Lessons in Love
By marebear11
Chapter 1
Most teenagers have had a kiss before they hit the age of eighteen. Hell, most kids have done a lot more than that. However, I'm not like them. I happen to be the most virgin girl to walk the streets of Albuquerque. And before you ask, no I'm not proud of that. You see, I happen to be so completely virgin, that most boys won't even look my way without running to church and asking for forgiveness. At least that's what my best friend Taylor says. Sadly though, I believe her.
My experience isn't too bleak. I mean, I've had physical contact with boys, but not in the way that I want. I've had one boyfriend, but that was way back in seventh grade. He was a very nice guy. He wrote me this letter about how he would do his best to be a good boyfriend, and I was touched. Literally, all he did was hug me. And he would hold my hand if I let him. You see, I'm not into PDA. I have nothing against the people who do it, but public displays of affection are just not for me. Maybe that's my problem? Who knows at this point? I sure don't.
Taylor says that most guys only enter relationships for one thing. Physical Contact. She swears up and down that if you're not able to provide something in that area besides hugs. Now, I've had offers from guys, and I've been on dates, but I'm about to be eighteen and I've never been kissed. This is my senior year. If I don't gain some sort of experience, how am I supposed to survive in college?
I'm currently out with Taylor and our other friend Kelsi. Kelsi Nielson appears to be just as innocent as me, but that's just the thing. She only appears that way. She's much more experienced in the making out area as far as I know. I get the notion that my friends keep things from me because they don't think my virgin ears can handle hearing it. Where was I? Oh yes. So, we're out at the Den, which is like the place where every one of hangs out afterschool. We're splitting a large order of fries and doing some homework, by the way, we happened to be the only ones there studying. You see my friends and I make up the nerd part of the senior class. However, we're still capable of getting dates. Taylor had a fling with a basketball player Chad a while back while Kelsi was seeing Ryan Evans. Both of those guys are East High royalty.
Let me chart out this whole thing. The basketball team rules this place. Every party that we have, every dance that is given, it all depends on whether or not our team wins. After the basketball team, there's the Drama Club. Now I know that in most cases, they would be considered dorky, but one person alone changed that. Sharpay Evans is the one that changed the image of the club. She won't take any of the crap that people try to give her and her twin, Ryan Evans. I guess you could say she's the 'mean girl' that every high school has. What am I saying? Of course that's true! They call her the Ice Queen for crying out loud! After drama everyone else has a shot at being talked to by the higher up of high school. That is of course, unless you're me. I'm at the bottom. The last of the last with a shot at getting noticed. I didn't mind until now. Until I realize that going to college with no boy experience was terrible. My younger brother has more experience than I do! I believe he may also be a bit higher up on this scale. I'll find a way to fix that though. Hmm, I feel like I missed someone…
"Troy! Troy! Troy! Troy!" The boys chanted as he downed root beers. Ah, that's who. The king of East High himself, Troy Bolton. Where do I begin with him? He's very attractive. Crystal blue eyes, bright white teeth, and from what I've heard and the glimpses that I've caught of him when he stretches…he's very toned. I don't mean to sound like a creeper, but there have been several times when I've seen his abs for myself. Like when he stretches in class, or when he runs in gym, or when he sweats during his games, he'll use his jersey to wipe it off….
I am not a creeper.
"He's going to have such a stomach ache when he's done." Taylor smiled. You see, this is why we're not cool. They're over there chugging drinks and living on the edge while we're contemplating the severity of his stomach ache.
"Oh I know!" Kelsi laughed. "I hope he stocked up on the Pepto." They laughed again, I watched as Troy finished and got up to go to the bathroom. He smiled as he made his way around the corner. There was a battle going on inside my head for a few minutes before I excused myself and got up to. I walked around the corner with slight speed. I turned my head to look back at my table. I didn't want the girls to think I was being weird by suddenly rushing off. All is clear. I looked back to see where I was going, but when I rounded the corner, and the door swung open and hit me right in the face.
"Shit!" A voice muttered as I brought my hand up to my nose. "Damn! Are you okay? Fuck, I am so sorry." The boy brought his hand up to where mine was. "I'm fine." I said as I covered my nose. I opened my eyes and blinked twice. I must've been hit really hard because I was seeing Troy Bolton in front of me. I rubbed my eyes, but regretted it when my hand bumped my sore nose. "Ow."
"Are you okay?" The boy asked. I looked at him, and either it was really Troy, or I was hallucinating. I'll stick to the first choice.
"Yeah, I just have really bad luck." I answered.
"Man, I didn't mean to hit you. If I'd known someone was coming I would've waited." I smiled at him.
"Not your fault. There's no way you could've heard me with the music being so loud and what not." He gave me a smile. It was like this upside down frown that I'd seen him flash from time to time. It was hot.
"I'm Troy." He said jutting his hand out in my direction.
"I know. We have human behavior and gym together." I blurted.
"Oh…and you are…?" Stupid me for think that he'd actually remember that. I'm a wall flower. "Wait, you're Gabriella right? You're friends with Taylor McKessie?" What? He knows my name and one of my friends?
"Uh, yeah. I sit in the desk right behind you." I sit in the desk behind you?! This is why I'm a loser. Troy only nodded. "I'll see you around. I want to check my nose before I go back out there." He grimaced when I mention my nose. "I really am okay."
"And I really am sorry. If there's anything you need, just let me know." He squeezed my shoulder once and walked back out toward the tables. He touched me. Twice! The smile crept onto my face as I walked into the girls' bathroom. I looked at myself in the mirror. My hair was pulled back and until now I didn't mind. My nose was a little red. Great, by tomorrow it could very well be purple like Marsha's from the Brady Bunch. I sighed and pulled my hair out of the rubber band. I shook it with my hair a bit and sighed again. Maybe my big hair will distract people from my Rudolph nose.
~*~
I gave it a few minutes before I went back out to my friends. I glanced over at Troy's table and saw him do a double take. He was looking in my direction, but there was no way he was looking at me. I couldn't resist smiling anyway. Staring at my feet, I slid into the booth when I arrived at the table. Taylor and Kelsi immediately stopped their conversation, and I knew exactly why. They'd most likely been talking about whatever Kelsi and Ryan had gotten into when his parents went away last weekend. Whatever, I don't care. Nope. Not me.
"So, what'cha talkin' about?" I asked. Okay, so maybe I care a little bit. Sue me.
"Oh you know, just drama club stuff." Kelsi grinned at Taylor. I rolled my eyes. You'd think that after years of us being best friends, they'd cut me some slack and tell me something every once in a while.
"Right. Let's pretend that's true." I scoffed.
"Gabs, we're only trying not to make you uncomfortable." Taylor reasoned. Little did she know her plan backfired.
"Well, it's not working. I feel uncomfortable because you two talk about your hook-ups to each other and not me. It makes me feel like I don't belong." I snapped. Kelsi winced and Taylor gave me a sympathetic smile.
"We'll try to include you more." Kelsi spoke. "We were just about to leave though. Our homework is all done and my mom called." I nodded my head and began packing up. Once my bag was all packed, I stood up and slung it over my shoulder, ready to leave. My brown eyes caught Troy's blue ones and he gave me a nod. I cheesing back at him as I walked right into the glass door. The Den erupted in laughter as I rubbed my nose and walked out with my head hanging in embarrassment. Great first impression. No one will ever top that.
~*~
An-I know I have DK&GB to write, but that one is almost done, and I want to post this while I'm in the writing mindset. I'm playing around with this story. I'm not quite sure about chapter lengths and other things yet. But let me know what you think so far. I want to say right now that this story is going to be different, in content and language, than pretty much all the other stories that I have written up here. I apologize in advance for anyone who gets offended, but you can always skip parts like that. It's rated M just to be safe. I hope that this won't affect anyone's opinion of me. Everyone grows up at some point, and this is me maturing with my writing. It won't be too bad, I promise.
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