Hey guys! This is my first story so patience please :) plus, I am sure it will be full of mistakes, sorry about that! I hope my English will improve while I write this story so if you want to correct me in your reviews, go ahead! By the way, Ryan doesn't exist in this story.
Patience. One thing Gabriella Montez doesn't have.
She was waiting for her best friend Sharpay but she, again, was late. Twenty minutes late if you ask her.
"Why does she need this amount of time to get ready? We only are going to the gym!?!?!" thought Gabriella.
Sure, they were going to their daily date with the gym where they were going to find their other 2 best friends, Taylor and Kelsi, and after that, they were going to Taylor's house to have a sleepover (again, one of their weekly dates).
You see, these 4 girls were like the outcast, the lowlife in their high school and all because they were always together and they don't mix themselves with the others, well except for 4 boys, but this is another story. This was not because they thought less of their classmates, but because they were friends since they were in diapers (all their moms went to school, high school and college together, and through their lives, and since they were married, each Friday was the day that all 4 couples meet to go to dinner together, and since the girls' birth, they also went to those dinners so it was like "you have no other option: you 4 must be friends cause you are going to see each other at least once at week"), and they were used to each other, they didn't need more people around…mostly because they didn't believe in those social cliques that reigned East High life, and they didn't want to be with people who only thought about them in those terms.
Since the very beginning these 4 girls clicked, they were friends since the very first minute so each one of them knew everything about the others.
Suddenly, a "RING" echoed in her house breaking her thoughts, so she went to answer the door. There, she found her friend dressed only in pink.
"Always so discrete…" Thought Gabriella.
"Gabiiiiiiiiiii! Long time no see you!!! I've missed you!!!!" Yes. Sharpay is like this, always screaming and being melodramatic.
"We see each other everyday Shar, plus those 20 or so times we speak on the phone", best friends, like I've told you.
"Why Gabi, I feel so loved here" answered Sharpay with a voice full of sarcasm.
"Oh Shar, don't being so drama queen" said Gabi giggling and giving her friend a tight hug.
"Oh! You know me" answer Sharpay also giggling. "Well, enough of this PDA, let's go to the gym. Tay and Kelsi probably are already there", and with that, both girls went to Shar's pink convertible (have I mentioned you how much this girl adore this colour?), turned on the radio and went to the gym singing their favourite song ever, Girls just wanna have fun.
When they arrived to the gym, they found Tay and Kels in the parking lot, near Kelsi's car. "About time!" screamed Taylor.
"Oh you know her; I've been waiting for her 20 minutes in my house". Gabriella grinned earning a glare from Sharpay.
"Oh Gabi, no need to repeat that." Sharpay said dismissing them with a wave of her manicured hand, "We have cleared how drama queen I am and how you can't understand that I want to look my best when I am out of my house."
"Only when you are OUT your house Sharpay?!!?" screamed the other 3 giggling.
"Well, well, you are all jealous! This look is hard to maintain, you know!" and with that the stormed to the gym's door. The other 3 couldn't help it but laugh with their friend antics while they were entering the gym.
There they found Sharpay talking with Rebeca, the receptionist and a good friend of them. "Rebeca, hi!" chorused the 3 girls while smiling.
"Hey girls!" said the receptionist. With that the 5 girls exchanged hugs and greeting words.
Forty five minutes later, the girls were in the locker room changing into their clothes and talking about this and that when Taylor suggested that they could go to the movies before go to her house to have their weekly sleepover. The others agreed and they went to their cars and went to the mall. While parking their cars, the girls noticed 2 more cars really known by them.
"Look Kelsi, they boys are here too" said Taylor. Both girls got out of the car and went to Shar's car, where they could see a fuming Gabi and a Sharpay re-doing her make up.
"Come on Shar! You can't be so full of yourself!" whined Gabi.
With a look full of mock hate Sharpay answered "Ok. I am ready. Shall we go, now? Or you want to start with describing me again?"
The 4 girls exchanged looks and started laughing in an uncontrollable and hysteric way.
"Well, well, well, look who is here!". The 4 girls stopped laughing just in time to see 4 amused boys looking at them with a knowing look.
"Oh boys! You know you love us so shush!" answered Kelsi smiling while the entire group exchanged hugs.
Yeah, they were friends with those lunkheads, like sometimes Taylor called them (in a loving way, not in a mean way), who also were against those social cliques and rules that people in is East High considered so important. You see, their 8 fathers were best friends from college, so from time to time those 8 families met for dinner, birthdays and stuff like that. The 8 children were not the best of friends between them; it was more like 4 brothers (the boys) and 4 sisters (the girls) which casually are friends. In the school they didn't went together: the girls always went to their games and the boys to their plays or decathlon competitions for cheer them but nothing more. In fact, the boys were like the kings of East High, cause they were the stars of the basketball team, but out of that they didn't think about social cliques or those social rules; on the contrary, they always went together, and mostly they hanged out with the other members of their team when not the 4 alone.
Plus, the 4 boys had said how against it they were when some cheerleader or jerk treated bad and bullied someone (mostly our girls, cause they were so different between them that people couldn't understand that 2 drama talents went with 2 nerds…plus ignoring those social rules and ignoring everyone's opinion). The girls respected the boys for that, and though they never went to them to explain if they were bullied or not, the boys had too much contacts in school and always knew when something happened and defend them, but nobody knew that all of them knew the others since they were all in diapers and were friends out of school.
"What are you doing here?" asked Chad.
"We were going to the movies. Would you want to come with us?" answered Gabi.
"We can't girls, sorry! We must return to my house cause we are helping our parents with the decorations for the party. In fact, we have come here to buy some things they had forgotten when they had come here in the morning".
"Oh yeah Troy! Tomorrow is the big day, right?" a giggling Taylor asked. All the boys groaned at that, while all the girls started to laugh.
You see, the second Saturday of the month was the day when one of them (each time one different couple) threw a party where those 8 couples could catch up. Usually, the children didn't have to go, but this time the boys didn't have another option. They offered because they wanted to earn some money and their parents took the opportunity, so instead of book a catering service, they decided to "employ" the boys as waiters, which, by the way, was something the boys didn't were looking forward to.
"Oh! Come on big boys, you offered, so is your own fault." said Gabi giggling.
Troy took his opportunity to start laughing…and with that the others did the same. The girls exchanged confused looks because they didn't see the joke.
Between gasps, Jason said "well, looks like you don't know nothing about how your own parents thought that also it will be a great experience for you 4!!" and started laughing again.
The 4 girls exchanged worried looks, and Sharpay being that drama queen grabbed her pink Iphone and waited for someone to answer. "Mooooooooooooooom!!!! When you were planning to tell us that we also will be at the party??? I have nothing to wear!!! You are SO lucky I am in the mall now because this way I can buy a pretty dress and…"
"No Shar, dear, you won't go to the party…" answered Giselle but was cut by Sharpay speaking again.
"How? Mom, I am with Gabi, Kelsi and Taylor and we've found Zeke, Troy, Chad and Jason, and they have told us that we also go to that party…" Sharpay explained her mother.
"Yes dear, but also as waiters like them. Jack and Lucille have decided to throw a real party, so there will be more college friends of your fathers and only 4 waiters were not enough". Giselle answered vaguely.
While Sharpay was talking with her mother, Troy went to Gabriella and told her to back off a little if they knew what was good for them. Gabi didn't understand him but follow his advice, so the 3 girls were behind Shar's car with the 4 boys. Exchanging confusing looks with the other girls Gabi asked the boys what was happening, and when Chad was about to answer, a piercing scream echoed in the parking lot.
"Mother you can't be serious!" Sharpay screamed. "What waiters!! Are you joking I assume!"
"No Sharpay, is settled. Tonight you girls will go to Taylor's house for your weekly sleepover, but tomorrow morning you will go to Troy's house and you will help them" Giselle explained her distraught daughter who, angry, shut her phone.
The rest appeared again from behind the car and Taylor asked Sharpay what the problem was. She repeated her conversation with her mother and suddenly all clicked in the girls' brains. They boys were laughing again, and the girls, narrowing their eyes told them at once "RUN!" Not needing to be told twice, the 4 boys were to their cars but still laughing.
"I don't want to go to the movies now…" said the 4 girls at once. With that, all of them went to Tay's house to have their sleepover muttering how their parents were sometimes the worst.
On Saturday morning, all 4 girls woke up refreshed and ready for a girl's day, but suddenly remembered that today was the day they were meant to go to Troy's house to help them and to be their parents' friends' waiters. "Oh joy" they though.
One by one, they showered and put some sweat pants and a T-shirt and started walking the 10 minutes walk till Troy's house. Luckily enough the 8 teenagers lived in the same street so they weren't far one from the other.
When they arrive to Troy's they rang the door and waited for someone to open the door for them. When nobody came Gabi opened the door and went in with the others in row. Inside the house everybody was frenetic arranging decorations, preparing the food and the drinks…and the girls exchanged amused looks when they saw all 4 boys arguing with Chad's mother, Marie, who was giving them suits. "Are you joking right? I am not going to wear those things!" Chad complained.
"Well too bad Chad cause you are. Now, take them and go upstairs to change. I'm watching the girls and I still must give them their uniforms." Marie didn't hesitated.
The boys look at the girls who were laughing, and Zeke, annoyed, take one of their waiters' uniforms and gave it to Sharpay, who looked it like it confused and like it was an alien or something like that. "Now now ladies, you also have one." His smirk was clearly evident in his face. "So there, here you go and you can go upstairs with us to change yourselves."
The girls started muttered something which sounded like "shit" under their breaths, but went to greet Marie with a kiss and a hug nonetheless, and went upstairs with the boys.
Hours later, the party was full of people who our 8 teenagers didn't know. They were tired and fed up with their tasks so they had arranged breaks of 15 minutes for each pair without their parents knowing of course.
When it was Troy and Gabriella turn to have the break they decided to go to his room to have a small talk and relax.
"How is school going Gabi? Does somebody annoy you lately?" asked Troy in a sweet and caring voice.
"Well, when not?" Answered Gabriella with a sad smile in her face.
"What? When? And how we don't know anything about that?" Troy widened his eyes while talking in a rush. "Usually you don't need to tell us cause we know everything that happens in the school. How come we do not know about it?" Asked a concerned Troy.
Gabi could see that he was getting mad and tried to calm his nerves. "Well, it happened yesterday when you were at practice, and I suppose that you finished late or something and you didn't see anybody apart from you in the school after it, so I think that explains that you didn't know…am I right?"
"Yes, we finished late, and after changing ourselves we went right to Jason's house". Troy answered absently.
Gabi could tell that he was really preoccupied about them so she tried to relax him. "Troy, calm down, we are fine, nothing happened, forget it".
"How can you talk about it like it was the most common thing here, Gabi?" Troy asked with a hint of frustration in his voice.
"Cause is what is, Troy." Gabriella answered always calm. "People bully us, people can't stand that we don't follow those social cliques or whatever they call them. And they either can't stand that we ignore them the way we do."
Troy was about to answer when they listened John's voice, Tay's father, who was calling them cause their guests were about to go and they wanted for them to be near the door to be able to say goodbye properly.
Gabi stood up from her position in his sofa and was about to open the door when he grabbed her arm and turned her around. "What are you doing, Troy? John is calling us! We must go there like right now!!"
"I know, I know, but this conversation is not ended Gabi." Troy explained. "When the last guest has gone me, you and the others will have a conversation here."
Gabriella sighed. "Troy, forget about it, seriously. It doesn't matter; we are fine, so there, let's go downstairs before they send a patrol or something to look for us…" Said Gabriella in a cheery voice.
She was trying to light the mood, and Troy realized about that. He smiled at her cuteness but told her that the conversation was going to take place she wanted it or not in a more serious way.
When both teens arrived downstairs, they saw their friends with tired faces near the door forming a line and Gabi's parents, Robert and Ana, organizing while the other parents were in the living room handing coats and bags to their friends. Ana ushered both teens to the line and make the 8 teenagers to stand there with a smile on their faces. The entire group groaned at once, but they started to smile and saying their goodbyes when the guests started to appear, nonetheless.
When the last guest disappeared Troy called the group and told them that they needed to talk. The girls looked at Gabi who simply shrugged and when they were about to follow the boys upstairs, their parents called them and told them that they needed to go.
Troy glared at them but let everybody go after saying their goodbyes.
On Monday morning, the 4 girls were talking about what they did on Sunday (the only day that they didn't see each other. "family day" as their mothers, who had created the rule, called them) in front of Kelsi's locker, which was the nearest to their first class, homeroom with Ms. Darbus, a weird and strict woman who considered that her class was the most important of all so she didn't tolerate silly things, but also a woman with a great and big heart, which the girls could check when they were alone with her talking after their rehearsals.
"Seriously girls, I am so fed up with those "family days…" Groaned Taylor.
"We know Tay, we know. Plus, it's not like we really were with our families. Our mothers were speaking almost 3 hours yesterday afternoon!!!" screamed Sharpay.
"Yeah…but hey, if this way we can have our weekly sleepover without having to listen their complaints and whines…hello family day!" said Gabriella. At that, all four girls started giggling, till they listened the bell, cause then they gathered their books and went to homeroom.
While they were going there, a group of football players surrounded them.
"Why why, how are you doing pretty ladies?" asked Jimmy, the biggest jackass in the school and also known as captain of the football team.
Taylor put a defensive face. "Back off jerk, we are late, and we don't have time to argue with you now, so if you don't mind…byebye!" She said.
"Not so fast!" Jimmy said, and turning to face his friends, he continued. "You, catch them!!"
With that, each boy grabbed one of the girls and put them face to face with some lockers with force. The girls screamed in pain, but the boys only force them a little more. "You don't know with who you are playing here…" Jimmy's voice was low; it sounded more threatening this way. "We make the rules, you obey, easy as that. Is that clear?"
"Mmmmm….no!" screamed the girls, and with that they started to try to get free of their captors biting them, or kicking them. But the boys were stronger than them, so the girls ended in the ground: noses and lips bleeding and some bruises in their faces.
This had been the first beating and the girls were in so much pain; the football team had left right away, afraid of someone finding them, so they were alone.
After a while, they started to get up from the ground. When they saw each other they decided to run to the bathroom to try to clean the mess their faces were before someone saw them.
In the meantime, the boys were in homeroom, and Troy was explaining his friends what Gabi had told him.
"Seriously guys, they are so used to be insulted and bullied that they don't think is a serious problem!" said a frustrated Troy.
"Ugh! Why people in this school can't understand that those social cliques in real life doesn't exist?" moaned Chad.
"But Troy," Zeke started with a thoughtful face, "what really happened on Friday while we were on practice?"
"I don't know dude," Troy said lowering his voice when he saw Mrs. Darbus in the corridor talking with a student. "Gabi didn't want to explain me what was all about…and when I wanted to talk with you all, your parents said that was time for you to go."
"Well, Darbus will enter here in any moment right now, so better we went to our seats" said Jason.
When they were about to go to their seats, Zeke saw that Sharpay was not there. He wanted to ask Gabi, Kelsi or Taylor where was she, but when he looked for them he saw that they didn't were there. "Guys! Where are the girls?"
"Shit! They never are late. We must find them…" said Chad, and when they were about to go out the classroom Ms. Darbus entered, so they couldn't go out.
"Well, well! Dear thespians! How was your weekend? I went to the theatre! Oh my…" Darbus began her habitual rambling about the wonderfulness of drama.
After Troy and Gabi's conversation, the boys were dead worried: though in school they didn't went together, that didn't mean that they didn't care for the girls, cause, in fact, they cared for them a lot. "Dudes, what we can do?" Jason hissed.
"I don't know Jason." Troy answered, but trying to regain his composure, he continued. "Well, let's wait till first period…maybe they had something to do so we'll see them later."
The others agreed, and with that, they started to listen Ms. Darbus rambling about her weekend, all of them thinking the same: "Damn Darbus…"
The girls were in the bathroom cleaning their faces and trying to cover the bruises with foundation. "Girls, this is the first time we've been hit. Do you know why they were waiting for us?" asked a timid Kelsi.
"No Kels, I don't know…but I know that if the boys know about this, the mess will be worse, and those idiots will return to us, and I am not planning in be their boxing sack again. So I think we must not say a thing to anybody." declared Sharpay.
"I agree." chorused Gabi. "Ok girls, let's go to homeroom. We already are late. Let's hope Darbus is in a good mood today".
The girls went to their class, and when they opened the door everybody turned their heads to them. "Ummm…excuse us Ms. Darbus…" said a timid Taylor.
"Relax girls, you are always here in time, so I'll pass this time, but if this is repeated you will get a detention!" said the teacher.
"Yes Mrs. Darbus" Chorused our girls.
Each girl went to her seat trying to avoid the boys' looks. Troy's blue eyes were narrowed. "They are too quiet now…something has happened." thought the boy.
Gabi was in the desk in front of his, so he tried to get her attention so he could ask her what happened. Gabi decided to pretend that she wasn't listening him saying her name.
"Pst! Gabi" whispered Troy. "Gabi!"
Nothing. The same luck had the other boys (all of them had one of the girls in front of them) and they lock their eyes and decided to talk to them after the bell, cause all had free period.
When the bell sounded, the girls were ushering their things fast; they wanted to escape from the boys because they knew they would try to get them to talk, and they didn't want that, but they forgot that those boys were the kings of the school.
Chad, with a serious voice told the students to hurry and get out of the classroom, and, of course, the classroom was empty in 2 minutes, locking the door after the last was out.
"What the hell are you doing? Are you crazy or what?" chorused the angry girls. The best defence is a good attack, so in order to avoid the questions they were screaming the boys, their faces like stones.
After some more screams, Troy yelled "ENOUGH!"
The girls all shut up and looked at him with something the boys interpreted like fear. "I want to know what you all were late. You never are late, so something has happened, and I want to know what now."
Gabi was the first in regain her composure. "What are you talking about Troy? It's a crime now to be late ONE DAMN DAY?"
The other girls were calmed after that and all of them adopted a challenging stance.
"Bullshit Gabriella, and you know I am right!" Troy continued ignoring her attempts to convince them.
"Troy, nothing has happened so let us be…" a timid and shy Kelsi said.
"NO!" screamed Chad; "You are hiding something, and we want to know what is it cause we care for you."
"Oh Chad, please," Taylor said trying to talk in a strong voice, "there is no need to be some drama queen here, we are fine, so forget about it…"
Chad was about to retort her but was cut by Gabriella. "Enough! Seriously guys, we are fine so please, open the damn door!" and with that she went to the door, but suddenly a pair of strong arms wounded around her waist stopped her and made her wince cause there a bruise was starting to form.
"Some imagination have you there if you really think we are going to let you go without knowing what the hell…." told Troy but he cut himself in the middle of his sentence when he saw Gabi's wince. "Why are you so tensed so suddenly Gabriella?" asked him in an iced voice.
Sharpay, in Zeke's arms because all the boys had grabbed the girls, entered in her drama queen mode again once she saw the look Gabi was sending her; "All of us are tensed Troy, you have us here like hostages!!!! We are angry, and when a person is angry is tensed. So open the damn door so we can be relaxed again, damn it!"
A little taken aback from Sharpay's outburst, all the boys but Troy released the girls, who ran to their friend. Troy was still with his arms around her waist but not with force, more in a sweet way. When his brain registered where his arms were and that the other girls were in front of him and Gabriella glaring at him he decided to let them go, but not before he gave Gabi a kiss on her forehead.
The boys didn't know what was with them, but they couldn't help but each kissed one of the girls in her forehead. Chad at Taylor, Zeke at Sharpay and Jason at Kelsi. The girls were a little taken aback by that, but tried to smile nonetheless while they said their goodbyes.
When the door was closed again Chad spoke. "What the hell has happened here?"
"I don't know dude, I don't know. But something must be done. I don't believe one of their words. Something has happened this morning, and I am planning to know it." Answered Troy whose face was rigid like a statue.
In fact, all 4 faces were rigid and their jaws clenched. But, at the same time, their brains were registering that something different had been felt this time, what with the girls in their arms. Plus, they gave them a kiss on the forehead, something totally out of line here.
"What the hell is happening with us?" They thought.