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

Chapter 5: Promposal Week

The next day, Grace was in a classroom that was only used for the Yearbook committee. She had been on the yearbook committee since sophomore year with Gabby and Taylor and every year since then, they did their best to make the best yearbook for their class. Grace was working on the computer for a page of the yearbook when suddenly, her vision went dark. The sound of something being placed in front of her made her slightly jump and her vision became clear, revealing a plate of brownies in front of her. She gasped and turned to see her boyfriend,  his best friend, and Ryan right behind her, Taylor, and Gabby. Chad grinned and said, as he placed his hands on Taylor's shoulders, "Compliments of Zeke. Be careful, they're still hot." Troy nodded in agreement and said, as he hugged Grace from behind and kissed her head, "Yeah, he doesn't know they're still gone so you might wanna go ahead and get rid of the evidence." Grace chuckled and replied, "Since when did you become the food theif, Troy? You're not like this when I cook or bake." Troy rolled his eyes playfully and said, nudging Grace's head with his head gently, "That's because you always let me have the first bite and taste test it too." Gabby laughed and said, as Ryan wrapped his arm around her shoulders to give her a side hug, "Kissing up to the yearbook editors, very smart move, Ry. Was this your idea?" Ryan glanced over at his two friends and replied to his girlfriend, "I'm under friend secrecy not to say anything, Brie." Troy shrugged his shoulder and said to Grace, "Chad's hoping for two pages on himself, maybe even a third page for his hair." Grace snorted and replied, glancing at her boyfriend's best friend, "He can try but it won't work." Chad grinned at his best friend's girlfriend and said to her, then said to Troy, "Hey, what's right is right. Hoops, by the way, could you take me after school to check out that tuxedo?"

At the mention of the tuxedo, Grace turned to look at Taylor with a smirk on her face. She knew fairly well that Chad hadn't asked Taylor to prom and that this was his way of asking her. Taylor glanced at Grace and Gabby with confusion and said to her boyfriend, "Tuxedo? For what?" Chad gave his girlfriend a pointed look and replied, "For prom." Taylor shrugged her boyfriend's hands off of her shoulders and said, scoffing, "Honey, if that was your idea of an invitation, you'll be dancing with yourself." Taylor stood from her chair and stormed off, leaving Chad with a dumbfounded look on his face. Gabby grinned at Ryan and said to him, as she stood from her seat to go follow Taylor, "I'll see you later? We can talk about looking for prom dress colors." Ryan nodded with a smile and replied, "Whatever you want to do, sweetheart. I'll see you later. Love ya." Gabby shared a kiss with Ryan and said to him, "Love you too." Gabby then stood from her seat and went after Taylor. Chad only turned to Troy and Grace who both looked at him with grins on their faces, laughing. He rolled his eyes and left the room, followed by Ryan. Grace turned to Troy and said to him, "Tell him to go big, flowers, asking in public, the whole shebang. Help him with it too." Troy nodded and replied, placing a kiss on his girlfriend's head, "Okay. I love you." Grace smiled and said, "Love you too."

During lunch, Grace sat between Taylor and Kelsi as she and the rest of their friends ate their lunch before their next class. The three girls were also with Sharpay, Gabbi, Martha, Ryan, and Tiara, whom Grace had became close friends with. Since the two girls were both British, they were both glad that someone from their same country had went to the same school as they did. However, Grace didn't reveal herself too much to Tiara to the face that she was part of the British family yet. She didn't want to scare her off or seem too superior to her. From the other side of the cafeteria, Troy and Chad had gotten their lunch and were heading to their table with the other guys. They suddenly stopped when Chad's eyes landing on Taylor, who was in a conversation with Grace, both giggling and laughing. Troy glanced at his friend and said to him, "You ready?" Chad nodded and said, showing him the flowers he had taken from Troy's secret garden hideout that morning, "Yeah." Troy had given Grace's advice to Chad and he told him that it was best to go with it. He gave his friend a smile and replied, nudging him towards the girls, "It's now or never, man. The garden club is rooting for you." Chad let out a deep breath and said, stepping forward, "Okay, I'm going in." Troy grinned and replied, encouraging his friend, "Go get her." As the two boys got closer to the table, they could hear the conversation between Taylor and Grace, the two girls talking about Grace's grandmother's well being. Chad stopped behind Taylor and said, his nerves picking up, "So, hey... I was kinda wondering...... if you'd maybe go with me." Grace turned her head to look at Chad and her boyfriend, giving Chad a warm smile. Taylor turned to see her boyfriend and said to him, pretending to just noticing him, "Oh, hey, Chad. They have Tuna Surprise on the menu. It's good, really good." Noticing that Chad was already nervous as is, Grace was feeling bad for him and stepped in. Grace looked at her best friend sternly and said, "Taylor......" Troy nudged his friend and said to him, encouraging him some more, "Dude." Chad sighed and said to his girlfriend, "Taylor, hey, I'm asking you to prom." Taylor turned back to her boyfriend and replied, "I'm sorry, I really can't hear you because it's too loud."

At this point, Grace knew that her friend was blandly dodging her boyfriend's invitation to prom. The girl glanced at her boyfriend who seemed to just as exasperated as she was. Taylor turned to her friends and said to them, "Did you guys hear something?" The other girls shook their heads at their friend while Grace just crossed her arms, knowing fully well that they were just going along with Taylor. Troy sighed and said, trying to quiet down the cafeteria, "Excuse me? Excuse me, everybody." Grace rolled her eyes and stood from her seat, standing next to her boyfriend. Chad glanced between his two friends and said, confused, "What are you doing?" She placed her hands around her mouth and shouted, "Everybody, shut it!!!!!!" The cafeteria instantly got quiet, turning to the group. Grace smiled and said, now that she had everyone's attention, "My friend has something to say." Taylor's eyes widened and turned to look at Grace, giving her a "are you kidding me" look. Chad let out a deep breath and got onto the table, turning to Taylor. Chad smiled at his girlfriend said to her, "Taylor McKessi, will you please be my date to prom?" Taylor turned around to her friends, sharing glances between them. She then turned to Grace who gave her an encouraging smile, nodding at her. The girl then turned back to her boyfriend and said to him, her smile widening, "I'd be honored." The cafeteria bursted into cheers and applause as Chad handed Taylor the bouquet of flowers. The couple then hugged each other, with Chad kissing Taylor on her head.  Breaking from the embrace, Taylor raced over to her friends who congratulated her. Chad walked over to Troy and said to him, his eyes widening in shock, "Dude, I need to go shoot some hoops or something." Troy laughed and replied, clapping his friend on the back, "You nailed it!!" Troy then turned to glance at his girlfriend who was smiling at Taylor. They then locked eyes at each other and Troy winked at Grace, causing her to giggle.