Disclaimer: This is a work of fan fiction using characters from the High School Musical world, which is trademarked by Disney. I do not claim any ownership over them or the world of High School Musical. The story I tell here about Troy and Gabriella is my own invention, and it is not supported or believed to be part of Disney story canon. This story is for entertainment only and is not part of the official story line.
Gabriella threw herself back onto her bed exhausted, the sound of Christmas music seeping out of her laptop. She needed a makeover. She just didn't stand out in any way. She always felt utterly nondescript and dull, especially surrounded by some of the fashion-plate girls back in San Francisco. Back when she had things going for her.
San Francisco. After she graduated college with a bachelor's of science in nursing she'd stayed in her studio apparent and became an RN at Saint Francis Memorial Hospital. Things were going great. Then she lost her job. Cut backs. They called it. Now she was back at home right before the holidays. Jobless. Homeless. Back in her old bedroom.
Gabriella opened her eyes to look up at the white ceiling of her room. Two days, she been officially back home for two whole days and she'd just finished clearing out her room from the storage unit it had become while she was gone. Propping herself up on her elbow she winced from her sore muscles to look at the cleared room with heaps of boxes in the corner. There was nothing like a college degree and failed career to put you in the Christmas mood.
"Oh honey, it's coming along pretty good," her mother voice came in from the doorway and she looked around the room. "You're daddy and I are so happy to have you around for Christmas."
"Right," Gabriella forced a smile onto lips. Turning away from her mother she frowned as she rolled up the sleeves to her open flannel shirt. Underneath her flannel was a plain white tang top she didn't care for. This morning she pulled her hair into her classic pony tail and put on her comfy jean with the rip in the knee. She hadn't quite figured out how to tell her parents that her old apartment back in San Francisco had been brought out by new management and she was currently homeless. Yup, you had to time news like that perfectly. You couldn't just walk into your childhood home after seven years and just tell them:
A.) You lost your job.
B.) You lost your apartment.
And C.) You have no idea what you're going to do now.
Yep, timing was everything.
"I'm happy to be back mom," Gabriella nodded as she looked around her room. Everywhere she looked was a memory. A new sharp tug at her conscious. She'd failed miserably at being a good daughter. She should have visited more. She shouldn't have been in such a hurry to leave home.
"Something wrong honey?" Her mother's eyes narrowed in concern.
Everything. "I'm fine mom, just overwhelmed."
"Oh honey, I'm sure you and your friends will pick up right where you left off. You all use to be so close," she smiled warmly. "They ask about you all the time."
And the guilt just kept coming. "I'm sure we'll be fine too mom."
"Alright, I'll be downstairs if you need me."
"It's really good to be back," she murmured to herself.
"Will do." Gabriella walked over to her laptop and shut off the music letting silence fill the room. She looked back at the boxes, it seemed like she'd never be unpacked. At least not at this rate. Every time she opened a box she was flooded with memories. She start thinking about her life, her friends, her family, how things use to be. Was she really back home?
Twenty-eight years old and she was right back where she started.
She couldn't believe it. It seemed like everyone else life was right on track and here she was. Starting over.
Taylor and Chad had moved in together when they got back from college. Taylor took a job teaching chemistry at their old high school and Chad was coaching the old basketball team. Even Taylor's older sister was pregnant; in fact the baby shower was soon, they were doing an entire Christmas themed shower. The baby's due date was on Christmas Day.
She could walk over to Sharpay's house, but she was working at a local theater now, she was directing and starring in all her own performances. She wouldn't be free till at least five this evening. Gabriella reached back inside the box and grabbed her alarm clock and some picture frames. Even Ryan owned a dance studio where he taught kids how to dance and offered after school activities for younger kids from the elementary school.
He wouldn't have time for her either.
Gabriella set up the frames on the bedside table and took a deep breath. "Looks like everyone's already living the dream," she said to herself quietly.
"Gabs, do you need any help?" Her younger sister Michelle appeared in the doorway and Gabriella looked over at her 17 year old sister. She'd grown over the years, she'd been in high school while Gabriella was off at college exploring the world. Skype just didn't make up for the sister bond.
"Actually, I'm debating if I want my bed in the middle of the room or by the French doors." Gabriella brought a hand up to her chin as she examined the room.
"Middle." Michelle said as if it were a no brainer and came into the room. Her hair was a deep burgundy and her black tight jeans reminded Gabriella of her average thighs. Ever since she could remember her little sister had gotten lucky when it came to having the Barbie dream body.
All her life Gabriella ate less, dieted more and worked harder to keep the shape she had but for her sister the shape had always come easy. Michelle could make four pizza's disappear and still fit in a bikini. Then again everything was always easier for Michelle, seeing as how Gabriella was the oldest and the first to do anything.
Not that Gabriella was a bad kid, quite the contrary it was Michelle who had dated behind mom and dad's back got her tongue priced and rebelled almost every chance she got. Gabriella could never do half the things her little sister could.
"Middle of the room. Just like that?"
"Well, that's where you had it last time," Michelle opened another box and began pulling out things for the desk and putting them away. "Don't you remember it was cold by the window?"
Gabriella thought back to that experiment and shuddered. "What would I do without you?" She said as she got up and walked over to another box.
"Freeze."
Gabriella did say anything for a moment. She didn't know how to bring up the topic but she knew something wasn't right when she came home. She just couldn't put her finger on it. "So… Mom and Dad seemed quiet last night?"
"Yeah," Michelle pulled the printer and set it on the desktop by Gabriella's laptop. "Hey do you think I can get this when I go off to college?"
"Sure," Gabriella didn't mind, in fact, Michelle would be able to use a lot of the things Gabriella didn't need anymore. And unlike her Michelle wouldn't have to rummage through garage sales, online ads for most of it like she had to. The small refrigerator in the garage would be perfect for her to reuse, it had cost Gabriella a few babysitting dollars at a garage sale but it's not like she was using it now. "Have you started the application process?"
"I've been looking."
Gabriella smiled as she thought back to her senior year of high school and all those college seminars and open houses she went to. "Well if you need anything let me know."
"Will do, and speaking of which can I burrow Betsy?"
Betsy was the clunker her dad got her while she was at college, it was small and just something to get her around but as a first car Gabriella thought it was the ultimate and she fell in love with it as he rolled it into the driveway.
Gabriella smiled, "I beginning to wonder if it was me you missed, my wardrobe or my car."
"I missed you of course?" Michelle held up her hands and grinned.
It didn't take Gabriella long before she craved, "Fine, just fill the tank alright."
"Yessss," Michelle grabbed the keys off the dresser and hugged Gabriella. "Thank you, thank you, and thank you."
"You're welcome, just let it warm up a little before you shift into drive," but before she finished her sentence Michelle was half way down the hall. Looking at her half unpacked desk she blew out a long breath. "I should have held off until she unpacked my shoes."
Looking down into the next box she let out a sigh as she bit her the corner of her lip and pulled out a picture frame of her and him. She swallowed an irritating lump in her throat. There was nothing wrong with her. So why now, why was she suddenly trying to convince herself that she was not having feelings for her lifetime best friend.
Troy Bolton, the good old American boy next door with blue eyes and golden blond hair. The cocky, flirty teenager with an insane killer smile, who'd grown up into a gorgeous, talented self-assured man. Her best friend and keeper of the secret club house, which was really just an old tree house, but to them it was an escape.
Gabriella smiled and made sure the picture had a place by her bed. On the one hand she couldn't wait until Troy got here, his flight landed in two days, and she couldn't think of anyone she wanted to see more. Of anyone she wanted to talk to more? But on the other hand she really needed to squash this girly little crush before it destroyed the 28 years of friendship they had between them.
Her cell buzzed and Gabriella reached for it reading a text message from Jason.
You in yet gabi, I'm bored.
She laughed as typed out a response.
Still unpacking.
At least she had Jason, another good friend of hers who loved cars. Loved cars so much he stood behind to work in his dad's old shop. Jason was the kind of guy you could call if you got stranded at 3 in the morning on the dark road. He come out and get your car going or give you a ride home.
Gabriella let out a sigh. Finally after seven years of school and working herself to the bone she was home and back to her normal life filled with her family and friends. Her phone buzzed again and she picked opened the new message.
We should get one of those Christmas drinks. Little eggnog and brandy.
"Yes we should." Gabriella said to herself as she replied. Jeez, how many calories were in a glass of eggnog? Gabriella typed it into her smart phone. Oh No! She bit her lip as she typed in a candy canes martinis, then gingerbread cookies. Double oh no! And that wasn't even counting all the New Year's Eve champagne.Then Valentine's Day?
At this rate she have nibble on lettuce leaves and drink wheat grass shakes for a month. Probably two.
Her phone buzzed again. This time it wasn't Jason. It was Troy.
Looking forward to seeing you again.
Two days. Gabriella closed her eyes as she thought about him. She bit her lip. It had always just been a joke inside her own head, the idea of them ending up together. What a cliché. But somehow over the last exchange of letters things slowly shifted and now the idea was weighing heavily in her thoughts. Thoughts she couldn't even escape in her dreams.
Thoughts of him and the chances that he maybe he might just be dreaming about her too. That maybe he couldn't escape from his own dreams… a powerful man rendered helpless, withering between the sheets, wanting her, needing her…
No, no, no. She had to keep her head on straight. These weren't harmless fantasies, not anymore, they had harmless when he was overseas and she was in her little studio apartment in San Francisco. Now he was going to be right across her yard, home for Christmas. He was supposed to be staying with his parents, and being around, if only for a week or two, and the odds were there. There was a real chance she might do something in creditably stupid like falling in love with him.
There it was. That was the first time she'd ever really admitted to herself, in as many words. Was she really that pathetic, to fall in love with an army man who dedicated his entire life to army all because of a few touching letters? Admittedly, he was damn good at right a letter. The tenderness, the charm, she could almost see his smiles and she could always hear his voice. Always.
She was pretty sure she remembered reading somewhere-or maybe learning in one of her classes, about how a large percentage of humans' affection for each other is purely related to proximity.
"I'm so fucked," she said out loud to the empty room.
Gabriella heard a familiar meow and she smiled. "Whiskers?" looking around in the room she spotted the gray tail from under her bed. "Whiskers? Mommy is home." Getting down on her hands and knees and began crawling over to the cat only to be caught by surprise when the cat went to swipe at her and ran from the room. Gabriella sat back in surprise with an arched brow. "I wasn't gone that long was I?"
-So good to be back guys, Happy New Year and here's to a new year of stories! -
