I know I made the Chaylor/ Charpay seem like a big deal, but it annoys me when there's a Relsi with background Troypay and such (that was a random example). I didn't want to push away my reviewers with another odd paring they didn't like, so I was a bit unsure. Chaylor won though, since I'm using all my Charpay stuff on another story. Gotta save some of that creativity!
I've stalled for too long, and if you're still reading by this point, good for you! Now on with the story...
Chapter 1: Something More
Troy woke up, jumping out of bed and excited. Today was the day. Her day. Getting dressed as fast as he could, he immediately grabbed his cell-phone and ran out the door, heading towards Gabriella's house. He failed to notice that it was barely dawn and was surprised when a sleepy Gabriella opened up the doors to the balcony.
Gabriella yawned, still in her pajamas and somehow making bed-hair look very pretty. "Troy, what are you doing here? It's six in the morning." She rubbed her eyes and leaned against the wall. What could possibly be so important that…
"Oh, sorry for bugging you." The boy looked crestfallen. Great, now she thinks I'm some psycho freak or something. "I just wanted to wish you a happy birthday."
Her jaw dropped. "Aw, thanks!" She hugged him and kissed him on the cheek. "I can't believe you remembered!" Running back inside, she closed the balcony doors and the curtains so that she could get dressed.
Leaning against the railing, he smiled to himself, and touched the tingling spot on his cheek. He crossed his arms and sighed. No matter how many times they acted like they weren't, him and Gabriella were just friends. Nothing less, nothing more. It's not like you took a chance though, he mused, thinking about the past two and a half years that the two had known each other. Troy had a crush on her right from the beginning, but yet he was afraid of ruining their friendship, so he tried to hide his feelings... Which failed miserably. Everyone knew that he liked Gabriella… Well, with the exception of Gabriella herself. One of these days. One of these days…
On the other side of the door, Gabriella scrambled to find the perfect outfit. Oh, I can't wear that one again! And that one's too old! Too small, too casual… "Ugh!" She stifled the scream so that Troy couldn't hear. What would it take to find the perfect outfit anyway? All of Macy's? Tossing several more clothes out of her closet, she finally settled on a long, turquiose shirt that came with a gold belt. With it came gold leggings, so the shirt was practically a dress. Putting it on, she grinned. Troy had given it to her as a birthday present last year, and even though it wasn't her style, she told him she loved it. Just like I love him… Wait, no! I can't love my best friend! What if he doesn't feel the same? It was useless. She'd been trying to make that argument with herself since she first moved to Albuquerque, and she still couldn't fight away those feelings.
"Gabi?" It sounded like Troy was getting a bit impatient, so she spread some shine serum through her hair, applied gold eyeshadow, and put on some glitter-gold lip gloss. Checking herself one last time in the mirror, she opened the door up and gave a wide smile.
Troy's eyes lit up once he saw her all dressed up, and couldn't help but grin. Staring longer than he should have, Gabriella caught his gaze and worried.
"Is there something wrong?" she asked, checking her outfit one more time. Had it been a good decision to wear it?
He shook his head, blushing. "No, you look perfect. Absolutely perfect." On the inside, he was bouncing around in joy, happy that she was wearing his shirt, but on the outside he looked calm and collected. Gabriella gave a shy grin, and there was an awkward silence for what seemed like forever. Troy coughed and tried to break the silence. "I have a surprise for you."
She cocked an eyebrow. "Oh really?" She giggled, becoming giddy with excitement. "And what would that be?"
The boy laughed and shook his head. "Can't tell you," he said, making the motion of zipping his lips together. He tossed away the imaginary key and Gabriella pretended to catch it.
Holding up the "key", she grew closer and closer to Troy, to the point where she had him pressed against the doors. "Well, Bolton, do I have to force it out of you?" she teased, holding it near his mouth. It was within that moment that she realized just how close to him she was, and she froze.
It seemed that he too was frozen in place, for they didn't move for the next minute or so. With both of their breaths getting shallow, Troy closed his eyes and leaned forward... Only to find that Gabriella had moved and was chatting on her cell-phone. He quickly recovered, crossing his arms and coughing, trying to look like he had not tried anything.
"Yes, I'm with Troy!" Gabriella said into her phone, frowning. "And no, he hasn't told me anything! Yes! Okay... Okay! I'm sure he'll get me to wherever on time! Bye!" She shut her cell-phone and looked apoligitically at Troy. "My phone was on vibrate, and Chad called." Shrugging, she left it at that.
Chad always had lousy timing, and it was time that he got talked to about it. Making a mental note of this, Troy leapt over the side of the balcony and scurried down the tree. Looking up, he motioned for Gabriella to follow. "Hurry, we have to get there on time!"
Studying the tree and the distance down, she shook her head. "I'll meet you out front!" She vanished into her room, and Troy hurried to the front of her house, anxious to show her the surprise. It was incredibly awesome, or at least he thought so, and he could hardly contain himself.
The girl of his dreams was finally eighteen, and there was no way he was going to let this day go by without a huge celebration.
Blee, so there it is! Sorry for taking so long to update, but you can read my profile to see why it took so long...
Also, can somebody help me come up with a better title for this story? I seriously hate the title, but it was the only thing I could come up with!
Review please!