head in the game

Troy Bolton // 22 // Student // Non-Magical

     “Troy,” she repeated, ensuring that the name would stick in her brain as she reached out and took his hand, the smile still on her face. There really was nothing like coffee and poetry to bring two strangers together, she mused—and turn them into them strangers no longer. “I’m Mocha.”

     It was interesting to her that he had claimed to be neither a poet nor a fan of the medium in particular, yet was inspired by her talent. It seemed to her that he had to have some kind of artistic streak himself. “So, what do you do, if poetry isn’t your passion?” she asked.

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“Nice to finally meet you, Mocha,” Troy smiled again. He was now realizing that he should have just introduced himself sooner, but he had been holding back a lot in general for awhile. He had began to feel like himself the past few months though, opening back up to the world and doing what felt right in the moment.

“Oh, well, I perform for like, musical theater and stuff,” Troy admitted with a shrug. “And I’m also an athlete. I’ve played basketball way longer than I’ve been performing, though.”

Sharpay nodded along as he spoke, understanding what he was saying. Why did Gabriella make her so insecure? Here she was, sitting in the car with the guy she’d been dreaming about since middle school, and she was still feeling second to the girl. Why couldn’t she get the hell over it? “Yeah, no, that makes sense,” she said, giving a smile as she looked back up at him. “Okay. Okay, yeah. I’m sorry, I … I don’t know why I’m feeling so insecure about it all. Like I said, one of my friends put the idea into my head.” Sharpay’s eyes widened a bit as he mentioned what she’d said to Gabriella, and she couldn’t help but feel a tad embarrassed. “Oh, yeah, about that,” she said with a shaky laugh. “I just didn’t want to tell her that we’d been hanging out. I thought that that was a conversation the two of you should have, so I … played dumb,” she shrugged. “I didn’t want to get in the middle of things.”

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Troy was glad that Sharpay understood. He really never realized how much the blonde cared about Gabriella until now, which was funny considering that Gabi did not care that deeply about what Sharpay thought about her. The two girls were very different from each other, and seemed to struggle to be on the same wavelength even after all these years. “It’s alright, I understand,” he admitted, not finding the question to be too far fetched. After all, he was the one who moped around sadly after the break up for so long. He nodded his head as she confessed her reasons. “Yeah, you didn’t have to do that, though. Gabriella isn’t as judgmental as you think,” he chuckled lightly. “She was just confused more than anything. But, I meant what I said. Her and I are just friends now.”

     The excuse that Sharpay had probably wanted to avoid making things awkward by pretending she didn’t know about the breakup fell flat—it seemed obvious that doing that would only make things weird when they didn’t have to be, since the blonde had been the one to bring Troy into the conversation in the first place. But Gabriella shrugged it off, not wanting to argue about something so minor as a weird one-off interaction between her and the girl who had treated her strangely since they’d first met years ago. It simply didn’t matter enough, especially if Troy and Sharpay were close now. That obviously took precedence to the uncomfortable tension between Gab and Sharpay.

     When she re-entered the room with wine and glasses in hand and Troy asked about her aforementioned apartment-warming, she clarified with a laugh, “Oh, it wasn’t a big thing. It was just my neighbors coming over to welcome me to the complex with a basket of muffins and this.” She raised the bottle in her left hand to show it off before setting the glasses on the coffee table and opening the seal. Gabi poured two modest glasses before setting the bottle on a coaster and grabbing her glass, finally settling back onto the couch beside Troy.

    “Actually, I think you would really get along with my upstairs neighbor. His name is Clive, he’s about ninety years old and I’m pretty sure he’s more physically active than me.” She giggled and took a sip of her wine. “If you ever want to play a pick-up game around here, make sure you get him on your team. But pick me first!”

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Gabriella not responding to Troy’s reasoning behind Sharpay’s actions made him wonder if she was still bothered or not. Regardless, though, he didn’t mind that the conversation had moved forward from that. He figured he could ask Sharpay himself next time he saw her. After all, he never really fully understood the weird tension between the two girls anyway, something that had been evident since they were in high school. It all felt like stupid petty drama, something he thought they would’ve moved on from by now.

“Oh, well that was nice of them,” Troy replied with a nod as Gabi came back to the couch. Thanking her for the glass, he didn’t hesitate to take it from the table and sip from it. Typically, wine wouldn’t be his first choice, but it was something that could help him feel a little more comfortable while catching up with his ex. Even sitting here now with her, it still almost didn’t feel real. As the conversation moved forward, though, it did feel less awkward and more casual, almost like old times.

“At least you understand.” Which was greatly appreciated. Most would have just rolled their eyes at the dramatics and left it at that. Cami was thankful to have someone offering a shoulder to vent to, even if it was just about her boba issues. “I hope you don’t need them, but they are rather wonderful if you ever want to give them a try. The squish is top notch.” With a small laugh she grinned towards him. “Cami. And typically I’m the shoulder people come to talk the ear off of, so thank you. I just… messed up big time and I only have myself to blame sort of deal. I just want to fix it all so badly. Just feel the damage is too much to clean up, you know?” 

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Troy laughed at the girl’s sweet advice, hoping this conversation was helping lighten up her mood a little bit. “Nice to meet you, Cami,” he replied with a smile. “Well, sometimes the shoulder to cry on needs their own shoulder, too.” He motioned to the bench that was right beside both of them, sitting down and leaving space for her to sit, too. “I guess all you can really do is try,” he suggested with a light shrug. “But, I have learned from experience that not everything is meant to be fixed. Sometimes it’s better to leave it be and find a way to move on,” he added, thinking to his break up with Gabriella. Even though he hadn’t done anything wrong to make the relationship end, it still felt like something he needed to clean up and fix, at least for awhile. Eventually, though, he learned that he had to focus on and fix himself, instead. “Not that I know your situation or what is best. It’s just a different perspective to think about.”

Sharpay paused, not sure exactly how to phrase my friend thinks you’re not over your ex and using me to get to her. It was a touchy subject, and she didn’t want to fuck up what was already going so well. “I just … you’re, like, over Gabriella, right? I know that’s a loaded question, but I can’t … I don’t know how to do this without being afraid that you’re just going to go back to her.” Sharpay bit her lip, swallowing hard while she gaged his reaction. “We don’t need to take things any faster than they’re going, but I just can’t help but think about, well … her.”

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As soon as Gabriella was mentioned, Troy couldn’t help but chuckle. Was that really what this was about? Did he give off the impression that he was still hung up on her? He sighed, shaking his head. “Of course I am. I mean, there’s still always a part of me that’s going to love her, but ... You really don’t have to worry about me getting back with her, seriously.” And he meant that. After seeing Gabriella and catching up with her, it had reminded him that although he did love the brunette and missed having her around, things just weren’t the same as they once were. “A lot has changed since we broke up, since she left. I .. I really don’t see anything happening between us again.” Saying it out loud made it real, which was kind of a relief. It was like he was finally letting go of those last, lingering feelings. It was also a reminder, though, of something that Gabi had mentioned when he went to her place. A smile formed as he continued, “You know, I actually saw her not that long ago, and,” he chuckled again, “she said you acted like you didn’t know we broke up.” He didn’t have anything against Sharpay for doing that; if anything, he thought it was kind of funny. “Was that why you did that?”

Sharpay felt herself smile as Troy leaned in, lifting her arms from the console to take his face in her hands as she kissed him. Part of her still couldn’t believe this was happening, that this was her life. For years, Troy was an unattainable thing, and now here they were: kissing in his car. What Violet had told her, though, about the possibility of him wanting to get back with Gabriella, was plaguing her mind. Sharpay pulled away for a moment, giving Troy a sheepish smile. “Can I ask you something? I just … a friend of mine told me something, and it’s been stuck in my head ever since. I don’t want to keep thinking about it,” she blurted, pressing a quick kiss on his cheek before waiting for his response.

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A part of Troy was wanting to test the waters tonight. After all, the two of them weren’t official, and he wasn’t exactly sure what Sharpay was wanting out of all of this. Sure, Troy was finally moving on from Gabriella, but did that mean he was finally ready to get into another relationship? That’s why the casual dating was a nice, happy medium. They’d held hands, kissed, gone on a few dates, and he was content with all of this. However, he hadn’t expected Sharpay to pull away from the kiss so soon. Giving her a quizzical look, he replied, “Yeah, sure.” He leaned back a little bit, giving her space to ask her question. The kiss on the cheek was reassuring, but he also wondered what she could be thinking that made her interrupt their kiss moments before. “What’s on your mind?”

     Hearing that Troy and Sharpay were actually close, that they had been ever since the breakup, put things immediately into perspective. Gabriella was ready to brush the incident off as just another case of Sharpay being Sharpay, but Troy telling her she must have ‘heard wrong’ didn’t sit right. It was always his way to give people the benefit of the doubt—even after they’d proven time and again that they only had their own interests at heart. It was probably why Sharpay Evans was still in his life after years of her being outright rude to many of their friends.

     That was just a part of his kind nature—but him implying that Gabi was the one who must have misunderstood, rather than it being another one of Sharpay’s weird little power games that she had played from the moment Gabriella first moved to town…and which she’d hoped was just a high school phase until now—when it was proven Sharpay clearly wasn’t over the rivalry that she’d decided existed between the two. While the last thing she wanted to do was feed into it, she wasn’t going to let Troy disrespect her under her own roof by casting doubt on her lived experiences. He could take Sharpay’s side in the end if he wanted, but Gabriella wasn’t a meek mouse who was going to sit by without defending herself.

     “Unless gasping is how you react to news you were already completely aware of,” Gabi said, shaking her head, “She acted like she had no idea. I’m pretty sure her exact words were ‘You’re kidding!’ and ‘No way.’” She shrugged. The last thing they needed was to make things even more awkward than they already were, so that was all she was going to say. She’d told him what happened, not what to think; that part was entirely up to him.

     Wanting to move on from the topic before it settled in, Gabriella asked, “Do you want something to drink? I have a bottle of wine I haven’t touched since my apartment-warming.” She quirked her brows with a playful smile on her face and got up to grab the bottle and a pair of glasses, padding from the living room to the kitchen and back in her fluffy socks. She couldn’t remember the last time she had drank at home before this—there was never a reason. But with Troy here, they might as well open a bottle.

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Troy wasn’t going to think into it much about the Sharpay and Gabriella misunderstanding, already brushing it off as if it was nothing and ready to move on. However, he didn’t realize that Gabi was bothered by the mix up until she continued to bring it up. He didn’t mind, of course — one thing he always loved about Gabi was how she would always stay true to herself, no matter what. Hearing her explain her perspective of the interaction, he nodded his head, eyebrows narrowed.

“Huh..” Troy trailed off, momentarily putting himself in Sharpay’s shoes and wondering why she would have acted oblivious. If Gabi wasn’t so hung up on it, Troy honestly would have laughed about it. “Knowing Sharpay, she probably just thought acting oblivious would make things less weird or something. Not that I’m saying she was right for doing that, but..” he shrugged, as well. He didn’t want something so minuscule to make things awkward, but at the same time, he wondered if Sharpay acted oblivious because of how they were growing closer to each other. They hadn’t made anything official, only going on their date to the ball and potentially another one soon, but by now both of them were obviously aware of their growing feelings for each other. He decided not to bring it up to Gabriella just yet, though. There was really nothing to tell her yet, anyway.

“Hmm,” she hummed as she debated his offer, “I think, to make it worse, I’m going to have to find one that I know a ton of shit about, so I’ll be sharing facts you don’t give a crap about the entire time,” Sharpay teased, sliding into her seat. It was strange, how easy it was to be herself around Troy after trying to fit the mold she thought he wanted to see for years. It was liberating, in a way. “No, I don’t have anywhere to be.” The last thing she wanted was to be dropped off and interrogated about how her date went by her parents; if she was dropped off later, Sharpay could at least hope they were in bed. “Why, did you have something in mind?” she asked with a grin, resting her chin in her hand as she placed her elbow on the console between them.

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     Mocha cocked her head, eyebrow raised as he admitted that he wasn’t here as a poet or lover of spoken word himself, but just because he had heard her work and been inspired to come back for more. That was wildly flattering, even more so because the guy seemed genuine in his compliment, not like he was just using a line or trying to flirt. That was honestly rare from a straight, white guy these days.

     “Thanks,” she replied, a surprised smile on her lips. She could be entirely confident in her own writing and still feel humbled by praise. To break the ice further, she teased, “Sorry to disappoint a fan, but I don’t do autographs.; they’re so…gauche.”

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Troy had noticed she had a nice smile from afar, but talking to her up close and in person only made that more obvious. Though he had no intentions of flirting with the brunette or trying to make a move, he still couldn’t help but appreciate things about her he’d noticed each time he came to an open mic night.

His smile didn’t falter, nodding his head as a silent you’re welcome. “I can respect that,” he played along. “Don’t worry, I won’t ask for a selfie, either. But .. I will properly introduce myself,” he chuckled, holding his hand out to shake hers. “I’m Troy.”

Cami had full intentions of just walking herself back home till she heard a voice responding to her. Blinking a few times she looked towards him. The advice given to her felt honest and from the heart. The same heart her’s seemed to have found herself sharing. Nodding softly she scrunched her face. “It’s pretty bad.. a fit over some boba should explain that enough, huh?” With a sad laugh she nodded. “I don’t know did you happen to lock yourself away with a collection of squishmellows? Cause that’s the best cuddle slash therapy pile anyone can ask for.” 

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“Yeah, it happens,” Troy replied with a little shrug, a nice way of letting her know that he wasn’t judging at all. His smile remained, a laugh escaping his lips. “Squishmellows, huh? I did not, but ... I’ll have to remember that for future reference.” Not that he ever hoped to be that heartbroken again, but he knew that was something that would be out of his control if the day did come again. “I’m Troy, by the way. If you ever need someone to talk to or anything, I can be a good listener sometimes.”

CLOSED STARTER FOR @wildcatroy’s TROY BOLTON & WEBBY VANDERQUACK

Weekends, for most college students, were spent out partying, but Webby was no ordinary college student. Her weekends were usually spent at home, occupying her time alone in the mansion in some convoluted and often mischievous way, but on the rare occasion, she was sent on an adventure. The word was always used extremely lightly - usually her ‘adventures’ consisted of helping her grandmother get groceries and run errands, or helping the valet with repairs on whichever car he was using as transportation for the week. Today was grocery day, and she was in the cereal aisle, trying with very little avail to reach a top-shelf box that was on her little hand-written list. She’d tried jumping, hopping, only refraining from climbing up on the shelving units themselves because she was afraid they’d buckle under her weight. If only she had her grappling hook…

Looking over, she spotted a younger boy in the aisle too, one just about her age who looked very nice, and brightened. “ Hey ! Excuse me ! ” He was wearing a sweater from her college, too, which immediately made her comfortable enough to talk to him. “ You’re very tall. Do you think I could borrow you for just a second ? ” Her smile made her words hopeful too, looking from him to the cereal box above her. “ I can’t reach the Marshmallow Toasties, but they’re the last thing on my shopping list. Could you help a friend out and grab them for me, please ? ” She truly wasn’t that short - her five-foot-three frame never hindered her from anything, really - but rather she couldn’t imagine why the shelves were made so high just for the sake of cereal.

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It was kind of ironic, how for so long Troy dreaded leaving the house after his break up with Gabriella. Then, conveniently, she had moved back to town just as he was comfortable living his life again. Sure, he was a little anxious about possibly running into Gabi somewhere, but he knew she was busy with her work and probably wasn’t out and about much, anyway. Besides, now that he was spending more time with Sharpay, it made it even easier to want to get out of the house. 

He had stopped by the store to grab some snacks for a night of studying, something he was dreading but knew he needed to get done. In his eyes, cereal was a valid snack food, and as he was debating which type of cereal sounded like the best study food, his attention was broken by a smaller girl trying to reach for a particular box. A smile formed in return, a chuckle escaping his lips as she mentioned his height. “Yeah, sure,” he replied without any hesitation. Troy was always willing to be a helping hand, after all, and it wasn’t like he was busy. Reaching for the cereal box she was specifically wanting, he handed it to her with his smile still present. “There you go. Are those good, by the way? I was just trying to figure out which kind I should get.”

As much as she wanted to stay hidden in her room for the reminder of the seconds she had to walk this Earth… eventually days like today came and she would have to see the outside world. Each time she felt she was holding her breath to hide away from a certain someone. Thankfully, she’d been lucky so far in that mission. Though her real task at hand came to a stop.. all the girl wanted was some boba tea, and they were out of her favorite pearls to add in. Moping her way out with just a plain tea she groaned the second the air hit her. “That’s it… I can never leave home again.” She let out dramatically mostly to herself.  

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Troy was all too familiar with that heartbroken feeling, just trying to live life and feel normal while they were falling apart deep inside. It had taken the basketball star a long time to get through a day without thinking about his ex, but he was finally getting the hang of standing on his own two feet without stumbling into that dark headspace again. He was walking past the boba tea place when he heard the girl groan sadly. Looking at her, he gave a sympathetic smile. “That bad, huh?” He asked, not knowing what had her down but able to take a lucky guess. “Hiding out at home sounds like the best answer, but I know from experience that it won’t make you feel better.”

Moana was happy to help anyone learn how to surf and Troy was surprisingly easy to teach. She supposed he just had that jock-like blessing when it came to athletics and that was good for him because she for sure did not have that. The water was like a second home but the moment she attempted any other sport it was game over before she even tried. Still, being able to one-up a basketball star at the one thing she was great at was kind of fun. At his question she shrugged. She was probably just going to stay at the beach and pretend she wasn’t struggling like normal, but lunch sounded stupidly good right now. “I have no plans! Which means I can totally get lunch! With you! Thanks for the offer, I have worked up quite the appetite surfing circles around you……that was a joke. Aha. Yeah.”

Troy laughed and rolled his eyes at Moana’s comment, giving her a playful nudge. “Now that’s just offensive. Is there someone I can complain to? I think my surf instructor is being too hard on me,” he responded teasingly, motioning for her to follow him to his truck. “Yeah, for sure. Gotta make sure you eat something after being out in the water that long.” As they reached his truck, he put both their surfboards in the back and got into the drivers seat. “So? What are you in the mood for? I could eat anything, so let me know what sounds good.”

     “That’s good,” she replied as Troy explained that he’d been doing well, wondering whether they’d have that much to catch up on after all. It didn’t sound like he was up to anything out of the ordinary, and she could talk about her law degree if that wouldn’t bore him to tears—but there wasn’t much in the way of her personal life to discuss, since she spent so much time studying or working at her internship. Making time just to sit and chat with Troy tonight had been a deliberate shifting of priorities on her schedule, but it had been something she felt was important. The air between them was still somewhat awkward, and she didn’t want it to stay that way.

     Since she’d been in town, she hadn’t had much opportunity to reunite with old friends, and seeing Sharpay at the coffee house the other day had really gotten Gabriella thinking about everything. There was a disconnect between her past and her present life in Walt Grove, but if her future was here, too, then she needed to do a better job at bridging that gap. When Troy asked his question, she uttered a small sigh, but accompanied it with a smile nonetheless. He was somebody she could be honest with—in fact, someone she had to be honest with. From the very start, she was compelled to trust him, and even though there had been some stumbles along the way back when they were together, they always came out all right on the other end.

     “I don’t know if I get out enough,” she confessed sheepishly. “I mean, I decided to come back because I missed everyone, but I spend most of my time working or studying anyway. You’re actually the first person I’ve been able to catch up with like this…Well, I ran into Sharpay getting coffee, but I don’t know if that counts.” She mused for a moment before making a connection and adding, “Didn’t you say you’ve been working at the country club? I got the impression that you and Sharpay hadn’t seen each other in a while—she didn’t even know we had broken up.”

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It was weird, to be catching up with Gabriella but feeling like there wasn’t much to catch up on at all. Troy really hadn’t had much going on, and nothing had really changed after their break up, besides how he viewed the rest of the world around him now. Before, Troy used to feel like he could have it all, because he did have it all. Not only did he manage to juggle the two things that made him happy, basketball and performing, but he also had Gabriella by his side to close up the only gap that was missing in his life.

He had only lost one of the three things that completed his happiness, and yet it had felt like he completely lost everything. The other two things that brought him joy didn’t feel as fulfilling as they once did, and seeking someone else to fill that void only made him more sad. It was only recently that he finally was ready to completely move on, but he had conveniently decided that as Gabriella decided to come back to Walt Grove as well. It was as if the universe were giving them a second chance, but that didn’t mean they had to take it,

He smiled at her confession, shrugging his shoulders. “I mean there’s nothing wrong with that, as long as you’re happy with it.” Although he said that, he couldn’t deny that he thought it was a little sad that she didn’t get out much. He’d been doing the opposite, getting out as much as he could between classes to at least somewhat enjoy his early twenties. It almost made him wonder if they would have ever worked out, distance or not — already, their lifestyles were so different. However, he wasn’t sure why he kept comparing things about them, as if it mattered. Troy’s head was spinning as he was sitting beside Gabi, but he was still doing a decent job at coming off calm and casual.