Chapter 4

Help Me Rhonda – The Beach Boys

"So here's the deal. We are not going to become the newest one hit wonder. We have got to get one of these other songs out there. Once the One You Left Behind is out of the top 20, we need to put another one out there." Lily said handing everyone a copy of the latest top 100 chart list as they sat on their bus, traveling to their fifteenth concert.

"Oh my goodness! We're in the top 10!" Sharpay said clapping excitedly.

"Ok we need to celebrate." Chad said clapping Troy on the back.

"No! Not yet! When we get to number one and decide which song to put out there next, then we can celebrate!" Lily insisted.

Troy zoned out after that. It wasn't that he was ecstatic that the song had gotten to the top ten, it was just that he had a bunch of other things on his mind.

He really liked Lily. He had just spent the last three months with her. First month in the recording studio and the next two in a bus with her and three happy couples. They had a few other people traveling with them of course, like the bus driver, but he spent the majority of his time with the three happy couples and Lily.

He thought she liked him too. He had caught her looking at him sometimes when she thought he didn't notice and he had seen that look before. They had generally ended up thrown together at random times too. He thought this was the work of Sharpay and Taylor since Kelsi seemed to give him and Lily a funny look anytime they were close and not smiling like the Cheshire cat.

Troy's biggest problem was this – he didn't seem to like her the same way he had liked Gabriella the first time they had met. What did that mean? He still really liked Lily, he was pretty positive it was as a girlfriend and not as he did Taylor and Kelsi (Sharpay was a whole other matter since she was closer to being someone he wanted to push off their moving bus at times). Lily seemed to be helping him get over Gabriella, most everyone had decided to point out that they hadn't seen him this happy in a long time.

He and Lily hadn't discussed anything about their relationship, being friends or something more. He already felt like she was his best friend, was it going to be more? He was so confused. If the subject was brought up about dating would he be willing to date her?

Troy nodded numbly to himself answering his question. He definitely would be willing to date her, he sure got jealous enough when she was around other guys on their tour who obviously wanted to get to know her better in not exactly a good way. Generally when that happened, he would come up asking if she needed anything and she would smile gratefully at him and grab his hand.

She obviously liked him, but what about Gabriella? What if she were to come back? Dang was he in a pickle if that ever happened…. But did he want it to happen anymore? He couldn't decide. What if he had to choose between Lily and Gabriella? Who in the world would he choose then? He wouldn't want to choose at all and keep both in his life, but who would be his love interest? It wasn't right to like or love both of them in the same way . He would feel horrible if he just picked up and dropped either of them. However Lily hadn't left yet, but she couldn't legally either since she was the band's manager. Man this is getting confusing.

"Ow!" Troy yelled as they hit a bump on the road and hit his head on the low overhang of the shelf above the couch he was sitting on.

"Welcome back to this world buddy." Ryan said patting his shoulder.

"What?" Troy hissed, rubbing his head.

"You okay, Troy?" Lily asked looking concerned. "Want some ice?" She said turning toward the little refrigerator/freezer.

"No, thanks I'm fine." He replied, smiling at her, causing her to blush. He ignored the sniggers coming from Chad.

"You're thinking about her again, aren't you?" Ryan whispered in his ear.

"Shut up Ryan." He mumbled back, looking at the paper he had been handed that was the top 100 chart list.

"We're here Lily." The bus driver, Björn, said as Lily was just about to say something else.

"Ok, fine. Meet back at the bus in an hour so we can finish talking. I'll go get the keys." She said as the bus started turning on to a highway exit.

Less than a minute later they had pulled into a familiar parking lot. Even if this place didn't have a bittersweet memory attached to it, Troy doubted that he could ever forget the place they were staying for the night. It's not often that you come across a Wigwam motel, unless you watch the movie Cars often.

"Awesome! We're sleeping in teepees? Where are we?" Chad asked, stretching before holding out his hand to help Taylor out of the bus.

"Holbrook, Arizona." Troy said immediately.

"How did you know where we were? You were zoned out the whole time in the bus." Chad replied looking in one of the old cars in the parking lot.

"My truck broke down once here." He said, knowing that Chad and Taylor would instantly know when his truck had broken down since his truck had completely died before he had even made it to college. Man that had been the longest car ride ever to get to Gabriella for prom….

Troy took Chad and Taylor's camera and took pictures of them while they waited for Lily to come back with their keys to their wigwams. It seemed to take forever, but she finally came back out handing out all the keys, giving Troy his last.

"Hey Troy? I was wondering if we could talk?" She asked, a little shyly, grabbing her luggage.

"Sure." He replied, grabbing his own suitcase. He wanted to talk to her anyway. He needed to be able to focus again, and constantly thinking about what they were to each other wasn't helping.

They walked to her wigwam as Troy heard Chad yelling from his own how amazing his was.

"Stupid shoes." Lily muttered stumbling a bit in her heels.

"Why don't you just wear different shoes then?" Troy asked, a bit amused as she took them off and threw them to the other side of the room.

"My parents programmed my brain to where I believed I had to wear heels to every job I had, no matter who was going to see me or what I was doing. I'm seriously rethinking that." She replied also dropping her bag.

"I'm guessing you never had a job at a fast food restaurant then." He replied laughing.

"No definitely not." She said giggling a bit.

"So what did you want to talk about?" Troy asked sitting on her bed, seeing as the chair in the room looked like it wouldn't fit him. Actually it was starting to look like the beds were even too short for him. This should be an interesting night.

"Um, well…" She said sitting down in the chair across from him. "I kinda wanted to talk about our relationship…."

"Ok. I have been wanting to talk about that too actually." Troy replied simply.

Lily took a deep nervous breath before going on and looking him straight in the eyes. "Do you like me Troy, as more than a friend?" She asked, smiling slightly.

"Yes." He said honestly, a bit excited as to where this might go. "Do you like me more than a friend?"

"Yes." She replied, turning a bit red.

"Ok, good." Troy replied, smiling even wider. "Um… want to go on a date tonight? It's still early." He replied, knowing the perfect place to go.

"Sure, but Troy? This miniscule town only has about two places to eat for one thing…" She said looking at him funny.

"Do you like fajitas?" He replied seriously.

"Yeah, why?" She asked, very confused.

"Then there's no problem" he replied smiling widely. "We can discuss this further at dinner. Just have everyone else eat somewhere else."

"Ok." She replied smiling back. "So after the meeting we go get dinner together?"

"You betchya." He replied, feeling bold and kissing her cheek before walking out, almost having to duck his head in the doorway.

"How in the world did you know about this place?" Lily asked as she and Troy were led to their table in the El Rancho restaurant.

"I was driving through here once on my way to California when my truck died and ate here while I had it fixed. Best fajitas ever, which is saying a lot since I've had Zeke's and I lived in New Mexico for most of my life. You haven't had Mexican food until you've had it in Arizona or New Mexico." He replied as they sat down at the table and accepted their menus from the waitress.

"Well, you'll just have to take me to an excellent Mexican food restaurant tomorrow then won't you?" She replied, opening her menu, but then deciding to close it since she did like fajitas.

"Would you like to meet my parents too?" He asked, rather nervously, grabbing a chip from the chip bowl and scooping a bunch of salsa on it. He was excited about performing Albuquerque, but was rather nervous about her meeting his parents, even if she wasn't technically his girlfriend. They both probably knew something was going on since he constantly talked about her.

"Of course." She replied pushing his water towards him as he started fanning his mouth. Smart Troy, smart. Take a huge bite of hot salsa won't you to embarrass yourself further?

"Thanks." He replied shaking his head at his stupidity.

"So um, what else did you want to talk about?" Lily asked after they had ordered two rounds of fajitas.

"Well, um" Troy replied, fighting the urge to stuff another chip full of salsa on in his mouth and settling for rubbing the back of his neck. "I was wondering if you wanted to be my girlfriend?"

He watched Lily as she looked down at her hands, twisting one of the rings on her hands before looking back up at him and saying, "Troy, I really do but I need to know some things first."

"Ok.... Shoot." He replied, even more nervous now. The chips and salsa were so tempting to eat when he was nervous. Note to self: Never go to a Mexican food restaurant when needing to talk about something that will make you nervous.

"Are you over the one that left you behind?" She asked, looking him straight in the eye, resting both elbows on the table, and having her chin rest on both hands.

Troy was pretty sure he was bright red, maybe purple instead. She really knew what questions to ask…. Thank goodness it wasn't lit very well in the building.

"Hey guys!" Someone yelled, causing Troy to roll his eyes as he realized it was Chad. He didn't resist the urge to hit his head on the table. He looked up when he saw Chad's feet underneath the table. He noticed that Lily was trying not to laugh as he turned to Chad.

"Chad, let's go to our own table." Taylor said, grabbing his arm, noticing the look on Troy's face.

"We can just share a table with them, right guys?" Chad replied smiling at Troy, apparently not realizing he was getting a death glare in return.

"Chad, we can have our own table." Taylor replied, looking at Lily and Troy apologetically.

"Why mess up two tables when we can just mess one up?" Chad replied, scooting Troy over and sitting next to him.

"Chad! They're on a date! Get up so we can have our own table!" Taylor whispered loudly, hitting his shoulder.

"Oh." He replied, standing up and looking at the two of them apologetically before bending down to whisper loudly in to Troy's ear. "Good going dude!"

Troy glared and started rubbing his temples as Taylor drug Chad off.

"Your life has been pretty exciting having him as a best friend, huh?" Lily asked, trying not to laugh.

"Between him and Sharpay, nothing has been normal since I was 3. Even at college they somehow made it interesting being 2 states away." He replied, stalling for time. How to answer her other question diplomatically?

She smiled slightly before looking at him expectantly.

"I'm not exactly how to put this the right way." He said honestly, looking her in the eye, trying not to look away. "Ever since I met you, I have felt like I'm alive again. It's like you've helped me get her out of my heart. She completely ruined our plans and I was miserable until you came around."

Lily smiled slightly and shook her head.

"What?" He asked really confused. What had he done?

"I can't believe you just practically quoted a song to me." She huffed.

"I did?" He asked, completely perplexed.

"Ok, well I feel better since obviously the look on your face proves you had no idea." She said now laughing a bit and relaxing, "Help Me Rhonda, Help me get her out of my heart? She let a guy come between us and it shattered our plans. Well sometimes, it actually says ruined it depends on the version of the song you have."

"Beach Boys right? How did you know that song?" Troy asked, now laughing too at how much the song applied to him.

"First off, I'm in the music business," She said laughing before continuing," Plus I'm related to one of them, but that's not the point now. Are you ready to move on then? Are you ready for a new girlfriend?" She asked seriously as the waitress put their sizzling fajitas down in front of them.

"Yes, I amRhonda." He replied, not breaking eye contact.

I am very sorry it took me this long to get the chapter out! I had major issues trying to write out their conversations, trying to explain their relationship. Finally I think I got it straight. I guess just adding in a Beach Boy song makes it all better for me :) So here's the chapter, yes I named the bus driver after one of the members of ABBA. I also have pictures of the motel they stay at if anyone wants to see them, just let me know! It's amazing, along with the El Rancho restaurant/motel. Seriously, if you're ever in Holbrook, Arizona stay in the wigwams and eat at the restaurant! It is also probably one of the best places to go if you want to see old Route 66.

Also, honestly the less reviews I get, the less likely I feel like updating quickly, or sometimes even continuing the story at all. Plus right now I have over twice as many people on the alert list than I have reviews on this story. I hate trying to force people to review, but seriously, I need inspiration to continue, and the reviews definitely help with that. So thank you for all of the reviews I have gotten already and all of those who have put me on alert.