Chapter Three: Just That Girl

The next morning found me walking into the Lava Springs Country Club's kitchen looking for Kelsi. "Ah, children, how goes the food preparation?" I asked.

"Oui, dude, c'est bonne!" Chad exclaimed.

"Didn't you take German?" I asked, laughing.

"French is more waiterish, don'tcha think?"

"Ah, oui!" I agreed. "Ou est Kelsi? J'ai besoin de parler avec elle."

"What?" Chad asked. His French evidently stopped just short of basic questions.

"Where's Kelsi, dude?" I translated myself.

"Just finished playing pour le petit-dejeuner. What's up?" Kelsi said from behind me. I jumped.

"Can we talk?" I asked. She nodded. We went to my bedroom which would be free of eavesdroppers. I sat down on my bed, she took my desk chair.

"So, what do you want to talk about?" she asked me, as the silence ticked on.

"Honestly, I thought you'd have figured it out by now," I sighed.

"Oh, it's about Troy, isn't it?"

"Lucky guess or did you actually know?" She gave me a mysterious smile.

"I knew. I mean, seriously, how long have we been best friends? I've never seen you look at anyone besides him, let alone a girl."

"That's why I turn to you," I said.

"Oh, let me guess, I love this game," Kelsi said excitedly, bouncing up and down. "Since I'm your very best friend, and I'm oh-so-single, you're hoping I'll be your 'girlfriend' for a while."

"My God, you're brilliant!" I exclaimed. Was that flirting? I could have her if I wanted her, why was I flirting and so badly at that?

Let's rewind: Kelsi and I had been best friends since she'd moved here in the second grade. She'd grown up with Bobby and I. When Bobby and his boyfriend, Billy (who had a terrible edge), came over to announce they were leaving for prep school, things had gotten a little out of hand. Billy had called Kelsi a fag hag, which is not a very nice thing to call anyone or really say at all. I'd lost control and punched him. That was the day Kelsi had come to terms with the fact that she was in love with me, realizing it then for the first time, and keeping it with her even now. If I snapped my fingers and told her she was my girlfriend, she would always comply. It broke my heart to do it to her, but I wanted to give her a chance, a chance to turn me back to what I never was.

"I guess if the way you dress and your mondo crush on Troy Bolton isn't enough, I'd be happy to let you take me out a few times," she sighed. I grinned. "Are you going to ask me properly or are we just going to run with this?" I got off my bed, walked over to her, and dropped to my knee.

"Kelsi Aisha Nielson, will you be my girlfriend?" I asked.

"Absolutely," she laughed. She took my hand and we got to our feet, then walked back downstairs to the kitchen. It was 10:30; I thought a snack was in order.

"Yo, Zeke, can we have a snack?" I called.

"Coming right up!" he replied. Chad, who was passing by, stopped dead. No one else was around.

"Dude?" he asked tentatively.

"She knows. I'm experimenting," I said. Chad nodded.

"Sure," he said, discreetly attempting to roll his eyes. "Troy wants to talk to you sometime today."

"That's nice. I'll talk to him when I find time," I said. Kelsi gave me a look. "Kels, I know he still blames me for Saturday and I'm not even sure I want to talk to him." She continued her look. "Fine. I'll talk to him during his afternoon break. Tell him, Chad, would you?" Chad walked back to the dining room. Zeke came over with our food.

"Congrats, you guys, I suppose," he said. Kelsi grinned.

"Thanks," We dug into our snacks. I sighed as we finished. "What?" she asked.

"I have to go and talk to Gabi," I said, "and I'm not looking forward to it."

"Good luck sweetheart," she said, winking.

"Bye hun." I got up and walked out to the pool. Gabriella was sitting in her lifeguard's chair, with her back to me. I walked up behind her. "Hey." She jumped about a mile. I laughed as she turned around, breaking into a sincere smile.

"Hey Ry," she said. "What are you doing out here?"

"We need to talk about Saturday night," I sighed.

"What's there to tell? The whole school knows what happened, just ask one of them," she said, darkly, glaring across the pool.

"Gabi," I said, sternly. "I want the whole truth. Why did you even kiss me in the first place?"

"It seemed like a good idea," she said, shrugging. "I thought you liked me. I wasn't wrong."

"I did like you, at least, probably I did when I intoxicated," I said. "It doesn't excuse–"

"I don't know why you're so mad at me!" Gabriella exclaimed, examining the pool for drowning members. "You know I would never–"

"But you did," I interrupted. "I never would have thought you capable."

"Wait," Gabriella stopped. "You don't remember any of that night, do you?"

"Not a thing after we got upstairs," I affirmed.

"Oh," Gabriella said, her eyes widening just enough to make me wonder what she knew I didn't.

"You're sorry, right?" I asked her.

"Sorry?" she asked, surprised. "For what?" I sighed in frustration.

"I've been apologizing to your boyfriend for the better part of a day and a half, in fact, I have an appointment to talk to him later," I said. "But it's not even my fault, because I sure wasn't planning on doing anything with anyone, especially you, and then you went and did that, so why have I been apologizing? Because you're a bitch, that's why." I turned on my heel and stormed all the way back to the main building. I took the shortcut through the boys' locker room into the kitchen. I'm still not sure why that's a shortcut, really. It sounds weird, I know. Upon my arrival in the kitchen, I found that Kelsi had had to leave to play a special luncheon for my mother and the board, however twisted that is. I left a message with Chad to have Kelsi find me when she was finished, and went up to my bed to meditate.

Eventually, a knock on the door: Kelsi.

"How'd your talk do?" she asked, sitting down in my desk chair.

"Awful," I said. "Gabi's hiding something, I know it."

"I'll try and talk to her for you," Kelsi said.

"What I really want to know is why Troy took her back," I said.

"Why, cuz you want him for yourself?" Kelsi asked, sticking her tongue out.

"No! I have a girlfriend, remember?" I said, in mock shock.

"Yeah, me," Kelsi said, rolling her eyes.

"Speaking of which, we should probably set up a date," I reminded. "Tomorrow after work?"

"Sounds like a plan. Where are we going?"

"I dunno. A movie? I think Hairspray is still playing," I said. I'd never been on a date before, and wasn't exactly sure what you did on one.

"Sure. Course we already saw it together, but we're a couple now, so it's obviously different," she said, sarcastically.

"Of course," I agreed. "Friends don't kiss."

"Yet we have before," she sighed.

"Parties don't count," I said, obstinately.

"You have to go talk to Troy," Kelsi interrupted, checking her watch.

"I don't want to," I whined.

"But he's sexy and you can stare at him," Kelsi said, waving her eyebrows around. I frowned.

"I was trying not to think about that," I whined, but I got up and went out to the golf course, where Troy was just finishing his lesson.

A/N: You guys need to keep me on top of this. I practically forgot I was writing this, at a completely standstill in production in mid-chapter five.

More to come. Love you guys! I don't own jack. Please leave me a review or 9.

xoxo Samantha oxox