Author's note: So I don't own HSM or anything. These chapters are a lot shorter than in my other stories, so it's a lot easier to read. ;)

"Another A, Miss Montez," Miss Darbus beamed, "You haven't had anything less for the whole quarter. Good job!" Gabriella smiled back as she took her report from Miss Darbus. Her goal was to get a perfect score in at least three of her classes this quarter, and it was working pretty well now. There was drama, literature, and History II. She was trying for a scholarship, and A+ definitely looked good on applications.

"Nice job, Gabi," Taylor said. "I got a 97, which is good, I guess." She giggled at her own nerdiness. Gabriella laughed as she put the paper into her bag. The bell rang shortly after and the two girls walked to lunch.

"Wow, don't eat too much now," Chad said as Gabriella sat down with a small salad. On his tray there was: Five cookies, some random slabs of bacon, two hotdogs, a poptart, a huge tub of fries, and a large Gatorade to wash it all down. Gabriella's stomach grumbled slightly as she looked at Chad's food.

"Yeah, but I really like ranch salad,"

"Whatever," and with that, Chad was too busy scarfing down his butt load of food to care what Gabriella was eating. She sighed quietly as she saw that even Sharpay, who usually ate less than her, was eating a cheeseburger. Gabriella ate and talked happily. As her stomach persisted in grumbling, she gave in and got a cookie. The sweet taste of the gooey chocolate chips in her mouth was irresistible, and before she knew it, she had eaten five more.

"That's better," Chad nodded his approval. Gabriella, however, was not so pleased.

--

During History II, Gabriella couldn't concentrate. She could not believe she had eaten so much crap for lunch. She examined her wrists as the teacher droned on and on. They were skinny, most bracelets wouldn't fit her. A bone stuck out below her pinky. She'd always wished she could gain some fat in her wrists to cover that bone. Next, she looked at her legs. The calves were fine, but her thighs were a different story. Every time she would sit, the fat in her thighs would spread out, like gooey marshmallows or something. Gooey chocolate chips. Six freakin cookies. God, why had she done that? Those cookies, among other things, were what was making her thighs so big.

Discreetly, Gabriella looked down at her chest. No weight there. How could her thighs be so huge, but her boobs so small? It just didn't even out. Wiggling her toes, she looked down at her feet. She could see the veins and the bones bulging out. Man, her feet were gross.

Gabriella looked up just in time to hear something about Ares before the teacher called on her to answer his question. She had no idea what to do, so she said, "Um, he's the god of war."

"Yes, thank you for repeating what I just said Ms. Montez," the teacher said evilly, mocking her in his own way. A few people in the class sniggered. "I asked you whether he was a Greek or Roman god."

"Oh, um… Roman?" Gabriella guessed, knowing she had a 50/50 chance of getting it right.

"If you had been listening, you would have known that Ares is a Greek god while Mars is the Roman god." Gabriella blushed as more people laughed at her. She hated getting answers wrong like that. Her classmates seemed to get some kind of joy in her mistakes. She passed it off as jealousy and tried to ignore it, but when it was this loud, she had trouble acting like it wasn't happening.

Tears sprung to her eyes at her humiliation. She strove to be perfect, especially in this class. She didn't know why, but this teacher hated her, and so she hated him. She basically wanted to outshine him, show him she was better than him and his stupid class. So far, she was doing well. Every time something like this would happen, she would remember how in seventh grade, she had taken the SAT.

Out of 1600, she had gotten a 1450. And that was without studying. He on the other hand, had gotten a 1360, when he took it in high school. She needed these kinds of 'reassurances' to keep her self esteem up when she was in here. The time was approaching when she would have to take it again, but she wasn't all that nervous.

And yet, despite this, she was still immensely unpopular. She thought that the fact that she was dating the most popular guy in the grade would boost her social status, but she was wrong. She was just a quiet nerd with some good vocal chords and a boyfriend who was way too good for her.

True, she had Taylor, and some of Troy's friends now, but she was still very lonely. She loved it when Sharpay would talk with her, even if she was a bitch. Sharpay was the symbol of popularity, which Gabriella craved far more than chocolate cookies. Those people, they all knew exactly who they were: how to act, how to dress, what to talk about, how to be cool.

She, on the other hand, wasn't cool and the caustic laughs of those around her stung her as deeply as they had on the first day she'd attended East High. Gabriella decided to pay close attention to everything the teacher said so that she wouldn't be caught off guard again. So, for the moment, she forgot all about the cookies, and her thighs, and as usual, focused on her school work.

--

"Go Troy!" Troy heard Gabriella scream. Before any one had even noticed he was on the other siad of the court, he shot a three pointer to take the lead. 56-53. The stands were roaring their approval as Troy soaked in the noise. He loved moments like these. All time seemed to slow to a point of almost nothing. He looked towards the stands, where he immediatly spotted the most beautiful girl in the entire gym. The entire world. And there she was, beaming right back at him.

Suddenly, time sped up and the ball was being thrown in bounds. Troy spirnted over to the guard handling the ball, and before he could react, Troy had stolen the ball from him. He dribbled in a steady rhythm towrds the hoop. Approaching the three point line again, he poised himself. He tunred his head slightly as the ball left his hands. Gabriella was still smiling straight at him, jumping up and down with the rest of the crowd. He gave her a wink and one of his gorgeous smiles. He knew without turning his head, that the ball had made it in, becasue the gym erupted in screams yet again.

Troy pumped his fists in the air as the buzzer sounded for the last time.

Chad, Taylor, Zeke, Sharpay, Kelsi, and Ryan all accompanied Troy and Gabriella to their favorite pizzeria.

--

"Are you feeling okay, Gabi?" Taylor asked, eyeing Gabriella's almost empty tray.

"Yeah, I just ate a lot for lunch. Plus i had a huge snack after school," Gabriella answered, nibbling a tiny bite into a huge slab of pizza. The warm goo hung off the sides, dripping onto the tray below. Gabriella scooped up the cheese and folded it back on top of the pizza. She set it down and continued conversaiton with Taylor and Sharpay. It took Gabriella over 35 minutes to eat that one piece of pizza, and by the time she was finished, it was too late to get another one.

Gabriella's stomach grumbled as she looked over her shoulder into the now empty pizzeria, the mouthwatering aroma lingering even after the door closed behind her. She ignored her stomach and looked ahead towards Taylor's car. The two got in and drove away towards Taylor's house, where she would be spending the night.

Author's note: So it's not the best chapter ever, but i thought it was okay. I love reviews, no matter how short, so please, review!