THE SOMEDAY TRILOGY: THIS MOMENT
AN:
I offer the following as an explanation, not as an excuse. There is no excuse for the delay on this chapter, nothing to make it excusable. I don't have a sob story. I've been working but not millions of hours. I have been on winter vacation from uni so I haven't been studying. Simply between real life being busy, my muse being uncooperative and then delivering this to my beta reader right as her own life was so incredibly busy, this chapter has been a monster in the making. It's not even worth the wait, it seriously isn't, it's one of those filler chapters and under normal circumstances I can defend their place within a story – the journey from A to B isn't always very exciting and that reflects real life – but after not updating for so long, I hate that this is all I have to deliver. I told myself I'd never apologise for chapters being late and really mean it, if I've ever apologised before it's been a bit token and I've honestly believed that I have the right to update as often as I like and am capable of doing so. But when I say sorry now, I mean it very sincerely.
The nominations list is now up and voting has opened at the High School Musical FanFiction awards at communitydotlivejournaldotcomslashintothelines. Whereas I am grateful and humbled by the nominations I have received, I do not offer this as a form of self public relations because truly right now I don't think I deserve any sort of accolade at all. Rather I offer this information so that you guys can go and support all of the other amazing authors out there that I am so in awe of, who have this ability to deliver brilliant work on such a consistent basis.
Chapter 37
I've seen that bright light
And it's shining on my destiny
Shining all the time, and I won't be afraid
To follow everywhere it's taking me
All I know is yesterday is gone
And right now I belong
To this moment, to my dreams
Hilary Duff 'Someone's Watching Over Me'
Gabriella bound down the staircase after finishing her phone call with Troy on Saturday afternoon. Kelsi, Zeke and Jason were all seemingly hard at work at the dining table.
"Sorry about that," she said brightly, not really feeling particularly sorry.
"How's Troy's weekend been going?" Zeke asked.
"Good. He was a bit stressed. He's going to meet with the coach one on one soon."
"Eh, he'll be fine," Jason said dismissively. "He'll go in and they'll love him and offer him full tuition and a Porsche and a spot starting as point guard and a captaincy in his second year."
Gabriella raised her eyes. "Okay, um, he's my boyfriend and even my belief in him isn't so naive to think that would happen."
"Okay, maybe not the Porsche," Jason conceded.
Zeke snorted slightly and Kelsi hid a small smile.
"Anyway. Let's get back to work. From what I hear, there's plenty to do," Gabriella said, putting on her school teacher voice on. It was a voice that she tended to adopt whenever leading her friends in some sort of study tutorial. "Zeke, why don't you show me the questions that you've done since I went upstairs?"
She hadn't been on the phone for that long, but it was long enough that he should have at least attempted a handful of his math questions. Zeke coughed and then cleared his throat. "Well... uh... I was um... I was stuck so..."
He was attempting to shield his work but Gabriella peered over to see some highly skilled margin doodling, borderline being a piece of artwork. She let out a sigh. "Jason, what about you?"
Jason didn't attempt to be coy, but informed her proudly, "Well, I didn't get any of the math done, but I did do this stuff for my film exam." He gestured to the notes that he'd made.
"Guys, I thought the whole point of today was that you wanted tutoring in math!" Gabriella said, rolling her eyes. She had no problem helping out her friends – she liked being able to utilise her intelligence for something good. But she didn't want to have to act like a school teacher, reprimanding the guys and having to coerce them into studying.
"We do!" Zeke said, nodding firmly. "We just... needed to warm up our brains, you know?"
"And doodling in your margins is the way to do that?"
He grinned sheepishly at her and shrugged. "I'll start now. I promise. I just like having you here so that if I get stuck then I can help. You couldn't help while you were upstairs."
"You won't have me in the exam," she reminded him.
"I know. I'm starting now," Zeke said, gesturing to where his pen was now actually on the main section of the page. "See?"
Kelsi was keeping out of the discussion. She'd anticipated this from Jason and Zeke. She was merely concentrating on doing her own work, attempting to tune them out. In fact she'd separated herself, sitting down the opposite end of the dining table. She wasn't there to be tutored, she and Gabriella had just decided to study together and the boys had tagged along.
Gabriella was pacing backwards and forwards behind where Zeke and Jason were sitting side by side, keeping a constant eye on their pages.
"Gabriella? You don't need to baby sit us," Jason said finally.
"I'm not babysitting. I'm... supervising," Gabriella said tactfully.
"Which is also totally not necessary," Zeke added.
"Guys, you asked if you could come study here so I can help you. I leave you alone for ten minutes and you get nothing done. What do you expect me to do?" Gabriella asked, rolling her eyes. "I'm not going to get stuck into my own work because I like to work without being interrupted. And I don't mind being asked questions, but it just means that I'm going to supervise if that is what I feel like doing."
"You'd be an awesome teacher, you have that school teacher tone down really well," Jason mused. "It's like... firm, but caring. It's good."
"Um... I can't decide if that's a compliment or an insult..."
"It's a compliment."
"Actually, you and Taylor both totally have that tone down..." Jason continued to contemplate.
The room went quiet, Kelsi glancing up from her work and eyes widening slightly. Zeke elbowed Jason, who let out a grunt. "What the hell was that for?"
Zeke made a face at him, trying to silently explain to his sometimes dense friend that bringing up Taylor was not a great idea.
Gabriella sighed. "You don't have to tread on eggshells around me. I'm not going to like, start crying or go into a bad mood because you mention Taylor. It's fine. Really and truly."
"Gabriella?" Zeke said a little hesitantly. "I've stayed out of this but can I offer my opinion just once and once only?"
Gabriella folded her arms across her chest as she sat down across from the guys. She'd indicated that she was blasé about the whole matter but the tense expression which filled her features indicated otherwise. "Okay, go ahead," she said, somewhat warily.
"Talk to her," Zeke said simply.
"Talk to her? That's your opinion?" Gabriella said, eyebrows cocked.
"Yes. Talk to her. You're not some wicked bitch from the west and neither is she. It's been a week. Talk to her. "
Gabriella softened a little. "Let's say I wanted to talk to her... I don't know if she'd listen. It seems to me like Taylor is happy to just forget that I even exist."
"No she's not. I talked to her today... I ran into her near the grocery store," Zeke explained. "And we talked and.... she doesn't want to forget that you exist. Really."
"Did she say that?" There was no mistaking the hopeful glimmer in Gabriella's tone.
"Well, not directly, but I can feel it either way. It's like you're both over the actual issue and this is all just both of you being stubborn and you're playing some weird game with each other, waiting to see who is gonna make the first move."
"You know, I talked to Martha last night," Kelsi said quietly. "It made things a bit better."
"You did? That's really good," Jason said, smiling at his girlfriend.
"Yeah, she called me to apologise actually, and it sounded really genuine. But I've kinda been feeling like something has been up for a while so I guess that's different."
"You keep saying that but you also keep avoiding talking to her about it," Jason pointed out.
Kelsi sighed. "Yeah, I know."
"I'm glad that Martha apologised to you Kelsi, but I think that you're dealing with an entirely different scenario," Gabriella said.
She was attempting to be tactful, but Kelsi wasn't stupid. She narrowed her eyes. "You know something."
Gabriella blinked. "Um, yes, I know lots of things. I know that pi is 3.141592653589..."
"I've been telling you for ages that I feel like something is up with Martha and you know what is going on, don't you?" Kelsi said incredulously, ignoring Gabriella's nervous and pathetic attempt to divert her attention. She rose from her place at the head of the table and moved to sit beside Gabriella.
"Look, it's none of my business," Gabriella said, a little desperately. "So I'd rather you just forget I said anything."
"Well now I can't forget because you're admitting it! It's not a figment of my imagination, there is something going on, and it is something to do with me. Isn't it?"
Gabriella winced. "Umm..."
"It is! I knew it!" Kelsi was partially triumphant and partially freaking out and partially desperate to uncover the truth. "You can't just tell me this much, you have to tell me now, you have to tell me everything that you know because this is not fair because Martha is meant to be my best friend and yet she's keeping secrets from me? What the hell is up with that?"
Jason and Zeke weren't even pretending to focus on their study notes, instead blatantly watching the exchange between the girls.
"Kelsi, I really cannot tell you."
"Gabriella. I've spent the last week supporting you and defending you, I picked a fight of my own with Martha and Taylor. You owe me this." Kelsi didn't like using this as a form of inducing guilt from Gabriella because it had been her decision entirely to become involved in the Taylor and Gabriella dispute in the way she had. But that was her point of desperation. Obviously Gabriella had loyalty and had been entrusted with particular information, but Kelsi was livid. She had to know. There was no option but to find out.
"Kelsi... I can't... not... not here..." Gabriella said, clutching at straws. "Let's talk about it later, okay?"
"No, we're talking about it now." Kelsi propelled herself out of the chair and grabbed onto Gabriella's hand to pull her up too. "We'll go upstairs if you can't talk about it here." The petite musician was pulling Gabriella along, a wave of stubborn determination having overcome her. She'd been worrying about this matter for weeks now, and it was time to put it to rest. She glanced back over her shoulder. "Don't you two even think about eavesdropping! And study your math stuff! Now!"
"Yes ma'am," Zeke said, saluting.
"That was kinda hot, Kelsi being all... dominating..." Jason said lowly to Zeke, watching after the girls.
Kelsi dragged Gabriella upstairs and into her bedroom, closing the door behind them.
"Kelsi..." Gabriella began to say.
Kelsi raised her hand, palm facing up, silencing Gabriella. "I know you don't want to tell me because you've been told to keep a secret but... this is so unfair. I... I just really need to know."
Gabriella bit her lip. Truthfully, she thought that Kelsi had the right to know. And the guilt trip had worked, she did feel a certain loyalty toward Kelsi at that moment.
"If I tell you..." Gabriella said slowly. "You have to swear that you're not going to tell anyone that I told you. In fact, just swear that you'll keep it to yourself. Because it's really not a big deal. I mean at first it's going to sound like a big deal, but it's not."
"I won't tell anyone! I swear! I just need to know!"
Gabriella nodded. "Sit down," she said, gesturing to the edge of her bed.
Kelsi complied obediently, staring up at Gabriella as she paced and wrung her hands.
"Okay. So... you haven't been imagining things. Martha may have been inadvertently seeming like she was acting a little strangely toward you. It's not really about you though, it's... vicariously about you," Gabriella attempted to explain. "She's not mad at you, in the slightest. In fact it's the opposite, she's very loyal toward you, and..."
"Gabriella," Kelsi said quietly, urging her to get on with it.
Gabriella took in a deep breath, exhaled slowly, and then sat down on the bed beside Kelsi.
"Since you and Jason first began to go out... Martha... she um... okay. I'll just say it. She began to develop feelings for Jason."
Gabriella stopped talking, allowing her words to sink in. Kelsi's expression was one of pure shock, her eyes widened, mouth gaping open a little. "Martha... likes Jason? My... my boyfriend Jason? Martha my best friend?"
Gabriella nodded, gnawing at her lower lip. "I found out about it just before Christmas. It hurts her a lot, I think she... I think her crush is pretty serious. But she doesn't do anything about it, she's not planning to. You know Martha... even if she liked a guy that wasn't seeing someone, I doubt she'd have the confidence to actually do something about it. But she feels guilty, you know? Because you're seeing him."
Kelsi was floored. Of all things that had crossed her mind, this was not one of them. She really wasn't sure why it wasn't something she'd ever really thought about. Jason was attractive, he was popular, he was a really nice guy. Sure there were times when he wasn't the brightest crayon in the box, but that didn't matter to Kelsi and so it surely wouldn't matter to other girls. But of all people, Martha, to have to face this predicament against.
"I don't know what to say," Kelsi said quietly.
"I guess the important thing is that you shouldn't be mad at her... I think that's what she's scared of."
"I'm not mad," Kelsi said immediately, shaking her head vehemently. "That's... that's insane. You can't help how you feel about someone. It's just... weird. Awkward, kinda."
Gabriella nodded. "Exactly what it's like for her. Awkward."
"You know when things make sense in hindsight? This... this fits. I can think back to times when she suddenly said something off or weird.... it was always when I was talking about Jason, you know?"
"Yeah," Gabriella said quietly, sympathetically.
Sharpay was sitting on a toilet seat, lid closed, in the Juilliard bathroom. She'd had one of the most intense mornings of her life. She'd been allocated to her room according to last name, with two sets of group warm ups taking place simultaneously. They'd had some time to ask questions of some existing Juilliard drama students, been allocated their individual audition time, and then the group warm up had taken place. Sharpay's individual audition wasn't scheduled until noon to her absolute dismay, and she'd intended to segregate herself in the corner but found herself talking to the other auditionees as they waited, surprising herself by enjoying herself and keeping calm. It was nice being surrounded by other people as driven as herself. Her audition finally arrived, the entire thing a blur. She was one of the final auditions, and then there was going to be at least a half hour wait until the list of performers who were being selected for the March call back would go up. After a half hour, they were told another fifteen minutes would be required, and it was officially the longest fifteen minutes of her life.
And then finally, the sheet went up. There were only a handful of names on it.
Barrett, S
Chang, P
Evans, S
Matheson, T
Sharpay had blinked, rubbed her eyes – forgetting she was wearing make up – and then stared at the sheet again.
She'd done it. Round One, completed. She had nailed a call back.
She hadn't screamed, she hadn't cried. People were around her, patting her back and shaking her hand and congratulating her. And Sharpay had escaped to the bathroom, escaped to find some solitude, needing the peace and quiet to allow the information to completely process.
She slipped her Blackberry out, the cool metal feeling so natural against the skin of the palm of her hand, and dialled one of her speed dials.
Zeke and Jason had obeyed Kelsi for a little while, both actually working on a couple of their practice questions. But then inevitably they both became distracted.
"They've been up there for ages," Jason commented.
Zeke shrugged. "Eh. All this drama. Better off to keep it up there. It's probably nothing, it's probably like... Martha stole one of Kelsi's hair scrunchies and she feels guilty. And it's escalated into all this crap that you and I, my friend, are better off staying far away from."
"You're probably right," Jason agreed.
Zeke's phone began ringing, and he pulled it out of his pocket and glanced down, surprised to see the caller ID.
"Hey!" he exclaimed, answering the phone and heading to move out of the room.
"I got a callback," Sharpay's small, somewhat shaken up voice informed him.
"You... you got a call back?" Zeke repeated.
"Uh huh. I... I got a callback. Me. I got a call back." It was as though as she was informing him, the information was sinking in. "I got a call back!"
Zeke was fascinated by her innocent incredulousness, her disbelief. Sharpay so frequently presented the guise of being so confident that when a lack of self belief shone through, it stood out. But he was too excited for her to contemplate it.
"Sharpay! That is incredible!" Zeke exclaimed. "You should be jumping up and down excited crazy happy out of your mind!"
"I'm in shock," her truthful answer came. "I'm... I kind of can't believe it. I pinched my arm thinking that maybe it's a dream and I haven't actually auditioned yet."
"Well if that's the case then we're both dreaming and having this dream where we talk to each other on the phone."
"I... I got a call back. They liked me. They want to see me again."
"You sound surprised!"
"I kind of... I had to build myself to believe that I wasn't going to get in. Just in case I didn't..."
"Well you're halfway there."
"I... I should call Ryan."
"He's not there?"
"No, my mom and Ry are somewhere nearby waiting for me to call them."
"Then go! Go call them," Zeke insisted.
"Okay... I will... but... Zeke?"
His breath hitched. "Yeah?"
"Thank you."
"I didn't do anything, though."
"You did a lot without even realising it. And I really um... I appreciate it."
It wasn't a common occurrence for Sharpay to thank someone, to acknowledge that someone helped her. Zeke knew that, and hearing those words from her meant a lot to him.
"You're welcome," he said simply. "Now go on! Go call Ryan. Have a great weekend celebrating and I'll see you on Monday."
"Okay. I'll text you later."
A silly grin plastered on his face, Zeke could have practically skipped back into the dining room. Just as he reentered the room, Gabriella and Kelsi were taking their seats back at the table. They had slightly solemn expressions on their faces.
"Is everything okay?" Jason asked Kelsi.
She nodded. "Yeah... it was nothing. Just like you've been saying."
He grinned broadly. "Told you." He leaned over and kissed her on the cheek. "Everything is gonna be fine."
Kelsi's smile was a little forced, but Jason didn't realise that anything was different to normal.
"Guess what?" Zeke asked excitedly, before adding quickly, "No don't guess, I'll just tell you! Sharpay got a call back! Juilliard want her back for the next round of auditions in a couple of months!"
"Oh wow, that's amazing! Good for her!" Kelsi exclaimed, genuinely happy for her. Despite all differences between the drama queen and the quiet composer, they shared a commonality of a desire to get into Juilliard and Kelsi knew just how exclusive the school was.
"How did you know that? Didn't she like, just audition this morning?" Gabriella asked, raising her eyebrows.
"Um, yeah. She just called me," Zeke said, hesitating a little. He'd been so excited to share the news that it had sort of slipped his mind that his friends didn't actually know that he was on close speaking terms with Sharpay.
"She called you to tell you that she got a call back? Like, right after she would have found out?" Gabriella repeated.
"Umm yeah. We've..." Zeke exhaled. "We've been talking a bit lately. And I helped her one day this week with her audition piece so I guess maybe she just wanted to let me know. We didn't even talk long, just really briefly just then, ask JC, I wasn't on the phone that long. She had to go call Ryan to tell him."
Without realising what he'd just said, in his attempt to defend himself, Zeke merely put himself under a more intensive microscope.
"She called you before she let her twin brother know?" Gabriella asked, eyes widening further.
"Dude!" Jason said, clapping his friend on the back. "I don't like all the secret keeping going on here today, but dude, nice! Have you hooked in?"
"We're just friends!" Zeke said quickly nad firmly.
"Friends... and you've been to the movies and she calls you before she lets her brother know about the most important thing in her life?" Kelsi asked, eyebrow cocked.
"What... what about the movies?" Zeke asked, slightly taken aback. "How... how did you know about that?"
"Sharpay might have told me."
"Sharpay told you?! Sharpay was talking about me? What did she say?" Zeke asked desperately.
"She was coy but I think she just wanted to tell someone about it. She'd commented about seeing me and Jason at the movies and it came out that she'd been there with you," Kelsi told him truthfully.
"I can't believe you hadn't told me! You knew about this?" Jason asked, looking straight at Kelsi. "So you had this secret, and Zeke was keeping a secret, and Gabriella has some secret. Why don't I know any of these secrets?"
"Because you blab secrets accidentally," Zeke said, rolling his eyes. "And seriously, it's not a big deal. So like, there's no need to make a big deal out of it. Or to tell Chad and Troy."
"Why don't you want Chad and Troy to know?" Gabriella asked, confused.
"Because they'll give me shit about it, like they always have. And... and we're just friends."
"But you're into her?" Jason asked.
Zeke looked a little sheepish. "Well yeah."
"That's great! Who gives a fuck what Troy and Chad think? It's your life," Jason said vehemently.
"Zeke... I don't know Sharpay that well, but I can tell you that you must be pretty important to her if she called you personally, before calling Ryan, to tell you that she got a call back," Gabriella said seriously.
He blinked, somewhat taken aback. "What are you saying?"
"I'm just saying... I don't know. Just saying exactly what I said," Gabriella said.
"She's saying that you should go for it!" Jason said, exasperated. "You tried baking her cookies and fawning over her and it never really worked. And now she is into you and you're pussy footing around talking about how you're just friends? Dude, grow some balls!"
"Is that what you're saying?" Zeke asked Gabriella, his eyebrows furrowing.
"I don't know if I would have said it like that but... kind of," she admitted.
Zeke was feeling a little overwhelmed. There were times when he allowed himself to believe that maybe she really was into him, when they'd have those moments of electricity. But he pushed it aside because this girl had been plaguing him for so long that he didn't trust himself to be entirely objective. But hearing these words from other people... his brain wasn't quite sure how to process the information.
"Let's study," he said, deciding that it wasn't the place or time. "I can't... I don't want to think about this now. I need to study." He glanced toward Kelsi and Gabriella. "Are you girls cool, by the way?"
"Yeah, everything is fine," Kelsi said quickly. "Let's just study."
The Montez dining room became quiet once again. However there was a thickness to the air. Kelsi looked troubled. Zeke was deep in thought. Gabriella was feeling a horrible feeling in her tummy, guilty for having revealed the secret to Kelsi, and also having Zeke's pleas that she should bite the bullet and just talk to Taylor plaguing her mind.
A half hour can make the world of difference.
Troy was gingerly making his way around the college party at Butler. The boys had pulled off a commanding win against Cleveland State, and they were celebrating in style – and with copious amounts of alcohol. Midterms were coming up for both the high school visitors and the college students, and a good spirited party was in order to get everyone through the upcoming weeks. There was a live covers band and both jungle juice and beer was utilised both for average consumption out of red plastic cups, as well as through beer hats, and within the context of various drinking games. The January Indianapolis chill hadn't kept away a number of scantily clad girls who were choosing to keep warm by dancing and rubbing up against a dance partner of choice.
Troy wasn't innocent, he'd drank, he'd been drunk, he'd engaged in public displays of affection – but he could only imagine what March Madness would be like at Butler.
"Hey kid, come play some pong!" a merry voice called to him.
Troy glanced over at a game of beer pong that was taking place just beyond a couch where there were two couples who had escalated their activity from making out to something more.
"Um, maybe later, just gonna go take a leak," Troy lied, making up an excuse and escaping from the area, heading toward a bathroom to at least put up the guise that he did in fact need to use the facilities.
It was Troy's fourth college party – not a bad total for a high school student. He'd been to one in this junior year not long before Christmas. A couple of the seniors on his basketball team were friends with some ex Wildcats who were freshman at the University of New Mexico and they'd scored entry to a gathering. He'd also been to a party over summer hosted by some of the Redhawks – although he hadn't really been able to enjoy it, knowing at the time that his friends and girlfriend weren't particularly happy with him. The third had been at New Mexico State in Las Cruces where he'd had an awesome time, a significant reason for that being that it was him and Chad, hanging out, having an awesome time.
Two out of three had been a good score, and he'd been hoping to make it three of four. However a couple of hours in and Troy had to admit he wasn't particularly having the greatest time. It was fine, he'd completed the contents of his red plastic cup a few times, each time going back for a refill. But he just didn't quite feel like he belonged. He had a buzz, but his mood hadn't really elevated. Instead he was finding himself wishing that he was with his friends and girlfriend.
Cup of beer in hand, he found himself wandering down a hallway until he was far enough away from the music that he could both think and hear, and he fished his cell phone out of his pocket. He dialled a familiar number, and to his surprise, upon the other end picking up, all he could hear was noise at the other end of the line.
"Hello?" Troy said questioningly.
"Hoops? Is that you?" Chad's slightly slurred voice came over the phone.
Troy smirked. "Yeah man. Having a good night?"
"Hell yeah! Fuck man, why aren't we sneaking into college parties every weekend?" Chad asked.
Troy laughed. "Um, because our girlfriends wouldn't allow it?"
"Okay fair enough. But I.... yes!!! Chug chug chug!" He was somewhat distracted, breaking off midsentence.
"You sound pretty hammered," Troy said with an amused chuckle.
"Fuck... Hoops... I don't even know how many beers I've had," Chad slurred. "Why aren't you more hammered?"
"Um, I will be. I've had a few," Troy said casually. "I have to see my dad in the morning, remember."
Chad laughed. "That's right. Sucked in."
"Shut up. So you like it up there?"
"Troy... dude seriously... I think this is it." Even in his drunken state, Troy could sense the seriousness in Chad's tone.
"That's awesome man."
"You liking Butler?"
"Umm... yeah it's fine," Troy said, not particularly excited.
"You don't sound that into it... oh beer pong! Yes!"
"Dude, you go. Have a great night," Troy said, deciding it was pointless trying to maintain a conversation with Chad.
"You too! Drink more beer!"
Chad's parting words in mind, Troy headed back into the party toward the keg, making some small talk along the way to refilling his plastic cup. But ultimately he knew that his heart wasn't in it and instead of immersing himself back in the party, he found himself upstairs and into the dorm room he'd been frequenting. As he walked, he pulled his cell out of his jeans pocket once more, flipping it open and smiling at the sight of the wallpaper. When he reached the dorm room, he perched himself onto the edge of the low fold out bed and traced his finger lovingly over the photo. It was a simple candid, a photo he'd taken of Gabriella one day at lunch when she was in the midst of a giggle fit at something Chad had said.
It took about a second of contemplation for Troy to dial her number.
"Hello?" Gabriella's greeting was a little tentative.
"Hey baby," Troy greeted her.
"Should I be worried that you're calling me from the party?"
Troy laughed, knowing she was recalling the teasing conversation from earlier in the day. "No. Can you hear any noise in the background?"
"No. Which just means that you're already in the dorm room. Although, you do sound rather sober..."
"I am in the dorm room, it's impossible to hear down there and I wanted to talk to you. And I've had a few drinks but that's all."
Gabriella twigged instantly that Troy wasn't feeling himself. "Troy? What's wrong?"
"Nothing is wrong!" he insisted. "I just... I don't know."
"Talk to me." Her tone was insistent, yet soothing. "I can hear you're not feeling right. You can tell me now, or I can pry it out of you, you choose."
He sighed. "Maybe it's because I know I have to see my dad in the morning. I don't know. It's just weird. I'd rather be partying with my friends, you know? These guys are nice and everything but I'm not a part of their clique and the social interaction feels a bit forced, like they feel obliged to be talking to me. I had so much fun at the New Mexico State party because Chad was there and we were running around being stupid."
"There's no rule that says that you have to get smashed and have an awesome time at this party. I know that they make it a part of the tradition, but you wouldn't actually choose a school on the basis of its party culture, would you? A party is a party, beer is beer, music is music."
"Yeah, I know. I was just looking forward to it. Jason's party next weekend should be awesome though. It won't just be me wandering around trying to fit in."
"College will be a culture shock for you, won't it? Having to work out where you fit in..."
Troy swallowed. "Yeah. I try not to think about it. I don't know how you've done it time and time again."
"I didn't. East High is the first school I've really felt like I belong at for a few years."
Troy smiled sadly. As grateful as he was that his girlfriend had found a home at East High, it didn't please him hearing about the troubles of her past.
"Are you busy? I don't want to keep you from anything," he said, voice filled with concern.
"Just reading. The plot isn't going to change if I leave the book until later. I'm all yours."
"It's funny, even when you're not at a party I'm at, I find myself escaping to hang with you," Troy noted ironically.
"You'd better be careful or you'll lose your party boy rep," she teased.
He snorted slightly. "Party boy rep? Hardly. More likely the rep of the guy who disappears a few hours into the party with his super hot girlfriend."
The young couple continued to talk quietly, not really about anything in particular. Gabriella was avoiding telling Troy about any of the occurrences during her study session with their friends, knowing it was all information she'd rather not talk about over the phone and especially not while he was a little tipsy.
"I keep thinking about Thursday afternoon," Troy said, somewhat abruptly.
"Thursday afternoon as in, when we were at your house in your room Thursday afternoon?"
"Yup," Troy said, popping the 'p' sound. "It was... really really hot."
"We um... didn't exactly do anything different."
"It's always hot."
"Troy... why are you talking about this?"
"You haven't thought about what we were talking about..."
"I thought you were kidding!"
"Don't you think it would be hot to do this? To listen to each other... don't be coy, I know you do it. Not as often as me, sure, but..."
"In theory... okay. I guess I admit it would be hot. But... I... my mom is here Troy!"
"So you've never while she's been home?" Troy countered.
"But that's different! I... I need to keep quiet. And you want me to... to talk to you and..."
"I can do all the talking baby," Troy urged. "Go lock your door."
He could hear her sigh and shuffle, and then heard a click. "Okay... fuck... I can't believe I'm doing this..."
"Cursing... that's hot," Troy said with a smirk. "Tell me what you're wearing."
As she pulled up outside of her house late Sunday afternoon, Taylor was in an excellent mood. She'd had one of the most productive, study focused weekends of her life. She'd always enjoyed studying with Martha, going back quite a few years they'd studied together and partnered up for various projects. It had been a productive weekend and she was actually pretty good head into midterms. She knew her mother wasn't meant to be home until a little later and so when she turned her key in the front door and it was unlocked, she frowned, not quite understanding.
"Mom?" Taylor called out.
She slipped off her flats at the door and placed them neatly into the shoe rack. There was no response, no sign of life even. It was possible that her mom had just failed to lock the door when leaving, but rather unlikely. She headed through the house straight toward her room, keeping her ear open for where her mom might be. When her presence was lacking, Taylor determined that she must have just forgotten to lock the door properly.
And so when she swung open her bedroom door, seeing a figure lying on her bed came as somewhat of a surprise, and she let out a shriek.
"Taylor!" Chad exclaimed.
A hand flying to her heavily beating heart, Taylor breathed a sigh of relief. "Holy crap! I thought you were a robber or murderer or something!"
"No, I'm just me," Chad said, smiling cheekily.
He sat up from his position sprawled out on her bed, rising to greet her with a soft kiss. She reciprocated, smiling into his warm kiss, before hitting him lightly on the pectoral. "How did you get in here?"
"Well no one answered when I rang the bell, and honestly I didn't feel like sitting outside and since I know you guys are really not original and keep a key in that flowerpot by the front door, I used it and came in and waited for you up here."
"I didn't see your car outside," Taylor commented.
"Oh, I drove my mom's car because she wanted to drive my car."
Taylor was a little mystified but she couldn't be bothered to probe him about the matter. She pressed another kiss to his lips, and as had been occurring of late, innocent, chaste kisses between the couple would develop into something more. Chad deepened the kiss, lips parting, tongues entwining, fingers threading through hair. They pulled apart a little breathless, foreheads touching before he pressed one final light kiss to her lips.
"I missed you this weekend. I had the most amazing time and I wished you were there all the time," he murmured.
"So you're feeling good about it? Sacramento?" Taylor asked, pulling away and sitting on the edge of her bed.
Chad sat beside her. "I am. I just... I can't explain it. I feel like it might be right for me. They're... they haven't got the greatest track record by far, and they're rebuilding this year, bringing in a lot of fresh blood, and from what they're saying, I'll get serious game time, I'll get to start. I'm good, but I'm not that good, and I'm not going to get that opportunity at many schools. And there really is a lot of promise there, like a serious amount. Oregon have called me but they aren't doing great either, they're at the bottom of their conference. New Mexico State are doing a lot better but the WAC is nowhere near as competitive and... I dunno... I just... it was a vibe. I don't know how to explain it."
"Sounds to me like you've practically made your decision," Taylor said with a small smile.
"Oh no, not by far. There's a lot of contemplating left. I wanna go on my unofficial visit to U of A, and Oregon, and maybe even check out one of the Division II schools that contacted me."
"But so far... you're moving to California."
This was the first defining moment when there was some aura of certainty to where each half of the couple may find themselves for freshman year of college. Taylor being so vehement about Harvard; Chad being excited about the prospect of attending Sacramento State.
"Taylor... don't think about it now. I don't know for sure. And for that matter – you don't know for sure where you're going to be."
"No, I don't," Taylor confessed.
Silence fell between them, a look exchanged. A look of sadness, a look of love, a look of want. Taylor pressed her lips to his once more, needing to feel him, needing his touch to make it all go away.
"When is your mom coming home?" Chad murmured in between kisses.
"Later. She's out with friends," Taylor responded a few moments later.
From chaste to deep, from deep to passionate.
"Don't you want to study?" he asked, fingers toying at the buttons of her blouse.
"After."
"After what?" he asked teasingly.
"After this."
"And what is this, precisely?"
Taylor pulled away from him, breaking away from all body contact. "Well if you need me to define it then maybe it isn't meant to happen," she teased back.
Chad grabbed onto her arm and brought her toppling down onto the bed with him, Taylor squealing as she landed on her back and he hovered above her.
"Or maybe you'll need to just remind me very specifically through actions."
Martha wasn't feeling a whole lot of pressure with her midterms. She liked to do well for personal reasons, it felt good getting back good grades in return for her effort. But in terms of grades and references counting for colleges – none of it mattered for her. She was in. She'd gotten her early acceptance to Sarah Lawrence, she'd accepted, she was in.
And so on Sunday night when her first midterm was the next morning, she had a last minute pile of revision notes to go over right before bed – under the guise that the last thing you see before you go to sleep being retained within your memory – and other than that, she was pretty much relaxing. She had some music on in the background and was chilling at her computer, flicking from her Facebook to AIM to a celebrity blog.
When her cell phone began to ring, she was fairly surprised. Taylor had left her house not that long ago and she didn't exactly have the most comprehensive list of numbers in her phone. She bit her lip upon seeing the caller ID before sighing and answering in a slightly false cheery tone.
"Hey!"
"Martha... dude... I need your help," Jason pleaded.
"Jason, dude, with what?" Martha said, making fun of his calling her dude – but in reality it was something which stung every time.
"Math. I need you to teach it to me. I spent hours with Gabriella and Kelsi and I still don't get it."
With a sigh, Martha reached for her textbook from the year before.
"What page are you on?"
Although Troy would never admit it aloud to anyone, he was really glad to see his mother waiting at the gate at the airport. The weekend had been fairly surreal, given him a lot to think about and contemplate, and he was craving a sense of normalcy. And so being engulfed in a hug by his mother and having kisses pressed to his cheeks, as embarrassing as it was, it was precisely what he wanted – the norm.
"Mama," Troy complained, wiping at his cheek furiously where she'd most recently kissed it.
Lucille ruffled his hair playfully, seeing the smile on his face and knowing that he didn't really care and that more than anything it was a show.
"Come on, let's go, I don't want to have to pay for parking," Lucille prompted. "If we're in and out of the parking lot within twenty minutes then we won't have to pay. I parked just outside the airport until about five minutes after I saw your plane landing so we should be able to make it."
Jack narrowed his eyes. "Don't I get a greeting, your loving husband who has also been away for the weekend?"
"Of course, welcome home dear," Lucille said, kissing Jack a prompt kiss on the cheek before continuing to head toward the exit of the airport. She wrapped an arm around Troy's shoulder, mother and son falling into sync with their steps. "So how was it?"
"Yeah it was... it was okay."
She clucked slightly. "Why does that not sound positive to me?"
"Oh no, I had a great time," Troy clarified "Playing with the guys was awesome, beyond awesome.. But yeah... listening to the coach I don't know how much game time I'd get. And I just... I don't know... I don't know if that was the school."
"But it wasn't 'the one'?" Lucille asked, her tone sympathetic.
"Something like that. I'm waiting for that feeling that this is the place I'm meant to be at."
"You'll get it," Lucille said confidently. "I know you will."
"I hope so," Troy said quietly. He shrugged and added optimistically, "But you know, as far as back up options go, it's not a bad one."
"Not a bad one?" Jack said. "A rather brilliant one. They're ranking just outside the top ten, higher than any of the schools that have contacted you."
"UConn are in the top fifteen," Troy pointed out. "And rankings aren't everything. I don't want to sit on the bench for two years waiting for my chance to go on when people are injured."
Troy pulled out his cell phone, shooting off the predictable message to Gabriella to let her know that he'd landed safe and sound. They reached the vehicle in the parking lot and Jack filled the first half of the trip home with commentary about his thoughts on the various teams who'd approached Troy and their competition statistics. Troy's eyes were glued to his cell phone, his girlfriend having replied to ask him about his flight and opening the door for a conversation. Lucille noted the agitated expression on Troy's face as she glanced back at him in the rear vision mirror, sitting in the back. As soon as she could, she interjected Jack's drone of basketball related chatter to tell a story about her work shift a couple of days earlier, much to Troy's relief.
However within moments of entering their house, Troy's swell of appreciation and love for his mother had been tossed out the window.
He had gone into his room after entering from the garage with his parents, calling behind him, "So, if it is okay with you, I was just gonna toss my stuff into the laundry and then go over to Gabriella's. You know, to study." Troy wasn't really asking for permission, as long as he wasn't making plans to do something crazy like join the circus or go bungee jumping, his parents were generally fairly liberal about allowing him to come and go and he pleased.
Generally being the operative word.
"Actually, I do mind," Lucille said. Her tone was gentle, knowing Troy wouldn't be receptive. But she had anticipated this from him, and known that she needed to put her foot down.
He blinked, taken aback, and dropped his bag to the floor before marching back out of the room to where his mother was in the kitchen. "Uh, excuse me?"
"I was thinking that we could have a nice family dinner, and then I think it is best that you stay home to study for your exam tomorrow."
Troy groaned. "But mama..."
"Don't but mama me."
"For real? You're being serious?" Troy exclaimed, his cobalt eyes narrowing.
"Extremely. I have no doubt that if you go over to Gabriella's, that there will be less studying and more..." Lucille couldn't bring herself to say the words that were on her mind, and instead finished the sentence with, "procrastinating."
"Gabriella is very studious. She possibly cares more about my grades than you," Troy said very seriously, not exaggerating. Gabriella wasn't naive, she was fully aware that Troy's grand hopes of achieving brilliant grades were beyond what he was prepared to dedicate himself to achieve. But as the concept of a basketball scholarship had dangled in front of his face, essentially removing the necessity to achieve high grades, she'd kept him in line, serving the constant reminder that he still needed to pass everything.
"Well if you need her help then I'm not going to stop you from calling her," Lucille conceded.
Troy pouted. "This is so unfair."
"You'll thank me when you pass your midterms." Lucille was firm on the matter, there was simply no room for negotiation.
"What makes you think I am anything less than a hundred and ten percent prepared for them anyway?" Troy asked.
Lucille rolled her eyes. "Troy, don't forget that your father teaches at East High and that every day in the staffroom is like a parent teacher interview for him."
Jack was over by the fridge in search of a beverage, and in that moment he wished he was far away. He could feel the momentary glare from Troy. Over the years, this precise matter had been an issue that Troy had faced, that it wasn't fair that just because he had a parent teaching at a school that he should face additional scrutiny. On the whole, Jack respected that. Troy's teachers would feel the need to 'just let him know' about all sorts of incidents over the years, every time that Troy and his buddies were talking in class, every time his homework had been substandard, every time that he was tardy. Jack wouldn't react to any of it. A lot of the time he wouldn't even relay it to Lucille. But over the last few weeks, it had been evident that a couple of Troy's teachers were concerned that he was facing the potential for things to go downhill right at the end, with that syndrome of 'end of school-itis' that many regular seniors faced, seniors who actually were relying upon their academic records for acceptance into college.
Troy's eyes clouded over. "Which is totally unfair. You don't see Chad or Jason or Zeke's parents being kept regularly up to date with how they're going."
"Yes well, life is unfair. And your father and I don't harass you about it – unless some official communication takes place. But Troy... from what I hear... these midterms will be pretty important for you in a couple of these classes. You will survive not seeing Gabriella tonight. You'll regret it if you fail an exam and put yourself into a position where you might fail a class, all because you couldn't wait twelve hours to see your girlfriend."
"To see my genius girlfriend who will help me with all this studying," Troy reverted back to his original argument.
"You can argue about it and slam your door and sulk in your room all you like, but I'm not negotiating about this with you."
She was calm, and Troy knew that he was defeated. And so he did precisely what she had given him permission to do, huffing toward his room and slamming the door behind him so hard that the walls shook a little. He pouted, pacing backwards and forwards as he pulled out his cell phone and dialled her number.
"Hey!" Gabriella said brightly. "Home safe and sound?"
"My mom is a bitch," Troy complained, not even acknowledging her remark.
"Why?" her wary question came.
"She said I have to stay home and have dinner and study."
"Well it is like 7 already, and you did just get home. I kind of don't blame her."
"You're meant to be on my side!"
"I am on your side, you know I always want to see you. But it's okay. I'll be getting an early night tonight, and surely you're tired after your busy weekend. I can help you with anything you might need for our exam on the phone, but its drama tomorrow, something tells me you'll be fine."
Troy sighed. "I just wanted to see you, even if it was only briefly. I was all prepared for it. So I'm annoyed."
Gabriella made a soothing sound. "Tomorrow morning, Troy. Go to sleep early tonight and then it won't be far away at all."
"Maybe to cheer me up... we could uh... you know... repeat last night?" Troy asked suggestively.
"No." There was no room for negotiation in Gabriella's tone, she was even firmer than Lucille had been about Troy not going out.
"You didn't like it?"
"I did." He could practically hear her blushing.
"Ohh I'm so glad you admitted that. Although you may regret it. I will use that against you, you do realise?"
"What happened to my sweet, loving boyfriend? Was he abducted just after we first made love and replaced with this sex fiend?"
Troy contemplated this. "Yes."
She giggled lightly. "At least you admit it."
"It's your fault though," he said, his tone deadly serious.
"It's my fault?" she repeated.
"Yes. Entirely. You see, because this sex fiend guy – it's all about you. He's addicted to you. He can't get enough of you. If you weren't so perfect and sexy, he wouldn't be here. And you'd have your old Troy and you'd have sweet conversations and hold hands and share lovely kisses. If you want him back we can probably find him, if that is the kind of thing you want."
"How is it that you manage to flatter me and defend your horniness all in one go?"
"Because I'm very clever." She laughed again. "Seriously Gabi... last night was... holy fuck. It was really... umm... it was hot. And... I promise that for being the hottest, most amazing girlfriend on the planet, your efforts will be rewarded."
Troy smirked as he could hear her breath hitch. "Umm... good?"
"Rethinking that firm no to a repeat of last night now, are you?"
"No?" she said somewhat questioningly. "Ryan is due home any minute, and you just got home and your mom will want to pry you out to talk..."
Realistically, Troy knew that she was right, but the slight bulge in his pants was thinking otherwise. He pouted. "You're right... which I totally hate."
Gabriella mocked a gasp. "You hate me?"
"I could never hate you," Troy said seriously. "There is nothing you could ever say or do to make me hate you."
"What if I told you I was having an affair with Chase Crawford?" Gabriella teased.
Troy narrowed his eyes. "I don't know why you like him anyway. What is with his hair?" If Troy wasn't mistaken, he heard a stifled giggle at the other end of the phone. "What was that? Were you laughing at me?"
"Never," Gabriella's deadpan reply came, before her tone softened. "You know I love you. I would never leave you for Chase Crawford."
"Really?"
"Ed Westwick, on the other hand... he's fair game."
A knock came at Troy's bedroom door, and he said, "Hang on, Gabriella..." before calling out, "What?" in a bitter tone.
The door opened and Lucille was there looking at him. "Troy, dinner is ready."
"I'm not hungry," Troy said sullenly – and with the most unfortunate timing, his stomach betrayed him and grumbled.
Lucille wasn't offended by his grouchiness, and she was amused by the expression of annoyance on his face as he glanced down at his stomach angrily. "I hear otherwise. You can sit at the table and ignore me all you like, but I want you to come out now. You can call Gabriella back later."
She made a point of leaving the door open and walked back toward the kitchen.
"Did you hear that?" Troy asked Gabriella.
"Yes. Go have dinner. And talk to your mom – she's not a bitch. She's just being a mom. She probably wants to hear about your weekend."
"Fine. I'll call you after I eat," Troy promised.
"Study for a little while first, please?" she requested.
"What if I need your help?" Troy asked.
"Troy, tomorrow is our drama exam. Something tells me there isn't much I'll be able to do to help you anyway."
"I bet you have Chase Crawford at your house and I'm just interrupting you," he teased.
"Exactly. So go away."
"Fine then, I will!" he retorted, mockingly upset.
"Good!" she played along.
"Gabriella?"
"Yeah?"
"Love you."
"Love you too."