Chapter 4

The next few days were like a blur for Troy and Gabriella. Troy had started attending practice, but the team was not happy, because he was not playing well. There were days when he missed every single shot. Zeke was the only one who understood how Troy was feeling. He was the only one who did not put any pressure on Troy and Troy was very grateful for that. He had felt like his head was killing his from all the stress. Gabriella was not talking to him. He was not playing well. His team was mad at him for that – other then Zeke, of course. And above all of that, he had all his homework and the chores around the house to be done.

Gabriella had felt like Albuquerque was the best thing that had ever happened to her – until she overheard the conversation between Troy and Chad. She had stopped eating and had gotten Adrianna and Nick very worried. Isabel had explained to them what had happened. Even Isabel had not gotten it out of Gabriella. She had heard rumours around the school, and when she had gotten home from school, Gabriella confirmed that what she had heard was true. Isabel was very sorry for Gabriella. It was killing her to see her sister like that. So upset. So hopeless, like she had lost all the faith she had in herself. Isabel had made it clear that the minute she met that idiot of a Troy Bolton, she would let him have a piece of her mind – and it would not be something anyone would want to watch. Oh, yeah! Isabel might have been afraid of her mother, but, she was not afraid of confronting the most popular guy in school.

A week after Gabriella had started ignoring Troy, Isabel caught up with Troy just before homeroom. She grabbed his arm and pulled him away from the door just as he was about to step inside the classroom. Troy looked surprised. He had not met Isabel yet and did not know that she was related to Gabriella.

"What are you doing?" Troy asked, pulling his arm away.

"What the hell did you do to my sister?" Isabel yelled.

"Look, I don't know who you are, and I don't think I know your sister either," Troy said, confused.

"You know very well who my sister is, Troy Bolton," Isabel said, angrily. "You cannot tell me that you don't know Gabriella Montez?"

"Wait, she's your sister?" Troy asked, looking both surprised and happy.

"Yes," Isabel said, exasperatedly. "Why'd you do it, Troy? Why'd you hurt her so much?"

"I never meant to do that," Troy explained.

"Look, Troy," Isabel began. "From what I've heard around here, you're a nice guy. And, nice guys don't go around hurting girls for no reason."

"I'll explain to Gabriella if she would just give me the time," Troy said.

"Gabriella likes you a lot," Isabel said. "And, not as a protective brother sort of way, or the just friend's kind of way. She likes you more than a friend. She's in love with you. It's the first time I've seen her so happy and you've just grabbed the happiness away from her."

"She's in love with me?" Troy asked feeling dazed.

"Yes!" Isabel cried. "And you pushed her away."

"Isabel, you don't understand," Troy said.

"So, help me understand, Troy," Isabel said. She had started to lose her patience.

"I love your sister," Troy said, and Isabel's eyes grew wide. "I would do anything to make her happy, I just don't know how."

"I'll give you a hint," Isabel said. "She loves singing, singers and meaningful songs."

"But, how's that going to help me with anything?" Troy asked, confused.

"I don't know, Troy," Isabel grinned sneakily. "How about you sing a song for her?"

"What?" Troy cried. "I can't do that. No body except my showerhead witnesses my singing."

"If you want to get Gabriella back, maybe a lot more people will have to witness your singing," Isabel shrugged. "You know that little karaoke place across the Starbucks café?" she asked and Troy nodded. "Go there and be prepared to sing; tonight. I'll guarantee you that Gabriella will be there," she said. She smirked at Troy's horrified face. She turned and walked away.

"Isabel," Troy called after her. "ISABEL!"

Someone tapped Troy's shoulder and Troy turned around surprised. He found himself face to face with the principal, Mr. Matsui. Troy's face grew red when he saw him staring at him, sternly.

"Hi, Mr. Matsui," Troy said, trying to smile at him.

"Shouldn't you be in class, Mr. Bolton?" Mr. Matsui asked.

"Uh…yes, sir, I have homeroom, now," Troy stammered. "I have to get going."

Troy tried to walk past Mr. Matsui, quickly, but, Mr. Matsui stopped him and his heart sang. Damn! Was he in trouble?

"Not so fast, Mr. Bolton," Mr. Matsui said. "I want to ask you a question."

"Yes, sir," Troy said. "I hope I'll be able to answer that."

"Oh, you will, Mr. Bolton," Mr. Matsui smiled at Troy. "How's the team going? Have you got them all whipped into shape?"

"Oh," Troy said relieved, "Yeah, yeah, everything's great. I don't think we could be better. We're ready to take down the West High Knights. Any day; anytime!"

"I was hoping you'd say that," Mr. Matsui said, nodding approvingly at Troy's answer. "You see, East High will win the state wide championship, if, you can beat the West High Knights."

"We'll be ready," Troy promised. "When do we have to play?"

"That's the problem," Mr. Matsui said. "The game is tonight." Troy's eyes popped open. Mr. Matsui continued, "I just found out about it myself. I'm sorry. But, if you would feel any better, the basketball team can have the day off for practicing."

"Thank you, sir," Troy said, gratefully. But, he was really worried in the inside. Can the Wildcats win the game? He had not been lying when he said that they could beat the West High Knights, but, he had his doubts, especially about his own playing. "I should go, now, sir. You know, round up the team for practice."

"Good luck, Mr. Bolton," Mr. Matsui said, patting Troy's back before walking away.

"Thanks, I'll need it," Troy muttered to himself.

He hurried into his homeroom class, and ignoring Ms. Darbus's scolding's about being late, he yelled. "Team! Gym! Now!"

He strode out of the classroom with the rest of the team behind him. They were almost running to keep up with Troy's fast strides. Chad caught up with him and grabbed Troy's shoulder.

"Hey, Captain, what's wrong?" Chad asked.

Troy did not answer. He went to the gym and held the door open. The team piled into the gym and stood there staring at Troy.

"Well, captain, care to tell us why you dragged us here from class?" Chad asked.

"Yeah, like you were in class," Zeke scoffed. 'You wee in dreamland."

The team burst out laughing except for Troy.

"Guys, I have some news for you," Troy yelled. "It's not good, so you had better listen up, because I'm not going to say it twice. We have a chance of winning the stated wide championships this year."

"That's good, isn't it?" Jason interrupted.

Troy ignored him and continued. "The game is," he looked at every one of his team members separately before finishing. "Tonight. We have all day to practice and we are going to win this game, alright?" the last part came out as a yell of encouragement to the team.

"What team?" Chad yelled.

"Wildcats!" the rest of the team yelled back.

"What team?" Chad asked again, louder.

"Wildcats!" the team answered, louder.

"Wildcats!" Chad yelled.

"Get'cha head in the game!" the team yelled.

Troy grinned approvingly. His team was excellent. When they were on the court, they were one, not twelve separate people.

"Alright, Wildcats," he said, clapping his hands together. "Pair up. Start practicing, And we're gonna win that game tonight."

"Yeah!" the team yelled.

They each grabbed a ball and started practising, but, Troy could not concentrate however hard he tried. His mind was on one thing – Gabriella. Of course, he couldn't get her back tonight, not with the game. Hopefully, she would understand, and maybe, she might even watch him play. But, what was the use of watching him play? He was going to suck.