Title: A Chaotic Mess of Pastels

Author: Me!

Rating: I'm not too sure about the new rating system but I would say this is about…PG-13.

Feedback: I'd love me some it!

Summary: Troy Bolton finally has life all figured out as his junior year wanes. However, his perfect world is in jeopardy as he discovers his past.

Disclaimer: I own not High School Musical or the songs or Zac…but if I did…heheheh. Wow! I don't own much. Wait! I do own Adele Carson!

This chapter is mainly a filler to let everyone get a feel for what Adele has been going through. The next chapter will have a bit more of the same with the beginning of Troy and Adele interaction. Still not edited...I really need to find an editor...

Xochrissy if I didn't make this so frustrating, what is the point in ready! I truly can't make up my mind about who Troy should be with…Gabriella? Adele? Adele? Gabriella? Actually, I do know. I'm just not telling. :evil grin:

Carito06 there are more chapters to go with more Troyella. Some chapters will only be those two…no Adele mention…well…only one but there will be more Troy and Gabi. I'm just setting up the predicament Troy is in right now.

ZacEfronLuver I can never write more soon enough can I?

Dancerlittle I really hope there are more chapters that come that you like!

ThingsMakeMeHappy this story is something that I had to write. Don't get me wrong, I love Troy and Gabi together. They are too cute but like the other fics I wrote, I like seeing things differently. I love mixing things up!

StarInHeaven1014 I'm so glad to hear that you can really get into the story. I'm also enthusiastic to hear that you don't care what happens or how Troy ends up with. But whomever he ends up with, I hope the ride was worth it.


Chapter Six

Troy squirmed in his seat as her eyes never left his. She finally turned away from the crowd, taking her seat between some brunette girl and smart-looking guy.

"I'm turning the reigns over to these students of mine." Mrs. Osbourne bowed out gracefully, fading into the darkness of stage left, left wing standing.

A beat of silence commenced the workshop. Some of the teens on stage whispered and shuffled their feet. Adele's eyes were glazed over, staring distantly at the hardwood stage floor. The girl sitting next to Adele elbowed her in the side. "Ow, May-Ellen – right. Sorry." Getting to her feet, Adele walked to the edge of the stage. "And that is what you don't want to do when someone forgets a line during a performance. These guys are so inexperienced."

The ease with which she could extract a laugh from anyone was still strong. It flowed from her. "Why am I doing this again?"

"You're leading lady." Pepper, the writer of the musical, said.

A single voice shouted. "And you drew the short straw,"

Adele shook her head in amusement. "Yes, well, back to what's at hand. Theatre. We are all here to share our love, our appreciation, and our admiration for the performing art of dramatics. In drama we are able to express ourselves through the places of others. The fear and love a character feels is the mask we wear in our everyday. On stage, we all feel a new breath of life warming us and confidence overtaking us.

"The theatre has so many wonderful things to offer. Here, we – students of Jones Magnet Institute devote our minds, bodies, and free time to mastering the arts. And today we will be here to offer you help or improvement. We will build you into the expert thespians most aspire to be."

Those around him applauded her speech. That was yet another thing Troy remembered about her. How could he forget her infamous pep talks?

"Before we can go into the good stuff, we've got to warm-up! Up you lumps of clay. Up I say!" Those behind her got to their feet. A hand full of people stood. "That's right, get in the aisles. That why we've got you spaced out in this fashion. Get up! Everybody!"

With that command, the audience rose to their feet. Troy reluctantly stepped out of his row and into the aisle. "Come on, Chad!" Gabriella urged him.

"No way. I'm wasn't in 'Twinkle Town', thank you very much. This isn't for me." He folded his arms. He wasn't going to move a muscle.

"All right," Adele said. "Rag dolls are first. You all should know that. You just bend over, touch the floor or feet…ankles – what have you. Then, you slowly rise. Remember! Head comes up last. Ready. Rag doll down!"

As a collective whole, the high school scholars bent at the waist. Troy let his hands dangle in front of him, fingertips brushing the carpet. He could feel the stretch in his back and neck.

"Rise. One, two, three, four…" Her muffled voice reached his ears. Once he was upright, Troy noted the few stragglers who weren't up yet.

"Great. Next are head rolls…five. And the shakedowns. Shakedowns are – just do what I do."

Troy closed his eyes and did five head rolls. Then came the shakedowns. Counting from one to seven, each limb was shook that many times. Next round was six shakes to each arm and leg, then five, four, three, two and…

"One!" Everyone chortled or snickered at the silliness of flinging their bodies about. "Great. Now that we are all loose and limber, time for a bit of vocal exercises. This is our favorite one to do. It's called 'Cumma la'. I'll say a sentence to a beat and you all repeat it. Simple, no?"

Those behind her responded with a "Simple!" shout.

"Cumma la, cumma la, cumma la vista!"

The audience repeated.

"Oh no no no, not the vista!"

The audience repeated.

"Fee…fee fi…fee fi fo…oh…no no…la vista!"

After each bit of words, Troy and the others responded in mirrored form. This was actually fun. "Fantastic. Everyone find your seats. Now will show you some games to play when starting a new production. These three games can actually help make the new cast feel like an ensemble."

Miraculously, silently, everyone found his or her seats. No disruption or a thing.

"You guys must really be enthralled. No noise. That's a first!" She clapped. "Now, my friends will come up here, please, and form a semi-circle. Typically, these games would be performed in a circle. However, seeing as how not everyone will be able to see – and one of the main rules of stage standing and moving is to always allow the audience to see what you are doing – a half circle will have to do."

The group took their places. "I know, guys. This is getting really boring with all these instructions and such, but trust me; this will get exciting. This first game is called 'Clap around a circle'." The groups began to clap. One clap. Two clap beat. One clap. Two clap beat.

"It's quite explanatory. One person starts the clap beat. And you continue to clap as a group, trying to sound like one person. Each time you can distinctively hear someone mess up, you start on a whole new sequence. This game helps to teach you awareness, observation, and control. Now," the beat switched off with someone else clapping, "we've been doing this for two years so it seems pretty easy. That was anything but the case when we first started."

The clapping grew louder and faster, melting into one echoing sound. And it stopped.

"Next is the Sound Game. It can be played in two ways. Either one person says a word and everyone else repeats it, think 'Cumma la' or the way we prefer is the add on. One person begins with a sound – Wee! The person standing beside him adds on with another."

A girl beside Adele continued. "Wee ha!"

"And the person standing beside her begins with the last sound and a new one." The smart-looking boy that was sitting beside Adele demonstrated with: "Ha cluck."

Around the semi-circle the sounds went. Troy overheard Chad snickering at the slightly embarrassing exercise. "Drama geeks,"

Four people crossed the stage and headed down the side stairs, grabbing a student from the six groups. A dark-skinned boy pointed to Sharpay, escorting her back to the stage.

"Finally, we get to the fun stuff. The exciting stuff. From here on out, we will be choosing some of you to get on stage and help us out. The last game is my favorite. It's a murder game. Everyone closes their eyes."

As the last students climbed onto the stage and stood in some of the casts' places in the half-moon circle, they followed Adele's instructions.

"Then one person – me! – will go around and tap a few people on the head; these are the murderers. Keep it to yourselves now." She went about doing what she was to do. "Now, open your eyes. The murderers' weapon of choice is the wink. When a murderer winks at you, you must die silently using facial expressions, body language, and creativity. You can die however you want."

Troy had to admit it was quite a sight to see, watching people making fools of themselves. Sharpay was winked at. She mimed drinking something, grabbing her throat, and crumpling to the ground. He was so glad that he wasn't in Drama.

When the last person dropped, and two murderers left standing, the game ended. The people went back to their seats.

"Well, that was my little segment. I'm so excited that it's over with. Here's Carlos with other things to talk about." Adele bowed slightly and took her seat on the couch placed center stage.

Other students from the Institute began to talk about different subjects that all came together to create theatre. Troy wasn't paying too much attention to what they had to say, which was quite odd. If he every decided to go try-out for another musical, wouldn't these people and what they had to say more important than some silly noise games, and shake downs?

Troy leaned his head gingerly against Gabriella who patted his knee. It was quite boring after Adele sat down. Sure the others were funny but one guy in particular was annoying. He had introduced himself as Niccolo (the smart-looking guy). He was from Italy, a senior, and the best man to go to when it came to learning accents. He could do them all. He spoke about observation as being the key. And when he sat, Troy boiled over.

He took his seat beside Adele.

The way they teased each other when they sat or stood together in demonstration aggravated Troy. He moved away from Gabi. He knew what was going on. And it killed him to know that he was feeling it so close to his girlfriend. The enthusiasm on Addie's face made him happy to see that she had made the right decision, though seeing that excitement flash across her face whenever Italian-Euro-trash was nearby unsettled him. The centers of his palm prickled, itched, tingled as his back sat straighter.

The guy grated at him.

"She wasn't only yours you know." Chad's words echoed through his mind. She wasn't only his. He knew that. He really did…

He thought he did.

Soon, Troy distantly heard someone say the last theory to be discussed was improvisation. It was an incorporation of everything they learned. This time, they would do six separate improv scenes…with some from each school…one from each high school musical. The first two were quite funny – genius even. But the nerves bounced in his stomach as Adele was called upon stage. He was afraid. The workshop group had decided that the best way to call people up was through the songs they had sung. Now, how they knew that was a mystery. They must really have stayed in close contact with their old schoolmates.

Adele reached the edge of the stage; she could fall right into the pit if she wasn't careful. She had a huge grin on her face. Her gaze was directly on the row in front of him, off to the right. Ryan and Sharpay. Troy racked his brains searching for a song that they had sung. It was probably for Ryan only seeing as how Sharpay was understudy to Gabriella.

"Oh, Troy. Please tell me she won't choose us." Gabriella whispered. Her voice was tense as were her hands balled.

"I highly doubt that she will." Troy hoped that it was the truth of the matter. Adele wouldn't choose to stand in such close proximity to him.

The cast began to start a beat using hands and feet. The world stopped. It was their song. Their audition song. His eyes sought to find Adele. How dare she put Gabriella through this. She must have known about her incredible stage fright. Adele just had to torture Gabi and she had nothing to do with this!

But the worried look on his ex's face made the resentment dissipate.

That Niccolo started at the second verse. "Can you feel it building? Like a wave the ocean just can't control." He even managed to pull off the four-point box turn that was Troy's signature move that he used at callbacks and in the musical. It was ultimately allowed in the winter musicale.

"Connected by a feeling in our very souls." She barely recovered in time to pick up the song, though she managed to pull it off with grace. A small smile trickled onto his face. He missed that singing voice of hers.

"Very souls," That Italian echoed.

The way she looked at him was insanity. That guy was nothing but trouble. Dark hair, darker eyes, and olive tone skin…his mother had fluttered over someone like that once. At a movie house – some independent movie showing had some louse of a man like Niccolo in it. What was it about European men that American women wanted? Adele could do better than him.

Yet she still glanced upon him with adoration.

"Rising 'til it lifts us up so everyone can see." Their voices blended beautifully.

Niccolo's voice was horrible. "We're breaking free!"

"We're soaring, flying! There's not a star in heaven that we can't reach!" The cast sang as a collective whole.

"I can't do it." Gabriella whispered.

"You said that you couldn't before a long time ago. You proved yourself wrong. Remember to just look at me. Look at me." He grabbed her hand, leading her up to the stage. The students onstage had ceased singing and continued with the main beat of the song.

He could feel the tremors going through Gabi's body. Whatever was going on, he would definitely sort it out. He would handle Adele if this was some trick on her part. "Breathe, sweetie." He murmured once on stage.

Adele mechanically pushed herself towards Troy and Gabi. The grin she forced was stiff and she wasn't normal. Troy was a foot away from Adele – he hadn't been this close to her in over sixteen months – but they could have had a world between them. Oddly enough, she was a stranger. Taller, longer hair, more confidence, same great smile…different things he noticed that didn't make him want to hold her in his arms or kiss her lips. Her arms that were tucked behind her back crossed over her chest.

The light sparkled on the ring.

Woah.

Everything they went through, experienced together slammed into him. Troy squeezed Gabi's hand. His girlfriend's hand who he was holding to protect her from the anxiety that was taking her over.

Addie approached the couple. Her voice lowered. "I'm sorry. I thought we had all agreed to let the Drama Duo come up here. Ryan and Sharpie – Sharpay. Old habits die hard." Her eyes were glued to the floor as she tittered from nerves.

"It's okay. Can we sit back down then? Gabi's nervous." Troy stated plainly. He hadn't seen Adele this nervous since the announcement for team positions in soccer and girls basketball or their first date or their first…

"I can't do that. This is all about improving your self. It wouldn't be fair to let you sit back down just because she's nervous. I'm really sorry." Her brown eyes connected to his blues. The look in her eyes appeared to be sincere but the sound of her voice grated his nerves.

"Fine," He spat out.

"Calm down." She gritted her teeth as she walked pass Troy to Gabriella. She maneuvered his hand out of his girlfriend's and replaced it with her own. "Calm down," This time her voice was filled with compassion and trust. "I know this is scary. I hate improv too. We can get through this. Remember, you're not looking out at them; we're in character. We are oblivious to all those eyes. It's just you and me and Troy. No one else."

Gabriella nodded her head, taking a deep breath. She let go of Adele's hand.

"Alright you sneaks," Adele turned her back to the audience to speak to her fellow cast members. She went against rules so she could give them her patented evil death glare. Lips pursed and eyes narrowed. A few of them cowered in fear.

"What's the scene set up?" It was as if she challenged them to go further. Niccolo crossed the stage to sit back down. Before doing so, he placed a comforting hand on her left shoulder.

Oh, Troy wanted to break that annoying fools hand.

"Remember, it doesn't have to be funny." She muttered to the two of them as she turned back around.

"You two girls are hanging out at one of your houses, chatting about whatever. The boy comes in whenever."

Adele nodded and Gabriella kept her eyes on Troy. He stepped back and let the two girls have fun. He jumped in at the appropriate time. They were talking about a party they should sneak off to. Adele wanted to go; Gabi not so up on that idea. Troy came in as Gabi's brother, taunting the two girls for being wimps.

Neither of the girls were wimps in the least bit. One was overcoming her stage fright while the other was living the dream that nobody believed in…except her and him.

Soon, it was over and they were back in their seats. They received an ovation. The workshop was wending down and Troy still couldn't pinpoint why he wanted to hurt that Niccolo freak. But he did know he would enjoy doing it.