Wishing You Well
by hotsodagirl
Summary: If you make a wish before throwing a coin in a wishing well, that wish will come true as long as you're patient. But sometimes it takes a while before fate intervenes, and you have to wait for just the right moment...
Rating: K+
Genre: Romance
Sodagirl Says: Okay so I wrote this, like, before Christmas, but it never got put up for some reason. So now here it is, in all its glory. :P Okay so it's not that glorious, but that's okay. It's actually pretty short, but I can get away with that since I originally thought about making this whole entire thing four-shot one chapter. And there's still two more parts, hopefully ones that I can get up quicker than this one. I know, I'm slow, but I'll really try to work on the next two parts more in conjunction with Flame of my Heart. I just put up the new chapter of that, too :D
Oh yeah and I don't own High School Musical, Abercrombie and Fitch, Nelly's "Hot in Here" (or whatever it's called), or the Coca-Cola company.
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Still Gabriella's POV
"Oh my goodness, you guys! What are we going to do?" Sharpay cries, her voice still loud over the roar of voices surrounding us as we walk into the mall. There are nine of us now – Troy, Sharpay, Chad, Taylor, Zeke, Jason, Kelsi, Ryan, and me. It is Thursday afternoon, and we are finished with our final day of school.
"What do you mean?" Troy asks, his arm resting on the blonde's shoulder in a friendly manner.
"I mean, we're done with high school! We're never going to walk into East High as students ever again. Is that scaring anyone besides me?" Her worry is shown through her voice and the look on her face, and Chad can't help but mess with her.
"You're scared?" he asks, faking sincere concern. "Oh no, that's not good! We're adults now, out in the real world. The people out here are going to see straight through you; they'll know you're not mature enough to handle these real world situations, and you'll ultimately end up as a failure," he ends in a solemn voice, nodding his head with a grave look on his face.
"Shut up!" she yells, whacking him on the shoulder. He pouts, rubbing his shoulder in fake-pain, and we all laugh. The two of them have never been able to get along, and I honestly thought they never would. But maybe moments like these can change people, for later when we are in Abercrombie and Fitch I see Chad come up behind Sharpay and hug her gently. I think I even hear them apologize to each other. Is that possible? I ask Ryan about it soon after, while we are in the smoothie line, and he simply shrugs.
"Maybe," he says, handing the cashier a twenty dollar bill. "Things change. I've seen stranger than that." The cashier tries to hand him back his change, but he shakes his head and gestures to me. "I'm paying for hers, too. You can keep whatever's left over."
Even though I know Ryan's just a friend doing a friendly favor by paying for my smoothie, I feel a faint blush creep across my cheeks and I can only pray he doesn't notice. He doesn't, but, as we meet the rest of the group at the food court table, Chad does.
"Hey Gabi, why is your face so red?" he asks. He's playing dumb, but I can tell by the tone of his voice and the mischievous smile on his face that he knows exactly why.
"It's… hot in here," I say, blurting out the first thing that comes to mind. Sharpay, Kelsi, and Taylor grin and abruptly break out into song.
"It's getting hot in here – so hot!" All three are immediately overcome with hysterics and the three other basketball players snicker as they try to hold back their laughter. Ryan just looks confused, which only makes the girls laugh harder. But somehow, in the midst of all this laughter, Sharpay looks around at our surroundings and suddenly gasps, pointing.
"You guys, look!" she yells, jumping up from the table. The face of every person at the table alters to take on Ryan's puzzled look as we all rise and follow her, bringing the food we've bought with us.
"Oh, my gosh…. Wow, it's so cool!" she exclaims with the enthusiasm of a child. She is hovering around a wooden structure that is surrounded by fake flowers and artificial grass. Water is visible at the bottom of this quaint arrangement, copper and silver coins shimmering beneath the clear liquid.
"What, this wishing well?" Zeke asks, unaware of her reasons for her seemingly youthful eagerness.
"Yeah! Wow, it must have just been put it; I've never seen it before… Hey, does anyone have a quarter?" she asks, looking from person to person. Chad rolls his eyes and chuckles, shaking his head.
"Oh puh-leaze, Sharpay. Don't tell me you actually believe in wishing wells."
"Why shouldn't I?" she questions, tilting her head. She doesn't receive an answer, but continues on to defend herself anyway. "Wishing wells really do work. Whenever I was five and I auditioned for my very first musical, I used a wishing well and wished that I'd get the lead part. And did I get the lead?"
"Yeah," Chad says, smirking at her mockingly. "But that's because hardly anyone else auditioned."
"So? I still got it," she says, glaring at him. "Now, come on you guys. We all have to use it right now."
"All of us?" Troy's voice is less than enthusiastic, but the blonde girl doesn't seem to be fazed by it.
"Yes, but there are rules, so everyone get out a coin and don't you dare throw it in!" she yells when she sees Jason ready to toss his penny in.
"Okay, okay Shar, just tell them the rules so we can move on," Ryan says from where he stands on the edge of the group and, I notice with pleasure, right by my side.
"Okay, well you all get the basic idea, right? You throw the coin in, make a wish, and then it'll come true," she begins to explain.
"I wish I didn't have to listen to this," Chad says to his dime. The blonde glares at him again.
"No! Chad, be serious, please! This may be one of our last times together as a group! And because of the circumstances, I'm making a rule that everyone has to make a wish about someone else."
"Fine," Chad says, stepping up to the well. "I wish Sharpay would shut up-"
"Chad!" Sharpay yells, smacking his arm even harder than before. "It has to be a nice wish! And besides, you're ignoring the other rule, the one that says you can't tell anyone what your wish is until after it comes true. Because if you tell someone, it won't come true!" She turns to the group and nods toward the wishing well. "Everyone, right now, wish something for someone else, and throw your coins in."
For the first time that day, there is a momentary silence throughout our circle of friends. I look around at the faces of the people I've grown so close to and realize something. Even though some of the guys had acted like the wishing well was a stupid idea, all nine of us are now taking our wishes very seriously. We know Sharpay is right; this is one of the last times we'll all be together like this. I can see that each person is earnestly thinking about who to wish about, and what to wish for them. As I turn to my right, my eyes meet for a split second with the pair of sky blue ones I've fallen in love with, and I know right then who I'm making my wish for. I shut my eyes tightly, wishing with all my might, and then I toss my quarter into the well. The other eight follow suit, and there are a few more seconds of silence as we treasure the moment. We all know that any second now, with the kind of crazy people in our group, chaos will erupt…
"Chad!!!" Sharpay shrieks, and we all look to see that he has "accidentally" tipped his cup of ice cold Coca-Cola over her head and all over her brand new outfit. She screams and, as he sees the ferocity in her eyes, the basketball player takes off in a full sprint across the food court, the Ice Princess at his heels. The seven of us that are left can't help but to laugh and offer the occasional encouraging shout at either predator or prey as they run around the entire area: around kiosks, up and down escalators and stairs, and even between groups of shoppers. The sad thing is that Sharpay is gaining on Chad, and she's wearing her new six-inch stilettos.
Then I feel Ryan's arm come around my shoulder, and I'm sure my face is once again reddening as he mutters in my ear, "I guess some things don't change."
"Yeah," I say back, my voice so soft it's almost a whisper. "And some things never will change."
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Sodagirl Says: Yeah, I told you that was short. Less than 2000 words. I actually wrote this at about 3 in the morning so that might be why. Hopefully I can get the next part typed up a lot faster. Keep an eye out for my next update, and thanks for reading:D