Several hours later, the Wildcat bus arrived at the cabin. It was a two-story log cabin with a mix of modern and natural amenities, which meant one could enjoy the great outdoors for as long as they desired while still being connected to today's world.

"We're here!" Coach Bolton announced to everyone, who cheered in unison. "You can all unload your stuff inside once I unlock."

As he began to approach the building, the Kings Row bus pulled up right next to the Wildcats'.

"About damn time..." sighed Coach Williams. "Welp, better unlock."

"And made it quick, Coach!" Eugene called from near the back where he was sitting. "I need to use the bathroom."

Seiji shook his head in disbelief. "Didn't you go at the rest stop?"

"Yeah, but my bladder sometimes forgets it already went."

The others groaned in unamusement.

As Coach Williams approached the cabin, that was when she noticed the other party for the first time.

"What the-?" she asked herself. She noticed a man about to unlock the door.

Right before he could insert the key into the slot, Bolton heard a loud "HEY!" right behind him. He turned aroudn to find a woman in a red track jacket and an unkept dreadlock afro.

"Oh! Um, can I help you with something?"

"My apologies, but what's the meaning of this?"

"Sorry, allow me to explain. My name is Jack Bolton, and I'm with the East High School in Albuqerqe. I'm the basketball coach, and I, along with the drama teacher of the school, are bringing some of our best students, one of them being my son and team captain, on a retreat. And you are?

"Name's Sally Williams. I coach the fencing team at Kings Row School for Boys in Conneticuit. We ourselves are on a retreat as well."

"Well nice to meet a fellow school sports coach. I always say, we coaches have to stick together and keep the kids fit these days. You know what I mean?" Bolton chuckled at that last line. "Anyway, have fun at your retreat. I gotta unlock and..."

Williams grabbed his hand right when he was attempt to unlock again.

"My apologies, my fellow coach, but this place was reserved for us."

"Can't be" Bolton replied, "we had this place booked for ourselves."

"No way! I put us down months ago!"

"This makes no sense at all..."

Suddenly, a voice rang up from Coach Bolton.

"Dad?" It was Troy. "Something wrong?"

"Nothing that can't be fixed, Troy. Go and hang with the others until we call for you."

Williams watched him walk off. "Your boy?"

"Yep."

"Nice kid. Surprisingly good-looking, too."

"He's led our team to victory countless times."

Williams shut her eyes to the word "victory. She knew the fencing team had long to go on the road to victory, so hearing others talk about their own just fueled her desire to lead them to it.

"Ours...needs work."

"No sweat, everyone goes at their own pace."

As much as she was in conflict with this guy, she found that comforting coming from another coach.

Meanwhile, as he walked back to his group, Troy looked to his right and noticed the group of boys adjacent to them, watching their own coach. Curious, he walked right up to them.

"Hey."

The other guys turned to look at the stranger. Nicholas, being the most curious of the bunch let alone sociable next to Bobby, was the first one to greet him back.

"Hi."

"Name's Troy, Troy Bolton."

"I'm Nicholas, Nicholas Cox."

"I'm the captain of our school's basketball team. You?"

"Me and the others here represent the Kings Row fencing team. Harvard over there is our team captain." He motioned for Harvard to come over.

"Yes?" he asked.

"You Harvard?" Troy asked.

"That's me, Harvard Lee. Nice to meet you." The two captains shook hands.

Eugene, having decided to go in the bushes, returned and greeted third.

"Yo! You look like the kind who doesn't shirk his guns. Name's Eugene and I. Am. Living the DREAM, bro!"

Nicholas laughed. "He has tried so hard to make the fencing team for years, no lie."

Chad joined in. "Shirking guns? No way! I'm Chad, Troy's 2nd in-command."

"Nice!" Eugene exclaimed. "You look like the kind of guy who I'd instantly call Bro!"

He and Chad bumped fists and began to talk amongst each other.

Next up was Bobby.

"Oh my god!" he cried. "New friends! Hi, I'm Bobby. I know what you're likely thinking, "what's a girl doing at an all-boys school?" Well, surprise, I'm male!"

Looking at the boy who preferred to wear his hair in a ponytail, include a skirt with his school uniform, and point his toes, Troy simply smiled and shrugged, while Jason Cross scratched his head in confusion.

"Odd..."

The ladies just looked at him unamused.

"I myself find that alright" chimed Taylor from the Wildcat side, serving as the doorway for the female point of view. "I agree with Taylor" Gabriella added. "He's just being himself. He's no different from you guys being, well, you."

Troy pulled Gabriella close to him, and the Kings Row guys got the picture immediately.

Bobby cooed. "Aw you guys, totally cute! Am I right, Dante?"

Dante just leaned his head and gave a half-baked smile. Bobby giggled.

"Don't mind my roommate, he's just the silent type. He's a good cook, though!"

"I'd like to see what he can make!" Zeke called out. "I'm Zeke, and I'm a baker myself. Once you try my strawberry rhubarb strudel, you never go back!" The others nodded in agreement, having ate them themselves.

Kally Jenkens walked up to the congregation. He took one look at Taylor and noticed her books.

"Are those the works of Chekov?"

Taylor smiled. "They are."

"Love his work. I would've brought one of his plays with me, but I need to study a bit more this semester."

"That's Kally" said Nicholas. "He fences, but he didn't make the team this year."

Taylor perked up. "You say you need to study? Nice to know there are some guys who take their grades seriously." She leered at Chad and the others. "Make a note of this guy, Danforth. You can learn a lot from him, like what letter comes after Q." Chad just responded with his stuck-out tongue as Eugene chuckled to himself.

Tanner rolled his eyes and looked away as the others noticed.

"That's Tanner" said Harvard. "He lacks patience and flies off the handle easily. We're lucky enough to catch him at his best right now."

"So in laments terms, his temper is as red hot as his hair?" joked Troy. Everyone laughed at the remark, except Tanner who glared at them.

"You're lucky you're not the only one who made that comparison!"

"Whoa" Troy gasped.

Kally looked at him and motioned him to settle down. "I'm usually the one to keep him in line. If he gives you any trouble, let me know."

As Taylor and Kally were getting acquainted (and therefore grinding Chad's gears more as he was fraternizing with Eugene), Sharpay noticed she wasn't the center of attention and she was fuming.

"Ryan, do something!" she snapped at her brother.

Ryan, loving the spotlight himself, albeit in a more subdued manner than his sister, knew what to do. He took out his music player, cranked the volume to the maximum level, and played "Bop to the Top". Of course, that got everyone's attention.

The Evans Twins performed their iconic number, much to their frienemies' annoyance.

Taylor sighed. "I suppose now is a better time than never...introducing, Sharpay and Ryan Evans."

"Ryan's alright" Troy interjected. "Sharpay, though, she's..."

"A triple-threat, a future Tony winner, AND a superstar?" interrupted Sharpay as she bowed. "Yes. I'm all of the above. Hold your applause, gentlemen."

"I love the cut of your uniforms" Ryan said as he looked over the Kings Row outfits. "I'd ask if they come in my size, but I suppose I'd have to transfer to where you're from. No thanks. East High is the place for me!"

Another voice rang. "Well, Kings Row is the place for ME." Aiden entered, and when he did, Sharpay did a double-take upon gazing at this dashingly glorious young man. She rushed right up to him.

"Hi" she said, blushing bright red.

He noticed her, then his eyes darted elsewhere.

"Normally I don't pay much attention to sports, but that could change once I see you in action."

The other Wildcats just watched her.

"She's acting as if he's you, Troy" Gabriella said.

Harvard shook his head as he watched Aiden attracting her without even trying.. "He gets that a lot. And I mean a LOT lot" he explained to Troy and the others. "Aiden's my best friend, so I'm used to seeing this."

"I know the feeling..." Troy replied. Memories of Sharpay clamoring over him filled his head.

"How's about Kelsi and I take it from here?" Jack Scott asked as he and Kelsi entered. Clearing his throat and switching voices again, Jack introduced him and Kelsi both:

"Int-r-r-r-r-oducing, RED-HOT composer beauty: Kelsi Nielson! AND, yours truly, Jack Scott: the Velvet Fog of East High! Kelsi makes music with piano keys, and I myself make music with my vocal chords."

"He does the morning announcements, comments on sport events, and even does a few online videos and podcats" Gabriella whispered to Nicholas.

"I like him!" Bobby giggled. "He seems fun!"

"He is" replied Gabriella. "He and Kelsi get along very well."

"And now that that's settled" said Jack as he brought over Jason and Martha, "these are Martha and Jason. Martha loves to hip-hop and hypothesize, and Jason...well... he's Jason. And with that" Jack switched his voice once more to sound deper and mor prolific, "I believe thus concludes all introductions. From us Wildcats to you Kings Row boys, we give you our finest greetings and pleasure to make your acquaintance."

The others looked and Gabriella shook her head.

"I'd beg to differ, Jack Scott. We missed one."

"Who?" he asked in an owl-like voice.

She pointed over to Seiji, who did his best to distance himself from everyone as he read some of his fencing books. The Wildcats looked at Nicholas.

"That's Seiji.. If you want to know about him, he's Mr. Perfect, and leave it at that."

Sharpay took one look at him and let go of Aiden. Aiden looked around as if something happened and he wasn't aware of it, Harvard chuckled at that. The budding actress inched up to the determined fencing protege and batted her eyes.

"Hello" she said seductively. Seiji didn't lift his head up. "I see you take your passions seriously. So do I! I'm an actress." Still, Seiji remained silent. Sharpay was unfazed. "Silent type, I assume? No problem, those sharp looks tell me all."

The handsome, stoic Seiji finally took his eyes off his reading and looked at his new admirer.

"Can I help you?"

"Yes" Sharpay sighed hopelessly, "yes you can. Can you help me find my way out of your eyes? I seem to have gotten lost in them."

Troy, Gabriella, Chad, and Taylor laughed and facepalmed. Seiji finally had enough and got up.

"I should go check up on Coach Williams."

Troy thought and nodded.

"Yeah, I should do the same with Dad."

Everyone went back to where their adult chaperones were. Coach Bolton and Assistant Coach Lewis were re-evaluating their online bookings of the cabin.

"No mistake, Sally" Lewis told Coach Williams. "You did indeed book this exact location."

"Ours says that, too" said Bolton.

"In that case" said Miss Darbus, "someone better have a word with the agency. Obviously they made a dire mistake if two completely different parties have to share this place when the original plans assured exclusivity."

"Look, Darbus" reprimanded Bolton, "I'll email the agency in the morning. In the meantime, we're going to have to find a way to share these quarters with these guys."

Williams shrugged. "I suppose that'll work for now. I just hope the boys are fine with it."

"Fine with what?" asked Nicholas.

"Sharing this place with these guys."

Looking at their new friendly acquainances the Wildcats, Nicholas smiled.

"Yeah, we are. They're actually pretty cool."

"We chatted a bit earlier" said Troy. "Turns out we have a lot in common. Maybe some more time together and we'll know each other more. I think we may have new friends after all this."

He said all this as he looked at all his friends and the boys who they've developed bonds with: Chad and Eugene, Taylor and Kally, Bobby chatting with Gabriella and Martha, and yes, Sharpay relentlessly flirting with Aiden and Seiji, going between the both of them. And then he looked at Nicholas and Harvard, who turned to their own superior.

"I'm willing to go with this" Harvard nodded.

Coaches Williams and Bolton looked at their wards, then at each other.

"It's official then" Bolton affirmed.

"Boys! Come here!" Williams called the team over. "For the time being, we're sharing this cabin with East High."

"And we'll be sharing it with King's Row" said Bolton.

The two groups cheered.

"Maybe this is for the best?" Assistant Coach Lewis said as both parties began to unload their things.

"Perhaps" Williams said. "Only time will tell. These Wildcats seem fine, but they sure seem different from us."

Meanwhile...

"I'm still not 100% approving of this space-sharing with these people" said Ms. Darbus. "They seem rather proper for the most part, but have you noticed one of those boys is a cross-dresser?"

Bolton leered at her.

"Didn't you once say men played female roles in shows when that Shakespeare guy was around?"

"Well, yes, but..."

"Just go with it for now. It's not like they're hurting anyone. Besides, our kids seem to get along with them. Maybe this trip won't be a bust after all."

Darbus sighed and nodded as Bolton finally got to unlock the door.

"Doors open, everyone! Unpack and get settled!"

Everyone barrelled inside and did as such. Thus began the double-retreat. Wildcat and Kings Row, in the same cabin. What was to happen now? Like Coach Williams said, only time will tell.