"Ooooh, Gabi!" Taylor squealed in Gabriella's ear. They were talking on the phone after school. They--naturally, being the school's "genius girls"—had finished their homework during study hall period and had the rest of the day to themselves. It was a Friday, and they usually called each other to plan their weekends—usually shopping or something as frivolous as that to get them ready for the heavy work week ahead of them when Monday came around again.
Gabriella winced a little, and held the cordless phone in her room farther away from her ear. After Taylor had finished cooing at the moment that Gabriella had almost had with Troy in the parking lot, Gabriella continued to speak. "Taylor, it's not that big of a deal. I mean… maybe it was an accident. The…the wind."
"Don't you dare talk science to me, girl!... now, you see… there are hormones, and there are girls, and there are guys…" Taylor couldn't continue without bursting out into fits of giggles. "Why on earth did you run away?"
Gabriella's voice was sheepish and soft: "I got scared."
"Scared?"
"Well…yeah. I mean… why would he like me? Besides singing, we don't really have much in common."
"Except for your love for each other!" Taylor said this in a sing-songy voice.
"Taylor! Shhh!" Gabriella hissed. "My mom lives here, too, you know!" But she couldn't help but laugh at her best friend's antics. "Anyway… you got any plans this weekend?"
"No… now, isn't that a surprise?"
"Oooh, you're funny!" Gabriella made her voice sound immature.
"Hmph."
"Sorry. Anyway… did we run out of money yet?"
" 'Fraid so."
"That's okay. We can go thrifting… or just go to the clearance rack… no, never mind. Too much temptation." Gabriella sighed.
She could almost hear Taylor nodding in agreement. "How on earth are we gonna save for cars if we keep on buying those cute shirts?"
"We could always ask the parental units… you know, have them give us the money that they'd use to pay for our college tuition—the money they won't have to pay because we'll be getting scholarships."
"Hey, there! Even I don't plan that ahead… well… maybe I have." Taylor was notorious for having every detail worked out perfectly—if one little thing was out of place, she was likely to go berserk. "I'm still picking out what songs to play at my funeral, and what color hearse."
"Riiiiiight."
"Hey. At least I'm not planning my wedding any time soon."
"Taylor Amanda McKessie! Did you just say what I think you just said?" Gabriella was wide-eyed, her mouth hanging open incredulously.
"I'll see you in five." Taylor hung up quickly.
Gabriella shook her head at the silent phone and hung up after staring at it. She hurried to get dressed. After slipping her sneakers on, she waited outside on the porch for Taylor.
Taylor came later than she had said, about fifteen minutes after she had hung up, but she came running, panting, and her eyes held a sort of exhilaration that Gabriella had never recalled seeing in her friend's eyes before. "After I hung up on you—oh, by the way, sorry about that—I told Chad that I had to go—I was IMing him… and then…" Taylor let out an ear-splitting squeal of delight. "Chad said Troy's miserable!" She clapped her hands and jumped up and down.
Gabriella gave Taylor a weird look. "Why is this good?"
Taylor rolled her eyes. "Because. It means he really wanted to kiss you!" She squealed again, but not as loud.
She shook her head skeptically. "Unless it came from his own lips—" she paused at how ironic that sounded, "you can't make me believe that it's true. You can't just go around, assigning motives to everything people do."
"Then what explains that little rendezvous in the parking lot, huh, Gab?" Taylor elbowed her friend in the ribs, dramatically moving her eyebrows up and down.
Gabriella shrugged Taylor off and walked in the direction of the bus stop, which would take them to a little strip mall that consisted of outlets and clearance stores. Taylor exasperatedly followed her, and grabbed her arm as the bus rolled into view. "Gabriella. You know it, he knows it, everyone knows it. Don't let this slip away." She took her hand back. "He might find another girl, you know. Because he doesn't think you like him that way." Although Gabriella would never admit it, the thought of Troy being with another girl stabbed her, making her want to cry. It struck her with such jealousy and pain that she couldn't bear thinking about it a moment longer.
"Why wouldn't he think that I like him?" Gabriella realized too late the words that had escaped her own lips—and not at the softest decibel level, might I add. Her cheeks flushed again, and she stuttered. "I mean—"
Taylor put a hand up to silence her. It worked. "Gabriella, see? Even you're not smart enough to fool yourself that long." Her voice now contained pity. "I just don't want you to do something—in this case, not do something—that you'll regret later." As they boarded the bus, Gabriella pondered Taylor's words during the thirty-minute drive there. Taylor got the hint and stared out the window during the ride.
- - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Troy had too many thoughts whirling around in his head--no matter how hard he tried, he just couldn't seem to get rid of them. Chad noticed and confronted Troy about it. Although hesitant, Chad kept on prodding Troy until his friend spilled his guts. After Troy was finished, Chad's expression was amused. "Well, duh, man. Even I can figure that out... and I'm not exactly the smartest guy in the universe..." here Troy couldn't help but smile and roll his eyes. "Anyway," Chad continued. "She's probably embarrassed since you guys got 'interrupted.' " He used air quotes. "And... sorry about that. With the game ball." Chad laughed sheepishly.
Troy gave Chad a teasing look. "You know, I was ready to chuck that stupid ball at your oversized head."
Chad shrugged. "You lost your chance."
Troy opened his mouth to say something back, but then realized how true Chad's statement was. He grew sober. "Yeah...yeah. I did."
