With a single hit of a finger a buzzer rang outside an elementary school. A young woman stood outside the door juggling many bags in her hands. The bags were filled with lesson plans, arts and crafts, graded papers, and her necessities.
A loud buzz came through the intercom and an older woman's sweet came through the other end
"Good morning Miss Montez." The woman's voice sang through the intercom.
"Good morning Judy." Gabriella Montez answered back. Gabriella picked up her bags and when she heard the door unlock, she pulled open the door and walked into her place of work.
When first walking into the school the corridor was lined with students art work. Currently its decorated for the holiday season. Her students were bursting with energy and excitement for the arrival of Santa was only mere weeks away.
Gabriella walked into the front office and quickly grabbed any mail that was left in her mail box from the day earlier. She then greeted the rest of the office staff, and then made her way to her classroom. Her long curls bounced and her heels clicked as she made her way down the long hallway. When she arrived at the third door on the left she paused and opened the door. She walked in and placed all her bags on her desk. Her tiny frame then collapsed into her chair and she sighed. Her classroom full of rambunctious second graders were going to do a number on her today.
Gabriella was emotionally and mentally drained. Her life as she knew it fell apart in front of her, and she was slowly on the mend. Her brown eyes glanced over at her left hand that no longer had a diamond occupying it. For half a year she was used to looking over and seeing her ring sparkle, now she feels barren without it. That ring, along with the man attached to it, became a huge part of her. The past two years of her life, and the lift she built with him were now shattered. She had no one to blame but herself for the way it ended.
"Hey hey." A young woman's voice called from the entry way of Gabriella's classroom door.
"Hello Tay!" Gabriella smiled to her good friend.
"How was your night?" She asked as she took a seat at one of the students desks.
Gabriella stood up from her chair and walked around to the front of her desk. Her backside leaned up against it and she took a nice long deep breath. "Well lets see. I came home took a nice long shower, started watching some bad reality show, killed half a bottle of wine, swam in my self pity, and was in bed by nine!"
"I'm sorry Gabriella Montez, you are way to wild for me!" Taylor Mckessie joked with her friend and coworker.
Gabriella found a part of her that could laugh which made Taylor smile. It has been hard watching Gabriella suffer for the past three months. Her supposedly perfect engagement ended to the supposedly perfect man, until Gabriella found out who he really was. A phony. Taylor hated that Gabriella blamed herself for how everything went down. She blamed herself for not seeing past everything. She's embarrassed to have showcased this perfect life around to everyone, only to realize that it was a lie.
Taylor missed the old Gabriella. The old Gabriella would sing in the morning and her voice would fill the hallway and the classrooms around her. The old Gabriella always could be found with a smile on her face and a natural glow about her. Taylor hasn't heard Gabriella sing in months, and while she puts on a great front for her students and their parents, Gabriella hasn't truly smiled in a very long time. Taylor has tried to get Gabriella out of her apartment and out having fun, but she wanted no parts of that. And now with Christmas approaching Taylor knows that its going to be even harder.
"So its Friday." Taylor blurted out causing Gabriella to give her an odd look.
"I know," Gabriella said. "a calendar that is covered with flowers told me this morning." She pointed to the flower calendar that was posted on a bulletin board in her classroom.
"Friday is the big bar night!" Taylor pitched to her. "Everyone will be there."
Gabriella rolled her eyes, "Who is everyone?"
Taylor scoffed sarcastically and then said, "Umm...only every single person in San Francisco."
"I think my bottle of red wine in hotter." Gabriella retorted as she stepped away from her desk and over to her black board to write todays agenda for the kids.
"Gabby come on! It's not a Christmas themed party, you don't have to dress slutty, or wear an ugly sweater. It's a bar full of alcohol, good music, good friends, and fun! Remember fun?" Taylor asked throwing an arm around her friend's shoulder.
"F is for friends who do stuff together." Gabriella explained. "U is for you and me, N is for anywhere anytime at all!"
"See, you need to see people that are not seven-year olds. You are quoting Spongebob." Taylor pointed out to her hoping she would see how pathetic that is.
Gabriella dropped the chalk and turned to her friend. "Taylor I really appreciate you trying, but this is how I'm dealing with things. When I am ready to go out I will go. I promise you. Right now I'm still in my dark period, and I tend to stay there for as long as it takes."
Taylor embraced her friend and then looked back at her. "I just hope you don't get lost in there and realize who you really are."
"I won't. I promise you." Gabriella hoped she wasn't lying to her friend.
Taylor sighed and started making her way to the door. "If you change your mind we will be at the bar on Franklin Street. Call me if you come!"
Gabriella smiled at her friend and told her thank you. Taylor left Gabriella in a quiet classroom. Gabriella's eyes landed on the clock, she had five more minutes till her little monsters arrived. For a spit second she thought maybe it would be a good idea to get back out into the real world. After all it was waiting for her and she had to jump in sometime. Even if she wasn't ready just yet.
He didn't even need to open his eyes before he figured out that his head weighed one hundred pounds. He groaned as he felt the sunlight go through his eyes. It was the morning and he felt like crap, this only led to one conclusion. He had a great fucking night.
He turned his head, and just as he suspected a naked blonde girl was staring back at him. Her blue eyes were sweet and her smile could cure cancer. Those were all great things in a woman, but for this guy, those qualities were not enough.
"Good morning sunshine!" The perky blonde girl greeted him with a quick kiss. She sunk back down into the bed and threw an arm around the man she spent the night with. She began to play with his hair and continued to smile.
"Morning." he groaned.
"I had a lot of fun last night." She whispered into his ear before gently biting his earlobe "and I am more than ready for round two."
Damn, you did good he thought to himself. He opened his eyes again and he took a long hard look at the horny, naked girl in his bed. For about a minute he quickly evaluated the situation. This girl is clearly down for anything, and she is a guaranteed in for fulfilling some fantasies. The only problem was she had those eyes.
She had the stalker eyes.
Over the years he had developed a way to tell how crazy the woman is just by looking into her eyes. He can deal with crazy when hes drunk as hell and can use them for a good night, then in the morning he can quickly send them on their merry way. The crazies always want something more. Something extra. Basically they want a relationship.
They will call him and tell him how he is the best they every had and he will nod in agreement as they continue to stroke his ego. But he is not a relationship kind of guy. He never allows himself to be. He had made a pact with himself years ago. Due to his lifestyle, he never allows himself to get close with a woman. It doesn't matter how beautiful or sexy they are. He tells himself to look past it and he is sure to find another woman just like her to fulfill his needs when needed.
"I can't do a round two baby I'm sorry." He apologized pushing himself out of the bed. He quickly grabbed her clothes off the floor and put them on the bed. "I am going to be late for work and I don't have time to mess around this morning."
"Oh," The blonde girl said disappointed.
"Yeah, I know. I am so sorry. I have to get a quick shower, and I need you to be gone when I get out because if I come back and you are still here I'm going to be in some serious trouble." He explained to her acting coy.
"The last thing I want to do is cause trouble." The blonde told him gathering her belongings. "I'll get out of your hair."
"You are the best." He said giving her a quick kiss on the cheek, causing her to melt a little.
Soon he had her dressed and out of his bed. He took her hand and walked her to the door. He gave her a quick kiss and told her he would see her later. He had avoided the exchange of numbers because he had mastered distracting the women. He gently opened the door and sent her on her way. As he opened the front door to his apartment he heard the elevator door ding, and he watched as his friend walked out. He couldn't help but laugh as he watched his best friend of over 20 years check out the girl who was leaving his apartment.
"Damn Troy," His best friend Chad exclaimed, "you wasted no time!"
Troy continued to laugh as his best friend entered his apartment. "What can I say, she was a welcome home gift to myself."
Chad Danforth embraced his friend. He pulled back and looked at him. "You look great man."
Troy simply shrugged as he closed the door. "I'm feeling great man."
The two men entered the kitchen where they automatically began to continue with the ritual they set in place five years ago. Whenever Troy is back in town they make triple-decker pancakes with extra chocolate chips. It was something they developed throughout their childhood, carried it into high school, and now at 25 years old it would be stupid not to do it.
"How long you home for this time?" Chad asked as he pulled the pancake mix out of the cabinet.
"Until May 11th, a nice six month stay." Troy explained to his friend as he sat down at the island in his kitchen.
"It's so great to have you back man. I missed you. I love Taylor and everything, but I need my boy! Its been a very long six months without you."
Chad immediately started going to work. He didn't allow Troy to help with any kind of preparations. This was his project. Plus Troy always sucked at making them.
"I have big plans for your homecoming tonight man! Taylor and I have planned it since the day you left!" Chad told him.
"Franklin Street Pub?" Troy guessed quickly.
Franklin Street Pub was the place they always went to when Troy was home. It became a tradition after five years. When Troy arrived home after the first time being away for so long Chad decided to just take him to a random spot to celebrate. They had never been there before and it was just a spur of the moment idea. They had so much luck at that bar that now they go there for every homecoming and every night when Troy is home.
"How did you know?!" Chad asked sarcastically. "Its going to be a good night man. I can feel it in my bones!"
Troy just laughed at his best friend as he poured the pancake batter on the pan. Troy hasn't seen Chad in almost seven months, and just like that Chad entered back into Troy life like he just left him five hours ago.
Sweats and another bottle of wine. What a rocking Friday night.
She was content with herself. She had accepted that this what her life was now going to be. She was destined to walk the planet alone forever. That is what she decided. She figured that since she was destined to walk alone, she might as well be comfortable and drunk while doing it.
She was about to start a Real Housewives marathon when her doorbell rang. She groaned as she pulled the blanket off her body and had to move herself to her front door. When she opened she only found one person.
"You look like hell." The young woman said pushing her way through her doorway. Gabriella stumbled back still holding onto the door.
"Why yes, do come in." She said sarcastically. She slammed the door shut and turned around to face her friend.
A young blonde woman stood behind her with her arms cross and a very angry look on her face.
"What?" Gabriella yelled out.
"You realized all you need is a few cats running around here right?" The blonde snapped at her friend. Gabriella rolled her eyes and walked back over to her couch. She slumped down and took another sip of her wine. "What number glass is that?"
"Number one of many!" Gabriella said to her.
Before she could take another sip the glass was snatched out of her hand, and soon her wine was being enjoyed by someone else.
"Yummy!" The blonde said smiling.
"Sharpay! What the hell is your problem?" Gabriella demanded standing up off the couch.
"Wow, she gets feisty when you take her alcohol away!" Sharpay teased as she moved the glass away from her friend. "Listen. All of this ends now. No more killing a bottle of wine a night. No more sweat pants. No more Real Housewives marathons." Sharpay started. "Yes you engagement ended. He's an asshole. Everyone knows that this is not your fault! You are a hot young woman who has needs and they are going to be fulfilled tonight!" Sharpay ranted off to her friend.
"Taylor called you." Gabriella guessed.
"Yes she did! We are going to that bar tonight. You are going to take a shower and put on a tight black dress. You are going to do your hair for once and you will wear makeup." Sharpay explained to her. "And I don't want to hear that you don't want to go. Now get in the shower."
Gabriella surrendered at that point. She realized that she no longer had any say. She realized that her friends were right. Also, she couldn't fight Sharpay. She always wins.
The Franklin Street pub was jammed Friday night. Gabriella realized that Taylor had been right. Everyone young twenty something filled out the bar that night.
"Do I need to give you another pep talk?" Sharpay asked before they walked inside.
Gabriella rolled her eyes and looked over at her friend whom she hated right at this moment. "No I think the 'You are going to get so laid tonight here's a condom' speech did the trick!" Gabriella said while giving a wink.
"You used to be such a sweet girl. It's really a damn shame!" Sharpay answered her back causing Gabriella to once again roll her eyes.
"Just point me to the bar!" Gabriella said to her as Sharpay pushed open the door to the pub.
Once the two women reached the inside of the bar, there was barely any room to move. People were lined up at the bar and people already called the chairs and tables. There was an upstairs which is where Taylor was waiting for them.
"SHARPAY!" The two women looked up to see Taylor waving them upstairs.
Sharpay and Gabriella quickly and politely excused themselves as they pushed past the people trying to reach the stairs.
"Christ people are rude!" Sharpay exclaimed.
"I know right. People just don't know when to chill out." As soon as those words left Gabriella's mouth, Sharpay turned her head and glared at her.
"Ha. Ha."
The two women walked up the stairs to the second floor where they found Taylor, her boyfriend Chad, his friend Zeke, and an unknown person to Gabriella.
"YOU CAME!" Taylor said running towards Gabriella. She embraced her friend and then quickly pulled back to see what Sharpay put her in. "Damn. You look hot!"
"Please don't encourage this." Gabriella pleaded dryly.
"I know. Its amazing what a shower and a curling iron can do!" Sharpay said putting an arm around Gabriella. "Our girl cleans up nice! You're welcome!" That was Sharpay, taking credit for everything in life.
"I didn't say thank you." Gabriella mumbled through her smile.
Taylor quickly took the two girls hands and pulled them over to the table.
"Gab you already know Chad and Zeke." Taylor explained to her.
Of course she knew Chad and Zeke. Gabriella loved her friend Taylor to death, she really did, but when Taylor had a few drinks in her she was aloof. Chad and Taylor have dated for so many years Gabriella lost count. When she met Taylor on her first day of work, three years ago, she had already been dating Chad for ten plus years. Still they were not married nor engaged. Gabriella found this extremely odd.
And Zeke, well Zeke was a whole other story. Gabriella and Sharpay met in college and have been inseparable since. During the college years Sharpay slept around a lot, that was until some kid name Zeke took care of her when she was sick at a party. Long story short they have dated on and off since junior year of college. Gabriella didn't understand why they haven't grown up yet and treated their relationship like adults.
Gabriella gave quick hugs and kisses to Chad and Zeke, and then the line stopped when she reached a new face.
"Hi." The man said to her.
"Hello." Gabriella replied back.
"Gab, this is our friend Troy. Chad and I went to high school with him." Taylor filled Gabriella in on the back story of their friendship.
"Me and this kid go back to preschool." Chad added taking a swig of his beer.
Gabriella turned to the man named Troy and said, "You have been friends with these two for that long?"
Troy laughed and smiled at the beautiful woman to his right, "I can't seem to get rid of them."
"My condolences." Gabriella said as she took the pitcher of beer and filled up a glass that was on the table.
Troy watched as the woman named Gabriella poured her beer. She was a spit fire he thought. He watched as Gabriella downed half of her pint and slam it down on the table.
"So, whats the occasion?" Gabriella asked the crowd of people at her table.
Chad pointed to Troy and proudly said, "My boy just got home. He's been gone for a while."
"You travel?" Gabriella asked him taking another sip of her beer.
"You could say that." Troy answered her.
Taylor and Chad looked to one another. They knew that Troy never gives out any information about what he actually does. They have seen him do that in the past, and it only either freaks some girls out, or it makes them afraid of him. Troy only has fun with women. Some may say he's using women, but he will tell you that he is simply getting to know a person.
Taylor couldn't decide if she was doing the right thing introducing Troy to her. Taylor did not tell Troy anything about Gabriella's situation, and in return Gabriella didn't know anything about Troy's. In a way they are simply two people who met at a bar and that is all. Taylor knows that Gabriella needs a fun time, and she also knows that Troy can show a woman a good time. She knows Troy doesn't get attached, and Gabriella is still an emotional mess. No matter what happens with Troy she will still be thinking about her ex fiancée.
Music pounded through the pub, and with music comes one thing. Dancing. Sharpay jumped from Zekes lap and took his hand.
"Dance with me please." She pouted to her boyfriend.
"The things I do for you woman!" Zeke proclaimed as he let Sharpay drag him out onto the dance floor.
This now left only four at the table.
"Babe want to dance?" Chad asked his girlfriend. Taylor looked at Gabriella who has now polished off her first pint of beer. She wanted to stay and watch her, but one dance couldn't hurt. Taylor put her hand in Chads and they were on their way.
This now left Troy and Gabriella. Troy watched as Gabriella filled up her pint again.
"We need another pitcher." Gabriella stated as she placed the empty pitcher on the table.
"You like beer I take it?" Troy asked her.
"I hate it." Gabriella said gulping down as much as she can. Troy couldn't help but laugh at her. This girl had his attention.
"So Gabriella,' Troy started off. "What do you do?"
"I'm an elementary school teacher." She explained to him.
Troy smiled. "That must be rewarding."
Gabriella shrugged. "Pays the bills."
"You live around here?" Was the next question Troy asked her.
"Yeah, like ten minutes or something." Gabriella continued to polish off the rest of her pint.
This girl was a mystery. From the stories Taylor and Chad told him about their friend Gabriella, she seemed like the sweetest girl to every grace the planet. This was the same Gabriella right? Troy was just impressed that even though this woman hated beer, she still drank it and was content with it. Most women go through a whole explanation on why they hate it. It was annoying to Troy.
"Do you want to ask me any questions?" Troy asked her. He was used to women asking him question after question, but this girl was different. It seemed like she didn't even care about him.
"I mean not really." She answered bluntly causing Troy to laugh. "Whats so funny?" She asked him.
Troy couldn't stop laughing. "I'm so sorry" he continued to laugh. Once he pulled himself together he looked at the beautiful girl in front of him. "From the little that Chad and Taylor told me about you they made you out to be this sweet person. And talking to you like this, I mean you are the furthest thing from sweet."
Gabriella was a little taken aback by Troy's remarks. "Listen buddy you don't know me."
"You're right. I'm trying to get to know you, but you are just not having it." Troy explained to her.
"I don't want you to get to know me, alright?" Gabriella fired back.
"Fine by me." Troy answered taking a sip of his beer.
"Great."
"Perfect." Troy retorted back.
The two stared off into space for a few minutes. Troy then turned his head and realized that she was staring at him. He looked into her brown eyes and realized that she didn't have crazy eyes. Her eyes were sweet, but he could tell that she was mustering up a plan.
"What?" He asked her.
Gabriella knocked back the last few sips of her beer and slammed her pint glass on the table. "Lets get out of here."
Troy didn't even hesitate. They both got up from there stools and ran down the steps. They did not even bother to say goodbye to the other two couples. They were both on a mission, little did they know both of them had different plans.
After two years I decided to put out a brand new story! I have had this idea in my head for quite sometime, and I finally decided to sit down and write! Please review! I would love to hear what you guys think of this new idea and what you think is to come! Sorry if there are any mistakes!
xo-Laura
