Chapter 1
"You nervous, babe?" My boyfriend, Chris, asked as he drove the rented black, Ford Escape Limited towards my mother's house in Albuquerque, New Mexico.
"No." I replied. "Why?"
"You just seemed a little nervous to me." He replied and grabbed my hand.
"Don't worry," I told him. "I'm fine." I looked at the thick snow that was piled along the edges of the streets and smiled to myself. The car turned onto my teenage street and my stomach tied itself into knots. I shifted a little bit in my seat and held Chris's hand a little tighter.
"You ARE nervous!" Chris exclaimed and laughed.
"Shut up!" I joked and the car pulled into my driveway. I immediately jumped out of the car and ran across the snow to the front door. The door opened as I walked up the steps and I jumped into my mom's arms.
"Hey!" I squealed.
"I'm so glad you're home!" Mom exclaimed and then held me out at arms length. "You look so beautiful!"
"Thanks, Mom!" I replied. Chris's voice came from just outside the door.
"No worries, I got the bags." I turned around and saw Chris trying to carry all of the bags into the door.
"I'm sorry!" I said. "Let me help." I grabbed my bag and then closed the door behind Chris.
"Nice to see you again, Chris." Mom said, hugging him.
"Good to see you again, too, Ms. Montez." He replied. "Where should we put these bags?"
"Gabs, you're in your old room, and Chris is the guest room down the hall from her." Mom said.
"Thanks, I'll go take these up." He said.
"I'll help!" I volunteered, grabbed my bag and walked upstairs with Chris. I put my bags down in my room and walked with Chris to the guest room.
"Here it is!" I said, opening the door for him. "It's not much."
"It's fine." Chris said and put his bag down beside the closet door. I kissed his cheek and then walked back into my room. I sat down on the familiar comforter and looked at the rest of the room. Nothing had changed since I left for school. From the pink walls to the pictures sitting on my bedside table, it was all the same.
Just as I had started to relax, my cell phone vibrated in my pocket. I groaned and pulled my Moto Rzr 2 out of my pocket and looked at Sharpay Evans's picture on the screen.
"Hey Shar!" I said when I answered. "What's up?"
"Are you in town yet?" She asked.
"We just got in. And we're at the house." I said. "What about you?"
"Ryan and I got in yesterday." She replied. "And I cannot stand another moment with my parents. I need to get out of this house!"
"Ok," I said. "Todd's Grill & Bar?"
"What time?" She asked.
"7?" I suggested.
"Amazing!" She exclaimed. "See you then!" She hung up, I dropped my phone onto the bed and then walked to Chris's room.
"Chris?" I asked when I walked inside.
"Right here." He said and walked into the room from the walk-in closet. I sat down on the bed.
"Sharpay called." I told him.
"Ok?" He said.
"We're going to dinner at 7." I told him.
"Ok." He replied. "I'll be ready."
"Great!" I said, got up, and walked back into my room.
After a warm and refreshing shower, I wrapped a pink terrycloth robe around my body and started to get ready. I carefully blow dried my long, black hair, and then straightened it. I unzipped my suitcase and surveyed the clothes I had brought. After a couple minutes of pondering what to wear, I finally decided on something. I pulled a pair of dark-washed True Religion jeans over my legs, and then pulled a crème colored cami over my head. I slipped a wine colored, ¾ length cardigan sweater onto my arms and put on my make-up. I stepped into a pair of chocolate brown, rounded toe wedges and walked downstairs.
"Where you guys going tonight?" Mom asked as I walked into the kitchen.
"Todd's." I told her. "Sharpay called and said she needed to get away from the parents." Mom nodded.
"Ready to go?" Chris asked when he walked into the kitchen.
"Yeah!" I exclaimed. "Let's go! See you later, Mom."
"Don't stay out to late!" Mom said as Chris helped me put on my brown, North Face winter jacket.
"We'll be back before you know it, Ms. Montez." Chris said and we walked out of the house.
"Who all is going to this thing?" Chris asked as he pulled the car out of the driveway.
"Sharpay is probably going to call whoever is in town." I explained. "Maybe Chad or Taylor. Or Jason or Tr…" I stopped in the middle of the word.
"Who?" Chris asked.
"No one." I said quickly. Chris pulled the car into an empty parking spot in front of Todd's Grill & Bar. "Come on, let's go!"
"I'm guessing you're excited?" Chris asked as we walked hand-in-hand towards the front door of the restaurant.
"I haven't seen some of these guys since the summer after graduation." I told him. "I can't help it." Chris opened the door and we walked inside.
"Hi! Welcome to Todd's Grill & Bar! How many in your party?" A cheery hostess with a name tag that said, Krista asked.
"Actually, we're with Sharpay Evans." I said. "Is she here yet?"
"Yes." She replied. "She's in the banquet room. Go ahead. It's straight through the main dining room and to the right."
"Ok, thank you." I said and tugged on Chris's hand to follow. We walked through the main dining room and towards a set of closed French doors.
"Hey, hey!" I exclaimed as I pushed the doors open and saw Sharpay and Ryan sitting at opposite ends of the table.
"Gabriella!" Sharpay squealed and jumped up from her seat.
"Sharpay!" I exclaimed as we hugged. "You look so awesome!" And she really did. As usual it wasn't a surprise to see her dressed in pink.
"So do you!" She exclaimed.
"What about me?" Ryan asked walking over to me with his arms open. "Don't I get any love?"
"Let me think about it." I said. "Okay." I hugged him. I saw Chris out of the corner of my eye standing awkwardly beside us.
"Oh, guys." I said and walked back over to Chris. I took his hand. "This is my boyfriend, Chris. Chris, this is Sharpay, I think you met her when we were in New York, and her brother, Ryan."
"Nice to meet you both." Chris said.
"Let's sit down." Sharpay said and we all sat down around the round table.
"Who all is coming, Shar?" I asked.
"Us!" Someone yelled from the doorway. We all turned around. Standing in the doorway were Chad Danforth, holding hands with Taylor McKessie, Kelsi Nielson, Jason Cross, and Zeke Baylor.
The whole hugging and squealing scene started over again with the girls, and the guys sort of just talked together.
"Can I take your drink orders?" An acne ridden teen asked as we sat down, me between Chris and Chad. Everyone gave her our drink orders as everyone chatted amongst themselves.
"You okay?" I asked Chris.
"Yeah." He replied as he leaned back in the chair. The doors opened again and everyone turned around.
"Sorry I'm late guys." A voice I recognized all to well said. "I got caught up with something at the house." They guy stepped out into the light and I felt my stomach drop.
"Troy!" Chad exclaimed.
"What's up, guys?" Troy said as he sat down. "Hey Zeke, Jason. How's Duke?"
"Man, it's awesome!" Jason exclaimed. Troy looked around the table and we caught each other's eye. I looked away and then grabbed his Chris's hand on top of the table.
When I looked back up at Troy, he was sitting at back in his chair, his arms crossed on his chest, and an irritated look on his face. I had a weird feeling in my stomach that it was going to be a long dinner.
