Chapter 3:
"So do you see why that equals 9?" Gabriella asked, pointing to the equation in the book sitting in front of her and Troy. Troy frowned slightly and looked at the book and the piece of paper Gabriella was after writing on.
"Didn't you say like two minutes ago that it was equal to 10, not 9?" Troy questioned. Gabriella looked quickly at her work and the book and nodded slowly.
"Sorry the answer is 10," she said, sheepishly. Troy nodded and grinned.
"Something up?" he asked, putting his pencil down and leaning back in the chair. They were both sitting in the school library where Gabriella was helping Troy with his algebra homework. By now this had become routine to them. Gabriella was really the one who taught him his algebra, not his teacher, Mr Greene, who, according to Troy, made algebra the most boring subject in the world.
Gabriella always grinned when she heard this. Troy said that the way she said it made it easier to understand even though she only read it out of the book and gave him a few pointers here and there. It was a mystery to her why Troy found it easy to learn with her but tough to learn with a qualified algebra teacher. Gabriella often asked Troy this question but Troy would always quickly say that she had her own special way of saying it and then quickly change the subject.
But Gabriella didn't really know was that the reason Troy learned from her was because he hung on her every word. He listened to absolutely everything she said whereas in class he often drifted in and out, between his daydreams of taking Gabriella out on a date. It also gave Troy the perfect opportunity to stare at her without needing a reason because he could just say he was listening to what she was saying.
Gabriella shook her head and sat back in her chair. She closed her eyes and leaned her head back to look up at the ceiling.
"Well something must be up. That's the second equation today that you've gotten confused on. Scratch that; the second equation that you've ever gotten confused on. So I'd say something is definitely up Montez," Troy said, looking at her knowingly.
Gabriella blushed and looked down at her hands, "I don't think you'd want to know or really care Troy," she said. Troy frowned. Why did she think he didn't care? Of course her cared. Even if it was the stupidest thing in the world Troy would care purely because it was Gabriella.
"Try me Montez," he said, winking at her. Gabriella nodded and continued looking at her hands.
"Well there's this guy I like," she started. Troy felt his heart begin to beat a million times faster. "And I think he likes me. I mean, I don't know. But he's been dropping little hints and it's kind of obvious but then sometimes I wonder if I'm just imagining it. I mean what if he doesn't like me?" she said.
Troy looked at her. Maybe, just maybe she was speaking of him. He dropped hints all the time. Maybe she had eventually picked up on them. As if staring at her all the time and getting caught wasn't hint enough. "Well talk to him. Tell him how you feel."
"But I'm scared I read the signs wrong and I don't want the friendship to be messed up," Gabriella said, sighing.
Troy took her hand in his and looked into her eyes, "Gabriella if he's a friend at all he'll stick by you anyway. But apart from that I'm convinced that this guy does like you. I mean what's not to like? You're beautiful, smart, funny, kind, giving and the greatest person I've ever met. So I say go for it with your friend," Troy said, squeezing her hand reassuringly. Gabriella smiled and nodded slowly.
"Thanks Troy."
"No problem. So who's the lucky guy?" he asked, as his heart began to leap out of his chest. Was this the moment he had waited for for so long?
"Um...it's..." Gabriella started, looking at her hands again. Troy waited patiently for her to continue, longing for her to say his name.
"It's the new guy...Jake," she said, quietly. Troy's heart suddenly froze and he felt like his head was spinning. He quickly let go of her hand and moved away from her. He could feel his heart aching and he suddenly felt like he needed to be sick. This was too much. He couldn't believe it was Jake she had been speaking of. Troy stood up, ignoring Gabriella's confused face.
"I...uh...gotta go home. Thanks for the tutoring. See you later," he mumbled as he quickly gathered all his books and nearly sprinted out of the library. Gabriella sat at the table, wondering what she had done wrong once again.
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Gabriella sat on her bed later that evening, listening to her iPod and thinking. She wondered if what she was feeling for Jake was true. He had only been at their school a month but in that month Gabriella and he had become really good friends. Gabriella shook her head. How could she possibly have fallen for a guy in a month? It just didn't seem like something she'd do. Gabriella sighed and closed her eyes, annoyed that she had just confused herself more.
The song on her iPod changed and her eyes snapped open as she heard the familiar opening of 'Still There For Me' by Corbin Bleu. Gabriella smiled and her thoughts immediately turned to Troy.
Gabriella reached across to her bedside locker and grabbed her phone. She looked at the caller id and smiled before answering it.
"Hello?"
"Hey Brie," Troy greeted.
"What's up?" she asked, sitting cross legged on her bed.
"Nothing much. I was just wondering what you were up too?" he asked, casually and Gabriella could almost swear that he was grinning to himself for some reason.
"You were wondering what I was doing at 10:30 at night? Gosh Troy, you really are obsessed with me," she joked.
"Oh you know it," he forced a laugh, wondering if Gabriella knew how true her statement was.
"Well I'm just listening to some new cd's I bought today," she said, picking up one of the cd cases on her bed and examining it.
"What did you buy?" Troy asked.
"Um...Snow Patrol, Aly and AJ and Corbin Bleu," she replied, placing the cd back on the bed again and waiting for his reply.
Troy groaned, "Brie come on. Aly and AJ? Corbin Bleu? At least Snow Patrol are good," Troy said.
Gabriella rolled her eyes, "Troy I bet you have never even heard a Corbin Bleu song in your life."
She smiled and waited for his reply, knowing that she was correct.
"So...I know that he's not music that I'd like," Troy replied.
Gabriella shook her head, "Well good thing you don't have to listen to him then. I'll talk to you later," she said.
"Wait! Why are you going?" he asked, desperately hoping she would change her mind and talk to him for longer.
"Because I wanna listen to the rest of Corbin's album...I'm only on track 6!" she said, smiling to herself, knowing that Troy wanted to talk for longer.
"Oh okay then. But remember Corbin won't be at the Scholastic Decathlon next week to cheer you on," Troy said grumpily.
Gabriella laughed, "No but he's here right now. Bye Troy," she giggled and hung up.
She lay back on her bed and turned to face her stereo and listened to the music. Ten minutes later she felt someone climb onto her bed with her. Gabriella sat up quickly and turned to find Troy lying beside her smiling. Gabriella sighed in relief. She didn't realise that Troy would be climbing up her balcony tonight.
"Hey Brie," he whispered.
"Troy you scared me. I didn't think you were coming over," she said, looking at him.
Troy shrugged and lay on his back, "I figured I'd listen to this Corbin Bleu and see if I like it since you seem to like him so much," he replied.
Gabriella smiled and returned to her previous position with her back to Troy. They fell silent and listened as the song 'Mixed Up' drew to a close. The next song began playing and Gabriella smiled as she listened to the lyrics.
Suddenly she felt Troy move and she gasped silently as she felt him press up against her. He wrapped his arms around her waist and pulled her closer. Gabriella smiled at his touch. She always felt so safe in his arms. She felt like no one could harm her once Troy was near and she liked the feeling.
"What's this song called?" Troy whispered into her ear. Gabriella shivered as she felt Troy's hot breath on her ear and neck. She struggled to find her voice.
"Um...'Still There For Me'," she replied quietly.
"Because I like it," he replied, whispering once again, causing the hairs on Gabriella's neck to stand up, though she didn't know why.
"You like it?" she asked in disbelief, whispering also.
"Yeah. I think it should be our song," Troy said. Gabriella's eyes widened and she felt her heart begin to beat a million times faster.
"Our song?" she managed to choke out.
"Yeah. I mean you are always there for me and I'm always here for you...it makes perfect sense," Troy said.
Gabriella thought about this for a moment and realised Troy was right. "I think you're right for once Bolton," she said, teasing him.
Troy groaned, "If I wasn't so comfortable Montez, you would be paying for that right now," he mumbled, into her hair. Gabriella giggled lightly and Troy pulled her closer. Gabriella rested her hands on top of his which lay on her stomach and closed her eyes as did Troy. Within minutes they were both asleep in each others arms.
Gabriella smiled at the memory. Others may have found it weird that she and Troy had a song considering they weren't a couple but Gabriella didn't care. That song really did relate to them. Suddenly she remembered Troy's weird behaviour earlier. When she had mentioned that she like Jake he seemed to tense up immediately and he quickly left. Gabriella didn't know why. She knew that Troy and Jake weren't really friends but Troy had no reason to dislike Jake at all. Suddenly Gabriella's eyes widened as a thought crossed her mind. Was Troy jealous of Jake? Was he jealous of Gabriella and Jake's friendship? Gabriella shook her head again. She knew Troy wasn't jealous. He had no reason to be. She sighed and turned off her iPod once the song ended. She'd ask him tomorrow what the problem was. She climbed into bed and turned off the light, still thinking about Troy.
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Troy sighed and slammed his locker shut. Since leaving Gabriella's house yesterday Troy had been in the worst mood that he'd ever been in. When he had returned home his mother and father suffered because of this bad mood. All through dinner Troy ignored them as he played with the food on his plate. Finally when his mother asked him a question about his day Troy had blown up at them, telling them to just leave him alone. The rest of the evening Troy sulked in his room, not bothering to do his homework, not that he would have been able to concentrate.
His mind kept replaying the moment when Gabriella told him she liked Jake, over and over again. Troy couldn't understand it. He flirted with Gabriella all the time, sometimes by accident and yet she still didn't realise that he had feelings for her. Yet, Jake, who had only been in the school three weeks, tells her she looks pretty one day and all of a sudden Gabriella's into him.
Troy hadn't slept properly either, which didn't help his mood the next morning, which seemed to have gotten worse. He didn't bother with breakfast and quickly showered, grabbed his bag and stormed out of the house, not waiting for his dad to give him a ride to school. He needed the fresh air anyway.
When he arrived in school, everyone immediately moved towards him and surrounded him like he was some sort of magnet. Usually Troy just let them and smiled every now and then, despite hating the attention, but this morning Troy was in no mood to plaster a fake smile on his face as another member of the cheerleading squad threw herself at him, hoping that he would ask her out. Instead Troy told everyone to leave him alone. He rolled his eyes as he saw everyone's eyes widen in shock at his sudden outburst.
Troy rolled his eyes again as he slammed his locker closed. Sometimes he just wished he were invisible so he wouldn't have to deal with everyone and everything; school, homework, teachers, friends, basketball, his dad and family. The only person not on the list was Gabriella even though he was hoping to avoid her today after he basically ran out of her house the previous evening after hearing about her crush on Jake. He knew Gabriella would ask him what's wrong and he didn't want to lie to her again and make up some lame excuse about his parents wanting him home or having a bad headache. Troy knew he should really tell her the truth but now it was too late. Now she had Jake to call late at night when she couldn't sleep. Now she could go for a late night walk in the park with Jake. Jake could comfort her when she was feeling lonely because her mom was out of town. Jake and Gabriella could find their own song. Troy felt his heart sink as he thought of Jake and Gabriella having their own song.
Troy walked into his homeroom, ignoring the people whispering and pointing at him as he went by. He sighed and fell into his seat, hoping Gabriella wouldn't arrive until the bell rang so she wouldn't have a proper chance to talk to him as they sat together in this class. Troy ran and hand through his hair and closed his eyes, trying to take his mind off Gabriella. It seemed like she was everywhere and it drove Troy crazy because he knew he could never have her. Now if she did go out with Jake, Troy could never hold her close to him without feeling guilty. After all, Jake would be the one to do that.
Troy opened his eyes and jumped when he noticed Gabriella was sitting next to him. God, she really is everywhere. He swallowed hard and turned to her. "Hey," he said, quietly.
"Hi Troy," she replied, frowning slightly. Troy groaned silently. She knew something was up with him already even though he'd only spoken one word. Usually Troy would greet her by hugging her and surprising her or in a way that other friends never did but today was different. Today, Troy no longer looked at her as his Brie. As selfish as it had been, Troy had always thought of her as his and he knew he was hers. He had been hers for a long time now. But now she belonged to someone else, well at least her heart did and Troy could feel his own heart break at that thought.
"Are you okay?" she asked gently, looking concerned. Troy nodded and grinned.
"Never better," he lied, hoping she would believe him. Gabriella's brow furrowed.
"Troy, I'm your best friend. I know when you are lying. Come on tell me what's wrong. You practically ran out of the library last night and today you don't seem as happy to see me," Gabriella said, speaking the last part very quietly, though Troy heard and his eyes immediately widened.
"Brie of course I'm happy to see you. You light up my day. Sometimes when I don't want to come to school...when it all seems too much I think of you and that's reason enough to come and drag my lazy ass out of bed in the morning. So don't for a second think I'm not happy to see you," Troy said, gazing into her chocolate brown orbs.
Gabriella nodded and quickly looked away from Troy's eyes as she found herself getting lost in them like she did countless times each day. She looked down quickly to where Troy's hand was softly holding hers and she felt her spine tingle at his touch. Troy immediately followed her gaze and quickly let go.
"Uh...so-sorry about that," he stuttered, turning a deep shade of red. Gabriella just shook her head.
"So why are you upset?" she asked. Before Troy could think of a reply the bell rang and their classmates came piling in the door followed by Ms. Darbus. Troy turned back into his seat as did Gabriella and silently thanked God that the bell rang when it did.
Meanwhile Gabriella was frowning and trying to figure out why Troy was so mad or upset and why he seemed so determined not to tell her. Suddenly her thoughts turned to how she felt when Troy had touched her hand. She felt as though her skin was on fire as he lightly touched her and the hairs on the back of her neck stood up but she didn't know why she was feeling like that. It was only Troy, her best friend for years who she had been through everything with. She was closer to him than she was to any of her other friends and closer to him than her mother because she was away so much but why did his touch make her feel like she was going to faint? She quickly shook the thought out of her mind and tried to turn her attention to Ms. Darbus as she probed the mounting evils of cell phones.
Hope you enjoyed it. I love throwing in little hints of Troyella here and there, it keeps the story moving along so expect loads more little moments between them in the next few chapters! I really hope you liked it and please review!! I'll post another chapter within the next week!! Thanks guys!!
