Hello, hello! I'm updating on time! Thank you all for reviewing and reading my story! I love seeing so many new usernames/people reading my stuff. It really means a lot to me to see people keep coming back to read each of my stories. I can't thank you all enough!
I hope all of you got the chance to see Sharpay's Fabulous Adventure! It was SO. CUTE. It showed her house in beginning, which was exactly how I pictured it to be. :) Enjoy!
Everything to Me
Chapter seven
The cereal that Gabriella was eating was soggy and starting to sink, but she continued to shovel in the spoonfuls of Special K. The doors leading out onto the backyard patio were open, and the white curtains moved slowly with the wind. Her eyes were focused on a robin splashing in the cement bird bath by the stone sidewalk that wrapped around the pool.
"Gabriella, honey, do you have plans today?"
Gabriella tapped her spoon on the bottom of her white bowl, and kept her eyes on the robin. The sky was a bright blue, and the sidewalk was dry, with no sign of the rain that had poured down late that night. She was still currently day dreaming about Troy.
"Gabriella!"
Gabriella looked away from the backyard and blinked her eyes when she felt that her contacts had dried from her staring. Her mom and dad were standing in the kitchen, both looking at her with concerned expressions.
"Yeah?"
"Do you have plans today?"
"Oh," Gabriella said with a nod, smiling quickly at her parents. "I was thinking about looking for a job."
Her dad laughed, setting the newspaper he had been holding, on the kitchen island. He leaned against one of the bar stools and continued to look at her.
"You can work for me, Gabriella. I thought that was the plan."
"It was, Dad, but I kind of want to see if I can get a job myself, before I take the job you're handing me."
"You'll waste a lot of valuable time searching for a place to work," Mrs. Montez said as she sat down next to Gabriella.
"Taking the job from Dad would be too easy," Gabriella told her. "Thanks, though."
"Whatever you say," Mr. Montez said.
Gabriella stood from her chair at the kitchen table and walked over to the sink, dumping the rest of her cereal into it.
"How was your night out last night?" Mrs. Montez asked, motioning for Mr. Montez to walk over the newspaper. He did, and she peeled it open and folded it backwards, reading the business section.
"It was…" Gabriella paused, smiling softly as she thought about her night with Troy. "Good. I had fun."
"Well, that's good," Mrs. Montez said, pulling the newspaper closer to her face so that she could better read the articles.
Gabriella nodded, escaping the kitchen while she had the chance, while her parents were too busy to notice the large smile on her face that was only there because of the boy they most likely would rather not have her date.
...
The line into the local zoo was long and winding down the sidewalk toward the parking lot, but Gabriella and Troy were moving passed the ticket booth, through the groups of kids, and towards the butterfly exhibit. Their clasped hands dangled between them, and because it had been two days since their last encounter, they couldn't stop looking at each other.
"Okay, ladies and gentlemen!" A grey haired man stood in the small room where Troy and Gabriella, along with a few other zoo visitors, stood waiting to go into the butterfly exhibit. "As you go into the exhibit, remember not to touch or pull the wings of the butterflies. They are very fragile!"
Gabriella giggled next to Troy as the man nodded seriously, pulling open the sliding door that lead into the forest-like atmosphere. Walking into the room, the temperature suddenly changed, and Gabriella could almost hear her hair frizzing, and while it would have worried her before, she wasn't too concerned about it with Troy. A group of butterflies flew over them as they stood by a purple plant.
"There's a butterfly on your back," Troy said with a grin.
"No way! What color?"
"Orange and black," Troy answered. He let go of her hand and brushed away the butterfly, but it jumped onto his hand instead. He brought it forward so that Gabriella could see.
"Wow," Gabriella gushed, smiling at the butterfly.
"You know, I'm sure George the butterfly keeper wouldn't like me holding this guy," Troy said when he noticed that the same guy who told them not to touch the butterflies was walking around the exhibit, supervising the group.
"He never has to know," Gabriella whispered, continuing their walk along the sidewalk.
After the butterfly exhibit, Troy and Gabriella visited the penguins, and the lions and tigers, and of course the polar bears. As they walked around the zoo, they got their faces painted and were given animal shaped balloons. They were laughing so hard at one point that they had to sit down so that they wouldn't fall over.
Now, they were eating lunch on a wooden bench in front of the elephant exhibit. A kid with a red balloon tied to his wrist ran back and forth in front of them, but they barely noticed as they talked.
"I got an interview with this one law firm thirty minutes away from home. I didn't expect to get one so quickly. I figured I'd have to work for my dad," Gabriella said. They were currently on the topic of work as they ate their peanut butter and jelly sandwiches.
"That's great," Troy told her. His arm rested loosely on the back of the bench. "Next thing you know, you'll be moving out and living on your own."
"That's a wonderful thought," Gabriella laughed. "I'm sure my parents won't be too happy to give up control over me."
"It's not like you're Rapunzel, you can get out if you want to," Troy replied.
"Rapunzel?"
"Yeah… isn't that the one with the hair, who's locked up in the castle?" Troy asked with a grin. "Or am I thinking of the wrong princess?"
"No, that's the one," Gabriella nodded. "I just never thought of it like that. I mean… why the heck am I living at home anyway?"
"If I remember correctly, you said you have no money to move out."
"And now I remember," Gabriella said with a shake of her head. "I guess if I get that job, I'll be able to move out sooner than I expected."
"You'll get the job," Troy said, letting his arm drop over her shoulder. She scouted closer to him with a smile, squinting as the sun peeked through the trees lining the walkways.
"Thanks," she said. A zoo keeper hosed down a dried and wrinkled elephant, and its tail wagged as the clear water splashed its skin. Troy and Gabriella sat quietly watching for a while, letting the sun tan their skin.
...
"Your butterfly doesn't look like a butterfly anymore," Troy said as the two of them walked toward the gorillas. Gabriella's butterfly balloon had one deflated wing and a dirty antenna, while Troy's tiger balloon was still fully intact.
"I know," Gabriella said with a frown. "I guess I'm just a terrible butterfly keeper. I give props to George."
Troy laughed quietly, leaning up against the wooden fence that allowed him to look out at the gorillas. Gabriella set her butterfly balloon on the fence, barely noticing it fall to the dirty ground after. Troy simply grinned, not wanting to comment on her inability to keep her balloon friend alive.
"Gabs?"
Troy felt the hair on the back of his neck stand up when he heard the shrill voice of Monica, coming from behind them. He kept his eyes on the male gorilla, who sat eating grass, so he wouldn't have to turn around to greet her.
Gabriella turned to see Monica, Angela, Anthony, and Connor walking together in a group toward her. She sent the three accompanying Monica wondering looks while she hugged her friend.
"What are you doing here?" Gabriella asked.
"Connor won free tickets to the zoo on the radio, and he wanted us to come with him," she said with a roll of her eyes, like she wanted to be doing something better. "What brings you to the zoo?"
"Oh, I was actually here with Troy," Gabriella said with a nod.
"Troy?" Monica asked with a raise of her eyebrows. Anthony and Angela exchanged a look.
"Yup," Gabriella nodded. She pulled at Troy's sleeve to get his attention, and he finally turned to face her friends, acting surprised to see them there.
"Hey," Troy said with an upward nod toward the group.
"Wait, you're the lifeguard dude, right?" Anthony asked. He laughed shortly after asking, like he knew he should have remembered who he was, but didn't mind not knowing.
"Yeah," Troy said with a nod.
"Uh, Gabriella, do you think I could talk to you for a minute?" Monica asked.
"Can it wait? I'm here with Troy," Gabriella replied.
"It'll only take a second," Monica said, grabbing her arm and pulling her aside. Angela followed, leaving the boys to talk with Troy. From her spot a few steps away from Troy, Gabriella kept her eyes on her friends, hoping they wouldn't say anything rude or insensitive.
"Are you crazy, Gabriella?" Monica asked.
"Monica, please, would you give it a rest?" Gabriella asked. "You're more worried about my love life than I am."
"I care about you, Gabriella, so I'm going to tell you when I think you're doing something destructive."
"I'm spending a day at the zoo. How is that destructive?"
"Because," Monica replied under her breath. "You're here with him."
"I don't see the problem," Gabriella answered.
"You and Troy come from completely different places," Monica told her while Angela nodded enthusiastically. "He's not someone your people are going to want to hang around."
"My people?" Gabriella questioned with a raise of her eyebrows. "Look Monica, I appreciate your concern, but Troy and I have a lot more in common than you think. If you don't mind, I'd like to get back to my date, and I'd also like it if you didn't comment on my relationships."
"But-"
"Goodbye, Monica," Gabriella said with a wave, walking back over to Troy. She sent Connor a look, hoping that he'd leave with Anthony, and he did reluctantly, like he wanted to stay to see if she was going to be okay.
Troy and Gabriella waited until the group was out of their view before commenting.
"Whatever they said to you, ignore," Gabriella told Troy.
"It's fine," Troy said with a shrug. "It wasn't anything I haven't heard before."
Gabriella sighed and shook her head, linking her arm with Troy's.
"I think I'm suddenly zooed out."
"So am I," Troy replied. "I'll take you home."
...
Troy stood by the car door on the passenger's side, peering into the car as Gabriella's behind poked out of the car while she looked around for her butterfly balloon.
"I'm telling you, Gabriella, it's lying by the gorilla exhibit, probably trampled by now," Troy told her for the third time. He shook his head when she shouted out a response while still shorting through the contents on the floor of his car.
"Okay, okay," Gabriella said as she appeared from the car. "So now I understand why my parents never let me have a fish when I was younger."
"You can have my balloon, if it'll make you happy," Troy said, handing over the orange balloon twisted into a tiger.
"That's so nice of you!" Gabriella exclaimed, taking it from him. For being in her twenties, she sure did like balloon animals.
"Take care of him," Troy told her jokingly. "He only eats balloon lambs."
"Oh, I'll protect him with my life," Gabriella nodded.
The afternoon sun rested above Gabriella's house as they stood in her driveway next to Troy's car. A bug hidden somewhere in her yard made a hissing noise.
"I better get going," Troy said after a few minutes of small talk. "I have to get up early tomorrow for trash pick up."
"I'm sure you're thrilled," Gabriella replied, grinning while she stepped closer to him. He wrapped his arms around her and rested his chin on her head. The scent of her hair brought back memories of the night he took her fishing.
"I'll see you later," Troy said, pulling away from her so that he could see her face.
Gabriella smiled up at him, and stretched up on her tip toes so that she was face to face with him. She gave him a peck on the lips before setting her feet flat on the ground. Troy's urge to kiss her grew as she sent him another smile and he pulled her up in his arms with a laugh, not wanting to leave with only a quick kiss. Just as Gabriella was about to put her arms around Troy's neck to deepen the kiss, they both heard a loud pop.
Troy looked into Gabriella's eyes, seeing the humor flood them, and then heard the laugh escape Gabriella's lips.
"I think we popped the tiger," Gabriella giggled. She set her face against his neck, laughing loudly while he simply kept his arms around her, laughing with her as the remains of the balloon fell to the driveway.
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Much love,
unknownbyhim22
