I'm Gabriella Montez. Some may say I'm lucky. I have a mom and a step-dad, we make a lot of money, I have quite a few friends, but they're wrong. Dead wrong. You see, I've lived in sixteen different places my whole life. I've moved every year of my life since I was two. I'm only in the same school for one school year, then we're ripped up and gone again. It's my mom's job. Though it pays good money, we have to transfer a lot. Then, there's my step-dad. His name is Carlos. He's very strict. About everything.
Well, this year, I'm going to a school called East High in Albuquerque, New Mexico. My first day is today. I haven't slept very well tonight. Maybe about thirty minutes max. I layed down at about ten and now it's six. I should be getting up soon. "GABRIELLA!" My mom called up the stairs.
"I'm up, mom!" I replied. I rubbed my eyes and stretched before finally climbing out of bed. I sighed as I began to get ready for school.
"Breakfast!" My mom called again at me. I finished putting on my eyeliner and ran down the stairs.
"What time do we have to leave?" I asked me mom, as she put some pancakes and eggs on my plate.
"In about ten minutes," Maria replied, as she hurried away to get ready for work.
I finished eating in a few minutes and grabbed my stuff. My heart was pounding and it felt like it was going slowly up my throat. A tight knot formed in my stomach. This was how I always felt on the first day of school. I subconsciously smoothed out my purple tank top and straightened the wrinkles out of my dark skinny jeans. Then, I sat down by the door and put my black high-top converse on.
"Ready to go?" My mom asked as she came back into the room.
"Yup," I said, standing up and tossing my bag over my shoulder. "Did Carlos already leave?"
"Yeah, he had to go in a little early," She told me as she opened the front door. I followed her out the door and walked to the car. I sat in the passenger seat of the mini van and my mom climbed in and started the engine. She backed out of the driveway and began the drive down the road. We were out of the subdivision and driving down a main road, then the highway, and then another main road. In what seemed like only a few minutes, we arrived at the school. It was very large with a big fountain outside of it and the words East High across the front above the double doors.
"Have a good day," My mom said softly.
"Thanks," I said, giving her a small kiss on the cheek. I climbed out of car. My heart pounded faster, the knot tightened in my stomach. I began the walk to the double doors. I looked back and my mom gave me a wave as she pulled away. I turned around and continued walking. Then, wham. I was knocked to the side and I hit the ground hard.
"Oh my god, I'm so sorry!" A female voice apologized.
I looked up, a little dazed. She had an oval face, bright green eyes, curly brown hair past her shoulders, and fair skin. She was wearing a pink skirt, a white button-up shirt, and pink Stilettos. She reached her hand down to help me up. Her nails were sparkly and… pink. I took her hand and she pulled me to my feet.
"Are you okay?" She and the girl who was standing next to her asked in unison. The girl who was standing next to her was dark-skinned and had more of a heart-shaped face, brown eyes, and shoulder length brown wavy hair.
"Yeah, just fine," I smiled as I dusted myself off.
"Again, I apologize," The blonde girl said.
"No, it was my fault. I should've been watching where I was going."
"Well, I'm sorry anyway," She laughed. "I'm Sharpay. This is my friend Taylor." She motioned toward the girl standing next to her. "You must be new. I haven't seen you before."
"Yeah, I just moved here about a week ago. My name is Gabriella Montez," I introduced myself.
"What grade?" Taylor asked curiously.
"Junior," I told them.
"Same here," both of them nodded.
"Do you need help finding anything?" Sharpay asked.
I nodded. "Yes, please. I have no idea where I'm going… at all."
"Cool. You probably need to go to the office to pick up your schedule and information," Taylor informed me. "We'll walk you there."
We walked into the double doors. People were walking around and talking to friends and stopping at lockers. Most of them looked at us as we passed. They must've known I was new. I frowned and wished everyone's eyes weren't on me. "Just ignore them," Taylor told me encouragingly. We continued to walk. Sharpay lead us into the office.
"I'm Gabriella Montez, the new student," I told the secretary.
"Montez, right," she nodded. "Here." She handed me a vanilla folder. "In there's your schedule, a map of the school, information about the school, a calendar of upcoming events, and things like that."
"Okay, thank you," I smiled as Sharpay, Taylor, and I left the office. I opened the folder.
"What's your first period?" Sharpay asked.
I pulled out the schedule. "Um, a Darbus?"
"Oh, that's ours!" Taylor exclaimed happily. "Acting!"
Sharpay laughed. "Yes, yes it is."
"Let's stop by your locker first, so you don't have to lug everything around with you all day," Taylor suggested. She peered over my shoulder. "270. Oh, right down this hall." She walked a few more steps, watching the numbers on the locker as we passed. "Right here."
I put in the combination and opened the locker. Then, I opened my bag and pulled out some stuff I thought I wouldn't need. "Dude, I did not!"
"Yeah, bro, I swear. You went to the dance with her in like eighth grade!"
"No, I would remember." A bunch of guys stopped at the locker next to mine. The one that had just spoke began putting in his combination. He had dark hair but I couldn't see his face because he had his hood up and he was looking down.
"Hey guys," Talyor greeted.
"Hey," a guy with dark skin and a curly afro replied.
"Hi," another guy said. He was skinny and tall with dark skin and a handsome face.
"Oh, hey, Taylor!" A shorter one with brown hair and a little stubble said. His reaction was a little delayed.
"Guys, this is Gabriella," Talyor said.
I watched the guy at his locker who hadn't spoken since they'd arrived. He finally looked up. He was probably the most handsome guy I'd ever seen. He had baby blue eyes that seemed to pierce your soul and flawless skin. I didn't get worked up, because I figured he had a girlfriend. "This is Chad," she said, motioning to the one with the afro, "Zeke," the tall dark-skinned one, "Jason," the stubble guy, "And Troy."
"Hi," I said softly.
"Hey," they all replied. Troy's eyes seemed to linger for a moment and he gave me a soft smile that complimented his features well.
I smiled back and turned to my locker again. "She has acting with us." Sharpay added.
"Really? Sweet," Chad said.
"Yeah, that's great," Zeke agreed.
"You'll just love Miss Darbus," Troy laughed sarcastically.
"Oh no," I said turning around. "What's wrong with her?"
"Oh, let's just say… She doesn't shut up." Jason laughed.
"That may be so, but I think that you, too, need to learn to - what was that term? - shut up," a new voice to the conversation said. We all turned around. "Detention. All of you."
Everyone groaned. "Damn," I muttered. "That means I have to text my mom." I looked around for teachers and pulled out my phone and sent a quick text to my mom.
"Fuck." Troy swore. "Dad's gonna kill us. That's the fifth time this year."
"Why is he gonna kill you?" I asked.
"They're on the basketball team. Troy's the star and his dad is the coach," Sharpay explained for them.
"Oh," I said.
"C'mon, let's go. We don't wanna be late and get double detention."