Chapter 9

Gabriella slipped her feet into a pair of white flip flops and turned to face the mirror. Her luscious, dark locks flowed sensuously around her shoulders, framing her face. She was dressed in a white sarong that tied at the edge of her right hip, and a white bikini top that was one of her favorites. She reached over to her dresser and grabbed a white hibiscus flower she had picked from Madison Park earlier, and arranged it behind her ear, pulling all of her hair to one side.

"Well, that's as good as it's going to get," she said to herself, shrugging her shoulders. She turned to head downstairs and smiled at the figure leaning against her doorway.

"I'd say that's pretty damn perfect," Troy said, smiling. He crossed the room and planted a kiss firmly on her lips. "Mmm. Hey, you think we've got time to –"

"Nope," Gabriella interrupted him. "If we don't go, Sharpay will have our heads," she giggled, grabbing hold of his hand and heading downstairs, where Sharpay Evans was touching up the last bits of the party. She was a flurry of pink and silver, flouncing from one end of the kitchen to the next.

"Everybody understand? Good. Oh, there you are! Do you have your speech ready?" Sharpay asked frantically, her eyes landing on Troy.

"Speech? What the…Shar, you never asked me to make a – "

"Make it up on the spot!" Sharpay cried, running out of the kitchen.

"That girl is giving me a migraine," Troy grumbled and Gabriella laughed. She knew Sharpay had put her heart and soul into the party, but she couldn't help but agree that she was overreacting. For the past few days, she had had to put up with Sharpay's incessant plan-changing, from a sit-down lunch to a stand-up, do it yourself barbecue. For her best friend's sake, Gabriella hoped everything would go as planned.

"Come on, let's go see how the outside looks," Gabriella suggested, taking Troy's hand and leading him out to the patio. She gasped as she saw what Sharpay had done to their backyard. It was late evening and white, twinkling lights hovered above their heads. Small round, elevated tables scattered the deck and the pool was lighted, several floaties and water guns already laid nearby, ready for their guests. There was a long buffet table with its usual condiments and the grill was off to one side, Chad already manning the station, with a skeptical Taylor next to him. The swing-set and hammock were also decorated with white lights and lanterns were set in various places. "Sharpay, this is amazing!" she cried.

"Not like you had anything to do with it," Sharpay shot back, and then laughed, giving Gabriella a hug. "It really is, isn't it? I can't believe summer is almost over. School is going to suck,"

"School isn't going to suck. Just think of how many parties we'll be able to go to!" Kelsi Nielsen's voice suddenly joined in, she appeared from behind Sharpay.

"Hey, Kels. Where's Jason?" Gabriella asked, giving her friend a quick hug.

"He's…well, he's probably coming later. I'm not too sure," she said flippantly, shrugging her shoulders and crossing the yard to talk to Taylor, who was mouthing off different ways to grill to Chad.

"I think I'm going to go and save Chad from a Taylor beating," Troy whispered in Gabriella's ear and walked away. Gabriella watched his retreating back, drinking in his athletic physique, her eyes traveling down to his ass.

"Geez, Montez. Obvious much?" Sharpay nudged her and laughed. Gabriella blushed furiously, at the embarrassment of checking out her own boyfriend. "I don't blame you, he does have a nice tush," Sharpay giggled. "How are things between you two anyway? I've hardly spoken to you since,"

"I know, Shar, and I'm really sorry I haven't been there to help you with all of this," Gabriella apologized, gesturing at the backyard. "This really is amazing,"

"Don't worry about it, Zeke was there," Sharpay smiled. "Tell me about you and the golden boy,"

"He's amazing, too. It just feels so right, like I can't believe I haven't met him before, like he's the thing that's been missing for so long," Gabriella explained, following Sharpay and straightening out tables and lawn chairs.

"That's great, Gabi. Just…just be careful, okay?" Sharpay stopped and turned around to face her.

"What?"

"Be careful. I know you're both falling in love and I think that's great, but…well, has he ever told you about his life? New York City and everything before that? All you know is that his parents are divorced and he lives with his mom,"

"You're kidding me, right? First, you tell me to throw caution to wind. Then, when we do get together, you joke around with us. Now you're telling me to be careful? Isn't it a little late for that?" Gabriella asked, feeling slightly offended.

"Alright, forget I said anything, alright? You two are happy and that's great, it really is. I mean that, Gabs," Sharpay said sincerely, putting a hand on her shoulder.

"Thanks. Sorry about that, it's just…I know he hasn't exactly come clean with me just yet. But give it time, I'm sure he will. Someday," Gabriella sighed.

"Yeah. Someday," Sharpay agreed, but turned her head away quickly. She knew when it wasn't her place and this time, it clearly wasn't.

It was almost midnight and the party had moved inside. Someone had brought a keg and Gabriella recognized a makeshift bar set up in the corner of the living room. The music was turned up to an almost ear-splitting decibel, as guests spilled out onto the deck, dancing. The grill, buffet table, and tables had been stowed away to make room and Gabriella and Sharpay's friends were clad in next to nothing, not bothered to change out of their swimming attire. Gabriella squeezed her way through the mass of people to make her way towards the study, where she knew it would be slightly quieter. Closing the door behind her, Gabriella sighed and leaned her head back. She was buzzed from the small amount of vodka and rum she had consumed, but in all honesty, she was exhausted.

"Gabriella?" a voice woke her up from her dreamlike state and she snapped her head back up to see who else was in the room with her.

"Uh…" she stammered. The study was dark and she wasn't aware there was someone else, but Gabriella felt herself being backed up against the door. Her heart was pounding a mile a minute as the person who had cornered her, unmistakably male, pushed his hands against the door, effectively locking Gabriella in some sort of a prison. She shivered as she realized he had been drinking, the smell of alcohol clearly on his breath. Gabriella noticed he had started breathing heavily as he lowered his head to find the crook of her neck. Instinctively, she pushed him off of her. "Ew, sick," she said, smoothing out her hair as she dimly saw the man stumble backwards drunkenly. Deciding that now was as good a time as any, she reached for the door handle to get out of there. But just as she was about to escape, a big, strong hand grabbed her arm and spun her, so her back was to the wall.

"No. This time, we do it right," the voice growled, pushing her harder against the door, his pelvis rocking into hers, as his lips landed on hers in a greedy, slimy kiss.


A/N: What do you think?! I thought I'd leave a cliffhanger. =) Read & Review. =)