The next couple of chapters might seem a little slow, but that's only because I feel like the past couple of chapters were rushed. So, anyway, here's another chapter. Hope you enjoy.
Troy looked over the brunette standing in front of him. She was hunched over the oven flipping pancakes for the two kids that stood beside him. Benjamin was wearing some dinosaur pj's that made Troy laugh. Lizzie was wearing princess pjs and was watching Gabriella very intently.
"Can I try?" Lizzie asked Gabriella suddenly.
"Uh... sure, here." Gabriella hesitantly handed the spatula to Lizzie watching very carefully as the little kid tried to flip the pancakes.
"Good job! You're an expert cook." Gabriella said excitedly as the blonde girl in front of her had managed to flip one of the pancakes. Lizzie smiled big up at her babysitter. Her mom would never let her help with breakfast, lunch or dinner. All the meals had to be perfect. Lizzie wanted to show her mom that she could help. She put the spatula underneath the remaining pancake and looked behind her at Troy and Ben. Troy smiled at her and gave her a thumbs up and Ben was looking away. Smiling back at Troy she flipped the pancake without looking and turned around to see it had landed on the floor beside her foot.
"Smooth..." Benjamin spoke. "Now what are we going to have for breakfast?" Lizzie couldn't believe it. She had done the first one perfectly.
Troy was now laughing hysterically, not at Lizzie but the whole situation, but that's how Lizzie took it. She started crying and began to retreat from the kitchen. Troy got in her way and knelt down.
"Hey... it's just a pancake, Liz." Gabriella nodded at Troy's words as she bent down to Lizzie's eye level as well.
"But I ruined breakfast..." Lizzie sniffed a little and wiped her eyes.
"No you didn't. We'll just give that pancake to Troy."
"Of Course we will...." Troy followed up glaring at Gabriella.
The rest of the day was spent playing games and watching movies. Ben and Lizzie fell asleep half way through watching The Lion King so Gabriella and Troy put on The Hangover. Steven and Lauren came home later than expected at around midnight. By that time, Troy had carried Ben and Lizzie to their rooms and Gabriella was long gone. Troy was now asleep as well due to his late night last night.
"You need to fix things, Steven." Lauren spoke as the subject of Troy traveled into her thoughts.
"I already tried. Besides, he's leaving in a week." Steven frowned knowing where this conversation was going. It wasn't going to end quickly or painlessly.
"No, he's not. I called Lucille yesterday and we had a great conversation. Troy is staying for the whole summer." Lauren replied getting into her bed.
"You called my ex-wife!?" Steven screamed angrilly causing his current wife to jump.
"Steven, stop yelling, you'll wake the kids." Lauren said in a hushed tone. "Besides, it needed to be done. He's your son, and you need to spend more time with him."
"He obviously doesn't want to be here!"
"He's doing just fine here... He will come around."
"Fine, then you tell him." Steven said as he exited the room.
"Steven..." Lauren called after him knowing it was too late to get him to come back in. She sighed as she turned off the light.
The next morning Troy woke up at 8 o'clock in the morning. It was Saturday, so both Steven and Lauren were home. Thankfully, Troy only had to spend one more week here, and that was it. He'd be done with his father.
Sharpay and Gabriella arrived at the mall at about 10:00 am.
"How long do we have to stay here for?" Gabriella whined as they walked into their 3rd store in an hour.
"Oh, give it a rest." Sharpay rebutted turning to face her best friend. "I haven't been here to go shopping with you. I've missed you Gabby. Let me shop with you." Trying to make Gabriella feel sorry for her, was one of Sharpay's specialties, and it worked today like it had worked ever since they were little.
"Sorry, I'm just really stressed with work and everything." Gabriella ran a hand through her tangled hair. She left the Bolton's at 10:00 last night and then her mom made her get up at 6:00 in the morning to go to her little sister's volley ball game. She got home from the game around 9 only to be forced, by Sharpay, to go to the mall.
"You still work for the Bolton's?"
"Yeah..." Gabriella sighed. Babysitting for the Bolton's was only supposed to be temporary until she got a job at the local super market, but she got attached to the kids and just couldn't leave.
"Gabby, you need to stop. They don't pay you enough to me you so exhausted all the time. It's not worth it."
"Actually, they have a new guy living in the household, so he helps." Sharpay looked at her with wide eyes.
"Is he cute? Can I meet him?" Sharpay was squealing and jumping up and down in the middle of American Eagle. "What does he look like?" She added as an afterthought.
"Well.... some might call him cute. I guess you could meet him. He has brown hair and blue eyes." She started to smile as she described him.
"Alright! Let's go!" Sharpay screamed Gabriella's hand and started running toward the exit of the mall.
"What? Where are we going now?'
"To the Bolton's!"