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The Distance Between Us
Chapter Ten: Anything Less Than Amazing
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"I'm so broke, it's tragic," I whined, pulling pennies out of my wallet, trying to gather up enough change to pay for a hot chocolate at Jenny's. I dumped the contents out on the counter top by Jenny's register, counting it out. I drew back, dismayed when I realized I had no where near the right amount.
"Darn," I said, pouting slightly. "I guess I'll have to pass on the hot chocolate today."
Troy glanced at me and frowned. "I can pay, Gabi," he offered. "It's no big deal."
I brought my hand up in protest. "No, Troy, don't worry about it," I scooped my change up and threw it back into my purse, too lazy to put it back in my wallet. "It's just hot chocolate."
He smiled boyishly. "Exactly. It's just hot chocolate. It's like, two dollars. Let me treat you." He leaned his elbows on the counter and grinned up at Jenny. "I think she should let me treat her, don't you?"
Laughing to herself, Jenny raised her eyebrows at me. "Yes, Gabriella, I think you should let the nice boy treat you, especially considering how eager he is to do so."
I shook my head again, determined not to let him win this round. "You're forever treating me, Troy. You're just as broke as I am!"
Despite my protests, Troy ordered two hot chocolates from Jenny and paid before I could tackle him to stop him. I sighed and dropped my head into my hands, defeated.
"You've got to stop treating me, Troy," I said, pouting slightly. "It's not fair. I never get to treat you."
He cocked his head to the side. "It doesn't matter, Gabi. Besides, you do things like give me refrigerators. I think things have evened out." Jenny returned with our hot chocolates and slid them across the counter. Troy picked one up and extended it out to me. "Now drink your chocolate beverage and quit whining."
Rolling my eyes, I reached out to take it from him and our hands brushed. Heat coursed through my veins as I looked up at him. The spark that had flickered between us at the party three days earlier was ever present and it was making my stomach sick. Anytime he looked at me in a particular way, anytime his skin grazed mine I felt that same shock and it was making me go crazy with the implications of it all.
That being said, I had absolutely no expectations as to what could possibly happen between Troy and I, just because the notion of it was so foreign. Troy and I in a romantic relationship? So highly unlikely. Yes, it had been what I had dreamt about so many times during high school, but now, being friends with him and nothing progressing like lightning, it didn't seem...possible. If I had learned anything from television and self-help books, if a guy is into you, he will ask you out at almost any given time.
And here we were and this didn't seem like it was going to happen anytime soon, so therefore, using my brilliant skills of deduction, these sparks were probably purely one sided and felt only by myself.
We sat down on opposite ends of the eggplant sofa in the cafe. My legs curled up on the seat and I blew the steam off my drink, trying to cool it. "Thanks, Troy," I said before taking a hot sip. "I do appreciate it."
He grinned and took a sip of his own drink. "I know you do. If I wanted to buy a drink for someone and get no thanks in return, I would have asked that you bring Sharpay with you."
I laughed. Troy and Sharpay weren't friends by any stretch of any means, but they were generally civil to one another when it just so happened that both were occupying the space in my dorm room. He still thought she was a tad snobby and she still was calling him my boyfriend.
"Speaking of Sharpay, I was thinking of asking her to hang out with Taylor and I tonight," I mentioned casually, running my finger along the rim of my mug. "I mean, yeah, they didn't get along in the past, but there's no reason they can't try and make anew, you know? Sharpay's really come a long way these past few weeks. I think it'd be good for her."
Troy's eyebrows shot up and his eyes narrowed. "I'm not sure I like the idea of you alone in the same room with them. I might never see you again."
I flushed and raised my own eyebrows. "Why would have raise a problem?"
"I need to pass this Shakespeare course, Gabi," he smirked. "Without you, I'm screwed."
"Oh, ha ha," I took another sip. "But really, I think I'm going to ask her. I'm going over to hang in Taylor's dorm around seven, but we'll see." I glanced at him and noticed that he seemed more tired than he had in prior weeks. "What's up with you? I haven't seen you much since the party."
He glanced at me curiously then, and my eyes darted down, my face warming at the memory of the dance we shared. We had been so close, only to separate as soon as the song had finished. Almost remarkable, it wasn't awkward between us, thankfully, and we were able to converse easily throughout the remainder of the party. But just the memory of that dance would forever been carved into my mind. When he looked at me then, I couldn't help but feel that he was thinking about it, too.
"Basketball tryouts are on Saturday," he admitted, swallowing. "So I've been busy, trying to train and be prepared for them. It's not like high school -- my dad's not the coach anymore."
I smiled brightly at him. "You'll be fine, Troy," I assured him. He shifted in his seat, avoiding my eyes.
"Yeah, I sure hope so." He finally looked at me and his eyes fell on what seemed like it was my chest. My face burned and I crossed my arms over my breasts, hoping he'd avert his eyes.
Realizing the implications of his gaze, he laughed slightly. "No, your necklace," he said, pointing to the small angel pendant on the gold chain around my neck. "It's interesting. I haven't seen you wear it before."
"Oh," I said, dropping my arms. I picked up the pendant in my fingers and looked down to examine it. "It used to belong to my grandmother; an heirloom. I only wear it occasionally, when I feel like the day is important."
"Really?" he looked at me thoughtfully. "And why would today be important?"
I shrugged. "I don't know. I just kind of feel like it is."
---
Entering the bedroom, I did a double take at the mess that was Sharpay's side of the room. The blonde girl was sitting in the middle of the floor, riffling through what seemed like wires and cords galore. I blinked, confused.
"What are you doing?" I threw my bag down on my desk chair and took a seat on my bed, observing her casually.
Sharpay rubbed her eyebrow furiously, a sign that she was stressed out. "Kay, so, basically when I got my Blackberry Pearl phone over a year ago, I tried installing the software and it never would load on my computer." She ran a hand through her messy hair and stood, walking to her desk where she found another box and dumped it on the floor. More cords and cables fell out.
Sitting back down, she began detangling them. "I figured it was just because of the suck that is Windows Vista. But when I went to install it this afternoon on my Macbook, it did the same thing. Now I'm too afraid to take it into my cellphone provider because they'll be like," she put on a serious expression and deepened her voice, "You've been having problems for over a year and you're only bringing it in now?"
I shook my head, holding back giggles. "Okay, but that doesn't explain why your side of the room looks like Radio Shack."
Scooping up the mess, she threw it into her desk drawer angrily. "Well, then I installed some other program to make the software work and it did. Only guess what? I can't find the cord to connect my Blackberry to my computer." She threw her hands up in aggravation. "This is so ridiculous! All I wanted to do was make that new Lily Allen song my ringtone! Speaking of Lily Allen, did you know she's going on tour? Cause I didn't until this morning and tickets are already all sold out." She slumped down on her bed, pouting childishly. "This is just possibly the worst day of my life."
"Hey now," I said sympathetically. "It's not that bad. You can always buy a new cord to replace the one you lost and I'm sure you can find tickets for Lily Allen somewhere else on the internet."
Sharpay looked at me and rolled her eyes. "Do you have any idea how expensive Blackberry accessories are? And the tickets are now going for nearly ten times the price. I'm still a poor college student!"
"We're all poor college students," I said, dragging my feet over to my closet. "I couldn't even buy myself a hot chocolate today." I began flicking through the outfits in my closet, attempting to find something that wasn't hideous for my movie night with Taylor.
"Yeah? At that Jenny's place, right?" Sharpay said, sounding more interested than I expected her to. I turned around slowly and nodded.
"Yeah," I looked at her suspiciously. "Why?"
Wringing her hands together, she rose from the bed and glanced around the room nervously. "Okay, don't make a big deal out of this, but I've been doing a lot of thinking in recent weeks."
"Okay..." I said, waiting for her to continue. She seemed anxious to get what she had to say out in the open, but at the same time, afraid to saying anything at all.
Sharpay let out a deep breath before going to stand by the window. Looking out at the brick walls that was our stunning view, she swallowed. "Well, I went by Jenny's the other day, just because you're always raving about it and I wanted to see what all the fuss was about," she paused and smiled. "The hot chocolate was decent, but nothing exciting. However, I struck up a conversation with Jenny and it turns out she's hosting an open mic-night in two days. While, I talked to Zeke and..."
My eyes doubled in size and my heart thudded in anticipation for her sentence, but I couldn't wait for her to finish. "Are you thinking about doing it?" I asked, excitedly.
She turned sharply, her eyes wide and panicked. "Yes," she said, anxiously. "Yes, we are. I don't...I don't know why, but I...we, really want to." She took another deep breath. "I want to sing for an audience again."
I walked over to where she was and despite myself and everything we had been through, threw my arms around her in a brief hug. I pulled back a second later and ignoring her surprised expression, continued.
"Oh, Sharpay!" I practically squealed. "This is wonderful!"
Sharpay smiled slightly, still seemingly shaken up. "I wouldn't go that far, but it's a start. I'm nervous, but I'm excited, too, you know? And Zeke and I have this song we've been working on and I really, really want to kind of...let it out there."
I smiled brightly, feeling genuinely excited for her. Sharpay was brilliantly talented and she needed that extra boost to move past the pain she had felt resulting from her rejection at Julliard. This could do great things for her.
Stepping back, I smiled brightly. "Um, Sharpay, what did you have planned for tonight?" I asked awkwardly.
She furrowed her brows and folded her arms almost defensively. "Nothing. Why?"
Running a hand through my hair, I tried to think of a way to make this seem less awkward of a proposition than it actually was. "Well, Taylor has a television in her dorm room, which I know, is terribly exciting. She um, invited me over to watch a movie tonight with her and I was, well, I was wondering if you'd like to come with me?"
She stared at me curiously. "Taylor? Taylor hates me."
"No!" I protested. "Taylor doesn't hate you! She just doesn't know you! And this could be the perfect opportunity for you to change that!"
Sharpay didn't say anything for several moments, instead sat down on her bed and delibarated the situation.
"If you don't want to come, I understand," I said, worried that I had maybe been too pushy. "I just thought you might want to come, but--"
"No!" Sharpay said frantically. "I'll, um, I'll come!" She stood quickly and tucked a strand of hair behind her ear. "That is, if you're sure Taylor won't mind too much."
I grinned. "She'll be fine with it."
---
"Why did you have to invite Malibu Barbie?" Taylor hissed at me when Sharpay stepped past me into Taylor's dorm room. I shrugged helplessly.
"Taylor," I began, "She's not as bad as she seems. Give her a chance."
Taylor gapes at me. "No, I don't have to do that. She's been nothing but a bitch everytime I've had the displeasure of being in her company."
From inside the room, Sharpay turned sharply and glared. "I can hear you, you know."
"Glad to know it, princess!" Taylor snapped, stepping to the side to let me in the room.
Sharpay folded her arms over her chest and looked at me pointedly. "I told you that she wasn't going to like this. I'm just going back to the dorm." She began to hastily make her way across the room to the door.
I looked at Taylor pleadingly. "No, Sharpay, stay!" I nudged at Taylor and whispered in her ear. "You're not being any better than she is!"
Aggravated, Taylor sighed. "Sharpay, wait." The blonde girl stilled and Taylor continued. "Are you an Audrey Hepburn fan?"
Sharpay turned around slowly. "The biggest. Why?"
Taylor smiled softly and picked up three DVDs. "Well, I've got 'Breakfast at Tiffany's', 'Roman Holiday' and 'Funny Face' all right here. The plan was a marathon. Want to stick around?"
Sharpay looked conflicted for a moment, before rolling her eyes and sitting down on the floor. "Only because it's Audrey."
I grinned at Taylor excitedly. "Thank you!" I whispered.
Taylor rolled her own eyes and sat down next to Sharpay. "But we're watching 'Breakfast at Tiffany's' first because I have a thing for Paul Varjack."
Sharpay smiled awkwardly. "Don't you mean Fred?"
Taylor stared at her before breaking into her own smile. "You know that's just a symbolic, right? She calls him by her brother's name to avoid the reality that she's falling in love with him."
"Duh," Sharpay stuck out her tongue. "It's practically self-explanatory, just like she doesn't give her cat a name. To be honest, I fought tooth and nail against my brother back in our sophomore year when we got a cat to name it just that; Cat."
Taylor grinned. "I have the Holly Golightly sleep-mask. I bought it from the Fred Flare store as soon as it opened."
Sharpay's jaw dropped open. "I've always wanted that! The closest I got to it was the 'For Audrey' Tiffany blue nail-polish by China Glaze!"
"Damn!" Taylor exclaimed. "Do you have that? It was limited edition and by the time I found out it existed, it was all sold out!"
The two continued to banter back and forth over the love of the movie and I sat down beside them, the warmth engulfing me, smiling to myself. Who'd have thought that it just took a flighty heroine to connect two people.
"Now, now, ladies," I said in my best Holly Golightly voice, "We must not stall the viewing of this class any longer. Or else I am going to get a case of the mean reds."
The two turned to me slowly and I laughed. "Hey, I've seen the movie, too you know, though I may not own the nail polish."
---
Later that night, ass we walked through the halls of the dormitory, Sharpay giggling incessantly, I felt ridiculously happy. It was our first official girl's night and it was more fun than I had imagined such a thing to be.
"I can't wait to see you perform on Saturday, Sharpay," I said earnestly. "Since Taylor's coming now, too, would you mind if I tried to rope Troy into attending, too?"
"Like I really have a choice in the matter," she paused. "Hey, Gabriella?" Sharpay said suddenly, grabbing me by the wrist. I turned around to face her slowly, slightly confused.
"Yeah?" I asked, and noticed the way she was biting her lip.
She sighed heavily, before blowing a strand of hair out of her eyes. "Okay, well, I don't get sentimental often and more than that, this is probably the first and last time I'll ever say something to this extent so enjoy it while you can."
I smiled slightly, anticipating what she had to say next. "Okay..."
"Thank you," she said, letting out a deep breath. "Thank you for inviting me tonight and thank you for...for caring enough to want to come support me on Saturday. More than that, thank you for caring enough in general." She looked me in the eye. "It means a lot to me. More than you could know."
I didn't say anything for a moment, letting her words sink in. All the expectations and assumptions I had made about people I had met here were so quickly proven wrong. Yes, Sharpay could be a bitch, but that wasn't all there was to her. She was lonely, that was one thing I had gotten right, but she was also sweet and grateful at the chance to make new friends, just as I was.
Smiling, I nodded at her. "It's no problem, Sharpay," I laughed. "I'm just glad we can be friends now."
She nodded excitedly in agreement. "No kidding," she paused and gave me a look. "I still hate your taste in music, though. It kind of makes me want to rip my ears off."
My mouth fell open in mock offense. "I'm sorry, but what exactly is wrong with Laura Marling? Kendall Payne? Explain to me."
Sharpay guffawed and brought a hand to her mouth, trying to hold back further giggles. "Only that they excruciatingly suck. Like, hardcore."
"Oh, because Lily Allen is such a musical genius," I cracked as we walked down the hall to our dorm room.
"Hey!" Sharpay said sharply, "Don't you dare go dissing up Lily Allen! 'Knock 'Em Out?' Lyrical brilliance! I --" She cut herself off, her eyes fixed on something down the hall. I followed her gaze and my breath caught sharply in my throat.
"Oh," I said, softly. Seated outside of our dorm room was Troy, his back against the wall and legs stretched out in front of him. He was holding a basketball, twirling it in his fingers absentmindedly. He seemed to be focusing on something that was a million miles away. Sharpay and I exchanged a glance before advancing further.
"Hey, Troy," Sharpay said quietly. His head snapped up and his eyes darted around when he saw the two of us standing there.
"Um, hey," he said, resting the ball in his lap and scratching his neck. His face was pale and he had dark circles under his eyes. He seemed restless and uncomfortable. "You guys weren't answering the door, and you mentioned going to Taylor's earlier, so I um, just decided to wait for you."
Pulling her key out of her purse, Sharpay unlocked the door and stepped inside. "I'll leave the door open for you, okay, Gabriella?"
I looked at her and her eyes told me that she had expected something along these lines. Confused, but completely aware at the same time, I nodded in agreement. The door clicked shut quietly behind her and Troy and I were left alone in the hallway.
"Hey," I said awkwardly. Shuffling my feet, I looked down at his figure. "You alright?"
Troy ran a hand through his messy hair and let out a sigh. "No," he still didn't look at me. "Not really."
Dropping my bag by the door, I slid down the wall until I was seated next to him. Turning to the side, I inspected his profile. He seemed tired, exhausted and anxious. I yearned to touch him, to reach out and give him some comfort, but I didn't. Despite how close we were becoming, to make the first move was still something I wasn't prepared for.
"What's wrong?" I asked, my fingers still burning to touch him. "Are you feeling alright? You seem pale."
He bounced his leg up and down anxiously and turned to face me. "Tryouts are in two days, Gabi," he said, biting his lip. I searched his face, trying to see what was getting him so riled up.
"Yeah, I know," I said, smiling gently. "You mentioned it to me a while ago and earlier, remember?" I took in his stiff frame and the panic in his eyes and it suddenly hit me. It was so obvious.
"Wait, Troy," I said slowly, still searching his face. "You're nervous. You're really, really nervous, aren't you?"
He leant back against the wall and brought a hand to his forehead, massaging his temples. "Yeah," he said, so quietly that it was barely audible.
"Troy," I began, searching for the words make all his worries go away. I pressed a hand to my mouth, trying to come with something, anything to make him feel better. "Don't be."
He sighed again. "How can I not be?"
"Because," I stuttered, stumbling over my thoughts. "Because you're...you're you. You're Troy Bolton, basketball star extraordinaire."
"Yeah," he scoffed. "At East High in Albuquerque, New Mexico." He looked me in the eye then, his orbs piercing. "But this, this Gabriella...this is bigger."
Leaning my head to the side, I tried desperately to see why this was such a huge deal. It was just a basketball team, wasn't it? It was just an extracurricular activity and more than that, he hadn't even come to NYU to play. It was just another perk.
"Troy," unable to stop myself, I reached out and placed my hand on his shoulder. His muscles relaxed slightly under my touch and I felt my heart rate increase slightly. "It's not that big of a deal."
At my words, as quickly as he relaxed, he tensed again. "Not a big deal? Gabi, it's a huge deal."
"But why?" I prodded. "It's not all or nothing."
"Nevermind," he said suddenly, standing up. "I shouldn't have come bothered you. It's late and you're tired and you don't need me babbling about...about stuff."
"No, Troy!" I protested, jumping up quickly. Losing my balance, I stumbled, and prepared myself to hurdle towards the crowd. To my surprise, but it shouldn't have been, Troy captured my forearms in his strong hands and steadied me.
"Whoa, careful," he said, before scampering behind him to grab his basketball which was now rolling down the hall. I jogged towards him, not wanting to part ways on such a tense note.
When I caught up to him, I looked him in the eyes, trying to convey that I felt that he could do anything. "I didn't mean that it wasn't a big deal to you, Troy," I backtracked. "While, not entirely. All I meant was that you are...you and well, I think, no, I know," I paused, my eyes never leaving his. "I know that you'll be alright."
He blinked slowly and his face flushed. Feeling my own cheeks grow hot, I swallowed and averted my gaze, looking down.
"Thanks, Gabi," he said softly before smiling. "See, this is why I came to see you."
I quirked an eyebrow. "Because I babble and that takes your mind off of it?"
He laughed and shook his head. "No," he looked me in the eyes again and the intensity of his gaze made my breath catch in my throat. "I came to you because I knew that somehow, some way, you'd make me feel better."
With another smile and a wave, he turned on his heel and walked down the hallway back to his dorm. My hand fluttered to my chest and I tried to ease my breathing, feeling like the wind had been knocked out of me.
Arriving back at my dorm, I saw Sharpay seated on her bed, already in her pajamas with the latest issue of Nylon spread out in front of her, Lily Allen playing from her Macbook.
"Everything alright?" she asked, turning a page in her notebook. Not responding, I slowly made my way over to my bed and sat down.
At my lack of response, Sharpay looked up at me. "You okay?" she looked perplexed. "You look like you've seen a ghost."
"Sharpay?" I asked, flopping back against my bed. "Do you ever have a moment that's so surreal that you kind of feel like there's no possible way it actually happened?" I played with the angel on my necklace, feeling my heart thump in my chest.
She thought for a moment before shaking her head. "No, not really." She smirked. "But I'm assuming you just did."
"Turning over on my side, I listened to the lyrics floating through the laptop's speakers and nodded.
"Who'd have known? Who'd have known when you flash up on my phone, I'd no longer feel alone. No longer feel alone."
"Yeah," I closed my eyes, remembering Troy's soft smile and words from only moments earlier. "I think I just did."
"The last thing I ever wanted to do is make you feel anything less than amazing."
- Felicity Porter
---
Yeah, I hardcore procrastinated on this one, because, as you can so plainly see; it's all filler. But filler needs to be done to prepare for what I have coming up in the next few chapters to for Troy and Gabi to strengthen their emotional relationship.
Trust me, everything I do has a reason, even if it may be frustrating.
That being said, I've had a lot of inquires as to how long the story is going to be. At this moment, I have the story planned for 21 or 22 chapters, depending on how the revisions I am doing after I post this go. That being said, Troy and Gabi have a long way to go. :)