a/n: So, yeah, this is part two of chapter two... That's it...

Gabriella and Taylor climbed the stairs of the attic, waving dust away and squinting into the dark. They had come up to open the windows and let some air into the stuffy room, as Gabi had promised her mom she eventually would.

"You must be breeding dust bunnies up here," Taylor coughed, covering her nose and mouth.

"We were busy getting the rest of the house in order," Gabi replied indignantly as she, too, started coughing. She made her way to the window and pulled open the curtains. The glass was covered with so much dust that she could barely see outside.

Taylor was looking around behind her. She nearly dropped the vase she was examining when she heard Gabi squeal excitedly. "Look!" She said, pointing downward and ignoring Taylor's questions. "Ryan and Kelsi! Kelsi and Ryan! Down there! Look!"

"Ryan's finally here?" A familiar voice came from behind them. Sharpay's shoes clicked noisily up the steps and across the floor as she joined them by the window. "Oh my gosh!" Her jaw dropped. "Are they dating?"

It was obvious why she thought so. Ryan and Kelsi, it appeared, had arrived together. They stood outside the house, and, by the dim light of the sunset, the three girls could see that they were looking intensely into each other's eyes. Ryan's hand was also on Kelsi's shoulder.

"No," Taylor answered, looking equally surprised. "Unless they started sometime in the past two and a half hours."

"'Tay? Gabi? Sharpay? Are you guys up here?" The trio turned around and saw Troy walking towards them, followed closely behind by Chad and Zeke.

"We wondered what was taking you guys so long," Zeke said, standing behind Sharpay and putting an arm around her waist. The two of them had been going out since callbacks ended.

"What are we all staring at?" Chad asked, walking over to Taylor and ruffling her hair affectionately. Everyone in the room knew that they had gone to the after party for the Wild Cat's final game together, but noone had brought it up since then.

"You, messing up my hair after I spent an hour fixing it," Taylor snapped in mock irritation.

"Is that –? No way!" Troy bent forward further, his hands on Gabi's shoulders. "Ryan? Ryan Evans – and Kelsi Nielson? That is Kelsi, isn't it?" The other five nodded mutely.

"Are they –?"

"No." Gabi and Taylor interrupted him at the same time.

"But look at them! There has to be something going on between –" Chad began.

"Look, look! They're holding hands!" Gabi trilled.

"This is weird," Sharpay remarked. "I mean, it's fine with me if they really are dating, but it's all so...sudden."

A quiet murmur of agreement came from the other five.

"I say we find out, and make it happen if it hasn't already," Taylor said, crossing her arms as she watched Ryan and Kelsi thoughtfully.

"Trust me, it hasn't," Sharpay said confidently. "If Ryan were in a relationship, I'd be the first – or second – to know."

"Then let's do this," Troy said, turning around to face them.

"Yeah," Gabi nodded slowly. "For Kelsi and Ryan."

"If we're planning on doing anything, we'd better hurry," Taylor said, glancing outside.

"They're coming!" Zeke said urgently.

"Not a word to either of them, okay?" Sharpay demanded, holding a finger up warningly.

"Okay."

They hurried downstairs, each secretly scheming. As Chad, who was ahead of the rest, reached the bottom of the stairs, he stopped suddenly. Taylor walked into him, Gabi walked into Taylor; Troy threw his arms out, attempting to keep balance, making Sharpay stumble forward. All five of them ended up on the floor, leaving Zeke on the last step, trying hard not to laugh.

"Are you guys okay?" They looked up and saw Ryan and Kelsi rushing over to help them up.

Chad got to his feet, brushing off his clothes hastily. "I think Taylor disarranged my spine," he mumbled.

"Oh, yeah, and Troy, Gabriella and Sharpay on top of me had nothing to do with it," she argued sarcastically, rolling her eyes.

"What were you guys doing?" Kelsi asked, confused.

"Oh, you know," Troy crossed his arms, shrugging casually. "Just – checking out the...floor."

Zeke nodded quickly in agreement. "Yeah – uh – it's a very nice – floor."

"Thank you, Zeke," Gabi muttered through clenched teeth. She sighed, watching Ryan and Kelsi exchange confused glances. She shook her head, whispering to herself under her breath. "This isn't going to be easy."

a/n: The floor thing, I know, kinda lame, but those kinds of excuses are supposed to be lame anyway...Rock on and hopefully I'll find time for a nice third chapter... - - - Kat