Sorry about how long this all took to update!
School flew by for Gabriella, schoolwork coming effortlessly for her, and notes dropped in her lap from friends. She walked down the front steps toward her car, Sharpay and Ryan on one side, and Troy on the other, his arm slung carelessly around her shoulders. Taylor and Kelsi had called their goodbyes before jumping on their bus and heading toward the opposite side of town. Sharpay and Gabriella were in the front and the boys were in the back as Gabriella turned on her car and backed out carefully. Sharpay had commandeered the radio, turning Rihanna's latest hit up loudly. The boys groaned as the two girls pelted out the lyrics for 'Rude Boy' as the car hit the road and sped along. Gabriella laughed as Ryan attempted to tackle his sister, in an effort to get to the radio. The car swerved as Gabriella's arm was bumped.
"Careful people! You smash my car; I'll smash your face!" She yelled. Ryan held up his hands.
"Can we at least change the song?" Ryan asked, needing to shout over the music.
"You get a free ride to work everyday in my car—why should I have to change a song of my liking because you want me to?" Gabriella reasoned, turning the radio down slightly to continue the argument, and argument which often happened in the car. "If you don't like the music that I want to play, why don't you just bring your iPod, or plug some headphones into that fancy iPhones of yours?" Ryan turned up his nose at her and looked away.
"She's got you there, Evans," Troy laughed. The music continued playing, the next one a Lady Gaga hit, as Gabriella pulled up outside the Evan's house. There were shouted goodbyes as the twins jumped out of the car and Troy climbed over the seat and slid into the passenger one next to Gabriella. From where they sat, they looked a perfect couple, her gorgeous Latina looks and his chiseled, tanned face. She pressed down on the accelerator and they took off, her long hair loose from the restraints of the headband. A song that they both likes came on, an old Chris Brown single, and they both sang loudly, not caring about the looks they received from ones around them as they pulled up outside their regular coffee shop. Laughing, Gabriella jumped out of the car, grabbing her books from the boot and skipping inside, Troy a few steps behind her, carrying his own books.
"The usual?" The smiling waitress asked as they approached the counter.
"Thanks, Julie," Gabriella grinned. "And he's paying for the lot this time." She laughed and walked off towards their usual spot on the far side of the coffee shop.
"I said I'd pay for your drink, not your cheesecake!" Troy yelled after her. She just sat down, obviously not going to bother getting up again and pay. Troy rolled his eyes and Julie, the chubby elderly lady behind the counter who often served them, just held out her hand, waiting for his cash. "I guess I'm paying."
"I guess you are," she laughing and returning his change. He put the change in his pocket and walked over to where Gabriella was sitting, her books already laid out on the table with her calculator next to her and a pen hooked behind her ear. She was looking at the book in front of her, her brow furrowed in concentration as she read her homework. Troy watched her for a moment. She looked so cute, biting on her lower lip slightly, which was full and shining with her usual lip gloss. For a moment, Troy wondered what it would be like to kiss her. The thought scared him and he shook his head straight away. What was he thinking? She was his best friend. How could he even be thinking that about her? But even as he stood there, the thought crept back into his mind, what it would be like to run his fingers through her long, silky tresses, or kiss that cute little nose which crinkled up whenever she made adorable faces at him.
"Troy?" He jumped slightly at the voice, pulled out of his daydream. "Everythings ready." He truned around and saw Julie standing there with their refreshments on a tray. He moved out of her way so that she could get past him and put everything down on the table. Gabriella looked up and gave Julie a dazzling smile before taking a sip of her drink and smiling.
"Heaven. Thanks, Julie," she said with an appreciative smile. Troy smiled and took a seat opposite her, placing his own books on the table. "Okay, so, what we doing today?" She asked him, looking over at what books he had. "Algebra. Right." And with that, they were off. She explained everything exactly the way he understood when he became stuck on a question and the work was completed within half an hour. They laughed and stayed talking in the café long after everyone had left and Julie had to come over and usher them out. The got into her car and she put the top up, turning the heater on to heat them against the chill of the coming night. Troy put on his choice of music, and Gabriella drove, the scenery of their fimilar hometown rushing past them. She pulled up outside his place and they both looked up at the house. "I guess I'll see you tomorrow." Troy's face seemed to close down as she gave him a farewell smile. He looked up at the house with an off expression.
"I guess so," he replied, undoing his buckle. Gabriella picked up on something in his voice and expression that was off and put her hand on his arm as he went to open his door.
"Is something wrong?" She asked. Troy hesitated for a moment, and then shook his head.
"No, I'll see you tomorrow, Gabs," he said with a forced smile. She smiled back, wondering if he was hiding something. As he got out of the car and she watched his retreating figure, she shook her head. Troy wouldn't hide anything from her. He never did, that just wasn't how their relationship worked. With the thought dismissed, she backed out of the drive and started down the road, heading home. She had no-one there, so there wasn't much reason to rush. All she looked forward to when she got home was an empty cold house, that she was going to have to try and warm, and then cook her dinner, finish her homework and maybe watch some TV before going to bed. It sounded so lonely, and it made Gabriella want to turn around and drive back to Troy's and ask for him to spend the night with her. With a flash of inspiration she decided that was what she was going to do.
She pulled into a driveway and then turned, driving back down the road and then pulling into the Bolton driveway. Something felt wrong though as soon as she got out of the car and made her way up to the door. The house was silent, and the Bolton household was never silent. It was always full of life at almost any time of the day, including the night, with either talking, or the radio or the TV. She remembered pointing this out to Lucille Bolton at one point, and she had laughed and said a silent home was an unhappy home. Gabriella made her way up to the door and knocked twice, looking through the small window beside the door. She heard somone's steps grow closer and then the door opened and a person she ahd never seen before stood there.
"Hello," he said, his voice sounding so silky smooth it almost sounded slimy. She tried not to let her disgust show on her face as she said,
"Uhm, is Troy here?" The man looked over his shoulder and yelled,
"Troy!" Troy was at his side in several moments and looked surprised to see Gabriella standing there.
"Hey, uh, Gabi," he said, looking out of the corner of his eye at the man standing here.
"Hey," Gabriella replied, looking confused, wondering also why she hadn't been invited in.
"Aren't you going to introduce us?" The man asked, his eyes running over Gabriella in a way that made her feel as though he was picturing her naked. She didn't want to know this man, and she didn't want him to know here. But her mother had taught her to always be polite and she held out her hand, forcing a bright smile onto her face.
"My name's Gabriella Montez," she said, trying to look happy.
"I'm David Bolton, Jack's brother," he replied. Gabriella shook her hand, trying to ignore how he held her hand for a few extra moments.
"I was just wondering if you wanted to stay the night, Troy," she said, turning her attention back to Troy. His eyes lit up as he picked up his books which had been put on the table beside the door.
"Sure!" He began out the door, but then David put a hand on Troy's arm.
"What about clothes? And dinner?" David asked, a strange tone in his voice. Troy hesitated then moved out of his grip.
"I always have spare clothes at Gabriella's, and there's dinner in the microwave," he said, before following Gabriella to her car. Gabriella waved over her shoulder to David and then got in the car, starting the engine and backing down the drive. The relief on Troy's face was obvious as they began down the road, but Gabriella could tell that he didn't want to talk about it. Instead, she turned on the radio, and started singing to an old Gwen Stefani hit.
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