A/N: Sorry for the long wait, I've been busy with school. I have yet to start writing the first chapter of the Challenge I've taken up. It really is a challenge seeing as I'm finding it difficult to start it. Hahaha. As for 'I Knew', I'll update that soon as well. -Hugs- To all of those who left a review for chapter four, I'm very thankful. I'm meant to be re-writing my essay, but as usual, got distracted. Sorry in advance for errors and the length. Please read and review, it'll put a smile on my face.

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FIVE: FRIENDSHIP

"Y..yo...you look so beautiful," Ryan whispered as his eyes were glued to the sight before him. Just a few feet away stood Kelsi, dressed in a dark green strapless satin dress that reached mid-thigh. On her feet was matching heels and tucked under her right arm was a matching purse that went perfectly with her attire. She bit her lip, shyly, looking at everything and everyone but Ryan. Her cheeked flushed when her eyes landed on Ryan, for a split second. His mouth hung agape. Their friends, who stood around them, looked on happily. Sharpay smirked, obviously happy with her work.

"I told you he'd love it," Taylor beamed as she clapped her hands almost child like. Having watched the Suite Life of Zack and Cody, Taylor painfully reminded him of the character London. He couldn't help but cringe, having not gone unnoticed by his bushy haired friend. Chad nudged him, knowing exactly was was running through Troy's head. He had watched the show with Troy and both had discussed their feelings towards the fictional clueless heiress.

Having stood there for longer than he remembered, Ryan finally took the remaining steps towards his girlfriend of two years. Never once did she fail to surprise him. He reached for her hand and laced them with his. Perfect fit, Troy had called it. Tonight the pair, otherwise known as Relsi, would be going out to dinner to celebrate their anniversary. Ryan quickly placed a gentle kiss on Kelsi's awaiting lips, eliciting a cough from his twin sister. Sure Sharpay thought they were sickeningly cute, but it was still weird to her whenever Ryan was 'affectionate'. Who could blame her? Throughout their years of high school, she was under the terribly mistaken impression that he was gay.

Sharpay ushered them out of Troy's living room, a place all to familiar with the circle of friends. Just as she was about to shut the door, Kelsi turned on her heels and swung her arms around Sharpay. She whispered her undying gratitude for the make over. Sharpay tightened her grip around her former pianist. Had it not been for Ryan, Sharpay wouldn't have known the great person she was. Pulling away and seeing the happiness on Kelsi's face, Sharpay wondered why she was ever mean to the girl in the first place. "Have fun!"

"We will," Ryan answered for her as he reached for Kelsi's soft hand. He pulled the love of his life away from his sister's hold and they were on their merry way to a high class restaurant that Sharpay, of course, picked out. She wanted nothing but the best for her brother. After having lived in her shadow, he deserved it. Sharpay smiled to herself as she softly shut the door and turned around meeting the faces of her dearest friends. They all stood there in comfortable silence before Chad broke it.

"Well Taylor and I, have a date of our own. So if you don't mind, we'll be leaving"

With that the two other couple in the group entwined their fingers and hurried out of the room. Chad made sure to reach for the spare key to Troy's apartment before slamming the door shut. Troy rolled his eyes, Chad always slammed the door. His friends all had spare keys to his apartment. Why? He wasn't quite sure and didn't really mind as long as they didn't go into his bedroom. Sharpay flipped her hair and walked over to Troy's couch and sat herself down. Troy joined her seconds later. "So Troy, what should we do?"

Troy glanced up at the clock, it read 6pm. He had another five hours before he would venture off to the cliffs, in hopes that a certain pale skin and breath taking girl would be there. Troy shrugged his shoulders. Sharpay rolled her eyes before turning to face him. She twirled a strand of her hair around her finger. "So Troy, why is it that you don't have a girlfriend yet? Do you want our pact set in motion or something?"

Troy shooks his head, remembering the pact he had made with Sharpay. During the Junior year, after Troy's nasty break up with his then-girlfriend, Sharpay had approached him. Having gone through many boyfriends of her own, she had presented Troy with a proposition. She stated that if they were 21 and weren't seeing anyone, they'd give each other a chance. Shuddering at the thought, Troy shook his head once more. The thought of thinking of her other than of a sisterly way, grossed him out.

Sharpay laughed at the horror and repulsed look etched on his face. In all honestly, she thought herself stupid for even coming up with it. She'd rather poke her eyes out that have Troy as her significant other. Having him as a brother type figure was rewarding enough. "Yeah, I thought so. So tell me, then, why aren't you with someone?"

"I could ask you the same," Troy replied. Sharpay turned her head, wanting to hide her blushing cheeks. Too bad for her, Troy had caught glimpse. "You do have someone... you little..."

Sharpay covered his mouth, preventing him from finishing his sentence. She beamed shortly as the object of her affection crossed her mind. "I met him three nights ago at Spat. He's so hot, you wouldn't believe. His personality is even better. I could go on and on about him, but I'm sure you wouldn't want to know every detail. Anyway, his name is Zeke. There's something sexily weird about him though. His body is oddly cold."

"I'm happy for you," Troy replied honestly. "Just don't hurt the poor guy too much if ever he loses his mind and decides he wants to hurt you, yeah?"

"Shut up," Sharpay replied at the same moment her phone went off. She pulled it out of her pocket and smiled down at the name that was flashing across the screen. It didn't take a genius to figure out that it was Zeke who was calling her. She excused herself and held her conversation in Troy's kitchen while Troy glanced up at the clock again. He groaned, time was going far too slow for his liking. When Sharpay had finished her conversation, she kissed Troy on the cheek and made her exit. She was meeting up with Zeke.

"Only 4 more hours to go. Maybe I'll go to Spat for a bit," Troy got up and took a quick shower. An hour and a half later, he found himself weaving through a crowd of sweaty people. He wondered if he'd run into Sharpay, if she even was there. Caught up in his thoughts, he bumped into someone. "Shoot, I'm so sorry."

"That's quite alright," a female voice said. Troy's ears perked at the voice, it was beautiful. He turned his head and was meet up with light brown eyes, almost identical to Gabriella's. The girl before him, however, did not have the slim figure Gabriella had. She was much bigger than Gabriella, but that didn't matter. She was beautiful in her own right. She offered him her hands, her eyes twinkling in the process. "Would you like to dance with me"

"Sure," Troy said suddenly dazzled by the girl. She smiled up at him, showing off her pearls of white. She, much like Gabriella, had really sharp canines. Troy took her hand, shocked at her coldness. He paid no attention to it as this unnamed girl lead him to the dance floor. "What's your name?"

She smiled as she danced with him, finding him dangerously attractive. For a long time, she had wondered looking for a mate and looking into Troy's blue eyes, she was sure she found her mate. She opened her mouth to reply. "I'm Martha Cox.. what's your name?"

Before Troy could responded, someone grabbed him. Troy spun around and came face to face with a dark skinned man. Behind him, stood a very confused looking Sharpay. Shaking his head, Troy looked around him. How did he get to the dance floor? He didn't remember ever walking there? Zeke, Troy assumed, whispered something into Sharpay's ear and not a minute later Troy was being dragged away by Sharpay. Martha smirked evilly at Zeke. "Baylor, why ruin all the fun?"

"Stay away from him," Zeke warned sending her death glares. Martha snorted as her eyes scanned the room, looking for the nameless boy. Zeke caught her by the shoulders and shook her. Troy had looked familiar to Zeke. He had seen him at the cliffs with someone he knew really well. That and he was a friend of Sharpay's and any friend of hers was a friend of his. It was his duty to keep them safe and out of the hands of someone like Martha Cox. "Stay away"

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Jason sat in his room, listening to his sister's enchanting voice. Jason got up from his position on the floor and made his way to his sister's bedroom. Her door was open, slightly. Through the slit, he watched her gracefully dance across her bedroom floor. Caught up in his thoughts, he didn't see the door open fully. "Spying are we?"

"Sorry," Jason replied quietly. If he could blush, he would have then and there. Gabriella chuckled and looked down at her watch. It was nearly 11pm. She took her brother's hand and led him down the stairs, where there father was busy chatting on the phone. From the look on his face and the intensity of his eyes, it was something serious. She had hoped it wasn't too serious that they'd have to pack up and move again. The two stood there quietly waiting for the conversation to end. When it did, Max walked over to them and kissed their heads lovingly. "Time to hunt"

"Deer, please," Gabriella requested as her brother and father walked out the door. She smiled at the sound of Jason's brother. Sure he was strict when it came to her, but there were times when he was more laid back. She hurried to the window and watched as their car speed off into the distance. As of last night, they had agreed that they would go out hunting every other night. Well Max and Jason, anyway. Gabriella straightened out her clothes before running off to the cliffs, hoping that Troy would be there. And much to her pleasure, he was. He seemed distant, off in a world of his own.

"What's a guy like you doing out here alone on a night like this," Gabriella spoke so softly he almost didn't hear it. But he did and that caused him to jump out of his skin. He was off in his dream world, waiting for her arrival, that he didn't see her creep up behind him. When his heart rate had gone back to normal. "Sorry, I scared you."

"It's alright. I thought you'd never show," Troy joked seeing her appearing. Her words rang in his head. It was almost exactly the words he had said those nights ago. Gabriella walked painfully around him. She was unsure of how to greet him seeing as last time, he shook her hand. She was caught off guard, though, when he engulfed her into a hug. She sighed, loving the warmth his body brought her. Troy was very aware of her dangerously low temperature, but gave no care in the world. He pulled away and kept her at arms length. "So how was your day?"

"Uneventful. Yours?," Gabriella asked taking a seat on the ground. Troy mirrored her actions, leaving a safe distance between them. After they had introduced themselves to one another, Troy couldn't stop thinking about her. Little did he know that Gabriella did exactly the same thing. Troy smiled at her interest in how his day was.

"It was alright. I went to Spat earlier and and ran into this girl and after that I don't remember anything except that I was on a dance floor and some guy was pulling me away," Troy said still trying to figure out what had happened earlier. Gabriella nodded. "This town is getting weirder by the minute."

"You don't say," was Gabriella's response. Troy side glanced the beautiful girl besides him. Her eyes were shining in the moonlight, they were glazed. Almost like she was crying. Gabriella smiled, feeling his eyes on her. "What?"

"Nothing, you just look really beautiful tonight," Troy answered her honestly. She looked down, suddenly feeling embarrassed. "Did I say something wrong?"

"Not at all," she replied looking into his blue eyes. Troy couldn't stop looking at her, falling into an all familiar trance. "Thank you, for your compliment."

"You're welcome," Troy said as she adverted her eyes away from him. "You know what Gabriella, I think this is the start of a beautiful friendship."

All of her insides were screaming with joy. She reached over with her cold hands and took his in between her own. She squeezed them as her way of telling him she agreed. The rest of the night was spent in light conversation. Troy cracked a joke or two here and there. The pair were engrossed in one another that they didn't see the male, who Troy spoke of, watch on with interest and happiness in his eyes.

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Next chapter will contain more Troyella, I promise.