FicWad

The door swung open, and Troy Bolton glanced both ways to make sure the room was empty before tugging on his companion’s hand and bringing her in.

"Is this really a good idea?” Gabriella Montez asked nervously, looking around the empty room as though she expected a teacher to leap out at them at any second. "I mean, we could get in really big trou-"

Troy cut her off with a firm, passionate kiss. Her arms went up around his neck and he wrapped his around her waist to bring her closer. Their lips worked against each other and their bodies rocked together slightly as they found a rhythm that worked for them. Gabriella whimpered softly and pressed herself as tightly as she could against Troy's body, all worries of being caught forgotten for now. Troy's tongue licked Gabriella's lips, seeking entrance. Her lips parted and their tongues began to tangle together hungrily. A shock of electricity shot through Gabriella's body as their tongues touched and she shivered, pressing harder against him, making their kiss deeper.

Troy's hands left Gabriella's waist and slipped beneath the curve of her derriere, picking her up easily. Gabriella shrieked and pulled away from the kiss, grabbing Troy tightly and wrapping her legs around his waist - which is what he had hoped she would do.

"What are you doing?" she demanded.

"You'll see," Troy replied playfully. He carried her over to one of the black-topped lab tables and set her down on it, then went in for another kiss. Gabriella responded in kind. The cold of the tabletop felt incredible against her thighs, and - she blushed to think of it - she could feel Troy’s erection throbbing heavy and hot through his jeans, pressing against her skirt. She was a little frightened at how much it turned her on.

As if sensing her thoughts and wanting her to forget them, Troy began grinding against her, making Gabriella moan into his mouth. She could feel the heat from between her legs spreading all over her body. Troy’s hand slipped from her waist up her shirt, leaving little trails of heat in its wake. His hand found her silky pink bra and slipped inside, cupping her breast and rubbing her nipple with his thumb. She broke the kiss to catch her breath and to let out another moan, which Troy muffled with a kiss to keep her from giving away their position. Their hips began working together more furiously, both of them moaning and grabbing at each other, and then, just as Gabriella could feel the very beginning of her climax -

- the bell rang.

Gabriella moaned in disappointment as Troy pulled away from her. He looked at the clock over her head and slapped the tabletop, then turned back to her, his eyes still darkened with lust.

"After school," he said. "My house." Before she could pose any objections, he kissed her again, hard, and caught her lower lip gently between his teeth as he pulled back, a move he knew she couldn't resist.

"Okay," she agreed breathlessly. Troy helped her off the table and she turned so he could do a spot-check.

"You're fine," he said.

She smiled at him, and they kissed one more time as he grabbed his books.

"I love you," she said.

He smiled back, his blue eyes crinkling. "Love you too." He waved goodbye and hurried off to class.

Gabriella had a study hall this period, so she took a little bit longer gathering her belongings, wondering how she, the freaky genius girl, had somehow ended up dry-humping the hottest, most popular guy in school in empty classrooms between class periods. She had never, ever imagined herself in this position back at her old school.

She headed out of the classroom and decided to freshen up a bit in the restroom down the hall. She probably looked a proper mess and then everyone would know what she had been up to. Once she got into the restroom, she dropped her book bag and pulled her hairbrush and lip gloss from it.

The door swung open again and someone entered, then stopped right behind her. "Hello there, G. And what have you been up to?"

Gabriella looked in the mirror and met the gaze of her best friend, Taylor McKessie. "Oh, hey, T. I was, um, you know ... between classes ..." She trailed off and blushed, then rapidly reapplied her lip gloss to distract herself.

Taylor shot Gabriella a Look that said she knew exactly what Gabriella had been up to "between classes," then ducked into a stall.

"So how did you like Mr. Jennings?" Gabriella asked. "Does he seem like he’ll be hard?"

"It’ll be a challenge to keep up, that's for sure," Taylor replied. "He went over the syllabus in like five minutes and then we were working on problems from the first chapter."

"Geez," Gabriella commented, putting her hairbrush away as she finished fixing her hair. "I'm sure looking forward to that class."

The toilet flushed and Taylor came out and glanced sideways at her best friend. "Better not get distracted between classes again," she said archly as she washed her hands.

"Shut up!" Gabriella shrieked.

The two girls giggled together and exited the washroom, heading off to study hall.


After study hall, Gabriella bid goodbye to Taylor and walked into drama class. Ms. Darbus was at the front of the room in deep conversation with a young woman with long red hair. Gabriella took her seat next to Troy, leaning around him to catch Sharpay's eye.

"Hey, Sharpay!" she said cheerfully. "How’s your first day going?"

Sharpay smiled back and said, "It's been just great, thanks. How about you?"

"It's been all right. You know, school." With that answer, Sharpay turned her attention away from Gabriella and towards Troy.

"Hi, Troy," she said, her voice dropping a little bit. "How've you been?"

"I've been okay, you know," Troy replied, nervous about the bedroom eyes Sharpay was shooting him. "Just, uh, basketball all the time."

"All the time?" Sharpay asked, pouting a bit. "Don't you find time for anything else?"

"Yeah," Troy said. “I manage to find time for, um, other things."

Sharpay smiled. "I'll keep that in mind."

She turned away from him then, and Troy was a bit taken aback. What was that supposed to mean?

Before he could ask, the bell rang and Ms. Darbus stood up.

"Hello and welcome back to a new year studying ... the theatre! I trust you all had a wonderful summer? Doing your vocal work and working on your dance steps? Fantastic!" She paused to catch her breath, then continued, "I have a surprise for you all this year. We have a guest with us! Caroline, please."

The redhead stood up, and immediately following was the sound of every boy in the class uncomfortably shifting in his seat. She smiled and gave a little wave.

"Hi everyone. My name is Caroline Meyer. I'm a senior over at U of A - go Redhawks! - majoring in theatre with a primary focus on directing, secondary focus on musical theatre. I assistant directed our recent productions of Proof and Waiting for Godot, if any of you guys saw those," she paused and glanced over the blank faces, then shrugged and continued, "and my recent roles onstage include Meredith Parker in Bat Boy: The Musical and Sally Brown in You're a Good Man, Charlie Brown."

Sharpay elbowed Ryan and whispered, "I knew I recognized her from somewhere!"

Ryan nodded, remembering when their family had gone to see Charlie Brown. It took him a second to remember Caroline specifically - she had been very good, of course, but the whole cast had been so exceptional that none of them had really stood out.

"You all are probably wondering what any of this has to do with you," Caroline resumed. "For my senior project, my advisor asked Ms. Darbus for permission for me to direct a show with you guys. Ms. Darbus has very generously agreed to allow me to direct a small show that will inaugurate East High’s new black box theatre."

The class began buzzing at this announcement. A small show? At East High? Did those even happen here? Sharpay's hand shot up.

"Yes, Sharpay," Ms. Darbus said.

"Will this show replace the winter show?" she asked.

"No. We will be doing our regular musicale along with Caroline's small show. Unfortunately, those who are in Caroline's show will be unable to participate in the musicale due to scheduling conflicts."

The buzz grew louder. Scheduling conflicts? What would this mean for the department? What would this mean for the winter show? What would this mean for Sharpay?

Ms. Darbus clapped for silence, and the room gradually settled.

"Thank you, Ms. Darbus," Caroline said. "The show is going to be Jason Robert Brown's Songs for a New World. Auditions will be next Wednesday and Thursday, and the cast list will go up on Friday. The sign-up sheet will be going up probably this afternoon or tomorrow morning, and specific details about what you'll need to prepare will be on there. Thank you for your time, and I hope to see you all there." Caroline nodded to the class then returned to her seat.

Following the big announcement, Ms. Darbus handed out a syllabus and spent the rest of the class period describing her grand plans for the budding thespians sitting before her. Amazingly, Jason managed to stifle his snickers for the most part.

The bell rang and the kids filed out, most discussing the exciting announcement.

"Man, too bad I'm not into theater," Chad said, glancing over his shoulder into the classroom. "That Caroline is hot."

Troy chuckled and shook his head, then looked to his left when he felt a tug at his hand.

"Think you're gonna go out for it, Troy?" Gabriella asked, twining her fingers with his. Chad rolled his eyes.

"Oh Lord, not this nonsense again. Seriously, Bolton, you got all that out of your system by now, right?"

"I'm not ruling anything out," Troy said cautiously. "I balanced basketball and theatre pretty well last year, so we’ll see."

"I hope you do," Gabriella said. "I can’t imagine anyone else being my leading man."

"BARF," Chad said. "Glad I haven’t eaten yet." The trio continued chatting and made their way to the cafeteria.

"Are you going to audition for Songs, Shar?" Ryan asked his sister as they made a pit stop by her locker. Sharpay laughed derisively.

"Are you kidding? Why would I audition for that when there's an important show happening later? I mean, if Ms. Darbus could bend the rules for me so I could be in both, then maybe, I guess, but I'm not wasting my time on some little show." She checked her reflection in her locker mirror and smiled appreciatively at what she saw, then closed her locker.

"I suppose that’s true," Ryan said.

"Her name sounds familiar, though," Sharpay continued thoughtfully as they walked down the hall. Ryan opened his mouth, but she cut him off with a wave of her hand. "Not the Charlie Brown thing, though. More than that. I’ll check online later."


Taylor met Chad, Troy, and Gabriella at the cafeteria for lunch.

"G, you’ve already had AP Calc today, right?" she asked without any preamble. Gabriella nodded. "Okay, great. Is it just me or is the first equation nearly unsolvable?"

"I was having trouble with it, too," Gabriella admitted. She and Taylor promptly ditched the boys and headed over to a table, where they both busted out very thick textbooks.

"Nerds," Chad said.

Troy nodded. He had to admit that while smart girls were hot, dating someone who was so much smarter than him was a little intimidating at times. Especially when she started talking about "real" numbers and stuff - weren't all numbers real?

The guys got into the lunch line and Chad turned back to Troy. "You aren't really gonna go out for this show thing, are you?"

Troy shrugged. "I dunno. I might if Ella wants me to. I gotta start thinking about those basketball scholarships, though."

"Right, and you can't afford any distractions," Chad said. "Especially not some fruity little musical - even if the director is smokin' hot."

"Right you are, my friend. Right you are."


That afternoon, Sharpay sat on her bed, cross-legged, pecking away at her pink rhinestone-encrusted laptop. Ryan lounged nearby, flipping through the latest version of Men's Vogue. Suddenly, Sharpay gasped, leaned in closer, then grabbed Ryan's wrist.

"Holy crap. Holy crap. Ryan, look at this."

Ryan scooted closer to her and craned his neck to see what was on her screen. It seemed Sharpay's Google-fu had paid off once again. She had pulled up an online article from American Theatre Magazine that featured Caroline curled up on a white block, looking up at a handsome older man with salt-and-pepper brown hair and a warm smile, who was gazing adoringly back at her.

"It's called "Rising Stars in American Theatre,"" Sharpay said. "She's the daughter of David Meyer. He's directed so much stuff in the last couple years - oh my God. And it says she's being groomed to go into off-Broadway and regional stuff, with the expectation that she'll be directing major Broadway shows by the time she's thirty. Holy crap."

"Wow," Ryan said. "So does that mean -"

"Yeah. I think I’ll be auditioning for that show after all."