AN: Hello everyone! Nora, here. Just thought I would finally introduce myself! I keep forgetting to be honest. Anyway, I hope you guys are enjoying my story, I love writing it so far. I have hit a tiny block, but don't worry, me and my beta will work through it. She is hilarious btw, I wish I could post my rough drafts with the comments she puts in, they make me lol a lot. Even if it does take a while to "unblock" I'm already in the editing process of a chapter 4, so you will get one more relatively soon. The more you review the faster I put it out! ;) I absolutley love reading what you think, good of bad. I can take it, I promise, just review!

ENJOY!

"He hears the ticking of the clocks
And walks along with a parrot that talks,
Hunts her down by the waterfront docks where the sailers all come in.
Maybe shell pick him out again, how long must he wait
Once more for a simple twist of fate"

-Bob Dylan

"McKessie, on the mat!"

Taylor jumped up, clapped her hands to get the excess chalk off, and readied herself. It had been a solid practice. She hadn't messed up once yet. She was starting to think that this slump she had been in was gone. She ran, propelled herself from the little bar up, grasped the high bar and swung her body around twice lithely. She went through her routine solidly, keeping her legs together and straight, she loved this feeling. The feeling you were flying, the feeling when your stomach dropped just a little bit on your way down. It was even better with a crowd. This event was always a winner for them. Taylor was on a high as she rotated twice more to get momentum, let go, and started twisting. One twist, two flips, one landing. Pop, went her ankle.

Defeat is a strange thing. It starts from the source of it. What caused it, and works it way up, to your head next. This is where you register the fact that you have just failed. You run through the whole thing again in your mind, trying to figure out how you could have changed it. And the worst part is, you find things. You find so many ways that it could have gone better. You see the slightest changes that could have made everything go perfectly, or at least smoothly. That is when it hits your heart, and you don't know what to do. It tears it a little and knocks the air out of you so you are just left there, trying to gasp back in some of the air, clean air, not tainted by the defeat you have already come to hate in these short seconds.

It was in these seconds that Taylor laid her head back, and cried.

Pain works the same way as defeat, starts at the source, goes to the brain, it skips the heart though. No need to worry your heart with things like this. But pain is a little more kind. It lets your body go into shock first, so you can get up, get to safety, but then it just sets in full force. That is where Taylor was now, sitting in the locker room with her ankle taped up. The pain was coming on hard, and she was praying the meds she took would kick in. But at the moment she was sitting there, crying, wishing this stupid slump would just go away. She was sick of looking weak to everyone. She was supposed to be a leader, a top scorer, one of the greats. Instead, here she was on the locker room floor, dialing a number and trying (but failing) to stop the tears from flowing.

On the fourth and final ring, he picked up, but there was a good five second pause, almost like he had forgotten he had a phone call, before he even spoke.

"Yello?"

"Cody?" Ok, the whole stopping the tears plan, totally not working. She breathed in a shuddered gasp as new tears of pain and frustration flowed over her eye lid and onto her cheek.

"Hey, Tay, what's up?" He was rushed, like he was not in the mood for a feelings talk, but she didn't notice.

"Can you come pick me up?" She had to pull the phone away from her ear so she could let some sobs out, her ankle was throbbing, the extra blood pulsed through the area causing it to swell double its normal size. When she put the phone back to her ear he hadn't spoken yet, and she waited a few more seconds before he responded. She could hear him in the background explaining, to who she guessed were his buddies, that it was his girl on the phone. She heard catcalls and inappropriate statements from the other line, but she didn't care, she just wanted a ride and her boyfriend.

"Why do you need a ride?"

"I just, I just hurt myself, and I'm --I just need you, please come." She stared up at the fluorescent light glaring at her from the locker room ceiling.

Another pause, then finally, "Ya, I'll be there soonish."

"K, thanks," was all she could get in before the line went dead.

She grabbed the edge of the bench and hoisted herself up onto one leg. The blood rushed down, causing her more pain. She bit her lip to keep from crying all over again. She began to shimmy herself out of the tight leotard, thank god she had good balance on her other ankle. She decided to skip the shower, knowing that he would be here for her soon. She wiped whatever chalk she could off of her, and then slowly put her pants on, then her shirt. She looked out towards the exit, the farthest place from her locker. She began to grab onto things, cling to the bench, anything to hop closer. It took her ten minutes to get fifty feet, tears streaming down her face, but finally she made it. She pushed the door open and hobbled outside into the nippy fall air. She thought about how awful it would be to walk, or hop, that hundred feet to the bench with nothing to hold onto. She stood there, leaned against a pillar for a minute before she decided. She took her gym bag off her shoulders and threw it. Thankfully it landed only a few feet from the bench. She then straightened out, tightened her ab muscles and threw her body forward. She walked on her hands easily to the bench. She really wished she had thought of this back in the locker room. The hard part was getting back on her feet. The foot she usually stuck out first was sprained, so she had to remind her brain to stick the other one out. Sooner than she could have even hoped for, she was on the bench. Unfortunately the blood that had rushed to her head, rushed back down to her ankle and it hurt all over again. She reached for her bag, grabbed it, and waited.

An hour and a half later, she was finally in a car driving back to her apartment.

"WHAT AN ASS HOLE," Gabriella screamed out. She had been periodically yelling out like this. Taylor wasn't even flinching any more.

"WHY DIDN'T YOU JUST CALL ME IN THE FIRST PLACE INSTEAD OF RELYING ON THAT NO GOOD, COCK SUCKING BOYFRIEND OF YOURS!?"

Taylor, in any other case, would have enjoyed this. It was not every day that Gabriella spewed out "cock sucking" in a conversation. However, she didn't say anything. Not that she was quiet, her sobs were loud enough to drown out the music. She felt like she was going to be sent a water bill from all the tears lately. Her face burned from humiliation and her head hurt from all the crying she had done in the last half hour. She didn't want to argue, "I don't know,"

Was all she said as she glared out the window and thought back a half hour ago.

He picked up after the third ring, on the third call.

"What!" was all he answered with

"Are you coming?" Taylor asked, staring up at the sun that was now right above her. She had been waiting there for a long time. The pain in her ankle was now a steady throbbing instead of painful jabs. She had had it elevated for a while, so that kept the blood away from it. Still, she was starting to get cold, it was November, the weather was cold, and all the sweat from her practice uniform had dried and left her freezing. She only had a light jacket in her bag and it was not helping. She was covered in dried, chunky chalk and she wanted nothing more than to be home with a cup of coffee. Bottom line, she was impatient and annoyed.

"What?"

She paused, giving it a second to register for him, "To get me, to pick me up."

"Oh fuck, I forgot,"

Wow. It's amazing how when you are in pain, and you feel defeated, how much being told by your boyfriend that he forgot you, sucks.

"Are you serious? You forgot about me?" She was fuming now, how could he be such an idiot. She looked over her shoulder, yep she went to Stanford, weren't the guys supposed to be smart there?

"Fuck, sorry," He sounded anything but sorry, "I was going to, but then the guys started doing shots and I didn't--"

"You're drinking?"

"What are you my motherfucking mother?" He had definitely been drinking.

"ITS BARELY NOON!"

"We started after practice! Fuck Taylor, get off your soapbox." She shook her head, she couldn't believe this. She looked down at her hand, it was shaking she was so mad.

"So you had already been drinking when you said you were going to get in a car and come pick me up?"

"Taylor I'm fine, I'm an adult you know, God, fuck you. I was going to get you afterwards."

"YOU WERE GOING TO GET ME AFTER HOW MANY SHOTS, CODY? TEN? SO MANY THAT YOU COULDN'T EVEN REMEMBER WHERE YOU PUT YOUR KEYS?" She scolded herself for raising her voice, she didn't want him to know that he had gotten to her. But her face was hot and her hands were shaking she was so angry. She couldn't believe he couldn't do this one thing for her, after everything that she did for him.

"God, stop fucking bitching, I'll come get you now." BITCHING! She was thinking, she wanted to scream, to punch the concrete table she was sitting on. She wanted to strangle a small kitty.

She could here in the background him grabbing his keys, "Are you kidding me? Forget it, I don't want you to come get me, I don't want to even see you right now."

"Does that mean we aren't hanging out tonight?"

She threw her hands up, was he being serious? "Fuck no, we are not hanging out tonight, I don't want see your face tonight."

"Come on Taylor, don't be stupid."

"I'm not being stupid Cody, you are drunk and being an ass hole."

She could hear him gulping something down on the line, "I don't know why we go through these fake fights, we both know we are going to make up tonight."

"Cody," she said slowly, so he would understand, "we are not hanging out tonight, don't come over. I don't even know why I'm with you. Fuck you." She hung up the phone, embarrassed, humiliated, frustrated. She dialed Gabriella, and by the time she picked up, which was on the first ring, she was crying all over again. They didn't stop coming while she told her what happened in the gym, they just came harder when she told her what happened with Cody, and now they came even harder at the frustration of it all.

"He is such a douche bag , T, I don't know why you are still with him!" Gabriella was even more angry than Taylor was. She had been such a good friend, helping Taylor to the car and making sure she was comfortable, but once she said she was, she just let it rip. "He just uses you, and the worst part is, YOU LET HIM!" She pulled into their parking lot and parked in the handicap spot. She took a deep breathe, Taylor flinched thinking she was just getting ready to yell again, but it came out as a sigh, "I wish Troy didn't have a game today, I would have called him to meet us here to carry you up the stairs, " she shot Taylor a look, "and he would have sped to get over here." She hopped out of the car and came around to Taylor's side, "But he can't, and I can't carry you…do you think you can make it up there?"

"Yeah, it's not sprained that bad, the worst of it is over, I'll be slow, so don't worry about me, but I'll make it."

They did go up the stairs slowly. But not too slowly, it would hurt worse coming down. But Gabriella insisted on staying slow with her until they both made it to the room three minutes later. Gabriella opened the door and set Taylor's bag in the closet, then helped Taylor over to the couch.

"So here is the plan," Gabriella said matter of factly when Taylor was comfortable. "We are going to see Troy's game tonight."

Taylor groaned and waved her hand in Gab's direction, "Gabriella, I am just not in the mood, I'll stay in."

"No." Gabriella said firmly, right away. "There is no way I'm letting you stay home, sulk, and twist the situation that just happened to make it your fault. Plus, he is going to come over tonight to try to get with you and the worst part is, if you are here, you are going to let him and we both know it. So you are going to the game with me, bitch. Got it?"

"Gabriella I would no--"

"Hmm, funny, I don't remember giving you a choice on this matter," Gabriella said sarcastically.

Taylor gave an exaggerated groan, so Gabriella could without a doubt, know she didn't want to go. "Fine, when are we leaving?"

"After you shower and get ready."

Taylor's eyes went wide, "Seriously? I'll just go like this."

"Don't be ridiculous, I can smell you from here!"

"Oh come on G, who am I trying to impress?"

"Taylor," Gabriella whined, "I don't want to look like a loser for dressing up all nice to impress Troy so I can maybe KEEP A BOYFRIEND, when I'm with my friend who just DEGAF'ed it up. I'll look over dressed." She paused, moving a strand of hair out of her face, "Besides, he might be throwing a party after."

Taylor let out another groan, "Gabs! You forgot to mention that!"

"Oh come on T, don't make me skip it!"

"I hate when you use internet lingo on me B-T-W, it gets the point across so much better."

"Does that mean you will go?"

"Ughhh, but my ankle hurts!" "OH NOW YOU'RE ANKLE HURTS!" Gabriella cried, flailing her arms in the air, "Five minutes ago when we were walking up the stairs you were being Ms. Superwoman I can Conquer the World, but NOW YOUR ANKLE HURTS!"

"Gosh, I'll go, don't go all bitch smacks a hoe on me, G" Taylor said with a grin before, getting up slowly, and hopping to the shower.

They entered the big gym two hours later. Taylor had showered, curled her hair, put on ample make up, and changed three times before Gabriella said she looked good enough to go out, but not too good as to make her look insignificant. She walked, or hobbled in wearing denim jeans, boots, a white tank top with a tight black knit sweater pulled over. She had to walk slow, every time she took a step she had to bite her lip it hurt so bad. But she managed to not limp too bad, she was determined to stay off crutches. Gabriella was stressed that they were late, and was worried that they wouldn't get good seats so she made Taylor limp extra badly as they walked in, and made everyone feel bad so they would move over. They actually ended up with floor seats right by the hoop the Troy's team would go for in the second half.

The game started and Taylor watched Troy, knowing that Gabriella would want help explaining what he was doing. He was good, really good. He was quick, he knew exactly how to move away from his guard. He shot out of their reach like a canon, carrying the ball down the court where he passed it to his team mates. She watched and explained like a good friend, but she found herself eyeing an outside shooter. He was taller than Troy, about six two, and he was number eight. He was not only good when he played, he was beautiful. The way he moved in the huge group of people with no fear, spinning and bouncing out of their way only to jump up and slide the ball over the rim with his finger tips looked like a dance to Taylor. He was attractive, she realized immediately. He had huge hair, a big curly afro. His skin was brown and beautiful. There was something familiar about him, but she couldn't put her finger on it. She never got a clear look at his face, so she couldn't see for sure why he looked so familiar.

She spent the rest of the time getting into the game. She cheered and watched in amusement as Gabriella mimicked her. Gab's however, did catch on to cheer when the boys on Troy's team made a shot. Her phone kept vibrating, messages from Cody. She replied to a few but never told him where she was. He would get jealous if she even mentioned she was at a boys basketball game. She could just hear him say, "You rarely come to my football games!" And she would argue back that she had a lab one Friday, practice the other, and was sick with the flu. All of those he would not care about. She went to reply to another one but Gabriella shot her a look, "Do I have to confiscate the phone?"

She sighed, "No."

"Don't answer another one, he is being a jerk, you need to let him know that he was wrong!"

"Can I just keep it out so I can read them?"

The looked on Gabriella's face told her it pained her to say yes but she conceded.

Soon it was half time and the girls sat under the strobe lights as the dance team did some cheesy routine so some washed up Brittany Spears song.

"It's a great game isn't is T? …I mean really, isn't it?" She asked, worry spread out like butter on her face.

"Well Troy's team is winning, so yes that is good, " She wondered how Gabriella functioned without basic sports knowledge.

"K. Good. How is your ankle? Still up for tonight?"

"Yeah, it's pretty sore, but I think it will be fine if I just take it easy tonight and this weekend."

She clutched her phone in her hand, it let out another vibrate. She looked at the text message. Another one from Cody demanding to know where she was. She glanced over to Gabs, thinking she wasn't looking, she was. Her hawk eyes were aimed at Taylor's finger tips, seeing if she would even think to reply.

They didn't talk for the rest of the half time, Taylor pretended to watch the show as her phone went off four more times and Gabriella pretended to watch the show as she watched Taylor. Finally, after what seemed like way too long, the boys marched out from across the gym. The second half started and it seemed the other team was out for blood. They were triple teaming Troy and when he passed it to their other best player (the mysterious afroed man) they soon rotated so he was fully covered too. However, their guys were no match for Troy and his teammates athleticism. Afro boy weaved through them, cut across the hoop and leapt in the air for a dunk, twice. They pumped fists and chests in celebration but got right back to focusing for the next play. The players were down by Taylor and Gabriella, they were so close to them they could smell their sweat. Troy was double teamed, he tried to weave around but in a panic he passed the ball too high to number eight. He leapt in the air, his whole body stretched out, back arched, just to grasp the ball with his fingertips as he hung three feet in the air. Just then, number 23 from the other team came in, ducked his shoulder, and reamed right into Troy's teammate. You could almost see the air get knocked out of him. His whole body folded to the hit as he flew through the air, letting go of the ball, and came crashing down on the floor. The momentum had him slide all the way out of bounds and almost crashing into Taylor's feet. He lay there for a few moments as the ref called a foul. The players held their positions, giving him space. He lay there for a few moments before rolling slowly onto his stomach. He got onto his knees even slower, taking labored breathes as he clutched his stomach. The sound of skidding shoes on the court started to come after him but he held up his hand so they knew he was ok. Taylor could hear his labored breath come painfully in and out of his chest which had started to move easier. He groaned loudly, but that seemed to be the worst of the pain as his breathing seemed to steady itself. Something about him made her want to reach out to him, to make sure he was ok. She wanted to run her hand over where he got hit and ask if anything hurt, if she could do anything for him. His eyes ran their way up, and locked with hers. She drew in a quiet gasp as the reality sunk into both of them.

She stared, open mouthed, at the pizza boy.

"Chad?" was all she could whisper.

He seemed to recover better than her. His smile read that he almost knew this would happen. That them meeting again was inevitable. If you read even deeper into it you could see that when it came down to it, he wasn't even surprised, it was almost fate that they would have to meet again, to interact.

"Danforth, you ok!?" called his coach from the bench. He looked over his shoulder to see his teammates looking at him apprehensively. He turned to face her again, winked, and then jogged back onto the court.

"Oh. My. God." she said, totally in shock. "It's him."

"Who?"

"Him!" Taylor exclaimed pointing at Chad, to her embarrassment he heard and gave her a smile from their time out huddle. It was a confident, glad you noticed, smile. It was cute and flirtatious and sexy all at the same time. Oh gosh, bring on the blushing.

"You know, Chad?" Gabriella said, surprised.

"You know Chad!?" Taylor said looking in disbelief at her best friend.

"Well, yeah, he is Troy's roommate. They have been friends since they were babies. He is so nice. How do you know him?"

"He…he is the pizza guy…my pizza guy. The one I told you about."

"That Chad?"

"Yes, that Chad. Chad, that Chad, number eight Chad, my Chad."

"Your Chad?"

"I mean…" Taylor said defensively, "the Chad I've been telling you about." She jumped a little when he phone vibrated again. Without looking at it, she flipped her phone open, turned it off, and shoved it into the deepest pocket of her purse.

"That was a really good game," Gabriella stated matter of factly as the crowd from the gym slowly marched out and only a few stragglers were left.

"Ya it was pretty good, and I'm proud of you for noticing," Taylor grinned and elbowed her best friend. She was acting calm, but in reality the butterflies hadn't left her stomach since Chad had looked at her. What were the chances? This had to be set up, things like this just didn't happen. She couldn't believe it. Thinking back on it, she grinned, thinking about how good he had looked out there.

"Shut up. Are you ready to go? I promised Troy I would meet him outside the locker room, and I have a feeling someone will want to see you," Gabriella winked.

"He is the pizza guy, I bet he has some other girl waiting for him outside the locker room." nonetheless, Taylor stood up shakily and began limping with Gabriella towards the locker room. The pain rushed to her ankle once she stood up, it made her cringe and fight back watery eyes, maybe she should have gone with crutches. However, this was nothing compared to how nervous she was to see if she was right, if he did have another girl waiting for him.

'Nu, uh, no way. I saw the way he looked at you. It was like he was already smitten with you. That night in the towel must have really gotten to him," Gabriella giggled and moved away before Taylor could punch her.

"I hate you, you know that?"

"Yup."

Taylor began to over analyze. he probably would have anther girl waiting for him. He was handsome, no doubt. His smile made Taylor blush, his eyes made her seem like he could see into her very soul. And to top it off, Gabriella mentioned how nice he was. That's it, he probably had a girl friend of six years who he was planning on marrying and being her baby daddy. God life sucked. She sulked the rest of the way to the locker room and leaned against the wall, giving Gabriella her space with Troy.

She watched as Gabriella walked up to Troy, he put his bag down and twirled her around in a hug before kissing her forehead. His hand drug down her arm before clutching her hand, which he then pulled up and kissed. She wrapped her arms around him and hugged him, telling him what a good job he did. They were too cute, Taylor couldn't take it. The most Cody had ever done with her after a game was have sex. Which, in context, sounds like a couply thing to do, but not with him. With him it seemed more of a requirement. When she looked at Gabriella and Troy, she saw something that she knew soon would grow into something much deeper, even if they didn't know it yet.

She looked down to give them privacy, pretending to see a loose thread on her jacket. Her mind kept running to Chad, she was afraid to look up, wondering if she would see him with his girl. See him treating someone how Troy was treating Gabriella at the moment. She scolded herself for caring, she had a boyfriend. One who could be a jerk sometimes, but she had made a commitment. Despite all that, she hoped that when Chad did go to meet his girlfriend, he would meet her around back, just out of courtesy to Taylor, and leave with her before she could see.

"Are you stalking me?" The voice rang from her ears to her chest, where she felt her heart jump a little. Her whole body tingled as her eyes slowly moved up to see Chad, leaning on the wall with her, a little bit closer to her face than she had expected. His gym bag was slung across his chest, with one hand keeping it steady. He smelt amazing, like guy shower gel and deodorant; Taylor loved the smell of guy deodorant. His track suit was zipped half way up, showing a blue undershirt that tightly fit his, from what she could gather, very fit chest. She then noticed that stupid crocked smile that made her go weak every time she saw it. It was closer to her than ever before, and for just a second, she wondered what it would be like to kiss those full lips that seemed to be inviting her in. She forced herself out of that dangerous direction and managed a small laugh at his joke.

"Yes, I'm stalking you. You could have told me your roommate was dating my roommate."

"I didn't know she was your roommate. You always answered the door, a gesture I'd like to believe was on purpose." He grinned at her and she blushed and looked down.

"You haven't delivered in a while," She looked back up at him to see a quick flash of disappointment cross his perfect features before he managed a small smile, "I had to quit, they don't let us have a job during the season, too busy, you know?"

"Ya, we still have a few weeks before our season kicks in, so right now they are still focused on kicking our butts," she was suddenly glad that Troy was keeping Gabriella distracted. If she had listened closely she would have heard Gabriella giggling in the background, but at the moment she was a little focused.

"You play?"

"Play isn't really the right word. I…compete?" When she saw his upper lip thin out and his bottom lip pucker slightly in a look of confusion, she had to suppress a giggle to match her roommates. He was so adorable. "I'm a gymnast."

A genuine look of surprise crossed his face and it brightened, making him look even more astonishing, "A gymnast? Well you don't meet those everyday," he paused before adding, "Well I guess every other day, but that's only when she is really in the pizza mood."

She laughed again, "Ok, ok, I get it, I order a lot. I kinda like their service."

Now it was his turn to laugh and look away. In that he showed a sort of boyish quality, and he seemed surprised by himself that he had shown it at all, almost like it wasn't normal for him to act this way in front of girls.

"So are you coming to our apartment?" He looked hopeful, like he would be disappointed if she said no. She felt a little twinge of accomplishment when he did, and the need to please him, to make him happy. She scolded herself for feeling this way, so strongly, about a guy she barely knew.

"Oh yes, Gabriella dragged me here as her date, although it doesn't really look like she needs me anymore." She glanced off to the side of Chad, since she couldn't see over his shoulder, to get a better view of Gabriella and Troy, who were talking quietly, their faces close, both of them smiling at each other.

"Well…" he paused, gathering his words and thoughts, "You could accompany me?" He said it as a question, giving her room to refuse, room to back out, and to avoid a conversation he didn't want to have he quickly added, "As friends, of course."

She saw again that Gabriella and Troy were now watching them, waiting to leave. She also noted that Gabs was whispering in Troy's ear, probably spilling lies about her and Chad. "I would love to," she answered him. When she did she felt her hands tingle, like they wanted to reach out for his. She had to clench them to hold back. He began walking, and she turned her body and slowly followed. It took only a few steps for him to realize that she was lagging behind. He turned and looked at her curiously, then when he saw her limp he looked down at her ankle, hidden under jeans, so he could only guess.

"Did you hurt yourself?" a genuine look of concern washed over him.

"Barely, it's just sprained," She said waving him off. In two strides he was back at her side, "Do you need help walking?" he seemed more than ready to pick her up and carry her too the car.

"No, no don't be silly, you just played a whole game," she waved her hand as to dismiss him. When she looked up she saw a look on his face that could only read, don't be ridiculous.

"Seriously, do you need help walking?" he was asking sincerely, not just to be polite. This made her heart ache a little. Cody would have never offered, and he was twice Chad's size and height.

"No, really, I'm fine, please. If you just…walk slowly next to me for company it would be more than enough." He seemed to be thinking about it, weighing the pros and cons. She guessed he decided that that was adequate, or all he would be able to get away with, so he took his position at her side and walked with her. He insisted on holding her elbow to take some of the weight, but she wouldn't let him do much more. Once he saw her walk, however, he guessed she was probably in a lot more pain that she let on, and he couldn't help but tighten his grip on her and take some of the weight off.