Thanks for all the reviews! I can't believe how popular this section is... Last time I checked, my story was number 120 on the list, and now it's like number 328 (ok, was since it'll be higher up with this update)... I guess I have friendly competition, eh?

Disclaimer: I don't own High School Musical. If I did, I'd own Troy Bolton, therefore somewhat owning Zac Efron, who I unfortunately do not own. -fangirl pout-

A/N: I don't know a thing about basketball, except for dribbling and a basket, so bear with me please.

Chapter 2: Celebrity Monday- Part Two

The rest of the day had gone by without any dramatic events. Thanks to the power of gossip, the whole school now knew who was in the running for Homecoming Court, and that Chad and Troy were feuding. Some say it was because Chad made some moves on Gabriella; others said that they were fighting because of basketball. By the time lunch came around though, the one most talked about was that Troy and Chad had done something together and Troy decided to end it. (Whatever "it" was...)

Gabriella power-walked through the cafeteria, trying to ignore the whispers. She thought that the school had learned their lesson after her sophomore year, but apparantly that was far from the truth. As she walked up the stairs, she turned back and looked down at the rest of the cafeteria. Everyone was staring right back at her. Slamming her tray down on the table, she looked right at Troy. "Troy, you need to do something about this," she said, trying to keep her cool. "Have you even heard what the people are saying?"

"Yesh, sho fwath?" Troy mumbled, crumbs from his crème brûlée flying everywhere. He swallowed, and then said, "I mean, so what? It's not like we haven't dealt with this before." Flashbacks of his previous years swept through his mind; the rumor that Chad, Taylor, him, and Gabriella were having foursomes; another where Taylor and Gabriella were lesbians; and who could forget the one that said Gabriella was pregnant with Chad's lovechild? Unfortunately, thanks to new freshmen, the school was always subject to such outrageous rumors. Even worse, everybody always believed them.

"I know we have," replied Gabriella, angry at Troy's reaction. How could he not care? "But there is so much more at stake. You want to win this race, don't you?" She sighed, wishing she had never asked him to run in the first place. The whole thing was rather ridiculous, really.

Before Troy could answer, a certain kid with a huge afro walked by. "Oh, it's the losers," he sneered. Apparently he was still pissed off about what had happened in the morning. "We wouldn't want to sit next to them, right Taylor?"

"Chad, shut up," snapped Taylor as she sat next to Gabriella. "Just because you want to be a jackass doesn't mean you have to bring me down." She smiled at Gabriella. "So, ignoring my pitiful excuse for a boyfriend..." She ignored Chad's angry gasp, and didn't notice him sitting down with Ryan and Sharpay.

As Chad sat down at the table, Sharpay smiled coyly at him. "So, trouble in paradise?" she said, her voice all sweet and sugary. She whipped out a compact mirror and began applying lip gloss. "It was bound to happen eventually." As she smacked her lips together, she gave him a sympathetic pat on his shoulder. "You weren't meant to be his secondhand man anyway."

"Is that what you think I am?" Chad blurted out as he pushed Sharpay's hand of his shoulder. "The secondhand man? Second rate to Troy? Better than the rest, but no better than Troy himself?" He stood up, a fiery look on his face. "Well, I'll tell you what! I am Chad Dansforth, I am my own man, and I will be Homecoming King!" To his surprise, the cafeteria erupted into wild applause. The cheerleaders started singing a cheer that they possibly couldn't have made up on the spot, and Ryan began chanting "Chad! Chad! Chad!" Smirking, he took a bow and left the cafeteria, forgetting all about eating lunch.

-Basketball Practice-

"Alright, good job Chad!" shouted Coach Bolton as he ran up down the court, watching the team play against themselves. "Now pass it to Zeke!" Chad tossed the ball over to Zeke, who then passed it to Jason. Jason dribbled the ball down the court, and then passed it back to Chad. Chad was about to shoot for the basket, when Troy came up and knocked the ball out of his hand. He ran all the way to the halfcourt line, and shot for the basket. Swish!

"Why'd you have to do that, huh!" exclaimed Chad angrily, pushing Troy. "You're always hogging the ball!"

"Well, what did you expect me to do?" replied Troy as he just stood there, unfazed. "I wasn't going to let you score that easily."

"That's it, I'm sick of this!" Chad stormed out of the gym, despite Coach Bolton's threats to kick him off varsity.

"Practice is over," announced Coach Bolton. "Meet me here tomorrow during Home Room. And see if any of you can talk some sense into Mr. Dansforth. If not, there's still plenty of time to get a replacement for him."

Troy tossed his basketball into a bucket, and walked slowly over to the locker room with the rest of the team.

"Troy! Troy, wait up!" yelled a voice all the way across the gym. Sharpay ran towards him, a shocked look on her face. "Troy... I saw... I saw..."She took a deep breath. "IsawChadmakingoutwithGabriella!"

"Whoa, say that again!" Troy laughed. "I couldn't understand. Something about Gabriella?"

Sharpay took another deep breath, trying to calm down. "I saw Chad making out with Gabriella, behind the curtains in the auditorium."

It felt like a ball of lead had just been dropped into his stomach. "You're... you're lying," he whispered, trying to convince himself not to believe her. "Gabriella would never do that." Of course, Chad was angry when he had left... Troy shook his head. "Are you sure it wasn't Chad and Taylor you saw?"

"How could I get Gabriella and Taylor mixed up?" scoffed Sharpay, placing her hands on her hips. "You just don't believe me, do you?" She began walking away. "I didn't mean to be the bearer of bad news, but I felt that you had the right to know."

Troy sat down, numb with shock. Gabriella surely would never cheat on him. What reason was there to? As a couple, they rarely had any fights, and they were always trying to make sure they were both happy. Where could the relationship have gone wrong? Ryan was probably practicing some script for Drama Club, and decided to test it on him, that's all.

-School Parking Lot-

"Hey Troy!" exclaimed Gabriella, running up to him and giving him a light kiss. She climbed into the passenger side of his red pickup truck. "So how was practice?"

Lightly touching his lips, he wondered if hers had actually kissed Chad's. He got into the drivers seat and started up the truck. "Practice was okay. Chad got pissed off and left, so we had to end early." He pulled out of the school parking lot.

"I wish you guys would stop fighting," replied Gabriella, sighing. "I mean, you were best friends just yesterday." When no reply came from Troy, she kept silent. Her house soon came around the corner, but Troy drove right past it. "Troy, you just drove past my house."

"Gabriella, do you love me?" asked Troy, his hands glued to the wheel and his eyes staring at hers. He sped up the truck.

Startled, Gabriella said, "Of course I do. Why are you asking this?" She stared right back at him, wondering what was going through his head.

"Then why did Sharpay see you and Chad making out behind the curtains in the auditorium!"

"What!" she cried. "Troy, you know he's lying. I was practicing with the Decathlon Team; I didn't even go near the auditorium!"

"Don't lie to me," said Troy, speeding through several stopsigns. "It'll only make the pain worse."

Gabriella watched in horror as Troy kept speeding up. "You know I'd never lie to you! Please, slow--" She screamed as they almost crashed into another car; she pulled the emergency brake and the truck came to a screeching halt. "Troy, are you crazy!"

He remained silent, his shoulders shaking and his forehead on the wheel. "You tell me, Gabi."

She unbuckled her seatbelt and moved closer to him, tears in her eyes. "It's okay," she whispered as she ran her fingers through his hair. They stayed like that for a couple of minutes, until Troy lifted up his head and kissed her.

"I'm sorry," he whispered, wiping the tears from her eyes. "I should've known better."

Gabriella smiled and kissed him back. "I won't blame you. Today's just been dramatic, that's all. You were caught up in the stress." She moved back into her seat. "Let's go home."

Troy started up the truck once more, and within minutes they were back at Gabriella's house. He leaned over and kissed her on the cheek. "See you tomorrow, Gabi."

"Bye Troy! I'll call you later!"

He stayed in her driveway until she went into her house. Smiling to himself, he knew that they'd never cheat on each other. The only thing was... Why had Sharpay told him that story? Was she trying to break them up?

Troy knew tomorrow was going to be just as dramatic.

So yeah, apologies for taking so long to update. You see, there's this evil little thing called Author's Block, and it likes plague me often. The next chappie will be coming in a shorter time than this, so no worries!

Please read and REVIEW! Dunno how many times I can stress that...