CHAPTER SEVEN: ENOUGH FOR NOW
Gabriella was still baffled by the events that happened earlier that morning. Troy Bolton had told her he was crazy about her. He liked her. But I can't do anything about it, Gabriella thought sadly. She had meant it when she told Troy that she couldn't be with him even if he broke up with Sharpay. She would just feel like the worst friend in the world. She knew in her heart she couldn't risk that, even if she was forsaking her own happiness. She smiled as she thought about their kiss. It had made her weak in the knees for sure. It was the perfect first kiss between two people.
"Um, Gabriella, can you go and ring up those people for me? I don't think I can deal with hyperactive cutesy teenagers!" Gabriella was startled as she realized her co-worker, Susan, was talking to her.
"Sorry, Suze," Gabriella told her giving her a smirk. "Sure, I'll go ring up those hyper cutesy teens. Maybe I should take offense since I'm a teen myself."
Susan looked at Gabriella. "You are way beyond the cutesy teen stage. I can handle you perfectly fine. Besides, you're more mature than half the people my age."
Gabriella laughed. "Thanks Suze." Two nights a week and every other Saturday night, Gabriella worked at Sweet Sophisticates, a popular clothing store frequented by both teens and adults. The clothes were fashionable and cute, not to mention affordable. Gabriella loved working at Sweet Sophisticates and enjoyed working with Susan, who was usually always on the same shifts as she was. Susan was in her second year at U of Albuquerque. They instantly bonded over folding shirts and talking about Colleen, their super bitchy manager.
Gabriella made her way over to the register and smiled as she recognized the familiar blonde waiting. "Hey Sharpay!"
Sharpay gave Gabriella a huge smile. "Hey Gabs," then she looked Gabriella up and down, "cute outfit. Those boots are killer."
"You think? My feet are in pain! But what's beauty without a little pain, right?" Gabriella laughed and glanced down at her feet. She had to agree that the black suede knee high boots looked great on her, but they were making her feet ache a lot. "So, how's the rest of your Saturday going?"
Sharpay smiled, her hazel eyes twinkling. "Just perfect."
"Really? And why is that?" Gabriella asked.
"Troy and I are on a date." Sharpay squealed, reaching out and squeezing Gabriella's hand.
Gabriella could feel her mood deflate. She forced a smile on her face. "Isn't that great? Where's Troy?"
"He went to the bathroom. He said he'd meet me right here." Sharpay told her.
Before Gabriella could reply, she saw Troy walk into the store. Troy noticed that she was looking at him and he gave her a small smile. Troy looked extremely cute that night wearing a dark grey v-neck sweater over faded jeans. Even across the store, she could see his blue eyes sparkling. Snap out of it! Gabriella thought to herself. Looking at Sharpay, she nodded in Troy's direction. "Speak of the devil, there he is now."
Sharpay's smile widened as Troy joined them at the counter. Sharpay slipped her hand into Troy's. Troy looked uncomfortable as he looked at Gabriella. Troy cleared his throat. "Hi Gabriella," he said.
Gabriella gave him a small smile. "Hi Troy." Then she gestured towards Sharpay. "So, what are you guys doing for your date? The mall is at your leisure. You guys should be out there, not visiting me at work."
"But we wanted to come by and say hi. Besides, I want to see TJ." Troy said.
"Unfortunately, TJ is not here with me. My mom's watching him. She loves the idea of this project. You should hear her calling him her grandson. It's hilarious." Gabriella said laughing. "Anyway, what are you guys doing for your date?"
"We're going to catch the 9:30 showing of that new horror movie." Sharpay answered, leaning into Troy.
Gabriella eyes widened. "Not Wicked Species, is it?"
"The exact one." Troy smiled. "Why, you want to see it?"
"Of course. I hear the special effects are terrific." Gabriella said excitedly.
Sharpay frowned at Gabriella. "Gabs, I thought you didn't like horror movies?"
Gabriella shrugged. "I just can't handle watching them alone. But it'd be fun with friends."
"Well, Gabriella," Troy said, giving her a pleading look behind Sharpay's back. "What time are you off work?"
"We close at 10." Gabriella answered quickly..
"Shar, we could always go to the 10:20 show instead? Gabriella can join us when she's done." Troy suggested.
Gabriella knew Sharpay would not like that idea. "But I really want it to be just us, Troy. We haven't spent anytime alone since school started." Sharpay pouted and looked up at Troy with puppy dog eyes.
Give me a barf bag, Gabriella thought, then she shook her head to get the terrible thoughts out of her head. Gabriella decided to make it easy for all of them. "Sharpay's right. You guys need to have some time alone. Besides, I'm pretty tired anyway. Thanks for the invite though," she said, sneaking a glance at Troy, trying to look natural.
Troy had a disappointed look on his face. "Oh well, I guess next time, then?"
"Sure." Gabriella said quietly. "Anyway, I better get back to work. You both have a great time tonight."
"See ya," Sharpay said as she took Troy's hand and led him away.
"Bye Gabriella," Troy told her quietly.
"See you both on Monday." Gabriella called after them. She tried not to watch them, but she couldn't help it. Just as they were about to leave the store, Troy turned his head back at her. He gave her a sad smile and all Gabriella could do was shrug her shoulders. "I'm sorry," she mouthed to him. And then they were both gone.
"Who was that?" Susan asked, coming up beside Gabriella, startling her.
"Who?" Gabriella asked, pretending not to know who Susan was referring to.
"Um, that gorgeous guy that just walked out of here with that blonde." Susan said, rolling her eyes at Gabriella. "Who else?"
"That's Troy. He's my best friend's boyfriend, the blonde you just saw."
"What?" Susan exclaimed. "If he's her so-called boyfriend, then why has he been making eyes at you the whole time?"
Gabriella blushed. "What are you talking about?"
"He was so looking at you the whole time you guys were talking and just now when they walked out of here." Susan told her.
Gabriella shook her head. "I think you're imagining things, Suze. They've been dating for almost a year. They're like the couple that everyone wants to be. There's no way he was making eyes at me, as you suggested."
"Deny it all you want, Gabriella, but I know what I saw."
Gabriella shook her head at Susan, "Believe whatever you want to, but there's no way Troy Bolton was looking at me?"
Susan looked at Gabriella and studied her. "You know what, the more you deny it, I think you like him."
"What?" Gabriella exclaimed, feeling a blush rise to her cheeks. "I don't think so."
"Hmmm." Susan cocked her head to the side, "Fine, I'll let it go for now."
"Thank you. Now I'm going to go and fold some shirts. You take the register." Gabriella made a beeline for the cashmere sweater display. She grabbed the first sweater and started folding it. She really needed to come up with a better way to divert any Troy questions. She blushed way too easily at the mention of him. She shook her head and tried to forget him. Besides it seemed as if Troy might try to make things work with Sharpay. Hadn't he told her he was going to break up with Sharpay? She just hoped that Troy wouldn't do anything rash and think things through. He had to stay with Sharpay. He just had to for both their sake.
Troy had been disappointed that Gabriella hadn't joined them for the movie. He would've loved to see her reaction to the squeamish and scary parts. Would she have grabbed his arm? Or bury her face into his chest? Troy frowned; instead it was Sharpay that had done all that stuff. They were heading back to his car so he could take Sharpay home. He knew he should've just broken up with Sharpay earlier that day, but when he tried to, he lost his nerve and instead agreed to make plans that night. Once Sharpay mentioned going to the movies and stopping by Gabriella's work, he quickly agreed with the idea. He couldn't help himself; he wanted to see more of Gabriella.
He inwardly groaned as he felt Sharpay grab his arm and leaned her head against him. The past few days Sharpay had been really affectionate always wanting to hold his hand or grabbing his arm. He usually didn't have a problem with that, but it was kind of getting on his nerves. He knew she was going to be upset when he ended things, but he had to. They finally reached his car and Troy unlocked the doors. They both slid into the car. Troy was about to start the car up when he turned to Sharpay and said "Sharpay, we need to talk."
Sharpay gave him a big smile. She reached over and ran her fingers up and down his right arm. "No, we don't. Come here," she motioned with her head.
Troy grimaced. "No Sharpay, we need to talk. Now." He moved his arm away from her and placed it on the steering wheel.
Sharpay pouted as she looked at Troy. "What do you want to talk about?"
Troy cleared his throat and looked at her face. "Sharpay, we need to break up." Troy felt relief as he said the words.
Sharpay's gave him a confused look. "What?" She exclaimed. "Are you serious?"
Troy nodded. "Sorry, but yes, we need to. I just don't think there a connection here anymore. There hasn't been one for a while."
Sharpay was silent as Troy heard her crying. He felt awful, making her cry was the last thing he wanted to do. "But Troy," she said quietly. "I love you."
Troy was stunned as he heard those words come out of her mouth. He liked Sharpay and they had fun together, but he never felt that way. Troy gave her a shrug. "I'm sorry Sharpay, but that doesn't change the way I feel. I should've ended things a few months ago. I'm sorry if I kept you in this relationship longer than I have."
Sharpay reached in her purse for a tissue. She was dabbing at her eyes. "Is it me?" She cried out.
Troy reached out and patted her shoulder. "It's not you, it's me." He knew it was one of the lamest lines that everyone used in a break up. "It's our last year of school and I need to focus on the future. I don't want to be," Troy gulped, hating the next words he was going to say, "tied down. I want to have fun during my senior year."
This just made Sharpay cry some more. "But we always have fun together. We could still have fun."
Troy shook his head. "We can't be together anymore. I'm sorry."
"But Troy," Sharpay cried, "You can't do this to us. Please, please, please, let's just forget this conversation and move on."
"Sharpay," Troy said firmly. "It's over. Now, I'm going to take you home. I'm sorry it had to happen this way, but I had to be honest with my feelings."
Sharpay didn't say anything and buried her face into her hands. Great, he thought, just make the girl cry, why don't you? Although Troy was glad that he finally told Sharpay the truth, he still felt awful that she was crying. And the fact that she told him she loved him, it was all too much.
The rest of the car ride was silent except for Sharpay's sniffles. Troy pulled into Sharpay's driveway. Sharpay didn't move. Troy waited patiently for her. Sharpay said something to him, which he couldn't quite hear.
"Excuse me?" Troy asked her,
"Is there someone else?" Sharpay said, annunciating each word clearly.
"No, there's no one else. I already told you I just want to be free and have fun." Troy told her, feeling awful for lying. But there was no way he was going to reveal that Gabriella was partly to blame for the break up.
"Are you sure?" Sharpay asked again.
Troy sighed. "Yes, Sharpay, I'm sure."
"Fine." Sharpay got out of the car and slammed his car door. Troy winced at the sound. Then she leaned down and peered at him through the window. Her usual perky smile was missing, replaced with mascara streaked cheeks and a fiery glaze in her eyes. "You know you're making a mistake." She confidently told him.
"And why is that?" Troy challenged.
"You're going to regret that we broke up. Just bet on it. Don't even think for a second that our friends will be loyal to you." Sharpay said frostily.
Now Troy knew more than ever that breaking up with Sharpay was one of the best things he'd ever done. He'd forgotten about this side of her – the conniving, mean-spirited way she could be once in a while. "You know, Sharpay, I was going to say that I hope we can still be friends, but you obviously don't want that. It's all good. I'm not going to make any of our friends choose between us."
Sharpay sneered. "We'll see about that." She told him giving him one last withering glance. Then she turned around and stalked towards the front doors of her house.
Troy breathed a huge sigh of relief. As much as he didn't want to believe what Sharpay had told him, he knew there would be some truth behind it. He could always count on Chad and Jason to stay his friends, but what about all of their mutual friends. Would Kelsi or Martha still talk to him? Would Taylor? And most importantly, would Gabriella? He knew that she would have to talk to him no matter what because they were stuck doing the project for the next two weeks, but once it was over, would she blow him off?
Sharpay had used the word loyal, which was what Gabriella kept telling him over and over that she intended to be loyal to Sharpay. He just hoped that he could convince Gabriella to consider giving them a chance. Gabriella could deny it all she wants, but he could tell that Gabriella was into him as well, especially when she kissed him back earlier that morning. Troy smiled as he thought about the kiss. It had been amazing. He definitely wanted to keep on kissing her if he could. He was debating on whether he should surprise Gabriella at this moment, but decided against it since it was almost 1:30 in the morning. He would just have to wait until Monday to see her.
A/N: The title of this chapter is called "Enough For Now" a song by The Fray.
