Chapter 9

The next morning, the girls got up at 6am to start packing everything in their car. A tear ran down Gabriella's cheek, just as she saw the "For Sale" sign at her house. She was going to miss her friends. She got in the car with her sister and they drove off; the moving van followed them. That afternoon, Troy and his friends were just driving home from the ice cream store. "Wait, Gabby left?" Taylor asked once they all got out of his car. Sharpay drove past the house; she was with Zeke, Ryan, Jason, and Kelsi. "She didn't tell us that she was going to leave today." Martha told them. Suddenly Ryan's phone rings, "Hello?" he answered. "Ry, it's Gabby. Um…can you tell the others that they can get whatever things they wanted in the house? I mean in my room. We left some stuff there and we decided to leave them for you.

"But if you don't want them, I guess it's okay to leave them there." Gabriella told him. "Thanks for telling me. Bye Gabs." Ryan hung up. "So…?" Sharpay asked. "It was Gabby." Ryan answered. "What did she say?" Troy asked him, frantically. "She said that if we wanted anything, we can go up to her room and get the things that she left." Ryan answered. Both Troy and Mike looked at each other; they ran in the house and it was a good thing that the door was unlocked. The boys came back ten minutes later, "Took you long enough." Sharpay crossed her arms as she leaned against her car. "Why do you have a guitar Mike?" Jason asked. "Alex used to play guitar." He answered. Troy had the most precious gift of all. The ring that he gave Gabriella and it hurt to see that she didn't want to be with him anymore; "What have you got there Troy?" Chad asked. "A ring." He replied, getting in his car along with Mike.

He drove off to their house. "And they just left us here?" Jason asked. "Well, I guess we'll be going now. You guys can just walk home, right?" Sharpay wondered as Zeke, Ryan, Kelsi, and Jason got in. "Yeah; I guess so." Martha answered and watched her drive away.

-

In Texas; "Wow, I guess I'm right for the first time in my life." Gabriella said. They reached Houston, Texas in 4 or 5 hours. Alex smiled, "Well, at least we'll be away from immature men." Gabriella smiled. She was glad that Alex had actually gotten nicer since she was with Mike. "What happened to you two?" Maria asked once they sat down to eat dinner. "Our boyfriends broke up with us and I just realized what today is." Alex answered; yet the last part she answered had a bit of sarcasm in it. "Our birthday; but we have no one to celebrate it with." Gabriella said.

On Monday, the girls got ready for school. "I'm so glad I wore jeans." Alex said. "Well, you're practically covered up." Gabriella joked as Alex scowled at her sister. "Hi." Two boys walked up to the girls. "Hi." Alex greeted them. "At least someone can actually speak our language." She mumbled into her sister's ear. "I'm Alex and this is Gabriella." She introduced them both to the boys. "I'm Derek and this is my friend Luke." Derek held out his hand to Alex; Luke did the same to Gabriella. "It's a pleasure to meet you." Gabriella said. "You too; so, where you girls from?" Luke asked. "Albuquerque, New Mexico." She answered. "Wow, I guess we're neighbors." Derek teased. Gabriella giggled. "Yeah; I guess so." "Well, since it's your first day here. Do you mind if we show you around?" Derek asked. The girls looked at each other; Alex replied, "We don't mind." The boys showed them where the cafeteria was, the gym, the theater, and where their classes were. Once the bell rang, "Thanks for showing us." Gabriella smiled. "No problem. I guess we'll see you at lunch then or if we're lucky, probably we'll be in the same classes as you." Luke smiled back. The girls headed to their homeroom. It was your typical homeroom, except for the fact that it was a different set up. Most of the desks were in groups, rather than being in rows. Since they were seated in alphabetical order, Alex and Gabriella were sitting right next to each other. When lunch finally came, "Wow, all they do is have fun." Alex smiled as Gabriella rolled her eyes. Her phone rang and she looked at the caller ID; "What do you want Troy?" she asked him. "Why'd you take it off?" he asked her. "What are you talking about?"

She was confused as she sat down with Alex and their new friends. "The promise ring I gave you." he answered. Shit! She thought to herself. "I don't know why it was off, but I guess since we're not together anymore, it would make perfect sense that you're not my boyfriend anymore." "Well, I hope you're having fun Montez." Troy hung up on her and ran his fingers through his hair. He was in the bathroom when he had called her. He found out from Taylor that she was in Houston. So it was probably like an hour difference. He walked out of the bathroom; it was already lunch time in East high. He sat down with his friends; "Dude, what's up?" Chad asked. Taylor slapped him. "Ow!" Chad reacted to the slap and rubbed his arm. "Why would ask him that? We all know it's about Gabriella." Martha glared at him. He just shrugged.

"I can't believe that it was our fault." He sighed. "What are you talking about?" Kelsi asked. "Troy was the one who suggested that we should stay for dinner at their house and that's how our parents met. And now our dad is miserable; he wants to find a way to apologize to Gabriella and Alex's mom." Mike answered. "You should probably talk to your dad about it." Ryan suggested. "You're probably right Ry." Troy agreed. He wished that life was much easier if he didn't date most of the girls in school, and he would just date one instead. And that one girl would be Gabriella Montez.


A/N: I'm just guessing about the 4 or 5 hours part. – The part where it says "They reached Houston, Texas in like 4 or 5 hours.

A/N: I don't know if that's true. But I'm guessing. – The part where it says "He found out from Taylor that she was in Houston. So it was probably like an hour difference."