Heya, guys! Surprise! So since I figured that you all were amazing in reviewing so fast and so often, I thought I could indeed give you the next chapter this early, because – well, let's face it – ten days are insanely long. I know I'll miss you, all of you and I'm so damn sorry that I won't be able to log onto FFN in Italy, because I honestly don't know where to find a computer there and if I found it, I'm sure it would be extremely expensive… so no way ):
But here it is and I hope you like it and if you feel generous in the next ten day, please leave a review? I'll try to have the next chapter up as soon as I get back… well, we'll see. So here you go!
Disclaimer: This is a derivate piece of fiction featuring characters copyrighted and trademarked by Disney Enterprises Inc. It is based upon High School Musical, copyright 2006 by Walt Disney Enterprises Inc., all rights reserved; and High School Musical 2, copyright 2007 by Walt Disney Enterprises Inc., all rights reserved and High School Musical 3, copyright 2008 by Walt Disney Enterprises Inc., all rights reserved. The author is not connected with nor is this work authorised by Walt Disney Enterprises Inc., or any other motion picture studios. This work is solely intended for posting on Fanfiction, for the benefit and enjoyment of its intended audience. No commercial or financial benefit accrues or is intended to accrue to the author as a result of said posting. Any unauthorised copying or redistribution of this work might subject the party responsible for such unauthorized copying or redistribution to legal action by the owners of the aforementioned copyrights and trademarks.
Claimer: Yeah, I know this is unusual, but I've got something to claim here. It's the song lyrics, because they are mine. All rights reserved, copyright by me. You can take the last sentence of the disclaimer and add it here if you feel like it. (P.S. I would feel honoured if you told me what you thought of the lyrics… it's not my best and as far as I am concerned they're not even that good, but hey, it fit the content)
Recap of last chapter:
Steaming, Gabriella once again turned on her heel and stormed out of the library. Troy wasn't to know what was coming to him, but whatever it was – it definitely wasn't going to be a walk in the park. It was exactly this moment that Gabriella decided on using "their" old choreography for the contest. After all, the contest practically was about Troy. And if their relationship had ever meant something real to him, he'd be hurt beyond belief that she actually used it in a contest against his current "girlfriend".
And Gabriella intended on hurting him. On hurting him more than he had ever hurt her. Oh yeah, Troy Bolton wasn't to know what was coming to him, but it definitely wouldn't be pretty.
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Chapter five – Running Track
The next morning, Troy woke up by hearing the rain falling on the roof of the Boltons' house. Having his room directly under it, he desperately tried to ignore it, but found he couldn't. Groaning, he threw a look to his alarm clock and groaned again. It was six o'clock in the morning. Usually he didn't get up before a quarter to seven and now? Now he had lost forty-five minutes of precious sleep.
Letting himself fall backwards in his pillows, he laid there, starring at his ceiling. Hoping sleep would overcome him, he let his thoughts flow freely. They immediately went to yesterday afternoon. After Gabriella had left him standing in the library without saying another word after her little "speech" of expressing her hatred for him, he had grinned triumphantly – just in case she would look back. That grin, however, had quickly faded, after she had vanished around the corner.
He knew that he had gone too far – lots too far, he admitted contritely. Never had he planned on accusing her of longing for him to kiss her, he knew that that was wrong. He knew much better than he actually wanted to. Sighing again, Troy turned around in his bed, so he was now starring at the wall, directly into a poster of him, grinning. Grinning like an idiot Troy found and averted his gaze.
He once again glanced at his alarm clock. A quarter past six. Dear Lord. After five long, draining minutes, he finally decided to get up. Lying in bed was no use and maybe – if he hurried up – he could get to school early and finish his German essay, on which he hadn't worked since his friends had attacked him with those shocking news.
He grabbed himself a towel and new clothes and vanished into the bathroom. A shower would certainly do well now. But then a thought struck his mind. Half-heartedly smiling, he turned around again and jogged over to the wall with the poster. With one swift motion he raised his hand up and tore the picture off. With a lot of self satisfaction, he ripped in little pieces, so the idiotic grin vanished. Nodding, he finally made his way to the bathroom again.
Ten minutes later he arrived downstairs, humming the sound of "Why it's gotta be you" – he had no idea where exactly he got the melody from and why the hell he actually hummed it - where a surprised Mrs. Bolton was already setting the table. "You're up this early?", she greeted him astonished and examined him carefully. "You don't have a new girlfriend, do you?"
Troy furrowed his eyebrows? "New girlfriend? Mum! What gives you that idea?", he shook his head furiously, although he knew very well why his mother was assuming something like that. It hadn't been unusual for him to get up this early to pick Gabriella up, so they could ride to school together. However, when that period had ended, he had been grateful for getting a little more sleep in the morning. At least, that's what he was trying to tell himself.
His mother seemed to have noticed his sudden mood swing. Eyeing her son worriedly, she cautiously asked: "You're thinking about her again, hmm?" Mrs. Bolton didn't know much about the incident two years ago, but she had made the pint that it had been Troy who had messed the relationship up and she knew that it had nearly torn her son apart.
Troy's head, which he had let hung loose, shot up. "No! Of course not! Why the hell would I?", he denied quickly – too quickly in Mrs. Bolton's opinion. He had been thinking about her – and in his mother's opinion living in denial was no good and especially no use. "Maybe you do still like her?", she suggested, watching his reaction carefully. Troy shot looks like daggers at her. "That's rubbish, complete bullshit!"
Shaking his head furiously, he tried to convince his mother. Too bad that he didn't exactly know if he was only trying to convince her – or himself as well. No, don't go there again, he reminded himself. You hate her, she hates you, perfect world. There's no liking her and there's certainly no liking you on her account. And for Troy that was all he needed to know right now. Why making life more complicated if it could be as easy as that?
Throwing one look at the kitchen clock, he turned around and grabbed his car keys. "I'll be home sometime later, going out with the guys after school!", he informed, already halfway through the door, not caring about his mother shouting: "You didn't even eat something!" Outside, he noticed that it was still raining. Shrugging, he ran over to his car and jumped in. It was times like this that he was thankful that cabriolets had a pull-out-roof.
Starting his car, he drove out of the drive way and made his way to school. Driving as fast as permitted, he turned the car radio on and listened to 'What have you done' by Within Temptation. Concentrating on the road, he didn't exactly have his mind on the music. Not before he noticed the song had already ended and a new one had started playing. One he definitely didn't want to hear.
Trying, trying, trying to deny that I love you
Asking myself why it's gotta be you
You're the man that I should pay no heed to
Still you capture me each time you're in the room
With just one wink of yours you get me to sway
And I know you're all too willing to obey
Every time I find myself up against a wall
I always fight to bawl
At the top of my voice
Why it's gotta be you…
Troy groaned inwardly and tensed up at once. It was the song that he had wanted to never hear again. Not that he found it terribly; he just automatically associated it with times he wanted to forget. Times with Gabriella. As fast as he could he changed the transmitter and immediately relaxed as he heard the soft sound of 'Amazing Grace' by John Newton. Much better.
Beginning to slowly forget about 'Why it's gotta be you', he once again concentrated on the road directly in front if him and couldn't circumvent the fact that he was seeing a girl walking the street, desperately trying to catch as little of the falling rain drops as possible. And it wasn't just an ordinary girl. Getting a better look at her while driving right beside her, he caught a glimpse of her face, hidden under a rain cloak. It was Gabriella.
Shocked, Troy nearly oversaw the car, coming round the corner at top speed. Just in time, he managed to brake before he crashed right into the up-coming car. Due to the rain on the street, the brakes made a horrible squeaking noise as the car was stopped that quickly. Recovering quickly – after all, nothing serious had happened -, Troy didn't make an attempt to start his car again, he stayed where he was, having a terrified Gabriella looking at him.
"What?", he asked confused, as she continued starring at him with her mouth wide open. "Never seen a braking car?" He really couldn't explain to himself why she was looking so stunned. That seemed to bring Gabriella's ability to get a word out back. "Are you seriously ill? You can't just pay no attention like you just did!" She pointed to the spot where the other car had disappeared from only a few moments ago. "Do you know what could've happened?"
To speak the truth, Troy didn't exactly know and he frankly didn't care. "But the point is: Nothing actually happened!", he defended himself in a lame try. Gabriella only snorted. "Whatever!" Both of them seemed to have forgotten the rain, which was still dropping down on Gabriella and into Troy's car – he had opened the window to be able to speak with her.
"Anyways, why the hell weren't you paying attention?", she demanded to know, placing her hands on her hips. Troy blinked. "Just wondering why you were walking to school in this weather, while you have your own car?" Gabriella swallowed. That was a question she had asked herself the whole way and always got the same answer from herself. "Because my car broke and nobody lives near enough to pick me up.", she answered, slightly blushing as she thought about Troy living near enough to her.
Knowing why she blushed, Troy conjured a smirk on his face. "You don't say! No one's living near enough?" Gabriella, noticing the smirk on his face, already began to get angry. Great! She hadn't even started school and Troy Bolton had already managed to piss her off. What a great thing to start a day, which anyhow promised to get worse every minute.
Fake-smirking, she replied casually: "Well, at least no one I'd like to be sitting in a car with." Troy just pouted falsely. "Ouch, that hurts, Montez!", he answered, not being able to hide the grin coming to his face. "But – enough of the chatting, I've got somewhere to be, so if you'll excuse me?" With one final smirk in her direction, he started the engine off again and drove away, leaving behind a soaking wet Gabriella, who was as angry that it was a wonder the heat, developing according to that, didn't dry her off.
*
Fifteen minutes later, Troy already sat in the library. He had arrived ten minutes ago and had immediately made his way there, feeling the pressure of having to hand in the paper in exactly three hours, of which two of them were filled with periods. But once again his concentration was interrupted. Only this time it weren't Chad, Zeke and Jason with news about Gabriella; no, this time it was Gabriella herself. And to Troy's biggest surprise she seemed to be halfway dry.
His explanation entered the room only a few seconds later. Chris Bell, laughing and smiling, followed Gabriella to her favourite spot in the library – a little desk in the corner of the room. To Troy's luck he had taken care of that he didn't position himself on that table. Otherwise, he was sure of it, he would be in for a few very spiteful comments on her behalf. Laughing at her, because she was getting wet in the rain, wasn't exactly one thing to get on Gabriella's good side.
But Gabriella obviously seemed to have forgotten about that, seeing as she was giggling over something Chris had just said. That didn't precisely look like she was still pissed off. But Troy didn't bet on that; if he had learned one thing in the time of hate between them then it was the fact that you could never know with her. For all he knew, she could be beaming the one moment, the next she was already on 180 and screaming at him, because of something stupid he had done. Or she had supposed he had done.
And he was right. The instant Gabriella had spotted him on the table, she stopped giggling. Chris crunched his nose, obviously bewildered what he had done to make Gabriella pissed. But as long as Troy could see from across the room, she gave Chris a reassuring smile, before smiling mysteriously and putting her arm around his midst. Chris laid one arm around her shoulder and together they strolled over to where Troy was sitting.
If Troy hadn't known better, he would have bet anything that they were a couple, but he knew that they already had tried and that it had failed. Which gave him a little bit of satisfaction, not to say a big one. Trying to make a relaxed facial expression, he put his pencil down and leaned back into his chair, half suspicious, half exited about what was to come.
But he was in for a big surprise. "Hey!", Gabriella greeted him, actually friendly. Troy didn't trust his own ears. She hadn't been friendly to him just then, had she? But he had been right, not heard wrong or anything. There she was standing in front of him, smiling friendly, but he couldn't make out if it was faked or sincere.
"Hey?", he more asked than said back and nervously skidded forth and back in his chair. Gabriella let herself grin viciously, not for Troy to see, of course, and prepared to ask her next question. She intended on making him uncomfortable, very uncomfortable, and it definitely seemed to work. "What are you doing?"
That question threw Troy nearly over the edge. This wasn't happening. He was still dreaming and he'd wake up every moment, laughing about his stupidity to dream something like this. As nothing happened about the waking up part, he pinched himself, making sure it really wasn't a dream.
The girl in front of him grinned smugly. "This isn't a dream, Bolton, and you won't wake up. You already did and now you're sitting in the school's library, we're standing in front of you", she indicated to herself and Chris, who was grinning at the game she was playing, "and you did laugh at me for having to walk to school in that rain", for one moment the fire playing in her eyes was noticeably visible, "and yes, I'm very angry with you." With those words, her expression had already changed back to the friendly one she had been showing of for the past minutes.
Troy stood up, so he was towering above her, but she didn't seem impressed. He didn't know what she was on about and he was absolutely ominous what she had in mind. When was she planning on getting her anger towards him out? He was about to get his answer. "But Chris here was so nice to pick me up after you left me standing there." For Troy that was sounding like she was angry because he hadn't taken her along with him.
"Hey, who was the one saying that she didn't want to sit in a car with me? Certainly not me!", he defended himself and asked himself the instant the word came out of his mouth why the hell he actually was defending himself. For all he knew it was her problem, not his. What he didn't know was that it was about to became his.
"And who's the reason I didn't want to?", Gabriella retorted calmly, surprised with herself. And Troy wasn't less astonished. Since when had it become a habit of them to bring Sophomore Year up in their fights? He didn't know and once again he didn't care. So he just snapped: "Blaming me again? Typical of you, Montez, really! How am I to blame for how you are feeling towards me? That's your hormones if I'm not mistaken!"
Gabriella nearly chocked the air she was breathing in. "My hormones? Well, if I recall correctly it was your hormones that brought our relationship to downfall! So I beg your pardon, but it obviously you who's provided for me not wanting to be around you!" Her blood was boiling, but she wangled nevertheless to stay calm.
Troy couldn't believe it. "Why are you bringing that up now? There's really no reason!" Breathing in deeply, Gabriella contained herself. Thing about why you are doing this. Don't let him piss you off. "Playing dump now, are we, Bolton? Don't act like you don't understand. Or can't you cope with your blameworthiness? Is that the reason you're denying? Tell you what, that's not going to help." Troy nearly fell over, as he heard her speak so cockily. Until now he had believed that nobody could get even with him in that territory, but now he had to notice that his ex-girlfriend hadn't just got even, she had beaten him.
And he didn't like that, nor could he stand it. "Montez, I don't hit girls, but you are really pushing my morals!", he threatened, not even beginning to believe that she wouldn't look right through his words. And of course she did. A smirk formed itself on her face. "I know, Bolton. You only hit on girls, right?" Troy flinched and took a few steps back, so he had her in full view. Since when did she turn the tables? But anyways, he didn't really have the nerve to continue with this conversation.
He had enough for good. "Haven't you got anything better to do than pissing me off?", he finally exclaimed, not caring to keep his voice down low. He had expected Gabriella to retort, but to his greatest surprise she stayed calm, having an evil grin playing in her face. And Christopher was laughing quietly. They both looked like they had just fulfilled their mission. And they had indeed, Troy noticed, seeing and angry-looking Mrs. Donovan appearing at the table.
Starring at him with narrowed eyes, she pointed accusingly at him: "Mr. Bolton! I suppose, you'll never learn to respect the calmness of a library, will you now? Detention this afternoon after school!" Troy's mouth fell open, as he realised he had been tricked by Gabriella and Chris. Glaring at them while watching Mrs. Donovan disappear again, he threatened – making sure to whisper for he didn't want detention for a whole week – the girl: "You're going to pay for that, Montez!"
His low voice sent shivers down Gabriella's spine, but she still managed to look unaffected. "Payback's a bitch, Bolton!", she spat out, still holding the smile on her face. Troy snorted. "Payback for what? For laughing about you? Or for not taking you along?" Now it was Gabriella who snorted. "I thought I made pretty clear that I don't want to be near you within three metres at least between us." Troy nearly laughed, but could restrain himself from doing so in time to come back with: "Then what's this, Montez? You're standing – let's see – not even one metre away from me!"
Gabriella opened her mouth to give a sharp reply, as Chris, who had been standing speechless for the past few minutes, cut in: "Uhh, okay, guys. I see you've got a lot to work out, so I better leave. See you later, Gaby!" He gave Gabriella a kiss on the cheek, nodded shortly in Troy's direction – "Troy" – and turned around to exit the library, but Gabriella grabbed his arm. Shooting one last glare at Troy, she shook her head. "I'm coming with you, we're finished here."
Turning on her heel, she swept out of the room, feeling satisfied. Revenge was sweet and Troy Bolton definitely deserved what he had gotten. The detention, in this case. Smiling at Chris, who had followed her out, she had only one thought playing in her head. Mission accomplished!
*
A few hours later in free period, Troy had decided to set another basketball practice. Having been told that the next period after free period would be cancelled, because their maths teacher was ill and there was no teacher to act in place of him, he thought that it would be good for the team to practice. After all, they wanted to be at Brighton High at the championships again this year.
So he had made sure that everyone on the team knew about practice and now they were already in the gym, ready to start playing. But, life being its usual self, there was always something to interrupt. And so it was. Troy, wanting to blow the starting whistle, never came to do it, as a bunch of giggling, laughing and chatting girls walked in, stopping dead in their tracks after seeing the basketball player.
The players, all standing in their start positions already, looked up confused, not knowing what was going on. So did the girls. Troy turned around, facing them, wondering what they were doing in here, but not for long. The group of girls split up to let their captain walk through. Seeing who it was let Troy groan loudly. Of course, who else would dare to disturb their training?
It was Gabriella Annoying Montez, Troy was directly looking at. Strutting over to him, she straightened herself and her gaze was once again fiery. Closing his eyes, Troy prepared himself for what was to come, but opened them quickly again, as he surprisingly felt one of her fingers poking into his chest. "Bolton! What the hell are you doing here with your team?!", she hissed dangerously, appearing already pissed off.
Obviously she hadn't had a very good day. But that wasn't exactly something Troy would care for, so he just lazily cocked his eyebrow. "You've got eyes, Montez! Open them and see what we are doing yourself." That obviously was the wrong answer. Troy nearly let out an "Oww!" as Gabriella increased the pressure of her finger, but could just control himself. "That wasn't what I meant, Bolton! I know you are playing basketball!" Theoretically we're not, we're just wanting to, shot through Troy's head, but he somehow doubted that it was the right moment to remark that.
And he wouldn't have got the time anyways, for Gabriella was already speaking again. "But what I want to know is why! I already claimed the gym yesterday; you can look it up in the list. And I also went to the principal to confirm it, so you better leave with your mates right now!" She didn't raise her voice, but her looks spoke a very strong language. And to Troy's biggest shock he once again noticed how hot she looked when she was burning with anger.
But that didn't hold him from telling her no. "You sure about that? Well, I spoke with the principal a few weeks ago and he affirmed that the basketball team could have the gym all days after school. He knows we're training to win against Brighton High and you know how high he thinks of that. So I suggest you forget the claiming and search for another place to practise for that stupid contest."
That was the first time Troy had spoken about the contest in public and as a result everyone in the gym, who had been silent for the whole time the two ex-lovers had discussed their issues, began to talk at once, everyone and everybody speculating what Troy thought of it. After all, it was his "girlfriend" and his ex-girlfriend battling and he had been set as the prize. There had been the usual rumours flying around – for example that Troy had been delighted and had already bet on Amber for winning and Gabriella for loosing - and nobody really believed anything of it, but you never knew. And now the chances were very good to hear something about it from the Golden Boy himself.
But they were to be disappointed as Gabriella purposefully avoided the subject 'contest' and countered: "Well, if he'd promised you the gym for everyday, you surely can let one day sample out, can't you? And… if I am correct this isn't afternoon. It's still morning and this is free period.", she grinned sweetly and instantaneously everyone became silent again. What would Troy answer? Surely nothing what would please Gabriella too much.
"Well, if you hadn't gotten me in detention for today's afternoon, I wouldn't be forced to hold basketball practise now. So it's theoretically your own fault that you don't get the gym!", Troy triumphantly said, grinning delightedly at his own reply. He wondered himself where he had come up with such a good answer. "And I really don't care about you claiming the gym."
He better would have. The finger she had pressed up against his chest was released, and Troy was tempted to rub over the spot where it had poked him, but he didn't get a chance as the finger was replaced by her whole fist. And this time he accidentally let it slip: "Oww! What the hell are you doing?"
"Well, I wouldn't feel the need to do that if you were a little bit less cocky, alright?", Gabriella hissed in a dangerously low voice and Troy had the awful feeling that she'd come up with an even more evil plan like the last one from this morning if he'd just stay hard without compromising. And he didn't want a month of unfair detention.
Which was certainly about to happen, he observed, watching Taylor and Sharpay backing their best friend up by coming to a still stand directly behind her, fire obvious in their eyes. Elatedly by their example, everyone in the gym dared to come nearer to their captains, so they were forming a circle around them, dancers on one half, players on the other. Just Troy and Gabriella were standing in the middle, Sharpay and Taylor and the now approaching Chad and Zeke directly behind them.
It looked like two street gangs who were on the point of going off at each other, only that one of the leaders was practically spiting fire and the other one was desperately trying to find a solution without loosing his reputation. And the desperation seemed to be good for something for Troy came up with an idea. "Okay, we both want the gym, right?", he asked Gabriella. She nodded her head suspiciously, not knowing what Troy was up to.
"And nobody wants to leave, right?" Again she nodded. The members of both teams began to become anxious. What was Troy on about? They were about to get their answer. "Well then, how about a contest?" He grinned as Gabriella flinched, thinking back to the last proposal of a contest she was still regretting. "Not something like what you have in mind, Montez. Something easier. I was thinking about running track. Let's say ten round each five hundred metres and the first one finishing gets the gym."
Gasps could be heard all around the gym, only Sharpay and Taylor began to grin. It was common knowledge that Troy was one of the school's best track runner and they all were confident that he would win that bet without a doubt. All the more they were shocked as a wide smile spread across Gabriella's face and she outstretched her hand. "Deal!" Troy took it, but they both let loose as soon as he had grabbed it, nobody wanting to have longer contact than necessary.
Troy observed her carefully. She seemed convinced that she could win and he knew why. He had run track a few times with her and on his bad days she had actually managed to beat him to the finish. But the question was if she had trained further on, although they had split. It appeared to be that way, seeing as Gabriella's eyes shone with confidence.
"Well, what are we waiting for?", she happily asked him and made her way to the door with great buoyancy. Troy stood frozen in his place. He got the bad feeling that there could be a possibility of loosing this contest. And what that would mean for the basketball practise and especially for his reputation… he'd rather not think about that.
With noticeable hesitation he began to follow his ex-girlfriend outside and with him came the teams of both captains. Departing the gym, he had to blink, because the sun was shining so much it was hurtful to look in her direction. He twinkled again and then started to the direction Gabriella had gone. He found her already waiting at the ash path, looking full of expectation in his direction.
Slowly but surely Troy got the impression that she was more confident than him to win this. Not good. Meeting her halfway – she had taken to coming up to meet him, obviously he was too slow for her liking – he felt the need to wipe that self-satisfied smirk from her face, but he really didn't know how. Feeling the eyes of a good fifty boys and girls on his back, he straightened himself in a desperate try to look surer of himself as he was feeling.
"Ready to get beaten, Bolton?", he heard Gabriella scoffing at him. He opened his mouth to answer, but never got to do it, as he heard a loud and whiny voice behind him shouting: "Troooooy!" He immediately recognized it and groaned, making Gabriella laugh in the process. "What? Not pleased to see your girlfriend, Bolton?", she teased him, while cocking one eyebrow. He threw her a more than dark look. "For the last time: She's not my girlfriend!", he finally used the opportunity to tell her, though he didn't know why he felt the need to do so. By hook or by crook, it shut Gabriella up.
"Trooooy!" Amber's voice was heard again, this time sounding impatient, because Troy hadn't already turned around to greet her. Rolling his eyes, he eventually turned around, not bearing Amber's shouting any longer. However, the whole place had fallen silent, had they never seen Troy, Gabriella and Amber in the same place. Naturally they were wondering what would happen, knowing that Amber and Gabriella didn't get along.
"What?!", they surprisingly heard Troy groan bored. Whatever they had expected, it certainly wasn't that he would snarl at Amber. The latter, however, didn't seem to notice the repulse, or she over looked it on purpose. Gabriella bet on the last one. Watching interested the interaction between Troy and her worst enemy, she debated with herself about what Troy had just said. So he wasn't Amber's boyfriend. Then why had Amber lied on Monday?
Easy question, easy answer. She had wanted to make Gabriella jealous. The only question left was why had she thought it would make her jealous. After all, even someone as dumb as her knew that Troy and Gabriella weren't exactly on good terms, that Gabriella despised no one more than him and the other way round. Either way, she was pulled out of her thoughts, as Amber's reply erupted in the silence.
"Just wanted to see what you are doing outside… with that thing?", she pointed at Gabriella and before she could even say anything else, she already brought her hand to her cheek that had turned red and was stinging like hell. "What the hell…?", she screamed hysterically and everyone else was awestruck. Nobody had seen Becky creeping quietly in front of Amber, preparing to slap her in case she would say something offending towards Gabriella.
And when the word "thing" in connection with her dance captain had left Amber's mouth, Becky had done what she had wanted to. And obviously she had done it thoroughly, for Amber's cheek were redder than crimson. "Becky!" Gabriella's voice sounded hoarse and as if she didn't know what to feel: shock or genuine admiration. In the end, she decided on admiration, but tried to cover it with a look of shock. "You can't just go and slap her!", she tried desperately to take Becky to task, but the hortative undertone was missing.
As a result, the younger girl just made a half-heartedly attempt to defend herself: "What? She called you a thing, should I just let her get away with that?" Gabriella had to brace herself up to not break out in clangourous laughter. That girl was unbelievable. Sharpay came forward. "She's right, you're not offending our team captain unpunished, are we clear?", she addressed Amber, who had no other choice than nodding, since Becky's eyes were gleaming with mischief.
But the instant Becky turned around to go and stand by Gabriella, she faced Troy and pouted. "And you're just letting them walk all over me and do nothing about it?" Troy hadn't even thought about that. He didn't see why, after all what Becky had said was true. "You did call her thing, Am. It's not my business when her team members are that loyal to her." His voice appeared cold, but once again Amber didn't take notice.
"Whatever!", she declined and once again repeated her question from before: "And what are you doing out here?" Taylor was so merciful to tell her. "They are holding a contest. The one who gets to the finish first after five thousand metres of running gets the gym. And they really should get started; otherwise it's no use because our free time will be melted to nothing." Gabriella and Troy nodded to her and then to each other, agreeing to get ready.
But once again, Amber disrupted their intentions, as she said: "Wait for me, I'll run to, just to help Troy." She beamed at the people standing around her, not noticing how dumb that sounded. Troy didn't need any help, especially not for running track and especially not from Amber. The basketball captain, however, just shrugged, knowing that objecting her would cost them the whole free time left. And Gabriella really didn't care.
"Then let's just hope you don't disgrace yourself in the process", she murmured, only loud enough for Troy to hear, who couldn't help but grin. That was typical Gabriella. Always being sarcastic about things that pissed her off. Finally the three teenagers got in their starting positions, Gabriella and Troy facing each other, both with equally grim facial expressions.
There was no way of sparing one another. Both wanted to win and both were determined to do so. Within the second Troy heard the starting whistle being blown, he dashed forward, trying to leave Gabriella yet behind. Gabriella didn't care, knowing that it wouldn't help him really. That maniac speed wasn't run in long distant races; normally you took to it at short distances. So she took off in a quick, but peaceful speed, already being much quicker than Amber, who obviously had overestimated herself.
After five of the ten rounds, Gabriella was only a few feet behind Troy, who had been forced to damp his speed after three rounds. Slowly but surely, she caught up to him, both now running at the same speed. Tilting his head to the side, Troy looked at his opponent, who had one of her curls hanging loose in her face and desperately tried to blow the strand out of it, bit it wasn't working.
Driven by impulse, he reached out and plucked it out of the air, stroking it behind her ear. Shocked by his own actions, he quickly let his hand fall down to his side afterwards. But it wasn't only him who was more than surprised. Stunned by the soft feeling of his hand in her face, Gabriella nearly forget to move her feet, but caught herself in time to keep going and not stop. What did he do? Did he do? Am I hallucinating? Thousand of different thoughts played in her head as she looked at him in pure wonder.
Troy blushed slightly. Embarrassed, he once again increased his tempo, overtaking Amber easily in the process. For a few seconds, Gabriella didn't even realize he was no longer beside her, but then her sanity inserted again. Not wanting him to get a competitive edge, she too increased her speed and outstripped Amber, who was just in her third round. Having breathed heavily just two rounds after starting, there was no way that she could keep up with the others.
And now as Gabriella was running next to her for a few seconds, the cheerleader didn't even found the breath to say something insulting.
However, now running at an higher speed than before, Gabriella easily caught up to Troy once again, being applauded by her fellow team mates. "Go, Gaby!", she could make out Taylor's and Sharpay's voice. Smiling, she readapted Troy's speed, but stayed silent, not wanting to bring up the incident from before. That way the two of them finished nine of the given ten rounds. Amber had given up three rounds before and now they were the only ones still running.
Noticing that it was the last round, Troy looked up, covered in sweat. "Last round counts, Montez!" Gabriella nodded dogged, increasing her speed one last time. Now both trying to outrun the other, they were both surprised how much strength they could still ante up. And to the ones standing beside the path the tempo they were holding now seemed to be maniacal.
Fifty metres before the finish, Gabriella and Troy both clenched their teeth at the same time. It couldn't be that no one had gained the lead by now. But none of them could change it. Both not wanting to give up the victory, held their speed and eventually … both reached the finish at exact the same time.
For one moment ruled absolute silence. Then the storm erupted. Jubilant screams erupted from both teams and everyone was laughing their butt off. Holding this contest had been a complete waste of time.
Not to the both squabblers however. Because under normal circumstances both of them would have never done what they did now. Looking at each other and smiling a true smile while doing so for the first time in nearly two years, Troy held his hand out and suggested: "How about we call a truce for this afternoon and share the gym?"
Gabriella grabbed his hand without hesitation, her heart still racing like crazy. "Truce!", she agreed and suddenly she felt two arms surrounding her body. Tensing up, thinking it was Troy, she immediately let go of the hand she was still holding, but then noticed that it was Sharpay, who had engulfed her in a hug. "Shar!", Gabriella laughed. "You nearly gave me a heart attack." She risked a short look at Troy, but the place where he had been standing was empty. Obviously he had already called his team and entered the gym again. Talk about being fast.
*
Five minutes later, Gabriella had calmed herself down. At least so much that she was able to give further instructions. "Okay, Taylor, it would be nice, if you'd call the girls. We're sharing the gym with the basketball player." Her friend nodded and Gabriella made a short detour to her locker to fetch the stereo equipment and the CD she had made extra for the rehearsals. Not once did she think about what Troy would think when he heard the song.
Little later, the girls all had positioned themselves in a circle around Gabriella and listened intently to her speaking. "Okay, girls, I'm going to show you the song first, so listen carefully and get a feeling for the beat, alright? It's important for the further steps. They all nodded and Gabriella went over to start the music.
Troy had already started the basketball game. He himself wasn't playing since he was playing the referee for the time his dad was still absent. He sent a look over to the girls and saw Gabriella going over to the radio player. Looking forward to what song she had picked, he waited for the first tact to start playing.
But he nearly got a heart attack as he heard the first beats escaping the stereo equipment Gabriella had brought. Taken by surprise, he blew the whistle and turned his complete attention to the music. There was no way he'd be able to concentrate on refereeing a game right now. He knew the song; he knew it only too well. He had it just heard this moment and he had changed the transmitter to not hear it. He couldn't believe that he'd be forced to hear it now, in full length and … played by Gabriella.
Trying, trying, trying to deny that I love you
Asking myself why it's gotta be you
You're the man that I should pay no heed to
Still you capture me each time you're in the room
With just one wink of yours you get me to sway
And I know you're all too willing to obey
Every time I find myself up against a wall
I always fight to bawl
At the top of my voice
Why it's gotta be you…
You of all people are the one to get me down
You keep doing it when everyone's around
What's wrong with me, should have gotten over you
Should have taken to hate after I faced the truth
While I attempt to get you out of my system
I'm trying to listen
To my mind that screams
Why it's gotta be you (hey), why it's gotta be you
Who holds my heart, ready to crush it
The only one that's ever really gotten through
Just wanna let go, looks as if I can't rush it
My soul holds onto you
But why it's gotta be you
Who knows (I don't), this feeling shows
I just can't let you go
But why it's gotta be you
Now I'm deep in the mire, stuck in-between
I'm at a loss what to do, nowhere to lean
Shouldn't have counted on it to turn out all right…
The rest was drowned out by his ears, not wanting to hear any more. She had actually chosen the dance they had made the choreography to. And there was no doubt that she intended on using the same steps. He could already imagine her trying to cut the lifting figures out and still making it an impressive dance. His blood began to boil.
He had never wanted to hear that song again. And he had never expected to have to, especially played by her. Of course, he knew that she probably knew that he'd be touchy about it and that he'd be damn angry. And it was a fact that they both tried everything to piss the other one off.
But whatever had happened between them – he would have never thought that she would use something that had been once this meaningful to them for a damn contest. And especially since she and Amber had put him as the prize.
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Soo, what did you think? I hope you liked it, because it's gotta get you over the ten days I'm not going to be here to update… well, tell me and I'll get back to you as soon as I get back myself…
Right now, I've gotta get going, because I need to finish packing up my things… Dad wants to put the things in the car this evening, because we'll be gone by four o'clock tomorrow morning… can anyone tell me how the hell I'm supposed to get up that early and actually move? Thank god I'm not driving… I'll be sleeping in the car with my mp3-player to keep me company :)
Until then and thanks to those who wished me happy holiday,
xoxo ElectrifyingChemistry
Lena