Author's Note: Thanks to all of my reviewers from Chapter 2!

Smurfy Says Tu Madre Es Feo: Erm...I'm not sure if he does. I just felt like throwing that line from the movie in.

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Title: Because I Loved Him

Summary: A new girl comes to East High, and vows to get a certain basketball captain. When she finally attracts his attention, he leaves Gabriella to be with her. But will he realize who his true soulmate is?

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Chapter 3

Something was happening with Troy.

Gabriella could see it. Suddenly, he was less talkative during lunch, chatting more with Bianca than with the rest of the group. He stopped singing whenever he found Gabriella humming one of their many duets. He spent more and more time in the gym, in fact staying there well past the time that basketball practice was supposed to end.

She wondered if Bianca had anything to do with it. There were plenty of other cheerleaders on the squad who were equally as pretty as her, but Troy had never been interested in any of them. So why was he now?

Gabriella was currently in Chemistry class, listening to the teacher drone on and on about formulas that she already knew. As soon as the bell rang, she rushed out of the classroom and hurried to her locker, where she knew Troy would be waiting for her. (A/N: In my story, Troy and Gabriella's lockers are right next to each other. And in case anybody's confused, I'm making them juniors in this.)

And sure enough, there he was. He had his locker door already open and was searching for something, probably his lunch. Gabriella walked over and twirled her lock, lining up the numbers before pulling the door open. She heard Troy's locker slam shut, telling her that he had found his lunch. Gabriella quickly put her books into her locker and pulled out her lunch, before closing her locker too. She smiled as Troy leaned down to peck her on the lips, and then took her hand and walked with her to the lunch room.

"Man, I did not understand a single word of the Algebra lesson today," Troy groaned. Gabriella chuckled. She knew that Troy had just come from Algebra, his worst and least favorite subject.

"Hey, it's okay," she said soothingly. "If you want, you can come over to my house after school, and I'll go over it with you," she offered.

"Sorry, but no thanks." Gabriella was shocked. She had never known Troy to turn down an invitation to her house.

"Oh, you have plans?" she asked. Normally, he would cancel any other plans he had in order to be with her.

"Yeah," he admitted sheepishly. "I'm going to the movies with Bianca today. I'm sorry," he apologized again.

"Don't worry, it's okay with me," Gabriella said sadly.

By now, they had reached the cafeteria. The rest of their friends were already there, engrossed in their own conversations. But they all looked up when Troy and Gabriella took their seats. Chad, Zeke, Jason, and Ryan all said, "What up, Troy?" and slapped him on the back, while Taylor, Sharpay, and Kelsi all exclaimed, "Hey Gabriella!" They all exchanged greetings and complaints about their previous classes before a loud, high-pitched, and obnoxious, "Troy!" was heard. The gang, except for Troy and Gabriella, groaned as they recognized who the voice belonged to. Troy was happy to see her, while Gabriella was a little suspicious.

Bianca came sauntering over and plopped herself right next to Troy. "So, are we on for the movie today?" she asked.

"Yeah. Of course. I'll come and pick you up at five."

"Sounds good!"

Why would she greet only Troy, and not the rest of us? She's not trying to steal Troy away from me, is she? Gabriella wondered. She was very sensitive about how other girls felt towards her boyfriend. While she wasn't a crazy-overprotective girlfriend, it sent chills through her whenever another girl smiled flirtatiously at Troy. Even though she didn't mean to, Gabriella always found herself comparing the other girls to her.

Bianca noticed that Gabriella was deep in thought. "Gabby, darling, can I see you in the ladies' room for a moment, pretty please?" Bianca simpered, batting her eyelashes. Gabriella winced at the nickname. Looking around, she saw that Troy was drinking all of it in.

She stood up, and walked to the bathroom, without waiting for Bianca. Bursting in, she walked over to one of the sinks and grasped it firmly, breathing deeply. She heard Bianca walk in after her, stop in front of the mirrors, and start touching up her make-up. Gabriella turned to Bianca and said, "Did you need to tell me something?"

Bianca finally dropped the sweet-girl act she'd been putting on ever since the first day of school. She turned too, and stared Gabriella in the eye. "Yeah. What does he see in you?"

The words hit Gabriella like bricks. So she was right. Bianca did want Troy.

"You know, I never did understand it. What Troy saw in you. After all, you're just a nerd, a member of the Geek Club. I'm a cheerleader. I'm blonde, and I'm skinny. What doesn't he like in me?"

"Maybe the fact that you're a spineless, heartless witch that cares for no one but yourself," Gabriella retorted.

"Me? Please. I care for Troy, as in really care. Unlike you, who only wants him to push herself up on the popular scale."

Gabriella felt her temper start to rise. "No. I don't need anyone to make me feel good about myself. I do that on my own."

"Whatever. Besides, isn't it supposed to be anyway? Me with him? He's a jock, and I'm a cheerleader. It's, like, destined, that we get together. The idea of a jock with a nerd is just weird. I'm surprised that no one's said a word about it."

Okay, this girl was going too far. "For your information, Troy and I made the school tighter than it was before. Because of us, no one travels in cliques anymore, no one excludes anybody, and everyone is friendly with each other."

"I don't care about that. But let me tell you something, and make sure you hear me well. I. Am. Going. To. Get. Troy. And nothing you do is going to stop me."

Gabriella felt tears in her eyes. "I hate you," she hissed.

"Bravo! Now she finally knows the feeling I have towards her!" Bianca said sarcastically. She touched up her eyeliner, then swept out the door.

Glancing in the mirror, Gabriella swiped at her tears with the back of her hand. But it was painstakingly obvious that she had been crying. Her cheeks were red and so were her eyes.

Gabriella walked out of the bathroom and back to the cafeteria. But she stopped dead when she saw Bianca getting awfully cozy with Troy, squeezing his shoulders and cooing. And Troy seemed to be enjoying it!

Her only comfort was that her friends seemed as disgusted as her. Even Chad, who was the main force against their relationship in the beginning.

Squaring her shoulders, she strode into the room, and approached the table. Grabbing her lunch, she took the empty seat between Taylor and Kelsi instead, and started stabbing at her pudding. Her friends noticed this, as well as her red eyes, and Taylor asked, "Gabriella, are you feeling okay?"

"Yeah," Chad chimed in. "Did your pudding do something to you?"

Gabriella smiled sweetly. "No, it's not the pudding. Let's just say I had an encounter with a snake that I'd like to forget," she said, while looking pointedly at Bianca.

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Troy was confused.

Something was happening between him and Gabriella. And another something was happening between him and Bianca. And another something was happening amongst his friends. Troy's head was spinning with all of the somethings going on.

First, he decided to tackle the thing between him and Gabriella. For some reason, he didn't feel the same chemistry between them that he had last year. They were drifting apart, and the strange thing was, that while it should have pained him to see his girlfriend become so distant to him, it didn't. They didn't talk much now, and when they saw each other before and after school, what normally would have been a peck on the lips turned into a half-hearted wave on his part. He noticed that Gabriella tried to stay close to him, giving him a comforting hug when he seemed like he needed that, but he stopped responding.

She stopped inviting him to her house, because everyday he had something to do with Bianca. Bianca. There was something happening between them too. For some reason, the chemistry that he used to feel with Gabriella, he now felt with her. He got a strange, tingly feeling in his stomach whenever he saw her, heard her voice, or watched her throw her head back and laugh. Troy felt nervous and jumpy around her, the way he used to feel around Gabriella. He also noticed that his friends were drawing back as well...

His friends. What was up with them anyway? Ever since Bianca had started joining them at lunch, they had become quieter, and less chatty. On Kelsi's behalf, that meant she didn't talk at all. Sharpay and Ryan stopped talking about Broadway, Taylor and Chad stopped bickering, Zeke stopped talking about the desserts he baked, and Jason, well, Jason stopped trying to peek at whatever Kelsi was writing.

Yup, Troy was confused.

And then, it dawned on him.

He was in love with Bianca Sheppard.

And he desperately wanted to ask her out. But the problem was, he already had a girlfriend. And he didn't want to cheat on her, because she didn't deserve it. He just hoped that when all was said and done, that they could still be friends...

That was it. He got up off of his bed, brushed himself off, and went to find Gabriella.