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	Chad Danforth to Troy Bolton	Since I'm writing emails anyway (8/16)
	Chad Danforth to Troy Bolton	You can't say no to me. (6/10)
	Chad Danforth to Troy Bolton	Man (2/20)
	Fwd: Troy Bolton to Ryan Evans to Chad Danforth	Fwd: Dude? Not. Cool (2/7)
	Troy Bolton to Gabriella Montez	Sooo... (1/24)
	Chad Danforth to Troy Bolton	(no subject) (1/24)
	Troy Bolton to Chad Danforth	Sooooo... (1/16)

There are 7 messages.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

Hey, Troy. Where are you?

[Because she doesn't actually know how to best start this conversation or bring anything up or fix anything, but she wants to try.]

I'm just out. [He's going to try to bullshit her, at least.] What's up?

I talked to Chad. [Gentle.] I think you should talk to someone, too.

[And just like that eveeeeery trace of upbeat, optimistic Troy fades out of him. Like a balloon with the air let out, really. And he's silent for a few moments.]

...I didn't say that he could tell everybody.

He's not telling everybody, but we were scheduled to meet today and he would be the world's lousiest poker player.

He's very worried.

He's worried about nothing, and you can tell him that. [Let's try that optimism thing again.] I'm fine, Kels.

I won't tell him that, Troy, I don't want to lie to my friends just to mollify them.

[...subtle.]

[...ow.]

...I can't talk about this right now.

I know, Troy. I don't want to force you to talk, I just want you to sit down and take your time to process.

We can talk about Chad. You've really helped him a lot last semester. You're pretty incredible, Troy, you managed to figure things out for yourself while the rest of us weren't really ready to even face the future yet.

I'm not processing anything. This can't be happening.

…Chad's my best friend and shit sucked. I had to help because he was in a bad situation and Ryan had just…disappeared. But they're fine now and Chad's got a future again. It's awesome.

[There's another long pause though because, well, he had the future all figured out. He was supposed to go through school, get a degree, move on to get his masters degree to get a teaching license, become a teacher for a school in California duel-teaching gym and drama, marry Gabriella right out of school and they were going to buy a ranch-style house in a good neighborhood to raise their 2.5 kids and their golden retriever named Hoops. Chad was supposed to move out with him, with Taylor, and they'd raise their kids together and grow old together and live out a peaceful life.

But of course that didn't work when Taylor dumped Chad, Chad decided he was in love with Ryan Evans, Ryan proceeded to stomp all over Chad's heart and then dragged him out of the closet and now they're dating and Chad moved across the fucking country and Taylor probably told Gabriella to dump him because she never really particularly liked him anyway and now he'll have to tell Coach what happened and hear the parade of "I'm not going to say I told you so but this wouldn't have happened if you stuck with the plan" and everything just…

…everything just stopped making sense.]

…Kels? [It's very quiet. He pretty much gave up trying to see the bright side at the moment.]

Yes, Troy?

[She says nothing else, because outside of Ryan sometimes and some other rare exceptions, she's really one more to listen and pay attention and try to figure things out quietly instead of talking a lot. It does mean that she has kind of figured out most of Troy's thoughts. It also means that she's just waiting for what else he has to say.]

[There's another short pause.] Hold on a second, okay? [And there's the sound of Troy opening the door and crawling out of his truck.

And there's the sound of Troy screaming into the distance. A lot. At least three minutes of solid screaming and occasional sobbing, but mostly just a lot of venting screaming.

He crawls back into his truck and picks up the phone, but he doesn't say anything. Back to the harsh (albeit wet) breathing. Hi Kelsi.]

[She's really not surprised but breathes a sigh of relief. At least calling him has done some good, although good is very relative in this case.] Don't ruin your voice, I might still need it.

We love you, Troy, you know that? All of us, especially New York based ones.

…yeah. [His voice cracks a little but he's quick to clear it.] Yeah. I know.

…I don't get it. We were just fine a few days ago. [There's the sound of keys jingling…and then the engine turning before the truck starts. Yes, he's going to start driving. Again.]

Are you driving back to campus? [She just sounds curious. And hopeful.] You know, Troy. I think you were still ahead of everyone with figuring things out. Ahead of Gabriella, too.

No. [He's merging back onto the highway. Another five hours and he'll be in Nevada.]

I don't know about that one. [He's still upset, but at least he's talking a little.] I thought I had stuff figured out but then Gabriella--I think I based so much around us. We promised forever, so I thought--[His thoughts are sort of jumbled, so he stops talking again.]

So she told me she's not sure we're right for each other anymore.

The thing is, Troy, that you follow your heart. You always do and you have a very strong heart. You feel things are right and you'll do anything to keep them that way or make them be that way if anything feels wrong. It's kind of amazing.

Gabriella is different, you know that. She needs to know things. She needs the evidence and all of that. It's exactly what she said. She's not sure. But you are right for each other and Gabriella is smart. She'll realize that, too.

Everything was supposed to be okay. And it's not. Nothing is okay, and I don't know how to fix it. Gabriella always solves problems, I fix them. That's how things are but now she went and solved this problem but I have no idea how to fix it.

I don't know what else she needs to know other than the fact I'm so in love with her I'd do anything for her. I want to be with her for the rest of my life. [There's a beat.] …my dad's gonna be so mad at me when I tell him.

She does know that, Troy. Everyone knows that and it's great and it's amazing. You're such a loving person, you really are a prince.

She doesn't need to know more from you, she just wants to know more from the world. And then she'll see that you are who she wants.

If she knows that, then why is this happening, Kelsi? [There's a watery, unamused laugh.] Everyone needs to stop calling me a prince. Princes don't lose their princesses.

And what if the world proves us wrong though? I thought the world made sense but then…everything with Chad and Ryan happened and it didn't make sense, but then it did, but it still proved everybody wrong. People are…really mean sometimes.

Edited 2014-04-01 18:21 (UTC)

She will figure it out. She just is a few steps behind you. Not everyone has something that strong inside them to guide them.

People can be really mean. But Chad and Ryan are a special case, anyway. They seem to have figured it out now. Most of us need longer to figure it out.

[...hmm.]

Then what about you, Playmaker?

Wait, what? [Congratulations, there's a flustered Kelsi.]

Oh, I just like pianos and puppies.

Pianos and puppies. That doesn't surprise me. [He doesn't even think anything of it, just sort of chuckling under his breath. And because he's not thinking about it--]

Did you know Jason's learning how to make pianos?

Oh my God would everyone stop going on about that? [She's not angry, no, she's just flustered. The most flustered. Also not aware of Troy not thinking about it.] Did Ryan tell you?

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