Chapter 1: First Day of School

So I'm back with another fanfic, this one is gonna center around my OC Cressida "Cress" Kormos and her misadventures with her best friends.

I do not own Disney's High School Musical: The Musical, The Series. Nor do I own my friend's ( zealous_light) characters (Ten and Jeonghan). I only own my Original Characters, with that being said, hope you'll enjoy this story

It was the first day of the Fall semester

"Sorry, coming through!" A girl with short curly hair called out, rushing through the crowd while avoiding any of her schoolmates.

"HEY, WATCH IT!" She yelled, dodging two skaters who hurried by her. And also someone else by the faculty parking lot.

"Our bad!" One skater muttered an apology. At least someone has some manners...

All her agitation disappeared the moment she spotted someone in the crowd.

"EJ!" She called out, and the tall boy turned around.

"Cress! You made it!" The tall boy (better known as EJ Caswell, one of the Golden Boys at school) grinned and offered her a Hi-5, "By the way, did you do something with your hair?"

"Yup, dyed it blonde two days ago." Cress smiled, running a hand through her hair.

"I like it, it really matches your eyes and brings out the mischief in your smile." EJ teased as the two friends chuckled.

"I can't believe it! 4 years in high school and we are finally in senior year! Soon we'll be graduating and off to college or wherever life takes us." Cress hopped up and down in excitement.

"Have you seen Ten?" She looked around, trying to find their other friend.

"I think he left school before me today." EJ said, tapping his chin in thought. EJ paused for a bit to wave at some of the schoolmates greeting him.

"There, I see him." Cress spotted Ten's silhouette walking far ahead. He seemed to be in deep thoughts, wearing his headphones and all.

Cress is 100% sure that Ten wears headphones half the time as an excuse for people not to talk to him.

"Wanna surprise him?" EJ asked.

"How can we not?" Cress smirked in response.

"Tenny!" Cress squealed loudly, before grabbing Ten's arm by surprise.

"Hey, Ten!" EJ decided to swing by and slung his arm around Ten's other free arm.

"Caswell, Cress, good to see you both again." Ten removed his headphones.

"Awesome, East High's Golden Trio is officially back together." Cress cheered, looping both her arms around EJ and Ten.

Ten and EJ were some of the most talented students at school (which makes them the Golden Boys), and Cressida's name means "Golden".

While Cress is not the most academic student at school, she makes it up with her artistic talents as the drama club's head prop designer, her tuba playing skills for the school marching band, and her being on the wrestling team.

The three of them began to share about their summer break. EJ usually goes to this summer camp all the way in California each year. Apparently his new girlfriend who goes to their school also went to the same camp there.

"So how's your summer?" EJ looked back at his friend.

"Uneventful." Cress's shoulders slumped a bit, "I've been avoiding my favorite arcade. Long story short, I may or may not have dated and broken up with some guy who works there. So I have to go to the other arcade across town instead."

"I'm sorry to hear that." Ten grimaced a little.

Cress always had the tendency to rush into relationships. She likes the thrill of harmless flings but often runs off the moment someone develops actual romantic feelings for her. Must be the curse of being irresistible.

"My baby brother is starting school today so I had to show him the bus route there and I was nearly late. And also some skater jerks nearly crashed into me just now." She added, grumbling under her breath. Not exactly the most pleasant start of the day.

"Didn't you just hit four hundred subscribers for your Makeup Vlog account?" EJ reminded her, hoping to cheer her up.

"Yeah, that's good career-wise. So I guess it wasn't all that bad." Cress huffed her chest proudly at her accomplishments.

"Oh, and I met a guy lately." She suddenly beamed, "he's super funny and likes some of the things I do. And he's pretty cute too."

"Guess we'll have to wait to meet him then. Need me to put up the protective brother image to intimidate him?" EJ jokes.

"I have plenty of siblings already, E. You're more of a tall little brother." Cress grimaced at EJ's 'brotherly protectiveness'. "I appreciate your concern, but I can take care of myself just fine. Plus, you'll like the guy."

"How's about you, Ten?" Cress asked.

"Cress, you just visited me last week. You gobbled up two servings of mango sticky rice." Ten pointed out. Cress occasionally cycles by Ten and EJ's neighborhood to meet up with them.

"I still can't believe EJ out of all people managed to get a date over the summer." Cress exclaimed in total disbelief, "Our Economic Jobless Cashewnut managed to have a sweet summer romance with that cute girl he had a crush on 2 years ago."

"Not my actual name," EJ interjected in a dry tone, "I am standing right here listening, you know."

Cress had been trying to guess what EJ is short for since they were 13, her former guesses were "Eggs Jelly". But after meeting both his parents, she was now convinced that his grandpa must have really loved the economy and business so much he named his own son Cash. And Cash also loved money so much, his wife's name is Penny.

"I've met his new girlfriend." Ten nodded, "Caswell introduced me to Nini last night when he video called her. She is sweet."

"And you guys didn't include me?" Cress gasped, pretended to be offended.

"Because you would have embarrassed me in front of my date." EJ answered. She has had a habit of snuffing out information from EJ's exes in the past. (It really doesn't help that her mom is one of the biggest gossip in the neighborhood)

Or trying to flirt with them to test their loyalty towards EJ. That was what made the girls' water polo captain Marisol Martinez realize she was way more attracted to girls than guys.

"Cress won't even need to embarrass you, Caswell." Ten placed a hand on EJ's shoulder.

"Aww thanks." EJ smiled, looking touched.

"You're embarrassing yourself just fine on your own." Ten finished his sentence, then he raised a fist to exchange fist bumps with Cress for that roast.

"Wow, not even the first period yet and you two are already judging my choices." EJ sighed a bit, used to his friends messing with him. But then again, he tends to do the same to Ten sometimes.

"That's what best friends do." Cress hummed.

"Well, you'll get to meet Nini later." EJ stated, before muttering to himself, "although it might as well be a decision I will regret."

"Come on, the assembly's about to start." Ten reminded them, as the 3 high school seniors made their way to the gym.

It was time for the back-to-school morning assembly, and EJ was sandwiched between Cress and Ten.

Not that he minded, the three of them have become inseparable friends since their 7th grade museum field trip.

Everyone was already bored out of their minds while listening to the principal's announcements. He mentioned something about how seniors can now wear baseball caps on Fridays.

"Go seniors!" Someone sitting in the back cheered.

"Fridays!" Cress chimed back in response at the announcement.

Suddenly, Principal Gutierrez introduced the newest Drama teacher as a blonde lady marched forward to take the stage. Behind her was Carlos Rodriguez, a sophomore who was also in the same theater club as EJ and Cress were.

And then the teacher grabbed a shirt launcher and aimed it at one of the kids sitting behind, cheering "Go Wildcats!"

Well, that was one way to get the students' attention.

'Note to self, use a T-shirt launcher next time I introduce myself to new people.' Cress made a mental reminder, impressed by the drama teacher's enthusiasm.

"My name is Miss Jenn," the new teacher introduced herself, "and when I heard that the high school where 'High School Musical' was shot never had never staged a production of 'High School Musical' the musical,"

Oh boy, EJ now looks intrigued, you can tell from the way his eyes lit up.

"I was shocked as an actress, inspired as a director, and triggered as a millennial." Miss Jenn continued, "Auditions are tomorrow after school. This show could change your lives."

Everyone else looked interested now, whispering to one another.

"And I am saying this as a backup dancer from the original movie." Miss Jenn clarified, "Third to the left, backrow, red headband. And yes, those are my real teeth."

Carlos stepped forward, before Miss Jenn introduced the younger teen.

"And meet your student choreographer, Carlos. You may know him as Captain of the Color Guard. I know him as an unpaid rising star." Miss Jenn introduced, before her voice went soft, "But seriously, I have no budget."

The school bell rang, marking the end of the assembly.

And there you have it, Cress's debut. Hope you've liked her character so far, because she's gonna be so much fun to write.

Chapter Notes:

1) Ten belongs to my friend, zealous_light and he's from "Weightless" on Wattpad. (Seriously, check out her stories, they're amazing) While in Weightless! Ten has a more composed and calm manner who carries the functional braincells for his friends, Starburst! Ten has a more snarky and mischievous side. He still carries the braincells and moral compass for the friendship though.

2) Cress has a fun friendship with Ten and EJ, she's a force to be reckoned with and is fiercely loyal to the ones she love. She's loud, she's proud, she's unapologetically chaotic alignment energy. If you are to compare Ten, EJ and Cress (plus Jeonghan but he will appear later on), this is their dynamic in a nutshell

Ten: No/Low Energy

EJ: Calm (for the most part)

Cress and Jeonghan: Too Much Energy

3) I know EJ's full name isn't revealed until season 3 but much like Ten's, Cress has only ever known her two friends through their nicknames. So she makes wild guesses to what EJ is short for (when she was 13, her first guess was Eggs Jelly. Now, it's Economic Jobless. 'Job' as a nod to how EJ idolizes Steve Jobs)

4) Also we never got to know much of EJ's family life save for his relationship with Ashlyn (his cousin) and Cash (his father), so I'm pulling in my interpretation of EJ's mom. Her name's Penny (short for Penelope) and she's where EJ got his good looks from and his theater kid side. That way Cress can make a passing joke of "Cash was penniless (Penny-less) before he got married". She won't appear much but gets passing mentions every now and then.

That's all for now, thank you so much for reading. Feel free to fave, follow or leave a review and let me know what you think so far. Have a nice day.