Breaking Free

Chapter 5

Later on that day, Isabella was standing next to her lifeguard chair when all of a sudden she heard someone call her name.

"Isabella." Troy called out, causing Isabella to turn to see Troy standing at the bottom of the little hill. Isabella looked at him with a large smile on her face. "Dinner tonight? Sneak a swim?" Troy asked, causing Isabella to give him a soft smile as she nodded her head gently.

Isabella opened her mouth to say something when all of a sudden Sharpay drove up to Troy in her bright pink golf cart. Sharpay giggled while shouting Troy's name and gesturing for him to get in. Troy reluctantly sighed before sliding into the golf cart in the driver's seat, shooting Isabella an apologetic look before driving off. Isabella forced a smile as she waved after them before turning back to the pool.

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Later on that night, Isabella was by the pool putting the used towels in a basket while she was waiting for Troy, when all of a sudden Troy ran over to her.

"Sorry I'm late!" Troy rushed out as he started to take his tie off. "Give me two more minutes."

"Nice tie. Your shoes don't match though." Isabella teased Troy with a smirk, causing him to freak out a little as he glanced down at his shoes. Isabella giggled, causing Troy to laugh when he noticed that she was just messing with him. "Kidding."

The minute that Troy ran back inside, Taylor and Gabriella walked over to Isabella holding a couple of towels.

"Honey, two minutes is being late, but an hour is approaching a felony." Gabriella told her sister, not wanting her to get hurt by Troy.

"Just because Troy's a nice guy, doesn't mean he's immune to boy disease." Taylor added with a smirk.

"Boy disease?" Isabella chuckled.

"Yeah, forgetting things he shouldn't forget." Taylor added while nodding her head.

"Oh, so now you're a boy expert?" Isabella asked with a smirk as she crossed her arms.

"My older sister has 10 rules about boy behavior, and nine of them involve boys forgetting things they should never forget, like dinner dates." Taylor explained as she nudged Isabella on the arm gently.

"Well, it wasn't an official date type of thing." Isabella sighed, causing Gabriella and Taylor to share a look. "And I know he wants to play nice with Sharpay and her family because of their connections."

"That's understandable, but we can't forget rule number 3." Taylor nodded her head. "All dates are official, whether the boy knows it or not."

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A half hour later Isabella was sitting on the rocks that were above the pool, waiting for Troy who still hadn't shown up. Isabella sighed and was about to stand up and leave when all of a sudden Troy came running out in his bathing suit.

"Hey, lifeguard!" Troy called out as he jumped into the pool, splashing Isabella in the process, causing her to laugh.

"You're crazy, Wildcat!" Isabella laughed as Troy came up for air.

"And so late, but I brought food, a few little candles. I'm good for a poolside picnic. What do you say?" Troy asked Isabella with a hopeful smile on his face. "Zeke even made desserts. But first, I dare you to jump in."

"You know we're not supposed to be in the pool." Isabella reminded Troy with a sigh. "Club rules."

Troy just gave Isabella a look before going underwater, before coming up and pretending that he couldn't swim. "Cramp! I need a lifeguard! Rescue me! Rescue me!" Troy called out as he pretended to drown, causing Isabella to laugh as she stood up.

"Here I come!" Isabella called out before jumping into the pool and swimming over to Troy and they both swam underneath the waterfall that was coming from the rocks beside the pool.

"Thanks for coming in. Follow me." Troy smiled at Isabella softly before they both dived underwater and started to swim to the other side of the pool. They came up for air and Troy gently grabbed onto Isabella and started to playfully spin her around in the water, causing Isabella to giggle. They both swam over to the edge of the pool when all of a sudden they heard a pack of coyotes start to howl.

"Sh, listen." Troy whispered as they both got quiet and listened to the coyotes with soft smiles on their faces. "You know, right now, with you, it's finally starting to feel like summer."

"Yeah, it is." Isabella smiled softly at Troy and they both started to lean in when all of a sudden they heard footsteps approaching and turned their heads to see Fulton standing there next to the pool as he peered down at the couple.

"The water bugs are back." Mr. Fulton said with a smirk on his face.

"Look, Mr Fulton, this was my idea, she had nothing to do with it." Troy spoke up before Fulton could say anything.

"I generously overlooked your previous break violation, but then came the golf course jaunt, and now this. Two strikes." Mr. Fulton told Isabella seriously as he wrote something down in his little notebook before putting it back into his pocket. "Don't get a third. Out of the pool." Fulton said sternly causing Isabella to flinch and quickly get out of the pool. Troy sighed as he watched Fulton walk away before he followed after Isabella.