Thank you so much to pumpkinking5 for the lovely message you sent me regarding the last chapter! It was greatly appreciated, now onto the story!
Thursday
27th of March
Ivy day
Gabriella gave a small smile as she saw her boyfriend approaching their lunch table. "Hey, had a good practice?" she questioned as he sat down beside her, placing the tray around her books.
"It was all right," he sighed looking at the rather empty table. "Where is everyone?"
"Taylor freaked out as the class were finished muttering something about finals, before making a beeline for the library. You guys had practice and I assume the rest are in the auditorium."
"I'm sorry you had to sit alone. I'll try to hurry next time."
"Troy, no. It's fine honestly. It's sweet that you care so much about me but you need to think about yourself too. I heard about your new practice schedule and I don't see how'll you find the time!"
"It is what it is," Troy shrugged starting to eat his lunch. "It's only Thursdays that we have double practice."
"How are you possibly finding time for homework and exam revision? Please don't tell me you're pulling all-nighters?"
"No I'm not, though I probably should have… I manage to do homework but I end up going to bed late."
"If you need any help Wildcat let me know all right? I want you to make it."
"Thank you Brie, I appreciate the offer and I think I might need your help at one point but I just have to find the time," he told her as Gabriella gave him a soft smile. "By the way isn't it ivy day today? At what time will the results be announced?"
"Nine tonight," she replied looking at me rather curiously. "What about it?"
"Just curious," he admitted as Gabriella chuckled. "I'll let you know. Maybe we could Skype while I check the applications."
Troy looked at the clock on his computer once more as it turned 20:58, a call from Gabriella came through. Pressing the green button her face popped up on the screen.
"Hey Brie," Troy smiled as Gabriella looked at him.
"Hey Troy how was the last practice?" she questioned as Troy shrugged his shoulders. "Hard. Running suicide drills before lunch and another practice a little later wasn't ideal…"
"I'm sorry to hear that. Will it become better?"
"Maybe but it is what it is," he shrugged, "but we're getting off track."
"Right, logging in now," she said as she started typing her eyes looking at the screen.
Her eyes moved across the screen as she typed various things, clicking onto the site. "It's nine. View application," Gabriella muttered as she pressed the button on the keypad.
"Oh my god!" Gabriella gasped, her hands covering her mouth, as her eyes quickly moving from side to side reading the words.
"What? Is the answer there?"
"I… I got accepted! Dear miss Montez we are happy to offer your admission to Harvard class of 2012," Gabriella read out as Troy grinned. "Congratulations Brie! That's amazing."
"Thank you Wildcat, but I don't think I'll accept their offer"
"Okay? Not a school you prefer going to?"
"Well in a way yes. I have until May 1st to respond, and by then I should have heard back from most of the colleges I applied for. When I applied I never thought I would be accepted and I sort of had that mindset all along that it wasn't the school meant for me."
"Oh, do you have a favourite amongst the one you applied for?"
"I don't know if I would call it a favourite, but there are two schools I really want to attend. Stanford and Etrea."
"I am sorry I can't give you any useful advice since I don't know how this works, but I have learnt that if don't feel passionate about it then it probably isn't meant to be, even if the opportunity presents itself."
Wednesday
April 2nd
Troy's POV
The teacher was up by the board wiping off everything she had just written. I had just managed to write it all down in my book…
"Now turn to page 321, as we're starting our next topic vascular plants," Miss. Torres explained to us turning around, pushing her large red glasses up on her nose. Her salt and pepper hair pulled back into a loose ponytail, while her choice of outfit was as colourful as ever. Today it was a dark pink, ¾ sleeved top, paired with a skirt full of colourful embroidery.
Was it two separate items or was it a dress?
I flipped the book over to the right page as she turned around, her book in one hand and a piece of chalk in the other.
"Now this plant type is divided into nonvascular plants and vascular plants whereas the later we're going through today. Now, who can tell me approximately how many speeches of vascular plants we have?"
Out of pure boredom, I started tapping the tip if my pencil onto the top of my notebook.
"Mr Bolton?" she called out as I snapped out of my thoughts.
"Um… A couple of thousand?" I guess not having the slightest idea.
"Not quite. Is there anyone able to give the right answer? Yes, miss McKessie."
"Approximately 276 000 plants which equals to 90% of the species known today."
"That is correct. Thank you. Now, what characterize…" The rest of her sentence was drowned out as the bell started ringing for a couple of seconds before going silent.
I stopped my tapping looking up at the clock. Surely class couldn't be over already?
Then it started ringing again before going silent. Then it happened yet again.
"All right everyone. Meeting point is the baseball field across the street," miss Torres announced over the sound of chairs scraping against the floor, as everyone rose from their seats.
Following the stream of students walking down the hall and outside the various exit doors, it wasn't hard to miss our meeting place. Walking across the street and onto the field, I spotted Gabriella and Taylor a little in front of me. The two of them seated on the row beside me I wasn't surprised they were on of the first out from our class.
"What's going on?" I questioned them as I turned seeing the school still being evacuated. "That alarm meant a fire drill but most of the times the teacher announces them, or plan the lecture around it. Miss Torres genuinely seemed surprised," Taylor told us as Gabriella lifted an eyebrow.
"Isn't that the whole purpose? For them to be a surprise just like a real fire?"
"It also very well could be that she forgot it. She is getting kind of old," I guessed as Taylor nodded. "She have been here since forever. I found some old records not too long ago where the school thanked her for her service at the school. You have to be here for at least forty or fifty years to earn one," Taylor said as we watched miss Torres enter the field.
"All right senior! Attendance," she tried to yell out holding a piece of paper in her hand calling out names.
"Good morning everyone!" principle Matsue spoke through the megaphone. "Thank you for the swift evacuation. This was just a false alarm caused by maintenance so everyone please head on back inside. Thank you."
"So Gabi, Troy you're coming to the study group today?"
"I'll be there," Gabriella confirmed looking up at me.
"I have homework I need to finish first. I'm sort of behind already." "Do it there then. We could help you," Taylor said a little bit too enthusiastic…
"Sure," I shrugged looking at her. "I'll come."
Walking inside the locker rooms after PE I plopped down on the bench, Chad following close by.
"You feeling all right hoops?" Chad questioned opening his own locker as I found my water bottle taking a large gulp.
"Been better," I muttered resting my head against the cool metal of our lockers.
"Sure you should come to rehearsal today? You don't look too good."
"We all promised here the other day, didn't we? Also, Taylor persuaded me into joining her study group today."
"Tell her you can't. I'll even go talk to her! We need our captain, you haven't been able to play for months because of your injury and now this?"
"I'll be fine, all right? It's Friday soon and during the weekend I plan to get caught up, and hopefully, ahead of homework. We'll figure this out."
Sliding down the wall, I took a seat beside Chad on the hard floor of the backstage area. Ryan was up at the stage giving some instructions to the girls as to how they should move around the scene with the props. He had asked us all to come to the auditorium after school today and practice on the choreography for A night to remember.
"Why did we agree to this," Chad groaned leaning his head against the wall. "Well technically we didn't but we all promised Kelsi and Gabriella," I told him as he let out a sigh.
"Everything all right?" Kelsi questioned us with a bright smile, a stack of papers in her arms.
"Yeah," Chad nodded giving her a half-hearted smile. I nudged his side as he bent over. "All right, all right I admit it. The musical is coming along great Kelsi but we don't know how to dance," Chad confessed as Kelsi sat down opposite of us.
"I had a feeling this might become an issue. Seeing how everything is coming together is great, but I am afraid we have been too ambitious about certain numbers," she confessed her shoulders slumped down, her head ganging.
"No don't say that Kelsi. All right, maybe… but I think we would have had it by now if it wasn't so much going on with school," I told her as she looked up, her eyes studying me.
"You really think so Troy?"
"I do. In between school, homework, exam revision, Taylors study groups and other extracurricular activities people are exhausted."
"You do have a point… Well, I'll be happy to announce that this is about as complicated as it should get. There is one more dance routine and I think you guys will be happy when you see it. Here take a look," she said shuffling through her stack of papers before finding the right one.
Looking down at the note she had given me I started reading the lyric along with the notes.
"Last chance?" Chad questioned leaning towards me, reading the title.
"This looks fun. Do you have a choreography in mind?"
"We have, but it's only a rough sketch at the moment."
I took the second paper she gave me and looked at the stage directions. "This looks good Kelsi. I have a feeling the guys will like this," I told her handing the piece of paper to Chad.
"Hey hoops maybe we could incorporate some of the steps into our next practice? I mean this would be great drills to work on our coordination." "Really you could do that? That would be amazing!" Kelsi exclaimed as her eyes lit up at the idea. "But we have some parts in here where we haven't been able to figure out a choreography so if the two of you could come up with something?"
I glanced over at Chad as he shrugged his shoulders. "I guess we could…" Chad hesitated looking at me. "We'll try to think of something."
"Oh thank you! It doesn't have to be very complicated. Maybe some tricks or tactics you use with the ball during practice or a game?"
"That should be doable. When are we starting on this act?" Chad wondered as I gave Kelsi her papers back. "Well," she sighed, "we should be starting with this tomorrow but we didn't anticipate this taking so long," Kelsi told us gesturing towards the stage where Ryan was holding up a scarf in front of him, illustrating it as an item of clothing.
"but we need some extra rehearsals so in between Taylors study groups how is that working with your basketball schedule?"
"It isn't," Chad were quick to say as he shifted a little on the hard ground. "We have practice every day after school except Wednesday. On Tuesday and Thursday, we have two practices. One lead by coach and the other by Troy and I."
"The reason Zeke isn't here now being that I told him to go home. He wasn't feeling well on Tuesday and it was even worse during PE today," I revealed as Kelsi gasped, a hand covering her face.
"Yup, I honestly feared he would pass out or puke," Chad supplied as I shook my head. "We all have way too much to do. Chad, I know we just figured out a practice schedule but we can't have that many practices."
"I agree. There won't be anyone left to play the game," he concluded grimly as I nodded.
"I had no idea. Please, please let me know if this becomes too much. It's my fault for dragging you into this…"
"No Kelsi don't think like that. In a weird way this is fun," he said as I grinned nodding.
"I agree with Chad and thank you, we'll let you know if there should be anything. Oh and if you need to practice when the auditorium is being used let us know and we might know a place," I revealed as she smiled.
"Thank you, both of you."
Hope you all enjoyed this chapter! This weekend I managed to plan out the different chapters for what should be the rest of the story, but don't worry just yet. We still have prom, the musical, exams, graduation and a whole lot of other fun things! Things are happening for the Wildcats!
Since I now have a detailed plan I should be able to update roughly every two weeks so until then.
-FreeFlyingWriter