Author's Note: Here's chapter six! Enjoy!

Chapter Six: The Competion Heats Up

"Chad!"

Chad twirled around to see Troy walking towards him, with a rolled up poster in a rubber band.

"Hey, Troy...what do you have there?" he asked.

Troy smiled, and undid the rubber band.

Chad almost burst out laughing.

Troy must have felt very sorry for Gabriella, so he did her excate banner: the letters, and everything. Except, Troy's was sort of bad compared to Gabriella's, but Troy was smiling so hard, that Chad didn't have the heart to tell him.

"It's...cool, dude. Nice to know you care about Gabriella like that." Chad said, smiling.

Troy nodded excitedly. "I spend all night working on it...I hope she likes it."

"Of course she would. We all know Gabriella by now, Troy." Chad replied as he and Troy headed for homeroom.

Haylie, Gabriella, and Taylor were talking around Haylie's desk when Troy and Chad came over.

Gabriella was the first to spot the poster.

"What's that?" she asked.

"'What's that?' she askes?" Troy asked Chad, and Chad grinned.

"In honor of your old banner, Miss Montez, your boyfriend, Troy Bolton, stayed up all night to make you a new one..."

And when Troy undid the rubber band for the second time, Gabriella shierked the loudest scream ever, catching the attention of the students inside the classroom and out.

"Thank you, Troy! This is so sweet!" Gabriella stated, getting up, and hugging her boyfriend.

Troy blushed, and said, "Well.."

That's when Ryan and Sharpay came into the room, and Ryan instantly went to Haylie, and Sharpay went up to Troy and Gabriella.

"Gabriella, I'm sorry about your banner...Demtiri told me all about it. He says he's sorry." Sharpay explained.

"Oh, I bet he is!" Chad muttered under his breath, but Taylor gave him a death glare, and he shut up.

Gabriella smiled at the blonde haired girl.

"It's okay, Sharpay. I'm over it." Gabriella told her, and Sharpay just stood there, her smile turning into a frown by the second.

"Oh, okay..." she said, glancing at Ryan, who avoided her glance by brimming his blue eyes with his hat. Sharpay shook her head, and walked off, leaving the gang.

Everyone looked to Ryan the instant she left, and he threw up his hands.

"What? Why does everyone keep looking at me?" Ryan asked.

"Well, Demtiri isn't the only one working, Ryan. What's up with Sharpay?" Chad asked.

"Is it one of her schemes to break up Troy and Gabriella?" Haylie asked.

Ryan just looked at them, and finally nodded, biting his lip.

"Yeah...she's still sore about the musical, you know." Ryan told him.

"So, she's working two schemes at once?" Troy asked.

"Maybe. I don't know...I didn't know she was trying to break you guys apart, but after what Demtiri did to Gabriella's banner, that was an obvious Sharpay clue." Ryan told him.

"In exchange to see Taylor, Demtiri did something for Sharpay...man, I hate Demtiri even more." Chad replied.

Everyone agreed with him by nodding their heads, and then sat down when the bell rang, and Ms. Darbus came into the room, blaring annoucements.

Before Chad got a chance to leave the classroom, Taylor stopped him.

"Are you going to practice with your team, or--"

Chad sighed at her question.

He wondered if practicing for the dance competion was even woth it, considering Coach Bolton was already mad at him. Maybe it was for the best to let Ryan and Haylie teach Sharpay and Demtiri a thing or two, and not Chad and Taylor.

"Listen, Taylor, maybe I should just practice with my team today...Coach Bolton is already mad at me for skipping, so I should make up for it."

Taylor nodded.

"Okay."

Chad could tell she was abit sad, but he gave her smile.

"Don't be like that, Taylor. I hate it when you get sad." he told her, and she smiled.

"Well, if it's for your team, then you should it. I can spend time with Gabriella anyways." she repiled as Chad grabbed her hand, and began to swing their arms.

"Good." Chad said, releasing her hand, and gave her one last smile before walking into his first hour class.

Just after getting out from school, Coach Bolton wanted to see everyone who was on the basketball team in the gym. Chad was abit impatient, because he promised Taylor that he'd study with her after school at his house.

"I know everyone is anxious to get home, but I have something to tell you. West Knights is coming here for the rematch of last year after christmas break. I want you guys to practice as hard as possible, and there will no slipups, like last year."

When he said that, he looked directly at Troy, and Troy cast his eyes down.

"When is the big game, Coach?" Chad asked.

"October sixteenth, Chad." Coach Bolton replied.

Chad made a face that clearly showed his reaction: anger

"Coach, you can't do that! I--"

But, Coach Bolton cutted him off.

"After your performance with your friends, I don't think you'll be joining them at the dance competion. Sorry, Chad."

"But, you let Troy--"

"Chad, that's quite enough. You all may go home now, except for Troy."

Chad followed his teammates untill he came out the door, and his anger melted when he saw Taylor sitting down on the floor, her science book laying across her lap.

"Hey. Ready to go?" he asked, folding his arms.

How can he tell Taylor that Coach Bolton won't let him in the dance competion?

No, a better question was: how was he going to tell Haylie?

The girl was a firecracker if you set her off or annoy her.

Because, he, Troy, and Ryan do that all the time with Haylie, and it wasn't pretty.

Taylor smiled up at him.

"Of course."

She got up, grabbed her backpack, and she handed him his.

"So, what did the Coach wanted to talk to you about?"

Chad gulped, and looked at her.

"Oh, you know...the game." he replied as they made their way to the parking lot.

Taylor smiled.

"When is it?" she asked.

Chad suddenly felt his hands shake, and he looked at her with a sad smile on his face.

"October sixteenth."

Taylor's smile dropped then.

"Chad--"

Chad held up a hand for her to stop.

"Before you leature me, hear me out. I don't have a choice, and if I did, I'd miss the game to perform with you guys. But, Coach made it clear I had to be there, because it's--"

"A tradition, I know, Chad!" Chad realized that she was about to cry, and he wrapped his arms around her in a hug.

"Hey, Taylor. Not here, okay?" he whispered in her ear, and Taylor buried her face in his shirt, while Chad sighed, and Taylor pulled away.

"Taylor, look. I'm sorry. I wish I could make it work--"

"But, you can't!" she almost screamed, making Chad clam up.

Taylor just sighed, and sighed.

"Come on." she said, walking infront of him, and not beside him.

Chad followed her, wondering what he got himself into.