Gabriella burst into laughter as Troy danced in front of her, singing along with "Umbrella" on the TV.
"Under my umbrella ella ella eh eh eh…" he screamed. Gabriella pointed to him and then made a stopping motion, still laughing. Troy grinned and flopped onto the couch beside her. "Funny?" he asked, chuckling to himself.
"Y-yes." Gabriella stammered, wiping tears from her eyes. Troy grinned again and put his arm around her.
"That was my plan all along." He assured her and she rolled her eyes. It was Sunday and Troy had just come over to pay a visit to Gabriella. She had been watching MTV when the song had come on. "Now Gabi, I want to talk to you about something." Troy stated, all laughter gone. Gabriella nodded and her face lost it's smile. "On Friday you sounded really excited for the trip to New York, and you should be, but I was wondering if you really wanted to go." Gabriella was silent for a few minutes.
"Of course I want to go." She said, forcing a smile. Troy knew better than to believe her. She sighed "Well I do want to go…I'm just tired of travelling. I've been moving around all my life and I wanted so much to be able to stay in one place for longer than this. But I guess this is different…"
"It's not like you're moving." Troy added.
"Yeah…that would be a different story." Gabriella said with a small smile. "But don't tell mom that I don't want to go…she was so excited to be going to New York…I don't want to spoil it for her." Troy nodded.
"Your secret's safe with me." He replied, seriously. Gabriella got up.
"Come on, I want to show you something." She told him. Troy got up and followed her up to her room. She opened her closet, which was a mess of clothes and fished around for something in there. Finding the small envelope she brought it out to Troy. "Look at this." She muttered and opened the flap, pouring dozens of little yellow tabs with words on them. Troy picked one up.
"Arizona." He recited. He looked up at Gabriella to see her staring at the yellow mass with an unhappy expression.
"All of these are names of places that I've lived before." Gabriella explained. Troy let the slip of paper fall back beside the others and he slipped his arms around Gabriella. She folded into him and sighed. "I don't like travelling anymore because of this." She added and then was silent. Troy stroked her hair and soothed her back to her normal cheery self.
"But this is different." He assured her. "You're not moving."
"This is different." Gabriella agreed. "I'm only going for a week."
"I'll miss you when you're gone." Troy teased. Gabriella smiled.
"I know you will." She said, cheekily. Troy pretended to look offended.
"You won't miss me?" he asked. Gabriella giggled.
"Nope." She replied. "Not a bit…" she paused. "I won't miss you a bit, I'll miss you a lot."
"That's better." Troy replied, planting a kiss in her hair. Gabriella laughed.
"You are the most girlish boy I have ever met. "she insulted. Troy gasped and the next thing she knew Troy had her in a headlock.
"What did you say, Montez?" he asked.
"Nothing." She giggled.
"Say it again." He ordered.
"You are the most girlish boy I have ever met" she repeated. Troy tightened his grip around her, slightly and chuckled.
"Say you're sorry." He commanded.
"I'm sorry Troy." She muttered, giggling again.
"Say that I am the manliest boy you have ever met."
"I don't want to lie to you Troy." She added and the burst out into laughter as his jaw dropped. She wiggled out of his grip and hugged him tightly. "Just kidding, Troy." She said. He muttered something but hugged her back, a smile on his face once more.
"That was mean, Brie."
"Well it's true!"
"Prove it!"
"You giggle."
"I do not. Guys do not giggle." He informed her.
"That is the stupidest thing I have ever heard." She told him. He rolled his eyes.
"Yeah I know…but I don't giggle." He whined. Gabriella smiled.
"Of course you don't, Wildcat." She soothed. He grinned goofily.
Later on Troy was sitting on the couch with Gabriella cuddled up beside him as they watched "The Messengers". She squealed and hid her head in his shirt. Troy chuckled and patted her head.
"I'll tell you when it's over." He muttered for the hundredth time that night and watched the girl struggle to run away from a mud-like substance on the ground. Gabriella nodded and then peeked out, only to hide her again with another quiet squeal. A few minutes passed and then Troy tapped Gabriella on the head. "It's over." He whispered. Gabriella sat up hesitantly, her eyes darting from the TV to Troy's face, to see if he was telling the truth. To her disappointment the credits were now rolling past and she sighed.
"I missed the whole thing!" she cried. Troy had to smile.
"You told me to tell you when the scary part was over…it's over now." He reminded her. Gabriella glared at him and he winked cheekily at her. She stuck her tongue out at him and then a confused look crossed her face as he stood up.
"Where are you going?" she asked.
"We have school tomorrow I need to go home." He explained, suppressing a smile with difficulty. She stood up to and they walked to the door.
"See you tomorrow." She sighed.
"I'll come and pick you up." He reminded her and her face brightened.
"Okay. Come around 7:30." She informed him. Troy nodded and kissed her quickly.
"See you tomorrow Waterbug." He teased. Gabriella burst out into laughter and then rolled her eyes, shutting the door.
Troy chuckled to himself as he sauntered down the driveway, towards home. She was funny when she wanted to be, without even knowing it. Troy looked back to see her standing in the window, watching him. When he turned around she waved to him, a smile stretching across her face. He waved back and blew a kiss in her direction. Gabriella mimed catching it and Troy was sure she was laughing again-music to his ears.
AN: Okay so it's going to start to get a little more interesting soon, I promise! I hope you like the story so far and make sure you R&R (Read and Review to anyone who doesn't know what that means) I love hearing from you and it's the only way I can know if I'm doing a good job writing it or not. Also I'm still looking for some info on 9/11 so keep it coming!