Name: Gabriella Montez
Age: 17
Dating: Yes…No…Who really knows these days?
Status: Living at Lava Springs for three months and lifeguarding five days a week.
Ambitions: 1) To pay Troy Bolton no attention, even though he lives in the bungalow next door and works 18 holes that are in perfect view of the pool. 2) To get her brothers to focus on work instead of the young female hotel guests. 3) Aren't one and two enough to keep a girl busy?
The Story: After a year of Calculus, brothers and basketball games Gabriella Montez has realized one thing: Troy Bolton is either destined to be the love of her life or fate is playing a cruel trick on her. First, she reluctantly ended up spending too much time with him and caused her brothers and friends to wonder if a romance had began to grow. Then it did. There was no denying a budding relationship between the two stubborn Wildcats.
But then it stopped when he rescued her from the worst situation a young girl can get into and left her a note asking for a break up. If that is not enough to make her head spin, the two couldn't keep their hands off each other and started a less than romantic relationship that could only have been broken up by a new guy.
With their relationship practically estranged and a green eyed monster sitting on both of their shoulders, the summer is already proving to more eventful than fifty nights at a hotel during the state championships. And Troy managed snagged a job fifty yards away from Gabriella. Oh how that fates love their little games.
Lifetime Piling Up
Sequel to Life in a Glass House
Chapter 1: You are so not over him
Gabriella kicked open the door to cabin four with a huff. Stumbling inside her new home, she let the door slam behind her. She threw her bags down on the bed and quickly followed them. "I am such a weakling." she murmered into the soft pillow the smushed her face.
A loud thud came from the other side of her door. "Gabriella, open the door!"
She groaned. "You're the big, strong brother. You open it." She mumbled into the bed.
"I'll drop your bags." He threatened.
She jumped off her bed and ran to the door. "Scott, how could you ever say such a thing?" she asked as her brother pushed past her, throwing her remaining bags onto the small bed. "I am practically dying from the strain those bags put on my shoulders and you make me move after I finally get to rest?"
Scott turned around and stared at her, "Gabs, you only had three bags. I had six."
"So I have a lot of stuff. It's not my fault."
"It is entirely your fault and you are extremely pathetic." He told her, making his way out the door. "Maybe you should consider hitting the gym this year." He added as he left.
She watched him leave. "There's a gym at Lava Springs?"
"Yes, there is." A voice came from behind her. "In fact, it's a very nice one."
Gabriella spun around and saw her best friend walking out of the bathroom. "Taylor, I have a strange feeling that this summer is either going to rock, or completely disastrous." She said to her gleaming best friend.
"It's going to rock!" She said, sure of her words. Taylor ripped a piece of paper out of her back pocket. "Guess what this is." She said with a broad smile.
"The fortune from a really big fortune cookie?"
Her smiled faded slightly. "No… It's the staff housing assignments!"
Gabriella stared at her. "We all got those Taylor. We all get those every year." She pulled out her own paper from her back pocket.
Taylor shook her head with a smile. "Guess who's in the cabin next to us?"
She glanced down at her paper. "My cousins Maria and Leah."
"The other side of us."
Once again she glanced down at the paper in her hands. Her mouth dropped as she read the names of the people in cabin five. "Kevin, Chad, and Troy…" Her glance moved up to her friend. "Did you have anything to do with this?"
"Gabriella, I'm shocked!" Taylor said, hurt. "Now you know that if I had anything to do with this that you and Troy would be roommates." Gabriella sighed and sat back down on her bed with Taylor quickly following. "What this is, is fate! It's the giant fortune cookie of the Gods telling you that you and Troy are supposed to be together."
"Even if that made sense, I wouldn't believe it."
"Believe it or not, this is a total sign that you and Troy are, well…meant to be."
Gabriella groaned. "The only thing this represents is Chad calling my Uncle's assistant on the way over here to make sure he is rooming with his best buddy and you calling her to make sure that your boyfriend is next door."
Taylor glared at her best friend. "Fine. Don't believe me. But I predict that this summer will bring you and Troy closer together."
"Okay." Gabriella sat up and made her way towards the door.
Taylor muttered something about her best friend and Troy, but Gabriella rolled her eyes and made her way out of the door. As she walked down the brick path to the staff lounge building she passed a stack of boxes and bags with legs.
"Let me guess, you over packed?" she asked.
"Just a little." He replied, wobbling in place. "Now can you help me please?"
Gabriella stood on her toes and reached for the top box. "Chad, you bring more stuff than a girl."
Once Chad finally saw Gabriella he glared at her. "You're one to talk."
She rolled her eyes. "So I see that you guys are bunking next to me and Taylor."
"Yeah." He nodded happily. "This summer is really starting off great, you know?"
"Whatever you say." She muttered.
"You're still upset with Troy, aren't you?" he walked into his cabin and she followed.
"I'm not mad at him. Not really." She explained. "I just don't want to be around him what-so-ever."
"Aw, now that's not very nice Gabriella." A voice said from the cabin door.
She looked behind her and saw Troy standing there, smirking. "What are you doing here?"
His eyebrows rose. "This is my cabin."
Gabriella glared at him and dropped her box full of Chad's possessions. "Just leave me alone this summer and let me live me life." She brushed past him, but he grabbed her arm and turned her around to face him. Their faces were dangerously close to touching.
"You know you won't be able to resist me this summer." He whispered. "So why don't you just make it easier on yourself and meet me by the pool tonight after the staff dinner."
"In. Your. Dreams." She spat, ripping her arms from his grasp.
"No Gabriella, in your dreams."
She sneered at him before flipping her hair over her shoulder and walking out of the cabin.
Once outside and out of their hearing range she pulled out her phone and dialed as fast as she could.
"Hey, Ethan!" she exclaimed as he answered.
"Hey, Gabriella. What's up?"
"You should come pick me up tonight. We could go do something before I get busy with work."
He sighed. "You know, I don't think that would be such a good idea."
Her smile fell. "Why not?"
"Look, you're really a sweet, beautiful girl. But you're going to be away all summer with your ex-boyfriend. Plus, I saw the look Troy gave to you in the library. It's not hard to figure out that he's not over you.
"Just because he's not over it doesn't mean that I'm not either." She said, her voice not as convincing as she had hoped.
"And I don't want to be your rebound guy, Gabriella." He finished. "It's just not my style. Sorry."
"Ethan…?" but it was too late and the line was dead.
&
Gabriella slumped into her seat next to her brothers at their table. The rest of the staff sat around them at their own tables, all buzzing with conversation.
All of her favorite foods were on her plate, but she had lost her appetite.
"Gabs, you have to eat something." Luke said as he shoved a roll into his mouth. "You know the kitchen closes at ten."
"I'm not hungry." She muttered.
"Is this about that guy?" Kevin asked.
Her four older brothers turned and looked at her. "What guy?"
"And what did he do?"
"Need me to go give him a beak down?"
"We got you're back Gabs."
"Look." She exclaimed, not wanting to listen to her brothers' devoting themselves to her protection any longer. "It's not like it even matters. I didn't even like him anyways."
Kevin looked at her curiously. "Then why did you go out with him?"
She shrugged. "I wanted to find someone to help me get over Troy and I thought someone completely opposite of him would do the trick." Gabriella let out a heavy sigh. "It did not do the trick."
"I think you should take Troy back." Trevor said between bites of food. "I like him."
The other boys nodded their heads in agreement.
"Whoa!" Gabriella exclaimed. "For seventeen years you guys have done everything in your power to make sure no guy comes near me. And you certainly have never approved of a boy that I had any interest in. Why now? why him?"
"Well," Scott started. "Troy likes you a lot. And he's a lot of fun to be around. I think he fits in with us really well."
Gabriella blinked. "You like him because he resembles you…?"
Cole nodded. "And because he likes you, a lot. That's important too"
"You guys should like a guy for me because I like him and because he makes me happy and because I want to be with him more than anyone else in this stupid world." She told her brothers. "Not because he's one of your buddies and you have a good time when he's around to play a game of ball." She slumped back in her chair, unable to even think of eating the food on her plate. "And besides, I don't even like Troy anymore."
Each one of her brothers dropped their food and stared at Gabriella. "What?"
"You heard me. I think I'm over him." she tried to convince her brothers.
"No you're not."
"You are so not over him."
"We're you're brothers, we can tell."
Gabriella sighed. It wasn't working. "Well I'm the one with the feelings and I say that I'm over him."
"But you just said that you just went out with that Ethan kid to get over Troy." Kevin reminded her. "And you said it didn't do the trick."
"Well, I lied." Gabriella said, getting frustrated. "And I'm done with dinner. I'll see you all at the staff meeting bright and early tomorrow morning. Good night."
Cole glanced at his watch. "It's only 7:30 Gabs…" he said as she left the table.
She made her way through the tables, ignoring her brothers' calls after her. The last thing she needed was to try to explain herself and her feelings to them in words that they would understand. She had used enough food and basketball analogies for one lifetime.
As she left the building the warm summer air hit her, making her smile. The highlight of her year always happened when she worked at Lava Springs. Her only hope was that this year would be the same.
&
Gabriella had hooked a small basketball hoop to the back of the cabin door. For the past two hours she had been playing with her small foam basketball, shooting it into the small hoop.
"Montez fakes right, then left. She works her way around the defenders." She muttered to herself, taking the voice of a sports announcer. "She spins around the only person the way of her dunk, jumps and…"
"Gabriella, you in here?"
As she jumped for her hoop, the door swung open. She slammed against the wall, sandwiched by the door.
Gabriella groaned and rubbed her face that was slammed by the yellow, plastic hoop. "Gets totally rejected…"
The door bounced back and slammed shut. Taylor stood with her hand on her hip, staring at her friend. "Gabriella, what are you doing?"
"I was enjoying a nice game of basketball." She stood up straight, fixing her hair. "I was winning."
Taylor blinked. "Who were you playing against?"
Gabriella looked down at the floor. "Myself." She said quietly.
"Right…" she stretched the word out, long and slow. "So, while you were playing you're little game of you versus you, the staff dinner ended."
"I could have guessed that much."
"Why did you ditch? You love staff dinners."
She sighed. "I just had enough of talking to my brothers for a while. They were getting on my nerves."
"But isn't that, like, a daily occurrence?"
"Yeah, but tonight was especially bothersome." Gabriella said. "I just had to get away from them."
Taylor's eyes rose. "Do you want to talk about it?"
"No, not really."
A moment of silence hung between them as Taylor tried not to pry and as Gabriella wrapped her mind around an idea that had been hanging around her all afternoon.
"I'll be back. There's something I have to do." Without waiting for a response, she left her cabin.
She slowly made her way through the other cabins, weaving her way along the red brick path. Before she knew it, Gabriella found herself at her work station for the summer. She stared into the pool water with the moon's shimmering reflection brightening up the dark air that surrounded her.
"This certainly is a surprise."
She slowly turned around, letting her glance fall upon Troy. His hands were shoving deep into the pockets of his dark jeans. The pale blue color of his shirt caused his eyes to glisten in the moonlight.
"I really did not expect you to show up." He told her, his face slightly amused.
"Neither did I." she said truthfully. "But I guess that's part of the game isn't it? All of the surprises it brings along."
"So what made you come?" he asked in a curious voice. "I was pretty sure that you hated me by now."
Gabriella shook her head. "I could never hate you Troy, no matter how much I want to."
"Oh, well that's a relief." Troy said sarcastically.
"What I mean is that I can't ever hate you. No matter how much you make me mad or how much I try to believe that all of the troubles in my life are your fault, I can never find a way to hate you. I care about you too much."
The corners of his mouth turned upward into a crooked smirk. "You sure have a funny way of showing it."
"I'm just scared." Gabriella admitted, her voice growing softer. "You know what happened with me and…David. I'm just not sure if it's okay to fall for someone like that again. And then you come along and sweep me off my feet with your somewhat quick wit and charming smile and amazing jump shot. It just really sucks, you know."
Troy shrugged. "That's not exactly how I feel about it," she tried to smile at his attempted to lighten the mood. "But I can get where you're coming from."
She eyed him curiously. "Are you just saying that to make me feel better?"
"Yeah," Troy admitted. "I am."
Gabriella exhaled a smile and a giggle. "See, that's the problem! Everything you do, no matter how much it bugs me, I like."
"Do you want me to change?"
She shook her head violently. "No. I don't ever want you to change. I just want to slow down."
Troy nodded his head once, understanding her completely for the first time in months. "We moved too fast."
"Yes." Gabriella was relieved that he grasped what she had been trying get at. "And I know it's my fault, partially, so I can't blame you anymore like I want to."
They stood, not looking at each other, in moments of silence that seemed to elongate with each passing second.
"Can we start over?" Gabriella asked, finally breaking their silent evasion.
Their eyes finally met, his full of distress, "Start over?" he repeated.
"Not completely over." She assured him. "Just, can we be friends for a while? No kissing, no dating, and definitely no sex." she saw him slightly cringe. "Just friends?"
But Troy nodded. "Sure, whatever you want." He took a deep breath and stuck out his hand. "Hey, I'm Troy."
She blushed and grabbed his hand, lightly shaking it. "Gabriella."
"Would you like to be my friend, Gabriella?"
"Yes," she smiled as her cheeks flushed, glancing up at his perfectly angled face. "I would like that every much."
Troy smile was full of delight, "And as a friend, would you like an escort to your room? I hear that these luxurious country clubs and hotels can get pretty dangerous at night."
Gabriella giggled and walked along side him. "I would love an escort. Thank you."
As they walked back to the cabins, the two friends joked and laughed as if they haven't talked to each other in weeks.
Author's Note: Here it is!!!! I hope everyone who waited for this is pleased (I sure am). I have some fun stuff lined up for this story. And I rewrote this chapter like six times trying to get it right so I really hope I did :) Remember, comments are loved and needed!
But as some of you may know, the laptop that I was writing ALL of my stories on got a weird virus (not quite sure what it was) and everything was gone. I got pretty upset (well I'm still really upset) and couldn't write anything for a long time. So I'm kind fo sad to say that the stories I said I was going to post (you know, the ones you voted on?) aren't going to be posted because I don't think I can rewrite them to the point where I think they are good enough. It makes me too sad.... but I do have a few stories that were influenced by the death of my super awesome stories and those might go up soon (and they are saved to like three thumb drives, lol).