Hey! Hope you like!

After baby-sitting Jeanette for an hour, Gabriella walked home. Jeanette had kept giving Gabriella strange, knowing looks. Gabriella didn't know how to respond, so she just acted as if she had no idea what Jeanette was hinting at. Night was falling and the sun was setting in the distance as Gabriella made her way through the streets which were slowly beginning to feel familiar. As she reached her street, she looked over her shoulder and heard scuffling and muttering and what looked like a few people step behind a gate. Gabriella turned around again, and took a deep breath and walked faster toward her home. She spun around again as she got to her drive and looked up and down the street.

Whoever had been behind her, had gone. She felt her heart pounding in her chest and she let out a long sigh of relief and she pushed open the door into the living room. Mrs Montez was sitting at the kitchen table reading the newspaper, and as he daughter walked in, face pale and drawn, she stood up in concern.

"What's wrong, honey?" She asked, crossing the room and Gabriella hugged her tightly. "Gabriella? Are you okay?" Gabriella pulled away from her mum and nodded slowly. "You sure? What happened?"

"Some—" The doorbell rang and in fright, Gabriella let out a squeal. Mrs Montez looked at her daughter oddly and then walked into the foyer and opened the door. Gabriella went to the cupboard and opened it up, taking a glass out and filling it with water. Mrs Montez walked in, showing two boys, both looking flushed and sweaty as they walked in.

Chad and Troy.

Gabriella almost spat the water back into the glass as she saw the two come around the corner. Chad looked a bit embarrassed as he shuffled from foot-to-foot. Mrs Montez stepped into the awkward tension and tried to ease it.

"I must cook dinner, so if you guys want to go up to Gabriella's room," Mrs Montez worded it more as an order than a suggestion. Gabriella tipped her water down the sink and led the boys silently up to her room. She closed the door behind her and sat down comfortably on her bed, regarding the two with judging eyes.

"We, uh, wanted to return your book," Troy mumbled, handing her a book which was in his hand. Gabriella had no idea how he had gotten his hands on her book, but took it anyway, and gave him a slight smile. "We, uh, came straight from basketball practice, that's, uh, why we're…so sweaty." Troy looked nervous, and his eyes kept darting from side-to-side. Chad looked rather out of place as well. Gabriella decided to calm them down, by giving them what boys could never turn down.

Chocolate.

"Chocolate, guys?" Gabriella asked, reaching into her desk drawer and pulling out a block of Caramello chocolate. Chad zoomed in and snapped off a whole row. Troy broke off a few squares as well, and then sat down tentatively on the bed next to her. Chad pulled up a chair and sat on that. She looked at them both nervously. "Is there, like, a reason you guys are getting comfortable?" She asked. "Coz, I got homework at stuff." Chad nodded quickly but they still didn't say anything. Gabriella made her eyes big and shook her head. "Uh, guys?" Troy shook his head quickly, as though just snapping out of a trance.

"Huh?" Gabriella rolled her eyes and Chad sighed. "What?"

"Dude…" Chad nodded his head pointedly in Gabriella's direction. Gabriella raised her eyebrows.

"Right, uh, there's the party, right?" Troy started. "There was one last weekend and I didn't go, and so I promised Leanne I'd go to this party this weekend. And, uh, it'd be good if you came." Gabriella nodded, her expression giving away nothing. "So, uh, do you wanna come with me?"

"I don't know. I'll see," her voice was vague. Troy tried not completely blush. She sounded as though she just being polite, her voice and expression making her seem detached. She made it sound as though he had been rejected. "Did you guys, like, happen to be walking behind me?" She asked. Chad went red. "And duck behind some trees or a fence when I turned around." Chad went slightly redder. She fixed her eyes on him.

"Uh, yeah, that was us…" he muttered. Gabriella raised her eyebrows.

"Why?"

"Coz, um…I dunno," Chad muttered. Gabriella let out a short laugh.

"We, uh, better be going," Troy said standing up. Chad looked up at him with puppy dog eyes, his mouth full of chocolate. Gabriella had to giggle at his pathetic looking face. Troy just looked a bit embarrassed. "Chad! Now!" He hissed and grabbed his mates arm and pulled him to his feet. "Se ya, Gabo," he said as he tugged Chad out the door. Chad ducked his head back in and told her,

"You're all right, ya know?" The Troy yanked hard on his arm and Gabriella heard them thundering down eh stairs. Gabriella looked around for the rest of the chocolate and then raised her eyebrows as she saw the wrapping of the family sized chocolate slab lying on the ground. Chad had finished all the chocolate. Gabriella laughed ruefully and shook her head. A moment later, Mrs Montez came into the room, holding a plate of deep-fried chips. Gabriella smiled tiredly at her mother as she sat down on the edge of her bed. Mrs Montez sat next to her and offered her the plate. Gabriella took a chip off and ate it slowly. The silence drew out until Mrs Montez finally said,

"Troy seems nice." Gabriella nodded.

"Yeah, I guess," she replied. Mrs Montez bit her lower lip and glanced at her daughter, who was chewing on a chip slowly and staring aimlessly outside. Mrs Montez had seen that her daughter had been looking happier over the past few weeks than she had been in months, perhaps several years—ever since her father had started to drink. Mrs Montez was glad, and she had a feeling that Troy had also had something to do with that.

"I hope you're happy here," Mrs Montez said. Gabriella turned and smiled at her mother.

"Yeah, I am," she replied. Mrs Montez smiled in relief. She kissed Gabriella on the head and got up to leave the room. "Love you, mum," Gabriella called as her mother left the room. Mrs Montez smiled and turned around, replying,

"I love you too, sweetheart." Gabriella smiled and breathed deeply. She picked up her phone and clicked into her pictures album, looking over the pictures that Jeanette had taken of her and Troy for the hundredth time. Then she got up and went to her computer, plugging in the connection and then transferred the photos onto her computer. She clicked into email and sent a few of them to Troy. She grinned and shook her head. She had no idea why she done that, but she hoped that Troy would check his emails. Then she got into her boxers and a tank-top and hopped into bed.


Troy sat on his bed, staring at the wall. His dad was out—down at the pub with a couple of his work colleagues. He didn't really know what to do; since Sandra had already left and he had done all of his homework. He got up and walked over to his computer and turned it on. He hadn't checked his MSN or email for ages, and since he was connected to so many Internet sites, he guessed that his Inbox was going to be pretty full. First he went onto his MSN, and a couple of the cheerleaders he knew were online.

Sup, b-ball boy!

Came up onto the screen. It was from Mazie Chantree, the girl who had invited him to the party. Troy wondered whether he should reply, and then typed,

I invited a mate to come to the party, you all good with that?

A reply soon came,

Course!! As long as you don't spend all the time with him!!

Troy chewed on his lower lip.

It's not a him. It's a her. She's in our form class—Gabriella Montez.

On the other end, Mazie was taking a while to reply. It took her almost a whole three minutes to type to him,

Oh, kay.

Troy guessed that she would be annoyed that Gabriella was coming. It didn't take a genius to figure out that her and the other cheerleaders weren't particularly fond of Gabriella, since he paid for attention to her than them. Mazie was actually pretty cool, but she was an actual cheerleader, and as much as it was un-cool to stereotype, she did act like a normal blonde cheerleader. She swooned over him and acted as if he was the funniest guy on the planet. Gabriella didn't do that. She acted as if she was equal to him, and at times, as though she was better than him, and Troy actually liked that.

He was about to send a reply, when a notice pinged up on his screen.

LilBlondeSweetheart has signed off.

Troy shrugged and logged off as well. He logged into his email and clicked Send/Receive and his Inbox filled up quickly with almost 200 emails. The most recent one was sent about five minutes ago and from an unknown address. He looked at the address and smiled as he saw that it was from Gabriella, since it was the address that he had teased her about a week ago. He clicked onto it and it took a few seconds longer to load everything up. Then three pictures flashed up onto the screen. It was of Gabriella and him in the pool. One was of them splashing around together, one was of Gabriella on his shoulders and both of them laughing, and the other one was of them kissing. Troy smiled at the screen as he realized that it was Jeanette who must've taken the photos.

"Who are they of?" Came a low voice from the door. Troy spun around in his seat to see his dad in the doorway. He quickly clicked for the screen to minimize it, but his dad came over and took the mouse of him. He was swaying slightly as he stood and Troy could smell his stale breath. He was drunk, and it would only take something small to set him off. Something like the pictures. Mr Bolton looked over the pictures, still swaying unsteadily. Troy felt hot and cold all over as Mr Bolton viciously clicked out of the screen and turned to Troy. "That's that little girl I've seen you with at school. You playing around with her? Does she know what a jerk you are? Does she knew that you're the reason your mother left?!"

"It wasn't me that made mum leave!" Troy shouted back, getting out of his chair and backing away. Mr Bolton's face screwed up. "It was you! You and your—your drinking problem! It was all your fault! Not mine!" Troy was sick of it; sick of his father, sick of his drinking addiction, sick of getting blamed, sick of getting hit—sick of everything! "Stop blaming me! It's not my fault you go out and get wasted every night you can!" Troy shouted, getting angrier and angrier. He was seeing red, and could barely see his father. "I can't stop you drinking—you just go and kick me or punch me!" Suddenly, a fist met his jaw with a bone-jarring crunch. Troy gasped and fell to the ground.

"How dare you?!" Mr Bolton roared at his son, who was on the ground, holding his jaw. "How dare you talk to me like that?!" He kicked Troy in the stomach. Troy writhed, holding his stomach tightly, tears flooding his vision. His father always apologized the next morning. Blamed it on the alcohol. But it didn't undo what he done, and tonight he seemed even angrier. Troy let out a shout as Mr Bolton's foot connected with his thigh and then his shin. Mr Bolton was in a rage, he had had too much to drink, and Troy had really set him off this time.

He kept kicking, and lashing out with his fists. Troy wasn't moving by the time Mr Bolton stopped. Mr Bolton gave his son one last look before leaving the room and going downstairs. He got water from the fridge and sucked in back, wondering whether he should go back up to Troy. But the alcohol which was flooding through his body took over his better judgment, and walked into the lounge, snagging another beer from the fridge.

Well, I hope you guys...sorta, enjoyed.

Review please!