Disclaimer: I do not own HSM.
Recap: The Wildcats varsity basketball team had just won the championship game against the West High Knights, and the East High Scholastic Decathlon just won their competition against the Knights.
The after party was held at Troy's house. His parents were gone for the weekend because Mrs. Bolton had taken her husband to a resort in Arizona. When Gabriella showed up, music was blaring and the paintings on the walls were beginning to shake. The party was definitely in full force.
Because Gabriella had already committed to babysitting that night, she showed up about two hours into the party. Quickly she glanced around the room trying to find Taylor, and spotted her over by Troy. He had a worried expression on his face. Little did Gabriella know, Troy had been wearing that expression ever since the party began. He couldn't possibly have any fun without her. She was all that was on his mind. Taylor, you could tell, was getting annoyed with Troy. Seeing as he was always asking "Where's Gabriella? Didn't she say she would be here by now?"
When she saw Troy, Gabriella's face brightened, and she squeezed her way between dancing jocks and cheerleaders to get to him. Unfortunately, by the time she was close enough to yell his name, he was called to the front of the room to accept the game ball, once again.
"Hey Taylor! Sorry I'm late. The parents always stay out late," Gabriella complained.
"It's okay Gabby. I'm glad you're here. Maybe Troy will get off my back. He's been asking where you were the whole night!" Taylor said in an annoyed voice.
"Oh." Gabriella blushed. The truth was she had been thinking about Troy too. Oh, and not to mention the two kisses he had given her that day. All she wanted was to brush his lips with hers again. It felt so right. She watched as Troy smiled at the crowd admiring him. All he was thinking about was how he was going to pick Gabriella up in his arms and swing her around. Then he would put her down and kiss her. He could never let go of her again.
Once the basketball celebration ceremony was over with, the scholastic decathlon's presentation started. Once again, Troy and Gabriella missed each other. When the presentations were over, Troy headed towards the front of the room to meet Gabriella. As soon as she saw him, she ran towards him and leaped into his arms. He held her for what felt like five seconds, but was really over a minute.
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At 1 o'clock in the morning, the party had pretty much died down. Everyone had left except for Chad, Taylor, Kelsi, Ryan, Sharpay, Zeke, and Gabriella. They were all about to watch a movie when Chad and Taylor decided they were tired and wanted to go home. Kelsi, Ryan, Sharpay, and Zeke all agreed, and Gabriella was about to walk out the door with them when Troy grabbed her wrist and said, "Why don't you stay a little while longer. We can watch the movie together or something." Gabriella couldn't resist the sincere look on Troy's face, so she decided to stay. The truth was Gabriella just wanted to be with him.
"Great! I'll go make the popcorn. Do you know how to work a DVD player?" Troy asked.
"Uhhh…" Gabriella answered, "No. I was raised in a mountainous area where they did not have any sort of electronics. Sorry, you're going to have to do it."
"Very funny." Troy laughed, and handed Gabby the remote, and then ran into the kitchen. While the popcorn was popping, Gabby had a hard time deciding which movie she wanted to watch. Finally she decided a scary one, and put it in.
About halfway into the movie, a man popped out of nowhere on the screen, and Gabriella screamed, throwing some of her popcorn up in the air with her. Troy laughed. "Do you need a hug, Gabriella?" Secretly, he wanted to hold her.
"Yes." She answered in her baby voice, and Troy wrapped his arms around her.
Fifteen minutes before the movie ended, Troy noticed that Gabriella had fallen asleep. With a gentle shake, he woke her up.
"Was I asleep?" she said in a sleepy voice. They both looked at the clock and Gabriella let out a small cry. "Oh my gosh! It's four in the morning! My mom is going to kill me!"
"Don't worry, um… she probably can't give you a ride, and my parents took the car… and Gabby, I can not let you walk all the way to you house this late at night."
"Well, how do I get home?" She had a worried expression on her face that made Troy's heart melt.
"Well…" he said, "Why don't you spend the night?"
Sorry it's short! More to come if you like the story!
