So, as you can see, I changed my penname to a much shorter and easier to remember one. My other one I felt was obnoxiously long and was an impulsive change.'Little J' is my nickname, and the 'M' I always add on when the first is already taken. I use this username on every other site but this one, and I felt it was time for one final change. It should stay this way for quite awhile, since I'm pretty fond of it.

Chapter IX: What Could've Been

The days passed at an unusually slow pace for Gabriella as her brain worked in overdrive. Her calendar's days – marked off in auspicious red – finally began closing in on the blank space marked Saturday. Not quick enough for Gabriella, though.

Her reading for History, English, and double Biology were finished at an astounding rate. Despite her busy schedule, Gabriella actually found herself anxious. Her and Taylor had steered through an awkward few days, with only a few sentences and a nod here and there. Taylor seemed to be taking more and more overtime, and Gabriella was spending increasing amounts of time in her room or walking through campus alone. During this newfound free time, Gabriella took the time to worry about their friendship.

Was this normal? They'd never really gone through something like this. Of course they'd had fights, but this amount of time in awkward conversations were just… strange. She hadn't acted surprised in the least when Gabriella had mentioned she was going to meet Baskethead. It was strange to not be able to confide to Taylor after a long day.

As Gabriella readied herself for her Saturday with Troy (that had finally arrived), she tried her best to reassure herself that the entire thing would blow over and their routine would get back to normal. She was running a bit late since she had tried to make an effort with doing her hair.

She blinked at herself in the mirror. Her hair was not going to cooperate, so with a futile sigh, Gabriella pulled the dark curls back into a ponytail. She was never very thrilled with the way she looked when she was going out, especially without commentary from her best friend. Still, she sighed and continued on with her touch-ups.

"Anyone home?" A familiar voice followed by a knock at her dorm room door caused Gabriella to jump. The eyeliner she had just put on smeared across the right side of her face.

"Coming!" She hurried to the door, using her arm to try to wipe off the line under her right temple.

She flung the door open, sending Troy a glare that could kill. Instantly, he saw the eyeliner that Gabriella was trying to wipe off and cracked a wide grin before he began laughing. He was completely clueless on why there was a dark line pulling away from her right eye; he just thought that the sight of it was funny.

"It's your fault," Gabriella muttered when she pulled Troy into her room before anyone could see her and the smeared make-up.

"How is it my fault?" Troy put up his hands in innocence. "I didn't do anything accept come to ask why you didn't meet up with me ten minutes ago!"

"You were supposed to meet me outside! You never surprise a girl when she's putting on makeup!" She tried to send another glare his way, but the boyish grin plastered across his face only sent her into a fit of giggles.

"I forgot how much concentration it takes to draw a straight line across your eyelid," Troy replied sarcastically, waiting for Gabriella's laughter to subside.

"You've obviously never tried," Gabriella wiggled thee eyeliner stick in front of his smug face and walked back into the bathroom to finish wiping off the smear.

"Is that a bad thing?" Troy asked with raised eyebrows, sitting down on the couch.

"I guess not, actually."

Troy laughed once more, waiting patiently for Gabriella. Once she was finished, they picked up on their conversation as they walked into the clear April day.

"So…" Troy looked around, his blue eyes glittering with ideas. "Movies, ice cream, or lunch?"

"You decide," Gabriella replied. She honestly didn't care.

"Lunch it is, then," he rubbed his stomach eagerly. "How about the deli a few blocks away? My treat."

"That's fine with me," she nodded, following his lead as they walked to the edge of the campus.

There was no need to drive to a place that was so close, not to mention the great conditions of warm, favorable weather and sunshine that the late morning had brought. Gabriella walked light heartedly beside Troy, ignoring the occasional stare they would earn from someone who knew them. Well, mostly from people who knew Troy.

They ordered their food and found themselves sitting outside at a table covered by a wide yellow and white umbrella. Gabriella chewed her Italian sandwich slowly as Troy watched her with interest.

"Aren't you going to eat?" She asked, referring to his untouched meatball sub. The messiest thing on the menu – as she had cheekily pointed out when they ordered.

"Oh, yeah," he smiled sheepishly. "Just thinking of questions I could ask you."

"Questions?" Gabriella cocked her head sideways.

"I told you we were going to learn a lot about each other! Isn't that how you start with friendship?" His smile was crooked as he took the first bite of his sandwich. "I'm very curious."

"Well, ask away," she took another bite.

Over the next hour, Gabriella and Troy took turns fire out some of the most random questions the two had ever asked. They asked each other about the other's worst date, their favorite childhood moments, even the places they would most like to visit (which Troy answered Roswell – he wanted to tell the aliens to take Chad back).

Gabriella ended up laughing at every one of Troy's answers. He was so easy to be around and be friends with. She felt a bit self-conscious around him, as most of her answers and accompanying stories were very boring compared to his sporadic and goofy answers. Most of her answers were practical, and required a few pauses to explain a vocabulary word to Troy (which had, ironically gotten them into the subject of SAT scores – it was then Troy's turn to feel slightly sheepish).

When both ran out of questions, Troy casually glanced at his watch.

"It's nearly one. Ice cream?" His face lit up with childhood excitement.

"As long as it's my treat," Gabriella stressed, grabbing her purse and getting up to throw away the extraneous paper and bag that had come along with their food.

"Oh, come on," Troy nearly begged, following Gabriella as she strode away. "It's not very polite to let the girl treat you to something when the whole outing was your idea!"

"But when she offers…" Gabriella smirked. They rounded the corner to the ice cream shop that was down the street from the deli.

"It's –"

"Tolerable," Gabriella interrupted, finishing his sentence. "This is the twenty-first century."

"Fine," Troy crossed his arms in an attempt at being stubborn. They unfolded so he could open the door for Gabriella. "Might as well do what I can to be a gentleman," he whispered in her ear as she strode past.

They approached the counter, where Troy took the initiative to speak first. He ordered one of the concoctions that contained the least nutritional value of any of the preceding ice cream combinations – double fudge ice cream, triple chocolate brownie chunks, and topping off with chocolate syrup. To Gabriella's immediate surprise, he didn't give her time to order anything as he very nearly pulled her down the line.

"We share," he whispered into her ear for the second time that day. His breath sent shivers down her spine and tickled the inside of her ear.

He smirked as he attempted to pay for it, earning a shove from Gabriella (which effected him very little – he only moved to avoid upsetting her). She glared at him once more as the cashier rang up for the ice cream in the cone bowl. She handed it to Troy, who continued eyeing it greedily all the way to the table.

"Jerk," Gabriella muttered.

"Mmm-hum-hm," Troy spoke with his mouth full of ice cream. Gabriella took a much more modest bite, nearly choking once a very familiar look crossed her friend's face. It was pained, his eyes wide in shock as his hands flew to his mouth.

She burst into giggles when Troy took a large gulp to try to bring down the mouthful.

"Brain freeze!" His hands massaged his temples when he could finally speak. He honestly didn't care at that point in time that he had just gotten the attention of the entire shop. Gabriella's eyes were on him, and he found it was a pleasant place to be.

"Well, that's what you get," Gabriella replied curtly once her laughter was under control.

"For what?"

"For one, trying to pay for the ice cream when I clearly stated it was my treat. Second, for ordering the unhealthiest thing on the menu!" She crossed her arms in an imitation of Troy's earlier episode. In addition, she stuck out her bottom lip. "And you're going to promise me you'll never do that again."

"N-no!" His reply was weak as his forehead creased in thought. He sighed. "Don't do that to me!"

"Do what?" Gabriella batted her eyelashes innocently.

"That stuck-out lip and staring at me like that!" He cringed. "You know how hard it is to say no to that?"

"So you do have a weak spot."

"I didn't say that!" He replied all too quickly.

"Whatever," Gabriella replied in a tone that wasn't at all convincing that she believed him. She had an edge over him now. She continued eating her ice cream in silence, occasionally putting her spoon down to avoid getting a brain freeze like the one Troy had just experienced.

Soon, Gabriella sat back and groaned.

"What's wrong?" Troy asked carefully through another mouthful of ice cream.

"It's so big," Gabriella motioned toward the ice cream with about half of its original structure left, which Troy was downing faster than she could think. Her stomach seemed to grumble in protest every time she took a bite.

"This little thing?" He shrugged and took another huge spoonful. "You've apparently never seen the basketball team eat."

"I saw you eat all that pizza last week," she laughed. "But I've never seen anybody eat like you."

The ice cream continued to diminish into a small pile as Troy continued to eat it with Gabriella helping with a bite every now and then. Finally, they got down to the last two spoonfuls.

"Want to do the honors?" he asked Gabriella as he halved the little piece left.

"Let's both finish it off," she scooped up the piece with her spoon as the two of them raised the spoons to their mouths. "One, two… three!"

"Done!" Troy threw his spoon in the empty bowl and stretched his arms above his head. Gabriella chewed the small chunk of brownie left in her spoonful, then swallowed and groaned again.

"I don't think I'll ever eat again!" She folded her arms across her chest.

"Oh, not even for some popcorn at the movies next?" Troy laughed as Gabriella's eyes widened in contrast. He picked up the bowl and the napkins that were left over. Gabriella followed to catch up with him to the door and they left together.

"You honestly can't be hungry after all of that," she shook her head in amazement.

"I didn't eat breakfast this morning," he licked his lips. "So, movies next. It's only two, so we can drive across town and back with plenty of time."

"What are we going to see?" Gabriella nodded when they started back towards the campus. Troy shoved his hands in his pockets and breathed in a sigh of the fresh air.

"Doesn't matter," he shrugged. "Chick flick?"

"You'd sit through one?" She didn't know if she could picture Troy, sitting in the movies, watching a chick flick.

"Possibly," he smirked. "Depends on how hot the lead actress is."

The comment earned him a smack on the shoulder from Gabriella. His took his hands out of his pockets to rub the spot on the arm that she had hit him on. They arrived at the campus and Troy lead the way to the parking lot where his car was parked.

Using his 'being a gentleman' excuse once again, he opened the passenger side door for Gabriella in his truck. When he hopped into the driver's seat, he noticed that Gabriella was looking down into the floor with a look of disgust.

"What's wrong?"

"Troy! Do you not know what's in this car?" She motioned to the floor where he spotted his practice jersey and towel that he'd used the other day for practice. He started the car and was pulling out of the parking lot, highly amused at Gabriella's expression.

"Hey!" He smiled a crooked smile. "I was looking for those! There's nothing wrong with it."

"Ugh! Sweat!" Gabriella sat on the very edge of the seat to avoid the set of gym clothes on the floor. She was not trying to hide her repulsion. Troy rolled his eyes, balled up the clothes, and stuffed them behind the seat.

"Happy now?" He sat back, trying to pay attention to the road and Gabriella at the same time.

"Men are disgusting," she concluded.

"Well… Women never have much fun," Troy replied with a smug grin. They sat in silence for a bit until Troy plucked up the courage to ask her something he'd wanted to ask all day. "So… What's been going on with you and Taylor?"

The soft edge in his voice surprised Gabriella. He was actually concerned about the two. His car rolled to a stop at a traffic light.

"She's just… being protective," Gabriella tried to shrug if off, feeling self-conscious again when he gazed at her.

"…About?"

"She's worried that…" Gabriella scoured for words. "Our friendship is going to end and it's going to be ten times worse than before. It's sort of… made things awkward." So that really wasn't the entire deal… it was the best way to make the situation sound. Or, so Gabriella thought.

"Oh, that can't be possible," Troy smirked at her, as if he was about to explain some large-scale revelation. "You see, you're stuck with me now. I've never seen a girl that's not revolted by my eating habits. Besides, Chad and I fight all the time. We're over it in a few days."

Gabriella felt relieved how light he was making the subject. Suddenly, Taylor's worries and their friendship problems didn't seem that bad. It would blow over.

"I am revolted," she responded lightly, changing the subject. "I just try to ignore it."

"And see," he turned into the movie theater parking lot. "That's why you've had the pleasure of spending the day with the oh-so fabulous me."

"You sound like Sharpay Evans," Gabriella retorted as she opened the door to the car and jumped out. Troy simply laughed and climbed out of his truck.

The two approached the movie theater, eyeing the 'Now Playing' board and getting movie ideas.

"How about that new horror movie?" She asked, having no idea what kind of movies Troy was into.

"Nah," he shook his head. "Last time I brought a girl to that kind of movie, they threw up in my lap."

After a few short arguments over the pros and cons of every movie in the theater's list, they settled for the chick flick Troy had hinted at earlier. Neither really had much interest in seeing it, but they got their tickets (upon agreeing that Gabriella would pay for Troy's ticket and Troy would pay for Gabriella's ticket) and entered the movie theater regardless. Troy refused to take her to see things that contained blood and gore, while Gabriella did not want to see a watered-down G-rated movie.

Gabriella continued to object to getting popcorn from how full she still was, so Troy gave in with little argument and followed her into the dim movie room. It wasn't until she sat down in the too comfortable seat did she wish that she had gotten more sleep last night.

Her previous worries and overall anticipation for the next day had kept her awake until well past when she wanted to sleep. The previews rolled and advertised various movies coming out within the next year. Gabriella strained to stay awake.

The opening credits rolled.

Gabriella's mind was slowing. It kept coaxing her that it would be okay to miss a few minutes on the movie… Just close her eyes for a few seconds…

Troy sat in silence, completely unaware of Gabriella's little issue. From the first few minutes of the movie, he was finding himself a little more interested than an average male should be in a feminine-oriented movie. His motives, however, were very much male-dominated.

"Hey!" Troy whispered as he nudged Gabriella. "That shy girl is hot and I – Gabriella?"

The brunette's head had fallen gently on his shoulder from the nudge. Her breathing was light and relaxed… and her eyes were closed. Troy sighed. How could a movie be any fun when he couldn't argue with Gabriella over petty details? Or how could it be any fun, in his usual case, without throwing popcorn with Chad at people making-out in front of them.

He shrugged and put his arm around her, trying to pay attention to the movie. Sometimes, he'd comment on the occasional movie mistake or bad acting for his own amusement, half hoping that Gabriella would wake up, and half hoping that she would stay there for the remainder of the movie.

The climax (and not to mention the super-fluffy kissing scene) passed, much to Troy's utter displeasure on how the girl he'd complimented on earlier was taken by such a strange looking man. The final scene played before them, the lights brightened, and then the credits came. Gabriella was still snoring softly on his shoulder.

"Sleepyhead," he whispered in her ear. Gabriella shot up from the tickle in her ear. Her sleep-driven eyes adjusted to the screen and widened in shock.

"Did I - "

"Sleep through the entire movie?" Troy raised his eyebrows. "Yes."

"I'm so sorry, Troy!" She sighed and got up from her warm spot on the seat.

"I'll say," he rolled his eyes when they walked out of the room. "You drooled on my shirt!"

Gabriella, taken aback, defended herself jokingly. "I did not! Look at it!" She motioned to the area on his shoulder that she had occupied. Troy poked at it.

"It dried," he replied lamely. Gabriella shrugged, with little belief in what he had said, and continued walking out the theater. She led the way to his truck, wide-awake and still slightly embarrassed.

"I really am sorry," she confessed sheepishly once they were on the road again. "May I ask how the movie was?"

"It's fine," Troy shrugged, "and the movie was good. The girl was hot. Though, she ended up with some lame guy."

"Is that bad?" Gabriella's questioned.

"I thought chick flicks were the other way around," Troy smiled smugly. "A weird girl gets a good-looking guy. Or, so my mom and sister tell me when they get back from the movies."

"Eh, sort of," she chuckled, "but there's still nothing wrong with it."

"It's just weird."

"It is not!" Gabriella defended.

"Is to."

"Is not!"

The argument continued like that, growing more and more stubborn at every stoplight. They entered the student parking lot, still arguing to the death, with Troy clicking the locks on the doors when he parked.

"What was that for?" Gabriella tried, with a futile effort, to open her door. His truck had no lock-control device on the passenger side.

"You're not getting out until you admit that one of those relationships is weird." He folded his hands across his chest and put the car into park.

"You know I have somewhere to be!" Gabriella accused, springing across the seat to reach the unlocking button on the driver's side door. Troy pushed her away with little required effort as she struggled against his well-trained strength.

"Admit it," his eyes danced with pure amusement.

"No."

"Fine." Troy sat back comfortably, eyeing the cloudless sky out the window. It took two minutes for Gabriella to begin to panic and give in to her pride.

"Okay," she sighed. "It's weird."

"Great!" he unlocked the door happily; swung open his door, and hopped out. He waited while Gabriella opened her door stubbornly. She was clearly unhappy as they walked back to the dorms. Troy shoved his hands into his pockets and whistled obnoxiously.

When they reached the entrance, Troy stopped his whistling and turned to face Gabriella. She waited for him to start with the good-byes for the day.

"That was… fun," he replied with a sly smile.

"Yeah," she nodded in agreement. "Thanks for everything."

"Anytime," he spoke. Gabriella began to turn away, and he suddenly blurted out, "Uh, Gabriella?"

"Yes?" She asked, turning to face a completely transformed face. This Troy wasn't the go-along confident that she had been with the past few hours. His tone was… uncertain? Was that really what was etched over his face?

"I was just… thinking…" He rubbed his arm with a shrug.

"Amazing," Gabriella muttered. Troy grinned.

"Yeah, I know, amazing," he retorted with a laugh he didn't bother to hold back. "But I really was thinking… about today… about how great we really get along."

Gabriella stood there and smiled unsurely, her heart racing in her chest. Was he about to…?

"And I just thought…" His voice became weak. "What could've been? What would've happened if we hadn't gotten off to such a rough start in high school? It's so… amazing to think of what we could've become. Maybe…"

"I – I…" Gabriella stuttered out. No. How could he do this to her? She was about to meet someone that had seemed to understand every piece of her mind; the one person who she admitted that appealed to her. He knew that. "I can't do this now, Troy."

His face dropped slightly and he shrugged. "Okay. I guess I'll see you in class Monday."

"Monday," Gabriella agreed, walking away to avoid another awkward silence.

She had known it all along. She had known that if she kept going along that it would come to this. Why didn't it feel wrong? Why didn't it feel that she needed to separate her friendships with Troy and Baskethead and quit letting them intermingle? Why did it take so long to admit it all to herself?

Because in admitting all of that, she would have to also admit the one thing that she had sensed from the start.

She had fallen for Troy. Hard.

But what made it worse were the words that kept ringing in her head.

What could have been?

I really havea good answer for why all of these take so long - the epilogue. I've said numerous times that this story is pretty much written, all I do is edit what I've already done. But, you see, I've planned out so many scenarios for the epilogue that once I finish one, I reread it, hate it, and try again. I tell myself not to get too close to finishing this story without one that I really like. Mix all of this writing in with homework and band, and updates get scarce. No worries, though, the wait shouldn't be too long again. I'vegot a pretty good idea on which one will be posted.

I'm really, really particularof this chapter... It's one of my favorites (though I can't really give you a comparison to my other favorites because... well... those haven't happened yet!). Virtual cookies to who can guess which two book characters (one from Twilight, one from a Sarah Dessen book) that Troy's personality is based off of. (Hint: It's not Edward and it's not Wes).