Summary: Ideally, boy would meet girl. Just Like That and happily ever after. But nothing is ever that simple. Instead, boy scares the crap out of the girl with a boyfriend and opens her eyes to just the kind of guy that she deserves. TxG
In fairness, I was an easy sell
Though I'm embarrassed
To admit it to myself
And the worst part is
You know it all too well
So don't take advantage
Of my transparent shell
I am awake, it's getting late
I'm in no state to be alone now
Yeah I'm alone now
Come light the fire in my room
I think I'm losing all control now
I don't even know how
But I'm in your rip tide
And now I'm inside out
-Kate Voegele
"Inside Out"
By mini princess93
She couldn't stop.
Well, strictly speaking, that was a lie. But she did not want to stop. Why should she? He should be counting his blessings that was too focused on getting away to really let him know how she was feeling about him.
Him being Dylan Foster. Sometimes he was just so…Dylan. Which could potentially encompass a myriad of adjectives at any given time but at the moment, he was inconsiderate, insensitive and all together insufferable.
He'd made fun of her. Not directly her but he insulted her beloved Scholastic Decathlon. He knew how much the competition meant to her. There's no way he couldn't have known. But when she was in the library earlier, her boyfriend's characteristic deep voice filtered through the stacks of books about 'what a joke the Nerd Olympics were' to her very own ears. Granted, he hadn't thought she'd hear him but she did. So she ran. She passed his aisle which is when he caught sight of her and taken after her. Shouting her name at the top of his lungs.
How inconsiderate, insensitive, and all together insufferable.
Gabriella couldn't be more thankful that her adrenaline was giving her flight-or-fight response a serious advantage. About two minutes ago, she'd left him in the dust but he wasn't giving up. He was persistent, she had to give him that.
"Gabriella, just…stop! Please!" He shouted. As if that was really going to get him anywhere. She turned the corner and was faced with a long hallway. If she was lucky, it would take him forever to check all the classrooms that she could potentially hide out in. But she wasn't going to be in any of them.
"Baby!" She winced, she hated pet names but moreover, he sounded a lot closer. Oh, damn. With a final burst of speed as the dully painted lockers and vacant doors blurred in her vision, she burst into a deserted gymnasium. It was a good idea in theory. But as she looked around, Gabriella realized, that there weren't a lot of legitimate hiding spots she could occupy until Dylan gave up.
Looking left, then right, she was struck by a brilliant idea and ducked underneath the wooden bleachers. Her flexible limbs maneuvered under and over the structural black metal bars hoping she wouldn't run into any adventurous couples. But luckily, it was just as empty. Finally, after a considerable distance, she wedged herself into the smallest crevice she could fit herself into. Wrapping her slender arms around her legs, she rested her cheek on her kneecaps and closed her eyes. For the first time in what seemed like forever, she allowed herself to just think.
It wasn't the first time he'd 'hurt her feelings' but even she had to admit that her reaction was a bit over the top. But what else could she do? She'd tried approaching his insensitivity before with limited success. Could she break up with him? That would be even more dramatic and considering Dylan's pride, a split from him would be messy, to say the least. Plus, he was always quick to apologize and had this uncanny ability to get to her. A sixth sense for just what to say to be forgiven. Anybody who knew her that well had to be worth it, she figured.
But truth be told, his apologies seemed to be happening more and more frequently, as of late. Dylan and Gabriella spent more time in angry silences than anything else.
Quite frankly, she was just…tired. Exhausted, really.
Suddenly, Gabriella was ripped from her thoughts as she heard someone push their way through the heavy double doors. She braced herself for Dylan to make his presence known but there was nothing. Only rubber soles squeaking across the gym floor as a constant bouncing object sounded in a steady thump-thump-thump. Craning her neck, Gabriella caught a glimpse through a crack between the wooden planks of the waxy bleachers.
It was Troy Bolton, captain of the mighty East High Wildcat's basketball team. Practicing – would you look at that – basketball. Gabriella shared one class with Troy but she could honestly say that she had never spoken to him once.
She watched in fascination as he moved across the floor with an effortless grace, his ball hitting its target each and every time. It was hypnotizing to see him in action. Then of course, both of them were rudely interrupted by a loud banging noise. Dylan had pushed his way and was now striding towards with Troy with purposeful heavy steps.
"Hey," he called. "is my girlfriend here?" Gabriella rolled her eyes, Dylan had quite the selective memory when it came to her name.
Troy stuck his ball in between his arm and his torso and blinked incredulously at Dylan. "Do you see anyone else?"
There was a moment of silence while Dylan presumably looked for the first time. "I guess not." He said quietly. There was nothing he hated more than being proved wrong. "Well," he continued just as boisterous as before, "if you see her, tell her I'm looking for her." Gabriella fought the urge to roll her eyes again - for all he knew, Troy had no idea who Dylan's girlfriend was.
"Will do." Troy replied although Gabriella wasn't sure if Dylan caught the dripping sarcasm as he turned around and left again. Gabriella let out a sigh of relief that she hadn't known she'd been holding in as silently as she could.
Now she was faced with a bigger problem: getting out. She preferred to leave undetected since explaining to Troy Bolton why she'd rather huddle under the dusty bleachers rather than talk to her boyfriend was not a situation she wanted to put herself in. Getting in there had been quite the noisy affair, she couldn't imagine getting out as being any less disruptive. So, unless she mastered the art of teleportation pretty damn fast, she was stuck there until Troy decided to leave.
She sighed, resting her head against the hard wood behind her and wishing she'd brought her iPod or something to help her pass the time but she'd left all her belongings in the library when she fled. With her luck, it was probably all stolen by now.
From behind her, Troy let out a quiet grunt. Gabriella started slightly and turned her body slightly to peer out to the only other occupant in the room. Something was different. He was still able to dribble the basketball with the perfected technique of a seasoned professional but something was very off. Every time, instead of the basketball sinking through the hoop, it bounced off the backboard or slid off the rim.
After three or four of his failed attempts, he flung the basketball with all his might away from him with a loud, frustrated groan. Said groan, however, did nothing to mask the high pitched squeal that emitted from her throat as the ball slammed onto the crack between the boards where she was observing through, just an an inch from her eye. Realizing she had just given herself away, Gabriella covered her mouth with her palms as she tried to regulate her heartbeat. The collision was as loud as a gunshot. She wished by some miracle that Troy hadn't heard her but her hopes weren't high.
"Hello?" He called out.
She held her breath, hoping he'd just let it go or chalk it up to a hallucination.
No such luck.
"Marco?" There was a moment or two of suspicious clanging and suddenly, Gabriella found herself face to face with Troy Bolton. "Hey Polo. I'm guessing you're the elusive girlfriend?"
She lowered her hands and nodded, unwilling to say anything.
"Mind if I sit?" He asked, cocking his head towards a vacant stretch of wall in front of her.
Gabriella shrugged but he made no move. She rolled her eyes and gestured to the empty seat as if to say 'Well, if you must.' She didn't particularly feel like the company but kicking him out ran the risk of him finding Dylan.
"Troy Bolton," he offered only to be met with silence. "Are you going to say anything? You're not mute, I know that. Or was that someone else who screamed bloody murder?"
She threw him a look. "Maybe I just don't have anything to say." Gabriella finally spoke, albeit very quietly.
"How about…" he paused and pretended to think, "the reason that you're hiding from your boyfriend."
She gave a short humorless laugh. "You don't care."
He frowned. "Say who?"
"Says me," She replied simply.
His frown deepened. "I'm telling you that I do care."
Gabriella have him a long hard look, like she was trying to determine his honesty. But he was unreadable. "I'm mad at him."
He rolled his impossibly blue eyes. "Oh," he gave a largely over exaggerated nod like he had just been clued in on the meaning of life. 'I thought you were under here to express how much you love him. Silly me, thanks for clearing that up." He quipped sardonically.
She glared at him for a second. "It's really not important."
"Come on, Gabriella." He nudged her calf with his foot. "Just spill it."
"You know wha-" She stopped short and her irritated expression dropped in favor of another - confusion. "Wait, you know my name?" As somone who prided herself on flying below the radar, no one knew her, especially the most popular guy in her school.
Troy's eyes widened, his body becoming impossibly still. "Uh, Foster said it. Before...when he was here. Looking for you. Gabriella." He stammered, having difficulty stringing two words together in an obviously transparent lie.
She blinked at him. "No he didn't." She said slowly. Gabriella was almost one hundred percent positive. "As far as Dylan is concerned, my name is girlfriend."
"Forget it."
"Just spill it." She mimicked him, pitching her voice into a higher tone.
"First of all, I don't sound like that." He teasingly narrowed his eyes accusingly at her. "And secondly, if you're not going to tell me anything then why should I?" It was a reasonable argument but Gabriella still found herself annoyed.
"Fine." She pouted, crossing her arms and turning while holding her head up high. "Actually, I don't even know why I'm still here. Dylan's probably long gone and I definitely don't have to worry about disturbing you anymore so I'm just going to get the hell ou-" She rambled, reaching for the thick black metal bar suspended over her head to help her up.
"No," Troy blurted out. Gabriella was so surprised that she relinquished her grip and dropped back down to her seat. "You're in my Intro to Law class. That's how I know your name. Happy?"
She considered it for a moment. "Fair enough."
For lack of anything better to do, Gabriella instigated a game of Truth. Ever since she's read about Macy and Wes playing it in The Truth About Forever, she'd wanted to play it too. Dylan probably would have thought it was stupid. With her own generosity, Gabriella allowed Troy the first question.
"So, why are you hiding from Dylan?"
She sighed, she should have seen that coming. "He made fun of me." She said quietly, her face flushing red. Saying that she was mad because he made fun of the Scholastic Decathlon sounded just a little too pathetic for her liking and really, it was as bad as if he made fun of her. So it wasn't really a lie.
"So then why ar-" He began to continue.
"Stop right there," Gabriella commanded. Troy stopped short, nonplussed. "You get one question, it's my turn."
"Sorry. Go ahead."
There was silence as Gabriella racked her brains for something to say and came up with a fairly typical Truth question. "If you could change anything about yourself, what would it be?" Gabriella asked. He had such an image of perfection around these hallowed halls - she was curious as to how much he bought into it.
He stopped to think. "Change anything? I guess I would change the fact that I'm such a…" he paused and hesitated, mentally searching for the right word while resting his forearms on his bent knees, "...pushover. I don't know, I just feel like I never do anything for me anymore. Basketball is for my dad, for the team, for the school. It's taken the fun out of it, you know?" He stared ahead for a second before stealing a sideways glance at Gabriella as she nodded her head slightly. "And let's face it, what else do I do?" A short, bitter bark of laughter followed shortly after.
Gabriella looked sympathetically at him, unsure of how to respond. "I'm sure that's not true." Her voice was quiet and timid. "I-I don't know..." Her sentence trailed off without completing her thought.
"Yeah, me neither." Troy shrugged, still looking thoroughly depressed. They stayed in silence for a second before he decided to speak up again. "My turn again?" Gabriella nodded. "So, like I was trying to say before, why are you dating Dylan?"
That somehow wasn't what she had been expecting, preface and all. She stared at him, slightly taken aback. Her eyes cast downward as she tried to explain. "Well, because…" She couldn't think of a way to put it into words and her eyes flicked upward to Troy's. The intensity of the his infamously blue eyes focused on her startled her and Gabriella struggled to find her train of thought. "It's me and Dylan. We've been through everything together and he loves me. I can't ask for anything more."
"Has he told you?" Troy asked softly, their alternating Truths long forgotten. "That he loves you?"
Gabriella hated that she felt like she was giving Troy the wrong answers. "...No. But what does that matter if he shows it?" She said, almost desperately, feeling like she wasn't doing it justice. "An-and he just gets me. All the time, he knows me better than anyone, really. He's kind of perfect for me."
"He doesn't seem to be your type."
"But then again, what do you know about my type?" She reminded him, raising her eyebrows. Troy shrugged in lieu of a submission.
How did they get here? The last thing that Gabriella had expected to happen to today was her having to justify her relationship to Troy Bolton.
Maybe she should have never suggested Truth in the first place. The game, which had taken an inadvertent backseat .
"So, my question?" Gabriella resumed as naturally as she could muster. Troy looked up the floor, looking mildly disoriented before finding his place in the converation again. He nodded.
"What is your biggest regret?"
Troy didn't say anything for a while with a thoughtful frown turning the corners of his thin lips down. "Can I say something that hasn't happened yet?"
She furrowed her brows, creasing her forehead. "How is that possible? That doesn't make any sense."
"Well, what if I told you that my biggest regret would be if you left here and I didn't tell you the truth."
"Can you please stop with the cryptic comments?" Gabriella sighed exasperatedly.
"I lied to you earlier." He began, his words coming out in a rush. "I know your name because I've been…watching you. I don't know how to say that in a less creepy way but I promise, I don't mean it like that. But please don't ever think that I don't know you. I know that you're on the Scholastic Decathlon with Taylor McKessie and you guys have won for the last three years straight. But you also play piano and you can do both equally well. I know your favorite book is Alice in Wonderland since I see you reading it at least once a month. And, I can tell you want to be a lawyer because you show more passion in that class than I've ever seen when you with Foster…"
Gabriella began to say something, anything but failed to find the words.
"You're one of a kind and he can't be perfect for you. Someone who is perfect for you appreciates everything about you, even your imperfections because they only see exactly what makes you amazing."
There was an long silence following his declaration. Troy stared at her anxiously.
"Um," she swallowed hard and bit her lip, "I-I should go. It's getting kind of late, I'll see you…around Troy." She scrambled out of the gym, her fight-or-flight taking over again. Her fingers pulled her phone from her jeans pocket, dialing while she speed walked to her car in the parking lot. "Dylan? Can we meet?"
Troy bashed his head against the wooden pseudo wall behind him.
"I need you to know that what you said…hurt." Gabriella told him. "As stupid as it is, it hurt my feelings. And I need that to mean something to you."
"I know, it does." he said soothingly, snaking his arms around her waist. "Babe, I'm so unbelievably sorry. I don't even know what I was saying. And I didn't mean it, I'm an idiot." He kissed both of her cheeks, her forehead and then pressed a light peck upon her lips. "I love you, so much. You don't even know." He murmured in her ear like a secret.
Gabriella gasped quietly then softened, smiling shyly at him. "Okay," she whispered, "I accept your apology."
"That's great!" Dylan exclaimed, hugging her close. "How about a date this weekend. Saturday? Anywhere you want." He said, grinning broadly.
"I would love that but I can't," Gabriella said apologetically, "I have my recital this weeked. I know, you should come! I don't think you've seen me play yet." She suggested brightly, holding one of his large hands in two of her delicate ones.
"Play?"
Her smile dimmed slightly. "Piano, I have a piano recital this weekend at the Albuquerque School of Art."
"Oh, of course! I wouldn't miss your first recital for the world." Dylan promised sincerely, pressing a kiss to Gabriella's cheek.
But Gabriella pulled away with a distraught expression. First recital? She'd been in one every other month since before they'd started dating seven months ago. He'd been invited to every single one, though he'd never made it. Why had she never questioned that before? "Dylan," she said slowly, "what's my favorite book?"
Dylan looked positively dumbfounded. "I don't know, Harry Potter?" He guessed.
"I was wrong." Gabriella said softly, more to herself than to the confused boy standing before her. "You don't know me at all." And with that, she turned on her heel and walked away from the guy she thought she loved. And she didn't regret leaving him behind one bit.
The final note to the complex Gottschalk piece Gabriella had been practicing for weeks was met with enthusiastic applause as she sighed with relief. She pushed her bench back and stood to bow to the small but packed auditorium, filled with the friends and family of the music school's young musicians. Her mother waved at her from behind her camera and Gabriella waved back and began to walk off stage but another familiar face almost made her stop short.
From the wings of the curtain, she took a second look. Troy Bolton, was in fact, sitting amidst the audience, head bent over the program.
What was he doing here? But she couldn't dwell on it for too long, she needed to head backstage to meet with her mom for a celebratory dinner.
She wrapped her jacket around her and she found her mother in the lobby.
"Oh, Gabi, where did you get that rose? It's beautiful." Mrs. Montez exclaimed.
Gabriella looked at the flower in her hand. "It was taped to my locker when I went to get my things." She said, sniffing it fondly.
"Who is it from?"
"I don't know, there wasn't any note." She asked some of the other students if they saw anyone leave the rose but no one had been around during the show. But Gabriella had a suspicion.
Troy felt like an absolute moron. And a certifiable creep. Why had he gone to the recital tonight? He'd seen her in the picture posted on the library's bulletin board and it was like he couldn't stop himself. And the flower! Jesus Christ, there was something seriously wrong with him.
All he knew is that sophomore year, after a full week of his best friend constantly kicking the back of her chair in homeroom, Gabriella turned around and gave Chad the fiercest glare he'd ever seen on a girl. Chad never bothered her again. But she intrigued Troy. At first, he simply took note when he saw her around school, noticed when she got a haircut or he spotted her reading Alice in Wonderland every once in a while. But then fate put them into the same Law class this year and he witnessed how lively and passionate she could be and it turned into a full-blown fascination.
She probably hated him. He knew she'd been avoiding him in the halls since That Day. The first time he'd ever had a conversation with Gabriella Montez and he managed to freak her out to the point that she felt the need to physically run away. God, he should have waited until maybe…their second encounter. At least.
He couldn't sit here, wallowing in misery any longer. He changed into basketball shorts and headed outside in the night air. Some fresh air should clear his mind and he hoped to jog off his frustrations. He had made it about four blocks before he realized that his route was going to take him right by Gabriella's house. Shit, she was probably going to be looking out her window just as he passed and think that he was creepier than she already did. But it was too late now, he might as well embrace his new identity as Gabriella Montez's stalker.
He was so distracted that he nearly missed the small hunched figure sitting on the curb. Troy slowed down and said "Gabriella?" incredulously.
She looked up in surprise. She was still in the black dress she'd been wearing when he saw her on stage a few hours before. "Hi Troy." She said with a weak smile.
"Hi," he cocked his head at her, "what are you doing?"
"What, I can't enjoy a balmy, Albuquerque evening when I feel like it?" She asked nervously.
"Why here?" As Troy looked around, he noticed the block she was on was fairly empty. Only a wall of shrubs sat behind her and a small grove of trees across the street. It seemed like such an entirely random place for her to be.
"Why not?"
Troy shook his head, turning away to jog. It was clear from their pathetically stilted conversation that she was uncomfortable with him now. He hated himself for being disappointed but what did he expect? Before he could take a step, Gabriella's voice stopped him.
"Troy! Wait!" She exclaimed. He turned back in disbelief, and from the look on her face, she couldn't quite believe it either.
"Yeah?"
Her mind scrambled to find something to say. "I saw you. At the ASA recital, you were there weren't you?" She asked, grasping on to the flower sitting on her lap then standing up.
Troy's eyes widened in horror. "I'm sorry, I shouldn't have, I know. I can't imagine what you must think of me, I ju-"
"Stop, please! Don't apologize," Gabriella cut him off, "I'm sorry." He furrowed his brow in confusion and waited for her to elaborate. "For before, running out on you like that was cowardly. I didn't mean to hurt your feelings.' Troy could tell she really meant it. He appreciated that but it didn't really make him feel any better.
"Thanks," he muttered.
Gabriella looked off to her left, in the direction that Troy had just come from. "You know, I've been going back and forth between my house and this spot since about eight-fifteen tonight."
That seemed like a very odd thing to do.
She went from looking off to the side to staring at the toes of her shoes. "Every time, I went halfway to your house before I chickened out and turned back home. I made it exactly halfway about seven times before I decided to save myself the energy and wait it out here until I made up my mind." Gabriella briefly glanced up at him but went back to looking at the ground. "I guess you kind of made my mind up for me, didn't you?"
"You were going to all the way to my house just to say you're sorry?"
"No." She seemed to be in no rush to get to the point and Troy wasn't about to push her. He was still in total shock that she was willingly talking to him. "I broke up with Dylan. Right after we talked." She said softly.
"Mr. Just-my-type? Why? You were certainly didn't sound like you wanted to break up with him on Tuesday." Troy commented bitterly.
Gabriella shrugged. "He never loved me, not me, at least. Maybe he loves a girl who looks like me, sometimes acts like me but," She bit her lip, "he doesn't know me at all." She finished, her voice hardly above a whisper.
"He's an idiot."
She smiled faintly. "No, that's me."
Troy disagreed but stayed quiet. "Is that what you were going to tell me?"
"Oh-for-two. No, it isn't but here goes nothing." She took a deep breath, her warm brown eyes meeting his cool blue ones for nearly the first time that night. "I think I really like you. And I'm not going to pretend that I realized it before a few hours ago because, honestly, a few days ago I was dating another guy but I'm not anymore," she said, shaking her head earnestly, "and I-I just had to tell you this." Gabriella closed her eyes, unable to face his reaction. Watching his face was like staring into the sun. "So listen, I don't know what your favorite book is or what you want to be when you grow up but here's what I do know, Troy Bolton. I really really want to find out all of these things because I want to appreciate everything about you that makes you someone perfect for me."
She opened her eyes when she felt the lightest of touches along the curve of her jaw. Troy's face was only inches from her own and she gulped noisily, ill-prepared for his sudden proximity. She couldn't say it was unwelcome, though.
Almost impercptibly, he lifted his chin slightly, minimizing the gap between their lips by just millimeters. Gabriella waited with nervous anticpation but he remained entirely still.
Troy grinned at the feel of her lips against his. She met him halfway.
I tried to hide it, I can't deny it
Now I'm inside out
Say you love me, it's all or nothing
Now I'm inside out
The End
Hope you all enjoyed! Be sure to leave me a review, it would be much appreciated.