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It is Wednesday late morning and Gabriella is sitting in Physics class, concentrating on her notes as she happens to glance outside and see Troy in the field with a tall red headed girl she recognizes from the cheerleading squad. 'I wonder what that's about,' she thinks, forcing the sight out of her mind and turning her head back to focus on the teacher who is going over what their first major test would be about.
"So, what is it that you wanted to talk to me about Marlene?" Troy asks, curious as to why she wanted to talk to him, away from his friends and away from the rest of the cheerleaders.
Marlene stares at the ground for a moment more and looks up at Troy. "I wanted to actually apologize for my part in Jasmine's psychotic tactics lately to get your attention. She's really crossing the line and I can't stand by and not say anything anymore. I know she's my captain but I think her obsession with you is a little too much," she says with a straight face.
"I completely agree but why are you talking to me about this now?" Troy questions, suspicions running around in his head.
"Because, to tell you the truth, I think you are a great guy Troy, and that you don't deserve to be on the bad end of all these schemes. I wanted to say something right away when Gabriella got hurt but I was too weak then. Now, well I'm still under Jasmine's rule but I had to say something for my own conscious," she explains. "Maybe one day, if you can ever forgive my part in this, we could be friends."
'I may be foolish for this but I think she's telling the truth,' he thinks to himself. Troy turns his face back to Marlene so he is looking into her green eyes. "Thank you for what you have said. I think we could be friends, definitely. It takes a big person to do what you just did."
Marlene smiles back at him and nods her head. "Well, I better go. Take it easy Troy."
He watches as she walks off and spots Gabriella just turning her head away from the window of her class. Troy gazes up at her profile for a few more moments and shakes his head. 'What did you do Troy by letting her go?' he wonders, walking back to the lunch table where Sharpay, Jason, and Martha are waiting for him.
"So? What did that cheerleader want?" Sharpay demands as soon as Troy sits down.
"She wanted to apologize," Troy responds. "Said she was sorry for her part of the schemes and that she wanted to be friends."
Jason chuckles. "What an act! Dude, please tell me you didn't fall for that."
Troy takes his time and admits, "I kind of do. I mean, we all know how Jasmine rules her crew. They are either with h
er or not and if you want to be on the squad, you better be with her."
"Troy has a point," Martha agrees. "Besides, if they are scheming anything, it'll all come out, soon enough."
"I just don't trust her," Sharpay says, very suspicious as to why Marlene would choose now, the day after a few pictures from the Hunter's launch party came out with Gabriella on his arm, to approach Troy.
At the next lunch period, Gabriella, Taylor, Chad, Kelsi, Ryan, and Zeke decide to sit outside to enjoy the day and sit out on the lawn, enjoying the sunlight. Gabriella had gotten up to get a soda when the questions about the launch party came out.
"So, Taylor, aren't you going to share with the rest of us how the launch party was?" Zeke asks, surprised he had to be the first one to ask. "We've been dying since yesterday morning to find out what happened!"
Taylor smiles. "I know a picture circulated yesterday, Gabriella and I saw a copy of it taped to her locker. Isn't that enough?"
"Umm, no!" Ryan jumps in. "So are Gabriella and Hunter really an item now?"
Taylor shrugs in response. "I honestly don't know. Judge for yourself, or you can ask her since she is coming back right now."
"Okay, why are you all staring at me?" Gabriella asks, taking a seat again next to Taylor.
"Are the rumors true? Are you and Hunter together?" Zeke asks, honestly curious if there is any truth to the rumors around school.
Gabriella smiles a little and opens her mouth to respond when she spots a few people with cameras and one with a microphone advancing quickly on the group.
"Gabriella! Gabriella! The word around Hollywood is that you are Hunter's main girl! Can you confirm that?" yells a reporter who is running at them.
Unsure of what to do, Gabriella just stares at the cameras, as if they were foreign objects, which in truth, they are on the campus of East High. She feels a strong hand grab her around the upper arm and drag her up. "Come on, let's make a run for it," Chad whispers in her ear as she quickly grabs her bag and runs into the building with him, up the stairs and into the secret spot she and Troy used to share. Chad locks the door at the bottom and shortly joins Gabriella. "That was wild," he comments, taking a seat on the bench and watching his friend as she looks at some flowers.
"Thanks for the help Chad," Gabriella finally says, breaking the silence and looking over at him. "You thought quick on your feet and I appreciate that. If it was me, I would have probably still stayed down there like a clueless one."
"Hey, it's the least I could do. Taking Taylor with you the other day was really sweet. I know it made her day. So it looks like you and Hunter are really happy together," Chad adds, wanting to find out the truth.
Gabriella turns back to the flowers and smiles sadly. "It looks like Troy is too, with basketball and with his new girl."
Not expecting that response, Chad just sits there for a few moments. "I would say yes, Troy is happier than a week ago. He's giving it all to basketball again, and his game is truthfully getting even better. As to a new girl, I don't know of any unless you count that forced kiss from Jasmine the other week."
"Forced kiss?" she asks, turning her attention back to Chad.
"Yeah, seriously, she came out of nowhere and like attacked him, living him to wipe her sticky lip gloss and spit off him. It was actually pretty gross," Chad explains, earning a laugh from Gabriella.
"If that's the truth, I'm sure he was really happy with that high school moment," Gabriella says, a part of her happy that it wasn't the serious kiss she thought Troy had finally succumbed to.
"You know, he honestly just wants the best for you and for you to be happy," Chad ventures, sensing she was thinking about Troy. "If you're happy with Hunter, he'll eventually be happy for you too."
Gabriella looks at Chad a little sadly before saying, "You know, things are not always what they seem Chad. Besides, Troy is the one that basically shooed me off. If I had my choice, I wouldn't have walked away from us again, not after all that thinking I did this summer during that break."
Chad studies Gabriella and is about to say something when the bell rings. He groans and runs down the stairs, peeking through the windows to see if he could see any reporters. "I think they are gone, do you want to venture to your next class?" he asks, coming back up the stairs.
She nods. "I can't afford to miss anymore classes. We already missed all yesterday."
"Umm, Gabriella, that was just ONE day. Not the end of your scholastic career."
"It is to me!" she replies. "Especially because I missed part of Monday too cause of the stitches being removed."
Chad chuckles and grabs his bag as the two of them walk back down the stairs and into the hall, mingling immediately with the other East High students. "Thanks Chad," Gabriella gets out before vanishing down the hall to Drama.
As she walks in, she spots Troy down the hall talking to the red headed girl again and smiling. 'Something tells me that he's moving on,' she thinks, wondering on the truth of that thought. 'What irony, the basketball captain is finally going to be dating a cheerleader.'
Gabriella sits down at her seat and makes sure not to look up as she senses Troy pass by. Ryan comes in and greets them both, taking his seat. "Gabriella, you okay?" he asks her after pulling out his notebook.
She looks at Ryan curiously. "I'm fine, why wouldn't I be?"
"Umm, I don't know. I just didn't think running away from paparazzi was a normal activity for you at lunch," Ryan supplies, reminding Gabriella that he had witnessed the scene.
"Oh, sorry," Gabriella responds sheepishly. "My mind was thinking of something else. I'm fine, really. Chad kept me running until we reached a safe place. Can I say that he runs fast?"
Ryan laughs and shakes his head. "Unfortunately, I have a feeling that's going to be commonplace for you now."
"What do you mean? I'm not going to take up running with Chad if that's what you think."
"No, I mean having paparazzi in your life. You're dating Hunter Smith now, nothing is going to be the same ever again," he says, inadvertently having a double meaning for Gabriella as she looks over at Troy, who returns her gaze.
"I guess you're right Ryan, in more ways than one," she answers, returning her attention back to the notebook on her desk and waiting for Ms. Darbus to start class.
Soon, they are paired up in their scenes, Gabriella and Sharpay sitting in one corner, mapping out the scene and where they would end up at the end of each line. Sharpay for one is curious how this would perform on Friday as Gabriella is getting increasingly emotional as they continue to practice the scene about two sisters talking about lost loves while Sharpay's character is getting ready to get married the next day.
"So when I bring up the true love that broke my character's heart, I'll end up here upstage with a picture from the dresser to talk to, right?" Gabriella confirms, walking around on the imaginary stage.
Sharpay nods her head, knowing this was going to be a real great performance for Drama since Gabriella was most likely to draw on all the emotions she has going on in her life at the moment. In fact, if she were a betting type of girl, Sharpay is willing to bet that Gabriella is going to shed true tears at their final performance this week.
Meanwhile, Troy and Ryan are laughing together in the hallway where they are rehearsing their comedy sketch. They take a break as they both lean against the wall, still chuckling. "Man, are we going to have a hard time delivering these lines with a straight face or what?" Troy asks. "I don't think we've gone through a single run through without one of us or both of us bursting out in laughter."
"Well, if you wouldn't make those funny faces I wouldn't be laughing," Ryan responds, still smiling from the last mess up Troy made. "Look, I think we can pull it off. Why don't we try an exercise?"
"An exercise?" Troy questions.
Ryan nods his head. "I'm going to make a silly face at you and your JOB is to NOT laugh. Got it?"
"Sure, but what is that supposed to accomplish?"
Ryan stops short of rolling his eyes. "If you and I can make funny faces at each other and not crack, it'll help us regain control of the scene so we can do those funny lines without laughing anymore. I expect this is going to take a few rounds though."
"Hey, if it'll help, I'm game," Troy answers, turning so he and Ryan were facing each other.
The two take turns making faces for a while, both not being able to keep their cool under pressure for the first few times but somewhere in the middle, they started being able to keep their face serious with a little laughter. At the end of the period, Ryan and Troy are able to completely ignore the other so that neither was laughing at the funny faces, much to the satisfaction of them both.
Ryan and Troy return to the classroom to grab their stuff before each go their own way, Troy to basketball practice and Ryan to the theater for rehearsal. Gabriella and Sharpay are still rehearsing in their corner so the two guys stop to watch for a while, studying the two girls' faces, which are very emotional and serious. "Wow, I don't think I've seen Sharpay in a real drama before," Ryan comments to Troy. "Usually, she is the one that is all comedy and smiles."
"I guess Darbus wanted a challenge for them both," Troy returns, keeping his eyes trained on Gabriella, who is getting a wistful look on her face.
"Hey Troy, are you ready to head to practice?" a female voice asks, breaking the scene for Gabriella and Sharpay, as well as the concentration Ryan and Troy had on the performance. Troy turns his head and sees Marlene waiting for him just outside the door. "You said you would walk with me to the gym right?"
Troy nods his head and grabs his bag, saying good-bye to Ryan and heading out the door but not before seeing the slightly hurt look on Gabriella's face. 'I'm sorry Gabriella, but it's only right for me to explore the waters as you do right? Besides, Marlene is just starting to be a friend. Nothing major is going on,' he thinks to himself as he falls into pace with Marlene as they head to the gym.
"I knew it!" Sharpay exclaims, forgetting about the scene they were working on as she figures Gabriella wouldn't want to practice any more after that moment. "Troy Bolton is going out with a CHEERLEADER!"
Ryan gets up off the desk he was sitting on and glares at his sister to shut up. "Sharpay, we don't know that. Didn't you say he just started talking to this girl like today?"
"Well yeah but if she hangs with Jasmine, I expect her to move faster than normal," Sharpay returns.
"You mean like your speed?" Ryan questions, raising his right eyebrow. "Come on sis, leave him alone. And it's not like you're helping Gabriella right now either."
Sharpay looks over at Gabriella who looks pretty miserable and lets out a sigh. "I'm sorry Gabriella, I just, it rubs me the wrong way about those two together, especially because I always think of Troy as being part of Troy and Gabriella."
Gabriella puts her things away and packs her bag. "Well, there is no more Troy and Gabriella so you'll have to work through that one. As for me, I appreciate your concern, from both of you, but he has clearly moved on and, in a way, so have I."
"That's right, there's Hunter!" Sharpay says, momentarily forgetting that Gabriella herself had a new guy in her life. "Where is he anyway?"
"He's out in Hollywood or New York City, one of the two, doing promotional spots. It sounded like Hunter had quite the busy schedule from what he told me before Taylor and I left for the airport on Tuesday night," Gabriella responds, leading the other two towards the theater. "Hunter should be back on Friday night."
"Wow, you know his schedule and everything," Sharpay observes. "Must be serious."
When they get to the theater, Gabriella sits down in her normal chair in the audience and pulls out the playbook to start looking over lines. Ryan and Sharpay were scheduled to work on one of their duets so they take the stage. Kelsi isn't quite there yet so they just sit and wait, Ryan using the time to observe Gabriella. 'For someone who is supposed to have moved on, she's awfully sad right now,' he thinks to himself, wondering what really is going on with her. 'Maybe she's just missing Hunter?'
Before he can pursue those thoughts further, Kelsi and Ms. Darbus appear, indicating the start of rehearsals. "Let's get going everyone, we don't have too much longer!" calls out Darbus, marking the start of another three hour rehearsal.