Have you ever felt like you don't belong? Or felt completely alone when everyone in the school is your friend. That's how I, Gabriella Montez, felt when I was at school. I attend East High in Albuquerque, New Mexico. You could say that I am the most popular girl, just ahead of my best friend Sharpay, who was known as the Ice Queen. I, however, am known as East High's Sweetheart. I was head cheerleader and class president. Every girl wanted to be my friend and every guy wanted to be my boyfriend. I was surrounded by people every second of everyday and I still feel alone. Sure I have a group of amazing best friends that I can talk to about anything, but that still doesn't change how I feel.

My father had died four years ago leaving me and my mother alone. Afterwards my mother, Maria, decided that her job was more important than being home with me. She is home a total of one week out of a month, leaving me home alone for the rest of the time.

I woke up today like every other one. I got myself up and dressed for the first day of my senior year with no mom to make me breakfast or wish me a good day at school. She was on another business trip in Chicago, I think. I made myself a breakfast that consisted of scrambled eggs and a glass of milk. As soon as I was done I put my plate in the dish washer, grabbed my bag, and headed out to my car.

I drove to school while listening to the radio. I parked in my usual spot and headed into East High School. As I walked to my locker I watched the new freshmen scurry around trying to find their lockers and classrooms. When I reached my locker I discovered two of my friends already there.

Sharpay Evans was one of those sarcastic, almost bitchy girls. But she was only like that if she didn't know you. The Sharpay I know is sweet and always there when I have a bad day, although recently all of my days were bad only she didn't know that. Sharpay wore pink almost every day. She rarely wore any other color. She was a petite, blonde girl, but had a big attitude. She was the loud mouth of our group and never let any insult slide whether it was by Heather Jennings, bitch of East High, or Kyle Mathers, football quarterback. But that was why I loved her. Shar was also a fellow cheerleader.

Taylor McKessie was the smart one of our group. She was president of the Scholastic Decathlon team and a tutor for the school's tutor center. Taylor was dark skinned and curvy. She was very bossy and annoyed me sometimes, but I knew she only was because she cared. She was quiet most of the time unless someone pissed her off then they should watch out. She could be almost as loud as Sharpay when she was pissed. Taylor wore preppy clothes most of the time with polo shirts and skirts. Taylor was dating Chad Danforth, other one of my friends. He was on the basketball team and it shocked me when Taylor told me that they were together. Unlike Shar and I Taylor was not a cheerleader. She says it's because she couldn't do the routines.

I put on a fake smile and walked up to them. "Hey, Shar. Hey, Tay."

Sharpay frowned. Uh oh. What did she know? "Did you know you have new neighbors?"

I did the combination to my locker and began unloading my backpack of new school supplies. I had gone shopping by myself last weekend for them. "Yeah, I saw a moving truck there last week. Why?"

"Did you know that the people who moved in there have a son in our class, now attending here?" Shar asked, crossing her arms.

I shook my head. "I wasn't spying on them. I glanced out my window for like a split second and saw the truck. I had no idea."

Sharpay tilted her head to the right. "Oh, okay."

I rolled my eyes. Shar was way too into all of the gossip around the school so I understood why she was freaking out on me. She knew everything before anybody else and she obviously thought that I had withheld information from her about my new neighbors.

"Shar, why are you so interested in Gabi's new neighbors?" Taylor asked shaking her head with a small smile on her face.

"I heard that the boy in our class was, like, super hot," Sharpay innocently said looking at Taylor with wide puppy dog eyes. Then she looked back at me and asked, "Why didn't you tell me?"

I snorted. Sharpay was also way too into guys. She has had a wonderful boyfriend since freshman year, but she always said that it never hurt to look. She was completely in love with her boyfriend, Zeke though and she never let us forget it. "Shar, I didn't even know that they had a son. All I saw was a man in his late thirties along with a woman about the same age." I shut my locker door and turned my body toward them.

"Okay," Shar said, a smile slipping back onto her face and turned to head to homeroom.

Taylor looked at me and I shrugged then began to follow Sharpay. We walked into Ms. Darbus's room and took our usual seats in the back. Sharpay and Taylor continued to talk around me about their summer vacations. I ignored them and instead watched the front of the room. I was thinking about my mom and wondering if she would be home this weekend or the next when a hooded boy walked into the room.

No one but me noticed him. He walked over to Ms. Darbus at her desk and handed her a piece of paper. She smiled up at him and stood up. She walked over to the front of the room and cleared her throat.

The class turned their attention to her and she said, "Class, I would like you all to know that we have a new student this year." She motioned for the boy to come stand next to her. I still had not seen his face, his hood was still up and he kept his face down looking at his shoes. "This is Troy Bolton. Please be nice and help him find his way around the building." Then she whispered something to Troy and he took a deep breath and pushed his hood down.

Every girl in the room gasped including me. Because the moment his hood fell down my eyes connected to a pair of vivid blue eyes.

A/N: Okay so this is my second FanFiction story and I know that it has probably been done before, but the idea has been bugging me for sometime so I thought I would post it. I am still not sure where it will end up going, but it probably won't be very long. You should definitely review and tell me what you think and if I should continue it. I have no idea when I will post another chapter so please be patient with me. I am so stuck on my other story Mutation and it is my main priority right now. Oh, and if there are any mistakes please let me know, I didn't read over it a second time.

Disclaimer: I do not own High School Musical or its characters, the story however is mine. (I wish Zac Efron was too, sigh).