AN: So this is my first fan fiction, and I have been wanting to write this story for about a year, but I was to scared to. Not anymore. I really hope you enjoy it, and Review!!!

Disclaimer: I don't own High School Musical...

All I Need Is Love.

I walked into my house, it was maybe 10:15 pm and of course there was not one light on in the entire house. You would think that having two sisters in high school, a younger brother, and my mom living in the same house, there would never be a dark moment. But there was. All I wanted was someone to talk to, joke around with, maybe someone to have a nice conversation with about their day. I just wanted someone to be with, even if we didn't talk, I could at least feel as if I had control over the life that I once had. But I don't.

I checked the house, remembering that my 10-year-old brother jake was down the street at one of his friend's houses, most likely trading pokེmon cards, or getting lost in one of their mind numbing video games. It was better that he was enjoying himself then having to put up with eating speggetios and watching re-run episodes of Scrubs for the fourth night in a row.

My 18-year-old sister Sam was probably off with her friends, the ones that she will painfully have to part from at the end of summer, as she goes off to Washington D.C. for college in the fall. We are very proud of her. She was absolutely the one person in my life that I always looked up to, and wanted to be just like. With her stunning classical beauty, or her 4.2 grade point average, or even her timely wit, she was defiantly a catch. To see her go from her waitressing job daily to her new found party life was defiantly a shock for me because she was the one that always told me to stand against "that stupid crap" or "Gabriella, that is so lame, you know that going to a movie with your friends would be so much better than going out getting trashed with people that you won't ever meet again." So coming out of her senior year of high school, where she has been able to steer clear of "the party life" all that time and have her going out every night with people I have never meet before, or telling us that she is going out with one of her close friends and then me finding out days later that she had ended up going out with some guy named Chad and getting wasted, gave me a reality check that I never saw coming. And to tell you the truth it scared me

. Then there was the beloved Corri, the other older sister. You could say that she was older than me, well you didn't have to say because I could have just showed you our birth certificates that tell us that she is 14 months and 12 days older , and yet she claims that she is so more mature that I am and that I should "get my own taste in music" because you know Snow Patrol was "her band" and no one else's. Don't you just hate people like that? I mean come on; do you honestly believe that you were the first one to ever listen to Chasing cars Corri? Anyway, needless to say we fought. A lot.

She grew up with middle child syndrome and me until my brother came along was the youngest, and was used to getting what I wanted. So as I walked up my flight of stairs, expecting to find her in her room on the computer, most likely on some One Tree Hill fan site, I was left standing at the doorway to see that her bed was a rye and the faint sound of Keane in the background. I stayed there for less then thirty seconds and already felt light headed by her Tommy Girl perfume that she drenched herself in. How many times do I have to tell her that two sprays will do it? She must have gone out to pizza with her friends.

And then of course there was my mom. How can I forget my mom? Single mother of four. Well I use the word single lightly because if you would define single as her kids go with her ex-husband every Tuesday and Thursday and every other weekend, and received a nice chunk out of his check each week, well than that is what she is. Now don't get me wrong, my mom is one of the strongest women I know, she is also the only one that ever gets my witty banter and has the only unnatural love for Brandon Flowers, the lead singer of The Killers, other than myself of course. But ever since early this year, she had been promoted to head Human Resources manager at her hotel, she had been different. And I knew why.

My mom recently went on a business trip to Canada, and yes it was an actual business trip. But you don't go on business trips alone. She claimed that this guy was the nicest guy that she had ever met and that she was glad that she was going on a trip with someone that was as A.D.D. about grammar and the proper usage of the word tramatized as she was. Not to mention that he has "good taste in music." please. Metalica is not music. Now picture this for me, this guy is in his late thirties, balding, overweight and to most, comes across as shy and timid. Grow some balls! And as my mom was explaining this trip she did not neglect to tell me siblings and I that he indeed had a family and two-year-old twins. Was he happily married? No. Were him and his wife having problems? Yes. That is was my mom did neglect to tell us before she left with this stranger for a 4 day long trip.

I know your thinking, well Gabriella if your mom didn't tell you this, then how do you know? Good question. I found out on my own. Our laptop was sitting alone on our sofa one day, which was very unusual as someone always seems to be on it. I took this opportunity to check my E-mail and chat online with my friends. I woke the computer up, only to see that my moms e-mail was still up and that it was from a someone my the name M2. Mike Murray. Did I want to read it? Yes. Was I scared of what I might find out? Yes, again. Of course I couldn't maintain my self control and let my eyes scan the page. "You are going to regret this, not a day goes by that I wish me and john were back together" and then it showed and article from a shrink about divorce and the affect that it had on the children and he replied, " this is a risk I am willing to take, I can't be with her any longer." That is all I needed to see.

My mom has been lying to me for the past three months. She has been having an affair with a married guy and hasn't told us. Me. I don't like the idea of her going out with another man that is not my father, a married man nonetheless. But that doesn't kill me as much as the fact is that she repeatedly lied straight to my face. "Hey mom, you look nice, where are you going?" She put on a nervous smile " Oh, just out with the girls." I KNOW YOUR LYING!!! And this is tearing me apart inside because I know that her and my dad have been apart for over five year, and I know that she deserves a man, but not this man. I have come to realize that I am never going to like any guy that she shows affection to because I am scared that she is going to get hurt. And I don't know if I can go through what I have endured for the past five years again, if she does end up getting her heart broken. Because the reality is, is if my mom is hurting, then I am hurting. I can't stand the distance that she has with her own kids, that she doesn't even realize that she has. Just because Megan is grown up off and to college doesn't mean the rest of us are.

Sorry for my ramble, this all started when I came home looking for my family. But nope, no one was to be found. And as I have basically just described my life story to you, I can't even begin to tell you that that isn't the start of it. I am so screwed up, that I don't even know who I am anymore. But the one thing in my life that has stability and love and comfort and anything that compares to a family is what I have with my best friend. The word best friend to me means so many things. It means love, laughter, hope, assured fun all the time. But this best friend is so much more. He, yes he is a boy, is the only person that knows my past with my family and the relationship that I have with them now. He holds me when I cry, telling me that we will get through this. We. Meaning he was in this with me. The comfort and safety that he possessed while around me, was like home. Like kindergarten. Like my bestfriend. Like my boyfriend. My Troy. He has my heart.

Oh my gosh, I am so sorry that I just rambled on for like four pages, but this is really important that I develope each character and describe her life. And believe me I hate it when I read a fan fiction and there is no dialog and you just want to fall asleep but believe me it will not be like this in the rest of the chapters. I want to let you know that I am putting my heart and soul into this fanfic and I am trying to make it the best I can. If you could give me constructive advise negative or positive, I would greatly appreciate it!! I really hope you got the jist of how I am trying to make this story and I hope you like it and continue reading! I will post more soon!!

Review!!!!

-Courtney