I didn’t pick theatre, theatre picked me. It was the second semester of my sophomore year and at first, I was nervous. The thought of public speaking and making a fool of myself scared me and gave me bad anxiety. I wanted to drop the class so bad, but for some reason I didn’t. I just decided to deal with the class and anxiety. At the time, I thought it was a huge mistake to not drop the class, but I later found out that it was the best mistake I never made.

So it was the second week of this class and I was miserable. I only knew about three people, I had to keep getting in front of everyone, and we were working on improv, so I had to show off the creativity skills that I do not possess. We were told to get in groups of five to create an improv scene to present to the class the next day. So we got into our groups and started practicing. The next day, we began to present. After my group went and I was dragged across a dirty stage and got dirt all over myself, the next group went. In this group there were three girls and one guy. The improv skit was hilarious and the guy was so funny in it! He was super cute and funny and tall and everything I looked for in a guy. So after his skit was over and the class ended, I went up to him and said, “you really are the baddest b****!” (a joke from the skit). He just nervously said, “thanks you were pretty good too”. And the conversation seemed to stop there.

The next time I talked to the guy was when we were working on our second unit in the class, which was panamiming, miming with talking. We had a project to do called a “Journey”, where we had to panamime a story that went along with music. So the first day we worked on this project, I was walking around playing music when a girl called me over to ask what I was playing, and the guy was right behind her. In my head I was just telling myself to play it cool and don’t seem like a nerd and a loser, but on the outside I was just showing how much of a dork I can really be. So I was talking to her about my favorite bands and he joined the conversation. By then, I found out his name was Calvin. He and I started talking about classic rock songs and bands like ACDC and Guns and Roses, and the conversation just didn’t stop.

A week or two later, I found out that another guy in the class said that my face was “messed up”, except he said it in a very profane way that I will not repeat. I told Calvin about this and he just turned to me and said he thought I was cute and that the kid was dead wrong. I got very giddy and extremely happy for the next few days because of that. Every time I saw him I got butterflies and I got really nervous and never knew exactly what to say besides “hi”.

Within a few weeks we had become friends and talked almost every day while walking out of class, and even in class sometimes. One day while we were working on a scene with partners, he decided to come over to me and say hi. But this girl Caroline called him out for it and got him all embarrassed. We walked out of class together, just like every day, and I asked him why she did that. He just replied with, “she’s mad that I don’t like her back and she’s crazy”. I thought it was the funniest thing. So we kept walking together until we reached the doors and said our goodbyes, but he decided to invite me off for lunch with him the next day, after I told him about there being free pancakes at ihop that day. Even though I was only a sophomore and I knew I could get in big trouble for leaving campus, I said yes because I was really starting to like this guy.

The next day we went to lunch together. He asked where I wanted to go and I said Cozzolino’s because they have delicious food, and I also eat there for free because my brother in law is the manager. So we went to eat and we never stopped talking. There was never a dull moment of silence where we were awkward and didn’t know what to say to keep the conversation going. We talked so much that we ended up leaving the pizza place late and got back to school late too. We just went to our theatre teacher and asked for a pass, which he gave us very kindly, and we went to class. He walked me to the doors that lead outside and told me how much fun he had and said, “we should do this again!” I said yes, obviously because why wouldn’t I? I had so much fun with him that day that I was already excited for the next one.

The next time we went off together, we went to starbucks and just sat in his car and talked again, never stopping the conversation. He eventually got to asking for my snapchat and there were butterflies in my stomach and I got all giddy again. Later that day, he and I were messaging on snapchat and he asked for my number. So, I gave it to him. We were texting non stop until about one in the morning, talking about people in our theatre class, how he was bad at eating pizza, which is apparently possible- I found that out thanks to him, and talking about plans for the weekend. Eventually, he asked if I wanted to go see a movie with him and I said yes! I was so excited that I thought I was going to explode!

That Friday night we had our first date. I got myself ready and was so nervous because it was a Friday the 13th and I thought I was for sure going to screw something up. I was dead wrong. It was the best date I have ever had! He picked me up and we went to Beaver Creek and saw Cinderella, then after we got ice cream. When we were watching the movie he put his arm around me and fed me popcorn in a cute but funny way, and we sat like that through the entire movie. And when we got ice cream, his teeth turned red because he got red velvet flavored ice cream. He got so embarrassed when I pointed it out and I just took a bite of his and turned my teeth red to make him feel better. After he drove me home, we both said how much fun we had and I went inside.

Fast forward through a lot of funny memories and amazing moments like prom and going to the beach with him and his family and almost dying on that trip, that’s another story. And stop right now. Right at this sentence. This is how far we have gotten in our relationship and I plan to keep it going as long as possible. Through all of this, I’ve realized something very important. High school musical is real and he and I are the real Troy and Gabriella.