"No". Gabriella shook her head vehemently. "Absolutely not."

"Ms. Montez!" exclaimed Ms. Darbus. "What do you mean?"

"I mean" said Gabriella, "I will not tutor Troy Bolton. Under any circumstances."

"Gabriella - " said Jack Bolton.

"I'm sorry Coach Bolton", Gabriella said, turning to face the other teacher that was currently seated across from her. "I know he is your son and the star of your basketball team but ever since I got here last January, he has done nothing but be a - a - " Gabriella paused to think of the appropriate wording to say to her homeroom and PE teacher. "A lunkhead basketball player!"

Jack bit back a laugh as Ms. Darbus rolled her eyes.

"I see you and Ms. McKessie have been thinking of new names for the team…" Ms. Darbus said with a chuckle.

"Gabriella, pease." Jack said, a smile still on his lips. "I need a tutor for Troy. And Ms. Darbus says that you are the smartest person in Troy's homeroom."

Gabriella shot a quick smile at Ms. Darbus before turning back to Coach Bolton.

"But, but, there are other tutors in the school! Lots of people who would be honored to tutor Troy." Gabriella said, holding her hands out helplessly. "And I'm sure quite a few girls who would be very happy to help him in other subjects too…" Gabriella trailed off under her breath.

"And that is exactly why I need you Gabriella." Jack said. "You seem to be the only girl I have ever seen interact with my" at this point Jack put up air quotes "lunkhead basketball son who doesn't seem to care about any of that stuff. And I promise that Troy really needs a tutor."

Gabriella sighed, leaning back in her chair, her arms folded across her chest. It was true she didn't let Troy Bolton, basketball captain, golf team co-captain, Big Man on Campus affect her. Or at least not on the outside. She didn't dramatically melt when he walked by her in the halls, or flirtatiously look up at him under her lashes when he looked her way, or even drop notes into his locker in hopes of catching his attention, unlike the other girls at the school. But that didn't mean she wasn't affected. Her heart leapt into her chest whenever he walked into a room, she followed his every movement out of the corner of her eye when they were walking in the same hall, and just because she didn't drop notes into his locker didn't mean she didn't feel sparks every time they had to interact in class. She was only human after all! And Troy Bolton was a gorgeous lunkhead basketball player.

"Gabriella -" Jack said "Please."

"What's in it for me?" She asked.

"What?"

"What do I get out of it?" she repeated, starring in between her two teachers.

Ms. Darbus chuckled and shot Coach Bolton a look. "I told you she was the smartest."

"Um -" Jack began "how bout-"

"I want the boys basketball team to come and support the decathlon this year." Gabriella said. "I want them front row, cheering us on, just like the rest of the school does for them."

"Deal." said Jack with a large smile. "Let's shake on it."

Gabriella and Coach Bolton reached across the desk and shook hands, both smiling in victory.

'She might be the best thing to ever happen to Troy' Jack thought.

"No." Troy said loudly, looking across the dinner table at both his parents. "A tutor? Absolutely not."

Lucille Bolton signed loudly as she looked between her husband and her son. "Troy," she said slowly. "You need a physics tutor."

"Your grades are slipping" Jack said, "and if you fail one more test, your teacher told me you won't be able to play basketball."

"What do I need physics for anyways?" Troy grumbled. "I'm going to play basketball, not do experiments."

Jack and Lucille rolled their eyes at each other over their son's head. He was a good kid, a good son, and a good student. In everything but science. He didn't have any interest in it and never seemed to get above a C. But Lucille knew he had to get his grades up, for college applications were about to go out and quite a few college coaches had told her that they would be very happy to have Troy play for their schools, but he needed to stay on the court, and for that to happen he needed to get his grades up. And she knew her husband and son would be devastated if Troy couldn't play basketball anymore.

"Troy" Jack said "Get higher scores on the next few tests, bring that C up to a B, and it will all be worth it. In less than a year you will be taking the court as a Red Hawk at the University of Albuquerque!"

Troy and Jack high-fived across the table as Lucille shook her head affectionately at the boys.

"So, how does this work?" Troy asked his dad. "Are you going to hire someone through a service? From the University?"

"Actually" Jack said, "we got one of your classmates to tutor you."

"What!?" Troy said "Dad, that is so embarrassing!"

"I'm sure she will be very discreet and no one has to know." Lucille said, lightly rubbing Troy's hand.

"She?" Troy asked, trying to think of which of the hot girls at his school that he knew was smart enough to be a physics tutor. "Who is it?"

"Gabriella Montez." Jack said, carefully watching his son's expression.

"Gabriella Montez? She agreed to tutor me?" Troy looked up at his dad, a shocked expression on his face.

"In exchange for the basketball team coming to cheer on the decathlon." Jack explained.

"Okay." Troy nodded, a thoughtful look on his face.

"Okay!?" Lucille exclaimed. "That's it? No fighting? No complaining? All that about a tutor and physics and then just 'okay.'?!"

"She's smart." Troy said. "She's the best student in school, she's nice, and she's quiet."

Jack and Lucille exchanged a look. Jack raised his eyebrows meaningful and Lucille shook her head, a look of exasperation on her face. Troy didn't notice, he was lost in thought.

"Okay." Lucille said.

'Gabriella Montez is more than smart.' Troy thought as he lay across his bed after dinner. 'I mean, everything I said is true. She is definitely the smartest person in our grade. And she is nice. And quiet.'

Troy rolled over onto his stomach as he grabbed his phone and pulled up facebook, ignoring the multitude of texts and notifications he had.

'She's also gorgeous.' Troy's eyes flickered across her photos on her facebook page. 'Like stunningly gorgeous. Although, the only time you can ever tell is in gym class..' Gabriella always wore big sweaters and lose jeans, long flowy skirts, shapeless dresses. The only time you ever saw Gabi's figure was when she was made to wear the East High gym uniform, the red t-shirt and white shorts. Even Gabi couldn't hide her figure in those shorts.

Troy stopped at a photo of her and a couple of their classmates, robed in long white coats, Gabi in a shapeless dress holding a trophy aloft.

"National Champions, Decathlon, 2006" Troy mumbled to himself as he read the caption of the photo. He recognized all the people in the photo, East High wasn't that big and he wasn't the jerk his reputation sometimes made him out to be. He knew what people thought of him, jock, captain, hell, he had even heard one freshman girl call him the "Big Man on Campus" once. He and Chad had laughed about that for hours later as they practiced their free throws. But his real friends knew who he was. For example, he had helped Martha (one of the girls he recognized from the team photo) set up the bake sale last month. She had needed help carrying the tables and he had quickly volunteered when he saw her struggling. They had had a nice chat and now he always made sure to say hi to her in the halls. And he knew Taylor McKessie as the student body president, and the girl Chad used to have a crush on back in Kindergarten. And the other kids on the team too, he had had classes with them all. And then there was Gabriella Montez.

When she had transferred here last January, Troy had noticed her right away. Her gorgeous eyes, that smile, hell - that body. Thank god for gym class. But she was shy, had retreated into the background of the social circles he was a part of at East High, and now she only stood out in classes, where she seemed to know every answer and ace every test. There had even been a week last year in Chemistry when Chad had been out sick and their teacher knew better than to leave him alone with chemicals and had paired them up in the lab. She had been nice, hadn't shown off, and thankfully hadn't been struck mute like so many of the other girls in the school. Troy still remembered the way her hair smelled when she had leaned over to explain the finer points of the equation to him, or the feel of her hand when she had passed him a test tube. Troy was pretty sure there were sparks but that might have just been the static electricity they were playing with that day. And of course, the big hoodies that had been so long it was almost a dress and the way she had tucked her shiny beautiful curly hair into the hood. But try as Troy did to draw her out, she remained withdrawn and quiet. And when Chad had come back, she had simply moved back to Taylor's table. Maybe - this time - maybe this was the start of something new with them.

Troy smiled as he continued to look through her photos. She was an excellent choice for a tutor.

Hi everyone.

New idea popped into my head this morning and wouldn't go away.

Nice to be back :-)