In the Upper East Side of New York, Christmas was not a holiday. It was a sport.
Not that the future debutantes and art gallery browsers would ever do any vigorous activity unless it was Yoga Booty Ballet.
From the decorations, to Christmas dinner, to presents, it was all a competition between the mothers of the Upper East Side. And the children—even though the mothers insisted that their hours of decoration and napkin coordinating were for the children—were just bystanders.
This most definitely includes the Montez household. First place for 3 years, baby.
Josefina Montez, 43 year old mother—not that you could tell with all the collagen and Botox she had on her face—was the reigning champion of all Christmas parties. Every year, on December 24, from 7 p.m. to 11:30 p.m., the ballroom at the Tribeca Star Hotel was packed with over 200 people, all for the Montez Christmas party. There was gossip, champagne, scandals—("That bitch is dating WHO?") and Gabriella Montez(daughter of Josefina)'s personal favorite, guys.
Well, it was really guy. Singular. Hopefully said guy was actually singular, because he was the Apple iPod of Gabriella's eye.
Troy Bolton. 19. Tall. Dark. Handsome.
Two thumbs up!
And since the Boltons were always at the Montez Christmas party(half the time Leslie Bolton was just looking for ideas for her New Years' Eve party), this gave Gabriella the perfect chance, year after year, after year.
But he completely ignored her. Well, in the romantic sense.
Year. After Year. After Year.
One year, she had worn a floor length black Oscar de la Renta(OSCAR DE LA RENTA!), and he hadn't given her a second glance. He had just "talked" to her(puh-lease!). His bright blue gaze remained on her. Her, the whole frickin' time.
Sharpay Evans, daughter of Vance and Jessica Evans. She and her twin brother Ryan were exactly alike: blond, snooty, chic. Of course, Ryan didn't bother Gabriella as much as Sharpay did. Ryan's obsession with fedoras and brightly colored beanies barely caught Gabriella's eye.
It was the way Troy looked at Sharpay that irritated her.
His eyes would get all hazy, and they'd travel from the open toes of her slingback Prada pumps to the root of each ash blond curl on her head. Then, out of the corner of his perfect lips, came a sigh of longing. A sigh of wanting.
The same sigh that would come out of Gabriella's lips when she saw him.
The same sigh she was sighing right now.
The cold air of New York pinched at her cheeks, turning them the same cherry red color as her NARS coated lips. Gabriella turned a sharp corner, the loud clicking and clacking of Prada pumps and Milano Blahniks as cheerful as any Christmas holiday to her.
She breathed out a sigh of relief; her condo-plex, The Belgravia, was coming into view. The familiar red brick and polished granite 20 story building comforted her more than a steaming mug of eggnog ever could. Eager to get out of the biting cold, Gabriella practically ran towards her home.
Gabriella walked into the lobby and dropped her blue Via Spiga wool-cashmere corset seam coat and ivory scarf aimlessly on a long sausage shaped leather couch and stormed towards the elevator. James, the concierge, knew immediately to have the coat and scarf sent up to her parent's condo.
"Dammit," Gabriella muttered, pushing a Chanel Black Satin-lacquered index finger into the elevator button. It refused to light up, and the elevator was stuck on floor 6.
"C'mon," her scowl deepened. Suddenly, an well-known thumb pushed the button from behind her and it instantly lit up. It was tan, muscular(if fingers could be muscular)…most definetely the hand of—
"Troy Bolton," Gabriella smirked as confidently as she could, spinning around on the heels of her black suede ankle boots. "What are you doing here? I thought you lived at the Miraval,"
"And I do," Troy's ice-blue eyes narrowed slightly, as a smirk graced his lips as well. "I actually came here for a visit,"
"Oh," Gabriella tried to sound uninterested, even though she was dying to know who he was seeing that day. The tension behind her lips built up until finally, she burst. "And who might you be visiting?"
Troy's smirk turned into a full-blown smile. "Your mom," he replied immaturely, looking up at the elevator.
"Well, then, you'll have to head to the Lower East Side," she said coolly. "she's visiting an art gallery for the day. With your mom," she smirked proudly at her witty remark.
"Well, then, I guess I came to see you," Troy shrugged, making it seem like no big deal.
"Oh?" Gabriella's freshly waxed eyebrows shot skyward.
"I was planning on taking you to lunch," Troy sighed. "But if you don't want to go—"
"No, no," Gabriella said eagerly. "I'll go, of course. Just let me go up and change and I'll be down in a second,"
Suddenly the elevator doors clicked open and Gabriella glided inside.
Qi black cashmere dress: $310.00
Ellie Tahari black wool belted coat: $550.00
The look on Troy's face when Gabriella stepped out of the elevator: Priceless.
Um…the girl on his arm?: not so much.
"Wow…" Gabriella trailed off, looking Sharpay Evans up and down. "Sharpay,"
"Gabriella!" Sharpay squealed excitedly, detaching herself from Troy's arm and running over to her mother-introduced-supposed-best-friend. "You look so awesome!"
"Thanks," Gabriella said tightly, glancing over at Troy. He was beaming. At Sharpay, of course.
"So perfect that I have to get a picture!" Sharpay's NARS Adelita manicured hand dug deep inside of her Rebecca Minkoff leather tote. "Suh-mi-yul!" Sharpay cried, snapping a quick picture with her Canon Elph.
Gabriella winced at the blinding flash. "So, where are we going for lunch?" she asked, looking directly at Troy.
"It's a surprise," Troy winked at her and Gabriella's heart fluttered.
"Ooh, a private room for—three?" Gabriella winced at having to add one to the number she originally the thought the reservations were for—two.
"Well, it's more than just us three," Troy explained, leading the girls out of the building and onto the street. "My friends Chad and Taylor are coming,"
"Except for they're not dating, contrary to popular belief," Sharpay cut in, rolling her eyes. "But we all know they totally want to,"
Gabriella arched an eyebrow. Chad Danforth and Taylor McKessie? Together? Um…NO. Not only was Chad a total jockstrap, he was undoubtedly not fit for Taylor, the daughter of the CEO of Hills-Fargo.
"Hmm," Gabriella smirked, amused. "I had no idea they had any desire whatsoever to be in the same room with each other, much less date. But you certainly seem to be in the know, Sharpay, so I'll take your word for it, instead."
The sting of the remark lowered Sharpay's 100-watt smile to a dim, corners-of-lips-turned-up grimace and Troy looked disgusted at Gabriella's rudeness.
She wanted to apologize immediately, but that would only make her look like a fool. So she pursed her lips and called a cab instead. As they bunched into the cab, Gabriella found that her position on this lunch date was getting more and more uncomfortable by the second. Sharpay was sandwiched between Gabriella and Troy, and as the bounced along the potholes in the road, Sharpay would instinctively squeal and clutch Troy and Gabriella's arms, and then snort-giggle after.
She wanted to deck her.
"So, Gabriella," Sharpay said, desperate to make conversation. "Have you seen the new UGGs? They're adorable,"
"Really?" Gabriella's flat tone didn't faze Sharpay, and she continued babbling, punctuating her sentences with a flip of her blond hair every now and then.
"Yeah!" Sharpay cried. Gabriella saw Troy snort at Sharpay's eagerness and she felt a pang of jealousy.
"They have every single color. I got terracotta and pacific blue pairs of the short ones, and the mulberry and black pairs of the tall ones. I even got the button ones!"
"Did you really?" Gabriella feigned surprise, her mouth gaping open.
"Look it!" Sharpay held up a denim clad leg and gave Troy, Gabriella, and the cab driver a good look at her sand colored short buttoned UGGs.
"Sharpay, put your foot down," Troy laughed, grabbing at her foot.
"No," The blond mock-pouted.
"Don't make me tickle you…."
"Oh, please don't…"
"Well, then, put your foot down,"
"Blah, blah, blah."
They continued to giggle and banter for the rest of the ride.
Gabriella sat back in her seat, feeling more alone than ever.