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"Are you done yet?"
"Well I might be if you would stop asking and fidgeting ever ten seconds." Taylor rolled her eyes at the comment and tried her hardest to not move and sit still. It was finally the night of the dance and Taylor was currently sitting in the computer chair while Sharpay did her makeup. Gabriella was sitting on her bed straightening her hair, Kelsi and Martha were on the floor painting their toes and Sharpay had been wearing her dress, shoes, nails and toes painted, and hair and makeup done for almost half an hour. The other four girls were wearing their dresses for the dance as well, all of them nervously watching the clock.
"Shar, we're already two hours late-" Gabriella began but was interrupted when the blonde girl held up a hand.
"Don't start. You're not even ready yet. You're still doing your hair." Gabriella stuck her tongue out at the blonde, but didn't speak. "So when you're done, then you can say something." She turned back to finishing Taylor's face as Gabriella rolled her eyes before looking at Kelsi in the mirror.
"Hey Kel?" Kelsi looked up from her feet at the sound of her name.
"Yeah?"
"You never did tell us who you were going with."
"…Huh?"
"Don't play dumb!" Martha said. "Who are you going with? We all know about each other's dates except for yours. I'm going with Jason, Tay's going with Sebastian, Gabby's going with Ryan, and Shar's going stag. So I will ask again. Who are you going with and don't even think about lying to me, or I will smear your good name all over my blog!" Kelsi's eyes widened and she blushed brightly.
"I don't see how it's that big of a deal," She started quietly. "But I'm going with…Nathan Michaels." The jaws on the four other girls dropped.
"You're going with Nathan Michaels?" Sharpay asked. Kelsi nodded. "From the Varsity Basketball team?" Kelsi nodded again. "The starting forward?" Kelsi groaned and hid her face in his hands.
"Yes, I'm going with Nathan. He asked me last week and I thought…I don't know I thought it would be fun." Sharpay nodded in approval.
"He's gorgeous." Sharpay complimented. "Congrats, my friend. You have officially gotten my blessing." Taylor gasped exaggeratedly.
"Wow." She said overly sarcastic. "An S.S.P.? Sharpay Seal of Approval? Those are really rare! Congrats Kel!" Sharpay glared at the girl sitting in front of her.
"I can make you look like a clown." The blonde said threateningly.
"Please don't."
"That's what I thought." She went back to doing Taylor's makeup and the room was silent for a few minutes as the others finished their preparations. "And, done!" She said, taking a step back from Taylor.
"Really?" Taylor asked, excitedly jumping out of her seat. "Gimmie a mirror!" Sharpay held one up and she examined her reflection. "Oh my gosh, Shar! It looks great!" Sharpay grinned.
"Well I am amazing after all." The blonde said jokingly. Taylor moved to hug her, but Sharpay stepped back. "Nope. No tears. I refuse to have you ruin all of my hard work. Besides you have a hot date tonight that you have to look good for."
"Yeah." Martha joined in as she stood up and smoothed out her dress. "Sebastian's gonna love your outfit." Gabriella, Sharpay and Taylor shared a look before Taylor smiled and pulled on her shoes.
"I think he will too, Martha. I think he will too."
"You look sexy." Chad jumped at the sound of the voice and turned to see a smirking Troy leaning against his doorframe of his bedroom at Albuquerque Academy. Chad rolled his eyes at his friend's antics and went back to looking at himself in the mirror. He had decided to let his curls go free instead of having them back in their usual ponytail, and he blew one out of his eye as he looked himself over. He was wearing a long-sleeved light blue dress shirt with black slacks and black shoes.
"Too casual?" He asked Troy, who was now lying down on his bed. Troy shook his head and smiled.
"I'm sure Taylor will love it." He said, wiggling his eyebrows for emphasis which only earned him a pillow to the face.
"So why are you here, T?" Troy shrugged his shoulders and tilted his head.
"I just wanted to wish you good luck. I know I make fun of ya for the situation and all but I think it's actually cool that you wanna stick it out with her. And you know that no matter what goes down, I've got your back right?" He asked, looking at the curly-haired teacher with an intense expression. Chad nodded.
"I know." Troy grinned and threw an arm over his shoulder. Chad smirked.
"Are you sure you don't wanna help me chaperone? Bree will be there." He said suggestively. He watched the color drain from Troy's face as the brunette swallowed, his throat suddenly dry.
"Br-Bree? She'll be there? Tonight?" He asked, his voice raising an octave with each word. Chad nodded.
"With Taylor and all of their other friends. I'm sure she would love to see you." Troy shook his head.
"N-no. I'm gonna control myself...She's not legal. So it's not happening and that's that." Chad scoffed.
"Suit yourself bro." Troy arched an eyebrow and grinned.
"Yeah, whatever. We'll worry about my future later. Now, how about I escort you down to that dance so you can tap that wonderful underage ass?"
"Oh my god, Shar! The place looks great! I can barely recognize the courtyard." Martha exclaimed as the girls and their dates looked around the massive and highly decorated grounds. Blue and white lights had been strung all around in trees, on tables, in the giant fountain and on the outside of the South Wing building.
Streamers were high above everyone's heads, while confetti and fake snow continuously fell. The dance was in full swing when the group arrived and they hurriedly moved to secure a table for all of them. When they were all seated, Martha and Jason hopped back up again, offering to get drinks for everyone. When they left, Sharpay rushed off with Gabriella and Ryan, eager to introduce them to people who she said, "they couldn't live without knowing." Soon after Nathan dragged Kelsi away, determined that she meet everyone on all of the varsity sport teams. With their table empty, Sebastian turned to Taylor with a smirk.
"So far so good?" He asked his date. Taylor smiled and nodded.
"Yeah…so far…should I be worried about the near future? Are you planning something you're not telling me?" Sebastian chuckled and shook his head.
"Nope. I've got absolutely no plans except to hang out with my friends and my awesome girlfriend." He said, wrapping an arm around Taylor's shoulders and gently kissing her on the cheek. Taylor giggled and rested her head on his shoulder.
"Well you are an amazing boyfriend in my opinion." Taylor commented while waving at classmates who walked by their table. As she unknowingly searched the crowd for a mop of curly brown hair, her eyes landed on Ryan and Gabriella, who seemed to be having an intense discussion with Sharpay and one of her acquaintances. Taylor looked up to see that Sebastian was staring at them as well, or more specifically at his blonde boyfriend. Taylor smiled as she watched him and after a few minutes he took notice of her staring.
"What?" He questioned warily. His date shrugged as she sat back upright in her chair.
"Nothing. Just watching you…watching him." She responded, arching her eyebrow in a knowing fashion. Sebastian instantly flushed and hung his head, trying to hide his face in his hair.
"Was it that obvious?" He asked quietly. Taylor snickered.
"Only to everyone with eyes whether they can actually see or not." Sebastian glared at the girl and playfully pushed her.
"Shut up."
"Don't be embarrassed. I think it's cute how in love you are with him." Sebastian scoffed and crossed his arms.
"Cute? Tay, if he wasn't my boyfriend, what I do could be classified as stalking. And that is not cute."
"I bet Ryan thinks it's cute." The pout Sebastian had been sporting instantly disappeared and was replaced with a silly look at the mention of his boyfriend's name.
"You think so?" He asked with a grin that had Taylor holding back her laughter.
"Definitely. Did you not see the death glare he sent me when I hugged you earlier? If he could have his way, it'd probably be him sitting here next to you while I argued about nonsense with his sister." The two glanced back over at the foursome to see that they were still deeply engaged in their conversation.
"Is it hard?" Taylor asked, startling Sebastian by the randomness of the statement. The brunette boy furrowed his eyebrows.
"I'm sorry, but did you just ask me if my dic-" Taylor, realizing exactly where he was going, quickly covered his mouth.
"No! No! No! Why would I ask you that?" She harshly whispered out of fear that the wrong person would overhear. Sebastian shrugged and removed her hand.
"That's what I wanted to know. And it's not like it would've been completely out of context! We were just talking and staring at my boyfriend and sometimes when I'm around him things happen such as-" Taylor quickly shoved her fingers in her ears and closed her eyes tightly.
"I can't hear you! And I can assure that, that is one question that I will never ask you, and honestly want an answer for." Sebastian grinned while holding up his hands in surrender.
"Okay, okay. I get it. T.M.I. Right?" Taylor nodded and removed her fingers from her ears. "And just for the record? Within a few minutes, it would've been." He added with a wink. Taylor made a face of disgust and rushed to plug her ears again, but Sebastian grabbed her wrists, stopping her. "I'm done! I swear! So since you weren't asking about Sebastian Jr.," Taylor couldn't resist rolling her eyes. "What were you talking about then?" He asked, releasing her wrists and staring at her. Taylor hugged herself and sighed.
"I meant is it hard keeping your relationship with Ryan a secret. I could care less about the relationship between you and your hand." Sebastian childishly stuck out his tongue at her, before glancing at his boyfriend and chewing on the inside of his cheek as he thought it over.
"For the most part it's not that hard." He finally said after a while. "We're both usually busy, him with shows, me with track, and then were both constantly swamped with schoolwork." He looked at Taylor, who nodded to show she was listening, and urged him to continue. "So even though we miss each other a lot, we don't have that much time to dwell on it. We have to actually find time in our schedule to be with each other whether it's in public or private. In private, we of course can do whatever we like, but in public, we have to be overly careful of who sees us, where we are, stuff like that. Every now and then, we'll be sitting in the quad talking and he'll get confused about something and he'll just look so adorable…it literally takes every ounce of self control in my entire body to not lean over and hold his hand or touch his face or pull him close or…kiss him till he can't breathe." Sebastian ended with a chuckle. "Even now, I am forcing myself to keep looking at you and not at him." Taylor smirked and intertwined her left hand in his right.
"Does it get easier?" Sebastian shook his head.
"Never. It only gets harder, and you only get more paranoid. You think people are watching you now?" Taylor nodded. Sebastian grinned. "Just wait. Soon, you're barely gonna be able to sit through a class period without looking over your shoulder every five minutes."
"I've haven't seen you jump in any classes."
"It's only been a week since school started again. Besides, why do you think I always sit in the back? So I can see every corner of the room at any given moment." Taylor let out a sigh and looked at the ground.
"I thought secret relationships were supposed to be romantic not…stressful." She complained. Sebastian nodded and stroked the back of her hand with his thumb.
"Tell me about it." Taylor glanced up to see if she could read the time on the giant grandfather clock on the main building, and instead widened her eyes at seeing Chad and Troy surveying the campus, only a few yards away. He seemed to be searching for something, and when his eyes landed on her, he froze. The two remained locked in each other's gaze, only coming out of it when Troy gently shoved his friend forward. The brunette linked eyes with Taylor and they nodded at each other in acknowledgement. Taylor turned again to look at Chad, who was purposely looking in every single direction except hers. She watched as Dean Warrens walked up to the duo and started talking, drawing their attention to him.
"Hey Seb?" She whispered, her eyes not leaving her teacher.
"Yeah?" The athlete muttered back.
"Is it worth it? The lies, the sneaking around, the hiding…is it worth it?" Sebastian, who had been watching Ryan since his "girlfriend" had fallen silent, smiled slightly as he watched the blonde laugh hysterically at something his sister said. The brunette nodded and squeezed Taylor's hand.
"Definitely." Taylor grinned and the two sat there in silence before she scrunched up her face in confusion.
"Weren't Jason and Martha supposed to come back with our drinks like 10 minutes ago?"
"I can't do it."
"You'll be fine."
"No I won't."
"Yes, you will."
"Nope. I'm gonna turn around and just go back to my room and crawl into my bed and never move again." Troy rolled his eyes at his friend and ran a hand through his hair. As soon as the Dean had walked away, Chad dragged him into the bathroom, kicked everyone out and locked the door.
"Look Chad, if we stay in here any longer, people are going to think that we're doing something. And I refuse to have a bunch of snot nosed brats think I'm sleeping with you when I can clearly do better." Chad glared at his best friend and scoffed.
"Please. You wish you could tap this." Troy shook his head.
"Okay, we are not having this conversation. So why are we in here?" Chad looked at him like it was the most obvious answer.
"Because Taylor's out there."
"Because she's attending the school dance. You know the one I'm talking about, right? The one you're supposed to be chaperoning right now? A job you can't do if you're hiding in a bathroom?"
"Shut up."
"Are you scared of her or something?"
"No, I'm not scared of her!" Chad retorted defensively.
"Then what's the big deal?"
"Did you see her?" Troy shrugged.
"Yeah. She looked good, so what?" Chad arched an eyebrow.
"Good? She looks perfect! Her hair is in curls, her dress hugs her perfectly and oh my god she probably smells amazing…" Troy backed up a few steps and held up his hands.
"Dude, you're beginning to creep me out a little bit." Chad, who apparently hadn't heard him, ran his hands over his face.
"Damnit! I was gonna break it off with her too!" He muttered to himself. "It was gonna be great! I was gonna tell her that this ended now, she was going to be okay with that and we were going to go through the rest of the school year pretending like this whole thing never happened and then next season, I'm gonna start in the NBA and be able to buy all the hookers I could possibly want." Troy arched an eyebrow and let out a breath through his nose.
"Alright, I'm about to do something that I've never done before, and I hope I can do it again in the very near future." Chad looked at him in confusion.
"What?" Troy walked up to Chad, raised his left hand to his right shoulder and swung it forward, slapping his best friend in the face. The resounding smack echoed through the empty bathroom and the two were silent as Chad looked at the brunette in shock.
"Did you…did you just pimp slap me?" Troy shrugged trying to look unaffected, but his slightly shaking gave him away.
"You were acting like a bitch, so I decided to treat you like one. Now man up! On this campus, only a bit of a distance away, is a girl who for some reason thinks you are worth breaking multiple laws and since you're standing in here complaining about it, I'm assuming you think she's worth it as well. Right?" Chad nodded. "Good. So you are gonna go out there, wait till eleven, meet Taylor by those woods, and then you are gonna do the nasty till the break of dawn! Right?" Chad, who had slowly been gaining confidence through Troy's pep talk, jumped up.
"Right!" He said excited before high-fiving his friend. "I'm gonna give it to her good!"
"Not too good!" Troy added. "Remember, she's still underage." Chad nodded in agreement.
"Right. Of course. Troy…thanks man." The two embraced and Troy patted Chad on the back. "I needed that."
"Don't mention it. And anytime you need me to slap you again, don't hesitate to call me." Chad rolled his eyes before unlocking the bathroom door, taking a deep breath, giving Troy the finger, and walking out. Troy grinned and placed his hand over his heart, while shaking his head.
"Oh, look at him go. My little boy is all grown up and about to get arrested." He turned to his reflection in the mirror and nodded.
"We've raised him well." With one last smirk at himself, he headed out the door only to almost run into one of the female students, catching her before she lost her balance enough, to fall.
"Sorry." They both apologized at the same time. "My fault! Seriously mine! No, my fault. Sorry." As they continued to apologize to each other, Troy looked the girl over. She was in purple heels, black fishnet stockings and she was wearing a purple, shimmery, spaghetti strap dress that stopped just short of her knees. Her hair was straight, with flips at the end. She looked up to meet his eyes and Troy gasped at the familiar face. He immediately jumped back a foot, and the two of them awkwardly stared at each other until Troy couldn't take the silence and broke it.
"Bree?" He asked in shock. Gabriella bit her lip and sheepishly nodded.
"Hi…Troy."
"Do you want me to stay here and wait for you?" Taylor shook her head. It was five minutes till eleven and she was standing at the border of the courtyard and the woods, where she and Chad had agreed to meet. Sebastian had come with her, and was currently refusing to leave her alone.
"I'm a big girl, Seb. I can handle myself." The boy in question arched an eyebrow.
"In that dress, you can't do anything except stand and look pretty." Taylor stuck her tongue out at him.
"When Chad gets here, I don't want him to see you."
"Why not, he knows there's nothing actually going on between us." Taylor shrugged.
"I know, but still. This is kinda private." Sebastian chuckled and gently patted Taylor's shoulder.
"Oh sweetie. You say that like it's actually gonna stay that way." Taylor shoved him forcefully back towards the courtyard where the dance was being held.
"Go find Ry and bother him. Gabs just headed to the bathroom so I'm pretty sure he's lonely." She hinted, watching the taller boy flush.
"So I'll see you later then?" Taylor nodded and kissed him on the cheek.
"And I promise to tell you everything that happens. But only if you leave now!" She added, pushing him once again. Sebastian laughed before leaving.
"I'm gone! I'm gone! Have fun with your boy toy!" Taylor shook her head at his retreating form, jumping when hearing a laugh come from behind her.
"If he keeps shouting like that, soon it won't be a big secret anymore." Taylor turned around to see him, openly staring at her and she subconsciously rubbed her arms. She stared at him, taking in his blue shirt that fit his torso perfectly, the black slacks that somehow made him seem professional and sexy at the same time. She gripped her arms tighter, not wanting to accidently reach forward and play with his hair. She shook her hair and sighed.
"He's good at keeping a secret." Taylor said. "He hasn't told anyone." Chad crossed his arms.
"I know. He's a good kid." They were silent, unable to get past the awkward phase they were currently stuck in.
"Chad-"
"Stop." He said. "Just give me a second." Taylor closed her mouth. Chad stepped closer until his face was only inches away from Taylor's. They stayed this way for a few minutes, both afraid to move for fear of breaking the spell they had placed themselves under.
"Wha-"
"Don't. Say. Anything." Chad whispered, leaning closer with each word until his lips were pressed against hers. The two of them froze before Chad deepened it, pulling her closer to him. The kiss became more passionate as Taylor leaned into it and wrapped her arms around Chad's neck. Sensing this as permission, he chastely licked her lips, asking for her to open, which she did without hesitation, both of them falling into a familiar rhythm. When the need to for air overwhelmed them, they broke apart, both gasping and staring at each other.
"Is it bad if I said I missed that?" Chad questioned. Taylor shook her head.
"Only if it's bad for me to say I missed it too." The older male smiled before running his hand through his head.
"Damnit. I was hoping it wasn't going to be as good as the last time so that this would be a lot easier."
"So I'm assuming you want to stay together too?" Taylor asked hopefully. Chad nodded and pulled her into a hug.
"Way more than I should." He muttered into her hair. Taylor couldn't help but grin.
"I'm glad." Chad scoffed.
"You're not risking an arrest." Taylor rolled her eyes before taking a step back and looking up at her teacher.
"Well, how about I make it up to you?" She asked with a smirk. Chad grinned.
"I'd like that." He said before beginning to lean down when someone yelling his name stopped him.
"Mr. Danforth! Mr. Danforth!" Taylor quickly back away from her teacher, pulling her hair down and quickly rubbing at her eyes. Chad looked at her in confusion.
"What are you doing?"
"Play along." The voices grew closer, and before long Taylor was hiccupping and tears were starting to fall. Chad's eyes widened and he started towards her to comfort her, when Sasha, Dean Warrens, and the lady Sharpay, Ryan and Gabriella had been talking to earlier. Close up, they could see that she didn't seem that much older than Chad and she was dressed in a business suit, way too extravagant for a school dance. With her, she carried a giant purse, a feathered pen, a black notebook and a camera around her neck.
"Chad! Taylor?" Dean Warrens asked in confusion. "What are you two doing back here? Taylor, are you crying? Mr. Danforth, what did you do?"
"I didn't do anything!" Chad quickly defended himself and Taylor shook her head.
"This isn't Mr. Danforth's fault, Dean. I just got a text from my mom saying one of the cousins I'm close to died this morning. I was over here crying, and Mr. Danforth heard me. He was just trying to help." The Dean nodded in understanding, Sasha looked at Chad in awe, and the unknown woman started scribbling in her notebook.
"You're so sweet, professor!" Sasha said walking towards him, only to have the Dean pull her back by her jacket.
"And you can appreciate his sweetness from a distance." Sasha glared but said anything, crossing her arms angrily as she eyed Taylor. The unknown woman continued to scribble in her notebook, muttering to herself as she did so. Chad arched an eyebrow.
"Who are you?" He finally asked. The female opened her mouth to respond, only to be overshadowed by Sasha letting out an obnoxious giggle.
"I called her!" The girl giggled. "People have been trying to get an interview with you for months, professor!"
"I know. I've been avoiding them for a reason, Sasha. But I still don't know who she is." He said. The woman walked right up to him and smiled while holding out her hand to shake his. He reluctantly took it.
"Tina Cochran. I write the gossip column for Albuquerque Magazine." Chad shrugged.
"Okay. What does that have to do with me?" Tina's smile turned into a grin that would rival that of a pumpkin and she started jumping up and down excitedly.
"Because! You are one of our top twenty finalists for Albuquerque Magazine's Hottest Bachelor of the Year!" Behind her, Sasha was cheering and clapping excitedly, while Taylor looked completely stunned. Chad's eyes widened in shock and he looked at Dean Warrens for confirmation which he received in the form of a nod. He looked back at Tina to see her holding up her camera. "Say cheese!"
"No wait-"
SNAP!
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Peace, Luv & Hairgrease!
HP4EverLuver