Thanks for all of the reviews, everyone! I apprieciate it! Happy Easter!
Protecting Miss Montez
Chapter seven
IT'S UR B-DAY
Troy was walking to his spot by Gabriella's door a few days later, his eyes tired because he had gotten little sleep the night before. He was up all night talking to his family and friends and although he was feeling the consequences of his actions now, he didn't regret talking to them all.
After about a half hour, the door opened like it did on any regular morning at ten o'clock, but he jumped almost out of his skin when a huge rainfall of confetti greeted him, falling around him on his shoulders and head.
"What the—"
Gabriella was standing happily in the hallway, her smile wide and energetic as she tossed the confetti popper into her room quickly. She was wearing a red t-shirt that had IT'S UR B-DAY on the front of it, the letters bold and colorful. Gabriella pulled the paper crown that she was hiding behind her back into view. She plopped it on his head and his eyes widened at the idea of having to walk around in this corny found-at-Burger-King crown.
"I knew I shouldn't have worked today." Troy said to himself, sighing as she linked her arm with his, pulling him with her as she squealed in excitement.
"I just love birthdays!" She told him, dragging him along with her.
"Really? I never would have guessed." Troy said sarcastically, frowning obviously as she stopped when she saw her dad and Charles walking their way.
At first, Troy noticed that they were talking seriously with each other, but when they saw him, his frown growing as Gabriella continued to get more and more excited, their serious expressions changed into huge smiles as they laughed together. They stopped when they neared them and Charles laughed loudly as the President tried not to join him.
"I'm sorry, Troy; I should have warned you that this happens on everyone's birthday." Charles laughed, seeing the paper crown. "Most of us know to take the day off, but when I read the memo it was too late to tell you to not come into work today."
"You sent out a memo?" Troy asked in disbelief, looking over at the squirming-with-joy girl next to him.
"You bet I did!" She exclaimed, squealing. "But there's no time to talk! We have tons of stops to make."
"What do you mean?" Troy asked her, looking over at the President for help.
"Have fun!" President Montez smiled, laughing when Troy grimaced as Gabriella pulled him quickly with her.
Troy was literally trying to make himself extra heavy as Gabriella tried pulling him down the hallway. He was walking in the opposite direction at certain points in their birthday trip, but Gabriella always found a way to catch him and continue on with his birthday walk.
"How does it feel to be twenty four? I can't wait to turn twenty four, if you want to know the truth." Gabriella nodded.
"I don't." Troy said to her, causing her only to try harder to make him happy on this very happy day.
"I have your first surprise in the kitchen." Gabriella told him.
"Oh, and here I thought the confetti was the surprise." Troy said sarcastically, causing Gabriella to laugh.
"That was just the beginning." She told him, pulling him into the kitchen to reveal the kitchen staff waiting for him with a single cupcake with a candle on it. When they entered, the kitchen staff pulled yet another confetti popper, causing confetti to fly towards Troy and Gabriella and as the sound of the pathetic paper horns they were blowing into filled the air, Gabriella laughed, clapping her hands together excitedly.
"Alright, you have to make a wish and eat the cupcake." Gabriella smiled taking the cupcake from Warren, the top chef, and then she lit it with a lighter, holding it towards Troy. "Close your eyes." She said.
"I don't need to close my eyes to make a wish." Troy said with a sigh, seeing the demanding eyebrow raise she gave him.
He closed his eyes, crossing his arms over his chest in protest and as he peeked though his left eye, he noticed that Gabriella's eyes were closed too, her soft eye shadow sparkling in the light coming in from outside. He looked over at the kitchen's staff who was now all laughing quietly at him.
"Troy! Make a wish!" Gabriella said quickly, her eyes shooting open as she sensed he wasn't follow birthday tradition.
Troy sighed against the flame, causing it to flicker out slowly and Gabriella handed him the cupcake, taking the candle out first and licking the frosting off of it. She skipped towards the door, gesturing for Troy to follow her and he rolled his eyes, going, with his cupcake back into the hallway.
"So, what'd you wish for?" Gabriella asked him with a smile. "Wait! You know, don't tell me. I want it to come true for you."
"So do I, so do I." Troy groaned, really hoping his wish could come true.
"It must have been good then if you really want it to come true." She nodded and he looked over at her as if she was truly going crazy. "Just tell me, what'd you wish for?" Her excitement got the best of her and even though you weren't supposed to share your wish on your birthday, she wanted to know.
"I wished for this day to be over with as soon as possible." Troy told her.
"Well, that's a waste of a wish and since you told me, it's not coming true." She smiled like she was glad the day wasn't coming to an end anytime soon and she smirked, knowing that when he saw his last surprise, he wouldn't want the day to end at all either.
Troy sighed for the tenth time that morning when Gabriella stopped by a passing employee exclaiming that it was in fact Troy's birthday.
"Aren't you going to eat your cupcake?" Gabriella asked him.
"No." Troy replied in annoyance.
"Can I have it then?"
"Trust me; you don't need anymore sugar today. It's like you snuck into the kitchen before I came and sampled all of the sugary cereal in the world." He said to her.
"Well, grouchy, I did sneak into the kitchen before you came, but that was to make sure that the cupcake was all set for your arrival." Gabriella replied. "And you're not even happy to receive it."
"I'm sorry, but this is just ridiculous! Who does this?" He asked her, seriously not wanting to see anything else she had planned for him.
"I do this!" She exclaimed, throwing her hands up in the air. "And most people are happy when I go out of my way to make their day special!"
"Why?" Troy asked somewhat loudly. "Why are you doing this?" He had a weird hate for birthdays and ever since his mom died, the person who gave him life, he hated celebrating his.
"Because I hate everything being about me!" She shouted this at him and he was surprised as she tried to get back to her happy self. She cleared her throat, looking at him seriously. "I want the employees to think of themselves occasionally and forget about taking care of me. So gosh, darn, Troy Bolton, if I want to do this, I'm doing it."
Troy swallowed harshly, blinking as Gabriella stood fuming in front of him. Her happy expression was changed into a sweaty and pissed one. She cleared her throat again, fluffing her hair as she began her walk again.
"Thank God the next stop has a piñata because otherwise I'd be a mess for the rest of the day." She mumbled to him, marching away as he peeled the cupcake wrapper down, biting into the sugary top. He'd need it if he was to spend the rest of the day doing this.
***
Troy's feet hurt, seriously. He and Gabriella had so far, visited the kitchen for his cupcake, played pin the tail on the donkey, mashed a piñata into pieces until tiny bars of candy fell to the ground in the backyard, and participated in an employee parade that just so happened to have Troy as the main attraction. He was pissed, tired, hot, and quite frankly; emotional.
The entire time memories of past birthdays had come and gone. He thought of the time he first played pin the tail on the donkey, where he accidentally pinned it in Chad's hair and of the time the cake bakers at 'The Bakers and the Caterers' had spelt his name wrong. He had suddenly gone from a ten year old boy to a ten year old girl in a matter of seconds. His mom though fixed the cake quickly, but that didn't prevent his friends to tease him, calling him Tory for the rest of the time.
And on each and every birthday he had, he found a way to somehow help his mom out, whether it was cleaning up the dishes or taking out the trash once everyone went home. Because that's what should happen. He believed that the Hallmark Stores had it all wrong. Mom's should be celebrated on their kids birthday because they're the ones who did all of the work… and on Mother's Day kids should be celebrated… because a woman wouldn't be a mom without them.
But all of that was beside the point. Even though Troy couldn't stop thinking about his mom, Gabriella still pulled him to different birthday stations, exclaiming how excited she was each time someone told him Happy Birthday. And now, they were walking in the basement, down the hallways towards the basketball court.
"You're going to love this. I'm so excited." Gabriella said to him. He had taken his crown off hours ago and she didn't mind because he was the first to actually wear it for more than five minutes.
"I've seen the basketball court a million times." Troy said with a sigh.
"Not like this." She smiled. "Close your eyes."
"I don't need to close my eyes." Troy said to her, seeing that she wasn't going to take no for an answer. She put her hand over his eyes, leading him forward as she opened the gym doors, stepping in slowly.
"Are you ready?" Gabriella asked him excitedly.
"I guess."
Gabriella slowly moved her hand away from face, seeing that his eyes were shut still and she looked confused as she tapped him quickly. He stayed like that, closing his eyes tighter.
"What are you doing?" She whispered.
"I'm afraid that I'm going to be faced with a petting farm when I open my eyes." He explained to her, feeling her pinch his left eyelid, pulling it up and then dropping it.
"Stop being a baby, Troy!" Gabriella laughed.
"Trust me, that's not an option. I've been playing games for children three and under all day!" Troy exclaimed, feeling her shove him.
"Open your eyes!"
Troy slowly and cautiously opened his eyes, sensing Gabriella smiling wide next to him as they looked out at the basketball courts.
"Wow." Troy said, seeing the decorated table and walls of the gym. "You got me a table and punch bowl. I've always dreamt of receiving a gift like that." His words were dripping with sarcasm and she rolled her eyes.
And then she put her thumb and pointer finger in her mouth, causing a whistle to echo in the large room and for Troy to look at her oddly, but his glance at her lasted only seconds because as giggles erupted from in front of him, his eyes widened.
"SURPRISE!" Troy's mouth dropped open, seeing four familiar faces pop up from behind the table that was in the center of the room and as Gabriella squealed next to him, he felt happy tears in his eyes.
"Hey bro! You look like you've been tortured!" Chad said to him from across the room, laughing as Troy stood still next to the President's daughter.
"I have been!" Troy laughed, looking at all of his closest friends. Taylor, Sharpay, Zeke, and Chad all smiling at him, clearly excited to be in on the surprise. He quickly realized that he hadn't moved since he saw them and jogged over to Zeke and Chad, hugging them both tightly as they all laughed, saying boyish things to each other as the girls hugged each other next to them, squealing and teary eyed.
"Do they really love birthdays this much?" Zeke asked as the guys glanced at the girls, still staying in their huddle.
"Dude, I don't know, but I've never seen Sharpay and Taylor so emotional." Chad said in reply.
"They're probably just excited that we're all here together. It's nice." Troy nodded, smiling hugely. "How did this happen?" He asked.
"Dude, man, I got pulled out of practice right before some serious ass whipping because the White House was on the phone! Can you imagine how scared I was? I thought I forgot to pay my taxes or something." Chad explained.
"Yeah, I was just about to get on a plane to Japan for a food convention when I got the phone call. I didn't even know the President had a daughter until she called me... I haven't had time to watch the news." Zeke nodded, looking over at Gabriella who was smiling as she talked to his girlfriend.
"So, let me get this straight, Gabriella planned all of this. Everything?" Troy asked them.
"Yeah. She said she was really into birthdays… which is obvious by what she is wearing." Chad responded.
"I know. Imagine my surprise when I was greeted with that." Troy chuckled, shaking his head, now suddenly forgetting about how stressed he felt all day, forgiving Gabriella for putting him through all of her crazy rituals.
"Alright boys, stop talking about us and get over here!" Sharpay smiled, waving them over, and Troy hugged her and Taylor, thanking them for coming.
"I think," Gabriella started, smiling as everyone watched as she picked up a lighter. "We should sing Troy happy birthday and have him make his official birthday wish."
"I thought I already made my wish." Troy chuckled as she began lighting the candles that were on the large cake next to the punchbowl. All twenty four of them.
"I know, but I made you tell me so that it wouldn't count." Gabriella answered. "Now you can make a more… appropriate one."
"Did you make a dirty wish, Troy?" Zeke asked as he and Chad laughed, swatting Troy playfully.
"Ah-ha very funny, guys." Troy laughed, watching as the glow from the candles cast an orange shadow over Gabriella's face as she finished up with her fiery lighting.
"Alright, are you thinking of a good wish?" Gabriella asked with a smile as she turned the cake towards him, whipping out a disposable camera, causing everyone to laugh. "Don't laugh at me. You'll thank me later." She told the group.
"Haaaaappppyyy." Gabriella laughed as Sharpay slowly started the song, waiting for everyone else to join in with her and as the group sang to Troy, all looking at him with smiles, Gabriella couldn't help but keep her eyes on him also, seeing how happy he was.
She was noticing too that as he looked at his friends and back at the cake, he seemed to be a completely different person than she was used to seeing. And as she snapped down on the button that would capture this moment she knew that he really was a different person. He was who he was when he didn't have to call her Miss Montez or protect her from a photographer. He was who he likely wanted to be for another twenty four years and then more.
Gabriella quickly pressed down on the camera's button again as Troy made a wish. As he did, she found herself also closing her eyes, hoping that maybe he'd be this guy full time.
"Yay!" Taylor clapped her hands as Sharpay exclaimed loudly in excitement. The guys ruffled Troy's hair while Gabriella took the candles off of the cake; ready to start cutting pieces for everyone.
She had the whole birthday routine down and she could slice this cake in under twenty seconds, but when she felt a hand over her hand that was holding the knife, she looked up, smiling softly.
"Let me help you." Troy smiled. "It's the least I can do." So maybe he couldn't help his mom set the table for his guests or hang the piñata from the tree in his backyard today, but he could help the girl who cared enough about everyone that worked for her to throw the perfect birthday party.
***
The group of friends, even Gabriella was now being considered one of the gang, had pushed the table full of birthday food to the back of the gym and as the girls put their hair in ponytails (although Sharpay protests against it), the guys huddled on the far end of the gym, Troy rolling up the sleeves to his white button-up shirt, already having taken off his black jacket.
They were about to play a much needed, much smack-talk filled game of basketball: boys against girls and everyone was excited except for Gabriella. Although she watched basketball more than the average girl, which was mainly due to being stuck in her room, she never mastered the skill of playing the actual game. She had a feeling that Sharpay and Taylor weren't very good either because they were mumbling complaints about how they were going to lose, but she didn't want to look like an incompetent female.
"Alright, ladies, are you ready to lose?" Chad asked, cracking his knuckles as he sauntered on over to the three young woman.
"Ch-ad." Sharpay said with a bored expression. "We already know we're going to lose, so you don't have to ask."
"Yeah, we're going up against a professional basketball player and the two next best things." Taylor sighed, looking slowly at Troy and then at Zeke.
"Come on, girls, it'll be fun." Zeke smiled, wanting them to at least try to beat them, even though he too knew that they wouldn't.
"Whatever you say, Honey." Sharpay said, smiling as she strolled on over to him wrapping her arms around his neck and as Zeke slowly became weak in the knees, inhaling her sugary scent, she whacked the ball out from under his arm, smacking it towards Taylor who giggled as she ran in the opposite direction, traveling obviously as Troy and Chad ran after her, laughing at the girls' attempt at tricking them.
Gabriella raised her eyebrows, surprised that they were up 1-0 as the girls ran back towards her, following the guys quickly as Chad raced to the other side of the court. She didn't know what to do, but as Sharpay screeched, shoving the guys out of Taylor's way as she tossed it to her, Gabriella's eyes widened, running quickly from the charging guys who were all looking to get the ball away from her.
She missed, obviously, but the guys were too busy getting the ball back to make fun of her and the girls patted her on the back, telling her it was a nice try. After all, it wasn't everyday you played basketball with the likes of these guys.
After a while, the girls had officially given up. Now they were standing on the sidelines watching as the guys played a game of their own after the girls insisted that playing boys against girls was ridiculous and not close to being fun. The guys had happily shrugged, grinning at their victory and were fine with just playing with each other as the girls gossiped while they nibbled on vegetables and dip.
"This was so nice of you, Gabriella." Taylor nodded, dipping a carrot into the creamy dip on the table.
"Ah, it was nothing, really." Gabriella shrugged, looking out at the competitive guys yelling out playfully mean comments to each other.
"Yeah, but this is the happiest I think either of us have seen Troy in a really long time and it's all thanks to you." Sharpay told her, wanting Gabriella to know just how great of a thing she did for Troy.
"I'm just glad that everyone is happy." Gabriella smiled modestly, seeing the way Taylor and Sharpay exchanged a secretive look as if they didn't believe Gabriella was only doing this to see people happy.
"So… have you and Troy gotten to know each other more?" Sharpay asked with another glance to Taylor.
"Not really." Gabriella shrugged, wondering if they were looking for a certain answer from her. "He still has his guard up. I can't really blame him though."
"Mmh, what do you mean?" Taylor asked.
"I'm the President's daughter." Gabriella stated with a sigh. "The only people willing to get close to me are the people who were close to me before I was the President's daughter and if they didn't know me before, they're most likely out to hurt me. Troy's my body guard. He's none of the above." Gabriella explained.
"So, what category do we fall under?" Sharpay asked her.
Gabriella smiled softly, looking at the two girls across from her and they smiled back, giving her hopeful looks.
"I guess I have to make a new category for new friends." Gabriella answered, laughing softly at the excited look in their eyes.
"To new friends!" Taylor cheered, holding up a cucumber with dip on it as if it was a cup of champagne and they were making an important toast.
"To new friends." Sharpay and Gabriella said together, joining Taylor in her fun attempt at a formal toast.
"I hope we're included in that category!" Chad said as he approached them, snatching the cucumber from Taylor's hand, capturing it in his mouth quickly as Taylor swatted at him for eating out of her hand.
Sharpay smiled as she linked her arm with Zeke's, getting him a vegetable with dip and as she looked over at Taylor with a knowing nod, she answered.
"Of course! You all are." She said, poking Troy in the arm with a giggle, subtly telling him that he was also a part of this new found friendship.
Gabriella glanced at Troy who was smiling playfully over at an excited Sharpay. She cleared her throat, biting into the cucumber that was still in her hand. Apparently according to the group; they were friends now.
***
Gabriella's arms swayed at her sides as she and Troy walked back to her room later that night and they glanced at each other occasionally only to look away when they made eye contact. Her birthday shirt was wrinkled and stretched from her day's activities and her feet hurt from their frequent movement around the White House that day.
A sigh from Troy brought Gabriella out of her thoughts soon later as they approached her door and she smiled when he raised his eyebrows at her casually. The house was silent and the bright lights of the hallway irritated the both of them as they stopped by Gabriella's bedroom door.
"So, I hope all of your birthday wishes come true." Gabriella said as she stood in the doorway of her room, her hand on the doorknob while she looked at Troy.
"Yeah." Troy nodded, smiling softly. "I'm actually regretting making my first wish."
Gabriella smirked, laughing softly as she nodded.
"The day would have come to an end eventually." She replied. "I'm just glad you enjoyed yourself today." She rolled her eyes inwardly, suddenly feeling as if she was talking in a formal manner about a casual event.
"Me too." Troy nodded. "Um, Goodnight, I guess."
"Goodnight." Gabriella said in a whisper, smiling tiredly at him as she took a step forward.
"Uh, Gabriella…" Troy said suddenly, causing Gabriella to stop immediately because he used her first name. She looked over at him, giving him a wondering look. "Thank you." He said finally, nodding slowly as he did. "For everything."
"You're welcome." Gabriella smiled again, swallowing with a nod as she stepped into her room. As she closed the door behind her she felt her heart beat increasing. Maybe it was because he seemed genuinely thankful for her efforts on his birthday, or because of the way he looked at her when he said her name, but either way, it had her grinning noticeably and wondering what the heck she was getting herself into.
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unknownbyhim22
