A/N: Standard Disclaimers apply as usual. I don't own High School Musical, Hollister, Banana Republic, or American Eagle. I do own all rights to When The Rain Comes.
Thoughts are in italics.
Making a hasty retreat, she quickly ran down the hall to the girl's bathroom as a refuge. She hadn't counted on Jason being this friendly with her. What was she going to do?
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Kelsi tried to steady her ragged breathing to no avail. Her mind and imagination were being overactive and jumping to conclusions. What if he likes me? No. It can't be. What if the basketball team is playing a joke at my expense? Yeah. Yeah. That must be it. Kelsi tried to reassure herself of this; that someone couldn't be that friendly with her just to be nice to her. After all, most people looked down on her and used her for accompaniment or to ask for help in drama. Regaining her composure, Kelsi fixed her hair quickly, walked calmly out of the bathroom, and headed in the direction of her homeroom class.
Kelsi reached the classroom fifteen minutes before the start of school and sat down to an empty classroom. Mrs. Darbus hadn't even come in yet, so it was a surprise to Kelsi that the door had been unlocked at all. No matter, she pulled out her score as usual and stared at it a bit before jotting down a few notes on the page. Frowning, she erased them and penciled in a new melody line for Receding Wave. Losing herself to the music, Kelsi had a creative spark and furiously tried to capture the music inside her head onto the paper. Before she knew it, the classroom had filled up with her chattering classmates and the bell had just rung.
Mrs. Darbus waltzed into the room with her usual dramatic flourish and said airily, "Students, Principal Matsui has some morning announcements, so stay quiet for them. After that, we will be working on your stage entrances. They are simply deplorable!"
The entire class groaned collectively and fidgeted slightly waiting for Principal Matsui's voice to come blasting out of nowhere. Sure enough, the loudspeaker clicked on, and the principal started talking immediately. "Good morning, East High. As you may well remember, last Sunday there was vandalism to our lovely school and there was quite a bit of damage. Nearly thirty thousand dollars worth of damage. Developments have arisen that have allowed us to name suspects. The local hardware store has given us the security tapes and we have discovered that the person buying several bags of manure late on Saturday night appears to be a female student on the shorter side. You should be ashamed of yourself, and you should know that we will not rest until we have caught the culprit or culprits and have apprehended them. This will not go unpunished. That will be all."
Another audible click and the principal's voice faded away. Instantaneously, the classroom began to buzz with anticipation of who it could have possibly been. In this class, there were a few people who fit the vague description; Kelsi being one of them. Kelsi had zoned out some time ago and was currently busy with writing lyrics for a musical number, so she didn't notice the strange looks people had been giving her. The ringing bell signaled to Kelsi that she should start walking to her next class.
Throwing herself into the flow of people in the hallway moving toward her Biology class, Kelsi shuffled along not minding the whispers and staring all around her. In the brief amount of time it had taken for the announcement to be made, Kelsi had become one of the prime suspects in the vandalism because of her height, or as she liked to call it, "petite size." Most people had assumed that her motive was to take quiet revenge on the school since she almost never talked in class or to other people. They just distrusted what they didn't know.
Kelsi went on during her day, completely unaware that the rumors flying around were about her. At lunch time, she was waved over by Troy to the gang's lunch table. She nervously waved back and took a seat next to Ryan. Sharpay, ever the blunt one of the group, asked pointedly, "So, Kelsi, who do you think did it?"
"Umm, did what?" Kelsi stuttered, a little surprised at the random question.
"Weren't you listening in class? Principal Matsui made an announcement that they had suspects as to who vandalized the school." Sharpay answered in a huff.
"Oh, I wasn't paying attention. I really don't know," Kelsi said nervously, wondering if she had given the right reply.
"Oh, ok. Suuure you don't." Sharpay said in a knowing tone of voice. The group had heard the rumors about Kelsi, and at first, they had been shocked and outraged. They couldn't believe that she could be capable of something like that, and emphatically denied all charges against her. However, as the day wore on, they had all found themselves thinking that maybe it was true. Maybe Kelsi did have something against the school. They had all been anxious for lunch to arrive so they could question Kelsi about their suspicions.
The awkward tension hung thick in the air, and the rest of lunch was spent quietly eating and not looking at each other. Kelsi was the first finished with her light lunch, so quickly excusing herself, she left the table hoping to get away from the weirdness that surrounded the group. As she walked away, she could almost feel the seven pairs of eyes boring holes into her back. Kelsi sighed and hugged her books to her chest as she walked out of the cafeteria.
I wonder what that was all about. They all acted like I was supposed to know something. Uh oh, this doesn't feel right. Maybe something bad is going to happen later today. Maybe it's all part of their elaborate basketball joke on me. Kelsi pondered upon what had just happened and just assumed it was some inexplicable thing that "popular" people did.
Kelsi had spent the rest of the school day wondering what Sharpay had meant when she had talked to her at lunch. Walking outside toward her mom's car that was waiting at the curb, Kelsi heard her name being called. She spun around to watch as Gabriella, Taylor, and Sharpay came running up to her, panting out of sheer exhaustion from running and calling to Kelsi at the same time.
"Hey guys, what's up?" Kelsi greeted the three girls with a wary smile.
Gabriella piped up, "Oh, we were going to the mall today, and we were just wondering if you would like to come with us?"
"Yeah, it'll be tons of fun," Taylor added. "Come on, you haven't hung out with us, and what better place than the mall?"
"Oh, gosh, I'm not really into the whole shopping thing and besides—" Kelsi started but was cut off.
Sharpay squealed and said loudly, "What? You don't like shopping? Oh, now you definitely have to come with!"
"You didn't let me finish. Anyways, I was saying that I have to drop by the hardware store and buy some wood glue for my dad. He's building a birdhouse, and he just used up the last of the wood glue yesterday. So, maybe some other time?" Kelsi asked cautiously.
They were all standing right outside Kelsi's car when her mom took the inopportune moment to ring in her thoughts. "Kelsi, dear, you were just at the hardware store on Saturday night! Why don't you give yourself a break and go out with the girls. I'll just drop by and pick up the wood glue for your father when I go to the market later. Call me when you need a ride home, darling. Bye bye!"
The three girls exchanged a quick glance at each other. Had they just heard right? Kelsi had been at the hardware store at the same general time as the criminal. Plus, it didn't help Kelsi's case that she just fit the description captured on the security tapes. They put the thought aside for a moment and went back to convincing Kelsi to go with them. All the more time for them to weasel the truth out of her.
Kelsi mentally smacked her mother for saying that she could go to the mall when all she had wanted was to go home and start the mounds of homework that her teachers had piled on today.
"Great, so now you can come to the mall with us!" Gabriella exclaimed happily. "We'll take my car." The four girls headed over to where Gabriella had parked her silver Mazda RX-8 and hopped in.
Letting out a loud shriek, Taylor yelped, "Wow, nice car, Gabi! When did you get this? I am so jealous."
"For my birthday, from my grandparents," Gabriella replied laughing.
Kelsi sat quietly in the backseat listening to the playful banter between the other girls. She silently decided to make the best of the trip since it didn't look as though she would be getting out of this any time soon. Cutting out too soon and she would be bombarded with questions from both her mom and the other three. No, it was best to stick it out and put up with whatever various girlyness would ensue.
Reaching the mall, Gabriella quickly found a parking spot near the entrance, and they all piled out of the car. "Ooh, let's go to American Eagle first! I saw this really cute shirt the other day when I was window shopping. I hope it's still there!" Gabriella rambled excitedly.
They all walked toward the store, Sharpay's heels clacking on the tile floor, Gabriella, Taylor, and Sharpay's mouths all motoring along a mile a minute. Kelsi hung back a bit, just staring in awe at the voluble amounts of conversation pouring out from their lips.
"Hurry up, Kelsi! We want to pick out a new outfit for you!" Sharpay called out from somewhere ahead. In her awestruck trance, Kelsi had somehow fallen behind the other three, and she now scampered to catch up.
By the time Kelsi had reached American Eagle, Taylor and Gabriella had already found an outfit for Kelsi. Pushing it into her hands, they then proceeded to push her into a dressing room and waited for her to put it on.
"Well, come on out! We want to see how it looks on you," Gabriella said through the wooden slats on the dressing room door.
Kelsi emerged wearing a pair of fitted brown plaid shorts that were cropped at the knee and a fitted yellow t-shirt with nonsensical designs on the left shoulder.
"Wow, Kelsi, you so have to buy this outfit. It's so cute on you!" Taylor squealed in delight.
"Wait, something's not right," Sharpay said thoughtfully. As if a light bulb had come on, Sharpay's face lit up, and she reached forward to flip the hat off Kelsi's head. "Lose the hat, Kels! Gosh, even Ryan isn't always wearing a hat."
"Oh really? Since when is that twin brother of yours not wearing a hat?" Gabriella questioned.
Sharpay giggled unceremoniously, "When he goes out on dates with Troy."
"Aww, that is adorable," Taylor commented.
Kelsi paid for her clothes and escaped the store with just one bag while the others weren't so fortunate, or at least in her eyes. They came out with at least two bags each, and Kelsi couldn't fathom how they could buy and wear so many clothes. She was quite content with the normal t-shirt and jeans combo everyday.
Several stores later and hundreds of dollars lighter, the girls called it a day and headed back out to the parking lot. Kelsi was relieved that this living nightmare was over, and that she could go home and rest her sore feet. She hadn't realized how much walking they had done until towards the fifth...sixth...seventh store? She had lost count somewhere between Hollister and Banana Republic. Her feet had been practically screaming at her to stop and take a rest. To sit on a bench, a planter; heck, anything that would stay still for a few seconds.
Gabriella drove everyone to their respective houses, planning to drop Kelsi off last since she lived closest to Gabriella. At last, it was only Kelsi and Gabriella in the car, and the silence threatened to overwhelm the two.
"So, Kelsi, have fun today?" Gabriella asked politely.
"To tell the truth, it was a little much for me," Kelsi replied while clutching her throbbing feet.
Laughing, Gabriella supplied an explanation, "Yeah, we tend to get 'in the zone' when we go shopping, and that usually means shop 'til you drop. Literally. By the way, what were you doing in the hardware store last Saturday?"
"Oh, just picking up some spackle for the wall," Kelsi said defensively. "Why do you ask?"
"No reason. I just wanted to know is all." Gabriella shot back quickly. "You, uhh, don't seem like the kind of girl to be going down to the hardware store all the time."
"My dad has just recently gotten into his home improvement craze. So we all play along. At the moment, he has disassembled the vacuum, drilled fifteen different holes into the wall and filled them before deciding that the first one was the right one, and painted the walls in the kitchen four different colors. That don't match." Kelsi explained.
"Oh, here we are. I'll see you later, Kelsi." Gabriella interjected.
"All right. Bye." Kelsi waved as she opened the door of the car and walked up the front steps to her door.
Hmm.. That was slightly strange. I'd better get started on that homework right away. This is going to be a very late night I can tell.
A/N: So there's the chapter. Hope you liked it. Review and tell me what you think. You'll just have to wait and see what happens next :D