Hi, people! Sorry for disappearing off of the face of the the earth! I was just thinking of some new ideas... I haven't visited the site in ages!

The ancient modest house that stood in front of Troy and Chad looked fragile enough to kick over. This was going to be cake. "What a stupid dare." Troy muttered as he shuffled across the tall grass to the back of the house. Just beyond the back windows was the beginning of Verne's Peach Orchard, giving way to rows and rows of strangled peach trees. Even from the back of the house, Troy could hear the soft purr of Chad's pick-up buried in the back of the woods.

"Admit it, you're afraid." Chad snickered as Troy easily wedged open a cracked window. Honestly, Troy was a little hesitant to breaking into the Verne family's home, but it was supposed to be fun. All he had to do was slip in, grab the nearest jar of spiced peaches, slip out, and earn bragging rights and pride for a year. Simple. "Hurry up," Chad urged as Troy stuck a foot through the window. "They guys are waiting in my car." Troy made sure his foot was planted firmly on the wood floor before swinging his other foot in.

He noticed that he was standing in a room with a glowing television. On the other side of the room, a girl was curled up on a worn couch. The glow from the television was the only way that Troy could tell where he was headed and if the one person in the room was asleep or not. Troy felt himself being pushed forward towards the only room on the first floor with tile. It had to be the kitchen. And almost like an umbrella on a rainy day, an unopened jar of spiced peaches sat on a counter staring at Troy, almost calling his name.

Not even thinking about his next move, Troy hurried into the kitchen, and made sure the light jar of peaches was secure in his hands before swinging back around. Chad was beckoning at the window, telling him to hurry. He had the jar in his hands, he wasn't about to screw this all up. Once back on the wood, Troy slowed down, thinking about each of his steps. Suddenly, a wood plank beneath his foot gave a loud groan. He tried his best to freeze in place, but it was already too late.

Murphy Verne's forest green eyes flew open at the familiar creak of a floor board. An unfamiliar dark figure stood just beyond the kitchen door, and Murphy did the only thing that felt right. She screamed.

Soon enough, Troy was diving out the back window and was crawling across the grass, scrambling to his feet. Chad had pulled far ahead and was almost at the first row of peach trees where his truck was hiding at the edge of the orchard. He heard a shout from behind him and the sound of loud barking. Lights from the cabins that were lined next to the house began to flicker on. Shit. Troy ditched the jar of spiced peaches just as he entered the stretch of peach trees and heard the barking and shouting coming alarmingly closer.

Chad was out of sight, but Troy hoped that he was still waiting at the end. He would jump on the roof of the car if he had to. They would tear out of the orchard in loud laughter, never to come back again...

Troy suddenly crashed to the ground, tripping over nothing. He took in a mouthful of surprisingly sweet dirt before feeling a boot to his ribs. He rolled onto his back, knowing that it was all over. "Move, boy." he heard an intimidating voice above him. The only thing visible in the night air was the black and white coat of the dalmatian that was tugging at the heel of his sneaker. "I dare you."

Troy Bolton squirmed uncomfortably under Brian Verne's hard glare. This wasn't how he had wanted to spend his summer vacation, but it was better to be standing behind a ladder than standing in front of a judge. What he still didn't understand was why he was the one paying the price for all of his friends. They were all probably checking out the female lifeguards at the pool or picking up a game of basketball... Troy would have given anything to be there, instead of here, in the hot sun, holding a ladder steady. "Sostener." the guy just around Troy's age that was plucking underdeveloped peaches from their branches above barked at him. It was a shame Troy had gotten through one week of Spanish before switching into a new class.

Mr. Verne finally cut Troy a break and left to check on some other workers. "Sostener!" the boy above him shouted. He was wobbling unsteadily at the top of the ladder. Troy gripped both sides of the ladder as the man caught his balance, just wishing that he hadn't taken that one dare.

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Gabriella Montez took in her first morning, wondering how some things could be naturally beautiful. It striked her as odd that something as small and as pitiful as a peach pit could turn into the orchard that stretched out in front of her. The morning was still and peaceful and a few workers milled around, until a shout came from the opening of the peach jungle. A loud crash followed, then an angry stream of Spanish came after that. All that Gabriella could make out was the repeated word, "asno", and she knew that it couldn't be good. She followed the Spanish clamor and the English apologies to find a familiar silhouette standing over someone sprawled on the dirt.

"Is he alright?" Gabriella asked, afraid to come any closer. The silhouette turned around, and Gabriella officially thought that she had lost her mind. Looking better than ever in the morning sun was Troy Bolton, and Gabriella was way less than pleased to run into him. Especially after what he had done to her. Gabriella brushed past him and kneeled next to the young man struggling to sit up. "You're okay?" she gave her warmest smile.

She helped him to his feet before he shot death rays at Troy and staggered out of the trees. "It was an accident, I swear." Troy smiled at Gabriella like everything was okay between them. Well, his smile wasn't going to fix everything this time. He bent over to pick up the ladder that was flat in the dirt and propped it against a tree. "So how's your summer been?" he asked casually. Why should she be the nice girl this time?

"What are you doing here, Troy?" she narrowed her eyes at him and tried her best to frown. But it was something she just wasn't good at, and Troy could easily tell.

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Sharpay Evans tried her best to make it seem like she was working, but she could honestly say that she wasn't. She was sitting against the rough bark of a peach tree, music blaring in her ears. The only thing that was holding her attention in the hot summer sun were the shirtless guys that were surrounding her. But one caught her eye, the one that was following Gabriella across the open field that separated the cabins from the peach trees. The unmistakeable good badboy bangs (A/N: I'll admit, I stole that line right out of an internet article) and tall build belonged to Troy Bolton. Sharpay officially hated this summer. She was coming in contact with all of the people that she hated.

She jumped over the song that was playing on her tiniest Ipod and skipped right to a Christmas song. Anything to make her feel cold during this hot summer. And she went right back to doing nothing, waiting for life on the orchard to bloom.

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Murphy Verne let the front door to Cabin A swing open. After being in her cousin's room, where the heavy scent of watermelon clung to everything, Murphy desperately needed to taking in some fresh air. Someone yelped on the other side of the screen door just as Gabriella scrambled past Murphy and down the hallway. She quickly apologized and broke into a smile when she saw who was on the other side of the door. "Hey... you're the guy who broke in." she stated. She was a little embarrassed about screaming like a little girl and getting the guy in trouble, especially after looking into both of his blue eyes.

"Gabriella, wait!" he shouted past Murphy. He was just about to step into the cabin when Murphy stepped in front of him.

"No guys allowed in the cabins." she shrugged. She didn't want to seem like a prude, but that boy was already facing charges. He didn't need to break any more rules.

"Move, Troy." Sharpay suddenly elbowed past the boy in the doorway, not even bothering to act nice. She had the smallest ear phones Murphy had ever seen tucked into her ears and still looked utterly beautiful even with her cheeks crimson from the heat. Murphy wanted to tell her that no one was allowed breaks until noon, but dealing with Sharpay was different. She would either get the finger or a really harsh insult thrown at her.

"Nice to see you too, Sharpay." Troy muttered after her. Obviously, this Troy guy knew Sharpay and her evil ways, and she felt his pain. She introduced herself.

"I'm Murphy." she smiled, but Troy was too occupied with the fact that he was stuck on a farm with two people that hated his guts. Why was Murphy always the invisible person? It was like the braces covering her teeth and the tangled brown hair on her head was the reason everyone could look right past her, right through her... "Excuse me?"

That summer, Troy Bolton would learn the real definition of respect.

Gabriella Montez would determine love from infatuation.

Sharpay Evans would learn that she actually had a warm side.

And Murphy Verne would realize that you can be pretty, but still not be a beautiful person.

It was their summer. The summer where they would learn lessons in life and love, and how to make the perfect jar of spiced peaches.

As you can see, the closings are always going to slip a little about what's going to happen during this... PRODUCTIVE summer. And I think the last word will always be peaches.

Sostener- "steady"

Asno- "jackass"

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