Author's Note: My friend CooCoo is a twisted freak with a slight sense of humor. She made me write this chapter or she was going to bite me. She bit me anyway, but the chapter stayed…. I'm sorry.

Chapter Ten: Sink or Swim

Taylor stood stunned in her spot. Her voice shook slightly as she spoke, "What?"

"You heard me!" Chad said. "Get out of my house. If you don't care about my friend, then I don't care about you."

Taylor stomped out of the room and slammed the front door shut with a bang. The noise echoed throughout the house as the entire gang sat in silence, waiting for something to explain what the hell had just happened.

"Chad…" Troy began. "You know you don't want to do this."

"Shut up, Troy!" Chad shouted. "You have no say in this. Just leave me alone and let me do this!"

Troy looked at Chad, tears springing into his eyes. Troy looked his friend dead in the eyes and said, "Fine. I'll go home."

As if on cue, the entire gang shouted, "No!"

Troy shook his head and headed towards the door. With three sweeping strides, Zeke blocked the doorway. "I wouldn't be a friend if I let you go back there."

"Guys," Troy said desperately. "If I don't get home soon, my dad will beat me back home and he'll be even more angry. Just let me go."

Zeke and the others exchanged a nervous look, for they knew what Troy said was true. Troy sighed and said, "Guys, once I get home, I'm already in trouble. Can I please just go?"

Everyone sat silently and Troy grinned. "Hey, Chad, can I ask you favor?"

Chad nodded. "Anything."

"I'm not in the mood to get in trouble tonight, so can you come back with me to my house, attach my wrists to the bedpost with a belt, and kick me until I pass out?"

Chad looked at Troy. Everyone froze.

"Sure thing, Buddy!" Chad said sarcastically. "While I'm at it, would you like me to burn you?"

"Haha!" Troy said sarcastically. "Been there; done that."

"What?" Sharpay gasped.

"Uhh…" Troy scratched his neck. "My dad has recently taken up smoking. He had fun with a cigarette last night." He rolled up his shirtsleeve to reveal a round burn on his upper arm. Gabriella gasped.

"Troy, are you serious?" She asked. "Did he actually do that?"

"Is this surprising?" Troy asked with a shrug. "I mean, the guy breaks my rib and this is surprising to you?"

"He broke your rib?" Kelsi gasped.

Troy paused. "No. Who said that?"

"Troy!" Ryan shouted. "Are you-"

"This has been a pleasure," Troy said happily. "But it's time for me to part. Feel free to talk about me; I know you'll do it anyway."

Troy then pushed his way past Zeke and out the front door while everyone sat dumbstruck behind him. Troy shut the door and hurried down the street, letting out a breath he didn't know he was holding. He then heard Chad's front door open and a voice call out, "Troy, wait!"

Troy stopped dead in his tracks and spun around. Ryan jogged over to Troy, Sharpay on his heels. Ryan gave a grim smile and said, "We'll give you a ride home."

Ryan had situated himself in the front seat by the time Sharpay had finished complaining that she wanted to drive. She then tried for shotgun, but Ryan had made sure that Troy was there first. Sharpay let out a scoff and threw herself in the backseat.

"So, Troy," Ryan began. Troy groaned. "You okay?"

"Do we have to talk?" Troy half-asked, half-groaned. "I know what the subject will turn to!"

"Do not!" Sharpay said.

"Do too!" Troy retorted.

"How are the Wildcats doing?" Ryan asked, smiling.

"Oh." Troy sat silently. "Season starts tomorrow."

"You think the Knights will beat you?" Sharpay asked. Then she slapped her hands to her mouth. "Okay. Um… bad wording."

"Okay, guys," Troy said with a sigh. "Go ahead. I know you'll say it eventually."

"Are you okay?" Ryan asked.

"Are you going to live?" Sharpay asked, popping her head in between the boys.

"I'm fine, and… I'm pretty sure I'm going to live," Troy answered.

"Is it bad?"

Troy shrugged. "Bad enough."

They sat silently for a moment then Troy spoke. "Ryan, you know that favor I asked Chad earlier?"

"Yeah," Ryan said.

"That wasn't funny, Troy," Sharpay said angrily.

"The thing was… I was being kinda-sorta serious…"

"What?" The twins asked loudly.

"Well, see, if my Dad finds me… not on the bedpost then he'll be really really really pissed at me," Troy explained. "And I don't want to see him when he's really really really pissed for the millionth time. I'm not asking much."

"You're asking us to tie you to a bedpost and kick you until you pass out!" Ryan exclaimed.

"See? Not much!"

---

Troy cracked open the door and stuck his head inside. He swiveled his head around but saw no sign of life in his house. Troy exhaled and opened the door wide. He stepped on the threshold on the house and made his way into the kitchen.

"Shit."

Jack was sitting at the table, his hands folded in front his him. Troy slowly flipped on the light switch and gave a nervous laugh, running his hand through his hair.

"H-h-hello," Troy said nervously.

"Where have you been, Troy?" Jack asked, a somewhat happy tone lining his voice.

"Upstairs?" Troy said hopefully.

"Hmm. Interesting. Because when I went upstairs, I didn't see you up there," Jack said.

"Maybe we just never bumped into each other!" Troy exclaimed.

"Don't be a smartass, Troy!" Jack yelled, standing up so abruptly that Troy jumped back in surprise. Troy began to back up out of the kitchen when Jack said, "Troy, you haven't done the dishes."

"What?"

"You forgot to do the dishes!" Jack said. "Now, come and get them done!"

Troy nervously stepped closer to his father and towards the sink. Steam rose eerily from the sink. Troy turned to his dad. "Dad, the sink is full of water."

"I know."

"There's no dishes."

"I know," Jack said. It was then that Troy realized that he was in very big trouble and he was kind of wishing that his punishment had nothing to do with this boiling water.

Jack was quick as lightning as he grabbed Troy by the back of the head and forced him towards the sink. Troy struggled to escape but Jack's strong hands held him in place. Just as he was about to scream, his face hit the burning water with a splash.

Troy's head was then pulled out of the sink. He gasped for air and shut his eyes as water ran off his face and onto the floor. Troy coughed and breathed just in time for his head to be pushed back into the water.

This cycle repeated until finally Jack pushed Troy's head under the water for a final time. Troy's head stayed in the boiling water as he waited for the time when his dad pulled him out of the water again, but it didn't come. Troy struggled around as Jack clamped Troy's head tightly in the sink.

Troy felt light-heated; his lungs screamed for air; his brain seemed to struggle for oxygen. He made one last attempt to escape before he went limp.

Jack gave a satisfied smile and brought Troy out of the water. He tossed his son lazily on the ground and made sure to tread on his hand before heading upstairs to his room. Once Jack reached his bedroom, he kicked the sliced belt to the side and grinned.

This had been a successful night.

---

Fans cheered wildly, their feet stomping on the wooden bleachers. The band played their instruments loudly as everyone let out wild screams. All the noise radiated, muffled, through the shut door of the locker room.

"Are you guys ready?" Troy shouted, trying to pump up the team.

"Yeah!" They screamed back and all got ready to go onto the court. Zeke led the way, ranting and screaming all the way out. Troy stayed behind, and unbeknownst to him, so did Chad. Troy pulled his shirt over his head and paused when he heard Chad's gasp.

"Why do you guys always show up at the worst times?" Troy sighed, for he knew it was Chad. He grabbed his jersey and slipped it over his head quickly. Chad shook his head, not really wanting to discuss what he had just saw.

"You ready, Bud?" Chad asked. Troy nodded and gave a smile. "Let's go kick some West High butt!"

Both ran happily out of the locker rooms and onto the court. Lights blared in their eyes and cheers blared in their ears. They waved and ran into position, waiting for the whistle to blow.

The game went by smoothly, although the Knights had decided to play a bit rough. As number 27 ran past Troy he elbowed him hard in the side. Troy yelped and the cheerleaders behind him froze.

"You jerk!" They screamed at number 27. Troy nodded his thanks to the cheerleaders although he wished they would shut the hell up.

Two of the Knights smiled at each other and headed after Troy. The Knights' main goal was to get Troy out of the game because they knew he was the Wildcats' best player and without him, the Wildcats would lose the game for sure.

Troy had the ball, all five of the opposing players closed in around him. They threw a couple of elbows right into his side and a few clipped his head; of course the ref couldn't see any of this and didn't blow the whistle.

Chad's anger rose to a surprising height and he ran over to his friend. He used his entire body to shove everyone out of the way and got towards Troy who had fallen to the ground.

The crowd let out a large gasp and watched as Chad helped Troy to his feet, the whole game momentarily on pause. Troy leaned a bit on Chad for support but stopped, realizing that he needed to get back into the game.

"You okay, 14?" The referee asked Troy.

"Yeah," Troy nodded. "Yeah, I'm fine."

The game resumed but Chad found he couldn't pay attention. He watched Troy like a hawk as he made his way around the opposing players, making sure that no one touched Troy again. Zeke had realized the other team's plan and had decided to help Chad out.

Troy clamped the ball tight in his hands, moving it to keep it out of reach of the other team. He passed it off to Jason who made his way down the court and missed an easy lay-up.

Troy felt his breathing get heavier and his chest tighten up. The room swarmed in front of his eyes; red blotches appeared throughout the gym. Troy's head got light and his felt his body sway and spin. He looked over at his dad, thinking, "Oh, God. I'm in trouble."

Troy fell to the ground and the world went black.

---

"It was exhaustion!"

"And dehydration!"

"Well, it didn't help that the Knights were all over him!"

Troy opened his eyes and saw the faces of his team circled around his face. He pulled himself up and held his spinning head tightly.

"Man, what happened?" He asked.

"You passed out!" One teammate offered.

"Your dad was screaming at the ref for a time out for about a minute before we realized you were out!" Jason said.

"Speaking of which, where is my dad?" Troy asked.

"Still screaming at the referee," Zeke said. "He's still mad because we lost."

"What?" Troy asked incredulously.

"Yeah. Without you we lost by twelve baskets!" A teammate exclaimed exasperatedly.

"Shit."

"It's all right, Troy," Chad said. "It's not your fault."

"There'll be other games!" Zeke exclaimed. The team (minus Chad and Zeke) cleared out of the locker room and headed towards the shower as Troy sat on the bench, shaking, his head in his hands.

"I'm going to be in so much trouble," He moaned.

"No, you aren't," Zeke said, even though he didn't believe it himself. "But… what happened out there?"

"I'm just… tired. I had a long night," Troy said, not removing his head from his hands.

Chad and Zeke exchanged glances. "We'll come with you tonight," Chad said. "He wouldn't dare try anything with us both there."

"No, guys, don't," Troy said. "He's not afraid to hurt you. I'd rather it me than you. You guys don't deserve this."

"And you do?" Chad asked angrily.

"Troy, no one deserves to be beaten to death!" Zeke exclaimed.

"I'm not dead!" Troy defended.

"Yet!" Zeke said.

"Thanks for that," Troy said. "Just… let me get it over with. I don't want him to brew on the thought; it could make him more mad."

"Number 14?" The referee entered the locker room. "You better now?"

"Yeah!" Troy said, too quickly. "Just peachy."

"I think you should get to the hospital, just in case," The referee said. "You could have a concussion."

"So could you!" Troy said.

"But… I didn't pass out," the ref said. "You did. You could have the concussion, not me."

"When you think about it, we could all have concussions," Troy said.

"I really think you should go to the hospital," The ref said.

"I'm fine," Troy said. "Seriously!"

"I'll have your dad deal with it!" The ref finally said.

"No! The bruises are starting to fade!" Troy said, losing control of himself.

"What?"

"I was kidding," Troy said quickly. The referee frowned.

"That's not funny, son," The ref said. "Some people actually get beaten everyday!"

"Really?" Troy asked; the ref didn't catch the sarcasm.

"Really, so don't joke about those things!" The referee stated. "I mean, how would you like it if you were the one getting beaten and someone else was making a joke of it?"

"I don't know," Troy said. "I haven't been in that situation before. Anyway… toodles."

He gathered himself up and he, Chad, and Zeke exited, leaving the referee alone in the locker room.

Author's Note: Okay, bad ending, but I know that I made your heart leap when you saw that Troy almost told. Please review with what you thought!