Oh baby don't you know I suffer?
Oh baby can you hear me moan?
You caught me under false pretenses
How long before you let me go?
"Hey, can I sit with you?"
I looked up from my Honors World History textbook, and saw myself staring at the strangest eyes I had ever seen. They were hazel; green in a certain kind of light; and had the appearance of a whirlwind. The way the colors mottled together, one melting into the other, made an almost nauseating pattern. Despite the strangely intoxicating look of the irises, the person's eyes were actually quite attractive…and strangely familiar. I felt my lips curl up into a smile.
Someone snickered behind me, and I immediately felt the blood rush into my cheeks. I looked down, hoping my thick chestnut hair would hide my blush. "Uh, sure," I mumbled, afraid to look up again. That wasn't like me-usually, I would have shot back some kind of smart remark, or ignored them completely.
"Thanks," the unknown voice said. I looked up in spite of myself and gave the person a quick once-over. Male. Since when do hot guys ask to sit with me? Besides to copy my tests? And that can't be it, considering we're in Choir. He was tall, even when sitting, bronze hair, nice tan. Of course he has a tan-we ARE in Albuquerque.
I sighed. Just another way I didn't fit in here-while everyone else was tan and sporty-looking, my skin was almost translucent. My mother complimented me, calling my skin "alabaster." My girlfriends used more appropriate words, like "ghost."
Whatever. I straightened my shoulders and looked straight ahead. I fit in just fine-I just wasn't a Barbie. I knew that well enough; in fact, I'd never questioned it before. I knew I looked more like I was from Jersey than Albuquerque. It had never bothered me until now. Why was I suddenly so self-conscious?
"So, what's your name?" I jumped again. Crap-I needed to stop getting distracted so easily. It would probably be a problem when we were taking the SATs. The boy was looking at me intently again, with those strange hazel eyes, pulling me in…
To avoid possible hypnosis, I swallowed and looked at the floor, wondering what was the matter with me today. "Gabriella."
He said something that I didn't hear. I was completely lost in my swirl of thoughts. I looked up long enough to see that he was offering me a hand. I stared at it for a second. What did he expect me to do with that?
Oh, right. Shake it. I did so, mortified.
What the hell is happening to me? I thought. What is it about this guy who I've known for, what, forty seconds that makes me so…shy?
"So…" He began to start small talk, but suddenly, I was overwhelmed by a whiff of Bath&Body Works Cotton Dream body spray. I smiled, realizing that the scent could only mean one person-my best friend, Taylor McKessie.
"Hey girl!" She pulled me into a vise-like hug. I grinned, glad she'd saved me from the awkward conversation that was no doubt about to occur.
"Hey Taylor! Sit with me?" Taylor grinned and plopped down into the seat on the other side of me. I saw her eyes wander over to the boy. It would be rude not to introduce them, right? "Oh, uh, this is…"
"Troy Bolton," he said, and that was when it hit me. Oh my god-it was him. How could I have forgotten my biggest crush of junior high?! I liked him way more than any of my other crushes…I gulped, flashing back to 7th grade.
Gabriella sits down on the hard stool, waiting for her name to be called so that she can audition for her school performance of "Musical School High." She is anxious to go, but not really nervous-the ocean in her stomach had passed a few hours ago. There was only one person she wants to impress here, and it isn't the director. Finally, Miss Kaufman calls her name. She goes up to the makeshift stage, asks for a starting pitch, and suddenly belts out the first few notes of "We're All In This Together." The voice grows, and she starts improvising, adding in random dance moves and finishing with a strung out note-"make our dreams come truuuuuuuuue." She steps down lightly, enjoying the clapping and whistles for once, and suddenly looks up and sees Troy Bolton, the most amazing male singer in the school, staring at her intently…
"You okay, Gabi?" Taylor said, yanking me out of the flashback. I blinked and nodded.
Troy opened his mouth to say something, but thank God, the teacher walked in at that very second. I looked up at the ceiling and mouthed to word "thanks."
"All right, let's get this started. Hello, children! I am Miss Alagna, your choral advisor." She wrote her name in block letters on the board. "That's ah-lah-nn-yah," she said, enunciating each syllable. "Say it with me: Ah-lah-nyah. Not ah-log-na, or ah-lag-na, ah-lah-nya."
"Ah-lah-nyah," we repeated faithfully. I smiled. Miss Ahlahnya was someone I could get along with.
"Excellent," she beamed, giving the class a once-over. "Now, I'm going to break you into 5 sections: Tenor, Bass, Alto, Soprano I, and Soprano II. I'll need to hear you all, so when you hear your name, come up to the piano and sing a full scale and arpeggio. Christine Amancer?"
"Not here," someone piped up. I slid into a more comfortable position in my chair-my name was an M, so I'd be here a while.
"Troy Bolton?"
I jumped, and he looked at me funny before going up to the stage. Damn-you GOTTA stop that.
Taylor looked at me questioningly, but I shook my head, indicating we'd talk about it later.
After Choir, Taylor and I were walking to our classes. Of course, Taylor had remembered the Troy incident, and was interrogating me.
"So, do you like him?" she asked for the millionth time.
"No! Taylor, come on. I hardly know him," I protested weakly.
"No, you come on. I saw the way you looked at him…and the way he looked at you." She winked coyly. "I think he's got a thing for you too."
"Since when did you become Dr. Phil?" I teased, but inside I was dying to know if Taylor was right. He likes me?! Could that even be possible?! I mean, sure, I had a crush on him before, but could it be possible that he liked me back?!
She saw through me, of course. "Well, it's a good he's been moved to the front row," she mused. He had turned out Tenor. I was Alto, as usual, and she was a Soprano, meaning she was on the other side of the room. Craaap…who would distract me from the beautiful disaster of Troy Bolton's eyes? Dayum, those eyes…I slapped myself unthinkingly, not wanting to remember. I did NOT like Troy Bolton.
Taylor looked at me and opened her mouth, then thought about it and just shook her head.
"What do you mean, good thing he moved?" I said, trying to distract her from my random self-slapping. I knew very well what she'd answer.
She shrugged. "You won't jump on him when you hear his name, at least." I rolled my eyes. "Gotta go-my class is thataway," she said, squeezing me in a quick hug before skipping into the gymnasium. I giggled appreciatively, then dragged myself to Spanish.
Thank God I had B Lunch. One half-hour of listening to my idiot classmates chitchat with an equally intelligent teacher had taken quite a toll on me. Why, oh why did I switch from Italian? I KNEW I'd be in a class full of kids that weren't smart enough for Spanish II. I sighed. Too late now-no transfers until 2nd semester. I would have to stick it out.
"Hey, Gabriella!" My friends Kelsi and Martha Cox waved me over to a table in the corner under some D.A.R.E posters. I smiled and waved back, scurrying to grab a seat. On the way, I tripped over a Snapple can and fell flat on my face, banging my head against a table leg in the process. Oh, shit! Stupid littering jerk!
"Gabriella?" A painfully familiar voice called to me.
Shit, shit, shit. Please don't be who I think it is. I looked up into a pair of hypnotizing, concerned hazel eyes.
Shiiiiit.
"Gabriella, are you all right?" Troy asked. He looked nervous…and intoxicating. I wonder how hard I'd hit my head.
"Oh, yeah, it's nothing. I'm fine." I tried to sit up, and found that I could do so without too much of a head rush. Troy offered his hand again, and this time I took it, blushing when I felt the warmth. I felt myself smile at him, and he grinned back, looking a lot like a little boy who had just announced that he was potty-trained. I giggled softly. He looked at me again, this time with a soft look around his eyes. What was he thinking?
"What's so funny?" a sharp voice demanded. I whirled around, almost falling over again. A statuesque blonde stood in front of me. She had piercing blue eyes-much bluer than mine-and wore a pink sequined halter top with a matching short-sleeved shrug, and denim short shorts, and wedge heel flip-flops. Very pretty-but the scowl on her face kind of ruined the beauty. Troy looked at the floor, like he'd done something wrong.
"Uhh, nothing," I said, backing away from the girl's cold stare. "I was just-"
"Whatever." Blondie brushed past me, flipping her perfect hair. "C'mon Troy, I need you to come to my locker with me."
His girlfriend. Well, damn! I felt my stomach sink into my toes. I knew he couldn't have reciprocated even a fraction of what I'd felt for him in 7th grade. My mind spun into another flashback…
Gabriella sees him through the crowd, looking for his parents, dodging all the little fans. Everyone is congratulating him, telling him he was so good up there. Do it already, she tells herself, and she starts walking towards Troy…
"There you are, Gabi," says her current boyfriend Bob. "You were so great!"
Gabi smiles and they hug. She looks over Bob's shoulder and sees Troy, hugging a girl. Her heart sinks. She is about to leave with Bob when suddenly Troy catches her eye, and they stare…
"Gabi?" Kelsi looked at me like I had 3 heads. I snapped out of it.
"Hey, Kels!" I wrapped her into a hug.
She wasn't convinced. "Gabi, what was that?"
"What was what?" I asked innocently, but my blush gave it away.
"Gab, come on. I know you. What happened with him?"
I sighed, looking at Troy and Blondie walk into the cafeteria. Blondie had a satisfied smirk on her face. "I don't know, Kelsi. I really don't know."
A/N: First chapter ever on FanFiction! Review pleeeease if you wanna know what happens next! :)