Chapter Seven
She hummed softly to herself as she wandered about the house. Genevieve had gone into town to get something for Treves, which left Soleil pretty much bored and wandering around aimlessly. She was currently heading up the stairs to retire to her room when she caught a glimpse of something through a partially open door.
She pushed the door open quietly, making her way in to see Treves standing before an easel, painting. She leaned slightly to the side, eyes widening when she realized how beautiful the painting was. Treves was a painter! Why hadn't she noticed this before in her three weeks with the man? All the paint stains on his sleeves should have tipped her off.
She shook her head, moving to stand just behind him on his side. "That is amazing," she said softly, causing him to jump, as he did not know she was behind him.
Treves turned slightly to see Soleil standing beside him admiring his work, "I was inspired," he admitted, stepping back so that she could observe just what he had painted.
She gasped lightly; it was a portrait of her sitting at the piano and playing a soft melody. "Treves…" she started, unable to think of anything more to say to express her awe.
"This is…glorious!" she exclaimed finally finding her words, "You have a talent for this."
Treves shook his head in modesty, "It is nothing more than a hobby."
"But you have such a passion for it, I can tell," she said examining the other pieces in the small study. "Have you not considered being a painter?"
He shook his head, "No…Genevieve said I should keep my head on the ground and not in the clouds."
"No," Soleil said shaking her head at him, "You should let your head be in the clouds." He gave her a questioning glance; she smiled softly, "You can see more from up there."
He smiled at her words, "Besides," she continued, "If it is your dream, if you are passionate about it, you should put your whole heart and soul into it and it will never fail you."
He looked down in her eyes, seeing admiration and support shining though…a look that he had never seen from Genevieve, "And what, may I ask, about your playing?" he glanced at his portrait.
Soleil laughed at that, "Now that…is a hobby…"
A soft squeaky noise resonated from the rubber soles of his sneakers as Troy roamed the empty halls of the school. He'd woken up early that morning, planning to do so all weekend. He had been thinking a lot to himself about what he was planning to do, wondering if he should actually go through with it or not. He set his jaw and decided that he wasn't just doing this because of his dad, he needed to get it out…and this was the only way he could think to do it.
Troy went straight to his locker, pulling out an old notebook before turning and walking down the hall. He'd woken up that morning determined to get to school early and sign up…if he didn't, if he'd waited till he saw his friends, he was sure that he'd end up chickening out. He strode right up to the Talent Show sign up sheet next to the Drama announcements. He took a deep breath and signed his name…just under Sharpay's. He squinted his eyes in confusion, Sharpay never did the talent show…at least he didn't think she did.
He stared at the sheet a little bit longer till he heard a melody playing somewhere. He turned, realizing that the music was coming from the direction of the auditorium. He headed there, soon hearing a soft voice accompany the song. He peeked into the room, seeing Sharpay standing on stage, a CD player just before her, singing to the music that was playing.
"…when all the world is sleeping, I'd stay up and think of you. And I still can't believe that you came up to me and said, "I love you; I love you too." Troy watched in awe as she swayed to the music, just getting lost in the beat. She was amazing, her voice was beautiful, nothing like the forced show music she was so well known for, but actual and heartfelt. "Now I'm dreaming with you tonight. Till tomorrow, and for all of my life, and there's nowhere in the world I'd rather be then here in my room, dreaming with you endlessly..."
As soon as she'd finished and the music died down, Troy started to clap as he made his way to the stage. "Troy!" she exclaimed, blushing furiously as she shut off her player, "I…I didn't know anyone was here…what are you doing here so early?" she asked, sitting on the edge of the stage as he leaned against it.
"I was…signing up for the talent show…" he started, pausing as he expected her to laugh at him.
He was mildly surprised when she didn't, instead asking him a question, "Really? What song are you going to sing? You are singing right? I mean, you can't score touch downs on stage and…"
Troy laughed, interrupting her rambling, "It's baskets, not touch downs."
Sharpay stared at him for a moment wondering what he was talking about before laughing when she realized it, "I know, I think I've just been spending way too much time with Ms. Darbus."
Troy laughed even harder at that, "Any way, I am singing, but it was just some song I heard last night that I thought might be cool to sing."
"That great," she said, flashing him an encouraging, and gorgeous, smile, "I'm sure you'll be amazing."
Troy flushed slightly at that, he still wasn't used to people complimenting him on his singing. "Thanks, you're amazing too…I…I mean singer…you're an amazing singer…" He looked away, now a bright red at his slip of the tongue. He'd been looking into Sharpay's eyes and just…things just came out before he could stop them…he just couldn't think clearly…
Sharpay just laughed it off, "Thanks," she blushed slightly, "I wish my parents had your confidence in me." He turned to face her, a questioning look in his eyes. She rolled her eyes, "I love to sing, and I want to go to school to major in it, in acting and stuff…but my parents don't think I could do it…they want me to get a degree in something before considering acting."
"Sounds like my dad with basketball…" Troy mumbled.
Sharpay smiled softly, looking out into the empty auditorium. "I really hope I get the lead in the musical, it'll probably be the only singing I'll be doing for a while…"
Troy shook his head at that; he completely understood where she was coming from. His father was planning his future as well, get a basketball scholarship to a good college, star on the team, make it to the NBA and have a career in it. Period. Sometimes, late at night, especially after a rough practice, Troy would find himself wondering if his dad would lighten up on him if he broke his leg and ruined his chances at B-Ball.
"A wise woman once told me," he heard himself start, "that if you are passionate about something you should put your whole heart and soul into it and it can never fail you."
Sharpay smiled softly at the familiarity of the words before turning to face him, "Who told you that?"
"I…I don't know…" he said softly, looking away from her.
Sharpay was about to jokingly ask how he could not know who gave him such good advice, when she saw the notebook still tucked slightly under his arm. "What's that?" she asked, taking it gently and opening it.
"Oh…it's…nothing,…" he said, watching as she opened it and flipped through a few pages.
Sharpay's eyes widened in awe as she looked at the beautiful pictures on the paper before her. She glanced over at Troy for a moment, before returning her full attention to the sketches. The notebook was practically full of sketches of different things, from a basketball to a flower, from a desk in the classrooms to his friends, and even some more fantastical pictures of dragons and elves graced the pages as well. Sharpay turned the pages to the last few ones, fingers gently brushing over the last few sketches Troy had done.
Something stirred within her as she stared at the pictures. There was a sketch of the pyramids of Egypt, a piano, and a cross. Her fingers trailed over the details of the pictures, so realistic it seemed as if the places could just jump up off the page.
It wasn't until Troy gently reached over and shut her mouth that she realized it was hanging open. She turned to stare at Troy, "These…are amazing!" she exclaimed looking back at them.
Troy smiled a 100-watt smile at her praises, leaning over slightly to look at the pictures with her. "Thanks…"
She stared at him again, "You drew all these?"
He looked up; her eyes were filled with wonder, disbelief, and amazement. He nodded, watching in fascination as her eyes sparkled with some emotion Troy couldn't identify.
"When did you do these?" she asked, flipping through the pages once more.
"I started freshman year," Troy answered flipping back to the beginning, "And I just sketched when I was bored…" he showed her some sketches of desks and classrooms, "…or inspired…" he brushed past the sketches he'd made of his friends, lingering slightly longer on her own portrait than the other. "…or if I had a cool dream…" he showed her his last few sketches of dragons and elves and the pyramids.
"This is…wow…" Sharpay was speechless. She never knew that Troy could draw like that.
"I've been drawing a lot more," he mentioned, taking the book back from the shocked Sharpay, "I guess the trip that Darbus is planning to the art museum has me hyped."
Ms. Darbus had been talking about taking all the cast members and Drama club members to the art museum to 'get their creative juices going'. Everyone was pretty excited for it…missing a whole day of school…and basketball practice…got pretty much anyone hyped.
Sharpay shook her head at Troy, "And you say I should follow my passions?"
Troy laughed, holding out a hand to help Sharpay off the stage. She hopped off and looked up at Troy to thank him but the words were lost in her throat. Their eyes met as they both looked down at their still joined hands…watching as they slowly intertwined their fingers together.
Sharpay looked back up at Troy, a tingling feeling traveling up her arm as she started to breath faster. Troy took a slow step towards her, staring at her with the same intensity as at the party last week. Sharpay opened her mouth to say something when the warning bell went off, startling her enough to make her jump back and let go of Troy's hand.
She turned quickly to retrieve her CD, trying to ignore the cold feeling that made its way into her skin…where the heat from Troy's hand had warmed her. She turned around to Troy, flashing him an awkward smile before rushing off up the isle.
Troy shook his head, looking up at the clock. Where had the time gone? When he'd gotten there he was sure that he'd had about a half hour before homeroom…now he only had five minutes. He stared up the aisle towards where Sharpay had left. He looked down at his hand, a tingling feeling that he'd gotten when his skin met hers, dieing off to a faint feeling, like a dream not quite remembered.
He shook his head once again before rushing out of the auditorium and off to homeroom.
A/N – The scene in the beginning is a flashback…well, a memory, but Troy and Sharpay haven't 'lived' it, or remembered it. It's more of a little ditty to explain the significance of their conversation. Anyway, I'm estimating the trip to the museum to be in about four or five chapters. So far, the next chapter looks like it'll be about Sharpay having another 'vision' thing of the past and getting a hint that she isn't the only one remembering things that never happened…