There was two types of popular at East High, the popular athlete that wins all the sports awards and competitions, gained all the attention and was always on the top of the rumour mill. Basically the popular athlete is the person that everyone wants to be. On the contrary, there is the class president popular. The type that socializes with the peers and classmates, the one that everyone loves and never has an enemy and especially the person everyone wants to be friends with.
Gabriella fell in a different category of popular, one of her own. She's smart, beautiful, talented, committed, friendly, dedicated and loved. With Science Club, Drama Club, Music Club, Scholastic Decathlons, Volleyball team, Track team and Tutoring, Gabriella was popular amongst all cliques of East High. Everyone wanted to be friends with her, the teachers adored her and even the auxiliary staff loved her. However her biggest supporting team was her group of best friends and her boyfriend.
Troy Bolton often fell into the category of popular athlete, not that he wasn't smart or loved or that people wanted to be friends with him rather than be him. But more often he was someone people wanted to be, especially the male population. His good looks, his charisma, his leadership, his team, his friends and especially his girlfriend, all the guys of East High wanted to be him, while the girls wanted to be friends with him.
"Hey Babe" her giggle was his favourite sound. It was world class, top chart music to his ears.
"Troy you know the rules. No PDA during school hours"
"You weren't saying that during free period in the garden" he whispered in her ear as she tried to dodge him while writing out her notes
"Troy Bolton!"
"Alright, I'm sorry babe" Troy surrendered and straddled the seat as he admired his girlfriend of four years.
Gabriella had her books and folders scattered around the bleachers as she loitered in the gym during her boyfriend's basketball practice. Taylor often argued and complained about the distractions, the echoes of the balls hitting against the court, the shouts between the boys and especially the sweaty looks from the boys themselves. But to Gabriella it was sort of soothing to watch and support her boyfriend in the one sport he poured his heart and soul into, it was also a strange way they bonded. When training got intense she would easily emerge herself into her notes, but during warm up, warm down and scrimmage they would steal glances, winks, giggled about inside jokes. Every three pointer he scored, during scrimmage and home games, he would give her a sign that the basket was dedicated to her. He would kiss the tip of his right fingers and shoot an invisible basket and give her a quick wink and hustle back to retrieve the ball.
"Stop staring at me!" She squealed as she hid behind the folder of paper she was scribbling on.
"I can't help it," he fought her to reveal her face by taking the folder from her "you're just so damn cute"
"Alright," Chad hollered from the door of the locker rooms "Hoops, we're heading out now" the remainder of the team followed behind Chad, freshly dressed with wet hair and stinky gym bags. Meanwhile Troy who was seated on the bleachers was still wearing his damp work out clothes with his sweat drenched hair now dried and sticking to his forehead.
"Later! Text me the details about the tournament!"
"Will do!"
Gabriella began to gathered her papers while Troy started to stack her books. He looked to the doors of the gym to confirm that his team had completely left, then he glanced up again for what seemed like the fifth time since practice ended, to look at his dad's office where the game meetings and plans took place.
"What tournament? Did you tell me about this?"
"Yea baby. I mentioned it on Tuesday night"
"You mean when I was half asleep after eating three slices of pizza" she smirked and raised an eyebrow at him as he zipped up her bag
"Thinking back that probably wasn't a smart idea"
"Talking to me half asleep or having a pizza coma?"
"Both"
"So tell me about this tournament"
"Chad, Zeke, Jason and a few of the other guys created a team to compete in the community basketball tourney. Remember we played at least once a week for the tourney and now it's playoffs this weekend"
"Oh right. Chad couldn't stop talking about it at lunch this whole week"
"Yeah, for some reason it's in Santa Fe so we're talking a road trip out in the morning"
"Aww, so I won't see you all weekend?" she teased
"Unfortunately. Will you miss me?" he gripped her hands and held them tight to his chest as he mocked her teasing tone
"Oh how will I survive" she rested her hand on her forehead in a distressed manner
"You'll be just fine beautiful" he broke the role and kissed her forehead while wrapping his arm around her waist tightly pulling her into a deep kiss. "So we're alone …" he hinted
"Troy we are not doing that again!" she scolded
"That's what you said last time … and the time after that … and—"
"Okay okay" the ten shade of pink was evident on her cheeks as the memories of the forbidden actions in the boys' locker room came about in her mind.
"But we're all alone" Troy moaned
"You don't know that! Jeff almost caught us last time" Gabriella whispered in an embarrassed hush as if Jeff, the auxiliary staff who cleaned the boys' locker room every Friday of every school week, was just around the corner
"Brie come on. It's Friday; 6:30 the boys are gone, Dad's gone, everyone's gone"
"No Troy" she stood with her final answer indicating that she was ready to leave
Troy sighed in defeat, grabbed his gym bag and helped his girlfriend down the bleachers.
"But we can do it at home" she whispered in his ear and took off skipping across the court towards the exit doors. Troy's mood instantly flipped back to excitement as he watched the girl who stole his heart, run off into the distance with a mischievous look on her face. He chased her to his jeep where he caught her midway and grabbed her around the waist causing their bags to drop carelessly to the floor.
"I love you so much Brie"
"I love you too baby"
They shared a deep sensual kiss in the middle of the empty parking lot with all the carefree feelings in the world. When Gabriella pulled back, Troy tucked her loose tendrils behind her ear behind placing a soft kiss on her forehead.
"We gotta go Wildcat"
Troy picked up both their bags and intertwined their fingers together as he led them towards his Jeep. He placed her bag in the back seat with care while he chucked his gym bag beside her's.
As they cruised down the road with the music playing softly in the background, Troy would stare at his girlfriend with great adoration at each stop sign and red light. Gabriella often got lost in the music playing on the radio and on cool nights like the one they were having, the sun roof and windows would be down and her arm hanging slightly out the window while she ride the wind with her arm.
"You're so beautiful" Troy whispered as he squeezed her thigh with the right arm he had rested on
"You're not so bad yourself " she teased
"Are you sure you can't come to Santa Fe?"
"Yes, I have so much homework to catch upon and plus, this will be a nice getaway with the guys"
"Screw the guys, I just want you there"
"I'll be sure to tell them that"
"Oh, they already know" Troy smirked as he stared at her beautiful as she bopped her head to the music. "As a matter of fact, Chad said that I insist you come otherwise I'll whine about you not being there"
"Since when did you start letting Chad tease you"
"Since it became true. I'm whipped like … whipped cream?"
Her giggles filled the roofless car and empty street. Like a scene from Snow White, the birds chirped along to her giggles and the sunset slowly descended in the background. Her head tilted back with her giggles and she tried hide her laughter with her hand.
"Anyways" he playfully glared at her "I am whipped, happily and I'll admit it when it comes to you"
"Aww baby"
Just as he pulled up to her driveway her mother was exiting her own car and the both exchanged a wave and soft smile as she trod into the house.
"You better get home and get some rest before that tourney babe"
Troy nodded in agreement as he pulled her bag around from the back.
"Will you miss me?" he teased as he leaned forward to kiss her
"Only every second of the day"
"I'll miss you too"
"Win that tourney for me" she popped open the door and gripped unto the strap of her bag.
"I will. We'll probably be back late on Sunday so I'll see you on Monday in class?"
"You betchya"
Soon enough it was early Monday morning and for some reason the weekend went by unusually faster. Troy and the boys won the community tournament with ease, and so as they walked through the doors of East High it was yet another boisterous morning with team chants and cheers. Troy made his regular routine down the hall and headed towards the locker he spent more times at than his own, only this time the owner of the locker was absent. Normally Troy wasn't worried, this only meant that his girlfriend was either late (which was rare) or was already in class and so he continued his routine by heading into the form class.
"Hey Tay, have you seen Brie?" It was now that Troy would panic, not only had he not seen Gabriella over the weekend but now she wasn't in her seat in class with two minutes to spear.
"No, I thought she was with you" Taylor shrugged then continued to write out her daily goals in her planner.
This left Troy to assume that today was the day that Gabriella would be mysteriously absent. Everyday since kindergarten, Gabriella Montez held the "Perfect Attendance Record" meaning she's never missed a single day of school, ever. Even when the entire class was out with food poisoning and she was lucky enough to not get it, she was sitting in her seat ready to learn. However since the seventh grade she began to miss one day of each month, but with her exceptional grades and high involvement in extra curricular activities, the school's board oversaw her absence for once a day each month.
No one knew why she missed one day, not even her own boyfriend, and no one seemed to ask despite her popularity. Some people speculated that it had been a monthly breakdown since losing her father, others assumed it was a breakdown from taking on so many curriculums. The first three months, Troy was an overly concerned boyfriend who spent hours upon hours badgering her on why, to the point that he began to think she was supposedly cheating on him, thanks to the cheerleading captain for planting the seed in his head. But after a long night of Gabriella explaining to him that, that wasn't the case and that it was just a very personal thing to her that she couldn't explain to him or anyone for that matter, was when he finally accepted it and had let it happen.
To say the least, every month when that day rolled around it was the worst day of Troy's month. Not only did he feel clueless but he also felt helpless. So when he strolled into class hoping to wrap his arms around his favourite girl, he was highly disappointed to see her seat empty. Before he could dial her number had began first period and he quickly stashed his phone before she could confiscate it.
After the long anticipated first bell rang, Troy was the first to exit the room. He rushed to his locker to grab his books that he forgot to pick up on the way from the excitement of seeing his girlfriend. Just as he grabbed his math book and shuffled the remainder of his books, a smaller spiral-bounded book fell on the floor in front of his feet. Scribbled on the front, in her smooth cursive writing was "Troy's Planner 2016-2017."
At the end of summer when everyone was shopping for new outfits, Gabriella had dragged Troy to the bookstores and office supplies stores. While picking up a new academic elephant-themed planner, she glanced over to the plain academic planner and decided to grab one for her boyfriend. It was only at the cashier that Troy noticed she picked up two planners that he assumed was by mistake, so he placed the second plain planner on the side instead of the cashier conveyer belt.
"Hey, why'd you take the planner away?" She looked up at him with her sad eyes
"Oh, you picked up the elephant one. I thought you picked this one up by accident"
"No" she smiled
"Baby, why do you need two planners for the same year?"
"It's for you silly"
Troy belted a loud chuckle "Baby we tried that last year and I barely lasted a week"
"Well this year, you're gonna use it throughout the year and I'll make sure of it!"
Needless to say, after the second day the planner was stashed away in Troy's locker buried deep down under his textbooks. He flipped through the empty planner with the exceptional scribbles of test dates and basketball competitions that Gabriella pre-written at the beginning of the previous semester. Troy couldn't help laugh to himself of the ridiculous idea of having a planner for himself. In all practicality, Gabriella already knew his schedules academically and socially, more than often times he had to text or call Gabriella, or be reminded of his own schedule. It was until he saw the contrast of writing did he stop flipping through. Unlike Gabriella's flawless cursive writing, it was of his own. As Gabriella liked to describe his penmanship as 'chicken scratches,' he on the other hand defended himself by saying that his brain worked faster than his hand thus the uneasy legibility of his writing.
Written on the last week of September, on a Monday was "Brie Absent" and the following Friday Gabriella had written "Ice Cream Date." He had no recollection of ever writing down her absence but he did remember their ice cream date. He continued to flip through the pages till he stopped in October and like the previous month, on the last week; this time of a Thursday was once again scribbled "Brie Absent." It was then he remembered that he decided to start recording the days that Gabriella didn't attend school for that one day a month.
With no motive of figuring out the mystery, it was an impulsive action from missing her all day and the planner was a sweet reminder of their Back-to-School shopping trip. He continued flipping through the book of November, December, January and February did he notice there was a pattern, the one day she would miss school was always in the last week of each month. He unlocked his phone and stared at the date, only to realize it was within the last week of March. With the wheels turning in his head he had a wild guess on her reason of absence and although he might be 1000% off, he was determined to solve the mystery.
'I really miss you today' read the text that interrupted his screen. He smiled at the thought of his girlfriend who was currently not at school
'Miss you so much too. Are you okay?'
'I am. Pay attention in class please'
Troy chuckled to himself, even when she's not there she's scolding him about class. Little did she know he was tucked away in the library with his bag and planner, completely disregarding his math class now. The more he thought back on the last week of each month the more he began to notice patterns. For example, Gabriella always schedules a dessert date three-four days after. Within those weeks he received the most cheesiest love text messages than usual and the day after her absence she was more withdrawn than usual.
His wild guess was now becoming a definite guess and while it is still a guess he rather face her rather than to not try at all. So he stuffed his planner into his bag and shuffled quickly out of the library; sprinted to his jeep and chucked his bag in the back racing off of campus.
"Seem a bit early to mess up man?"
"Huh?" Troy looked up at the guy who didn't seem much older than he did
"Chocolates, ice cream, pop tarts, strawberries, pizza, popcorn and flowers" he scanned each item from the conveyer belt into the plastic bags "What'd you do this time?"
"Oh! Nothing, just one of those days man" Troy whipped out his wallet and cashed his items.
"Ah I see, well props to you man. Hope your girl feels better"
"Thanks man" he grabbed the three bags and hustled back to his car before the ice cream could begin to melt.
The doorbell echoed twice within the home of the Montez. Gabriella had hoped whoever was at the door would give up after the second ring but just as she curled into child's pose position, the doorbell echoed again.
"Coming" she moaned and groaned as she dreadfully dragged herself to the door and peaked through the peephole. To her surprise she saw the one person she would never want to see her, especially on a day like such. "Troy. What are you doing here?" she groaned through the door
"I know why you've been missing school once a month!" he bounced back and forth on his toes as he struggled with the bags in his hands. "Baby, let me in"
"No, go back to school!"
"Babe, let me in"
"Troooyyy" she whined and continued to peep through the peephole.
"Let me in"
"I'm all gross, literally, emotionally, figuratively, everything!"
"You're not!" Troy sighed as he began to become restless standing at the door. "I'll climb through the balcony!"
"No!"
"I brought treats! … popcorn! … strawberries! … ice cream!" he tempted. Then he heard the click of lock as she very slowly began to open the door. He barely saw the peep of her eye as she hesitated to widen the door, but as promised his hands was occupied by three heavy bags.
"Is it cookie and creams?" she referred to the ice cream that was peeping through the translucent supermarket bag
"One and only, with soft chucks of Oreos"
This time Gabriella opened the door wider willingly. Although she was ashamed of her current physical looks she could not deprive her craving for her favourite ice cream. Troy tested the waters by taking a step forward and when Gabriella didn't protest he continued to walk into the house that became a second home to him. He dropped the bags and gripped her wrist as he pulled her into a tight hug. From an outsider's stand point it might seem like Troy was consoling her for a deep dark reason like losing a loved one or remembering a loved one but the reason was simple and in fact nothing unusual.
"How did you figure it out?" Gabriella mumbled into his shoulder as he soothed her pain by softly rubbing her back up and down.
"That student planner you got me back in the beginning of the semester. I subconsciously recorded the days you missed school and it just became a matter of putting the piece together. Ice cream dates days after you missed school, you are always grumpy when you came back the next day and it's always the end of the month; never beginning or middle or even half way."
"This is so embarrassing, not even Taylor knows I miss school because of my period"
"Well I'm honoured" he teased as he kissed her forehead and released her to pick up the bag of treats and flowers. "For you, because I know you love flowers and to brighten up your day"
She inspected the flowers as they walked into the kitchen when Troy began to unpack the grocery bags and Gabriella filled a vase of water for her flowers.
"Honestly babe, you of all people knows science and stuff behind menstrual cycle before it even happened for you. Why are you so embarrassed by it?" He helped her up unto the counter where she sat on the edge and wrapped her legs around his waist.
"Because it makes me miss school and I love going to school"
"I think I've only ever heard you say that in my entire life"
"I love going to school because I get to see you and all my friends and plus I'm top of the class"
"Well why do you miss one day if it normally lasts a week"
"The first day is always the worst. It's never been a pain-free cycle and even though i feel the pain the rest of the days the first always makes me feel worse than I already do."
"How so?" he peppered kisses all over her body as she stroked his hair at the nape of his neck.
"I get them horrible cramps that legitimately feels like there's a ufo of aliens partying in my uterus and I get these horrible back pains that only go away when I nap because then I don't think about it and my moods are like a rollercoaster. My vagina is like a freaking bloody waterfall and just before you came I felt happy, depressed, excited, in love and sad all under an hour"
"I'm sorry babygirl"
"It's mother nature who should be sorry" she growled
"How do you feel right now?"
"Like I want strawberries dipped in chocolate mixed with pop tart crumble and popcorn on the side … with chocolate and very cheesy slice of pizza"
"Hm, no ice cream?"
"Don't be silly. That's for later" she pouted
"Well lucky for you, I got all of that right here" He unwrapped a popcorn bag and placed it in the microwave while preheating the oven for the pizza. As Troy worked around her kitchen she couldn't be more blessed than that moment right there. She had a boyfriend who was willing to skip school and spend the day taking care of her for something that affected him is no shape or form, except that he was emotionally worried about her and the pain she felt. While the popcorn slowly began the expand from its kernels, Troy placed the pop tarts in the toaster and went about giving the strawberries a quick rinse.
"So unfortunately I can't do strawberry dipped chocolate but I do have strawberries and chocolate on the side" he held out both bowls in front of her, one with freshly washed and cut strawberries and the other with crushed chocolate bar.
Her eyes welled up with tears of overwhelming joy as she recognized how blessed she was with a guy that is Troy Bolton.
"Hey, hey I'm sorry it's the best I got right now"
Her laughter contradicted her tears as she gripped unto her boyfriend tightly in her arms. "No, I'm just so lucky to have you in my life as a best friend and boyfriend"
"So you're not … sad … about the strawberries?"
"Fuck the strawberries Troy. I love you so damn much"
It was very rare that Troy heard his girlfriend curse, but when she did he knew that whatever context or mood it was, she felt passionately about it. He chuckled under his breath unsure if she might be offended by his soft laughter at the situation he found himself in.
"I love you too Gabriella" he rubbed her back up and down softly as her tears subsided.
"I told you I'm a mess on the first day"
"It's okay. It's a bit overwhelming to see all of your personalities come out the same time in less than half a day but that's why I love you"
He was relieved that Gabriella had laughed at his teasing, but he was honest. He had never witness Gabriella be so vulnerable, angry and boisterous in one go because on a regular basis, she was the calmest and most collected person he knew. He pulled away from her grasp to look at her face and as he wiped the tears from her face the toaster ringed and the microwave beeped while the oven blinked to indicate the oven was ready to go.
"Troy," she whispered as he brushed her hair back and continued to dry her face "please don't get mad but I'm not hungry anymore. I just want to lay in bed with you, with a cup of peppermint tea" she looked guilty with her pout and big brown eyes gazed at Troy innocently.
Troy belted out a loud laughter and nodded at her request. This was the craziest experience he was ever involved in or witnessed. He filled the kettle with water and went on the pull a mug out of the cupboard along with a peppermint teabag. He shut off the oven, packed the popcorn and pop tart in a Tupperware and lastly placed the bowl of strawberries and chocolate in the fridge.
"How you feeling babygirl?"
"Blessed" she kissed his softly oh his lips as they awaited for the kettle to finish. "Are you weirded out now? do you want to leave?"
"Not in the very least" he brushed her hair behind her ears and softly kissed her forehead as she cuddled into his neck. She shuffled on the counter, rocking her body backwards and forewords and twisting side to side.
"what are you doing?"
"My back hurts, I'm trying to stretch it out"
"Alright, let's take your tea and I'll give you a massage"
"Yay" she quietly cheered as she hopped off the counter and Troy poured the boiling hot water in the mug and stirred a teaspoon of honey into it. He slowly followed behind Gabriella up the stairs and down the hall into her room where she instantly star fished into her bed and rolled around before taking the mug from Troy. He shuffled around the room taking off his watch and placing it on her desk before moving over to her chest drawer to look for a pair of his basketball shorts in her third drawer. After changing his jeans into the basketball shorts, he grabbed the baby oil from her vanity table and crawled unto her bed.
"Where hurts?"
The moans and groans from her pain drowned out her directions as she laid belly flat on top of her comforter with her head dug deep into her pillow then finally giving up, she pointed to her lower back just above her butt. She shuffled out of her t-shirt leaving her topless which on a regular occurrence Troy would have loved and instigate an afternoon of love making.
Troy spent the next 30 minutes rubbing the pained area of his girlfriend's back, who was showing her appreciation through her sounds of pleasure.
"Babe, do you mind if I take a nap?" Gabriella softly and drowsily asked
"Of course. Put on a shirt first in case Momma Montez comes home" he dragged her up and helped her slipped on back the same shirt she had on earlier.
She cuddled into bed under her blanket and dozed off into dreamland while Troy decided to update himself on the current NBA standings. He settled in bed beside her, where there was barely any space between them. Eventually he got dragged into the deep dark internet of watching at least 10, 10 minutes of videos of basketball tricks, fails and best plays of the past five years. Just as he shut the laptop, Gabriella stirred in her sleep and groaned in pain as she gripped her lower stomach. Troy lowered himself under the covers so that he could easily wrap his arms around her torso.
"What's wrong babygirl?" he whispered in her ear as she stirred and slowly opened her eyes to look up at the concerned and loving blue eyes of her boyfriend
"My stomach hurts" she groaned as she rolled around
"Was it something you might have eaten earlier?"
A weak chuckle came from lips as she struggled to stay awake. "no silly, that's the super fun part of having my period"
The sarcasm wasn't missed from her voice and Troy had indeed felt silly for not putting the pieces together.
"Sorry, I didn't … I—"
"It's okay, I'll let it slide this time"
"Uuuuuuggggghhhhhhhhh"
"Is there something I can get you?"
"Not exactly, sometimes I just have to ride it out"
"Aww baby" yet again, although he was physically present, Troy felt helpless to this girlfriend. He gripped her tighter around her torso and rubbed her abdomen in small circular motions. Soon enough she was back in her quiet slumber and this time, Troy joined her in dreamland.
"Troy"
"Hm?"
"Troy … your phone has been buzzing for the last 10 minutes"
He rolled over to grab his phone off the bedside table to see ten missed calls and two text messages
Sender: Dad
Time: 4:48pm
Troy, just got home. You skipped class and missed practice. Please get home before mom does with a reasonable explanation
Sender: Mom
Time: 5:22pm
TROY ALEXANDER JONATHON BOLTON, YOU BETTER EXPLAIN WHY YOU ARE MISSING MY CALLS, NOT AT HOME AND MISSED SCHOOL
"Did I get you in trouble?"
"Hm, don't worry about it" he rubbed his forehead and kissed her's as he looked down into her soft and vulnerable chocolate brown eyes. "How are you feeling baby?"
"Much better, thank you … for today, for everything, for being you" she ran her hands through his hair and gripped unto neck pulling him foreword to engage in a deep sensual kiss to show him all her appreciation.
"Of course, I just wish you trusted me earlier to always be there for you"
"You just want an excuse to skip school!" she softly hit him on the shoulder, only to pull him back in for another kiss.
"I love you so much babygirl. I would do anything for you, especially to see you happy and pain-free"
"I love you more, you're more than I ever deserve"
"Gab-brie-ella" a soft sing-song interrupted the couple's private moment as Maria peeped in from the opened door "Time to get up, or else you'll be up the rest of the night"
"Alright Mom"
"Oh you're up!"
"Hi " Troy moved to shuffled out from under the comforter only to feel Gabriella's hand hold him back
"Oh you're both up … and both in big trouble" she smiled deviously at the couple in bed, not all that surprised to see them in a compromising position. She was only happy that they were both clothed, door was left wide opened and knowing her daughter was on her menstrual cycle, they wouldn't engage in activities they thought she didn't know about.