Chapter 1:
She could still see his face. Two months later, it still haunted her dreams. She could feel his hands on her. She let out a scream of terror, and her eyes flew open. Gabriella Montez was lying in her own bed, covered in a cold sweat. Her Mom came rushing into the room after hearing her screams.
"Gabi! Mija, are you alright?" Rosa Montez asked as she sat down on the edge of her daughter's bed. Gabriella sat up, and nodded slightly. "Did you have another bad dream?" Gabriella nodded again. Rosa pulled her daughter into a warm hug. "I don't know if I feel comfortable leaving you alone for the weekend. What if you need me? I'll be in Louisiana, so I won't be able to get home quickly."
"Don't worry, mamí, if I need anything, Troy and his parents live right down the street; I can call them." In truth, Gabriella wasn't so sure about staying alone herself, but her Mom really wanted to go to that conference, so she was going to let her go. Her Mom would hardly leaver her alone for five minutes; she needed some time to herself. Rosa gave her daughter a kiss on the top of the head.
"If you're sure. Sleep well, mija." Gabriella lay back down in bed, and her Mom covered her with the thick coverlet. Then, she silently slipped out of the room, turning off the lights, and closing the door behind her. Gabriella settled back down into a restless, dreamless sleep.
The rest of that week, Gabriella didn't tell anyone about her nightmares. Anyone, but, of course, her boyfriend Troy Bolton. On Friday, Gabriella was standing at her locker when she felt a pair of arms around her waist, and a pair of lips on her neck. She turned her head, and saw Troy standing there.
"Hey baby," she said as she went back to digging her books out of her locker. "What's up?"
"I wanted to see if my wonderful girlfriend would like to walk to lunch together. You wouldn't have happened to have seen my girlfriend would you?" Gabriella laughed.
"Hmm…Troy Bolton's girlfriend? Sorry, no. Maybe Sharpay would know." This time, both of them laughed. Troy spun Gabriella around, and pushed her against the locker. "Troy!" she shrieked. Several passing students ignored them; they were used to any couple getting close in the hallways between classes. "If your Father comes by here, we're both dead!" She giggled. "What?"
"You're laugh. You have the most beautiful laugh in the entire world." Gabriella blushed several shades of red. "You're still coming to movie night at my house, right?" Gabriella nodded. It had become a tradition with the entire gang. Every other weekend, everyone would get together at someone's house (they kept a list to make sure things were fair), and the host would rent a movie, and everyone would bring snacks and drinks.
"Of course." Gabriella closed her locker, and slipped her hand into Troy's as they began to walk towards the cafeteria. "What movie did you get?"
"Rent."
"Did you rent it? I told you that I own that movie!"
"I know, that's where I got the idea to rent it, so you'd stop bugging me about seeing it."
"But why did you rent it if you knew I had it. You just wasted your money."
"Well…it wasn't my money exactly. My Dad went to rent some weird movie, so I asked him to pick it up for me. It was his money, not mine, so it's not my problem." Gabriella smiled as she planted a kiss on her boyfriend's cheek.
"You're impossible sometimes, you know that right?" Troy shrugged.
"But you love me anyway."
"The jury's still out on that one there." Troy pouted, and began to pull Gabriella away from the cafeteria. "Wait, where are we going?"
"Up to our secret spot to be alone for the first time in a week," Troy whispered in her ear. Gabriella knew what that meant. It meant, "We haven't made-out in a week, and I'm lonely", but she obliged anyway.
Troy pulled Gabriella up to the roof-top garden that stood on top of the second floor of the school. Both lovers dropped their backpacks on the ground, and settled down on the green bench at the far end of the garden. Gabriella immediately pulled Troy close to her, and began to kiss him passionately. Troy deepened the kiss, causing her to groan slightly. Gabriella opened her eyes partially, and something, or rather someone, caught her attention in the parking lot below. She immediately gasped, and jumped away from Troy.
"What, what's wrong baby?" Troy asked in a soothing voice as a few tears slid down Gabriella's cheek. He carefully brushed them away with his thumb. "What's wrong?"
"Nothing, nothing's wrong," Gabriella said, even though she knew that Troy would never believe her when she told him that.
"Come on, Gabi, you can tell me."
"I don't want to talk about it!" she snapped. Troy immediately backed away. He didn't want his girlfriend mad at him, especially when he had something very important to give her. Gabriella stood up abruptly, and grabbed her backpack. "I just remembered that I have some homework to get done in the library," she said quickly. "I'll see you after school? We're still walking home together right?" Troy looked up, he had been thinking about what Gabriella could be keeping from him.
"What? Oh, yeah. I'll meet you by your locker." Gabriella blew Troy a kiss, and bound down the steps, leaving the basketball star alone to his own thoughts. Gabriella had seen something that had clearly gotten her upset, and now refused to talk about it. The last time she had been so secretive was when…no it couldn't be. Troy looked over the brick edge of the garden into the parking lot. No, Ian wasn't there…or so he thought.
A/N: For any of you (I don't think there are any, but hey, just in case) who are reading Off-Camera, chapter 6 is up. For those who don't know what I'm talking about, it's a behind-the-scenes on Rent type thing, you can find out how to get it in the author's notes in La Vie Bohemé.