Hey there! I'm sorry it took me so long to update. I've been having problems with my internet connection, and I couldn't login to FF for some reason. Anyway, I hope things go much smoother for the future chapters I'm working on. Enjoy!
"Jeez, would you just chill out, Gabriella?" Kelsi said, rolling her eyes playfully at her roommate. She was seated in front of her vanity, putting the finishing touches on her make-up. She looked stunning."It's just a party. There's absolutely no reason for you to be freaking out right now."
Gabriella sighed. "I just want to make sure I'm doing this right," she said, examining her reflection in the mirror carefully. She was wearing a fitted denim miniskirt and a flowy white spaghetti strap top. She wore a gold chain with a butterfly pendant around her neck and had slipped on a pair of gold sandals. Her hair was down because she loved how her natural curls looked. She thought she looked amazing, but she wasn't sure if her outfit looked right. She'd never attended a high school party before so she was pretty clueless about how they worked. "Are you sure I look okay, Kels?"
"Yes, Gabriella. You look gorgeous, and you know it," Kelsi said, standing next to her and smiling. "Troy is going to flip his lid when he sees you."
Gabriella smiled. She knew it was foolish of her to think that Troy inviting her to the party tonight was anything other than a friendly gesture, but she couldn't help herself, not after what Troy said at the end of the class. "I think I'm gonna like Astronomy class," were his exact words. Innocent enough, yes, but the smirk he gave her when he said it was anything but. Gabriella's cheeks flushed red just thinking about him smirk.
"Earth to Gabi!" called Kelsi, snapping her fingers in front of Gabriella's eyes.
Gabriella snapped back to reality. "What?" she said, confused.
Kelsi giggled. "I said, It's 9:30. Are you ready to head to the boys' dorms?" she asked, smirking at her smugly.
Gabriella blushed furiously and nodded. "Yeah. It's now or never, right?" she asked, putting her cellphone in her pocket and fluffing her hair one last time.
"Yep," said Kelsi. She looped her arm through Gabriella's and led her out the door and toward the boys' dormitories.
"Welcome to the party, ladies!" said a dark-skinned boy with a shaggy afro Gabriella recognized from her class. "Chad Danforth. You're the new kid, right?" he asked, smiling at her.
Gabriella smiled and nodded. "It's Gabriella. Gabriella Montez," she said, shaking his hand. She wondered when her classmates would stop calling her The New Kid.
"Welcome to East High, Gabriella. Come on in. The party's just getting started," Chad said, handing plastic cups of punch to her and Kelsi.
Gabriella smiled and sipped the punch. It was fruity and refreshing, but she could taste a slight bitterness which she knew meant it was spiked with alcohol. "Thanks, Chad. See you around," she said, smiling at him again and leading Kelsi into the party.
"Seen Ryan yet?" Kelsi asked, sipping her punch and scanning the room.
"There he is over by the snack table," Gabriella said, grinning at her widely. "Go on. I'll be fine."
Kelsi grinned and kissed her cheek. "See you later," she said, touching her arm and walking toward her boyfriend.
Gabriella smiled at her as she walked away. She and Ryan made a lovely couple. She took another sip from her drink and looked around the room, hoping to see someone she knew. This almost seemed impossible though since it looked as if the entire East High student body was crammed inside this tiny space.
"I was starting to think you wouldn't make it," whispered a husky voice in her ear.
Gabriella spun around and saw a beautiful pair of electric blue eyes gazing into her chestnut brown ones. Troy Bolton was standing in front of her, wearing a white V-neck shirt, black leather jacket, and dark denim skinny jeans, and grinning from ear to ear. Her face flushed almost immediately. She smiled and gripped her cup a little tighter. "I thought I'd give my social skills a test tonight," she said, pushing her hair behind her ear nervously.
Troy chuckled. "Good. It would have been a shame if you'd missed the party tonight," he said, moving closer and smiling at her. "You look great, by the way."
Gabriella smiled nervously. She couldn't believe how close he was to her. She could almost feel his breath tickle her face. "Th-thanks again for inviting me," she mumbled, mentally willing herself to calm down.
"No problem," Troy said, smiling widely and taking a sip from his cup. "So, Gabriella, where did you say you were from again?"
"Everywhere," Gabriella said, laughing. "My mom is a writer so we tended to move a lot for her work. That's why she decided to homeschool me. She thought it might be difficult for me to cope with schoolwork if I had to attend a different one every semester."
"So why are you at East High now?" Troy asked, raising his eyebrow curiously.
"My grandma wanted me to grow up in a 'stable environment', so she enrolled me in a boarding school," Gabriella replied.
"But why East High? I'm pretty sure there are other much better boarding schools in the country," Troy said, draining his cup and setting it on a table.
"Would you rather I attended there?" Gabriella asked, giggling. She couldn't believe how easy it was to talk to him. She usually had difficulty making a connection with people because they thought she was weird.
"I never said that," Troy said, touching the back of his neck and chuckling. "East High is the perfect choice for you."
Gabriella giggled. "Actually, my grandmother lives here in Albuquerque. She wanted me to study someplace nearby so she could keep tabs on me. Don't want your grandkid causing too much trouble," she said, laughing.
Troy laughed. "Somehow, I just don't see you causing a lot of trouble, Gabriella Montez," he said, smiling at her widely.
Gabriella giggled. "That remains to be seen, Troy Bolton," she said, winking playfully.
Troy smirked. "All right. The noob has a wild side," he said, nodding his head in approval.
"Ugh. Enough with the 'new kid' stuff," Gabriella said, shaking her head. "Like it's not hard enough to try and fit it?"
Troy chuckled. "Whoa, I struck a nerve there. Sorry," he said, smiling at her apologetically. "Gabriella."
Gabriella smiled. "Thank you. I appreciate it, Troy."
Troy smiled. "It's getting kind of loud in here," he said, looking around at all the people dancing.
"Now that you mention it…" Gabriella said, giggling.
"You wanna get outta here?" Troy asked her.
"And go where?" Gabriella asked.
"Into town. You hungry?" Troy asked.
"Yeah. What is there to eat around here?" Gabriella asked, smiling.
"Loads, but I know a great burger joint a couple of miles from here," Troy said, smiling at her.
"Okay. Let's head out," she said, draining her cup and throwing it away. Troy held out his arm, and Gabriella held onto it as he wove them through the partygoers, occasionally acknowledging a friend and introducing them to her. When he'd finally managed to lead them out of the boys' dormitory, he walked with her down the hall and out to the student parking lot. "I hope you don't mind riding with the top down," he said, unlocking his Audi R8 convertible and opening the passenger side door for her.
"Not at all," Gabriella said, getting in the car and smiling. She hadn't noticed it when she arrived on Sunday, but looking around the parking lot now, she realized that almost all the cars there were either sports cars or convertibles. Her beat up old Camry looked a sight next to all the gleaming surfaces of the newer makes. Her theory about boarding school kids being rich and spoiled was slowly proving to be true. "Nice car."
"Thanks. You drive?" Troy asked, shutting her door and making his way to the driver's seat.
"Yeah, but my car's nowhere near as awesome as yours," Gabriella said, giggling.
Troy chuckled. "Yeah, it's pretty neat. My dad bought it for me on my sixteenth birthday," he said, fastening his seatbelt and smiling.
"Sweet deal. All I got was my mom's old Camry," Gabriella said, giggling.
"Hey, a ride's a ride," Troy said, grinning at her and chuckling. "You ready to go?"
"Yeah," Gabriella said, fastening her seatbelt and smiling at him.
Troy smiled. He pulled out of the parking lot and drove them to the burger place.
"Two bacon cheeseburgers, two large rootbeers and a large order of chili fries?" asked the waiter, setting the food on the table.
"Yes. Thank you," Troy said, acknowledging him and grinning at Gabriella. "Dig in!"
Gabriella giggled. She picked up the cheeseburger and took a huge bite. She had been so nervous about meeting Troy at the party that night that she completely forgot to eat dinner beforehand. Now she was feeling really hungry, and didn't care if she looked like a pig in front of Troy. "That hit the spot," she said when she swallowed the food. "And this place looks awesome."
"Yeah, I've been coming here since I was a kid," Troy said, picking up some chili fries and shoving them in his mouth.
"So you're really from Albuquerque?" Gabriella asked, licking some cheese from her fingers and smiling.
"Born and raised," Troy said, smiling. "By the way, you never did tell me where you're from."
"Salinas, California," Gabriella said, smiling. "That's where I was born, and that's where my mom and I most recently lived."
"Wow, California. I'd give anything to live there," Troy said, resting his chin in his palm and smiling dreamily. "What is it like there?"
"It's amazing. The beaches alone are reason enough to visit," Gabriella said, grinning widely. "It's actually close enough to visit on a weekend trip if you don't mind driving."
"Really? I've always meant to visit, but I haven't had the time yet," Troy said, taking a sip from his rootbeer.
"You really should. It's amazing there," Gabriella said, grinning widely.
Troy smiled. "So what about Albuquerque? How do you like it so far?" he asked, leaning in closer.
"I have to admit, I was a little apprehensive about moving here at first," Gabriella said, twirling her hair in her fingers nervously.
"How come?" Troy asked, moving even closer.
"Well, I haven't been to a real school since I was like, thirteen, so I was pretty scared," Gabriella said, shrugging. "I didn't really know what to expect."
"Well, what do you think of it now?" Troy asked, smiling.
"It's too early to tell, but I'm liking it so far," Gabriella said, smiling at him.
Troy smiled. He inched his hand closer to hers on the table and brushed his fingers against hers.
Gabriella blushed furiously. She withdrew her hand nervously and looked down at the table.
"Is there something wrong, Gabriella?" Troy whispered, lifting her chin with his fingers and smiling at her.
Gabriella looked into his eyes and shook her head nervously. "I just... I dunno," she mumbled, fiddling with her fingers and giggling uncertainly.
Troy chuckled. "You really weren't kidding when you said you needed help with socializing, were you?" he whispered, gazing into her eyes and smiling.
Gabriella's face flushed a deep crimson. Having him look at her like that was making her stomach churn in a way it never has before. Was this the 'butterflies in the stomach' feeling she'd read about in books? She wasn't quite sure, but she did know for sure that she liked it. She was so caught up in her thoughts that she didn't even hear what Troy said.
"Gabriella?" Troy whispered, leaning in closer.
"Y-yeah?" she breathed, clenching her fists and digging her fingers into her palms nervously.
"Are you okay?" he asked, reaching across the table again and holding her hand,
"Yeah," Gabriella said, her voice shaky and small. She closed her fingers over his tightly and squeezed. "Uhm, it's getting kind of late..."
Troy smiled and nodded. "Let's head out then," he said, leaving their payment on the table and leading her back to the car. He drove them back to school and walked her back to the girls' dormitory.
"This is me," Gabriella said, walking up to her door and smiling at him. "Thanks for the great night, Troy. I had a lot of fun."
"I hope I didn't make you feel uncomfortable. You know, back at the burger place?" Troy asked, smiling at her sincerely.
Gabriella shook her head and smiled. "It's fine, Troy. Don't worry about it," she said, touching his shoulder.
Troy smiled. "Well, good night," he said, shifting tentatively, unsure if he could hug her or not.
"Good night, Troy," Gabriella said, giving him a quick hug and kissing his cheek. She smiled at him and went inside her room.
Troy grinned widely. He touched his cheek and walked happily up to his room.