Sorry, I was planning to update yesterday but I guess I felt lazy. LOL. JK, I was completely busy with school campaigning and all that. I just got off of Autumn Break so school is being a drag already. Don't worry - I'm going to find the time to write and update. So here is chapter three. :)

A Heartless Bully?

Chapter Three

An hour before school started.

One look was all he needed; one small tiny glance was all it took for Chad to burst in thunderous, continuous laughter.

"Damn Troy, did you eat a whole spicy pepper this morning?" he chortled. "It looks like you dipped your face in red paint. I mean, seriously! Have you seen your reflection?"

Troy snapped Chad a frightening look.

"Dude, this is not funny. Where the hell is Gabriella?" Troy furiously answered with a look that could bring fear to a twenty-foot bear.

Straight away, Chad shut up knowing that right now was not the moment to make fun.

"Gabriella…Gabriella…Sorry, but do we even know a Gabriella?"

"Gabriella, the nerd who has to tutor me."

Chad looked up still trying to figure out who she was – then a light bulb went off.

"Oh! The girl with the face and the hair with the eyes, I know who she is!"

Troy rolled his eyes,

How in the world did HE pass the mid-term? He makes me seem like Einstin. Wait no, Einston. Einstein…Einstein…yup that's it. I think.

"You know what; coming to you was no help."

Troy stomped off, accenting each step he took. "That bitch has to be somewhere!"

Today was the one day of the week where no one had homeroom. Instead, free period was extended.

And with the fact that homeroom was the only class he shared with Gabriella, the chances of finding her were slim.

Three characteristics to describe Troy at the moment: flaming-tomato faced, deadly clenched fists, and outrageously infuriated.

Last night, all he did was express his negative feelings towards math and tutors and in return, she started a deafening argument and later, ran out of his house. Did she know who she was messing with?

Troy strutted down the hall with students clearing the way for him. Little conversations about him were audible in every corner you turned at.

He stopped for a small number of seconds.

He looked at everyone's faces as they stared at him with a large amount of panic.

He smirked, he liked the feeling he was experiencing. He then continued his long and endless search for Gabriella.

Down the hall, Zeke was leaning on his locker. Once he spotted Troy, he got up and ran towards him.

"Man, you got to slow down for a second." Zeke said, trying to catch up to his friend.

"Zeke, get out of my way."

Zeke, knowing that not following Troy's orders was deadly, stepped back. He frowned at his friend, wondering what was wrong.

He looked at Troy's path. When Troy turned at the corner, he shook his head.

"That's just Troy being Troy."

Troy turned at the corner and rushed down another hallway.

Eventually, the giant mob that was following Troy got bored faded out while he still continued his search for Gabriella.

The clock was ticking.

Thirty minutes left till first period started.

By this time, Troy's speed began to slow down. Where else would this woman be?

She wasn't at the library like he thought she would. Her friend Taylor didn't seem to know where she. To top that off, she wasn't in any of the nerd hangout areas.

As his mind flashed to many questions and thoughts; his once fierce run started to slow down.

It wasn't long before Troy just stood motionless in the middle of the hallway.

"I'm just wasting my time." Troy whispered to himself.

He glanced at his surroundings.

There were barely any people in the hallways. Everyone was probably at their before-school activity or even chilling with their buddies.

Troy looked down, defeated.

He placed his hands in his front pockets and walked down the hallways, exhausted.

For some odd reason, he kind of felt…stupid. He felt…lonely.

"There was no point in even trying." he said to himself.

Troy pulled his hood down and covered his face as he sat down on one of the indoor benches.

"Why was I even mad in the first place?" he silently thought.

Fifteen minutes till first period.

Troy slowly walked down the hall, towards his first class. His mind was still distraught in thoughts.

Once again, the hallways began to populate and the noise level began to rise.

He moved to the very side of the hallway, trying to stay out of everyone's way. He certainly was not in the mood to talk.

All he did was move quietly down the long hallway.

About five minutes later, he passed by something that caught his attention.

A door.

A big giant wooden door.

Troy stopped his pace.

He looked to his right; he never noticed this door before. He looked to the side of the door and discovered there was no room number.

What is this?

He knew it was better to ditch the door and head to class but there was something about it. Deep in his gut, there was something telling him to go inside. Without knowing, his feet began to move.

It was a fight between curiosity and knowledge.

He stepped closer the door.

There's probably nothing there.

Inch-by-inch, the door appeared to be getting closer and closer.

I'm wasting my time.

Before you knew it, he was centimeters away from the handle. That was when he heard something.

"Soaring, Flying. There's not a star in heaven that we can't reach."

A rush of beautiful melody filled in Troy's ears. The magical voice was joined with plucks and strums of an acoustic guitar. Together, it was like French fries and milkshakes – a perfect match.

It wasn't long before he found his hand pushing down on the door handle.

Curiosity wins.

Troy, as softly as possible, opened the door and peeked inside.

The thoughts of a radio or maybe even the school choir popped in his head, but no, that's not what he saw inside.

His eyes grew. But, his ears danced.

If we're trying, so we're Breaking Free.

The room was painted a faint dark blue. Only a few lights were on as well as a few candles. Towards the front of the room, there was a brown stage-like item.

On the stage, there was guitar stand and a stool.

And sitting on a stool was the one and only,

"Gabriella?" Troy whispred quietly to himself. He stood by the corner and watched her gracefully run her hands across the guitar.

You know the world between us, in a way that's different than who we are.

As she came to a stop, Troy got off from the wall.

His hands slowly rose and he began to clap.

"Troy?" Gabriella's face changed automatically. Before her face was full of calmness and enjoyment, but now, she was scared.

"Oh my god, look Troy. Before you kill me, I'm sorry that I ran out of your house and yelled and everything." She went into panic mode as Troy went closer to her. "I promise I will stay out of your way – "

"That was beautiful." He simply said. Then, the bell rung.

"You should get to class." Without a word, he went out of the room and left.

Gabriella was left there, speechless. What happened with Troy and his temper?

She then exited the room, all in one piece.

10 PM, Gabriella's House

Gabriella walked up the stairs and into her room. That night, she decided to treat herself at a local diner for dinner.

She sat on her bed and looked out her balcony.

Today was a pretty good day. She was still alive didn't bump into Troy the whole day. Except, for that morning.

Troy's mood seemed to dramatically change and she wasn't sure what to think about it.

Instead of shouting at how bad she was, he stood at the corner.

Instead of running out, he clapped.

Instead of hurting her, he gave her a compliment.

Instead of making her later for class, he left and told her to leave as well.

He was one confusing guy.

Gabriella stood up from her bed and walked to the other side of the room to grab a book. She skimmed each book carefully and picked up, To Kill a Mockingbird.

After dressing in some shorts and a big t-shirt, she sat on her bed and opened her book. For about thirty minutes her eyes went page to page and chapter to chapter.

She lifted her hand to turn to the next page when that was interrupted. Knock, Knock, Knock.

Her head turned to the balcony.

She was taken back on who was there. The guy who was standing on her balcony smiled and waved.

This is a bad idea, Gabriella thought.

She went to the balcony doors and unlocked it.

"What are you doing here?" she asked, still surprised. "How did you find out where I live?!"

Troy laughed. "Is there something wrong with me stopping by to say hi?"

Gabriella looked at him like he was crazy. "Uh, yeah." She answered.

"Then tell me what's wrong with a friendly student wanting to visit his own tutor?"

She opened her mouth to answer – nothing came out. Her cheeks turned into a bright red color with embarrassment.

"You are blushing." Troy grinned.

She rolled her eyes. "How did you find my house?" she finally got out. "Taylor, I asked her during school. She was happy to give it to me." he answered.

"She's going to get it later." She said angrily under her breath.

Gabriella looked up to see Troy roaming her room. "Was this you?" he asked picking up a frame.

She rushed to his side trying to grab the photo out of his hand. "Hey! Give it back That's my baby picture!"

Troy lifted it high into the air. "Try to get it."

After many failed attempts to grab it, Gabriella gave up. Troy finally gave the picture a good look.

"You were so adorable. Awww – look at wittle Gawbiewella." He said in a baby voice.

"Loser." She scoffed.

Usually Troy would snap at that and begin argue, but today, he was calm and laughed it off.

Was it really possible to change so much in twenty four hours? I guess so.

Troy put the picture down and sat on her bed. He glanced at the book on her bed. "To Kill A Mockingbird? Is it violent? It does have the word kill in the title." He kept on rambling on and on.

Trying to get his attention, Gabriella said, "Troy."

Troy looked at Gabriella.

"There must be a reason why you really are here."

Troy looked away. He took in a large amount of air as he thought about it.

"Truthfully –"he started.

He looked out at the balcony just like Gabriella did a few moments before.

"I have no clue."

Gabriella nodded at him, still confused.

"Why were you so nice to me this morning? Why did you go in the room in the first place?"

"I went inside for the same reason you probably did. I was curious."

Gabriella stared at him in amazement but still was quiet.

"When I heard you sing, something came over me." He said.

"What came over you?"

"I DON'T KNOW, OKAY?" he snapped. Gabriella was taken back. "I'm sorry…" she murmured.

His mood swings are back…

"You know what, coming here was pointless!" He stood up and ran towards the balcony. "TROY WAIT!" Gabriella called. Troy turned around.

"Make your mind up. Do you hate me or not? Am I still just some fearful nerd to you or has that changed? You and your mood swings are throwing me off like crazy! Should I be scared to tutor you or should I actually be excited?"

Troy walked away from the balcony and to a chair in the corner of her room.

"I have a reputation, Gabriella. Even when I want to be friends with someone, I can't. I want to be nice to you, but I can't. I don't want to make you scared, but I can't. Do you see that I just can't?"

Gabriella shook her head in reply. "Just because your friends don't want something, doesn't mean you have to follow your rep."

"I'm a jock. I hang out with other jocks and cheerleaders. I don't socialize with nerds unless I have to. That's the rules, Gabriella!"

"Since when? You know, for a while, I thought you actually might have gotten over your gigantic ego. But, that just proves, that it's impossible to change over a day."

There was an awkward silence for about five minutes.

"Gabriella, nothing is impossible." Troy told her as he walked in the direction of her guitar. "When I heard you sing and play, I felt different." He picked up her guitar.

"I want to be your friend. Don't get me wrong, but I have to keep my status." He sat back down and began to strum a few chords.

"Didn't you hear what I just–"

"GABRIELLA!" Troy screamed. He set her guitar down.

"Let's say you're mixing chemicals with your nerd friends. You're going to pour the blue liquid into the thingy. Everyone in your group says it's the wrong thing to do and you should use the purple liquid. Do you still go along with the blue stuff? Or do you follow what your peers say to stay out of embarrassment?"

No words came out of Gabriella.

"See? It's the same thing. I do want to be your friend, don't get me wrong, I really do. But, when everyone who has been your buddy for years gang up on the idea, I'm not going to do it!"

"It's still wrong, Troy."

"Everyone knows that. Everyone knows drinking can kill you, but people still do it. People know that spending too much money might leave you in debt, but yet, look at our society. We know it's wrong but we still do it."

"You know Troy. Those are really some smart words you just said. You're not as stupid as you think you are."

Troy chuckled.

"That doesn't count."

Gabriella looked to her left and saw in blinking red numbers: 11:30 PM

She gasped, "Troy it's late, you should go home." Troy nodded and stood up. He started his way towards the giant tree. "I'm glad I decided to drop by." he stated, right before jumped on the tree and climbed down.

Gabriella smiled and closed the balcony doors. When suddenly, she reopened them when Troy appeared once again.

"I forgot something."

With that, he brought Gabriella into a big hug. At first, Gabriella was surprised. But, she gave in and hugged him back while wondering how all of this would work out. They let go from each other and Troy said, "Good-bye nerd."

It was the grin he flashed her afterwards that reminded Gabriella that he was just kidding.

A few seconds later, Troy redid his actions: jumping on the tree and climbing down. He got into his black car and drove off.

Maybe he did change.

Gabriella climbed into her bed and closed her heavy eyes. Things between her and Troy were fine for now, but who knows?

Just like Troy said, we do stuff we know isn't right.

That's my chapter for now! Just for the record, I'm planning on making this a 15-20 chapter story. Let me tell you right now, the drama isn't over. We're just getting started. So let's get to reviewing!

I have a random question for ya'll:

My favorite strange food combination is French fries and vanilla milkshakes.

What are your favorite strange food combinations?