Chapter Five.
The euphoria of the weekend gave Chad that much needed boost to get up, seize the day, and happily make his way to the hospital. Draped over the couch with delivery pizza, Chad and Taylor literally spent Saturday in front of the television. Watching anything from cooking shows to documentaries (for Taylor's sake) was certainly a waste of a beautiful day but he made up for it on Sunday. The guys came over to play hoops in his backyard which was amazing.
Basketball was his life. In season or off, Chad was most likely to be found playing basketball or watching it. When he was younger, he dreamed of making it to the NBA. Every other month he wanted to play on a different team. Guess he had no allegiance.
All that mattered was playing on a team. He was now older and hadn't reached his ideal height. Granted at 6'1" he could play in the national association, however, Chad doubted he could make it that far. He would be glad if he could just play in college.
Shrugging off childhood dreams, Chad entered the medical center.
The familiar sights and sounds of the building greeted him as he headed to the clinic. When he arrived, he went about his typical routine in the kitchen while sampling some of the dishes on the sly.
"How was your weekend?" asked Mercedes once the two were seated back at the front desk.
"It was amazing. Hung out with some friends, watched movies and played some hoops. What about you?"
"Been dealing with wedding planning stuff. Now I get why people call brides 'bridezillas'. Between spending money you don't have and planning all sorts of minute, idiotic details you won't get to enjoy the day of can really put a woman in a terrible mood." The nurse grumbled at her computer screen.
Chad stared at her perplexed. What should he say? He'd seen a little bit of the Bridezillas show and if that's what Mercedes was turning into…he didn't know what to say.
"Uh, sorry."
"Thanks," sighing she began her work.
Glad to have dodged a potential bullet, Chad fidgeted at the desk, straightening up shelves and pages strewn about the desk. The beginning of the week was always the slowest, in his opinion.
"Hey,"
Looking up from the stack of files he was alphabetizing, Chad saw Troy emerge with his laptop and some loose pages tucked under his arm.
"Hey. What's going on?" A smile bloomed on his face.
Troy sat down on the sofa, setting up his laptop. "Not much. I'm attempting to finish my final paper for English."
"Really? What's it on?"
"Dead media."
The confused look on Chad's face caused Troy to scoff in amusement.
"Dead media are defunct communication technologies. Do you remember Laser Discs?"
"It rings a bell…"
"Come look."
Doing as told, Chad went over to the small sitting area and peered into Troy's computer. A picture of a DVD the size of a vinyl album suddenly jogged his memory.
"Oh yeah. I remember those. When I was younger, during the summer, my mom would take me down to the city library every Tuesday and Friday for summer camp activities. And whenever we'd watch movies or those School House Rock songs, the librarian would pull out those huge things every so often. I can't believe it."
The foggy memory of those summer days drifted across his mind's eyes. A grin tugged on his lips at those simpler times.
"So, I'm trying to pump out the last few paragraphs so that I can get it turned in tomorrow."
"If you're doing work, why are you out here? Wouldn't your room be quieter?"
"I've been in there long enough. I needed a change of scenery. Oh, thanks for helping me out with those History worksheets. I'm so close to finishing up my work for that class."
Chad leaned back into the sofa. "You know, I never thought about that but it makes sense; you gotta finish up the semester."
The brunette-haired boy's eyes lowered as he shuffled some papers around. "Yeah."
Oh crap. Really have a specialty of making situations awkward. He chastised himself as he observed the other Wildcat student.
"Any thing else you're working on?"
"Uh…yeah. Let's see. All I have is this paper for AP English Comp and for US History I had those work pages and a final test that Dr. Marcey will proctor…got a bit more studying to do for that. History is not my strong suit."
"I'm here,"
"Thanks. Then, I have Pre-Calc which will be a breeze. I had to plot out the six trig functions and finish verifying identities."
"Oh yeah – what a breeze. Right." Shaking his head, Chad tried to get rid of his nightmares with math. He took Trigonometry and dreaded every moment of it. He scraped a B- only thanks to plenty of extra credit.
"I take it you love math."
"Hate it with a passion. Oh yes."
"That's too bad. It's pretty simple. It's one of the few classes where they teach you the specific formula and you copy the procedure. There's not much in the way of thinking going on."
"As you say." Perhaps Troy was a brainiac. Taylor would love him.
"Well, what else is there? I have a Chemistry final next Tuesday. Then the two electives I took, Nutrition and Personal Finance, was beyond simple. I turned in the workbook for Personal Finance weeks ago and the three page report for Nutrition was done after one of Dr. Battaglia's meeting. So…I should be all done by next Tuesday."
He was stunned. Troy had only missed the last six weeks or so of school. How did he have that much work left over to do? It didn't seem to Chad that there was much going on in school at the time but if he lumped together the sporadic work he did, then perhaps it was all the same.
"That's great. That's a lot of work but that's great that you're getting it all done. I know I like to wait until the last most possible moment to do work. Taylor hates that about me."
"Taylor McKessie?"
"Yeah, Miss Valedictorian. She's my best friend since kindergarten. I don't know why we're friends but it works."
Honestly, he sometimes questioned how they managed to work all these years. She was a self-proclaimed nerd who would rather study or research some off-handed topic than work up a sweat…which is what he would rather do at any time on any day.
They were always in different crowds but, since arriving at East High, the two worlds slowly smashed together.
"I had AP English with her last year and this year and I believe we were in Physics together sophomore year."
"Am I sitting next to a closet genius? Trig, AP classes, Physics…classes with Taylor. Hmm."
Looking over at Troy, Chad noticed the huge smile that had emerged on the other teen's face. Never had he realized how little Troy smiled before nor had he seen a more brilliant grin before. It was revitalizing.
Chuckling, Troy placed his laptop on his thighs and began to furiously type.
Is that how he ends a conversation? Oookay.
Seated next to the typing brunette was a bit awkward. Should he stay or should he go? Now that was the question. He could stay to show that he couldn't be scared off so easily – not since the air had been cleared. Or he could leave now and perhaps help Mercedes pick out linens for the reception tables.
Either option wasn't the most appealing.
"Sorry about that. I had a sudden thought for a linking paragraph. I space like that sometime." Explained Troy while his eyes were glued to the screen.
"Yeah. No…happens all that time." Or not, his mind chastised.
"So, what classes are you taking?" Troy closed his computer, turning in his seat to face Chad.
"Hmm. I am certainly not taking math. I fulfilled that requirement and I am done. I'm taking Gym 5."
"What an athletic nerd." Troy interjected.
"Shut up. I know. I'm taking AP Government."
"Wait. What? Who's the closet genius?" Laughed Troy.
"Are you going to interrupt with your two cents every time?"
A grin split across his face as Chad watched the Wildcat student motioned to zip his lips.
"Good. I'm no genius but, as I said before, I love History. It's one of the few things I excel in. I took AP World History, AP US, and thought that I might as well finish the trilogy. So…Gym 5, AP Government," Chad listed, "then I'm taking Anatomy and Physiology, Honors Psychology, Computer Ethics, and AP World Lit."
The glare Troy was giving him begged for vocalization.
"You can speak now."
"Another AP class?"
"I heard that it was actually very easy. Plus Taylor will be taking it so I can cheat off her."
"Well, you could cheat off me."
"Are you…?"
"Of course. If you excel in History, then English and Math are for me."
"So what are you taking?"
"I'm thinking of taking Philosophy but for now: AP World Literature, Honors Government, Calculus, Marine Biology, Spanish IV, and…" The last subject was muffled.
"What was that?"
"Gym 5." Whispered the other teen.
"HA! Once an athlete, always an athlete. Welcome. But why whisper it?"
Troy stared bewildered as he motioned to his surroundings. Chad didn't quite understand. Would being here – would his doctors keep him from taking gym?
Sighing, he explained. "I don't think that Dr. Marcey feels it's for the best. I know they won't let me wrestle anymore but they can't take it all from me."
The room stilled. Troy's blue eyes connected with Chad, filled him with dread and sadness. So, all this was connected to wrestling. His mother was right. The sport was driving Troy to anorexia or bulimia. Chad felt his heart sink to the pit of his stomach. If he had to give up basketball for his health, well…he wouldn't do it. Basketball was what he hungered for and, apparently, Troy hungered desperately for wrestling. An athlete giving up his sport…it was bitter.
"I hate to hear that. Well, I know you want to act like nothing happened but I'll be in that class with you."
"And World Lit."
Turning on his brightest smile, Chad said, "That's right. So, even if shit gets tough, I'm there…in spirit anyway."
"Thanks."
It was nice hearing more about Troy. School was (unfortunately) five weeks away and to finally gain a piece of the puzzle entitled 'Troy Bolton' was satisfying. He wanted to help and this was the best way: gaining new insight and supporting him in that.
"Well, philosophy? Can you get more pretentious?" Chad wanted to lighten the mood.
"Yes, philosophy. Have you heard of it? What a shocker."
He had to admit – the banter between the two was perfect…easy in fact. Perhaps he could convince Troy later on to allow them to be friends at school. His humor would fit in quite nicely with his seven other friends.
"Of course I have but…I always equate philosophy with college. What do you do in a high school philosophy class?"
"Mainly, you discuss and study problems dealing with society and reality."
Eyes glazed over, Chad walked back to the desk. "Yeah, okay."
Troy's laughter rang out. He had to admit that hearing it was a shock; Chad hesitated in his gait as he neared his desk. Troy could be happy and that was nice.
"It's not as bad as you think. It's mainly discussion about pre-established ethical rules and codes and what not with two or three small papers thrown in. Child's play."
Plopping down in his seat, Chad opened up some files. "Yeah, sure." His voice was dry but his eyes danced in mirth as he watched the brunette.
"Okay. Fine. Whatever! It is a different sort of class to take but I like it."
"Glad to hear that you admit that you are a nerd."
"I never said that." The former wrestler abandoned his post at the couch and approached Chad, leaning on the desktop.
"AP classes, advanced Spanish, philosophy? Are you sure you aren't on the Scholastic Decathlon team? You would fit right in with Gabby and Tay."
Troy scoffed. "Oh no. There is no way that I could fit in with those two!"
"Why not? I do." Chad shifted some papers around in the file that he was barely paying attention to. Conversing with Troy, when he was no longer keeping a guard up, was invigorating. It was nice to have this back-and-forth with someone. Troy reminded him of Ryan and Zeke and Jason and more. Too bad he hadn't made more of an effort to befriend Coach's son. They could have been amazing friends.
Hell. They could be.
"You're friends with them? I thought the starting team stuck with the starting team?"
"Maybe that's how you wrestlers are but we basketballers are well-rounded. I know gifted people and theater people and people who break-dance and bake. Beat that."
"Can't. You win. Theater people? You must mean Sharpay and Ryan Evans." Troy spoke, a sigh less than hidden.
"And Kelsi. She's a composer and plays piano. She's talented. I know that Sharpay can be a bit much but, after dating Zeke, she's calmed down. Ryan? He's good people. He comes off as being too much like his sister but that's because she speaks for him sometimes. When you get to know them, and see him speak up, they are polar opposites. Then there is Jason and Zeke. We're a team and you know how that bonds you."
Chad watched Troy become wistful and a tad forlorn. He hadn't meant to bring up bad times but it was the truth of the matter. There wasn't a thing he wouldn't do for his team. He, Zeke, Jason, Neal and Chris would do anything for each other. Chris and Neal were seniors. Chris had already moved to Ohio for his upcoming freshman year at Ohio State. It was sad to see him go. Neal had also moved to Texas to attend Baylor University. They were like brothers to him – all the team members were. They were forever cemented together and it was fantastic. He knew that Troy understood him and, no matter what the circumstances were, felt that similar bond with his team.
"But what is really strange is my friendship with Taylor and Gabriella. Gabby's new but she is so sweet and willing to do what she can for friends. She smart as a whip but that doesn't keep me from liking her. And Taylor," his grin amped up another 1,000 watts, "is just plain amazing. I've known her since kindergarten. We've grown together and, for a few years in middle school, grew apart. It was tough getting through middle school without her but that's what happens with your differences get amplified. We came back together at East High and we've never looked back."
The look on Troy's face was quizzical. "How long have you two been together?"
What?! "What?"
"Taylor and yourself? How long have you been dating?"
A roar of laughter erupted from Chad, disturbing Nurse Jimenez from her work at the second computer. "Me and Taylor? Taylor and I? Oh, hell no. That would never – could never happen! She's my best friend. Nothing more."
Troy looked perplexed before gazing down at his hands. "Oh. Sorry. I just assumed with the way you talking about her…"
"Yeah. People ask the same question. I care about her but not like a girlfriend…more like a cousin."
"Great." Troy went back over to the couch and quickly began typing on his laptop, finishing up one of his last few assignments.
Chad also returned to his work. That was the best conversation he had with the other young man to date. It was great. Perhaps he should hang out with his friends more often? He had such energy after the weekend he was able to socialize with Troy and now, he began to tackle his prescribed work files.
Soon, Dr. Marcey came out, ushering one patient out and summoning Troy who gathered his things and shuffled off only before he uttered a goodbye to Chad. Once the door audibly closed, Merced slid her chair over.
"So, what in the world has happened? You two are best friends now?"
Chad chuckled though she was right. They did seem to be more than friendly; were they friends?
"Hardly. We just hashed things out on Thursday and he's alright."
"I told you he was a good kid. I think having someone here that he semi-knows is good for him. Thanks for sticking it out." Her hand rested briefly on his left shoulder. "Okay, back to work, runt. I need you to work more for me."
"You're lucky your smile is so charming. What do you need?"
"Finish out that load of laundry. Thanks!"
Chad went back to the laundry room and removed the load from the washer to the dryer. Then he proceeded to fold the bed sheets that he took from the dryer to make room for the new batch of linens. As he finished, he checked his phone for messages and realized that it was about time to go.
Just like that, it was his hour to leave.
As he headed out, he ensured that Mercedes would tell Troy that he said bye. This was a critical point in their relationship. He was finally able to support Troy and he wanted to be sure that the wrestler knew that he could trust him.
He enjoyed today. Discovering that Troy was a closet bookworm was fun and now that he knew there were classes to be shared…Chad was sure that this upcoming school year would be amazing or at least interesting.