Chapter 2
'And then she fell on her butt!' Troy laughed as he told Zeke, Jason and Chad about Gabriella ice skating.
'I thought models were glamorous.' Chad gasped between fits of laughter.
Gabriella rolled her eyes as she sat down at the lunch table. 'They are. And that's one reason why I quit.'
'You quit?' Zeke asked.
Gabriella nodded. 'And after a few more episodes of 'The good life' I'm not an actress anymore either.'
'Hi!' The five friends looked up and saw the head cheerleader, Jenny Baxter.
'Hi.' The guys said in a bored tone.
'Hey.' Gabriella nodded in acknowledgement.
'I just wanted to introduce myself to your...friend.' Jenny sort of spat the word 'friend'.
Chad shook his head. 'Gabriella, Jenny. Jenny, Gabriella. Now, see ya.'
'Not so fast, afro boy. Listen, I'm having a really bad hair day and I was wondering if I could borrow that stylish hat of yours.' Jenny asked, stroking Troy's hair.
Gabriella smiled slightly, watching Troy try to swat Jenny's hand. 'I don't know. This hat is really special to me.'
'Why?'
'Troy bought it for me. But, I guess you can borrow it until the end of school. Here.' The four guys smirked as Gabriella took her hat off, running her hand through her shiny, dark curls and handed the hat to Jenny. 'But, be careful. That's an Armani original and he'll kill me and Troy if he has to design another one.'
'Armani?' Jenny asked in disbelief as she examined the hat.
'Yeah. He designs all of my outfits.' Gabriella smiled.
'No he doesn't.' Jenny protested.
Gabriella stood up to look into Jenny's eyes. 'Look at me and tell my name.'
Jenny's eyes widened and screamed. 'You're Gabriella Montez!'
'Oh no.' Gabriella muttered. She looked around and saw everyone of the cafeteria staring at her.
She grabbed Troy's hand and dragged him out of the cafeteria. 'Brie! I need my arm for basketball.'
'Where's a good hiding place?' Gabriella asked.
Troy smiled. Perfect timing. 'This way.' Troy ran down the halls and pulled Gabriella up some stairs and they were immediately greeted by fresh air.
Gabriella released Troy's hand and slowly spun around, taking in the rooftop garden. She wasn't even breathing heavily, having enough exercise running away from fans. 'How did you find this?'
Troy shrugged. 'My Dad was working late and he was giving me a ride. I was bored so I wandered and found this place. The team don't know about so don't tell them.' He sat on the bench.
Gabriella smiled. 'Your secret's safe with me.' Gabriella gasped. 'That reminds me. I have to call Armani about my outfit for the party. Hold on a sec.' Gabriella scrolled through her contacts and clicked call. 'Hey, it's G.'
'Hi. What party is it?' Armani asked.
'Dad's retirement. Formal.' Gabriella explained.
Troy grabbed the phone. 'And I need a new tux. Chad kind of ripped my old one.'
'It's cool, man.' Armani smiled through the phone.
Gabriella snatched her phone back. 'Text me the bill. I'll ttyl. Bye.' Gabriella shut her phone and slumped on the bench.
'Can I ask you something?' Troy asked after a minute of silence.
Gabriella looked at Troy, surprised. 'Of course.'
'What happened to your Mum?' He asked quietly. 'It's okay if you don't want to talk about but, you've never told me.'
Gabriella brought her knees up to her chest. She avoided eye contact and sighed. 'Everyone asks me why I dress like a guy. It's because I never had a Mum. I mean, I did. But, she didn't want me.' She explained quietly.
Troy hugged Gabriella close to him. 'What do you mean?'
Gabriella stood up and turned to face Troy, the tears finally falling. 'She didn't want me. She gave me to my Dad when I was three days old.'
Troy jumped up and hugged her tightly. 'It's okay. You've lived your whole life without her. She's not worth these tears.' Troy pulled back and wiped Gabriella's tear stained cheek.
'Yes, but, why didn't she want me? I ask myself that all the time. What's wrong with me?' Gabriella asked through her tears.
'Nothing.' Troy said softly.
Gabriella walked over and leaned on the railings. Troy wrapped his arms around her waist from behind and rested his chin on her shoulder. 'Don't worry yourself. You wouldn't be Gabriella if you were all girly.'
Gabriella giggled and turned around, smiling. 'I wouldn't, would I?'
Troy leaned closer, closing his eyes. As he whispered, Gabriella felt his breath tickle her ear. 'Absolutely not.'
Gabriella looked confused as Troy leaned back. Gabriella opened her mouth but Troy stopped her when he kissed her softly on the lips. No sooner than he started kissing her, he pulled back and ran down the stairs.
Gabriella just stared, expressionless. She had been waiting her entire life for that kiss but, now that it was here, she didn't know what to do. But, then Troy had just left. Was she not a good kisser? Was everything going to be awkward? Gabriella started crying as she thought of all the possibilities. She knew what she had to do. The one thing that always calmed her down. Sing.
Gabriella got the folded piece map of the school as she walked down the stairs. She followed the directions and finally found the auditorium. She smiled, feeling at home as she walked towards the stage. She found some blank music sheets and started experimenting with notes and lyrics. She sighed at the outcome. She loved the song but doubted that the one person that I want to hear it, ever will.
If we were a movie,
You'd be the right guy,
And I'd be the best friend,
That you'd fall in love with in the end,
We'd be laughing,
Watching the sunset,
Fade to black,
Show the names,
Play that happy song.
Gabriella leaned her elbows on the keys, not bothered about the horrible noise that had escaped the piano. She wiped her tears away as she heard the doors open. She gathered her papers and stood up. Gabriella saw a small girl wearing glasses and a hat coming towards her.
The girl looked up. 'Oh, I'm sorry. Was I interrupting anything?'
Gabriella shook her head. 'Not at all. I was just leaving.'
The girl walked up and walked to the piano and set her bag down. 'Are you okay?' She asked quietly.
Gabriella sat down on the edge of the stage. 'I thought I was. But, I don't know anymore. I'm Gabriella by the way.'
'I'm Kelsi.' Kelsi sat down next to Gabriella. 'What's wrong?'
'Well, me and Troy are best friends and I just told him something really big and he kissed me.' Gabriella explained.
'What's wrong with that?' Kelsi asked softly.
Gabriella stood up, letting her tears fall. 'He ran away! What am I supposed to do now? He's my best friend.'
Kelsi stood beside Gabriella. 'Well, I don't know much about relationships but, I can guess that it would be best if you talk to him.'
Gabriella re-read her lyrics. 'I guess you're right.'
Kelsi smiled. 'No problem. I'm always here. I'm a composer for the school musicals.'
'Well, I'm Gabriella Montez so it's practically all I do.' Gabriella laughed slightly. 'Well, I'm going to go and find Troy before lunch is over. Here's my number. Call me if you want. adiós' Gabriella handed Kelsi a torn piece of paper and ran out of the auditorium.
As Kelsi stared at the paper, she was screaming inside. 'Gabriella Montez! Wow.'
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Gabriella wandered through the halls of East High and she finally came across the gym. She looked through the window but saw it was empty. She turned around saw the sign for the men's locker room. She knocked on the door. Silence.
She knocked again. 'Troy, I'm not stupid. I know you're in there and you've already told me that no one practices at lunch. Just open up.' She leaned against the door.
'No.' Came the muffled reply.
'Fine. I was going to invite you to the premiere to my next movie and introduce you to Angelina Jolie.' Gabriella groaned as the door opened and she fell to the ground. 'Troy...' She whined.
Troy knelt by her side. 'You were going to introduce me to ANGELINA JOLIE?'
Gabriella closed her eyes as Troy screamed. 'I was. There's still three months for me to change my mind.'
Troy looked apologetic as he helped her up. 'Sorry. So...ummm...What did you want to talk about?'
'Troy, I don't like to be pushy but I'm going to cut to the chase.' Gabriella started carefully. 'Why did you run away?'
Troy turned away and walked towards his Dad's office.
'Troy, answer me! Am I not a good kisser? Was it a mistake? Tell me!' Gabriella shot all of these questions at Troy, not really knowing if she wanted the answers.
Troy sat on the desk and looked everywhere apart from Gabriella's eyes. 'I ran away because you didn't say anything.'
Gabriella walked over and placed herself between Troy's legs, forcing him to look at her. 'I never said anything because you didn't give me time to think.' Troy's silence signalled for Gabriella to continue. 'The kiss that I have waiting for my entire life finally happened but I didn't know what I was feeling. I was happy, excited, afraid, nervous. I mean, you're my best friend. One wrong move and it's over.'
'You've waited your whole life for me to kiss you?' Troy questioned.
Gabriella nodded and rested a hand on his cheek. 'You may be good on a court but...wow! You are so blind to something right in front of you.'
Troy chuckled. 'So, ummm...What now?'
'Well, we could give it a shot.' Gabriella smiled weakly.
'In that case, Gabriella Anne Montez, will you be by girlfriend?' Troy asked, his hands resting on her shoulders.
Gabriella smiled and although her reply was quiet, Troy could tell she was screaming on the inside. 'Si!'
Troy was about to lean in when Gabriella stopped him. 'What? Can't I have a kiss now that we're official?'
'Yes but, I don't want the media to know. So that means that we can't be seen in school either.' Gabriella looked hurt but serious at the same time.
'I know.' Troy said quietly as he captured her lips in a soft, passionate kiss.
