Chapter playlist: Combat baby-Metric

My eyes burn-Matchbox Romance


"I kind of like this one." I rolled my eyes at Taylor for the tenth time that hour.

It was the end of the week, and she was desperate to go shopping with me. I mean, who wouldn't want to experience the magic of shopping in Beverly Hills, anyways? I couldn't afford anything, but I decided to come with her anyways. She had saved up a lot of money for this. Back home, she had a decent job at a café.

"Gabriella, I'm about to just buy you something, girl. You need some more spunk, you seem so bored! What happened to my best friend?" Taylor joked.

To be truthful, my mind was set on something else. I couldn't concentrate on anything that didn't involve a pair of eccentric ocean blue eyes. Fact: I could not stop thinking about him. And it was driving me insane. You know those type of crushes where you're desperate to know if the person liked you back, but you were so worried that they didn't? That was what I was experiencing. I felt as if I was twelve again, reliving the days of crushing and first kisses.

"Sorry." I mumbled, entertaining myself with a rack of lingerie.

"I think Troy's going to invite us to a Hollywood party." Taylor seemed zealous—her golden eyes sparkling with excitement.

"Wow." I breathed, not glancing back to her. "Are the Joe Bros gonna be there?"

We both burst out laugh. "I don't get his little obsession with them." I chuckled.

"Me neither, but I mean, they are the hottest boy band today." Taylor observed, a smile still on her face.

"Boy bands are so gross!" I let out a giggle. "I was never into that stuff."

"Oh, you never thought Nick Carter was sexy?" Taylor taunted, pulling out a sapphire-colored, sleeveless dress that rose up to her knees.

"Oh, no, JT all the way woman!" I exclaimed, laughing.

"Ow ow, JT, huh? He did have some luscious curls. Even now, he's bringing sexy back!" Taylor kidded, laughing with me.

"Ow ow!" I shrieked at her, giggling. "I'm bringing sexy back... YEAH!"

Taylor began to do a booty dance, swaying her hips to my horrible beat, and moving her hands back and forth in a instantaneous motion. She bit her bottom lip, concentrated. I burst out laughing at her, halfway through the chorus of the song.

"You are truly a dancer, Tay!" I couldn't stop laughing at her idiocy.

"Aw, girl, you know I can break dance like you've never seen. Troy Bolton ain't got nothin' on this." She chaffed, a cheeky smile on her face.

"Ooh, but Link Larkin's pretty smooth on his feet." I smiled at her, challengingly.

"Link Larkin wears too much hairspray." Taylor commented, snorting.

We both laughed, hysterically, as she brought her clothes to the front desk to pay for them.

"So, what's it gonna take for you to admit you're into Troy Bolton?" Taylor inquired, impartially, as she grabbed her bag, the clerk giving her a receipt.

We walked out of the store, a blush formed on my face. "Taylorr!" I whined. "It's nothing."

"Oh please. The lovey dovey eye movement is kind of obvious, dear." Taylor mumbled as we began walking back towards Troy's mansion.

"Lovey dovey eye movement? Tay, you're insane!" I gave her a chimerical glance, raising an eyebrow.

Taylor snorted, in annoyance. "Well he sure as heck ain't talking to Sharpay much anymore, Gab."

"So? That doesn't mean he's romantically drawn to me." I retorted, rigidly.

"You're in denial, woman!"

I rubbed my temples. "Taylor, seriously, there's nothing." Why must she be so persistent? I wanted to keep my feelings secretive.

"Okay, well that's too bad, because he totally wants you!" Taylor sung, a huge smirk on her face.

I gave her a bizarre glance, beginning to catch up to her fast pace. "What?"

"Interested, eh?" Taylor gave me a sideways glance.

"Oh my gosh, Taylorrr!" I shrieked, eagerly. "Fine, I am, but you can't tell anyone!"

"I knew it!" Taylor stopped walking, suddenly looking pleased. "Troyella."

"Excuse me?" I furrowed my eyebrows at her.

"Your couple pet name, of course." Taylor gave me a brazen grin.

"Right." I rolled my eyes. "You said he wanted me."

"He does, he told Chad you were really cute." Taylor seemed more excited then I was, and to be honest, my heart was somewhere in heaven at the moment.

"Really?" I asked, anxiously. "B-b-b-but.. he's like.. a celebrity!" I gushed, unbelievably.

"So? He totally mentioned you being cute randomly, which means something." Taylor persuaded, grinning, ecstatic.

"This is a dream, right? I'm dreaming, pinch me, Tay!" I squealed, determined that it was a dream.

I closed my eyes, waiting for the pinch.

"Girl, you're whack. If this was a dream, you would've woken up by now."

I widened my eyes, now facing Taylor's face again. She looked frenetic still.

"Hmm, that's true." I admitted, embarrassed. "But what do I do, Taylor?"

She only chuckled, "Wait for it, Gab. Just wait for it."

I held my breath as she began walking in front of me, her pace increasing. I let out the breath in relief, my heart swimming in delight. I felt as if my feet were floating, as if I was on cloud nine. I felt spectacular, indescribably happy. I could have ran ten miles with a huge grin on my face. I could have done anything. A beautiful, euphoric feeling just overpowered me. I had no control on it's impact. I felt amazing.


I brushed the small tear from underneath my eye, softly. "Gosh, Jack, why did you have to die like that? After all of this.." I murmured, monotonously.

Imagine this: two eighteen year old girls'-their hair up in messy buns and their PJ's on with tears rolling down their eyes, a big screen television with Leonardo DiCaprio ridiculously dying at the end of Titanic, a large bowl of popcorn that had been demolished from start to finish, candy bags everywhere, blankets and pillows on our separate couches.

Troy was gone for the day, rehearsing for Hairspray. I had not seen him since last night. And Chad was busing himself with Jim. They had some guy project that they were doing. They may have been playing air hockey upstairs. They seemed to be doing that a lot nowadays. Kelsi was nowhere to be found, as usual, and Sharpay was out with some guy on a date. It was about seven o'clock PM, we arrived back from shopping at four o'clock. We have been watching Titanic for three hours now.

"I know. Darn, stupid Leo and his baby blues." Taylor sniffed, shoving her hand into a bag of skittles. She messily took the handful and consumed it.

Baby blues. I thought, glancing at the television screen. My mind instantly wandered to Troy, and his beautiful blue eyes. I kind of missed not seeing him today. He got his hair done last night, and I went to bed early, not being able to see it. I wondered if he looked good or not. I was curious.

I sighed, dreamily.

"What the heck is my man doing, anyways?" Taylor asked, shutting the television off with the remote.

"Air hockey?" I assumed, chuckling.

"Of course." She obviously agreed. "Well, what now? I was thinking Pearl Harbor.."

I grinned, excitedly, jumping off the sofa and dashing towards the DVD player, picking out the movie instantly. Taylor was ingenious; she knew that we would be here for awhile, so she grabbed all of her favorite love stories before leaving Chicago. Brilliant woman, my best friend.

I was about to insert it into the DVD player, when the front door swung open. Both of our eyes jerked towards the person walking into the house. It took me a second to realize who it was—the jet black hair seemed abnormal. But after noticing the azure-colored eyes, I realized instantly that it was Troy Bolton, and wow did he look amazing with dark hair! It was humorous, I almost thought he looked better. The gel and hairspray must have came out, because it was all messy and spiky. I watched him with a breathless smile. I really hoped that I wasn't drooling.

"Nice hair, Larkin." Taylor teased, chuckling lightly as he threw a bag he was carrying on the coffee table near the television.

"You like it, huh? I'm flattered." His tone proved he was exhausted, yet still in a all-around good mood.

"Really. Wow, Troy." I breathed, as he made his way towards the couch—my ability to breathe decreased with each and every step.

He took a seat in between us, sighing, heavily. "I'm so tired. I could go for a foot massage right now."

Taylor and I looked at each other and she raised an eyebrow, turning to him with a sassy look on her face. "You're outta your mind. I'm definitely not gonna mess with a dancer's feet."

"What? Aw, Tater Tot," His nickname for her made me a bit uncomfortable, "didn't you hear that dancers have sexy feet?"

"Oh, gosh, Troy! Gab, you would massage Troy's feet, wouldn't you?" Taylor obviously was joking, but she also knew my disgust with feet.

"Eww, no! Sorry, Troy, but I hate feet." I giggled at him, while saying this.

"Man..." Troy complained, leaning his head back, resting it. "I'm so out of shape."

I rolled my eyes. Him? He was flawless.

"You are like the baby that nobody ever had." Taylor snickered.

"Hey, baby's are cool." Troy defended, a smile on his face. "I see you guys devoured my food." He noted, glancing down at the empty bowl, and the empty bags.

I blushed, while Taylor didn't seem to be humiliated at all. She only rested her feet on the table, carelessly. "Bolton, you have more food then anyone I know."

"Yeah, I kinda eat a lot." He admitted, chuckling.

"There's starving kids in Africa, you know." I told him. "You celebrities waste your money, you could be helping out homeless kids!"

"Been there, done that. I'm involved in an organization, Gabriella." Troy retorted, his smile never faltering.

I felt moronic. "Oh."

"But it's good that you think of African kids before me." Troy winked at me, my heart's pace quickening as usual, and my gut muscles tightening with exasperation. His eyes stayed on me, "So, Gabriella, what do you think of my hair?"

"I like it." I answered, truthfully, melting in his baby blues.

"Likewise." He looked up at my sloppy bun, causing me to turn pink slightly.

"Oh... oops." I stammered, remembering Taylor and my 'lazy day'.

"Don't worry—it looks sexy, Gabriella." He complimented, watching it with amused eyes.

I looked down, unable to hide my embarrassment. "Look what you've done now, lover boy, you embarrassed her." Taylor muttered, venomously.

I only turned about five shades redder. "Oh, please, Tay, surely this bun could make history." I joked to her, pointing to the hideous, tangled thing.

"I like it." Troy interrupted, watching me with tranquilizing cobalt eyes. "It's sexy and messy."

He must have been really warming up to me. I loved the way that he said 'sexy'. It only seemed to roll off of his tongue so perfectly. It made me feel weak in the knees again.

"So why are we just sitting here watching a blank television, Gab?" Taylor inquired, raising an eyebrow.

"Oh, totally forgot!" I exclaimed, getting up.

I grabbed the DVD, Pearl Harbor, which I had set on Troy's glass coffee table near the television. I put the DVD into the player, pressing play, quickly. I noticed Troy was beginning to get up. I looked to him, confused on why he wasn't going to watch some more chick flicks with us.

"Well, ladies, as much as I would just love to sit here and watch Josh Hartnett—I'm gonna get something to eat, then see what Chad and Jim are up to." Troy got up, glancing to me a final time, heading towards the kitchen.

I watched him with portentous eyes, as he swiftly walked towards the kitchen. He was wearing a navy-blue long-sleeved shirt. The sleeves were rolled up, two of the buttons undone, his perfect muscles illuminating through his shirt. He wore a pair of dark blue jeans, they fit him extremely well as usual. And his hair, like I mentioned before—was a risqué mess. He walked so flawlessly, towards the kitchen, playing with the backside of his hair while doing so. I watched him, admiring, appreciating his lovely body texture. I must have been obsessed. I could not keep my eyes off of the young man for one whole moment.

Taylor was messing with the remote, skipping to the main menu. Troy had turned around, his beryl eyes making my knees weak. My heart stopped beating for a moment. "Gabriella." He was staring at me, his fingers flagging me to come towards him.

I obeyed, unable to resist his euphonious voice. I walked towards him in the kitchen, receiving a knowing wink from Taylor, as she watched me leave. I found him standing by one of the counters, waiting for me, in all his beauty.

He looked covetous—as if he was dying to tell me something. "So, I've got some good news." The ecstatic look on his face never vanished.

I could only watch him, impatiently, avoiding the thoughts about how close we were to each other, and how fast my heart rate was at the second.

"I.. was talking to one of the music producers on the set of the movie, and I started talking to them about your singing.." I felt my insides quavering with excitement, begging for him to continue. "They said that you need to find some band members, backup singers, you know, the whole shebang." He continued, his eyes never leaving my face.

I had to stop him. "Wait, you were serious?" I was shocked—I figured he was just trying to be nice about getting me a CD recording.

He looked perplexed to my oblivion, and chuckled, "Well, yeah, you thought I was joking?"

"I thought you were just being nice." I admitted, a bit embarrassed that I would think so low of him, then again, he seemed too symmetrical to be serious, right?

"Why do you guys think I'm such a bad person?" He seemed annoyed at this. "I mean, I'm really not, I know I'm famous or whatever, but I'm still a normal guy. Nothing has gone to my head or anything. I know that happens sometimes, but it didn't happen to me." He confessed, scratching the back of his head.

"It's not that, I just don't think I'm good enough for anyone to assume I could make a CD." I mumbled, pessimistically.

He furrowed his eyebrows at me, as I looked down in shame. "Trust me, I've heard some really good singers Gabriella; you're up there with them."

"Really? Am I?" I breathed, fixating my eyes on him, as his ocean's sparkled in the dark.

"Yeah.." His voice was pliable, comforting. His closeness to me seemed to increase. "You just gotta find a band, then you have to record your singing on a tape, your singing with the band.. then I'll send it to this guy, he'll respond, saying if it's okay or not. Then if it is okay, we'll go to the studio and record you."

I gazed at him in amazement. "Really? Oh my gosh, Troy, thank you so much!" I couldn't hide my enthusiasm—I found myself leaping into his arms, feverishly.

I must have startled him, for I heard him chuckle, but he allowed his arms to go around me, as I continued embracing him tightly. "Thank you soo much! It's.. like a dream come true." I breathed, still elated. The encounter caused my heart to race. And when his arms wrapped around my waist gradually, I felt more butterflies in my stomach.

I felt humiliated for pouncing on him like a cheetah or something. I moved away, breaking the embrace, my face turning a cherry red. I looked down, shuffling my feet. "Sorry." I murmured, cackling to my own hysterics.

"It's... all right. I just didn't know you had all of that in you." He admitted, amused to my embarrassment.

I rolled my eyes, keeping my eyes to the ground, "This.. has been all like a dream come true, really. You don't understand how much this means to me. Even when I was in Chicago, I would just daydream all day, just fantasize about making a CD, becoming a sophisticated singer."

"I think it'll be awesome." Troy commented, a genuine smile on his lips. "He even mentioned us recording a duet album, but that's just a future thought. Nothing to dwell on now, I mean, we gotta find you a band!" He laughed at his own over thinking.

"It's... overwhelming." I gushed, breathing out with exasperation. "Like a miracle."

"Don't be afraid to pursue your dreams, Gabriella." Troy advises, a serious look on his perfect face.

"Thanks, again." I whispered, still in disbelief.

Troy gave me another smile. "This isn't out of niceness, this is out of you being a good singer, so don't think that I'm all about impressing people. I'm not. I'm more about making people happy."

"That's good though." I pointed out, my eyes now encountering his.

He continued smiling. I wondered how long we were going to stand there, smiling at each other like imbeciles. I felt so giddy and immature, being so into him. He seemed so extraordinary compared to me, but it didn't seem to matter. I completely forgot my insecurities when I was around him—I felt comfortable now. Yet, I still couldn't deny the fragment of butterflies that were swarming around in my stomach.

"Oh.." He broke the silence, the eager smiles. "I'm going to tell everybody this eventually, but I guess I'll tell you first, if that's all right.." He rubbed the back of his head, awkwardly. "It was supposed to be a Hollywood party, because of me, but we changed it around.." He looked away from me. "It's my brother's sixteenth birthday this weekend."

I didn't even know he had a brother. I just stared at him, eager for him to continue, mesmerized by his faultless features, as usual.

"I figured.. well, you guys should obviously be invited, since you're living in my house and everything for the summer. The party's going to be at Malibu Beach. It's kind of a far distance from here, but it'll be cool, I'm sure. We're going to have like tables set up and well, my family has this obsessive gift-giving thing.. we always have to give him gifts. So it'll be mostly between that, my mom's good cooking, and dancing. We hired a DJ." I wondered what his parents looked like—they must have been attractive, to have such a beautiful boy as their son.

"Wow.. sounds like a lot of fun. You know, I can't imagine what it's like, letting so many people live in your house for the summer. Thank you so much for that, Troy. I mean, you paid my way for flying.. that really wasn't necessary." I blurted out, appreciatively.

He seemed to brush it off. "It's fine, really. I know the majority of people here—Chad, Taylor, Kelsi, Sharpay, Jim—I've grown up with them. And now that I know you, it's cool. You guys are awesome. You can stay here any time you want." He offered, a wide grin appearing on his face, making my chest feel heavy. "Seriously. And obviously Chad's a part of my family, so it's kind of required for him to come. It's kind of a formal type of party though, so I was thinking, you and I could just go out sometime this week, when I'm not busy rehearsing, I could buy you a dress."

"Troy, please! You've already done enough for more!" I cried, melodramatically, a grateful smile on my lips. "You mustn't spend any more money on me. You won't have your billions left if you keep doing this!"

"Ha, ha. Oh come on, Gabriella, you really think a few hundreds are going to kill me?" Troy taunted, chuckling. "We'll drive into LA one day and hang out at Robertson Boulevard, all right? You'll like it there."

The name sounded familiar. I figured it was another local 'celebrity shopping area'. I rolled my eyes, imagining how much Troy would spend on a simple dress for me. "It could be only two digits, Troy."

"I'm telling you, Gabriella, these are designer names—the sexiest dresses you could ever imagine, and it's not even hurting me." Troy bribed, a smug smile on his face.

"What's up with you and the word sexy?" I asked, curious to why he has never said it before.

"It just.. works." He answered, shrugging. "But.. I'm gonna go upstairs, since you're probably getting sick of me anyways." He gave me an inquisitive look while heading towards the stairs.

"You're trying to get me a CD recording.. how could I ever get sick of you?" I asked, from the far distance between us, a sudden trifling tone to my voice.

"Easily." He retorted, winking to me. "But even if you're not, I'll feel like I am, so I'm gonna go."

I rolled my eyes, a small smile on my face, as I watched him head upstairs, probably going to see what Chad and Jim were up to. I sighed, dreamily, heading back towards the living-room. I plopped down next to Taylor, who wasn't even watching the movie, but staring at me instead, a knavish grin on her face.

"What now, Tay?" I whined to her grin.

"Ah, nothing, just Troyella." She snickered, evilly, turning to face the television.

"What about Chaylor?" I inquired, putting her and Chad's name together.

"That really sounds weird. It reminds me of a chandelier." Taylor complained, not meeting my eyes.

"Well, that's what you get for combining names for two people that aren't even a couple-"

"Yet." She cut me off, the grin appearing on her face again.

I snorted. "Why do you think he's so infatuated with me? Even if he did call me cute, that doesn't mean anything! I think Matt Damon's cute, that doesn't mean I'm going to go propose to him!"

"Don't be so over dramatic, Gabriella." Taylor advised, "I understand you're used to Sharpay stealing guys away from you, but I'm pretty sure this guy's whipped."

"He's afraid of commitment, Tay! Why would he be interested in me? I mean, I'm not even a celebrity." I retorted, crossly.

"Yeah, well he wants to make you into one." Taylor still wouldn't look at me as I attempted to argue with her. "He's going to try and get you to make a CD, become famous, then you guys can marry and have a bunch of famous babies."

I rolled my eyes to her absurd prediction. "You're insane, Tay. Fan girls would murder me for stealing their heartthrob."

"Yeah, you better start locking your windows at night." Taylor suggested, jokingly.

"Ah, I'm trying to be serious here!" I wailed, melodramatically. "Am I really in denial?"

"Yes." Taylor snarled. "He wants you."

"No he doesn't." I muttered, dryly.

She sighed, loudly, and then grabbed a pillow off her side of the couch, throwing it at me. It pummeled into my head. I shrieked with shock. "You didn't just throw that at me, woman!" I snapped in a officious tone.

She batted her eyelashes innocently. "Of course not."

"Oh, you better watch it, Tater tot!" I chaffed, grabbing the pillow next to me and whipping it towards her.

She ducked to avoid it, gasping in hysteria. "Oh come on! Now you're jealous? He gave that nickname to me years ago, because I tend to enjoy taters!"

"Okay Napoleon Dynamite; do you stuff them in your pockets too?" I couldn't help but giggle uncontrollably.

"Gosh, I just might." Taylor mimicked, reminding me of Troy's impersonation of Napoleon Dynamite.

I laughed harder, having to clutch my stomach with both hands. "That's disgusting, what's wrong with you?"

"Nothing. Gosh, idiot!" Taylor snickered. "Hey, I think we should go check on my boyfriend—he might have fallen asleep at the air hockey table."

I chuckled at her assumption. "Nice. Though it would be so like Chad to do that."

"I think we should have a game—Troyella vs. Chaylor." Taylor joked.

"I thought you didn't like that pet name," I mocked, "and please don't mention that in front of Troy."

"Oh please, it's not like me to tell Troy your dirty little fantasies about him." Taylor got off the couch, stopping the DVD player by hitting the stop button.

"Dirty little fantasies?" I asked, a look of dubiety on my face.

"I seen you checking out his backside, Gab. It's completely normal though, to picture a guy naked once." Taylor headed towards the stairs, a pedantic grin on her face.

"I did not." I denied, following behind her.

Yet in my mind, I knew that anything close to getting next to Troy like that—that'd be simply an illusion. I mean, he must have been a dream, right? I felt my heart race at just the thought of discovering his true exterior. He seemed beautiful inside and out. But would I ever discover him any further then just as a friend? I yearned to be with him more, to feel him, to understand him just a bit more. I wondered what his strengths and weaknesses were, what his dreams and fears were. I wanted to know what he thinks about when he goes to bed at night, who encounters his mind all the time, what his motivation for getting up in the morning is..

I wanted to know everything about Troy Bolton.


END OF CHAPTER

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