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Chapter 2: Payback

(This is all flashback by the way, I'll tell you when I slip into present time)

16 year-old Troy Bolton surveyed the room ruefully. Contrary to popular belief he wasn't much of a party animal. He didn't enjoy getting drunk off his ass, but, as every teenager does, he would do it from time to time. Captain of East High School in Los Angeles, California's basketball team, he simply was treated as a god. And the god's goal this year: to take back the championship title from their rivalry school, West High.

Troy's eyes skimmed over the crowd. His naturally bright blue eyes darkened at the sight in front of him. Zeke Baylor was there. Zeke Baylor was the king of West High. Captain of their basketball team, he had led the Knights to three back to back championships, and Troy was ready to take that title away from him.

Taking another long sip of his beer, he realized that this was payback for East High's royalty crashing the last West High party. Now West was on their territory.

"Dude, look." Troy turned slightly to see his best friend since pre-school and right hand man, Chad Danforth pointing towards Baylor.

"I saw. Is the whole crew with him?" Troy kept his voice low. He really didn't feel like getting in a fight with Baylor at this point. Although if he kept up his drinking he'd be too wasted to remember it the next day.

"Yeah, I saw Montez and McKessie trailing behind him." Troy and Chad both turned at the high voice behind them. Sharpay Evans. The Ice Queen. She ran East High with Troy, though they weren't dating. Many assumed it was a secret relationship, but to those in their elite group, they knew that information was a false as it came.

"And Cross and Reynolds are there too." A tiny voice piped up. Everyone trained their eyes down towards Kelsi Neilson, Sharpay's best friend. How that happened no one knew. They were polar opposites. But then again opposites always attracted.

"Guys, have you seen them?" The Wildcats, as they were deemed turned to see Ryan Evans fighting the crowd to get to them.

"Yeah, they're all here it seems." Troy muttered. He kept his eyes trained on his worst nightmare.

Zeke Baylor led the way into the party. "Zeke are you sure this is a good idea?" Gabriella Montez asked in her small voice.

Zeke turned to look down at his best friend, "Brie of course this is a good idea. They crashed our party last weekend. This is just to show them that two can play this game."

Gabriella rolled her eyes. Zeke's mom Carrie and her mom Lucille were best friends, had been since high school. They'd both gone to West High. And Zeke's dad Zach and her dad Greg were the basketball coaches. They too had gone to West High, making sure that the school rivalry with East High had been hammered into their heads at a young age.

Zeke was the basketball captain. Cocky and sexy, he ran West High with an iron fist. He tolerated no bullying or hazing of any West High students no matter where they fell on the social scale, but he was always willing to start something up with Troy Bolton, East High's god.

Gabriella, being his best friend, had become known as the Queen of West High. She was sweet and kind, without a vengeful bone in her body. And unlike the rest of her school, didn't see the point in the rivalry. Sure she wasn't a fan of Sharpay Evans, East High's queen, but she didn't really know her, and her first instinct would be not to judge her. But of course she just went with it instead of dealing with her parents.

Gabriella linked her arm through her best friend's, Taylor McKessie, "You see 'em anywhere Tay?" Gabriella asked.

"I think I see Danforth. Yeah that's him." Taylor nodded her head, causing her ponytail to sway back and forth, "Can't miss that hideous Afro." Gabriella giggled, she had to agree with that statement, it was rather ridiculous.

"What's so funny ladies?" Jason Cross, Zeke's best friend slung his arm lazily over Taylor's shoulder.

"Danforth's hair." Gabriella informed him.

"While that is a great topic of conversation, I want a drink." The three turned to face Ashley Reynolds, their other girlfriend.

"A drink sounds incredible right about now." Gabriella glanced over at Zeke who was now talking to Jason. "Hey losers." They both turned to face her, they rolled their eyes, but smiled nonetheless, "Drinks."

"Let's rock this shit Brie." Zeke idly draped an arm around her shoulder. Most people assumed they were a couple, but they were just best friends. Gabriella looked up at him and for some reason figured that Sharpay Evans and Troy Bolton weren't a couple, as many assumed they were, they just had the same close-knit relationship she and Zeke had.

Shaking her head she attempted to keep Zeke on path and away from the Wildcats for the moment. The last thing she wanted to deal with sober was a fight, and if she let Bolton and Zeke see each other that would inevitably happen.

Grabbing a vodka and soda, Gabriella found a wall to lean against that wasn't covered by people making out. Taylor was by her side in an instant. Neither girl much liked to party. They were both nerds more or less, and knew that if Zeke wasn't their friend, they would be social outcasts, but the cards were in their favor, at least that's the way they tried to look at it.

"I really don't want to be here." Gabriella whined, "This spell trouble."

Taylor laughed lightly, "No kidding, just loosen up, I think Ashley's going to be trashed by the end of the night." Taylor motioned to her friend who was dancing with Jason wildly. Gabriella rolled her eyes.

"I wanna dance." Zeke walked up to Taylor and Gabriella with a pout on his lips.

"No thanks." Gabriella responded and Taylor simply rolled her eyes.

"Come on Captain." Setting her drink down Taylor led Zeke out to the dance floor.

About four drinks later Gabriella had moved herself from the wall and into the empty kitchen. She sighed as she pulled herself up onto the countertop. "Anywhere but here please." She moaned to herself.

"Wildcat parties aren't good enough for you?" Gabriella rolled her eyes at the voice that was coming from the kitchen doorway.

Closing her eyes she took a deep breath, "What do you want Troy." She cringed. His first name slipped out, they were all supposed to be on a last name basis that was just the way it worked. She looked ruefully into her cup, 'Damn alcohol', she thought.

Troy arched his eyebrows and came to stand in front of her, "I'm sorry, did you just call me Troy?" He paused for a moment, "That's interesting Montez, kind of gives me the aura that you actually like me."

Gabriella took a deep breath and released it. She wasn't going to lie to herself or anyone else if they asked. He was sexy as fuck. With his caramel hair that dipped slightly into his eyes. His eyes, which could bore into any soul easily were a Caribbean blue, just crystal clear. And his body, even fully clothed he was incredible. His pecks and six-pack were visible through pretty much any shirt and his arms were incredibly muscular. And every once in a while she'd briefly wonder what it'd be like to run her hands down them. He was sexy, confident, and arrogant. On top of it all she knew he was smart, holding the highest GPA at East High. He was a deadly combination. He was simply Troy Bolton.

"Not in the least Bolton, and no I just don't want to be here." She sighed and looked into her cup again. She wasn't in the mood for an argument. Instead what her mother had discussed with her earlier was still ringing ever so clearly through her head. She sighed again.

Troy's hard face softened. She looked so upset. Like something was eating away at her. Suddenly, he didn't want to pick a fight with her. He just wanted to comfort her. His eyes grew wide at the thought, he wasn't supposed to be attracted to her at all.

Although, there was no lie in the fact that she was drop dead gorgeous. Long midnight colored locks that curled perfectly, and from what he'd heard Sharpay say, she didn't need to do anything to get them to do that: all natural. She wore a very light amount of make-up, making her look human as opposed to a Barbie doll. Her brown eyes were doe like and innocent. He figured if he looked long enough he could drown in the dark chocolate that encompassed them. Then there was her body. While she never wore clothes that were super revealing, she had to be the sexiest person alive. Her body was curvaceous and her breasts seemed to be just the right size. The thought had actually crossed his mind that they'd probably fit perfectly in his hand, but he always brushed it away. Her legs were long and fit from track. She was simply perfect.

"Sorry." He muttered. He didn't know where the apology or the softness came from, or why he apologized in the first place.

Gabriella's eyes shot up, immediately connecting with his, "For what?" Her voice was barely above a whisper.

"For bugging you, you seem upset about something." A tear trickled down her face. A sense of protectiveness overcame him as he stepped between her swinging legs and used the pad of his thumb to wipe it away.

Sighing deeply, she leaned into his touch and allowed her eyes to flutter shut, "You don't have to be, we shouldn't be here. It was Zeke's stupid idea, payback or whatever for last weekend. Stupid and pointless."

"Kind of like this rivalry?"

Her eyes shot open, "Wh-what?" She managed to stutter out. He shrugged his response and stepped a little closer.

"While it's fun to fuck with you guys, it is somewhat ridiculous. Don't you agree?" His face was inching closer to hers.

Gabriella felt her breath hitch in the back of her throat as her stomach somersaulted. Her eyes traveled down to his perfect lips, and suddenly she wondered what it would feel like if he kissed her. Troy seemed to be thinking the same thing because before she could come up with a response his lips fell on hers.

As his own lips massaged hers gently, she allowed her hands to tangle in his hair, pulling him closer. His arms slid around her waist and up the back of her v-neck t-shirt. She drew him even closer by wrapping her legs securely around his body.

Slowly, Troy's hands moved down underneath her ass, lifting her off the counter. He slowly pushed away from their previous spot and made his way towards the back staircase he knew was in Trevor Green's kitchen. Very carefully, he climbed the stairs, every so often pausing and pushing her against the wall to catch his balance.

Gabriella's mind went blank. The alcohol coursed through her veins clouding her judgment and her sense of comprehension. Troy had no control over his body. Or his brain. Or even his emotions. He simply did as he pleased. He did what his heart wanted. And his heart wanted Gabriella, under him writhing with pleasure. The scary thing was that was exactly where Gabriella wanted to be.

Piece by piece their clothing was shed, until he was hovering over her, his lips moving from her lips to her jaw line and down her neck. Biting and sucking her relished in her sweet moans as he bit down harshly on her sensitive spot that was nestled on her collarbone. Satisfied with his branding, he moved his lips down her cleavage, taking her right nipple in her mouth and sucking harshly, pinning it to the roof of his mouth with his tongue, before biting down and moving onto her left breast.

His lips continued his scavenger hunt down to her dangling diamond belly button ring, lightly tugging at it, loving the moan as she arched her back to bring him closer to her body. Moving down even more, his lips traveled to her right hip as he drug his wet tongue over the small red heart tattoo. "So sexy" he muttered as she let out a guttural moan that was purely woman.

He traveled back up to her head, "Are you sure you want this?" Gabriella looked at him for a moment.

A small smile curved on her lips, "Yeah," as he nuzzled his face into her neck she whispered, "And I'm on the pill, you don't have to worry about protection." Troy came back up to face her with a crooked smile.

Spreading her legs with his hands, he let his fingers glide up and down her wet folds before entering into her, connecting them as one. They both gasped at the feelings of shock and warmth that coursed through their bodies. It just felt so right.

Light streamed into the window through the blinds and into the darkened room. Gabriella turned over and shoved her head into something hard and warm that blocked out the offensive light. She took in a deep breath and relished in the amazing smell that came from whatever she was tucked into.

Troy felt something lightly hit his chest. Whatever it was it fit perfectly into the curves of his body and it felt and smelt amazing. He slung his arm over the thing that had him smiling in his sleep and realized it was a human.

Slowly and painfully he opened his eyes, his headache moving from the back of his brain to the front. He sat still, letting his eyes adjust to the gray room before focusing in on the person next to him.

He took in her flawless features, her tangled black hair, and her gorgeous body that was half exposed as the sheets gathered around their waists. It was Gabriella Montez. He was fucked.

Gabriella opened her eyes when she felt breathing on her head. As she lifted her head, her body immediately rebelled. Letting out a small groan she forced her eyes open and let the focus in on what woke her up. Her eyes grew wide when they connected with the piercing blue ones hovering slightly over her. Troy Bolton. She was as good as dead.

The same thoughts seemed to be traveling between both of their minds. Rubbing her temples she sat up, not even bothering with the sheet since he'd seen everything there was to see the night before. Troy sat up as well, turning slightly to face her.

"What are you thinking?" He asked as he gently took her small hand, even though he was sure he knew exactly what was going through her mind. It was going through his too.

Gabriella looked up at him, he looked so perfect with his tousled hair, "I can't believe that happened." She mumbled.

"Good can't believe it or bad can't believe it?" His voice was so sweet.

"Would you laugh if I said good?" She held her breath waiting for his response.

He blushed, "It's what I was hoping you'd say."

Gabriella gave him a full on grin, "Then what does it mean?"

"It means, that I'd like to take you out on a real date. Outside L.A., where no one would know us." He looked at her hopeful, "Could you get out of your house, would you do it?"

"When, and where do I meet you?" She smiled shyly.

"How about next Friday? I would tonight, but I can't cancel on the guys, they're probably already wondering what happened to me. How'd you get here by the way?" He suddenly looked concerned. She was in East territory, she couldn't be walking around.

Her eyes grew wide. "Zeke, and I'm sure he left last night." She moaned as she gently rammed her head into his shoulder.

"It's okay, I'll drop you a couple of blocks from your house. That way your parents don't see you with me. What about Friday? Meet me at the mall?" He looked hopeful again.

"That'd be great if you'd take me home and what time on Friday?"

He grinned, "Say 7:30? It'll be a late night." He gave the warning lightly.

"I wouldn't have it any other way." She matched his smile.

"Good." He sighed, "We should get dressed, my dad's going to be pissed."

"So are my parents." Gabriella sighed, standing up she stretched. Troy took the moment to admire her perfect body. She caught his eyes and blushed, "Sorry." She muttered.

"Don't be, you're gorgeous." He assured her, she blushed more as she began slipping on her clothes. Sighing Troy slipped out of bed and followed suit.

Troy pulled into a park a block and a half from Gabriella's house, "You sure you'll be okay?" he asked for the tenth time.

"I'm more worried about you, this is West territory. And I'll be fine, my parents won't think anything of it, they'll probably assume I was with the girls. They never ask questions if I don't come home." She realized what she said and stuttered out, "I'm usually with Tay though. I don't sleep around." She tried to assure Troy.

"Brie, I know, at East you're known as the hot heartbreaker that turns every guy who wants to be in bed with you down." She let out a sight of relief.

Leaning over she placed a small kiss on his lips, "See you Friday at 7:30." She pulled a sheet of paper out of her bag, "Here's my cell number if something happens." And she was gone. Troy looked at the paper and then at her retreating figure. He smiled and pulled out to head home for a shower before he met the Wildcats. He suddenly couldn't wait for Friday.

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Mollie XOXO