I don't own anything.
A/N: Well here's another chapter for another week. Right now I want to thank all my reviewers from last week; jinidu93, Yellow-queen18, toddntan, Angel, look at the stars, CuteANDSexxxy17, LunaSolTierra, cornique chaylor girl, AyaneC, Ani Thompson, kuropie, and baby2ludaris. I hope you all enjoy this chapter…I really ran into some writer's block this week and I struggle with all of my new chapters so I hope you like them. Please remember to read and Review.
Baby S
Chapter Four
Taylor jumped as her mother knocked on her bedroom door. "Taylor, sweetie Sharpay is here?" Looking up from her closet she called back out.
"Sharpay? Why is she here I thought-."
"Well you thought wrong, Taylor," Sharpay voiced called out. "Now open this day so I can help you pick out an outfit so we can go." Rolling her eyes Taylor went to her door and opened and quickly stepped back as Sharpay came inside.
"Hello, Sharpay."
"I know you're happy to see me, Tay…so what exactly are you thinking about wearing is it something sexy or boring." Taylor just watched her for a moment before shaking her head.
"Where's Chad he was suppose to come and pick me up today…we were going to have breakfast and everything before the game."
"Well the jackass changed his mind and called me at seven o'clock this morning telling me to pick you up, so here I am." Taylor looked down in disappointment, after all the fuss Chad had made about them not spending enough time together; on their first free day together he had cancel.
"Don't call him a jackass." Taylor stated weakly. "After all he has to have a good reason as to why he canceled. I mean he just wouldn't do it without a good reason." Sharpay watched as Taylor walked over to the bed and sat down with a sigh.
"Well, I don't know what you would deem a good reason, Taylor but I can assure you that Chad doesn't have a good enough reason." She replied as she came to sit down next to her, Taylor looked over at her for a moment and then shook her head.
"Sharpay could you please stop talking about him like that."
"Alright fine…so what were you thinking about wearing." Sharpay asked as she glanced towards her friend's closet. "I still don't know how you could live with such a small closet…I just don't know what I'd do if my closet was as small-."
"Shar, this is a walk-in closet…just because my closet is a small home like yours doesn't make it horrible." Taylor said with a smirk as she stood up and headed into the closet. Sharpay sat on the bed and waited, a few minutes later Taylor came out holding up to outfits for her to inspect. "I was thinking about either this tank top and skirt outfit or this Los Angeles Lakers jersey dress."
"Um, they both would look good…let's see which one does Chad like." Taylor motioned to the skirt outfit and Sharpay nodded. "Well, then it's the jersey dress for sure." When she received a pointed look from Taylor she laughed and shook her head. "What you can't deny that the jersey dress is better…oh come on Tay you know I'm looking out for your best interest besides that will show off your legs and if that Troy Bolton is there well…" she trailed off into giggles at the look that crossed Taylor's face at the mention of Troy Bolton.
"I'm not trying to impress anyone other than my boyfriend." Taylor said quickly as Sharpay chuckled.
"Sure whatever you say so what should I do if I spot you staring at Troy Bolton…pretend that it isn't happening?"
"Exactly."
"You're unbelievable…besides you should know me well enough to know that I won't do that. I'm going to point it out, Taylor."
"Yeah sure whatever you say." She replied as she tossed the jersey dress onto her bed, and headed back into the closet to put the other outfit up. Sharpay looked over the dress and then back at Taylor as she came back out of the closet.
"You know you're going to give a lot of men some whiplash when they see you today right. Cause this is so going to show off your legs."
"No I'm not."
"Yes you are…you're going to be breaking some necks in this dress, and if I know Chad he's going to be a little possessive punk today just watch." Sharpay said as she picked up the dress and handed it to Taylor. "Now go get dress I'm ready to see my Zekey pooh." Taylor laughed at Zeke's nickname and just shook her head.
"You truly are something else, Sharpay…alright I'm going to get dress." Taylor stated as she headed towards her adjoining bathroom. As she was headed inside she turned and looked back at her and said. "Oh and Shar, please try not to talk about Chad today alright."
"I'll try but I'm not promising you anything." Sharpay stated with a smile. "Now hurry up we can't be late after all we're the girlfriends of the star players." Taylor just smiled and headed inside the bathroom to get ready.
"This is nothing man we're just going to come out here and murder them." Chad laughed as Zeke continued to go on and on about what they were going to do to the West High basketball team once they arrived. Tossing his gym back onto the bench that sat a little ways off the court Chad nodded his head in agreement while he looked at his friend.
"You're right man we're going to murder them…I can't want to see the look on Bolton's face when win. It's going to be priceless." Zeke and the rest of the guys nodded their heads and smiled as Chad started getting ready. All he had to do however was changing his shoes and put on his headband. Jason glanced down at his watch and then over at Chad and Zeke.
"Where are your girlfriends?"
"They're coming, Sharpay had to pick up Taylor but they should be here soon enough." Chad replied with a smile. "Oh Zeke, remind me to thank Sharpay for picking Taylor up. There was absolutely no way I could have picked her up today."
"Man, I'm sure Sharpay doesn't want to hear anything from you." Jason said with a smirk as he tossed a basketball into the air. "I mean everyone and their momma knows that she doesn't like you."
"Yeah, Jason has a point…and I know my girlfriend. The only reason she tolerates you is because of me and Taylor."
"And she doesn't even do that well." Chad remarked dryly as he shook his head. "However I'm going to be the bigger person and just say thanks she can accept it or not cause frankly I don't care." He retorted arrogantly. Zeke and Jason just shook there heads and looked over at the rest of the guys who were on the other end of the court. Chad stood up and stretched slightly and then smiled. "Now how about we warm up before the big game, I need to get focused." He said as he walked over towards the rest of the team, Jason and Zeke quickly followed wondering just how much of a game they were really going to have that day especially with Chad being the loose canon that he was.
"Focused? I didn't think you knew how?" They all turned around and frowned as they saw Troy and the rest of the West High knights gathering on the court. Miguel laughed and looked at Chad for a moment before nudging a silent Troy in the side. "What do you think about that Troy?"
"Nothing really…cause there's not enough focus in the world to stop this ass whippin' he's about to receive today." Troy said with smile as Chad started to walk over, but was stopped back everyone on his team. "No let him through…I want him to hit me." Troy said with a chuckle.
"Man I will kick your ass."
"Do you really want to go there…cause I remember a certain day back in freshman year where you thought you could 'kick my ass' however if I remember correctly it was you who was lying on the ground crying like a bitch." Troy said as Miguel busted out laughing, he bent over at the waist and braced himself on his knees and laughed till tears were streaming out of his eyes.
"Oh yeah man I remember that…he cried like my little sister that day just cry screaming the whole time."
"Whatever…that's not true." Chad exclaimed as he looked at his teammates. "They're lying."
"Look, Chad I have no reason…and I mean no reason at all to try and impress those punks you call friends. The only reason I'm here today is to show you how to play basketball and embarrass you in the process."
"I'd like to see you try."
"Already have…so it shouldn't be that hard to do it again." Troy said with a smile as he looked at them. "Now if you guys will excuse me and my team we are going to get ready." He said with a small smile as he walked away. Chad stared after him, and then turned to look at Zeke and Jason who were watching him closely.
"I want that fool on his ass every time he even thinks about heading to the basket," he growled out as he clenched his fists at his side. "I'll show him an ass whippin'." He mumbled as he walked away. Jason and Zeke nodded and then followed him while silently wondering just how far today's game was actually going to go.
Taylor and Sharpay walked from the parking over to the court, "Man who would have thought it would be so crowded." Taylor said with a shake of her head as she and Sharpay maneuvered themselves through the crowd.
"Girl, this is a rivalry…a stupid rivalry but everyone doesn't it see as such I mean take your boyfriend as an example. I've never seen someone so against a school just because of its location. I mean carrying that much hate for someone just because they just so happened to be going to another school is stupid."
"I know but maybe it's a guy thing…I think they like the whole rivalry thing." Taylor said as they made their way to their seats that was directly behind the East High bench. Sharpay waved and blew a kiss at Zeke who returned the favor and then tapped Chad on his shoulder so he could see Taylor. He turned and studied Taylor for a moment before walking over. Standing up Taylor smiled at him and hugged him tightly. "Hey baby."
"Hey Taylor," he said as he kissed her on the cheek. After doing that however he took a step back and looked her over. "Why are you wearing that?" he asked quickly under his breath. She looked down at her outfit and smiled.
"I thought you might like it."
"Like it? Damn Taylor I don't want everyone here seeing you looking like that. You shouldn't have worn something so short." He glanced over at Sharpay who was watching them silently her blue eyes as cold as ice. "However I think I know who talked you into this outfit." He said snapping his glaze over at Sharpay.
"What? She looks nice."
"Are you serious…she does not look-."
"Wait, you don't think I look nice…you have never said anything about this before and I've worn this before today." Chad shot Sharpay a glare and then looked at Taylor and sighed.
"It's just that…this doesn't really fit your personality okay, I mean you have class and this isn't showing those people over there that. I mean…" he trailed off as Taylor pushed herself away from him.
"I can't believe you…look just go and play your little precious game of basketball and leave me alone alright."
"Taylor?" he said softly, she shook her head and looked away from him. He frowned and nodded his head.
"Fine, be that way." He said as he stalked back over to the basketball game completely ignoring Taylor's calls for him. Sharpay sighed and walked over to her.
"I really had no idea he'd flip out like that…I just thought he try to make you wear a jacket or something. Girl I am so sorry." She said as she placed a hand on Taylor's shoulder. Sniffling Taylor just shook her head and sighed.
"It's okay…look Shar, I'm going to go and get some water okay save my seat."
"Okay girl…don't take to long alright."
"I won't." Taylor said as she headed off towards the water fountains, Sharpay watched her go and then looked across the court and caught none other than Troy Bolton staring at her and then looking away so that his eyes could follow Taylor. As soon as she disappeared, he got up and followed.
Taylor sighed and wiped her eyes as she slowly bent down to take a sip of water, while she tried to cool her nerves. She suddenly jerked up as she heard someone murmured the word damn behind her. Turning around quickly she found herself face to face with none other than Troy Bolton. He gave her a smile and then took a step towards her. "You okay? I saw what happened and I came to check on you."
"Are you crazy? We can't be seen together." She whispered quickly, "Are you trying to start a fight."
"Like one isn't going to happen, Taylor? Come on use that brain that everyone says you have."
"That isn't funny, Troy." She said as she watched him look her over and then shake his head slightly before saying.
"Why was Danforth so upset?"
"Because I'm wearing this?" she said motioning to her attire. Troy again took the opportunity to look her over with his eyes before smiling.
"What's wrong with it?"
"I don't know all I know is that Chad didn't like it, and now he's mad at me for wearing it." She exclaimed and then shook her head. "I shouldn't even be over here talking to you." She mumbled.
"And why's that?"
"Hello! My boyfriend…your favorite person to hate is here and what do you think will happen if he catches us here talking." Taylor exclaimed waving her hands in the air for emphasis, shaking his head Troy chuckled and sighed.
"You must have me confused with someone else…I don't hide from anyone. If he catches us he catches us…it's not like I have you up against a wall or something." He said with a shrug. Taylor found herself shaking slightly at the image he put in her head, so she quickly responded so he wouldn't see just how much his example affected her.
"God forbid." She said, and looked over at Troy for his reaction however all he was doing was silently watching her. "Troy is something wrong?"
"Nothing is wrong…I was just thinking." He murmured as Chad came around the corner. His eyes went from Taylor to Troy and back again before he stalked over to Taylor and latched onto her arm. Troy didn't miss the look of pain that crossed Taylor's features and charged forward pushing Chad back and making him fall on the ground. "Yo, man you don't grab a female like that, and you damn sure aren't going to do it around me."
"This is my girlfriend, Bolton so mind your damn business."
"If she's your girlfriend than how about you treat her with respect and show her how a man's supposed to treat his woman." Troy snapped out as he looked at Taylor who was still holding her arm.
"Oh so I'm suppose to treat her with respect while she's out here chatting it up with the enemy." He yelled looking over at Taylor as he finished his sentence. "Look, this isn't your business, Bolton and-."
"The hell it isn't you grabbed her like that in front of me…and I'm a man so guess what I'm not going to let anyone disrespect a woman like that in front of me, Danforth," he said tossing the other boy's name out of his mouth with venom. Glancing over at the silent Taylor he spoke. "I'm sorry you have to go to East High, maybe if you came to West High you would know how real men treat their girlfriends." Troy said and then walked away leaving both Taylor and Chad alone. Once he was gone, Chad turned to Taylor and sighed.
"I'm sorry I grabbed you like that…he was right I shouldn't have done that." He replied his jaw clenching and unclenching.
"Are you really sorry?" she asked sharply.
"Of course, baby I love you," when she didn't say anything he sighed and looked at her. "Come on baby you know I do." He whispered with a smile as he came over to her and kissed her on the forehead. "Let's get back out there…and how about this after the game I take you out to dinner."
"Okay." She whispered as she allowed him to pull her into his arms she rested her head on his shoulder. Together they walked back towards the bench, Taylor could see Sharpay watching them closely and reluctantly headed over there when Chad let her go so he could go get ready for the game that was going to start in a few minutes.
"Everything okay…I saw Troy when he followed you over there and the Chad left. It wasn't world war three was it."
"No…it wasn't look can we talk about this later I really want to cheer Chad on he needs it." She replied softly as she looked at Sharpay who just nodded her head.
"Alright fine."
He couldn't believe she walked over there with Danforth as if nothing was wrong. Shaking his head he laced up his sneakers and continued to shoot daggers across the court at Danforth. If he didn't have any motivation before, he did now. Seeing Chad grab hold of Taylor like that really pissed him off. He told himself it was because Taylor was a woman that he was so pissed off but deep down he knew it was because he was starting to care about her, and seeing the look of pain that flashed across her face when Danforth grabbed her had set him. He was now more than ready to show Danforth up. "Yo man you ready?" Miguel asked as he walked over to Troy who slowly tore his glaze away from Taylor to look at him.
"What?"
"Yo, you ready…the game is about to start." He said slowly as he followed Troy's glaze and looked across the court. "Oh I see you were checking out Danforth's girl. Damn she is a fine one."
"Knock it off, Miguel I really don't want to hear it." Troy said as he stood up, and looked down at Miguel. "Let's just go out there and show everyone what West High is made of and then go home." He said with a shake of his head. Miguel watched him quietly but nodded his head and went to gather up the rest of the team so they could go over their game plan; once everyone was there Troy started his pre-game speech. "Look I know this game is probably going to get a little rough but I want us to prove that we are the bigger men here today alright. I want us to play as clean as possible."
"What! You have got to be joking? They aren't going to play fair in fact we might get hurt but you want us to play clean."
"Yes…you see I know I'm better than Danforth and I'll prove it but not getting sucked into his games. He's not going to get me to go out there and play rough just because we can. No we are going to play right and but then the right way so when they lose they won't run around screaming foul."
"Troy's right we have to play fair…and in the process we'll show those East High punks real sport integrity." Miguel said as he patted Troy on the back. The rest of the team nodded their heads and placed there hands in the middle of the huddle before hollering
"Knights!"
Chad was still furious at the thought of Troy calling him out about the way he treated Taylor as he made his way over to his team. Zeke and Jason walked over to him and then they turned as the West High team yelled out. "So what's the game plan?"
"I like I said earlier…put Troy on his ass whenever he thinks about going to the basket and do the same to his friends." He snapped out with a shake of his head. "He thinks he so much better than me. Well, he won't be when we win."
"So you want extreme force used, Chad." Asked one of their forwards, looking at the man he nodded his head and smiled for a moment before chuckling.
"Yeah I want extreme force used. This is a contact sport after all, if they can't take they should get off the damn court and go put on a skirt. They won't know what happen them when we're finished."
"Yeah, Chad I like the sound of that!" yelled out another player. Zeke looked at them for a moment and sighed. He was a rather peaceful person so he wasn't very comfortable with what Chad was saying.
"Is there a problem, Zeke I thought you said earlier you could handle it."
"I can, Chad and I will." He replied with a small smile. As Troy and the other starters walked onto the court, "Let's get this game started."
"What team?" Chad called out.
"Wildcats." The rest of the team answered back. Troy stood at the center of the court with the ball in his hands.
"You ready, Danforth."
"Of course let's get this game started." He said as he shared a look with the rest of his teammates. Troy nodded and checked the ball and the game was immediately underway. Troy passed the ball to Miguel and made a cut towards the basketball, just as he made it into the clear he looked towards Miguel for the pass, but in the process he got close lined by one of the Wildcats he landed on his back and groaned. Chad came over him and chuckled.
"What's wrong? When you were telling me how to treat my girl you should have been telling me how to treat bitches like you, bitch." Chad spat out and hurried down the court. Troy slowly got up and shook the pain off and took off after them. He was just now getting the idea of how rough this game was going to be.
"I can't believe Chad did that?" Taylor exclaimed as she saw Troy hit the ground, Sharpay just shook her head as she watched Troy get up and hurry down the court with the rest of his team.
"Chad is such a punk. He needs to play fair how much do you wanna bet he told everyone on the team to lay Troy out." Sharpay said with a shake of her head as she continued to watch the game and then winced when Troy took an elbow from Jason.
"This is ridiculous it's just a game." Taylor murmured as she watched Troy shot a jump shot just before Chad hit him again. "Why won't he hit them back?"
"Girl you better quiet down…besides you're supposed to be cheering for Chad. You know your boyfriend."
"Well, when he does foul things like this…it's hard to cheer him on." Taylor said with a shake of her head.
"I know exactly what you mean…I am so ashamed of my Zekey right about now." Sharpay said as she watched Zeke hit another player and back up as he the player jumped up ready to fight. "I can't for this game to be over I am so mad at him."
"You and me both."
"Yeah, but are you angry about? Is it the fact that Chad is out there acting like an ass or is it because Troy is getting hurt?" When Taylor didn't answer, Sharpay nodded her head and sighed. "I guess I'll take that as both."
"Sharpay, I'm just upset about things are turning out okay." She said with a shake of her head. "This is good and it doesn't matter who I'm more concerned about I'm still going to be upset about this when it's over."
"Yeah, but it would be nice to know which guy out there was affecting you more, but since you didn't say anyone's name I think I can guess who." Taylor looked over at her and slowly shook her head.
"Sharpay."
"Okay fine I'll stop besides I should be paying attention to Zeke so I know how long to be mad with him." Taylor sighed as Sharpay returned her attention to the game, Sharpay was right she was more concerned for Troy and it was mainly because he wasn't fighting back. He took hit after hit from Chad and just kept on going. She wondered why, why would he allow Chad to continue to push, slap, kick, punch, and jab him like he was.
"Come on, Troy hit me back." Chad said as he slowly down in front of Troy and slowly dribbled between his legs. Troy squatted down into his defensive stance and shook his head.
"I'm not going to hit you back." Troy said as he moved to block Chad from driving, the other boy nodded his head and slowed down and just looked at Troy for a moment and then spoke.
"I saw the way you looked at her."
"Her?"
"Taylor…my girlfriend, let me clue you in buddy. She's mine. She's my girlfriend and you; you're nothing but a poor boy from across the tracks that lives in a run down apartment. She's too good for you."
"You're no better." Troy said feeling himself getting angry at Chad's words. Shrugging his shoulders Chad passed the ball to Zeke and run down to the baseline.
"I'm better because of what I have…what can you possible offer." Troy just stayed silent and continued to guard him. "Oh you can't answer me huh…that's because you have nothing. She doesn't want some broke fool who couldn't even rub two pennies with holes in them together." Chad said with a chuckle.
"I could offer her a real man."
"A real man…I'm a real man."
"No…no you aren't you're just some punk that has her fooled and you think you something man please you're nothing. Cause a real man wouldn't have grabbed her like you did but than again what can she except when she didn't a bitch ass punk like you." Troy said, Chad chuckled and then grabbed him tightly and slung him into the fence and started punching him in the stomach and face. Troy blocked and then kneed Chad in the stomach and then pent him down and punched him quickly in the stomach twice as the rest of their teams pulled them apart just as a security guard came over.
"This game is over…I want all of you off the grounds immediately." He shouted eyeing both groups of young men cautiously. Troy wiped the blood from his lip and looked at Chad who as holding his stomach and his chin.
"Okay sir…we're leaving." Troy said with a sigh as he headed out of over to the other side of the court and grabbed his things. Chad watched him leave and then headed over to the bench and picked up his things. Taylor was there before he could even get his things off the ground.
"I can't believe you were out there doing that." She exclaimed. "They basically played a pretty good respectful game and you were running around out there acting like it was a cage match."
"Baby, it wasn't like that."
"Oh so did I imagine you throwing Troy into the fence."
"Troy!" Chad shouted out as he looked down at her. "Oh so you're on a first name bases with that damn punk."
"No…I just…"
"Whatever look I'm heading home, I suddenly lost my appetite." He said as he pushed pass her and headed off towards the parking lot. Sharpay who had just finished giving Zeke the third degree watched everything and then slowly walked over. Taylor turned to her with tears in her eyes and sighed.
"How come I can never do anything right with him…he's also so mad." Deciding now would not be a good time to voice her normal dislike of Chad Danforth, Taylor instead pulled her friend into a tight hug and together they headed to the parking lot so that they could leave.
The next week at school, Taylor was still feeling pretty down over what had happened that weekend. Chad had started talking to her again on Sunday and she didn't know if she should be happy about that or not. As the school day came to a close, Taylor had a feeling of dread come over her especially when there was only about ten minutes left till three. This would be the first week of many where Troy would be picking her up. As soon as the bell rang she headed outside and spotted the youth center van in the parking lot. Walking over to it, she knocked on the door. Troy glanced out the window and saw her and then opened the door. She climbed into the van silently and Troy pulled off. The first ten minutes of the ride was very quiet, Troy barely looked over in her direction as he drove which was very usual since this was probably the only time they really had conversations that was not consider bickering. Taylor shook her head unable to take the silence treatment any longer and spoke. "Troy, why aren't you talking to me?"
"I'm thinking." He grunted out barely glancing in her direction, she huffed at his statement and shook her head.
"About what?" Troy glanced at her for a moment and just sighed.
"You wouldn't understand."
"Try me." She exclaimed angrily. He looked at her and then back at the road and then slowly pulled out in a grocery store parking lot. Taylor watched him her eyes widening in fear and Troy felt himself groaning.
"What do you think I'm going to hurt you." He asked quietly.
"No I just."
"Taylor, look I'm not Danforth no matter how angry I may get with a woman I would never lay my hands on her." He said quickly as he turned in his seat to look at her. Taylor nodded her head and gave him a smile. "Now this is what I was thinking about…how could you go out with someone who treats you like that."
"That's none of your business."
"None of my business…you grabbed your damn arm like he was going to break it off and the nearly five minutes later you're walking out with his arm around you. Are you crazy?"
"Chad has a temper problem and he's pretty good with it…but seeing us together well…I told you to go away but you didn't listen."
"Oh I know you aren't turning this around so it's my fault…I would never have put you in that situation if I had known you were dating an abusive bastard like Chad." He exclaimed angrily.
"He's not abusive."
"There are different types of abusive…emotional….physical and from what I've seen he's a good mixture of both and you just take it. I thought you were smarter than that, Taylor. I thought you would never allow some guy to treat you like that no matter who or what he is to you."
"You don't know anything about me, Troy."
"That's a lie…I know you well enough to know you would have never allowed someone else to treat you like that and let me tell you something. Chad isn't just some special guy you shouldn't have allowed him to treat you like that."
"Leave me alone, Troy…he's my boyfriend and…"
"And what…he can abuse you." Taylor looked at him for a moment and just shook her head.
"You don't understand."
"You're right I don't because I know how to treat women and I guarantee you I would have never treated you like that. I would have treated you better, I would have never made you cry and I would have never hurt you. So you're right I don't understand how a woman like you who's so…so beautiful and smart would allow someone like Chad Danforth to treat the way that he did when there is someone out there that would treat you right."
"Someone like who…you?"
"Yeah, someone like me." He replied sharply as he looked at her for a brief moment before shaking his head. "I would have treated you better." He said softly as he looked at her. They stared at one another for a brief moment before jumping apart and the ringing of his cell phone, Troy looked down and sighed it was a text message from the elementary school he was suppose to be picking the kids up at. He didn't know if he was happy the moment was broken up or not all he knew was that he better get to the school and do his job giving one last look in Taylor's direction Troy started the van while clearing his throat, and pulled off while Taylor just focused on whatever seemed to pass by her window.
A/N: Please excuse any errors.