CHAPTER 1

Troy was sitting silently on the back seat of his Limo. His agent Charley, who was also Troy's stepfather, has been talking on the phone the entire ride. But Troy didn't try to catch any of his words. He could easily guess what this conversation was about without listening to it. It could be about some photo shooting, or some interview, or some new film, and so on. Nothing new so far.

It's not that he didn't like all this stuff, he did like it. Just sometimes it was getting really annoying. He just needed some rest, some piece, without screaming fans, flashes from the cameras, paparazzi… There haven't been such moments for two years, since his mother's death. Since then he's been working non-stop. From one studio to another, from one program to another, from one movie to another… He didn't mind in the beginning, this way he didn't have time to think about his mom. But now he has already come to terms with her death. It wasn't new for him- to lose people. But Charley… It was another story. Lucille became the meaning of his life, and then she died. So suddenly, so fast. One moment she was alive, smiling and laughing, the next second- she falls to the ground, dead. It was hard. And well, working really helped a lot.

This day was like many others. Of course, there were some differences, but they weren't really relevant. Especially now, when he finished working on his new film. So Troy had a usual routing: waking up at about 6 o'clock, working in the gym till 8, different interviews, meetings with fans, photo shootings, and so on, his lessons with private teachers, working again, arriving home, doing homework, and finally going to bed at about 10 p.m.

Suddenly Charley exclaimed something like "It's so great! I'll tell him, when do we start?" It brought Troy back from his thoughts. Now he was interested. It seemed like he just got new role. He got excited; he wondered what character was he to play this time?

He really liked acting, because it was like living different people's lives, with different characters, with different problems, with different situations. It is very exciting to understand them.

Troy looked curiously at Charley waiting for him to finish his conversation. Troy knew he would like the movie. He always did. It was kind of a talent of Charley. He sucked as a father, but he was really a great agent. He had this feeling for success. Mostly thanks to him Troy received several awards including MTV awards and Golden Globe, he was even nominated on Oscar, he wasn't really upset that he didn't get it. Heck, he was only 17 (well, actually, 16, almost 17, but who cares?), he'll have a chance to get one. Besides there were tons of fans who admired him. Everyday he received thousands of e-mails and letters. Actually, sometimes it was scaring, but mostly it was great. Why scary? Just imagine, if you go somewhere anywhere, there will be always someone trying to touch you to make sure it's really you. Sometimes he got this feeling, that if his fans could do it, they would cut him for souvenirs. And that was creepy.

Finally the conversation was over; Charley put down his phone and looked at Troy with a smile.

"Remember the movie "How to get a life?" u tried for several months ago?"- After Troy nodded, he continued. "You've got the leading role. Shootings start in 6 weeks in New Mexico.

The movie was about high school, some kind of a drama. Troy was mostly interested because of this "high school" thing. He's never been to one. And though it was just a movie, it was still rather close to life.

He always wondered what it was like: to go to school, to study with other kids, to be like others. Having lessons with private teachers has nothing in common with school. And though many people think it is a nightmare, he still wanted to see it, to feel it himself. But … for him it was unreal. Hell, perhaps, he's the only one who dreams of going to school.

Finally the car slid through the gates and stopped at large white mansion. It was very beautiful and luxurious; just one look at it caught your breath away. But for Troy it had another value. It was his mom's dream house. She wanted to live in such a house with a garden, swimming pool, basketball playground. She chose this house, but she never had a chance to live there, she died just before they moved.

As Charley again got a phone call, Troy got out of the car alone and entered the house. There he was immediately met by a middle-aged pleasant-looking Latin woman. Rosa, which was her name, had been working as a maid since Troy's mom's death. Back when she was still alive, she preferred to do all the work around the house herself, but as neither Troy nor Charley could cook and they really didn't have much time, having a maid became kind of a necessity.

"Buenos tardes, Troy, how was your day?" Rosa said in her mild voice smiling warmly at teenager.

"Hola, Rosa, it was great, gracias. Charley will be in a sec, he's stuck in his phone call."

"All right, your dinner's ready, would u like to eat now or later?"

"Actually, I'm not hungry, besides I still have some homework to do, so tell Charley, please, to eat without me, ok?"

So Troy headed upstairs straight to his room thinking about the essay he was to write. He was totally ok with doing homework, but these essays… That's certainly another story. He just really hated them. And who had that "brilliant" idea to torture students like that? Seriously why can't teachers just discuss the book, like asking some questions or something, why write? Troy always had many ideas about the book, but he couldn't put them on paper. When he took a pen in his hand, all his thoughts disappeared by some miracle leaving him completely clueless of what to write.

He was so absorbed in his bleak prospects that he didn't even notice a guy of about his age sitting in his room and reading letters of Troy's fans. Troy even jumped a little, but when he saw who the guy was, he immediately relaxed, smile forming on his face. The guy was Keith Sullivan who was a famous singer and Troy's best friend. They met on the shooting of a series and as they were the only teens, they quickly came to understanding.

"My dear Troy", - Keith started reading one of the letters aloud. "I love u so much, you're totally gorgeous, and amazing, and brilliant. And today you smiled at me. So you too like me. I'm so happy that u love me back. Yours forever, Kitty 7543," as he finished he looked up at Troy. "That's creepy."

"Keith, you scared the hell out of me."

"You should be more scared of this crazy Kitty 7543. But anyway, I really liked some other letters. Especially that one in pink envelope, it's very sweet, I'll read it …"

"Keith, stop reading my letters, you know, I can read them myself."

"Really? You can read?"

"Oh, shut up, you're such a jerk. Anyway, what you doin' here? I thought you'd be on tour till 15th."

"Hello, Earth to Troy, it's 16th today. Man, you should really have a rest."

"Funny, very funny."

"I'm serious, man; you need some kind of a vacation. You know relax a bit, date some girl, do what people do."

"Only in my dreams I can rest, you know Charley and his attitude, besides I've just got new role in that movie about school, so I …"

"Whoa, wait," Keith interrupted, "I've got an idea!"

"No!!!"

"Hey, you didn't even hear it!"

"I don't want to! Your ideas never end well."

"That's so no true."

"Yeah, it is. Wanna some examples? Remember when u suggested taking Charley's car to go for a ride. How it ended? We were stopped by police and taken to the police station and Charley grounded me for a month."

"But …"

"Or when we hid in the director's office to apply some glue to his chair, and he locked us, and we spent there the whole night."

"But …"

"Or when …"

"Stop! I get it! Ok? But still, may be, you'll listen to me first? U'll like it."

Troy already understood that it was totally pointless to argue with Keith, so he just sat on the bed prepared to listen.

"I know the way how you can rest and so that Charley won't be against it." After saying that he held a dramatic pause.

"Keith!!! Spill it already!" Finally Troy exclaimed.

"So, now u wanna listen? And my ideas are not THAT bad anymore?" Troy just rolled his eyes on the comment. "You can go to school! I mean you can't go to school and work at the same time, and you can tell Charley, that u wanna do that just to prepare for the new movie."

"Ok, let's imagine Charley agreed, but what about kids in school and paparazzi …"

"Well, you can go under false name and …"

"Hey, wait a minute! Isn't that a crime?"

"How am I to know that? I'm not a lawyer. I guess, if u make an agreement with school's principle, than it's gonna be all right, I think. And about other kids? You can say you look like Troy Bolton and everyone takes u for him. They'll easily believe it. After all, no one expects to see YOU, the TROY BOLTON, in simple school. It's psychology. Besides, if it doesn't work, you can just leave. What do u loose, man?"

Troy thought about it. It was his chance to be a normal teenager, to see what school was like, to do what kids of his age do. It was what he wanted for the last couple of years.

"Fine, may be, it's not such a bad idea, after all."

"Congrats, bro. You'll finally see what kind of a nightmare high school can be," seeing the change in Troy's face, he laughed, "Come on, man, I'm just kiddin'. Don't worry!"

"Ok, but I'm still not sure Charley would agree."

"It's on me. You can pack your things, bro. You are going to school."

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