Chapter 27

"I'm serious! Troy kissed Sharpay!" Mr. Evans said. Jack smiled.

"I just can't believe they would get together so quickly!" he said, grinning. "Aren't they coming home together?"

Mr. Evans shook his head. "I don't think so."

Jack frowned. Lucille sighed. "I'm so disappointed in Troy."

"Why?" the two fathers asked.

Lucille looked at her husband. Mrs. Evans, who was also there, stared at her husband.

"Why?" Lucille repeated. "WHY? I'll tell you why! Troy was committed to Gabriella! He can't go running around, kissing other girls!"

Jack just smiled. "Don't worry. Troy will come to his senses some day and break up with Gabriella. In the mean time, all he has to do is date Sharpay until it's official. And then he can break up with Gabriella."

Mrs. Evans looked at her friend. "And what exactly were you thinking, marrying this man?"

Lucille sighed. "I have absolutely no idea."

Mrs. Evans looked at the men. "You're setting a terrible example for our children! If people find out about this it will be a disgrace to the Bolton and Evan's name!"

"Exactly," Lucille agreed, nodding. She turned to her husband. "Why can't you just let Troy live his life? He's going off to college in a couple of months!"

"But Troy doesn't understand ," Jack said. "He needs someone who loves him."

"Gabriella loves Troy!" Lucille said. "They love each other!"

Mrs. Evans nodded. "I can't believe I'm saying this, but I'd much rather have Troy and Gabriella get married instead of Troy and Sharpay!"

Ryan walked into the room with greetings but stopped dead in his tracks when all the adults looked at him.

"You know what," Ryan said, awkwardly. He pointed up the stairs. "I'll be in my room if you need me." Then he ran upstairs.

Lucille turned back to her husband. "Gabriella is a nice, beautiful, smart girl."

Jack said, "But Gabriella is just a distraction!"

"Actually, Coach," Chad said, walking into the living room. "I think Troy started playing better after he started going out with Gabriella."

Jack was about to yell, "You stay out of this, Danforth, or you're off the team." But then he remembered that Chad was going off to college, which meant he wouldn't be on Jack's team anyway.

Chad walked up the stairs, yelling, "Yo, Evans! I'm here for my math lesson!"

As soon as Chad's bouncy hair was out of sight, Mrs. Evans said, "I don't want to be the blame for Troy's unhappiness. I hate to admit this, dear," she turned to her husband. "But don't you think we've been spoiling Sharpay too much?"

Mr. Evans shook his head. "I think she's perfectly fine to me."

"Sorry, I forgot," Mrs. Evans said. "You're not the one getting all those phone calls about Sharpay killing students or notes about her throwing tantrums in the hallway!"

Mr. Evans shrugged. "She's a growing girl. It's just a phase."

Mrs. Evans threw her hands up. "She's eighteen! She's grown enough! She needs a lesson. I'm terribly guilty about her being spoiled."

Lucille patted her friend's shoulder. Suddenly, the doorbell rang.

Mrs. Bolton went to open the door and was surprised to see Ms. Montez standing on the doorstep.

"Oh, Maria," Lucille said (Maria was Ms. Montez's name.) "Hello, come in. come in."

"I won't stay long." Maria said bitterly. Lucille was surprised by the bitter tone.

"I just have to say something," she said. She walked into the living room. Ignoring the glares from Mr. Evans and Bolton, she turned to their wives and said, "Well, Lucille, I hope you're willing to be patient with Troy. He'll probably be very moody."

Lucille frowned. "Why?"

Maria turned to Mr. Bolton and said, "I'm sure you're all very well aware about Troy and Sharpay's kiss."

Mr. Evans nodded with a smug look on his face.

Maria glared at him. And everyone back away in fear. They had never seen such a deadly glare.

"You should be happy, Mr. Evans," Maria said. She turned to Jack. "But you had better be careful when Troy comes home today."

Jack backed away. "Why?"

"Poor boy," she said. "Gabriella broke it off with him. They're over and now Troy's pleading her to take him back, very depressed. I hope you're happy, Bolton! Espero que estés contento !"

The adults backed away more, scared of her Spanish words that no one could understand.

Jack looked shocked. He had never intended to cause so much grief for his son.

Before she left, Maria said, "The Montez family might seem timid at first but don't go thinking we can't handle anything!" Then she left and slammed the door behind her.

Jack stood in the middle of the living room, completely humiliated.

Lucille crossed her arms. "Well, Spanish people aren't so bad after all, are they, Jack?"

Jack turned red. Only Lucille knew the secret about him.

He was a racist...against Spanish people.

Wow, racist...that's harsh. To those Spanish people out there, don't be offended. I don't have anything against Spanish people. I find them very interesting. My best friend in the whole world is fully Spanish. So I'm not racist. I just needed a bit of spice...you know.