HSM 3: Hello and Goodbye - Chapter 2

Chapter 2
            As the students filed into the school doors, they were directed towards large poster boards that separated all of the students according to grade and assigned them homerooms. Troy and Chad went over to check the boards and came back smiling.
            “We’re all together-”
            “Yes!” Zeke and Jason high-fived and the girls squealed.
            “Except for Ryan and Taylor,” Troy finished.
            “And Sharpay”, Chad added with a shrug.
            Gabriella frowned. “What? Why?”
            Chad shrugged. “I don’t know, that’s what the boards say.”
            Taylor shrugged. “It’s okay.” She smiled at Gabriella. “We still have all of our other classes together…I think.”
            Gabriella sighed. “I guess.”
            The second bell rang. “Come on guys, we should go,” Troy said.
            Troy took Gabriella’s hand, and as he led her away, Gabriella smiled back at Taylor. “See you later.”
            Chad stayed behind with Taylor. “Hey…I wanted to call you last night…”
            Taylor raised an eyebrow. “You did call me last night. We talked for like, an hour.”
            “Oh yeah…right.” Chad looked really nervous. “Well, I didn’t really get around to what I wanted to say.”
            Taylor stared at him for a second and prompted him. “Which was…”
            “I wanted to ask you if-” The warning bell drowned out the rest of his sentence.
            “What did you say?” Taylor asked.
            Chad opened his mouth to repeat himself, but he quickly closed it and swallowed loudly. “Um…nothing. I don’t wanna be late. I’ll see you later.”
            As Chad hurried off, Taylor shook her head. “Unbelievable.”
           
In homeroom #414, Troy, Gabriella , Chad , Sharpay, Jason, Zeke, Kelsi, and Martha were sitting in their seats when the bell rang for homeroom to begin. They were all talking amongst themselves when a familiar voice silenced the room. “Good morning boys and girls.”
            Troy’s eyes widened. “Dad?”
            Chad grinned. “Hey! What’s up, Coach?”
            Coach Bolton set a few large manila folders down on the desk at the front of the room. “Hey guys, I’m Mr. Bolton. I’ll be in charge of your homeroom this year.” He sat on the edge of the desk and crossed his arms, smiling at everyone. “Most of you probably know me as the coach of our Wildcat boys basketball team, last years’ city champs…” Mr. Bolton had to stop as the entire class clapped and cheered, and Troy and Chad high-fived each other. “So you can call me Coach Bolton if you prefer. Since today is the first day of school, you all are getting your new lockers, regular and gym, and your class schedules.” Coach Bolton picked up the manila folders and stood to pass them out. “If there’s a problem with your schedule, like a class you didn’t sign up for or one you want to change, go to the Main Office and talk to your counselor.” He then handed everyone a little folder with their name on it and their information inside. After all the students got their stuff, Coach Bolton went back to the desk at the front of the room. “That’s all I have for right now. For the rest of our time, you guys can…do whatever.”

            Meanwhile, in Homeroom #415, Ryan and Taylor had sat next to each other, while Sharpay sat closer to the front of the room. The class had already received their folders, and the most of them were slumped down in their seats as Ms. Darbus went on and on about her summer in England touring all of the great English amphitheaters.
            “This can’t be happening,” Monique whispered low so only Ryan could hear.
            “Believe me, it is,” Ryan whispered back.
            Suddenly, the door to the classroom opened and an older woman poked her head inside. “Ms. Darbus? I have a new student for you.” She opened the door wider to let someone enter the classroom. It was a guy. Immediately, all of the girls in the room sat up at attention and stared.
            “Ooh la la,” one girl said under her breath. Taylor looked him over and thought, He’s kinda cute. He was tall and built without too much muscle. His dark blonde hair was perfectly messy and highlighted his brown eyes. He strode over to Ms. Darbus and handed her and piece of paper.
            “Devon Masterson, at your service,” he said with a bright, lazy, million-watt smile. Ryan looked on in shock as every girl in the room melted under the brilliance of that smile, even Taylor. Ryan raised both eyebrows. Is Ms. Darbus blushing?, he thought. She definitely had a rosy sheen to her skin as she took Devon’s new student card from him. “Devon, welcome to East High. Please take a seat…anywhere is fine,” Ms. Darbus said. He shot her another smile and sauntered down the center aisle to take the open seat on Taylor’s left side. As he settled into his seat, Ms. Darbus cleared her throat. “Well…where was I? Ah yes, the Globe Theater. I could still feel the excitement, the creative energy, the genius! Shakespeare himself-“
            The bell rang in that moment and every student in the room shot up out of their seats. Taylor and Ryan ducked out of the room with everyone else, but Taylor held Ryan back. They both looked back into the classroom and saw Devon talking to Ms. Darbus.
            “Who do you think he is?” Taylor asked.
            Ryan shrugged. “I dunno, but I think Troy finally has some competition in the ‘Heartthrob’ department.”
            “Well that goes without saying,” Taylor said. “Besides, Troy’s off the market.” As Devon left the classroom and walked past them, girls parted in front of him, sighing in the wake of those chocolate brown eyes and lazy strut. “It’s about to get really interesting around here,” Taylor said.
            Ryan just shook his head. “I’m gonna go find my locker. See you at lunch?”
            Taylor smiled. “Yeah, see ya.”



            Sharpay breezed into the theater classroom and smiled in response to the other students’ greetings. She made her way to the front of the room, but stopped short. There was someone in her seat. Someone. In. Her. Seat. Sharpay arched an eyebrow and walked over. “Um, excuse me?”
            The boy turned to look at her, and Sharpay was momentarily distracted by his smile. “What’s up?” he said. “I’m Devon.”
            Sharpay blinked once. “Uh huh. Well Devon, my name is Sharpay, and I’m guessing that you’re new around here.”
            He nodded. “Yeah, I just moved from California. My dad got transferred here because they promoted him to-“
            Sharpay held up a hand to stop him. “I’m sorry…I seem to have given you the impression that I’m interested in your life story,” she said with a sweet smile. “The point is, I know that you’re new because you are sitting in my seat.”
            Devon raised an eyebrow. “Huh?”
            At that moment, the bell rang and Ms. Darbus swept into the room. “Good morning, junior thespians!” she said as her silk wrap fluttered around her. “Ah, I see you have introduced yourself to our new student, Sharpay.”
            “Actually Ms. Darbus, I was just educating him about the way we do things around here,” Sharpay said with a sugary sweet smile. “I was just telling him that he may move to another seat.”
            Devon shrugged. “I didn’t know we had a seating chart, Ms. Darbus. If we do, I’ll be happy to move. But I figured since it’s the first day of school…”
            “We do not have a seating chart Devon,” Ms. Darbus said. “You may sit wherever you choose.”
            Sharpay gasped. “But-Ms. Darbus that is my seat!” she exclaimed. “I’ve always sat there!”
            “Chill out, Sharpay,” Ryan said from the second row. “It’s just a chair.”
            Ms. Darbus picked up a piece of chalk and gave Sharpay a Look. “Really Ms. Evans, this is too trivial to discuss. There is a perfectly good seat right next to that one. Take it, and then maybe I can begin my class. If that’s alright with you?”
            The room had become so quiet, a feather hitting the ground would have made an earth-shattering noise. Sharpay took a deep breath and squared her shoulders as she sank slowly into the empty seat.
            “If there are no more interruptions,” Ms. Darbus said with a pointed look at Sharpay, “we will begin.”
            Sharpay seethed silently as Ms. Darbus handed out pamphlets of Shakespearean plays for the students to read.  I cannot believe this…this…interloper just stole my seat. And Ms. Darbus let him! Sharpay sharply flipped her hair back over her shoulder and narrowed her eyes. It’s fine. Everything’s fine.
            “Now, we will very soon embark on the preliminary stages of this year’s Fall Production, improved, once again, by our resident playwright Kelsi Neilson.” Kelsi stood up at the front of the room and smiled shyly at the applause from the students. “In two weeks, we will begin the audition process,” Ms. Darbus continued. “But first, I feel it is important that to start off the year properly, we should return to our theatrical roots. Thus, the booklets I have given you.” Ms. Darbus picked up her own pamphlet and clutched it to her chest. “William Shakespeare’s creative genius, his almost divine inspiration leaps off of the page, all without the added bliss of the musical phrase. We will endeavor to follow his example in this semester’s production.”
            What? Sharpay jerked back at attention, her eyes widening. What does that mean?
            “Now everyone, please arrange your seats in a circle,” Ms. Darbus continued. “We will begin with a few vocal exercises.”


            Gabriella laughed at something Troy said as they sat down at a lunch table. “Hey guys,” Gabriella said. “How’s the first day going?”
            Zeke smiled. “Awesome. The new English teacher, Ms. Simpson?”
            “Hot. So hot,” Chad finished with a grin.
            “Who’s hot?” Taylor asked, setting her lunch down and sitting next to Chad.
            Chad’s eyes widened and he swallowed. “Uh…my…my broccoli! It burned my tongue. That’s what I get for rushing to be first in line,” he said, shaking his head.
            Troy shook his head and chuckled as Taylor made sympathetic sounds over Chad and offered him a sip from her water bottle. “Anything else interesting happen?”
            “Hey guys,” Kelsi said as she and Martha slid into seats on either side of Jason. “You will never believe what happened in theater today,” she said as she opened lunch sack.
            “Here’s the gang,” Ryan said, walking up to them. “Guys, this is Devon. He’s a Senior and just moved here from L.A. Devon, this is Troy, Gabriella, Chad, Taylor, Kelsi, Ryan, Zeke, and Martha.”
            Devon smiled at them all. “Hey guys.”
            “Hey,” Martha said, yanking him down into the chair right beside hers. She looked him over and smiled. “Well, now I see what all the girls in the hall were talking about. You’re pretty easy on the eyes.”
            Gabriella gasped and threw a french fry that hit Martha on the arm. “Martha!” She, Taylor, and Kelsi giggled.
            “What?” Martha asked. “I was just making conversation!”
            Devon smiled. “I don’t mind. That’s the best welcome I’ve had all day.” He grinned at Martha. “I can tell I’m gonna like you people.”
            “Someone get me a raspberry tea!” Sharpay said as she neared the table. She sank into the last open seat and sighed dramatically. “Why is life so difficult?” After sighing once more, she finally seemed to notice the stares of everyone. “Oh, hi guys.” She smiled until she saw Devon. “Oh…my…god.” She stood up. “What is he doing here?” she asked accusingly.
            “Come on Shar, just relax,” Ryan said, looking embarrassed.
            Sharpay gasped. “You brought him here, didn’t you?”
            “Actually, a plane brought me here, to Albuquerque. If you wanna get technical, my dad drove me to school this morning-”
            “Shut up!” Sharpay exclaimed. “Ryan, why is he here?” Sharpay asked, crossing her arms.
            “He’s a new student Shar, he doesn’t know anyone. I’m introducing him around.”
            “After what he did to me?” Sharpay said angrily. “Traitor!”
            As Sharpay stormed away in a huff, Devon raised both eyebrows. “Friend of yours?”
            Ryan sighed. “She’s my twin sister.”
            Devon turned to stare after Sharpay. “Would you be offended if I told you that your sister’s insanely hot?”
            Troy nearly choked on his soda. As Gabriella patted him on the back, Chad rolled his eyes. “Oh God, it’s a sickness.”
            Devon shrugged. “She’s cute in that spoiled, ‘Daddy’s little girl’ kind of way.”
            “Join the club, dude,” Zeke said before taking a big bite of his cheeseburger.
            Devon took his own lunch out of his bag and set it on the table. “Are you sure you’re twins?” he asked Ryan. “You two are nothing alike.”
            Ryan smiled. “I do believe that’s the nicest thing anyone has ever said to me.”