*Luke*
I ran to the door of the gym just as the whistle blew, signalling practise was over.
"That's it, guys. Let's hit the showers." I heard my dad say, then saw him turn to one of the team. "Good hustle. Let's see that in the game." I walked in as they all began to leave, and I smiled at Ashton, who responded by shoving the ball into my stomach. I tried not to flinch, but then glanced at my dad. His face was like thunder, and we stayed not quite looking each other in the eye for a few uncomfortable moments.
"I, uh... think I'm gonna stay a while. Work on some free throws." I mumbled softly, looking at the ground.
"Well, since you missed practice, I think your team deserves a little effort from you today." He sounded more disappointed than anything, and that was worse. He left the gym without looking at me, and I stayed standing there in silence, alone.
"Wow. So this is your real stage." I suddenly heard a voice behind me. Zoe.
Yeah. I guess you could call it that. Or just a smelly gym." I turned to her and chuckled softly. I handed her the ball, which she swiftly threw straight into the basket. I raised my eyebrows and smiled.
"Whoa! Don't tell me your good at hoops, too." I laughed.
"You know, I once scored 41 points on a league championship game." She smirked at me and I took the ball from her hands.
"No way." I shook my head and bounced the ball a few times.
"Mm-hm. Yeah, and in the same day, I invented the space shuttle and microwave popcorn." I rolled my eyes at her, and she smiled a sweet smile at me.
"Oh! Microwave popcorn. Ha-ha. Funny." I shot her a look, then smirked and threw the ball directly into the basket.
"I've been rehearsing with Grace." She said softly, and I looked at her.
"Me, too. And, um, by the way, I missed practice. So if I get kicked off the team it should be on your conscience." I said, as if I was serious.
"Hey, I wasn't the one who told you to sing..." Zoe began to get defensive - I could hear it in her voice.
"Zoe, chill." I laughed, and she suddenly took the ball from me, then began to walk away."Hey, that's travelling. No, that's really bad travelling." I was so engrossed in the conversation, I didn't even hear the door open.
"What? What?" Zoe sounded confused, so I ran to her and lifted her up, spinning her round and hearing her laugh. Suddenly, the door closed, and I put her down, turning around to see Coach Hemmings standing there.
"Miss! I'm sorry, this is a closed practice." He shouted, and I sighed slightly.
"Dad, come on, practice is over." I tried to laugh it off, but he wasn't in the mood.
"Not till the last player leaves the gym. Team rule." He raised his eyebrows at Zoe, gesturing for her to leave.
"Oh, I'm sorry, sir." Zoe almost whispered, her shy nature shining through.
"Um, Dad, this is Zoe Simpson." I said, interrupting her.
"Ah, your detention buddy." My dad said, almost rudely, and I saw Zoe's warm smile fade as she handed me the ball.
"I'll see you later, Luke. Nice meeting you, Coach Hemmings." She ran out of the gym, her hair flying behind her.
"You as well, Miss Simpson." Coach said in a monotonous voice.
"Dad, detention was my fault, not hers." I waited until she was out of earshot before speaking.
"You haven't missed practice in three years. That girl shows up..." I started talking before he could carry on.
"That girl is named Zoe. And she's very nice." I defended her as much as I could.
"Well, helping you miss practice doesn't make her very nice. Not in my book. Or your team's." Couldn't he just be my dad for once, not my coach?
"Dad, she's not a problem. She's just a girl." I raised my voice slightly, feeling myself get angry.
"But you're not just a guy, Luke!" He shouted, then suddenly softened. "You're the team leader. What you do effects not only this team, but the entire school. And without you completely focused, we're not gonna win next week.The championship games - they don't come along all the time. They're something special."
"Yeah, well, a lot of things are special, Dad." I said quietly, looking at the ground.
"But you're a playmaker... not a singer, right?" He seemed to need the reassurance.
"Did you ever think maybe I could be both?" I almost snapped, not understanding why there was only those two options
YOU ARE READING
High School Musical (l.h)
Fanfiction"Do you remember in kindergarten, how you'd meet a kid, and know nothing about them, then 10 seconds later you're playing with them like you're best friends, because you didn't have to be anything but yourself?" "Yeah." "Singing with you felt like...
