Disclaimer: HSM does not belong to me, did you think it did?
His dad had warned him about this. He remembered their conversations at night when Mum Wasn't Speaking To Him.
"There are two things you should never do with a woman. One, go shopping with her. Two, tell her she's fat." He said, after collapsing onto the sofa breathing hard and hearing his wife slam their bedroom door.
"Chad, you have to come with me! Gabriella has convinced Sharpay to go shopping with her!" Troy said desperately, clutching onto Chad's shirt.
"Dude, we're brothers. I would do a lot for you. Bash up a guy, play a prank on a teacher, but going shopping with your girlfriend and her best friend is not one of them. Anyway, I have a date with Taylor later." Chad said, trying to walk away from Troy, which was difficult considering that Troy was now practically clinging onto him like a drowning man would cling onto a life buoy.
"Chad, we have to cancel our date. Gabriella told me that there is this great sale going on at the mall and today is the first day! We have to go snatch all the good foods before they're gone." Taylor said, followed by Gabriella, Sharpay and Ryan.
"You could get Chad to come with you." Troy suggested brightly, ignored the look of shock and horror Chad was sending him.
"That's a great idea! Troy is going with Sharpay, I'm going with Ryan, so you should totally come with Taylor." Gabriella said, excited at the very thought of the whole group shopping together.
"I guess it would be fun, "Chad said, although the look on his face suggested that he would rather spend the time in double detention with Miss Darbus.
"Come on, let's set off then." Troy said, holding Sharpay's hand and grinning brightly at Chad, who was shooting daggers at him.
"This is fantastic!" Gabriella said, her body trembling with excitement.
Troy could not see what was so fascinating about the scene before him. They had arrived at the mall, although to Troy it looked like a battlefield. He felt as if he at stepped into a fashion war and he was caught in the crossfire with no amour and weapons. In short, he was doomed.
Wild-eyed women, whom Troy assumed were usually a lot calmer than this, attacked the racks of clothes, ripping off dresses and skirts at lightning speed. Mother and daughter teams gave military precise co-ordinates on which rack to attack next. "Third rack to the left, darling." One of them said while fending off other hands in the t-shirt bin.
Blouses were held up against bodies to check for size. Opinions were given and voices were raised. Women ran back to their base as a speed which suggested that they might have been dodging a hail of bullets, and dumped their victories trophies on their boyfriend or husband laps.
"Why can't I just get my father to pay for the shop to operate after their closing time?" Sharpay said, looking a little bit uncertain at enlisting for the battle and Troy felt a swell of pride for her.
"Come on, this is fun. It's all part of fitting in with the normal life, isn't that what you wanted to do?" Gabriella said, looking at Sharpay with pleading, puppy eyes.
"Oh alright, but I am only doing this for you. Next time all of you all going to shop with me at the store of my choice." Sharpay said, unable to resist her pleading look.
"Let's go then, all the good stuff will be gone soon." Taylor said, dragging both of them into the fray, "You boys can sit over by that bench over there."
"We'll be here for a long time, so might as well as get comfortable." Chad muttered, and they moved to the seats before somebody else took them.
"Come on, this is great!" Ryan said, popping in a piece of gum and settling into a comfortable position, "look at all the clothes, sure there are all so last season, but they are still clothes."
"Why don't you go and join Gabriella then? She would like your opinion on clothes." Troy suggested, and was rather surprised when Ryan actually took his suggestion and walked towards Gabriella.
With nothing to do, Troy settled and watched the scene before him unravel. After a few minutes, he had to admit the scene was rather riveting. It wasn't everyday when you saw women in high heels, sprinting up and down and pouncing on rack. It was really some sort of wild, but choreographed dance. Nobody banged nothing one another, nobody tripped of fell down. It was a beautiful, organized chaos.
"This is amazing! I wish I had brought along some popcorn." Chad said, amazed at the scene before him.
At one point he heard Sharpay's voice cut through the din like a knife through soft butter. "Excuse moi, but I saw this belt first, and if you let go of it tout de suite, there will be no need for me to elbow you in the face!"
After a while, Sharpay, Taylor, Gabriella and Ryan emerged from the crowd, looking visibly flushed but happy. Sharpay dumped her spoils onto Troy's lap while Taylor did the same thing to Chad. Ryan sat to the bench again, holding onto Gabriella's clothes.
"Guard these with your life, Bolton." Sharpay warned as she slipped back into the battlefield. Troy gulped and gave a nervous nod.
Chad took one of the dresses Taylor had thrown at him and examined the price tag. He shrieked and cried out, "How can this thing be considered on sale if it costs so much?"
"Face it, buddy, we're surviving on bread for the rest of our lives." Troy said dejectedly, gazing at the pile of clothes on his lap.
"Your girlfriend's rich, she can pay for her own stuff." Chad said, looking at his wallet sadly.
"That wouldn't be right. I'm her boyfriend. It's my job to make her happy." Troy smiled at the thought of her laugh.
"Snap out of it, loverboy. They're back." Chad said, snapping his fingers in front of Troy's face and turning his face towards their direction.
The girl collapsed onto the bench next to them, staring blankly into space, a dreamy smile on their faces.
"That has to be the best 5 hours I've have spent in my life." Taylor said, giving a soft sigh of satisfaction.
"That was so much more rewarding than solving calculus questions." Gabriella said, absently playing with her hair.
"That was great! I wonder why I have never done that before. We so have to do this again soon. When is the next sale?" Sharpay said, settling beside Troy and resting her head on his shoulders, unaware of the look of horror on Troy and Chad's face when they realized that there were stil more shopping trips to follow.
They emerged from the shop after paying for their products. The girls walked with a visible spring in their step while the boys lagged behind, weighted down by the numerous bags of purchases.
"Thanks goodness Sharpay was in such a good mood that she decided to pay for everything. I had no idea that such a small piece of clothing could cost so much and still be a 'sale item'." Chad said, slightly breathless from carrying the bags.
"Technically, she didn't really pay for it. She used out Dad's credit card." Ryan said, "But at else she made the gesture, and you won't have to sell your kidney to pay for all of these."
"Come on, hurry up. The girls are already so far ahead of us." Troy said, adjusting one of the many bags he was carrying, "We have to catch up with them.", and with a final burst of speed, they boys ran at fast as they could.
"So, did you have a good day?" Troy asked. He was outside her house and had walked her up to the front door.
"It was a great day! You have been a very good boyfriend today, as you always are, of course, putting up with all the shopping and carrying my bags." She said, smiling at him.
"Anything for the best girlfriend a guy could have," Troy smiled and gave her a wink. He body was aching from carrying all the heavy bags but this made it all worth it.
Sharpay reached into one of the bags and took out a short pink dress and gave Troy and mischievous wink, " This is your reward for being such a good boyfriend today, I'm wearing this to the senior prom, so I believe you know what to do when the time comes?"
"Of course, Shar. Be prepared for the best end-year ball you'll every have." He said, giving her a peck on the check and bouncing down the front stairs, all the pain in his sore and aching body magically gone in an instant.