Part One
"Happy birthday!"
If there was one thing 7-year-old Troy Bolton always dreaded, it was birthday parties. He didn't like birthdays. Birthdays meant insanity. Troy Bolton was not insane. Troy Bolton was just a normal boy who liked playing basketball with Chad and Zeke and annoying Taylor and Sharpay. Troy Bolton was shy. So why did he have to act like an insane child at birthday parties?
All the kids called Troy a party pooper. He agreed. He was a party pooper. No exceptions… well, maybe one tiny exception.
Gabriella Montez.
Gabriella was the exception to everything. She was the girl without the cooties. She was the girl who didn't care if she got herself dirty. She was the only person who laughed at his lame jokes. She was his only next-door-neighbor he got along with. He wouldn't dare to hang out with Gabriella's parents or that freaky Robertson couple on the other side.
Point was, Gabriella Montez was his best friend.
And Gabriella deserved the best present ever from her best friend.
Little Troy had begun thinking about her present months before, contemplating various things she liked. Nothing was special enough. Sharpay would give her Barbie's, Taylor would give her some kind of book, Zeke would give her homemade cookies, Chad would… He didn't even know what Chad would give Gabriella. But nothing was good enough for Troy.
So after a while, Troy – okay, it was technically his Mom – decided on something simple, yet loving.
A teddy bear.
When Gabriella had unwrapped his present and leapt into his tiny arms out of joy, he knew he had picked the right present.
While Troy and Gabriella hugged the life out of each other, the teddy bear – now named Bob – nestled between their small bodies, Lucille Bolton and Maria Montez watched on gleefully as Jack Bolton and Carlos Montez just snickered.
All four of them knew one thing for sure.
Bob would be an important part of the lives of these two children.
A/N: Uh yeah… just to clear my head. My muse has been doing all the things I don't want lately, so this is just an experiment… Thanks to Tamy for the moral support and thanks to Liv for coming up with the name for the bear. Bob wouldn't be Bob without you girls. :') … Review? :)
~ Joyce
Disclaimer: I wish.