I do not own High School Musical
Shredded Lettuce and Romeo & Juliet
Shakespeare- One of the greatest
Romeo & Juliet- one of his plays
Gabriella Montez- English nerd
Shredded lettuce- her pet hate
Gabriella Montez didn't know what to do as she gloomily looked out of the English room's windows out on to the football field. The school newspaper's editor had asked her to do an article on their school cafeteria. She didn't want to do it.
She crossed her legs and looked back at the front of the class; it wasn't that she didn't like writing or that she hated the school cafeteria's food it was more like she hated shredded lettuce.
Sighing she moved her fingers lightly over her table waiting for English to finish, tracing the pictures and words students had drawn on the desk. She loved English but not even that love of it could make her like shredded lettuce.
The problem with the article is that they had given her a job in the cafeteria for two weeks… shredding lettuce.
As a child she had hated it. It always got everywhere or it always fell out of your burger onto the ground. Now seventeen years old she still hated it and with a passion.
She knew that she was being silly and really it isn't that bad but it is a waste of food if you drop it.
Sighing again she sat staring at the clock. Two minutes left….
"Miss. Montez and Mr. Bolton please stay behind." Her English teacher's voice rang through the classroom.
Gabriella's eyes looked around the room searching for Troy Bolton the basketball team's caption. Her chocolate brown eyes finally found him sitting at the back of the room leaning back on his chair. His recently dyed black hair falling in front of his pale blue eyes and his lips formed into a smirk.
He was looking right at her.
Gabriella blushed and looked away. He was not what you would call all that nice or at lest that was what she had heard: always in trouble and not caring about it, a heavy drinker and a ladies man. Not the type of person she really liked.
The scrapping of chairs and the sound of footsteps brought her out of her line of thought as the class ended. She started to pack up slowly not really in the mood to rush herself. Let them wait.
Picking up her stuff and slowly making her way over to where her English teacher was waiting for them, she once again looked at Troy Bolton. She took in his clothes, how he was wearing a pair of dark blue jeans and a plain white shirt rolled up to his elbows. The way his tanned skin shone against the shirt and how the muscles moved as he moved his arms.
Once again he was looking right at her as he leaned against the door frame looking the essence of cool.
As she reached them Mrs. Collins started talking, "Now Mr. Bolton as you know your grades in English are falling and if you don't pick them up again you'll be benched for the rest of the Basketball season. I know that you don't want that to happen so I have decided that you need a tutor."
Troy just nodded his head still looking intently at Gabriella.
"Now Miss. Montez if it is no trouble for you would you be willing to tutor Mr. Bolton?"
Gabriella's eyes widened in shock and they quickly moved from the floor to Troy's. Asking him silently what he thought? His eyes where boring into hers and soon she had to look away not sure why she had asked him for permission.
"That would be fine Mrs. Collins."
Mrs. Collins nodded her head and made her way out of the room walking past a still smirking Troy.
Gabriella made to follow her making sure that she didn't look at Troy.
"Montez you know we have to work out when and where." Troy's voice stopped her as she was half way through the door so that they were side by side.
Gabriella brought up all the courage she had and looked him the face and said "My house at five don't be late." She quickly walked out of the room rushing away from him and his intense stare.
She made her way towards 'EAST HIGH NEWS' the school news papers office right down the hall from the English room that she had just left. Looking back just once, she saw Troy standing near the door watching her as she walked down the hallway.
She pushed open the door of the office and breathed in a deep breath of relief. Making her way over to where her desk was, she waved hello to some of her friends and smiled at the sight of the desks piled high with paper. As she got to her own pile of papers she collapsed into her chair and dropped her stuff on the floor next to her feet.
Pulling the top piece of paper off the stack Gabriella started to read what she would have to do on her article on the Cafeteria.
"Bad day?" a voice asked her.
Gabriella looked up to see one of her best friends; Sharpay Evens looking down at her. Sharpay was a big fan of theater and being one of the co- heads of the drama club was the papers drama reporter. She was of average height with long blonde hair and an obsession with pink and sparkly things.
"You have no idea." Gabriella groaned smiling up at her blonde friend.
"I'm sure we could." Sharpay's boyfriend Zeke Baylor butted in. He was on the basketball team and was the papers sports reporter not only that he had a love of cooking. He was tall and good looking with dark skin.
Gabriella's eyes darkened and she responded "You that piece that you wanted to do on the school's cafeteria Zeke?" He nodded his head "They want me to do that and I have to work there during lunch times for the next two weeks shredding lettuce."
"Ouch that's bad." Sharpay said as she gave Zeke a one sided hug.
"Yeah Gabby I'm sorry I shouldn't have suggested the story." Zeke said grinning down at Gabriella with a knowing smile. He knew how much she hated shredded lettuce.
Gabriella groaned again "Not only that I also have to tutor Troy flipping Bolton."
Both Zeke's and Sharpay's smiles slid off their faces and turned into frowns. They both knew how bad he was and Zeke was one of his friends.
"Oh Gabby I'm sorry." Sharpay said as she leaned down to hug her friend.
"Yeah Gabs just remember he's not a nice guy and I should know." Zeke added
"I know, trust me I know." Gabriella responded frowning "I just hope I won't have to spend too much time with him."
"What do you have to tutor him in?" Sharpay asked
"Romeo & Juliet!"
"Ahhh you must be Gabriella Montez from East News?" a Large, gray haired woman asked Gabriella.
"Yep that's me." Gabriella responded with a wide smile on her face hoping that the woman couldn't see how much she didn't want to do this.
"Well hello, my name is Maggie and the man over there hiding behind the saucepans is Charles; my husband." Maggie pointed over to where a tall elderly man was grinning at Gabriella, his pale blue eyes shinning.
"Hello Charles."
"Nice to meet you Gabriella. First things first can I call you Gabby and secondly welcome." Charles said with a small smile on his face.
"Yeah Gabby is fine. So what am I doing to help?" Gabriella's eyes wandered around the room taking in the cleanness of it and the amount of large saucepans that were hanging from the ceiling. "Umm can I ask do you really need all these large saucepans?"
"Well you see Gabby." Maggie put her arm around Gabriella's shoulders and moved her gently further in to the kitchen. "We cook for a lot of people and a lot of those people are males. If you haven't noticed they eat a lot."
Charles interrupted her "We do not its just that we're growing boys."
His wife looked over at him with a stern look, "Charles you stopped growing over fifty years ago. Anyway Gabriella it's easier to cook that amount of food with a lot of large saucepans."
Gabriella nodded in understanding. She liked these to elderly people who where happily cracking jokes at each other while she continued to look around the room.
Not only did they have a lot of large saucepans they also had huge ovens and industrial sized sinks. But the room had little bits of the people who cooked in, a picture here or there, some flowers, and an old CD player quietly playing jazz.
Soon Gabriella was being shown the workings of the kitchen so that the next day she would be able to help Maggie and Charles during her free period and through lunch.
Maybe these people won't make her shred lettuce.
"So Gabby how much lettuce shredding have you done?" Maggie's laughing voice asked her.
