CH. 1 Caught By Surprise

(GABRIELLA'S p.o.v.)

I was in the car with my dad, Marco Montez, driving to the destination of Albuquerque, New Mexico, also known as my permanent home for the rest of me and my dad's lives. I'm Gabriella Montez, a girl who grew up in the clean part of L.A. I just turned 16 on July 10th. It is now August 4th, and me and my dad are moving because of his job.

I was listening to the song, Two Is Better Than One, by Boys Like Girls, and I think Taylor Swift is also featured in it too. Anyway, I was playing with my semi-curly hair because it was so soft, as my dad pulled into a driveway with a three story, light brown house, and a huge backyard. Yes, we're kind of rich, but we don't use it and I'm not spoiled. My dad turned to me with a huge smile as I took out my ear buds. He said, "We're here Gabi!"

As I entered the house, I realized I never saw the outside. We now live on a flat street in the outcast suburbs, but from the front, it looks like two stories. From the backyard, its three. The first story is just hidden because of the hilly backyard. I was free to explore the house, which I think should be called a mansion, since only two people are living here.

I walked through the door to see hallways, and a huge clear window in the dining room, with a view of the backyard. The second story, you may say, is the main part of the house. It has an office, kitchen, dining room, nook, bathroom, garage, and a living/family room, yes there is a difference. I walked upstairs and found my room. It was at the end of the hallway. The walls weren't painted yet, and there were no curtains, but we'll deal with that later. I have my own bathroom. It's painted and has a bath/shower. Oh! I have my own vanity chair thing in here. I left my room to go look for my dad. I checked his room. No. I went to the first story (which can't be seen from the front of the house) to find it lit naturally like the rest of the house. It had a bathroom and a game room. That kind of made me sad. Why did he think I would make friends so easily? I'm usually shy when it comes to new people. But here, there's just something about the Albuquerque air, that feels different. A good different.

When I walked outside, I was shocked! There was a pool, golfing green, trampoline, and a big patch of grass that could be used for anything. When I got out of my shock, I saw that my dad was with a blonde man, playing golf on the green. I walked up to him.

"Hey Daddy!"

He turned to me and said, "Hey Pumpkin! How do you like our new house?"

I replied simply with, "I love it!" I've never really been excited to move until now. It felt fresh to move here.

Dad said, "Gabriella, meet our neighbor, John. John, this is my daughter Gabriella." I shook his hand and said hi.

He asked me, "Are you sixteen?" I nodded, also being cautious. "Great! I have a sixteen year old daughter named Sharpay. Would you like to meet her?" I gulped. I don't really have friends because even though I'm not spoiled, people try to use me. The next thing I knew, John went through the gate to his backyard, mumbled something, and came back.

Before he could come back, Dad said to me, "He's my partner for the new job. We're also neighbors." John walked over to us with a blonde girl wearing tight, ripped blue jeans, and a pink tiger tank top. Her makeup was natural. I'm sorry to say this, but I thought she would be snotty. She looks like she would be a good friend for me. Nice going Dad, I mentally giggled.

John said, "Marco, Gabriella, this is my daughter, Sharpay." He did the vise versa thing to introduce to people.

Sharpay looked happy and said, "Hi, it's nice to meet you, Gabriella. Do you want to hang out?" I smiled and nodded. We said bye to our dads and went over to the trampoline. Sharpay said, "So, we should get to know each other," she smiled, "Let's play 20 Questions!"

I giggled, but stopped when I realized that I haven't spoken yet. What if she thought I was mute? Oh no! "Well, I guess I should tell you, I just moved here today, my name is Gabriella Montez, and I like learning and fashion.

She replied, "I can tell you like fashion. Your outfit is to die for! Plus, I love fashion too, and designing in general."

"Thanks! I like your outfit too," an idea popped into my head, "Hey, would you mind helping me design my room?" Sharpay's eyes went wide, like a puppy's or a five-year old's on Christmas morning. It amused me.

She hugged me tightly and said, "O.M.G. I would love to! This would show my dad that Interior Design is my calling!"

We ran up to my room, filled with giggles. Sharpay opened the door and screamed with joy. "I know exactly what you want. Let me look at you!" She looked at my confused face, then at my hands. I saw her eyeing my mother's ring she gave me when I was seven. That's another story. She let go of my hands and said, "You want to paint your walls, get curtains, and design your furniture, and then pick where it goes.

I laughed while saying, "Duh!"

She continued, "Yeah, but I know exactly what you want," she said emphasizing on you, "You want to paint your walls teal, like your ring, and then you want white edges, so it doesn't look too dark."

I was surprised. "How did you know that just by looking at me?!" I exclaimed.

She replied simply with, "I have a gift, but it's nothing like reading minds. I assure you. Now let's go!"

I didn't have my car yet, so we took Sharpay's black SUV, with tan leather seats. I like it because it isn't big and bulky. We arrived at Home Depot and got a cart. She knew exactly where she was going. We stopped in front of the cards with the colors, shaped like Mickey Mouse. When I saw them, I giggled. She instantly found the teal color we were looking for, and I grabbed a light periwinkle card because it was the same color as my bathroom. We got the paint cans. Sharpay asked, "Anything else you need? Like wall designs?"

I replied with, "Actually, I wanted to get some walls designs and picture frames."

We got back in the car and said, "Then we'll have to go to JCPenny."

I was curious because this was my first day in Albuquerque, so I asked, "Where's the closest mall?"

We pulled out of the parking lot and she said, "It's 15 minutes away from your house, if that's what you're wondering."

We got to the mall that had all of my favorite stores including JCPenny. We went to the section with what I needed. We got long white curtains with faint sparkles, and little pieces of mirrors to put on the walls, plus cute picture frames. But what Sharpay doesn't know is that I don't have that many pictures to put in it.

We went back to my house and painted the walls, and put up the mirrors. "So tell me about your life in L.A? Any boyfriends?"

I replied, "Umm, no. I'm not really allowed to date."

Sharpay looked confused, "Really? Because it looks like your dad would let you."

I sighed and answered truthfully, "Yeah. He does, but I don't really want to date unless the guy is a real person." Sharpay nodded, still confused, so I continued, "You see, back in L.A., everybody tried to use me. I hated it. That was one of the reasons I moved here, and why I think we'll be good friends."

Sharpay nodded and said, "I don't think we'll be good friends. I know we'll be best friends!" She paused, then gasped, "OMG! You should meet my friends, and boyfriend!"

I interrupted her, also feeling nervous, "Tell me about them."

She smiled and continued, "Our whole group have been best friends since the first day of freshmen year. My boyfriend is Zeke Baylor. We've been together since the beginning of sophomore year. Then, there are his friends Chad Danforth and Troy Bolton. Troy is probably the most genuine person I know besides Zeke. Chad has a huge afro and is really funny. He also has a girlfriend, Taylor Mckessie. She is really smart. I think you'll get along with everyone just fine."

So I said to clarify, "So there is you, Zeke, Chad, Taylor, and Troy? And you and Zeke are together, as well as Chad and Taylor? What about Troy? It seems like he would be a fifth wheel."

Sharpay came to realization and said, "No! We don't do that. You know, like going into individual groups within the group? It's always the five of us together. There are some times when the couples are alone, though. And I want you to meet them!"

Something popped into my head, "Sharpay? What school does everyone go to?"

She answered, "Oh! Everyone of us goes to East High."

Me and Sharpay finally finished my room, but then Sharpay noticed something, "So you don't have many pictures because they weren't your real friends?" I nodded. She continued, "Well all of that is going to change. Get your camera!" We took all kinds of pictures: silly, weird, everything. There was one picture that really stood out to me. It was a picture of us laughing, and not posing. I put that picture in a frame and hung it up. "One down, many more to go," Sharpay said and I giggled.

"Let's go meet my friends. They're all coming over to hang out today. It will be perfect!" I instantly got really nervous. We went next door to her house and talked about random stuff for an hour. Then the doorbell rang. "Coming!" Sharpay sang. I heard the door open, mumbling, and then I saw her holding hands with a tall, dark skinned guy. I assumed it was Zeke. Sharpay instantly said, "Zeke, this is my new neighbor and friend, Gabriella Montez." They did the vise versa thing again.

"Hi Zeke, I'm Gabriella." I said with a nervous smile.

"It's nice to meet you Gabriella," he said while shaking my hand.

Ten minutes passed and he was really nice. The bell rang again. Sharpay got up and got the door. It was Chad and Taylor. They were really nice and Taylor likes learning too. Chad is funny, plus his afro bounces. It was like 7 inches tall! Anyway, they were wondering when Troy was going to get there. Two minutes passed and Sharpay got the door. I heard her mumble something, and he answered saying something about playing baseball with his brother. When he came into the room, he said hey or what's up man to everybody. Then he saw me.

What he said next surprised me, "Hi, you must be Gabriella."

I nodded and said, "Hi, you must be Troy."

He looked confused, then said, "How do you know my name?"

I could say the same thing to you, buddy. I replied, "Well, Sharpay told me who all of her friends were, and everybody was wondering where a Troy was so..." He laughed. I then realized that he had really straight teeth, and piercing light blue eyes that reminded me of the clear sky in the middle of the forest. He sat down and he was still staring at me. I felt like burning under his gaze. I saw Sharpay whisper something to Zeke and he agreed.

Finally, Sharpay said, "Okay, Gabriella, Taylor, let's go upstairs. I need to talk to you." We left to go to her room. I saw one of those egg chairs and wanted to sit and fly in it so bad! Sharpay saw my face, and smirked, "You know you want to sit in it!" I ran to sit on it with a huge grin, and giggled.

Sharpay and Taylor sat right in front of me, looking serious. "I like you," Taylor stated.

"I don't think you're the only one Taylor. I think Troy likes her too." Sharpay said smirking. That caught me off guard. No one has ever liked me for me. We haven't really talked either. "Do you like him?" Sharpay asked.

"Troy? I don't even know him! And how did he know who I was before we were even introduced?" I questioned. My phone started ringing. "Hello?" I asked.

"Hey Gabi, your car is here." My eyes widened and instantly filled to the brim with tears. I jumped up and ran down the stairs. Believe me, I wasn't desperate to see my car like that. I was desperate to see what was inside. Sharpay ran after me, calling me, and asking what was wrong. I didn't want anyone to see my like this!