Chapter 2 -

I took a deep breath as I lowered my sunglasses back down to my eyes and took a step out of the airport. I breathed in the California air and I looked around for Sharpay, who was coming to pick me up. As I looked around, some guy put his arm around me. "Hey there beautiful." I looked at the man, who was probably 50. "Please don't touch me." I said, trying hard to be polite.

"Don't play hard to get, babe." he whispered in my ear. I tried to elbow him but he dodged it. "Mm, feisty. I like it." He winked at me and I tried hard not to gag.

I saw a flash of pink and glitter pass by me and I suddenly felt the man's arm drop from my waist.

"Wha-?" I was confused as I saw a blonde girl on the ground on top of the man, holding his arms above his head.

"Don't you dare touch my friend." She growled angrily. "Or else I'll make sure you can't reproduce. Which would be fine because scum like you don't need to." The guy's eyes widened and he slipped out from under her, running off.

She slowly stood up, brushing herself up and fixing her hair. I grinned. "Sharpay!"

Sharpay grinned. "Gabi!" We rushed and have each other a hug. "You look amazing." She said truthfully.

I laughed. "Thank you, I tried."

"Well, your hard work definitely paid off!" Then her face darkened. "However, don't think I've forgotten that you left all of us." I sighed. I knew I wouldn't be forgiven very easily.

"I'm sorry Shar… How's everyone?"

Sharpay looked at me, raising her eyebrows as we got into her car. "They're all at my house, waiting for you. When I told everyone that you were coming back, they were upset. Especially Troy."

I cleared my throat, hearing his name. "So who's everyone?"

"Ryan, Kelsi, Jason, Chad, Troy, Taylor, Zeke, Martha -" and as I she continued listing everyone of my high school friends, I thought about Troy. I knew what my mission was, of course. But I couldn't help but wonder how he was. I never had a serious relationship in Tennessee. No one could compare to Troy. So coming back, i just needed to gain a little bit of confidence, sleep with him, and forget him. It wouldn't be that hard.

"Gabi, are you even listening to me?" a very annoyed Sharpay asked.

"Huh? Of course."

"Sure…We're here anyways."

I laughed nervously. "They're not all going to kill me right?"

Sharpay turned towards me seriously. "Gabriella. You need to know that when you left, you broke Troy's heart. He was the first to show up at my house and he insisted on coming to pick you up with me. He still loves you…"

I put my hand up to stop her. "Stop right there. You and I both know that he never loved me, Sharpay. Everyone knows that he was with me because he felt bad for me and he probably just dated me because I tutored him and he felt like he owed me."

Sharpay sighed and was about to argue, but thankfully she didn't. She got out of the car, slamming her door. I followed her and grabbed some suitcases while she grabbed the rest. I was nervous - mostly because I had left everyone without saying anything. I later talked to Sharpay, Kelsi, and Taylor of course, but they were pretty pissed at me. I don't blame them. I braced myself as we prepared to walk through the door. When we walked into Sharpay's house, I looked around at all the people standing in groups, talking, not yet noticing that we were there. I stood there for a while, taking everyone in quietly. Everyone looked great and happy and I felt a pang of sadness as I watched everyone laugh and talk with one another. I was glad they were all still in touch with each other even after high school. I felt a little out of place.

"Gabriella!" I almost fell backwards when two people ran to me, crashing me back into Sharpay. I laughed. "Taylor, Kelsi!" I gave them the biggest hug ever. Kelsi looked at me, with tears in her eyes. "I missed you so much."

I smiled a little, "I've missed everyone so much." I saw Chad at the corner of my eye, walking towards me. He quickly wrapped his arms around me, tightly. "Gabs." I smiled, almost tearing up. As I hugged everyone one by one, I couldn't help but notice that someone was missing. Troy. I got compliments for losing weight and I smiled and thanked everyone. I was proud of losing weight, but definitely not confident enough to start a new relationship. It suddenly got quiet as I hugged the last person. Chad looked behind me, his eyes widening a bit. The atmosphere changed when I heard someone behind me.

"Gabriella."

I slowly turned around, meeting beautiful blue eyes staring at me. "Troy." I breathed. His beauty still made me as breathless as when we were in high school. I blushed slightly as his eyes roamed over my body and back up to my face. He didn't look at me like most guys did - like a hungry animal. My mouth suddenly went dry as he wrapped me up in a tight hug. I fought back tears as I hugged him, breathing in his scent.

Well… hi. I am so sorry for not updating this story. I just had massive writer's block. I knew what I wanted to write, but I didn't know how to put it into words. I eventually just forgot it all. This chapter isn't the best, but it's an update. I'm hoping I get to finish writing this story this summer. It's so weird that I started this story at the end of my freshman year of high school and now i'm getting ready to get into my senior year… It's so crazy how fast time moves, honestly.

Anyway, I hope someone is still reading this… If you are, please leave a review! I might have to change the title and the plot a little bit, but it won't be so drastic.