-1Murder Music
A/N: Inspired by true stories that we hear on the news every so often.
…
An intruder manages to break through the foundations of East High. If hostages are to be taken, what will the students and faculty do in order to restore safety? Would they risk their own lives for the safety of others?
…
Minor Troyella and Chaylor. I do not claim anything from HSM. This is also my second HSM fic, first one that I'm planning on being longer than one little drabble. Bear with me please! (:
x----------------------x
Two: Rendezvous
They'd been sitting in the corner of the room for close to three hours. A heavier flow of sun filtered in from the what now seemed limited window, but the room still remained in a large part, in the dark. Of course the students were worried to a degree, but this didn't keep them from socializing.
The four friends sat in a misshapen square on the floor around the end of one row of desks. Luckily Chad had cards on him, or else they would have been bored and in the dark. This being said, they'd been playing cards for three hours. In the dark. Specifically, playing poker, and betting gum.
"I'm really starting to hate this," Chad muttered, pulling out another stick of gum and throwing it to the center. "I've practically wasted a dollar on Taylor here."
"Oh and god forbid it's only gum. If you had cash you would have already blown 50 times that amount," she replied in a very non-sympathetic tone.
"As if," he shot back.
"Really, now?" she replied, her voice sharper as if she was about to tear him to the ground with whatever evidence she had. He inched a tad closer to Troy, just to mock her. "Look at what I've got here," Taylor stated, spreading out the minimal pile of chewing gum she'd acquired. However, a 'minimal pile' could equate to quite a bit for gum.
Chad eyed it and then shrugged, "So what?"
"You've got the Winterfresh, genius," she replied flatly. She clearly had two times the amount of the blue gum as she did anything else. "And if you want to try to tell me you didn't just put one of those down--"
"Again, quiet," he stated, not wanting to argue but clearly frustrated he couldn't fight back.
Another round flew by, and then the bets circled around again. When it came time for Chad, he threw the entire case in. The other three eyed it and then stared at Chad, almost in awe at what hand he must have had. He didn't look particularly swayed in any emotion, other than extreme boredom, so this left them puzzled.
Taylor then piped up, "You have to bet something other than trash, Chad."
"No..see the bet is whoever gets it has to make the trip to the trash," he replied with a smile.
And guess who won?
Chad fell back against the leg of one desk and scraped up another hand of cards. "You aren't funny," he sneered to Taylor. She just seemed to be having a fit over the fact he won the previous round.
"Hey-hey," Troy stepped in, "Cool it."
Suddenly a loud crash banged off to the extreme left. Chad and Troy blinked, whereas Taylor and Gabriella jumped out of their skin for the second time that day, nearly screaming with the fright. From the light in the hallway, it was impossible to see who had come in. Or rather, who exactly had barreled down the door. A deep voice bellowed over the casual chatter of students, "Alright kiddoes," the figure stepped inside, and was holding a long shaft off to the side, "line up!"
The group of four instantly fell back against the bookshelves that lined the back of the classroom. Troy swallowed as Gabriella's hand wound tight in his; she was sitting right beside him, barely breathing. Chad had slunk back to the opposite side of Troy, and Taylor on the other side of Chad. She was shivering visibly from fright, and though Chad didn't want to, he felt oddly obliged to hold out his hand.
Taylor stared at it for a second, and then eyed him a little harder than intended. "Hardly the time for high fives," she remarked quietly.
"Shut up, little missy," the man growled while stepping further into the room.
Taylor said nothing more as another shudder traced her spine. Instinctively her fingers entwined with his, and his grip said he wasn't about to let go. Her stomach lurched forward at this reassurance; she was grateful for it, but it was so strange coming from Chad. Again she shivered, though this time to a lesser degree. He pulled her arm tighter between them, though the distance had virtually closed; he would, at this point, do just about anything to try to calm her down because he wanted to push his own fear away with this newfound confidence.
"Aaall right," the man drawled. He sounded almost too southern for New Mexico. While he shifted the weight from one foot to the other, his shifting form exposed the shaft to be anything but. It was a rifle strapped to his back, presumably loaded and ready. Gabriella jumped, tears in the corners of her eyes. Troy offered simple, silent words to try to help her. But truth be told, a good portion of the girls in the class were shedding silent tears. Even Sharpay looked as if she was about to completely lose it any second. Chad and Troy looked to each other through the corners of their eyes, and while sitting beside each other did a quieted handshake-high five on the ground between them, though their eyes were terribly grave.
Finally Ms. Darbus rose from behind her desk, and asked as if nothing was wrong, "Sir, can I help you?" Half the class's jaws dropped.
The man turned halfway, an overconfident, sleazy grin slapped on his face. He was unkempt, but still looked handsome to a degree. "Well, since you asked, ma'am," he began, turning to her and slowly plodding to her desk. Once he reached the wooden table, he cracked his knuckled on the tabletop and then growled, "Line your little girlies up for me, would ya?"
"I'm sorry sir, would you please report to the front of the school? I'm afraid I cannot help you," she replied, still acting as if this was some normal encounter.
"Sorry? Nah," he mused, pulling the rifle from his shoulder and chambering a bullet with a loud procession of clicks. He glanced up at her again, green eyes hard with a tinge of black on the edges. "You sure as hell ain't sorry." Instantaneously he whirled around, firing a shot not too far from Ryan and Sharpay. She barely suppressed a scream, which came out as more of a yelp. The man chuckled at the blonde's reaction. Again he looked over his shoulder in a far-too-casual manner, drawling, "You okay with them dying?"
Sharpay stared painfully at the drama teacher as she stood stunned. Ryan was beside her, barely breathing with tight eyes. Taylor was near hyperventilation and was leaning on Chad's shoulder while their fingers were still locked. In fact, he could see the fear in her eyes, and it honestly worried him because of her unwavering serious attitude. Troy had swallowed, finding a knot had risen in his throat, while Gabriella had a couple tears stream down her front as she scooted as close as humanly possible to her duet partner.
"Line up, girls. Single line spread out from the door to the window. Now," the man demanded loudly; one could swear his voice was rattling the window.
Taylor barely moved. Gabriella shifted away from Troy, but didn't get up.
Troy whispered quickly, "Don't..please don't do this."
"Don't be a reckless hero, please…" Gabriella whimpered.
"It's not reckless if it's saving your life," he objected.
"No," Chad breathed, pulling Taylor even closer. At that point, her stomach flipped, and the line between sensibility and technicality blurred. Tears leaked out of her eyes and onto his shoulder as rippling tremors ran the distance of her skin.
"You can't do this," she whispered, as much as it pained her to say it.
"I can do whatever I want," he hissed back.
"Don't," she breathed, "I'll be fine."
His fingers could have broken hers by how tightly he hung on. "Don't get up," he demanded beneath his breath. No one else had moved.
"He'd kill you without thinking twice," she whispered. He said nothing.
Both Gabriella and Taylor had managed to slip through the teenagers. Both boys blinked and practically stared at their hands. They couldn't of let the girls go, could they? Troy looked hurt; Chad was finally getting hit by shock that he had missed the first time by pulling Taylor to his side. Confidence was gone.
Sharpay got up as well. Several others did too, up until the last girl had risen. They formed a line with a foot and a half distance between each. The man stood behind them, between them and Ms. Darbus's desk. One couldn't tell if she was more horrified or helpless looking.
The man sneered, "Alright, boys…we're going to play a little game here…" while chambering yet another bullet casually..