Wow! I got such an awesome response to the last chapter! Thank you to everyone who reviewed. I'm so glad that you all liked it. Anyways... here is the next chapter. Enjoy!


"Who is your babysitter?" Gina asked Friday morning after the van picked Gabriella up for school.

"I don't have one. I never go out," Gabriella joked.

"I thought you worked on the weekends?" Gina asked.

"I do. In a church nursery, so I bring Belle with me. Why? Are you looking for one?"

"Yeah. My cousin has been doing it, but she decided last night that she doesn't want to anymore."

"When do you need a sitter?"

"I waitress on Tuesday, Thursday and Friday nights."

Gabriella shrugged. "I'll do it."

"What? How? Don't you have all the kids at your house to watch?" Gina asked as the van parked at school and they began to unload.

"Yeah, but I think we have an opening. I'll call her really quick to make sure." Gabriella disappeared into Mrs. Morrow's office. A few minutes later she reappeared. "We have room for him," she said with a smile.

"Oh my gosh, Gabriella!" Gina exclaimed giving her a hug. "You are the best!"


Gabriella sat in her health class wondering what she was going to say. She and Troy were supposed to be presenting to the class what they learned about each other, but that was pretty much nothing since they refused to even look at each other all week, let alone talk.

"Troy, Gabriella," Ms. Grimsley said. "Your turn." They walked to the front of the class and stood there in silence. "Well?"

Gabriella looked at Troy who scowled at her. She rolled her eyes and said what little she knew about him. "Well, I obviously didn't know anything about Troy. What little I learned from other sources I'm sure everyone already knows. He plays basketball and is the captain of the team."

"That's it?" Ms. Grimsley asked.

"Well he wasn't exactly forthcoming with information."

"Ok… Troy, what did you learn about Gabriella?"

"Nothing," he stated.

"Nothing?" Ms. Grimsley asked.

"Nothing," he repeated.

"You sat with her all week and didn't manage to learn even one tiny little thing about her?"

"Well, I learned she's got a huge stick lodged permanently up her butt," he said annoyed as his friends in the class broke out in laughter.

Gabriella's blood boiled. "And you're a stupid conceited jock who thinks the sun rises and sets on you," she said angrily.

"Enough!" Ms. Grimsley yelled. "Gabriella, go ahead and go now, but come back when you are done. I want to speak to the both of you after class."

Gabriella nodded and glared at Troy as she walked out of the classroom. As she sat nursing Izabelle, she fumed. How dare he stand up there and say she was the one with the stick up her butt? She had never done anything to him. When she got back to class she sank into her seat and silently waited for class to be over.

After the bell rang and the other students filed out of the classroom, Ms. Grimsley approached the two. "Are you both aware that this class is mandatory for graduation?" she asked. They nodded. "Well, then you better learn to get along and work together so you can pass this class and graduate. You'll be serving detention together everyday until you can do that."

"But Ms. Grimsley," Troy objected. "I have basketball practice after school!"

"After school?" Gabriella asked. "I can't stay after school!"

"What lunch do you have?" Ms. Grimsley asked them.

"First," they said in unison. They turned and scowled at each other.

"Great! You can serve detention during lunch. You'll get your lunches, bring them here and stay in this room together until your lunch is over."

Troy stood up. "But-"

"But nothing, Mr. Bolton," Ms. Grimsley said and walked away, letting them know the discussion was over.


"Detention again?" Gina asked. She was on her way into the TAPP building for lunch as Gabriella was on her way out for detention after nursing Belle and grabbing her lunch. Gabriella nodded. "Can't you two even pretend to get along so you aren't stuck in detention all year?"

Gabriella shrugged and made her way to her health classroom for what was sure to be another hour of silence, just like every day for the last week and a half. Ms. Grimsley had tried everything from a deck of cards to board games to a CD player to movies to try and get them to speak to each other, but none of it worked. Gabriella wondered what she would try next.

She walked into the classroom and sat in her seat. A few moments later Troy walked in with his lunch and sat in his. They ate in silence. When he was done, he got up and threw is tray away. As he strolled back to his seat his eyes fell on the TV cart and lit up.

"Oh, man!" he exclaimed as he rushed over to it. "An old school Nintendo! It's got the original Mario Brothers!" He began to unroll the cord from around a controller and plug it in. Without thinking he turned to Gabriella. "Want to play?" he asked.

She looked up and raised an eyebrow at him. Did he really just ask her to play with him? Nicely?

"Well?" he asked again. "Do you?"

She shrugged. "Sure. I'm Luigi," she said grabbing the second player controller.

"What? No way! I'm always Luigi!" he argued.

"Not this time. Prepare to get whooped."

"Yeah right!" He pushed the power button and waited for it to start up. A little while later their game was almost over.

"And POW!" Gabriella exclaimed. "That's how it's done!" She leaned back with a grin on her face.

"Damn," Troy cursed. Gabriella had beaten him not once, not twice, but three times.

"I told you. I was the Mario Brothers champion on my street when I was little," she said as the bell rang.

"Yeah, well, tomorrow you are going down!" he teased. "And I get to be Luigi."

"You're on!"


The next morning, Gabriella walked in to her geometry class to the familiar sound of teasing and laughing.

"Guys, cool it," Troy said as she walked by.

"What?" Chad asked surprised. "Don't act like that wasn't funny."

"I'm supposed to be getting along with her," Troy replied.

"So? Why does it even matter?" Chad questioned.

"Because if I don't at least pretend to get along with her, I fail health and don't graduate, that's why. I'd really like a diploma, so if you could, just cut it out."

Chad threw his hands up in defense. "Whatever, man," he said and sat in his seat as the bell rang. Before taking her seat, Gabriella gave Troy an appreciative smile and he gave her a small nod.


"Not even the power of Luigi can help you," Gabriella joked after she beat Troy again later that day during lunch.

Troy leaned back and sighed. If he wanted to pass, he needed to make a real effort at getting to know her and getting along with her. "So how do you like East High?" he asked.

"Better now that I don't get made fun of all day," she replied. He looked at the ground, suddenly feeling bad for teasing her the past two weeks. "Thanks," she said softly. "You know, for making them stop."

He nodded. "But other than that, how is it?"

"It's alright. Much bigger than my last school. My classes are easy and my teachers are okay. That gym teacher is a little much."

"Mr. Bolton?"

"Yeah. I could do without him. He's intense."

"He's my dad," Troy said with a smirk.

Gabriella's face reddened. "Oh my gosh. I am so sorry! I should have known! Your last name is Bolton, his is Bolton. Duh! Oh, man. I'm sorry. I-"

"Gabriella, it's okay. Trust me, I know how intense he is. He's my dad, my teacher and my coach."

"That must be tough, being the coach's son."

"I have to work harder and practice longer, but it's not too bad. Having him as a dad outside of school is harder."

"Oh yeah?"

"Yeah. My parents are really strict. They are also really religious. We go to church every Sunday morning and Tuesday and Wednesday evenings. My mom is the secretary at our church and they are both the youth directors, so they are constantly telling me I have to be the perfect example for the other kids in the church. I'm always getting lectured on how God feels about sex and drugs and how I need to show outstanding Christian behavior and character at all times. It's a lot of pressure to be perfect."

"It's a lot to live up to. You feel like it's only a matter of time before you fail and completely let them down. My parents were the same way."

"Were?" Troy asked.

"Yeah. I haven't spoken to them since they day I left home."

"So you live on your own?"

"Well, I have a roommate, but yeah."

"That's so cool!" he exclaimed.

She shrugged. "If that's what you want to call it. It has its ups, but there are a lot of downs, too. The real world isn't as fun as it seems before you get into it."

The bell rang and they were silent for a few moments. "Monday?" Troy asked. "Same time, same place?"

Gabriella smiled and nodded. "It's a date."


"How much longer do you have to serve detention during lunch?" Gina asked Gabriella as they walked to class after homeroom. "It's been like a month!"

Gabriella held back a smile and let out a fake sigh. "I don't know," she said as they reached her classroom. "I'll see you later, okay?" As she walked to her seat, Troy caught her eye and winked at her. She gave him a quick smile and sat down.

Just like Ms. Grimsley had asked, they learned to get along. In fact, they were starting to realize that they actually had fun with each other. Neither of them knew why, but they kept their friendship a secret. It was fun to pretend all day like they could barely tolerate each other then meet in the privacy of the empty classroom for lunch. Over the past few weeks, they not only learned to get along, but learned a lot about each other as well. Surprisingly, they had a lot in common.

Later that day, they were sitting in health class listening to a lecture on anatomy. "And these, of course, are," Ms. Grimsley said and paused to see if anyone was paying attention. "Breasts." Everyone looked at the board. "I thought that would get your attention," she laughed. "Now, who in here knows what breasts are for?"

Most of the class squirmed in their seats with the wrong answer in their mind hoping they wouldn't be picked to answer the question. "Anyone? Gabriella, please tell me. What are breasts for?"

"Feeding babies," Gabriella answered.

"That is absolutely correct. And judging by your reactions to the question, it wasn't what most people were thinking. Let us not forget we are mammals and therefore make milk to feed our young. Anything else is just a bonus." Many of the guys chuckled and the girls blushed.

"Come on, Ms. Grimsley," Chad said. "This is the 21st century. When was the last time you saw someone breast feeding? Nobody does that anymore."

"They don't?" Ms. Grimsley asked, prodding him to go on.

"There are bottles and formula, so why would they?" he said matter of factly.

Gabriella felt herself getting angry. "Maybe because it's better for their baby?" she said sarcastically.

"Well, isn't there some way they can put their milk in a bottle? Troy asked. "I mean the whole world doesn't need to see her baby sucking on her boob. It's gross."

"Yeah, really," Chad agreed. "Nowadays there are other options and it's kind of perverted to do that."

Gabriella's blood was boiling. She couldn't help but feel like they were insulting her. She looked at the clock and was relieved to see it was past time for her to leave. "If you don't want to see it, don't look! And what kind of a freaking pervert looks at a mother giving her baby the very best and sees something sexual?!" she exclaimed and she stormed out of the room leaving her purse behind.

"Well," Ms. Grimsley said. "I can see there is a lot of learning that needs to be done on this subject. We'll pick this discussion up again on Monday." The students all began to pack their bags and wait for the bell to ring when Troy saw Gabriella's purse on the ground.

"Gabriella left her purse," he said and put it on Ms. Grimsley's desk.

"Hold on," she said as he began to walk back to his desk. He turned back around to face her. "She'll probably need it. Go ahead and take it to her. She's in building F."

"Building F?" he asked. He wasn't even aware the school had a building F. "Where is that?"

"You know the employee parking lot and driver's ed portable by the gym?" He nodded. "It's behind them. Here, I'll write you a pass in case you are late to class." She scribbled on a paper as he went to his seat and got his backpack. He grabbed the note and Gabriella's purse and made his way towards the back of the school.

When he passed the driver's ed portable, he was surprised to see that there really was another building behind it. In three years at East High, he had never noticed it was there. When he walked in the door, sounds of young children and babies met his ears.

"Can I help you?" Mrs. Morrow asked him.

"I'm looking for Gabriella Montez. I'm sorry, I think I'm in the wrong place," he said and started to turn around and leave.

"No, you're in the right place," Mrs. Morrow said. Troy looked at her confused. "She's over there in the rocking chair."

Troy looked where the woman was pointing and saw Gabriella sitting in a rocking chair with a baby across her lap. He slowly walked across the room.

"Don't come any closer. I wouldn't want to gross you out," Gabriella said bitterly.

At first he didn't understand what she meant, but after a second glance he realized she was actually breast feeding the baby. "You have a baby?" he asked.

"It appears that way, doesn't it?"

"You could have told me before I made an ass of myself in class."

"And give your friends another reason to make fun of me? No, thanks. Like I need 'gross' and 'pervert' added to the list."

"What? Gabriella, we never would have said those things if we had known."

"Well, at least now I know how you really feel," she spat and glared at him.

"Whatever. Here's your stupid purse," he said throwing it on the ground and storming out.