i want my own dream.

once a wildcat, always a wildcat.

[wildcatboltons]

get to know troy bolton :

Growing up, there wasn’t ever a thing that Troy Bolton wanted that he couldn’t have. Not to say he was spoiled rotten because he wasn’t - but he was vaguely treated like a little prince of his house. His parents adored him and thought him to be the perfect son, a title that Troy took close to his heart and worked hard to maintain even to this day. In school he was always popular, even from a young age. Eventually becoming practically the king of the school as one of the star players on the champion basketball team.

Surprisingly though, despite being one of the most sought after boys in the school - Troy never really dated for the first two years of high school. He was so focused on basketball, his grades, and his friends - it just never seemed like dating was really worth all the hype or that important. That was, at least, until he went on a ski trip with his parents for new years his junior year. And there was where he met Gabriella Montez and his whole life changed. Not only just because of her, but also the forced karaoke session they were thrown into where Troy started to discover his love of music. 

Though he had been into Gabriella, he didn’t think anything would come of it. She lived who knows where and he was at East Echo High. They were never going to meet again, so he went back to school not expecting anything to change. But then she walked into his homeroom, taking his breath away and tilting his whole world upside down. 

From that day his whole school experience was different - he and Gabriella (and then their entire friend group) got involved in theater, he had a girlfriend, and to his parents it looked like his priorities were all out of line. With his dad as his coach it was hard, balancing his new passion along with the one his father thought he should put all his focus on. There were a few times when he lost his sight of what was really important to him and his own happiness, but in the end he always found his way back to what mattered.

When the time came to decide where he was going to go to college, there were plenty of voices in his ear trying to tell him what to do. It had been a hard decision to make. Ms. Darbus encouraged him to go to New York for theater, his father assumed he’d go to an American college for basketball, then Gabriella’s early admission to Stanford made him want to follow right after her. He’d applied to schools for all three before deciding he wasn’t going to go for any of them. He had to do what he wanted, what was best for him - not anybody else. Leaving the island just wasn’t something he wanted to do. It’s his home and he wasn’t ready to say goodbye to it yet, not even just for school. So he attended a university on the island - the one with the best basketball team as well as a decent theater department. 

When Gabriella went to Stanford they decided to try long distance. Though they tried their hardest… it simply just wasn’t working out. Between the time difference, his basketball and theater extracurriculars as well as his classes, and her heavy course load - there just was hardly any time for each other. And though Troy tried to deny it, they both knew it wasn’t working. When Gabriella returned for winter break their freshman year, they officially broke up. 

It was hard. Probably the hardest thing Troy’s ever had to deal with - this real and official end. At the time, and honestly still to this day, he was fully convinced that Gabriella was his soulmate so losing her hurt like hell. Thankfully he had Sharpay to help him through it. A true friendship budded between them and he might even say that after Chad she’s his closest friend now. 

Dated a lot after the breakup but nothing was ever serious nor did it ever last long. It was like every single relationship was just another rebound as he never truly found himself getting over Gabriella. 

Studied secondary education in school with a focus on theater. He has now since replaced Ms. Darbus as the East Echo High drama teacher as well as the boy’s basketball coach.

[sharpayyyyy]

Though they hadn't been romantically linked for long, it did make her smile, how well Troy knew her. Even the simple act of placing the wine bottle back in the fridge meant he'd been listening, and knew the tiny act of catering to the way she liked things was sweet. It brought a small smile to her lips as she watched him pour himself a drink of his own, and in the spirit of feeling rather warm and fuzzy on the inside for her boyfriend, she even placed the two bottles he'd used back in the fridge for him, returning the favor. It was small, but there were few people in this world for whom she'd clean up after, and, unsurprisingly, Troy had made the list.

"Oh, I know what happened between them, yeah. I even wrote a song about it, I was so inspired by the whole ordeal." Though it had wound up being a song she and Marie had completed together, it was Dash and Lil who had inspired it in the first place. "Long story short, they were coworkers, and they started dating, or so Lil had thought. Somehow, I think from my friend Angelica's boyfriend, she found out that he was actually doing it to distract her from her soccer team--they coach together. He wanted her to lose. What a crazy fucker," she mused, shaking her head with an exasperated sigh as she sipped her wine. "I don't know how much Phil told her, but now she knows, and got all bothered by seeing Lil talk to him again."

[wildcatboltons]

Watching Sharpay place his own coke and rum bottles back into the fridge, despite the fact that likely no one else would care if they weren’t cold, brought a brighter smile to his face. It was such a small thing to do, something that in truth Troy also hardly cared about - but it was important to her that her drinks be chilled and she was showing her own little move of affection by ensuring that his would be as well. As he took the first sip from his cup, his eyebrows shot up at the shortened version of what had happened between Lil and her supposed ex. It wasn’t at all what he had been expecting to hear - he’d been prepared for a cheating scandal or something along those lines, but not a whole scheme created just for a soccer team to win. “Guess he’s pretty damn dedicated to his work,” he comments, shaking his head. It was an insane thought, going through that much effort for a team you coach to win. Troy himself for all he very deeply cared about the boys he coached couldn’t even begin to imagine letting it have any influence on his love life or being willing to do such a drastic thing to someone else.

“Well that’s fair, I think. Kelsi being upset, I mean. I wouldn’t exactly be all that happy to see my girlfriend hanging around with a guy that did something like that to her either,” he admits, frowning now as he wondered just how worried his friend must be over this situation. It wasn’t often that Kelsi really actually made it this far in the stage of liking someone, so he was pretty sure she’d never had to deal with anything like this before, which meant she was likely on the verge of spiraling if not already at that point. “Are we… are we sure all Lil was doing was talking?” It’s a bit of a bold question to ask, but Troy feels it's better to just get it out there than be blindsided by the answer later on.

[sharpayyyyy]

~time skippy to the deville halloween party~

"We should've had a drinking game going for how many times people were going to say 'Hi, Barbie!' or 'Hi, Ken!' to us tonight. I'd be blackout by now," Sharpay commented as she finally caught up with her boyfriend, fresh off a conversation with her ex-husband that she thought he might want to hear about. Parties like these always came with their fair share of drama, and Sharpay was simply counting herself lucky not to be at the center of it this time. It was much more entertaining to sit on the sidelines and gossip. But, first, she needed a drink. "Come with me to the kitchen?" she asked, a statement more than a question as his hand was already in hers and her body was already pivoted in the direction of the source of a refill.

As she entered the kitchen, Sharpay was quick to pluck the white wine from the array of liquors on the counter, the chill on the bottle indicating someone had just set it down with no intentions of putting it back in the refrigerator. "Hooligans, can you believe this? They were going to let this go warm," she complained aloud with a disapproving click of her tongue. The glass she'd taken from the cabinet was one only she was allowed to have, getting special permission from the hosts to forgo the plastic cups forced upon the rest of the guests. "Okay, so, apparently, Kelsi saw Lil talking to her ex, Dash, and asked Phil what his deal was. So, now, he's, like, all concerned, and I think you should probably be the one to talk to her. We both know I have the potential to do more harm than good in the Kelsi department."

[wildcatboltons]

As the blonde approaches him, on instinct Troy reaches down to take her hand and start fiddling with her fingers as he chuckles at her joke. It was a good point, they had been getting quite a lot of Hi, Barbie and Kens and the part has barely even started. If they’d even just taken a single sip of their drink every time it happened, they’d likely end up with alcohol poisoning by the end of the night. Thankfully though that wasn’t going to happen - they were going to get just a reasonable amount of drunk like any other couple here tonight. The question of joining her in the kitchen didn’t even need to be asked as Sharpay was already moving them in that direction, but he lets out a little “of course” regardless.

Over years of hanging out with the blonde, Troy had long learned that unchilled, warm white wine was practically a crime in her world. The first time he had suggested that she simply add ice had been the last time he ever thought that to be an acceptable solution, the lecture he had received on the importance of wine temperature and taste was one that still haunted him at times. After she was done pouring the drink into her special glass, he gently took the bottle and placed it back in the surprisingly mostly empty refrigerator. Either the Deville’s hardly ate or someone had emptied out the fridge before the party had started, likely to prevent everything from getting stolen by the who knows how many twenty-somethings that would be attending tonight. Turning back to the island with all the liquors and mixers, he makes himself a simple rum and coke as he lists to his girlfriend explain the latest gossip she had just heard from her ex-husband. “Is Kelsi upset?” he asks, though he’s pretty sure that’s a given it’d be best to know what he was walking into when he sought her out in a few minutes. “Do we know what happened between Dash and Lil? Or is that why she’s worried?”

[sharpayyyyy]

"Hey," she argued, "I used to cause way more terror back in the day." It was true: Sharpay had gone out of her way on more than one occasion to make certain people's lives truly miserable in high school. There had been a number of humbling experiences that had dialed her back, but she didn't like to dwell on those moments too much. "Just don't give me any inspiration for new material that isn't a love song," Sharpay promised in a bit of a warning, thinking of the new track she had written specifically sharing that sentiment that would be soon donated to Marie instead of making the cut for her new single in the name of her new boyfriend.

All of her hours spent by his side hadn't gotten her nothing--this was precisely what Sharpay had hoped would happen way back when she'd coaxed him back to life when Gabriella had dumped him. It wasn't her fault that everything she planned just seemed to work out how she'd wanted it to, despite the minor hiccups along the way. "Well, you made the right choice," she replied confidently. It was her chance to finally show Troy the kind of pair they could be, and Sharpay would do practically anything to prove it. It was strangely validating to hear that holding onto hope hadn't been for nothing. "I love that idea," Sharpay agreed, already envisioning the final image of Troy on the side of the stage, wearing a shirt with her face on it. "Oh, my god, this means I finally get to live out my dream of being a basketball girlfriend," she gushed. "Not that watching you coach is nearly as hot as it was watching you play, but, I'll take what I can get. You'll just have to make up for it by letting me catcall you when we go golfing."

[wildcatboltons]

“Oh, I’m fully aware of that,” he agrees, teasingly with a smirk. While he himself had only occasionally been on the receiving end of her terror, he had seen it happen enough back in high school to know just how awful she had decency to be. Even with the people she had called friends, Sharpay used to be quite the controlling bitch. But that was all in the past. They had just been kids, really, and she had done a lot of self-work to grow from it… even if there was still a lot of room to improve. Especially when it came to her treatment of his ex-girlfriend. But Troy knows better than to bring any of that up right now and ruin the moment. “I won’t, I promise. It’s gonna be nothing but picture perfect boyfriend from here on out.”

When it came to admitting his reasoning behind his choice, Troy had known there was a fifty-fifty chance of how the blonde would react. Though he had hoped she’d understand what he’d been thinking, he’d also prepared for it to not be a decent enough explanation - for Sharpay to have wanted him to have fully discarded any thoughts of Gabriella completely and be fully and totally on board only for her. Which, he was, don’t get him wrong. He felt confident in his choice, but he couldn’t lie and say that all thoughts of his ex were fully banished from his head. Which wasn’t something that Sharpay would ever want to hear. “I think I did too,” he states instead, not showing any sign of even the smallest amount of doubt. Laughing at her excitement over being a so-called basketball girlfriend, his head shakes ever so slightly. “Guess I’ll have to look into some local basketball leagues for you. Can’t let you miss out on the full experience.”

[sharpayyyyy]

Sharpay shook her head confidently at him, the most comfortable now she'd felt around her now boyfriend in the decade and a half she'd known him. She felt weightless, like every ounce of anxiety she'd ever felt around Troy had simply melted with the confirmation of their relationship. It was the kind of buzz she'd never had from anyone else before, that she knew was possible for her and her boyfriend long before he'd ever asked her out. "You could never," she insisted, pressing a quick kiss to his lips as her arms wound around his neck.

Despite knowing for years that this might happen, it was a bit surprising that he'd suddenly come to this conclusion. Sharpay had wondered just what had gotten him there, just like she'd thought the same when he'd decided to sleep with her months ago. If there were ever a time to ask without sounding too crazy, it was now. "What, like, made you decide?" Curiosity would kill her, if it had the power to, but she had to know what had drawn him to her instead of his longtime ex-girlfriend. "No, no, they'll love you. I'll just have to start writing some love songs about you so I can flip the narrative." That would be easy--she already had some lyrics written from back when he'd simply been an unattainable crush. "That, and you'll have to start coming to my shows with, like, my face on a shirt. This way, they'll all know why you're there." She paused, giving him another kiss, just because she could. "And, it'll be really hot of you, just saying," Sharpay added with a nonchalant shrug, despite the smirk forming on her lips.

[wildcatboltons]

It might have been a bit cocky and overly self confident, already knowing that he was a charming guy and there was little that could be done to change that, but it still felt nice hearing Sharpay confirm it. “You’re pretty charming yourself, you know. When you aren’t being a terror, that is,” he teases with a very obvious affection in his voice. In truth, she’s actually gotten way more chill since their high school days. And if this had been a few months ago, Troy might have even argued she no longer had that terror tendency in her - but Pacifica’s valentines engagement party had proven that wrong.

The question of why and how he finally made his decision was one he expected to come eventually, but he hadn’t quite thought it’d be one of the first things the blonde had to ask. But it made sense, her need to know. “There were a lot of reasons,” he admits, starting off with a little raise of a shoulder in a halfhearted shrug. “Gabriella and I had our shot. And while I understand why we ended and how it was for the best for both of our sakes… that didn’t change the amount of pain I went through when it ended. You remember that, I’m sure. And I just… I was afraid of risking that again.” It was the truth - the fear of how things might end if they didn’t work out on a second try was what had held Troy back for so long from even considering making another move on his high school ex. “Plus I had been working my way up to asking you out, before she showed up again and I got all confused. It felt wrong to not follow the feelings I’ve had for you for a while now. I had to see what we could be.” It may not be the most romantic of answers, and potentially not what Sharpay had been hoping to hear, but he wasn’t about to lie just for the sake of making it sound better than it actually was. Those were his reasons and they had been enough for him to feel confident in his choice, he had to just hope she would agree. “Do I at least get to pick the pictures? I’ll get a new one made for every show, I’m sure your fans would get a kick out of that.”

[pianielsen]

Kelsi hid her all knowing expression of what he meant by 'high school level drama she tends to bring out' behind a polite smile and light nodding along. She knew Chad had his reasons for disliking the girl, she thought it to be maybe a bit too harsh even for Sharpay but there was some understanding the slight hesitation in the relationship as a whole. It would be a bit hard wrapping their brains around it, maybe even Kelsi would have trouble with it until she actually saw them together but there was very little they could do about it. It was out of there control and all they had to do was be happy for the two, Kelsi understood that immediately, she was just hoping Chad could be as well. "I hope for your sake he's forgiving, I can't take over his duties as a basketball buddy. I don't have the height or the stamina to keep up."

Her eyebrows raised the change of the conversation turning into one of her, "Oh, that! It's coming along nicely, uh, Ryan event thinks we could look into bringing it over to New York. Y'know, for like an off-broadway type deal, and that'd be really cool, like, if that happened." The plan was ambitious, a bit too much for Kelsi's taste, but she wasn't going to outwardly rag on Ryan's idea. It was something that needed some hearing out, and she was even hoping Troy could be one to see the same problems that she did but she didn't want to insinuate anything just yet. Just that news alone should've been enough to chew on so she let that sit in the air, not letting out what else she thought on the matter.

[wildcatboltons]

The thought of Kelsi of all people attempting to play any type of sport was enough to get a genuine bark of laughter out of him, though he felt slightly bad for it as soon as it left his lips. Not that he had intended it in any mean sort of way, it was just such an amusing image, he really couldn’t help laughing at it. And he’s pretty sure she would agree. “Oh come on, you’d be a great basketball buddy. You could… keep count of how many points get scored,” he teases with a grin before shaking his head at the whole Chad aspect of it all. “He’ll get over it. Might be annoying for a week or so, but he’ll come around.” Or at least, Troy really hoped that would be the case - considering he’s always been nothing but supportive of his best friend, he’d hope to receive the same treatment.

At the news of their musical being almost done it seemed and potentially even good enough for making it in New York, Troy’s grin only grew with pride for his two friends. If it were anyone else, he might have some reservations about shooting so large right off the get-go, but he’s heard Kelsi’s music before. Hell, he’s performed in almost all of her shows, he knows how great they all are. And Ryan has had a successful enough run back on Broadway that he trusts his judgment - if the Evans boy thinks their work is strong enough to open straight in the city, Troy believes it. “That’s amazing, Kels!” he gushes with excitement. “Are you both going to head out there whenever it’s done? That’d be an approved reason to leave, I’m willing to bet, so don’t even worry about that. But that’s so awesome.”

[intheslightest]

༝༝ 🦊 ༝༝

It was interesting to stand in front of the boy he'd heard all the stories about, the same one who broke her heart and then put it back together in a matter of weeks. Slightly had hoped to avoid this moment for as long as possible but it came to an inevitable end. He forced a half smile along with a nod to not give away his immediate distaste. This was something he'd fake for Sharpay's sake, then so be it. "Thanks, man," Slightly responded simply. "I guess we're just a dime a dozen, here I thought it was a pretty popular instrument." It was all everyone wanted to learn in the orphanage but not everyone picked it up as quickly or was willing to put in the time to learn. "Do you play anything besides basketball?" The boy wanted to say more but held back his unnecessary comments. For a fleeting moment, he wondered if this was how Peter felt talking to Phil, pinning that thought for another time.

[wildcatboltons]

Perhaps the other boy didn’t really mean what he said, maybe it was meant to be more of a joke than anything else, but Troy’s quick to shake his head and reach out to give a light smack to Slighty’s back in what he hopes is encouragement. “No, man. Anyone can learn to play, yeah, but you have like a real talent,” he reassures with a smile and a nod. Though his days of leading a team of his own peers was long behind him, Troy’s day to day life of teaching and coaching high school students kept him firmly rooted in the pep talk life. No one he knew was safe of telling any type of self-deprecating joke or comments without getting some kind of cheer up in return. “I sing and act too, but basketball was my main sport, yeah. Kelsi tried teaching me a bit of piano once, but it was a bust.” His shoulders raised in a shrug at the end, not really feeling all that accomplished just because he did theater and basketball, but also knowing that it was indeed more of a feat than he really let himself realize. He’d been the star player and the lead in every show he’d auditioned for - he was the star of East High, but bragging about that would only make him seem like a douche who peaked in high school. And that wasn’t the type of guy Troy wanted to be. “What about you? What else you got beside that guitar?”

[sharpayyyyy]

Part of her was expecting this to all be some sort of sick joke, that Troy would simply decide in a week or so that this wasn't what he actually wanted and the rug would be pulled from under her. Sharpay nearly wanted to pull out a piece of paper and make him sign on it, or make him swear on his grave that this was for the long haul. But, she also didn't want to put the idea in his head that he might change his mind. For now, all she knew was that this was what he was saying he wanted, and if shit hit the fan, at least she'd have another hit album on her hands.

"It's just part of your charm," she agreed, reaching for him as he came closer. Reality could be ignored, at least for now, while she relished the moment she'd been waiting for since middle school. "You're sure this has nothing to do with feeling bad for me after my set got hijacked?" Sharpay questioned with a raised brow, sliding her hands into his. "Also, I am sorry, like, now, that you inspired some really harsh material, but I'm afraid I'm still gonna have to keep performing the whole album, or else my manager will fire me. So, unless you want me unemployed, I'm unfortunately going to have to keep singing them."

[wildcatboltons]

As she reached for him, Troy gladly let himself be pulled even closer as his own arms stretched to wrap around her waist, his grin never faltering once throughout the movement. This was what he wanted. Has been what he really wanted for a long time now, honestly. He’d just gotten a bit confused for a bit there, which was his own fault and he knew it - but he figured it all worked out in the end, found his way right to where he felt like he was supposed to be at the moment. “Well, if that’s the case, do I really need to work on it? I don’t want to lose my charm,” he teases with a grin.

Despite the fact that he’s fairly certain she’s mostly joking with her question of whether or not he’s certain this is what he wants, to make light of the rough road that had led them here, he’s still accurately aware that there has to be some kind of actual worry behind it. Which is valid after everything he’d done, Troy gets that, but it still sucks that she’s having even the tiniest bit of doubt. Again though, that’s something they can discuss later - they don’t need to hash everything out right now. “Considering I’ve been planning on doing this for a few days now, I don’t think the attack had anything to do with it,” he answers with a firmness in his decision. A chuckle escapes him as he shakes his head, not really wanting to think of how often he was going to have to hear the songs detailing exactly how shitty he’d been. It was gonna suck, no denying that, but he was too proud of Sharpay’s success to ever ask her to pretend like her first album simply never happened. “I guess I can put up with that. Just as long as you don’t air out all the dirty laundry completely. Your fans probably already don’t like me, but let’s not give them any more reason to keep up with the hate. I’d rather not start getting death threats or anything.” There was an undertone of amusement in his words, but he did really mean it all.

[freakymathgrl]

⋆⋆ 𝝅 ⋆⋆

After so much time apart Gabriella couldn't blame him for wanting to move on, things had changed and she would be there as he explored a new part of his life. What they once had sat in the past now but whatever future they had now was uncertain. There had been a time when she imagined him at the end of the aisle, starting a family, and one day watching their own child go off to become a genius basketball star. That was a blip now and she'd have to wonder who it was that might one day be the one for her. Since high school, the brunette had only really imagined a life with Troy but now there were more unknowns than ever and she sat back to see where life would take her now.

A wide smile formed at his confirmation that he now enjoyed his sandwiches with the crust on but amusement at the time when he didn't. "Wooow, look at you. I didn't know you were up to the seed crust now." She feigned amazement as she placed a hand on her chest as if he'd told her something unheard of. "I'm so proud," Gabriella spoke theatrically as if she was about to cry. Regardless of their relationship status, it had been her best friend that she missed the most. After so many years together no one knew her quite like him and dating Sharpay wouldn't change that. "Next you're going to tell me you don't still have those Spiderman pajama pants, they were the best." They had been stolen many nights when she slept over. "Those are just irreplaceable if you ask me. You can't find them like that anymore."

[wildcatboltons]

A loud and bubbling laugh escapes him at the dramatics she puts on, congratulating him and acting as if it’s some huge accomplishment that he grew up enough to actually eat his sandwiches whole. Giving a little bow, awkwardly since he was still sitting in his chair, Troy’s grin became far more genuine now that it seemed like all the dust was settling. Everything he had been worried about turned out to be for nothing, or at least, Gabriella was putting on a good enough show to make him believe that. Down the line, when they’d both had more time to come to terms with this true end of their relationship, maybe they’d have a more real conversation about it - but as it was right now, he’ll happily take this easy acceptance. “Thank you. It was hard work, you know, but I put in the effort and now I’m a crust connoisseur,” he teases.

Warmth fills his cheeks at the mention of his old spiderman pajama bottoms, the ones that he knew were her favorite, and he wishes he could say that he did indeed still have them. They had been a staple of his teenhood years, but after the breakup Troy simply hadn’t been able to look at them anymore without remembering all the times she had worn them instead. “Uhh, no. I don’t. I actually, uhh, donated them a while back,” he admits, not saying out loud the reason behind that choice, though he bets she can piece it together herself. It had been one of his half hearted attempts to move on, giving away some of the things that made him think too much about her. The pajama pants had just been one of the many victims of that phase.

[sharpayyyyy]

Sharpay proudly shook her head. "Not a clue," she affirmed. Between having a nanny as a child, and the live-in maid who cooked all of her meals as an adult at home, Sharpay had been living off of take-out, or, when desperate times called, instant meals, now that she was living alone. She honestly couldn't recall the last time her parents ever cooked for her, if ever. "I can boil water to make pasta, and throw together a salad every now and then, but that's about it. And, since I didn't really feel like putting in the effort into interacting with anyone to order in, it was going to be cereal." Not that it meant she wouldn't accept something cooked by Troy, but it most definitely wasn't what she'd been anticipating an hour ago.

It was a good thing Troy was smart. Not that she hadn't had to spell things out before for him, but it made this particular moment entirely less humiliating. "Is it?" she asked coyly, a smirk curling on her lips as she prepared for him to state the obvious. It was almost as important of a question as someone asking her hand in marriage, and one she'd been waiting for just as long to come from Troy himself. If it were anyone else, Sharpay would've remembered just how awful it'd felt to assume this was what he would've been asking her months ago. But this was Troy, and she would be crazy to deny the one boy she'd pined after for half of her life. "Well, duh. I thought you'd never ask."

[wildcatboltons]

It wasn’t that surprising, the confirmation that she never learned to cook or the way that she almost took pride in that fact. Maybe years ago, back when they were in high school, he would have thought negatively of her reaction - but now it just felt so on brand for her that he couldn’t help but be a bit charmed. After all, it wasn’t like it was her fault that she had grown up so privileged and it wasn’t as if she were acting like she was somehow better than him or anyone else because she didn’t know how to cook. “Well, pasta and salad is better than nothing. That’s about where my skills are at too, despite my mother’s best efforts,” he chuckles at the memory of how many times his mom has tried to teach him his way around the kitchen.

Again, her agreeing to be his girlfriend isn’t exactly a surprise, but it sure is a relief. For all Troy had known this was what she wanted, he hadn’t been fully confident that she’d accept him so easily - not after all the shit he’d put her through over the past few months. But he wasn’t about to bring that up and ruin the happy moment. There would be plenty of time to apologize for his mistreatment and confusion later, right now he was just going to focus on the present and their future at hand. “Yeah, well, I’m a dumbass, you’ve always known that,” he teases with a grin, glancing over at the still not yet boiling water one quick time before taking a few steps forward to close the gap between himself and the blonde. “But I figured it out. I know what I want now and it’s you.”

[intheslightest]

༝༝ 🦊 ༝༝

Slightly hadn't been all that interested in going out since the increase in attacks. He used that time to write, finding the best way to express his worries for his world was through song. That was where he felt he could actually put things together like he wanted to, words never coming as easy to him when it was through conversation and not lyrics. Somewhere between the notes he'd find what he wanted to say all along. Tonight he'd premiered a few at a bar to get some idea of what he wanted to fine-tune before presenting any of them to his boss. It wasn't like Slightly thought Sharpay would actually do anything with them but trusted her opinion on all things music-related. She'd come to understand his sound, having been the one that gave him a chance to really show what he could do. Slightly was packing away his guitar when a man approached him whom he only recognized from watching that same smile drop from his face during Sharpay's first performance. "Troy, right?" The boy stood up, giving him a nod in greeting. "I'm Sharpay's guitarist, so I guess my association." Or from her having some choice lyrics for him and the brunette he'd brought as his date that night, though that was best kept to himself. "Name's Slightly."

[wildcatboltons]

As the other boy correctly identifies him, Troy knows he was right. They did know each other, though he felt somewhat bad for not remembering the guy’s name. But as he explains that he’s just Sharpay’s guitarist it makes sense - they’d only really run into each other once and hadn’t actually spoken to each other at all during that time. Which seems fair, considering everything that had been going on that night. Troy had been a bit distracted, after all. “Oh yeah, yeah, that’s right,” he nods with a chuckle, not wanting to really bring up anything from that night. It was all in the past, so there was no real reason to hash it out again - especially not with a guy that technically isn’t even really a part of the whole situation anyway as far as Troy was aware. “Nice to meet you man, you know, officially. Your shit was really good tonight, I see why Sharpay hired you. You know, we have a bunch of different musicians in our friend group but not any guitar players.” It was just simple small talk, pleasantries being exchanged, but he was still happy to have the chance to get to know someone else in the blonde’s life.

[freakymathgrl]

⋆⋆ 𝝅 ⋆⋆

While the truth stung more than she wanted to admit, Gabriella couldn't fault him for wanting to explore something new. They had their chance and it had been her that decided to end this after all. She couldn't blame him for moving on, actually happy to hear he'd found someone worth chasing after, though she silently wished it had been anyone else. After the trouble they had with the blonde growing up Gabriella wondered if she'd matured but from the concert fiasco there were doubts. She hoped that now this feud between her and Sharpay could come to a close, and the other girl was finally getting the man she'd pined for since high school. "It's okay, I understand Troy. You have to see where this path leads, no one wants to be left asking what-ifs." That had been what fueled her own decision to leave when she had. They had to figure out things without one another, but Gabriella was just happy to be there now.

"Really? Tell Sharpay that," the brunette laughed in return, offering him a satisfied smile. It hadn't been what she wanted to hear but as long as she wasn't losing him entirely it would be alright. After all that they'd been through together, Gabriella was confident they could always be friends. They'd survived high school which some would say are the worst years of their life but she'd argue he made her time there better. "Don't worry about that, you know I'm not going anywhere if I still talk to you after finding out your mom cut the crust off your sandwiches all through high school," a small jab meant with love. Regardless of their story from here on out, she still fondly thought of their memories together.

[wildcatboltons]

The easy acceptance of it all wasn’t something Troy had really expected, but then again he also knew she wasn’t going to be too outwardly upset. Throwing a fit over something like this just wasn’t her style, so he doesn’t know what he might have actually really expected to happen. This was such new territory for the two of them, a real potential ending that he doesn’t fully know what to do with himself. Should he be apologizing? A part of him felt like that was appropriate, but then he reminded himself that she had been the one to break up with him in the first place all those years ago. Did he really have anything to be sorry for, all because he started and tried to move on? And he didn’t want Gabriella thinking he had any doubts, because he doesn’t, so maybe it’s best to just leave it all as is. No apologies, no trying to make her feel better, nothing. Just a promise to always be friends and to stay in each other’s lives. That much Troy knew he could do.

“I will,” he promises, a grin growing on his own lips at the sound of her laugh. It was strange, the way the noise still plucked on his heartstrings but for the first time in months it didn’t bother him. He wasn’t left feeling like he was missing something. Instead he simply got to enjoy a moment of companionship with her, without wishing or wanting for it to be something more. “Hey! You promised you wouldn’t hold that against me,” he teased right back, pointing a finger in accusation her way. “Besides, I’ll have you know I eat the whole sandwich now. Crust and all. Even the kinds with the seeds around the rim.”

[pianielsen]

There was no one Kelsi truly hated, not in the sense of she'd wished their existence were far gone from her presence, as that was the extent she'd imagined hatred going up to. But if anyone came a bit close to that line, it would have been Sharpay Evans. It did, after all, have to take a whole group of friends and well - maybe one friend in particular, to convince Sharpay that Kelsi was an actual human being and not just someone who wrote songs for her. And although it felt like that now from time to time, Kelsi never held too much a grudge, she felt she was very forgiving when it came to the blonde. This time was no exception, she actually held some hope that this could be a good relationship for the two of them. Kelsi had witnessed firsthand time and time again how Sharpay bettered herself, with each new version of the blonde learning from before. So it was plausible to her that this version that her friend had grown feelings for was what he felt was right for him, at least in this moment.

Just the look of relief on his face was enough to bring a grin to her lips, she always just wanted her friends to be happy and this seemed to make Troy happy so she was okay with this. Her eyebrows raised at the news that she was the first to know, "she would've figured he'd gone to Chad or maybe even either of the girl's about his decision but to hear that was a bit reassuring to their friendship."Oh? Was Chad too busy to pick up the phone or are you just afraid of what he's gonna say so you thought coming to me was gonna be easier?" Honestly, Kelsi couldn't blame him for going that route, if true. Their friend's staunch opinion on the blonde hadn't changed much since high school so it was pretty obvious how the news would be handled. "I think that's a smart idea. With my luck, I probably would accidentally say something before you got the chance to tell her."

[wildcatboltons]

He can’t be surprised that Kelsi would have expected him to go to one of their other friends first about something like this, especially since Chad has been his very best friend for the past fifteen years. But he already knew what the other boy was going to say, knew exactly how he was going to react, so it wasn’t actually going to be all that helpful talking to him about it first. What Troy had really needed was someone who knew both girls fairly well and wouldn’t immediately jump to a decision based on their own biases - which was exactly what Kelsi was best at doing. “I’m not afraid of what he’ll say, I already know exactly what it’s gonna be. He’s never been a fan of Sharpay’s or the high school level drama she tends to bring out in everyone sometimes - but he’ll get over it,” he brushes off the thought and small spike of worry that came with the idea. This was his choice - not anyone else’s and he wasn’t about to let any others opinions sway him from what he wanted.

At the jab Kelsi made at herself, he couldn’t help the automatic chuckle that left him before he shook his head to reject the idea. “Nah, you’d never do that,” he reassures, feeling absolutely confident in those words. If there was one person Troy trusted with a secret, it was the girl sitting across from him. She was too loyal to go around telling anyone else’s business like a piece of easy gossip and too smart to accidentally blurt something out she knew wasn’t supposed to be told. “But enough about me. How have you been? How’s the show you and Ry are working on going?”

[sharpayyyyy]

Troy was quick to make himself at home, but Sharpay knew better than to assume she was out of the woods on the answer he'd promised her just yet. The circumstances surrounding her evening weren't to be ignored when they'd been friends long before she had made another move on him. It would be embarrassing to assume, but it would also be stupid of her not to read the signals being quite literally laid out for her on the counter as he set down his father's most expensive liquor and offered to make her dinner from scratch. Despite how long they'd known each other, and how good of friends they had become, Troy had never once done something like this for her before.

"Way better than the cereal I was planning on having," she agreed, sliding into one of her barstools as she watched him set down his supplies. "The company's not so bad, either, personal chef aside." Sharpay attempted to walk the tightrope before her toward the conclusion she was hoping for, cautious as she went along with the cues that there was something different about this particular night. "Do you bring over liquor and cook for all your friends, or is this just reserved for people experiencing tragedy? Because, Troy, I've known you a long time, and this is the first I'm going to taste your cooking."

[wildcatboltons]

Moving throughout the kitchen to find a pot for making the simple boxed mac and cheese in, Troy chuckles to himself at the thought of the blonde really just sitting around and eating cereal for each meal. It wasn’t something he would have expected of her and it was an endearing picture to imagine. “Do you even know how to cook?” he asks, unable to stop himself as he’s measuring out some water for boiling the noodles. “I’m not the best at it, really, but I’m just realizing I’ve never tasted your cooking either.” There’s a genuine curiosity in his words, but he also says them as a way to simply keep the conversation going while he gets everything ready before finally admitting why he’s really here. Though, he’s pretty sure she already knows.

With the pot of water on the stove, getting ready to heat up into a boil, Troy finally looks away and over at the girl sitting a few feet away, waiting for him and his answer. Taking a step or two, still keeping a bit of distance between them but only enough so that he’s not hovering right above her, his smile becomes a bit more sheepish and shy as he glances down at the ground before looking back up at the blonde. “No, this is the kind of stuff I do for my girlfriend, actually,” he admits, raising a shoulder in a half shrug to try to seem a bit more cool about this than he actually was. In truth his heart was racing and he felt like a high school boy all over again, nervous in a way he hasn’t been around anyone in years. “Which I was kinda hoping you might still want to be?”

[theclassymike]

Leo Howard via instagram.

[sharpayyyyy]

There was a strangely nervous aura about him that Sharpay had never sensed before from Troy. Maybe it was a product of all the times that she'd been trying to impress him that she had never seen him try to impress her. It hadn't taken long for her to realize that the expensive bourbon and dinner brought to her house for a seemingly important night meant much more than it was at face value. He wouldn't have done any of this for just any girl--he hadn't done it when they were just friends. Troy had chosen to do all of this because he was going to choose her.

At least, that's what it seemed. Sharpay knew better than to get her hopes up for the guy who had made it clear time and time again that he didn't see her as more than a friend. Leaping toward the conclusion she'd always wanted to hear, only to be rejected again, would be far more embarrassing than she could take. This could be some sort of friendly gesture, for all she knew, after what had happened to her. So, it was with cautious optimism that Sharpay let him inside. "No, this is--it's really sweet. I probably would've been alone for the rest of the night, so, thank you, actually. You didn't have to, like, do any of this, though. I'll be fine, I just need some time."

[wildcatboltons]

As the door closed behind him, Troy kicked off his shoes to put near the door before making his way into the apartment almost as if he already belonged there. He was still nervous, that much was likely painfully obvious, but he could feel his confidence coming back inch by inch as he reminded himself he doesn’t have anything to actually be nervous about. Sharpay had made it more than clear that she wanted him - had even given him the extra week to figure his shit out - and the chances of her having changed her mind in such a short amount of time were honestly slim to none. But still, the thought of a potential rejection wasn’t something that was easy to shake. He’s never actually been on that side of it before, if he were to be completely honest, and he really hoped tonight would be the start of it.

“I just have mac and cheese. It’s nothing fancy, like I said, but it’s better than nothing, right?” he repeats as he moves into the kitchen and sets his little bag down onto the countertop. Taking the bottle of bourbon out of it, he holds it out for the blonde with a smile. “If that’s alright with you. I wanted to cook for you, making something special for tonight.” He’d still yet to actually say what was so potentially important about this night, but he had a gut feeling she could tell where he was planning on going with it and a part of him wanted to see how long she’d let him dance around the subject before demanding an answer.

[wildcatboltons]

closed starter for @intheslightest location: a bar

It wasn’t often during the school year that Troy got a chance to go out with his old high school pals, but with summer finally in full swing his free time practically tripled like it always does. Which was nice and the boys were quick to take advantage of it, dragging him out to the bar at least twice a week to make up for all the lost time. Rarely did they ever actually stay out that late or get into any actual trouble, they weren’t those kinds of guys - not even in high school did they do that shit, so it’s not a surprise that tonight is going to be the same as usual. A beer or two, talking shit about their jobs, reminiscing on the good old days, and then heading back home. It wasn’t anything too thrilling, but it was better than nothing.

Tonight however was a bit different, an open mic night that all of the guys actually participated in, heading on stage and singing a song or two. Nothing original, just some old covers they used to jam out to back in the day, but still enough to give Troy that familiar rush of performing. It’s thanks to that rush that he actually drinks a bit more than he normally would on one of these nights out, not enough to be absolutely black out wasted, but definitely on the track to being solidly drunk. Which has him branching out away from the guys, walking over towards the guy he swears he knows stepping off the stage after having performed a few songs on his guitar. “Hey man,” he greets with a typical Bolton grin, though his head is tilted to the side as he takes in the other man’s familiar face. “I totally know you but I’m like, completely blanking on how or where. Am I crazy? We know each other, right?”