Thank you, Wildcat
After the curtain went up on the wildcats' final performance together, each member went to find their families. Troy's parents reassured him that they were happy for him, following his announcement that he would be pursuing both basketball and theatre at Berkeley. "I'm proud of you, son" Coach Bolton told him. Troy's main concern in the deliverance of his news had been his father's reaction, so he was glad to see that he had had a change of heart over his son's future. Of course, his decision had been swayed by the thought of being closer to a certain brunette beauty; but Troy was confident that his choice of college was perfect for him in all aspects.
Gabriella, meanwhile, still had tears in her eyes at the heartfelt words of her boyfriend's speech as she hugged her mother and cousin, who were beaming with pride. "Oh honey, your show was amazing! I'm a very proud mother" Maria Montez grinned at her daughter. Once the students had been commended by their families, they waved them goodbye and headed to the after party which was hosted by, who else, Sharpay.
But Troy and Gabriella stayed behind, deciding to spend some time alone in their secret hideout on the roof. They graduated properly the following day and knew this might be their last time on the rooftop. They settled down on the bench, and Gabriella was the first to break the silence. "Troy, that speech you made...well, I don't know what to say. It was beautiful. Are you sure this is what you want? Berkeley?" She couldn't help but worry that she may have unfairly influenced his decision, and she didn't want him to have any regrets because of her.
"Absolutely. I've never been so sure of anything, Gabi. I knew what I was going to do the moment I saw you standing there, when I came to get you yesterday" he said seriously. "You did? Really?" she was shocked, he had hidden it so well. "Yeah, really. I suddenly realised that I couldn't be that far away from you. Not 1,053 miles away." He had always known, he supposed. It wasn't until the last few weeks that it had occurred to him that he could change his mind about U of A.
"Wow." Gabriella felt tears begin to form again. Troy continued to amaze her. "Hey, don't cry" Troy told her, kissing her on the nose. She giggled and began to explain, "Sorry, I can't help it. It's just, first you encouraged me to do what was best for myself, even when it meant having to leave you. Then you drove all that way to come get me; and now...now this. We get to be together, and I don't have to leave you behind. Even after I let you down by refusing to fly back myself." Troy looked at her in surprise. "Hey hey hey, you never let me down. I understand why you couldn't do it. I know how hard it was for you to say goodbye."
"It was. It hurt so much to make that phone call. And it wasn't exactly the way I had planned to tell you I love you" she said shyly, looking down. Troy lifted her chin so that Gabriella was looking at him, straight in the eye, and said what he had been wanting to say for weeks now. "Speaking of which, you never gave me the chance to say it back. I love you, Gabriella."
"I love you too, Wildcat" she replied with a smile. Troy then leaned in and kissed her gently. When they broke apart, Gabriella told him, "After moving so many times, I had to start preparing myself. And I knew that this time would be different, because I wasn't just saying goodbye to friends, like the other times. This time I was saying goodbye to you – the one person who saw me for who I really am." Throughout her speech, Troy had been staring at her intently, thinking.
"You know, you've done the same for me. Nobody else thought of me as anything other than the basketball boy, but you...you brought out the real Troy."
Gabriella grinned at this, and replied "and you saw through the freaky genius girl. Thank you, my Wildcat."