Devil's Last Dream

by BlackBeauty613

*HIATUS* Sequel to God's First Nightmare. With Troy and Brandon back as friends, life's never been fuller of love and opportunity. But how will that change once the two start recieving threats from their past that could ruin everything they've worked for? Troyella AU, rated for language, sex, rape, and graphic self-injury.

19. Champions

It's best if you have time to read 16 pages of this story, sorry :/

Chapter 18 – Champions

…2 MONTHS LATER…

Ten high schools, two hundred seniors, and nearly more than a thousand family members were the cause of all the commotion inside of the Albuquerque Stadium. Grandparents were daintily clapping and cheering for their grandparents who weren't yet visible on the floor, parents were sporting their respective school t-shirts and screaming at the top of their lungs for their off springs, siblings were hooting and hollering for their brothers, sisters, cousins, and any other member that they might have been there for. Even little children were bouncing in their seats in excitement, anticipation gliding through their systems as they waited for their first ever look at their siblings' hard work.

One group, East High supporters, that took up most of the tenth row nearest to the floor was probably the loudest in all of the huge room. The row started out with Zeke, Sharpay, Kelsi, and Jason holding up signs that read in huge bubble letters "EAST HIGH DOMINATION!!!" Beside them were Taylor and Ryan laughing at Chad, who was in a heated argument with a West High fan from halfway across the room. The second half was made up of Brooke, Isabelle, Troy, Gabriella, Gina, and Chase who were casually chatting with each other. Gabriella was talking to her mother, Troy was having a calm conversation with Chase, and Isabelle was filling Brooke in on some last minute info on Brandon, occasionally taking a break to scream things like "Go East High! I love you, Brandon Montez!"

Meanwhile, backstage things were pretty much in the same crazy atmosphere. As far as the eye could see, dancers were stretching, rehearsing some moves that they still weren't completely sure on, trying to psyche out other schools, and sharing their excitement with each other. They were all in their assigned uniforms, East High in their respective white and red sweats. Brandon was in his little circle of friends, chatting with Mike and Drew. After a few minutes, Drew looked up and pointed out that Todd was missing. The three looked around and finally caught him in a fierce argument with someone from the other schools. Brandon ran over to his heated friend and grabbed him by his arms, pulling him back away from the short student. He sighed. "Todd, how many times do we have to tell you that psyching people out won't work? They'll just come back with something stronger that gets in your head, not theirs."

Todd crossed his arms and grumbled "It would've worked if you hadn't attacked me."

Brandon rolled his eyes and just slapped him on his shoulder, walking away back to Mike. "He'll be fine," he reported. "Just a little over-excited."

Mike shrugged and smiled. His excitement could also be seen plainly on his face like a book. His normally pale green eyes were now glowing ablaze like emeralds and his cheeks were flushed with anticipation. He was bouncing back and forth on his feet, trying to calm himself to save all of his extra energy for when it was finally their turn on the floor. "Who can blame him? I think I seriously might explode if we don't get going soon!"

Brandon chuckled and gave him a double high-five. "Just remember TNT. We can't lose if everyone remembers to have fun and not get too competitive."

"Got it, captain."

Just as Brandon was about to go over to the wall and look out at the audience, he felt a stinging sensation in his spine, running through his body like a sudden spark of fire. He spun his head around and scanned the area. Nothing too peculiar. It was probably just a case of the nerves finally getting to him. He looked back, but it happened again, only this time much stronger. He turned his whole body and pressed it against the wall, finally recognizing the feelings as being watched; glared at. Someone was trying to psyche him out now. He gulped and ran his eyes through the crowd again and again, not finding anybody who looked murderous enough.

He felt a rapid tap on his shoulder, making him jump ten feet in the air and yell "Whoa!"

Drew's voice came after that. "Dude, calm down! You look like you're about to combust!" Brandon took a few deep breaths and blinked away the dryness of his eyes. He swallowed the little saliva that was in his parched mouth and breathed "Okay, I'm good. I just felt someone staring at my back."

Drew replied uneasily. "That's what I came over here to tell you. Look at West."

Brandon did as he was told, not seeing anything out of the ordinary. It was just the usual stretching, smack-talking to other teams, and mental warm ups with their iPods. "What about them?"

"Look behind the girl with the black shorts."

Brandon stretched his neck to peer behind the long haired brunette and gasped, jumping back into the wall.

There he was, just as scary as the stories Brandon had heard, but never believed. He believed them now. Robbie Keelson, captain of the West High Dance Team stood against the opposite wall, his huge, muscular arms crossed, one foot rested on the wall, and his tall 5'10" frame frozen against it. His arms were dressed in elbow-length tan gloves, cut off at the fingers and thumbs. It was now that Brandon realized that he had never seen him before but in his imagination when people had described him. His hair was a dirty blonde, a shade darker than Troy's, and his eyes…well Brandon couldn't exactly judge what color they were. He was too busy getting lost in their massive bonfire, like the hate was just rolling off of him in tidal waves. His fists were curled, like he was about to leap over to Brandon, rip his legs off, and watch him bleed out on the floor. He never blinked, which made Brandon even more nervous. Was this guy even human? How could someone carry such passionate hate in their eyes like that? And why was it hitting him so hard? Wasn't he the one who was just giving out advice to Todd about this?

"Robbie!" a deep, commanding voice boomed from the far corner. Robbie didn't move for a second, but his eyes dimmed down a little, letting Brandon out of their steel iron grip. Brandon blinked away the excess shock that had taken over his body and sucked in his first breath in half a minute. Robbie looked to the floor and then back up before slipping away into the crowd. Brandon caught his eyes as a deep forest green. A forest that had just had a fire put out. The hate had been replaced with something. Pain?

He slowly turned back to Drew and whispered light-headedly. "Found him…"

Drew nodded sympathetically, saying "Todd was right when he told you about him doing the same thing to Mike. That's how they win every year. He's their secret weapon."

Brandon gulped again and looked back over to the spot that Robbie had just been standing. He had left an almost visible trail of his eyes because Brandon had to immediately look away in fear of being caught and frozen again. He closed his eyes and shook his head to try and think clearly. He could do this. He had spent five years of his life giving and receiving looks that carried all of the hate that was inside of him. He should be used to this, right? He had spent so much time wondering why it all was happening to him, why he was being cursed with all of those glares. Now he finally thought "Thank you, Wolf, for actually helping me."He was fine.

He grabbed another water bottle from the refreshment table and downed it in less than fifteen seconds. He wiped his mouth with a shaking hand and sat down on the floor with his knees pulled up to his chest.

Five minutes later, all of the teams were ordered to line up in their rehearsed lines behind the curtained wall. East High was the third in line with West, thankfully, two rows behind them. Brandon could still feel the skin on his back being burned off of his bones, but tried his best to ignore it when he faintly caught wind of Isabelle's voice from the crowd outside.

The announcer welcomed everyone to the competition and guaranteed them all an amazing time watching the schools dance. He started calling the teams to the floor and they all did their introductory dances, pumping up the crowd for their specific turns.

When he reached East, calling "And from Albuquerque, give it up for East High with coach John Hilson and captain Brandon Montez!", the team ran out to the floor with Todd leading them all with his specialty, jumping into flips and landing in a split. He jumped back up and got back in his place in the pyramid that had formed, giving Brandon that head spot that everyone looked at first. His eyes immediately went up to the fifth row, locking with Isabelle's and smiling when he saw her scream "I believe in you!" He mouthed back "I love you." After that, they all hurried off to the side to make room for the rest of the teams. Brandon watched each team enter, except for West. He hid his face in pretending to sneeze during their five second entry.

While the announcer was explaining the events that would take place during the competition, Brandon let his eyes wonder through his teammates and stopped when he got to Todd. He was staring at the front row at a woman that looked to be in her early forties with strawberry-blonde hair, Todd's blue-green eyes, and his smile dimples. She was grinning warmly at him and mouthing words of encouragement while Todd smiled back, his eyes extremely thankful. Brandon figured that this had to be his mother he was communicating with, even though he had never met her before. He looked to her left and right, but found an elderly black woman and a little Asian toddler that was hanging off of his father's shoulder. Brandon frowned. He knew that Todd's father was still alive and still together with his wife, so where was he? Surely he would come to watch his son living his dream.

The teams, all except one, were ordered to go backstage again and wait to be called. Brandon went up to Todd, who was warming up his body by doing handstands against the wall. He cocked his head to the side and said "Hey, can I ask you something?"

"Sure," Todd quickly got back to his feet and let the blood drain from his face again. "What's up?"

Brandon suddenly felt that asking this was too personal and maybe Todd's dad didn't come for private reasons; reasons that Todd wouldn't exactly want to share with anyone else. Oh well, he thought, you know it's going to bug you until you do ask. "I saw you out there talking with your mom. Did your dad come?"

Todd's large eyes suddenly got darker, ashamed, and looked to the ground. He turned his back to Brandon and returned to stretching out his arms. "No, he's not coming."

"Oh." Brandon noticed the sudden change in the air and bit his lip, feeling a little awkward. Todd never got this quiet. "Did he get sick or-"

"No, he's fine," Todd cut him off, his voice dropping an octave. He still didn't turn around. "He's just not coming."

Brandon nearly punched himself in the stomach for asking his next one-word question. "Why?"

Todd's shoulders slumped and he inhaled, but didn't let it out. He leaned his hand against the wall for a few moments and finally let it slide off, turning back to Brandon. His eyes were misty and his jaw was locked, showing that he was having a hard time forming his answer. "It's nothing major. He just refuses to have anything to do with my dancing, that's it." He turned back to the wall and started stretching out his legs.

The booming music from the outside didn't block out the next word that left Brandon's mouth. "What?!"

"He thinks that any kind of dance is for girls or gay guys, so he gives no support or recognition whenever something about it comes up."

Brandon's mouth still didn't close. "Has he ever seen you? Has he ever even seen you flip? Dude, you're amazing!"

Todd shrugged. "He doesn't care. And the only time he's ever seen me flip is when I practice on our trampoline. I try to do it only when he's at work, but sometimes he catches me and grounds me."

"For doing something you love?"

Todd didn't answer the question. Instead, he just hissed "Shouldn't you be stretching like the rest of us?!"

Brandon recoiled like he'd just been slapped in the face. That was the first time that he'd ever seen Todd snap like that. He'd always been the silly, spirit-lifter that everyone loved hanging around, never having a care in the world. Even though Brandon couldn't see his face, he knew that he was about to cry. Todd was even more sensitive than him. He put up a good front, but Brandon used his special talent of reading his second layer of body language to figure out that he was about to break down.

"You're right," he finally whispered, stepping back away from him. "Sorry."

As he slumped back to his corner, Michael stopped him. "Everything okay?"

Brandon shrugged and lied "Yeah, I'm fine. Just a little worried about Todd. I think I really pissed him off."

Mike rolled his eyes and groaned. "You didn't ask him about his dad, did you?"

Brandon gulped, sinking back into the wall. "How was I supposed to know the guy was sexist?"

Mike sighed. "You know, his mom's taking a big risk just being here. He's really old-fashioned, thinking that everyone that lives under his roof has to live by his rules. He doesn't let his wife work except at home. And if Todd ever brings up any interest in a girl at school or somewhere, he wants to meet them before the first date. I'm telling you, Brandon, the guy's a real hard-ass. And God knows what he'd do if he ever found out about the singing…"

"What singing?"

Mike froze for a second before slowly asking "Seriously, how clueless are you? You didn't know that Todd's real dream is to record a CD of songs he's been writing since he was 10?"

"Really?"

"What do you think he does in class when he's not listening? Why do you think he's in chorus and band aside from dance?"

Brandon let his head slam against the wooden wall, ignoring the throbbing pain that followed. "I really need to start hanging out with you guys more. How good is he?"

"I was over at his house one day and thought he had the TV playing some a cappella, but when I walked in he was just lying on his bed with his eyes closed with no electronics on. It was really incredible. You need to hear him sometime."

"Does his mom know all of this?"

Mike nodded and looked out the crack in the wall at the audience. "Everything. She was the one who secretly signed him up for gymnastics when he was little, the one who encouraged him to join this team, and she was the first one who ever heard his songs. They really aren't bad, by the way. We don't give him enough credit for how smart he can be."

Brandon raised an eyebrow. Todd, a singer? That was something he never thought he'd hear. But now that he thought about it, it did start to make some sense. "You think you'd know a guy after eleven years and then this…"

Mike laughed, patting Brandon's shoulder. "Don't worry. I only found out two months ago."

Brandon sighed and got to his feet, arching his back and cracking his knuckles. "I think we're next. Have you seen Coach?"

Mike looked around for a second before pointing to the far end of the room where the sound system was being plugged in. "He's giving the DJ our music. Thank God he finally remembered for once. We had to make an emergency one last year on my mom's laptop."

Brandon rolled his eyes. "That's Coach for you…"

Not even three minutes later, Brandon and the team were out on the darkened floor in their frozen positions, each one of them running on nothing but adrenaline alone and all sporting a dominant look on their faces. Everyone except Todd. Before they head out, Brandon gave a quick glance in his direction and groaned upon viewing the distraught, far-away look in his eyes and pulling down the corners of his mouth. He shouldn't be going out there looking like someone had just killed his dog. Brandon would have to apologize before they so much as set a foot backstage again.

Brandon shook the depressing thought from his mind as he heard them being introduced. "And now, make some noise for Albuquerque's East High!"

"Right Round" started from the multiple sound systems spread out around the arena and as the lyrics began, the boys jumped ahead from the human line and started twisting their hips around in a slow, sensual rhythm to the music. The girls followed them a few seconds later, copying their movements and receiving a few cat calls from the audience. Brandon looked up and had to use all of his effort to suppress a barking laugh when he saw the faces on all of his friends' and family's faces. His parents' faces were blank of all emotion, except he could see a little disbelief in his father's features. He hadn't seen his son dance since he was about eleven. The gang's eyes were wide and their open mouths were all pulled up a little at the edges. Brooke was nearly hyperventilating and whistling over and over, screaming "Oh yeah, baby!" He wasn't sure if she was excited for the boys or the girls, or maybe both, remembering Isabelle's story about her lifestyle. His eyes switched to Isabelle and his heart nearly melted. He could tell she was holding her breath, stunned by her boyfriend's sexy moves that left her limp. Her eyes were filled with the pride that he had been aiming for. After all, she was most of the reason he was up there in the first place.

After a round of back-breaking, but overwhelmingly stunning performing, the team soaked in the roaring applause from the onlookers. They'd been given a standing ovation, unlike the school before them. Brandon mentally shook his head when he saw Chad stand from his seat and turn to the student that he was arguing with before. He could see him mouth "Oh, what now?! Suck it!" Taylor grabbed his arm and pulled him back down to the bleacher, not being able to help herself and exploded into a fit of giggles. She said something to her secret boyfriend and he replied, making her peck him on the lips.

They ran backstage, screaming their heads off and congratulating each other on their extraordinary work. Even Todd looked more soulful. Brandon decided that he needed to talk to him as soon as possible if he wanted the newfound happiness to last.

He shushed the team and announced slowly "Professional MTV actors have absolutely nothing on us if we perform like we just did for the rest of the day! We were phenomenal, guys! Keep it up and everyone else is going down!" He inhaled sharply when he felt the piercing daggers that were officially called Robbie's eyes stabbing into his back, but exhaled and ignored it when he caught a glimpse of Todd. He pushed through his teammates and grabbed his shoulder before he walked away. "Todd."

Todd turned and his eyes dimmed when he saw who was calling him. He didn't respond, crossing his arms over his chest childishly, but he didn't leave either. Brandon took that as an opportunity to continue.

"Listen, man, I just want to say I'm sorry for pushing you into talking about your dad. It was none of my business and I should've realized that earlier. Do you forgive me?"

Todd looked up at him with eyes that didn't change. They still kept the same angry, hesitant vibe. He took a deep breath before cracking a grin, holding out his hand. "Of course I do. I can't stay mad at you for something stupid."

Brandon took his hand and shook it, smiling. "It's not stupid. I was being nosy and I seriously need to work on it."

"Glad to see you finally realized that."

Just as he was about to reply, Brandon found himself being lurched forward and knocked into Todd. He took a few seconds to recollect himself before spinning around and finding nothing, no one close enough who could have bumped into him purposely. It had to be on purpose.

"What happened?" Todd asked, helping Brandon steady himself on his feet.

Brandon looked around for a few more seconds and whispered "I don't know. Someone shoved me."

"Who?"

Brandon took one last look toward the front wall where West now stood in their formation, Robbie in the back with his arms crossed. He hadn't realized that they'd been called up. Brandon took a closer look. Robbie's head was facing the ground, but his head was cocked a little to the right. Brandon held his breath when he found his eyes not-so-secretly watching him now, a hint of amusement tracing in the forest green fire, which was now blazing again and burning up all of Brandon's remaining restraint. He couldn't look away. Robbie was just so angry, so ferocious. What could have possibly happened in his life to make him hate someone he's never even met before?

"Hey! Brandon!" Todd snapped his fingers in front of his friend's face twice, bringing him back from his moment of fear.

"Huh?"

Todd repeated his previous assumption. "You think it could've been Keelson? He's looking at you like he did."

Brandon shrugged. "Maybe. Don't know." He pushed past Todd and headed back for his corner.

A half an hour later, East High was ready to go back out again to perform their second dance, which was a repeat of "Let it Rock".

Isabelle grabbed Brooke's arm and automatically started shrieking. "Oh my God, Brooke! I love this one! They did it at the school dance!"

Brooke bit her lip. "I don't know, Izzy, I'm not sure anything can top that last one."

Troy leaned around his cousin and told her "No, trust her on this. These guys are amazing with 'Let it Rock'."

When the dance was finished, Brooke stood up again and yelled "Okay, that was clearly the second sexiest thing I've ever seen in my life!"

"What's the first?" Gabriella asked.

Brooke gave her a sly grin. "Your brother." Isabelle just slapped her on the arm, smiling along with her.

The competition rolled on and with each dance, the crowd got even more and more anxious to find out who was going to win. They were all so stunning it was almost heartbreaking. Each one of them was in perfect sync with each other and yet they were still trying to outdo the perfection.

East had just finished their last dance of the night and as they were walking back, Brandon was tapped on the shoulder. He turned reluctantly, afraid that it might be Robbie finally ending the game and had come to kill him already, but instead he blinked. A slender blonde stood in front of him and from the look of his sweats, he must have belonged to Highland. He had a seductive grin on his face with what looked like shiny lip balm covering them. His hazel eyes were lined in dark eye liner and mascara along with black and white eye shadow. Brandon nearly jumped back. He knew exactly what was about to happen.

"Hey there." The teen greeted him. The sound of his nasally voice confirmed Brandon's assumption.

Brandon's eyes shifted. "…hi?" he finally replied.

The colorful boy in front of him placed a hand on his hip dramatically, looking over Brandon's built body slowly. "I saw you dancing out there," he said slowly. "looked pretty good. I especially like the…hip movement."

Brandon gulped for what seemed to be the hundredth time that day. Was this guy serious? Did he not see that Brandon was obviously going down the straight and narrow and not taking a U-turn? "Sorry, I'm taken."

"Oh, I know," He pointed a perfectly manicured finger up to the fifth row. "I've watched you stare at your boyfriend up there all day." He cocked his head to the side, seeming to deliberate for a second. "Eh, he's pretty cute. But not as mouthwatering as you."

Brandon nearly choked up the gallon and a half of water that he drank in the last hour as he watched Troy chat with Brooke. As calmly as he could without hyperventilating, he said "Troy? He's my best friend."

"Is that what you call yourselves? That's so cute."

Brandon shook his head. "See the blonde next to the girl beside him?"

The blonde looked up and grimaced. "What about her?"

Brandon tried to ignore the rude face and said "Listen for a second."

He huffed, rolled his eyes, and finally looked out at the crowd. Brooke was whispering something in Isabelle's ear, which made her roll her eyes and blush, but she stood up and screamed "I LOVE YOU, BRANDON MONTEZ!!!"

Brandon smiled and poked his head out from the wall, yelling back "LOVE YOU TOO, BABE!!!" Isabelle blew him a kiss.

Brandon faced the annoyed teen again and grinned. "You're a witness. Oh, and for the record," He pointed up to Troy and Gabriella, who were sharing a very passionate, loving kiss. When they separated, she rested her head in his chest, closing her tired eyes. "He's straight, too. Sorry." The boy rolled his eyes and stomped off in the other direction.

Drew came up to Brandon and grimaced. "Were you just talking to Andy Thompson?"

Brandon raised an eyebrow. "Was that his name?"

The dark-skinned dancer chuckled. "Yeah, he's been hitting on every single guy here. What'd he say to you?"

Brandon fought to keep the contents down in his stomach. "He thought that Troy was my boyfriend. Thank God he and Gabriella aren't ashamed of their PDA."

Drew laughed for a second before stopping short, sighing. "You idiot."

"Who?"

Drew pointed to the far corner of the room where Brandon had spent the dark patches of the day. He winced when his eyes fell upon Robbie's huge body and scorching eyes, which for once weren't focused on freezing Brandon. He was leaning his head against the wall in his signature position: arms crossed across his chest and his right foot crossed over his left. Andy was in front of him, gawking at his gloriously muscular body.

"Wait for it…" Drew slowly whispered, grinning with every word that left his mouth.

Then it happened and Drew grabbed Brandon's arm and dragged him backward a few paces, the smile of his face growing and growing. "This is gonna be good."

Robbie's eyes snapped open and his gaze immediately fell to the medium-sized boy in front of him. Andy wasn't afraid. He just simply grinned and placed his hand on his hip again, saying "Hey, cutie."

"3…2…" Drew counted down.

In the place of 1 came a loud shriek. Brandon blinked so he didn't see the action that changed the scene in front of him. One second Andy was trying to win over Robbie and the second, Robbie's hand created a strangling vice grip on Andy's thin neck. Andy's hands flew up to Robbie's huge hand and his mouth popped open, begging for air and a release. His legs were dangling beneath him, trying to find the ground but having no such luck.

The air left Brandon's lungs as he watched Robbie's hand tighten and his eyes zero in on Andy's, whose face was beginning to pale to a dangerous white. His trembling body was the obvious reason for the sudden silence in the room. Andy was struggling to get the minimum amount of blood to his brain in order to choke out "P-please…stop."

A West teammate, who was just a little smaller than Robbie, stepped forward and begged "Robbie, let him go! You're gonna get us disqualified!"

Robbie ignored him as his grip tightened even more, making Andy's eyes roll back into his head. Just as he was about to finish him off, the same adult, booming voice from before sounded through the room. "ROBERT!!!" the man screamed.

Robbie's eyes flashed over to the doorway in the side of the room, where a dark silhouette was standing. The man's fists were curled and his feet were spread apart, making his appearance even more intimidating with his tall frame. Brandon expected him to succeed as well as everyone else had, but when he looked back over to Robbie, he sucked in a sharp breath.

Robbie's hand was quickly loosening, letting Andy fall the two feet to the floor and begin gasping for air and letting the blood flow back into his face. The forest fire was history, leaving his usual green eyes darker than usual and giving them a brownish look. When Brandon took a closer look, he saw that some brown had actually leaked into them. His body was frozen with recognizable shock and fear while his mouth was open with the scream that he could not emit. Brandon and Drew had absolutely no idea what was happening, but it made their hearts come to a standstill.

"Get your ass over here NOW!!!" the man snarled, making Robbie chisel himself out of his shock and flinch away from him. He gulped and shakily dragged his feet over to the doorway, holding his hands in front of him. When he reached the doorway, his t-shirt was grabbed and he was pulled into the room. The door was slammed after the sharp tearing sound of the fabric.

The schools all looked around nervously at each other, trying to comprehend what had just happened. Andy was still writhing in agony on the ground with several of his teammates trying to help him up. When he seemed to have a hold on himself, the boy who first told Robbie to let him go ran over and asked "Hey, are you okay?"

Andy glared up at him. "Your friend's a freak! He should be sentenced to life in prison or killed!"

"I'm sorry about him. He just gets really agitated when things don't go his way and-"

"Has he always been this cynical?!" Andy screeched, stepping forward toward the West competitor. "Or did he just miraculously wake up one day and say to himself 'I think I'm going to kill someone today'?!"

The teen held up his hands defensively. "No, but you're not the first person that this happened to. I think it's best if you just don't talk to him anymore."

"Really?!" Andy sarcastically sneered. "You do know that as captain of Highland, I have full authority to-"

"Report this to your coach and get us disqualified, I know. Just calm down and think about this because I swear to you that this won't happen again."

"How can you be so sure?!"

He pointed to the door, where several loud, muffled screams were coming from and said "I think I can give you a reason. Just keep your mouth shut, please."

Andy glared at him for a second before looking back over to the door. A low thud cracked against the wall and the man's voice could barely be made out.

Andy huffed again and said "Fine. But if your little captain so much as looks at me again, I'll have his hard-ass out of here so fast he won't even have time to-"

"Everything okay back here?" Coach Hilson came from the front wall, standing beside Brandon and Drew. "I heard screaming."

Andy mumbled "Everything's fine."

Hilson made quick eye contact with Brandon, who just mouthed "Later." He nodded and announced "Okay, well, the captain dance is going to start in about five minutes. Is everyone here?"

Nine hands raised themselves into the air.

"Who's missing?" Hilson looked around before it dawned on him. "Where's Robbie Keelson?"

The door on the side wall flew open again and Robbie stumbled out, his face ashen and his t-shirt ripped open from his right shoulder to the top if the hem on his left side. His body was trembling, but he put up his shaking hand and stammered "R-right here."

"Are you okay?" Hilson looked him over, his eyes widening.

Robbie nodded and said "I tripped on my way back from the bathroom. I just need to go change my shirt."

The East coach raised an eyebrow, not buying it for a second. He refrained from asking him where his bruises were and replied. "Okay. Hurry up."

Robbie turned and reluctantly stepped through the door again, disappearing into the dark room.

A few minutes later, the ten captains were lined up on the darkened dance floor. Brandon was the last in the line beside and was standing beside the captain of Albuquerque High. Next to him was Andy and the line continued with Robbie on the end. Brandon silently thanked the heavens that he was the farthest away from him.

The announcer began introducing all of the captains. A spotlight was flashed in front of all of them in which they had to step into. When it was finally Brandon's turn, his eyes floated up to his support group and smiled widely at them. They were all on their feet, screaming and pumping their fists into the air. He just smiled when he saw his dad, who was giving him two thumbs up and nodding in approval. It was then that Brandon realized how much he had to win this. He had to show his father that he could sleep at night without worrying that his son was wasting his life away. Addiction ran in their family and Brandon had to prove that he was already taken.

The dancers got in their positions and waited for "Freeze" to start. When it did, Robbie was the first to move. West fans cheered as he did his short, tight dance for the few seconds before the next person in line took over for him. This continued until it got to Andy, who jumped forward, shook his hips in a feminine manner and pointed to Brandon with pure lust in his golden hazel eyes. Brandon flinched backward but felt comfort when he faintly heard Isabelle shout "Excuse me?!" Brooke followed with "Hell no!"

While the next person broke down into movement, Andy glared up at Isabelle and mouthed "Skank."

Isabelle's mouth dropped open. She threw her purse into Brooke's lap and screeched "Hell no! Hold my purse!"

Troy wrapped his arms around her waist and pulled her back down, saying "Izzy, calm down. I'm sure Brandon will take care of it backstage."

She continued to growl under her breath and glower at the grinning teen. "Aren't gay guys supposed to be awesome?"

Brooke muttered "It's guys like that who give us bad names…"

Their spirits were lifted when Brandon exploded into perfect, sharp moves that sent everyone into applause and had Isabelle yelling "I love you, sweetie!" He turned his head to Andy and raised an eyebrow as if to say "Told you." The blonde just rolled his eyes.

The performers continued dancing solo, together, and in pairs in some friendly competition, all the while soaking up their respective applause from their fans. Andy continued to try and hit on Brandon, making Isabelle more and more furious that this little piece of crap didn't get the point by now.

It seemed that Brandon wasn't the only one that Robbie had a negative effect on. Every time he looked up into the audience, Troy and Isabelle gasped at his intense green eyes, which never seemed to cool off and put out the blazing fire that they held. She scooted a little closer into her cousin every time she screamed Brandon's name, which seemed to trigger more and more of Robbie's anger. After a few minutes, Isabelle just stopped cheering altogether.

The song ended, and every person was on their feet, congratulating the hard-labored efforts that their friends or family had just expressed. Isabelle and Troy got up the courage to cheer again at the end, trying their best to ignore Robbie who they could feel boring holes into their skin.

The captains spread apart to make way for the rest of their teammates. After a few seconds of allowing some patting on the back, the announcer ordered everyone to calm down and let the judges deliberate. Brandon dared his eyes to drift over to Robbie to see if he was trying to get in his head again, but instead blinked in surprise. The look on his face brought back a strong sense of déjà vu to the day that he and Troy had had their first fist fight. His face, chalky white and terrified, his chest rising a falling at a rapid rate, and his eyes holding a dark secret that Brandon wasn't sure he wanted to know. His lips were moving, most likely talking to himself. He forced his eyes to look away, not being able to handle the memory that he wanted to banish forever.

The head judge finally cleared his throat and spoke into the mic. "We've come to a decision." Robbie flinched and slammed his eyes shut. Brandon pretended that he didn't notice. "The five teams that made it to the national championships are…Highland High."

Andy led his team into the spotlight, all the while jumping up and down like a teenage girl who just bought the perfect prom dress. Brandon rolled his eyes.

"…Albuquerque High…"

"Cibola High…"

"Valley High…and finally, the first place winners are…"

Brandon and Mike's breath hitched in their throats. Oh no, they both thought doubtfully. Not again, not West…

Robbie let out the breath that he had been holding for a while and threw his head back, breathing "Yes. Thank you…"

The gang up in the stands all gasped and groaned, predicting what the outcome was going to be. West had won for the past three years with Robbie as their captain and no matter who was the head of all the other teams, no one could change that. Robbie was the best. Everyone knew it. Nobody questioned it. Their spirits were dropped before the obvious answer was even spoken.

"East High."

Say what now?!

Brandon's eyes widened as the screaming started from his friends around him. Todd came running up to him and screaming "DUDE!!! WE WON!!!"

Brandon was frozen in his footsteps, the adrenaline not yet starting up. They won?

A strong blow came on his shoulder, knocking him out of his shock and off of his feet. He fell to the floor and looked up at Mike who was already helping him back up and heard him shout "Go! Go get the trophy!"

Brandon felt his lips stretch to his ears and his breath come out in short, almost laugh-like huffs. They won. They actually won.

He scrambled over to the judging table and let his fingers close around the huge 4', shiny gold dance trophy with a noticeable 1 at the top. The lump grew in his throat as he raised it over his head and screamed his lungs out like everyone else. His team grabbed him by the legs and hoisted him up in the air to sit on their shoulders, screaming along with him. The East supporters up in the audience sprang out of their seats and roared with thunder, forcing the floor into vibration. There was also a little clapping from the other schools, except West who were sulking with disappointment. That was when everyone realized that East had the widest fan base.

The captains of the schools all came to shake each other's hands, congratulating the ones in the top five. Brandon politely obliged to everyone's handshakes except Andy, who he just gave a thumbs up to when the blonde went to shake his hand. Andy just winked at him and skipped off to go meet up with his team.

Brandon gulped when he realized that he had only shook eight hands, meaning that he was missing someone in particular. He let his head twist to look at Robbie, who was staring straight ahead at a face in the audience. He suddenly winced and his mouth fell open before he shut his eyes and took a shaky breath. Brandon felt a strange feeling of guilt for him. But it wasn't enough to overpower the incredible feeling of finally leading his team to victory against them. So they lost one year, big whoop. Didn't he have three other years that he could feed off of?

That last thought have Brandon the courage to stroll over to the large brick wall and hold out his hand, saying "You did a great job."

Robbie's eyes snapped open and the muddy woods that had resided in them before focused in on Brandon's outstretched hand, using his skin as the fuel to set off the bonfire again. His lazy gloved fists curled into trembling fists and his mouth clamped shut, locking his teeth together. He just simply stared at Brandon's hand, which was shrinking back towards him followed by his whole body back to his team. Robbie finally looked up and captured Brandon's eyes into the fires of hell, making him stop for a second before using his remaining strength to turn his body and run for his life back to his friends.

When he stopped to catch his breath, he turned his head to see if Robbie was still glowering at him, but saw that he was nowhere to be found. He stood up straight and took a deep breath of relief. That experience was definitely going on his top five list of his life's scariest moments.

His trembling energy was quickly translated into a smile when he was called up to join his coach in the winning speech. Hilson had just gotten done telling everyone how hard the team had worked and how badly they deserved this spot in the nationals list. He stepped back and let Brandon speak.

"I'm sorry," he chuckled. "My body's here but I think my mind's still reeling on the moment right before we won." He paused for everyone to get a quick laugh. "I just wanted to thank my team for voting me captain again after just one day of rejoining the team. You may have heard that EHS is crazy, but it's people like us that give it our good name. And thanks to all the parents who have been so patient with your kids and supported all of their hard work. Now you see why we were so stressed out these past few months. We wanted to overtake all of these amazing schools, who by the way, should get a trophy just for trying so hard. And I'll just be a little conceited right now; if you're in my group just get up and scream for your school."

The gang got to their feet again and followed orders, waving the domination sign back and forth excitedly.

"Those guys are the reason that I stuck with this for so long. My parents, my sister, my best friend, and the biggest reason-basically the whole reason for my existence-my girlfriend, Isabelle Johnson. I love you, babe."

Despite her red-hot cheeks, Isabelle yelled back "I love you too, sweetie!"

Brandon smiled back. "Thanks again for coming! You guys are amazing!" There was another round of applause for the winning school as the teams all filed back backstage, leading themselves to go get their things. While walking out, Brandon heard someone say "Any sign of him yet?"

"Nope," someone else replied. "He just disappeared. But who can blame him? I mean, his dad's gonna kill him for losing. I'm not surprised, actually. I would've run away too if I were in his situation. Did you see that look he was giving Montez?"

Brandon pretended to be looking for something in his gym bag as he eavesdropped intently on their conversation. He had a sinking feeling in his gut that told him who they were talking about.

"Yeah. Bless Brandon's heart that he had the guts to go over there and try to shake his hand. Oh well. I'm sure he'll turn up somewhere."

Brandon thought about what he had just heard for a second. Robbie ran away? Because of his dad? It made no sense. Why would a huge, bad-ass like Robbie be afraid of his father? And why would his father kill him after losing after trying his very hardest against nine other talented schools? Surely he wasn't that drunk off of their previous victories. He finally shook it from his mind, feeling the depressing thoughts give his happiness some claustrophobia in his brain.

After heading back out to the dance floor and seeing the flood of people that had formed to come pick up their kids, Brandon stood on his toes and looked around for his group. How hard could it be to find thirteen people with a sign?

"BRANDON!!!"

He whizzed around and cracked a grin when he found his friends and family staring at him with excitement and pride. Gina ran over and buried him in a huge bear hug, crying "Oh, sweetie! I'm so proud of you!"

Brandon chuckled. "Thanks, mom." Chase then emerged behind Gina and smiled down at his son, hugging him as well. "Well I'll be damned. I forget how amazing you were."

Brandon patted his father's back and sighed. "It's okay, dad. You saw me at my best this time."

His heart just about broke through his ribcage when he heard his favorite sound in the entire world. "Where is he?!" Isabelle's voice sounded through the crowd, who was shrill but her voice was the only one that Brandon heard from then on out. "Where's-BRANDON!!!"

"Izzy…" He simply said, letting his bag fall to the ground to prepare for what he knew was about to happen.

She violently shoved through everyone until she could leap onto her boyfriend, wrapping her legs around his waist and throwing her arms around his neck. "Oh my God, Brandon, you were incredible! Better than last time!"

Brandon rested his chin on her shoulder, hugging her with all of his strength as well. "It was all for you, you know that, right?"

Isabelle faced him for a second, raising an eyebrow. "Stop lying. You do it for more people than me."

"You're a huge majority."

She smiled warmly and, cupping his face in her small hands, pressed her lips to his lovingly. "I missed you…"

"Missed you more…" he replied into her mouth, drawing small circles on her back with his thumb.

"Whoa!" A voice that feigned authority came thundering behind Isabelle, unwrapping her legs from Brandon's torso and placing them back on the ground. "Izzy, didn't I advise you to control yourself until I met your significant other?"

Isabelle rolled her eyes, moving her arms to hug Brandon's abs. "Sorry, Brooke. This is officially Brandon Montez. Brandon, this is my best friend, Brooke Underwood."

Brandon blinked a few times when it dawned on him that he had never seen Brooke before, not even in a picture even though Isabelle always talked about her. She was just about what you would call short, probably 5' 6" in height with tanned olive skin. Her brown hair was a little past her shoulders with dyed blonde highlights all over the place. Her eyes were a strange combination of brown and green, nothing like Robbie's, framed with long eyelashes and heavy eyeliner. The sparkle in her eyes brought back the memory of Isabelle telling him that she used to be closed off and shy. The shining light looked like it had been there since birth. He couldn't imagine her ever being timid.

"Hey, Brooke, what's u-"

It caught him off guard so fast, he didn't have time to process what was going on. His back was quickly shoved against the wall and his face was cradled in Brooke's soft hands. But he couldn't ask what the hell was going on; Brooke's lips on his shot all possibility of that idea.

When she pulled back a few seconds later, she wiped her mouth and grinned over at Isabelle, who was rolling her eyes and mumbling "So?"

Brooke shrugged. "Wow. He's a good kisser even when he's not kissing back. You're good."

Isabelle giggled sarcastically. "Didn't really need confirmation, but thank you."

Brandon was still frozen back against the wall. "Would someone like to inform me what the hell just happened?"

Isabelle explained. "Sorry about that. When my boyfriend cheated on me a few years ago, Brooke thought up a great idea," he could hear the friendly sarcasm in her voice again. "Whenever I agreed to go out with someone, she would be the first person that they would meet and before they could get a good look at her face, she would kiss them. If they kissed back, there was a chance that they would cheat on me. So since you didn't kiss back, she thinks there's no possibility that you would ever see someone else while I was gone. Does that make any sense to you?"

Brandon raised an eyebrow. "I don't think anything makes sense right now; I'm still trying to wear off the shock."

Brooke beamed. "Even better!" When his gaze didn't let up, she laughed. "Don't worry, it won't happen again. I'm not a total whore."

"Good to know."

Mike pushed through the hoards of people to get to Brandon, Amy hanging onto his arm with a bright smile on her face. "Good job, Brandon," she said, giving him a hug. "You were great."

Brandon grinned back. "Thanks, Amy. Glad you all liked it." He looked over her shoulder at Mike and said "Hey, are you leaving already?"

Mike nodded. "Yup, Coach is taking us all out to dinner, his treat. You coming?"

Brandon looked down at Isabelle and his father. He shook his head. "Nah, I'll catch up with you guys tomorrow for the party. Have fun."

Mike shrugged. "Kay. I'll tell them. See you later."

"Bye, dude."

Troy and Gabriella came through the people and smiled widely when they saw Brandon. Gabriella hugged him tightly and squealed "Amazing, Brandon, simply perfect! I'm so proud of you!"

"Thanks, Gabs." She stepped aside and let he and Troy do their special handshake. "You were seriously really awesome, dude. Great job."

"Thanks, Troy."

Chase loudly stated over the group. "We better get going and beat the traffic rush. We're all meeting over at Gina's?"

Everyone nodded and began to walk out of the building, but were stopped by a tight ball of people looking out of the huge side window that made up the left wall. Brandon and Isabelle, hand in hand, excused themselves from their friends and ran over to see what all the commotion was about. Brandon asked "What's going on?"

A woman who looked like a West parent, told him "Someone called an ambulance and it just got here. Looks like they're headed for the back room backstage."

Brandon and Isabelle gave a quick look to each other before she urged "Go see what it is. We'll wait out here."

Brandon took off in the other direction and ran back to the arena. A cluster of people were just beginning to form around the door, so he sleekly slid past them and into the backstage room, seeing paramedics rush in with a stretcher and commanding people out of the way. He hurried over to Mike and Todd and demanded "What happened?"

Todd shrugged. "Not sure. We were back here about to head out when we heard someone screaming for someone to call 911. They just got here."

Mike added to that. "There were only about five people that got in there and they said that there was tons of blood in the men's bathroom. Someone probably slipped or something."

A few moments later, the paramedics reappeared through the door with the body on the stretcher, a sheet pulled up to right below his paling neck. A breathing mask was covering most of his face, so Brandon didn't exactly get a good look at his face, but he could see that whoever it was must have been an adult, for their muscular body was beyond most of the teens that he had seen that day. He was proven wrong when he saw a few members of West coming from the door as well, all looking deathly afraid of what might happen to the man on the stretcher.

A hand fell out of the sheet. Brandon barely caught sight of the ivory cut off glove that covered his pale skin.

Brandon just barely heard what they were saying above all the noise. "I found him on the floor of a bathroom stall with the knife in his hand and his head on the floor. The blood was running about a foot and a half out of the door; that's how I found him. Has anyone told his dad yet?"

His teammate shook his head. "No, but I don't think it really matters. I doubt he'll care since we lost, anyway. I'm surprised no one looked for him in the bathroom before when he first went missing."

That was all Brandon needed to hear before he ran out of the room and back to his friends. He couldn't stand to hear anymore about the obvious suicide attempt. Not when he was so happy. He flashed a semi-fake smile when he returned to his family again, feeling most of that happiness returning back to him. But when he blinked, all he could feel was fear at the blazing forest fire that he was staring into, watching melt into a bloody mess…

I was having trouble falling asleep last night and just started letting my mind wonder and I thought: "Wouldn't it be awesome if GFN/HM got turned into movies?" So I started thinking of actors who could play the characters other than the ones who already do. So I'm just wondering:

Who would you choose to play who if these stories were turned into movies? Here's a list of all the characters in the stories so far:

Troy
Gabriella
Brandon
Chad
Taylor
Sharpay
Zeke
Jason
Ryan
Michael
Todd
Drew
Gina
Chase
Brick
Coach Wolf
Lucy
Jack
Isabelle
Sarah
Darbus
Amy
Robbie

You don't have to do this and you don't even have to cast everyone. It's just something that I thought would be fun :)