His parents were fighting again. They were fighting for what seemed like the hundredth time that week. All week it seemed to Jason that his mom and dad only talked about some boy. Some boy who's name was never said in their house. It was like an unspoken rule, that some boy's name wasn't said. Even at age twelve, Jason didn't know what or who they were talking about.
Jason was sent to his room as he didn't do anything though. He was sitting in the living room, watching a basketball game with his dad, and they were having a good time, but then his mother came home from grocery shopping, and said she ran into someone that was familiar. He wasn't stupid, that someone familiar had a name, he just didn't know what it was yet.
But as his dad hardly responded to it, his mom got madder and madder, and then a full fight broke out with screaming and yelling. His mom sent him up to his room so they could probably actually use names instead of descriptive codes that Jason was going to find out sooner or later.
He stopped at the end of the hallway. He could either keep going down the hall and to his room, or he could take a sharp left turn and go into his father's study room. His parents were by now in the kitchen yelling, which just happened to be ever so conveniently under his father's den. He would be able to hear perfectly whatever his parents were saying since there was a vent, and then maybe he could get some answers.
Jason took a left turn and opened the creaky old door. His father's study had a desk, various bookshelves built into the wall, and a huge open window. Along side the walls without books on them though, there were trophies, pictures, and various other trinkets his father collected.
Jason crouched down onto the floor and crawled behind the desk.
"We have to talk about it sometime! We can't just keep hiding the fact that he has a brother!" Cassie screeched as Jason winced at the shrill sound.
Another slam was heard and he was guessing it was his father who slammed his hand down onto the counter. He always liked doing that.
"It's HALF-BROTHER! I don't know why you make such a big deal about it all the time!" Andrew shouted back as Jason was slowly placing the things into place.
"I see Lucille nearly every week at the stores! What am I supposed to do too, huh?!" She demanded with an almost like panic.
It got quiet as Jason was waiting nearly on edge. Finally, he heard something as he had to get even closer to the vent.
"Was Troy with her?"
It wasn't a demand. It wasn't a command. His dad wasn't bossing his mom around, and he didn't yell it.
It was merely a question.
"What does it matter?!" Jason heard his mom ask as he didn't want to hear anymore of it.
He only knew of one Troy, and that Troy was Troy Bolton. Jason was in the sixth grade, he switches classes with different students, so he was bound to have at least one class with the only Troy in the school, and that class just happened to be gym.
He had noticed as one of the best kids at basketball that whenever they got to play it on a choice day, Troy was also a pretty decent player. Jason just never understood why Troy never tried out for the traveling team. But it didn't matter seeing as they weren't even friends. They had never talked in their lives together.
"He's my son too." Andrew reasoned in a ridiculously calm tone.
Cassie was getting fed up as it was getting more awkward and awkward each time she saw Lucille and Troy out and about downtown. She knew people talked in town. They lived in a small town, so it made sense, since almost everyone knew each other. But it got really bad when people would see the two women interact with each other.
Cassie rolled her eyes. "If he's YOUR son, then do something about it! I'm sick and tired of avoiding people, and being gossiped about! If he's your son then act like a father and ask for custody or something with him!"
Jason blinked in surprise as he stumbled backwards to avoid hearing the rest of the conversation. He didn't want a brother. A brother who was also good at basketball. That was a father-son thing, he wasn't willing to share.
As Jason stood up and grabbed onto the shelf, he accidentally pulled on a picture frame. He watched it crash to the ground and he quickly bent down again to retrieve it. The glass smashed all over the hardwood flooring, but Jason still managed to pick up the picture to see which one he broke. If it wasn't one dealing with basketball, then he was safe.
He double looked again as he thought he saw two pictures instead of one. He gingerly lifted the first one up and saw that it was one of his father, mother, and him at Disneyland. But the second one, the one that was in back of the Disneyland pictures was of a baby.
A baby that wasn't him.
A baby that was labeled…Troy.
Jason panted as the music the cheerleaders were using for their first routine echoed through the gym. They didn't always share the gym, but on Mondays, Wednesdays, and every other Fridays they did, or at least when they didn't have games on those days and instead had practice.
He set his water bottle down and looked around the gym as the only other sound bouncing through his brain was coming from a basketball. His eyes nearly went wide at seeing Troy still standing without panting, and shooting free throws. He didn't want to admit it, but he was good. He watched Troy sink another three baskets in before he let his eyes travel away.
His dad was right. Jason didn't want to admit it, but his dad was. Having Troy on the team would either help him as hopefully the team would do a little bit better and even more scouts would come to watch, or Troy would totally dominate and the scouts would all be watching him. It could go either way, and Jason didn't want to take his chances.
But there was no way that Jason could go home and stand to hear his dad go on and on about college scouts, and then want to play him in a one-on-one game. He could barely stand Monday night, let alone Tuesday night when his dad challenged him again, and then took him down to their basement where a full out weight set was. Jason's arms and legs were killing him, as he knew well enough when to stop before something bad happens.
What he needed was just a night to himself, and maybe Gabriella, his best friend. That would do the cure of taking his mind off of Troy and his new basketball rival. It had too as if he kept thinking about it, he would go insane.
"Gabi!?" Jason called out as Sharpay just let the girls go to take a break.
Gabriella looked up from getting her water and smiled as their eyes connected. Just looking into her eyes and having her tell him that everything was okay was enough for Jason to keep sane. He believed her one hundred percent as Gabriella always knew what to do. There was no doubt that she would know what to do with the Troy situation. Was he truly threatened so he should step up his game even more, or was he just imagining things and was fine?
"Yeah Jase?" Gabriella asked as she came bouncing over.
A couple of the guys cat called as they both ignored it. Being the leader of the team was one thing, but being a leader and being best friends with one of the hottest girls in school was another. Even with just wearing basic black sweat pants and a tight light blue tank top, Gabriella still looked good.
"You free tonight? I feel like a movie night." Jason stated as he never had to specify that he just needed to talk.
Gabriella bit her lip and looked around hesitantly. "I um…am kind of busy. I have some stuff to take care of."
Jason scrunched his eyes as they were both oblivious to the dark blue set of eyes looking after them. The moment Jason called out Gabriella's name, Troy heard and turned. This was the moment Troy was waiting for. Would she tell Jason the truth about having to tutor him and break his trust, or would she actually lie to her best friend to keep their little tutoring thing secret?
"Business?" Jason wasn't thinking on the same track as Gabriella. "Is this about your mom? Is everything okay with her?"
Gabriella exhaled in relief. "…I hope so. She was fine yesterday. It was probably just a small cold or something." She looked around slowly as she thought of something to say; she wasn't good keeping things from him. "So how about tomorrow? I should be free."
Jason nodded his head. The Troy thing would be eating away at him in the meantime, but if things weren't okay with Gabriella, then he wasn't going to push it. "…Yeah. I should be able to wait."
"Are you sure? Because I can totally rearrange if you--"
"Chill Gabi. Everything's fine."
That was a lie.
"Troy, can I see your for a moment?" Coach Montez called out as they were busy playing a mini scrimmage. Troy ran off the court and over to the intimidating man who held a clipboard with various pieces of papers. "Why don't we step into my office for a minute." Coach Montez quickly told the assisstant coach to take over for the last ten minutes of practice before leading Troy back into the empty locker room.
Troy didn't know what was up as the only reason he could think of that the Coach would need to talk to him one on one would be because of his grades not doing good. Troy took the seat he was offered and watched as Coach Montez made himself comfortable in his seat.
"What's up?" Troy asked hesitantly.
Coach Montez looked up with a small smile. "Ella has told me that you're doing great with the tutoring sessions. I'm willing to bet that you're gonna do great on the test Friday."
Troy wasn't used to people complimenting him. His mom always tried, but she was gone most of the time, and when she did, then he would just brush it off. Then there were his friends who were considered to be in the 'normal' group at East High. They didn't play sports, but yet they were average at school. And then of course he had Chad who was always nagging at him about his basketball skills. But lately Troy wasn't feeling all that great in the basketball category. Playing with eleven other guys who could so easily take his place, intimidated him a little, but Coach Montez must see something he likes since he is making Troy a starter. It was unreal to Troy, but even as that was happening, he still knows that he won't get used to all the attention he is getting at school. It was like a switch had been turned on and now all the girls were talking to him, and all the guys knew his name.
He didn't like it.
"Thanks sir." Troy said respectively.
"Well then, with that said, I think you'd be interested in knowing what exactly the tallies were for the vote on Captain." Coach Montez had a sly smile on his face as he always liked boosting the confidence in other people.
The team that day in the beginning of their practice voted on the Captain position. They each had a little slip of paper and put a person's name down as they could only pick out of the seniors on the team. Considering that almost half the team were seniors, it wasn't that hard.
"I thought you said numbers didn't matter? Plus, Cross got it anyways." Troy's tone was bitter, and if Coach Montez wasn't running on a tight schedule then he would address Troy about the matter of him and Jason playing together.
"Yes, and I'm not changing my mind, since he did achieve the Captain's position fairly, but...maybe you are underestimating yourself." Troy knew it wasn't a question.
"I don't understand."
"Having new players on the team is always hard at first. We follow a very precise schedule of weight lifting, practicing, games, and tournaments. And if you guys are improving even more than before when we first start out, I allow you guys to compete in a tournament all the way up north. That also happening if, and only if, you guys keep your records looking good, and we make the cut." Coach Montez explained calmly. "But I've noticed over the years, and it's not just you, that it's harder for new comers since they're not used to playing on a team, but...just to let you know, I think you'd be surprised on the vote this year."
"Why?" Troy deep down knew what he was hinting at, and it bugged him a little since he was already on the basketball team, and he didn't need to be pointed out anymore.
"Let's just say that Jason only got six votes. The next person," Coach Montez made it clear that Troy was the supposed, 'next person', "had four votes. What does that say?"
"It says that there's two votes uncounted for." Troy said dumbly.
"That's besides the point. Those votes were for some one else, but what I'm trying to say is that you're doing good. And I want to see more of that. No matter if Jason wears the special Captain's badge on his jersey, I still expect to see leadership coming from our more experienced players."
"But I don't have experience."
"You might not NOW, but later on you WILL, and I expect you to do good. I'm making you our Co-Captain."
Troy's heart skipped a beat.
And it wasn't for joy.
Coach Montez threw a badge down that was a little smaller than Jason's, and held a lower case -C- instead of an upper case letter.
Troy looked at it with dread.
Chad looked around the locker room and found that there were only a couple of guys from the team still in there. He was running late as he had to talk to the coach after practice, and now he couldn't find Troy.
It wasn't like Troy to just up and walk away, but in the past couple of days Chad hadn't seen him that much as Troy always had some excuse to be somewhere else.
He was just finishing lacing up his sneakers when there was a sound of shuffling feet. He looked up as Jason came into view from just behind one of the locker cubicles. "Hey, you by any chance going into town?"
"I have some research I have to do at the library." Chad answered slowly as Jason wasn't his favorite guy to hang out with, seeing as he had such strong opinions on different matters that Chad couldn't care less about, but he was okay at times.
"Nice. Could I uh…maybe catch a lift then too?" He asked as he slung his backpack over his shoulder.
"What? No car today?" Chad asked with amusement in his voice.
Jason rolled his eyes annoyingly. "My car's in the shop. Hence why Gabi gave me a ride here, and now she's no where to be seen."
"To the library it is then." Chad slung his backpack over his shoulder also and started walking out with Jason at his side.
It wasn't often that Jason said this. It was very rare to be the one he said it too, but believe it or not, he could be honest, polite, and a decent guy to talk to.
Jason looked at Chad from the side before quickly diverting his eyes back in front of himself. "…Thanks. Not many people would do this."
"What? Give you a ride?" Chad asked with more amusement as that was the only way to lighten the mood. He was well aware how serious this was turning.
"No. Put up with me."
"Well then you're welcome."
Troy sighed as nothing was clicking in his mind at the moment. "I don't get it." He stated after not even finishing reading the text book part.
Gabriella rolled her eyes. "Troy, you were doing so well Tuesday, and even Monday. Now it's Wednesday and it seems as if you don't get ANYTHING. What's up?"
Gabriella pushed all their books and notebooks aside as they had been at it for twenty minutes, and from the moment she sat down she noticed something was different. She didn't know what it was or if she was imagining things, but deep down she knew that something was different.
Troy shrugged his shoulders. "I don't know. Maybe I'm just destined to fail at math."
Gabriella frowned. "I don't believe that. And I'm pretty good at reading people, so tell me what's up."
He sighed as if this was something too much to ask of him. "What are you, my tutor or shrink?"
"Ha ha." Her voice is monotone. "Funny."
"Okay, okay." He surrendered, "Have you ever felt like things are changing too much? Like to everyone else it's okay, but then when you sit back and actually look over things, it all seems…too much?"
She reflected to his words. She listened, and thought as he grew impatient on the edge of his chair. Had he said too much? Was she getting freaked out?
"All the time." She breathed out, and he almost wanted to breath out like her in relief. "Yeah. It's like no one's actually listening, even though they all say they are." Their eyes connect and she momentarily looses her breath. "I understand."
"Well then I guess that's how I feel." Troy admitted.
Gabriella moved her hand, and was about to set it down on his for a small amount of comfort, but withdrew it quickly as that was almost against all major best friend codes. She couldn't go against Jason and their friendship by connecting with the 'enemy'.
But looking at him in only a black t-shirt with a long white sleeve shirt underneath that really brought out his tan, and dark blue jeans…she had to admit to herself, and only herself just how good he looked. And listening to him speak, it was like something else she had never heard of before. It was like he knew exactly what she was thinking also. He just wasn't afraid to admit it.
"How about we work on this for a little bit longer, and then call it a day? I'm hungry and I want to stop somewhere to eat." Gabriella declared.
"Is that your way of asking me on a date?" Troy teased.
Gabriella's cheeks flushed in embarrassment. "No!" She said too quickly. "I just…um…maybe…no….you can come…if you want…I guess." She stumbled like an idiot over her words as her cheeks heated up even more.
It was either eating by himself since his mom was gone again, or eating with Gabriella for a first time. "I'm pretty hungry myself."
They shared a smile.
"What the hell are they doing?" Jason hissed with venom.
Chad took an extra step back from him as his eyes were wide himself. Is this what Troy didn't want to tell him? If so, Chad was almost offended. He told Troy everything! It was obvious they were talking about math since numbers kept being thrown around, but if he was having trouble, then why didn't he just go to his best friend for some help? Granted, Chad wouldn't be the best one to go to, but Troy didn't have to feel like he needed to hide the fact that he actually needed help once in his life.
After driving to the library, the air between Jason and Chad was okay. Better than what it has been since Troy made the basketball team. But now as Chad witnessed Troy and Gabriella interact alongside Jason, he could pretty much tell that Jason would be in no mood for other friends.
"Is this what she meant when she said she had business?" Jason spat out.
Chad could feel the heat radiating off of Jason, and it wasn't good.
Jason clenched his fists together as he gripped onto the bookshelf tighter. It hurt him seeing Gabriella there with his enemy. Why would she be willing to spend almost all of her afternoons with Troy Bolton?
"They're basically flaunting it around in the library!" Jason hissed again as Chad had to roll his eyes to that one.
"Cross, look around." He pointed out as Jason did so ever reluctantly. "There's no one else in here except for some creepy guy on the computers and old people who don't get out enough. I would hardly call this flaunting it. If anything, they're hiding it."
That was the wrong thing to say as Jason's brown eyes that were already turning shades darker, turned completely black.
Chad took one more step backwards.
"Why is it such a big deal? Yeah, they lied, and went behind our backs, but look--" Chad motioned over to Gabriella and Troy from behind the book shelves they situated themselves behind when they first walked into the library.
Jason saw Troy say something, and a big grin emitted itself onto Gabriella's face.
"I don't like being lied too." Jason gritted out.
"So you're saying that if Gabriella came right up to you and said in the bluntest way possible, Me and Troy are studying everyday after school, then you would be okay with that?" Chad countered back.
Jason looked away and shut his eyes as he let this all process. He sighed after taking a long, deep breath. "…No. But I would be afterwards." Jason turned to look at Chad. "But like I said before, I don't like being lied too. I'm heading out. You gonna stay?"
Chad hesitated. He had homework, but he didn't know how much he could get done with knowing his best friend who made up lame excuses in the last three days of why he couldn't hang out was in the library. "Yeah. I have stuff to do at home."
Jason took one last glance in the library before he walked outside the way he came in. If Troy and Gabriella were two tables over to the right, then they would've seen their best friends leaving, but they chose the most secluded table there as if Chad was right; they were trying to hide the fact that they weren't even there.
"That's an eight?" Troy asked in a deadpanned tone.
Gabriella rolled her eyes as her thin pointer finger pointed at the paper where her handwriting was. "Yes. That's an eight."
Troy scrunched up his eyes as he looked at the paper. After a minute of severely looking at the paper, he looked back at Gabriella. "No. That's more like a three."
Gabriella exhaled noisily. They had been disagreeing on what her numbers looked like for thirty minutes, and Gabriella was starting to get the feeling that Troy was doing it on purpose. "So what if it looks like a three? I'm telling you it's an eight."
Troy chuckled deeply as he shook his head and pushed the lined paper filled with equations towards her again. "And how do you expect me to learn if I can't even read the work?"
"Troy…" Gabriella moaned painfully. "We have a test on Friday! You NEED to know this stuff!"
He let out another deep chuckle at hearing her say his name. "Well since you're helping me on my math, then the least I can do is help you on your handwriting."
Gabriella narrowed her eyes in a stubborn way. "I do NOT need help with it."
Troy kinked an eye brow as he held up the piece of paper to her eye level. "Oh really? Well then, what is this number?" He pointed to one as Gabriella had to even squint her eyes to read it.
"Um…it's easy…it's…56."
"That's funny." He held no amusement to his voice. "You told me before that it was 88."
Gabriella's cheeks flushed as she looked up into Troy's bright blue eyes. "That's irrelevant. So what if I don't want to write my best right now? I still manage to pull it off in school, so it's all good."
Troy bit back a laugh as he tried to stay as serious as possible, but he was finding it extremely hard with the more time he was around Gabriella. "Numbers? Irrelevant in math?"
Gabriella saw Troy's lips tug at the corners as her own were doing the same. "…Yeah. They're irrelevant."
All it took was one more look at each other's faces before the two of them burst out laughing. Luckily they were some of the only people at the public library so the librarian didn't yell at them too much.
After they settled down again, Gabriella's stomach growled a little. Her face turned red as Troy bit back a chuckle again. "See? That's a SIGN that we should stop and go get food."
Gabriella nodded her head without arguing this time. "Okay." She along with Troy started picking up their things that scattered the table. "But tomorrow we're busting our asses to study, because you need at least a B on the test Friday."
Troy heard Gabriella and Jason talking in the gym. He heard her telling him that they could do something tomorrow afternoon, but for some gut reason, Troy wasn't feeling in the mood to remind her. Let her make the mistake of double booking both boys in the same afternoon. After all, he wasn't her caretaker. If she wanted to willingly spend time with him, who was he to stop her?
Troy sent her a pointed look. "I barely got any right on the assignment today."
"Oh come on, you were doing so well yesterday. We just lost focus today." She reasoned as she wasn't sure if she was just trying to reassure him, or she just said it to have something to say.
"WE?" Troy asked pointedly.
Gabriella nodded her head. "We." Her voice held determination. "If I'm tutoring you, then we're in this together. You fail, I fail."
Troy snorted. "Yeah, I fail the test, and you pass. That evens out."
She rolled her eyes. "Has anyone ever told you that you're so negative sometimes?"
He looked at her as they were both standing by their two parked cars next to each other. His tone vanished with amusement and happiness as all seriousness broke out.
"Yes. Some people have."
