Mistakes
Hey guys, thanks for your reviews on the last chapter, anyway, here's chapter 10, I hope that you enjoy it, and please tell me what you think of it!
Chapter 10
"Man oh man oh man, I love the beginning of basketball season!" Matt whooped joyfully as Lilly-Ella giggled softly in her seat, pulling her Redhawks jacket tighter around her, and adjusting her baseball cap slightly, the cheerleaders continuing their routines directly in front of where they were sitting, courtside, thanks to Troy being the new coach of the U of A Redhawks.
Sassy rolled her eyes slightly, as she glanced down at the basketball jersey that she was wearing, wrinkling her nose in horror, "I don't know how you can stand wearing stuff like this, and Matt, how the hell can you say something like that with your girlfriend sitting right beside you," Sassy sighed, glancing in disgust from the cheerleaders, back to Matt once more, her eyes bugging out when she saw his head flying between a tub of popcorn and a box of nachos, muttering over which one he should have first, as Sassy turned her incredulous gaze up to look at a chuckling Lilly-Ella. "I thought he'd be talking about the fact that he had scantily dressed women dancing in front of him, not about…FOOD!"
"You see, this is why I don't have to worry, I know that he only has eyes for me," Lilly-Ella grinned slightly, stretching her arms as she yawned, "Don't you Poster Boy?"
Matt's head whipped up at the sound of his name, "Huh?" He muttered sheepishly, swallowing his mouthful of popcorn before offering it to the laughing girls and slinging an arm around his girlfriend's shoulders, his face tinged pink with the embarrassment of having been caught out.
"I can't believe that basketball season is back, finally!" The afro headed man grinned joyfully as he pulled his wife through the stadium to their seats, looking at her curiously when he noticed that she was gnawing on her bottom lip nervously, "Tay-Tay, are you already nervous? I mean the Redhawks are so gonna kick some ass tonight, just like ever, and apparently the new coach is working wonders with them, so there's no need to be nervous at all babe." Chad grinned, pulling Taylor tightly to his side as he kissed the top of her head, her shooting him a nervous smile as he once more started to pull her towards their seats, bouncing up and down on the balls of his feet, more excited than Taylor had seen him since he learnt that his very own team, the East High Wildcats were set to do better than they had in a long time this season.
"I can't believe that I got dragged to watch this smelly disgusting sport again this year!" A voice beside Taylor shrieked, and she turned her head to find Sharpay, still decked out in pink, including the sparkly pink high heels, her nose turned up in disgust, a dark eyed curly raven haired woman stood next to her, shaking as she tried desperately to smother her laughter, before turning to the petite brunette that was stood next to her, striking up a conversation with the old composer and her husband, both of who were excitedly awaiting the arrival of his brother and her brother-in-law onto the court respectfully, David Cross.
"What are you yelling about now Shar?" Zeke asked as he joined Jason's other side, immediately doing their secret handshake, before passing out the food that he had been ordered to get by the rest of the gang.
Pouting, Sharpay Baylor glanced woefully at her husband again, "Why do we have to be here Zekey? I mean it isn't like you have a brother on the team, for that matter, why do you need to be here, Gabs, and why are you here Ryan? I mean, we could be like shopping Gabs, and instead, I'm holed up here watching some sweaty men throw a ball around, and to make matters worse I'm married and they're too young for me anyway," Sharpay huffed as she folded her arms across her chest, the gang burst into laughter, except for Zeke, who only cleared his throat loudly, "Of course I mean no offence, honey," Sharpay grinned at Zeke, sickly sweet, which only fuelled the gangs' laughter even more.
"Shar, we're here to support David and Joe, I mean we've known them since they were like in diapers," Gabriella grinned, slinging an arm around her best friends' shoulders, gently tugging on a baseball cap in a remarkably similar way to a young girl sat right on the courtside.
"Yeah, and the two of them still owe me a pair of Jimmy Choo's from the ones they threw in the pool when they were four," Sharpay scowled, "So until they buy me another pair, I don't know what I'm doing here."
Ryan rolled his eyes, suddenly appearing on the other side of Chad, "Shar, get over it, it was sixteen years ago, and you had the same pair of shoes eight times over." The gang all burst into laughter once more at the new revelation as Sharpay only leaned back in her seat and pouted harder.
"Yeah, but they were my favourite ones!" She protested greatly, and another roar of laughter could be heard from her companions, as a lot of other spectators glanced at the group of friends, everyone waiting for the Redhawks to take to the court.
"Shar, if they were exactly the same, how did you know they were your favourites?" Kelsi questioned through her giggles, and for once, Sharpay looked fairly perplexed.
"Probably from the blood splatters on them," Ryan muttered underneath his breath so that only Chad and Taylor could hear, immediately setting the two off again.
"Whatever, I have to go the bathroom, ladies?" Sharpay questioned, immediately looking at the girls', Gabriella and Kelsi trailing after her as Taylor declined and stayed safely sitting down.
"And on that note, I need to go before the game too," Chad grinned, standing up as Taylor rolled her eyes, Zeke and Jason following him moments later, as Taylor turned her panicked eyes onto Ryan.
"Ryan, oh my G-d Ryan, what are we going to do? Oh my G-d if Chad sees Troy he'll kill him Ryan! What are we going to do? I've been trying to stop Chad from coming to the game all day but nothing worked! Even Joe tried, and I know that David tried to stop Jason, but they were too adamant that they'd never missed a Redhawks game, and weren't going to start now!" Taylor rattled off in one breath, her cheeks flushed and her eyes wide with panic as Ryan blinked slightly, before taking a hold of her forearms gently.
"First Tay, you need to calm down, you should have known that nothing would have stopped Chad or Jason coming to this game, come hell or high water," Ryan smiled lopsidedly at her, "Besides, Troy's a big boy, he knows how to handle himself, and the truth had to come out sooner or later, just look down there." Ryan pointed with his hand to the front of the stands, and immediately Taylor's eyes softened as she watched Matt feeding Lilly-Ella, before throwing some popcorn at Sassy, the couple bursting into laughter as Sassy started to screech, "Lilly-Ella's too much like Gabriella Taylor, Gabs is smart, she would figure it out eventually, maybe this way is better, then it isn't in anyone's control."
"Yeah, I suppose you're right," Taylor grinned, not once taking her eyes away from the trio at the bottom as an all out popcorn war started between them, their laughter reaching hers and Ryan's ears as the rest of the gang rejoined them, Chad sitting himself between Taylor and Ryan again.
"What are you guys watching?" Gabriella asked, straining her neck to see what they were looking at before laughing slightly. "Awww, they look so cute," She beamed, feeling her heart fill with warmth as she watched the trio.
"Who does?" Sharpay focused in on the trio as a grin spread across her face, watching Matt kiss Lilly-Ella sweetly while Sassy assaulted them both with popcorn, "Awww, that is really sweet, I wonder who they are."
"My students," Five voices answered simultaneously.
"Sassy Mitchell," Ryan smiled, "Is the blonde, they're all in my A.P. drama class."
"Yeah, they're a group of smart kids," Kelsi beamed, "G-d alone knows that they have talent in my A.P. music class, they're amazing when they put their minds together."
"The completely and utterly whipped guy is my basketball captain Matt Baker," Chad pointed out, "But I have all three of them for phys ed, and surprisingly the two girls are really good at basketball too," Chad yelped slightly as Taylor and Sharpay both leaned over to hit him over the side of the head.
"The dark haired girl just moved here from L.A. a few weeks back, she's just an absolute sweetheart," Gabriella grinned softly, and Ryan and Taylor exchanged looks, "Her name's Lilly-Ella Bolton and I have the joy of teaching the three of them for A.P. English, which I swear Sassy was gonna fail before Lilly-Ella joined the class and actually started to work with her, not for her."
"And I have all three of them for homeroom and A.P. Chemistry," Taylor grinned, "Definitely as unlikely a trio as I've ever seen."
"Yeah, and apparently they know you guys' brothers as well," Zeke entered with raised eyebrows, watching as both Joe and David hugged the girls before doing a secret handshake with Matt.
"Danforth, Cross, get your butts back in here now!" A voice yelled from the locker room, and both young men glanced up, hugging Lilly-Ella quickly one last time, David muttering something that made her laugh, before they both took off running for the locker room, shoving each other and laughing the entire way, obviously on a high.
"And now, introducing your University of Albuquerque Redhawks!" A voice suddenly boomed over the loudspeaker, causing the gang to leap to their feet and start cheering along with everyone else in the room, "And finally, I give you the Redhawks captains Joe Danforth and David Cross, as well as the person that you have all been waiting for, the new coach of the U of A Redhawks, many of you will have known him from his teenage years captaining the East High Wildcats, Mr Troy Bolton!" The voice roared, the entire crowd screaming with excitement as the entire gang paled, Ryan and Taylor wincing at the looks on each persons face.
"Oh my G-d," Gabriella muttered as she fell onto her seat, raising a shaking hand to her mouth, her eyes wide as a man that she hadn't seen in sixteen years suddenly crossed the court, shaking hands with the opponent teams coach before heading back the Redhawks to give them a quick pre game chat, looking up and grinning at the crowd as he did so.
"That complete and utter bastard," Chad snarled, glaring at the head on his ex-best friend, "What the hell gives him the right to come back here? He should've stayed away, and that's a lesson that I'll be sure to teach him myself as soon as the game is over," Chad clenched his hands into fists, his eyes never once leaving Troy's head as the gang nodded their agreement, Taylor and Ryan watching on with horror, their mouths dry as they fought the urge to throw up at the murderous looks now encasing their friends features, and Gabriella having becoming suddenly catatonic, the tears streaming down her face, her eyes never once leaving Troy, as Sharpay sat down beside her and wrapped an arm securely around her shoulders.
Troy beamed as he looked up at the scoreboard; the Redhawks had won their first game with him in charge, and not by only a small margin either. He grinned back at his team who were revelling in their win, the other team having skulked straight off to the locker rooms as soon as the stadium had started to empty, "Great game guys, hit the showers and I will see you tomorrow afternoon for training, so try not to get too hammered tonight," Troy grinned, rolling his eyes at them as he heard a chorus of 'yes coach', 'sure thing coach', and of course from Joe and David a 'I don't know what you mean coach.'
He grinned once more and glanced up at the scoreboard, shaking his head slightly as the door swung shut behind the last of his players, leaving Troy almost alone in the spacious stadium, as he picked up the ball and aimed it straight for the net, beaming even more as it flew straight through the rim, "Swish, swish," he muttered, completely oblivious to the eight souls that were watching him.
"Hey Bolton!" An angered voice yelled, and a confused Troy turned around, only to be met moments later by a fist straight in his face as the girls and Ryan gasped, both Taylor and Ryan hurrying to Troy's side as he fell backwards, the gang watching them in shock, "Taylor what the hell are you doing, leave the traitor alone and come back over here," Chad hissed in the same tone that he had used right before hitting his ex-best friend, glaring as Ryan helped Troy back onto his feet, the blonde mans' own glare slicing through Chad.
"What the hell was that for?!" Troy yelled, a glare fully fixated on Chad as Ryan tried to hold him back, but Troy shrugged him off effortlessly, and Ryan let him be, knowing that Troy wouldn't do anything to hurt the people that he still included as his family.
"For coming back Bolton, you're not welcome around here anymore!" Jason yelled, surging forwards, his fist clenched as Taylor leapt in front of Troy, "Get the hell out of my way Taylor, he's a self righteous bastard, who deserves everything that he has coming to him!"
"No, I won't move!" Taylor screamed, her arms still protectively out in front of Troy as he gently tried to move her to the side, "Don't you remember? This is your little brother that you're trying to kill here, and Troy, you shouldn't need any explanation as to why you can't fight, you need to be her role model Troy, you're all she has."
"That was a long time ago Taylor, long before the bastard left, he crushed our baby sister, or are you just forgetting that?" Zeke spat out, his and Sharpay's glares both causing Troy to wince as Gabriella studied him slightly, her head having shot up at the mention of 'her'.
"I won't fight Tay, I promise you that, I promised Lila a long time ago that I would never do anything to hurt her or that would make me leave her, and I intend to keep that promise," Troy muttered softly, and Taylor nodded, knowing she was the only one who had heard him.
The door to the changing rooms suddenly swung open, and Joe and David stepped out, perplexed looks covering their faces.
"Coach, what the hell is going on out here?" Joe questioned, before his eyes moved upwards to study his older brother and his friends, both younger men's mouths forming the perfect 'o' shapes as they each bordered their coaches sides, Joe next to Taylor and David next to Ryan.
"David, Joe, you have no idea what you're doing," Sharpay muttered darkly, watching the two young men, "This is Troy Bolton, the one who left us, and crushed Gabriella, you obviously won't remember him because you were only four when he took off and left."
"We remember him perfectly," David retaliated, Joe nodding as he folded his arms across his chest, "Troy would teach us basketball when you guys got sick of us so quickly, he just kept going, and he'd tease us endlessly about the bogeyman and how he was really real."
Chad and Jason shook their heads, disbelieving their little brothers, "No, this guy is a complete and total bastard who screwed us and Gabriella over."
"Ever thought that there are two sides to every story big brother?" Joe hissed, matching Chad's tone and glare perfectly.
"Not to this one there isn't," Jason scowled, as Chad, Zeke and Sharpay all started to throw insults at Troy as well, he who stood there and said nothing back, unable to hurt the ones that he still cared about.
"SHUT UP! SHUT UP! SHUT UP!" Gabriella suddenly screamed, stunning the room into silence as the tears fell like waterfalls down her face, "I'm sorry Troy, I'm so, so sorry, for everything," She muttered, her voice breaking as Troy turned his hardened face on hers, no signs of forgiveness or mercy shining through for her previous actions at all.
"Gabriella, what the hell are you doing saying you're sor-," Chad started to spit out one sharp look from Gabriella stopping him in his tracks, as confusion spread across his face, thinking that he had only been trying to protect his baby sister.
"Like I said, I'm sorry, but if you had just-," Gabriella was abruptly cut off by the look of disbelief that rapidly spread across Troy's face, his head slowly shaking from side to side.
"No Gabriella, no way, you can not blame what happened on me. You were the one who told me to go, and I quote exactly what you said when our baby girl was only six hours old 'get that ugly little brat out of my sight' and so I took our gorgeous little girl and I left, like you wanted us to," Troy bellowed, glaring at Gabriella and the rest of the gang the whole time, as Gabriella looked at the floor in embarrassment and the rest of the gang looked at her in a horrified shock, Ryan and Taylor included as Troy had never told them the full story of what had happened on the fateful morning of eighth August two thousand and eight.
Hearing a gasp and a small whimper behind him, Troy whipped around to see his one and only baby girl standing there, his face instantly paling at the tears streaming down hers and at how distraught she looked, her blue eyes wider than saucers, with her new boyfriend and best friend flanking either side of her, their own eyes wide open in shock, with their mouths gaping slightly.
"Lilly-Ella I can ex-," Troy started, but she cut him off by shaking her head, moving backwards, before turning around and sprinting full speed out of the gym doors. "Lilly-Ella," Troy called after her, watching Matt, Sassy, Joe and David follow after her quickly, before whirling round to face Gabriella once more, a look of pure venom crossing his features, as his eyes darkened to a nearly black colour, "Look at what you've done now, don't you think you've caused her enough pain? For G-d's sake Gabriella, she grew up without a mother because of you," Troy hissed at the now sobbing brunette before turning and following his daughter out of the doors, desperate to reach her before she did anything stupid…
Well that was it guys, I hope you liked it, and please review and tell me your thoughts! Hopefully I'll manage to get Chapter 11 up sometime in the week or so, depending on how much revision I can get done for my exams in two weeks time.