Okay, my first attempt at this. I hope people enjoy it. If you read, thank you.

Chapter One: New Girl.

'Gabriella, Gabriella!'

She jolted upright in the bed, her chest heaving and sweat clinging to every inch of her body. She could feel her heart thumping wildly beneath her mocha brown skin and her hands were shaking uncontrollably.

'Gabriella, are you alright?' She turned her head to see her mother kneeling down at the side of her bed, lines of worry etched across her face. She was wearing a dressing robe and her long black hair was wrapped around rollers, like they had been every night since Gabriella could remember.

'Mom… I'm fine. Go on back to bed.' She attempted to control her breathing and stop her limbs from shaking as she tried to convince her mother she was fine. She just wanted to be alone. 'Gabriella, you're not fine. I know you had the dream again. I could hear you shouting from downstairs. You said they'd stopped?' Gabriella sighed and leaned her head back against her pillows. 'They have…or they had anyway. It's just because of the move and everything I'm just stressed. That's all.'

Maria Montez let out a weary sigh if her own as she stood up. 'This move was meant to be good for you Gabi. The doctors said it would help.' 'It is helping Mama, please just go back to bed. It was just a dream.' Gabriella pleaded with her mother. She could feel the all too familiar lump forming in her throat and she knew a breakdown in front of her mother would spell nothing but disaster.

'Gabriella. Please, talk to me. Don't keep everything to yourself like…before.' Gabriella squeezed her eyes shut as the memories of 'before' came flooding to the forefront of her mind. Even now, months later any thought of it gave her a sick feeling in the pit of her stomach. She steeled herself against the wave of nausea that filled her before turning once again to her mother. 'There is nothing to talk about. It's not going happen again, I'm stronger now. I don't need you to baby me anymore.' Maria gave her a sceptical look as she turned to leave the room. 'Well try and get more sleep. Big day for you tomorrow.' 'I will, night mom.' Gabriella smiled at her mother as she closed the door behind her. The mention of tomorrow had only increased the nausea in her stomach. She felt the first hot tear prick her eye and before she knew it they were cascading down her cheeks. She let them come, knowing this was the last time she could let it happen. After this moment she couldn't let the memories of 'before' engulf her like this. She was stronger than this. She had to be stronger than this.

'Now, I hope you all remember about the mid-term tests coming up in the next few weeks…' he tuned out from the pointless ramblings of his homeroom teacher Ms. Darbus. Why there even had to be such a thing as homeroom he had no idea. As far as he could tell it was of no apparent benefit to anyone. He was so lost in his thoughts he didn't even hear the classroom door open nor did he notice the figure that nervously walked in. He didn't even hear the hisses of his best friend Chad Danforth. 'Troy…Troy.' However he did feel the basketball that bounced off his left forearm. 'Bolton! Danforth!' Ms Darbus' shrill voice pierced Troy's ears as he turned to stare at his friend angrily while rubbing the spot on his arm the round ball had hit. 'Put that damn basketball away and help me in introducing our newest student. Class, this is Gabriella Montez. She just moved here from San Francisco.'

There was a shift in the mood as the entire class assessed the new girl. Troy's eyes swept over her swiftly. She had long dark brown hair which curled around her shoulders. She had brown eyes which were eyeing her new companions tentatively and nervously. She was of petite build and was wearing a purple dress which seemed to hang off her skinny frame. She caught Troy's eye roving over her body and returned his smirk with a look of confusion, telling Troy her last school was definitely not like East High. She was in for some surprises, that was for sure.

'Right, well Gabriella, welcome to East High. I'm sure you'll be very happy here. This is Taylor McKessie' Ms Darbus pointed to an African-American girl sitting in the front row, 'and I'm sure she'll be happy to show you around.' Taylor beamed at Gabriella and patted the empty desk beside her. Gabriella returned her smile with a small one of her own and sat down seeming relieved that she no longer had to stand in front of the entire class.

'Troy…what do you think?' Chad whispered once again. Troy shrugged indifferently before turning back around and becoming lost in his own thoughts once again. He had been doing that a lot lately. A few months ago the arrival of a new student would have brought such excitement to Troy's life, a challenge for him. For new boys, it was to see if they had better athletic ability, for new girls to see how quickly he could get them into bed. But that was a few months ago. Now, Troy couldn't care less about his popularity at the school. Now, things were different.

'Okay, so this is the canteen, be warned, it can get crazy in here sometimes.' Gabriella followed Taylor into the hall, which, like every other part of the school was adorned with red and white. Taylor had barely left Gabriella's side all day. She was grateful that she had someone to show her around but it wasn't part of Gabriella's plan to make friends at this school. She just wanted to get through her senior year as quick as possible and be finished with school. Not that she didn't love school, she did, especially the academic side. The social side, not so much. She had no interest in the cliques and ever-constant popularity contests, maybe before, but Gabriella knew what that led to and she did not want to go back there again. She closed her eyes as she tried to force the memories which were threatening to flood her mind away.

'Gabriella…' Taylor looked at her with an unsure look. 'Sorry,' said Gabriella, 'I completely zoned out. Shall we sit down?' 'Yeah, sure' replied Taylor. 'Oh but not over there' She steered Gabriella away from the empty table she was walking towards. 'Why not? It's empty' Gabriella looked at Taylor confusedly. 'Yeah, it's the jock table. Trust me, you don't want to sit at their table.' Gabriella looked around and saw a group of boys had just sat down at the table. She recognised one of them from her homeroom this morning. He had piercing blue eyes, which she was sure could captivate anyone. His hair was dark brown and swept down across his forehead. He was also ridiculously good looking and Gabriella was pretty sure he was one of the elite popular kids. Every school had them. She knew from experience.

'Hey Taylor,' she asked, as they finally reached a table they were allowed sit at. 'Whose the guy,the one with the really blue eyes?' Taylor looked over in the same direction as Gabriella. 'Oh. Him.' She said in a tone which made it clear she severely disliked him, whoever he was. 'Troy Bolton. East High's God apparently. Captain of the basketball team, worshipped by the entire female population at the school, obnoxious jerk, you get where I'm coming from.' 'Yeah…' replied Gabriella. She knew all too well. 'Seriously Gabriella, he'd fuck you over without a second thought if he got the chance.' 'What about his friend?' Gabriella motioned with her head towards his curly haired friend who she also recognised from homeroom. 'Chad Danforth. He's like Troy's bitch. Although, unlike Troy, he doesn't seem to have a heart made of stone. He's…nice.' Gabriella looked at Taylor to see a rosy blush had appeared under her dark skin. 'Nice, huh?' laughed Gabriella raising her eyebrows. 'Don't look at me like that!' exclaimed Taylor. 'He's a jock, I'm an academic. At this school, they're two completely different planets.' Gabriella sighed. She had been naïve to think this school would be any different to her old one. High school was high school. She was pretty sure she there wasn't a high school in the country that didn't have some sort of social hierarchy and an accompanying power struggle to reach the top of it. 'Think it's the same at every school Taylor' she said returning to the conversation. 'So which clique were you in then? In your old school?' Gabriella hesitated before answering. 'Um…none really. I've always tried to stay away from all that. It causes way too much unnecessary drama.' She smiled at Taylor, thinking to herself just how ironic that statement was. 'Clever. Although good luck trying that here. Virtually impossible, I'm telling you.' Gabriella laughed nervously. 'I'll try my best,' she said flashing her new friend a brief smile.

Troy was sitting in the last class of the day. You would think this late in the day he would be willing the clock to speed up so school would be finished, but for Troy the complete opposite was true. For him, school was the easiest part of his day. It was what came after that he truly dreaded. Even the thought of it gave him knots in his stomach. He felt a hand slap the back of his neck. 'See you at practice later Bolton.' He recognised the voice of one of his teammates. 'Yeah, you too, Jason.' He replied. Strange, wasn't it? Basketball, the one thing he truly enjoyed in life, yet he had to force himself to the daily practices after school. He loved his team, he loved the matches, the feeling of adrenaline he got as soon as he stepped out onto the court, the crowd chanting his name when he scored the winning point. He could live off that feeling. But he tainted it. He had ruined the enjoyment basketball brought for Troy. Basically, he had ruined Troy's life.

'Um, excuse me.' Troy was snapped out of his reverie by a female voice. He looked up to see the new girl from homeroom standing at his desk biting her lip nervously. 'Is anyone sitting there?' she nodded towards the empty seat beside him. 'Just, there aren't any other seats.' 'Go for it' shrugged Troy. As she walked in front of him he caught a waft of her scent. Fuck. Troy didn't think he had smelled anything quite as…glorious… in his lifetime. It was musky, yet he could also smell those flowers his mom was obsessed with. What were they called again? They were in every room in his house anyway. Troy wasn't a flower person but even he couldn't deny they smelled amazing.

'So, uh, Gabriella, right?' he asked. She turned her head and nodded at him. 'How are you finding your first day?' 'It's alright.' She shrugged. Okay. Obviously she wasn't a talker. Troy tried to think of something else he could ask her to keep the conversation alit. Where did Darbus say she was from again? Somewhere in the west…San Francisco! 'So you're from Cali then? I bet New Mexico is a change from that.' Gabriella looked at him with a scrutinising look on her face. 'Look Troy, it is Troy, right?' He nodded. He wasn't surprised she knew his name. Everyone at this school did. Even the new kids. 'Why are you even talking to me?' Her question knocked him. 'Um…' For the first time Troy was left speechless by a girl. 'I mean,' she continued, 'no offence but I don't think we'll be running in the same social circle here. So if you're trying to get in my pants, I'd advise you to stop cause it's not going to work.' For the second time in as many minutes Troy was left speechless, he just stared at her stupidly, his mouth hanging open. 'What? I might be new but I know your kind.' 'My kind?' he spluttered his shock quickly turning to anger. She shrugged. 'Jocks…athletes…whatever you call yourselves here.' Troy was outraged. 'So because I play basketball, I don't have…emotions?' he accused. 'No. Because you're Troy Bolton.' 'And what exactly is that supposed to mean?' 'It means you're at the top of the social hierarchy. You're the untouchable king or whatever. I know your type.' 'I didn't ask to be popular Gabriella, it just happened to me. I can't help it. But it sure as hell doesn't give you the right to judge me.' He unleashed the full power of his eyes on her and the fury was clearly evident in them. 'I'm not judging you Troy, I'm simply telling you I don't talk to people in your world.' 'Fine' said Troy. 'Don't sit here again.' 'Oh I won't' snapped Gabriella crossing her arms and facing the front of the room.

Suddenly their psychology teacher appeared in front of their desks. 'Glad to see you're welcoming the new student Troy.' He said. Troy simply snorted in response. 'You two will be spending a lot of time together. I'm pairing you up for the personality and behaviour project.' 'Actually' interjected Troy. 'I'd like to pick a different partner Sir.' 'I'm afraid that's not possible Mr. Bolton. Everyone's already paired up. I want a first draft on my desk in two weeks.'

Troy looked at Gabriella her eyes mirroring the expression in his. Pure hatred.

'Well? How was it?' Maria Montez was waiting inside the front door a look of nervousness mingled with hope on her face. 'It was fine Mom, like I told you it would be.' She wasn't in the mood to talk about school. The day had drained her completely. 'Tell me more, how are your classes? Did you make friends?' Gabriella sighed. Her mother obviously wasn't going to give up until she was satisfied. 'Classes are pretty much the same as San Francisco, I'm doing psychology instead of business though. And yeah, a girl named Taylor showed me around. We had lunch together. She's nice.'

Gabriella's mom smiled at her. 'I just want you to be happy Gabi. I know the past year has been hard on you, it's been hard on all of us but I think this new beginning will be good for us. Especially when your father joins us next week.'

'I agree Mama' she said before running up to her room. She leaned against her bedroom door sighing deeply. She wanted to be able to look her mother in the eye and tell her she was happy. But she couldn't. Not now and maybe not ever. The simple truth was that she was not happy. She was far from it.

Troy slammed his bedroom door closed and collapsed face down on his bed groaning in frustration. As far as good days go, this one definitely didn't make the list. His mind kept returning to his conversation with the new girl. How dare she assume she knew him just because he played basketball. Troy knew he was popular. It was not like he could ignore the flirtatious glances he received walking down the hall, the groups of girls who erupted into fits of giggles because he caught their eye or spoke to them. While he didn't encourage the attention, he didn't exactly discourage it either. He was just as famous for his way with the ladies as he was for his free throws on the court. He'd had girls in the past, not girlfriends though. Never girlfriends.

He realised Gabriella was different. She wasn't going to fall at his feet and worship him because he had good abs. And if Troy was being honest she scared him. Not because she hated him or because she had been so quick to dismiss her, but because he made her feel. He made her want to fight back, to defend himself. She stirred up emotions inside him that had been lying dormant for months. Emotions nobody else, no matter how they tried, could rise from him.

The new girl made him feel again and that was the scariest thought of all.