Disclaimer, High School Musical and their characters belong to Disney. This story belongs to me though, I'm just borrowing the characters.
Here's my new story and don't worry I will be updating some of my other one's. Please read and review. And my computer is acting up, so sorry if the font looks weird in this one, I'll fix it when I fix the computer. Enjoy!
Gabriella took a deep breath in as she stared at herself in her bedroom mirror. She never stared at herself in the mirror before, so why was she starting now? Because today was her first day of public high school. It's different then her prim, proper, girly world at Minlow Prepatory School for Girls. There, you wore a uniform and had so much work on your plate, not to mention having to leave for school at six AM and between extra curricular activities and friends who hold you up, you won't get home until six PM. That is a full plated day, making worrying about your appearances impossible. Besides, she'd been going to school with the same small group of girls for years, they have already see her at her best and many, many times at her worst. In a small group of girls who you've known forever, who did she have to impress? No one. That's why she never bothered with hair, makeup, or fashion.
But now, Gabriella knew she had to make an impression. She had no friends at this school, not to mention there would be boys there. Gabriella had little experience in the department of males, unless you count the school dances where the school forced the boys from another all-boys school to dance with you. Other than that and her seven year old neighbor who is convinced he and Gabriella will be married one day, there was no history in that department. And oddly enough, Gabriella liked it that way. It was one of her rules, to never date. Her parents divorce and the aftermath showed her that in the ugliest of ways. But she's sworn herself to never think of those events, just to wash them out of her mind. The only remainder of those events are written in her list of rules. Number eight and nine to be exact.
That's why Gabriella silently chastised herself when she caught herself staring in the mirror. She shouldn't have to impress these people, they need to impress her. She had friends from her old school, why bother making friends in this one? Because I need to, that's why, she thought to herself. But Gabriella decided, appearance won't play any part of this and abruptly left the mirror.
She quickly pulled her hair back into a ponytail with a rubber band, never once actually bothering to buy real hair accessories. After splashing her face with water she left it makeup free, which honestly looked fine, because Gabriella was what you would call a natural beauty. Just never tell her that or she'll blush, then call you a liar.
She put on her white collared buttoned up shirt that she'd worn with her uniform for years. Her mother bought her a boatload of fashionable clothes, but this shirt held comfort in it. She had to wear it. After that she quickly pulled on a pair of jeans her mother bought her, while wearing them Gabriella realized they were a size too big (thanks Mom) and opted for her faded jeans from years of wearing them, which she only wore on the weekends.
Her last stop in the beauty department of her room, was a tiny wooden box, which in it held the most beautiful necklace she had ever seen, given to her by her father. My father who left me, Gabriella thought. My father who destroyed my family and everything around me.
She always used to wear the necklace for strength, but now she bypassed it and went to her final stop. The list. It was her ritual to everyday look at the list, even though it's forever engraved in her mind and she needed no reminder, but she always reminded herself just in case.
The List of Rules
1- Never correct a teacher
2- Never use the excuse "my dog ate my homework"
3- Never bite your nails.
4- Never do drugs.
5- Never wear the color yellow.
6- Never listen to anyone but yourself.
7- Never get into a catfight.
8- Never date.
9- Never fall in love.
10- Never break the rules.
For a minute, she stood there with the old, crumpled, yellow, piece of notebook paper in her hands from years ago when she wrote the rules. She soaked them in and the meanings behind them in and then left to go downstairs where her mother was calling her. Leaving the list behind, waiting for the next time Gabriella needed it's guidance, which, like always, would be the next morning.
"Morning Mom," Gabriella said, rushing down the stairs, expecting to see her mother there making her a piece of buttered toast as was their ritual. Gabriella would go into the refridgerator and get the bottle of orange juice to pour into her glass, which her mother always set out waiting for her. Then Gabriella would always grab the toast from her mother after pouring her drink and sit down at her usual seat with a lovely view of the garden she slaved over for a summer.
Next she and her mother would have their usual morning conversation "How is school going?" "How are your friends?" "Have you talked to your father lately?" and all the time Gabriella would have the same answers, "School's fine." "My friends are fine." "I emailed Dad two weeks ago." And her mother would always have the same response, "That's good." But this morning things were different when she walked down the staircase.
Her mother was whistling merrily as she made breakfast, but she only whistled while cooking on a rare occasion, when a man spent the night. Then Gabriella heard a deep voice saying something she couldn't hear from the distance. So Gabriella made herself as loud as humanly possible while walking into the kitchen.
"Oh!" Gabriella's mother said, turning around giggling. She was in midsentence with the mystery man Gabriella had never met before. "There you are. Mark is joining us for breakfast, you don't mind do you?" her mother said, with her head cocked, her messy bun sliding down, closer to her bathrobe with poodles on it. Leave it to her mother to be a fashion queen. Now all she needed was bunny slippers to complete this ensemble.
Gabriella looked over at Mark, he was a short, stumpy man with an annoyingly overpowering grin on his face. And he was sitting in Gabriella's chair. But she decided not to make a fuss of it, she knew her Mom and she knew this man would be gone soon enough. She recited her normal morning routine and then took a seat at her mother's place at the table.
"Morning," Mark said, awkwardly trying to say hello. Gabriella quickly looked up from the toast crumbs she was playing with. Why is this man talking to me?, she thought. Her mother never introduced Gabriella to her boyfriends, she would go out and say she was with Mark, or Tom, or whatever name it was this week. Then one morning Gabriella would find the man sitting in the kitchen, usually in her seat, after getting lucky the night before. And they always expected Gabriella to be oblivious to their insincerity and actually talk to them.
"I'm Mark by the way," the man said, trying a different approach. Gabriella still did not answer the man. Who spends the night at a woman's house and doesn't even bother to introduce himself to her daughter?
Mark looked out the window, desperate for a distraction and saw the garden. The colors of red, yellow, and white jumped out at you against the green grass and the blue sky. Late April truly was beautiful, but Gabriella didn't see the beauty in leaving her old school and starting a new school at this time of year. If only her mother could still afford to pay for the school she loves, they wouldn't be in this predicament. Now all Gabriella saw in that garden was mud and weeds, ignoring the beauty, seeing the ugliness.
"Beautiful garden you have there." Mark commented. Gabriella just pushed her food to the side and got up. She'd seen Mark's amble in and out of this household too many times, this one no different.
"I'm going to school Mom. Might as well get there early." Gabriella said, grabbing her school bag she had waiting by the back door and slinging it over her shoulder.
"Oh, that's right!" her mother said clasping her hand over her mouth. "It's your first day of school!"
"Yeah," Gabriella said in a "duh" sort of way, slowly making her way out the door.
"So you won't stay for breakfast with me and Mark?" her mother asked with a hopeful face. Gabriella wasn't sure if the hope was for her to stay or leave.
"No, I better get going so I can learn my way around before classes start." Gabriella said, wishing she could stay in the safety of her room. "Bye,"
"Good bye!" her mother shouted in her high pitched voice. "Have a great day."
Gabriella gave a wave of acknowledgment and was one her way.