Chapter 3

I glanced behind me for I had that sickening feeling of being followed.

Nobody.

I kept walking, but at a quicker pace. I finally turned all the way around. Troy Bolton stopped in his tracks and looked straight at me with his beautiful bright blue eyes.

"Are you following me?" I managed to ask.

I had no idea what else to say. That phrase seemed like it would supply itself. Troy was silent, not taking his gorgeous gaze off of me.

"No," he finally replied.

"Funny," I said, taking a few steps toward him, "it seemed like you were."

"Well, I wasn't," Troy said. "And even if I was, I wouldn't have let on so quickly."

"So you were," I concluded.

Troy shrugged and walked all the way up to me.

"I think we got off on the wrong foot," he said, smiling. "I'm Troy."

He held out his hand.

"Gabriella," I replied, shaking his outstretched hand.

"Nice to meet you, Gabriella," Troy said, emphasizing my name.

My heart fluttered as he said it.

"So, I-I'll see you around then?" I stuttered.

"Most definitely," Troy responded.

I smiled and turned around, finishing my journey home with a love struck smile on my face. It was official: I was experiencing my very first crush at East High School.

I couldn't help but think about Troy all throughout the night. I even dreamed about him. He was so smooth and cool, but thoughtful and sensitive at the same time. How did I get all of this information about him by talking to him for basically a minute? I'm not quite sure, but I'm glad I got to talk to him.

The next morning, I was actually anxious to go to homeroom, the thought of seeing Troy again fresh in my mind. When I arrived, Taylor was already there, as I supposed she would be.

"Hey, Taylor," I greeted as I sat down behind her.

"Hey, Gab," Taylor responded. She paused and added, "You don't mind if I call you Gab do you?"

"No, it's fine," I laughed. "In fact, my sister calls me Gabby, but that's just for her and no one else."

"You have a sister?" Taylor asked.

"Yeah. Isabella. She's three."

Taylor smiled saying, "Aww! How adorable."

"I have a picture of her," I announced.

I fumbled around in my backpack and I pulled out my dark blue wallet out if it's pocket. I unsnapped it and showed Taylor the very first picture on the picture fold.

A little girl with short, curly, chocolate brown hair, and brown eyes smiled back up at us. Taylor giggled as she handed the wallet back to me.

"She is the cutest little thing I've ever seen," Taylor squealed. "All I have are two older sisters, one younger sister, and two twin younger brothers."

"All?" I said in disbelief.

"Yep," Taylor said. "Tristan and Tyler who are four, Tabitha who's ten, Tiffany who's eighteen, and Tara who's nineteen."

"Wow, that's a pretty full household," I laughed.

"It get's pretty hectic, but Mom and Dad love us just the same," Taylor confessed.

I smiled. Mrs. Darbus walked forcefully into the room and began to talk hurriedly to us. I didn't quite take in a word because I was too busy focusing on the person who had hurried in just before Mrs. Darbus did. Troy turned around in his seat and smiled at me. I couldn't help but smile back. He then held up an envelope that was addressed to me and mouthed, 'After class.' I nodded, not entirely certain of what would happen.

Mrs. Darbus continued to talk and she finally said something that caught my attention.

"Tomorrow," Mrs. Darbus went on, "during free period, will be our auditions for our winter musical. First solo auditions and then pair auditions for our two leads."

I noticed that the blond girl turned around and smiled at the blond boy behind her, clapping happily. The bell sounded and I told Taylor I would meet her in geometry. I hurried out the door only to find Troy waiting for me.

"Here you go," he said, handing me the envelope. "It's an invitation to a party next Saturday night at my house. There are directions in there and everything."

"Thanks," I said. I added in a joking voice, "But how come you're so interested in me all of a sudden? I mean, I thought people like you never went out of their social groups."

I smiled.

"Hey, come on," Troy said, "it doesn't hurt to meet a few new people. You're welcome to bring anyone you like. So I'll see you there?"

Not knowing what to say, I nodded. After he smiled one last time and went off to talk to a few other friends and give them invitations, I hurried off as fast as I could to geometry, anxiously awaiting Taylor's reaction to the party.

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