Misadvised, Misunderstood and Mistaken

A/N: My first High School Musical story! Thanks to Titanic-fanatic for inspiring me to write again. You broke my long-time writer's block. THANK YOU!

Disclaimer: I don't own Troy, Chad or Gabriella. I do, however own this storyline and Lindsey/other new characters.

Chapter One

Gabriella slowly shook her head, locks of smooth black hair swaying from side to side and brushing gently up against her olive skin. Tears trickled down her cheeks, staining them with the pain she now felt inside.

"Gab," Troy's voice shook with hidden emotion. "Gab, please…"

Gabriella shook her head faster, turning her glassy brown eyes towards the ground. She bit her lip, desperately holding back the fresh batch of tears that were threatening to fall.

Troy reached out and took Gabriella's hand. "Please understand."

Gabriella looked up into Troy's teary eyes and blinked back more tears. "I understand what I saw," she replied quietly.

Troy's eyes were the only things that gave away any emotion as he took a deep breath. "But what you saw was wrong, Gab. It wasn't me!"

"Then who was it?" demanded Gabriella; fresh tears escaping her big brown eyes. "Was it Chad? Zeke, maybe?"

Troy shook his head, closing his eyes momentarily. "That's not what I mean. I wasn't me… I – " He looked desperately into his girlfriend's eyes. "You've got to believe me!"

"I don't know what to believe, Troy," she murmured, staring at Troy's hands gently squeezing her own.

"Believe me," insisted Troy, his brilliant blue eyes willing Gabriella to look up at him. She didn't.

"How can I? I saw it, Troy," her voice softened. "You tell me one thing, but my eyes tell me another."

"Gab-"

Gabriella raised her eyes to look directly into Troy's. "Troy, I'm so sorry, but I can't do this. We can't go on like this." With that she pulled her hands from his grasp.

"Gabriella no! You don't mean that!" Troy's hands were suspended between himself and Gabriella, wanting to hold her.

Gabriella removed the "T" necklace from her neck and placed it in Troy's hands. And without another word she turned and ran around the corner, disappearing into the night, trying to leave the pain behind.

Tears finally trekked down Troy's face, trailing down to drip off of his chin and landing on the T necklace. Troy looked down at it through blurry eyes, remembering the memories the necklace held within it's crystallized exterior.

"The Wildcats' superstar is... afraid?" "No, no, I'm not afraid. I'm just... scared." "You know, I once scored 41 points on a league game." "No way." "Mhmm. Yeah, and on the same day I invented the space shuttle and microwave popcorn." "In my other schools, I was the freaky Math girl. It's cool coming here and being... whoever I want to be. So, you want to do the callbacks?" "Hey, just call me freaky callback boy!" "When I was singing with you, I felt like just a girl." "You even look like one too!" "I don't want to do the callbacks either. I mean… who are we trying to kid? You've got your team and now I've got mine. I'll do the scholastic decathlon and you win the championships. It's where we belong. Go Wildcats." "But I..." "Me neither."

Taking a deep steadying breath, Troy turned slowly and walked down the street towards his house, his shoulders sagging and his feet dragging.

Gabriella sat on her bed, flipping tearfully through her scrapbook. Pictures of her and Troy smiling lovingly at the camera littered the book's every page. Memories.

With a sigh she closed the book and lay on her back on the large bed. She couldn't stop seeing Troy behind her closed eyelids. No matter what she did, that awful scene wouldn't leave her alone…

She was walking down the long corridor in the college, on her way out from the Science club. If she was lucky she'd be able to catch Troy as he left basketball practice. She was a little late leaving today, but hopefully he would still be there.

She pushed the heavy gym door open and paused with the door resting against her hand. She glanced around the room, hoping to find Troy practicing after the others had left. Her breath caught in her throat as she spotted her boyfriend.

Troy was against the wall, his hands resting lightly on the sides of the lean blonde who was pressing into his body. The two were lip-locked, her hands placed on the nape of his neck

That was all Gabriella needed to see. She turned on her heel and raced out of the gym and down the corridor, chased by the haunting clang of the strong gym door closing shut behind her – barring Troy and the mysterious girl in the gym, getting farther and farther away the more she ran…

Troy lay on his back in his bed. Grabbing the basketball from the dresser beside him he began tossing it up into the air and catching it. His mind was a blur. He was slowly piecing together what Gabriella must have thought happened. He was a mixture of emotions, going over the situation in his head over and over again, trying to find a sliver of solid proof to show to Gabriella to prove that he wasn't cheating on her…

"Don't stay here too much longer. You don't want your dad to come here expecting to find you sinking jump shots and instead see you smooching with Gabriella," advised Chad, giving Troy a slap on the back before jogging across the gym to follow the rest of his team-mates out the door.

Troy smiled to himself, sitting down on the bleachers to wait for Gabriella.

"What are you smiling about, Troy?" asked an overly peppy voice.

Troy turned to see Lindsey, the head cheerleader, sit down beside him and turn her quizzical blue eyes on him.

Troy shrugged. "Nothing really."

"Oh." Lindsey moved closer to him, her thigh toughing his leg. "What are you doing here so late after the others have left?"

Troy found it pointless to point out that they had only left moments before. "I am waiting for Gabriella."

Lindsey shook her head. "Troy, don't you realize that you can do so much better than her?" She placed her hand on his shoulder.

Troy stood up, uncomfortably shaking off Lindsey's hand. She followed him. "Lindsey, Gabriella is my girlfriend." Troy walked over to the edge of the bleachers towards the door where he expected Gabriella to enter through.

"But why?" Lindsey grabbed Troy's hand. "Why do you settle for her when you can have someone like me?"

Troy slipped his hand out of the cheerleader's grip and took a step backwards. "Lindsey, stop it."

Lindsey placed her hands on either of Troy's shoulders and smiled coyly, flipping her long blonde hair flirtatiously over her shoulder. "Stop what?" she asked innocently, lightly massaging Troy's sore shoulders.

Troy swallowed hard. "Lindsey…"

Lindsey leaned in close to Troy and whispered, "You know you like it." With that she leaned in the full way and locked her lips with Troy's. Her hands rubbed the back of his neck.

Troy placed his hands on either side of her body, gently trying to push the girl off. His eyes closed and his body shuddered at the intensity of her kiss.

CLANG!

Troy's eyes opened to see, over Lindsey's shoulder Gabriella's long hair flying behind her as she raced down the hall.

"Gabriella!"

With a deep inward sigh, Troy caught his ball and set it on his chest. His arms fell to his sides as he stared up at his ceiling, the shadows from the night casting into his room. The basketball rolled to a floor with a dull thud, echoing Troy's empty heart.

A/N: Any opinions yet? Do you like the format? Review and let me know if this is a keeper or not. Thanks! Lots of love!