Disclaimer: I do not own or have the rights to High School Musical.

'Troy, I can't believe I'm saying this... but we can't see each other any more,' said a whimpering Gabriella.

'What? I don't understand, I-'

'Please, don't make this any harder than it already is. We've had a great time but I can't put up with it any longer, the girls who lust after you and your biggest fan... Miss Sharpay Evans, she's all over you all the time...'

'Gabi, I-'

'Save it, Troy. Let's just finish our meal and end as friends because I'd like us to be friends, it'd be better if we were friends, what with Chad and Taylor dating, we'd probably see each other as much as ever and I don't want it to be awkward between us, okay?'

'Can I please say something now?' asked Troy, Gabriella nodded, he had a dazed expression on his face, he took Gabriella's hand and stared deep into her eyes, 'don't throw us away,' he muttered.

Gabriella said nothing, a tear trickled down her cheek and she slowly shook her head, 'no Troy, I'm sorry... but it's over.'

And with that, neither of them said another word. They ate their food as they sat at the window table of their favourite restaurant. Each glanced up now and again but they never made eye contact, the rain made a pattering sound as it pounded against the window. Murmurs of conversations from the other tables could be heard along with the rain outside but Gabriella and Troy remained painfully silent throughout the entire meal.

'Could we have the bill?' Gabriella asked as a waiter passed by.

'No desserts, madame?' queried the waiter.

Gabriella looked over at Troy who just stared blankly at his half-eaten food, 'no just the bill,' Gabriella said as she smiled half-heartedly at the waiter.

'No problem,' he replied as he cleared the plates. The waiter then headed off to get the bill.

'So, I guess we'll, erm... each pay half and get a cab home, I mean, I'm up for sharing a cab... I mean, if- if you are,' stammered Gabriella as she tried to get a response out of a still silent Troy Bolton, 'after all, we do live just two streets away...'

'If you don't mind,' whispered Troy as he stared out of the window, 'I'll make my own way home,' and with that he put on his coat and threw $30 on the table, 'that should cover my half,' he continued, 'keep the change... I think I'd just like to go home now, I might walk, the fresh air will do me good.'

Gabriella almost commented on his desire to take a walk as the rain was coming down pretty heavy outside but knew he was just trying to leave separately from her and so she simply nodded. As she watched Troy getting up from his seat, she questioned whether or not she was doing the right thing, was she really ready to end things with Troy? But she knew that she wasn't confident enough to stay in a relationship where her boyfriend got so much female attention, she wanted to be the only girl that caught his eye and she wasn't naïve enough to thing that Troy hadn't contemplated the idea of sleeping with other girls when they all seemed to offer it to him on a plate. She always thought Troy was out of her league but as they're relationship progressed she thought perhaps that wasn't an issue but recently she'd realised it always kind of was.

'Get home safely,' she muttered as Troy started walking away, he turned back and gave a weak smile to which Gabriella mirrored. The waiter then came and placed the bill on the table, Gabriella continued to watch Troy walk out of the restaurant, he walked very slowly and she couldn't help think she'd made a mistake.

As Troy left the restaurant, he walked over and sat on a near by bench. The rain poured down and his face was dripping wet, he put up his hood and tried to hold back the tears. Troy thought about what Gabriella had said about Sharpay, it was true that she was always flirting with him and she didn't exactly hide the fact that she wanted to go out with him and the painful truth was, Troy did fancy Sharpay. He'd often thought about himself with Sharpay but she was quite annoying and he never saw himself having a relationship with her, not a relationship like he'd had with Gabriella. He knew in his heart though, that he would never have cheated on his sweet Gabriella with Sharpay or any other girl for that matter.

He got up from the bench and carried on walking. He passed the cinema and reminisced off all those Saturday afternoon's he and Gabriella had gone to watch a film or rather had had make-out sessions on the back row and as they'd come out of the cinema they'd laugh as they both had no idea what the film they had 'watched' was about. He gave a little smile but it soon faded as reality set back in and he realised that he had been dumped tonight.

After twenty minutes of walking, he approached his house. His phone started to vibrate and he looked to find he'd received a text, he hoped it was from Gabriella, rain splattered on the screen. To his surprise it was in fact from Sharpay, it read 'Heard about the break-up, I'm here if you want to talk, smooches x'. Troy couldn't believe it, how could she possibly know? They'd only been broken up an hour, if that. He unlocked his front door and ran straight to his room, ignoring his parents as they shouted after him.

He took off his now soaking jacket and collapsed on his bed. His head hit the pillow and he finally started to release his caged tears. And all he could think was how this was all Sharpay's bloody fault. She was the girl who'd made his Gabriella so insecure. She was the girl who had on occasions tried to sabotage his relationship with Gabriella. She was the girl who was now causing him so much hurt as he wept inconsolably into his pillow. So why was it that this same girl, Shrarpay Evans, that he had the hugest urge to text back and do more than just talk to her?