We're All In This Together

Troy's sociology teacher hadn't been happy. Professor Kitson had sat him down in her office for ten minutes and gone into the kind of speech that Troy had never heard directed at him before, the kind where the teacher talked about how bright a person he was and how well he could do if he only applied himself. Sure, Troy Bolton had never been the one to blow the bell curve in any class, but he did all right. This was not usual at all. Coach Farmer had been even unhapper, and being a sports coach, he chewed Troy out at a much higher volume. At least it had been after practice, and not in front of the other guys.

So when he got back to the apartment that he shared with Gabriella-- a thought that still, without fail, brought a smile to Troy's face as he raised his key up to the lock-- it was as someone who wasn't exactly happy himself. He knew that never lasted long around Gabriella, but he'd probably have to talk to her about it this time.

Like he'd expected, his girlfriend was already home. They'd memorized each other's schedules pretty quickly, now that they lived together (lived together!), so the questions about dinner and cleaning up had been easy to figure out. She was at the little dining table, doing homework. Troy dropped his gym bag by the bedroom door as usual and walked over to Gabriella.

"Hey, there," he said, smiling but not totally feeling it.

OOC: Takes place after this thread.

Troy groaned when his cell phone rang, because he was perfectly happy to just lay there on the floor of the bedroom and not move for about a week. Moving day had come and nearly gone, and while half of the apartment was taken up by the cardboard boxes that held the consolidated contents of his dorm room and Gabriella's bedroom, nearly all the furniture had been delivered and things were starting to shape up. They'd only gotten a little help, unfortunately, thanks to exam schedules, and Troy and Gabriella had done most of the box lifting.

"Hello?" he answered. "No, Miss Montez is busy right now." In fact, she was in the bathroom, setting up the essentials. "Yes, this is Mr. Bolton." Wow, he thought, it was so weird being called that. "What do you mean 'delayed'? The salesman said it was in stock, and they guaranteed... Yeah, but tomorrow's not going to work..." Troy sat up, running a hand through his hair. "First thing tomorrow, and that better be before 10," he insisted. "Well, thank you."

He clicked his phone closed and fell back down to the floor.

"Bad news, babe," he called out towards the living room. "Bed's not going to be here until tomorrow morning."

So much for those plans, Troy thought.

Once they were on the plane, it was finally easy for Troy to forget about all the weird vibes he'd been getting from his and Gabriella's friends and family. His own parents had seemed really interested in where they would be staying in Mexico for Spring Break, more than just wanting to know how to get in contact with them, and Mrs. Montez somehow couldn't stop smiling and patting her daughter on the shoulder. And the e-mail from Chad had been just as unusual, wishing him "good luck" as if Troy and Gabriella were going off on some kind of adventure, not just spending a few days at a nice hotel.

Then again, he'd never been out of the country, so a trip to Cozumel, Mexico was pretty much an adventure, Troy guessed. His Mom had managed to pull a few favors from clients and get a rate that even he and Gabriella could afford, something they'd never have been able to do at a place like the Fiesta Americana Cozumel Dive Resort. It was the kind of place, he bet, that the Evans would take vacations at.

It was a small plane, so Troy and Gabriella were sitting alone beside their window. As the engines began to power up, he reached out and took her hand. "I can't believe we're really doing this, you know? Two days ago, I think I saw you for half an hour the whole day because we were studying. Now we're on a plane heading for a vacation in Mexico. How cool is this?"

01.) Full name? Troy James Bolton
02.) Best friend? Chad Danforth
03.) Sexuality? Straight, not that anything else explicitly exists in his universe. *L*
04.) Favorite color? Red and white! (So he says, though he dresses in a lot of blues.)
05.) Relationship status? In a committed relationship with Gabriella Montez.
06.) Ideal mate? Gabriella Montez. Someone who keeps challenging him to be himself and be better than he is.
07.) Turn-ons? Sincerity and honesty.
08.) Last sexual experience? Sharing a bed (for cuddling/sleeping purposes) with Gabriella.
09.) Favorite food? Anything Mrs. Montez cooks, especially brownies. Anything Zeke bakes.
10.) Crushes? Gabriella. He thinks Sharpay would be okay if she'd just get over herself.
11.) Favorite music? Pop/Rock: Thriving Ivory, Buckcherry, AAR, etc.
12.) Biggest fear? Not living up to his commitments.
13.) Biggest fantasy? Winning the NCAA tournament and getting engaged to Gabriella.
14.) Quirks in bed? None, since he's a virgin.
15.) Bad habits? Making too many commitments. And letting himself get led into situations that separate him from his friends and things he really wants.
16.) Biggest regret? Doing stupid things to break up him and Gabriella. Twice.
17.) Best kept secrets? Lots and lots of shower singing before the karaoke moment.
18.) Last thought? "I really need to get rid of this roommate."
19.) Worst sexual experience? None, since he's a virgin, although I imagine he's been caught trying to cop a feel.
20.) Biggest insecurity? That Gabriella's going to realize he's not good enough for her and find a genius to be with.

OOC: Follows this thread.

He'd been worrying about it all day. The director had e-mailed the people who'd auditioned about the cast, and Troy had gotten his right before lunch. There were thirty seconds of being totally psyched, because even though it wasn't one of the main stage productions for the school, he was still cast as the lead. That never happened to freshmen, he'd been told, but Troy had stuck it out and gave the auditions his all. After lunch, he headed to the director's office, where he picked up his copy of the script.

Then he got to that page. Troy had asked the director about it, and the older woman (who looked a lot like Mrs. Darbus, weirdly, or maybe all drama teachers looked like Mrs. D) had just given him a smile and said they'd talk about it in rehearsals.

Troy had a date with Gabriella that night. One of the student groups at Stanford was showing some old movie she wanted to watch out on the quad. Her mom was packing them a picnic dinner. He'd really really been looking forward to it.

Now, not so much.

With his stomach doing jumping jacks, Troy met up with Gabriella and they sat down on the blanket she'd brought, snuggled up together. Troy sighed. Now or never, he thought.

"Hey," he said, "I've got good news. And then I've got bad news."

Dear Dad,

Hello from Italy! Or maybe I should say Ciao da Italia!

Hope Mom's business trip is going okay.

I know that you both thought it was way too much when Mr. and Mrs. Evans decided to let us use their vacation house here in Tuscany, but I tell you we are having an amazing time here, definitely one of those once-in-a-lifetime experiences that I'm never going to forget. I'm not going to be able to thank them enough, even though they keep saying it's worth it to give their kids one more unforgettable time with their friends from East High.

The house-- oh, I'm sorry, the villa, which is what Sharpay won't let any of get away with forgetting to call it-- is gigantic, and looks right out over the valley. And you can tell Mom to calm down, because Mrs. Evans totally laid down the law that the bedrooms were not going to be co-ed. Although between you and me, Dad, I get a feeling that Chad and Tay aren't just taking long walks for the fresh air.

Ryan and Kelsi can't stop talking about moving to New York, even when we're walking through Florence, and I think maybe sometimes it gets Sharpay kind of down, but a couple hours of retail therapy seems to fix things. Taylor and Gabriella have dragged shown me and Chad to so many museums, I've lost count. We haven't seen much of Zeke, thanks to the enormous kitchen this place has, but I'm pretty sure I've spotted someone very Zeke-like carrying some of Sharpay's shopping bags.

When we're not out "getting culture", Gabriella and I spend most of our time hanging around the pool. It's like this whole place is one giant version of my treehouse, where we can forget that in a couple of months, we're all going to be so far away from each other. It's awesome.

Sounds like it's dinner time downstairs, so that's it from me for now. Give my love to Mom when she calls from whatever weird city they sent her to this time. Take care.

Love,
Troy