely not the case at the moment. "I guess she must be getting ready still huh?"

"No. As a matter fact, Taylor said she doesn't feel like going to the barbecue now and frankly I can't say that I blame her."

"Why doesn't she want to go babe?" Troy asked, starting to worry that something important was going on with his and Chad 's girlfriends, only they were the last to know.

"Because of Chad and Marissa," Gabriella said matter of fact, her tone still unpleasant, her eyes filled with accusation.

"What!" Chad exclaimed, not even close to getting what she meant. "Is that supposed to be funny? A joke?"

"Nope. No joke and certainly not funny. Seems your secret kiss in Chicago is no longer a secret since the evidence of what happened, some tacky Polaroid, was left for Taylor to conveniently find when she got of the shower a while ago," Gabriella reported, as Chad 's jaw practically hit the ground. "Of course, as you can imagine, Taylor is devastated, hence the reason why she isn't in the mood to eat, drink and laugh it up at the barbecue."

"Wait…wait…a…a minute! Back up!" Chad stammered, unable to digest what he'd just been told. " Taylor was given a picture of me kissing Marissa in Chicago? By whom?"

"Don't try to deny it Chad. I saw it for myself and it was definitely you swapping spit with that man-eating witch whom, I'm more than positive, had to have been the one to sneak into Taylor's room at some point earlier today and left that nasty bit of proof that you basically cheated on her," Gabriella snapped, defending her best friend's honor at all costs.

"Cheated?!" Chad said beyond insulted. "On Taylor? Are you insanse? Not in a million years. Damn sure not with Marissa DeLeon!"

That's when Chad realized he'd been played like the lottery, and that night during his stay in Chicago with Marissa and her parents came flooding back in horrible memory.

"Marissa told me she'd destroyed that picture," Chad explained, the words sounding stupid and unconvincing to his own ears. "She asked me to forgive her for setting me up the way she did."

"Well she obviously lied," Gabriella said rolling her eyes, disappointed that Chad could have been so foolish as to have ever believed anything Marissa might have said, told or promised him. "She lied and she plotted to have you think she'd destroyed it just so she could use it against you to hurt Taylor. And now she's succeeded."

That's when it really hit Chad all at once that while he was down here trying to explain what had happened to the best friend of the girl he was in love with, Taylor herself must be hurt and thinking all sorts of awful things about him and the future of their relationship.

Looking between Troy and Gabriella like his world was about to or already had come crashing down, Chad raced inside the house, all thoughts of a barbecue, senior weekend, or anything else the farthest things from his mind.

"Taylor! Taylor!" he yelled, rushing through the first floor of the house in a frantic search. "Where are you Taylor!"

Upstairs, the unexpected sound of her name being shouted had startled Taylor from her somber mood. When she realized it was Chad, who was now on the stairs heading her way, she jumped up from the bed and ran to close and lock her bedroom door just as he made it to the second-floor landing.

The rapid knocks and pleading immediately followed.

"Taylor you've got to listen to me. Please. Don't allow Marissa's sick obsession with me ruin us. Talk to me. Please, just talk to me."

"Go away Chad. Just leave me alone!" Taylor yelled, as the tears she'd been holding back since seeing that awful picture began to fall.

"I'm not going anywhere until we talk. I don't care if I have to stand at this door the entire weekend!" Chad vowed, his voice strained and desperate. "If you think I'm about to let Marissa come between us, think again. I'm not budging."

"What's the point? That picture told me all I need to know!"

"Baby that picture was a lie and you know it! That witch tricked me into that kiss and had someone waiting to capture it on film. I swear to you that being with her in anyway was not something I wanted or planned!"

"So you're saying she just kicked your hotel door in and jumped on top of you? Yeah Chad! How stupid do you think I am?" Taylor demanded, her anger rising as the tears continued to spill. "She never would have been in your room in the first place if you had not let her in of your own free will!"

"I had to let her in my room Tay but it wasn't how you think. The girl was standing in the hall in the middle of the night pathetically scratching on my door like a groupie. I didn't want any attention because of the way she was carrying on so I let her in," Chad explained, now tears of his own starting form.

"And once she tricked her way inside she what? Attacked you?"

"Hell yes she attacked me! And if you want the whole truth, she did it twice!" Chad confessed, not caring that he wasn't helping his cause only that it was all out in the open once and for all.

"Twice!" Taylor screamed. "You let that girl put her hands and lips on you more than once?"

"Hello! I didn't let her do anything. There is a big difference between being attacked and being a willing participant. Didn't you of all people just learn that from dealing with Julian? Marissa's cousin? Isn't that how it was just yesterday at Thanksgiving?" Chad reminded, hating how they were so at odds over the last two people who deserved even a minute of their time or caring.

The statement about Julian struck a chord in Taylor who, although still crying, had been faced with an undeniable truth that, if she were being fair, removed most if not all of the blame from Chad.

He was absolutely right. What was the difference between what Julian had done to her, twice, versus what he claimed Marissa had done to him? Photographic proof?

In Taylor 's case, Kelsi had been her eyewitness account of Julian's unseemly behavior. Did the fact that she had a living breathing person there to corroborate her side of things, to admit that she did not lead Julian on or willingly participate in his advances on her make her situation more acceptable or understandable than what Chad was trying to convince her of so desperately right now?

Taylor laid her head against the door and sighed. What was worse, the more she regained rational thought, was the fact that she really didn't have a right to be so angry with Chad about keeping what happened in Chicago a secret, when he still didn't know about Julian attacking her in Mr. Wilson's class the day before Thanksgiving.

Suddenly, everything went silent…Chad …Taylor ...everything.

Then came the sound of Troy's voice from the bottom of the stairs, where he and Gabriella had been standing the entire time their best friends had argued, feeling that it was now finally safe to speak.

"Hey Chad? Are you and Taylor okay?" he asked.

Walking over to the stairs as he wiped away his tears, Chad looked down and nodded.

"Yeah man. We're fine. Why don't you and Brie head on down to the barbecue. I'm sure the others are wondering where we are. Just tell them we'll be along in a minute."

"Are you sure?" Troy double-checked.

"Yeah. I'm sure. I think the bulk of the storm has passed," Chad answered, believing his words to be true.

"Okay. We'll go then," Troy said, taking Gabriella's hand ready to leave.

Chad watched them start to walk away and was about to head back to dealing with Taylor, when Gabriella dropped Troy's hand and ran to the bottom of the stairs again.

"Chad?" she said in a soft voice, the anger there before now gone.

"Yeah?"

"I'm sorry. I shouldn't have been so mean and judgmental toward you," Gabriella apologized. "I know better than anyone how much you love Taylor."

"No worries Brie. You're still my girl," he said giving her a thumbs up.

"Thanks Chad," Gabriella said with a relieved smile.

"Correction buddy…she's still my girl," Troy laughed as Gabriella rejoined him at the door.

Both waved up at him and then they were gone.

Chad resumed his mission to get to Taylor who had said nothing in the last few minutes but still remained out of his reach. He knocked on her door again, only this time he felt hopeful they'd be okay and that so this too would pass.

"Tay ? Can I come in now? Can we finally talk about this like we talk about everything else? Together…face-to-face."

There was another moment of silence and the fear that he'd been wrong, that she was going to continue shutting him out literally and emotionally crept over Chad once more. Then, like a miracle, he heard the lock on the door turn and the next thing he knew there she was standing before him.

She wanted to say something to let him know that she had been wrong and that she believed him but all Taylor could do was throw herself into his arms, hold on tight, and never ever let go. It was all Chad needed as he held her back with all his might, the both of them standing in the middle of the room like two people who couldn't bear to be without the other for now and always.

As they stood swaying against one another, letting everything they felt for one another fuse them together mind, body, heart and soul, Chad and Taylor, to their great surprise started to laugh. In fact, they laughed so loud and hard wrapped in each other's arms that had someone seen them together they would have assumed they had just shared the greatest joke in history.

"Wow! That was a huge one wasn't it?" Taylor was the first to speak, referring to their fight. "We really went at it didn't we?"

"Yep, we sure did," Chad agreed. "I was so terrified that I was on the verge of losing you for good."

"So was I," Taylor confessed. "When I saw that picture I just lost it even though I knew deep down inside it had to be a lie."

"Had to be and is," Chad assured her with complete sincerity. "After the way we fought right before I went on that trip, the last thing I wanted to do was come home and tell you something like that. I figured I had taken care of things and that it was a done deal. Boy was I stupid."

Taylor pulled back from their embrace, looked him in the eye and this kissed him with her whole heart.

"You aren't anymore stupid when it comes to Marissa than I was with Julian," she said. "Twice too by the way."

Chad looked at her confused. "What do you mean twice Tay?"

"I mean that Thanksgiving wasn't the first time Julian attacked me, just like his cousin attacked you. The day before he'd come on to me in Mr. Wilson's class. It was awful. If it weren't for Kelsi walking by and seeing the whole thing and coming in to put a stop to it I don't know what would have happened."

"Why that..." Chad began but Taylor stopped him.

"I know. And I should have told you. I was just so scared of what you might do to him if you knew the truth.

"I would have killed him that's what. I know that's how I felt when he pulled that stunt at Thanksgiving," Chad confessed. "If Troy hadn't been around I might have actually gone through with it."

"Exactly, which is why I'm glad Troy was there for you the same way Kelsi was there for me and why I kept what happened before a secret. Chad...Marissa and Julian are dangerous for us. They are the kind of people who could drive us to ruin our own lives just to be rid of them."

"Oh you better believe we are going to be rid of them both once and for all Tay," Chad stated so calmly it was scary. "This I promise you is the absolute last time either one of them does or says anything to harm our relationship in any way. I mean it."

Taylor drew him back into her arms, her love for him overwhelming. After a few moments they went and sat down on the bed, both knowing in their hearts that from that day forward nothing and no one would ever come between them again. A calming peace stole over them and the next thing they knew they were in each others arms again kissing. At first it was warm, soft and tender but it soon escalated into a full blown passion that neither one could or wanted to control.

They both fell backward onto the bed, their lips hungrier than they'd ever been before. Then, to Chad's total surprise, Taylor moved on top of him and started to lift his shirt from his pants. He reached for her hands and stopped them.

"Taylor, we don't have to do this" he said, his voice strained, his heart racing a mile a minute. "I love you and want to be with only you. That's what's most important to me."

She smiled down at him, perfectly aware of what she was doing and what she wanted.

"I love you too Chad. And now I know beyond a shadow of any doubt just how much. There will never be anyone for me but you. Never. That's why I want to give you all of me."

Chad gulped nervously. "All of you?"

Taylor nodded. "All of me. I want to show you how deep my love for you is Chad in every way possible. Will you let me?"

Their eyes were locked upon the other's face so intensely that neither one blinked. Then their lips came together again slowly, both feeling a joy they'd never known. Everything and everyone else completely disappeared for them and all that remained were their hearts giving, blending and melting until they were at last truly one.

It wasn't until the barbecue was nearly over, that Coach and Mrs. Bolton noticed that two in their party to be chaperoned were missing. Going over to the table where their son and his friends had spent most of the afternoon sitting, eating and talking, Coach Bolton began asking questions.

"Troy, where are Taylor and Chad?"

"What do you mean dad?" he asked, while feeding Gabriella a piece of fruit from his plate.

"I mean where are Taylor and Chad? I haven't seen them all afternoon," Coach Bolton stated, hoping the tone of his voice would pull his son's attention away from the pretty brunette at his side. "Did they even come to the barbecue?"

"Of course they came. They must be around here somewhere," Troy replied, still giving Gabriella the majority of his focus.

"No, I don't see them anywhere at all," his father pointed out as he scanned the crowd of teenagers milling about. "They do know...you all know...that you aren't allowed to be off by yourselves without permission from a chaperone right?"

"We definitely know that Coach Bolton," Sharapy jumped in for a save that she sensed was needed without knowing why. "I saw Taylor and Chad a little while ago stuffing themselves with food. I think Taylor may have overdid it. I believe I heard Chad say he was going to walk her back to the lodge so she could lay down."

"Oh really?" Coach said, not totally convinced that Sharpay was telling him the truth. "Well if that's true then maybe I should go get the nurse and have her check on Taylor just to make sure everything's alright."

"Umm...no...I'm sure she's fine by now. Probably resting up for the softball game later," Sharpay said a bit nervously. "We're headed back to the lodge now ourselves so we can check on her for you to make sure she's okay, which I'm sure she is."

"Fine. But I'm sending Ms. Phillips along with all of you so she can report back to me herself. The last thing we need is for someone to be ill and not know about it until it's too late."

"Absolutely," Sharpay agreed, as Zeke, Troy, Gabriella and the others began tossing their plates into the trash.

Coach Bolton looked around and found Ms. Phillips chatting away with Mrs. Darbus and her husband. He signaled her over.

"Lorraine would you please escort my son and his friends back to our lodge site," he asked, still feeling that something wasn't quite right. "And while you're there, please check on Taylor for me?"

"Is something wrong with Miss McKessie?" Ms. Phillips asked instantly becoming alarmed.

"Well to be honest I'm not really sure. Sharpay here claims that Taylor may have eaten something that didn't agree with her and isn't feeling her best at the moment. Supposedly, Chad took her back to the lodge to lay down."

"Oh my. Why of course I'll check on Taylor as soon as possible. Come on everyone lets get going," Ms. Phillips instructed as if the group were a bunch of fifth graders instead of high school seniors.

"What's going on?" Kelsi whispered to Ryan, Zeke, Sharpay and Jason as they fell in line behind their teacher. "Is Taylor okay?"

Troy and Gabriella were walking in front of them just a little behind Ms. Phillips, and turned to their friends.

"Chad and Taylor had a fight earlier and needed to be alone to work things out is all," Gabriella whispered back. "Everything is fine now I'm sure."

"A fight? Over what?" Sharpay probed in a low voice.

"It's not important. Just make sure that if it looks like they need covering for we see that it's done," Troy advised softly. "The last thing we need is for the two of them to get into trouble over nothing."

"Well after the way your father was asking questions, we'd better see to it that none of us breaks the "too long out of a chaperone's sight" rule from here on out," Sharpay sugggested firmly. "That's a major no-no that could get people sent home."

When the group finally arrived back at the lodge site 10 minutes later, Ms. Phillips' radar up and at the ready just as Coach Bolton had strongly recommended, they found Chad and Taylor sitting on the steps of the girls' building holding hands and talking.

"Are you feeling better Miss McKessie?" Ms. Phillips inquired, rushing up to where they sat, both dreamy-eyed and wearing goofy grins on their faces.

"Umm...excuse me Ms. Phillips?" Taylor asked, barely able to take her attention away from Chad.

"Are you feeling better dear? Coach Bolton was concerned that you might have eaten something at the barbecue that made you ill. He personally asked that I check on you and report your condition back to him."

"But we were't at the..." Chad began but stopped when he saw Troy flagging him down behind her back and mouthing the word no.

"What was that Mr. Danforth?" Ms. Phillips asked, now directing her attention on him instead of Taylor.

"Oh...well...ummm...yes she was feeling a little sick to her stomach...and I offered to walk her back to lay down for a while. But she's fine now. Mamam," Chad replied, hoping he gave the right answer.

"I'm glad to hear that. However, the next time someone needs assistance, you need to let one of the chaperones know so we can handle things as per protocol," Ms. Phillips informed in a motherly fashion.

"Yes mamam. Sorry, it was my fault. I should have thought to do that before I asked Chad to bring me back," Taylor advised, wanting to laugh so hard she could barely stand it.

"Very well Ms. McKessie. No harm done. Now why don't you all take some downtime for yourselves before the softball game begins in an hour or so," Ms. Phillips suggested, relieved that there was nothing for her to be concerned about any longer. "I'm going to be in my lodge if anyone needs anything. Coach Bolton, Mrs. Bolton and Mr. Wilson should be along shortly."

"Sure thing Ms. P," Jason answered for the group, causing them all to give him the "look" as they usually had to do in Darbus' class when he seemed to be unintentionally sucking up. "Anything happens, you'll be the first to know."

"Why thank you Jason," Ms. Phillips said as she gave them all the once over and then walked away.

When she'd finally gone inside, everyone looked at each other and then fell out laughing.

"Okay, what in the heck was that all about?" Chad asked when he was finally able to catch his breath, knowing he and Taylor had somehow barely missed escaping trouble.

"That was about the fact that neither you or McKessie were present at the barbecue," Sharpay replied, going to take a seat on one of the plush lounge chairs behind them with Zeke in tow. "You have no idea how we had to cover for you two with Coach Bolton who was laying down a major inquisition."

"Yeah you guys, what happened to you?" Kelsi asked, as she, Ryan and Jason, followed Sharpay and Zeke up onto the deck to sit as well. "I almost started to get worried myself."

"Oh I'm sorry Kel," Taylor aplogized. "We didn't mean to make anyone worry or get into trouble. Chad and I were just talking and lost track of time."

"Yeah...we just lost track of time," Chad said with a huge grin, as he leaned in to give Taylor a kiss that brought a blush to her cheeks.

"Well the next time you two decide to lose track of time it could very well be your one-way ticket back home," Sharpay reminded them sternly. "Like I already told everyone else, do not go without being under supervision too long. It's makes the grown-ups nervous."

"No worries Shar," Gabriella said, enjoying the sight of happiness glowing on Chad's and Taylor's faces. "We all promise to be good boys and girls from here on out."

"Yep, cross our hearts," Troy said, crossing his heart and laughing.

"Well just make sure of that because we've still got two more days of senior weekend to enjoy and I don't want anyone breaking any rules that could mess with that," Sharpay warned.

"Aye! Aye! Seargent Evans," Gabriella teased, giving her friend a salute, before winking at Chad and Taylor.

"So tell me..." Troy began, ready to change the subject as he came up behind Gabriella and put his arms around her waist. "Just how badly are we planning to beat the team we're up against in the softball game?"