Gabriella boarded the plane she was to fly to California on. After choosing a seat and placing the one bag she was allowed to keep with her beneath the seat in front of her, reached into her purse and pulled out the book she was currently reading. Opening it to the spot where she had last left off, she began to scan the words that were written on thr pages.
"Excuse me; can I sit here?"
Gabriella looked up from her book. Her brown eyes met the bright blue eyes of a young man that looked about the same age as her. Wow, those eyes sure are handsome, she thought dreamily to herself. Then, pulling herself back into the real world, she glanced at the empty seat beside her. "Sure," she smiled.
The boy sat down. "So," he began.
Gabriella shyly turned her face away from the newcomer and busied herself with her book again.
"Don't you think we should introduce ourselves? After all, we're gonna be sitting here for the whole flight."
Gabriella cautiously allowed herself to bring her gaze to the young man. "Y-Yeah," she stammered. "I-I guess we should." A small smile appeared on her lips.
"Okay, then. I'll go first. My name is Troy Bolton." Troy held out his hand for Gabriella to shake.
"Nice to meet you. I'm Gabriella Montez." Gabriella took Troy's hand and shook it briefly.
An awkward silence followed Gabriella's words.
"Alright, well....." Troy attempted to continue the conversation, but failed. He wasn't good with girls. That's one reason why he never dated before. The other was that he was just way too busy with basketball.
Gabriella nervously tucked a strand of hair behind her ear.
"Fasten your seatbelts, everyone. We'll be taking off in one minute," came a woman's voice over the speaker that was on the wall.
Troy and Gabriella both made sure their seatbelts were securely on.
"Well...." Troy made another attempt to speak.
"You want something?" Gabriella wondered shyly.
"I just thought we could talk a little."
"Okay, the plane will be leaving the ground in 5, 4, 3, 2, 1!" announced the woman who was talking over the speaker. As soon as she finished saying what she needed to, the plane rose up into the clear blue sky.
"So, Gabrielle, I hope I'm not being too personal, but how old are you?"
"I-It's Gabriella, not Gabrielle," Gabriella managed to tell Troy. "And I'm nineteen."
"I'm sorry, Gabriella," Troy apologized. "Oh, and by the way, I'm twenty. So we're only a year apart." He smiled, then started talking again. "How about college? Are you going anywhere at the moment?"
Gabriella shook her head. "I'm just working on my singing for now."
"I'm not going to college at the time, either. I'm working on becoming a basketball player." Troy then, after a few seconds' pause, remembered what Gabriella had just said to him. "You sing? That's awesome."
"I guess so," Gabriella agreed casually with a shrug.
"Where do you live?"
"Georgia. How about you?" With every word she spoke, Gabriella began to get more and more comfortable chatting with Troy.
"California. I'm actually going back home right now-to train with the Lakers basketball team. Why are you going to my state? Do you have relatives there or something?"
"I'm sure you'll be good at your basketball thing! And in response to your question for me-no. I'm going to a recording studio to record a demo album." Gabriella began to mindlessly pick the pale pink already-chipping nail polish that was on her fingernails off. She felt ashamed to say the words she had just spoken because to her it sort of felt like she was bragging.
"A demo album? Are you serious? That's amazing! If you ever release a regular album, I'll definitely buy it. I'm curious to know what your voice sounds like-even though I'm sure it's good."
"I don't think I'm that good."
"Don't say that. So, do you write your own music and lyrics and everything or do you have someone do that stuff for you?"
"I do it all myself. I play guitar and piano, so I make up the tune using those things, then I just think of lyrics that would fit the tune and write them in a notebook."
"What are your songs about?"
"Relationships, finding friends, being ignored," Gabriella replied as she twisted her hair nervously. She didn't like discussing what her songs were about since they were all based on her own life, and she was generally a private person.
"They sound good. Do you have a boyfriend?"
Gabriella's cheeks turned a deep red. "N-No," she forced herself to say.
Troy didn't miss Gabriella's blush. "It's okay. I don't have a girlfriend, either. What about friends?"
Gabriella shook her head. "None," she mumbled.
"I wonder why? You seem like a nice girl. I just have one friend. His name is Chad. But you sound like you're really lonely. Do you have siblings you can hang out with?"
"Well I have one sister-she's twenty-two-but she's not really my biggest fan."
"How about your parents?"
"They're the people I'm closest to. I almost treat them like friends; that is, adding the high respect of course."
"That's cool. I'm not really in a great relationship with my parents. I mean, I get along with them okay, but I don't care for doing activities and such with them. I'd rather play basketball."
"What position do you play on your team?"
"I'm not in a team right now, but when I was in high school I played center."
"Center? Wow, that's really nice!"
"Yeah, I guess it is."
"Bye, Gabriella," Troy said as he grabbed his luggage at the luggage area in the airport. The plane had landed just five minutes before, forcing the many conversations that has passed between Troy and Gabriella along the way to California to come to an end.
"Bye, Troy," Gabriella returned, also taking her luggage. She then walked in the opposite direction of Troy.
Wow, she was an amazing girl, Troy thought to himself. Too bad I probably won't get to see her again; California isn't a small place.
Troy was nice, Gabriella silently commented. I wish I could see him again. But probably not. I mean, what are the chances that we'll meet up again? I don't even know if the hotel I'm staying at is anywhere near his house. And even if it is....what are the chances that we'll end up in the same place at the same time?
Troy pulled the keys to his house from his pocket and unlocked the front door. Since he had become an adult, his parents had gotten a second house key made for him to keep until he found a place of his own-which he was currently working on. Upon stepping inside, he flipped a couple light switches, then made his way over to the kitchen to get a snack.
I wish I gave Gabriella my number. I wish I could talk to her again. I wish I could see her act all shy. I wonder....I wonder if there's a way I could sort of find out what recording studio she's going to and, also, what hotel she's staying at? All these thoughts passed through Troy's mind as he ate. By the time he finished eating, he had his mind made up. He went over to the place where the phone book was kept and opened it. Paging through, he made sure to catch notice of all the local hotels-and the two recording studios. Then, pulling his cell phone out of his pants pocket, where he always kept it when he had it with him, dialed the number to one of the hotels.
Half an hour passed. Finally, after fifteen phone calls, Troy found out where Gabriella was staying. And lucky for him, she hadn't asked for her room number to be kept private from the public.
I'm gonna go see her, Troy decided.
Gabriella had just finished getting into her pajamas and was now ready to get comfortable in her hotel bed and work on writing some lyrics for a couple hours before she got tired and wanted to go to sleep.
Knock, knock.
Who could that be? Gabriella wondered in her head. She slowly walked over to the door to her room and called through it, "Who's there?"
"It's me, Troy," Troy answered in reply.
Troy? What's he doing here? How did he find me? I didn't even tell him anything about where I was saying during our plane ride! Gabriella was totally confused-and a bit hesitant to open the door since she didn't think she looked decent enough to see people she didn't know that well. "Hold on a minute," Gabriella decided. She hurriedly grabbed the fitted t-shirt and white capri pants she had been wearing only a few minutes before, threw off her pajamas, and got dressed again. Next, she took the ponytail holder she had tied her hair back with out and swiftly ran her comb through the curls that now flowed over her shoulders. Finally, after taking a brief look in the mirror that was on the wall, she let Troy into her room. "Sorry I made you wait out in the hall," she apologized.
"It's alright," Troy responded.
"So, I have some questions for you. How did you find me? Why are you here?"
"I found you by calling a bunch of local hotels and asking if there was a girl named Gabriella Montez at any of them. And I'm here because I was lonely all alone at home, Chad's not home from his college for the summer yet, and I wanted to hang out with someone."
"Well, you're welcome here. I was just about to write some lyrics, but that can wait. Just have a seat on my bed and relax."
Troy listened to Gabriella, who followed him over to the bed and took a seat beside him. "Do you start recording your demo album tomorrow?" he wondered.
Gabriella nodded. "Yeah. How about your basketball training? Does that start tomorrow, too?"
"Yes. I have to get up early to make it to the Lakers' stadium."
"I don't really care for getting up early."
"Me, neither."
Gabriella didn't know what to say next. As a result of that, a period of silence came over the room. That is, until Gabriella's cell phone rang. When that happened, Gabriella reached over to grab it from where it was. Looking at the screen, she muttered, "I got a text from my sister."
"I thought your sister didn't care for you?" Troy was confused.
Gabriella read the text:
How do the recording studio ppl like the noise u call ur music?
Troy saw the look of hurt that came across his new friend's face. "What's the matter?"
"Nothing," Gabriella mumbled, pressing a button that deleted the text. "My sister's just being her unsupportive self. It's not anything to worry about."
"Are you sure?"
Gabriella nodded.
Almost two and a half hours passed in which Troy and Gabriella talked about their high school lives, things they did with their families, and anything else that they felt like discussing.
"I'd better go," Troy announced as he looked at the clock that was on the end table next to the bed. "It's getting late."
Gabriella nodded in understanding. "Yeah, it is; I'd better get ready and go to sleep. Well, after you leave."
"Can I have your number?" Troy requested, taking his cell phone from his pocket.
"Sure," Gabriella answered. She then proceeded to tell Troy the number to her cell phone. "What about yours? Can I have your number, too?"
Troy nodded and gave Gabriella his phone number. Once she typed it into her cell phone, he said, "Alright; well now that we have each others' numbers, I'd better get going. I'll call you when I get a chance and see if we can find a time to hang out."
"Okay. But just so you know, I'm leaving here in two weeks."
"Two weeks? I don't know if I'll be free anytime within the next two weeks."
"I guess we can just talk to each other through the phone, then."
"I guess that's what we'll have to do. Well, I really should be heading out. I know I've said that twice already, but this time I mean it. Maybe I'll see you again."
"I hope so. I had a very good time with you; I'm glad you found where I was staying."
"I had a good time, too." Troy smiled at Gabriella. "Bye."
"Bye." Gabriella smiled in return.
Troy rolled around in his bed for about the twentieth time. He couldn't get Gabriella out of his head. And it was unlikely that he would ever see her again, even though he had her number. Soon she would be too busy with singing to travel to places she didn't need to be. So would he for a matter of fact. Except for he would be occupied with basketball-not singing. But he felt like he had to see her again. Ever since his eyes had first met hers on the plane, that was it. He could think about nothing else but her.
I've got to see her again, Troy told himself. I've just got to.
Gabriella turned all the lights out in her hotel room and tried to fall asleep. The only problem was that she couldn't. She was too distracted by thoughts of Troy. In less than twenty-four hours, he had become her only friend. The thought that she might never meet up with him again saddened her. Talking on the phone would be decent, but she would rather see him in person. That way, they could go places together, witness what emotions came across each other's faces, and just hang out while watching TV or something of the sort.
Gabriella Bolton, Gabriella considered. That sounds so perfect. If only it could really happen. But I know it can't. I'm not even gonna be able to see Troy again-most likely, anyway.
A lot of people started reading this, and I had tons of inspiration for it, so I thought I would write chapter 2:) Don't worry, I'll still pay lots of attention to my other stories.