Chapter Two: Second-hand Impressions
by silkreel
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As the warning bell for the start of class sounded and groups of students hurried to their homeroom class, the sight before Chad Danforth demanded his undivided attention. Troy Bolton, best friend and captain, was approaching him wearing a goofy grin, with a kick in his step, and though Chad had to double check to make sure: Troy was humming to himself. He shook his head, his greatest fears confirmed; Troy was in love, and he had fallen hard. Only problem was, he had fallen for the wrong girl.
From the sounds of it, Gabriella was very shy and very studious – a match between Troy and Gabriella would create chaos in East High's well-established, disciplined, social fabric. Like a set of unsaid commandments, there were rules that everyone knowingly followed: band nerds didn't date skaters, reclusive artists didn't date drama freaks, and basketball jocks certainly didn't date math geeks. This new girl however, didn't seem to know the rules, and as Troy's friend, Chad knew his responsibility was to make sure that she did. As for Troy, Chad was faced with the unpleasant duty of reminding his friend of this reality.
"Hey man," Troy exclaimed brightly, giving Chad an enthusiastic slap on the back, "isn't today just a beautiful day? Isn't life just amazing in general? Did you know we're having chocolate pudding today, my favourite dessert? You know, Gabriella's eyes are the exact same colour as chocolate pudding. I think it's fate – the cosmos are trying to tell me that this girl is it man, it's meant to be!"
Chad felt a pang of horrible guilt stab at his insides, though focused on Troy's social well-being, he sternly told his conscience to go take a hike. As the two of them walked to Drama class together, Chad took a deep breath, and said "Troy, I know you're excited about this new girl, but what do you really know about her? Sure, she seems nice, but as your friend, I have to watch your back and paint you a picture of the ugly truth: she's the queen nerd of all nerds, she has no friends – I mean come on, the girl sits by herself at lunch – what more of a loser can you get, if not even the lowest of the low will sit with you? She's taking advantage of you, man."
As Chad finished, he glanced over to see Troy's reaction and almost tripped over his feet. From the look on Troy's face, he wanted to punch his lights out. Chad was aware that their long-standing friendship was the only reason Troy was holding it back.
Troy's eyes had narrowed to intimidating slits as he gazed at his friend, his voice low and near inaudible as he said, "Chad, we've been friends since kindergarten, but you're treading on thin ice. I can't believe all the ugly lies you've just said about Gabriella - you know how much I like her, you know –"
"Wait, wait, wait -- there's something I haven't told you yet," Chad interjected, "I didn't want to tell you, but I overheard Gabriella on her cell phone this morning, talking about you. About how she had played some basketball chump at her new school, that she had you wrapped around her finger, that –" and here, Chad almost hesitated "- that she faked those tears in the hallway, and kissed you goodnight to 'convince the idiot that I actually liked him.'" Chad dropped his eyes – it was all a lie, but Troy was too far-gone to be persuaded with rational reasoning. He couldn't even look the guy in the eyes.
Troy was deathly silent the rest of the way, though a mental struggle was going on in his head. On the one hand, Gabriella seemed like such a sweet, honest girl – she was literally the girl of his dreams. On the other hand, he and Chad had been friends since they were four. In a defeated voice, Troy said, "Chad, you're my oldest, closest friend, and you of all people know how much I like Gabriella. So if you say that's what you heard her say, then – I-I believe you." Troy felt his heart breaking, screaming that it had to be a mistake – he slumped at his desk in homeroom, staring vacantly at the graffiti covered top.
Gabriella huffed as she ran into the classroom, sounding a triumphant 'Yes,' as the school bell followed. "Chalk one up for Montez, I'm on time," Gabriella grinned to herself – she had overcome great obstacles; including steamrolling past Sharpay Evans who had demanded they "discuss Troy," quite loudly from the middle of the hallway.
Making her way to her seat, she smiled brightly at the sight of Troy and almost said, "Hey." She faltered though, because if looks could shoot poison, the glare she was getting from Troy was the equivalent of a bite from a black mamba snake. As quickly as turned to glare at her, he turned away, refusing to even look in her direction.
"Hey, what's the matter?" she asked, confused. It was then, however, Ms. Darbus started class.
"Alright everybody, today, we will discuss the fundamentals of theatre singing – musicals. I, as your Drama teacher, firmly believe that everyone is capable of a singing voice. Some of you, like Sharpay," and here, Ms. Darbus gave a wink to her favourite student, "blow us away with their talent. Others, I anticipate will have more difficulty. For the record Mr. Danforth, your snoring is NOT MUSIC TO MY EARS!" Ms. Darbus yelled the latter part, rapping her ruler hard on Chad's desk.
Chad's head of curls bounced up from his desk, "Huh? Music? Do we have to listen to those freaky-creepy Evans twins sing again? Like last time, I have to object to being subjected to such inappropriate 'singing.'"
Ms. Darbus rolled her eyes, exasperated. "Mr. Danforth, I will not tell you again – contrary to your paranoid, delusional beliefs, the music I select for this class does not contain subliminal messages."
"And I can't explain this enough to you Ms. Darbus – it's not the music, it's how those two sing it. How else can you explain why my buddy Zeke has the biggest crush of all time on Sharpay? I can only conclude, Ms. D, that there is the involvement of the black arts, and that Sharpay – is a witch."
"Hey!" Sharpay and Zeke yelled out simultaneously, outraged. Zeke proceeded to give a hard smack on the back of Chad's head, while stealing hopeful glances at Sharpay to see her reaction. Sharpay, however, was much too busy, shrilly demanding that Chad be punished for such an insult to her talents.
Ms. Darbus snapped her ruler on the desk, "Class, I highly suggest you remove the last five minutes from your memory. In doing this, I shall hope your minds are not tainted by Mr. Danforth's display of horrible theatre ignorance. Instead, pay attention carefully as I describe your next project. In pairs, you will have the next two weeks to prepare a performance, to be presented on the stage to the class. I will post your assigned partner and duet song on the door of the room after class. It will be up to the two of you to take the initiative and practice with each other, and if you wish, with Miss Nielson our pianist. Now, thespians believe the first musical was performed as early as…" Ms. Darbus proceeded with her lecture. As Gabriella half-listened, she was pretty sure this was the Drama teacher's most boring lecture so far.
Remembering Troy's death-glare at the beginning of class, Gabriella tried tapping Troy on the shoulder. Troy must have found the lecture on The Origins of Musicals extremely interesting though, because he didn't bother to turn around.
At the end of class, it was Gabriella's turn to rush after Troy. Evidently, not only was he very attentive today, but also very busy, because he swiftly left the room before she managed to call out his name. His friend Chad, however, approached her.
"Hey Gabriella, do you think I could talk to you for a minute?" he asked gravely.
"Um, sure?"
"Troy's one of my best friends, and I normally wouldn't do this, but you seem like a really nice girl and I don't want you to get hurt. I love the guy to death, but he's the biggest heartbreaker in the school – Sharpay was one of his more recent 'conquests'. As you can see, he's still got her chasing him even after the ugly, public break up they had. You're new, so someone needs to tell you: Bolton will act like the perfect gentleman, win you over and then break your heart. To him, it's all one big game. Stay away from him."
On the other side of the school, Troy walked dejectedly to his locker. Meanwhile, Chad was making his way to his next class, feeling like a world-class jerk and trying to convince himself he had done the right thing. Gabriella stood frozen in the middle of the classroom shell-shocked, trying to make sense of the situation. With a sigh, she resigned herself to believing Chad – after all, everything was really going too smoothly. On her way out, she noticed Ms. Darbus posting the assignment list on the door and stopped to take a look.
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"Troy, where is your lab partner?" Mr. Wong asked, warily watching Troy's purple test tube – it was supposed to be clear. Though he hadn't had Gabriella in his class for very long, he had already determined her very important role: to keep Troy from blowing up the school, or at the very least, catching on fire.
Troy faked a nonchalant shrug, though he couldn't help but worry about his lab partner too. He knew he was supposed to hate her, but for some reason, something in his heart was pulling him back. Also, she was the only reason he hadn't caught on fire in this Chemistry class yet.
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Meanwhile, in the east wing of the school, in the girl's washroom, in the third stall from the door, Gabriella was hiding. He was in her homeroom Drama class, he was her Chemistry lab partner, and as of fifteen minutes ago, a piece of paper on a door said that he was her Musical Performance partner too. With all this one-on-one time with Troy Bolton, how was a girl supposed to ignore her stupid heart, which was stupidly telling her in a singsong voice, she was falling in love? Hence, Troy Bolton was the reason she was in the girl's washroom right now and not in her class. She couldn't fall in love with him, she couldn't – hell, who was she kidding. She cradled her head in her hand, shaking her head in denial.
She was in love.
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Author's notes: Thanks to everyone who reviewed, added me as a favourite, or silently added me to their story alerts lists, though shame on the second group, lol, give me some feedback why don't ya. Your feedback really motivates me, and in some instances, inspired me to continue the things you like, like the Sharpay bashing (which is really too easy, and too much fun to stop to be honest.) Stay patient with me for future chapters, we're all going back to school and so we'll all be a bit busier. Best of luck in the start of your new school years, guys. silkreel
P.S. I sort of borrowed a line from the songs "Breathe" and "Pulling Me Back." Though I think I can get away with it, because they're common sayings.