DISCLAIMER: I do not own High School Musical or any related characters.
A/N: Alright, I know you all wanted me to update 'Out Of My Element' but don't yell at me or anything cause I'm actually having trouble with 'Out Of My Element'. I know where I'm going with it; I just can't seem to put it in words, so I'm writing these for inspiration. So don't be mad at me, I am trying.
Personal Space
"Hey Gabriella." Gabriella jumped in shock as she heard Luke's voice. She winced as she realized that this time there was no-one there to save her from him.
"Hey Luke." Forcing a smile she turned to him. The tall, blonde-haired, green-eyed footballer grinned down at the petite brunette who was hugging her books to her chest.
"So, how's your classes going?" he asked leaning casually against the locker. Gabriella winced and took half a step backwards away from him. Already feeling uncomfortable with how close he was standing to her Gabriella hugged the books tighter and hoped he would go away in a minute.
"They're alright." She replied softly as his eyes twinkled at her, if it'd been anyone else Gabriella would have melted, but Luke's eyes sometimes gave her the opposite effect. It wasn't that they weren't warm, but there was just something about them that she didn't like.
"That's good, listen Gabriella," Luke said moving closer to her, breaking her personal space and Gabriella stood frozen, no-one, only ever Troy, had really been that close to her and that had only ever been when he'd tried to kiss her. Which had been all of once. "A bunch of the guys and their girlfriends are meeting up after school and I was wondering whether you'd consider joining us." He smiled at her and Gabriella bit her lip, wishing he would move away from her. His tone was cocky and his smile was charming and she could tell he was incredibly confident.
"Uh, well, you see……I," Gabriella closed her eyes momentarily, she wanted to say no, but she didn't know how to. Almost as soon as her eyes closed, Gabriella saw twinkling blue eyes and a smile that made her insides twist. "I have a lot of homework and I really need to get it all done this afternoon. It's the only afternoon that I don't have practice for the musical with Troy." She smiled sweetly and Luke's eyes flashed dangerously at the mention of Troy. Almost as soon as Gabriella had seen it, it disappeared and he moved even closer to her.
Gabriella sent a quick glance over her shoulder, desperately searching for one of her friends. She bit her lip as her eyes snapped back to Luke's and she wished he would move away from her. Gabriella narrowed her eyes at him as he reached up and pushed a curl behind her ear.
"You know Gabriella, I think you're the most beautiful girl at this entire school." he said and Gabriella stared at him in disbelief, did he honestly expect her to believe that?
"That's good for you." she replied wishing he would remove his hand from her face.
"And you have to know how much I want you." he said softly and Gabriella's eyebrows shot up at his words.
"Am I meant to be flattered anytime soon?" she asked sarcastically, normally sarcasm wasn't her thing, it never had been. But he managed to bring it out in her.
"You see Gabriella you need to be with someone who appreciates you. So when you stop chasing Bolton, know that I'll welcome you with open arms." Luke said and Gabriella stared at him in utter disbelief. Suddenly she felt her legs regain some of the strength she'd been praying would return and she took a step away from him. She shook her head dislodging his hand and then took another step away from him.
"You see Luke; I already have someone who appreciates me. So, uh, you're going to be waiting a long, long time." Gabriella said sweetly, stunning herself completely with her words. She, never, ever spoke to anyone the way she had just spoken to Luke. For a moment she liked the way she had just spoken and then immediately realized that it wasn't her nature to do, or say anything like that. Luke's eyes flashed and it took Gabriella a second to realize that he was laughing.
"So Gabriella Montez does have a temper." His eyes flashed in amusement and Gabriella glared at him.
"Yeah, she does have a temper. Now, can you please leave me alone?" she snapped at him and Luke grinned at her as Gabriella frowned at him.
"Sure. Remember, I'll be waiting for you." he grinned and Gabriella suddenly snapped and spun around and stormed off towards the library.
&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&
"Hi Gabriella." A quiet, nasally said and Gabriella's head shot up. Her face relaxed into a smile when she saw who it was and the guy smiled back.
"Hi Harry. How are you?" she asked softly motioning for him to sit down next to her. Harry shook his head slightly and remained firmly on his feet. Gabriella fought back a frown and wished he didn't look like the blonde version of Harry Potter. It was very distracting when he was talking to her and all she could think about was Troy's smart comments about his resemblance to the fictional character.
"I'm alright. Listen Gabriella what are you doing after school?" he asked and Gabriella refrained from rolling her eyes. That was the second time someone had wanted to know what she was doing that afternoon.
"Homework. I've got a ton to get through. Why?" she asked and Harry went red and Gabriella had a funny feeling that she hadn't given the answer he had wanted to hear. Tilting her chair backward, Gabriella decided to test a theory.
"No reason. I was just thinking that, uh, maybe you could help me go over some of the Decathlon material. You know, for the, uh, meet next week." He said as Gabriella stood, stretched and then took a coy step towards him. Almost immediately Harry took a step backwards.
"I would love to Harry, unfortunately for me, I've got all this homework." Gabriella said demurely, her smile was sweet and her eyes were shining as she took another step towards him. Harry took two steps back and Gabriella's eyes widened innocently.
"I wish I could be of some help to you Gabriella, really, if it meant that you could get your homework done and you could help me." Harry fiddled with the hem of his shirt nervously as Gabriella approached him coyly, a small smile playing on her lips, her eyes dark.
'Remind me to thank Miss Darbus for teaching me how to act' she thought as she reached Harry, who seemed glued to the library floor.
"That would be so nice of you Harry," Gabriella took another step towards making sure he was in her personal space "Because I'm having trouble with my chemistry work. Maybe if you came over this afternoon?" Gabriella tried her best not to sound to suggestive. But apparently she had, as she watched Harry jump away from her like he was on fire.
"Sorry Gabriella, I would love to, but I'm not in your chemistry class so I don't know what you're doing." Gabriella could tell he really was sorry that he couldn't come over and immediately dropped the act.
"It's alright Harry, thanks for offering. Now, if you'll excuse me, I have to go and talk to someone." Gabriella said briskly turning away from him and gathering her things and then turning back to him. Harry looked so confused that Gabriella felt sorry for him. She could almost see him asking himself what he had done wrong.
"Harry, relax, you actually helped me with my homework." She said and walked out of the library leaving him even more confused.
Gabriella walked briskly towards the gym, knowing out of experience that Troy normally spent most of his time there. Especially the last period on Friday's, this also happened to be their free period for that day. When she saw the gym, Gabriella took a deep breath and ran her free hand through her dark brown curls. She suddenly hoped that the entire basketball team wasn't there, because then everyone, in other words Chad, would assume that she and Troy had finally gotten together. And Gabriella knew she couldn't deal with another episode like the one she had after the triple win. Where she'd walked into school on the Monday and found at least half a dozen girls crying and then spent the entire day getting the cold shoulder from nearly every girl in the school who didn't know her. Amazingly enough, the only reason that everyone was like that was because Chad had spread it around school that she and Troy had hooked-up at the after party and were a couple. This hadn't happened, ironically enough, because of Chad.
Gabriella sighed and pushed the door to the gym open and immediately heard a basketball bounce on a hard wood floor. She stopped for a moment and gathered her thoughts. Then stepped in and let the door bang shut. Walking over to the bleachers, she dumped her books on them and then turned to watch as Troy stood at the three-pointer line and took a shot. As expected, the ball went through the hoop, making a satisfactory swish before bouncing on the floor. Gabriella approached Troy and wondered if he had heard her come in.
"Hey." Troy's voice caused her to jump and she turned to glare at him. Troy shrugged and grinned at her before taking another shot.
"I have a question." Gabriella blurted out suddenly, freezing him in mid-shot. Troy glanced around the gym before turning to her a ghost of a smile playing on his lips.
"And I'm obviously the one who's going to answer it," he said somewhat reluctantly "What's up?" he continued and Gabriella glared at him again.
"If you don't want to, I can go and ask Chad," she snapped at him and Troy raised his eyebrows at her.
"If it's about a guy, I would strongly advise against going to see Chad. It'll be all over school before the final bell." Troy said, knowing how bad Chad was at keeping a secret. Even if it was a really important one and you had sworn him to secrecy, Chad would find someway to get it off his chest. Like Troy's feelings for the girl standing in front of him, they had somehow 'mysteriously' been found out by Taylor.
"I know. Which is why I came to you." Gabriella said and Troy shrugged, glad she had at least some sense.
"Good. So, what's the question?" Troy asked and Gabriella studied him carefully, trying to think of how to put her question.
"Okay, hear me out before you answer." Gabriella waited until Troy had nodded before continuing "Thank you. Alright, earlier during free period, Luke, you know Luke, right?" Gabriella asked and Troy thought for a moment, already not liking where this was going.
"As in Luke Mansfield, football captain?" he asked and Gabriella nodded and smiled. Troy smiled back and then nodded his head to indicate to her to keep going.
"Right well he, wanted me to go with him and his friends this afternoon. I said no and then he stepped into my personal space and really annoyed me and made me feel really uncomfortable. I, uh, kind of told him off and then went to the library," Gabriella took a deep breath noticing she had Troy's full attention, he looked faintly annoyed, she thought "I was in the library and Harry, you know as in Harry Potter? The guy you always like to tease behind his back?" Gabriella waited for Troy's nod and slight grin before continuing "Good. Okay, well he wanted to know what I was doing this afternoon and I told him I was doing homework, he looked disappointed so I decided I wanted to test a theory. So, I guess you could say I acted like Sharpay. You know flirty and, kind of suggestive," Gabriella said uncomfortably. She could sense Troy's shock and amusement and hurried on "And I made sure he was in my personal space and, he seemed like he was nailed to the floor, before he jumped away from me and looked like he was about to start stuttering and then I came to see you." Gabriella finished and Troy raised his eyebrows at her.
"So, what's the question?" he asked and Gabriella thought for a moment.
"Why did one seem so willing to break my personal space and why did one seem so unwilling to even come near me when they were asking me the same thing? Was it because they have two different personalities or something? Or is it to do with confidence?" Gabriella asked frustrated and was stunned to discover Troy grinning in amusement.
"What?" she snapped and Troy laughed.
"Ahh Montez, you do know most girls just go and ask other girls that question right?" he asked and Gabriella stared at him.
"No. Well? Are you going to answer it or not?" she asked impatiently and Troy shrugged.
"Alright. You do know that a girl's personal space is totally different from a guy's personal space right?" he asked and Gabriella stared at him, raising her eyebrows in disbelief.
"You're kidding?" she said and Troy shook his head. He dropped the basketball.
"Nope. Okay, a guy's personal space varies according to his mood. However a girl's personal space stays the same and it's instantly one of the first three things that guys notice about a girl." Troy started and Gabriella looked curious.
"What are the first three things guys notice about a girl?" she asked curiously and Troy thought for a moment.
"Generally? First thing we notice is her face, second her figure and third her personal space. Personality and stuff come later. Now do you want me to answer your question or not?" he asked sound slightly impatient, Gabriella nodded slightly. She hadn't expected Troy to go into teaching mode with her and now she really was curious about it.
"Good. Okay, imagine there's a circle around you about this big." Troy stepped closer to her and drew an imaginary circle around her. Gabriella followed him with her eyes, acutely aware of his smell. Amazingly enough he smelt fresh, a mix of Lynx deodorant and his cologne. A smell she'd never gotten sick of "To a guy, that's the girl's personal space. Got that?" Troy asked stepping back from her.
"Yeah." Gabriella replied uneasily, wondering exactly where this was going.
"Cool. Now, to answer your question. A guy who likes you as a friend will stand about where I'm standing, unless he seems invited to enter your personal space. However a guy who likes you as more, like Harry by the sounds of it, then a friend will stand about here" Troy stepped closer to her and Gabriella looked down and found Troy standing on the tip of the imaginary circle and looked up and nodded. "A guy like Luke, who sounds like he just likes you cause you're, uh, well, hot," Troy really had no idea what he was doing or saying. Most of it was true, the circle and stuff anyway, but he'd never put it into words. But there was more to it. An idea had sprung to his mind when she'd asked the question and he intended on seeing it through. "Will stand here." Troy moved so close to her that Gabriella took a quick involuntary step backwards. Troy grinned and backed away from, allowing her back in the imaginary circle again.
"And?" she questioned, she'd heard it in his voice and wondered what was possibly left.
"And then there's a guy like me, who knows his boundaries and your personal space backwards, which will leave him standing here." Troy stepped back into the circle, not as close as he'd demonstrated with Luke. But close enough so that she could feel his hot breath on her cheek.
Gabriella gulped as Troy grinned down at her. She felt the feeling in her legs leave again and desperately searched for something to say. But her mind had gone completely blank; she could only stare up at him helplessly.
"You see Montez; it has nothing to do with confidence, or personality. It had everything to do with feeling. Luke was so close to you because you're hot and he feels that he likes you, a lot. Harry was so far away from you because he likes you because you're smart, but he's never dealt with a girl like you before and feels that he's not good enough for you," Troy paused and Gabriella waited for him to say something about how close he was to her.
"And what about you? What do you feel?" she asked softly and Troy looked down at her, his eyes thoughtful, serious and incredibly dark.
"Me? At the current moment, I feel like doing this," before Gabriella could ask what Troy had leaned down and kissed her firmly. Gabriella was stunned for a moment and then melted into him, forgetting all about her question about personal space and letting him take her to where ever he wanted to. She'd waited for this for so long.
Troy wrapped his arms around her waist unconsciously. Amazed that she hadn't pulled back and slapped him already. He couldn't believe that his plan had actually worked and he felt her fingers thread through his hair pulling him closer. Breathing heavily he pulled away from her and stared at her upturned face, her eyes were still closed and he watched as she ran a tongue of her lips as if to savor the taste of him. Slowly her eyes opened and she stared up at him.
"Bolton, if you feel like doing that every time you're in my personal space. Please feel free to spend all your free time in my personal space." She said cheekily and Troy grinned at her.
"So, do you get why some guys are shy of your personal space and others aren't?" he asked and Gabriella nodded.
"Sure," she nodded her head and Troy grinned and leaned in to kiss her again. Before their lips touched Gabriella pulled away.
"What?" Troy asked surprised.
"But if you ever take that long to break my circle again Bolton, I'll kill you." Gabriella found herself stating matter-of-factly and Troy grinned before kissing her firmly. 'I'm so glad I thought of that question' she thought dazedly as Troy pulled her even closer to her, breaking into her personal space completely.
A/N: Okay that seems really messy to me, but, oh well, I hope you all liked it. As I said, I am trying with 'Out Of My Element' so don't tell me to get back to it, cause if you rush me there's no way I'm going to be able to continue it.