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I've forgotten how much I like to write…
Disclaimer: I don't own it. Or some of the colleges which may or may not be real.
"Taylor, please forgive me…"
"Forgive you? Gabi, there's nothing to be forgiven for. You're as capable as I am to be the team's Captain. I'm sure you'll lead the team to victory," Taylor said. After Miss Woatinos decision to make Gabriella the new captain of the Decathlon team, Taylor had hurried out of the room in a panic. In order to hide from the constant worrying of her friend Gabriella and her bound to be guilt, she hid inside an empty classroom, took a few deep breaths and recomposed herself just in time to meet Gabriella in the hall.
Gabriella's face turned red as her words seem to stumble over themselves when she talked. "This can't happen,….I mean you….you know better than I would. I couldn't, shouldn't even qualify. I'll talk to Woatinos now."
"Gabi, I'll live. Now," she patted Gabriella's shoulder, "I think you have a team meeting to attend to, Capitan."
"Aren't you coming?" Gabriella asked.
Taylor put on a smile. "I'll be there in a little bit. I'll let the team warm up to ya first."
Gabriella showed a frown but turned and headed back toward the science room. Taylor looked around in despair not knowing where to go to. She headed for the gym to see if she could sneak in a conversation with Chad, but her heart sank when to gym doors were locked, not allowing her entrance inside. Unable to catch the eye of any nearby player to open the door, she sulked off to the auditorium.
Once she walked in, she saw Sharpay prancing about on stage to some silly pop song while Ms. Darbus watched from afar, her hands clasped together at her chin. Taylor wasted no time before she turned around and headed back into the hall. She immediately saw Ryan carrying a box which seemed filled with costumes as the top was covered with a pink frilly chiffon, undoubtedly for his sister.
"Hey there, Taylor. Are you here for Decathlon?" Ryan asked.
"Yeah. We scheduled a meeting with the new science teacher, since she's the sponsor," she confessed.
Ryan nodded his head. "That's good."
"I assume you're here practicing with your sister?"
"Practicing is one way to put it," he chuckled. He then looked at Taylor. "So what's wrong?"
Taylor returned his stare. "What do you mean what's wrong?"
"For one, you're here talking to me when you should be at a meeting, especially when you are the captain and I'm sure you've put in a lot of time in this, so you would want to be there if everything was ok."
"Ryan," Taylor bit her lip, "I need someone to talk to. Do you have a few minutes?"
"Sure, sure, Taylor, what's wrong?" Ryan set down the box and walked closer to Taylor.
Taylor asked, "Can we go somewhere a little more, reclusive?"
"Alright." Ryan led Taylor into the Drama classroom near the auditorium. Taylor quickly sat down and placed her head on the desk with her arms encircling her. Ryan closed the door and slowly walked towards her.
"Worst day ever. Worst week ever," she mumbled.
"Care to elaborate?" Ryan sat on the desk in front of her, feet in the seat so he was facing her.
Taylor sharply raised her head, reclining in her seat. "So first I was grounded, still am, from coming home late on the night Troy and Gabriella broke up. Gabi, I love her like a sister, but she's clinging on to me. Kelsi and Jason break up, and your sister and Zeke break up from whatever they had. I get a two hour phone call from her about that. I can already tell I'm gonna have to choose sides, which I really don't want to because it means less time with Chad, and I'm sure he's already mad at me cause we don't spend time together in the first place. And today I find out I'm not captain anymore of the Scholastic Decathlon because I came in late, and I don't even know the real reason."
A moment of silence passed before Ryan hopped out of the chair he was in to move closer to Taylor. He squatted down to the desk level and shifted to her. "Taylor, you put yourself under way to much pressure. I mean maybe it's good that you aren't captain. That way you can focus more on you and Chad, and those college applications you're always fretting about."
Taylor exhaled before she rested her head on the desk, making her eyelevel with Ryan. "But I need this, Ryan. I need that as an extra curricular activity to put on the paper. I mean I tried soccer freshman year, but that's really all I have. Colleges want a well rounded person. What else can I do?"
"Do drama."
"Ryan, no thanks, I know everyone broke outta the status quo but seriously, you won't find me singing and dancing in the hallway."
"I'm not talking about performing. You could help direct, manage, Ms. Darbus is always looking for an extra hand."
"I don't really know. I probably won't have time."
"Yes you will. All those people breaking up, Troy and Gabi, Zeke and Shar, Jason and Kelsi, they have nothing to do with you. Sure you can be there as a shoulder to cry on but as friends they should know to give you space and allow you to do whatever," Ryan said.
"I just can't do that, Ryan."
"I know. It's your personality, you have to feel like you can solve every problem, but you need to realize that there's going to be some problems that you can solve. At least not by yourself."
Taylor didn't respond as she let Ryan's words digest in her mind. Ryan rubbed her arm as he stood up.
"Do you still want me to stay?"he softly asked.
Taylor answered, "You can leave, Ryan. Thanks for the advice."
Ryan walked out of the drama classroom as Taylor shrugged her shoulders. She got up and dredged towards the door. Her shoes seemed to be made of lead and she couldn't pick them up any further than three steps from the desk. She tried reaching for the door handle, but couldn't and sulked down, sitting on the cold linoleum. She put her head on her knees and cried.
"Now I'm sure you all may have heard, one way or another," Coach Bolton boomed while staring at Troy. Troy turned away, feigning innocence. "There will be scouts at the next game. "I was going to tell you guys yesterday, but I just got conformation of the scouts and met with them myself after school."
" Coach, what do you mean scouts? There's more than one recruiter?" Zeke questioned.
Coach nodded. "That is exactly what I mean. There will be four top scouts at our game versus South High Sharks next week."
The team mumbled amongst themselves at this information. Chad faced Troy. "I thought you said one."
"I thought only one too!" Troy replied.
Coach continued. "Now I know some of you younger players may be thinking this is not a big deal to you, this only concerns the seniors, the upperclassmen; no, it doesn't. This could be a big chance for all of you. I will be playing you all like I normally would, no special plays will be made, it'll just be a normal game."
Jason raised his hand. "What colleges are they coming from?"
"University of Berkeley, Texas Tech, and University of Albuquerque, Arizona U."
The team quietly sat in shock. This was really hitting them. College. A scholarship. Life after high school.
"Have you told Taylor yet? I bet she's excited more than you are, " Troy said.
Chad shook his head. "I wanna tell her, I need to tell her, but seeing her there will probably make me even more nervous and I can't screw this up, man."
"What are you saying, Chad?"
"I'll tell her I have a game, but I'll bank on it being on a decathlon meet day. That way she can't come and I won't have to tell her not to."
"Chad, you don't want her there? Do you hear what's coming out of your mouth?" Troy said in shock.
"Troy, I love it when she comes to my games, but I need to be on my best game," Chad confessed. "Not the showing off 'I'm better than you' game I play when I know she's around."
"Bro, that's not smart…"
"Troy, I know what I'm doing."
I'll update more soon. Sorry for the longggggg wait. Please review and be nice.