Hi everyone!

Sorry for the delayed update, but I needed to get my thoughts together. Here's the next chapter!

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CHAPTER ELEVEN

Taylor sat in homeroom, cuddling her little child in her arms, rocking him back and forth. She looked up and saw Chad walking in the room with Troy and Gabriella, who had her child in her hands.

Gabriella looked happy as she normally ever did, even more that she was with Troy now, but there was just something about the relationship that didn't please Taylor. Maybe it was the fact that Troy was a jock and Gabriella was still one of the brainiacs, but still Gabriella did look full of bliss.

Gabriella separated herself from the group - not before stealing a kiss from Troy's lips (which made Taylor want to gag) - and walked over to Taylor. She snatched the desk in front of Taylor and situated herself. "Tay, about the other night. I'm so sorry that I blew you off, but I had to in order..."

"It's alright Gabriella," Taylor interrupted, sincerely meaning it, "You had to do it. Chad told me everything. And thank you. I'm sorry if I've been so," she couldn't find the word to describe it, "so...I dunno, but I'm so sorry."

"Don't worry about it," Gabriella replied, her smile even brighter, "So we're on good terms again?"

"Yeah, definitely. If it weren't for you, Chad and I wouldn't have solved all our problems."

"Soooo..." Gabriella sang, nudging her friend with her elbow, "Is there anything between you and Chad? You know. Are there any sparks?"

Taylor blushed, looking down at the child in her hands, hoping that Gabriella wouldn't notice.

But she did. "Ohhh...come on Tay. Spill!" Gabriella urged, her hair bouncing on her shoulders.

Taylor composed herself before looking up at Gabriella again. "If you mean anything like between you and Troy, no. We just put aside our differences for the project. We decided that once this project was over that things will go back to normal between us. Our worlds weren't supposed to meet and they should never meet," she answered, hinting at Troy and Gabriella's relationship.

Gabriella's sunshiny mood fell into a cloudy one. "This is still about me dating Troy? Tay, we don't need to stick to our cliques anymore. Maybe if you tried dating someone, you'd see. I know! How 'bout we go on a double-date. Me and Troy and you and Chad!"

Taylor looked over at Chad, who was talking to Troy at the moment. Something inside her wanted to accept Gabriella's invitation, but another part of her wanted to gag at the thought. She never wanted to date Chad Danforth, no matter how much he changed, no matter how much Gabriella had said that she should, no matter how much she strangely wanted to. "Gabi, that's a ridiculous idea. Me and Chad, I don't think so."

"Taylor, don't be so closed-minded. You never know if you don't try."

"Gabriella, this is one thing that I do know," Taylor answered, trying her hardest to convince Gabriella and herself. "So, are you on for today after school today? We're meeting in the chem. lab this afternoon today for the club to make up for last week's missed meeting," she suggested, leaving out the part where it was her fault that the meeting was missed.

"Sure," Gabriella answered, noting Ms. Darbus's entrance into the room. "I've got nothing to do today. Plus Troy's got practice after school today."

Taylor smiled, seeing that she was going to spend some time with her friend today. She quickly wiped the smile off as Chad walked over to her seat. Sure they were friends, but he was still a jock. A really cute jock that she didn't want really anything to do with.

Chad sat on the top of Taylor's desk. "So, how was our little kid? Not much of a problem for you, was he? Not as much as I normally am, right?"

Even Taylor couldn't help but laugh at his jokes and his sense of humor. "No, he wasn't as much of a problem. Here you go," she handed Corbin over to Chad, also handing him the bag with the rest of his things, "Our little baby."

Chad took him in his hands, rocking him from side to side gently. It was odd how just the sight of this still amazed Taylor.

"You know, sometimes I think that you're taking the project just a little too seriously," Taylor pointed out, seeing how Chad cooed at the doll.

"Well, I just want us to get a good grade. I know how much your grades mean to you," Chad answered. He got off Taylor's desk and settled into his own.

"I know how much your grades mean to you." That phrase resounded in her head. What else could he do to astound her? So she was the reason that he was putting more effort in it? Or was it the fact that he needed a good grade in the class? "Oh please let it be the first one," she pleaded inside her mind. "Maybe I'm wrong. Maybe Gabriella's right. I probably shouldn't be too closed-minded."

Ms. Darbus stood at her desk and cleared her throat, reading off the announcements, but Taylor didn't hear any of them. She was too busy thinking about a certain bushy-haired jock.

Her thoughts drifted back to him and the entirely different side of her that he had shown her, but something in the back of her mind told her something different. "No, we promised each other," she told herself quietly under her breath, "but what is there not to love about him?"

Strangely, Chad could feel that something was watching him. He turned around and saw that it was Taylor. He flashed her a smile before turning his attention back to the front of the room.

"His smile, his fun-loving personality, his eyes that are warm and inviting...how can I deny these feelings?" Taylor whispered, "But I'm supposed to. I can't...we promised. And if my father ever got a word that I liked a boy, I would definitely be in trouble."

Taylor leaned back on her chair, trying to push away thoughts of Chad that she wanted to think about. They could only be friends...nothing more...no matter how much she wanted it to be more.

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Walking into her Lit. class, weirdly feeling that she had forgotten something. Something important. Something that her father wouldn't be happy to find out about. It wasn't until she sat down at her desk that she realized what it was.

She didn't have her Lit. book. She didn't read the section of the Odyssey that Ms. Owen had assigned to the class.

Yeah, her father wouldn't have liked to hear that she forgot a homework assignment.

The bell rang and Ms. Owen walked into the room, once again slamming her mug on the desk. "Students, clear your desk. We're gonna have a pop quiz on what you had to read over the weekend," she declared over the shuffling of papers under desks as she passed out the papers.

Taylor bit her lip and cleared her books from the top of her desk. She didn't really read any part of the section they were assigned. She was afraid that she was going to bomb the quiz and that her father was gonna find out and she was going to receive something that she had avoided for so long now.

Ms. Owen placed the paper on her desk. Taylor stared at it. Multiple choice. It made her feel just a little bit better. At least there was a one-fourth chance that she was going to answer the question correctly.

Hey, one-fourth of a chance was better than no chance, wasn't it.

She picked up her pencil and tried her best to answer the questions on her test, taking a stab at all the questions.

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The bell rang and the class picked up their books, heading out of the room to their next class. Taylor watched as Ms. Owen entered the grades into the computer. She could tell that she failed, she knew that she failed. And that tonight when her father looked up her grades on Letter Grade, he would see that she failed and then it was time for her punishment.

"Taylor, can I see you for a brief moment?" Ms. Owen called from her desk.

Taylor found her feet and walked over to Ms. Owen, her hands shaking as she held onto her books.

"Taylor, what happened to you? You only got two out of the fifteen questions correct on the quiz today. Did you even read this weekend?"

"To tell you the truth Ms. Owen, I didn't. I don't know how it slipped my mind, but it did."

"Well, I'm disappointed in you. But the good thing is that your GPA is so high that this one little slip won't really affect it. But please, just make sure you read tonight's assignment."

"Will do Ms. Owen," Taylor answered, letting out a thankful sigh. She walked out off the room, heading straight to her locker to find her book.

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"It's not in here!" she screamed, frantically searching through her locker for her book. She pulled out every book and dumped it on the floor, causing the books to pile up at her feet. "It's not in here! I lost it again!" She leaned against her locker, sliding down to the floor.

"Lost what again?" Gabriella asked, this time alone and babyless. Troy had taken their child and headed off to lunch.

"My Lit. book. I've lost it again, but this time I know it isn't in the library this time."

"Well, are you coming to lunch?"

"Not until I find my book. I can't afford to fail another test."

"You failed a test?!"

"Yeah, all because I forgot my Lit. book and forgot about my assignment."

"Well, I'll be right back. I'm just gonna grab something from the cafeteria and come back to help you."

"Okay. And thanks Gabi," Taylor said, watching her friend sprint down the hallway. She picked up all the books scattered around her and looked at their covers. None of them were the one that she was looking for.

"I think I can help."

Taylor looked up and saw that it was Chad with Corbin in his hands. "What are you doing here?"

"Telling you that I can help. What else?"

"You know where it is?"

"Yeah. Come on." Chad motioned her to follow him down the hallway.

"Wait, I've gotta pick up all my books first. Don't wanna get in trouble for leaving my locker a mess."

"You shouldn't worry. I'm the one with a messy locker. You should see it." He walked over and helped her gather her books, handing them to her as she placed them in her locker. Once they were finished, Chad motioned her down the hallway again. "Come on."

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That pesky Lit. book seems to be the thing that brings her and Chad together (and the baby too). Where is it and how does Chad know where it is? What happens when her father finds out? Will Taylor ever let go of the thought that she or Gabriella can't date a jock? That's a lot of questions. Find out in the next chapter!

Lotta love,
Kat