Better summary: Chad and Troy are step-brothers and best friends, but Chad feels second best to Troy from everything to basketball to school to girls. Enter new girl Gabriella Montez. Chad meets her first and instantly likes her, but soon finds out that Troy likes her too. Will Chad finally beat Troy at something or will he always be second best? Ending will either be Chadella or Troyella... I know who it'll be... you'll just have to wait and see..

Disclaimer: I don't own anything except original characters. enter the usual stuff about not knowing anybody on HSM crew or owning HSM

Author's note: Readers of my story Against the Odds have already read part of this story and they seemed to like it. It's different from what I've written previously in that there is no Chaylor aspect to it (I know... I'm sad too...) My goal for this story is that readers won't be able to guess the outcome of the story... so we'll see if that actually happens :-D

Chapter 1

It was a dream come true for Chad Danforth and Troy Bolton. They'd been best friends, practically brothers, since they were 4-years-old and now, after the marriage of Chad's mom Zoey to Troy's dad Jack, they were officially brothers.

It had taken their parents ten years to finally start dating each other then at the end of Troy and Chad's junior year of high school, Jack and Zoey had taken the boys out to dinner and announced they were getting married at the end of the summer before school started back up.

Since they were all going to move into Jack and Troy's house, Chad moved in with them early in the summer-not that he hadn't already practically lived with them-while his mom went to live with her parents because their house had sold so quickly.

Living with Troy and Jack-his brother and dad-was as awesome as Chad had always dreamed it would be. They'd spent the first week of Chad living there decorating his room and making it into a room that Chad thought was better than Troy's.

Everyday after work, Zoey would come over and they'd eat dinner together: whether they were snacking on pizza, something from the barbeque or one of his mom's crazy recipes-that always tasted awesome until she revealed the ingredients.

The summer passed quickly for the Bolton-Danforth family and before they knew it, the wedding had come and gone and Chad and Troy were on their own for a few days while their parents honeymooned.

"Where are you going?" Chad asked as he leaned against the wall as Troy stood in the bathroom shaving.

"Got a date," Troy replied.

"Ah, well, have fun," Chad said then turned and went to his room.

That was the biggest difference between himself and Troy-Troy had a lot of dates and Chad had next to none. That was partly attributed to the fact that Chad spent a lot of his time focused on his sports-basketball and baseball-but the fact that he had a hard time finding a girl that would date him was another part of it.

Sure there were girls out there that wanted to date him, but not any that he liked back. All the girls he liked were interested in Troy…

Chad sighed and pulled himself off his bed. If he was going to be by himself for the evening, he figured he should at least treat himself to some dinner from a fast food joint. He slipped on his sneakers then headed out to his car.

Pulling out of the driveway, he decided to take a small detour and drive past the house he'd grown up in. He drove the short distance and stopped in front of the two-story house that had been a sandy brown but had been repainted to a mossy green.

His eyes gazed over the front yard and he saw a girl with long, dark brown hair struggling with the fence to the backyard. He put his car in park and climbed out.

"Need some help?" He asked.

The girl jumped in surprise and turned around to face him. "I-uh-" she stammered.

"I used to live here with my mom," he told her. "But we moved a few blocks away because she married my best friend's dad."

"Lucky you," she replied.

"I'm Chad, by the way," he told her. She pulled her eyes off the ground and looked at him for the first time. Man, she had beautiful eyes.

"Your name is Chad?" She asked. He nodded. "Come with me for a second."

"Okay," he nodded and followed her into the house, curious as to where she was taking him.

His breath died in his throat when he saw the changes that had been made to the house. What had once been divided into a separate kitchen, dining room, living room and entry hall was now one big room. His mom's beloved beige carpet had been ripped out and the floors were being covered with hardwood.

"Bella, who's your friend?" A deep voice broke into Chad's head.

"This is Chad, daddy, he and his mom used to live here," the girl to the man with salt and pepper hair. "I wanted to show him the hand and foot prints we found in the living room."

"I don't suppose Chad knows how to open the back gate," the girl's dad.

"You have to lift up then slide the lock," Chad replied. "My best friend and I messed it up when we were 14 and trying to get on the roof to get a basketball."

"Good to know," the girl's dad said with a chuckle. "It was good to meet you, Chad."

"You, too, Mr. uh-"

"Carlos Montez, but please call me Carlos," the man said before he left the room.

Chad looked around the room and found the girl standing in what had been his living room. He walked over to her and found her staring down at the floorboards. He looked down and smiled when he saw his, Troy and his mom's hand and foot prints.

"Am I right in assuming that the Chad here is you?" The girl asked him.

Chad nodded and was instantly taken back to the day his mom and come home from work and told Troy and Chad to each get a bottle of paint from her painting studio and come to the living room.

It had been the summer of 1999, he and Troy were nine-years-old and his mom had gotten a raise and decided it was time for the 1970s brown shag carpet to be replaced. The carpet installers had been put back a day so the living room was just the floorboards. His mom had helped Troy and Chad dip their hands and feet into the paint colors of their choice and they left their mark on the ground and signed their names.

"Do you want to take your picture by it?" The girl asked, breaking into Chad's memories.

"What?" Chad asked her.

"Do you want me to take a picture for you?" The girl repeated. "I know my mom gets sentimental about these things and I figure your mom is probably the same way."

"I don't have a camera," Chad stated.

"I do," she said. "Wait here."

She returned in a few minutes with a digital camera.

"How about one picture with you and one without you?" She suggested.

Chad shrugged and laid down on the ground on his back with his head by the prints. She took the picture then he stood up and she took another picture of the prints.

"Do you want my email address so you can send them to me?" Chad asked her.

"We could do that or I can print them out for you," she told him. "It'll only take like five minutes to print them out."

"Okay," Chad replied. "Can I use the bathroom?"

"Sure, the one down here is not use able but you can use the one upstairs," she told him. "It's the first-"

"I know where it is," he reminded her.

"Oh, right," she smiled. She led him up the stairs and disappeared into what had been his bedroom while he went into the bathroom.

When he was done, he walked over to the door and knocked.

"Come in," she called.

He opened the door and froze. He once blue room was a purple-pink color. The sports themed room was now girly times a million.

"The pictures are almost-" She stopped when she saw the look of pure horror on his face. "You okay, Chad?"

"You- you- my room," he stammered.

She looked around her room then laughed. "What can I say, I'm not a big sports person," she shrugged.

"So?" He replied.

"Oh, come on, Chad, you didn't really expect the house to be exactly the way you left it," she said.

"I don't know," he sighed. "I guess I was so caught up in moving in with my best friend and his dad that I didn't really think about what would happen to this place…"

"Change is good though, Chad," she said as she grabbed the pictures from her printer. "Here you go."

"Thanks," he said, putting them in his pocket. "Well, I guess I should be going. I didn't mean to intrude."

"You didn't," she replied. "You're actually the first person I've met in Albuquerque."

"Well, then, welcome to Albuquerque, uh-"

"Gabriella Montez," she told him.

"Gabriella," Chad smiled.

"How old are you, Chad?" She asked as they walked down the stairs.

"I'm 17, I'll be a senior at East High," he told her. "You?"

"Same, though, I won't be 17 until December," she replied. "Skipped a grade."

"Well, I'll keep a look out for you next Monday," he told her. "Give you a tour of the craziness that is East High."

"I'd like that," Gabriella smiled as they reached the front door.

"Don't tell me you're leaving," Carlos said when he saw Gabriella and Chad by the front door. "I just threw some hamburgers on the barbeque."

"No, I couldn't," Chad shook his head. "I'm imposed too much. I'm sure my mom will yell at me for bugging you guys when she gets home from her honeymoon."

"Your parents aren't home? Are you staying with somebody?" Carlos asked him.

"Just my step brother," Chad replied. "But he has a date tonight so I'm on my own for dinner."

"Then I insist that you stay," Carlos told Chad. "Besides, I have some more questions for you. Like why the bathroom window is different than all the other windows in the house."

Chad spent the rest of the evening with Gabriella, Carlos, Gabriella's sister Marie and her mom Marisol. He finally left their house at a quarter after ten with the promise to pick Gabriella and Marie up for school on Monday morning.

The house was quiet when he got home and he figured that Troy was still out on his date. He went up to his room and put the pictures on his desk. He changed into his pajamas then climbed into bed, falling asleep with Gabriella's image in his mind.

Last thing, I hope you guys enjoyed this small taste of the story... it's not going to be a long story... I only have 7 chapters planned... although I do have some alternate endings that I plan to write :-D

Please read and review!!