Chapter 3 - Causa Perdida (Lost Cause)

Mrs Bolton bent down slightly and planted a kiss on Gabriella's cheek. "It was great seeing you again. Y'know, Jack and I were saying the other day how we never see you around the house anymore. Is everything OK?" She stepped back and Gabriella saw Troy standing at the top of the stairs behind her. She swallowed every gut feeling she wanted to scream at his mom and smiled.

"Yeah. Just homework and stuff, barely any time, I'm sure you remember!" She giggled and avoided Troy's gaze.

"Oh, believe me, I know. It seems like Troy's hardly left his room this year! They give you kids far too much work to do!" Troy stood up and took his place next to his mom.

"Mom, I'm sure Gabi has better things to do than stand in a doorway and talk to you." He grumbled, not once looking up from his feet. Mrs Bolton gasped in mock-shock and laughed. Gabriella bit her lip and smiled, honestly she wasn't looking forward to a weekend alone. And once Sharpay found out about her being home alone, she knew it would be one non-stop underage drinking session.

"OK, I can take a hint. I'll leave you two alone!" She laughed and walked away, leaving Gabriella and Troy wide mouthed in protest. They stood in silence for a moment, and Troy's face softened slightly and he opened his mouth to talk, with a smirk on his face.

"Not if you were the last guy on earth." She smiled and left him gawping at the door. Sure, he'd been nice and polite during the meal, but he could hardly be the player in front of his parents, she knew that much. She wasn't naive enough to believe one meal would change anything. He was still an ass, he still thought she was a bitch. No amount of reminiscing could erase the last 2 years. She scraped her hair back and changed into a plain tracksuit, firing up her laptop. She glanced over towards her window and remembered the countless nights the pair would spend just grinning out of eachother's opposing windows, doing stupid dances or faces. Growing up sucked, she decided, wrapping herself in her duvet and signing onto msn.

CutiePi: SO?????? How'd it go???

FreakyMathGrl: It was ... ok, actually ...

CutiePi: R U serious???? HE'S TROY BOLTON ... HE'S NEVER OK!!

FreakyMathGrl: ino ino ... but he wasn't being such an ass

CutiePi: whatevs, he's still EH's biggest manho lol

FreakyMathGrl: well duh!

CutiePi: Brie...

FreakyMathGrl: ...

CutiePi: Don't get mad...k?

FreakyMathGrl: o...k

CutiePi: Do you still like him? ...

CutiePi: Brie?

CutiePi: Even just a tiny part of you??

FreakyMathGrl: Huh? No! He's a lost cause, Tay, any chance of me and Troy was shattered a long time ago.

CutiePi: OK honey, but y'know if you did, you know you could tell me right?

FreakyMathGrl: Yeah, course, sorry I gotta go, I really need sleep before algebra tomorrow, otherwise I'm totally failing!

CutiePi: Shut up, Brie! But yeah, I guess I better go too! ly xxxxxxxxxxxxxx

FreakyMathGrl may not reply as he/she is offline. Messages sent will be delivered when they next sing in.