I don't own anything.
A/N: Alright it's time for another update but first I want to thank my reviewers from last time, HeartsWereNeverMeantToRace, glasvegas, chaylorXtraylorlover101, Marchbabe, lilmissmonique , mzwendy85 , LadiiBabiiCottonCandii990, Aud11, MermaidRam85, LunaSolTierra , Tohrment and Mizzkk. Thank you for the reviews, now I hope everyone enjoys this new update and please don't forget to send me a review I love hearing from you guys.
Baby S
Chapter Five
Taylor tried her best not to glare at Troy as she crossed her arms over her chest as Troy calmly got out of his car with her jacket in his hand. Moving around the front of the car, he tried his best not to smirk at the look of distain on her face. Closing the distance between them, he lowered his hands in front of him and sighed. "You know…you don't have to thank me or anything. I'm just trying to be a gentleman." Taylor eyed him for a moment and shook her head.
"Don't worry I won't." she replied with a smirk as she reached out for her jacket only to come back up with air. Looking back up at Troy she watched as he shook his head at her before speaking his voice taking on a patronizing tone.
"You know …I'm seriously starting to think that you don't like me…and that my acts of goodwill and kindness really don't mean a thing to you." He deadpanned saucily, as he looked at her while being mindful to keep the jacket out of her reach. "You know what I changed my mind."
"About what?" she asked accusingly as she looked up at him angrily. He leant forward and spoke slowly as if he was taking to someone who wouldn't understand him otherwise.
"I want a "Thank You." Rolling her eyes she looked up at him and then away while placing her hands on her hips and sighing.
"Thank you." She snapped, reaching out again for her jacket only to come up with air yet again.
"Nope, that's not going to work…say thank you, Troy." He supplied with a smile on his face as he looked into Taylor's heated glaze. She looked up at him for a moment before sighing.
"Fine…thank you, Troy for bringing back my jacket." He smiled down at her and placed the jacket in her hand. He watched as she quickly moved it out of his reached, the whole scene almost made him laugh but he resisted the urge because he felt that it just wouldn't be right at the moment.
"See now that wasn't so bad was it." He replied good naturedly as he looked at her and then off in the direction that Darius had went in earlier when he was driving up. "So…what was up with the little powwow you and Darius or Dee were having when I pulled up."
Slinging her jacket over her right shoulder, she gave him a look before answering. Silently deciding that now was just a good time to start bringing him into the fold as Darius had suggested she do. She eyed him for a moment before stepping forward. "We were discussing you." Troy raised an eyebrow at her statement and rocked back on his heels as he mauled over her answer. He wasn't to sure he liked the idea of Darius talking to her about him. He could already tell that whatever Darius probably whispered in her ear was as more than likely words that word poison her opinion of him.
"Really?" Taylor rolled her eyes at the playful tone that his voice had broken off into. She couldn't understand why he had to be this way. Why he had to be this way when it came to Darius, she just couldn't understand it.
"Must you make everything into a joke?"
"I'm sorry I just don't know how to look at it," he replied coolly, before wiping the grin off his face. "Alright now tell me what you and big bad Dee were talking about before I drove up."
"We were talking about why you insist on making him angry." Troy chuckled and turned away from her and walked over to his car and leant against it for a moment while looking up towards the sky. Taylor studied him not really knowing what he was going to do next.
"That's rich…I make him angry huh. No, Tay-Ann you got it all wrong," he muttered as he turned back around and looked at her for a moment before speaking. "He makes me angry…furious even." Stepping forward she looked at him and for the first time saw just how serious he was.
"And what has Darius done to make you so angry. Was it the fact that he's taking a chance on you and has brought onto his label…given you a chance to be in the spotlight. A chance at making your music heard around the world. Given you a chance to be a millionaire doing what you love…tell me Troy what one of those things makes you angry with him." Troy looked down at her while lifting a hand and pointing a finger at her which in turn made her take a step back in momentary shock.
"There's more to life than money…I understand that, he doesn't." He paused and shook his head while tucking his chin into his chest. After a few seconds he lifted his head and looked at her. "And he's made you believe those horse shit excuses of his…for basically…for basically pimping your body out to the masses for fucking money." He snapped out furiously as he thought back to the video and how Darius had practically drooled over the way he made Taylor display herself for the camera. He barely had enough time to blink before Taylor's hand shot out and slapped him across the cheek. Stepping back he looked down at her as she frowned back up at him with tears in her eyes.
"How dare you?"
"I only say it because I care about you Tay,…this…what he makes you do…"
"It sells records…I'm popular because of it. I have sex appeal, and for the longest time I never used it, but he showed me what to do…he showed me how make men tremble in sexual excitement when they catch sight of me. They stop and stare…that's never happened before, not with me." She whispered trailing off at the end for a moment lost in her own thoughts and memories. Troy watched her as she looked back up at him. "What would you have me do, Troy."
"I don't know…maybe ask him to allow you to wear some clothes when you shoot a damn video for one." He spat out frustrated with the way that the conversation was going. She leant back and crossed her arms over her chest.
"Troy, you made the video with me."
"Better me than some random guy…some random john." He replied harshly, Taylor froze at the insult and shook her head.
"You need to go." She stated her voice trembling with emotion as she started to step away from him only to have Troy reach out and forcefully stop her retreat.
"I'm not going anywhere…how many times has Darius made you do something like that over the last five years huh." He asked as he pulled her closer. "It's not a good look…and the Taylor I know and remember wouldn't allow some man to do this to her." Yanking her arm from his grasp she glared at him and spat.
"The Taylor you know died the moment she realized that Chad Danforth was stringing her along, and that no one who considered themselves her friend thought enough of her, to call her up and tell her what was happening with the guy she was in love with and who she thought loved her."
"So you're going to allow him to use you because of this. So you're telling me that you allow Darius to do these things because of what happened between you and Chad." He asked in shock, he knew what Chad did to her was beyond stupid, and he knew his friend was paying for it dearly because of the guilt that Chad felt over the entire situation. Especially since, no one had seen or heard from Taylor after she made the discovery that he wasn't being faithful to her.
"Darius tells me up front what needs to be done. He doesn't string me along, and he's never lied to me…ever."
"Oh so him telling you that he's going to use your body for profit up front is a good thing."
"He's the only person in my life who understands and cares for me…of course he's not using me for profit. I understand what is expected of me in this industry. No one ever got to be famous by walking around in conservative clothing…no man wants that and neither do the fans."
"What type of men are you talking about? Wait let me guess, that's what Darius told you." He asked bluntly. "Look I'm really starting to question your commonsense, were you so badly hurt that you are willing to literally follow behind Darius so blindly. What Chad did was wrong and I know he hurt you but seriously Taylor this…this can't keep going on like this."
"My name is Tay-Ann, Troy." She yelled as she reached out and pushed him back, he cautiously took two steps back and watched her as she moved away from him. "I want you to leave now." She snapped.
"Taylor…damnit…that's your real name. I hate Tay-Ann…I hate it." He yelled back angrily. "You aren't the sweet girl I remember…," she laughed bitterly at his statement and shook her head.
"Please you didn't even know me…you just knew that I was Chad's girlfriend. What else did you know, Troy? Did you know me personally? No, but you bet you think you did. Let's not pretend that our friendship was real when it wasn't. Please be truthful and at least say that to yourself alright. You never gave a damn about me…and sadly neither did Chad. He probably had his head so far up your ass that he was willing to copy any and everything you did so he went and got himself a nerdy girlfriend. Unfortunately I'm nowhere near as enchanting as Gabrielle…as I'm sure you know I clearly lack in the look department. SO he dumped me to get himself back to status quo by getting himself a cheerleading girlfriend in college. I was the fool to feel like I belonged to your group…and believe me that's my fault one I won't be making again anything soon…so please get the hell off my property." She yelled as she turned on her heel and stormed into her home. Troy watched her silently as she stormed into the house slamming the door behind her. Bowing his head, he looked down at his hands. So much for helping, all he seemed to be doing was steadily pushing her away from him and further into the crashing hold of Darius Combs. Walking back to his car, he climbed in and grabbed hold of the steering and stared straight ahead.
"Damnit." He cursed as he slapped his fist into the steering wheel; he took a few minutes to gather himself before pulling off. Silently berating himself for pushing Taylor so far, he knew it was to soon but the video had upset him and he just wanted her to see what was right in front her which was Darius using her for his own personal gain.
~*~*~*~~*~*~*~
Troy entered his apartment feeling completely lost over what had just occurred between him and Taylor. Moving to his sofa, he settled down and looked up at the ceiling. He knew he had pushed her to far, of that he was certain. She wasn't ready to hear the truth about the guy who had mentally crippled her for the past five years, but still he couldn't help but feel some guilt over her words. Maybe she was right, he didn't really know her. Back in high school, for him she might have just been there. "God, am I that awful." He asked the empty room with a broken sigh not really wanting to see himself as the dismissive jerk that Taylor was making him out to be. "If I was I'm sorry Taylor." He whispered as he closed his eyes willing the guilt to be lifted from his heart. He laid there for a few moments just silently thinking over everything. Maybe reaching her would prove harder than he thought, and since according to her he didn't know her. He just might have to get some insight from someone who knew her, and the closer person he could call for that was Gabrielle Evans. "Damn." He muttered as he lowered his head. He hadn't talked to her since she left him, even though when it all ended they had parted as somewhat friends. Looking down at his phone, he knew who had to call if he wanted to get in touch with her and he was absolutely dreading it. Scrolling through his phone for the number, he sighed for a moment before pressing down on the contact and lifting his phone to his ear. He silently waited as the phone rang over and over again before it actually picked up.
"Hello?" A small child-like voice asked into the other end. He relaxed at the sound of the child's voice and spoke smoothly.
"Hey, Jaden this is Uncle Troy…is your mother around."
"Hey, Uncle Troy." The little child exclaimed excitedly, he didn't have to be there to know that the child was bouncing up and down.
"Jaden…is your mother around." He asked again, just as he heard the familiar voice of the ice queen herself coming through the line in a scorning tone.
"Jaden Baylor what have I told you about answering the phone?" she asked, he listened as she lectured her son about the dangers of answering the phone and why didn't he come and get her instead of answering the phone.
"Sorry mama." The little boy muttered softly, Troy listened as he heard some motherly kissing smacks and then the patter of little feet running away.
"Hello?"
"Hey, Sharpay…" hearing the groan of annoyance that escaped her mouth at the sound of his voice he lowered his forehead into his free hand and sighed brokenly for a moment, "Look before I say anything else I just wanna tell you that I'm sorry about what happened between your brother and me."
"Troy please say the bullshit apologies for someone else…cause I'm not buying it." She replied harshly. "Now what do you want and why are you calling my home."
"Is Zeke there?" he asked quickly hoping and praying that he didn't have to go through her for the information he needed.
"No, he isn't…he had to go back to the restaurant there was some type of kitchen disaster that he had to go and handle so if that's all you wanted…" she trailed off eluding that if he didn't have anything else she would promptly end the phone call.
"Wait," he called out hoping she wouldn't just ignore him and hang up anyway. "Look um I need to talk to Gabrielle about something. I would really appreciate it if you could get me her home number…it's really urgent."
"What could you possibly want with my brother's wife." She replied hotly. "Last time I checked you were to happy about them…-"
"You tell me would you be happy if you found out Zeke was cheating on you…and told you that he simply didn't love you anymore. Look I'm sick and tired of having these fights with you. Was I wrong for beating the shit out of your brother…yes and no, cause regardless of what you think I was justified." He snapped out angrily.
"You know I don't have to deal with this…this is my number and you called me so…"
"Please it's really important that I talk to Taylor soon…I need to discuss something with her and-."
"How about you discuss it with me present as well." Sharpay replied coolly, Troy raised an eyebrow for a moment before sitting forward and sighed.
"Wait, is she there." There was a shuffling sound on the phone and then Gabrielle's voice came through over the line sounding quite tired in fact. It didn't take a genius to see exactly who she was tired of at the moment.
"Yes Troy…now what is that you want?"
"I…I um…I'm having a problem with…" he was abruptly cut off by a scoff that more than likely came from Sharpay.
"I know you are not calling here in search of her so you can brag about your new girlfriend." Sharpay spat out angrily.
"No…I'm calling her because I'm not entirely sure of how to approach a certain delicate situation that I seem to be in at this very moment. Look, I don't know how else to say this so I'm just going to go ahead and say it…I found Taylor." He stated lowering his voice on the last part as if the whole state of New Mexico could possibly get the news just from the phone conversation. He heard two gasps and then patiently waited for the questions he knew was sure to follow.
"Oh my goodness are you serious, Troy." Gabrielle asked her voice cracking as she realized that she was very close to getting her friend back in her life. "Troy are you serious?"
"Yeah…you know you shouldn't play like this."
"Of course I wouldn't play about this, Sharpay…I…she's up here in New York. She's the singer McKessie and I was just recently signed to the label so I met her." He replied slowly so they could both her him clearly. "The only problem is…she thinks," he paused and shook his head. He knew that the word think wouldn't truly fit the statement. "No, I'm sorry…she convinced that we all backstabbed her and that we were never truly her friends to begin with."
"What…why would she think that?" Gabrielle asked quickly.
"To put it simply…she was deeply hurt by what happened with Chad."
"Oh I know I shouldn't beat his curly headed ass the moment I found out what happened." Sharpay sneered.
"And the second reason is our boss and her friend, Darius Combs…he practically has her brainwashed to believe that he's the only one that cares about her. I've been trying to be there for her but she keeps pushing me away every chance she gets. It's like she lets me in for a minute and the pulls away from me."
"We have to tell her parents." Gabrielle exclaimed quickly.
"No…we can't…I'm pretty sure that she would just rebel more and then I probably wouldn't have any access to her because I'm sure she would tell Darius that I told and he would kick me off the label."
"Geez, Troy this isn't about you." Sharpay deadpanned. "Her parents have been driving themselves sick with worry…I mean none of us knew if she was alive or dead and now you're tell us that we can go and give her parents the best news they could probably ever receive."
"That's exactly what I'm saying. You act like she's been lost. No she did all of this on purpose. She changed her name…probably her social security number…the way she acts an d looks and you think that it's a good idea to notify her parents."
"Then why did you call us."
"We got into a fight tonight. I was trying to make her see what Darius was doing to her…and we said some things and she kicked me off her property. I don't want her to be angry with me, and I know she needs a friend. Someone she can count on…and since I'm supposed to be the only one who knows about her I'm the only one who can help her." There was silence on the other end of the line for a moment before Gabrielle's voice came back through the line.
"Fine what do you want to know?"
~*~*~*~~*~*~*~
Taylor groaned as she heard a loud noise from outside, rolling over she looked up at the ceiling and groaned. After, her fight with Troy earlier that evening she had decided that the best thing for her was to just go to sleep. "TAYLOR!" she froze as she heard her name being shouted from outside. Sitting up a little more in bed she clutched the covers to her chest and sighed for a moment. Maybe she was mistaken; maybe she hadn't heard a voice calling her name. "TAYLOR." The voice called out again and it sounded just like Troy. Hopping out of her bed, she quickly rushed over to her window and looked out towards her front yard and saw Troy Bolton standing there. Lifting up her window and she glared down at him and shook her head. "Troy what in the hell are you doing?"
"Um, I thought I was apologizing." He called back with a small smile as he stared up at her, happy that he had remembered what he saw that morning when he had opened up her blinds.
"In the middle of the night Troy," he moved his mouth to speak, and Taylor just narrowed her eyes and gave him a glare before speaking. "Shut-up…you're going to wake Maria if you keep this up…um meet me at the door. I'll be down." Troy just nodded and jogged off the lawn, with a smile on his face. Taylor watched him for a minute before closing her window and sighing. Troy was proving to be quite a difficult man to deal with. Grabbing her robe, she quickly exited her room and headed downstairs. As she moved by Maria's room, the door opened and Maria poked her head out.
"Ms. McKessie…what was all that noise?" Taylor paused and looked at her and then answered, while trying to keep calm, truth was Troy had pissed her off by showing up in the middle of the night.
"Troy is here."
"At one o'clock in the middle of the night." Maria asked softly.
"We um, we got into a fight earlier tonight and he came to apologize to me about it." She replied softly with a shake of her head as she thought about the man who was waiting at her front door. Maria smirked at the thought and shook her head.
"That Mr. Bolton is certainly something else, Tay-Ann."
"This isn't funny, Maria."
"He keeps you on your toes though you have to admit that. He's a good man as well. Not one you can control…tell him I said hello." She replied as she stepped back into her room. Taylor look at the door for a moment wondering if Maria was cheering on Troy…but quickly changed her mind. Walking quickly to her front door, she opened and saw Troy patiently awaiting her on the other side.
"You got a lot of her nerve showing up here after what you did?"
"I came to apologize Taylor." He replied softly, taking a seat closer only to have her move back out of his reach.
"What did you call me?"
"Look, I know you go by Tay-Ann…but I know you, and I know what your real name is and if this is going to be a real apology towards a real friendship…then I have to apologize to the person I know which is Taylor Ann McKessie." He whispered softly.
"You didn't know Taylor Ann McKessie." She snapped out angrily as she looked up at him for a moment before looking away. "You didn't know Taylor…and you certainly don't know me now." Troy nodded his head.
"I know that…give me a chance to get to know you."
"You'll get to know Tay-Ann…Taylor died a long time ago." She replied back angrily. "So please don't run around yelling out my name in the middle of the night. DO you have any idea just how late it is."
"Oh I have an idea." He replied meekly as he looked at her. "So what do you say…I know we had this conversation before but I didn't take it seriously then, but now I'm ready to do so."
"Well I guess I can give you another go…but you seriously need to watch yourself and what you say about Darius and how he runs things. He understands this industry Troy." She replied softly
"Let's not talk about the industry right now…this is just about us. I don't care about the fame…or the money. Just…just building a real and true friendship with you. I want to get to know you and I'm willing to work at it."
"That sounds fine…we can do that." She replied softly as she looked up at him, Troy nodded his head and stepped closer invading her space. Even though she stood her ground she couldn't help but feel slightly uneasy as he looked down at her with his blue eyes. Troy moved closer and then placed a friendly kiss on her forehead. Almost immediately Taylor felt the pang of disappointment course through her body as his lips brushed her forehead. Stepping back, Troy smiled down at her and sighed.
"You won't regret this."