CHAPTER 2
However, at the end of homeroom, Ms Darbus made a startling announcement that blew all thoughts of Kate Bentley out of Gabriella's mind.
"On Wednesday, in free period, we will be holding auditions for our spring musical. You can find the sign up sheet on the notice board in the lobby."
Gabriella looked at Troy, her eyes wide with excitement and anticipation. However, Troy wasn't looking at her; he was looking at Kate, who was whispering excitedly to him. Gabriella clenched her fists and then felt upset with herself.
'You're not like this, Gabriella!' she told herself. 'You're friends with Ryan and Chad and Zeke and Jason – Troy can be friends with any girls he wants to be friends with!'
Gabriella decided to go and talk to Troy at recess. It would just be so fun to sing together like they had done before in 'Twinkletowne', just like kindergarten, as they always said.
'I used to be scared of singing in front of everyone,' Gabriella thought to herself, 'But with Troy I feel like I can do anything.'
When the bell went for recess, Gabriella jumped straight up to talk to Troy but found Taylor blocking her way, wanting to talk about their next Scholastic Decathlon competition.
"Hey Tay!" Gabriella exclaimed. "Sorry…cant chat now but see you in chemistry!" Not even waiting to see how offended Taylor was, she dodged past her out of the classroom then looked left and right, trying to work out where Troy had gone.
"Gabriella." Gabriella felt a hand on her shoulder and looked up to find her chemistry teacher. Her teacher began talking to her about coaching some of the eighth and ninth graders and, frantic as she was, Gabriella couldn't help feeling excited and enthusiastic as she discussed the possibilities with her teacher. Although she felt a little embarrassed about it, science and maths was where she really became alive and she was really proud of being chosen!
Suddenly, the bell went signalling the end of recess. Gabriella was annoyed with herself – she had really wanted to go and talk to Troy – but told herself not to worry. After all, what could happen between recess and lunch?
On her way to her next lesson, Gabriella saw Troy, who was obviously showing Kate around the school. They were looking on the auditions sign up sheet and Troy was talking to Kate, who was nodding excitedly. Gabriella ground her teeth. She didn't want to jump to conclusions, but…
She sighed and turned away, carrying on through the lobby to her algebra class.
At lunchtime, Gabriella bought her lunch from the cafeteria and went straight over to sit next to Troy who, thankfully, was sitting on his own.
"So…Troy?" Gabriella began to talk to him.
"Oh, hey, Gabriella!" he replied, smiling at her. For some unexplainable reason, Gabriella suddenly felt shy and awkward.
"Well, I was thinking about…you know the singing thing…the Spring musical…I was wondering whether you wanted to…?"
"Sing with you in the auditions?" Troy helped her out. Gabriella nodded excitedly, her eyes sparkling, glad that Troy had caught on so quickly. Troy didn't seem as excited as her, however.
"Well…I did tell…"
He watched the light go out of Gabriella's eyes and felt a strong pang of remorse.
"Sure," he said, putting a smile back on his face. "Let's go and speak to Kelsi!"
Gabriella felt relieved, but couldn't shake off the uneasy feeling that Troy was hiding something from her.
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