Prey
A High School Musical Fanfiction
Disclaimer:See chapter 1
Previously in Prey...
Silence settles on them again and then Gabriella pushes herself up on her elbow and says, "I don't want you to think you're my second choice and if circumstances were different, we might have a chance... But why ... why should we deny ourselves this… if ..." she nearly falters, but manages to finish, "if it's what we both want?"
Ryan's eyes burn into hers for what feels like an eternity, before he leans up to capture her lips with his.
Chapter 5: The Morning After
"Damn!", The Hunter screams as his knuckles slam against the metal of his pick-up truck and the tire iron clangs to the ground. Of all the bad luck, he has to get a flat in the middle of nowhere. Now the damn tire iron just slipped and he's banged up his knuckles.
While reaching down to pick up the errant tool, he's practically blinded by the headlights of a vehicle that has just pulled up behind him. Blinking against the harsh light, The Hunter holds a hand up to his eyes to try and see more clearly.
"Need some help there", comes a friendly voice.
The Hunter looks up to see a park ranger standing amiably next him. He glances over the man's shoulder to study the Jeep Cherokee standing empty behind the ranger --- no partner.
"Why ... yeeess. That'd be much appreciat'd", The Hunter replies amicably as his hand tightens around the tire iron.
:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:
Jake is leaning back against a log as he gazes lazily into the flames of the campfire.
"Eve luv? ... How 'bout you throwing a couple more logs on the fire?"
"Not bloody likely. You're a pig, Jake."
"Oink, oink, pet. Oink, oink."
With a deep sigh, he hoists himself up and lumbers over to the stack of firewood which is next to the tent. However, as his hand reaches down to pick up a log, he freezes and a small smile appears on his lips. Quickly, he grabs up the logs and heads back to Eve.
"You won't believe what I just heard, luv", Jake tells her as he unceremoniously dumps the wood onto the fire.
"Jake!", Eve shrieks indignantly as the sparks fire up from the fire, "Are you trying to burn me boobies off?"
"Keep your voice down and listen..."
Then, in the quiet of the forest they both hear it --- the distinctive sounds of a couple engaged in a dance as old as time --- deep, throaty moans; seductive panting; and the sharp intake of breath.
"Oh my... It sounds like our innocent little teenagers aren't behaving themselves. You think we should break it up?", Eve asks with a wicked light in her eyes.
"Naaah, let them have their fun. You know as well as I do, our boss isn't going to let them live even if they win this silly game of his. So since it's their last night on this earth, I say we let them enjoy it. ... Now, you got any of those tiny little marshmallows. I do so love those in my hot cocoa."
"Oooo, Jakeeeey. There's enough time for marshmallows later", she croons as she approaches him and slowly drapes herself across his lap.
"Ah, you're my ripe, wicked plum."
:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:
Sharpay wakes slowly and opens her eyes to find herself staring at the most hideous table lamp she has ever seen. It has a Mallard duck with real feathers mounted on a wooden stand and a pole shooting out of its back with a grotesque plaid lampshade sitting on top. Definitely, not my room.
Then, the previous day comes streaming into her head like some sort of sick digital video-on-demand feed --- the boring ride in the car, the suspicious guides, the hike to the campsite, the confrontation with The Hunter, his crazy game, running with Troy, laughing with Troy, being pushed into the river by Troy, finding Troy, beating on Troy, hugging Troy, sharing peaches with Troy, being propositioned by Troy, and finally sleeping cuddled up next to Troy.
She stiffens at that last thought and then, she realizes she's not the only one stiff. At the beginning of the night, they were two people in two blankets. However, during the night, something had shifted and now they're two people under one blanket and his bare flesh is pressed tightly up against her bare flesh with his hand gently grasping her ... breast. He shifts slightly in his sleep, just the beginnings of awakening and then, she feels that one obvious part of his bare flesh which is currently wide awake and pulsing against her rear.
Suddenly, his entire body goes as rigid as his ...
Sharpay's sure he's just awaken, but both of them seem to be trying to pull off the illusion that they're still unconscious. As surprised as she is to find herself in this position, she has to admit (if only to herself) that being held like this is actually nice. It's not like the rough groping she's had to tolerate from fast dates. No, this is nice, soothing and completely natural. It just feels right.
Finally, she breaks the silence.
"Hi."
Troy starts to jerk his hand away from her, but she quickly grabs it and holds him in place.
"Don't...", she commands softly, "I'm not ready to give up this fantasy yet."
"What fantasy?", he speaks for the first time.
"The fantasy that we're just a boy and a girl, sleeping together in ...", she looks around the room for inspiration, "...in your eccentric great uncle's hunting lodge."
"My eccentric great uncle's hunting lodge?"
"Of course, no one in my family would have such horrible décor."
"Sharpay, I really need to get up ... I ... I mean get away from you ... I mean ... ugh ... I'm not saying this right." He takes a deep breath and tries again. "What I mean is, if I don't get out of this bed in the next two minutes, I'm not going to be responsible for what happens."
He tries to pull away again, but she reaches back behind him and grasps onto his backside, pulling him back to her.
"God Troy...", she says with anguish in voice. "I want this so much... but..."
"I know ... and you're were right last night ... this isn't the right time or place." He buries his head into her hair, relishing the scene of generic shampoo and Sharpay. "But when we get out of here..."
"Absolutely."
They reluctantly release each other and scramble to their respective edges of the bed. Sharpay looks back over her shoulder. She can't resist taking one clear, unobstructed look at him, but her eyes are drawn to the wall behind him and she gives a little squeak.
Troy whirls around to look at Sharpay, clutching a blanket to her chest (darn!) and looking not at him, but behind him. He thinks the worst when she sees her look over his shoulder --- thinking The Hunter must have found them. He whirls around, ready for action ... to find ... nothing. Well, he sees nothing that looks out of the ordinary, like a crazed maniacal killer, for instance.
"What is it? I don't see anything."
"Look at the wall, Troy", Sharpay says with excitement. She rushes around the bed and over to the wall in question. Then, she rips a framed picture off and spins around to face Troy.
"It's a map!", she exclaims as she points to the picture. "See... it's a map of the area with this cabin clearly marked. Right here!" Sharpay points to the picture. "See here's where we are and ...", she traces her finger along the map, "here's Table Rock. We can still make it! We can still save them!" She jumps excitedly.
It's hard for Troy not to get caught up in her enthusiasm, especially when she's jumping up and down in her blanket and he knows exactly what's under that blanket.
"It looks like we should be there with time to spare. Our little dip in the river actually put us closer."
"Yeah well, it's not like you planned it or anything, so you can't take credit for that", Sharpay points out.
Troy flips the picture over and removes the map. Then, they go check out their wet clothes and find that they're still damp, but they have no other choice but to wear them. It's not like they can go traipsing around in the forest wrapped up in old army blankets.
Fifteen minutes later, they're following the trail that will lead them straight to Table Rock.
"Okay, it looks like we follow this trail", Troy points to the map, "which will lead us back up so we can cross back over the river, here, at this bridge."
"Sounds like a plan."
:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:
Gabriella slowly opens her eyes to find herself draped across Ryan's still-sleeping body. Why had she never noticed how beautiful he was before? And he was beautiful, not handsome in a huggedly manly way, but beautiful. And so opposite from her. Just looking at her dark hand against his pale chest, further illustrated that thought. And yet despite their differences, she had felt strongly drawn to him yesterday and she hopes to God it's not just because their facing this life threatening situation together.
She'd always assumed that when she gave up her virginity it would be to Troy and yet ... she feels no regrets over their actions. The only regret she has is that they got together too late and she might be dead before the end of the day.
Ryan groans slowly and starts to stretch his muscles before moaning when he tries to move his ankle. "Ow", he murmurs and then, opens his eyes to see Gabriella's staring back at him.
"Morning", she greets.
"Umm, hi." He's looking at her uncertainly, trying to gage her face to see if there's any regret there, but he only sees ... love? He's stunned when he sees the adoration in her eyes ... and directed at him.
"How are you feeling?"
"Wonderful."
She giggles softly. "Really?"
"Oh, yes."
"Wakey, wakey!", calls a dreamy, sing-song voice from outside the tent. "Are you two little sprites decent?"
Fearing that Eve would barge in, Gabriella jerks up quickly and starts to awkwardly pull her panties and pants back on. Then, she starts to pull Ryan's boxers up for him since he's still somewhat incapacitated from his injury. After all, she's the one who pulled them down the night before. She freezes when she hears Eve's voice again.
"Take your time, ducks. Enjoy it while you can, but breakfast is in 15 minutes. Just shout when you're ready." They hear her walking away.
Ryan's underwear is only half way up when Gabriella looks up at him. "What was that all about?"
Ryan shrugs uncomfortably. She's so close to him that he can feel her breath on his ... And it's starting to react.
"Oh!", Gabriella says in surprise and just a little bit of pride. After all, her presence is what caused this reaction. And she's most impressed. She hadn't been able to see him last night and now ... wow!
She hesitantly reaches over and touches him.
"Wh...what are you doing?", Ryan squeaks in a very unmanly voice.
"You heard what she said, 'take your time and enjoy it while you can'. So I'm going to enjoy it."
With that, she lowers her head and takes him into her mouth.
:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:
"I'm bored", Jake complains. "How long have they been at it?"
"20 minutes, baby. Remember, it was your idea to let them have their fun. You're not changing your mind, are you?"
"Naw, I'm a romantic, but I'm still bored." Then, he leans over and picks up his backpack. "I have an idea. I'll just call the boss and see how the hunt's going."
:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:
They've been steadily trudging uphill for the past hour and the weather is quickly deteriorating. Clouds are covering the sun and the wind has really picked up. It's blowing straight into their faces and chilling them to the bone in their still damp clothes.
"When this is over, I'm going to soak in my Jacuzzi tub for at least three hours", Sharpay tells him.
"I'm going to eat an entire cow", Troy retorts.
"If you bring the steaks, I'll let you share my tub", she says with a sincere smile.
They've been holding hands since they started out this morning. Yep, things are definitely changing.
Troy looks over at her with a smile and says, "That's a plan."
Then, his eyes swing back up the trail and stops in surprise. "Oh my God, Sharpay, look at that!", he says excitedly as he points where he's staring. "It's a park ranger! We're saved, Sharpay! We're saved!"
They both start running up the trail and calling to the ranger, but he's standing at the top and facing away from them and with the wind blowing fiercely into faces, their voices are being blown right back at them too and he can't hear them.
TBC
I am so totally evil. Originally, I wasn't going to end it here, but I decided I had this whole cliffhanger thing going, so...
Please don't hate me.
There were a couple of Buffy references in this chapter. Anybody find them?
And I must say... I never intended for there to be so much Ryella in this story, but I just can't seem to control those two.
I want to spotlight my favorite reviewer from the last chapter: giantzacface
She made my day when she commented on the line about Gabriella's voice. She said,
"i just about died laughing when i read this line: She's always, secretly,
thought that her voice sounded a little weak and nasal - mostly, cause its exactly what i think every time i hear her singing voice. poor girl. use your adult voice, honey. we've all seen you naked, you gotta grow up at some point." giantzacface, I think you speak for all of us, sister. Please enjoy and R & R. Thanks.