Several students at East High, got up and slipped a piece of paper into a hat at the top of Mrs. Darbus' desk. All who had ever participated in any play or musical related to the Drama Club had to put their names into that hat. It was a requirement. There was only a small clique who did, though. Troy, Gabriella, Sharpay, Ryan…those people. The whole purpose was to choose who would be going on a "special" trip to New York, to see a Broadway show of Darbus' choice, of course.
"Alright now, are there any last minute names?" Darbus asked. Nobody moved. "Okay, good." She picked up the hat, about to explain the rules.
"I'd like to add my name, Mrs. Darbus!" Chris Verducci blurted out suddenly. He turned red with embarrassment as the class's eyes locked onto him. Darbus doesn't accept late entries. Late isn't in her vocabulary. "I'm sorry, Verducci, but the theatre, as well as this," she gestured to the hat full of names, "waits for no one."
Chris put his hand down in defeat.
"Now, I will draw three names out of this hat. Those three people will choose another person to come with them, and that person does not have to have participated in any musicales or plays whatsoever." She glanced at the class who stared right back. "Once you have made your choices, tell me no later than lunchtime." Nobody spoke. Darbus cleared her throat, "Alright, class?"
"Yes, Mrs. Darbus," they chanted in sync.
"Thank you." She proceeded to put her hand in the hat and pulled out the first name. She reached back in and pulled out a second one and a third. She smiled to herself. "I have decided who will be attending the trip," she announced.
She looked to Sharpay. "Miss Evans." Sharpay smirked as if to say, 'Of course it would be me, who else?' "And Mr. Bolton and Miss Montez." Troy and Gabriella smiled at each other. The bell, indicating that it was the beginning of lunch, rang.
"That better not have been a cell pho--"
"No, Mrs. Darbus, it was the lunch bell," Gabbi (Gabriella) said.
"Very well. Now remember to give me your choices before lunch ends!" She yelled to Troy, Gabbi, and Sharpay as everybody rushed out of the classroom.
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"I can't believe Darbus actually picked us for the trip to New York!" Troy said, once he was out of the classroom.
"I know, for a whole week!" Gabbi added. "So, Troy, who are you going to choose? I'm asking Taylor."
"I think I'll ask Chad." They walked to the table that they and the Drama Club sat. Sharpay sat next to Ryan, who was obviously the person she was bringing with her to New York. There was no doubt about that.
Taylor came up to them.
"Hey, Tay," Gabbi said. "Do you want to be the one I take to that show?"
Taylor shrugged. "Sure, I mean, it's about time I took a break from this homework…not that it's a bad thing. Yeah, I'll come. What are best friends for?" They laughed.
Troy turned to Chad who was already there. "What about you come with me?"
Chad stared at him. "Dude, Troy, there's no way I'm spending a week in New York, watching some musical with that...that thing," he spat, referring to Darbus as the "thing".
"Come on, look on the bright side. You'll get a week of no homework, and you won't be doing any work the whole time!" Chad's facial expression changed at the mention of no homework.
He sighed. "Well, fine. Just 'cause of the no work part." They snickered and did the handshake they've had for years.
Lunch was eaten quickly and soon Gabbi, Troy, and Sharpay headed over to the teacher's lounge to talk to Mrs. Darbus. A woman at the door greeted them.
"Hello, how can I help you?" she asked.
Sharpay spoke. "We're fine, Ms. Jones. We just wanted to know if we could speak to Mrs. Darbus about the upcoming trip."
"Go ahead," she answered and let them pass. Darbus was sitting eating a salad.
"It's not like that salad is gonna do her any good," Troy whispered to Sharpay and Gabbi. They giggled and bit their tongues to prevent themselves from bursting out laughing.
"Uh, Mrs. Darbus," Troy started. "We have our, um, choices."
"Yes?" she asked, waiting for them to go on. She pulled out a pen and notepad.
"I'm bringing Ryan, of course. And…"
"Troy's bringing Chad, and I'm bringing Taylor," Gabbi finished.
Darbus scribbled the names down. "Very well. Now, we leave this Friday. Just be here at the regular time at school and bring your suitcases packed for a week long outing. I have the tickets already for the flight, so bring your passports also. Anything else that you would like to bring along is optional." Troy and Gabbi nodded.
"Oh, Mrs. Darbus," Sharpay said in her fake "innocent" voice, "what, by the way, are we seeing in New York?"
Darbus chuckled. "One of my favorites. Phantom of the Opera." Sharpay's eager face fell.
"But I've seen Phantom of the Opera eight times already!" she whined. Darbus glared at her. "B-but I wouldn't mind seeing it again," she added nervously.
"Yes, yes."
"Bye, Mrs. Darbus," they all said in unison. Then they left.
…Thursday Night…
At the Evans' Mansion
Ryan was sitting at the foot of his sister's bed, his lone suitcase fully packed and ready by the front door of their house. Sharpay on the other hand was in her closet, rummaging through racks and racks of clothes, tossing an article of clothing onto her bed every now and then. Three suitcases were lying open on the floor, two of them messily full of tops and pants.
"Shar, we're only going to be gone for a week, not a month," Ryan said to her. Sharpay poked her head out of the closet and looked at her brother pointedly. Then she stopped.
She sighed. "I know, Ry, but this trip has gotten me all mixed up! It has to be perfect! I don't want to look bad, or forget anything; I need to keep my reputation up! I can't let anybody see how messed up I really am! I--"
"Whoa, whoa, whoa, Shar, stop! Relax, you'll be fine. And you're not messed up."
"Yes I am! I need to make sure everything is perfect because…because of…" she turned pink. "Never mind." She turned away and began to hurriedly toss things into the various suitcases. Ryan walked over to her side and grabbed her arms gently, just to prevent her from packing anything else. He looked into her eyes.
"Is this because of Troy?" he asked softly. She nodded slightly and then looked like she was about to cry. She was very open to her brother and could tell him anything.
"I-I don't know why he doesn't like me...I just wanted to feel loved by somebody and I thought Troy could be that person. But then Gabriella came and stole him away..." She muttered the last three words under her breath. Ryan hugged her.
"Aw, Shar, don't worry. There'll be a happy ending for you no matter what." Sharpay smiled a bit, suddenly feeling less pressured about the whole situation.
"Thanks, Ry. What would I do without you?"
"Who knows?" he joked. They laughed. "Here, let me help you with these suitcases…"
…The Following Morning…
Ryan and Sharpay were the first ones at the school. Three suitcases were with them, one of them dark blue and the other two hot pink with a gold letter S engraved into them. Sharpay also had a pink backpack on, filled with who knows what else. Her mind was filled with thoughts about Troy. Troy Bolton, the basketball guy, the one she always loved. But he would never return the favor, would he? Probably not…he has Gabriella now, she thought sadly. But she pushed away those thoughts and continued her Ice Queen façade.
"Ah, Ryan, Sharpay. Have you seen any of the others? It is almost a quarter till eight!" Darbus walked up to them looking flustered.
"But Mrs. Darbus, we don't need to leave until eight," Ryan told her.
"Punctuality is important, Mr. Evans!"
Ryan was about to protest when Sharpay nudged him in the stomach. Hard.
"Look, here come Troy and Gabriella!" she said, directing Darbus' mind to them instead of Ryan. Gladly, it worked. Sharpay wasn't about to listen to another one of her boring lectures about Punctuality, and why it is Essential. Talk about major boredom.
"Hey," Troy said, looking at Sharpay with a mesmerized expression on his face. Sharpay smiled shyly at him. It was soon interrupted when Chad and Taylor ran up to them.
Chad threw his arms up in the air. "Yes! A week of no school, here I come!" he cheered. Taylor rolled her eyes.
"He's been like this for the past ten minutes. It's annoying, really."
"Be prepared for a week of this," Gabbi laughed.
Chad looked around. Everybody has exactly one suitcase except for…Sharpay. Well, of course. He turned to Ryan. "Looks like your sister brought enough to serve the army." He said that in a quieter tone.
Ryan whispered back, "Yeah, we pack for seven days, she packs for seven weeks." Sharpay, having ears like a coyote, over heard them.
"I heard that," she growled.
"Enough chit-chat, let's bring our bags to the caravan!" said none other than Darbus, always using terms and other things that had gone out before the hippies. Ryan struggled with both of Sharpay's bags and Troy had to turn around and help him. Being a pampered princess meant no carrying anything exceeding the weight range of a shopping bag.
Darbus led them to the back of the school and towards a miniature charter bus resembling thing. It had compartments on the outside of the vehicle where the luggage would go. Everybody rushed inside first because they didn't want to sit next to Darbus. The bus driver spoke into the microphone about all those safety issues...How you couldn't eat on the bus, how you must keep your hands and feet in the vehicle at all times, and how there was to be no roughhousing.
They talked for a while, for about half an hour, when it got to be boring. Darbus was snoring up in the front, and they still had a fifteen-minute ride until they reached the ABQ, the airport of Albuquerque. Luckily, everybody brought their iPods, except Taylor, who didn't have one. She shared with Chad.
And soon enough, out of the window everybody could see the planes on the ground and descending towards the ground, and the air was filled of the sounds of the aircraft engines. The bus pulled into the line of other cars, dropping Darbus and the six teenagers off at the front of the building.
"What time is it?" Taylor asked. She yawned and stretched.
Troy glanced at his watch. "It's five till nine."
"So, do we have time to grab breakfast at one of those? I'm starving," Chad pointed to the row of restaurants farther down. Troy nodded in approval.
"Well, our flight isn't until 12:15, so I suppose so…" Darbus stated. But Troy and Chad had already run off as soon as the word 'suppose' was heard. The remaining teens helped Darbus bring the suitcases to be weighed and checked in. Once that was done, they went over to the food shops also. When they got there, Troy and Chad were pigging out.
"Mmm…god these hotcakes are so good," Chad said. He dumped more syrup on them. It was just like them to go to Mc Donald's for breakfast.
"I'll say!" Troy agreed. He also got a side order of scrambled eggs
"Pigs," Sharpay joked.
"I'll say!" Gabbi said, imitating what Troy had said. Ryan and the girls went off to order for themselves.
R and R.