AN: I'm so sorry it's been awhile since I updated. I got distracted with other stories and a oneshot, lol. I hope you guys enjoy this chapter! Thanks for all of the reviews so far, I really appreciate reading all of your comments!
Chapter 3
Gabriella woke up to her bed shaking and loud giggles early Saturday morning. She groaned and cracked open one eye to see Ethan happily jumping on the end of her bed, turning in circles as he jumped.
"Gabi, wake up! Gabi, wake up!" Ethan chanted repeatedly, slightly out of breath while his jumping continued.
Gabriella smiled, and once Ethan's back was to her, she shot up and grabbed him around the waist pulling him down on top of her as she lay back down.
"Yay! Gabi, you're awake!" Ethan sloppily kissed her cheek.
"Thanks," Gabriella muttered sarcastically wiping off her cheek, unable to hide her grin.
"You're welcome!" Ethan grinned, wrapping his arms around her neck and snuggling into her.
"Morning bud! Why are you jumping on my bed at," Gabriella glanced at her clock and groaned,"7:15 in the morning?"
"Daddy said to wake you up for basketbaw," Ethan said proudly, his pronunciation making Gabriella giggle.
"Mmmm…something smells good. What's mommy making for breakfast?"
"Fwench Toast!"
"Well, let's go get some before Matt eats it all, huh?"
"Yeah, hurry Gabi!" Ethan jumped up and Gabriella sat up as well, laughing when Ethan climbed onto her back.
The two went downstairs and entered the kitchen happily.
"Morning mom!" Gabriella leaned over and gave her mom a kiss on the cheek.
"Hi mommy!" Ethan yelled out as he climbed up Gabriella's back a little bit to lean over and kiss his mom's cheek.
"Thank you!" Anna Montez beamed at her two children. "Breakfast is at the table."
Gabriella walked over to the table, and set Ethan down on his booster chair before sitting down right beside him. She smiled when she saw the whipped cream on the table.
"What's with the smile?" Matt asked, seeing she was just staring at the can of whipped cream while grinning.
"Oh, um…nothing, just excited for the game today," Gabriella replied quickly still thinking about what caused her mind to wander.
"Yes!" Gabriella cheered while sitting in her room on Thanksgiving watching the highlights from the NBA games from that day. A tapping on her balcony door slightly startled her. Quickly she got up and peered behind the curtains before opening the door.
"Troy, what are you doing here?" She whispered, walking over to lock her bedroom door in case someone else tried to walk in. "You do know my dad or Matt will kill you if they see you here."
"Maybe, but it's worth the risk to hang out with my new best friend," Troy replied cheekily. "Besides, I brought pumpkin pie," Troy said in a sing-song voice, "with whipped cream," he added grinning, holding open the plastic bag carrying the items.
"You didn't have to do that."
"Heck yeah I did. You went through an entire Thanksgiving dinner, and had no pumpkin pie…that's a shame, a crime! And, a problem I am here to remedy. Take a seat," Troy ordered, following her towards her bed.
Troy set the pie on her desk and cut a slice of pie, placing it on a plate in front of her.
"Wow, this is amazing!" Gabriella exclaimed as she took a bite of pumpkin pie. "Where'd you buy it?"
"Buy it!?" Troy exclaimed incredulously. "Montez, I baked that myself."
"No way! You bake?"
"Sometimes."
"Well, I am impressed," she said before taking another bite. "It's really good."
"Whoa, hold up!" Gabriella stopped mid-bite and sent Troy a curious look. "You forgot to put whipped cream on there. That's the best part."
Troy pulled the top off the whipped cream and tilted it towards Gabriella's plate. When none came out, he shook the can, and tilted it again pinching the top of the can.
"What the heck?" Troy furiously shook the can, trying again to no avail.
"Troy, it's fine," Gabriella giggled seeing his frustration.
"No-it's-gonna-work," Troy said, hitting the side of the can after each word, "just-you-wait." Troy stopped, his jaw dropping as the whipped cream sprayed out all over Gabriella.
"Oh crap! Gabriella, I'm so sorry." Troy quickly put the can of whipped cream down and picked up a napkin wiping off her arms and handing over the napkin so she could wipe off her shirt.
"Thank you," Gabriella wiped off her shirt and reached over to grab the whipped cream.
"Yeah, it's probably better if you do it this ti-," Troy stopped talking as a stream of whipped cream hit him in the face. "Time." Troy finished, wiping his face with the back of his hand.
Gabriella struggled to suppress the fits of laughter threatening to come out.
"Oh, it's on now Montez." Troy threatened before he took some pumpkin pie on his fingertips and a little whipped cream and smeared it all over her face.
"Ugh!" Gabriella yelped before taking her plate of pumpkin pie and shoving it in Troy's face.
Troy grabbed a napkin, wiping off his eyes before spraying a pile of whipped cream onto an extra paper plate and shoving it in Gabriella's face.
"I told you it was on Montez," Troy taunted while still rubbing the plate on her face. "Truce?"
"Fine! Truce!" Gabriella yelled out. Troy grinned and grabbed a napkin, handing it over to her.
"Thanks."
Troy smiled cheekily. "No problem Montez."
Gabriella giggled and chucked the napkin at him. Seeing she still had a little on her nose, Troy took the napkin, gently placing his hand on her chin before dabbing it off.
"Well, since we didn't finish the last piece, care for another slice?"
"Definitely." Troy smiled and got up, cutting them each another slice and putting the whipped cream on with no issues this time before the two settled down to watch the game on ESPN.
----
Troy woke up around 10:00 in the morning on Saturday and walked into his baby sister's room hearing her stirring.
"Hi princess," Troy greeted, picking her up and placing her on his shoulder in a gentle hug. He pulled her back to look at her face, "You want to go downstairs?"
Troy quickly changed her diaper and changed her clothes before walking downstairs to get some breakfast.
"Hey mom!" Troy greeted as he walked into the kitchen.
"Good morning," Lucille replied holding out her arms to take Amy, "thanks for bringing her down. I fed her this morning, but then she went back to sleep."
"No problem. Where's dad?"
"He went to the store for a little bit, and Nathan went to see Jessica; they'll both meet you over at the gym today at 1:30 they said. What time's your game?"
"Game starts at 2:00, but I think I'm gonna head over there in a little bit to watch some of the earlier games," Troy admitted partially telling the truth. Part of the reason was to watch the games, but his real reason was that he wanted to see Gabriella.
"Alright, well, Amy and I will meet you there then. What do you want for breakfast?" Lucille asked while she placed Amy in her chair.
"Don't worry about it mom. I'll make myself some eggs; you go relax," Troy suggested while he grabbed a pan from the cupboard and some eggs from the fridge. Lucille smiled thankfully before going into the living room to sit down for awhile.
-----
After breakfast, Troy showered and grabbed his basketball gear, and took off to the community gym. He got there around 11:30, in time to see the Montez family warming up.
Gabriella spotted Troy out of the corner of her eye, and smiled at him before sinking a three pointer.
"Hey guys, I'll be right back. I am going to go to the bathroom real quick," Gabriella said before walking towards the hallway.
As she rounded the corner, Troy reached out and grabbed her arm, gently pulling her to lean against the wall beside him.
"Hi," Gabriella said, smiling brightly.
"Hey," Troy grinned, "nice shooting."
"Thanks. Your game is the last one today, right?"
"Yep. You gonna stick around?"
"I think I will," Troy felt a smile form on his face as they talked. "You know…I gotta do some scouting, since we're playing three hot-headed guys next week."
"Hey!" Troy exclaimed in mock hurt. Gabriella giggled when he gently nudged her arm with his elbow.
"Well anyways," Troy began, "I better let you get back to warm ups, but what time are you heading back to U of A?"
"Um, I think I'm going to take off around 6:00 after dinner."
"Sweet! You want to meet up at the coffee shop around 8:00?" Troy asked hopefully.
"Definitely," Gabriella replied. "Okay, I have to get back, otherwise they may come looking for me."
"Yeah. Good luck!" Troy said, pulling her into a hug, something the two had grown accustomed to in the past week.
"Thanks Troy. You too…I'll try to stick around after your game, but if not, I'll see you at 8:00. Bye."
"Bye!"
-----
"Gabriella Montez for two! Montez team leads by ten," the announcer said.
Troy looked up and saw that there were five minutes left in the game. His dad and Nathan hadn't shown up yet, and Troy was glad for that. As much as he loved to play basketball, right now he wanted to watch Gabriella play. He had never been so enthralled, watching a girl play basketball. He kept smiling as he watched her weave her way past defenders, and shoot that beautiful jump shot of hers.
"Gabriella steals the ball—she passes it to Matt—Matt passes it back to Gabriella—and the three pointer is good!"
Troy smiled and discreetly clapped his hands. This was the most difficult part for him. He wanted to stand up and cheer for her, but he knew it would get back to his dad. And that was something he didn't even want to think about. Even though their friendship was new, Troy couldn't deny the importance of it to them.
"And that's the game. The Montez team starts off right winning their first game. Great match-up next week folks between the Montez team and the Bolton team. Stick around if you can, because the next game between the Bolton team and the Martinez team is coming up next at 2:00."
Troy kept his eyes on Gabriella while she walked around the court shaking hands with the opponents and the referees before hugging Matt and her dad. She looked up at him, and after he checked to make sure no one was paying attention, he gave her a thumbs-up and a wink, waving as he walked down the steps to go find his family.
Gabriella walked out of the locker room, after having showered and changed into jeans and a t-shirt. She saw her family sitting in the hallway outside the gym.
"Gabi!" Ethan exclaimed. He took off running towards her as fast as his little legs could carry him.
Gabriella smiled and kneeled down with open arms as he ran into them wrapping his little arms around her neck. She wrapped hers around his waist and stood up, hugging him tightly.
"You give the best hugs, little buddy," she praised him. Ethan giggled and hugged her more tightly causing Gabriella to beam as they walked over to her parents and Matt.
"Good game sweetie!" Anna gave her a hug on the side, smiling as Ethan was now playing with his big sister's hair.
"Thanks. Hey guys, I'm gonna stick around for awhile, and watch the next game," Gabriella began, stopping when she saw her family all grin knowingly. "What?"
"Michael plays next. We know you're staying to watch him beat the enemy. Don't let us stop you." Carlos hugged his daughter in approval.
"Here sweetie, let me take Ethan." Anna rubbed her son's back and held out her arms to him.
"No! I wanna stay with Gabi!" Ethan protested, hugging Gabriella more tightly.
"Mom, Dad, it's okay," she told them. "Ethan will stay here with me and watch basketball, right bud?" Ethan beamed while clapping his hands. "We'll be home around 4:00."
"Okay. Ethan, tell Gabi thank you," Anna said.
"Thank you Gabi!" Ethan sloppily kissed her cheek. Gabriella's heart melted at her little brother, and she gave him a kiss on the cheek as well. Ethan grinned and began to play with her necklace.
"Alright, we'll see you back at home then." Carlos grabbed his bag, put his arm around Anna's shoulder and exited the gym.
"Good game Gabs." Matt reached over and gave her a hug. "See you two at home," Matt finished, giving Ethan a high-five before exiting the gym.
"You ready for some basketball?" Gabriella asked excitedly.
"Yep!" Ethan replied, as the two headed into the gym. Gabriella sat a few rows up, and Ethan crawled into her lap, snuggling into her body, while she gently rubbed his back.
Her eyes scanned the court and finally stopped on Troy, an uncontrollable grin erupting on her face. She couldn't help but stare at him, admiring everything about him. Just then, Michael noticed her sitting in the bleachers, and ran towards her.
"Gabi!" he called out when he got closer. "Come to watch me kick Bolton's butt huh?" Michael asked cockily not noticing Gabriella shudder when he called her 'Gabi'.
"Uh, hey Michael. Yeah, well I relish in seeing the Boltons lose any day," she managed to say, trying to keep up the façade.
"Alright, well, I got to get back to the warm-up, but maybe we can go catch a bite afterwards?"
"Um, no thanks. I have to take Ethan home and have dinner with my family tonight. Good luck though with the game," she cringed, definitely not wanting to talk with him nor wish him luck against Troy.
Michael smirked and ran back down to the court, passing by Troy and roughly bumping his shoulder while Troy had leaned down to pick up a basketball. Troy stood up and carelessly threw the ball over his shoulder, knowing Michael was right behind him. The ball hit him in the back of the head, and Troy laughed to himself while smiling up at Gabriella.
"Gabi, who's that?" Ethan pointed towards Troy.
"That's Troy."
"I like him better than Michael. Is he your boyfriend?" Gabriella laughed.
"No Ethan, he's just my friend."
Troy smiled when Gabriella gave him a thumbs-up, before heading back over to the bench since the game was starting.
---
It was nearing the end of the game and Gabriella watched intently, keeping her eyes on Troy as he spun around Michael, and drove in for a lay-up. She wanted to stand up and clap, but she knew that could cause problems.
"Yay!" Ethan yelled out for her clapping his hands together.
Gabriella smiled and hugged Ethan closer, as she continued to focus on Troy.
"And that's the game," the announcer declared as the buzzer rang, "Bolton family 50—Martinez family 35."
Troy walked around the court shaking hands with the referees, and congratulating his dad and brother. Lucille came down holding Amy, and Troy gave his mom a hug, and kissed his sister on the cheek.
Amy began to whimper, and Lucille shifted her in her arms.
"Hey mom, here, I'll take her," Troy said before he gently took Amy into his arms. "I'm going to go grab a drink, I'll meet you guys at home."
"You'll take Amy?" Lucille asked.
"Yeah, just put her car seat outside my car. We'll be home by 4:00."
"Thanks son," Jack called out as he clapped him on the back.
Troy nodded before walking out into the hallway. His eyes landed on Gabriella who was sitting on a bench, her little brother in her lap.
"Hey," Troy greeted, grinning when her eyes met his.
"Nice game," Gabriella smiled holding up her hand to give him a high-five.
"Thanks, you too."
"You beat Michael," Ethan said proudly.
"Yeah, we did buddy. What's your name?"
"Ethan," he replied as he shyly buried his head in Gabriella's chest.
"Well Ethan, I'm Troy," he replied sitting down next to Gabriella and holding out his hand.
Ethan put his small hand into Troy's and gently shook it bringing a shy smile to his face. "Who's that?" Ethan questioned, standing on the bench next to Gabriella, his eyes focused on the little girl in Troy's arms.
"This is my sister, Amy."
Gabriella smiled as she saw Troy proudly look at his baby sister before kissing her head.
"She's adorable," Gabriella spoke up. Troy felt the smile on his face grow.
"Thanks. Yeah, she is."
"Hey, would you mind holding her real quick, while I run in and change?" Troy asked.
"Sure, I guess."
"Thanks so much! I'll be no more than ten minutes, I promise." Troy gently placed Amy in Gabriella's arms, both of them blushing at the contact their arms made with each other.
Ethan and Gabriella smiled at Amy and entertained her for a few minutes, until Troy came back out, showered and changed.
"Thank you so much," Troy said as he picked Amy back up, cradling her in his arms. "You parked out front?"
"Yep"
"Cool, I'll walk with you."
Gabriella smiled taking Ethan's hand in hers as she started walking. Ethan smiled and grabbed Troy's empty hand while Troy held Amy in the other. Troy was shocked at first but smiled at how quickly Ethan had warmed up to him.
When they reached Gabriella's car, Ethan gave Troy a high-five before climbing into his seat.
"I'll see you tonight?" Troy asked reminding her that they were going to meet up at the coffee house.
"I'll be there. See you tonight."
"Later," Troy said before he courageously leaned down and kissed Gabriella on the cheek, while hugging her slightly, Amy still in his arms. Both of them blushed, and Troy turned to walk towards his car. Gabriella reached up and softly touched her cheek, oblivious to Ethan who smiled happily inside the car.
-----
Gabriella quickly grabbed her jacket, before heading out the door of her dorm room. She left a note for Sharpay saying she would be back later before she rushed out the dorm towards the coffee shop.
She grabbed a table outside, and sat down to wait for Troy. Growing impatient, she glanced at the time, unable to hide her frown when she noticed it was 8:05. Gabriella looked around nervously wondering if maybe she had missed him inside.
"Sorry I'm late," Troy's voice called out from behind causing Gabriella to jump a bit.
"What is your obsession with scaring the crap out of me?" Gabriella grinned and got up to give him a hug.
"It's fun. What can I say?" Troy laughed as the two separated and he took a seat.
"So, great game today," Gabriella began. "I must say, I loved watching you pound on the Martinez family, especially Michael."
"Yeah, it felt good to beat those guys. Great job in your game too! Montez, I knew you were good, but dang! You have gotten like fifty times better since we played in the tourney last year."
"Thanks. I guess that's where college level play comes in handy."
"Definitely. Hey, can I ask you a question?"
"Hmm…I'm so confused as to what we've been doing so far," Gabriella replied cheekily.
"Ouch. You cut me deep Montez," Troy smiled back. "But seriously, is there something between you and Michael? I saw you two talking. I thought you said you didn't really like him?"
"Eww, me and Michael? No way! That would never ever happen. Eww, I definitely don't like him at all. He came over trying to ask me out tonight, and I said 'heck no'."
"Persistent jerk," Troy said, laughing at how adamant she was about her lack of feelings for Michael. "That guy gets on my nerves."
"Seriously, same here. I hate that my parents are encouraging it."
"Yeah, well hey…I don't want to depress us both. So change of subject. I am excited to be back cause now we can hang out without having to worry about our families," Troy told her grinning.
"I know. It sucks that we can't hang out more at home. I mean we are neighbors. We could be shooting hoops in the backyard more often."
"Yeah, it would improve your game to play some one-on-one with me," Troy smirked. Gabriella's jaw dropped, pretending to be offended, before she smacked him on the arm.
"Egotistical much?" She asked amusedly.
Troy chuckled as the two fell into easy conversation, discussing everything from classes to basketball to their favorite sports teams. They each seemingly had smiles painted on their faces, talking for hours like they'd been friends for years, despite their friendship only starting up a week earlier.
The two were brought out of their conversation when they saw the lights turn off inside.
"Crap, it's almost 12:30, I better let you get back," Troy admitted reluctantly before he scooted his chair back, standing up.
"Yeah, I hate 8:00 AM classes."
"Hey, a few questions," Troy began nervously.
"Go for it."
"Okay, first, you want to grab lunch tomorrow?"
"Sure, what time? I have class until 11:00, and then practice at 3:00."
"How about I meet you at the plaza café at 11:15?"
"Perfect," Gabriella grinned.
"Okay. Second, Chad and I are having a hang-out thing on Thursday night. You and Sharpay wanna come?"
"Hang-out on Thursday, huh?" Gabriella asked curiously. "A party?"
"Well, not a party really. Just a few of us hanging out, watching movies. We won't be drinking or anything because I don't drink."
"You don't drink?!" Troy shook his head. "Wow."
"What?" Troy asked, a grin tugging at his lips in amusement.
"Oh, um, I just thought..." Gabriella continued nervously, her eyes shifting to her feet.
"Go ahead. You won't offend me," Troy encouraged.
"It's just really rare for a top college athlete to not go out and drink." Gabriella told him, still nervous as to what he would think.
"You're right, it is rare," Troy smiled at her, assuring her he wasn't angry. "In my view, I want to stay in top shape for basketball. I mean, I worked hard for my scholarship and I don't want anything screwing up my chances."
Gabriella admired Troy as he talked so passionately about the game he loves realizing that she was gaining so much more respect for him hearing his response.
"I agree," Gabriella grinned shyly. Troy returned her smile and the two stared at each other for a few moments before Gabriella softly cleared her throat. "So, the hang out on Thursday sounds awesome. I'll meet you there at 7:30?"
"Definitely," Troy exclaimed. "And finally, would you like me to bring you some kind of gift to appease your loss this upcoming Saturday?"
"Oh, it's on now Bolton." Gabriella shoved him gently on his shoulder.
"Kidding! Kidding!" Troy chuckled, his hands raised in defense. "Actually I was going to ask if I can walk you back to your room?"
"Sure," Gabriella agreed, trying to ignore the butterflies that erupted in her stomach hearing his words.
Troy and Gabriella began their trek back towards the freshmen dorms, their arms slightly brushing every so often causing the two to blush.
"So, thanks for walking me back Troy." Gabriella leaned against the wall by her door, smiling up at Troy.
Troy grinned back. "My pleasure."
"Well, I better get some sleep. I'll see you tomorrow?"
"Yeah, 11: 15. Goodnight Gabi," Troy said before he leaned down and kissed her cheek.
"Night Troy," she returned as her cheeks turned a shade of pink, before gently closing her door not even caring about the enormous smile on her face.