Disclaimer: Don't own HSM. I asked, but Kenny Ortega wouldn't sell them to me. I also don't own the play "Land of the Dragon", the play these lovely characters are performing. However, the whole abuse scene is real, from a rehearsal of "Land of the Dragon". My first published fic. I got the idea because Darbus just reminds me so much of my old director.
Despite the fact that his father begged him not to, Troy Bolton simply couldn't resist signing up for another show. Gabriella had slowly fallen in love with acting during Twinkle Towne, and Troy had slowly fallen in love with Gabriella. Ever since he looked into her eyes the afternoon they sang their hearts out to each other in front of the entire student body, he had wanted to spend every waking moment with her.
And that was why Troy Bolton was staying after rehearsal to work with Ms. Darbus.
It wasn't what he wanted to do. Gabriella, Ryan, and Sharpay were going out to get dinner on the way home, and he had been invited. The four of them were trying to think of a place to go at the end of rehearsal when Ms. Darbus tapped Troy on the shoulder with her script.
"Mr. Bolton, stay after with me. We need to run over some of your lines."
"But, Ms. Darbus," Troy stammered. "We've already been rehearsing for two hours. We can't work tomorrow at study? I've got plans."
"I'm sorry, Mr. Bolton, but I will not change my schedule for your needs. You're the one who signed up. It has been stated since day one that I have control over the schedules of my students, and I am free to change them in order to put on a good performance."
"That's not true, is it?" Troy whispered to Ryan, knowing that the Drama Club Co-Captain would know the answer.
The blonde actor looked sympathetic, knowing the reason why his friend was anxious to leave. "I'm afraid so. It's one of the main rules of the Drama Club: Darbus controls all. Sharpay and I just get to persuade her a bit."
"Well, can you persuade me out of this?"
Ryan laughed silently. "And risk losing the lead role? Sorry, but you're on your own."
Sighing, Troy tried to think of some sort of comeback to say to Ms. Darbus, but by the look that Ryan was giving him, it would be best to let it go. The basketball star looked at him and the two girls. "I, um, guess I'll catch up with you guys later."
The sound of Ms. Darbus' homeroom door closing sounded all too similar to the closing of a prison cell. Troy didn't know if that was just his mind playing tricks on him, though. His freshman year he had heard some rumors of Darbus torturing jocks after hours. Maybe it was time to see if those rumors were true…
"Mr. Bolton!"
Troy snapped out of his thoughts. "Yeah? What's up?" He cringed, instantly regretting his choice of words, for he knew what would follow.
"Mr. Bolton, I am a teacher. Do you talk to your other teachers that way?"
The jock shook his head. "No, Ms. Darbus. What do you want me to do?"
"Start with the scene where your character sees the dragon for the first time." Ms. Darbus said.
Sighing, Troy moved to the center of the makeshift stage, which consisted of a taped border surrounded by the desks that were pushed out of the way. Following Ryan's acting advice, he thought about the evil advisor, and what it is like to be him. He pretended to talk to the evil duchess, played by Sharpay, and then pointed to left stage.
"Look! A dragon!"
He was about to say his next line, when something hard and plastic connected with his head. Looking behind him, he saw Ms. Darbus holding an empty Sprite bottle.
"No. Do it again!"
Troy moved back to his original position, and repeated the action.
"Look! A dragon!"
Again the soda bottle made contact with his head. He started thinking of how Gabriella would react if she saw this abuse. She'd probably tell Ms. Darbus of all the brain cells he was losing. But just thinking of Gabriella was making Troy feel even worse. He looked down at Ms. Darbus, who was shorter than he, and waited for instructions.
Apparently, that wasn't a good idea. "Stop wasting time, Bolton! Do it Again!"
He repeated the scene over and over for a good half-hour, receiving the same reaction every time, before he snapped.
"Ms. Darbus," he began, not wanting to get another politeness speech. "I get the vibe that I'm not doing this right. What am I supposed to do?"
"Mr. Bolton, I want you to think about your character. What is the meaning of the line?"
Troy thought about that for a moment. He thought it was obvious. "He… sees a dragon?"
That answer won him another smack on the top of the head.
Ms. Darbus looked up at the jock, and saw his pupils widen. "Mr. Bolton, you need to think about the whole story. What does that line mean in relation to the whole story? What is this character's motivation?"
"I… don't know."
Troy cringed, expecting another blow to the head, but received none. He looked at Ms. Darbus, seeing not anger, but disappointment. He hated that look; he got it from his father every day since he told him that he was blowing off JV baseball for another show. He got it from his mother when his passing notes with Ryan during English got him in detention, again. He never thought he'd see it from Ms. Darbus, though.
"Troy, think. Think of what that line means. Think of your character. Why would he say it?" Seeing Troy's doubting look, she added, "Every character has a motivation for every one of their lines. Find yours. There is no right or wrong, there is simply effective and not effective."
Troy looked down at the floor, eyeing the peeling tape, trying to think of a motivation. Trying to think of anything that would get that look of disappointment off Ms. Darbus' face. After a moment of silence, he looked up.
"The advisor says earlier on that he doesn't believe Princess Jade Pure's claim of seeing a dragon, for he believes they have been extinct for a hundred years. However, he sees Small One, the dragon, so he would be… shocked. He'd be scared that he was wrong, and not knowing what do about the dragon."
"You think that's what he's feeling and thinking?" Ms. Darbus' stern look came back, and Troy nodded.
"Okay. Go with it."
Troy went back to his position, and acted out the scene once more.
"Look! A dragon!"
He glanced back at Ms. Darbus. She fiddled with the Sprite bottle, then put it down on the desk.
"Try that one more time, using the same emotion, and then continue with your scene."
"Look! A dragon!"
Sitting in the first row of the theatre, Ms. Darbus could feel all the heads behind her turn to the left side of the stage. She, however, stayed focused on the actor who said the line, watching the expression on his face. If she had not known him, she would be surprised that it was only the second show he'd been in.
Despite her feud with his father, she had to admit: Troy Bolton had potential.