Gabriella was staring into the beautiful blue ocean while she was leaning up against the side railing that you could see through. It was 4:45 PM so the blazing hot sun was starting to sink in the Mexican horizon. She could feel the ocean breeze running over her skin, feeling amazing since it was close to eighty-five degrees out. Her eyes close as she felt at peace for this moment in her dramatic life. But her eyes open back up again to see that the dark girl was still standing next to her. She and Taylor had spent the rest of the afternoon by the pool, talking and just getting to know each other. She knew they were going to become really good friends, since they seemed to compliment each other. Which was good, because friends were what she needed right now.
"It's beautiful." Taylor exclaims as she smiles out into the ocean. They were now standing where the pool area was separated from the beach, just staring off into the ocean. Gabriella looks down and could see many thin girls walking around in the sand. She had discovered that about ten of the twenty teams were staying in the same hotel they were. But that didn't stop other tourists. She saw plenty of little kids, middle aged people, and elderly people enjoying the sun today.
"I can't believe the school would sponsor us to go to Mexico for a camp!" Gabriella exclaims and shakes her head while staring off into the sea, with the wind playing with her hair. She couldn't get her mind to wrap around this concept. Sure, her old school took them on fieldtrips every once in awhile, but this was the ultimate fieldtrip. It basically took every other school trip she had been on and made it look stupid, which it usually was anyways.
Taylor sighs and leans up against the railing. "It's one of the best out there, and is probably one of the reasons why we're so good." Taylor explains. "We do it every year. Us and the basketball team. We fund raise a lot…"
Hold up. That was something that wasn't mentioned before. The basketball team was here? Since when! Wow, this school must be rich. "Wait… the basketball team is here too? How come I haven't seen them?" Gabriella asks curiously.
"Oh… you will… don't worry." Taylor says while looking out into the ocean again. "Their hotel is next door, they have a camp here too that starts and ends on the same day. They probably do that on purpose come to think of it…" She says and Gabriella shakes her head in shock.
"You guys must take sports seriously." She says and Taylor laughs a little.
"Yea… I guess we do. Especially basketball and dance though. Football's pretty serious as well; they usually go to state too. But yea, you'll see them around." She says with a smile playing on her face that Gabriella knew meant more then just happy that they were a bunch of guys. But she didn't want to push the matter. "What time is it?" She asks and Gabriella pulls out her silver cell phone to check the clock.
"Almost five-fifteen." She responds and looks at Taylor.
"We should probably head in, since we're going to dinner at seven." She says and then Gabriella nods and they start to make their way inside.
Sharpay had called Taylor's phone while they were lying out earlier to tell them that the team was going to dinner at seven. Gabriella had to admit, she was a little nervous for this. It was one thing to have two people like her, but technically Sharpay had to like her since she was captain and she just majorly lucked out with Taylor. Now she was going to meet the whole team.
They make their way back up to their hotel room and walk inside. Gabriella takes the first shower, and then walks out of the bathroom in just a towel around her waist and a towel around her head. Taylor walks in and takes a shower while Gabriella was at the mirror doing her make up and curls her hair. She just finishes up putting on her eyeliner when Taylor walks out. "The best part about hotels, you don't have to clean up after yourself."
Gabriella giggles and turns off her curling iron and looks in the mirror to see her hair was completely down in large curls. She still just had a towel on as she walks over to where her suit case was still packed and looks up. "So what are you wearing?" She asks, having no idea how dressed up she should be.
Taylor shrugs. "Just this." She says while she holds up a fuchsia summer dress that looked like it'd flow around her body. Gabriella nods, giving her the idea that it was casual, but not jeans and a t-shirt. So she slips on a stretch knit dress with a fit-and-flare shape that was ribbed. It had a lined crochet skirt and was a racerback tank and was black with a white belt (pic in profile). She also pulls out a pair of low one inch black heels to match and a black purse. "Holy shit, you look hot!" Taylor exclaims and Gabriella smiles and looks at Taylor's dress and how it cut low, revealing cleavage. She also had silver heels on and a silver necklace that hung down.
"Thanks. So do you." Gabriella compliments and looks at the clock. It was 6:50 PM. She turns back to see Taylor looking at the same thing.
"You ready to go?" Taylor asks as Gabriella takes a deep breath and nods. They make sure they have a room key to get back in and then walk out the door. "Are you nervous?"
"Nervous?" Gabriella asks as if she wasn't sure, even though she was. "No… I'm ok…" Even though she knew that was a total lie. Taylor rolls her eyes.
"Yea right." She says and Gabriella sighs.
"Ok, I'm nervous as hell." She says truthfully as both of them step into the elevator and hit the lobby button. "What whatever… I guess I gotta get over it." She exclaims and Taylor smiles.
"That's the spirit." She says sarcastically and the doors to the elevator open. Both girls walk side by side into the lobby, where Gabriella could see over thrity people standing in. Some of them were couples, others were families, anything you could think of. Taylor leads her over to where about ten girls were standing in the middle of the lobby talking happily. Gabriella could barely feel her legs as all of the girls turned to look at her, but she tries to show off the confidence she knew she had deep down.
"Hey Tay!" All the girls greet her roommate and then turn to her.
Taylor smiles at all of them and then turns to them. "Hey guys, this is Gabriella Montez. Gabriella, this is Melissa, Angie, Erica, Becca, Katie, Jessica, Crystal, and Brittany. And those are the captains, Amber Whitman and you know Sharpay."
Sharpay gives Gabriella a warm smile and waves while Gabriella returns the smile. But her eyes then cast over to the girl, Amber Whitman. She was extremely pretty, there was no denying that. Her brown hair was a deep chocolate color and reached past her elbows, which was stick straight. She was tall and slender, with legs that anyone would kill for. Her eyes were a bright green that seemed to pop out, although they were in slight slits. Her eyebrows seemed to narrow a little and she had a look on her face that seemed to be examining Gabriella for all faults. In a way, she reminded Gabriella of Megan Fox. She had a small smirk on her face as she tilted her head to the side.
She was wearing a black dress that was dangerously high on her thighs and Gabriella was pretty sure that if she bent over, you'd see a whole lot of her. The dress was spaghetti strapped and had what almost looked like a silver band that wrapped around the top. Below it though, was a square cut out, so you could see most of her cleavage. She was wearing huge black heels as well. Gabriella looks around at the other girls, to see that they weren't as dressed up as she was, but Amber didn't seem to care. Her eyes were still staring at Gabriella with her lips pursed. But then a smile breaks out onto her lips. "Welcome to the team." She says in a smooth voice.
Gabriella feels her lips form a fake smile as she looks at the girl. "Thanks." She says, trying to hide the attitude that was seeping through her voice. Ever since she was little, she had tried not to judge people by their appearance, but there was something about this girl that had Gabriella on edge. Her smile seemed sincere, but there were something about her eyes that Gabriella didn't trust.
"So… are we ready to go?" Sharpay asks, looking from Amber to Gabriella. Both girls turn to her and Amber's smooth face breaks out into another smile.
"Yep. Let's get the fuck out of here." She says and looks back at Gabriella one more time, before walking towards the door like a model.
"Get your ass up!" Troy's eyes that were staring at the TV were suddenly covered. It takes him a second to realize Chad had just thrown a shirt at his face. He removes the shirt and lies his head back down on the white soft pillow. They had gotten in from the pool almost two hours ago and Troy hadn't moved from his spot on his bed since then. His plan was to basically sleep until 5:15 AM, since their camp started at six the next morning. "We're going out."
Troy groans. "Fuck no." He says as Chad's head pops from the bathroom and looks at Troy.
"Fuck yea. The team's going to dinner and last I checked you were our captain, so you better get your ass moving." He says and Troy groans again.
"Tell them I drank the water and have twelve hour food poisoning or some shit like that." He says and Chad's head sticks out of the bathroom again.
"Dude… seriously. What are you gonna do? Sit here and watch TV all night?" He asks as Troy glances at the TV to see the Lakers make a perfect three pointer against the Pistons. His shoulders shrug as he looks back at Chad's gigantic afro.
"Why not?" He asks and Chad's almost black eyes roll.
"Dude… you're going. Now get some cologne on or something, cuz you smell like shit." He says and goes back into the bathroom. Troy rolls his eyes and stands up and stretches. It wasn't that he didn't want to hang out with the team, cuz he'd love to on any other occasion, but the first day of camp was tomorrow, and he didn't want to be overly tired, or worse, have a hangover.
But Troy follows his orders and opens one of the drawers that he shoved all of his jeans into. His head looks up again. "Where are we going?" Troy calls into the bathroom and Chad's head sticks back out again.
"Zeke said A La Parrilla." He says and Troy groans. It was a local, nice Mexican restaurant. He had been there many times before, and that meant he couldn't wear a t-shirt like he wanted.
"Couldn't we just go to Burger King or something?" He asks and Chad laughs then sticks his head back into the bathroom once again. Troy groans and then grabs a pair of dark jeans and throws them on his bed. He then opens another drawer and grabs a plain white wife beater and then a light blue button up shirt from Hollister. He quickly changes and rolls up his sleeves so they were three quarter length. He then glances in the mirror and fixes his hair a bit. He was just spraying on his Fierce cologne when Chad steps out of the shower, wearing a black long-sleeved polo and light jeans.
"You ready?" He asks as Troy nods and glances at the clock. It was 7:50 PM, so he assumes that the rest of the guys would be meeting them in the lobby at 8:00.
"I guess I have to be huh?" Troy says and Chad pats him on the back.
"You'll be glad you went. Besides, Zeke turned eighteen last week." He says with a smirk as Troy grabs his wallet and they both walk out the door, into the hallway that had a courtyard, mimicking the hotel next door.
"What does that have to do with anything?" Troy asks as he glances at his door once again, smirking as they were in room 414. Fourteen, as most people knew, was Troy's basketball number. They walk to the end of the hallway and Chad presses the down button.
"The legal drinking age in Mexico is eighteen. Which means, Zeke can buy us a fuck load of alcohol." He exclaims as they both step inside the elevator and Chad presses the lobby button. That might have been the end of Troy tonight. "Although, it's not like they check IDs anyways."
Troy shrugs and takes a deep breath. "Ok… well when you have a hang over for 6 AM workout tomorrow, don't come crying to me." Troy says with a smirk, knowing that he'd probably end up drinking his guts out too.
A round of laughter suddenly erupts from the table as Gabriella covers her mouth, careful not to spill her drink. They had arrived at the restaurant a half hour ago and were all waiting on their food. Even though it was only a half hour that went by, it seemed like the night was going smoothly. She was sitting at a large round table with Taylor on her left. On her right was a blonde with hair that reached down her back. Her eyes were blue and she had one of the best smiles Gabriella had ever seen in her life. She remembers Taylor saying her name was Melissa.
"So… Gabriella." A long-haired brunette with dark eyes and a small nose turns to her. She was pretty sure the name was Angie. "Tell us about yourself."
Gabriella feels a smile grow on her face, even though she felt all eyes on her. She was starting to fall back into her normal, confident self, and was getting rid of the nerves that had settled before. "What do you wanna know?" She asks and all of the girls look at each other. She could feel a pair of green eyes piercing into her head, but she didn't want to look. She knew Amber was staring at her; she didn't need to confirm it.
"Well for starters… is it true you were in a company?" A shoulder-length red head, Becca, asks her and Gabriella smiles confidently.
"Yea… since I was twelve." She says and all of the girls look at each other in shock, except for Taylor, who looks at Sharpay with knowing smiles, and Amber, who still had a smug look on her face. "But it's completely different then what you guys do."
"You must be good." Amber says coolly and Gabriella looks at her. She was still smirking while her fingers traced the edges of her martini glass.
Gabriella's shoulders move up and down for a shrug. "You could say that." She says and Amber tilts her head once again, examining her again.
"We'll see tomorrow won't we?" She says and takes a bite of her olive that was sitting on top of her martini. The other girls were silent as the two girls stared at each other. Green into brown. Gabriella was always good a staring contests, and usually never lost.
"So… what else?" A girl with short, spiky hair that worked for her, Erica, asks and Gabriella finally rips her eyes away from Amber's. "You must have a boyfriend."
Gabriella's face falls into a small lazy smile. She did, for awhile, but she didn't like to talk about the details on that one. "No, I left someone back in San Diego, but we had broken up right after prom." She says with a sad smile on her face. But she quickly recovers. "Whatever. I don't have time for a boyfriend anyways." She says trying to cover up for it.
Almost as if saved, she suddenly looks behind her to see that the tall, Hispanic waiter was standing behind them with twelve trays. They get their food, Gabriella getting quesadillas, and then begin eating. The team suddenly broke up with chatter with their neighbors, so Gabriella turns to see Sharpay and Taylor talking.
"Speaking of boyfriends." Sharpay says while swallowing her enchilada. "How the whole Chad thing going?"
Gabriella's eyebrows rise to this. Who was this Chad? She was curious, but didn't want to be extremely nosy since she only met Taylor a few hours ago. She could see a blush erupt on Taylor's face. "Um… there's not Chad thing." She explains and Sharpay rolls her eyes.
"Yea right. I saw you two on the plane." She says and then turns to Gabriella.
"Who's Chad?" Gabriella asks, her curiosity getting the best of her. Sharpay grins.
"The guy Taylor's in love with. He's on the basketball team, and is friends with my boyfriend, Zeke Baylor. You'll probably see him soon." She explains and Gabriella's mouth forms an "o".
"I'm not in love with him." Taylor says defensively.
"Sure honey, whatever you say." Sharpay exclaims and smiles at her.
After another half hour of eating and talking, they pay the bill and then stand up. So far, the night had gone a lot better then Gabriella would have thought it would have. The girls all seemed nice and she was happy that they seemed to include her in whatever it was they were doing. Gabriella grabs her purse that was sitting on the table and turns to leave with the rest of the girls as they made their way through the restaurant.
"Uh, I don't want to go tomorrow!" Melissa exclaims beside her and looks at her. "The first day is the most boring thing in the world." She explains and Gabriella shrugs.
"We get to dance right?" She asks and watches as Melissa nods slowly. "Well then it can't be that bad."
"Our team partners up with another." Sharpay explains. "Then the councilors call the shots. If you get a good one, then you'll dance for most of the day. If you get a shitty one, then you'll be bored until Thrusday." She says while they push open a door and walk out into the warm Mexican air. "Some of them have really hard asses, like they expect the best."
"Well then you won't have a problem… will you Gabriella?" She hears a smooth voice and turns to see Amber smiling at her. Was that a real smile? She couldn't tell. Was what she just said even a compliment? That she couldn't tell either. Their eyes stare at each other for another moment longer, before Amber pulls away and looks to see a cab pulling up. "See you in the morning." She says while she, Jessica, Katie, and Brittany all walk towards it. The other girls wave as they get in and drive off.
"Don't worry about her." Angie tells Gabriella. "She can be a huge pain in the ass sometimes, but she really knows her stuff." In the distance, three different cabs pull up and open their doors.
Gabriella shrugs. "I don't know what to think of her." She says truthfully. Suddenly, she hears a small shriek and turns to see that Sharpay was running towards something. Or that was, someone. Gabriella watches as her thin, long arms wrap around a tall, dark person. Gabriella looks around at everyone else, seeing if they thought it was weird, but instead they all had excited looks on their faces. Who was this guy? But she watches as about seven people all walk out from the three cabs and turns to see Taylor's eyes light up. "Who are…"
"It's the basketball team." Taylor says, her eyes not leaving a spot. Suddenly, it all made sense. The guy Sharpay was now kissing was probably that Zeke that she was telling Gabriella about. The eight guys who had walked out walk up to the girls and smirk. They were all cute, but there was really no one who stood out that caught Gabriella's attention. Damn it.
"Hey ladies." One of them says. He was dark and had the biggest afro Gabriella had ever seen. She does her best not to laugh at it, but suddenly looks to the side to see that Taylor was blushing. "Hey Tay."
It suddenly clicks. This must have been the Chad guy or whatever that Taylor was talking about before. "Hey Chad." She says shyly. Gabriella watches as they both give each other small smiles. Yep, there was defiantly some chemistry there, and Gabriella had only seen them together for thirty seconds.
"Where's Troy?" Crystal asks, but Gabriella doesn't hear it. She was too busy taking in her surroundings of all of the guys standing in front of them, giving the dance team hugs. Gabriella suddenly felt extremely awkward she didn't know any of them.
"In the car, looking for his wallet." Chad says but it didn't comprehend what he just said. Chad's almost black eyes suddenly lock on Gabriella's and he smiles a little. "Who's this?"
Taylor smiles. "This is Gabriella Montez. The one from San Diago." She says. "Gabriella, this is Chad Danforth."
Chad's mouth forms a smile. "Hey."
"Hey." Gabriella says back with a confident smile. Taylor then turns to Sharpay who was still kissing the tall dark boy.
"And that's Zeke Baylor." She says and then turns to a guy with black hair and light brown eyes standing next to Chad. "And that's Jason Cross." The two guys smile at her as the other girls suddenly interrupt before Taylor could introduce her to the other guys.
"Tay! Shar! Gabriella! Come on we gotta go." Melissa yells while standing by a cab. Taylor smiles sadly, disappointed and Gabriella tries her best not to giggle.
"Yea. We gotta go too." Chad says and Gabriella watches as most of the guys walk into the restaurant. Sharpay, Taylor, and Gabriella were the only ones at the moment who were still talking with Zeke, Chad, and Jason. "See ya later?" He says and Taylor nods eagerly. Chad then turns around and looks over his shoulder. "BOLTON! HURRY YOUR ASS UP!"
"FOUND IT!" She hears someone yell in the distance and then turns back to Taylor.
"Bye guys. And tell him 'hi' for us." Sharpay says and kisses Zeke one more time. Tell who hi? Nothing was making sense. The three girls start walking to the cab, until Gabriella feels her black shoe slip. She stumbles for a second, then the shoe falls off.
"Shit." She mutters as she watches Taylor and Sharpay hop into the cab. She bends over and puts the heel back on and suddenly stands up and rams shoulders with someone, sending pain through it. She stumbles back for a moment, but then stops dead in her tracks Her eyes look up and suddenly her breath was caught in her throat.
"Watch…" His perfect lips moved but then stop. She suddenly felt herself face to face with the most beautiful thing she had ever seen in her life. The guy's chestnut hair fell perfectly over his perfectly sculpted eyebrows. His nose was small and was the most incredible shape. His mouth slightly hung open in awe, revealing his bright white teeth. But that wasn't what Gabriella was staring at. Her deep, dark chocolate eyes suddenly met a pair of piercing blue orbs that were as beautiful as the Pacific Ocean itself. And he was staring back at her. It was almost as if time stopped as both of them couldn't move. The noises around them came to a halt as neither one could take their eyes off the other. Both of them were mesmerized by the image they were taking in, both not even able to say words to the form in front of them.
"BOLTON! LET'S GO!" Something was ringing in the distance.
"Come on!" She hears Sharpay's voice yell. The world started turning again and she suddenly takes a step backwards. Her eyes rip away from his as she turns around and shuffles to the cab. But her head kept seeing those beautiful ocean eyes. Once inside the cab, she turns around one more time and looks out the window to see the gorgeous guy was still standing in his place, watching as the cab began to drive off.