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Everything to Me

Chapter four

Gabriella's duvet cover snuggled around her as she lay in her bed a few days later. She was starring at her crisp white ceiling, pressing the covers against her cheek while she yawned. She was trying her hardest to fall back asleep, but the light from outside poured through her windows, and the sheer white curtains did nothing to darken her room.

"I don't want to get up," Gabriella said to herself, pulling her blanket over her head. "I'm staying here for forever."

She was starting to think she was crazy, because she was currently talking to herself, trying to convince herself to stay curled up in a ball in the center of her bed. She went to bed late last night because she stayed up talking to Monica and Angela on a three way call. She was starting to regret the late night girl talk.

Outside, a beeping sound of a truck backing up could be heard, and Gabriella groaned into her pillow, covering her ears. Her dad had suddenly decided that he wanted new landscaping for the front of the house, so the landscape company showed up early this morning to start their work.

"Gabriella, honey, get up."

"I'm tired," Gabriella said to her mom as she peeled back the covers. "Why does Dad want new landscaping, again?"

"Because he's a man and likes dirt, God only knows," Mrs. Montez said.

"Look at this!" Mr. Montez exclaimed, walking into Gabriella's room.

"Sure, come on in. Party in my room," Gabriella said sarcastically as she got out of bed.

"They're tearing the trees down," Mr. Montez said with a smile, looking out of Gabriella's window so that he could see the front yard from a better view. Gabriella walked over to the window quickly, seeing that the front yard was now only a field of dirt.

"Are you doing this because you're looking for a way to spend all of your money, Dad? Because if that's the case, I could use a house of my own, far away from this circus," Gabriella said.

"Why get a house of your own when you can live here rent free while you're finishing up school?" Mrs. Montez said.

"Oh, no reason, really," Gabriella said with an eye roll, walking towards her bathroom. "I'll be showering. I'm locking the door too, so don't even think about asking me about paint colors while I'm shampooing."

"That was one time, Gabi," Mrs. Montez said. "One time."

"And I'll never forget it."

...

"Bolton, get your ass out of the mud!"

Troy jumped away from the mud puddle he was currently sloshing around in, and he laughed as his boss's face grew red in anger. He liked messing with his boss because he looked like his head was going to explode when he got mad, but he never fired anyone unless they got his coffee order wrong.

"This road isn't going to get paved if you're acting like a kid in a sandbox, boy," Frank, his boss, said.

"Okay, okay," Troy said, holding the stop sign he was using to direct traffic with up straighter.

Monica pulled up on the dirt road that was currently being worked on after telling Gabriella to meet her at the beach after lunch. She waved the air around her, trying not to inhale the dirt that was flying around. Her Jeep would surly be dusty after this drive. She squinted when she saw Troy standing by the side of the road, looking bored as he held up a stop sign.

"Ew, what are you doing?" Monica called after him when he finally looked over at her.

"Working," he said with a grin.

"Ew," Monica said with a sick look on her face, like she couldn't fathom the concept of working. "How many jobs do you have anyways?"

"Oh look at that, time to go," Troy said to her, turning around the stop sign so that it read slow instead of stop. Monica glared at him as she drove past him, and he simply waved at her, moving the sign around so that it looked like it was waving her goodbye.

...

"You wouldn't believe who I saw today," Monica said as she and Gabriella walked towards the beach. Each of them had their own beach bag slung over their shoulder and they were both wearing a bikini top and shorts.

"Who?" Gabriella asked, rubbing her lips together to make sure she still had Chap Stick covering her lips.

"Hot Bod."

Gabriella laughed, shaking her head as she and Monica stopped at a good spot and laid their towels down.

"Honestly, that doesn't surprise me at all."

"Yeah, he was standing in a construction zone with a stop sign in one hand. He looked pretty bored," Monica replied, sitting down on her towel. "That guy must be good at everything if he has so many freaking jobs."

"I haven't seen him in a while. I was starting to run into him a lot," Gabriella said as she too sat down on her towel. She took a sip of water from her water bottle and then laid down.

"Well since he's the only guy you've become even remotely interested in, why don't you see if he's good at…"

"Hey, didn't you just tell me I could do better?" Gabriella asked, looking over at her. "You exiled me at your party because I was talking to him and now you're changing your mind? What gives?"

"Well, I was talking to Anthony…"

"Which is never good."

"And he was saying how some of the guys were weirded out by your vibe at the party and that you probably weren't going to get any anytime soon… so."

"I can't believe you," Gabriella said angrily. She slapped the sand next to her and shook her head as she squinted away the sun that made its way through her sunglasses.

"What?" Monica whined, pouting as she kept her eyes closed underneath her sunglasses.

"You want me to date someone just because douche bag Anthony said it was okay?"

"Not technically… he just said he wasn't up for the chase, so now he's off the possibilities list."

"So you're saying the only one left for me is Troy?"

"It sounds bad when you say it like that," Monica said to her. "He's hot, right? It could work."

"He's motivated," Gabriella said to her. "Unlike all of the guys we know."

"Yeah, but who wants motivated when you can have money?" Monica asked seriously.

"You're a dumb rich girl, Monica," Gabriella sighed.

"So are you, so are you."

...

"Hey, guys, let's see if we can freak out the girls," Anthony said with a laugh, tiptoeing with his friends towards Gabriella and Monica later that day as they were flipped over on their stomachs and most likely sleeping.

The rest of the guys snickered as they got closer to them, and Anthony tossed a cracker up in the air, watching as a seagull caught it and a few more swarmed towards it.

"One, two, three," Anthony shouted, tossing his handful of crackers at the girls. His friends followed and within seconds the girls were screaming as birds flew at them. The birds seemed used to that commotion because even as the girls jumped around and threw their towels at them, they only moved temporarily, coming back to get the food on the beach.

Gabriella punched Anthony hard on the arm and he winced as the group stepped away from the birds when the motor of a four wheeler became louder. Troy came riding up the beach and towards the group of annoying and pooping birds, causing them to scatter and fly away. His arms were dusted with dirt, but his shirtless chest was clean and the main focus of Monica and Gabriella.

The motor of the four wheeler stopped and Anthony snickered at the somewhat pissed expression on Troy's face.

"It's a thirty dollar fine for feeding the birds. It costs money to clean up the beach," Troy said, handing over a slip of paper to Anthony, who didn't seem too fazed. Instead, he pulled his wallet out of his back pocket and pulled out two twenties and a ten.

"Here's fifty. Maybe you can get yourself something nice with it," he said.

Troy grabbed the money from his hand and held onto it as he started the motor up again, driving off and leaving the group in a cloud of dust.

"You're an ass hole, Anthony," Gabriella said, shoving him with two hands before jogging towards the lifeguard tower.

Troy was parking his four wheeler underneath the tower when Gabriella finally got there, and he raised his eyebrows when he saw her.

"Hey, sorry about that," Gabriella said, watching as he made his way up the stairs to the tower. She followed him, even though she figured she wasn't supposed to. "They're idiots."

"Whoa there pretty lady, you're not allowed up here," Rocket said. He jumped down from the ledge where he had just been sitting and looked over at Troy, who was pinning the extra money he got from the ticket on a cork board. Gabriella noticed that it wasn't the only large bill pinned up there.

"Please?" Gabriella asked, batting her eyelashes at him.

"Okay," Rocket said with a shrug. "It's not my rule anyways."

"What's the board for?" Gabriella asked them.

"This is the rich people think we're poor board," Rocket said with a smile. "For some reason people hand over tons of extra money to people who work for them. Idiots, if you ask me."

"Who gets the money?" Gabriella asked, watching Troy pick up a pair of binoculars, scanning the lake with them, not too interested in her being there.

"Whoever rescues the prettiest girl after a few months," Rocket explained. "Troy's in the running for it already."

"Really?" Gabriella asked, trying not to sound too disappointed at the idea of Troy running around the beach playing hero with a bunch of girls.

"Yeah, luckily he rescued you, huh?" Rocket smiled.

"Oh," Gabriella blushed, tucking her hair behind her ear. "Thanks."

"I don't really need the money, anyways, my dad owns all of the KFC's in a two hundred mile radius of here."

"Oh, wow, you're… you probably…"

"I'm rich," Rocket filled in for her. "Don't be shy."

Gabriella giggled softly, seeing how smiley he was as he talked to her about his random life. Troy stood by the ledge of the tower looking tense and not in the mood to talk.

"Okay."

"I mean, I'm rich compared to Troy, but to you," Rocket started, twisting a piece of her hair around his finger. "You're rich in a lot of different areas. You have me beat."

"Shit, Rocket, did you eat sugar for breakfast again, because you're horny," Troy said, gripping onto Rocket's shoulder and pulling him away from Gabriella.

"Sorry, man, I couldn't resist the flakes!"

"Go do something productive," Troy said to him.

"Fine," Rocket groaned, walking out of the tower with his shoulders slouched.

Gabriella could only laugh as she watched Rocket walked down the beach towards a group of girls. Troy looked into the binoculars again, this time leaning against the wall of the tower.

"Like I said before, I'm sorry about Anthony," Gabriella said to him, walking over to the ledge and leaning against it, looking out at the lake from there.

"It's fine. It happens all of the time."

"You okay?" Gabriella asked, noticing that he didn't have the usual grin on his face that she had noticed when she first started seeing him around.

"Yeah," Troy nodded. "I just didn't get any sleep last night."

"Bartending again?" Gabriella asked.

Troy nodded. "Then early morning construction."

"Job number four."

"The last of my many jobs," Troy said, knowing that she was probably wondering what other jobs he might have.

Gabriella nodded, keeping her eyes on the lake when the conversation didn't continue. She could hear seagulls flying around above them, but the roof of the tower protected them from any surprise droppings.

"Okay, well, I guess I'll let you get to work," Gabriella said, pushing away from the ledge. "You're obviously not in the mood for conversation."

"I'm—"

"No, it's okay, I'll go," Gabriella told him, putting her hands up for him to stop. "Sorry again."

"Gabriella!" Troy watched as she stopped midway down the stairs. He leaned over the ledge so that he could see her better. "The sunset looks really good from up here. Do you want to meet me here around eight? I'll take a nap so I'm not an ass."

"I'll be here," Gabriella replied, smiling brightly even though she tried not to give away the fact that she was excited.

"Good," Troy grinned, running his hand over the back of his neck as she turned to leave. He felt better already as he watched her walk back to her friends with a nice big smile on her face.

...

Gabriella was nervous. It had been a while since she went on a date, if you could call watching a sunset with Hot Bod a date, but in any case, it had been a while. She had changed twice, switched cars three times, and turned home once when she started to doubt if Troy was serious about his offer. She was now sitting in the parking lot, tapping her freshly manicured nails on the steering wheel while she waited for the clock to turn eight o'clock.

The sun was already orange and lowering slowly toward the trees and the beach was closed, leaving it empty and intimidating looking.

"Get a hold of yourself, Gabriella, God," she said to herself, finally taking the keys out of the ignition and opening the door, but not getting out.

"Giving yourself a pep talk?"

"Oh, jeeze!" Gabriella exclaimed, turning to see Troy standing behind her. He was wearing a light white half sleeve shirt that picked up with the wind. His legs were halfway covered in kaki pants. "You're just great at hearing conversations you're not supposed to, aren't you?"

"It's a characteristic I'm very fond of, thank you," Troy said, putting out his hand for her to take it. She did, and he helped her out of the car.

"I like your outfit," Gabriella said with a smile as they walked onto the beach. "I've never seen you out of uniform."

"Ah, well, this is the real me," Troy said with a laugh, pinching his shirt and letting it go.

"It's nice to meet you finally as the real you," Gabriella said jokingly, laughing as they reached the tower.

"After you," Troy said, pointing up the stairs so that she'd take the lead.

"Thanks," Gabriella smiled. "Oh, hey, you cleaned up."

The tower was nearly spotless other than the pair of binoculars sitting on the ledge and the bulletin board with the money pinned on it.

"Rocket must have really liked you. He finally got rid of all the crap he had stored in here so that you'd want to come back," Troy replied, he put his hands in his pockets, looking out at the lake with a smirk.

"Why does everyone call him Rocket? That can't be his real name…" Gabriella started.

"It is," Troy said seriously.

"Oh, sorry!" Gabriella said, covering her mouth with her hand, feeling bad for insulting his friend's name.

"I'm kidding," Troy laughed, nudging her softly with his elbow. "Nah, everyone calls him that because he looks like he just jumped off one. His hair is always in shambles and his sunglasses won't stay on his head straight. The nickname just fits."

"What's his real name?" she asked.

"Brian."

Gabriella laughed, realizing that Rocket definitely didn't look like a Brian.

"Rocket is better," Gabriella agreed. "And now that I think of it, he kind of looks like the KFC guy, but younger."

"He was being modest when he said his dad owned every KFC within two hundred miles of here," Troy replied.

"No way," Gabriella said with a smile.

Troy nodded. "Yup."

"Well, Troy, now that I know everything I could possibly need to know about Rocket, what about you?" Gabriella asked.

"What about you?" Troy said. "I'm sure your life is more interesting."

"No, no, you Googled me, remember? You already know enough about me while I, over here, don't even know your last name."

"Bolton," Troy replied. "Troy Bolton."

He didn't seem too enthusiastic when saying his name; like he wasn't sure he wanted to be that person. Gabriella looked over at him with a confused look on her face, nudging him back.

"He said enthusiastically," Gabriella said sarcastically.

"I don't know, I'm a really boring person. It's always work, work, work with me," Troy said with a shrug.

"Well, why do you work so much?" Gabriella asked, trying to get the conversation going.

"To pay the bills," Troy grinned.

"Wow, this night might be harder than I thought," Gabriella said to him. "Now I'm going to have to start prying."

"Oh no," Troy said teasingly.

"Do you live on your own?" Gabriella asked. "You're probably living like a king with four salaries."

Troy shook his head, perching his elbows on the ledge and looking out at the water. Gabriella did the same but looked at him.

"I live with my mom and sister… well, my sister used to live with us before she went off to school, so it's just me and my mom right now."

"Mama's boy?" Gabriella asked, smiling at him.

"Something like that," Troy laughed.

"I live with my parents too, but they won't actually let me leave," Gabriella told him. "I couldn't exactly live on my own, considering I haven't had a job since the twelfth grade and they control everything."

"Maybe you should get one and start saving up," Troy suggested. "I could help you get one, trust me, I have connections."

"Thanks, but right now my top priority is graduating law school."

"So you want to be a lawyer?" Troy asked, remembering their first conversation about her lost necklace and his doubts about her wanting to actually go to law school.

"Yeah," Gabriella shrugged. "My dad's one, so it's kind of a family thing. I've always wanted to be one…"

"But?" Troy asked once she trailed off. He looked over at her, smiling when they made eye contact.

"I don't want people to be afraid of me like they are of my dad," Gabriella explained. "We can't even go out to dinner without my dad threatening a lawsuit for something as stupid as a stain on a cloth napkin."

"Sounds rough," Troy said.

"I guess it could be worse, right?"

"A lot worse," Troy agreed with a soft smile. They were quiet for a few seconds, watching the sun lower in the sky before Troy said anything else. "You're not what I thought you'd be like," he told her.

"Really?" Gabriella asked, smiling as she wondered if that was a good or bad thing. "What'd you think I'd be like?"

"I don't know, like Monica, who exclaims ew too much, or like Anthony, whose money went straight to his head."

"Well, thank you," she said. "And you're not who everyone else thinks you are."

Troy looked over at Gabriella in surprise, noticing the orange light of the sun shinning on her face. He couldn't help but laugh at her statement, and she looked at him when she heard his laugh.

"Who does everyone think I am?" Troy asked.

Gabriella shrugged, bumping her shoulder with his.

"A poor guy with four jobs," Gabriella said.

"But I am a poor guy with four jobs," he laughed.

"Yeah, but to me you're a huge mystery," Gabriella told him. "And I have a feeling there's a lot more to you than four jobs and a small yellow house on December Street."

"You'll be a good lawyer," Troy said, standing up from his leaning position. "You know how to read people."

She smiled when he grinned at her, and she nodded with confidence, realizing that it meant a lot to hear from someone that they thought she'd be a good lawyer. She didn't say anything as she watched the sun lower behind the trees, only leaving the sky with a soft orange glow.

...

"Rock, paper, scissors, shoot!"

"Dang it!" Troy exclaimed, pushing Gabriella away from him when she beat him once again, this time with scissors to his paper. She giggled as she sat on the dock by the lifeguard tower, shaking her head as he said something about quitting.

"No, you're doing fine," Gabriella laughed. "It's fifty-fifty."

"I know when to back down, Gabriella," Troy laughed, pulling her into a side hug, giving her a rough rub on her head so that it messed up her hair. She squealed when he did it, but didn't push him away.

"Okay, okay, we don't have to play anymore," Gabriella said, laughing still. She swung her feet over the edge of the dock, and looked into the water, not being able to see the bottom.

"It's been a long time since I played that," Troy said, leaning back against his hands as he too dangled his feet over the edge.

"It's been a long time since I laughed that hard," Gabriella said with a giggle.

"You need to get out more, Montez," Troy laughed. "Find more interesting people to hang out with."

"Maybe I will," Gabriella stated, looking over at him. "You'll see."

"I'll see," Troy laughed, hearing Gabriella start to laugh again. They had been laughing on and off for a while and neither of them knew why they couldn't control the happy feelings inside of them.

Gabriella leaned back, lying down on the dock so that she could see the star filled sky. Her legs stayed dangling over the side as Troy joined her, looking up at the stars. They stayed quiet, both of them keeping their hands on their stomachs, neither of them touching each other as they stayed in their spots.

"Do you ever feel like stars are a lot less magical after learning about them in school?" Gabriella asked him.

"I never took astronomy," Troy said to her. "So stars were never ruined for me," he laughed.

"Lucky," Gabriella smiled.

"Yeah, business was more up my ally," Troy told her. "I could never stay awake for science class."

"Did you study business in college?" Gabriella asked, casually bringing up the school topic since she was wondering if the guy lying down next to her was a drop out or just not into the college thing.

"Yeah, I have a Masters in it from the University of Michigan."

Gabriella looked over at him, not commenting right away. He turned his head too, looking over at her when she didn't say anything, which surprised him.

"You have a Masters in business, yet you choose to collect trash?" Gabriella asked, not comprehending why a smart, motivated person wouldn't live life to its fullest.

"Is that a crime?" Troy asked, putting his hands under his head. Gabriella flipped over on her stomach, which made her right next to him now. She looked down at him.

"No, but why'd you choose four jobs instead of just one stable one?"

Troy raised his eyebrows at her, sighing as he looked up at the sky.

"Like I said when I first talked to you, I want to be everything."

"But you can't—"

"Okay, okay, I already heard you the first time," Troy said, interrupting her so that she couldn't tell him that he couldn't be what he wanted to be.

"I'm sorry, I guess I just don't understand," Gabriella explained. She folded her arms out in front of her and rested her head on them.

"Let's just say I have a similar dilemma as you," he replied. "I don't want to be like my father."

"Why? What's your dad like?"

"Now you're starting to pry," Troy told her, smiling softly.

"Sorry, habit. I always want the truth, nothing but."

"I get it," Troy nodded.

They both looked up when they heard a snapping sound coming from the beach and noticed that people were walking through the parking lot. Gabriella sat up, taking her feet away from the edge of the water just in case there was something in the water.

"Is there someone trespassing on the beach?" Gabriella asked.

"Just us," Troy whispered.

Gabriella looked at Troy with wide eyes, wondering if they would get in trouble for being on the beach after hours. He grinned, lessening her panic since he seemed to be joking with her.

"You're always the jokester, aren't you?" Gabriella asked as she started to stand up, not wanting to be on the dock anymore now that they were hearing sounds.

"Where are you going?" Troy asked with a laugh, getting up too.

"I'm starting to get creeped out. I think there's someone on the beach other than us," Gabriella explained.

"I guess we'll have to investigate," Troy said, running down the dock and onto the beach, leaving Gabriella in the dark as he disappeared out of her view.

"Oh, great," Gabriella said loudly so that wherever he was, he could hear her. "You're going to leave a beautiful girl alone on an empty beach, I'll probably get—"

Gabriella screamed when she was grabbed from behind and lifted in the air. She heard Troy's laugh in her ear as she swatted at his arms.

"You are such a worrier," Troy laughed, setting her down and loosening his arms around her.

Gabriella turned around so that she was facing him, and he kept his arms around her waist, resting his hands on the small of her back. She looked up at him, shaking her head. He had his usual grin decorating his face, which made her anger only last a few more seconds.

"You should be more careful, if I didn't know that was you, I probably would have knocked you out," Gabriella said.

"Sure," Troy said with a nod, doubting that she would have been able to do anything at all.

"Hey! I'm tough!" Gabriella exclaimed, socking him on the arm.

"I believe you," Troy said back, laughing as he grabbed his arm. "That felt more like a tap though."

"Whatever," Gabriella said quietly, shaking her head at him as her hands rested on his arms.

Troy smirked down at her, taking the quiet moment they were having now to lean toward her. Gabriella raised herself up on the tips of her toes slightly, feeling her heart jumping inside of her as she too leaned forward. Just as their lips were mere seconds away from touching, the two were blinded by a light.

"You're trespassing," they heard someone say. Troy and Gabriella squinted, holding their hands up to block the light. They opened their eyes fully when the light was taken off of their faces and pointed to the ground.

Gabriella couldn't help but nudge Troy hard in the gut when she saw two police officers standing before them.

"No, Harvey, it's me, Troy," Troy said with a shake of is head.

The police officer with the light squinted, laughing when he saw the familiar face.

"Ah, Troy, that is you," He replied. "But she's not off the hook."

"She's with me!" Troy said quickly, holding his left hand up in protest. Gabriella looked over at him, smiling softly when he quickly came to her defense and how easily he said she was with him. "Obviously," he added, pointing to the barely-there distance between the two.

The officers exchanged looks, grinning obviously.

"Alright, you two, you can go back to whatever it was that you were about to do before we got here," Harvey said with another laugh. "Sorry."

Troy simply stood in his spot next to Gabriella and watched as the two men who just interrupted an almost-kiss got back in their squad car and pulled away. Gabriella laughed next to him.

"It's getting kind of late," Gabriella said, looking up at Troy. "I should probably get going."

Troy closed his eyes, sighing.

"Sure," Troy nodded. "I'll walk you to your car."

Gabriella nodded back, smiling as she walked up the beach, holding her shoes in her right hand. Once to her car she opened the door and sat down, purposely eliminating the awkwardness there would be if she stayed out of her car and figured out if they should or should not kiss goodbye.

"Goodnight, Gabriella," Troy said as he stood a few steps away from her car, his hands in his pockets while the wind picked up his white shirt in the wind, making him look even more attractive to Gabriella as she placed her hands on her steering wheel.

"Goodnight, Troy," she said with a smile, pulling out of her parking spot. "I hope to see you soon."

With that, she pulled away, leaving Troy alone in the parking lot by the beach wondering what it would be like to be with someone as beautiful as she was.


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unknownbyhim22