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Chapter 3: Making Friends

BTWs…It's Christmas Break baby! That means updates! Okay, enough from me…

"Mom, I don't understand why I have to go…" Gabriella's voice held a slight whine in it.

"Because I haven't seen you all vacation. Plus it's our last night here." Isabella Montez cut in sternly.

"Exactly, it's New Years Eve. I want to spend it with Troy." Gabriella looked up at her mother with her puppy dog eyes, "You get to spend it with Carlos, why can't I spend it with Troy?" Her reasoning made perfect sense.

"Because I said so." Gabriella let out a huff, that reasoning made no sense, "Now let's go." Reluctantly, Gabriella stood up and followed her mother out of the cabin. Isabella locked the door behind her and the two made their way slowly to the main cabin where they were meeting Carlos for the New Year's Eve Party the lodge put on every year.

"Isabella! Gabriella!" Isabella and Gabriella turned as their names rang through the air.

Isabella plastered a huge grin on her face at the sight of Carlos, he was no Jack Bolton, but he'd do for the moment she figured. "Carlos honey!" She sweetly cooed.

Gabriella tried not to vomit as she sighed, "Gabriella I'm so glad you could join us." Carlos smiled down at her.

"Thank you for letting me join you. I had nothing better to do tonight." Gabriella smiled at Carlos and sent her mother a glare.

"Well I have a table over here for us." Carlos led the way to the corner of the large room, which was filled with music and food and people enjoying themselves. Gabriella was not one of those people.

The three sat down together. "What's your poison?" Carlos asked slickly.

Isabella giggled, "Whatever you're having dear." She turned to her daughter, "Gabriella?"

"I'm not thirsty, but thank you." Gabriella politely replied. Carlos nodded and walked over to the bar.

"The least you could do is be nice to him." Isabella scolded her.

"I was being nice mom! I don't know how else to act." Gabriella muttered. She sighed and began looking ruefully around the room. A flash of caramel colored hair caught her eye, 'That couldn't be?' she shook her head, she was beginning to imagine things.


"Mom, Dad, can we please go?" Troy begged.

"I don't understand Troy, you hate things like this. Why would you want to go?" Lucille asked as she flipped through her magazine.

"Please, just this once?" Troy was trying to get his parents to go to that family party for New Year's Eve. He was determined to see Brie if it killed him. And at this rate it might.

Jack sighed, "Okay, let's go."

Lucille started to protest, "But Jack, I thought we agreed to have a nice night just the three of us?"

"It might be fun after all, right Troy?" Jack winked at his son. He knew exactly what was going on behind the stormy eyes in his son's mind.

"Yeah so much fun. A family adventure even." Troy was pulling at every string he could at this point.

Lucille sighed, "Fine, I'll go shower now." She looked over at her husband who was nodding and her son, who looked ecstatic beyond belief.

Twenty minutes later, the Bolton clan was in the main cabin in search of a table. "There's one." Jack pointed straight ahead as he led the way, taking his coat off and dropping it on a chair to stake claim to it.

The three sat down and Troy took out his phone, 'I'm going to give you your New Year's kiss if it kills me' he typed the message in and hit send.

Gabriella's phone vibrated in the pocket of her dress. Pulling it out she smiled at the message, 'Good luck with that Wildcat.' She sent the message and began looking around the room again. She let out a sigh and glanced at the clock. Carlos and her mother had been talking for about two hours. It was four minutes until midnight and she was ready to kill herself.

The dance floor cleared as a slow song came on and people began coupling off, "Can I have this dance?"

Gabriella jumped out of her skin at the silky voice that floated above her head, looking up she smiled, not even bothering to glance at her mother and Carlos, she giggled, "Why of course you may." She placed her hand in Troy's outstretched one and allowed him to lead her over to the dance floor.

"What happened to your quiet night in?" She asked quietly as her hands slid easily around his neck.

"Dad helped me drag mom to this party so I could be with my beautiful girlfriend on New Year's Eve." Troy whispered in her ear. He pulled her closer to him and she rested her head in the crook of his neck. She took a deep breath, taking in his musty scent.

"Thank you." She mumbled against his smooth skin.

Troy's face dug lightly into her long dark curls, he took a breath, loving the coconut and melon that filled his nostrils, "Your welcome Brie." The song ended, but no one moved as the countdown to midnight began, "Looks like I'll get my kiss after all."

TEN, NINE, EIGHT, SEVEN, SIX, FIVE

Gabriella arched an eyebrow at him, "Who said I wanted to kiss you?"

FOUR, THREE, TWO

"Me."

ONE

Gabriella grinned as Troy leaned down to catch her lips with his own. She pushed herself as close to him as she could possibly get. His hands gently massaged her lower back as she opened her mouth willingly to him, allowing his tongue to plunge inside of her. Gabriella's own tongue lazily wrapped around his. They both let out low moans as they pulled back.

"Happy new year Brie." Troy whispered as he nuzzled his nose against hers.

"Happy new year yourself Wildcat." She whispered back at him.


"I've got your address and I'll see you before school starts." Troy assured her.

"Promise me you'll come over Troy. I'm really nervous about it." Gabriella fidgeted with the hem of her shirt.

Troy chuckled and took her small hands in his, their fingers naturally lacing together, "I promise Brie. Our flight is like five hours after yours. We have two whole days before school starts back up. I'll be over. In fact, I'll be over so much you'll want to get rid of me."

"Doubtful." Gabriella sighed as Troy's hand gently caressed her cheek.

"Sounds good to me." He leaned down and gave her a small kiss before she turned to get into the cab that held her mother and their bags. Closing the door, Gabriella blew Troy a kiss as the cab swiftly left the front of the lodge.

Troy sighed and kicked pointlessly at the snow. Looking up he realized he should go help finish up packing before they had to head to the airport as well.

"Say goodbye to Brie?" Jack asked as he looked up from his bag.

"Yeah, we'll see each other tonight hopefully." Troy smiled at his dad.

"She's a nice girl Troy. I'm glad you've finally met one of those." Lucille came in from the bathroom with their toothbrushes and shampoos.

"Why do say it like I bring home blonde bimbos every other night?" Troy asked.

"I think what you mother means son," Jack began, "is that you're 18 years old and you've had a grand total of one girlfriend and she's happy that she can dream about planning a wedding one day."

Troy's eyes got wide, "Wedding, whoa mom, Brie and I really just met. No weddings yet."

"Well I can dream." Lucille sighed, "She's such an nice girl. Though I didn't care much for her mother."

"Neither did I." Jack and Troy commented dryly.

"I'm glad to hear that Jack cause she seemed to take a great liking to you." Lucille looked up carefully at her husband.

Jack rolled his eyes, "Lucille, haven't we covered this?" Troy sighed and shook his head, as he watched his father skillfully calm his mother's nerves, "Sweetheart, I have no interest in Isabella Montez. She is not my type. Period. Besides, how could I be remotely interested in any woman? I have you. I love you. End of discussion." Jack leaned down and gave his wife a small kiss on the lips that and his answer seemed to satisfy her for the moment.

Troy sighed, "Brie said she had a habit of flirting or hitting on any man she could." Troy shook his head, "I got the feeling that Brie resents her mother, that she doesn't look up to her or think of her as a good mother."

Lucille sighed, "Well I don't want to be too judgmental since I don't know the woman very well myself, but I did not like Carlos. I'm a good enough judge of character that he was more interested in Gabi than in Isabella, but Isabella didn't seem to care. Her only worry was disproving her daughter."

Jack nodded, "I'd watch out for Gabi Troy, I'm not sure if we're overreacting, but Carlos may try something with her, and her mother may or may not help."

Troy zipped up his suitcase, "I intend on becoming a permanent fixture in their house."


Gabriella lugged her suitcase inside and up to her bedroom. Setting it on her bed, she began the laborious task of unpacking. "Gabriella!"

Gabriella sighed, walking to the landing at the top of the staircase she called down, "Yes mother?"

"I'm going out with Carlos, I'll be back later."

"Okay." She replied tiredly. She watched as her mother walked through the front door of the house with a smile spread across her face. Shaking her head, she walked back into her room and continued unpacking.

She hummed quietly to herself as she separated the dirty from the clean clothes. Pulling out coat hangers, she began putting the things in their proper place. The doorbell sounded throughout the house, bringing her out of her thoughts.

Picking up her cell phone, she made her way down the steps and to the front door. Opening it she was faced with an attractive African American couple and, she assumed, their two daughters.

"Hi! I'm Claire McKessie." The older woman introduced herself.

"And I'm Kyle McKessie, these are our daughters Taylor," he motioned to the girl about her own age, "and Carrie." The other girl looked to be about ten or eleven.

"Hi, I'm Gabriella Montez, won't you come in?" She held the door fully opened to them. They all nodded together, causing Gabriella to stifle a giggle.

Walking inside, she led them over to the living room, "Is your mother here?" Mrs. McKessie looked around the tastefully decorated living room.

"No, she went out with a friend." Gabriella tried not to contort her face at the last word.

"Okay, well we brought you all this." Mrs. McKessie held out a pie for her to take.

Gabriella giggled, "Thank you very much, you all are welcome to take a seat, I'll just go put this in the fridge. Would anyone like anything to drink? Coffee? Water? Soda? Tea?"

"Coffee would be nice, is your father here?" Kyle McKessie looked around the room for any signs of anything masculine.

Gabriella shook her head, "No, he doesn't live with us." She took a small breath, "Anything else?" Everyone nodded and put in their drink request.

"Do you need any help?" Gabriella turned and saw that Taylor had spoken.

Giving her a smile she replied, "That'd be great!" The two girls walked into the kitchen and Taylor watched as Gabriella skillfully began setting everything up. "So, how old are you Taylor?"

"I'll be eighteen in two months." Taylor replied. "What about you?"

"I turned eighteen last month." Gabriella replied. Taylor was just about to ask her a question when a phone went off, "One second." Gabriella pulled her cell phone out of her pocket. "I need to take this quickly." Taylor nodded and sat down on a bar stool, listening intently.

"Hey Wildcat." Gabriella's face lit up as she spoke.

"Hey Brie! So we're just about to get on the plane." Taylor could just make out the other end of the conversation.

"That's great! I can't wait to see you. I miss you already." She giggled.

"Well, I'm sure you're having a blast unpacking."

"Well, actually some neighbors came over so I've got a nice break."

"How's your mother behaving?"

"Oh she went out to meet Carlos." Gabriella's face scrunched up and she shivered.

"Brie, I really don't know how to say this without sounding overbearing, but I don't want you there if he's there. At least not without someone besides your mother."

There was a pause, "I agree with you there Troy. We can talk about it later though since I've got company."

"Okay, I'll call you when we land, maybe I can take you out and show you a real good Albuquerque time?"

"I'd like that. Love you Troy."

"Love you too babe, that's our call, so I gotta go."

"Bye Troy, have a safe flight."

"We will. Bye Brie." Gabriella hung up the phone and smiled over to Taylor, "Sorry about that."

"It's no problem. So where are you going to school Gabriella?" Taylor waved the phone call away.

"East High. And I'm so excited! Where do you go to school?" Gabriella giggled as she looked over to Taylor.

"I go to East too. And you'll love it!" Taylor agreed, Gabriella, momentarily forgetting the cookies and drinks went and sat down next to Taylor.

"Tell me about East!" Gabriella squealed a little as she spoke.

"Well, we have ridiculous social cliques, but I've got this tight group, which you're going to slide right into, that breaks all the social rules. Needless to say, we have fun!" Taylor giggled. "So what do you like to do?"

"At my other school I was on the scholastic decathlon team." Gabriella replied.

"AH! I'm the president, and yes you're on if you want on!" Taylor laughed.

"Girls do you need any help in here?" Claire McKessie stood in the doorway with a smile on her face.

"Oh my gosh! I'm a terrible hostess! I'm so sorry, I completely forgot!" Gabriella stood up with a blush spreading across her pretty face.

"It's no problem, we need to go, Taylor you've filled your responsibilities for the day, yes you can do whatever you want." Claire told her.

"Wanna hang out?" Taylor turned to Gabriella. "You could meet the gang!"

Gabriella shrugged, "Sure, sounds good to me." Standing up she pulled out a pad of paper, "Let me just leave a note for my mother and clean up a little."

Taylor nodded and waited while Gabriella changed quickly. Linking arms, Taylor led her across the street and to her little car, "You're going to love everyone, Sharpay's a little scary at first though."

Gabriella gave her a look, "Sharpay?"

"Her name really does say it all about her personality." Taylor giggled as she pulled the car out of the driveway.


The two drove for about fifteen minutes, not talking about anything really important, until Taylor pulled into a small shopping strip. "We're here!"

They got out of the car and Taylor led the way to a small café, holding the door open for Gabriella, she pointed to a large group of loud teens in the back corner. "That's us."

Gabriella nodded, slipping into her shy mode. As she watched everyone a blonde girl and an attractive dark-skinned boy sharing a kiss, she suddenly wished Troy were standing right next to her. Shaking her head she smiled as Taylor cleared her throat getting everyone's attention.

"Guys, this is my new neighbor and friend Gabriella Montez. She's going to East High too." Taylor began motioning to each person. "This is Chad Danforth," she leaned towards Gabriella, "my obnoxiously sweet boyfriend." Gabriella giggled a little, "Jason Cross, Kelsi Neilson, Sharpay Evans, Zeke Baylor, Ryan Evans, he and Sharpay are twins, and Brittany Cole."

Gabriella gave a little wave, "There's no way I'm going to remember all of that."

Everyone laughed, "It's okay El, we'll help you!" Chad said, giving her a friendly hug, which she gladly returned.

Taylor and Gabriella took their seats and ordered before a steady conversation, which Gabriella had a hard time following, ensued. Looking around, Gabriella pulled her phone out of her purse and set it on the table, willing it to ring. Not that she didn't like Taylor's friends, she just wanted Troy to come and sweep her away from the café and onto their date tonight. She missed him.

She jumped when her phone sounded. Everyone went quiet as she answered it, "Hey Wildcat. Are you safely here?" Her voice was excited and worried at the same time.

"Yeah Brie, I'm here, don't worry, we're all safe and sound. You weren't kidding when you said you didn't like planes were you." The table was quiet, listening to the responses at the other end of the phone.

"No I wasn't." She glared at the wall over Sharpay's head.

"Well we're fine and we'll be home in about forty-five minutes. How about I pick you up around 5?"

Gabriella glanced down at her watch; it was 3:45 now. "One second," She looked over at Taylor, "Can you get me home by 4:45?"

Taylor nodded "Of course Gabriella."

Nodding, Gabriella went back to the phone call, "Yeah of course baby, what are we doing?"

"Surprise, casual before you ask though."

Gabriella giggled, "Okay, I'll let you go and carry your mother's suitcases for her."

She smirked as Troy replied; "You spent too much time with my mother." He muttered. "I love you Brie."

"Love you too Wildcat. Bye." She hung up, "Sorry." She mumbled the apology to the table.

"It's no big, sounds like you've got a date tonight. Boyfriend?" Sharpay casually asked.

Gabriella arched a brow; Sharpay was clearly a gossip queen, "Yeah, to both questions. So tell me more about East High." She changed the subject swiftly.

Everyone began talking at once about the different aspects of East High. At 4:25, everyone piled in their cars, "I'll meet you at the movies, I'm just going to drop Gabriella off at home."

"Thank you so much Taylor." Gabriella gave the girl a small hug as she sprinted inside, noting that her mother was still gone, to get ready for her date with Troy.

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Mollie XOXO