Sorry it's late guys, honestly, and I mean honestly, I had this chapter written. I actually have a couple of the next chapters written. But I just wasn't satisfied with putting this up and I'm still kind of not one hundred percent sure it was my best, but eh, I didn't want to keep you guys waiting any longer. So, I hope you all enjoy! Lot's of love. (:

A Cinderella Story

She took a deep breath as she exited the boy's locker room, praising herself mentally for what she had the courage to do.

"Wow."

She looked up to find Ryan standing in front of her, shaking his head with a smirk in his white shirt and red vest.

"Regina and Troy all in the same day…you go girl."

Gabriella rolled her eyes and walked in step with him down the hallway. "What are you doing here?" She asked lightly, feeling as if a large weight had been lifted off of her shoulders, however, she could still feel the hole in her heart where one blue-eyed boy belonged.

"I was just in the gym getting ready to watch the game, but I thought I'd come look for you. Carly said I could find you here."

"Yeah, well I just had to take care of something."

He nodded knowingly. "I'm glad you did."

She sent him a soft smile before sighing. "So, do you want to go back to the game?"

Ryan shrugged, though she could tell he was about to lie. "No…I mean, we could do something else, if you're not up for it…"

She giggled lightly, latching her arm around his. "Ry, it's okay. I'll go. It's the last basketball game I'll ever get to watch, and I'm done letting other people effect my decisions."

He smiled brightly down at her. "I'm so proud of you, Gabs."

She shrugged playfully. "I try."

Ryan ruffled her hair emitting a squeal of protest from her. "Come on, let's go watch the Wildcat's win tonight."

Gabriella giggled as he led the way towards the gym, the roars and lights already being heard and seen from across the hall. "I'm crossing my fingers."

The large gymnasium was electric with bright lights and the colors red and white. The loud cheerleaders chanted for their school courtside and hyped the crowd up with large white smiles while the Wildcat mascot did back flips across the sidelines, roaring animatedly. The red bleachers were packed with spirited students and some faculty members along with others, everyone coming out to support their team, who was facing off the West High Knights, their rival school.

It was almost halftime, the score was tied 42 to 42. Something that never happened, for the Wildcat's were unbeatable, always a large gap ahead of the other team. This meant only one thing.

The East High basketball Captain, their most valuable player, didn't have his head in the game.

"Come on!" Jack Bolton yelled to the ref as the bitter looking man called yet another foul just as the halftime beeper went off. "Troy, what the hell are you doing?"

The East High stands awed and yelled at the ref for the foul on their golden boy.

One of the Knights went up to the foul shot line, Troy standing on the sides next to him with a stone hard face on, cursing himself for making such a careless mistake.

The West High player put the shot up...and the ball swished through the net.

"Fuck." Troy hissed under his breath, clenching his jaw with anger. He shared an irate look with Chad who was giving him the usual 'what the fuck is wrong with you?' look.

He just shook his perspiring head, lifting the hem of his jersey to wipe his sweaty brow. Troy took his time to join his team on the sidelines as they all huddled together around Coach and got some water from the flirty managers with the bottles of water.

Both the managers ran up to him, offering him a bottle. He took the closest one without taking a second glance at the girls, squirting the water harshly down his dry throat. As he gulped down the cold refreshment he scanned the stands, his eyes landing on the brunette sitting in the middle of the crowd next to Ryan. She was looking down at him with a scrunched brow, a look of curious worry on her face.

He sighed, knowing everyone was wondering why the hell he wasn't on his A game.

"Troy! Get the hell over here!"

His teammates made a gap for him as he approached and walked through them, taking a seat on the bench and grabbing his towel.

"What the fuck is wrong with you, Troy?" His father bellowed. "You should be crushing them right now! And now they're a point ahead of us!"

He sighed, leaning over to place his elbows on his knees. "I'm sorry dad, I'll get it together."

Jack sighed, taking his hat off and running a hand through his dark brown hair that matched his sons. "Alright guys, get in the locker room, get some water."

The team tiredly trudged away towards the locker rooms. Troy got up to follow his team and he found his eyes again drifting towards the stands to land on the brunette. He found himself zoning out again, a certain question coming to mind. In the end, what really matters? What matters to you? He was in the middle of his last High School Championship game, and he was letting his team down. He was letting them down because he wasn't focused on winning. He was focused on her. And Troy knew suddenly, that if he wanted to win this game for everyone, then he would have to decide what he really wanted, and he needed to figure out what to do about it. And soon.

He gazed up at the brunette in the stands. The answer was right in front of him. Her curious brow and worried stare, concern shooting down to him even after what he did to her. She was still right there, he hadn't lost her. He just had to make it or break it.

"Dude, don't tell me it's about that chick again." Chad sighed, approaching him with a creased brow.

He looked down. "Chad, I have to talk to her."

The light chocolate skinned boy shook his head and glanced up at Gabriella as well, knowing that they were never going to win this game if his Captain didn't get his priorities straight. He smiled encouragingly at his best friend. "Go get her man. I'll cover for you in the locker room with Coach. Good luck."

Troy smiled gratefully at the afro haired male before taking a deep breath and jogging down the sidelines to the middle of the stands. He looked up, locking eyes with a confused Gabriella. Everyone else in the stands stared at him expectantly, just as confused.

"Gabriella!" He called, cupping his hands over his mouth to yell over the noise. "Gabriella!" Everyone looked up to whom he was yelling to and all eyes landed on the horrified brunette who had a pissy look on her face as she stood up reluctantly.

He watched her squeeze through people as she made her way to the aisle. Taking three steps at a time, he bounded up the bleachers and met her just as she stepped into the aisle.

"What are you doing?" She asked through gritted teeth.

"I'm sorry." He breathed, a goofy grin on his face, a sign that he finally knew what he wanted.

Gabriella cocked an eyebrow, watching him smile with confusion. "Troy…I'm lost here."

"Gabriella," He said softly, taking her hand as a serious calm took over him . She looked down at the contact and then met his eyes in a heated stare. "I've been waiting for someone like you to come along for a long time, and I meant everything I said to you in those emails." He sighed. "And the game," He gestured down to the court. "As you can see I'm fucking up down there because I can't stop thinking about you."

She gulped in a daze, just staring at him with hesitant eyes.

"I fell for you that night at the dance, and I know I was a jerk to let you walk away…" Although he was standing on the step beneath her, he still had to slightly look down to meet her doe eyes. "But please, I know I'm late, but just give me a chance to show you that I am that guy, the guy that deserves someone like you."

She felt her heart rate quicken, the pulse of her most vital organ beating harshly against her chest. She looked deep into his ocean blue eyes, the pools of the Caribbean seas melting her within and showing her just how sincere he was. Without having to give it a second thought, a soft smile played on her face. "Took you long enough…" She whispered.

He glanced over her face with a smile twitching at his lips before it broke out into a large grin. He could feel everyone's eyes on them, even the West High bleachers seemed to be peering over to witness the commotion. "I'm sorry I made you wait." He whispered back, smirking happily.

She shook her head lightly. "It's okay."

And without further hesitation he wrapped his strong arms around her and squeezed her tight to him, smashing his smiling lips against her own.

There were gasps and sounds of shock, jealousy, excitement, cheer, all heard from the students around them. There were numerous 'awh' and 'oohs' that surrounded them as they hugged each other tightly, Gabriella's arms now around Troy's neck and pulling him just as desperately to herself as they now involved their dancing tongues and made out in the middle of their peers.

It seemed like they had been kissing forever when the loud buzzer sounded, indicating the end of halftime, and all the players returned back to the gym.

Troy and Gabriella pulled apart slowly, large smiles on both of their faces. "Go get 'em Wildcat." She whispered encouragingly to him, her face still inches away from his own.

He sent her a charming smile while unwrapping his arms from around her body and taking a step down the bleachers. He turned around towards the court before halting in his tracks and quickly spinning towards her again. Gabriella giggled as he kissed her quickly once more.

Troy shrugged. "For good luck."

She shook her head as he quickly made his way down the bleachers to his team.

Chad smirked at his best friend and patted him on the back as he joined their circle. "Wow Bolton, didn't think you had it in you."

He just shook his head and sent Chad a playful glare. "Fuck you man." He laughed with his best friend before catching his dad's eye. He silently asked for his team back, getting a nod from Jack in response. "Alright boys," Troy yelled to his team, the East High players looking refreshed and ready for another half, though their faces held slight worry as they glanced at the score board.

"Don't look at the score guys, we're down by one, which isn't a big deal. Let's make this half count. I know we can do it." He caught the eyes of all his players. "It's the last game we ever get to play as a team and I'll be damned if we lose it to those pussy's over there."

The team all snickered and smiled at their Captain's speech.

"So," Troy sighed, a cocky smirk on his face as he prepared to win. "Let's go own that court." He nudged his best friend.

Chad nodded knowingly, taking a deep breath. "WHAT TEAM!"

"WILDCATS!"

"WHAT TEAM?"

"WILDCATS!"

"WHAT TEAM!"

"WILDCATS!"

Chad grinned, pumping his fist in the air. "WILDCATS!"

"GETCHA HEAD IN THE GAME!"

The team all jumped and hollered, hyped up to win. The buzzer sounded and Troy jogged to his place on the court with a cocky smirk on his lips. He shared a knowing look with Chad, both of them thinking the same thing:

How awesome winning their last game of the season was going to be.

His breath was heavy, the pants that escaped his lips showing just how exhausted he was. There was only 16 seconds left on the clock and the teammate to his right had just passed the ball to him.

Troy weaved through the blue and gold players, a clenched jaw of determination on his face as he made his way towards the net. As the Knights attempted to triple team him he quickly passed the ball to Chad on his left, nodding to him in a silent agreement on what they were going to do next to win this game with a bang.

He sprinted to the net and was ready when Chad did a fade away, the ball hovering over to the right of the net. Troy used his strong legs to jump as high as he could possibly go, grasping the ball tightly in his hands before slamming it through the hoop with a loud roar. He let go of the net and landed with a boom on the gym floor beneath him.

Before he could blink the loud buzzer went off and his teammates surrounded him. They slapped his back and jumped on top of him happily, the score board reading 70 to 61 and the win going to the East High Wildcat's.

Everyone on the bleachers got up and flooded the court, surrounding the basketball team and chanting with victory. Troy was lifted in the air on the shoulders of two of his players. He punched his fist in the air and hollered.

"Son!"

He looked down and grinned at his father, taking the large awaiting gold trophy and lifting it in the air triumphantly.

Looking over to the bleachers, he grinned at a laughing Gabriella, who was standing in front of the bleachers with Ryan at her side. Ryan hollered and jumped up and down as she just shook her head and laughed, hollering as well. She looked up and locked eyes with Troy, silently praising his win with her beaming grin and big doe eyes.

The Wildcat's were Champions...again.

After fifteen minutes of uncontrollable craziness following the championship win against the Knights, the gym slowly started decreasing in the amount of people crammed in it. Once all the depressed West High students had left, along with their players, only the Wildcat's were left. After congratulating the players and Coach, everyone left in packs, probably headed to the after party held at Joe Minard's house, where there would most definitely be large sums of alcohol.

After getting about a million congratulatory smiles and pats on the back and having most every girl in the whole school hugging him with the excuse of their win, in which he would just politely smile and say thanks, Troy left the crowd to go find Gabriella.

He found her sitting on the bleachers with Ryan standing next to her. Just as he approached them the male blonde waved goodbye to the brunette and walked towards the exit of the gym.

"Hey." Troy grinned, watching as Gabriella looked up at him and a grin of her own spread across her features.

"Hey." She replied, getting up to stand before him. "Congratulations, that last shot was awesome."

Troy shrugged modestly. "It was nothing, but thank you."

She nodded.

"Are you going to the after party?" He asked, taking a step towards her and placing a hand on her waist. "It's gonna be huge."

Gabriella gave him a pointed look. "You're seriously asking me that question?"

He chuckled, placing his other hand on her waist as well and pulling her close so his arms rested loosely around her. "So is that a yes…?"

She giggled and shook her head. "Troy, that's not really my scene, you know that…"

"It doesn't have to be your scene, you're with me now."

She smiled softly and rested her hands on his chest. "Thank you for that, but really, I'm not into parties like that. You can go ahead though, really."

He pouted cutely. "But I don't want to go if you don't."

She bit her lip, a blush making its way onto her cheeks. "Troy, you won't have any fun if I'm there holding you back."

He frowned at the statement. "One: that's a load of bull shit. And two: I wouldn't have any fun if I went without you."

She giggled. "That's very sweet."

He smiled before sighing playfully. "Fiiiine." With a sparkle in his eye, he pulled her closer. "I have a better idea."

She cocked an eyebrow while smirking cutely. "And this idea would be?"

"I say we go out, just the two of us, and get something to eat. I want to spend victory night with my girl."

She gulped at the sweet comment, the butterflies in her stomach doing back flips. "But everyone's expecting you at the party, you're the Captain." She knew how the after party was always the big social scene after any big sport event. And for the most popular guy at East High not to show up? That was unheard of.

Troy just shrugged. "They'll live without me, no worries. Plus, they'll all be too drunk to even notice I'm not there."

"Are you sure? I mean I don't want to ruin your night."

He scoffed and shook his head. "The only way you could change my night is by making it better."

Gabriella grinned timidly and looked down. "Well, if you're sure…"

He smiled adoringly at her innocent nature and lifted her chin with his fingers. "Just wait out here until I shower, I'll be five minutes."

Nodding happily she allowed him to step back, but not before kissing him lightly first, a smile breaking out onto his face. "I'll be here." She whispered as he walked backwards towards the locker rooms.

"Five minutes!" He called, sending her a charming grin before spinning around and running towards the gym doors.

Gabriella giggled and mentally squealed, having to bite her lip to sustain her happy cry. She was spending her night with Troy Bolton, and she wouldn't have wanted it any other way.

She sat down on the bleachers and took out her phone, quickly texting Carly and telling her not to wait up.

After slipping her phone back into her back jeans pocket, she sat with her hands on the bleachers at her sides, waiting patiently for her…boyfriend? She looked up instantly, realizing that she had no idea what she should call him. I mean, he had called her 'his girl', that meant they were official…right?

Gabriella just shook her head and watched her scuffling sneakers, not really caring what they were just that they were together at all, and knowing that he meant a lot to her, and hoping that she meant the same to him.

To pass the time the beautiful brunette watched the remaining students exit the gym, her head shooting up every time the door leading to the locker rooms opened and sighing as one by one the players, not being her Prince, walked in and out of the basketball court.

After almost ten minutes a large grin spread across her face as a newly showered Troy appeared from the doors, now in jeans, a navy blue t-shirt, and a black north face jacket on, his hair damp from his shower and his basketball bag hanging from his shoulder.

"Look who's late." Gabriella teased, standing up and smirking playfully.

He narrowed his eyes. "Hey, I don't think you should be complaining since I'm pretty sure you wouldn't want to be with me if I still smelled like ass."

She giggled and allowed him to lace their fingers together as they walked towards the gym exit. "Actually," She scrunched her nose up cutely and sniffed him. "Now that you mention it…"

He sent her daggers as she just laughed beside him.

"Kidding." She giggled.

"Mhm, I'm watching you Montez."

"Get at me, Bolton."

Troy cocked an eyebrow at her smirk. "Woah, look whose got game."

She shrugged playfully. "I guess you're not the only one."

Chuckling, he placed his arm around her shoulder and squeezed her to his side, her hand coming up to lace with his own hand that hung lazily on her shoulder. "You just keep surprising me." He mumbled against her hair before kissing it sweetly.

She giggled against his side, pressing further into him as the night breeze whipped across her, his body heat keeping her warm. "You have no idea." She whispered happily, gazing up at his perfect face with adoration.

"So," He looked down at her. "Where to, my lady?"

SO. REVIEW PLEASE. As you all probably noticed I changed it a lot from the actually movie, and I'm hoping that's a good thing. ALSO, I'm not just ending this story as soon as they get together, it will probably end once they go off to college in a couple months, and I'm hoping to cram in some drama between now and then. STAY TUNED (: