A/N: Well, here is the promised long-overdue sequel. I hope you like it and it lives up to the reputation of the last one.
"Gabi, we're already late. Decide already." Troy lay back on Gabriella's bed, he knew they wouldn't be going anywhere for a while. Gabriella was criticising herself in front of the mirror.
"I don't know what to wear." She said, looking around at the scattered clothes on the floor. She saw a casual dress and quickly took of the clothes she was wearing (a t-shirt and shorts) before pulling it on.
Anyone watching might be surprised at the way she changed right in front of Troy but neither of them gave it a second thought, in fact he didn't even look up. The two of them were best friends and, although they had dated on and off for the last three years, right now they were nothing more.
Since getting together at Gabriella's thirteenth birthday party, Troy and Gabi had been just about the most unpredictable couple ever. You'd think, after the very sweet way they had got together, they'd have lasted for quite a while, but it was only two weeks later that they had the first of many break ups. No one really knew why, possibly Troy had been too sympathetic about a girl called Candy leaving the school. But they were together again before long, then Gabriella indirectly said Troy wasn't as smart as her and they broke up again, before making up a week later. That was pretty much the story of the last three years. Whether it had been Troy spending too much time with basketball, or Gabriella being too uptight, the two constantly fought. They would scream and yell the most awful things at each other; they never cared how many people were watching. Gabriella and Troy were defiantly known for having the most heated arguments, but also for being the most heated couple when they were together.
Their latest break up, which had defiantly been one of the more boring ones, was reached by mutual agreement. They both decided that at this time they weren't feeling that way about the other, and were better off being just friends. Everyone had been waiting for them to get back together again as this had been the longest they had been apart in the last three years (two and a half months), but neither Gabriella or Troy wanted to be with the other like that, so they stayed happily as best friends. Each completely comfortable around the other.
"It's just another day at school, any outfit is fine." Troy glanced around Gabriella's bedroom and sighed as he saw the time.
"It is not just another day at school. It's my sixteenth birthday. You used to care when it was my birthday." Gabriella was now trying different hairstyles, spinning to see all angles.
"Yeah, well, I was young, didn't know better."
"Oi!" she yelled indignantly. Gabriella picked up the small bear on her desk and threw it at Troy. It hit his stomach and he abruptly sat up.
"Hey, be careful with Brown Bear. You know he's sensitive." Troy carefully picked up the bear. Gabriella rolled her eyes and walked over to her bed.
"Ok, I'm sorry. Now stop sounding like such a girl." She took the bear from him and put it back in its original place.
"You're the one trying on twenty different outfits. Why do girls care so much about how they look?"
"Boys care about how they look too, they're just not so open about it, probably more insecure with themselves. Now, are you ready?" Gabriella was finally ready and looking impatiently at Troy. He considered telling her that he had been ready half an hour ago, but gave it up, grabbing his bag and following her out the door.
They walked down the stairs and past the front room where Gabriella's mother, Cara, was.
"Gabi, I'm just making sure everything is ready for your party, tonight. There won't be any drinking will there?" she called out. Gabriella stopped in the hall to face her mother.
"No mum, for the hundredth time, no one will be drinking." Gabriella said impatiently. Troy, who was standing behind her, smiled as he saw her cross her fingers behind her back.
"Good. Remember I won't be here until late, so you'll have to look after your cousin." Gabriella, who had begun walking away again stopped and turned.
"What?"
Cara walked into the hallway, slipping some papers into her handbag.
"Gabi, I told you before. Because of your aunt and uncle's divorce, which is getting very unpleasant, your cousin, Chloe, is going to stay with us for a while. She will be getting here this afternoon so she will be at your party tonight." She said, looking around for anything she might have forgotten. "Aren't you two a bit late?" She added, catching sight of a clock.
"Yes, we are. See you later Ms Montez, have a good day." Troy said politely, pushing Gabriella, who hadn't said a word, out the front door. However he ruined the effect by closing the front door in Cara's face as she began to reply.
"Come on Gabi, now we're really late. What's wrong?" He was a bit worried about her being speechless, usually she never shut up. However she seemed a bit more normal as they began to walk.
"Nothing, I suppose, I just forgot that Chloe was coming."
"Does it matter? Is she an annoying little kid or something?" It would be awful if Gabriella always had to baby sit.
"No, she is our age, my mum's brother's daughter. But I haven't seen her in ages, since before we moved back here." Gabriella still looked uncertain.
"It'll be fine, Gab. She'll come and celebrate your birthday, stay with you a while, be friends with everyone, then, when her parents work out their divorce, she'll leave. No need to stress." Gabriella relaxed a bit more and smiled at Troy.
"Yeah, you're right."
"That's another thing about girls, always getting worked up over nothing." He shook his head in mock disapproval and they spent the rest of the walk to school arguing over whether boys or girls were more relaxed.
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They both had an enjoyable day, with all Gabriella's friends wishing her a happy birthday and promising to be at the party that night. Troy had basketball practice that afternoon so Gabriella walked home alone. With a sinking heart she saw her mother's car parked in the driveway. Chloe was there.
Gabriella couldn't quite work out why she didn't like the idea of Chloe staying at her house. They had last seen each other when Gabriella was ten and Chloe, who was actually a couple of months older, was eleven. Gabriella liked her cousin; she could remember that Chloe was a really nice girl, easy to get along with. But Gabriella didn't think of her cousin as very exciting, from what she could remember Chloe was very quiet and never wanted to upset anyone. And in Gabriella's opinion, that wasn't very fun. She opened her front door and walked upstairs. Throwing her school bag into her bedroom Gabriella could hear voices in the spare room, two doors down. She walked over and looked inside.
"Gabi, you're home! Good, because I have to go, Tom will be waiting for me. Here is Chloe. I hope you have a fun party, dear." Cara said all this in a rush before kissing Gabriella on the head and leaving the room. Tom was her boyfriend of two months and she seemed to like him a lot. Gabriella, who hadn't decided if she liked Tom or not, scowled at the mention of his name (when unsure, appear discontented). Then she turned to her cousin, who was bending over an open suitcase.
Chloe was very pretty, but in a modest way. Her hair was long and wavy, like Gabriella's but a lighter brown, and fell more softly around her face. Her eyes were a very light green (where had they come from? Not from the Montez side of the family, that's for sure). Her skin was a shade lighter then Gabriella's and she seemed to blush often, as her cheeks were quite pink. She wasn't wearing any makeup and was very thin, without many curves. Gabriella approached her and she stood up straight, showing that she was a bit taller. She smiled a little awkwardly.
"Hi Gabriella." Her voice was smooth but very soft, Gabriella had to resist the urge to say 'WHAT? I CAN'T HEAR YOU!' She felt that may be a bit rude.
"Hey Chloe." Gabriella smiled back. "Do you want me to help you unpack?"
"Yes please, happy birthday by the way." Chloe seemed to relax as the girls started hanging up her clothes in the wardrobe.
"Thanks. So you'll be here for my party tonight. You can meet all my friends."
"Oh, I'm not very good at meeting new people, and I'm not much of a party person. I can just keep myself entertained up here if you want, I don't want you to feel like you have to look after me."
"Don't be stupid." Gabriella said, louder then she meant to. "Of course you're coming." Who doesn't like meeting new people? And parties?
"Ok, if that's what you want." Chloe said easily. Somehow this annoyed Gabriella more then if Chloe had disagreed.
"You don't have to." Gabriella said grudgingly. They had finished unpacking Chloe's things; she had a lot more soft toys, and girly things then Gabriella.
"No, no," Chloe looked afraid of Gabriella's tone, "I want to. It will be fun. Um, thanks for helping me here. Can I help you set up the party?"
As Gabriella looked at her cousin she looked so eager to help that Gabriella felt it would be almost mean not to let her.
"Sure, you can help me decorate."
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Three hours later it was almost fully dark outside. The inside of Gabriella's house was decorated with streamers (but not too many because that would look stupid), there was a lot of junk food and soft drink set up in different rooms. Gabriella was dressed in tight jeans and a sleeveless top. Chloe was dressed in a short dress that Gabriella had picked from her own clothes and spent a good ten minutes trying to convince Chloe that it wasn't too revealing.
Then the first guests arrived, Gabriella's girl friends, Kelsi, Sharpay, and Taylor, all dressed to party. They came inside and hugged Gabriella, then turned to Chloe.
"This is my cousin, Chloe. Chloe, these are my friends Kelsi, Sharpay and Taylor." Gabriella introduced them and Chloe smiled shyly.
"Good to meet you." Sharpay said, she sounded insincere but that was just her normal voice. "Gabi, where can we put these?" She motioned to the dozen or so bottles of beer they had brought.
"Alcohol?" Chloe gasped. "But aunt Cara said there wasn't supposed to be any." Sharpay turned to her disbelievingly but Gabriella cut in.
"You don't have to have any. And no one will be getting drunk. Just don't tell my mum ok?"
Chloe nodded uncertainly and there was an awkward silence. Luckily at that moment every person who had heard about the party seemed to arrive at once, distracting all the girls' attention.
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Another hour later the party was defiantly in full swing. Gabriella was enjoying herself but was a bit annoyed about having a shy cousin. She had to keep introducing Chloe to everyone and felt bad when she left her alone. Gabriella had managed to convince Taylor and Kelsi to spend some time with Chloe so that she could hang out with her other friends, but she knew it was really her responsibility. Gabriella hadn't even spotted Troy yet but she finally saw him, looking around, it seemed, for her.
"Troy! Hey, about time." Gabriella greeted. He gave her a hug, at the same time slipping a bracelet onto her wrist.
"Happy birthday, beautiful." He smiled as Gabriella looked at the thin, silver bracelet and squealed.
"Thankyou so much, it's gorgeous. Now, come and meet Chloe." Gabriella grabbed Troy's hand and led him through the crowd to a corner where Kelsi was talking to Chloe.
"Hey guys. Chloe, I want you to meet Troy, Troy this is Chloe."
Chloe looked up at Gabriella's voice, her eyes shifting from Gabriella to Troy and there they stopped. She quickly looked away, blushing furiously, but couldn't seem to help looking back again. Gabriella, noticing this, looked at Troy, he was smiling at Chloe, but defiantly didn't look as stunned as she did.
"Nice to meet you." He yelled over the noise. Chloe's mouth opened but either she didn't say anything or they couldn't hear her. Then her eye's travelled to Troy and Gabriella's linked hands, and she spoke.
"Are you Gabriella's boyfriend?" She said. How is it that blushing seemed to make her prettier? Troy laughed and Gabriella had a sudden urge to say yes.
"No, we're just good friends. I don't think I could handle Gabi as a girlfriend." He smiled at his private joke, and Chloe smiled back. Gabriella, however, was frowning furiously. Chloe couldn't seriously be falling for Troy, could she?
A/N: So what did you think? Review please. xoxox