A/N: Hey :) I was quite proud of this chapter. Thank you, HSMandChelseaFCfan. What you wrote was fabulous :)

Don't own HSM x

Chapter 2 – Something better

(A/N: this is HSMandChelseaFCfan)

Gabriella walked into West High ahead of her brother and Zeke, knowing most likely the whole school would already be talking about the latest Wildcats versus Knights showdown last night.

"Hey sweetie." A high pitched voice sounded in her left ear.

Gabriella rolled her eyes as she turned to see her best friend. "Hey, Shar." Sharpay Evans had been Gabriella's best friend since they started at West High. The two had instantly clicked after sharing a mutual dislike over the obsession the school had with basketball and their reputation of fights with Wildcats. Plus they were both one half of twins with the other half being males. Only in Gabriella's case, she didn't have any influence over what her brother does. "Hey, Ryan, Martha."

"Hey, Gabs." Ryan Evans was Sharpay's twin – something Gabriella felt sorry for knowing how much of a drama queen her best friend was – and his girlfriend Martha Cox who was on the scholastic decathlon team with Gabriella and also in the school's drama club. The four of them were probably the four most popular people in school after Zeke and Carl as Gabriella was a Montez and Sharpay was the resident ice queen to anyone who wasn't in her circle of friends.

"I take it that it is true then from your bad mood?" Sharpay commented as Ryan and Martha walked off to their lockers, knowing they would meet up again in homeroom.

Gabriella rolled her eyes at the thought. "Yes, it's true. I tell you they are a bunch of idiots who are too proud to actually let their stupid ego go and finish these petty fights." The anger in her voice could be heard.

"Looking good, Montez." Gabriella and Sharpay rolled their eyes; Gabriella was forever getting comments from random people just because of her name and the fact her brothers were practically legends in the history of the knights.

"Beat it, Loser." Sharpay yelled as Gabriella tugged on her arm and pulled her further down the corridor. "You've got to stop covering for them, Gabs. I can see how much it's killing you having to keep getting caught up in all their deceit. You shouldn't have to cover up for them, even if you are their sister."

Gabriella shrugged. "I know that and I'm determined to stop but Carl reckons it's not just the Knights' reputation they are protecting but the Montez name because apparently Bolton winning would be unbearable." Gabriella shrugged slightly.

Sharpay scoffed. "Please. How petty do guys have to be? Was Zeke roped in again?"

Gabriella shook her head in amusement. It was obvious Sharpay had a crush on Zeke even if she would never admit it and only ever seemed like she was using him for his delicious mouth watering cookies. "Yes he was but I'm convinced Zeke only does it because Carl does it and if he didn't, he'd probably be forced from the team."

The two rounded the corner to see Carl and Zeke surrounded by their teammates and a load of other people who were interested in hearing the latest gossip on what happened; Carl and Zeke obviously emphasising the story to their advantage. The teachers had stopped asking about the cuts and bruises the players were covered in a long time ago because most of the teachers, who tried to discourage the fighting in public, tended to get ignored as the principal and most teachers secretly wanted the Wildcats to pay for their antics over the years. Plus it was obvious to anyone who lived in Albuquerque of the ongoing feud between the Montez's and the Bolton's. "Yo, Sis, Blondie."

Sharpay glared at Carl who always referred to her as Blondie. "One day I'm going to kill your brother."

The two just ignored him as they reached their lockers. "Be my guest. I'll even help you if he continues the way he has been with this stupid feud. You know I don't even know why our families are supposedly arch rivals because we don't even know them apart from Troy."

"Just think in a few months, high school will be over and we'll never have to think about this stupid rivalry again. We'll both be miles away from here, you at Stanford and me at Juilliard finding out that there is actually a decent world out there." Sharpay encouraged, placing a hand on her best friend's shoulder.

Gabriella smiled at the thought as the letter she'd received came into mind once again. She'd confided in Sharpay about how she had applied to Stanford because she knew Sharpay was the only other person who would understand why she wanted to go to Stanford. "Shar, I got a reply."

The blonde beside her slammed her locked shut in shock and looked eagerly at the brunette. "Well what did they say?"

Smiling at the look on Sharpay's face, she replied. "I got in. They're even considering me for their freshman honour's programme."

"No way! Gabs, this is amazing. Just think you could be gone even sooner if you get on." Sharpay exclaimed.

"Shh. I don't want Carl or anyone to hear you." Gabriella said hurriedly in a quiet voice.

Sharpay gave her an apologetic look. "Sorry. But this is so cool, Gabs."

"Maybe." Before Sharpay could ask her what that meant, the bell rang and they made their way along with the rest of their fellow knights to their assigned homerooms.

***

Troy hurried down the stairs hearing the honk from the car outside; as always, he was running late after an early morning workout with his father, which had been cut short after his mom caught the two. Most mornings, Troy's best friend and fellow Wildcat, Chad Danforth, usually picked his girlfriend Taylor Mckessie and then Troy up, so they could arrive together. Every now and then Troy would take himself so he could get away from the love birds but it proved useful being with Chad when Knights turned up at their school looking for a fight early morning or to protect his friend's girlfriend.

Running past his Mom, he placed a kiss on her cheek and grabbed an apple from the table. "See you later, Mom."

"Be careful, Honey, and remember you're grounded so straight home after school." Lucille warned.

Troy rolled his eyes. "Yes, Mom." Opening the door, he stepped outside and then slammed the door behind him and headed towards Chad's car. Slipping into the front seat, chucking his bag on the floor he greeted his friend. "Morning guys."

Chad pulled away from the Bolton's large house. "Dude, you get out of being grounded yet?"

Before Troy could answer the question, Taylor shoved the back of Chad's head. "You guys deserve to be grounded. One of these days you will get seriously injured in one of these stupid fights." Turning to Troy, she smiled. "Morning, Troy."

"Morning, Tay. How you doing?" Taylor had become like a sister to Troy since she started dating Chad as she was one of the few people who he could actually talk to about anything without feeling pressurised. There weren't many girls he could do that with as most were too obsessed with the fact he was Troy Bolton.

Taylor smiled. "I'm good. Annoyed you guys nearly got into another fight still but I'm good now. Just promise me you'll at least try and stay out of their way next time because I don't want you guys to get hurt and then wreck your chances of playing and beating them."

"We'll stay out of their way as long as they stay out of ours." Chad answered.

Troy nodded in agreement with Chad and carried on defending their actions. "Tay, if they start something then we're going to finish it because if we don't, you don't understand what it'll be like to let them even think they have won."

Taylor rolled her eyes knowing that nothing she said would be good enough to get them to stop.

***

Troy arrived at school and was instantly hit by a crowd of people wanting to know what happened. This always happened when news spread of a Wildcats versus Knights fight but to be honest, Troy was getting sick of this. He was sure they'd all got the full story by now because it never took long for news to spread as well as the full details. Did people really need to ask him what happened again?

Chad led Taylor ahead, knowing how much she hated crowds as Troy ignored people, just giving them a slight nod here and there before reaching his locker where Jason Cross, a fellow teammate and close friend stood, along with Kelsi, Chad and Taylor. The five of them were close friends and the three boys would do anything to protect the girls. It was like an unspoken pact they had.

(A/N: This is me)

"Hey, Kelsi." Troy greeted the petite, auburn haired girl as he hugged her.

She smiled as she pulled back. "Hey, Troy. How are you?"

"Bored out of my head at home." He muttered, opening his locker.

"It's your own fault." Taylor replied in a sing-song voice.

"I know. You keep telling me." Troy replied in the same voice. He took a few books out of his backpack and then threw his bag to the back of his locker.

Jason chuckled. "Has your mom let up at all?"

Troy laughed sarcastically as he shut his locker. "My mom. No way. It's like you've never met her."

Chad rolled his eyes. "Dude, this is Jase we're talking about."

"Hey!" Jason exclaimed, hitting Chad over the head.

Kelsi giggled. "So, when are you officially ungrounded?"

Troy shrugged. "Well, I'm grounded for two weeks, so whenever that is. The only time I'm allowed out of the house is school and to take Blitzen on a walk. And that can only last fifteen minutes."

Taylor rolled her eyes. "In my opinion,"

"I don't want your opinion." Troy interrupted.

"Well, tough. I'm giving it." Taylor proclaimed. "In my opinion, I think college will do you some good."

"Why?" Chad asked from beside his girlfriend.

Taylor rolled her eyes. "You all need to get over this whole rivalry thing. All it's doing is causing trouble. What's Carl's sister called?"

Troy, Chad and Jason all looked away in embarrassment. "Eliza, maybe?" Chad mumbled.

His girlfriend rolled her eyes. "You slag her off all the time and you don't even know her name. She's called Gabriella."

"How do you know?" Troy exclaimed.

Taylor sighed. "She's the captain of West High's scholastic decathlon team. Exactly like I'm the captain of East High's scholastic decathlon team."

Jason frowned. "So, she's like a Knight version of you?"

"I guess…" Taylor said unsurely.

Thankfully, the bell rang and Troy rolled his eyes. "Well, let's get to homeroom before we have detention. Darbus won't be happy if we're late because somebody was busy doing his hair." He glared at Chad.

"Hey, it needed fixing." Chad defended.

"Troy, you see, you just walk away and Chad follows." Taylor explained slowly.

"That's easy for you to say, he acts like a lost puppy around you!" Troy exclaimed. He was just thankful that one conversation about Wildcats was over. If he heard one more word about this stupid feud, he might punch something.

* * *

Gabriella stalked out of the gym and into the girls' locker room. She kicked the nearest set of lockers and groaned. How could her father be so certain of her future when she hadn't spoken a word to him about college? When she was a little girl and saw her brothers at the Red Hawk games, yeah, she wanted to go. But, when she saw Maria at work, something in her head clicked and she needed to go to Stanford. The University of Albuquerque was so unbelievably insignificant now that it was barely worth her thoughts.

"You okay?" A soft voice asked.

Gabriella dropped onto one of the benches running down the middle of the aisle and sighed as Sharpay joined her. "No. I'm not. My dad just mentioned how proud he was that I'm going to U of A in front of the entire basketball team. You know, I would probably get a better reaction from him if I told him I was pregnant."

Sharpay smiled sympathetically and held her friend's hand. "It'll work out. You've got me and your mom behind you. And I'll bet if you give your dad half a chance, he'd say the same."

Gabriella shook her head. "My dad? No way. You don't hear him when he talks about me and Carl. It's like he forgets that I'm his daughter and not another son."

Sharpay pulled her into a hug and sighed. "Gabby, you have to stop thinking like this." She whispered. "You'll never get to Stanford unless you stop." She pulled back and gave her friend a stern look. "Gabriella, you need to stop thinking about your dad and just reach for your dream. I'm going to Juilliard, Ry's going to U of A, Martha's going to Yale and Zeke's going to Ohio Valley. But, always be together. And you'll always have us. Just stop thinking of your dad in all of this."

Gabriella nodded lifelessly. "You know, I never thought I'd want to leave Albuquerque. I thought I'd want to stay here forever. I mean, I've always wanted to go to Stanford, but I thought it would be really hard to say goodbye. But, it's not. I need to just get out of this feud. It's been going on for too long and I'm sick of everyone idolising my brothers because of the size of their egos and the fights they get into with Wildcats!"

"I know, I know." Sharpay soothed, rubbing her friend's back. "But, once we're out of here, you'll see the real world, and there are so many better things than basketball."

* * *

"Good job, Bolton." Jack hollered as the ball fell gracefully through the net.

Troy clenched his jaw. If he heard his last name come from his father's mouth one more time he would grab the weights from the corner of the gym and throw them into his own head. He forced a smile at his dad and caught the ball before it hit the ground. "Thanks, Dad." He bounce passed the ball to Jason – who was on the opposing team – who took his place at the back line.

"You okay, Man?" Chad asked worriedly as his best friend passed him.

Troy nodded and stood on the other half of the court, ready to defend the basket. "Of course. Why wouldn't I be?"

Chad eyed him suspiciously. All morning, whenever a conversation about Wildcats came up, he would persuade Kelsi to let him see her latest compositions and would sit there, reading the pieces of paper with his mouth moving silently. Something was wrong. Troy had always liked music and the theatre and – Chad mentally shuddered at the though – Ms Darbus for some unknown reason. But, he had never been so absorbed in it before.

But, what could he do? They were already in the gym practicing – nothing against his mom's rules.

He used to think he was Troy's best friend but…what kind of best friend was he if he didn't know what was up with Troy? Usually, a quick ball game and Troy was back to his happy-go-lucky and take-life-as-it-come self. He hadn't been the Troy Chad met in kindergarten since the beginning of their senior year.

Chad shook the thoughts out of his head as soon as Jack yelled, "Danforth, get'cha head in the game!"

Chad swiftly caught the flying basketball hurtling towards him with a practiced ease and dribbled it back towards the basket. "Sorry, Coach." He yelled in apology.

Troy accepted the pass his best friend was offering and threw the ball successfully into the net again. "And you say I'm not okay." He nudged Chad's shoulder and grinned.

Chad rolled his eyes. "Dream on, Hoops."

Jason approached, breathing heavily. "Both of you are going down today. You are so not going to win."

Troy whacked his friend's head. "Does it matter which team wins today? As long as I get that big championship trophy in my arms, you could win all you want. Besides, we're all on the same team at the end of the day."

Chad laughed. "Those Knights are going down."

"Hell yeah!" Jason exclaimed.

"HAT TEAM?" Chad hollered, gaining the attention of all the other players.

"WILDCATS!" Everyone chorused.

"WHAT TEAM?"

"WILDCATS!"

"WILDCATS!"

"GET'CHA HEAD IN THE GAME!"

Troy managed a small smile to his friends and teammates as he pushed through their excitement and jogged over to the bleachers for his water bottle. He took a long gulp of the cool liquid and sighed. He was not looking forward to the Wildcats versus Knights championship game coming up in a month. Facing Montez would be trouble – on and off the court – as always.

"Bolton, work on those lay-ups tonight but good effort." Jack smiled down at his son.

Troy screwed the cap back onto his water bottle and sighed. It was never 'Well done, Troy' it was always 'Nice try, Bolton'. He was beginning to believe that his name was purely Bolton – like Heathcliff in Wuthering Heights. He wouldn't tell anyone – except Kelsi and Lucille – that after having to do an English assignment in his sophomore year, Wuthering Heights was, ultimately, Troy Bolton's favourite book.

He snapped out of his thoughts and sighed. "Dad, I have to take Blitzen out straight after school and then I have homework."

"Oh, that'll be fine. I'll sort it out." Jack dismissed.

"Dad, I need this. This is part of my final grade in drama and it means a lot to me. I'll practice lay-ups tomorrow morning." Troy muttered before he jogged out of the gym and to the boys' locker room.

Damn his father and Chad and Jason and the Knights. Damn basketball. Damn everyone. He was going to take Blitzen for a twenty minute jog and then do his drama homework – an essay comparing Tennessee Williams' A Streetcar Named Desire and Cat on a Hot Tin Roof. In all honesty, it wouldn't take him all that long. He loved both of the plays and had already drawn up lists of points to compare.

But, why was the entire world – slight exaggeration? – obsessed with basketball? The world didn't revolve around basketball! There were other things important in life. And he saw it. Ever since he was a kid, basketball meant everything to him. Until four years ago when he was on death's door.

He had come down with a severe case of appendicitis and they had only just managed to save him. That gave him a different view on life. After his operation, he dropped into a mild depression which resulted in his ownership of Blitzen – no one but Lucille knew he thought of him as his baby. He couldn't live without his faithful companion.

After gaining Blitzen, he soon realised that basketball didn't have to be everything. And it shouldn't be everything. There was family and friends…helping people. During the summer vacation, he had volunteered every year at the local hospital to help ill and disabled children to play their own versions of basketball. He was incredibly patient with them and insisted that the parents did nothing for him in return.

Troy punched the nearest locker and groaned in pain and annoyance. Maybe someday he could convince everyone that the theatre was the right path for him. It wasn't like he was going out with a Knight. He hadn't lost his mind completely.