Aw, man! I woke up at the crack of dawn today so I would have time to update this story in the morning before I went to my aunt's house, but I didn't have time! Sorry that I made you all wait until the end of the day! For any new readers, I just want to let you know that I update on Tuesdays! There's no need to panic and or tell me to hurry up. :) I've already written this whole story, so all there is to do is wait until Tuesday rolls around! Well, Enjoy!

Loving Love

Chapter ten

Oops

The smell of dirt and earthworms wafted through the school hallways because of the rain that was falling outside and Gabriella smiled as she jiggled her rain coat, seeing the rain creating a puddle on the ground around her. She hung it on the hook in her locker and began pulling her binders that she needed out of her locker to put in her backpack. She heard a few clicks of someone's heels as they walked past her and when she glanced behind her she saw one of the head cheerleaders with an evil smirk on her face, eyeing her as she walked by.

"I'm pretty sure if looks could kill I'd be planning your funeral." Gabriella heard next to her, causing her attention to be taken away from the cruel girl.

Gabriella smiled when she saw her best friends at her locker, glad that they didn't dump her when they found out about her interest in Troy. Sharpay smiled softly back at her, while Taylor sighed softly, looking tired.

"How were your weekends?" Gabriella asked them both, closing her locker before leaning against the rough metal so that she was facing them.

"The usual," Taylor started. "Homework…"

"And shopping." Sharpay smiled.

"That's my girl." Gabriella joked with Sharpay as she noticed the brand new outfit that graced her tan body.

"So, have you exchanged spit with Troy anymore?" Taylor asked bluntly, causing both Sharpay and Gabriella to gasp, not expecting such a casual approach to the question.

"Whoa, Tay." Sharpay commented giving her a questioning look.

"Sorry." She mumbled. "I mean, have you proclaimed your love to him yet, or are you two taking it slow?" Taylor rephrased as she looked oddly bored.

"Uh… no." Gabriella answered unsurely. "Are you okay?"

Taylor let out a long and drawn out sigh that followed with a shrug.

"I just can't picture it." She said honestly. "I can't picture him looking at you like more than just some creeper that he saw you as before."

Gabriella felt her eye twitch as she noticed the emptying hallway, only seeing the doubt in her friend's eyes as she remained quiet. Sharpay swayed awkwardly in place, not wanting to interrupt the silence as she saw two best friends fighting to try to keep their friendship from disappearing.

The bell rang, echoing in the hallway.

"I guess I'll see you at lunch." Gabriella said to them with a nod, seeing Sharpay open her mouth to say something, stopping quickly though.

Gabriella felt a lump forming in her throat as the doubt about Troy increased in her mind. Yesterday she could barely wash her hair because she didn't want to get ride of the scent of Troy that lingered in her silky strands after they had laid on the hammock until morning hours and now, she was debating whether or not she would forget about him all together.

Because she wasn't paying attention, she didn't realize that someone was turning the corner of the hallway as she passed and she collided with them, feeling a hand pulling her towards the person so that she wouldn't hit the floor. As her eyes opened from their squint, she saw Troy smiling at her, his arm wrapped around her waist.

"Hey." He said breathlessly as if not expecting her to be the one in his arms.

"Hey." She said with a small smile. "I wasn't paying attention."

"No worries." Troy said to her, letting his arms come back to his sides as she stood up straight.

Gabriella pushed some of her hair behind her ear and swallowed harshly as they stayed quietly in their spot by the crossroads of the hallways.

"You okay?" Troy asked her in concern.

"Of course, yeah." Gabriella nodded. "But I need to get to class. I'm late already."

Troy nodded, letting the subject go even though he didn't believe her.

"Have a good day." Gabriella said with a small laugh as she and Troy backed away from each other slowly.

"You too."

Troy turned away from Gabriella, noticing now Sharpay and Taylor standing by Gabriella's locker with surprised looks on their faces. He nodded to them, hearing a barely audible gasp from Taylor as he said hello to them.

"Ladies." He nodded, walking past them casually.

"Shit." Taylor exclaimed in a whisper, looking at Sharpay quickly. "I shouldn't have said that to Gabs!"

***

Gabriella sat alone at her lunch table, picking at her turkey sandwich- one that she wasn't finding appetizing at all. It had been four hours since she talked to Taylor and Sharpay and deep down inside she had a feeling that she over reacted. She and Troy were… not dating. They had kissed, sure, but dating wasn't possible for them, was it?

But now, Troy didn't matter, her friendship did and she knew that Taylor was upset with her and she had to find a way to make it up to her. Just as she was coming up with a plan to help Taylor forgive her, a familiar backpack was set on the table and as she looked up, her best friends were sitting on either side of her, smiling as if there was no need to ask for their forgiveness.

"So, I saw this guy in the hallway with one of my best girlfriends and they seemed to be in love." Sharpay said with a smile. "And I couldn't help but want the details."

"And I couldn't go any longer without apologizing." Taylor smiled. "I'm your best friend so I shouldn't fight you on this."

"Are you sure you're okay with this because if you really hate him I'll tell him it's not going to work out." Gabriella said to both of them, her eyes begging for an honest answer.

"That won't be necessary." Sharpay said with a shake of her head. "But we have to ask. How is this going to work if his friends don't know?"

"I can't answer that." Gabriella admitted. "But for right now I'm okay with you two being the ones that I could tell."

"Okay, since we're the ones you can tell anything to… is he a good kisser or what? Because he looks like he would be!" Sharpay giggled, causing Gabriella to become wide-eyed with the blunt question.

"As much as I hate to agree with Shar, I do." Taylor said with a shake of her head.

"Well, I don't know, I mean… how do you know when someone is?" Gabriella asked quietly.

"Oh, right! I forgot we were talking to miss-never-had-a-boyfriend." Sharpay smiled, getting a playful slap on the arm from Gabriella.

"Let's not say that in public." Gabriella giggled.

"Does he give you goose bumps?" Taylor asked her.

Gabriella shrugged, smiling inwardly.

"Does he make you smile after he kisses you?"

"Make you feel like he'll be happy kissing you for the rest of his life?"

"Umm all of the above?" Gabriella said unsurely, smiling softly as her friends started to squeal, causing many to draw their attention to the girls at the back of the cafeteria. Gabriella blushed as she saw Troy look over at the table, along with a few other jocks and he winked at her, seeing her laugh as her friends giggled together.

Surprisingly as the girls continued their laugh, a male sat down next to Sharpay, kissing her on the side of her forehead and the girls stopped laughing, looking over at the dark skinned boy who was risking a lot by his romantic gesture. Sharpay's eyes looked lovingly over at him, her hand going to his knee as she smiled at him.

"Hey, girls." Zeke said with a smile, not noticing the quieting jock table and the angry afro-haired male steaming with madness.

"Uh, Zeke, I think you sat down at the wrong table." Taylor warned him, giving Sharpay a small smile.

"No, I meant to sit here." Zeke explained. "If my friends were really my friends they'd let me sit here and accept the fact that I'm in love with a theater girl."

Taylor and Gabriella exchanged a friendly smile and Sharpay's expression was one of shock, as if hearing that out of his mouth wasn't expected. Zeke blushed softly as Sharpay let out a small squeal while exchanging a look with her friends.

It had been mere minutes since Zeke had sat down next to Sharpay when Chad and Troy suddenly appeared on the other side of the round table, both sitting, but definitely not in a how's-your-day-been kind of way, rather Chad looked like he was about to lunge at Zeke and Troy, well, Troy was caught in the middle of two worlds.

"What the hell are you doing, Zeke?" Chad asked, sending spit flying across the table with the distinct emphasis of his friend's name. "How many times do I have to tell you that you are a disgrace to the male population?"

"A couple more times, dude. I haven't heard you yet." Zeke responded.

"Don't get smart with me, Zeke." Chad warned, shaking his head at the sight in front of him. It seemed that the whole cafeteria was quiet and listening in on the conversation as it continued.

"You know, Chad, how much longer are you going to act like a stubborn jack ass?" Zeke asked, barely flinching when Chad stood quickly, ready to jump his friend, but he was quickly pulled down by Troy and within seconds he was shoving Troy's hand away from his collar.

"You can forget about our friendship, man." Chad replied. "Troy and I can rule this school on our own and you three better watch out." He said, specifically looking over at the three quiet girls in front of him.

"Don't make threats, Chad." Zeke said seriously. "You wouldn't want that coming back to haunt you."

"The only thing haunting anyone is going to be your decision to date one of these freaks." Chad spat, stepping away with the table as he told Troy to come with him.

"Dude." Zeke said to Troy with a secret look.

Troy looked at his best friend who wanted someone to take his side and his heart sunk into his stomach. He knew he was being a hypocrite and as Chad called him again, he looked over at Gabriella who was giving him an understanding smile. The smile on her face as she sat between two sad looking girls hurt him the most because he knew he was hurting her and she was putting a fake smile on.

"I'm sorry." Troy said as he looked at Zeke, standing up from the table and backing away slowly.

The girls were eerily quiet as Troy disappeared through the lunch crowd with Chad, seeing the fuming look on the dark skinned boy's face as he ranted on and on to Troy. Zeke sighed heavily, standing up slowly with a lonely look on his face. He kissed Sharpay again on the side of her forehead, right next to her eye.

"I'll see you tonight, babe." He smiled softly, leaving the feeling of his hand on her back as he left her at the table with her friends.

"Did you hear that?" Sharpay asked quietly.

"That we better watch out, yeah." Taylor nodded with fear in her eyes.

"No, he said he loved me." Sharpay whispered with tears in her eyes. "Oops."

"What do you mean by 'oops'?" Gabriella asked quietly.

"That wasn't our intention… and… I forgot to tell him I loved him back."

The girls were quiet as tears appeared in all of their eyes, wanting to know why things that no one wanted to happen somehow always did and then, as if they counted to three to start all at the same time, they started to laugh, wondering why the heck forgetting to tell someone you loved them back was so funny.

***

Gabriella laughed as she wiped the counter off at the diner as Sharpay wiped a glob of ketchup off of her jeans with a curse word that rang through the calm area. After the incident at lunch, the girls decided that they'd spend the rest of the day together and since Gabriella had to work, Taylor and Sharpay were there to keep her company. They were sharing a plate of fries, laughing together as Gabriella told them they were a mess.

"We should come here more often." Sharpay said with a laugh, tossing her used napkin on the counter. "I forgot how much fun we used to have here."

"Well, it's definitely been a while, hasn't it?" Gabriella replied, taking an order from Samantha, handing it to Stephanie with a smile. "And you can bring Zeke if you want to. No one from East High comes around here."

"Except for a few." Taylor smiled, winking at Gabriella.

The girls laughed together, hearing the bells on the door ring as they did. Gabriella opened her eyes from their squint to see Troy making his way over to the counter and when he saw Sharpay and Taylor he wasn't sure if he should sit down or make it look like he was just picking something up. Gabriella exchanged a look with him, clearing the spot next to Taylor.

"Hey." Troy said to her with an unsure smile, sitting down next to Taylor.

"Hey, how was your day?" Gabriella asked him, ignoring the giddy smile on Sharpay's face.

"Eventful." He answered with a chuckle. "Sorry about lunch. I could have said something… but I didn't."

"It's okay." She smiled softly. "Chad's your best friend. You have to be on his side."

Troy shrugged, knowing that technically he didn't have to be.

"So, do you want your usual?" Gabriella asked him.

"Yeah." He nodded, smiling at her as she told Samantha to start up his usual.

"So we haven't formally met." Taylor said to Troy, sticking out her hand for him to shake. "I'm Taylor Mckessie. I've known you since third grade."

Troy laughed softly, shaking her hand with the slightest guilty blush.

"Troy Bolton." He nodded. "Sorry about the sandbox incident."

"Ah, no problem. I pushed Chad first." She smiled at him as Gabriella left to serve her customers.

"Hey, Troy." Sharpay said waving from her spot. "I heard you were a good kisser." She smirked, seeing a surprised expression cross his face.

"Who'd you hear that from?" Troy laughed with a shake of his head.

"Gabriella, Troy's order is ready!" Samantha called to her as she set the cheeseburger in a basket with fries in it on the edge of the kitchen window.

Gabriella glided around the counter, taking the meal from her with a smile and when she turned around to face her friends they were all snickering, obviously discussing something about her.

"What?" She asked seriously, setting down Troy's meal.

"Nothing." The three of them said together, laughing.

"Okay, so I'm gone for three seconds and you're already keeping secrets from me?" She asked playfully, not all that concerned with what they were keeping from her.

"We were just talking about Troy's kissing abilities." Sharpay told her, causing Gabriella's eyes to widen.

"I hate you." Gabriella replied under her breath.

"Yeah, yeah. Just like you hate spinach, tardiness, and love." Taylor nodded with a laugh.

"I understand the spinach, but the love part? I pegged you as a love girl." Troy said with an eyebrow raise, taking a bit of his cheeseburger.

"You have a lot to learn, Bolton." Taylor told him, smiling at Gabriella with a wink.

"We all do." Sharpay laughed, putting a lone fry in her mouth as she leaned against the counter.

After a laugh from Troy, his phone rang, the sound of the ring tone growing louder as he brought it out of his pocket. Gabriella went around the counter, going to fill up the old man's coffee that had come in minutes earlier. When she was coming back towards her friends Troy was standing up, pulling his coat back on as he set a five dollar bill on the counter. He smiled at her when he saw her walking over to him.

"Leaving already?" Gabriella asked him.

"Yeah. Chad needs me." He said with an eye roll.

"Well, tell him I said hi." Gabriella joked, causing a smile to form on Troy's face as he stood somewhat awkwardly in front of her, not knowing how to go about saying goodbye.

"I'll see you Monday." Troy told her, giving her a quick kiss on the lips before heading towards the door.

"Have a good day." She laughed as he went out the door, giving her a nice wave as he jogged hurryingly along the sidewalk, disappearing from their views as the girls sat by the counter.

"Okay, who was that and what happened to the Troy Bolton who pushed me in the sandbox in elementary school?" Taylor asked Gabriella as she went around the counter, taking Troy's half empty plate.

"It looks like Gabriella put a spell on him." Sharpay laughed.

"What does that mean?" Gabriella asked with an eye roll, looking at her friends as she leaned against the counter facing them.

"He's falling in love with you." Sharpay explained. "And you've fallen for him."

"Please, that is not true at all." Gabriella told them with a shake of her head, feeling as if she had to defend herself against the assumptions.

"Listen, Gabs, we've known you our whole lives and we know the second something changes about you. I wouldn't be surprised if you not only love Troy, but you love love." Sharpay told her.

Gabriella opened her mouth to protest, but simply shook her head, grabbing the coffee from the back counter with a sigh.

"You both are crazy. I do not love love." She told them, leaving quickly as she went to visit George, the old man, who looked like he had a few questions of his own for her, like why she was suddenly kissing the sweaty guy.

"I wonder if she purposely left Troy out of that sentence." Taylor said to Sharpay as they looked over at Gabriella, who was clearly ignoring them.

"She did." Sharpay said quietly. "She just doesn't know it yet."

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Much love,

unknownbyhim22