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"Morning Chad," Taylor greets, smiling as Chad leans over to give Taylor a kiss. "Mmm, my favorite way to start my Monday morning!"
Chad smiles, enjoying looking at his girlfriend. He hadn't had that much time with her lately because they were pushing on with the basketball practices on top of his track and field practices. "Have I told you that I'm one of the luckiest guys at East High?" he asks, surprising Taylor.
"Because you are a star athlete?" she asks.
"No, because I have you as a girlfriend and we have none of this drama in our lives and relationship," Chad replies, kissing her again.
Taylor cocks an eyebrow and looks at Chad curiously. "All right, what did you do to Chad and how do I get him back? That's not a Chad saying, not even close."
Chad shrugs his shoulders, still smiling. "Just how I feel, thought it was about time I told you. Seeing all this drama Gabriella and Troy are going through makes me realize how good I have it with you and that I better not take it for granted."
Before Taylor can say anything more, Kelsi and Jason come through the front doors of East High with huge grins on their faces and holding hands. "Hi guys," Kelsi calls out, leading Jason over to them.
"Well hello newest couple at East High," Taylor greets, grinning widely at her friend. "I take it the date went well."
Kelsi shyly nods as Chad gives Jason a high five. "Good job J!" Chad says, a grin on his face.
The four start talking as they watch another couple walk through the doors. "Troy and Marlene, an official couple?" asks Jason, unable to believe his eyes. "I know they went on a date on Saturday, but I didn't think he was taking it that seriously."
"No kidding," Chad says, observing Troy as he walks in with Marlene on his arm. "Dude, the guy didn't even say anything to me about him taking this to the next level."
"Uh oh, that's not good. Gabriella and Hunter are coming in right behind them," Kelsi observes, feeling a huge fight about to come on.
Before Troy and Marlene could get much farther than the four friends, Jasmine steps into their path with an evil glint in her eyes. "What do you want Jasmine?" Troy asks, annoyed that the cheerleader had popped up in his life again.
"I have a little score to settle with your new girl it looks like. She over stepped her bounds this time and there is no going back," Jasmine says, not even sparing Troy a look as she stares at Marlene who has backed up a little.
"What is your problem Jasmine? Are you convinced that you can keep interfering with all my relationships until there are no girls left at East High so I am forced to date you or something?" Troy asks, unsure of Jasmine's true motives.
Marlene squeaks as Jasmine advances on her until Marlene walks into a set of lockers. Jasmine herself is forced to step back as she recognizes it is Gabriella who has stepped in front of Marlene, putting herself between the two girls. "Back off Jasmine," Gabriella says, pushing away her fears of the girl.
Jasmine stares at Gabriella for a moment before saying, "Move! This isn't your battle Gabriella. You and I have our own fight, but this one is not yours. Marlene betrayed me in the worst way and for that, she's going to pay."
Troy and Hunter eye the three girls, worried about what could happen next but not knowing how to break them up effectively. Sharpay and Ryan have just arrived at East High but join Kelsi, Taylor, Jason, and Chad in watching from a distance away, not daring to get closer to the two cheerleaders and Gabriella.
"Whatever she did, I'm sure Marlene didn't mean it," Gabriella says. "If it's about her dating Troy Bolton, then you have no reason to be mad at her. Who Marlene dates is her business and just because she got to date Troy before you got him to ask you out is not a criminal offense."
"Are you really defending the basketball captain's new girlfriend? I thought you were smart," Jasmine responds, outraged that Gabriella is standing in her way of hurting Marlene. "How can you, as a member of the female species, stand up for the girl who replaced you in your ex-boyfriend's heart? That's unheard of!"
Gabriella sadly shakes her head. "Maybe that's so, maybe I should be going after her out of jealousy the way that you are trying to do now, but I am a hopeless romantic in my soul and if Troy and Marlene really care for each other, they deserve a chance, without anyone interfering. I only wish that I had the guts to say all this to you while I was dating him. Maybe then things could have been a lot more different. Maybe I wouldn't have this small scar to remind me of you," Gabriella retorts, indicating her left hand, which she puts in Jasmine's face.
"You think she's so innocent, do you Gabriella? I have news for you. Marlene was supposed to get Troy away from you and make him available for me. After you and Troy broke up on your own, she was supposed to then just soften him up first then move over. Somewhere along the line, the stupid idiot fell for the Bolton charms and blew me off. Now do you think she deserves your so called protection?" Jasmine reveals, savoring the shocked look on Gabriella's face.
Gabriella looks behind her to see Marlene sadly nodding her head. "I admit it, that was the original plan," Marlene confesses.
"See?" Jasmine states with a satisfied look on her face. "Now step aside and let me handle this my way."
"No," Gabriella returns, standing her ground. "She still deserves a chance with Troy if he wants to still. That's between the two of them."
"So you aren't moving then?" Jasmine asks, eyeing this new Gabriella.
Gabriella looks over at her friends and then at Marlene. "Nope, don't think that's really in my capabilities right now," Gabriella states, hoping Jasmine wouldn't push it much farther.
"All right, I can see that I'm not going to get anywhere here. Marlene, you better thank your lucky stars that Ms. Smartie has stepped in and saved your behind. But Gabriella, this so ups the feud between us. Don't you dare think I'm going to forget this," Jasmine threatens, taking a step closer to Gabriella who swallows but doesn't take a step back and keeps her ground.
Jasmine, furious with the turnout of her supposed meeting with Marlene, turns on her heel and storms down the hall, four other cheerleaders following quickly behind her as they keep looking back at Gabriella and Marlene, who is still standing behind her. Once they are out of sight, Gabriella lets out her breath and closes her eyes. She feels a pair of arms engulf her as she leans into him for support. "Thanks Hunter, that was just what I needed to diffuse those feelings I just had," Gabriella says, looking up into his brown eyes. "Walk me to class? I can't be by myself in the halls right now, just in case."
"I wouldn't dream of it Gabriella. She looked ready to kill and there is no way I'm leaving you unprotected after that heroic act," Hunter says, picking up the bag Gabriella had dropped and walking with her down the hall to her locker.
Troy, seeing he couldn't talk to Gabriella like he wanted to, approaches Marlene who has tears in her eyes. "Hey, are you okay?" he asks, feeling bad that she was put in this state by Jasmine. "Come here."
Marlene instantly steps into his readied embrace and cries openly onto his shoulder as Troy runs his hand up and down her spine, trying to comfort her. Eventually, he feels her sobs subside as she steps back. "Thanks Troy, but I can't deal with this right now. Can we talk after school?" Marlene asks, picking up her bag.
"Sure," he answers, watching as she runs down the hall and around the corner.
"Okay, I did not expect that one," Kelsi comments as the group approaches Troy, who is still standing in the middle of the hall. "I felt a confrontation coming on but not that, not by a long shot."
Jason puts his arm around her shoulders, bringing Kelsi closer to him for which she smiles up at him. Ryan and Sharpay notice and each smile at the new couple but refocus on Troy as he lets out a frustrated scream, one that he has become all too familiar with since the summer.
"Troy, come on dude, let's go take a walk," Chad says. "Sharpay, can you take notes for us in Math? I know you usually don't, but just this once?"
Sharpay nods, letting the stab at her slide as there was something much more important at hand at the moment. They all split directions to go to their first period class as Chad walks with Troy up to his spot on the roof.
Chad stares at Troy as he paces back and forth, running his hands through his hair and nervously rubbing the back of his neck. In all the years they had been best friends since preschool, Chad could not recall another time he saw Troy so torn up. After a few minutes, Chad was going crazy with all the pacing and no talking. "Troy, talk to me man," Chad says, stepping in Troy's path to force him to stop. "You need to talk to someone right now or you're liable to do something you may regret."
Troy nods and sits down on the bench, placing his head in his hands. "Do you ever have those days where you feel like you have been run over by a bulldozer, lifted up by your fingers by a crane, and then buried by a cement truck? A little graphic and extreme, I know, but that's how every day for the past few weeks have felt for me," Troy rants, taking in a deep breath. "My life is a mess and my relationships with girls are screwed up. I've got Sharpay who thankfully has backed off since the end of summer and has become a friend since she has been dating Zeke. Then there is Jasmine who is a psychotic stalker or something. There's something loose in her head that makes her go to these extremes that I will never understand. I just want her to leave me alone! Now there is Marlene who I wanted to start anew with, I really did, but Saturday night's date was just not what I thought it would be. I compared her to Gabriella the whole night and then when we kissed, yes, faster than my normal style, there were no sparks, no connection, but I couldn't bear to hurt her so she thinks we are dating. Then today, to find out she was conspiring originally with Jasmine, talk about whoa. That leaves me with Gabriella, the one that got away, as she likes to call me nowadays."
Chad just stares at Troy, trying to absorb it all in. "Maybe we shouldn't have voted you captain of our team two years ago Troy. By doing that, we attracted all these psychos into your life, Gabriella excluded," Chad jokes, trying to get Troy to laugh.
Troy at least cracks a smile but drops it as he continues to think of what he has going on in his life. "Chad, I just don't know what to do. I feel like I haven't given Marlene a fair chance and yet, I know that Gabriella is the only girl for me."
"It seems to me that you know exactly what you need to do then Troy," Chad responds, in some ways relieved that Troy finally has admitted it to himself that he's still crazy over his ex. "You owe it more to Marlene to be truthful and honest instead of trying to spare her feelings in all this, especially if what Jasmine said is true. I saw Marlene and she confirmed that it was."
"Right, but should I really let one bad call on her part taint her as a bad person?" Troy asks. "I mean, we all make mistakes, I should know."
"Troy, you need to stop being the nice guy here and look at the situation. You are still in love, deep love, with Gabriella. No matter how much you twist it around, now that you have at least tried to date someone else, nothing is going to change that feeling you have deep within you. Stop right here and now today and tell Marlene the truth, that you can't be with her in the romantic sense. You two can still be friends, as cliché as that sounds, eventually after time has passed. What she did does not make Marlene a bad person but it puts into question if you could ever truly trust her in any other capacity if not for the added Gabriella factor," Chad explains.
Troy nods his head, agreeing. "So, hanging out and dating Taylor has finally paid off huh? Mr. Guru?"
Chad chuckles. "Funny you should say that. Taylor was telling me this morning I was acting different because I spoke some romantic words to her, which as we all know, is not the Chad Danforth way, but I can't help it when she's around. I'm starting to get all Troy gushy!"
"Hey!" Troy defends. "But seriously man, thank you for being there. Not to sound like a girl but it means a lot to have my best friend here for me, through thick and thin. So we have a plan, well I do, in regards to Marlene but what about Gabriella?"
"What about her Troy?" Chad asks.
Troy rummages through his bag and pulls out some pieces of paper which he hands over to Chad. "These were left for me on my doorstep late last night. Someone rang the doorbell then ditched. They are of Gabriella and Hunter, looking very happy together," Troy explains as Chad views them. They are images someone had printed off the internet tabloids and printed out for Troy's benefit.
"So? They are dancing and smiling. It may not mean what you think it does."
"What? That doesn't make any sense Chad. These were taken at a charity gala held in Beverly Hills! They're holding hands at the dinner, posing at Disneyland together. That doesn't strike me as a platonic relationship," Troy states, taking the pictures and shoving them back in his bag. "I did this and I can't bear to hurt her again."
"Hold up, explain that one to me," Chad says. "If you think Gabriella would get hurt by you confessing you still love her, I doubt it."
Troy stays silent for a moment but then confesses about the little talk Gabriella and Troy had on the roof. "I kind of indicated to her that I still feel this way and she point blank told me that she couldn't do it to Hunter," Troy concludes, looking over at his friend, who looks like he is thinking hard.
"So she told you that she couldn't leave Hunter for you?" Chad asks.
"Well it was more of an 'I can't hurt Hunter' type of thing," Troy answers. "Either way, she made it clear that she was with Hunter."
"Is she truly happy though?" Chad questions. "Yes, she's smiling in all these pictures, but can you tell me that you believe that a piece of her isn't longing for you still?"
"In my dreams she is. Reality though, I'm not so sure."
Chad puts his hand on his best friend's shoulder. "Then maybe you better find out before losing hope on that girl and your relationship."
Troy agrees, feeling much better than he had almost an hour ago. "I guess we totally missed math today. Sorry for causing you to skip Chad."
"Are you serious? Troy, you got me out of math! I'd happily do it for fewer reasons! Besides, this way, Coach Bolton will excuse both of us and it'll all be fine."
Laughing Troy says, "Come on then. We'll go find my dad and get him to write those notes."
"All right!" Chad exclaims, following Troy back down to the halls of East High in search of Coach Bolton.
It is a White Day so Troy doesn't see Gabriella at lunch and had been unable to talk to her in Drama as Darbus was in a foul mood and had all the students reading Macbeth silently to keep them out of her hair. When he is about to approach Gabriella as they leave class, he spots Marlene and remembers their agreed upon talk. He smiles and motions for Marlene to follow him as they walk towards the courtyard, which is empty at the moment.
"Troy, after everything that happened this morning," Marlene starts saying, "I totally understand your need to distance yourself from me. I thought about it all day and I think deep down I knew you weren't really there on our date on Saturday, but I wanted to try so hard to make myself believe that I was just making that up. Seeing the look of concern and fear you had in your eyes this morning for Gabriella when she stood up for us, for me, only confirmed the feeling I have that you aren't over her, not by a long shot."
He stares back at Marlene for a moment but decides he better own up to the truth now. "I hate to be the jerk here but I think that's the best name for me that you'll be using later today. To be fair to both of us, more so to you, I can't continue to date you Marlene. Not because of this morning necessarily but because, as hard as I tried over the past few days, weeks, I can't see myself with anyone else at the moment. You genuinely are a wonderful girl, a catch for some other lucky guy, but I just don't think we are a match. Now, whatever your part in Jasmine's plans was, I know enough about you to know that you didn't mean any true harm. You couldn't have acted as sincere as you were when you apologized if you didn't mean it."
Marlene smiles a little at this and says, "I honestly wish the situation were different because Troy Bolton, you are quite the catch. I really did mean what I said, I am sorry for Jasmine and all her schemes. She's been way out of hand and I only agreed to this plan because she was thinking of much more drastic measures, not like killing Gabriella or anything, which I think your friends and you think her capable of, but other ways, girl ways. So yes, I did follow through with her plan, but then I started seeing what a genuinely nice guy you were and I couldn't complete it the way she wanted me to. You are too sweet and innocent, forgive the word but you are, to be thrown to a lioness like Jasmine. I hope you understand Troy that I really didn't want to hurt you in any way."
"I think I get the picture," he responds. "Well, I think we've said everything we need to. I still would like for us to be friends, but of course, it will be after a little while."
"I'd like that, and I agree, it'll take some time for you to really learn to trust me again. Oh, and one more thing Troy. If you get the chance to win Gabriella back, take it. Not many girls I know would do what she did this morning and for that, she will always have my respect," Marlene says, giving Troy a kiss on the cheek before heading to her car and taking off from the parking lot.
Troy watches her go and spots Hunter walking with Gabriella and Taylor, deep in discussion, towards Hunter's motorcycle. Taylor gives Gabriella a big hug and waves good-bye as Gabriella jumps onto the back of the motorcycle and takes off with Hunter. Taylor spots Troy watching and comes back over to the courtyard.
"You okay?" Taylor asks, truly concerned.
"Yup, just concerned about Gabriella is all," he answers. "Is she okay?"
"Oh, you mean after Super Gabriella came in through East High's main doors thing morning and planted her feet firmly in front of Jasmine, blocking her from your girlfriend?" Taylor jokes. "Gabriella will be fine, she just shocked herself more than anything this morning."
"Ex-girlfriend, well not even ex-girlfriend since we weren't really dating. I guess former dater?" Troy tries to correct Taylor. "I told Marlene a few minutes ago that she and I wouldn't work out because my heart is already taken, and taken for good I have learned."
Taylor smiles at Troy, putting her hand softly on his arm. "Gabriella still cares for you too, if that is any comfort. As to what happened this morning, I think with everything Jasmine has put her through and what Jasmine has done to you, Gabriella is finally getting sick of it and putting shy Gabriella behind her when it comes to that girl. I mean, come on, Jasmine makes old Sharpay look like a kitten, not a tigress."
Troy lets out a laugh. "Oh man, you and Chad really are great for each other. Can I just tell you that I am very happy you two got together? You seem to have brought out an amazing side to Chad I've never seen, a more sensitive and wise side, while he seems to have brought out your silly side. It's great!"
"Very funny Bolton, but thank you," Taylor responds. "Seriously though, just give Gabriella some time and she'll be better, probably as early as tomorrow morning. I think what we are all looking out for now is what Jasmine is going to do next to strike back. It is pretty much guaranteed now that she's going to do something."
"That's what has me worried," Troy confesses, looking away from Taylor and back over to where Gabriella was moments before. 'Whenever that happens, I need to make sure I am there for her this time, at any cost,' he thinks, becoming overwhelmed with worry over Gabriella's safety again.
Chad approaches the two and wraps an arm around both his girlfriend and best friend. "Don't look so worried Troy, we'll all watch out for Gab," Chad says, reading Troy's thoughts. "None of us are going to let Jasmine hurt her if we can help it."
"Thanks man," Troy says, smiling at both Chad and Taylor. "That means a lot."