Chapter 8

College had finally come when summer ended. Kelsi had gone to Julliard while both Gabriella and Taylor had gone to UCLA. Gabriella was thankful for having Taylor with he in college, otherwise she would have not survived alone. "When semester break comes around, you'll see Troy." Taylor assured Gabriella who hoped her best friend was right. The girls went separate ways to their classrooms. Gabriella spent the entire day just thinking about Troy, but she needed to stop getting distracted if she wanted to focus on her school work. As soon as class ended, she bumped into someone on the way out. "Sorry." She looked up and was met face to face with- "Ryan?" What are you doing here? Thought you'd be going to Julliard." she said.

"I thought about it, but then realized that my sister was going to be there. We both know that she's going to try and ruin my life like she did in high school." Ryan said as they walked down the hallway. "She's not trying to ruin your life Ry." Gabriella said as they walked outside and met up with Taylor who was waiting for Gabriella on the bench. "Hey Ryan." Taylor smiled, giving Ryan a hug. "You're not going to Julliard with Kels?" she asked.

"Kelsi's at Julliard?" Ryan asked.

"Yeah, she didn't tell you?" Gabriella asked. Ryan shook his head and Gabriella gave him a hug, reassuring him that everything would be okay. "How are things with Troy? Has he called yet?" Taylor asked as Gabriella took out her cell phone to see if she had any messages. "No, he hasn't called." Gabriella replied. She was going to give it until the end of the week before deciding to give Troy a call.

. . .

"Hey Troy! Heads up!" Chad passed the ball, but Troy hardly paid any attention to the pass. Chad grabbed the ball, walking up to his best friend. "What's going on?" he asked. Three weeks have already passed and they were enjoying the college life. Both guys had made it onto the basketball team, which was no surprise there. Troy looked up from his phone, continuing to look at the last picture that Gabriella had sent him. "Still thinking about Gabriella?" Chad asked, looking over Troy's shoulder at the picture of Gabriella. "She's my girlfriend. Of course I'm thinking about her." Troy replied, sitting down on the bench and sighing. Chad knew that something was up. Gabriella hadn't called Troy in three weeks. "She hasn't called you, has she?" Chad sat down beside Troy.

"Do you think she's found another guy?" Troy asked.

"Dude, why would you think that? You should call her." Chad said. Troy hesitated for a moment and nodded, taking his friend's advice. He stood up and walked out of the gym, dialing Gabriella's number. He waited and after two rings, Gabriella picked him. "Hey Gabs." Troy greeted her with a smile.

"Hey Troy. I've been meaning to get in touch with you, but I've been busy with school work." she smiled. Typical. Troy thought to himself and said, "Yeah, same. I've just been in basketball practice."

"Good for you. Maybe you can show me your moves off the court."

"I'll take you up on that offer Miss Montez." he smiled.

"I'll see you when winter break comes around Mr Bolton." Troy hung up the phone after saying good bye and was about to walk back to the gym when a girl caught his eye. Now this girl was different from girls he's previously dated, excluding Gabriella. She was a beautiful brunette. She was walking towards his direction. She was wearing a cheerleading outfit of course. Maybe head cheerleader. Troy thought to himself, watching how she strutted through the hallway. "Excuse me, you're standing in front of my locker." she said, motioning to a locker on the wall.

"Oh sorry." Troy said, backing away from the locker. She had a similar attitude like Sharpay, but different. She opened her locker and pulled out her backpack. "You know, it's rude to stare." she said, turning to face him. Troy hardly even noticed that he was staring at her. He cleared his throat. "I was just captivated by your beauty. Everything about you is intoxicating." he said. He couldn't believe the words that were coming out of his mouth. Inside, he knew he had a girlfriend but this girl was- "You're cute." she smiled. "I'm Annabelle. You can call me Anna." She held out her hand towards him and he reached out to shake her hand. "Troy." he smiled.

"Nice to meet you Troy. Congratulations on making the team. We needed someone like you." With that, Annabelle continued on down the hallway and Troy just watched after her. Chad walked out of the gym wondering where Troy had gone off to. "Dude, snap out of it!" Chad slapped Troy at the back of his head. "You have a girlfriend."

. . .

Two weeks until semester break and Gabriella was more than excited to see Troy. "Gabriella, calm down. It's just Troy." Taylor said. Gabriella was hanging out with Taylor and Ryan at the mall. "I haven't seen Troy since summer ended Tay." Gabriella said. Taylor rolled her eyes and said, "All those late night calls you two have been having, I know." Gabriella and Taylor were roommates. It still got on Taylor's nerves that Gabriella and Troy were being all lovey-dovey with each other. "Has he called?" Ryan asked.

"No, not at all." Gabriella sighed as she checked her phone for the hundredth time. "I think something's wrong." She was worried that Troy might have found another girl, but she didn't want to believe that. She didn't let herself come to those assumptions. Usually she'd let those thoughts go, but it was constantly bothering her for the last two months. "I should call him." she said, beginning to dial Troy's number. She waited for him to pick up, but after the fifth ring, it went straight to voice mail. She knew that something was up, but she didn't know what.

Later that evening while Gabriella and Taylor were studying for their semester finals, Gabriella's phone rings. She reached over and picked up the phone. "Hello?" she answered.

"Hey, it's Troy."

"Hey Troy. What's wrong?" she asked. She knew that something was wrong. This whole time she knew. "It's something important that I have to talk to you about." He sounded serious. "What is it?" Gabriella glanced over at Taylor who looked up from her chemistry book. "This isn't working out Gabriella." he said. Her heart sank. "I'm breaking up with you." Tears rolled down her cheeks. She couldn't believe it. She dropped the phone without saying another word. Taylor climbed onto Gabriella's bed, hanging up on Troy. She gave Gabriella a hug. "I don't understand Tay. Why?" Gabriella asked, looking up at her best friend.

Taylor shook her head, knowing that Troy was bad from the start. "Who fucking cares if he broke your heart? You deserve someone better Gabriella and we'll find someone; someone who's good." Those were the only words Taylor said to Gabriella before Gabriella said to Taylor that she wanted to be alone. Taylor nodded and walked out of the dorm, leaving Gabriella in the room. Gabriella knew that Troy wouldn't have any intention on leaving her if he had found another girl. Maybe mom was right. She thought to herself and sighed. She looked at the picture of Troy on her beside table and laid it face down. She was going to take Taylor's advice and move on from Troy. She was going to find herself another guy in hopes to get over whatever-his-name-is.