Chapter 5: Seeing Double at the Triple Rock
A/N: Didn't quite make it to 20 but its Saturday so I have to update. Next time there won't be an or. Also I hope everyone likes this chapter. The gang finally meets Maddie. So read it. Review it. Love it.
The sheets were thrown back quickly as the curtains were drawn open to let sunshine stream through. The occupant of the bed curled into herself in an attempt to stay warm and to cover her eyes from the bright light. Maddie's shoulder was shaken roughly by a slightly amused Ryan as she tossed around in the bed. Sharpay stood grumpily by the bedroom door as Ryan tried to rouse their sleeping sister. Quickly running out of patience, Sharpay pushed Ryan out of the way and grabbed Maddie's feet. With a quick tug, she pulled Maddie out of the bed and sat her on the floor.
"Come on we don't want to be late for our first day." Sharpay turned around and left Ryan to help Maddie to her feet. Ryan yawned as Maddie also pushed past Ryan and went into the bathroom to perform her morning rituals. Twenty minutes later found the triplets sliding into the BMW M5 their father had given them as an early birthday present to the three of them. Maddie had yet to get her license and Sharpay wasn't big on driving leaving Ryan to be their personal chauffeur.
"Ryan hurry up, we won't get a good parking stall if we're late." Sharpay whined from the front passenger seat. She pulled down the vanity mirror and checked her face one last time as Ryan backed out of the driveway. Adjusting the mirror slightly, she looked back at Maddie who had her chin in her hand as she rested her elbow on the door. She blew some hair out of her eyes as she looked at the scenery blinking past.
"You're not excited about the first day of school?" Sharpay asked, turning around in her seat. Maddie turned her eyes to face Sharpay and was met with a questioning glance.
"I am excited. Maybe I'm too excited. I'm getting nervous. What if nobody likes me? What if I make an idiot of myself? What if I." She was cut off by Sharpay who put a finger to Maddie's lips.
"Stop talking like that. You're going to make me nervous. I never get nervous." She stated flatly.
"That's not true. In third grade you got so nervous before opening night that you were tweaking. Then you hurked all over my shoes." Ryan added, turning his head erratically to mock Sharpay.
"Hey eyes on the road. I'm too pretty to die young." Sharpay snapped at Ryan. He quickly turned his head back and concentrated on his driving. Maddie smiled at the easy banter that the two fell into; her nervousness long gone.
Main entrance of the school
Troy sat on the steps in front of the school with his head in his hands. Dawn practice with the coach had left him tired and about ready to pass out. The one drawback to being the coach's son was that practice was year round and anytime of the day. He was waiting for no one in particular; several of his friends had already greeted him on the way into school. A hand clapped Troy on the shoulder as Chad took a seat next to Troy. Taylor took up the seat next to Chad as she brushed away the dirt on the step.
"Hey man, first day of school. Do I even want to know why you're bummed already?" Chad asked as he spun his basketball on his finger.
"Coach woke me up at six for a jog and then I had to practice my shooting. He says we have to defend the championship now." Troy leaned back and propped his elbows on the steps behind him. Gabriella suddenly appeared next to him, wrapping her arms around his neck and kissing him on the cheek.
"Hey wildcat. How was practice this morning?" She asked him. Troy just groaned and put his hand to his forehead as an answer.
"That bad huh? At least he can't get to you during school as you're safe for the next seven hours." Gabi got up from her seat and went to class with Taylor but not before giving him another kiss.
"You two sicken me sometimes." Chad jibed, rolling his eyes at their public affection.
"I second that." Zeke sat down grumpily next to Chad, huffing loudly to show them his discontent.
"I see someone woke up on the wrong side of the bed." Chad stated as he scooted away from the moping Zeke.
"Sharpay dumped me last night. She said she wanted to be just friends." Zeke pouted and took the basketball out of Chad's hands.
"Really?" Troy sat upright and gave a questioning glance to Zeke, the question a bit too enthusiastic. Neither of his friends noticed and he sat back again and feigned nonchalance.
"Dude she broke up with you months ago. You only found out now?" Chad asked as he swiped at the basketball but Zeke was too quick and pulled it away.
"What are you talking about? She just called me out of the blue last night and said it was over." Chad made a final lunge at the ball, succeeding in taking it back.
"You haven't been on a date with her in two months. You hardly ever talk on the phone. You didn't even see her all summer. You couldn't take the hint…hints?" Chad ticked off each reason on his fingers.
"I'm pathetic. I'll see you guys later. I have to take her picture down from inside my locker." He left Troy and Chad to themselves as they continued to lounge on the front steps.
"Hey guys did you hear? Sharpay and Ryan have a sister!" Jason ran up the steps two at a time and stood in front of them.
"What, their parents had a baby. I'm sorry I don't have the same amount of enthusiasm as you." Chad sat back and mimicked Troy's pose.
"Whatever man. Just see for yourself." Jason pointed to the front lawn where a mass of students parted like the Red Sea. Sharpay emerged from the crowd, followed by Ryan who was walking next to what appeared to be Sharpay's clone. Troy's eyes went wide and he quickly scrambled to his feet along with Chad. He moved to step in front of Sharpay, effectively blocking her from walking up the steps.
"Hi Troy. I would really appreciate it if you moved." Sharpay smiled at Troy then turned her head to Chad and growled causing him to take a step back. Troy just continued to stare past Sharpay and right at Maddie.
"I'm seeing double." He rubbed his eyes with the palm of his hand but the image of Maddie stayed.
"Actually, triple. We're triplets. We just found out over the summer." Sharpay pulled Maddie up the steps and turned her to face the crowd.
"Everyone this is our sister, Maddie." Maddie waved nervously at the crowd. She was surprised at all of the attention she was getting.
"Now excuse us, we're going to be late for class." Just as she finished her sentence, the bell rang causing all of the students to disperse. Troy was left staring at the same spot.
"Come on man that was the bell." Chad tugged on Troy's shoulder and finally got him to move.
Darbus' Classroom
The bustle of student chatter was quickly silenced when Ms. Darbus made her dramatic entrance. Her robes billowing around her as she picked up her attendance sheet. She quickly scanned over the classroom, not bothering to call out names as she had already memorized names and faces. When she passed over Maddie's name she quickly did a double take and her eyes widened at the sight of Sharpay sitting right in front of Maddie.
"Did a science project go awry? There are two of you." She pointed at the two of them and she had to put her glasses on to make sure she wasn't seeing things.
"Ms. Darbus this is our long lost sister. She is living with us now." Ryan spoke up so that the whole class would hear, not wanting to repeat the story again to everyone.
"Ok, Madeline Fitzpatrick. I can only assume that you were adopted at birth?" It was spoken as a question but was more of a statement. She motioned for Maddie to step up in front of the class to introduce herself.
"Ok, my name is Madeline but you can call me Maddie. Me, Ryan, and Sharpay are triplets but I was adopted at birth. I moved to Boston after that and lived there ever since." She quickly moved back to her seat and avoided everyone's stares. Ms. Darbus silenced the room again before a single question could be asked as she read the morning announcements. As se droned on about the upcoming school year, Maddie tapped Sharpay on the shoulder to get her attention.
"Hey Sharpay. That's him, in the back next to the guy with the big hair." Sharpay turned her head and looked in that direction quickly being met with Troy's piercing blue gaze. She snapped her head back to Maddie with a shocked expression on her face.
"Troy Bolton. You like Troy Bolton?" She couldn't believe that she liked the same boy as her sister.
"That's his name? Can I meet him? Are you friends with him?" Maddie whispered to Sharpay as Ms. Darbus peered at the two over he glasses.
"He has a girlfriend you know. The girl sitting next to him, Gabriella Montez." Maddie turned her head again and found to her horror Troy's hand linked with a pretty Latina girl. She turned forward again and frowned. Before more brooding thoughts could spring to mind, the bell rang signaling the end of homeroom. She gathered her bag and followed Ryan and Sharpay out into the hallway. They were stopped by the gang, the only one missing was Zeke as he had left quickly not wanting to speak to Sharpay.
"Hey welcome to East High, I'm Jason." Jason was the first to break the silence as everyone continues to stare at Maddie. He was quickly elbowed in the ribs by Chad who gave him an angry stare. The rest of the group gathered introduced themselves and Maddie shook each of their hands receiving a tight hug from Gabi.
"Wow this is so cool. You guys look exactly alike. It is going to be so confusing trying to tell you apart." Gabi babbled excitedly.
"Hey we should all finish this talk at lunch. We're going to be late for class." Sharpay interrupted, whisking Maddie away from the group.
A/N: I promise next chapter will have more of the gang interacting with Maddie. Also the plot will start developing next chapter so expect the next one to be even better than this.