As Troy Alexander Bolton began to stir from his sleep one Sunday morning, his brain didn't take long to process his first thought of the day. Well, his brain didn't take long to process his first three thoughts of the day, to be exact.

Thought #1:He wasn't in his bed from home. In fact, he was in his cabin room bed at Camp Divinity.

Thought #2:He enjoyed the soft and warm feeling of the sun's rays kissing his face through the open window nearby.

Thought #3:His bed felt odd. It was as if someone had placed a weight at the end of it where his legs were.

Filled with the new curiosity he had, Troy rolled over and looked at the end of his bed. He was not prepared to see all of his friends sitting there, staring at him, and grinning like nine mischievous cheshire cats. It was because he wasn't prepared, that Troy gave a startled yelp at the sight of them.

"Surprise!" They all cheered as party poppers sounded, and confetti flew into the air.

"Y-you guys, what are you doing here?!" He asked, sitting up abruptly and slowly coming down from previous his fight or flight mode.

Kelsi blinked from his left side, "Troy, what do you mean 'what are we doing here'? It's your birthday! We wanted to surprise you!" She smiled. Troy then noticed the cupcake she held in her hands that was wrapped in a pretty blue liner and topped with a candle that had yet to be lighted. Oh yeah, it was his birthday.

"I chose the star sprinkles on the icing, because you'll always be my star!" His girlfriend, Gabriella Montez, pointed out with a giggle.

"I-It looks yummy!" Troy cracked a smile, calming down.

"I'd hope so, we got up early this morning to make it for you." Chad joked, playfully slugging his right shoulder.

"You say that as if you weren't the one insisting that we should wake up even earlier to make him a complete cake two days ago." Taylor McKessie arched a brow at him playfully.

"What can I say McKessie, my best friend deserves the best." He replied. "Well, at least I think so. You guys decided to waste the extra hour on sleep."

"Um, yeah, very much needed sleep!" Sharpay scoffed, stretching a little bit. "My bed needs a new mattress, it's an absolute nightmare!"

"Talk to Christian about it." Zeke suggested with a sympathetic smile. Christian was their youth group leader, and one of the adults in charge of Camp Divinity.

"Trust me, I will."

"Alright then!" Martha clapped her hands. "Troy, according to what we learned from previous class parties, you are very uncomfortable with the birthday song. So, to help make this day good, we've voted on not singing it."

"Thank God." Troy breathed dramatically, earning a laugh from his chums.

"And now, without further ado..." She announced like a proud ringmaster as the rest of the group created a drumroll sound, "Jason, light the candle!" Jason grinned, walked over to Kelsi with the lighter he held, and lit the candle.

"Make a wish Troy!" Kelsi smiled.

"Oh wow you guys, this is awesome, thank you!" He smiled. "But...I don't know what to wish for! I think I'll pass." The gang made sounds of protest.

"You only get one wish each year Troy." Gabriella smiled

"Yeah! So why don't you use this one?" Taylor added.

"Before you lose it." Ryan pointed to him. "Just because you're 16 now doesn't mean you're too old for a birthday wish. Remember that."

"Really, guys, I have nothing to wish for." Troy said.

"Well...think of something." Kelsi gave a gentle smile.

"Maybe you should wish for an easy life." Chad suggested after a few seconds of thought. "We all turn 16 this year, and my mom says that's when teen life really starts to get more challenging. " The others nodded in agreement.

"You know my mom said the same thing." Taylor said, looking at the ceiling in thought.

"So did mine." Ryan shrugged. "I'm not sure why it's specifically 16 though."

"Hm..." Troy considered it before his eyes brightened, "Okay! Well," He shrugged and smacked his hands to the bed "I wish that from all of our 16th years onward, we have a good life!" he declared before blowing out the candle.

Silence.

"Troy." Gabriella whispered with wide eyes.

"Yeah, what's up?" He answered

"You're not supposed to say your wish!" Taylor said in a breathless high pitched voice.

"Oh, Yeah." Troy said. "Forgot about that rule. Huh."

"Everyone knows that when you say your risk out loud, it doesn't come true!" Ryan said. "So technically, you wished that our lives were hard from this year onward."

"Superstition or not, I don't want to find out if the 'Rules of the Birthday Candle' actually exist. You just put that on all of us." Chad said.

"Way to go, Troy." Martha smirked.

"Guys, chill. We don't have to listen to some stupid wish rules!" Troy said, rolling his eyes. "We'll be fine!"

"We'll see." Sharpay replied before they all heard the sound of a megaphone feedback as it turned on.

"Alright kids! Bring your bags outside, grab some breakfast from the front, and let's head on home!" Christian called out from the front of the cabins. "The bus will be here in a few minutes!

It was at this moment when Troy's brain supplied him with another thought for the day:

He was not ready for Winter Break to end.

It wasn't that he hated school, his school was actually pretty decent. He didn't want break to end because he'd had so much fun camping with his friends. They loved spending their vacations at Camp Divinity, they'd been going since they were in elementary school back when it first opened. Back then, Troy and Chad's fathers lead the youth group with Christian's dad. They were friends in college and Christian's dad, Joseph Miller, had just inherited the place from his father Grant. It had been passed down for generations. The Millers loved camping.

"Okay guys! The bus is all loaded. Remember, we have to be back by 3:30!" Christian said about thirty minutes later as the bus doors opened for boarding. They all took their to-go breakfasts in paper bags and boarded the vehicle with the other teens as Chris took roll. When the rest of the group boarded (the Wildcats were at the back of the line), Sharpay waited a moment before letting Christian put his clipboard away.

"Chris, I have a question about my bed. Third floor, "Cabin 9- The Honey Badger Room", Left single bed?" Sharpay began to make her case, "The mattress is very uncomfortable."

"I'll tell you a secret, Sharpay." He smiled warmly before his voice quieted. "Mine was too, we're getting them replaced next weekend. It should be fixed by the time you come back."

"Thank God." Sharpay sighed in relief. "Okay, that will be all. Thanks Chris!" She boarded the bus and Chris gave a chuckle before boarding the bus. They all waved goodbye to the camp staff and began their drive home.

-Home Again~!-

When they arrived back in Albuquerque and the bus parked outside of the church, the kids began to get off and grab their and Taylor were one of the first people off of the bus, only having to wait for a short time to get their bags. As it turned out, a boy of their age by the name of Dylan Black was contributing to the fast pace, assisting people in finding their luggage by having them point it out for him to grab.

"Hey Chad, hey Taylor." Dylan smiled (though his brown eyes seemed to brighten at "Taylor"). "Here to get your bags?"

"And what else would we be doing?" Taylor smirked, although she was only messing with him. His mother was an old business partner of her father's. They would hang out with each other during business meetings at each other's houses when they were children.

"Yes, I suppose you're right." Dylan chuckled.

She gave him a smile and a light slug to his arm. "Thanks for helping unload. We all know it would go a lot slower otherwise."

"Of course!" He said with a nod that made his raven hair swish. "Can you imagine if we had a repeat of last year?"

He laughed with her and motioned for her lean down to look into the under bus storage."Which one will it be?" He placed a friendly hand on her middle back and Chad's eyes widened slightly.

"Hm...I think I see it in the right corner, behind that blue one with the basketball charm." Taylor observed and pointed out. Dylan removed his hand from her and pulled them both out.

"That would be mine, thank you." Chad said after Dylan put his luggage out, reminding them of his presence.

"Oh! Cool." Dylan said, pulling out Taylor's purple one. "There you go, Tay."

She smiled and gave him a small hug which he happily returned. "Thanks Dyl, you're the best."

"I try to be." He laughed. Chad rolled his eyes with a sigh, how annoying.

"Hey, didn't you guys used to date?" He asked suddenly, making himself known once again.

"Um...I wouldn't say, date?" Taylor blinked at him, as did Dylan.

"Yeah, no." He said.

"No, no, I think I remember that in 8th or 9th grade, you guys were an item." Chad replied. "You walked down the halls linked to each other sometimes?"

"I mean...yeah we went to dances together and went to each other's houses for dinner and went to the movies every now and then," Dylan began.

"So, dating. Date stuff." Chad said bluntly.

"Um…" Dylan scrunched up his face a bit. "Yeah, I guess you could label that as dating. That was 2-3 years ago, though."

"Huh. I would have thought you were planning a reunion, seeing how you guys interact, I mean." Chad replied with a face that wasn't exactly friendly, or innocent. He seemed to know whose buttons he was trying to push.

"What?" Taylor looked at him with her face scrunched into a confused and slightly irritated look. What was he talking about? Perhaps he was jealous. Sure, he took her to an afterparty after his game a few months ago, but she was pretty sure that afterwards they had agreed to go back to their old ways with each being the other's nemesis (only with less hatred this time around). They had agreed that their partnership of trying to split up Troy and Gabriella was temporary and that their attractions to each other were only a result of that. So…

"Why does it matter?" Taylor asked him with the same look after Chad and Dylan continued the conversation for a moment.

Chad stopped and looked at her for a moment, blinking once, twice. "It doesn't. I'm just wonderi-" He began before they heard a high pitched scream, they quickly rushed to the other side of the bus where they saw Kelsi on the floor in front of the doors, clutching her ankle painfully. Christian rushed over to her.

"Are you alright Kelsi?" He asked her and she shook her head quickly. "What happened?!" He asked the teens who were coming off behind her (including Sharpay and Ryan).

"She missed a step and fell." Sharpay said with wide eyes. "I don't think she was paying attention to be honest…"

"Yikes Kels…" Ryan commented with wide eyes as well. "Are you okay?!"

A tight lipped, eye shut Kelsi shook her head "My ankle hurts really bad!"

Christain spotted another leader who had just stepped out from the building and waved them over quickly. Together, they both tried to help stand Kelsi up, but it only resulted with her yelping loudly in pain. After believing it to be a sprain, they called the ambulance. Chris called Kelsi's mom to alert her of what had happened and went with her to the hospital. The other leader stayed in his place. After they took Kelsi away everyone stood in slight shock. Quiet murmurs were heard.

Among the murmurs, Sharpay said to the group:

"This Day." Sharpay began, looking at Troy "Is so cursed." the birthday boy (who had just grabbed his luggage) blinked.

"This life is so cursed." Ryan shuddered, everyone stood in silence.

"It was an accident guys, come on." Gabriella said with her hand in Troy's.

"Or a birthday wish gone wrong." Jason said.

"It's a coincidence." Troy smirked. "Heard of 'em?" He playfully hit Jason in the chest with a pillow. "Brought you your pillow."

"Oh, thanks dude." Jason replied.

"I hope you're right, Troy." Martha said, loading her car. "Because that, was weird. Come on Jase, I'll take you home." Honks were heard.

"My parents are here." Troy said.

"My mom is here." Gabriella said at the same time. They both laughed and he kissed her cheek. "See you at school tomorrow Wildcat, happy birthday!" She smiled, running to her car.

"Bye!" He chuckled and waved to the rest of his friends. "See you at school guys!"

"See you at school!" They chorused. "Happy birthday!"

Troy greeted his parents and got into the backseat, where his presents were waiting for him in a stack. He laughed and thanked them before buckling his seatbelt. As they drove off for a fun filled day, Troy thought over what had happened earlier. He knew there was no way his wish caused Kelsi to sprain her ankle. However…

He also knew that his wish totally caused Kelsi to sprain her ankle.

Hey guys! Hope you enjoyed this chapter! Have any comments? Let me know down below!