I don't own HSM.

Chapter 4

Men and Women

Troy sighed and lay down on his bed in the Evans' house. It had been a crazy day. He had driven for miles upon endless miles, only to end up in the strangest town he had ever come across.

Why was a family like the Evans holed up in a run down town like Nowhere? They lived in a large beautiful house, and they really struck Troy as a typical upper class suburban family. Troy noticed that their house wasn't the only nice one around either. Every house he had seen was large and beautiful like the Evans'. The houses just didn't match the town. It just didn't seem normal.

Regardless of how weird the town was, the Evans' guest room was very nice. It had a large window facing the back of the house that allowed him to see over the vast desert. It faced the West, so he could see the sun set in its brilliant desert-orange colors. He also had a window on the side of the house, which gave him a view of the neighbors.

He also had his own private bathroom and a walk in closet. He certainly wouldn't need the closet, though. All he had with him was a duffel bag with a few changes of clothes in it and a toothbrush.

Troy looked at his watch. It was 8:30. Maybe he would take a shower and go to bed early. It's not like there was anything else to do, and he didn't want to intrude on the Evans more than he already had.

He stripped down to his boxers and turned the faucet on in the shower. While he waited for the water to warm up, he went into his room to get the towel Mrs. Evans had left on his bed. Just then, he saw his door crack open and a very large beautiful brown eye peeked in. When the eye landed on a nearly naked Troy, the person that the eye belonged to squealed and slammed the door.

"Sorry," Gabriella's voice said from the other side of the closed door. "I thought you might be sleeping, but Mrs. Evans asked me to check on you."

"It's fine," Troy replied. "I was just going to take a shower, but I can wait."

"No, no, that's fine. I just wanted to make sure that everything was okay. I'm going to go home now," Gabriella replied, still somewhat flustered.

Suddenly, Troy really didn't want Gabriella to leave. He really needed to talk to her. He flung the door open, still clad in just his boxers. "Can we talk?" he asked, filling his piercingly blue eyes with meaning.

Gabriella's eyes widened in shock and protest. She paused a moment and then said, "Fine, but under one condition."

Troy raised his eyebrows in curiosity. "And what's that."

"Please put some pants on. I don't even know you and you're trying to talk to me in your underwear. It's just weird."

Troy laughed. "Alright. Fine." He grabbed his jeans, which were lying on the floor near his bed, and then quickly ran into the bathroom to turn the water off. His shower could wait.

When he came back out, Gabriella was sitting timidly on the edge of Troy's bed. Troy smiled and sat down next to her. There was a period of awkward silence.

"So, what did you want to say?" Gabriella finally asked.

"Oh, right," Troy said, slightly embarrassed. Honestly, he really didn't have anything he needed to talk about with Gabriella, but he was just really curious about her. "So why is it that you live in this tiny run down town when all of the houses around here clearly don't match the same standard of living?"

Gabriella raised her eyebrows at him. "What?" she asked.

Troy was feeling flustered again, but he couldn't just let her leave. "I guess what I mean to ask is how come Nowhere is so run down, but the houses around here are so nice."

Gabriella smiled. "Well, all of our fathers don't work here. They leave every morning for work."

"But where? There isn't a place around here for miles and miles."

"Well, I have no idea. I've never left this town. Neither have any of the other women."

Troy's eyes widened and his voice got louder. "You mean to tell me that not a single woman in this town has ever, not even once, left it? Not even to go to the hospital or visit family?"

"All of my family lives here. My ancestors found this town, along with many others families here."

Troy just stared at her. That was just weird.

"What?" Gabriella asked. "Did I say something to offend you?"

"N-No," Troy stuttered. He wondered if she ever could say anything that would offend him. "It just seems so weird. So you've never seen a skyscraper or the ocean or even a forest?"

"That's not normal?" Gabriella ask quietly, looking at her hands in her lap.

Immediately, Troy felt bad. "I'm sorry," he said, lifting her chin up with his index finger. "I didn't mean to upset you. I've just never heard of that type of lifestyle before."

"Troy," Gabriella nearly whispered. "What is the ocean like?"

Troy looked surprised. "Haven't you seen pictures?"

"Well, yes, but could you just tell me? I've never heard anybody describe it to me before because I don't know anybody who has ever actually seen the ocean."

Just then, Sharpay walked into Troy's room. "Watcha guys up to?" she asked. "Cause Ryan's kinda wondering where you went, Gabriella," Sharpay said, giving her a fairly angry look.

"Troy was just going to tell me what the ocean is like," Gabriella replied, excitedly.

Sharpay raised her right eyebrow as a look of interest overtook her. She sat down on Troy's bed between him and Gabriella. She was nearly on top of both of them, but didn't seem to notice. Troy backed away some. "Do tell," she said, expectantly.

"Well," he began, "What do you want to know about it? I mean, it's big and it's blue."

"What shade?" Sharpay asked.

"Well, some oceans are more of a grey blue, while others are more of a navy blue. The Indian Ocean is more of a bright aqua color, but you've probably seen all of that in pictures."

Gabriella nodded. "What does it smell like?" she asked.

"Well, if you get just the right breeze, then you will get this smell of salt with a little bit of fish in it. All of this is mixed with a clean breeze and water. It smells so refreshing. Whenever I get that first smell of the ocean, I can feel a surge of energy and freedom."

"What are the waves like?" Gabriella asked.

Before he could answer, Ryan showed up at the door to Troy's room.

"What's going on in here?" Ryan asked.

Gabriella looked at Ryan, her eyes full of excitement. "Oh, Ryan, Troy was just telling Sharpay and me about the ocean."

Ryan looked dumbfounded for a moment and then he let out an arrogant laugh. "Gabriella, are you serious?"

She looked confused. "Yes?" she said, more as a question, rather than a statement.

"Gabriella, don't get yourself so worked up over things that you're never gonna see."

Gabriella looked at the floor. "Why can't we go?"

Troy looked at Ryan. Did he look angry? What was the big deal?

"You know as well as me that a woman has never left this town," Ryan said, sounding rather annoyed.

Gabriella, was still staring at the cream-colored carpet in Troy's room. "I don't see why I can't be the first," she nearly whispered.

"No is no!" Ryan nearly shouted. He grabbed Gabriella's wrist. "I am the man in this relationship. Therefore, I know what's best for you." His voiced softened. "It's because I love you. Now, let me walk you home."

Gabriella got up, still not making eye contact with Ryan. "I'm sorry she mumbled," as he led her out of Troy's room.

Troy had a dumbfounded look on his face.

"Earth to Troy," Sharpay said, waving her hand in front of his face.

"Sorry," Troy said. He paused. "Was it just me or was that a really strange encounter?"

"What?" Sharpay asked, undoubtedly confused.

"Do all the guys get away treating women like that?"

"Like what?"

Troy was frustrated. How clueless could this girl be? "Okay, did you not just witness the same argument that I did? Ryan totally put Gabriella down."

"No he didn't."

"So Ryan getting mad at Gabriella's simple question and then really angry when she didn't settle for his less-than-acceptable answer is okay? He was so-"

"Domineering?" Sharpay asked, cutting Troy off.

"Yes."

"So?"

"Are you serious?" Ryan had just acted like a testosterone-driven fool, and Sharpay had nothing to say about this?

"What do you expect? The man is always in charge. He makes the decisions. I really don't see what your problem is," Sharpay replied nonchalantly.

Troy's eyes widened. This was so weird to him.

"What?" she asked, clearly noticing his shocked expression.

"I guess I've never come across a place where that was a socially acceptable norm."

"What?" Now it was Sharpay's turn to be confused.

"Okay. Where I come from, women and men are equals. They make decisions together. The guy doesn't just go around ordering the woman to do whatever he wants. Guys who do that are, well, jackasses."

Sharpay's eyes widened. "Did you just call my brother a-"

"No!" Troy quickly responded. That was really what he meant. "Here it seems to be acceptable and all, but just out there, it's not."

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Sharpay couldn't believe what she was hearing Troy saying. This was all so…weird. "So you're telling me that somewhere out there, women are treated like men?"

"Well, no, not exactly. I mean, men and women are different. We all learned that in like 4th grade health or whatever. But men don't run women's lives. I've always had the understanding that women and men make decisions together and stuff. I mean, in the relationships I've been in, the girl has had just as much say about what we do and where we go."

Sharpay was shocked. She had never heard of such a thing. Well, she had read stuff in magazines that made it seem like women were more equal, but she didn't really believe it was real.

"Why shouldn't men and women be treated equally? Sure our anatomy is different, but women have brains and a heart too," Troy finished.

"I-I never thought about it that way, I guess," Sharpay replied slowly. "So are most people that way?"

"Well, yeah," Troy stated. "Like I said, I've never really run into this type of relationship situation until now."

Just then, Sharpay got an idea. "Troy," she said confidently.

Troy raised his eyebrows, looking somewhat suspicious and somewhat interested.

"You have to take me there. I want to see what it's like."

Troy looked at Sharpay like she was crazy. "I don't think that's such a good idea. I don't want to be the guy who single-handedly messes up the town of Nowhere."

"I'm not asking you to burn the place down, Troy. I just want you to show me what life is like away from here. I really don't think I'm asking that much."

"I really don't think that's such a good idea. I have no idea what kind of havoc I would end up wreaking around here."

Sharpay was getting frustrated. She always got her way. "Please please please please please," she begged, folding her two hands together like she was praying.

Troy looked at her and sighed. "I'll think about it," he said, finally. "That doesn't mean I'll say yes, but I'll consider taking you to a nearby town for a day or something."

"Thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you," Sharpay squealed, grabbing Troy and wrapping him in a huge hug. Step one was complete. She had Troy's attention. Now, to make him fall for her…this was going to be interesting. She got up from Troy's bed, and crossed the upstairs loft area to her bedroom, winking at Troy as she left his room. He was so her's!

A/N I know, there's way too much dialogue in this chapter and not much action, but you can begin to see where the drama is going to come in (hopefully)
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