Special thanks go out to all my reviewers. Thank you so much for reviewing.
PrincessSparkel15 - I'm so glad you like this story. I'm trying to write it so it moves at a nice even pace rather than jump around a lot.
nesquick-s - I'm having this story move at a nice even pace. Kissing and hugging is something that comes with time as a relationship is built. They've known each other a month, less actually. That's why. Don't worry though, it will happen soon.
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marebear - Thank you. I'm glad you like the pace of my story. I'm gonna try for this to take some time, to build up a relationship rather than rush it.
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Note - In this chapter Melinda Gordon and Jim Clancy appear for the first time. Yes these are the characters from Ghost Whisperer however without the whole ghost thing. Melinda is Troy's cousin.
Chapter 3
December 24th
Troy stood on the mountaintop, his board at his side, looking down the slope. He was lucky he'd managed to find a time when nobody but a few skiers were around. He smirked as he adjusted his goggles and then pulled on his hat. He strapped his boots to the board and then looked downward. He stood there for a few minutes, and then jumped, hitting the edge of the hill and started his decent down the mountain. He was just doing a bit of free styling, not that he was any good at this sport but still he enjoyed it none the less. He hit the half pipe and did a few 360's, moving back and forth before heading on further down the hill. He found a jump and moved his body, getting ready for it before hitting the jump, catching some air and grabbing onto the bottom of the board for a few second before landing again, continuing down the hill and letting out a whoop of excitement. It was hard not to feel good when snowboarding.
"Niiiice," he thought as he continued to rush through some more areas before hitting another half pipe.
He stuck around it a bit longer than the last one, practising his 360's and flips before ending down by the skating rink. He took off his goggles and his hat, breathing heavily and looking as excited as he had when he first got to the top of the hill. He undid his boots from the board and then picked the board up, about to head back up the mountain again when he noticed a lone skater on the ice. He didn't recognize her. She was wearing a light pink coat that looked almost like it was made of denim, a pair of black, sweat pants and white ear muffs over her ears. She had black gloves on and white skates. He recognized those skates and looked at her more closely before recognizing Gabriella. He stuck the board into the snow and placed his arms on the fence, watching her.
Gabriella had just gone out to do some figure skating, she wasn't great at it but she wasn't to bad either. She began her warm up by practicing some simple movements, making herself skate backwards without letting her feet lift off the ground, before she spun herself around, lifting one leg into the air and spinning about four times. She then began to move again, spinning again and then doing a jump, spinning in air twice before landing on one foot and skating, managing to stay balanced. She then spun around again before stopping gracefully. She smiled at herself that had been the first time she'd been able to do that without falling on her poor butt. She went to start again only to hear clapping coming from the opposite end of the rink. She snapped her head over to see a boarder clapping at her, until she recognized the blue eyes and the face of Troy Bolton. She skated over to him and spun around once before stopping in front of him.
"Enjoying the show Bolton?" she asked, teasingly.
"Very much," he said. "You're not bad. I could get used to watching that."
She hit him lightly on the arm and moved back a bit, just enough so she was out of his reach.
"So Troy," she said. "You think you could do any better?"
Troy looked at her; she had just issued a challenge to him and he, Troy Bolton, never turned down a challenge. Her smirked at her and crossed his arms over his chest.
"Yeah, I could do better than you," he said, a little overconfident. "But a challenge isn't a challenge without a nice reward at the end. So what's it gonna be if you win?"
She looked at him a bit before thinking. She then smirked and said,
"If I win, you have to carry my books around for a week when we get back to school. No complaining, no excuses, you do everything and anything I tell you to."
"Fine. If I win though, you have to go out to lunch with me…today!" he said, making her gape at him. "What, that to much?"
She shook her head and watched him walk away to get changed and rent a pair of figure skates. She smirked.
"This should be interesting," she thought. "The basketball jock, figure skating."
Troy was on the ice, smirking. Inside however he was beating himself up for even agreeing to try and figure skate. He didn't know what the hell he was doing. He had invited two of the people at the counters to be the judges, so they stood watching as Gabriella, spun and jumped and moved gracefully across the ice. She finally finished and looked to Troy, giving him an evil smirk. He only moved his finger, telling her not to get to overconfident just yet. He skated onto the ice and before even starting she watched him jump and land a triple spin in mid air before landing almost perfectly. Her mouth dropped open.
"Oh crap," she thought.
He began to move on the ice, much to both Gabriella's and his surprise, with a lot more grace and style than either of them thought he had. He spun around on the ice four times, before jumping into the air, landing a triple spin there and landing on one foot again before spinning on one foot, his one hand touching the top of the skate on the ice and his other parallel to the leg that was up in the air. Gabriella could see she'd lost; there was just no way she could win against him. He continued with his routine, which was just whatever he could think of at the time, not noticing his parents come over to the rink to watch. When he finished he was again, breathing heavily and feeling some muscles cramp up due to him not ever exerting them that much. When he glanced over he almost died of embarrassment.
"Well honey, I never knew you could figure skate so well," said his mother, clapping. "You looked really good out there, something to go for it basketball doesn't work perhaps?"
"Troy!" said his dad, looking shocked, and not in a good way. "What…what are you doing?"
He skated over to them and stopped.
"I was competing against her," he said, pointing out a giggling Gabriella, who stopped abruptly as all eyes, turned on her. "She issued a challenge to me and you know me, I never back down from a challenge."
Jack looked over at the girl who skated close to them. She held out her hand to them.
"Hi, I'm Gabriella Montez," she said. "I'm the girl Troy brought up here from school so I could be with my mom."
"Oh," said Lucille, glancing at Troy and shaking Gabriella's hand. "It's nice to meet you Gabriella."
"Like wise," said Jack, shaking her hand as well. "You in any clubs or whatnot at school?"
"No, not yet," she answered. "I arrived just after Thanksgiving. My mom moves around a lot so I never got a real chance to be part of any team. I'm thinking about joining the Scholastic Decathlon Team though."
Jack nodded and walked off, Lucille beckoning Troy to come with her for a minute.
"I just need to borrow Troy for a few minutes dear," she said.
"That's ok," said Gabriella. "I have to get these off my feet anyways. They're killing me."
Troy followed his mom to the coffee house and sat him down, looking at her son sternly, hands on her hips.
"What is it mom?" he asked. "Did I do something?"
"I'm sure you were only playing Good Samaritan weren't you?" she asked. "You saw her in a time of need so you helped her out?"
"Yeah," he said. "Her mom was up here, I was driving up here…so I gave her a lift."
"I'm sure that was all you intended on doing," she said, giving him a look.
He looked at her, his own face now stern and a little more menacing than his mother's.
"Mom, I don't need the long lecture of being safe," he said. "While I cannot deny the thought has crossed my mind I'm not about to act on impulse. So if you're asking if I had ulterior motives to giving Gabriella a lift, yes I did. I like her and I'm working my way slowly towards her. I'm not about to rush things. So please, please don't start ragging on me about…well…you know."
She looked at him a little bit before nodding and shrugged.
"That girl out there seems nice enough," she said. "I just don't want to see something happen, to either of you."
Troy got up and walked out to meet up with Gabriella again, still trying to shake the ick factor of almost having the sex talk with his mom.
Gabriella stood in front of the mirror of the room her mom and her were staying at, trying to decide what to wear for lunch. Her mother had been busy with some work; truthfully her mom liked the atmosphere up here, the scenery. She liked to look out the window to see the snow covered ground and pine trees. Today however she had been sitting, doing some embroidery work before noticing Gabriella.
"Gabriella, honey. Todo muy bien?" she asked.
"Sí mamá. Everything's fine," she said. "I just can't decide what to wear for lunch."
"Why is it a big deal?" she asked. "You're only going to be eating lunch?"
"Oh sorry mamá," she said. "I'm going to eat lunch with a boy from school."
Her mother looked at her daughter a little more sternly at this but nodded and got up. She began to rummage through Gabriella's clothes before picking out some nice black jeans and the mocha coloured sweater she had worn on the first day of school. She then handed her daughter her black and white sneakers and pulled out some nice diamond earrings and a diamond necklace. Family heirlooms passed down from mother to daughter, only when they entered a relationship.
"Mamá!" she said looking at the jewellery when she came out from changing. "My god, they're beautiful."
"My mamá gave these to me when I first met your father," she said. "Now I pass them on to you."
Gabriella put the jewellery on; they weren't huge diamonds, just small ones. The necklace was thin, light but still very noticeable and the earrings dangled but not too much. She then applied her make up and turned to look at her mom. She noticed her mother looking at her, smiling.
"You look so beautiful," she said, kissing her daughter on the cheek. "Now go and have fun, but be careful please."
Troy stood waiting by the hallway entrance for Gabriella to appear. He checked his watch, and groaned inwardly. Maybe she thought he was moving to fast for her. Then again they'd known each other less than a month and here he was dating her already. He heard the elevator doors open and glanced over to see Gabriella and he felt his heart skip about a hundred beats.
"Ay-carumba," he said, as she stopped in front of him.
"That was good," she said. "You speak Spanish?"
He shook his head.
"My Spanish is Taco, Fajita, Ay-carumba and Chihuahua," he said. "I also know a few small things here and there, but after that I'm lost."
She giggled again and began heading to the food court, Troy following her awe struck. She sat down at a table, Troy sitting opposite her and then sighed.
"So Troy, seems like you beat me at figure skating," she said. "I never knew you could do that."
"Truthfully," he said. "Neither did I."
They got up again and walked over to the counters, ordering their food. Troy looked at Gabriella again and had to tear his eyes away from her.
"Stop looking at her," he thought. "Not healthy. To soon…oh god I can't."
She glanced over to see him looking at her and she blushed a bit. She took her food and went back to the table, Troy following as he had before.
"So Troy," she said. "You parents seemed nice. What was up with your dad though?"
"Oh, well basketball's a way of life for him…and me…so seeing me figure skating probably sent some very awkward and mixed messages into his head," he explained.
He rubbed the inside of his legs, the muscles being sore still and cramped up. It hurt to walk around for long periods of time. Gabriella took notice of this.
"You should have told me you'd never figure skated," she said. "You're not built for it Troy, you could have hurt yourself."
He shrugged.
"I don't know what came over me actually," he admitted. "I saw you there and I felt like I had to do it. To prove something."
She smiled and took a bite out of her salad before looking back to Troy.
"You don't need to prove you can do anything and everything," she said. "Just be you."
He nodded and ate his cheeseburger. Right now he was testing her. Every girl he'd ever gone out with had complained that he didn't watch what he ate, or he didn't eat as healthy as he should. Right now he had a cheeseburger and fries, and a coke in front of him. Gabriella had a salad in front of her with what he thought was a V8 drink. He watched her eating until he saw her reach over and steal a few fries off his plate. He glanced at her, awkwardly.
"What?" she asked, eating the fries. "You're the only one who can eat wonderfully greasy food?"
He laughed and took another bite out of his burger.
"Gabriella Montez, you never cease to amaze me," he said. "You're not like any girl I've ever met."
"Thank you," she said. "I think?"
He nodded and laughed as she threw her remaining fries at him, making him gape at her.
"Montez, you are so gonna get it," he said. "However I'm not going to waste my precious food on you, I'll pay you back later."
She smirked and continued eating her salad. Troy watched her for a bit longer and inside he was having a little happy dance.
"Hmm," he sighed. "I could get used to this."
Troy had walked Gabriella back to her room already and then gone back to the room him and his parents were renting out. He sat down, smirking stupidly, not noticing his mother standing there.
"Troy?"
He still had a smirk on his face and didn't answer his mom.
"Troy!" she called again.
Still nothing from his end.
"TROY!"
His head snapped up, looking at the reason for the sudden noise and saw his mother standing in front of him.
"Oh, mom," he said. "Sorry, what's up?"
"You were in gaga land again honey," she said. "Did it involve a certain Latina from down the hall?"
He blushed a bit and shrugged making his mother laugh. Finally she stopped and looked at him again.
"I want you to invite them to dinner tonight," she said. "Your father and I would like to get to know her and her mother better."
Troy just nodded, once his mother said something it was pretty much a done deal. He got up again, heading out the door and down the hallway, turning down another one and finding himself in front of the Montez's room. He knocked on the door and swallowed nervously as the door was answered. The woman standing in front of him was defiantly Gabriella, 20 years from now. She gave him a warm smile.
"Hola," she said. "Can I hep you?"
"Are you Miss. Montez?" Troy asked her.
"Si," she said, before shaking her head. "I'm sorry, I have a bad habit of talking in my native language. Yes, I am Miss. Montez."
"It's ok, I know what si means," he smiled. "I'm Troy Bolton, I took your daughter out for lunch today."
"Oh," she said, glancing behind the door at her sleeping daughter. "She had a lot of fun, but she's asleep right now."
"Actually I came to invite you and Gabriella to have dinner with my family and I tonight," he said.
"Of course," she said, smiling still. "Gracias Troy."
He nodded and walked away, still feeling really good about himself. Gabriella's mom had this aura around her that just made him feel good about himself.
"Wow their whole family is way to kind," he thought. "I really like that."
Troy was extremely smug at this point, having won the fight over how he was dressed for dinner. Unlike what his mother wanted, which was for him to be dressed in a suit, he had dressed in a pair of denim jeans, a nice looking shirt and his sneakers. He had brought up the point that you didn't have to dress flashy to look good and his mother, after having seen him, grudgingly agreed. When Miss. Montez came into view, Troy knew where Gabriella got her looks. She was dressed in simple, black satin pants, a white shoulder less top and nice black shoes. She was wearing a silver necklace and some loop earrings. If Troy didn't know any better he could have sworn Gabriella had gotten older and this was her, which is if Gabriella hadn't appeared next. She was wearing the same thing she had for lunch, but that didn't matter, she looked beautiful then and still did, however he noticed something was off about her at the moment. He couldn't pinpoint it but something just didn't seem…right.
"Miss. Montez?" asked Lucille.
"Please, call me Maria," she said, her Spanish accent very noticeable. "This is my daughter Gabriella. I'm sure you've met her already."
"I'm Lucille Bolton," she said, shaking Maria's hand. "This is my husband Jack and my son Troy."
Maria smiled warmly at them and shook all their hands before they all walked to a table. Troy sat down beside Gabriella, While Lucille, Jack and Maria sat down at the other end. The table was a circle that sat five, luckily enough. Jack was beside his wife and Troy, Lucille was beside Jack and Maria, Maria was beside Lucille and Gabriella, and Gabriella was beside Maria and Troy. In the middle of the room was a karaoke machine, where people were singing Christmas carols.
"So Maria," said Lucille. "What is it you do?"
"I work with a large manufacturing company," she explained. "Cómo explicar, I'm sent around to see how our products are produced and to make sure everything is running as smoothly as possible. I also train new staff who will become managers of the companies."
"She also slips in Spanish every time she talks," said Gabriella. "A habit she hasn't been able to curb."
Lucille let out a little laugh.
"Spanish is such a pretty language," she said. "So it's no worries. You sound like you lead a very busy life."
Troy turned to Gabriella as her hand had secretly entwined with his under the table. She smiled and looked at him before they leaned over and started speaking to each other.
"I've had to move around a lot because of my work," explained Maria. "And Gabriella's suffered so much because of it. I told my company that I cannot be transferred again permanently until after she's graduated and settled into a university or college."
"Well," said Jack. "She'd make a great addition to the Scholastic Decathlon Team at the school. I've heard a lot about how smart she is."
"Oh yes," said Maria. "She's always been smart, top of her class. I always thought she'd be so angry from all the moving but she's always been such a sweet girl. I've heard a lot about your Troy there, he's one great Basketball player from what I've heard."
"Trust me Maria," said Lucille. "Do not start them on Basketball, you won't get another word in once they start."
Maria laughed and glanced over to see the way Troy was whispering in Gabriella's ear and the smile and laughter in her daughters' eyes. She pointed it out to Jack and Lucille, Lucille said a soft "awwwww," and Maria smiled even more warmly. Jack was just chuckling a bit at his son.
"Natural ladies man," he thought.
Neither teen seemed to be aware of the audience they'd picked up as they continued to whisper to each other. Troy let out a laugh before going to whisper back only to notice finally the parents looking at them. Gabriella looked over and blushed, finally seeing the parents.
"Sorry," she said.
Troy looked the karaoke machine again and then got an idea. He looked back to her and whispered something to her. She looked at him shocked.
"No way," she said. "Absolutely not."
"I will if you will," he challenged. "Together?"
She looked at the parents who now looked a little awkwardly at them before they got up and headed to the karaoke machine together.
"Oh this should be interesting," said Jack. "Troy doesn't even sing."
"Well let's just hear, maybe Gabriella will sound better than Troy?" said Lucille.
"Gabriella's so shy," said Maria. "I doubt you'll even be able to hear her."
Troy and Gabriella both had microphones in their hands as they suddenly realized there were a lot more people than they had previously thought. Troy gulped as Gabriella started the music.
"I don't think I can do this Gabby," he said to her.
"If I can, then so can you," she said, before she spoke. "Hi my name's Gabriella and this is my friend Troy. We're going to sing a song wishing you all the best holiday season ever."
With that the music started and Gabriella took the first chorus.
"Have yourself a merry little Christmas. Let your heart be light. From now on our troubles will be out of sight."
She looked at Troy who looked like he was going to be sick but he still brought the microphone to his lips and sang, and she sighed as his wonderful voice came floating out over the audience.
"Have yourself a merry little Christmas. Make the yuletide gay. From now on our troubles will be miles away."
"Here we are, as in olden days, happy golden days of yore. Faithful friends who are dear to us, gather near to us once more."
"Through the years we all will be together, if the fates allow. Hang a shining star upon the highest bough, and have yourself a merry little Christmas now."
"Here we are, as in olden days, happy golden days of yore. Faithful friends who are dear to us, gather near to us once more."
"Through the years we all will be together, if the fates allow. Hang a shining star upon the highest bough, and have yourself a merry little Christmas, have yourself a merry little Christmas, have yourself a merry little Christmas now."
People clapped loudly as the two stood on the stage. Both of them were smiling at each other and they turned to see their parents clapping loudly, Troy however noticed his father's shocked look. It wasn't an angry shock, but shock none the less. The two teens stepped off the stage and sat down at their table.
"Troy?" asked Lucille. "Since when did you get so good at singing?"
He shrugged and went to eating the food that had arrived while they had been singing. Gabriella then looked at her mom and pulled her out of her seat.
"Come on mama," she said. "Show them what you can do to."
Defeated Maria got up on the stage next. Lucille decided to join her as well. Jack smirked; he'd never seen Lucille sing before. Lucille looked at the music and whispered to Maria. She nodded and the two women turned to sing, Maria starting.
"Feliz Navidad. Feliz Navidad. Feliz Navidad. Prospero Ano y felicidad. Feliz Navidad. Feliz Navidad. Feliz Navidad. Prospero Ano y felicidad."
"I wanna wish you a Merry Christmas. I wanna wish you a Merry Christmas. I wanna wish you a Merry Christmas from the bottom of my heart. I wanna wish you a Merry Christmas. I wanna wish you a Merry Christmas. I wanna wish you a Merry Christmas from the bottom of my heart."
"Feliz Navidad. Feliz Navidad. Feliz Navidad. Prospero Ano y felicidad. Feliz Navidad. Feliz Navidad. Feliz Navidad. Prospero Ano y felicidad."
"I wanna wish you a Merry Christmas. I wanna wish you a Merry Christmas. I wanna wish you a Merry Christmas from the bottom of my heart. I wanna wish you a Merry Christmas. I wanna wish you a Merry Christmas. I wanna wish you a Merry Christmas from the bottom of my heart."
"Feliz Navidad. Feliz Navidad. Feliz Navidad. Prospero Ano y felicidad. Feliz Navidad. Feliz Navidad. Feliz Navidad. Prospero Ano y felicidad."
"We wanna wish you a Merry Christmas. We wanna wish you a Merry Christmas. We wanna wish you a Merry Christmas from the bottom of my heart. We wanna wish you a Merry Christmas. We wanna wish you a Merry Christmas. We wanna wish you a Merry Christmas from the bottom of my heart."
The two ladies stopped singing and gave each other a light hug before sitting down, Troy, Gabriella and Jack all clapping and making sounds of approval.
"That was fun," said Lucille. "Jack you should go up."
"I don't sing," was all he said. "Clearly Troy didn't get my voice."
The families continued to eat, talking with one another. Troy, however, was happier than ever. Finally he'd found a girl who his parent's liked, they got along with, and her mother liked him and got along with his family. It was close to midnight when they had finally finished drinking their coffee and talking. Troy and Gabriella had been drinking their coffee as well, talking amongst themselves as well.
"What do we do if they find out?" asked Gabriella. "I can't lie to my mother. I just can't."
"Don't worry," he said. "Well take this one step at a time. If they find out then, tell them the truth. We're going steady but we're nothing serious yet. This way any discomfort they might have is uplifted and you don't have to lie because it's not lying."
She nodded and sipped her coffee again. Troy grimaced at her.
"I still can't believe you put cream and sugar into your coffee," he said. 'That totally ruins the flavour and strength of coffee."
"I like it this way," she said. "Besides, for me, having it black is just to strong and bitter."
He shrugged and took another drink of his coffee before looking back to make sure his mother and father weren't watching them. He smirked when he looked back to Gabriella.
"I do believe it's Christmas Day," he said.
"Well Bolton, I think you might be right," she smirked.
"Merry Christmas Gabriella," he whispered.
"Merry Christmas Troy," she whispered back, giggling lightly. "What if our friends find out? I mean Taylor obviously knows…"
"Taylor's the only one I've trusted with this," he said. "So I would imagine Taylor would be the only one to know about us."
She nodded before looking to her mother who had gotten up. Her mother looked very happy and Gabriella was pleased that her mother had gotten along so well with Troy's parents.
"We'll have to get together again sometime back home," said Lucille. "I'd really like you to teach me how to make some of those Mexican dishes you were describing. They sounded absolutely to die for."
"I'd like that," said Maria. "Here I'll give you my number so you can call me."
Lucille looked like she'd found her new best friend as the women traded numbers. Jack was just standing there. He glanced over to see Troy whispering something to Gabriella. Now he knew Troy would one day end up noticing the female population but he hoped that this wouldn't interfere with his basketball playing. They'd been practicing this for years and had everything planned out. Troy would get a scholarship to UCLA, and play professional basketball until whenever he decided enough was enough. Troy got up and walked with Gabriella while the parents walked and talked to each other.
"Oh, remember there's a New Years Eve party here as well," said Lucille. "We should get together for that as well."
"Yes, that sounds like fun," said Maria. "Although I'm sure Troy and Gabriella will have seen each other before that?"
They looked at Miss. Montez sheepishly as they nodded and she laughed gently. She opened the door to her room and bade goodnight to the Bolton's while Gabriella said goodnight to Troy.
"I had a wonderful time Mr. and Mrs. Bolton," she said. "It was very nice meeting you. Have a good night. I'll see you tomorrow probably," she added looking at Troy.
He nodded and whispered a soft goodnight to her as she closed the door and he headed to his room with his parents. His father walked into the room and entered the bedroom, leaving Lucille and Troy alone. She looked at Troy and said,
"So Troy, it's obvious you like Gabriella?"
"Mom, she's my friend," he said. "That's all.'
"Oh yes, the old friend barrier we all hide behind," she said, smartly. "Honey, I know you like her a lot more than that, I trust you to be good around her, but also don't think you need to be secretive because she's not a cheerleader or someone popular. Your father played basketball in school and I wasn't exactly popular or a cheerleader."
Troy nodded still feeling kind of awkward about this. He headed for his room and sat down on his bed. He thought of Gabriella and a goofy grin came to his face. He flopped down on the bed and smiled, allowing sleep to overtake him.
The next morning Troy woke up to hear voices coming from the next room over. He glanced at the clock noticing it was much later than usual. He quickly changed into a pair of jeans, and a sweater before heading out into the living room. Once he saw who it was he grinned.
"Melinda," he shouted hugging his older cousin. "I didn't think you'd make it."
"And miss Christmas with the only members of my family who actually enjoy life?" she asked. "No way."
Troy laughed and then shook Jim's, Melinda's husband, hand.
"Hey Troy," he said. "How's your basketball playing been?"
"It's looking good," he said. "U of A and UCLA have both sent me some brochures trying to get me to go to their colleges. I also heard from Berkley as well."
"That's great," he said. "You've got some serious moves and talent Troy. You'll make it big."
Troy smirked as they all sat down. Melinda was going on about her little Antique shop she had in Grandview, and all her friends she'd made. Troy really liked Melinda and Jim. With them he felt he could be whoever he wanted to be without them passing judgement on him. With Gabriella he felt the same way, only with her his heart skipped beats, his body went numb and he just grinned and couldn't stop. She drove his feelings insane and she didn't even know it.
"Troy!"
He snapped back to reality and looked at Melinda. She looked at him a little oddly.
"Everything ok?" she asked.
"He's probably thinking about Gabriella," said his mom.
"Gabriella?" asked Melinda. "Oooo Troy's got a girlfriend has he?"
"Mom," he said, looking at her.
"Will I get to meet this girlfriend of yours?" asked Melinda, smirking. "Come on you've got to let me meet her."
As if on cue Gabriella came walking into the living room with her mom, accompanied by Jack.
"Well speak of the devil," said Lucille. "This is Gabriella Montez and her mother Maria Montez."
Melinda stood up and shook their hands, smiling and saying her hellos.
"Hi, I'm Melinda Gordon," she said. "This is my husband Jim."
"It's nice to meet you Melinda," said Maria.
Melinda smiled and then noticed that Gabriella had wasted no time in sitting beside Troy and talking to him in hushed whispers. She smirked and sat down beside her.
"So Gabriella?" she asked. "How do you know Troy?"
"I go to school with him," she answered looking up. "We have a few classes together."
"That sounds nice," she said. "How long have you guys known each other?"
She noticed Troy mouthing to her to stop it but she only smirked even more. Messing with Troy was just too much fun.
"Well I moved in on Thanksgiving Day but we didn't meet until the day after when I first started school," she said.
"I see," she said. "Well I'll let you two get back to your conversation now. It was nice to meet you Gabriella. We should hang out sometime and go shopping or something?"
"I'd like that," answered Gabriella. "I'm here until New Years Day then I go back home with Troy. He drove me up here to begin with."
"Ok well, I'll get your number later on," she said, turning back to the parents.
Troy literally dragged Gabriella away so he wouldn't have another unfriendly encounter. Gabriella giggled again and full out laughed when they reached his room. Troy closed the door and sighed in relief.
"She always does that," he said. "I swear she would have started telling you all of my embarrassing childhood memories if I hadn't taken you out of there."
"Your aunt seems nice,' she said.
"She's my cousin actually," he said. "Long story," he said after she looked at him awkwardly.
"Well, I'm not going anywhere," she pointed out.
"Well," he sighed. "We don't really talk about my aunt Beth. Lucille and her didn't really see eye to eye and they were constantly getting into fights. Finally my mother just wrote herself out of the family, although my grandmother always kept in contact with her. See Beth is 15 years older than my mom. My mother was sort of a surprise for my grandma. So by the time Melinda was born my mother wasn't very old. Anyways, long story shorter, my mother left, had me; Melinda found out and contacted my mother. She's been a part of our family gatherings ever since. We found out from her a few years back that my grandmother had passed away; I wasn't old enough to remember her much."
Gabriella smiled and took hold of Troy's hand. He looked at her and found himself smiling to.
"I feel bad for you," she said. "I was little when I lost my father to, thing is I remember every little detail about him. The way he used to let me stand on his feet and he'd waltz me around the room, the way he'd push me on the swings, how he made me feel so safe. Then one day my mother came in and told me that my dad had gone to a better place. I was to little to understand that, so I asked her the one question that hurt my mother so much. I asked her if he loved us and if he was going to come back. My mother's been busying herself with work ever since. I think if she stops, then she starts to think about him and thinking about him hurts her to much."
Troy looked at her sadly, unable to really say he knew how she felt. He still had his mother and father. He felt Gabriella wrap her arms around him and begin to sob.
"He died on Christmas Day," she finished, making Troy seize up a little bit. "He was shovelling the snow off the driveway when a car…lost control…slipped on some ice."
He quickly started trying to calm her down, holding her close to him while she cried. Truthfully he'd noticed last night she'd been in a somewhat down mood but he had been too ecstatic to think much on it.
"He always made Christmas special for my mother and me," she continued. "He'd decorate so much that we'd have very little room to manoeuvre around the house. It use to drive my mother nuts…but I'd have Christmas no other way. He was always so kind and generous, always so happy and unique in his own way."
Troy nodded in understanding as he listened to Gabriella. Clearly Christmas was a hard time for her and her mother. However he also knew Christmas time was one of those holiday seasons where you just couldn't help but feel happy and see things in different lights.
"From what you've told me Gabriella," he said. "Your dad seemed like a really great guy. I'm not religious or anything, but I do believe in heaven and hell. I believe there is a God, and I believe your dad is watching you right now. Christmas shouldn't be a time of hardship for you, think about how much it would mean to him if you would celebrate Christmas the way you used to, to be happy and remember all the good times you had with him. Don't you think you'd be honouring his memory if you celebrated Christmas with everything you have?"
She looked at him, smiling sweetly and sighed.
"You're right Troy," she said. "It's just hard, but you're right. I'm going to make this Christmas an unforgettable holiday for my mother and myself. I need to decorate the room, cook the dinner," she started to list off what she needed to do before Troy stopped her.
"Why don't we all celebrate Christmas together?" he suggested. "I'll bring a few food dishes over and decorations and sneak the presents out and we can celebrate over at your room tonight?"
She smiled and nodded her head, getting up. Troy knew this had to go as secretly as possible so he grabbed his duffle bag and headed out into the main room.
Don't ask how he did it, but Troy was impressed. He'd managed to sneak out the turkey, turnip and carrots, corn and the bread rolls, plus a box of decorations without being seen. Gabriella was currently in the kitchen working on the dinner as fast, and as well, as she could while Troy worked on getting the room decorated. Soon the whole room was decorated and he could smell the turkey in the oven already. He walked over to the kitchen and smiled at Gabriella, who was currently mashing up the turnip and carrot.
"I'm gonna go over and see if I can get all the gifts over here under your tree," he said. "I'll bring the cranberry sauce as well if I can."
"Ok Troy," she answered, not looking up. "But hurry please, I need someone to keep my mother out of the room."
Troy bolted across the hall and into his room, looking at the parents still talking amongst each other. He quickly gathered all the gifts and moved out the door. He was about to go into Gabriella's room when he heard someone behind him clear their throat. He turned to see Jim Clancy, Melinda's husband, standing there, looking amused.
"You know Troy, when people steal their gifts," he said. "They usually only steal their own gifts."
"Gabriella and I are planning something for everyone," he answered. "We want to surprise all the adults by having Christmas together. Long story short, Maria's husband died on Christmas and we want her to have the best one she's had in a long time."
"Very nice of you," said Jim. "Alright I'll hold the adults off, but how on earth are you gonna get the two dinners ready?"
"I kind of stole all the food already," he admitted. "Except the cranberry sauce, I need to get that next."
"You get that inside and I'll get the sauce for you," he said. "I'll keep it quiet. Trust me Melinda is going to have a fit on me for this."
Troy nodded and quickly got the bag of gifts inside the room. Gabriella looked up and smiled.
"Well I liked Santa Clause," she said. "But I think Troy Bolton makes a nice substitute."
"Thank you," he said, bowing. "Oh Jim knows about…this."
She looked shocked.
"He caught me taking the gifts," he said. 'He's gonna keep all the adults occupied for us. He's also getting us the cranberry sauce."
As if on cue, Jim came in holding the cranberry sauce. He tossed it to Troy who caught it and placed in on the counter.
"I convinced them that we should all eat at the dinner the resort has set up, and I told them I put the food away in the freezer until New Years," he said. "So now the rest is up to you. I'll keep them away until about 6:30?" he asked.
"That would be great," said Gabriella. "I'll have dinner ready by then."
Jim left, leaving the two teenagers to get everything set. The turkey would take about 6 and a half hours to cook, plus pre-making all the other foods and getting the desserts ready would take time as well. Gabriella turned on the stereo before dancing around the kitchen, Troy joining in as they got to work. Pies, peas, carrots, corn, turnip, bread all got made from scratch as the two teens worked. By the time 6:00 came along both of them where exhausted. Everything was now cooking and the turkey was out, standing for 15 minutes before they placed it on the large table Troy had set up in the room, moving the furniture. Gabriella set out pure white plates all around the table, and the nice silver wear her and her mother had brought up. She placed wine glasses on the table and Troy placed out the wine, putting the cranberry juice/Gingerale mixture by his and Gabriella's seats. She then set the turkey on the table and set out all the veggies. She placed the candles next on the table, lightning them while Troy put the four apple pies in the oven to warm. She then opened the door to find the parents about to come in. Troy stood next to Gabriella as they let the parents in. Maria took one look at the dinner and Gabriella knew she'd done right. Tears welled up in her eyes as she looked at the dinner, the room and the smells coming from the room. She looked to the two teenagers.
"Gracias. Muchas gracias," she whispered, kissing Gabriella's forehead and giving Troy a small hug. "It looks just like how your father used to do it."
"Merry Christmas Miss. Montez," said Troy. "We wanted to do something special for you. Gabriella told me the story, and I've convinced her to give Mr. Montez the honour he deserves by allowing him to see his family enjoying his favourite holiday."
Troy's mother and father smiled at him approvingly and Melinda had tears in her own eyes. Jim just stood there, happy that for now he was free of being attacked for keeping this from everyone. Troy then walked over to the table and smiled.
"Come on everyone," he said. "Let's eat."
Chapter 4 will be up on Friday November 7th so until then. Review everyone and have a Happy Halloween...even if this chapter was about Christmas ^_^