Hello there! I'm just posting this between writing 'A coach affair' I've been meaning to do a Gabriella/Chad one shot for ages and this little idea appeared to me, it's probably crap but please R and R!

Raven corkscrew

Raven locks

Tanned soft skin

Sweet chocolate eyes

Gabriella Montez…

He watched her get to her seat in home room that very first time,

looking around shy, quiet and yet she had an edge to her; just when you thought she was a pushover she would bite back, stand up for herself and others.

To say he liked her would have been an understatement, as the years progressed he fell more and more in love with her.

Of course it wasn't that simple, it never is.

She was already marked out, chosen had been picked. Troy was the best and so was she, a match made in East high heaven and who was he to defy perfection?

So he watched her, heard her and wanted her.

She was one of his friends and at first he dared to hope, prayed that her sweet smiles and kind words meant she too cherished him secretly. But time passed and he learnt that was how she treated everyone; as though seeing them was pure joy.

But he wished they were closer, that she could pour her heart out to him, turn to him, even if all she talked about was Troy.

Because then at least she would need him.

Sometimes he envied his girlfriend; she was her best friend, she had access to Gabriella he could only dream of.

Oh yes he wanted her, but he knew he'd never get her.

So he settled for contention, happy just to be near her everyday, part of the golden circle that shined in her generous light.

In another life perhaps, but not in this one. Because he was Troy's best friend, best friends didn't steal, they just envied.

Corkscrew curls

Though caramel skin

The way his eyes crinkled when he smiled

Chad Danforth…

She had watched how he twirled a basketball on his finger her first day at East high. He looked so easy, so comfortable and secure with his environment and yet there was always that edge of sharpness with him, an underline intelligence that could be bough out unexpectedly.

To say she had felt a strange attraction to him became an understament, as the years went by his hold on her heart grew stronger and she fell for him.

It wasn't that easy, it usually isn't.

He found Taylor and she was linked to Troy. Him and Taylor were culturally compatible, they were sweet together. And she had always been taught never to bitter sweetness.

So she observed him, laughed at his jokes and longed for him.

He was in her new group of friends, at first she could kid herself that the reason he fell out with Troy was over her and that when he heard her sing on stage he wished he was up there with her.

But she came to realise, that though they were now friends, there had been a time when he wished she had never come to East high.

She wished they were better friends, that she could become someone he could really talk, even if all the talking was about Taylor.

Because then at least he would value her.

There were times she envied Troy; he shared so much time and history with Chad, whole years that he hadn't been in her life.

She wanted him badly, but she knew he would never be hers. So in the mean time she would laugh at his jokes and respond to his every smiles, happy that he at least considered her a friend.

Had they both been at another school, then maybe, but not this one, because she was Taylor's best friend and best friends were happy for each other, but they could always be quietly jealous.