Chapter One - The Punishment
Gabriella's Point of View
"I think I'm going to go to bed." I said to my mother, placing the bookmark in my book. "You know, get some rest for tomorrow." My mother lifted her head from her studies and smiled to me.
"Good night sweetie." She said, smiling. She looked back to her studies and I rushed up the stairs to my room. I closed the door behind myself and put my book on my dresser, changing into my pajamas. I could feel the butterflies in my stomach, I was nervous about my first day volunteering at the animal shelter. I had almost finished my volunteer hours in New York but when my mom got relocated, again, I had to quit.
I had just moved to Albuquerque, New Mexico and the school year would start in less than three weeks. I was definitely worried about school but I figured that if I laid low and got through the summer, I'd make it out alive.
I went to one of the boxes, I had yet to unpack. I peeled the tape off the top and opened it to find all my books. I grabbed a handful of them and put them on the bookcase my mother had bought for me two years ago. I went back to grab another handful, when I heard a loud shatter from outside. I quickly went to my mothers room and looked out her window.
There was a large group of guys on the street. One of them held a mettle bat, while another threw a beer bottle in the air. The boy swung the bat and there was another loud shattering noise. A car started coming down the street and three other boys jumped out of the truck. The guy with the bat looked over to them and began to slowly make his way closer to them, but kept their distance.
The guys, who had just arrived, started talking to the others. They stood across from each other, the guy who was driving the truck held his arms out, as if trying to make peace. Then they all started looking around themselves. I stared down at them, confused of what they were freaking out about, until I heard sirens in the distance. The guys with the bat began running down the street, the others quickly jumped into the truck and drove the way they came. I watched as a police car slowly drove down the street and finally disappeared.
I closed the curtain, having no need to continue looking at the now empty road. I went back to my room and turned off my light. I stumbled around my room to my bed, and pulled the covers over my head, falling into a deep sleep.
Troy's Point of View
I slowly turned the key in the door and opened it as quietly as I could. I stepped through the door and closed it just as quietly, locking it. I removed my shoes and began climbing up the stairs, trying not to step on the creaky one. Without success, the hall light turned on. My mother stood at the top of the stair case, she looked exhausted.
"Are you just getting in now?" She asked me, rubbing her eyes. I scratched the back of my neck.
"Uh," I started, but then my father came behind my mom.
"Troy?" He said. "What are you doing?" He looked to my mother and then he turned back to me. "It's almost one in the morning, Troy." I scratched my neck again, unsure of what to say.
"I'm sorry, it's just-" I started.
"No excuses young man." My mother said, sternly. "When we said you could buy a car, we didn't mean that you could go driving all night."
"I know, and I'm really sorry." I said, trying to defend myself. "But-"
"There are no buts." My dad began, he held out his hand. "Give me your keys." I stared at my parents in disbelief. Were they really going to take away my car? The car that I had saved for for months?
"Dad." I said.
"Troy." He said, his hand waiting for them. I sighed and dug in my pocket. I walked up the last few stairs and put them in his hands. "And, your grounded."
"What?" I said, as if the car wasn't enough? "That's not fai-"
"The rest of the summer." He said. "I don't know what's happened to you. First, you lie to us. Then you skip our basketball game, and now your sneaking out?" He shook his head, disappointed.
"Look," I started. "I'm sorry that I lied to you and I'm even more sorry about sneaking out, but grounded for the rest of the summer?"
"Troy, enough." My mom said. "We'll talk about it in the morning, get to bed." She looked to my dad then went back into the room.
"This isn't like you Troy." he said, following his wife back into the room.
I walked into my room, closing my door. I took off my sweater and fell onto my bed, none of this would have happened if it wasn't for that jerk.
Gabriella's Point of View
Beep! Beep! Beep!
I slowly opened my eyes and reached to turn off the alarm. I sat up and listened to my mother humming down the hall. I smiled to myself, today was my first day of volunteering at the shelter. I quickly got dressed and ran downstairs to pour myself some cereal. I ate quickly, too excited to eat slowly. My mom came into the kitchen with the newspaper in her hand.
"Slow down, Gabi." She said, putting the kettle on. "Your going to get a stomach ache or something." I smiled.
"I know," I said. "But I'm excited .. and nervous."
"Your going to do fine, Gabs." She said, pouring the hot water into a mug. "Are you almost ready to go?" I nodded.
"Yeah, I just need to grab my bag." She took a spoon and began to stir it. Then she gathered her papers.
"Alright." She said. "We need to get going, you can't be late." I nodded and ran to the stairs. I got my bag off of my desk and met my mother at the bottom of the stairs. "Do you have your house key?" She asked. "I lost mine." I dug in my bag and pulled them out.
"Okay," She said. "Let's go."
My mom wished me luck as I closed the car door. I took a deep breath before I flew open the shelter doors. The first thing I noticed as I walked in was that there was only a desk and closed doors down the only hallway. I walked up to the desk and waited for the women to get off the phone.
"Yes." She said into the speaker. "We always welcome new volunteers and can always use the help." There was a gentle voice on the other end. "Yes, he can start today if he'd like .. okay .. that's great .. thank you very much .. bye." She put the phone down and smiled to me.
"Hello, can I help you?" She asked, smiling.
"Yes, I'm Gabriella Montez." I said, trying to hide how nervous I was. "I'm here to volunteer for the rest of the summer."
"Oh, yes, Gabriella, is it?" I nodded slowly. "Hi, I'm Nicole. You will be working in the office with Robyn, is that alright?" She asked.
"Yeah, that's fine." Nicole started the raise from her chair.
"If you'd like you can follow me and I'll take you to Robyn." Nicole said, walking down the hallway. She stopped at the fourth door on the left, knocking lightly. There was a muffled sound on the other side and Nicole opened the door.
"Good morning, Mrs. Clarke." Nicole said, opening the door wider. "This is Gabriella, she's the volunteer." I stepped into the office as Nicole stepped out, closing the door. The lady behind the desk stood up. She was fairly tall with long brown hair and light brown eyes. She extended her hand in front of her.
"Hi, I'm Robyn Clarke." I shook her hand.
"Gabriella Montez." I said, shyly.
"Well, Gabriella, I'm glad your here. We have been very busy lately and the paper work is stacking up." Robyn stepped around me and reached for the door. "If you want to follow me." Robyn said, walking back down the hallway towards the front desk. She went to the next door over and opened it. There was a desk to the side and photocopier on the opposite side of the room, with a large window facing outside to a small building and a large yard.
"If you wouldn't mind," Robyn said. "We need these papers to be stacked neatly in these folders." She said, pointing to the papers. "And these ones need to be put into this basket and someone will be picking them up tomorrow." She turned to face me.
"Think you could do it?" She asked me. I nodded quickly.
"Yeah, of course." I said.
"Okay, great." She started towards the door. "Oh, Gabriella, if you need anything Nicole can help you and you can take a break at noon." She smiled then closed the door. I put my bag down beside the desk and started organizing the papers.
Troy's Point of View
I walked down the stairs and into the kitchen. My mom was sitting down reading the paper and drinking her morning coffee. I grabbed a bowl from the cupboards and the cereal. I poured my cereal then my milk. I sat across from my mom at the table. I started eating, knowing that she must still be mad. Then she started nodding her head.
"Unbelievable." She said quietly. I swallowed.
"What?" I asked. She looked up and jumped a little.
"Oh, Troy." She said. "I didn't even realize you were there." I smiled to myself.
"What were you reading about?" I asked her. She shook her head again.
"Last night, some kids in the West end of town, smashed the old fire station." She looked up at me. "I hope this doesn't envolve you in any way." I started shaking my head.
"I would never do anything like that, mom." She nodded then took a sip of her coffee, putting down the paper.
"So, speaking of last night .. " She started. "Your father and I found a suitable punishment." I raised my head, waiting to hear it. "Starting today, you will be volunteering at the animal shelter." I dropped my spoon in my cereal.
"Today?" I asked. "But mom, I'm not even dressed or anything."
"Well," She said looking at the clock. "You have less than twenty minutes to get ready."
"How do you expect me to get there?" I questioned. "You took away my truck."
"I can drive you." She sighed. "Troy, look, this was hard for your father and I. The way you have been acting and the sneaking out, it has to stop. So, for the rest of the summer you will volunteer five days a week."
"And let's guess, I'll be grounded on the weekends." I took another bite, angry. It wasn't even my fault and I was the one getting punished?
"Troy," My mom said. "This might be a great thing for you. You'll meet new people and get your community hours finished." I grabbed my bowl and washed it in the sink. "You better go get ready."
Gabriella's Point of View
I had almost finished all of the paper work and it was time for my lunch. I looked out the window and saw a picnic table just outside. I grabbed my bag and started walking out the the door. I walked passed Nicole, who was on the phone, and went outside. It was a sunny day. I could hear the dogs barking. I took out my book from my bag and went around the building and sighed just before I saw the picnic table, but someone was already there. The boy looked up at me. He was reading a thick book and had a sandwich in front of him. I turned to walk away.
"Uh, excuse me?" He said. I turned around and saw him standing. He had short black hair that covered his ears and was wearing a black t-shirt and dark jeans. "The table is big enough for two, if you'd like. I'm reading too, I wont be a distraction, promise." He started moving his things to the side and smiled at me to sit. I thought for a moment then finally decided that it was too nice of a day to be eating inside. I sat down across from him and pulled out my crackers.
"I'm Nick, by the way." He held out his hand.
"Gabriella." I said, taking his hand.
I opened my book and began to read. I read a few paragraphs but then stopped when I saw, from the corner of my eye, Nick staring at me. I slowly glanced to look at him, but he appeared to be reading. I took a cracker and began to chew it. All I heard was a loud crunching noise, something Nick could probably hear too. That's not embarrassing.
Troy's Point of View
"Hi, you must be Troy." A young lady said, behind the front desk of the animal shelter. I nodded to her.
"Yeah." I said, shaking her hand.
"Well, Troy, you will be working with our other volunteer." She said. "She is on her lunch right now, but you can wait in the office, she should be back anytime." She got to her feet and started walking down the hall, I followed her to the third down on the left.
"You can just take a seat." She said, smiling. I smiled back and sat in the chair next to the photocopier.
I looked out the window and saw two people sitting at the picnic table. There was a boy with black hair and a small brunette across from him, they both were reading. The boy got to his feet, just as the girl did, and they began laughing. They went opposite ways. I looked around the room and saw paper that had be organized into piles, I guess I would be organizing one of those piles, for the rest of my summer. Great. The door opened slowly and the lady from the front desk walked in.
"Troy, this is Gabriella." She said, and I watched as the same girl from the picnic table entered the room. "Gabriella, this is Troy." She was obviously beautiful and her chocolate brown eyes made my heart start tumbling. I stepped towards her, not thinking then extended my hand. Her brown eyes lit up and she stumbled back, her lips curved into a smile and she shook my hand.
"I'm Troy." I said. "Bolton." She smiled.
"Gabriella .. Montez." Her voice was ringing in the back of my mind. It was almost natural and her long brown curls bounced and she began to laugh. She looked down, then I realized I was still shaking her hand. I let go quickly and laughed with her.
Gabriella. I thought to myself.
Alright, so this is my first High School Musical fanfic. I was watching the movie and I had this really weird idea for a story and I thought I would try it out. The setting is from a book called Last Chance by Norah McClintock. Doubt that anyone has even heard of it .. but tell me what you think about it, it's something completely different for me so don't judge too hard.