Hey. This story just popped into my head, and I decided to try and write it. I like this idea.. and I hope you do too.
Read my other story for High School Musical: It's Only Life. I have written other stories for One Tree Hill and Greek. Read them if you want.
Review and I will change what I can.
Summary: Having a lot of siblings isn't easy. With sisters who unknowingly overshadow you and brothers who are way to over protective, Gabriella just blended in. But when Troy Bolton arrives in town, he tries to show her blending in isn't always a good thing. TxG.
We were meant to live for so much more
Have we lost ourselves?
Somewhere we live inside
Somewhere we live inside
We were meant to live for so much more
Meant To Live, by Switchfoot
Gabriella's POV
I always was the one in my family to never get all the attention. Truth be told, I really didn't want all of the attention. I was never one to steal the spotlight. That was my sisters job to fight over.
That was until Troy came along. He changed everything. My life was, for the most part, simple. Go to school, come home, chill with friends, do homework, hang out with the family, and repeat the next day.
I never stood out.
Just because I didn't want all the attention, didn't mean I didn't want any. Troy helped me realize that. He helped me figure out just who exactly Gabriella Carmen Montez is.
This is my story.
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xoxo
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Gabriella's POV.. still
When you're one of eight, yes eight, one child always gets overlooked no matter how much you try to avoid it. That child would be me.
Okay, so maybe overlooked is not the right word. I don't really know the word for it, but that's me. My mom calls me the easy child. I guess that is what you could call me. The easy one.
I'm not even sure why my parents decided to have another kid after my sister, Isabelle, or Belle. Or Iz or Izzy, and so on. She is the oldest out of all of us. She is the drama queen in the family. She has to have what she wants when she wants it. Don't get me wrong, I love my sister, but she is a hand full.
Then came along my sister, Serena. She is the wild child. Again, why did my parents keep going? I don't know. I should be happy you know, because if they didn't I wouldn't be here. Anyways, Serena always has to stand out. It all started when she was thirteen and came home with her nipples pierced.. but that is a story for another time.
After Serena, is Felix. He is the first boy, so naturally he gets some extra attention from the parents. He is the ultimate jock, and, sadly for me, still lives at home. He is a freshman at U of A.
Serena and Isabelle are both in college out of state. Isabelle being a senior at Berkeley, and Serena a junior at UCLA.
Guess who came next? The twins. Yep, Marcus and Lucas, seniors in high school. They, sadly, decided to become jocks too. They rule the school. The most popular kids: co captains of the basketball team, Lucas is class president, and Marcus is also in baseball. It's not easy when you are talking to someone and they are like 'you're Marcus and Lucas' sister? How?'. But I live.
After them is me. Gabriella. A junior in high school. On the scholastic decathlon team. But I still don't get noticed, and what do you expect when you are considered a geek. Even though my best friend, Chad, is what you can call popular too. He's on the basketball team with Marcus and Lucas. His girlfriend, Taylor, is also my best friend.
Next in line is Vincent, but he will repeatedly tell you to call him Vince. He is two years younger than me, a mere freshman in high school. Even he gets noticed more than I do. But that could have to do with the fact that he is on the JV basketball team. Basketball is the only thing that matters at East High.
The youngest is Alejandro, but he we call him Alex, mainly because Alejandro is a mouth full. He is in eighth grade. He causes the most destruction in the house. It's because of him that we have a jar in the kitchen with his name on it. It's for whenever he breaks something, the money in the jar pays for it. My parents also call it the 'cuss jar' because we all have to put quarter in it when we swear.
Good parenting right?
It's at times like these I am happy I am the overlooked one.
Today was the last day of school for Thanksgiving. So that means that my sisters are coming home, and this time Serena decided to bring home her boyfriend. She calls him 'Mr. Right'. Cliche right? Anyways, his name is Kris, and is spelled that way. Weird.
So, naturally my mother is running around the house cleaning it. I don't know why, it will just be messed up again in a couple hours, but we let her have her fun at least trying.
Yes, being the overlooked one helps when you are trying to sneak out of the house.
My house 5 mins?
Was text-ed to me by Chad, and I weighted my options. Stay and pretend to clean, or go and have fun with your best friend, who happens to live across the street.
I chose the latter.
That is what drove me to be diving into a bush along my driveway as my dad, Carlos, pulled up. He's home early. My mom probably called about ready to kill someone because at this point in time all, yes all, my brothers are home. Felix, Marcus, Lucas, Vince, and Alex. Them all being home usually involves a large amount of furniture being broken, and the 'cuss jar' being filled to the brim. Felix, Marcus and Lucas usually just put dollar bills in it, just because they know they will be adding money to it later.
As my dad walked into the house I broke out into a sprint across the street then dove into Chad's bushes. Why would I do that? Because I'm an idiot. I heard laughing coming from Chad's house, and I knew the whole group was there, not just Chad.
The front door opened, revealing Chad, Taylor, Sharpay, and Ryan all laughing.
"Come on," Taylor said, waving her arms frantically.
I nodded and slid into the house.
Taylor had her hand up against her mouth. "That was great, really," she said, commenting on my Tom Cruise in Mission: Impossible impersonation.
I rolled my eyes. "Thanks, so much," I replied, clearly aggravated.
"I'm sorry, it's just, I get why you hid behind the bushes at your house, but why did you get in Chad's bushes?" Taylor asked as we walked into the living room, and all made ourselves at home, like usual.
"Well, I don't know if one of my brothers were looking out the window," I defended.
"All your brothers are home? Even Felix?" Sharpay asked, instantly reaching in her purse for a mirror.
I rolled my eyes, once again. "Yes, Shar. Even Felix. You have a weird crush on him from, like, the seventh grade. He does live at my house you know," I reminded her.
"I know that, Gab. But it's not like he is ever home. He is always at U of A partying, or practicing, and for classes," she told me, which was true. The only time he did come home was for dinner, and the boy can eat. "Is he still going out with that skank?" she asked with disgust.
I laughed. "Yes, Shar. He is still going out with Jaymi," I answered. Jaymi is Felix's girlfriend. I actually like this one. My parents love her, too. I hang out with her more than I do with Felix. Sad, but true. "If you-"
"Okay, I didn't ask you all here to listen to you two bicker," Chad told us.
"Hey, I am just happy to be out of my house," I responded. Other than that, we all quieted down.
"Look, remember when I told you all my friend was moving down here?" he asked us all, we nodded. That was all he talked about these days. "Well he is moving in this weekend. His parents are going through a nasty divorce, and his parents don't want him to be there for it. So, his mom is sending him here because my mom and his mom are, like, best friends.." he droned on, and after that I tuned him out. I really didn't need to know much more.
We all basically knew who Troy was. He has been Chad's best friend since birth. He moved away with his parents when he was eight. When Troy moved away, Chad noticed a girl across the street that was his age, me. I was already friends with Taylor, and we all have been best friends ever since. We met Sharpay and Ryan in seventh grade, and from then on it's been just the five of us.
"So you can all come?" he asked, and I finally remembered they were still in the room. Everyone else nodded. Chad looked over to me. "Ella?" he asked, obviously wanting me to answer the question.
"Oh, yeah, of course," I answered, figuring that was the answer he wanted.
Chad smiled. "Great, tomorrow at three," he confirmed.
What? No! That was when Serena's plane was getting in tomorrow. She wanted me there to see her and meet Kris. Me and Serena are like best friends, mostly because I don't try to take any attention from her like Isabelle does. When ever her and Belle are in the same place for an extended amount of time World War Three breaks out. Actually, I think we are up to World War Five in my house.
"I can't, Chad. I have to go get Serena at three," I told him.
Chad groaned. "El, I need you there, your the most I talk about other than Taylor," he whined.
"Oh thanks, boyfriend," Taylor said from the couch next to him.
"Anytime, babe," he replied with a smirk.
I groaned, too. He was going to try the guilt thing. But Serena would be pissed. One usually does not live through a verbal lashing from Serena Nicole Montez. "How about I go get Serena with Felix do the whole 'you're home!' thing, then as soon as I get home I run over here and meet Troy?" I suggested.
"Your going with Felix?" Sharpay asked, suddenly interested.
We both ignored her. "Deal," he answered.
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xoxo
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"Gab, come on!" Felix yelled to me from the bottom of the steps. We were running a bit late. Mostly because of him. Really. Was it my fault Jaymi called him and then wanted to talk to me for, like, ten minutes? Therefore postponing me getting dressed to go get Serena.
No, it was his fault. Because he had to talk to her for another twenty minutes, and that was all the time I had to get ready. Now, normally that was all I needed. But not to go get Serena. This year, I was finally going to skip the speech she gives me about how I am a girl and should show it.
This year I was going to dress, well, like her. Usually I wore a pair of comfortable jeans, and a t-shirt with a funny phrase on it, or a good band. You know, like the t-shirts you see in Walmart.
So, I put on a pair of form fitting jeans, you know the kind that are tight the whole way down your legs. A white t-shirt, plain, but it looked good with the dark denim jeans. And a black hoodie that you get at American Eagle. The kind that reaches the middle of your stomach to zip it up and not your hips like a normal human wears them.
"I'm coming, thirty seconds!" I shouted down to him as I zipped up my two inch heel black boots, them pulled my jeans down over them.
"I'm counting," came from the bottom of the steps, which caused me to jump up from my bed and run out my bedroom door.
I ran down the steps, and guess what happened next? I slipped on the last step. The last one! So unfair. Before I could hit the floor, Felix's arms flew out and caught me.
"I love you. Did I ever tell you that you are my favorite brother?" I told him as I got out of his arms and back onto my feet.
He laughed. "I love you, too," he responded. Then I noticed it. The brother look. The one where they look at what you are wearing and tell you to change. "Go change," he said in a monotone voice.
I told you. "Fel-lix," I whined, which weirded me out. I was not a whiner. "We have to leave now. Do you want Serena to get pissed because we are late?" I asked, him knowing full well that the answer was no. A mad Serena is not a Serena you want to be around.
"Gabi, swore!" Alex said running into the room. "She said pissed!" he narked. What do you expect from the youngest?
Felix sighed. "Let's go," he mumbled throwing open the door.
I smiled and walked out behind him.
"Hey! Where's the twenty-five cents?" Alex yelled after us, and we both ignored him. He is the youngest.
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"Do you have to do that?" Felix asked as we were waiting for Serena to walk down the terminal and find us.
I was confused. "Do what?" I asked. All I was doing was sitting there, next to him.
"Cross your legs like that!" he clarified.
Again, confused. "Like what. A girl?" I asked, laughing.
"Yes!" he exclaimed. "Every guy in here is looking at you," he told me. "I can't believe you are even wearing pants like that."
I looked up, no one was looking at me. They were all busy in the Thanksgiving rush looking for loved ones. "Felix, no one is looking at me," I corrected. "And pants like what?" I asked. Pants made for a girl?
"Tight.. ones. Your only fifteen," he said.
Fifteen? Fifteen! "Felix, first of all, I am seventeen. Not fifteen. Second of all, these are the same pants Jaymi wears, and Serena, and Izzy-" I started but was cut off.
"Gabriella!" someone yelled and both of our heads snapped in the other direction to see Serena with a guy attached to her hip.
"Serena!" I squealed. What? I am a girl, and even though I am not the drama queen it doesn't mean I don't miss her when she is gone. I jumped up and ran over to her, she met me half way and we hugged.
After she finally released me we greeted each other. "Chica, you look hott. I am glad you finally listened to me and wore the pants I gave you," she greeted. Yep, this is my sister.
"Wait, you gave her those pants?" Felix asked, not bothering to even say hi to her. That's love right there.
Serena pulled away. "Yes I did, little brother," she answered. "Leave her alone, she looks hott but classy. I wear worse things. Hell, I am wearing something worse now," she defended me.
I finally looked down to see what she's wearing. Tight jeans like me and a sweater that stopped under her boobs, exposing her whole stomach which showed off her belly button piercing. She didn't look bad, though. She can pull things off like this.
"But I think I have a shirt in my suitcase that would looked better than that," she added, looking at me. She finally looked over to see what Felix was staring at. Kris. "Oh, yeah. Guys this is my boyfriend, Kris. Kris this is my little sister Gabriella, and my little brother Felix," she introduced.
"Hi," he said shaking both of our hands. He had a black t-shirt on with baggy jeans. He had two tattoo's, one on each arm. This was actually a step up for her. Her last one, Simon, had a green Mohawk with, like, fifty piercings. I'm not lying. I also had to give him credit for not looking at my sister like a piece of meat. Or me, for that matter. Usually her boyfriends looked at me and made me feel very uncomfortable.
"Hey, nice to meet you," I told him, and he smiled. She could have this one around for a while.
Felix did that whole man handshake thing. "Hey, dude," he greeted. "Ah, we have to get going," he said looking down at his watch. "Mom will freak out if we are late."
Serena nodded, knowing this was true. She grabbed Kris' hand and looped her other arm threw mine.
-
We pulled up to the house and my mother flew out the front door, and down the sidewalk.
"Mami!" Serena said and ran up to hug her.
Kris followed her, awkwardly.
"Felix, I have to run over to Chad's for a little bit. Call me when dinner is done?" I asked him as he got out of the car.
He nodded. "Yeah, whatever," he said and I thanked him.
I sped walked over to Chad's house. I was wearing two inch heels. I walked in the house without knocking. I never knocked, Chad's parents were like my own. They looked at me like the daughter they never had. They treated Sharpay and Taylor like that, too.
"Chad!" I shouted into the house. I didn't know where they were.
Sharpay came trotting out in her five inch heels. "Gabs!" she whisper yelled. "You have to see this guy, he is hott. Not as hott as Felix, but he if fine!" she told me and pulled me into the living room where everyone was.
"Ouch, Shar. I do have an arm socket, you know!" I exclaimed, pulling my arm back. I heard laughter around me and Chad ran over then proceeded to pick me up.
"Gabi, your here!" he said excitedly.
I laughed. "Chad, I said I would come over after getting Serena," I reminded him.
"Come on," he said and pulled my arm further into the living room. "Troy!" he yelled and I heard footsteps behind me.
I turned around and looked at him. I was frozen. My eyes locked on his. I never locked up like this before. I did have older brothers and so, they brought hott friends over. I acted weird around them but I never felt frozen in shock like this. My heart was also thumping loudly. He had to hear it. Or at least Chad. Like that weird Edgar Allen Poe story.
Only a second must have passed because he stuck his hand out and smiled. "Hi, I'm Troy," he introduced himself. His eyes never left mine and I involuntarily shivered, he smiled even wider than he was. He didn't notice, did he?
Speak! I shouted at myself. "Ah, hi. Gabriella. That's me. I mean, my name is Gabriella," I said. Your an idiot! I yelled in my brain. "Ah, yeah."
I heard a snicker at I knew Sharpay and Taylor were laughing at me. I felt my cell phone vibrate against my thigh and it brought me back to life. I removed my hand from his and pulled it out.
Serena
It read. I furrowed my eyebrows. Why was she calling me already? I have only been gone for, like, five minutes.
"Hello?" I asked into the phone.
"Gabriella!" Serena shouted, and I pulled the phone away from my ear.
Chad laughed behind me. "Serena's home," he announced, which everyone knew already.
I groaned. "What?" I asked.
"Why aren't you home? Where are you? Chad's? Do I need to come and get you chica?" she asked rapidly.
I took in a deep breath. "I'm not home because I am with Chad, yes at Chad's, and no you do not need to come get me because the last time I checked I wasn't five. Why do you need me home?" I asked in return.
I heard a laugh that was new, and I knew it was Troy. And I felt this weird tingly sensation explode in my stomach. What was that? That never happened before.
"That's it," was all she said, followed by a hung up.
I closed the phone and laughed awkwardly. "Uh-oh," I whispered more to myself than anyone else.
"Before she comes and yanks you away like a rag doll, can we come over tomorrow and talk to Lucas and Marcus?" Chad asked quickly,
"Who's we?" I asked, fearing the answer.
Chad shrugged. "Probably all of us. I want Troy to play basketball with them, because Troy has got some serious game. And Sharpay will want to come over and stalk Felix, and Taylor and Ryan will probably want to come too because the Montez house is always entertaining to be in," he answered smiling. He was really happy to see Troy, which was cute in a weird way.
No! I didn't want Troy at my house. Or with my brothers, or sisters. Because by tomorrow it will be sisters. Isabelle is coming in at eight AM. I didn't even know him, and I didn't want to be around him until I figure out this whole heart throbbing, tingly feeling thing.
Before I could answer, Serena threw open the front door and marched over loudly in her four inch heels. "Hi, Mr. and Mrs. Danforth, and everyone else," she greeted and grabbed my arm then proceeded to pull me away.
"Ah, yeah, I'll call you!" I shouted and let her pull me. "Why do you need me home?" I repeated my question from earlier.
"Dinner's ready," she answered.
I rolled my eyes. Didn't I ask Felix to call when dinner was ready? Yes, I did. "Why couldn't you just tell me that?" I asked.
"I have to talk to everyone at dinner," she simply said.
"Shouldn't you wait for Izzy if this is a conversation for everyone?" I asked as we walked into the house.
"Bell already knows," she told me.
It seemed like Kris had made himself at home. He was playing Xbox with one of the twins, and Alex was sprawled over his back, egging him on in the game. Sometimes, most of the time really, Alex acted like a fifth grader. My mom calls him a late bloomer. Yeah, right.
"Kids! Dinner is ready. Gabi's home," my mom announced causing everyone to stop what they were doing and run to the dinner table.
"Yeah, Gabi's home. We could have eaten five minutes ago if she didn't have to run off to Chad's," Lucas taunted.
I stuck my tongue out at him. "I wouldn't have even gone over there if I didn't have to meet Troy," I replied and his eyes zeroed in on me from across the table. Uh-oh, not a good sign. Big Brother Stare as I called it. He always did it when I talked about a guy other than Chad or Ryan.
This was the only time my brothers noticed me. When I talked about a guy. Other than that it was the girl of the week or basketball.
"Who's Troy?" Marcus asked.
"Yeah, who's Troy?" Lucas repeated.
I felt blood run to my cheeks and I blushed. Ah! Why was I doing this? I talked to the kid for what ten seconds? What the hell was happening to me?
"He's Chad's friend from Phoenix or something. He is moving in with him until the end of the school year because his parents divorce is supposed to be bad. Then his mom is moving out here with him," I answered, looking down at my plate.
"Oh, was that the blond kid staring at you next to Chad?" Serena asked. Bad! Bad Serena! Didn't she know the Big Brother Stare and what it meant? No, of course not. Because she's older and they couldn't do much about who she dated. Besides, they seemed to like Kris already anyways.
"He was staring at her?" Vince asked, suddenly intrigued about me. Hey! He's younger! That isn't fair. I should be talking to him about the girls he likes, not the other way around. With boys of course. Wait? I liked Troy? Where did that come from?
"You should have seen the guys staring at her in the airport," Felix added in.
They all started at once, except Alex. "Stop!" I just about shouted. "First of all, Troy wasn't staring at me, and second of all, no one was staring at me in the airport, Felix. And my new favorite brother is Alex," I told them all. Alex was the only one not involved with the conversation. He smiled widely. At least someone was happy at the moment.
"Guys, leave your sister alone. No one was staring at her," my dad defended. Ha! At least he stuck up for me.
"I'm getting married to Kris!" Serena yelled and everyone stopped eating. Forks clattered onto their plates and I spit out my drink on to Lucas.
"Gab!" he whined.. and then my parents started yelling.
Keep going? Like?
READ THIS TO UNDERSTAND STORY BETTER!
Here is everyone, I decided to make each person an actor. So you guys can connect the faces. Look them up if you don't know who they are.
Serena: Francia Raisa
Felix: Micheal Copon (same name as he is on One Tree Hill)
Marcus and Lucas: Marcus Coloma (duplicated)(I kept his name)
Isabelle: Amber Stevens
Vince: Taylor Lautner
Alex: Jake T. Austin (truthfully, I couldn't find anyone else)
Jaymi: Kaley Cuoco
Kris: Ross Thomas
Rem: All the Montez's are Spanish-ish.
REVIEW PLEASE. I NEED FEEDBACK!! ALSO REM THAT THIS IS WAY AU!!