Dear Mrs. Darbus

Chapter 5: You Never Forgot About Me

Summary: This is Taylor and Chad's letter. This is my favorite so far so it's going to be a bit longer than the others, so be warned. Chad is normal print and Taylor is bolded print.

Note: As for that extremely microscopic bit of basketball stuff, I don't know anything about basketball. I picked the team I did b/c they're close to New Mexico, okay? Don't try debating better teams with me!

Next up is what Kelsi does with all these letters (by the way, ryan and martha's was an e-mail) to help Mrs. Darbus. The suspense!

I still kept contact with all of my basketball friends. Jason, Zeke, and I still get together to start a game a lot and Troy comes down to play as well. We talk all the time and even Troy and I don't go without seeing each other for at least a week. We're all try to stay close, because that's what brothers do, no matter the distance. There's one person however, I haven't seen in a long time who may not have been my brother but still managed to be a really good friend: Ryan.

Ryan was my good friend. Whenever Troy was acting all weird, I would ask Ryan's advice and he would help. He didn't just help me during the summer before our senior year. When Troy was all depressed about Gabriella not coming to prom and I had no clue how to comfort him I asked Ryan and he gave me some advice. When Troy broke his leg I had no clue what to say to him. Ryan said I needed to push him, make him try to walk again, so I did it. The thing is, ever since that day I haven't seen him. He went back to Julliard and didn't call or e-mail or anything.

So when Martha called me I was just a bit disappointed that it wasn't Ryan instead, but hearing from Martha made me feel better. Then the fact that they were flying in from New York with all of their kids (she laughed when she said that, I'm not sure what that means. Do they only have one kid?) made me even happier. I can't wait for them to come.

When Chad told me about the call, I thought I would cry. Mrs. Darbus helped me realize my true potential. I really don't think Chad cared very much, he never liked Mrs. Darbus. I went looking for him anyway because I was not going to write the whole letter by myself. I really shouldn't have done that because he was in our room jumping up and down screaming: "We're going to have a high school reunion, I'm so happy!" over and over. I went in and smacked him and told him that he had to help me write the letter to Mrs. Darbus. He looked a bit sad but I managed to get him down anyway. So here's how the letter went:

Dear Mrs. Darbus,

We heard about your illness so we decided to do what we were instructed to help you feel better. A lot has happened since we graduated high school, so I think you will find our letter very comforting. Before college, Chad and I broke up. We both felt it was the best idea since we would have a long term relationship and those are hard. I studied at Yale and tried to forget Chad and everything about him I liked. I immersed myself in my studies.

I tried to forget Taylor like she tried to forget me. I focused on basketball and the occasional test. One day, I was practicing my basketball, and I got a call from Troy, telling me he was getting married and wanted me to be the best man. I said yes, big shocker there (sarcasm, yes, I know how to use it...I listen to Taylor use it all the time to me). When I went up for the wedding, I found out Taylor was going to be the matron of honor. I freaked out. I'd finally convinced myself I didn't care about Taylor, I'd even gone out with a couple of girls, and now I had to speak to her and get over her all over again. Throughout the whole wedding ceremony two things crossed my mind: Congrats Troy and Holy shit, what am I going to say to Taylor? Ryan forced me to dance with her; he said it would be good for the two of us to spend time together. Thank goodness he talked me into it.

Taylor and I talked and decided that a relationship might not be the best idea but we could still remain friends. After the wedding we called and e-mailed and wrote letters and all that good stuff. I missed Taylor more than I would ever admit to anyone. For about a year we didn't see each other, but we still kept in contact. One day, I couldn't take it anymore. We were on winter vacation so I ditched campus and took a plane to Yale. I told Taylor that it was driving me insane that I couldn't see her because I was thinking about her more than I was thinking about basketball, which scared me. I told her my whole life was revolving on getting an e-mail from her, not on tests or basketball games. I told her it really pissed me off that she could have this effect on me, but she did I just needed to get it off my chest. Taylor didn't say anything for a few seconds, so I assumed she had moved on. Thinking I had made a huge goof of myself, I turned to go but next thing I knew she had grabbed my hand and we were making out. I took that to mean that she cared about me too.

Every vacation we would go and see each other and would spend every second with each other. I called him all the time and we were always e-mailing each other. I could get through my second year of college easier than I could my first. After a while I heard that Gabriella was pregnant so I rushed over to be with her for the week before she gave birth. She had a beautiful baby girl and when I held that baby I realized that it would be so hard for them to take care of that gorgeous creation and I knew that if Chad and I were ever going to take that step, we would have to be extremely careful until we were sure that we could take care of our baby the correct way.

A few months later Troy broke his leg. He could barely walk and he wasn't going to play basketball. I told Chad he needed to go to Stanford to help his best friend, but Chad didn't know what to say. I called Ryan because he was always really good at motivating people and Ryan helped Chad. Ryan told Chad that Troy might never walk again. One of his dreams was slipping out of his grasp, and it was so close. He said that Troy could walk he just didn't want to. I walked out of the room about then and when I got back, Chad was online, buying a ticket to go see Troy. When he got back he just sat on the bed for a while. He looked at me for a second and then said, "If I broke my leg and there was no way I'd be in the NBA, would you leave me? Or would you stay by my side?" he asked me. I just looked at him for a couple of seconds. That was what I was wondering. Except the opposite: if it turned out I was a crappy lawyer, would he still want me? Or even worse: if I got breast cancer and got all skinny and unhealthy, would he still want me and want me, or would he run away? Did he care more about me than my body? I looked at one more time.

"Yes Chad, I would still be with you. I'd follow you to the ends of the Earth, metaphorically speaking," I told him. I wish I'd kept that promise.

Not long after that we got into this HUGE fight. It was really stupid, and I don't remember what it was about. She walked out on me, took the first plane back to school. She wouldn't answer any of my e-mails or letters, wouldn't take my calls. Eventually, I stopped trying. I got depressed again, and I stopped trying in basketball practice. I finally understood why Troy could never make a basket when he and Gabriella were fighting.

I tried to get over her. I went out with lots of random girls but I always called it quits when things got too cozy. Every girl I saw I thought of her. It was WEIRD! I didn't like it, not one bit, but there was nothing I could do about it. I felt whipped, not a feeling I ever wanted to feel or get used to.

I also forgot about Chad. After college, I became a divorce lawyer. I was known for getting the people exactly what they wanted. I was opinionated and I knew my laws. Even if all my client wanted was a few boxes of junk, I would fight with all my heart and soul to get those few boxes of junk back into my client's hands.

One time, I bumped into Sharpay. I was doing a divorce case for one of her Broadway friends and she came for moral support. Sharpay somehow manages to sneak into the room where my client and I were discussing issues with the other client. She sat down and said, "Doesn't Meredith have the most beautiful eyes? And doesn't Robert have the most gorgeous smile?"

The other lawyer just looked at me. I think he was about to yell but then Robert said, "That was what attracted me to her. Her eyes are like the key to her soul."

"I always loved Robert's smile," was what Meredith answered. Robert's lawyer his attention back and went on about the land they own together and who should get it. The Sharpay said:

"Their skin tones are perfect. Purple, dark blue and a deep green go perfect with not only Meredith's skin, but with Robert's too! They are skin tone compatible, that's always a plus! Because what if Robert looked good in green but not blue, but and then Meredith looked good in blue but not green, that would be a disaster!" I don't think she took a breath that whole monologue! Meredith smiled shyly and Robert blushed a little. Robert's lawyer looked more than a bit aggravated. I was trying to get our client's attention but then Sharpay said:

"I don't normally go for the nice guys but Robert is a nice guy. And Meredith is soooooo sweet I remember this one time..." and she went on about how Meredith helped her with some wardrobe malfunction. Robert's lawyer exploded with:

"WHAT IS THIS? IS THIS SOME KIND OF SCHEME THE THREE OF YOU HAVE SO ROBERT WILL DO WHATEVER YOU WANT HIM TO DO? BECAUSE IF IT IS, THEN IT'LL NEVER WORK!" Robert just stared at him then:

"Okay, first of all, you don't start a sentence with 'because!' That is grammatically incorrect! Second of all...I wanted to tell Meredith I'm sorry. I've been a major ass and I'd like to apologize. If she'll let me, I'd like to move back home and we could try to work it out. Whatever it takes, we'll do it." Meredith stared at him for a long minute and the said:

"Well...you ain't sleeping in my room, you'll be sleeping on the couch...but you can move back in. Apology accepted, but you better have meant it!" she warned him, and got up, grabbed his hand and walked out of there. Sharpay looked at me.

"And that's how you do it!" she said happily, bouncing off. I looked after her. Then I did one of the most impulsive things I have ever done in my entire life: I called the airport and ordered a plane ticket to Phoenix, Arizona. By that time the next day I was standing in front of Chad's apartment, wondering what the hell was going through my mind when I bought that train ticket. Because (sorry Robert) Chad had ruined it...again.

Okay, first off, I would like to say it had been three years since I last saw Tay, so excuse me for trying to move on! Well, I was with this girl named Emily when Taylor stopped by. When she rang the doorbell, we thought it was the pizza. So Em went to get it when she wasn't quite...decent. I'm not saying she had nothing on, but she had nothing covering her legs...and she was wearing my jersey (by that time I was a point guard for the Phoenix Suns). I heard Taylor's voice say in that deadly voice, "Who are you?"

"Um...apparently you're not the pizza. I'm Emily..." she said. I heard Em give a little shriek then Taylor barged in to see me. She looked at me, looked at Emily and stormed out. Me being the idiot that I am went after her. She punched me in the gut and ran out. I went back into the room. Emily was getting her clothes on, and grabbing all her stuff. I asked her what she was doing.
"Chad, I know who she is. She's Taylor McKessie and you love her and have loved her since you were seventeen. I'm not going to compete with that. I want to, but I learned my lesson my senior year when Michael's ex came back. I get it. Go after her," she said, bawling her eyes out. I wondered how she knew all that. I guess I was thinking out loud because right before she walked out she choked out:

"Chad, you talk in your sleep!" (Note: yes he does. That's how I know what to get him for his birthday!) I found out where Taylor was staying and drove there the next day. I told her everything. How I'd been since we broke up, everything. She took it in quietly, so quietly, I wasn't even sure she was listening. Then her face broke out into a very small smile. Then she hit me...again.

"You idiot, do you know how long I have been waiting to hear you say that?! Way too long! If you would've just came to see me and said that, I would have taken you back! Years ago! I can't believe how stupid you can be! Is there one that that goes through that thick head of hair of yours!?" she screamed at me. The whole time she was whacking my head. It hurt like crazy, but I knew that we would be okay.

We had a relationship going on, this time for real. We called and I talked about my games and she talked about her cases, but neither of us cared about what we were talking about. When basketball season was over, I would go to live with her and occasionally she would fly to where I was during the season to visit me. This went on for about four years. I'm almost thirty, I think I should be thinking about settling down, having a family...with lots of mini Chads to pass on my basketball expertise to. We've got a house in Albuquerque and we're going to be getting married soon. I'm not sure when, but it will happen. I need to figure out how I'm going to propose.

The point is, Mrs. Darbus that we never gave up on each other. After everything, we stayed together. If after all the stuff we've been through and we didn't give up, you need to hold on. We'll miss you.

Sincerely,

Taylor and CHAD

Note: The first baby Taylor has is a girl, named Lanesha. The next kid they have is named Jade, also a girl. Although Chad loves his daughters very much, he's sad that he doesn't have a basketball star to play with. He later finds out that Lanesha didn't just inherit his and Taylor's stubbornness but also his skill and love for basketball. She fights for a girl's basketball team and is a huge women's rights activist. Chad plays with Lanesha all the time and Lanesha eventually goes to Yale but on a full basketball scholarship. Jade goes to Brown and pays her way through college with the help of her big sister and parents. Jade becomes a vet b/c she loves animals. Taylor doesn't become the first woman president, but she is eventually Secretary of State.