A/N: here's chapter 3

DISCLAIMER: don't own HSM or the original characters

CLAIMER: I do own Reyna, Bryce, Braun, Monique, etc.

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New Jersey:

"Mom, where're we moving to?" Bryce asked.

It was starting to irritate him that she wouldn't say.

"It's a surprise Bryce. You'll find out at the airport," Gabi said.

"Ugh!" Bryce groaned running his fingers through his hair. Just then, Carlos walked into the room. "Dad, do you know?" Bryce asked.

"I sure do," Carlos said.

"Where are we going then?" Bryce asked.

"Can't say," Carlos said.

"But dad!" Bryce whined.

"Hey, I swore to your mother I wouldn't tell you," Carlos explained.

"C'mon dad, what can mom possible do the YOU?" Bryce asked, gesturing to his father's fairly built biceps and strong four pack.

"Oh, you do not want to go there," Carlos said, earning a playful slap from Gabi. Bryce sighed and said, "I think I'm going to go take a walk. I'll be home in an hour or so." "Okay Bryce," Gabi said as her son walked out the door.

Once Bryce was at the end of his block, he pulled his cell phone out of his jacket pocket and dialed Rae.

"Hello?"

"Hey Rae, it's Bryce."

"Oh, hey Bryce. What's up?" Rae asked.

"My mom and dad won't tell me where we're moving to, and it's driving me crazy!" Bryce complained.

"That sucks," Rae said.

"I know," Bryce agreed.

"She hasn't dropped ANY hints?" Rae asked.

"Nope, no a single one." "That really sucks," Rae said. "I know!" Bryce agreed.

The two teens talked over the phone for an hour and a half before Rae had to go practice basketball. "I'll talk to you later, ok?" Rae asked. "Okay, talk to you later," Bryce said hanging up his cell.

On his way home, Bryce started singing "Start of Something New."

As he walked into the house, he didn't notice his mom in the living room and he continued, "I never knew that it could happen till it happened to me, oh, yeah!" Then he heard, "I didn't know it before, but now it's easy to see, OOOHHH!" It was his mom. Together, they sang, "It's the start, of something new. It feels so right to be here with you, oh! And now looking in your eyes, I feel in my heart, that it's the start of something new. It feels so right to be here with you, oh! And now looking in your eyes, I feel in my heart, the start of something new." "Start of something new." "Start of something new…"

Then, Gabi turned the corner and saw Bryce standing there. They both had smiles on their faces.

'He sounds so much like Troy,' she thought.

'I wonder how she knows that song,' Bryce wondered before saying, "Wow mom, I didn't know you could still sing like that."

Gabi just shrugged.

"Mom, can I ask you something?" Bryce questioned.

"Sure Bryce, go ahead," Gabi said.

She headed into the kitchen, her son on her heels.

"That night at the lodge, what did you mean when you talked to Rae's dad?" Bryce asked.

Gabi's soft smile faded and she said, "It's between Mr. Bolton and I, and it's in the past Bryce."

"Mom, won't you please tell me?" Bryce asked.

"Bryce, I can't talk about it. It just… doesn't seem right anymore," Gabi said. Bryce decided not to push the subject any further and went up to his room.

Two days later, Bryce, Gabi, and Carlos were standing in an airport terminal going through the process.

"Plane now boarding for Albuquerque, New Mexico," a voice said over the terminal intercom.

Bryce got an excited look on his face and asked, "We're moving back to Albuquerque?"

"Yeah, your mom got a job teaching advanced chemistry at one of the local high schools," Carlos said.

"I won't get too attached," Bryce sighed.

"Bryce, I made my company promise that I can't get transferred until you graduate, and this time, they signed a contract," Gabi said.

Bryce smiled widely and hugged his mom tight.

"Do you think I'll see Braun and Monique again?" Bryce asked, remembering his first friend friends.

Bryce, Monique, and Braun had been the best of friends in the "Mommy and Me" playgroup that Gabi had signed herself and her young son up for.

"I'm not sure Bryce," Gabi sighed, but she thought, 'I hope so.'

Gabi was dying to see Taylor again. Despite the fact that she had moved around so much, Gabi and Taylor had kept in touch, calling and e-mailing whenever they could. According to Taylor's last e-mail, Monique was captain of East High's Decathlon team and Braun was co-captain of East High's varsity basketball team with Troy's daughter, Reyna, as captain.

That was the only thing Gabi wasn't looking forward to in her new teaching position: working in the same building as Troy. They would have to see each other five days a week. It would be so difficult.

The flight to Albuquerque was long, but Bryce managed to make the best of it with messing around on his laptop, music on his iPod, and doodling in his sketchbook.

Beside his love for academics, Bryce was an amazing artist. It was a small side thing for him that people ushered him to pull full on, but Bryce wanted to read and learn and maybe become a chemistry teacher like his mom.

Just, without all the moving.

After the fourth time of moving in his life, Bryce had promised himself he'd only move for a job if it was interesting enough or if it was an emergency. Other than that, he would stay put in one place to grow up and maybe raise a family.

After the long flight, Bryce, Gabi, and Carlos rented a car to drive to the car dealership they were picking their new car up at.

Bryce, Gabi, and Carlos walked into the car show room where their car was.

"Which one is it mom?" Bryce asked.

"That one over there," Gabi said pointing across the room.

Bryce's jaw dropped. It was a sleek black Range Rover 2005.

"Never been used folks," the salesman said, "110 hot off the press."

Bryce was walking around the car now.

"Go ahead boy, see the inside," the salesman urged.

Bryce opened one of the back seat doors and climbed in. The interior was a soft leather in the perfect shade of light, creamy tan. Bryce looked up and saw that there was a DVD Player built into the ceiling. He pressed the ejecting button and the screen slowly came down. It was about six by eight inches. "We really get THIS car?" Bryce asked. Gabi nodded. Bryce smiled widely and went back to admiring the vehicle.

"RAE! COME DOWNSTAIRS! WE'RE GOING TO MEET THE NEW NEIGHBORS!" Troy shouted from the bottom of the stairs.

"But dad," Rae whined, "I'm on the phone with Monique."

"You can talk to Monique later. Right now, you're coming to meet the new neighbors," Troy said. Rae trudged down the stairs and exited the house with her father.

Troy rang the doorbell and smiled, preparing to greet his new neighbors warmly.

His smile fell when he saw Gabi standing in the doorway, but a smile crossed Rae's face when she saw Bryce behind his mother.

"Bryce? What're you doing here?" Rae asked excitedly.

"I live here in Albuquerque now," Bryce said. "That's awesome!" The two then took notice that their parents were completely silent.

"W-welcome to the neighborhood," Troy stuttered.

"Thanks," Gabi said bluntly.

"Who's at the door Gabs?" Carlos called walking into the foyer.

"Hi, I'm Troy Bolton. I live next door. Welcome to the neighborhood," Troy said sticking his hand out. "I'm Carlos Armando, and this is my wife Gabi and my son Bryce. We just moved here from New Jersey," Carlos said shaking Troy's hand. "I'm sorry my wife isn't here. She had to work today, but she really wanted to meet you," Troy said. "That's okay, you'll just have to come over another time so we can talk," Carlos suggested.

Gabi tried to hide the horror in her eyes, but Troy spotted it. It was clear that she didn't want to see Troy.

"Yeah, I think Rachelle would like that," Troy said.

"Gabs, why so quiet?" Carlos asked. "Oh, uh, no reason," Gabi said, "I'm going to go put some of the dishes away. I'll be in the kitchen." "Okay," Carlos shrugged.

"Bryce, could you come and help me?" Gabi asked. Bryce looked from his mom to Reyna.

"Mom, can't I hang out with Rae?" Bryce asked innocently. "I guess," Gabi shrugged before turning around and walking away.

"C'mon Bryce, I'll show you a lay-up I'm learning for the championship game coming up," Rae said grabbing Bryce's wrist and dragging him off to her house.

"I don't know what's with Gabi," Carlos said shaking his head, "Right before you came over, she was all excited about coming back and being here and finding old friends."

"What do you mean 'coming back'?" Troy asked.

"Well, we've moved around a lot because of Gabi's job, and now she got an offer here in Albuquerque and she immediately accepted. You see, our son Bryce was born here and he made friends with Gabi's old friends' kids. Their names were Braun and Monique I think. Their parents were really nice people," Carlos explained.

"Chad and Taylor Danforth," Troy said. "That's them; how do you know them?" Carlos asked. "Chad's my best friend. We all went to high school together. Gabi and I used to be friends," Troy said.

"You did?" Carlos asked. He looked confused.

"Yeah, didn't Gabi ever tell you about her high school friends?" Troy questioned.

"She did, but she never mentioned a Troy Bolton. She talked about Chad, Taylor, Ryan, Sharpay, Zeke, Jason, and Kelsey, but she never said anything about you," Carlos said.

Troy sighed inwardly and said, "Gabi and I had a little conflict back in sophomore year in college and after that, we didn't keep in touch."

"I met Gabi when I was in junior year and she was in sophomore. We had an instant connection. She told me that hanging out with me was-" Carlos started, and

Troy finished, "Just like kindergarten."

"Yeah, how'd you know?" Carlos asked. 'Because she used to tell me that,' Troy thought before saying, "She used to talk about how in kindergarten, you'd know nothing about the kid sitting next to you, and then ten seconds later you were playing like old friends because you didn't have to be anyone but yourself."

"So how'd you and Gabi meet?" Troy asked. "We had chemistry together. Our teacher paired us up for a project and we started talking and then we'd go to her dorm to study, and eventually, we ended up going out. I proposed to her at her graduation. She accepted, but before she did, she sort of stared off into space with an empty look in her eyes. I don't know what was going through her mind, but now we're happily married and have Bryce," Carlos explained.

"Is your son starting at East High?" Troy asked. Carlos nodded. "I'm basketball captain and gym teacher there. Is Bryce into sports?" Troy asked.

"Nah, Bryce is more of a scholastic person. He's always reading. He took after his mother," Carlos said.

"Gabi was such a bookworm in school. If there was one thing you could find in her hand, it was a book," Troy laughed, Carlos joining in.

"Hey, I've got to go run some errands, so I'm sorry to bail," Carlos apologized.

"It's ok," Troy smiled. "Hey, come over anytime. It seems like our kids are already friends," Carlos said.

"Yeah," Troy sighed before walking back to his house.