Heya, guys! I'm back (from my orientation days, to be exact) and I've brought a new chapter with me! Hurray to that. Anyways, I only have time posting this, because I'm sick as hell at the moment and I don't have to do my homework (I will, however, have to do them all after I get back to school… damn, maybe I should start with them now). Anyways, I hope you'll enjoy this one and – hopefully – review, which would be very nice of you. Thanks!

And yep, all of you who guessed that it was Troy watching her in the gym, you were right (and I'm sorry I didn't tell you that through a review reply, but I'm working on it, I swear.) So let's see what a solution Taylor and Sharpay have found and what Troy's going to do about his observation. Have fun!

Disclaimer: This is a derivate piece of fiction featuring characters copyrighted and trademarked by Disney Enterprises Inc. It is based upon High School Musical, copyright 2006 by Walt Disney Enterprises Inc., all rights reserved; and High School Musical 2, copyright 2007 by Walt Disney Enterprises Inc., all rights reserved and High School Musical 3, copyright 2008 by Walt Disney Enterprises Inc., all rights reserved. The author is not connected with nor is this work authorised by Walt Disney Enterprises Inc., or any other motion picture studios. This work is solely intended for posting on Fanfiction, for the benefit and enjoyment of its intended audience. No commercial or financial benefit accrues or is intended to accrue to the author as a result of said posting. Any unauthorised copying or redistribution of this work might subject the party responsible for such unauthorized copying or redistribution to legal action by the owners of the aforementioned copyrights and trademarks.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Recap of the last chapter:

Gabriella looked after them, shaking her head in confusion. That was more than just strange. "And what's with the dance?", she shouted after them, half awaiting that nobody would answer. But to her surprise, Taylor found the time to look back and shout: "You'll see, there's a solution for everything!" Laughing, she escaped through the door, through which Sharpay had already vanished. Alright, now it was official. Taylor had lost her mind. Gabriella rolled her eyes and let her shoulders fall down. What should she do now? Slowly she made her way to the door, but changed her mind, her hand resting on the door handle.

Letting herself sink to the floor, sliding along the door in the process, Gabriella put her head in her face, desperately trying not to completely break down. What the hell was she supposed to do now? Dancing without boys would be a catastrophe, dancing with the boys from the baseball team was out of the question. And there wasn't any other solution, was there? Gabriella shook her head upset, not aware of the piercing, blue eyes that watched her from the other side of the gym.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Chapter Seven – Shocking help

Three days later on Monday, Gabriella drove to school in her car that had been repaired by now. Parking in the school's parking lot – this time not stealing Chris' spot -, she jumped out of the car, but not as optimistic as on other days. She had had the whole weekend for finding an answer and she still hadn't found a solution for her problem and slowly the time ran out. They just had five more days to practice, and that just if they set a practice for every day till Friday.

That would be hard work, but not as hard as making up a new choreography or finding boys for the dancing steps. Locking her car and striding directly to the doors of East High, she entered the well aired school building, thankful for a bit fresh air. The weather outside was hotter than she had believed this morning and she was glad that she had decided on wearing a skirt that was short, but still didn't violate the school's rules, and a curt top. That, however, changed as soon as she turned the corner and saw Brandon coming her way.

"Bonjour, mon cherié!", he greeted her, already grinning again. Slowly but surely, Gabriella was sure that she'd get sick of seeing it every day of this damn school year. Groaning and not even attempting to stop, she just walked on, already knowing that Brandon would follow her, instead of leaving her alone. "First off, Brandon, it's 'ma cherié', not 'mon cherié', you should know that if you're trying to speak French. Second, I'm not you're 'cherié', understood?" She didn't once doubt that he wouldn't care about what she said, he just wasn't that sort of type who actually listened to the girls they were trying to flirt with.

And she was right. Pretending to not have heard her correction, Brandon just put his arms around her petite shoulders in what he thought was looking like a nonchalant way. Pulling a disgusted face, she was tempted to shrug him off, but didn't do it as she noticed that Troy Bolton was directly starring at them. She didn't know exactly why, but she felt like she would be humiliating herself if she turned Brandon down in front of Troy's eyes.

So she bit her tongue and endured Brandon's kind of hug until they were out of eyeshot. As soon as Gabriella knew they were out of Bolton' sight, she immediately broke away from him, rolling her shoulders uneasily. Brandon's hugs really weren't anything you'd pray for. But it didn't seem like Brandon was catching on, because he was still smirking greasily, thinking Gabriella had finally come around to see what a great guy he was. Boy, was he wrong.

"Are you crazy?", the brunette screeched, not even caring to turn her voice down. "When did I allow you to put your slimy arms around my shoulders? You really should have made out by now that everyone who's right in their mind would at least stay three metres away from you!"

By now, the whole hallway was watching and listening, but Gabriella didn't care. She was accustomed to attention and since she had agreed to that stupid contest she had gotten thrice as much as usually.

Brandon slowly checked that things didn't go quite as planned as he had thought. "But… but you just… you didn't…", he stammered, not getting a whole sentence out. If he weren't such an idiot, Gabriella would have pitied him, but that wasn't the case, on so she just shrugged. "What I do and what I do not is not your problem, okay? I told you I want nothing to do with you. You're just not my type, alright?" Her voice softened, not wanting to disgrace him more than she already had.

But obviously Brandon was a dead loss. He brightened up immediately after those words had left her mouth and half-shouted: "Ha, I knew you wouldn't resist my charm. So when do you wanna go out with me?" Gabriella looked at him, unbelieving. That boy really didn't pay any attention at all now, did he? In that case he was worse than Troy Friday morning. By the way… Troy! He hadn't witnessed this scene, had he? Not minding Brandon anymore, Gabriella let her gaze fly over the audience that had arisen, searching for the certain blue eyed boy and finding him, much to her dismay.

He stood in the first row, arms crossed, watching her every movement and grinning nastily, as he noticed that she was starring at him with wide eyes. He knew that she just had sustained Brandon's arm around her, because he had been standing in the hallway. He was sure that she had thought it would piss him off, but he didn't see any reason. Whatever happened, it was crystal-clear that Brandon was the last guy Gabriella would ever go out with, even he was the last boy on earth. In fact he was sure that Brandon even came after him himself on Gabriella's list with boys she'd ever go out with. And Troy knew that he was ranked on the last position, well, besides Brandon.

And now, seeing her being shocked after finding out he had witnessed the whole scene just proved his theory. So he flashed a very cocky smile to her, one of which he knew that it was still irresistible. And irresistible smiles from him that would cause every other girl to faint lead with her normally to only one think: one short snort and then a departure only she could pull off. And he wasn't disappointed. Throwing her head back, a faked uppish look on her face, she whirled around on her heel, leaving behind a satisfied smiling Troy, a foolish looking Brandon and lots of other people.

*

After her first period, natural science, Gabriella exited the class room with a relaxed smile on her face. Science was one of her favourite subjects, plainly because a main part of it were numbers and mathematic or chemical formulas. And those were so much more logical than the human mind. Numbers were calculable, they always kept in line, were never unpredictable and couldn't contradict you… at least not by speaking. And that's why Gabriella found them so pleasantly. They were the complete opposite from Troy. And that was a big benefit in Gabriella's opinion.

Ripped out of her thoughts by hearing loud running in the corridor, she raised her head, surprisingly meeting her best friends' faces. Questioningly she looked at them, for all she knew they had English next and the class room was at the exact opposite side of the school building. So why the hell were the two of them here? In front of her science class? Obviously searching for her? She got her answers only seconds later. "Gabriella!" Sharpay's voice was louder than it was necessary over this short distance. But that was just Sharpay being Sharpay, always loud, always flashy.

The two girls came to a halt in front of Gabriella. "We've found a solution for the problem!" What?! No way! Gabriella's mouth fell open, her mind swirling. How the hell had they found a solution that she hadn't thought about? But nevertheless she felt a wave of relief wash over her. This were her best friends, girls she had known since kindergarten and she knew she could trust them. If they said they had found a solution, then she could build on it.

"Thank god!", she got out, after she had recovered from the surprise. "Do tell!", she urged them, impatiently awaiting their answer. But they only shook their heads, a mysterious grin in their faces. "Just wait till free period. Come to the gym and you'll see, okay? We've set a practice, so everybody will be there."

And both of them scurried off in a hurry, without leaving Gabriella any time to ask further questions. They had found a solution, but they heavily doubted that their captain would be too pleased with it. Actually they both counted on an outburst of fury, but they had conceived that they couldn't be too considerate of Gabriella's feelings right now. After all, this was important for all of them. No one wanted for Amber to win and no one wanted for them themselves to loose, so there was no other choice.

*

Driven by curiosity, Gabriella entered the gym in free period hesitantly. Not knowing what was awaiting her nearly drove her insane and she wasn't exactly sure if her best friends' idea was such a good one. Right, she had been more confident after they had told her, but with the come and gone hours her optimism had considerably melted like snow in the glowing sun. She relaxed only a little bit when she saw most of the dancing squad already sitting on the gym floor, laughing and talking about the most random things.

All of them seemed to have a good time and nothing reminded of the tense atmosphere that had been tangibly the last time she had saw them. That probably meant that they already knew about the solution and that they found it good. That alone raised Gabriella's spirits and her hope, but otherwise she got the feeling of being left out. Why did everyone know about the solution and she herself as the team captain did not? It wasn't fair. And that little fact made her suspicious. Somehow she got the feeling that she wouldn't like the denouement.

She didn't know how right she was. At that precise moment, Sharpay and Taylor entered the gym, closing the door as soon as they came in. Nevertheless Gabriella thought to have seen more people standing behind the two girls. But she couldn't care about that, she finally wanted to know about the answer to their problem. Staying in the middle of the gym, where she had positioned herself, she waited for them to approach and felt a girl coming towards her from the other side of the gym.

Turning around, she spotted Becky, of who she had grown very fond of in the last few days. The younger girl was always laughing and never to tired for a good joke. And also up for the craziest ideas. Coming to a halt beside her, Becky smiled up at Gabriella, but the older girl nevertheless noticed the spark of – what was it? Apprehension? No, certainly not, why would there be? Unless… she had to do something with whatever the girls had come up with and was sure that Gabriella wouldn't like it.

Suddenly, Gabriella felt two figures standing next to her. It seemed as if Taylor and Sharpay had eventually reached them. "So… what's your fantastic idea?", Gabriella asked, not bearing the anticipation any longer. Taylor opened her mouth to answer, but Sharpay plainly cut her off. "We've found the perfect boys for the dance!" Wow, that was … awesome! Gabriella hadn't reckoned with such news, she had thought they had found a way to dance without boys at all, but this was even better. "Amazing!" Her whole voice sounded livelier and she brightened up at once. "Who are they?"

That question abruptly managed to get the whole gym quiet. Apparently all of the girls had just waited for that one question and now it had been asked. Slowly but surely Gabriella got the idea that this would get worse, not better. Turning around to Sharpay, she asked worriedly: "Uh, I will be in favour with them, won't I?" Being directly spoken to, Sharpay tried a fake smile, brightly beaming, but couldn't quite cover up her nervousness. "Of course you'll be content with them!", she said effusively, but added in a much quieter voice: "You just don't have another choice." Gabriella intently wished she wouldn't have heard that supplement.

Because slowly she got a blurred image of which kind the solution was. And it wasn't a pleasant one. "Please don't tell me…", she prayed imploringly, not daring to end her sentence, as if it would become more real than as it already was. Taylor took one close look at her friend and could see that Gabriella was thinking the right thing. Not good. They had agreed on gently breaking the news to her, but there was no sense in that if she had already half figured it out. So she decided on short term to tell her straight away. Or, to rephrase, to show her in this case.

Only with looks she asked Becky to open the gym door and let the guys in. With a nervous smile on her face, the younger sprinted to the door and let the boys in. In came… the complete basketball team, Chad and Zeke to head. Gabriella nearly got a heart attack. This was the basketball team. Troy's team for hell's sake! What the heck had they thought by asking them? She quickly let her gaze float over the team, but to her big surprise and greatest relief Troy wasn't with them. But how the hell had they managed to get them to help them? And did Troy even know about this?

Gabriella shook herself mentally. Of course Troy knew about this. He knew everything that went on in and around East High School. But that was what astonished Gabriella the most. He knew about this and he hadn't forbidden his team mates to help her? She was sure that they wouldn't have dared to ignore his prohibition, so he couldn't have told them not to do it. Which led to the biggest question: Why? Really wanting to know, she turned to Chad: "Hey, Chad! So you're really going to help us? Thanks so much!" She engulfed him into a hug, squeezing him in a fondly way.

After releasing him, she nodded at the other team members, a grin spreading across her face. They had just saved her butt from getting burned in shame. All the same, she couldn't withhold herself any longer: "Where's Bolton? I've never seen all of you together without him." It wasn't that she missed him, she was just curious. But her innocent question wasn't received with a simple answer; instead Chad threw her an apologizing look. Gabriella cocked her eyebrow. She hadn't been complaining about him not being here, had she now? In fact, she was more than happy to not see him. So there was no need to apologize, or was there?

Sharpay, who had remained still behind her back, now hemmed quietly. Turning around to her with wide eyes, Gabriella looked at her expectantly, noticing that all of them, girls and boys, were looking more than uncomfortable. Okay? That didn't look like that was all of the solution. There still was something she didn't know and obviously this was the nasty part of it. "Yeah?", she asked, trying to get rid of the awkward feeling that had gotten to her. "Well, you see…" Sharpay started, not quite wanting to get the words out.

Sensing that, Taylor took over. "You see, those aren't all of the basketball team, there are a few who just couldn't find time to help us." Gabriella felt like laughing and a smile broke out onto her face. That was the best news since those that they had found a solution. So Troy had no time. Good to know. That meant that he wouldn't have time to piss her off. Too bad that she had obviously misunderstood her friend, because Taylor spoke on: "And that are just fourteen boys." Oh, not good. As long as Gabriella knew the dancing squad had fifteen members. "Does that mean that one boy's missing?"

Unfortunately not. Taylor shook her head. "No, that's not what I meant." She dry-swallowed, before she found the strength to release the last part of the news. "You see, we didn't exactly plan on asking him," Gabriella missed the intrigued-looking face of Becky, "but then we had no other choice and surprisingly he said yes." She grinned, ill at ease. And in Gabriella's head a light bulb went on. They weren't trying to tell her that Troy was going to leave her alone for some time, they were trying to break to her that she was bound to spend some time with him. "That doesn't mean business, does it? No kidding? No, please tell me that I'm thinking the wrong thing!"

She wasn't. Behind her back, she heard the gym door being slammed and footsteps could be heard in the silence that had been present since Gabriella had been told that she was thinking right. She closed her eyes, waiting for the footsteps to fade away, which they surprisingly didn't do too soon. She could feel someone step behind her and then a voice was audible: "Missed me, Montez?" This wasn't happening. This just wasn't happening, frankly because it couldn't be happening. The probability of this event was equal zero. Because that's what you get if you computed the chance of an enemy helping his ex-girlfriend in a contest in which he was put as the prize. You see, totally impossible.

After thirty seconds Gabriella decided she couldn't stay with her back turned to him forever. So she took to facing him, but not without clearly showing that she wasn't just shocked, but also outraged. "Bolton! What the hell are you doing here?" She couldn't believe it, nor understand it. Even if her friends had asked him, why the hell would he do it? She was his ex-girlfriend, his enemy, the one who despised him most. She was enemies with his current 'girlfriend', but for all that did he want to help her? No way!

But it did seem that way. "Well, you see, Montez, Kim and Taylor over there", he pointed at her friends who wore pretty uneasy facial expressions, "asked me to come to your help and me being me just couldn't find myself able to refuse bluntly. So here I am, flawless and prepared to help you out." Once again he didn't seem to be able to dispense with his cocky smile, so it was playing around his lips again. But it wasn't what discomposed Gabriella the most. No, it was his tone that got her knickers in a twist. "Bastard!", she crunched between her teeth, not believing that he would have heard her.

But she thought wrong. "Not nice, Montez!", he teased her. "If I were in your shoes I wouldn't be saying anything, otherwise I could think twice about this and maybe I'd just go? And if I recall correctly, you can't afford that now, can you?" Of course, he was right, but that didn't keep Gabriella off being bugged. "Trust me, before I accept any help from you, I'll rather go down without even competing in this daft contest." Troy smirked. "Then I'll be going now, won't I?" He turned around, attempting to leave the gym by walking extra slowly.

Gabriella watched him retreat and couldn't help but feeling helpless. She knew that he really was their last chance, but trying to hold him back? No way, for that she was way too proud. Nevertheless she felt guilty as she watched him lay his hand on the handle. It wouldn't be just her that would be embarrassed in front of the whole school, no, it implied the entire squad. Tempted to actually shout out for him to stop, she compressed her lips, throwing a pleading look to Sharpay and Taylor. Couldn't they find another solution? Did they really need Troy?

Sharpay caught Gabriella's look, but just shook her head. In her opinion this was definitely something that Gabriella had to work out for herself and she wasn't going to help in any way. Especially not if it included giving into Gabriella's pick-headed mind. Taylor, though, finally decided to do something. She, too, didn't intend on letting Gabriella get out of this, just because she was too stubborn to accept help from her ex-boyfriend. But, after all, someone had to do something before they lost their last chance just because of too much pride. That was just stupid. "Troy, wait!", she called after the retreating boy, who had paused at the door. With a grin on his face he turned around again, cocking his head to one side.

Without having wanted to, several girls couldn't help but give a sigh of pleasure. It was so cute watching Troy to cock his head. At least that was their opinion. Gabriella, however, threw them a shocked look. How could you find such a simple gesture of a boy so sweet that you sigh? And above all from a boy being such an asshole as Troy Bolton? Sure, he was East High's golden boy, but that didn't mean you had to swoon if he just looked at you.

Apparently, Troy had noticed her rolling eyes, seeing as he called over to her: "Don't start complaining, Montez; you weren't any different from them." He pointed to the girls, who immediately started giggling and blushing. Gabriella, though, starred at him as though he wasn't right in his mind. Well, that reflected her opinion very well. Narrowing her eyes, she fumed: "Don't dare going there, Bolton! I haven't asked you for your opinion, have I? And I certainly don't care about it, either. And concerning my behaviour ages ago, I'm just as sorry about that as you."

Troy's eyes went slightly big. So she actually thought he was sorry about ever going out with her? Dear Lord, that was just … ridiculous. But… if she insisted on that opinion, he certainly wouldn't try and change her mind. He took a few steps in her direction again, and changed the topic, asking: "So what? Am I supposed to help you now, or aren't I?" Not that he would be dying to help her, this was just as hard for him as it was for her, but she simply couldn't or didn't want to see it.

Gabriella, at exact the same time, was trying to keep herself together. Of course he would evade the issue, when did he ever really discuss something so serious? Simple question, easy answer: Never. Raging, she detached her gaze from his now emotionless face, turning to Sharpay and Taylor. Taken by their arms, the two of them couldn't help but go along with Gabriella, who pulled them into a more isolated corner of the gym. "This isn't reality, is it? This is a dream and when I wake up, it'll all be alright, the first day of school is still to come and I haven't agreed to this stupid contest, right?" Gabriella looked at them hopefully, begging for them to agree with her.

Sensing that, Taylor tentatively answered: "Well, you see, we could tell you that … but we would lie, so what's more important to you? The hope or the truth?" Uh, that answered Gabriella's question, but unfortunately not the way she had wanted it to. Groaning, she put her head in her hands, but then looked up again. "We don't have a choice… I don't have a choice, do I?" Sharpay and Taylor nodded simultaneous. "Nope, you haven't got one." Gabriella closed her eyes, trying to resign herself to it. "Okay then, I' guessing it'll be so. We've got boys, we've got the dance, we've got us, so what are we waiting for?"

Her best friends shrugged, not knowing what to say. "Maybe it could be interesting to set who's dancing with whom?" Taylor suggested, getting bumped in her hip by Sharpay. "Not good, girl. You know we already figured that out!", she whispered, not wanting for Gabriella to hear. And this time it was successful. The brunette nodded, already trying to compile the dancing partners, but then Sharpay interfered: "You know what? That's not necessary. We've already introduced everyone and everybody has found someone he or she's comfortable to dance with, so no worries there." Gabriella cocked an eyebrow. "Let me guess: You've already got the perfect partner for me, too?"

Sharpay grinned at her satisfied, while Taylor was smiling shyly. "Well, maybe we have?", she questioned more than that she said. Gabriella smiled sweetly, but you could see that it was faked. "Well, do tell, I'm anxious to hear about this." Taylor threw Sharpay a short look. "Your idea, you're telling her, Kim!" Sharpay rolled her eyes. "Coward!" Alright, Gabriella definitely didn't like the direction this conversation had taken. Why would they be afraid to tell her who she was dancing with? Sometimes she really could be a little slow, especially if it came to things she frankly refused to believe.

"Well, we thought that Taylor and I could dance with Chad and Zeke, you know?" Gabriella rolled her eyes. She should have foreseen this; it was obvious that they had thought of them first of all because of the chance to spend more time with their boyfriends. She didn't exactly blame them for that, just for the fact that she'd have to put up with Troy. "And me?", she stated the obvious question, getting feared the moment she saw them exchanging a worried look. "You didn't think about Troy and me, did you?" She didn't really believe in it, not even them were that dumb.

Too bad, that she sometimes overestimated her own friends. "Well…" Taylor procrastinated getting the words out of her mouth, so Sharpay eventually chimed in: "Hell, why's this so complicated. Yes, we thought about it and technically you don't have another choice, because everybody else is already set up." Now, this was something to throw Gabriella over the edge. "Okay, this is definitely putting the lid on this. First I have to hear that I'll have to put up with that jerk for the entire week and now you're telling me that you want me to dance with him?"

She couldn't believe them. But Sharpay could. "That's exactly what we were trying to tell you, yeah!", she chirped, happy that Gabriella had understood them that quickly. "So, now that we've determined that, we can go and start training, can't we?" She turned around, hoping to get away from the uneasy part of the conversation that was undoubtedly to come. But there was no chance. Gabriella shorthanded grabbed her at the collar of her dancing outfit and forced her to stay where she was. "No, no, no! You're not getting out of here, until we've clarified that."

Unwillingly,Sharpay turned around in her grasp, meeting Gabriella's angry gaze in the process. This wasn't going to turn out very good. And she wasn't the only one who noticed that. Both dancing squad and basketball team had watched the conversation from afar, and now they got restive. Obviously they had told Gabriella about her dance partner. And from the looks of it, she hadn't taken it in quite well. Becky, not wanting to remain passive, jumped up from the floor she had sat on for the past five minutes and hurried over to the three older girls.

Seeing Gabriella stressed out the instant she got there, she soothingly laid a hand on the shoulder of the brunette. "Aww, come on, Gabby, take me as an example. I'm doing it with a boy three years older than me! And it's not that bad." The instant she had said it, she clapped both hands over her mouth. Gabriella looked more than shocked, whilst Taylor and Sharpay seemed not to be able to contain their laughter. "Upps, that came out a little wrong, I guess." Becky giggled, turning red. Why the hell hadn't she thought about what she was going to say before she actually opened her mouth?

Shaking her head, she spoke on: "Oh, stop it, Sharpay! That's so not the point right now! So if you could please stop laughing?" The last sentence she didn't only direct to the blonde, but also to Taylor. Gabriella used the break they had taken from trying to convince her and half-shouted: "But that guy hasn't been your enemy for the last two years, has he? And he's not your ex-boyfriend! Or is he?" She looked at the younger girl, still thinking about what Becky had said a minute before. "Of course not, Gabby! What the heck are you thinking?" Gabriella shrugged. "You never know!"

Taylor, seeing that the conversation took the wrong course, finally brought the previous topic back up. "Oh, please, Gabby, you just have to do it! There's no other boy to dance with and Troy's not that bad!" Gabriella opened her mouth to contradict her, but Taylor wasn't having it. "Oh no, you're not saying anything right now, understood? Just let me speak, that's what's best at the moment, trust me." Defeated, Gabriella let her head hang loose and waited for the unavoidable speak.

"You have to face it, Gabby. This contest isn't about dancing and cheerleading, it really isn't. Amber doesn't want to know which the better sport is; she wants to know who the better girl is. And that includes you and her, no one else. This isn't about the whole squads, it's about you two, remember that. She's jealous because you've been Troy's girlfriend and she's just one of his other 'sluts', if you know what I mean." Hrmph, in Gabriella's opinion having been Troy's girlfriend wasn't something to be jealous about.

Taylor spoke on: "And as it is you'll have to see that you have to be the best. Of course, we can't let ourselves hang loose, and that's not what we're going to do, but you have to be the best of this squad. And it's a fact that you already know the dance and that Troy does as well. It's just logical that you two should dance together." Gabriella snorted. "There's nothing logical in that, Taylor. He knows the dance, so? That's no reason to let him dance with me. I bet he's just here to try and ruin our training! He'll let me fall or something else, the first time he gets the chance to! You don't honestly believe that he would help me instead of Amber!"

Taylor could see the point in that, but still she shook her head. "I don't know why he's here, but it isn't to ruin our training or to hurt you in any way. You know he's not like that!" Gabriella shook her head. He wasn't like that and she knew it. But still… She just didn't want to. But suddenly Sharpay stepped in: "Alright, Gabriella, listen to me! You… don't… have… a… choice!" She emphasized every little word. "You're going to have to dance with him, otherwise we'll loose this damn thing. And it's not only you loosing your face, it's the entire squad. And we're certainly not interested in getting embarrassed in front of the whole school, just because of a short phase of hatred between you and him! So, either you'll dance with him or you'll let it, but think about the consequences!"

Wow, these words had power. Gabriella looked at Sharpay, honestly surprised. She had never known that she could be that convincing. She really made it sound as if there was no other solution. But Gabriella's mind was racing nevertheless. There was no way she would let that git touch her ever again. And … short phase? Sharpay had the nerves to call two years of merciless teasing, bringing down and serious fights a … phase? Unbelievable! However, she had to make a decision and she had to make it quick, because she could sense the two teams getting bored behind her back.

With a sigh, she turned around and retreated to the middle of the gym, the three other girls directly behind her. Chad threw them a questioning, but all three of them just shrugged their shoulders. In the mood Gabriella was in at the moment she was incalculable. None of them knew what she would do. Well, what was she doing? It looked like she wanted to have a word with Troy. Stepping in front of him, she pointed her finger at his chest, starring up in his electric blue eyes.

"You do know why I don't want to dance with you? Especially not to this song?" Troy shook his head, not grasping her meaning. She shook her head. "Of course you don't, why would you? You obviously don't care about anything that was two years ago." Troy looked at her with an unreadable face, waiting for her to continue. "And you're doing this why? Why do you want to help me? I'm your ex-girlfriend, I'm enemies with your current … whatever you might call her. So why the hell? Why would you do this?"

Troy swallowed. That was the question he had asked himself for the last two days, since he had said yes to Taylor and Sharpay. And he still didn't have the answer. "Maybe because I care at least a little bit about you?", he tried to wriggle his way out of her questioning. But that was apparently the wrong way. Her eyebrows narrowed in anger, she spit out: "We both know that's not true! You don't care even a little bit about me! You never have, you don't do now and you probably never will, so don't come with that! You never cared about me, admit it!"

Oh no, he so wouldn't do that. It wouldn't be right; it would be the last thing on earth he'd ever do. "That's a downright lie!", he defended himself, not daring to look into her eyes. "You know that it's not true! I did care about you … a lot!" The gym fell silent. This was the first time they had ever heard the golden boy admit some of his feelings out loud. They were old feelings, but still… it was something! It was just too bad that Gabriella didn't believe a word he said. "Don't lie to me, Bolton! You've done that for the last two years and I know it! So why won't you just come out with the truth?" She had tears shimmering in her eyes, but tried her best not to let them fall.

Troy looked at her and got a lump in his throat. Watching her being this upset was hard. Harder than having her scream at her. Harder than anything she had every done to him. "I don't lie, Gabriella, you just don't want to believe me! You're too stubborn to admit that you've jumped to conclusions all those times ago and now you're trying everything to cover it up. I wasn't the one to break our relationship, it was you if I recall correctly and you know I do!" Finally he brought up the courage to look her in the eyes. Gabriella starred up at him, restraining herself from crying and nearly crunching with her teeth. She and stubborn? She not being able to admit she made a mistake? Who was the one who couldn't admit that he had made the mistake? The mistake that brought their relationship to downfall?

"At least I didn't let myself get seduced by a sluttish cheerleader!" Gabriella was raging, her blood boiling, and she didn't care any longer about what she said. Much to Troy's dismay, because after her announcement, the entire gym had fallen silent once again, until the first whispers started to go round, jumbled voices ringed through the hall, and everyone was speculating about what was to come now. Would Gabriella finally break? Would she tell all of them what happened in Sophomore Year by finally accusing Troy of whatever he had done? Would she finally let her feelings out and shower him with it?

There wasn't one in the room who wished Gabriella would shut up. Well, no one besides Troy. He was more than afraid of what was to come. Of course he knew why Gabriella had broken up with him, the reason why she had dumped him, but he didn't exactly know what she thought. She could have jumped to wrong conclusions, she could have thought whatsoever and he had never known, because she just wouldn't talk to him about that. So what would he be told? What was Gabriella's point of view from Sophomore Year?

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Alright, so that was it for this time, pals! And I would say I'm sorry for the cliff-hanger, except I'm not, so… sorry bout that. And yes, Nicole, you were right. You'll get to know what happened in Sophomore Year in chapter eight.

And guess what? The more of you review, the sooner I'll get the chapter out. So, how about pressing that nice little button down here and telling me exactly what you thought about this chapter. Much appreciated, thank you.

xoxo Lena