DISCLAIMER: I do not own High School Musical or any related characters.

A/N: Okay, I apologize to everyone for not updating. I just got out of rhythm and then I couldn't find my rhythm again and lost all interest in my stories. So hopefully right now, I'm back on track! Again, really sorry about the long wait!

Dangerous Fascination

CHAPTER 10

WHIRLWIND

It had been a little too easy to believe that he would still be mad after what had happened on Friday. It had been even easier to convince herself that what had happened wouldn't matter to him than even think about the possibility that what had happened on Friday had been the beginning of something completely new and foreign to her. She hated the fact that she'd thought it was going to be that easy. She should have known that when it came to Troy Bolton, nothing was easy and when he spoke, he always meant what he said and she had to admit, him telling her straight out that he wanted her was possibly one of the scariest things that had ever happened to her. It scared her because he really was the first that ever wanted anything more than a kiss from her. What scared her most though, was that she was seriously considering giving him what she wanted. She couldn't help herself, she'd caught herself thinking about it when she was meant to be concentrating on what her teacher had been speaking about, she'd found herself imagining what his mouth could do to her now that she knew how gentle he could be. Closing her eyes when the feeling of his lips softly moving up her neck, his hands holding her hips with cool confidence flooded her mind, she let out a longing sigh and her eyes opened. She'd enjoyed the gentleness as soon as she'd recovered from her confusion and now, every time she closed her eyes, all she could feel was his lips and knew that a stupid smile was stretching across her face as she looked at the board.

Looking down at her notebook, she frowned at the absence of notes and then sighed. How was she meant to concentrate? Troy's kisses were still very fresh in her mind and although she wouldn't admit it, her feelings for him were in the process of rearranging themselves. Her feelings had run a lot deeper than she'd ever imagined and that's probably what was scaring her the most. Her feelings were running so deep that she was considering giving him everything she wanted and running the risk of getting hurt. But right now, the risk of getting hurt was outweighed greatly by the fact that she was slowly and very unsurely, falling headfirst for Troy Bolton. A feat she knew many girls at East High had accomplished and never gotten the pleasure of acting on it, unlike her. Gabriella was well aware that she could act on what she felt, hadn't he told her he wanted more than she could give? Hadn't he told her he wasn't mad about what happened on Friday? Biting her lip, she felt a small voice in the back of her mind telling her she didn't know what he wanted from her. She didn't know if he wanted all of her or just her body. It was such unfamiliar territory with her that Gabriella was seriously considering ringing her mother and asking her about it.

Jumping slightly when she heard chairs scraping the floor, Gabriella looked up and her eyes widened when she saw everyone beginning to pair off. Sighing when she realized that was going to be left partner less because she wasn't paying attention; she looked back down at her notebook and vaguely wondered exactly why they were pairing up.

"Hey Gabriella, do you mind if we're partners?" Gabriella's head snapped up when she heard a girl's voice and her mouth opened and closed before she nodded.

"Sure, I – uh – I'm not exactly sure what we're meant to be doing though." She said and Christy smiled at her, pushing some blonde hair out of her eyes as she sat down in the chair she'd dragged over.

"That's cool. I don't know either. So we can sit and talk and pretend we know exactly what we're doing whenever Mr Lawrence walks past." Christy said and Gabriella laughed a little at her words.

"Sounds like a plan. What do you want to talk about?" She asked, finding herself comfortable in the blonde cheerleaders company, the memory of Christy defending her in the bathroom coming to mind as she watched the blonde shrug.

"No idea. Can I ask you a question though?" Christy asked and Gabriella blinked slightly before nodding.

"Sure," she said, picking up her pen absently and beginning to doodle on her notebook page.

"What's going on with you and Troy Bolton?" Gabriella froze at the question and her eyes snapped to Christy's, who's had immediately widened at Gabriella's reaction. "I'm sorry; you don't have to answer if you don't want to! It's just that I –" Gabriella shook her head to stop Christy's tirade.

"It's okay. I had a feeling someone was going to ask about it sometime soon. What do you want to know?" Gabriella replied, leaning her head on her hand and looking at the blonde who seemed speechless at Gabriella's lack of anger.

"Well, what's going on? I mean, last week Troy was really angry and I kind of saw you two together a lot last week, so I assumed that since he hadn't beaten one of his friends up, him being mad had something to do with you and then I saw you guys on Friday after the game and well…I'm curious." Gabriella blinked slightly as words tumbled out of Christy's mouth and winced when she heard that the blonde had seen what happened between her and Troy on Friday.

"Oh, well, for the record, I don't know what's going on. I'm just caught in it all." Gabriella replied hesitantly, unsure how to explain to Christy exactly what was going on between Troy and her because truthfully, she was still trying to figure it out.

"Okay, well how do you feel about him?" Christy asked and Gabriella was surprised to find that she was genuinely curious about how she felt, something inside her fluttered and Gabriella found that it was relief. Relief because she was talking to someone who had nothing against Troy and probably wouldn't warn her away from him.

"I don't know. Honestly. I feel like I'm caught in a whirlwind that's not about to end anytime soon." She replied and was relieved when all Christy did was laugh lightly.

"Wow. Sounds like he's really gotten to you." She said lightly and Gabriella grinned at how easily the blonde said that.

"Yeah well, if you've ever kissed him, you'd know exactly why I'm in a whirlwind." She said and Christy let out another laugh and Gabriella found that she found Christy's amusement much more warming than Troy's.

"No I haven't kissed him. Although, from the rumors I hear, he's a pretty damn good kisser," Gabriella let out her own laugh at the blonde's words and for a brief moment wondered why she was so relaxed speaking about Troy when whenever she was with him, relaxation was the farthest thing from her mind.

"Yeah he is I guess and he's got really good hands too." Gabriella said and Christy raised her eyebrows as Gabriella went slightly red at her words. "I didn't mean it like that! I just meant he has…really good hands." She finished lamely and Christy shrugged and laughed again.

"It's okay. I think I know what you mean. I have to say this though Gabriella, you've got a lot of girls upset." Christy leaned back in her chair as Gabriella's eyes widened in disbelief at her words.

"Why?" She asked and Christy raised her eyebrows, finding it a little odd that Gabriella was oblivious to Troy's legion of female fans that he never noticed or bothered to acknowledge.

"Because nearly every girl in this school has had a thing for Troy Bolton, most still carry a torch for him that he often uses to his advantage and right now, every girl in the school hates you in some way because out of all of them, he goes for you and that infuriates all of them. Especially the ones who had spent most of their time since freshman year throwing themselves at him, hoping for something more." Christy said matter-of-factly and Gabriella winced at her words. For the first time, gaining some sort of inside to how many girls in the school actually wanted Troy.

"Wow. Are you one of them?" She asked and Christy raised her eyebrows at her, not at all insulted even though Gabriella got the impression that she was slightly annoyed.

"No. I've never had a thing for Troy and I think that it's probably a good thing too, that was I can relay to every girl who asks that no matter what he says, Troy Bolton is as good as taken." Christy said it absently and Gabriella nearly fell off her seat at her words. Her mouth opened and closed without a sound emitting from her throat and she couldn't seem to comprehend what Christy had just said.

"What?" She asked dumbly and Christy shrugged, observing Gabriella with curious eyes. Finding it odd that Gabriella hadn't realized exactly how popular Troy was with the female population at the school and even more odd that she was reacting like someone who had been hit over the head with a sledgehammer instead of absent words that she hadn't thought about.

"Uh, Troy likes you sweetie." Christy said slowly and once again all Gabriella did was blink.

"No he doesn't. At least I think he doesn't. Does he?" Gabriella felt a familiar rise of panic that she knew associated with the fact that what she had assumed wasn't what she thought it was. If Troy had feelings for her, it would be more complicated than she figured on. If Troy had feelings for her than how the hell was she meant to deal with him if he didn't tell her?

"Well, from what it looks like. He seems to. I mean –" Christy was cut off by the bell and Gabriella raised her eyebrows as the blonde let out a groan at being interrupted.

"Class, you may go." Gabriella and Christy exchanged a glance and Gabriella sighed. Closing her notebook, Gabriella gathered up her books and stood up, smiling hesitantly at Christy who had stood and was waiting for her.

"Thanks Christy," Gabriella smiled hesitantly at the girl and Christy smiled back, opening her mouth to reply when a smooth voice that had Gabriella's pulse jumping cut through.

"Christy didn't know you were into associating with people outside your group." Troy's voice was lazily amused and carried a sting that had Gabriella wincing and Christy frowning at him.

"Troy, didn't realize you were so protective of something you say you don't care about." Christy replied coolly and Gabriella glanced up at Troy, who didn't seem fazed by Christy's words.

"Nice speaking to you too Christy," Troy's tone was cool and Gabriella bit her lip as she realized that he'd closed the conversation. Christy barely flinched at his tone; instead she smiled at Gabriella and ignored Troy pointedly.

"I'll talk to you later Gabriella." Gabriella smiled briefly at Christy as the girl left the classroom.

"Bye Christy." She said softly as the girl left the classroom. Turning Gabriella, found herself face to face with Troy who was watching her through cool blue eyes and felt her pulse jump at how close he was standing to her.

"Be careful around her." The statement caught Gabriella off guard and her eyes widened at the amount of ice in Troy's voice.

"I – why?" She asked and froze when Troy raised his hand to skim his fingers along her jaw line. It was a move that was so quietly possessive that it didn't register with her until his fingers had dropped.

"I like Christy but I know her too. She'll hurt you even if she doesn't mean too." The words made Gabriella's eyes widen even more than the cold tone he'd spoken them in.

"But she's so nice," Gabriella wished her tone hadn't trembled as she spoke, wished even more that he hadn't decided to touch her face when she did. Wished that the whirlwind that had stopped last period hadn't started up again.

"You're doing it again," His voice wasn't cold anymore, it was thoroughly amused and Gabriella felt herself stiffen at it even as his fingers traced her face again.

"Doing what?" Gabriella breathed biting her lip as he moved to stand close to her. She could feel his breath on her cheek as she looked up at him, looked up into those darkly amused eyes.

"Assuming. You're assuming Christy's nice when you've had two conversations with her, including the one now. Christy is more likely to go and tell her friends what you told her than keep it to herself. Did you know that?" Gabriella shook her head at his words, wishing that his hand would stop touching her face so that she could think straight. Instead, she found herself leaning into it as his palm pressed against her cheek, the whirlwind taking on speed and force as her books slid from her arms and onto the floor.

"Why does it matter?" Gabriella whispered as Troy's other hand slipped onto her hip and pulled her closer to him, the hand on her cheek tangling itself in her hair.

"Because having your feelings, and mine, discussed like they're the latest Britney Spears disaster is not on my agenda. I prefer to keep what happens between us private." Troy's words weren't spoken with the cool amusement she was used to. Instead, it was spoken with a seriousness that she'd never encountered before, which added fuel to the whirlwind already spinning inside her. Swallowing even as her hands skimmed tentatively up his sides, Gabriella tried to comprehend exactly what he had meant.

"What is happening between us Troy?" She didn't think her voice had been audible at all, didn't think he'd heard it until she saw the gleam of amusement in his eyes and his lips had pressed themselves upon hers.

This time he made no attempt to deepen it. Instead, he pulled away tilted his head and kissed her again. Soft kisses. Slow ones that simply caused the whirlwind to intensify into something she wished she could recognize. Her arms wrapped themselves around his middle as she found herself responding readily to every kiss he placed on her lips. This was so different too, different from the morning were it seemed he'd been trying to prove a point, different from Friday when he'd wanted her to understand how much he wanted from her. Right now, as his lips lifted and the returned to hers, it seemed he was simply kissing her because he wanted too. Because he felt like it and Gabriella found herself falling for the very idea that he was kissing her simply because he wanted too. Neither knew that if someone had bothered to look into the classroom they would have seen a couple, in love, kissing each other as if there was nothing and no-one else in the world.

"I like kissing you." Gabriella found herself murmuring the words as he pulled away again; the whirlwind inside her had slowly begun to slow as Troy had begun kissing her. As soon as she said it, Troy stopped.

"We need to get to our next class." His tone was cool and Gabriella's eyes opened to meet his ice blue ones. Biting her lip, she felt the whirlwind begin to pick up speed and became afraid of what happened next.

"Troy I –" He shook his head, cutting her off before she could say anything. Gabriella fell silent as something flashed in his eyes; her arms fell from around him and swung heavily to her sides as his own dropped from her hip and her hair.

"Get to class Gabriella." Gabriella bit her lip at his harsh tone and then nodded, leaning down to gather her books, forcing herself to ignore the whirlwind inside her. Straightening, she looked up at his face again and before she could stop herself, had stood on her toes and pressed a kiss to his cheek. It was something so unexpected, she felt Troy stiffen as she lowered herself back down onto the ground. Instead of being frightened by the way his eyes darkened, Gabriella simply slipped past him and headed for the door, the whirlwind inside her escalating with each step she took away from him.

A/N: Well, was that okay? I actually liked the ending of it. Gabriella's not so afraid of Troy anymore and I guess you'll have to wait and see for his reaction. I'll attempt to start the next chapter of 'Cat and Mouse' after I've posted this, but I don't know how it'll work out. Anyway, I hope you enjoyed!