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"Come on Ryan, you can do it!" Gabriella screamed at the top of her lungs, watching as her four guy friends were running back and forth on the basketball court. Chad, Zeke, Jason, Ryan, and a new recruit named Charles, were running back and forth against another city basketball team. The five had joined the city league on Wednesday and their first game was today, Friday. Gabriella jumped up and down when Ryan made the 2 pointer and received high fives before running back down to the other end of the court where Chad stole the ball again from the opposing team and made a nice 3 pointer.
"You know, you would never be able to tell that these five were new to playing with each other," commented Taylor to Gabriella, both not taking their eyes off their friends. "Maybe everything has happened for a reason."
"Could be," Gabriella returned. "Ryan and Charles both seem to have skills out there. I wonder why they never joined East High's team."
Just then, the whistle was blown to signal the end of the mid-point with the friends leading the opposing team by quite a bit. They took seats on the first level of the bleachers while the girls came down to greet them.
"You guys are wonderful out there!" Gabriella exclaimed. "Ryan and Charles, I would never have guessed you had this much game!"
Chad laughed. "That doesn't even begin to express my genuine surprise. I think we may have a solid chance of trumping these city guys. Many of the teams are made of older guys, but I think we have a good shot with our team here."
"Thanks for the positive reinforcement, Captain!" Charles said, grinning at the blush on Chad's cheeks. "Still not used to the title, eh?"
"I don't feel that I deserve it," Chad returned.
"Of course you do. You know this game the best out of all of us and you helped recruit the two remaining players to round up this team nicely. That's what a true captain does," Jason stated. "You'll do a fine job, I have confidence in you."
"I second that," Zeke jumped in. "And to celebrate your new captain status and our hopefully first win, I had Taylor and Gabriella bring a whole slew of baked goods and meats and stuff to barbeque over there as soon as it is over that I prepared myself."
Gabriella and Taylor nodded their heads in agreement. "It's all set Zeke," Taylor confirmed for him.
The whistle was blown shortly after indicating the teams needed to get back on court. Chad kissed Taylor for good luck, as was his new tradition, and ran out to join his team, doing his best to refocus them on a new strategy for the second half.
Troy parked his truck at the local park and jumped out, grabbing his basketball and his bag to practice on a different surface than at home. He made his way over to the courts only to see a few games were already in progress, taking up all the courts. Troy dropped his bag and watched from several feet away only to drop the ball he was holding as he realized it was Chad, Jason, Zeke, Ryan, and some guy he didn't know playing. 'When did they start playing outside of school?' Troy wondered.
He watched as Zeke passed the ball to Ryan, who passed it to Jason, who then performed a perfect layup just as the ref blew his whistle signaling the end of the game. He watched as the five guys gave each other congratulatory high fives before shaking hands with the losing team and then headed off the courts to head over to the barbeque area. After he realized that the court was now free, Troy made his way over and dropped his stuff again to practice but never took his eyes off the retreating group of friends for long as he was curious as to what was new with them.
Having pushed himself extra hard with drills, Troy sat down on the grass nearby and drank some water from the bottle he brought with him. While he drank, Troy found his gaze had wandered back over to the barbeque area and felt an all too familiar pang in his chest again as he saw the guys he used to be so close to having a blast without him. What Troy realized hurt more was the sight of Gabriella laughing along with them with Taylor by her side. Regardless of the amount of pressure he put on himself to focus on his future prospects, if Troy was honest with himself, he knew that he missed this group, he missed this girl. Troy had been hurt deep when Gabriella left him, but instead of deciding to turn a new leaf, he felt compelled to go after his dreams that much harder to put all the pain and distractions in the past. He watched as Ryan took a seat next to Gabriella and casually draped his arm around her shoulders as if it was the most natural thing in the world, reminding Troy of the time at Lava Springs he found them swing dancing by the pool.
"TROY!" a high-pitched voice called out, interrupting his thoughts. "TROY, I want to go to dinner!"
Troy saw that the group he had been watching unnoticed looked in his direction and realized that he had been staring at them. He knew nothing good would come of this so he got up and picked up his stuff before heading over towards Sharpay in her pink Mustang. "Hey Sharpay," Troy greeted before he got in the car, actually thankful that she interrupted his day when she did.
As Gabriella watched the pink mustang speed out of the parking lot, she couldn't suppress her sadness mixed with anger any longer. "I can't believe him!" she screamed, surprising her friends but only because they had been thinking the same thing. "I thought he would come to his senses and see what he was doing, but he seems to not even care about us, about our love, about his life-long friendship with Chad, about his teammates who he is leaving behind, and about his old life. Why can't he see what he is doing to himself and his future?"
Ryan wrapped his arm around her shoulders again in an effort to comfort Gabriella, which she gratefully accepted. "Don't worry about Troy and Sharpay, Gabriella. They are their own people who must make their own decisions. If they choose each other and the future my dad has planned out for them, it's their choice. He has made it clear he would rather have that than be in our lives any longer," Ryan said, having earned nods from the rest of the group.
"Gab, you know I wouldn't lie to you about this," Chad stated. "It's time, I think, we move on and leave him in our past as he has us. I have a good idea how you feel about this idea, but we can't sit here and pine for the old Troy to walk back in our lives. It's not healthy, and trust me, I'm more mad at him than anything right now, but if old Troy came back, I'd thank my lucky stars we had our boy back. I can't stomach this new and supposedly improved Captain."
"Yeah, we know how frustrated you are Gabriella, but we tried what we could this summer to get him to open his eyes," Zeke put in. "Sometimes though, people grow apart and outgrow each other. I've heard about this from my older sister, how in her senior year she had a blast but lost some friends along the way, especially after they split up to different colleges. Maybe this is just the start of our split?"
Taylor shook her head. "Don't say that Zeke! I don't think any of us want to give up on each other, we've been through so much, but at the same time, I guess we do have to accept that with time, we are all going to grow up and change, hopefully for the better. I don't want to see this group just disintegrate any more than I think you guys do."
"Hey, I may be a total outsider to your group of friends right now, but I think you guys have a point," Charles stated. "From a perfectly objective view point, it seems like Troy has left you all in the dust and seems to have decided to go after a future that no longer parallels yours, which is unfortunate. The one thing you all need to remember though is that we choose our path and our future. No one else can do that for us, and the lucky chances we rely on, well, eventually luck does run out. All I'm saying is that you guys are beyond lucky to have each other, no matter what state your group is in, and I hope that you won't forget your bond that still remains."
The group stared at him for a moment before all chuckling. "That has got to be the wisest and deepest thing someone has said in this group in a long while," Zeke said with a laugh. "Charles man, you know you are part of this group now, for as long as you want to stay! We can't see playing basketball without you and Ryan!"
Charles smiled back at the group of friends. "Well thank you Chef Zeke, and may I say this is a wonderful layout you created for us!"
"Wow, Charles knows the direct way to Zeke's heart!" Chad teased. "Seriously though, as corny as this line sounds and we probably overuse this way too much but it needs to be said that if we all stick together, through thick and thin this year, we'll make it out just fine while having a blast senior year."
"I second that!" exclaimed Gabriella. "For my own selfish reasons, I want this to be the best senior year any of the seniors at East High have ever experienced because we are never going to be the same again after this. We are all going to graduate, go to different colleges in different parts of the US. I am all for cherishing senior year like there's no tomorrow!"
"I'm with you on that Gab," Taylor added. "There's enough experiences coming up for us to savor and enjoy before we walk across that stage though in early June. Let's not make the mistake of dwelling on the past, as hard as that may be especially for some of us, and move on. No regrets this year, right?"
"Right!" everyone agreed with smiles on their faces.
"Good, now with that settled, boys do you want to go run some drills out there on the courts?" Chad asked, wanting to get the group in condition for the city league, which was a few months long. "I don't want anyone getting hurt because we jumped right into all the intense games or anything."
The other four nodded their heads as they rushed off to the courts to go practice, following their new captain.
"You truly are going to be okay?" Taylor asked of her best friend as soon as they were alone.
Gabriella looked over at Taylor and let out a sigh. "Honestly, I'm going to try. It's been weeks since I really last talked to Troy and even then, it was to break up with him. Taylor, you know how hard that was on me but it had to be done. If this is the path he chose as soon as I freed him, as it was said just now, it's his choice."
"Now are you just saying that or do you mean it?" Taylor pushed.
"Maybe both, I'm still trying to deal with that myself. The guys have a very good point. He chose the life he has now and it obviously doesn't include us. I miss the old Troy Bolton though, probably just as much as Chad does. I think that is the one thing that is making this easier," Gabriella revealed. "The fact that I know whoever that guy is that jumped into Sharpay's car isn't the same guy I fell in love with last year. It helps me get over it and move on. Seeing them together is like that final nail in the coffin for me to send downstream and away from my life."
Taylor wrapped her right arm around Gabriella and squeezed her shoulders. "Obviously, you already have seen this, but you just need to remember that we are all here for you, especially me. You'll get through this, I've seen you overcome quite a bit already, and you'll be stronger for it. Besides, I already see your interest wandering Miss!"
Gabriella looked over at Taylor shocked. "WHAT?"
"Girl, who do you think you are talking to right now, Chad? I know you and I know those moments you and Ryan have been sharing aren't all that innocent," Taylor revealed. "And it's fine to test the waters, remember?"
"I know," Gabriella breathed out. "I have to move on, and I intend to, I just don't want to rush into anything. Having Troy break my heart this summer is not an episode I would like to have repeated any time soon. I do like Ryan, he definitely has changed quite a bit from when I first met him, but I guess I'm just shy about this whole thing. Besides, I don't even know if he feels the same way."
Taylor incredulously stared at her best friend before she asked, "Are you serious?"
"What?" Gabriella asked for the second time in a few minutes.
"Gabriella, that boy is more than interested! Ryan has been watching you from afar all summer! Well, half way through summer at least. You were there to pick him up when Sharpay dropped him like a hot potato and you were the one to encourage him to grow into his own being instead of just following Sharpay around as her poodle as he called himself. If you give him the chance, I can guarantee you that Ryan would not let you down in the interested category," Taylor responded.
Gabriella turned her attention to watch the boys practicing the drills Chad had set up and watches as Ryan pushed himself to keep up with Jason and Zeke who were more conditioned than he was but managed to hold his own. "I think you may be right Taylor, but remember, I want to go slow, okay? No interfering to try to accelerate things?" Gabriella said, turning her attention back to her best friend.
Taylor nodded her head. "Agreed, no interference on my part or Chad's. We just want to see you happy again. You deserve to be happy, senior year and all. Besides, you and only you can decide who makes your heart skip that beat and who is your true soul mate."
"That's right," Gabriella returned, happy her friend was satisfied. "So, are you going to volunteer with me to tutor students after school starting next week?"
"Of course, I was the one that convinced you, remember? I think we get our schedules on Monday after school. Hopefully, we will get a few together. Are you still working at the diner?"
"No, my mom didn't want me too distracted this year since I have to keep my grades up to get a scholarship. Troy isn't the only one that needs help to go to college," Gabriella explained.
"Believe me, all of us are in need of help in that arena, I think that's why the guys are so upset. We're all trying for some type of scholarship, full or partial, and we all want to get into the best schools. For us though, I guess we lean on each other for the support to get through that stress while Troy kind of went full steam into another direction. Don't give it another thought, Gab. He'll eventually realize what he's done. The question is, would you take him back?" Taylor questioned.
"Wait, I thought just a second ago you were encouraging me to go pursue this 'like' thing with Ryan but now you're talking about taking back Troy?" Gabriella asked confused.
Taylor shook her head and replied, "I may be talking about it but I doubt it's going to happen any time soon. Besides, you need to explore what is out there to truly know what's in your heart, but at the same time, I kind of have to say that secretly, I'm hoping Troy gets his head back into the real game because you both are so great together. Chad and I realized that the day we tried breaking you up last year. However, if you go out there and find that Ryan or some other guy makes you happier, I'll be behind you the whole way. I will love whoever makes you feel complete."
Gabriella leaned over and gave Taylor a huge hug. "Thanks for the talk Tay, I appreciate it. Do you have these heart to heart talks with Chad too? I know he could probably use one about this topic as well."
"Are you kidding? We've had a few by now. I don't know who was more broken up about Troy's change, you or Chad. But, I think you and Chad have pretty much found closure or at least close to it which is good. Life moves on and so should we," Taylor responded.
"I couldn't agree with you more," Gabriella replied as she watched Ryan shoot the basketball at the hoop and getting nothing but net.