Gabriella walked through the front doors of East High, down the hall and over to her locker. It was her first day back at East High in over a month. Over that time she didn't see her friends or her boyfriend. The past month felt a years for Gabriella and her friends. Gabriella looked in the mirror that was hanging in her locker. At last she was no longer pale. She turned around and saw her best friend Danielle standing at the end of the hall. Danielle ran to Gabriella once she saw her. They both hugged eachother for the first time in over a month.

"I missed you Ella." Said Danielle.

"I missed you too Ellie." Said Gabriella.

Ella and Ellie were the nicknames they had for eachother. Danielle and Gabriella were friends since they were five. They let go of eachother and saw Gabriella's boyfriend Troy running towards them with Taylor, Chad, Sharpay and Ryan. Taylor and Chad were boyfriend and girlfriend. Ryan and Sharpay were brother and sister. Troy lifted Gabriella up and spinned her around as she giggled.

"Troy be careful you don't hurt her." Said Danielle.

"Question!" Said Sharpay. Sharpay was a total party girl. She was in love with herself. Gabriella was friends with Sharpay but she would never trust Sharpay with her secrets. "How long does it take to recover from getting your appendix out?"

"Yeah you were gone for a really long time." Said Ryan. Ryan was Sharpay's twin. He was nothing like his sister.

"W-well after my operation I caught a really bad chest infection." Gabriella said nervously. "So I had to stay in hospital longer. I spent all that time recovering."

"Well I'm glad you back." Danielle said while putting her hand on Gabriella's shoulder.

Gabriella wished that was the real reason why she was out. Gabriella was told she had a brain tumor. Two of them. She had been getting treatment for the past four months. Finally one of the tumors was small enough for doctors to remove. Now she needed more treatment to shrink the big one. Once the big one was small enough doctors could remove it. Then hopefully Gabriella could get the all clear. Gabriella's mom, Maria, and her sister, Jasmine, are the only people who know about it.

"Yeah right!" Said Sharpay. "Even before you got your appendix out you couldn't stay in school for a full week."

"Sharpay grow up!" Said Danielle. "If your not gonna say anything nice to Gabriella then beat it!"

Sharpay put her hand on her hip and marched down the hall. The gang watched as she left.

"Ella can I use your hairbrush?" Asked Danielle.

Gabriella rolled her eyes. "Sure knock yourself out."

Danielle got the brush and started brushing her short blonde hair.

"We better go to class." Smiled Troy. Taking Gabriella's hand.

Gabriella stared into Troy's eyes and walked down the hall with him.

"HEY WAIT FOR ME!" Shouted Danielle.

"Maybe now you won't be as sick as you were before your surgery." Said Troy.

"Yeah maybe." Sighed Gabriella.

It broke Gabriella's heart when she was lying to her friends. She knew it was going to be a very long time until she gets better.