Disclaimer: I do not own High School Musical, but I do own the characters I have added to the story, these people happen to be real people who have had a real impact in my life; I just changed their names for their privacy. The plot to this story is taken from an event in my life that I incorporated into High School Musical.

Chapter 1:

It was the beginning of October and a brunette girl who developed a little crush on her English teacher back in her sophomore year of high school, which has lasted until her senior year, which has just begun… Gabriella walks with her longtime friend Taylor to room 358, and just as they approach a familiar red door that has posters of various movies, they hear a discussion coming from inside the classroom. They walk inside and find a light haired man lecturing a sandy-haired boy. "This assignment was so easy, why didn't you turn it in?" The man asked the boy curiously. The boy looked down at his desk and mumbled something incoherent. "Yes Troy?" Mr. Thompson asked curiously. "I didn't have time to turn it in, okay?" Troy repeated. "Basketball practice takes up a lot of time and sometimes homework just falls by the wayside!" Troy explained. Gabriella felt as if they were intruding on the discussion, so they slowly and quietly backed out of the classroom, when Mr. Thompson noticed the girls in the doorway. "Oh hi girls, come on in, we were just talking." He said as he waved them in. Taylor and Gabriella walked in and sat in their usual seats that were empty since school hadn't started yet. "So what have you girls been up to?" Mr. Thompson asks as he sits back down in his seat behind the desk. "Oh nothing much, just getting ready for graduation." Gabriella said. "Can you believe it? Graduation!" Gabriella shrieks excitedly. Mr. Thompson laughs. "Yeah it's hard to believe, it seems just like yesterday that you two were standing there in my doorway talking until the bell rang and I had to ask you to sit down." He says as he laughs. Taylor and Gabriella looked at each other and grinned. "Yeah those were the days!" They said. Gabriella finally noticed a boy looking at her with interest. Once he noticed her looking his way, he stood up and walked over to her. "Hi, I'm Troy." He said holding out a hand to her. Gabriella took it. "Gabriella." She said as they shook hands in introduction. "So you know Mr. Thompson?" Troy asked curiously. "Yeah I had him for my sophomore English." Gabriella said. Then she spoke up quietly. "And just between us, I had a little crush on him, and my friends usually found me hanging out in here, and I guess by force of habit, we still are!" She said laughing. "Ahh." Troy said as he sat back in the seat right next to her. Soon there was an awkward silence. Gabriella noticed Taylor and Mr. Thompson in a deep discussion about India, where she was from. For some reason he found India absolutely fascinating. "So you like the guy huh?" Troy asked her. Gabriella smiled. "Yeah, I think he's terrific." Troy shook his head. "I don't like him, I think he has a huge ego and thinks too highly of himself." Gabriella shrugged. "So what kind of stuff are you interested in?" Gabriella asked curiously. "Basketball." Troy said easily. "Only basketball?" Gabriella asked. "Pretty much, that's all I have time for pretty much. My Dad is determined to get me in the NBA one day." Troy said. "I see you like Nicolas Cage." Troy said laughingly as he saw Gabriella's planner. She looked down and blushed because she saw that he noticed her planner covered in pictures of him. "Yeah." Gabriella said blushing. "No, it's cute." Troy said quickly seeing her embarrassment. Suddenly the bell rang, for first hour. "Well see ya tomorrow." Troy said as he shook her hand again. "Yep, it was really nice meeting you; I can't wait to talk to you again soon." Gabriella said as she tried to catch Taylor's attention. "See ya tomorrow Troy, Mr. Thompson." Gabriella and Taylor said as they walked out of the classroom.