A New Journey (High School Musical 3: Senior Year)

Chapter 2: Another Musical, again?

The next day, the group of friends surrendered the trophy that displayed their victory from the night before. Troy had his arms wrapped around Grace as she was nestled into his side, smiling. The couple turned at the sound of heels clicking and held back a groan when they saw it was Sharpay. Everyone turned around to see Sharpay on her phone, wearing a pink cowgirl outfit. Sharpay smiled and said to Troy, almost flirting with him, "So, Troy, when's the big game?" Troy glanced at his girlfriend, who only shrugged her shoulders with confusion on her face, and replied, "Yesterday." Sharpay just shrugged her shoulders and said, "Oh, well. Good luck! Toddles!" Everyone rolled their eyes with an annoyed look as Sharpay strutted off. Zeke smiled and said, "She's sweet." Grace looked at her friend with her eyebrow raised. It was obvious that the boy had a crush on the blonde diva. Soon enough, it was time for their first class so the friends went in the direction of Mrs. Darbus' class. Troy and Grace made their way to Mrs. Darbus' class but Troy stopped to let Grace go in before him. Mrs. Darbus smiled at Grace and said to her, "Why, Ms. Anderson. May I have a moment with you?" Grace glanced at her boyfriend with a slight fear in her eyes. She never really liked having private conversations with teachers or any other people who had a somewhat superior occupation. It just made her have anxiety or a small panic attack. With her grandparents, it was different. Troy nodded at his girlfriend with a smile and went to his seat.

Soon after homeroom and during free period, the news of Kelsi signing up her group of friends for the musical reached them. Grace stood next to Troy as they watched their friends swarm around the girl, complaining. Jason said to Kelsi, from his spot next to Martha, "I'll be retaking my finals two or three times. I'm moving into the library." Grace stifled back a laugh at Jason's excuse, causing Troy to snort. Troy then piped up, "I'm working on my truck every other day and helping Grace and her family get ready to move to England." Zeke said, "I have five recipes to make for Family Science Final." Taylor gestured to herself and Grace and said, "And we've got an yearbook to edit. So, no!" Grace sighed sadly and said to Kelsi, "I do appreciate the consideration, Kelsi, but like Troy said, my family and I are moving back to England once my senior year is finished. My grandmother wants myself and my family to take up royal engagements as soon as possible. I have to be prepared." Sensing his girlfriend's distress, Troy rubbed his girlfriend's shoulder, comfortingly. Andrew made his way over to Kelsi and said, placing his hand on her shoulder, "Hey, hey, you guys, listen up. Kelsi's right. We should do this. This is our last chance do something together, to do something really epic! All of us! Something really fun." Sharpay rolled her eyes from her spot next to Grace and Troy and said, causing Grace to snicker, "Yippee." Andrew ignored Sharpay's sarcasm and continued, "So what do you say, Wildcats?" Everyone said, in unison minus Grace, "No!" One person said, "No, I still don't think it's a good idea." Kelsi groaned and said, trying to encourage her friends and turned to Grace for help, "Come on, guys! It's our senior year! Grace? Please?" Grace locked eyes with her close friend and twin brother, who both had begging looks on their faces. She sighed and said, turning to her boyfriend, "Troy?" Troy looked at his girlfriend, her brother, and their friend and said, finally giving in, "I'm in." Chad turned to his best friend, shocked, and said, "What?!" Troy turned to his best friend and replied, "Yeah, it'll be fun. Like Kelsi and Andrew said, it's our senior year. We only live up senior year once." Taylor said, from her spot between Ryan and Gabby, "How much time will it take?" Chad agreed with his girlfriend and said, "Yeah; and what the heck is the spring musical about?" A voice rang out, "Why, you, Mr. Danforth!"

Ms. Darbus appeared on the stage and picked up a basketball that was left by Chad. When she said that, Sharpay fainted and Grace let out a squeak when her friend fell towards her. Tiara, the new student, raced over to help Grace and gently leaned Sharpay towards her so Grace wasn't carrying all of the blonde's weight by herself. Ryan raced over to the three girls and grabbed his sister's perfume, spraying it all over her face. Troy only watched the chaos from his spot with a slight amused look and held back a snicker by coughing. Sharpay started coughing and was helped to her feet by Tiara and Grace. Grace placed her hand on her friend's shoulder and said to her, her British accent coming through, "You alright, Shar?" Sharpay hummed and nodded at her friend. Chad said to Ms. Darbus, confused, "Me?" Ms. Darbus stood in the center of the stage and said, gesturing to all of her students, "All of you. A show about your final days at East High. We'll call it Senior Year." Sharpay smirked and said, causing Grace to snicker, "Genius." All of the seniors began to chat excitedly amongst themselves. Grace turned to look at her brother who grinned at her. Ms. Darbus continued, "Uh-uh-uh-uh-uh! Playing a role is easy but being yourself, now that's a challenge." Troy began to raise his hand and said, "Ms. Darbus, exactly......" Ms. Darbus said, ignoring the teenage boy, "Kelsi will compose and Ryan will choreograph and I shall direct. *Ryan thanked her* And I have some very big news. Starting off with our very dear friend, Grace. Not only have I invited her extended royal family to attend, who all have accepted, our dear Grace shall have a featured number where she will sing a solo for the first time in front of the entire audience. *All eyes turned to Grace, who gulped nervously* Now for our second big news, I have received word from the Juilliard School in New York City. America's preeminent college for the performing arts. And for the first time in East High history, Juilliard is considering five of you for one available scholarship. Ms. Sharpay Evans." Sharpay grinned brightly and said, taking the booklet from the musical teacher, "I'm already packed." Ms. Darbus said, as Ryan took the booklet from her and thanked her, "Mr. Ryan Evans, dance. Ms. Kelsi Nielsen." Kelsi looked up in shock and replied, "They got my letter?!" Ms. Darbus chuckled and said, "They most certainly did. Mr. Troy Bolton and our lovely Princess Gracelyn Anderson." Grace looked up in shock, as did Troy. Sharpay gasped happily at Grace and said, "What?"

She was shocked to learn that Troy applied but none more so than at Grace, whom she considered her best friend. The two girls shared everything together and Sharpay was almost upset that Grace didn't share that with her. Ms. Darbus grinned and said, "Juilliard will be sending representatives to observe our show and they will have a close eye on you. So good luck to our five applicants!" Andrew rushed over to his sister and said, as she looked through the booklet, "You didn't tell me you applied. How is that gonna work while we're in England?" Grace shrugged her shoulders and replied, "I swear I didn't apply to anything! I wouldn't without notifying Mum, Dad, Uncle Charlie, or Granny! This wasn't my doing!" Sharpay smiled softly at her friend from her spot next to her and said to her, placing a comforting hand on the girl's shoulder, "This is a wonderful opportunity, Grace. You could do many wonderful things with this scholarship. If I do say so, if I don't get it, I couldn't think of anyone else more worthy than you to receive this award." Grace smiled at her friend and replied, "Thank you, Sharpay. That means a lot." Troy walked over to his friends who laughing and laughed along with them. He held up his booklet and said to them, "Yeah, real nice, guys. That's pretty funny. Who's the comedian that pulled this off?" Ms. Darbus turned to the basketball captain and said to him, confused, "Is something wrong, Mr. Bolton?" Troy turned to his teacher and replied, "Yeah, yeah. I didn't apply. I never heard of Juilliard." Grace raised her hand and said, grabbing Ms. Darbus and Troy's attention, "Yeah, I didn't either, Ms. Darbus. I would never apply to anything without my family's permission. I believe it's against our protocols. I appreciate the gesture, I really do, but I'm not sure how that's gonna work." Ms. Darbus smiled at the couple and said to them, as they stood next to each other, "That may be, Mr. Bolton and Ms. Anderson, but evidently, Juilliard has heard of you two. And as you create this show, you must dig deep and think of your aspirations and dreams for the future. *She then addressed the rest of her students* Line up, downstage, please."

The students all lined up in a row with Grace standing between Troy and Gabby, who stood between Grace and Ryan. They all faced the audience as Ms. Darbus walked in front of them. The teacher stood in the center and said, "Let's begin with Mr. Danforth. Step forward, please. Your future?" Chad stepped forward and replied, "It's easy, U of A. Hoops all the way." Troy grinned and said, fist bumping his best friend, "Yeah." Ms. Darbus turned to Taylor and said, "Ms. McKessie." Taylor stepped up and replied, "I'm going to be the President of the United States." Ms. Darbus oohed at the young girl and Grace said to her friend, turning to her with a smile, "Bold choice, Tay." Taylor grinned at her best friend and stepped back into her spot. Just then, footsteps echoed the theater room and Martha Cox appeared, with students behind her. Ms. Darbus turned to the girl and said to her, with a scolding tone, "Martha Cox, you're late." Martha clasped her backpack strap and replied, "I'm sorry, Ms. Darbus. I just thought that we could use more dancers." Ms. Darbus grinned and said, "Ah, I feel a show coming on! *She then turned to Troy, who was looking through his booklet* Mr. Bolton. Mr. Bolton? *He looked up at her, with her giving him a smile* Your future." Troy glanced at his girlfriend who only gave him an encouraging smile and replied, not sure how to respond, "Oh, yeah. Uh, you know......I, Uh, uh......" Gabby stepped forward, saving her friend, and said, grinning at her teacher, "I think we should stage the perfect prom." Sharpay scoffed and said, stepping forward as well, "Golly, gee. How adorable. What do I want? Gosh, I wouldn't know where to begin. But I know where it ends. Center stage, a single spotlight, and a huge marquee that reads........."