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Start of Something...new?
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Camila's POV:

"So," I jump at Sharpay's voice, causing me to stop writing the notes from the chemistry teacher. "it seems like you knew Troy Bolton."

"Uh..." I trail, nervously glancing at Gabriella who sat beside me. She was the one that was supposed to be questioned. "not really. He was just showing us and Y/n around, right Gabriella?" I nudge her side.

"Sorta. I mostly hung out with Y/n since we walked around campus." She shrugs.

"Well Troy usually doesn't interact with...new students." Sharpay says and I internally roll my eyes.

"How come?" Gabriella answers for me, noticing how tightly I gripped my pencil and she nervously looks to the board.

"Well it's pretty much basketball twenty-four seven with him." She responds with an innocent smile.

"Oh so that means he doesn't spend time with you a lot then, huh?" I fake a smile which causes her to drop her expression.

Her jaw clenches. "Sometimes."

I really can't stand this chick.

"Gabriella, can you check my work to see if this is correct?" I ask, not wanting to continue to mess up the plot line. "I seriously don't know what I'm doing."

"Sure thing." She says and scoots closer to me. She's silent for a moment until she points to one of the numbers I had written down. "That should be sixteen over pi."

"Really?" I glance at the board. "It's what our teacher wrote."

Gabriella glances back at the board with her eyebrows furrowed. "Yeah, it should still be sixteen over pi."

Our teacher turns around with the chalk still in her hand. "Girls, there should be no talking when you're taking down notes."

"Gabriella was helping me with one of the equations." I gesture to the girl beside me, but the teacher gives me a look as if she didn't believe me. "She thinks one of your equations is wrong.

"I-It's just...the second equation. Shouldn't it be sixteen over pi?" Gabriella asks and I glance at Sharpay who had rolled her eyes.

"Sixteen over pi? That's quite impossible." The teacher softly chuckles and looks back at the textbook on her desk. Her eyes widen but then nods slowly with an impressed expression. "I stand corrected, my apologies." She says before grabbing the eraser to take off the mistake.

"Nice job." I whisper to Gabriella ad she gives a small smile.

"Oh," The teacher speaks up again which causes me to turn. "welcome aboard you two."

I smile at the teacher before glancing at Taylor who was already watching Gabriella, just as how I remembered in the movie.

This meant the movie was still following along. Thank god.

Later

"I don't know what the hell you did, but Troy had me walk with him to the audition list." Y/n whispers to me as we walked to grab our paintbrushes.

"That's good, right?" I ask with a smirk. "I had to step in since you spent more time with Gabriella and accomplished nothing."

"No, because now he's thinking about asking to audition with you, dumbass." She scolds. "And for your information, I've been trying to hint at Gabriella about auditioning but she's sort of oblivious."

I snatch the paint brush from her hand. "Well try harder or else we're going to end up disappearing." I glare before I storm off to where Gabriella was adding more paint to the moon.

I dip my paintbrush into the bucket and start painting the back of the moon but I feel a hand place on my shoulder.

I look up to see Gabriella's expression filled with concern. "Everything okay? You look like you had another talk with Sharpay."

I dip my paintbrush again. "Luckily I didn't, but it's just personal stuff."

"Well even if we just met, you can talk to me." She nudges my side. "Especially since we're new to the school and don't know anyone that well yet."

"Well, Y/n's been trying to convince me to audition for the play since she wants to be in it," I trail and her eyes widen. "but I'm just not sure if it's my thing"

"How come?"

I gesture to Sharpay who was doing vocal warm ups with her brother instead of decorating the ladder.

"Do I have to explain more?" I ask and go back to painting the moon. "From what I can tell, everyone always expects Sharpay to instantly get the part since it might have always been that way so why bother."

"Hey," She grabs my arm so I could look at her. "if it makes you feel better, I feel the same way. I've been thinking about auditioning but I don't know if I would have the confidence or if I can handle the criticism from other people."

"Gabriella, you shouldn't let anyone control what you want to do in your life." I nudge her side. "Besides, at the lodge you were practically a pro. It'd be cool if I had another person I knew to audition with me."

Gabriella opens her mouth to respond until a voice cuts her off.

"Unless you two don't want a double detention," We look up to see Ms. Darbus with her arms crossed. "I suggest you two quit the chitchat and get to painting."

"Yes Ms. Darbus." Gabriella and I mutter in unison and continue painting the back as she walks towards where Y/n, Troy, and Chad were.

A couple seconds later, Taylor runs up to us with a grin as she held a piece of paper in her hand. "The answer is yes!"

"Uh..." I trail as Gabriella tilts her head in confusion.

"Our scholastic decathlon team has its first competition next week and there is certainly a spot for you." Taylor says, showing the printed papers of Gabriella's past wins from last year.

"Where did those come from?" She worriedly asks.

Taylor furrows her eyebrows. "Didn't you put them in my locker?"

"Of course not."

I turn around towards Sharpay and Ryan who were listening in to the conversation with smirks on their faces.

Why am I not surprised.

"Oh...well we'd love to have you on our team. We meet almost every day after school." She continues but Gabriella gives her an uneasy look. "Please?"

"I need to catch up on the curriculum here. Before I could think about joining any clubs."

"What a perfect way to get caught up!" Sharpay's voice pipes up as she walks from behind us. "Meeting up with the smartest kids in school? What a generous offer Taylor."

"You know, it's interesting that I'm learning more and more about you in a day." I sigh out dramatically which causes Sharpay to turn to me. "I never knew someone could be so nosy over a conversation they weren't included in."

"I was just giving a compliment to my dear friend Taylor." Sharpay says as she leaned against the spot I just painted.

I hold back a snicker, seeing as she leaned her hand against the spot I just painted. She takes notice of this and drops the smile on her face, slowly pulling her hand away with disgust..

I suck in the air between my teeth as I faked a smile. "Oops, did I forget to mention I just did a fresh coat of paint?"

"I-It's okay." She says with a smile but I could see her jaw clench. "It was an accident."

"So many new faces in detention today," Ms. Darbus' voice comes from behind which causes me to break my stare from Sharpay. "I hope you don't make a habit of it." She says as she eyed Sharpay and I.

"See ya." I mutter to her and she rolls her eyes in annoyance.

Ms. Darbus walks over to the front of the stage for everyone to see her. "But, the drama club could always use an extra hand and while we are working, let us probe the mounting evils of cell phones."

I glance over to Y/n and see she was finishing painting the tree brown while watching Troy who was on top of the tree with a grin.

Troy had attached a paper leaf to a piece of string and was lowering it to where Chad had fallen asleep inside the tree to tickle his nose.

"Perhaps the most heinous example of cell-phone abuse is ringing in the theater. What temerity!" Ms. Darbus continues as I manage to suppress my laughs, seeing Chad scrunch his nose once Troy quickly lifted the leaf away.  "The theater is a temple of art. A precious cornucopia of creative energy."

"Idiots." I mumble, forcing myself not to smile since it actually was sort of funny.

"Where's my team and water girl, Darbus?" We all look up to see Troy's father storming his way towards the stage. "What the heck are those two doing in a tree?"

"It's called crime and punishment, Bolton. Besides, proximity to the arts is cleansing for the soul." Ms. Darbus shrugs innocently as she gestures to everyone behind her.

"Can we have a talk, please?" He places his hands on his hips. "And you three, in the gym, now!"

As Troy climbed down from the tree, Y/n walks nearby with her paints and gestures for me to follow.

"I'm gonna get a better brush." I whisper to Gabriella and she nods.

I casually follow behind and make sure nobody was listening in to us. Once I knew it was clear, I nudge Y/n's hip.

"Watergirl?"

"You told me I had to try harder so I did. Coach Bolton said the closest thing I can try out for their team was handling the teams needs." She shivers in disgust. "Who knew that these boys finish their waters fast and sweat too much?"

"And is your plan working?"

"I think so. I caught him singing getcha head in the game and his teammates went along with it, just like the movie."

"Since you have more of an advantage to befriend Troy, I'll do the same with Gabriella. All we have to do is figure out a way for her to take interest into singing and breaking her stage fright." We glance at Gabriella who was still painting away. "Easier said then done when I can barely do it myself."

"Let's go, L/n!" Coach Bolton calls out and Y/n nods, putting her paintbrush in the bucket.

I feel her interlace her hand with mine, causing my eyes to widen. "You're one of the smartest girls I know, Bello. We can figure this out." She says with a smile, squeezing my hand in comfort. "We'll talk after their practice."

I watch as she quickly walks away after them, a small smile forming after her small compliment.

I'm the smartest girl she knows?

🎵 🎵🎵🎵🎵🎵🎵🎵🎵🎵🎵🎵🎵🎵🎵🎵🎵

"We've never made it past the first round of the scholastic decathlon. You could be our answered prayer." Taylor says to Gabriella as the three of us walked out of the school.

"I'm gonna focus on my studies this semester and help my mom get the new house organized. Maybe next year." Gabriella says and we stop nearby the steps. "Camila, you're Y/n's friend. Can you tell me more about her?"

Great. This was the part where she was supposed to ask about Troy, not Y/n. What the hell am I supposed to say?

"We were friends when we were younger but after awhile...we just stopped." I shrug innocently, not wanting to go into too much detail from our real world. "Sometimes she can be stubborn about being right about a couple things which gets me fu--I mean, really mad, but other times I admire her optimism when something bad happens to either the people she cares about or herself."

I look up to meet their stares and see small smiles on Gabriella's and Taylor's faces. I feel my face begin to flush "Other than that, she's cool." I clear my throat. I didn't want to talk about her anymore. "Taylor, what do you know about Troy Bolton?"

She picks up her bag from the ground as we walk up the stairs. "I wouldn't consider myself an expert on that particular sub-species. However, unless you speak cheerleader," She quickly walks up to the cheerleaders followed by a gasp. "oh my gosh! Isn't Troy Bolton just the hottie super-bum?"

The group of cheerleaders gasp and start giggling, practically fangirling over the boy and continued fawning over him as the three of us continued walking.

"Now I see what you mean." I softly chuckle.

"I don't." Gabriella laughs, glancing at the group of girls. "I don't know how to speak cheerleader. "

"Which is why we exist in an alternate universe to Troy the basketball boy." Taylor says as she gestures us and herself.

Gabriella tilts her head in confusion. "Have you tried to get to know him?"

"Watch how it works tomorrow when you two have lunch with us." She glances back at the cheerleaders who were practicing her routine. "Unless you'd rather sit with the cheerleaders and discuss the importance of firm nail beds."

I nod. "Sitting with you guys is a better upgrade than eating lunch at the library in my old school." I say and lift my hand. "My nail beds aren't the best to be honest."

Gabriella lifts up her hands to show her nails. "And...mine are history."

Taylor does the same with a grin. "Sisters!" She grabs our hands to drag us, instantly starting going back to her conversation about joining her club.

Y/n's POV:

"Are you sure it's cool that I came over?" I ask Troy as we walk inside his house I vividly remember from the movie. "Don't you want to practice basketball with your dad or something?"

"He's still pretty mad at me for getting detention on the first day back." He scratches his neck nervously. "So he gave me a day off. Can I ask you something?"

He guides me to his backyard and walk over to his grass that was next to his basketball hoop.

"Go for it."

"What do you know about Camila? You guys are friends and...I kind of wanted to get to know her better."

My eyes widen. "Oh."

"She's single, right?"

I nod. "Yeah it's just..." I trail and fiddle with the sleeves of my jacket. "we don't talk as much as we used to in the past. It's different compared to now and before. Before when we were kids, one of us would be at each others house to hang out and it always felt like no time passes at all since we could practically talk about anything. Now that we grew from that," I stop talking, remembering the times Camila and I hung out when we were kids.

"You guys got older." Troy finishes for me and I nod. "I saw you guys arguing in detention."

"She's the type to keep someone on their toes to focus on the goal of what they're trying to do. It's one of the things that I like about her since I tend to procrastinate on some things. She's quiet but bold, kind-hearted, funny, beau--" I began to list off but then I widen my eyes, realizing I was rambling about the cuban. "sorry. Other than that, she's a good person."

Troy nods with a small smile. "I have another question."

"Ask away."

"Did you ever want to try something new, but were afraid of what your friends think? Like disastrously new and your friends might laugh at you?"

I think back to my actual school back home and instantly remember the expectations people were used to, especially my friends.

Or what I thought were my friends.

"Sometimes. Looking back at it now, I usually followed what they said and thought it was best for me." I explain and he nods solemnly. "You know, if they do end up laughing at you then they were really never your friends in the first place."

"You think?"

"Of course. Friends should look out for each other instead of bringing each other down." I bump his shoulder with a smile. "Especially if they're your teammates."

"Troy," We turn around to see his dad barely opening the screen door. "you should be practicing for the game, not chatting with friends. Do you know how much scholarships are worth these days?"

My phone buzzes in my pocket and see it was Camila who was calling.

I push myself up from the grass. "I should get going or my parents will start to freak that I didn't come home." I lie as I dust my pants.

"Oh alright," Troy says and gestures to the gate. "you can take that way. I'll see you at school tomorrow."

I wave and open the gate, quickly leaving the Bolton household and pulling out my phone from my pocket.

"Hello?"

"Finally!" Camila's voice rings in my ear. "Took you long enough."

I wince. "Sorry, Troy invited me over and I couldn't let the opportunity pass up to get to know him better."

"And how did it go?"

I scratch my neck nervously. "Do you want to hear the good news or bad news first?"

"I need some good news."

"Good news is that he asked about his friends judgement about doing new things. From what I remember, it's still following along with the plot."

"Okay great. What's the bad news?"

"He asked me to tell him things about you so he could get to know you better. Now that he knows your single,"

"He'll try to ask me out." She groans. "Gabriella asked me the same thing, but about you. After school I tried to mention Troy as much as possible, but she still mainly talked about you."

I feel my face flush. "Really? That's awes—" I cough. "I mean, that's not good."

"Y/n, we're not any closer than we were before and all you could think about is getting excited over a fake character thinking about you?"

"Camila—"

"What if we can't get Troy and Gabriella to fall for each other? We'll be trapped in this damn musical forever."

"I mean, we have each other. Would it be so bad?"

"Yes. Every minute that I'm here, I miss everyone back home. In the real world."

"Every minute that we're here, we're living the dream we had when we were kids. We were dying to see what it would've been like to be apart of something that was important in our childhood. When would we ever get the chance to be in something like this again?"

"I know but...this isn't real. I have an actual life back home."

I roll my eyes. "Right. The one where you act like I don't exist."

"The only reason I act like that is because of the people you hang out with. Just like the guys here in the movie."

"What do my friends got to do with our friendship?"

"Forget it. All I want to do is go back home and go back to how things were before we left. Do you have a plan yet, because obviously mine isn't getting anywhere."

"We just need to get Troy and Gabriella to spend more time with each other, without peer pressure."

"They would get to know each other as people and not just knowing each other as the bookworm and the jock, okay. How are we gonna do that?"

"I mean, auditions are tomorrow. Troy is gonna try to sneak in without being seen by his dad or Chad."

As I walk closer to the school, I could see Camila in front of the tree with her bag on her lap.

She pinches the bridge of her nose. "Do you think they'll show up?"

I hang up the phone once I was close to her and shove it in my pocket which causes her to look up.

"I hope so."