She watched him run across the court, his messy sandy hair flying into his intense blue eyes, passing the ball first to Zeke, who in turn passed it to Chad and then back to Troy. He aimed and threw the ball. Time stopped as everyone watched the ball fly through the air and roll around the rim before falling to the floor without going through the hoop. The buzzer sounded and the final score read 87-89. West High had won and East High had lost, a first in two years.

Troy felt like crying, but he couldn't, not in front of everyone. He felt awful, like he had let the team down. The other guys were probably pissed off at him now. Even though it was just a friendly match between East High and West High and not the championships, it still sucked to lose. He looked into the eyes of his teammates and saw defeat and loss in their eyes. That made him feel even worse. What more was that it was the last game they would play together, before they graduated from East High.

Without talking to anybody, he grabbed his bag and hit the lockers, rushing past Gabriella, Taylor and Kelsi in the process. Gabriella knew better than to say anything, so she just kept quiet and let him go. In her heart, she knew how much it hurt Troy to lose like that, especially since it was the first game of the season. She was glad that it was just a friendly match, nothing more; otherwise it would have killed Troy. "You guys did a great job," she reassuringly told the other Wildcats. "Yeah, but we still lost…." Said Chad dejectedly. "Rise from the ashes of defeat and you'll do better next time," Taylor told him with a smile before giving him a hug.

After showering and changing into a pair of jeans and a t-shirt, Troy got into his battered truck and drove back to his house where he promptly threw himself on his bed and locked himself in his room. Can you imagine, what would happen, if we could have any dream? I'd wish this moment was ours to own It and that it would never—The ringing of his mobile phone was instantly cut off when he reached over and without looking at the caller ID, turned it off, something he never did, no matter how bad he felt. He groaned and in his mind, he replayed the whole game over and over again, each time, his stomach churning with regret.

In the distance he heard the doorbell ring. He turned over on his stomach and covered his head with his pillow, blocking out all the sounds. Troy did not hear the door to his room open. He did not see Gabriella nor did he hear her come in. She had used a bobby pin and picked the lock on his door, relishing at how easy it was. She had gone to Troy's house, and planned to climb up to his room, but as she was dressed in a strapless white dress and white heels, it was something she decided against.

Without saying anything, she sat down on his la-z-boy and waited. A few seconds passed, then a few minutes and soon they turned into hours. IThe sky started to darken and without realizing it, she fell asleep on the foot of his bed, whereas Troy was being sulky and refused to remove the pillow from his head, all the while unaware that his girlfriend had been there all along. Finally, after much thinking and pondering he took the pillow off his head and jumped off the bed.

"Holy shit!" he half yelled, half whispered when he saw Gabriella lying on his bed. Her head rested on her folded arms with her dark hair fanning out in curls, framing her delicate sleeping face. Love and care quickly took over his shock and his gentlemanly instincts kicked in. He gently lifted her and she instantly woke up. Her sleepy chocolate eyes met his storm-ridden blue ones.

"Gabby… H-How long have you been here?" he asked.

"What time is it?" she asked sleepily, rubbing her eyes with the back of her hands.

"Nearly half past six."

"Oh… I came over at four, so about two and a half hours."

"Crap! I'm sorry babe! I didn't mean to keep you waiting!" he asked apologizing profusely and kissing her on the forehead.

Ever forgiving, she smiled up at him and said, "It's alright. You needed time to chill anyways."

"I'm still sorry, Gabby… Even that didn't mean I could keep you waiting," he told her, inwardly scolding himself for being inobservant and unaware that his girlfriend had waited for him to get over himself for more than two hours!

She took his face in her hands and looked him in the eye. "It's okay Troy. Really."

With a sigh, he ran his hands through his hair. "The guys must be real piseed at me, aren't they?"

"Nope. In fact, they're pretty happy. You did your best and they're proud of you. I'm proud of you." She smiled and put her head on his shoulder.

"How can I ever make it up to them? To you?" he asked wishing to make it up to Gabriella.

"I don't know about them, but I know what you can do for me."

"What?"

"Kiss me."

That simple request was granted and he leaned down to kiss her. The kiss signified a new beginning, love and—

The kiss was cut off by a loud growl. Gabriella's face instantly became red and Troy, being the ever gentleman, did not laugh. Instead he gave her a quick peck on the lips, took her hands and led her down the stairs for dinner. She deserved it.