It was a New Year and new semester. Troy went back to school on a regular basis and was loving life at the moment. He and Gabi have been dating for 4 months and he was thinking about telling her he loved her. He has been wanting to do it since the day he met her. Her big brown eyes. long curly hair, her sweet smell, her voice. Everything about her drove Troy nuts. Troy was at his locker and Gabi came up behind and cover his eyes.

Gabi: "Guess who?" She said in a deep voice.

Troy smiled "Umm a big scary man with a deep voice?"

Gabi put her hands down, "Ah I am not that big!"

Troy flipped himself around "Yeah I know! How are you babe?" and gave her a kiss on her forehead.

"I am good, can't wait for this last class to be over. Do you want to hang out after school?"

"Yeah I can for a little, I am starting therapy today that 6."

"Oh yeah I forgot. Well I can make our favorite snack to give you some strength." She said in a curious tone.

"I would love that." He said with a smile. The bell rang, "Ready to go?"

"Yeah." Troy shut his locker and they were on their way to class.

"You know what the worst part about being on crutches is?" He said and looked at her.

"No, what?" And looked at him.

"Not being able to hold your hand."

Gabi blushed and looked down. He always had the sweetest things to say.

"Really?"

"Yeah, it actually sucks pretty bad."

"Well as soon as you get off of them you can hold my hand anytime you want and I will never let go." She looked up at him.

Troy smiled "Good"

Gabi kissed him and walked into her class. She was wondering if Tory loved her. She loved him with all of her heart. Even though they have been only going out for 4 months, she knew it was true love she had for him. She still got a lot of crap from girls at school saying 'Troy really doesn't really like her, she is ugly, and Troy has cheated on her.' Anything to get Gabi to break up with Troy.

Later that day Troy was on his way to rehab. He was nervous, a lot of things went through his mind; 'Am I going to have strength? Is it going to hurt? Will I ever run?' he had no idea what was going to happen. Jack went with him and was going to watch since Troy was going to have to practice some exercises at home by himself. Troy got there and was waiting to meet his therapist.

"Troy Bolton?" He was pretty young, later twenties early thirties.

Troy stood up and crutched over to him. They shook hands.

"Hi Troy I am Bryce I will be helping you in these next few months to get you to where you need to be. Now if you just come in here and we will get started."

Troy went into the room. There were a bunch of small weights and poles to hold on to. '5 pounds'? Anyone can lift that.' Troy thought. Troy felt like he had this under control he was going to be back on his feet in no time.

"Ok you can take off your boot so I can see where you are coming from."

Troy off his boot and Bryce looked at his leg to see where he should start.

"Okay what we are about to do is some of the exercises you can practice at home. The more you do them, the more strength you will gain and it will help the next steps you take become easier."

Troy shook his head.

"Ok stand up and stand on you right leg." Troy stood up and put his hand on the railing.

"Ok now put you left leg down and try to put you foot flat on the ground."

Troy winced in pain; he couldn't put any pressure on his leg.

"How bad does it hurt? Scale 1 to 10."

"Like a 15!" The pain was shooting up his leg.

"Ok, come lay her on the table and I am going to stretch you out."

Bryce was moving his ankle and doing other little stretches.

"Ow! Stop!" Troy sat up, it hurt so bad. He didn't know he was going to be this weak.

He was clutching his fist so hard his knuckles were turning white. He didn't have anything under control. Those 5 pound weights would whip his butt him if he has to hold them while standing on his leg. He couldn't even stand a touch!

"I know you are in pain but you have to do this. It will make you stronger and it will stop hurting after a while. Let try something different." He went to go get the bungee cords.

Troy sat there with his head in his hands. Jack came up behind him and started rubbing his back trying to give him support.

"You can do this son, I know it hurts but it is only the first day." Jack hated this, it put him in pain.

Bryce came back with the bungee cord. "Ok lay on your stomach, we are going to work on bending your knee."

They did some exercises with that for a little while. His knee wasn't as bad but still hurt like a 10.

"How does this feel?" While helping him with the resistance of the bungee cord.

"It hurts like hell but it is starting to feel comfortable."

They did a couple of more exercise. 'These 2 hours won't end soon enough' Troy thought, it was like he was in a nightmare. Troy had to take little break or he was going to pass out from the pain. Troy layed on his back with his arm over his eyes.

"Why did this happen to me?" He mumbled under his breath, he didn't think anyone heard him.

"You know the more you ask yourself that the better chance you will never find the reason why." Bryce said. "You are better than that."

"Yeah well I don't feel like that right now." He said in an annoyed tone.

"You will over time. It is what I like best about my job. It is a great feeling to see the people I help come out on top at the end. I love seeing them on a journey where they are struggling at first and then they push through everything and all of their hard work pays off in the end."

"Well to bad mine wont, Doctor said so." Troy was feeling discourage and did not feel like fighting to play basketball.

"I know you play basketball and I know what the doctor has said, but I think once you can walk I can work with you specially and teach you how to shoot a layup where you won't hurt your ankle. I know you are discouraged but it is only your first day. You have this for 5 days a week it will get easier I promise."

Troy sighed he knew he was right he didn't know why he was acting like such a baby. Troy sat up. "I will take you on that offer about basketball."

Bryce smiled, "Good I hope you would have. Are you ok now? Ready to get back to work?"

"Yeah, and I am."

Troy sucked it up and went through the rest of therapy. When he got home he layed on his bed. He was so tired, he had to go through the same thing again tomorrow…and the next day…and the next. Troy knew he had to stay strong; he didn't want anyone to know he was struggling through this and he especially didn't want to let anyone down. The whole school was counting on him to gain everything back and to play next year. He couldn't let everyone down…again. This was harder than he thought, but he had no choice.

The next day after school Troy got him a glass of water then left the kitchen. Dylan came in. He put salt in Troy's water and left before he got back, he was a sneaky little bastard. Troy came in and took a sip of his water and immediately spit it.

"Dylan!"

Dylan heard him from upstairs and started laughing; he was enjoying this while he can.

Troy had it, it was time to get him back especially for him telling Gabi he died. Troy called Chad for reinforcement.

Chad picked up.

"What is up dude?"

"I am going to need a few supplies, get them and bring them to my house and I will pay you back when you get here. I need to teach someone a lesson."

Troy and Chad sat on the couch acting casual. Troy told Chad to get some strawberries and 2 tubs of whipped cream. It was Dylan and Troy's favorite snack when they were little.

"Dylan! Come down here!"

Dylan came down stairs, "What?"

"Do you want some strawberries and whipped cream?"

"Uh sure, when did you get this?" He walked over to the couch and sat down.

"I told Chad to bring some over, we were caving it." Troy got up and hopped into the kitchen.

Chad and Dylan started eating it. Troy came back into the living room quietly and came up behind the couch.

Chad: "When I was little my mom put honey in the whipped cream, can you taste it?"

Dylan: "Yeah it tastes good."

Chad: "Here, it smells pretty good too." Chad picked it up and put it up to Dylan's face and he smelt it.

Dylan: "Yeah it do-"with that Chad slammed the bowl in his face and Troy dumped the other one on his head. Chad and Troy were laughing hysterically.

"And that is what you get for messing me and yes there is still more to come."

"Man what the!" Dylan wiped off his face and stormed up stairs.

"That is what you get for messing with me! Don't get mad on what you can't dish out!" He yelled up with stairs. Troy and Chad were still laughing.

Troy had gone through 3 weeks of therapy already, and was starting to get the hang of it. Even though he was still on crutches, he was feeling pretty good. He still hasn't tried putting any pressure on his ankle but had a feeling he could do it soon. He has control of his knee and was working on his ankle. Bryce wanted Troy to do strength exercises before he tried putting weight on his ankle again. He had a hard time bending it, it was the most challenging, Troy wanted to bend it further but it wouldn't go that far. He kept comparing his right leg to his left and how he wished they were both the same. He didn't realize how important the movement in his ankle was and how he needed it for jumping and bending, Bryce was right, it was getting easier, well sort of. It was his 4th week in therapy.

"Do you want to try and put your leg down?"

Troy nodded yes and stood between 2 parallel poles. He slowly put his leg down; he felt it on the cold mat.

"Ok, now stand up straight and try and put everything on it."

Troy straightened himself out and took in a deep breath and winced. It hurt but the pain was not as severe as the first time. Troy held on to both railings to have support.

Troy lifted up his left to take his first step…

HSHHSMHSMHSMHSM

Thank you so much for the reviews! They mean a lot keep them coming! I couldn't think of a funny prank without Dylan getting hurt so I just went with a classic. And I have no idea f whip cream and honey go good together. Troy was about to take his first step…did he take it or chicken out? Find out in next chapter!