Disclaimer: I don't own any of these characters. I didn't create Troy (unfortunately) or Gabriella or any of the Wildcat team.

Set-Up: This story takes place in Albuquerque, New Mexico, however, not at East High. Instead, I've decided to place them in a private school, East Preparatory Academy (EPA). My reasons for doing this are purely out of simplicity and convenience, as I do not know what a public American high school is truly like. So...bear with me. =) Anyway, read!

Gabriella Montez tapped her foot impatiently, leaning against the side of the old brick building. It was starting to get chilly, she noted, taking another sip of her Starbucks caramel latte, letting the hot liquid warm her insides. She hated waiting. More importantly, she hated waiting for boys. Yet, here she was, doing exactly that. If it wasn't for the fact it was one particularly important boy, she might have just up and left. But no, it was Evan. Evan Druthers - senior class president, party animal, and the captain of the soccer team – was worth waiting for.

"Hey, babe," Gabriella looked up from her shoes to be greeted by the very same boy she was thinking about. There was no doubt about it, he was gorgeous. The fact that her heart jumped a little when he was nearby was enough to tell her that she was lucky. But still. Gabriella hated to wait.

"You're late. Like, really late," she pouted.

"I know, and I'm sorry. The car wouldn't start, so I had to walk here," he explained. Evan cupped her chin in his hand, bringing her lips to his for a sweet kiss.

"Whatever," she said, starting to walk away.

"Gabi, come on. I was only a few minutes late. What's the big deal? It's not as if you're dying to get to school anyway," he said, exasperatedly, jogging a little to catch up with her. They entered the doors of East Preparatory Academy, and made their way towards their shared homeroom.

"That's not the point, Evan. I hate waiting for you. I look like a total idiot standing outside in the cold," she shot back, through gritted teeth.

"So go inside,"

"You are the one who asked me to wait for you!" she cried, slamming her books down on her table and sitting down in a huff.

"Here we go again, Gabi. It's the same fucking routine every single Monday morning," he grumbled.

"Excuse me?" she whipped her head around to look him in the eye. Evan was leaning back in his chair lazily, but leaned forward to speak in a softer voice, as more and more students filed in.

"You heard me. Every single Monday morning, we get into a fight because you're pissed that I went out on Friday night or whatever. I told you, nothing happened, so deal with it," Evan said coldly. Gabriella stared at him, mouth open in shock. Yes, it was true that Evan was a partier. She never really liked to go with him; she preferred smaller, intimate gatherings. But she wasn't angry that he had gone without her. Please, she wasn't that desperate. In fact, with her luscious, dark chocolate locks and a gorgeous figure attained from many hours of dance and track and field meets, she was perfectly capable of finding someone for herself.

"Fuck you, Druthers," she seethed, turning to face forward again. She was fuming on the inside, but she knew it could all go away. Evan and Gabriella weren't necessarily the most perfect couple at East Preparatory Academy, but they were certainly the couple that made the most sense. He was EPA's golden boy, and Gabriella was their track star and dance vixen. Both beautiful, everybody merely assumed they would be perfect for each other. Thus, with the insistence of their peers, they had hooked up at a party one night, decided the relationship was good enough, and had been that way ever since. They had their fights, their dramas, their ups and downs, but they knew it was because of obligation – no, social decorum – that they stayed together. Perhaps it wasn't the most ideal situation, but Gabriella would make the best of it. She would settle, as always.

Several classrooms away, Troy Bolton was sitting on his desk, his friends, Zeke Baylor and Jason Cross, crowded around him, all talking about the past weekend.

"Dude, did you see Lara Walker? She is so hot," Zeke whispered, as the girl he had mentioned walked into the room.

"Lay off it, Zeke. You know she's dating that college guy," Jason advised.

"Whatever. Hey, today's Monday, isn't it? Shit. I've got soccer practice," Zeke groaned. Out of their little social circle, Zeke was the only one who took basketball and soccer, two strenuous sports, in back to back seasons.

"Speaking of soccer, did you see Druthers at the party on Saturday night?" Troy asked. He had known Evan ever since they were little, but they had grown up to be two completely different people. Troy was responsible, Evan was reckless.

"I saw him for the first twenty minutes. Then I saw him disappear upstairs with some random," Jason said, shrugging his shoulders.

"Fucking idiot. He has a girlfriend. Why hasn't anybody told Gabriella yet?" he asked, concerned. Troy didn't know Gabriella personally, but he knew her how the whole school knew her: an athlete, a dancer, and daddy's little girl.

"Man, I don't know. They're all probably too scared to stand up to Druthers," Zeke said, as the final bell rang and he took his seat. Troy turned to take his place, and was surprised by a quick kiss on the lips from his own girlfriend, Holly Masen. Holly was a cheerleader, blonde and blue-eyed. It seemed apt that the head cheerleader and the captain of the basketball team would be dating, but they had liked each other mutually, not like Evan and Gabriella.

"Hi, baby," Holly cooed, then took her seat across the room. Troy blushed slightly, running a hand through his hair and took his seat.

"I am so not jealous of him and the fact that he goes out every weekend, you know? I can't believe he'd even imply that. I am so over him, it's not even funny," Gabriella crossed her arms and leaned back against the row of lockers, as her best friend, Taylor McKessie, worked at her own lock.

"Gabs, the guy has a point though. Monday is officially like, Fight Day for you two. Which I don't even see the point in anyway, considering you don't even like him all that much," Taylor added the last part quietly. Gabriella had only confided in Taylor that she was getting tired of the act her and her so-called boyfriend were playing. She wanted to experience real, true love, the head-over-heels phenomenon that Taylor was so often describing with her own boyfriend, Chad Danforth.

"I know, I know. Evan and I have been through a lot together. And lately it just seems like we're staying together out of habit. Out of convenience or something like that," Gabriella said, as she and Taylor made their way towards their Advanced Business and Management class.

"So you're staying with him just so you'll be guaranteed a date for prom? A little harsh, Montez," Taylor winced.

"I know, I'm such a bitch. Whatever, I'll figure it out,"

"Figure it out soon," Taylor gave her a quick hug and went to sit over by her boyfriend, who had been daydreaming before class had started. Gabriella sighed and took a place near the door, opening her books. If she couldn't solve Evan, she would settle for solving pseudo case studies.

After school that day, Troy dribbled the ball up the court, executing a perfect lay-up. He didn't have practice, it wasn't even basketball season, but he had decided to come in and do a few shots before the volleyball team came in to use the gym. Several minutes later, Troy retreated to the boys' locker room, and after a steaming hot shower, he was taking a breather before dressing and heading home. He leaned against the cold metal of the row of lockers and closed his eyes. Troy wasn't usually the thoughtful type; he did things as he wanted to and on his own accord. But with senior year well underway, he wanted to go out with a bang, so to speak. He wanted to make his last year in high school memorable and he knew it wasn't going to happen with Holly. They had been dating since the end of junior year and although he thought she was cute, Troy also thought that Holly was way too superficial. She dragged Troy to the mall every weekend, asking him his opinion on clothes he really didn't give a damn about. She fussed over her hair, her looks, down to every little detail. He exhaled loudly and shook his head, pushing all thoughts of Holly out of the way. As he was getting up, he caught bits and pieces of the conversation being held on the other side of the lockers.

"Gabi's cool and everything, but seriously, she is so uptight," a voice Troy recognized as Evan Druthers said.

"Yeah, man, totally," Troy scoffed. That voice was unmistakable; it was Evan's flunky and right-hand man, Derek Marshall. "You gotta shoot for someone loose, y'know?"

"Yeah, like Ashley. Ashley's the perfect girl for me, man," Evan said. Troy cringed. It was such typical jock-talk that he felt like bursting in on the conversation.

"I thought you were hooking up with Laila?"

"Nah, that was just at the party. I need variety, y'know?" Evan said, and slammed his locker shut. Troy clenched his fists, putting all his willpower into not punching the living daylights out of Evan. Instead, he merely got dressed, packed up and left the locker room, where sure enough, Holly was waiting outside for him.

"Where've you been? It's not even basketball season yet," she pouted.

"I know. I just thought I'd shoot some hoops," he explained, kissing her on the cheek. Holly's arms were crossed against her chest, a sure signal that she was irritated with him, but Troy shrugged it off.

"Yeah, well, Chad didn't stay back and Taylor got to go home at a decent time," she said, her voice dripping with sarcasm.

"You didn't have to wait for me," Troy mumbled, throwing his bags into his car.

"Excuse me?" she said, one hand on her hip, her head cocked to one side. "I didn't have to wait for you? Of course I didn't, Bolton. I wanted to," she said.

"Alright, fine, then. Thank you for waiting," he said, more bitter than he had expected.

"What is your problem?" Holly asked tiredly. She knew Troy inside out, but there were times like this when he was completely unpredictable.

"Nothing. Nothing's my problem, I've just had a long day and I'm exhausted, okay? I'm sorry for unloading all that on you, Hols. I really am," Troy explained. He might have been completely bored with the relationship and not that into Holly anymore, but when it came down to it, Troy was a people-pleaser; he aimed to make people around him happy, no matter what it took.

"Okay," she said in a quiet voice, as Troy wrapped his arms around her and kissed her lightly on the lips.

"Alright, so. Ride back home?" he opened the passenger door and plastered a smile on his face to let her know he was okay.

"Um…yeah, okay," Holly hesitantly agreed, but slipped inside the car, relieved. Troy made his way back to the driver's side, all the way thinking, 'I've got to end it sometime. Sometime soon.'

'I've got to end it sometime. Sometime soon.'

Gabriella was lying on her stomach in her bedroom, poring over her Advanced Mathematics coursework, but her mind was in a completely different place. She hated to admit it, but her relationship with Evan had reached its final point. After their fight in the morning, he had barely even looked at her, but went about his own day as if nothing were different. Gabriella knew the tell-tale signs: indifference, avoidance, and most importantly, loss of interest. She was smart, methodical, and logical. The next clear-cut step would be the breakup. But as much as she wanted to convince herself that it was the right thing to do, a part of Gabriella pulled back and said, no. A part of her wanted to work things out with Evan, like she always did.

"Gabi?" her mom's voice pulled her out of her reverie and she sat up.

"Yes, mama?"

"I just came home. Are you doing homework?"

"Yes,"

"How was school?"

"It was fine, mama," Gabriella replied.

"Good. How is Evan?" Gabriella sighed. She knew her mother meant well, but the sound of Evan's voice made a whole new wave of emotions go through her.

"He's fine,"

"Alright, sweetie. I'll let you go back to work," Ms. Montez closed the bedroom door, leaving Gabriella to go back to her thoughts. Yes, it had to end sometime. Sometime soon.

A/N: Okay, what do you think!?!?! =) I am so excited for this story, I feel like I finally have a grasp of what I want to do, but knowing me, my excitement might fizzle out near the end. Haha. I hope you guys understand that Gabriella & Troy do not know each other personally, they're merely acquaintances through Taylor and Chad. So, you know, read and review. You know the drill! =)