DISCLAIMER: I don't own anything, except for the plot.

"Gabriella? Yoo-hoo! Earth to Gabriella!"

The hand waving in front of her face brought her back to reality.

"I'm sorry Tay. It's just…been a really long day." the petite brunette told her friend, still attempting to shake out of her trance.

"You're telling me,"

"Hey Tay?" Gabriella began to awkwardly play with her pen as she tried to get her companion's attention.

"Yeah?" Taylor replied, not fully noticing as she copied down the chemistry problem on the board.

"Don't you wish we could go back to the good old days? Before high school changed us?"

Taylor stopped writing mid-sentence. Her short brown curls bobbed slightly as she looked up at her best friend. "What do you mean?"

And just as Gabriella was about to un-burden herself with the huge load on her shoulders, the bell rang. Taylor was willing to stick around after class but Gabriella just shook her head.

"Oh, nothing. I'll see you tomorrow." She tried her best to put on a smile, if only for Taylor. But her cheeks wouldn't budge.

Today had been the worst day in the world for Gabriella Montez. The electricity had gone out in the middle of the night, causing her alarm clock to break and making her late for school. This led to a fight with her mother. Gabriella hated fighting with her mother, almost more than when the Decathlon practices were canceled. And then at school, she had gotten in a fight with her other best friend, Kelsi, over some stupid decision over how the song she was singing for the spring musical should go. She now regretted fighting with Kelsi, especially since she knew way more about music than Gabriella ever would.

The rest of the day's events included sitting on gum, losing her only pencil, and failing her Language Arts exam. Now, Gabriella was not a stupid girl. But she just didn't understand literature. Basic things like science and math were easy to her, because there was only one right answer. But with Language Arts, the answers are based on your decision and opinion. It all depends on the type of person you are. And part of what scared her, was that Gabriella didn't know what type of person she was yet.

She walked down the hall miserably recalling today's affairs. Even though the day was over, she was staying after school to make up her literature exam. Afterwards she would go home, finish any homework she had, read a book, and go to sleep. And then the same thing would happen all over again.

"Hey, Gabriella," a voice called from behind. She turned around and looked straight into his eyes.

And there he was. The only guy she had ever known that could make her heart skip a beat. Or two or three. He could make her day with one little action and he could break her heart with less. No, he would never know that he was the puppeteer of her heart. She would never tell. She took pride in keeping the secret, and had never revealed it to anyone. This was part of what made her days hell. Sometimes she just felt like yelling "I love him!" at the top of her lungs standing on a table in the cafeteria. But that would just cause trouble. And Gabriella hated trouble.

"Hey Troy." She looked up and smiled. That was another thing; he could make her smile when no one else could.

He winked at her, and she secretly pretended that that wink was reserved for her only.

"How was today?"

"Fine." she lied.

"Good to hear," He smiled once more, showing off his pearly whites.

And with that, he was off. For that was their relationship. A simple 'How are you?' and that was it. That was the main reason she missed the good ol' days.

The good ol' days when they were best friends.

Troy and Gabriella had grown up together. They were the little boy and girl you would watch playing down the street, him chasing her. They were the kids who all the adults would point at and say "They're gonna get married one day." They were the best friends who stuck together threw thick and thin, through the adventures of elementary and middle school.

Then came high school. Gabriella could still remember the first day at East High.

Flashback

"…and I have to show you this place, its amazing! It's like a rooftop thingy with like flowers and plants everywhere! And –"

"Troy! Relax! We have 4 years to explore this place!" The two were walking down the halls together, after the last bell. Since Gabriella rode home with Troy, they hung out until his dad, the basketball coach, was finished working.

"I can't wait until tomorrow! Isn't high school amazing?" He rubbed his hands together excitedly.

She, on the other hand, begged to differ. She knew she wanted to get out of here the day it had begun. Sure, she had made new friends. And sure, she loved her chemistry class. But, she hated the fact that she had no classes with Troy. All this time, she was used to seeing his smiling face all throughout the day. Now, she would have to cope with the change.

"It's okay," she simply said, hoping for the subject to change.

"Okay? Gabs your crazy. It's absolutely amazing. I met the basketball team today. They were pretty cool actually, considering they haven't found out my dad's the coach yet."

He gave her his signature smirk and they both laughed.

End of Flashback

That had been the beginning. After that, they had slowly drifted apart. Neither of them could help it. It just happened. Gradually, they stopped hanging out after school and they stopped meeting up on the weekends. Now, they were down to a hello after school. That was it. That was all she got. Their friendship was gone, it was over.

And now she would do anything to get him back.