Summary: Gabriella Montez is sick and tired of being a third wheel, not being able to have a… successful love life. Same goes for Troy Bolton; every girl he has asked out takes a bad turn and doesn't really end well. What happens when their friends set them up on a blind date?
Disclaimer: Just thought I'd add this in to assure some of you. I clearly do not own High School Musical, or the characters whatsoever unless stated otherwise.
Author's Note: This is a little story I decided to write. Nothing special, since I'm sure there are many other stories involving a blind date. Tell me what you think after reading the entire chapter.
Chapter One: Can't be Serious – Gabriella's Point of View
"Gabi! Chad's going to be here in twenty minutes! Wake up!" I heard Taylor yell.
Sighing, I threw the covers off of my body and leisurely let my legs dangle off the edge of the bed. It was almost eleven thirty, but hey, can't blame me for wanting to sleep in on a Saturday morning. Weekends were the only chance I don't have to get up early for my classes and I didn't have to go to work.
As I stood in the bathroom, I brushed my teeth and mentally asked myself why I agreed with Taylor to going to the mall with her and Chad. They've been dating for almost a year now, maybe ten months so far. He's a pretty cool guy, with some mean basketball skills. My family has always been interested in basketball, and I remember challenging him on a one on one game in the park. Taylor wasn't rooting for me as messed up as that sounds since we've been friends for nearly a decade, but I won.
Twenty minutes later, I followed Taylor out the door and sat in the back seat of the car. One thing about the mall is you've got to look decent. You don't know who you'll run into, but you can't risk it. My hair was in waves, I was wear some gold dangly earrings, a crochet top with a white camisole beneath it, skinny jeans, and wedges.
"Hey Gabs," Chad greeted once I saw him leave a kiss on his girlfriend's cheek.
I smiled, "Hey Chad. Hope you don't mind me asking, but why did you tell us half an hour ago you were going to pick us up to go to the mall?"
He shrugged his shoulders as he drove, "its Saturday," he simply said. Once he got to a red light he stopped and looked at me in the review mirror, "Why? Did you want to sleep in?"
"Yeah, I actually did. But Taylor here," I gestured to her, "Said and I quote 'You can't say no whatsoever because we don't want you to be alone."
"Which is what a true friend says!" Taylor defended, "I'm sorry Gabi but don't you remember junior year?"
I nodded my head softly, "Yeah… Yeah. I'm sorry, you are a true friend. I didn't mean to come off as rude or anything like that."
She smiled at me from over her shoulder, "You weren't rude. Will it feel better if we buy you lunch?"
Laughing, I nodded my head again. "Of course it will."
Several minutes later, we stood in the mall and looked around. It was packed. Not packed as if it was Christmas shopping, but just how it is on weekends. Taylor and Chad were having their own conversation, leaving me out of it. I opened my mouth to say something, only for them to start walking away.
I didn't know what to do. If I should follow them, or go off on my own. But I remembered they offered to buy me lunch, so I quickly walked up behind them.
"Are you guys still buying me lunch?" I smiled.
Chuckling, Chad nodded. "Guess so Gabs. What do you want to eat?"
Sipping on my bottled water, I looked over at the lovely couple in front of me for the billionth time in the past hour. They were caught up in telling me stories that I've heard way too many times. It was sweet, because every story involved the both of them. Like how they met, terrible dates, embarrassing moments in front of each other. It made my teeth rot.
Maybe if I got up without my chair making a sound I can get away from them.
Yeah, that sounds good.
I cautiously stood up and put the strap of my bag over my shoulder, holding my water bottle with one hand and fixing my hair with the other. But, the plan did not go as planned. Since both of them looked up at me immediately.
"Where you going?" Taylor asked.
"I'm just going to look around. I'll let you guys have some alone time and when you guys want to leave just call me and we can meet in the parking lot," I smiled softly.
"Gabi," Taylor started.
I held up a hand to stop her from talking, "No, no. It's fine. You guys deserve some alone time. I'm always around. I need to look for some new jeans anyways… So I'll see you guys later."
Without letting them say anything else, I turned around and walked out of the food court. Sighing, I knew I'd get a small lecture from Taylor once we get home. This isn't the first time I let them have time to their selves.
So I made my time useful, by walking in and out of shops. An hour later I had two new pairs of jeans, one was acid wash and the other was boyfriend fitted. I had one new dress, it was white and it stopped at my mid-thigh. It was long sleeved, and it's flowy, and it's super comfortable. I also bought new aviators and a pair of black five inch pumps.
As I walked out of the final store, I heard my phone ring in my bag.
"Hello?" I asked once I answered it, not bothering to look if there was a caller ID or not.
"Gabi!"
I laughed, "Shar! What's up?"
Sharpay has been a close friend since High School. We never got along the first couple years, but in the end we were practically forced to get to know each other. We actually had a long in common, and found ourselves asking why we hated each other in the first place.
"Um," I heard her say with some shuffling on her end of the phone. "The gang is having dinner tonight at Zeke's dad's diner. Do you want to come?"
"Of course! You know how I love his dad's cooking," We both laughed. "What time?"
"At eight. Can you also ask Chad and Taylor?"
Looking around, I caught sight of the couple. "Yeah. I'll tell them to text you if they can. See you soon." With that I hung up the phone and walked over.
"Did you buy me anything?" Chad asked, grabbing for my shopping bags.
I giggled softly, shaking my head. "Nope, not today. But Sharpay just called and was wondering if you guys wanted to go eat dinner at Zeke's family restaurant."
They stilled for a second, before nodding quickly. "Oh, yeah. We'll go."
I nodded, "Good. Text her so she knows you'll be going."
A couple minutes before eight, we pulled up in the parking lot of the diner. The diner reminded me of the ones you see in the fifties. It had a rock n roll theme, and they served delicious milkshakes. It was quite expensive, four bucks, but it's worth it every single time I have one. I was wearing my new white dress because I couldn't resist. Yet I held off of wearing the heels and went with my brown gladiator sandals instead.
Chad and Taylor were still in the car once I climbed out, so I decided to go in and see who was there. I walked in, fixing my straightened hair and saw Sharpay and Zeke at the counter speaking with his dad. They looked at me, and immediately straightened their backs and smiled.
"Hey guys," I smiled back. I quickly walked over and enveloped each of them with a hug.
"Hey Gabi," they both said simultaneously.
Sharpay looked behind me, "Where's Taylor and Chad?"
"Um," I looked out the window and didn't see their car there anymore, making me raise an eyebrow. "They were just here… maybe Chad forgot something back at our place. You know how he is."
Zeke chuckled, "That's Chad alright. Well I'm going to go check out the kitchen, see if my dad needs any help." He said before walking into the kitchen.
"Let's sit over here," Sharpay said and lead me to a booth.
I followed, and sat across from her. Sharpay tended to go dye her hair a lot. Not crazy colors though, thankfully. She switched it from brown to blonde about every six months. Her hair was currently blonde. She was wearing a black and pink tube top and a black sequined mini skirt.
"I love your dress. Is it new?"
Nodding, I glanced down at my dress. "Yup. I just bought it today actually."
She giggled softly.
"So how are you and Zeke?"
Her smile grew wider, "We're great. Our two year anniversary is coming up and I can't wait. I bought him a new apron and a whole bunch of baking utensils he wanted to get a few months ago."
"Aw, that's so sweet. I'm sure he'll love it."
Speaking of 'he', Zeke came up to the table. He kissed Sharpay on the forehead. "Any drinks to start off the night ladies?"
"Iced tea for me," Sharpay said and grabbed for Zeke's hand.
"Uh… chocolate milkshake for me."
Few minutes later, Zeke walked out and handed us our drinks. He gave Sharpay a look and she nodded, but I shrugged it off as I took a sip of the shake and sighed in pleasure.
"Gabriella," Sharpay said.
I watched as she stood up, holding her glass of iced tea. I looked at her, raising an eyebrow and held the bottom of my drink. "What's wrong Shar?"
"Please don't be mad at me, this wasn't my idea, but we just want you to be happy-"
Looking at her confused, I shifted. "Sharpay, what are you talking about?"
"You didn't come here tonight for a dinner with the six of us. We invited you here to go on a date."
My eyes widened slightly, "A date? A blind date? Sharpay, you can't be serious. I can't go on dates, and I don't want to." I stood up to leave, but she put a hand on my shoulder and pushed me down gently.
"Gabi, please. We see how you look when it's just the seven of us. Me and Zeke, Kelsi and Ryan, Taylor and Chad. I know you feel lonely, don't deny it." She sighed, "This was Taylor's idea and I wanted to help her because I just want you to be happy…"
"Sharpay, I am happy. You guys make me happy. And I don't have time to date. I have my classes to deal with and a part time job, and-"
"I don't want to sound rude, but we may not always be there… for you. You're twenty five, and you haven't dated anyone since high school. That was a while back, Gabi. You deserve a chance. Things may not have worked out back then, and you work so hard. Just give this guy and yourself a chance? Please? He isn't that bad of a guy, I promise. He's a close friend of Zeke and Chad, and everyone else already met him."
"Everyone but not me?"
She nodded slowly, "Yeah. We hung out with him when you went to New York with your mom." She took a sip of her drink, "He's a workaholic too. You too will get along."
I sighed, "How long would this date last?"
She shrugged, "I don't know. An hour, I guess. He should be here any minute."
I nodded, fixing my hair and glancing towards the door.
"You'll be fine… he's friendly, like you. He has chestnut brown hair, bright blue eyes, and he told me he'd be wearing a navy blue button up." She looked at me, "I'm going to go now, Zeke's waiting out back. Promise me you won't leave?"
"Promise, Shar. I said I'd give him and myself a chance, yeah?"
She smiled and bent down, giving me a hug. "Yay. Text me when the date's over."
The chimes rung, meaning someone walked in.
"Good luck, bye." Sharpay said and she quickly walked into the kitchen.