Good morning, good day, good evening, good night, and welcome back to 'What if it went like this'!
Today, we're having a little taste of the characters you barely hear much about, the ones who are only around to make stories more realistic.
Ladies and gentlemen, I give you . . . the ADULTS! (Lots of applause)
Recap
Hurrying, she collected her things and left. As weary as she felt, the story was finally finished, and once again she got that feeling, the feeling of accomplishment that she got every time she finished a story.
She loved that feeling, and she loved writing stories.
She wasn't going to stop anytime soon.
"La la-la la . . . "
Kelsi let the hot water run over her bare skin. She had never enjoyed a simple thing like a hot shower so much, but her problems were so complicated, the feeling of release was welcome. Raising her head, she belted out;
I've never had someone
That knows me like you dooooooo
The way you doooooo
Suddenly, a loud male voice was booming from outside the bathroom door.
My daughter is so slow
At using the bathrooooooooom
Oh yes it's truuuuuuuuue
"Dad!" Kelsi squealed, recognising the voice. "I'd appreciate you NOT hanging around outside the door!"
"Well, I need to use the bathroom! Aren't you glad I'm back?" the voice drifted out to her. She quickly wrapped herself in a towel, then opened the door and threw herself into her Father's arms.
"Of course I'm glad! Your work trips always mean you're away for ages!" They hugged tightly, and then Mr Nielsen wrapped his arm around her shoulders. Smiling at her, he asked the question she'd been dreading.
"How's piano practice going? How's life in general?"
"Uh . . ." Kelsi's smile faded, as she tried to figure out the best thing to say. "Not so great, for both situations." She reeled off a whole list,
"School piano got broken, Mom gave our piano to Auntie, Ms Darbus is freaked at me for missing practice, Sharpay keeps stalking me and trying to get me to talk to her, Troy ignores my warnings, I can rarely find time to talk to Candi-"
"Woah, slow down, Kel. I'm sure you can find answers to all those problems if you look hard enough. I can get you some piano lessons, that won't be a problem. Why did you miss practice? Why does troy ignore you? Why is Sharpay 'stalking' you?"
Kelsi hung her head. She was writing stories instead of going to practice. She told Troy she hated Gabriella. She supposedly knew Sharpay's secret. It was all because of her.
"Dad . . . what would you do if you found a new hobby that you loved, and you became addicted to it? Like, other things in your life stared to fall apart?"
"Well, I probably not do the hobby so much, because there are things that might be more important." Mr Nielsen frowned. "Though if the hobby is taking drugs, that would explain the addictive part . . ." he raised his eyebrows meaningfully.
"Dad, who do you think I am?" Kelsi giggled, going to her room to get dressed for school. She caught sight of her navy-blue notebook, and felt a pang of guilt. She would do her best to repair her problems, but she wasn't going to stop writing stories. No Way.
HSM HSM HSM HSM HSM
When Kelsi walked into class the next day, everyone went quiet and looked at her. She walked over to her desk, and sat down without saying a word. Troy leaned over to her.
"Are you okay?" He asked Kelsi, who looked at him weirdly.
"Have you talked to Gabriella about what we talked about?" Kelsi asked Troy, with a tone of harshness in her voice. When he suddenly looked awkward and didn't meet her gaze, she said, "Didn't think so." and turned to face the front.
Ms Darbus strolled in, and her gaze travelled over the class, and rested on Kelsi.
"Ah, Miss Nielsen. Can you please explain your consistent absence from Drama practice? We are working towards a show here!"
"I can't practice without a piano." Kelsi said in a blunt tone, like she wasn't interested.
"That makes no difference to me Miss Nielsen. You need to know what you're doing, so that when we replace the piano, you are able to know when to play what."
"But there isn't one now! We need a piano now! It's pointless otherwise!" cried Kelsi, annoyance getting to her. Ms Darbus flung her shawl around her shoulder with a shocked look on her face.
"Nothing is pointless if it is to honour the art of performing! I don't think you understand, Miss Nielsen-"
"My name is Kelsi." She said, her annoyance snapping to anger, and her face started to go red. Ms Darbus stared. Not only had someone answered her back, it was a shy student like Kelsi.
"I think you need to cool off." She said slowly, and pointed to the door. "Please wait outside for a while, and when-"
"When you treat us teenagers like children, you can't expect us not to act childish!" she complained, and she went to the door.
From outside, she heard a snort from Chad, which turned into an ongoing laugh, and as usual, everyone joined in. Someone also started a chant 'Kelsi! Kelsi!' and a smile formed on her face.
HSM HSM HSM HSM HSM
"What are you doing out here?" said Sharpay, trotting towards her. She was holding many bags, and wearing lots of pink, including her sunglasses and hat.
"Ms Darbus said I was a bad little girl, so here I am. I think she's forgotten about me."
"You? Bad? You've gotta be kidding." She flicked her hair.
"Why are you so late?"
"Oh . . . just . . . problems. I didn't have any clothes to wear." She held up the bags.
"That's a problem?" puzzled Kelsi incredulously.
"A major one for me. I'll make up an excuse for Ms Darbus, she always buys it when you're her teacher's pet. Hey, listen . . ." Looking nervous, she said, "We have to talk."
"I know." agreed Kelsi, leaning against the wall. "About a certain secret I believe, because everyone has been hassling me about it."
Sharpay looked at her strangely. "You . . . you don't even know what it is do you?" Kelsi didn't answer, only raised her eyebrows.
"Okay maybe you do," She quickly corrected herself, even though she wasn't correct. It was like she didn't want Kelsi to be cross with her.
"But I swear to you, I didn't mean for it to happen, I didn't even want to be there! It just . . . fell . . . smashed . . . how do you stopping a heavy thing like that? But honestly, it wasn't even me, I-"
"Sharpay, I don't know any secrets. I wanted you to tell everyone I had nothing to do with it, but now you've babbled this crap to me, it's not true anymore." Kelsi sighed. Sharpay looked at her in horror.
"I've . . . said too much . . ." she spluttered, and dashed into the class. Kelsi stared after her.
"On the contrary . . . you've said just about enough . . ." whispered Kelsi, who understood perfectly. Not only was Sharpay there when the piano was broken, she saw who did it.
HSM HSM HSM HSM HSM
Hanging around the auditorium, Kelsi was very bored. Everyone was, but Kelsi in particular had nothing to do.
"Bored?" came a cheeky and cheerful voice. Kelsi gloomily turned to see Candi, hair dyed bubblegum pink, grinning. They hugged, and Kelsi smiled at her.
"Definitely. You know, I don't get to see you anymore!"
"That's because you don't come to practice anymore, dummy!" laughed Candi. "Is Sharpay still causing trouble for you?"
"Nope, that's old news now." Kelsi told her. "This secret thing is giving everyone the idea that we're bum chums. Brilliant."
"It could be worse!" cried Candi, and they burst into peals of laughter.
Suddenly, Ms Darbus roared 'QUIET!' and everyone stopped talking, so you could clearly hear the voices of those on stage.
"I'm going to the back seats." Mumbled Kelsi, keeping an eye on Ms Darbus.
"Why?" Candi muttered back.
"I'm working on something. I'll be back . . ." Kelsi knew that to say 'soon' would be a complete lie, so she said " . . . in a while."
With that she snuck to the back seats. On the way, she saw Ryan, who gave her a smile that she returned. Behind him was Sharpay, who gave her one look of dismay and went scurrying off. That's nice, thought Kelsi glumly.
There were still lots of empty pages left in her Navy A5 Notepad, and turning to a new page, she titled it 'A.S.T.D.P.J.T.R.' and with a wave of fresh ideas, wrote;
There's nothing wrong with physical attraction. People are falling in love or lusting after other people all the time.
So what the big deal with teenagers doing it?
The deal is, adults and parents and generally nosy people, are always thinking teenagers with do something they'll regret. And sometimes they're right.
Which is why He started The Group
X X X
"So . . . what is this group about?" asked Mr Nielsen, looking around.
Other parents were there too, familiar ones. Mrs Montez, Mr and Mrs Evans, Mr and Mrs McKessie, Mr and Mrs Danforth, Mrs Bolton, and of course, their leader, the one who started the whole thing . . . Mr Bolton.
(A.N. For those who don't know, in order it's; Gabriella's Mum, Sharpay and Ryan's Mum and Dad, Taylor's Mum and Dad, Chad's Mum and Dad, Troy's Mum, and then his Dad is mentioned after.)
"Well, you may know my son, Troy Bolton." began Mr Bolton.
"Oh yeah," grumbled Mr Evans, "Sharpay goes on about him twenty-four seven!"
"Well, after a while, I became aware of how many different girlfriends he had in a week, and was bringing them home under my nose.
I came home one night with my wife, and interrupted a . . . private get-together, let's say. It was the last straw. I started up ASTDPJTR, and have been recruiting members since. You can choose to put dots in-between the letters or not."
"It's not random letters," piped up Mr Danforth, "It does stand for something."
"It stands for 'the Adult Society of Teenage Dating Prevention and Justice to Teenage Rebels'." Mrs Bolton recited, and Mr and Mrs Nielsen looked nervously at each other.
"But what do you do?" pressed Mrs Nielsen.
"Allow me to explain." Mrs McKessie stood up, looking very classy and royal. As everyone looked at her, it was like they were looking at an older Taylor.
"Teenagers can never understand what their true feelings and emotions are, or how to harness them. When they get out of hand, parents call upon us. Our usual job is to prevent teenage dating and deal with Rebels." Mrs Danforth stood up, and added,
"If they become a regular problem, sometimes the parents join the group, so they have access to the recourses needed to sort them out. Myself and my husband are here because Chad's a real player."
"Like Troy." Said Mrs Bolton.
"Ryan's an angel, but Sharpay's a rebel." Growled Mr Evans. "Always getting up to no good with Gabriella."
"Which is why I'm here." Shrugged Mrs Montez. "My husband refused to join because he thought Gabi was an angel. Wouldn't hear a bad word against her."
"Also why we're here." Commented Mr McKessie. "Gabriella is influencing our Taylor."
Mr Bolton walked over to the couple and said darkly, "As you can see, Troy and Gabriella are our biggest problems, because their charm and charisma affects everyone else. Troy dates. Gabriella's a rebel. That's the crisis."
Everyone who was standing took a seat, and Mr Bolton lounged in the Master Chair, which was a big, comfortable armchair at the end of a long table. The other members sat around the table, and the Nielsen's stood at the other end.
"So." Mr Bolton leaned back in his chair. "Why are you here?"
"Well . . ." Mrs Nielsen looked at her husband for support, before continuing, "We think Kelsi has been hanging around with a certain boy lately. We think she might be doing things . . . with this boy."
"Like kissing?" frowned Mr Bolton, playing with a pen in-between his fingers.
"No." said Mrs Nielsen.
"Oh, like making out?" guessed Mr Bolton, still playing with the pen.
"No . . ." said Mrs Nielsen also frowning.
"I have it!" cried Mr Bolton, stabbing his pen on the desk. "She's watching porn with a boy!"
"No!" retorted Mrs Nielsen angrily, annoyed that he was thinking of the simplest things and making it a game. "I mean things that adults do . . ."
"What, like sex? Why didn't you say so? We get that all the time, but they don't usually do anything. You were acting like someone had died, and I thought it might be something different for a change." Suddenly every member (the people sitting at the table) had a mobile-like device that went off.
"It's a Dating Occurrence or Rebel Disruption Alarm!" said Mr Evans in surprise. "It's not Sharpay though, so it's hard for me to locate it!"
"I can," Stormed Mr Bolton "It's Troy. He's not being rebellious . . . he's with a girl . . ." He looked up at the Nielsen's and said,
"He's with Kelsi."
X X X
Left. Right. Straight ahead. Right. Right. Left. The Nielsen's couldn't keep track of all the different directions.
"So . . . what happens? How do we stop them from meeting?" panted Mrs Nielsen.
"They've already met, that's the problem." Answered Mr Bolton. "On missions like this, we would send the parents of the child. But you haven't joined yet, and I'm needed here. So my wife and Mrs Montez will act for Troy, Mr and Mrs Danforth will act for Kelsi."
Mr Bolton ushered the Nielsens, the McKessies, and the Evans into a big room, with lots of technology. Then he took out a communicator and spoke into it.
::This is Chief Bolton. What is your position?:: Immediately, there was a reply of a male voice.
::Danforth. Setting up Video cam outside restaurant with wife. :: The Nielsens did a double take.
::Which Danforth?:: laughed Mr Bolton.
::Which one do you think, fool?:: came Mr Danforth, laughing as well, as if they were sharing a private joke.
"They went to a restaurant?" spluttered Mr Nielsen in surprise, when he'd finally found his voice.
"Troy obviously wanted to impress the girl," concluded Mr McKessie.
"Okay, Danforth has finished setting up Vid-cam." Cheered Mr Bolton, and told everyone to look at the big screen. A live video of Troy and Kelsi sitting by a window table of the restaurant appeared.
"That's my dress!" stormed Mrs Nielsen. "How dare she!"
"They always do that," giggled Mrs Evan, looking like Sharpay for a moment.
::Bolton reporting in. I'm sitting in the restaurant. ::
::Chief Bolton, I hear you honey. Where's Montez?::
::Montez reporting in. I'm sitting in a corner table with Bolton. The couple just ordered wine. ::
"Do you always refer to each other using surnames?" asked Mrs Nielsen.
"Yep, it's easier." Brushed off Mr Bolton. The Nielsen gave each other a look that said, 'I don't bloody well think so!'
"Wait, did everyone just see that?!" proclaimed Mr Bolton. "Kelsi just had a sip of wine, and left her hand on the table. Now, either Troy's going to put his hand on hers in a minute, or I'm not a Bolton. Trust me."
::Chief Bolton here, are you there Bolton?::
::Bolton in. ::
::Honey, I need you to dart the wine glass, so it falls on Kelsi. ::
"But that will ruin my dress!" moaned Mrs Nielsen.
Watching carefully, everyone saw the couple talking. Then Troy moved his hand, and at the same moment, something tiny flew over and hit the wine glass. It was so small and fast, the Nielsen's almost missed it, and the teenagers were so besotted with each other, they missed it completely. The wine glass toppled over, and Kelsi got up.
::Danforth here. :: came a female voice. ::I know what you're thinking, and no, Kelsi is not leaving. She's gone to get tissues. ::
"Oh shit," muttered Mr Bolton.
Then, when Kelsi was gone, a girl came and started flirting with Troy. She had put her hand on his arm, when Kelsi came back. Kelsi expression was very angry.
::Chief Bolton here. That was lucky!::
::Montez. Not really, I paid the girl to go to him. ::
::Chief. Well done Montez! Look, she leaving now!::
"Mission accomplished." Said Mr Bolton, satisfied.
::Not really. Montez here by the way. :: Mr Bolton was taken aback, as he spoke into his communicator.
::What the prob, Montez?::
::My locater is showing Kelsi, and she's heading to my house, Gabriella's there. :: Mr Bolton groaned.
::That's not all,:: Montez continued. ::I just got a lock-down of my house . . . Taylor and Sharpay are there too. ::
This time, when Mr Bolton groaned, everyone else joined in. Turning to the Nielsen's, he held out a form and said shrewdly,
"I strongly advise you join us now."
X X X
Well, that's a short story of what the ASTDPJTR was about. When Troy grew up, he carried on the group with his friends, but two months later, he got bored and disbanded it.
And so, teenagers dated and rebelled in peace ever since.
Just after Kelsi wrote the last word, there came a little laugh from beside her. Snapping her head up, she saw Candi writhing in laughter, trying not to be loud and attract Ms Darbus' attention.
"Why do people always do that do me?" she said, annoyed. "How long have you been there?"
"More or less . . . from the beginning!" giggled Candi, her hand on her stomach. "I got here when you were halfway through the first page. You were so into it, you didn't even notice! Mr and Mrs Bolton, Mr and Mrs Evans . . . are those Troy's parents, and Sharpay and Ryan's parents?"
Kelsi nodded, unsure of how seriously Candi was taking this.
"Wow, you have a real talent for writing, that was hilarious! I loved the bit where the wine glass spilled all over you, that was too much. Do you usually write stories like that?"
"Yeah. Just something to do, really. I've never had someone to look at my work and say 'that's great!' or 'needs more work', so I'm never sure of how good these are . . ." Mumbled Kelsi, and Candi gazed thoughtfully at her.
"I know who you can go to!" said Candi excitedly. "Come!" she led Kelsi over to where Sharpay, Ryan, and Gabriella were and for a moment Kelsi thought there were going to stop there. But then they did stop there and Candi whispered excitedly,
"Hey, Ryan, I found you a new writing buddy!"
As you can see, the mini-story (the story Kelsi wrote) was different than usual. Did you like that, or would you just prefer the main characters?
I'll try and get the next story updated soon. I've suddenly become really excited, because I took up where I left off with the 'who wrecked the piano' story and the 'Sharpay's secret' thing. Now, everything's fitting together!
Mzdarkstar x x x