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Earlier on during the school week, Troy had called Mr. Evans' office and scheduled an appointment to meet with him today, Saturday, out on a golf course. Troy parked his car in the parking lot and took a last look in the mirror to make sure his hair wasn't sticking up to add to the embarrassment of what he was about to do. He got out of his truck and locked the door before grabbing his golf set that he was allowed to keep after his job was done at Lava Springs.
Troy walked out to the main office and saw that Mr. Evans was already standing there. "Good morning, Mr. Evans," Troy greeted, nervously extending his hand.
Mr. Evans took it and shook it before he smiled at the young boy. "Good to see you again, Troy. Ready to go?"
"Sure," Troy responded as he followed Mr. Evans out to the course. Troy allowed him to take the first shot at the first hole and then followed with his own, landing close to Mr. Evans' ball.
"Nice shot, Troy. I still think your golf game rivals your basketball game," Mr. Evans complemented. "So, what do I owe this pleasure?"
Troy cautiously studied Mr. Evans face before he revealed his purpose. "Well, I'm sure you know that Sharpay and I broke up earlier this week," he started.
Mr. Evans placed his hand up in the air and stopped Troy from saying more. "You can stop right there, Troy. If you are worried that my baby girl breaking up with you will end your chances at University of Albuquerque, you don't need to worry. You both are so young, I never really thought it was that serious. Besides, from what I hear from Ryan, you took a pretty bad beating from Sharpay on Tuesday. It must have been hard to have been on the receiving end of her rant in the middle of the school hall. I have seen my daughter lose her temper at home and that's enough for me."
"Really sir?" Troy asked, unable to believe his ears.
"Sharpay is my daughter and I love her for it, but I know she can be difficult and very particular about things. Don't get me wrong, I loved the idea of her settling down with a young man like yourself who has a clear shot to do what he dreams of, but I understand it didn't work out. I'm not going to hold that against you. Did you think that little of me?" Mr. Evans asked.
"Well no sir but, well to be honest, as a father, I would not have blamed you for protecting your own daughter," Troy replied.
"Unless you tell me you tried to force Sharpay to do something she didn't want to do, I don't see anything I have to protect her from. She hasn't been all that heartbroken to be honest, just frustrated and furious from what I have seen," revealed Mr. Evans. "I hope that doesn't break your heart hearing that."
"No, I'm okay," answered Troy. "Listen Mr. Evans, I don't want it to seem like I'm using your family, that's not the case at all. I don't want an easy path to a scholarship. I'm working hard already this year at getting my grades up higher than last year and I want to co-lead East High to another win before we graduate."
Mr. Evans nodded his head in understanding. "That's very admirable, Troy, and that's one reason why I backed you on my recommendation to U of A to scout out and for the scholarship. You aren't going to rely on just my influence – I saw this summer what a hard worker you are. I don't doubt that U of A is going to be the only school going after you, but my hope is that you will take it when it comes. Either way though, I wouldn't be an adult if I didn't tell you that you need to make this college decision on your own. Everyone who respects you will respect your choice, even if it isn't what they want."
"Thanks Mr. Evans, that means a lot, really," Troy said.
"Good. Now that we have all that over with, let's carry on shall we? Maybe I can help you clean up your shot a little more," offered Mr. Evans.
Troy grins back at the man beside him. "That would be great, Mr. Evans, truly."
The two continued on down the course and found the balls they had shot minutes before. The rest of the course was completed with comfortable silence and solid conversations as both used the time to get to know one another better before they parted ways in the early afternoon heat.
"Hey Gabriella, hey Taylor," Kelsi greeted as she and Martha came over to join the two girls at the food court in the mall. "Mmm, Taylor that pizza looks delicious. Pizza mart?"
"Of course," Taylor returned. "They have a special for us students right now. Or you could go the rabbit way and have a salad like Gabriella here."
"Haha," Gabriella got out. "What looks good to you, Martha?"
"I'm not sure," Martha answered. "Kelsi, want to go take a look with me?"
Kelsi nodded her head as the two took off to scope out their food choices. "Doesn't it feel wonderful to just hang out and relax on the weekend, Gabriella?" Taylor asked, leaning back in her chair.
"It does," Gabriella replied. "I wouldn't act like shopping is like a day on the beach or anything, but it is a nice break from all the studying and tutoring we have been doing. Shopping can be therapeutic too."
Taylor nodded her head. "I couldn't have said that better myself. And you, Ms. Gabriella, have every reason to shop til you drop if therapeutic reasons is our official cause for today. I don't know how you are hanging in there so well," Taylor said.
"What do you mean?" Gabriella asked. "You study just as much as I do."
"That may be true, but I'm talking about the drama in your life! We haven't talked about it lately, but I know you, Gabriella, I know you are internalizing yet another set of problems of the heart. Do the names of Troy Bolton and Ryan Evans mean anything to you?" questioned Taylor.
Gabriella groaned at this. "I know where you are going with this, Taylor McKessie, and I don't want to talk about it!" exclaimed Gabriella. "I'm exhausted with just me thinking about it."
"Exactly why you need to talk about it! Maybe I can help," said Taylor.
"What's to tell? I'm with Ryan, I really care for him and we do have chemistry, but a piece of me is always daydreaming about a reunion with Troy, like that piece of me is willing to risk everything to be in his arms once again. Ugh, I feel like such a slut," stated Gabriella as she put her head into her hands.
Taylor reached over the table and brushed back some of Gabriella's hair that was hanging in front of her face behind her ear. "Don't worry, Gabriella. I don't think that makes you one at all. In fact, I think it makes you more human. Love is a subject matter that isn't easy to deal with nor understand. Remember what I said about my older sister's wisdom when it came to boys? She told me similar things about love, how you can't predict it nor can you ever fully understand it. I, for one, don't blame you for being confused," explained Taylor. "I've seen the same change in Troy as you have over the past few weeks and a part of me still wants to be furious at him for what hell he made you and Chad and everyone else go through for his behavior, but the other part of me wonders if the good Troy is back, the Troy that Chad has known since pre-school."
"That's what I'm talking about, the confusion. I just, I don't know if I could ever trust that he'll keep my heart safe again. And to top it off, I always think of Ryan, who doesn't deserve any of this heartache. Ryan is such a good guy, I sometimes feel like I don't deserve him and the genuine care he has shown me in the past weeks," confessed Gabriella. "Ryan has brought happiness back into my life. He was the first one to truly do it since this summer and I appreciate him for it, but I have to wonder if I'm being fair to him."
"But you say that you still feel chemistry with him, right?" asked Taylor.
Gabriella nodded her head. "I do. There is this electrical charge that used to be there and is there every once in a while but not as often as of late. I don't know if that means anything."
Before Taylor replied, the two girls heard a familiar voice. "Hello, you two!" called out Audrina. "Mind if I join you?"
"Not at all," Gabriella replied with a smile on her face. "Take a seat, hun. What brings you to the mall today by yourself?"
"Darbus gave us a list of things we needed to buy for the parts and I also wanted to get out of the house a little bit. What are you two talking about?" asked Audrina.
"Umm, guys and what not," answered Taylor. "Tell me what it's like to have Sharpay dogging you at rehearsals."
Audrina let out a laugh. "Oh, she's okay. Ryan makes me feel better whenever she's around, I know she won't try anything when he is there. I'm surprised Ryan isn't here with you, Gabriella."
"Oh, I figured he needed a rest after all the rehearsals and everything," Gabriella responded.
"Besides, we usually go out with Martha and Kelsi on the weekends as a girl's activity, away from the boys," explained Taylor. "As much as we care for them, we can't be with them the entire time, we'd go crazy. Not to mention they would go crazy at the mall with us. Today is the first time in a while where all of us could get together again."
"Oh, am I interrupting?" questioned Audrina as Martha and Kelsi sat down at the table.
Gabriella put her hand on Audrina's to keep her seated. "Don't be silly, you're fine. We'd love you to join us."
"Yeah, Gabriella calls you her little sister, we'd love to get to know you better," said Martha.
Audrina laughed. "Just as I call Gabriella my older sister. It's nice to know we share that bond," said Audrina with a smile.
Gabriella returned the smile. "So Martha, how's that new dance you have been working on?" she asked, turning her attention to her dancing friend.
"Oh, it's going to be amazing! I am just rough marking everything but I think I'm going to have it ready in time for my tryouts for the dance school in a few months. I can't believe I'm actually going to try to go to a dance school!" exclaimed Martha.
Taylor smiled. "Gotta go for your dreams Martha. We all know what a phenomenal dancer you are, why not take it to the next stage?"
"Exactly!" added Gabriella. "We all have so much ahead of us that we need to take every opportunity to make it our own, right? We can't rely on luck to bring us everything."
Taylor coughed. "Look who is talking!"
"Hey now!" protested Gabriella with a laugh. "I think that it applies to all of us. We're all mostly at that point in our lives where we need to decide where we want to be in four and a half years when we graduate college, with the exception of Audrina, and I think we have unlimited opportunities."
"Very well said Gabriella, very well said," agreed Kelsi. "I think that is the right attitude all of us must adopt to get through this year and to make the best of it. I know that I was disappointed when Darbus didn't select my music for the fall musicale but I'm already working on the winter one to make sure she can't resist it. It's all about how you take things."
"Exactly my point!" exclaimed Gabriella.
"Well I think this calls for a toast then," Taylor said, picking up her paper cup filled with soda. "To a wonderful rest of our senior year, or junior year in one case, and to living up to our dreams' expectations!"
"Here here!" agreed everyone else, joining their cups in the middle all together. The girls started laughing after this and finished their lunches before heading out into the mall to do some minor damage to their credit cards.