Thanks to spotzy for reviewing the last chapter:)

Note: I have finished writing the story and one alternate ending so far, but I won't be updating until I've gotten 5 reviews or it's been a week. I really want you guys to read this story, but I really wanna see what you guys think of it! So please review so I can update sooner (p.s. I'll only update once a day)

Chapter 4

Saturday morning, Gabriella rode her bicycle to the Bolton's house, following the directions Sharpay had given her. Her motive for going over there was mostly because Chad had promised to show her around town, but she also wanted to see Troy.

After what had seemed like a friendly (or flirty as Taylor and Sharpay described it) first day-which included him asking for her phone number-Troy had practically ignored her for the rest of the week. He no longer sat near her or said hello to her, Sharpay and Taylor.

Gabriella would be the first to admit that she didn't have a lot of experience-ok, any-with boys, but she even she could see the 180 degree turn Troy had taken when it came to her.

Arriving at the Bolton's two-story house, Gabriella parked her bike behind a bush then hurried up the front walk. She pressed the doorbell then stepped back and waited for it to be answered.

"Ah, Gabriella Montez, what do we owe this pleasure?" Coach Bolton asked after he opened the front door.

"Chad promised to give me a tour of Albuquerque," she replied.

"Oh, well come on in," Coach Bolton said, pushing open the screen door to let the teenage girl into the house.

Gabriella wiped her feet then entered the house. It was obviously a bachelor's pad with large furniture mostly in dark woods, but it had a few feminine touches here and there.

"Jack, who's-" Gabriella looked up and saw a beautiful African-American woman, whom she assumed was Chad's mom, standing at the bottom of the stairs. "Oh, hello."

"Zoe, this is Gabriella Montez, she's a friend of Chad's," Jack explained. "Gabriella, this is Chad's mom-and my wife-Zoey."

"It's nice to meet you, Mrs. Bolton," Gabriella shook her hand.

"It's a pleasure to meet you, Gabriella," Zoey smiled. She had a gut feeling that Gabriella was the girl that had Chad getting up early and looking forward to school each day. "Chad is still in bed, but you're more than welcome to get that lazy boy up."

"Uh, okay," Gabriella replied, uneasily.

"His bedroom is the first door on the left at the top of the stairs," Zoey told her before she disappeared into another room.

Gabriella glanced at Coach Bolton and he motioned his head towards the stairs. "Just knock before you go in," he suggested before he followed his wife.

Gabriella took a deep breath before she timidly went up the stairs and found his room easily. She paused in front of the white door then knocked, hoping he had woken up on his own. When no reply came from inside, she turned the handle and pushed the door open.

The late morning light bleed through the dark red curtains and Gabriella could see the motionless lump in the middle of the dark bedded double bed. As she made her way across the room to his bed, she could see his mind-of-their-own curls peaking out from under the comforter that covered the rest of his body.

"Chad, wake up," she whispered not wanting to scare him. "Chad. Wake up." Stopping by the side of his bed she put her hands on his arm and shook him. "Chad, wake up, you lazy ass."

"Go away, Troy," Chad grumbled.

Gabriella sighed as he buried himself deeper in the blankets. At the rate this was going, she'd be stuck here all day. Feeling her pocket vibrate, she pulled out her phone and saw she had a text message from Taylor:

Wanna sleep over tonight?

She quickly replied:

At Chad's but I'll ask when I get home.

She laughed out loud when she got Taylor's reply:

GET PIC OF TROY IN BOXERS!

She sent her one last text:

Will try. No promises.

Shoving her phone back in her pocket, Gabriella looked down at her friend and sighed. How was she ever going to wake him up? She saw his alarm clock on his bedside table and it gave her an idea. She pulled her phone out of her pocket and set the alarm to go off in a minute and turned on the most annoying alarm noise she had. Then she put her phone by Chad's head.

As soon as it went off, Chad shot out of bed, limbs flailing as he tried to figure out what the foreign sound was and where it was coming from. Then he saw Gabriella and saw her reach for her phone.

"Morning Chad," she greeted.

"What are you doing here?" He asked pulling his blankets around his boxer covered lower body. "In my room?"

"You promised to take me around town today," she reminded him. "And your mom sent me up here to wake you up."

"Oh, right," Chad replied, chewing on his bottom lip all the while wondering why his mom let Gabriella come up to his room. His mom had never let him have girls in his room and he knew for a fact that Troy had gotten grounded for having a girl in his room.

"Well, since you're up, I'll go wait downstairs while you get dressed," Gabriella stated. With her phone in her pocket, she left the room and closed the door behind her. There were four other doors on the second floor and she wondered which room was Troy's.

Then-as if the Gods were smiling upon her-the door across the hall from Chad's room opened and Troy walked out, dressed only in a pair of basketball shorts. He froze when he saw her.

"Hi Troy," she greeted with a smile that quickly turned into a frown as he turned around and went back into his room without so much as a hello or goodbye. Confused, she continued down the stairs and sat down on the last step to wait for Chad.

Somewhere nearby, Gabriella could hear Chad's parents talking and she had tried not to eaves drop, but when she heard her name mentioned she gave up the fight.

"Gabriella seems like a nice girl," Zoey said. "And it's exciting that she's here to see Chad and not Troy, like all the others."

"I've been told she's an honor student," Jack stated. "Hopefully she'll encourage Chad to study and get good grades."

"Let's hope," Zoey sighed. "Though, with the two of us on his case 24/7 this year, maybe he can do as well as Troy does."

"If he wants to play basketball he'll have to keep his grades up," Jack stated. "It would disappoint me to bench him during his senior year for grades. Especially when he has us and even Troy to go to for help on his school work."

Hearing the stairs squeak, Gabriella looked up and saw Chad standing behind her and she could tell that he had heard everything his parents had said.

"Let's get out of here," he said, his face lacking emotion. Gabriella nodded and followed him out to his car-noticing for the first time that he was wearing a pair of loose fitting jeans and a t-shirt that had 'my mom thinks I'm rad' written across the chest.

With Chad walking quickly, Gabriella practically had to run after him then bumped into him when he stopped suddenly.

"Can you just forget what you heard?" He asked after turning to face her. "I-"

"You don't have to explain, Chad, it's forgotten," Gabriella assured him.

After getting in the car, they drove around the city-stopping every now and then. Gabriella enjoyed Chad's company thoroughly and didn't once think about Troy as she laughed at the stories Chad seemed to have about every place in town. Most of the stories were funny on their own, but he would add sad, pathetic, but hilarious, jokes to go along with them.

When his stomach growled shortly after 4, Chad declared that he was taking her to the best pizzeria in Albuquerque. As he drove, he told Gabriella that the pizzeria was the popular place for East High students and his statement was proven true when they entered the packed pizzeria.

Gabriella spotted Troy with some friends almost immediately after she and Chad entered the building and all the confusion involving him rushed back to the front of her mind.

"Pepperoni pizza okay with you?" Chad asked.

"Yeah," Gabriella nodded. While he got in line to order the pizza, she found a table. She watched Troy's table from the corner of her eye and saw Chad walk over and greet everyone except Troy-not that she found that weird, after all, she didn't greet her sister in public.

When Chad returned to their table several minutes later, he was carrying a tray with two paper cups containing ice and a pitcher of rootbeer.

After their pizza was delivered, most of their meal was quiet save for a few guys stopping to say hi to Chad and a few people greeting Gabriella as well.

Halfway done with her fourth piece of pizza, Gabriella saw Troy stand up and talk to a girl at a nearby table. The girl smiled-obviously happy about whatever Troy had said-then collected her things and left with him.

"Chad, is there something wrong with me?" Gabriella asked, once they were alone in his car.

"No, I think you're perfect," he replied. "Why?"

"I'm trying to figure out why he didn't call me."

"Who?"

"Your brother. Troy."

"Oh."

"It's just that, I thought we had a connection, you know, and he said he'd call me and he never did."

"I don't know."

"You'd tell me if you said something to you, right?"

"Uh huh."

"I know I can always count on you to be there for me, Chad," she said as he pulled up in front of his house. They climbed out of his car and he watched as she pulled out her bike. "Thanks for showing me around town, Chad."

"Don't mention it," he replied. She gave him a hug then climbed on her bike and rode away, leaving him with a feeling of guilt in the pit of his stomach.