Chapter Text
CHAPTER ONE.
OVER HER FEET.
the sky darkened above them as they drove through the small city, suburban towns and voluminous trees whisking by without a care in the world, gone from her vision before she could even blink. she rested her elbow on the lowered window pane, letting her cheek rest as she took in the salty air that was salt lake city.
she felt a hand grip her free one, holding her fingers into a position where their hands were intertwined together. "i'm sorry you had to leave all your friends again g, you know how it is," her mom apologized again, a thumb rubbing softly against her knuckles.
gina shrugged her shoulders slowly, an attempt at nonchalance that her mother could see through easily. "it's fine. i'm used to it mom, stop saying sorry. it's not the first time we've moved, and it's not going to be the last time either. i've gotten years of practice," she replied, turning in her seat and letting a false smile grace her features.
her mom glanced at gina, almost amused at her attempts to keep the atmosphere light and pretend like she wasn't bothered by the move. "c'mon mom," gina announced exasperatedly after spotting her mom's expression. "i'm perfectly fine. and if i'm not, i'll get over it eventually. don't worry about me."
her mouth opened to say something but gina interrupted. "i'm. fine." she watched as her mom resigned the chase, nodding her head and turning her attention back to the endless roads ahead of them. as they drove past the "Welcome to Salt Lake City" sign gina couldn't help but wonder what salt lake would offer to her, if it was going to be a town she hated like rhoney avenue or was it going to be one of the towns she regretted leaving, like snowville where she had stayed for three months.
she had made friends, joined the dance club and felt like, for once, she finally belonged somewhere. her heart was left behind in the cold suburb, the heavy rainfalls covering her tracks and removing her imprint there immediately, like she had never been there in the first place. it was tough, and she begged for this new location to be the opposite.
it was better to not get attached.
they drove into a little cul-de-sac of houses, the car parking smoothly in the driveway as the engine slowed to a quiet sputter while it was turned off. gina got out of the car, hands deep in her trouser pockets as she investigated briefly where she would be staying for god knew how long.
the neighborhood was small, she could tell, it was one of those places where everybody residing there knew each other. that could be a good thing or a bad thing for gina, and she wasn't the most opitimistic thinker. she chewed her lip in thought. "what do you think?" her mom's voice carried from the front door, keys jangling in the background.
"it looks... okay. quiet. it's no snowville," she admitted, remembering the loud booms of nightly thunder or screams of agitated children after the rain started to pick up again and ruin their sunny day. "nothing is like snowville g. c'mon, don't just stand there. help me bring in some of the boxes from the trunk."
she rolled her eyes with a smile, pulling her weight. the boxes were heavy, full with furniture and clothes from the old house. they didn't really tend to buy new things for their houses unless an old version wasn't available or broken. carrying all the old furniture ensured that they didn't have to refurbish every house they moved into.
she dropped the last box in the foyer, slamming into the couch and stretching out her legs, coughing as dust piled up from the hidden trenches between the pillows. "fuck," she coughed. "what did i tell you about swearing in this house?" her mom reminded her, as she looked around their clothes suitcase.
"sorry. it just came out! it's hard to control it you know, it's kind of second nature at this point. part of the teenage lingo."
her mom gave her a pointed look.
"okay okay, i'll try my best but if i slip again maybe we should just get rid of the rule all together? you're fine with me swearing outside the house, right? so.."
"g you're going to school tomorrow, you do realize that? we have to get your clothes, and the paperwork ready, oh and we need to find your second shoe because i could only find one, i told you not to pack them separately, and the setting up-"
gina clapped her hands together. "mom! it's going to be fine. i'll call the moving dudes and they'll help you get the furniture sorted while i'm at school, my other shoe is in the bag with the toiletries, my clothes are in my suitcase and the paperwork is in your bag."
her mom sighed, clearly stressed out like she always was on moving-in-day, despite the fact that it had been the same thing ever since she got that job in a law firm always on the move. it paid her well, but everything good came with a price.
"you're right. i'm sorry, i know i always get like this. moving is a stressful feat... but we don't have to have that talk right now. it's almost midnight g, and i do not want you hauling your sorry butt late to class tomorrow, so bring the toiletries up and head to bed. i'll start dealing with stuff down here in the meantime."
gina rolled her eyes, dragging herself off the couch and giving her mom a kiss on the cheek, before grabbing the bag and pulling it up the stairs, dropping it into the bathroom and looking at herself in the mirror. she caressed the 'fro before packing it into a low ponytail.
she didn't want to admit it.
but she was fucking nervous.
THE NEXT DAY.
MONDAY 8:20 AM.
"WAKE UP."
her eyes shot up in a panic after the abrupt wake up call, body jolting in retaliation. "what the fuck!" she screamed in shock, glancing at the clock on her phone and holy shit she was already pushing her luck for time. "why didn't you wake up to your alarm g?" her mom asked, standing in the middle of her bedroom in a towel.
"alarm? usually the clock on my... oh i don't have that alarm on right now," she realized, wincing at her mom's expression. "just get out of bed and have a shower. quickly. you don't want to make a bad first impression, do you?"
"no! no i don't! did you call the moving people?"
"i'll deal with that on the drive there," her mom replied in the distance. "why couldn't i just start school on a random school day, you know, a day when we're actually ready?"
"that's unprofessional!"
"but it's practical!"
"go have your shower!"
the morning was hectic, with gina being unable to find the socks she so desperately remembered leaving out with the rest of her outfit and her mom unable to find her phone after she had dropped it for a mere ten minutes. they got out of the house pretty frazzled, gina's gold bedazzled jacket making a mess in the car like her mom had predicted, coffee spilling onto the carpet...
their usual shenanigans.
they pulled up outside of the school, and it took gina a couple of seconds to catch her breath. she knew it was the exact same location as the high school musical movies, she had seen the pictures when her mom had been searching for a place for them to live, but to actually see her childhood in front of her? that was a feeling you never got twice.
her mom got out of the car quickly, gesturing for her to stop ogling the red east high sign in from to the and do the same. the courtyard was empty apart from a couple late students and teacher's cars parked in their allocated spots. together they walked through the entrance, and even though gina wanted time to explore, she knew her mom would bug her to death about being late so she tried to keep her staring to a minimum.
they reached the principal's office and she let them in, allowing them to sit down in front of her desk. "i'm so, so sorry we're late with the paperwork and she's going to interrupt a class," her mom said rapidly, searching through her bag. gina passed her the paperwork she had been holding, and pretended not to notice the grateful smile sent her way.
"you're totally fine. i'd be lying if i said i've never been late to school before, in the past and now. we all make mistakes, it's a part of being human." her mom nodded before handing over the paperwork, the principal looking through its pages. gina spotted a plaque that read, 'Principle Jordan'.
"did you know your school was the set where the high school musical movies were filmed when you bought it?" gina asked, getting a scolding look from her mom to the left of her. principle jordan laughed at the question.
"i get that a lot. no, i didn't, i was too old to grow up on high school musical, so the fact slipped by me. however the students? oh, they knew and they would not stop bugging me about it. it's just a known town thing now, so newcomers are usually the ones most excited about it."
gina nodded her head, seemingly intrigued. "well, i read the paperwork and it all seems good. welcome to east high. here's your timetable, and i'll see if i can find a student from ms. rosario's english class to show you around before you head over there."
her mom stood up, turning to face gina and wrapped her arms around her torso, resting her chin on the crevice of gina's neck. "this is where we departure, i hope you recognized the road on the way here. you have you house keys?"
"yes mom."
"your locker keys?"
"yes mom."
"alright, i won't be a burden anymore. thank you so much," she said to the principal, before heading out the door. gina stood there awkwardly, glancing around at some of the school's memorabilia in the office. cheerleading trophies, football trophies...
musicals?
before she could open her mouth to ask there was a knock on the door, grabbing her attention. she turned around, seeing a boy with a thick head of hair, hands deep in his front pockets, a slouch throughout his whole body language. "i'm here ms. jordan," he announced, glancing at gina briefly.
"ricky, meet gina. gina, meet ricky. ricky is in your homeroom, so you'll have majority subjects together. since he's been getting in tough spots recently, i've decided to let him tour you around the school before your next class starts. think of it as reparations for no homework given and all those detentions, hmm?"
ricky scratched the back of his neck like he would rather do anything else. "sure," he said, turning to gina. "c'mon, i'll show you around."
gina looked back at the teacher and then at ricky, before grabbing her bag and walking out of the office, side by side. "i'm gina," she introduced herself, not the one for shyness. "ricky," he replied, heading down some stairs. "so... you get into trouble a lot?" "it's mostly just being late and forgetting to do my homework. i'm not a... troublemaker."
"you mean, you aren't one of those people who argue back with teachers and shit?" "i mean, i do but-" "then you're a troublemaker in their eyes, sorry to tell you," she joked. he laughed softly, eyes meeting here for a slight second. "you're new but you don't seem new."
"oh, i've moved a lot so i've gotten used to being the new girl in school. i've kind of built a tolerance for it, so things like new girl shyness don't happen to me anymore. in all honesty it's made me a lot more outgoing and extroverted."
"yeah, i can tell, that gold sparkled jacket of yours just screams beyoncé." she smiled at that, following him into the cafeteria. "i wish i had that kind of confidence... i'm kind of nervous, i don't know, i prefer to stay in the shadows, not draw attention to myself."
"that's totally cool too! not everyone can be a cartwheeling, on the stage kind of person..." she trailed off, staring at the cafeteria. "holy shit, the same cafeteria they sung 'stick to the status quo' and 'i want it all' and 'what time is it'? zac efron sat on this very table," she admired.
"yeah he did. i've never really-" "this is so awesome," she interrupted accidentally, whipping to face him again. "is sharpay's locker here?" "who?"
"oh, never mind. jesus, this school holds so many memories written in history, it's broken so many records... i think i'm going to like it here." ricky laughed at her antics, nudging his head towards upstairs. "you wanna come to homeroom and meet the class? i can save you a seat next to me, you know, a familiar face?"
gina smiled. ricky seemed like a nice guy, super friendly to her already from the get-go. not many people were like that to a new person, and even she could tell he was more nervous than her when it came to the conversation. he looked truly out of his element, hands fiddling in his back pockets, untied shoes tapping on the tiled floor, biting his lip almost subconsciously.
"sure. thanks for being so accommodating by the way. i really appreciate it," she said, offering him a smile. he tentatively smiled back, and then seemed to see something on her face and he dropped it. "yeah, let's go," he muttered, before heading up the stairs.
what was that? she brushed a hand over her face but felt nothing, and she was sure there was nothing in her teeth.
little did she know he was suffering due to a summer decision gone wrong. and in her face, he saw his ex-girlfriend's smile smiling back at him.