Hey Guys! This is it! I hope you guys love the story like i do. I'm working on the sequel but i dont know exactly when it will start back up. I might do some one shots or shorter stories inbetween. My grandparents are visiting this week so I don't know how soon i'll be able to update. Anyways Enjoy!

Troy's POV

When the plane landed and we got home I called Gabi, I had mixed feelings about being home. I missed her a lot already. When we walked in the door, I went to my room and put my things away. Mom knocked at the door.

"Come in." I said, putting my things down, looking at the door.

"How are you doing?" Mom asked me, walking inside my room.

I shrugged. "I'm okay for right now."

She frowned a bit. "Well Gabi told me to give you this when we got home so here" She handed me a folded piece of paper.

I put it in my pocket and smiled lightly. "Thank you mom."

She yawned loudly. "I'm so exhausted. I'm going to bed, I'll see you tomorrow."

I nodded. "Goodnight mom. I love you"

"I love you too Troy." She kissed my cheek. "Goodnight."

She walked out the door and closed it behind her. I pulled out the note from my pocket. Just holding this note made me feel a bit antsy. Should I open it now? Should I wait? I didn't know what I should do. So I took a shower then got dressed and laid in bed. I got the note out. I unfolded it, and it read.

Dear Troy,

To be honest I suck at writing letters so I'm sorry, this is going to suck. Firstly, I love you. I cant believe we got so close within the little amount of time that we were there. It feels like I've known you my whole life. I can't believe I found somebody so great like you, that actually loves me, let alone likes me, even though I'm weird. I'm sorry that I'm so weird. Anyway, I can't wait until we get married. We are going to have some cute babies and were going to live in a beautiful house and I just can't wait to spend the rest of my life with you. Thank you for my necklace, I am never going to take it off. I mean it. NEVER. I hope we never break up. If we do, I hope you remember the amazing summer we had and the weird girl from Texas who is in love with you. Thank You for making me believe in true love. It really does exist. I love you Troy Jefferson Bolton. Yes, your mom told me your middle name. Don't get mad at her, I think it's cute. See you soon XO

Forever yours,

Gabriella Noelle Montez (Future Mrs. Bolton) ;]

I laughed, typical Gabi. I love that girl. I missed her a lot already. Its only been 5 hours, the longest I've been from her in 4 months. I laid in bed and tried to sleep but I just couldn't. I called Gabriella but her phone was off so I left her a message.

"Hey baby. Its late I know, I just wanted to let you know I read your letter, I love it. You're so funny." I smiled and laughed slightly, thinking about the letter. "I love you so much. I miss you a lot. I wish you were here. Text me when you wake up. sleep tight. Good night beautiful. I love you."

I closed my eyes and finally fell asleep. I woke up and had 4 text messages from Gabi. I read them.

"Hey baby I'm awake."

"Baby, you awake?"

"Forgot about the time change. Sorry for mass texting you! I love you"

"We just left, I'll text you when we get home, hopefully you'll be awake by then. I love you"

I laughed after reading them all. I wish she was here with me. I smiled and text her back. " Just woke up, I love you" I got up. I checked the time, it was around noon. I ate some breakfast. Mom was going through the mail. I walked over to her, leaving my cereal on the table.

"Looks like you have some important mail Troy Bolton." She raised her eyebrows looking at me.

She collected all the envelopes and handed them to me. I walked back to the table and opened them one by one reading them all.

"There all from scouts Stanford, UCLA, USC, CAL, Oregon State, University of Arizona" I told her naming them all. My mind was spinning. I couldn't believe all these schools wanted me. Crazy and very humbling.

"What did they say?" She sat down next to me.

"They all pretty much said they are interested in me but waiting for the season to start before they offer me anything." I said. I picked up the envelope from my high school. "This is for you. School needs you to fill out stuff."

She smiled at me. "That's great baby. Coach called me too this morning. He wants you to come down to start training tomorrow" She looked at me.

I sighed. "And it begins." I pulled my cereal closer to me and started eating.

"It's your future Troy, you have to work hard to succeed babe." She messed up my hair and walked away.

"I know, I will" I mumbled after she walked away.

I finished eating and put the letters in my room and changed to go work out. I was driving home when Gabi called me. I pulled over about a block away from my house.

"Hello Beautiful" I answered smiling.

"Hey baby. How's your first day back?" She asked me.

"Pretty interesting. I got up at noon and Mom got the mail and I got about 7 letters from different colleges." I bit my lip.

"Wow! Babe, that's great! I'm so proud of you." I could tell she was smiling. "What did all those letters say?"

I told her what they said before I put it on speaker and drove back to my home. I walked inside and went straight into my room. Mom said something but I wasn't really paying attention to her. I laid on my bed.

"I miss you Troy Jefferson Bolton." She said.

"I miss you too." I sighed. "I can't believe she told you my middle name."

"What's the story behind it?" She asked me.

"My dad swore we were somehow related to Thomas Jefferson. He thought it was cool." I said laughing. "My dad is a weirdo."

"So that's where you get it from." She said giggling like crazy.

"I am not a weirdo Gabriella." I said laughing. "You, my love, are the weirdo."

"What are you going to do write a Declaration of Independence on me?" She said all too seriously.

I burst out laughing. "What? That doesn't even make sense baby"

She could not stop giggling. "I'm so tired, I don't even know what I'm saying."

I smiled. "You're so cute baby"

Her giggles subsided. "No, I'm just a weirdo like you said."

"Well you're my weirdo." I smiled.

We talked for what seemed like hours. We probably ran up the phone bill but I didn't care. I just wished she was here with me. I was not looking forward to football training. It will probably take up most of my time, I hope it is worth it.

Gabriella's POV

Since I've been back to school everybody has noticed me. It really took me back, I was just a spot in the camouflage of high school. Now, apparently I stood out, which really freaked me out. Troy and I were still together. We didn't talk much. He was head into football season and he didn't call me a lot like he used to. I actually hadn't talked to him in about 3 weeks. I started working out with my softball team again. We couldn't play yet because softball season starts in February.

I walked in the door from softball workouts. I was exhausted. Today was Friday which means Troy had a game. If he did call, I would have literally 6 hours to kill. I did wait though, every day, every night. I took a shower and ate dinner. I even played with Cam for a little bit. I looked at the time it was only 8. His game was about to start. Mom took Cam up to bed and I walked upstairs.

I went to take out my phone and it started ringing. It was Sharpay. "Hey Shar." I said sighing.

"Did he call you yet?" She asked me.

"No he didn't" I said quietly. My lip quivered but I bit it down. "I'm still waiting though."

"Oh honey." She said quietly. "He will call. He better call or I will beat up Chad."

That made me giggle. "Be nice to Chad, It's not his fault." I took a deep breath. "Anyway babe, how are you?"

"I'm good, I miss you a lot though, my room is lonely again." I could hear her pouting.

"I miss you too. That summer was so fun." I smiled, slightly. I whispered. "my tattoo looks so much better now."

"You'll have to show me when we come down for Christmas. Have they found out yet?" She asked me.

"No not yet." I said. "They will kill me if they found out."

"Grandma and Grandpa are calling me, I gotta go." She said.

"Give them hugs for me tell them I love them." I said quickly. "Bye Shar."

She hung up and I changed for bed. I laid in my bed. Troy never left my mind. I held onto my necklace. I missed him so much. He was probably too busy with football to miss me. I wish he would just call me. Maybe he will call me for thanksgiving. Thanksgiving was coming up fast. It was coming up next Thursday.

I woke up at 6 in the morning for school the next day, he hadn't called me yet. I couldn't really do anything about it. I tried calling him a couple times here and there but he never answered. It hurt. Sometimes when I'd go to bed I could feel the ink on the side of my ribcage pulse. I started to re-evaluate some of my decisions I made in the past summer. I still was more content than distraught.

"Hey Gabi" Justin said, winking at me as I walked down the halls of Amarillo High School. Justin was very handsome but he was also an asshole who never would give me the time of day unless he wanted something. I was never going to find out what he wanted from me.

"Hi" I mumbled walking away from him to my locker. I could still feel his eyes on me.

"Hey Gabriella!" A couple girls called after me. I wave to them giving them a shy smile.

All this attention was making me nervous. I don't know what it is about me to suddenly notice me. A couple of my softball teammates walked over to me. "Hey ladies" I said smiling.

"Hey G. Pam and I designed new jerseys were taking count on which ones you like better so we can turn them into Coach Brad." Mary said. Mary was tall, thick. She was a junior like me. Pam and Reggie were standing next to her. They were short, quick and great outfielders.

Pam pulled out a piece of paper and showed the pictures to me. "Left is mine, right is Mary's" I took the paper and looked at the sketches. We were orange and black. Halloween colors. Everybody hated them but I loved it, my favorite color was orange. Pam's drawing had a racer back, was solid black with orange writing. Mary's was black as well but wasn't racer back. It had orange and white layered writing.

"They're both cute, I like Pam's racer back idea with Mary's writing on it." I gave Pam back her papers.

The looked at me. "That is a great idea!" Mary said. "Pam, sketch it out real quick."

Pam was one step ahead of her. She started drawing lightly on the back of the paper. She finished within a minute. "What do you think?" Pam held it up to Mary then showed me.

"I think it's perfect." I nodded, smiling.

"Gabriella Montez you are a genius." They all gave me quick hugs and walked away. I giggled lightly as I put my stuff into the locker.

After the school day was over I got changed and walked out to the softball fields. I saw Coach Brad talking to a teammate named Melissa on the field. Melissa was her own worst enemy. She would talk herself down after she'd strike out. She was my special project I was working on.

I put my cleats on and put my bag down. "Gabi!" I heard coach yell. "Come here."

I ran over to him and stood in front of him. "yes, coach?"

He leaned toward me. "Melissa's having a bad day. Talk to her will you? Y'all won't have to run"

I nodded. Most girls thought Coach Brad hated them but he really does care about us. He is strict because he wants us to get better. They didn't understand tough love. I walked over to Melissa and sat down next to her. "Hey Ma-wish." I called her by her nickname.

She sighed. "Hey Gabi, today had been complete and utter bullshit."

I nodded. "I'm sorry, what happened?"

"First, I bombed my history test. Then I found out that my friends are going on a road trip for spring break and I cant even go because I have softball. I have also been hitting like shit lately. And I can't figure anything out." She started crying. I rubbed her back, giving her a hug.

"I'm sorry liss. I can help you with history if you need it." She nodded. "And…." I was about to say something but it wouldn't have helped. "Can I tell you something?" She nodded again. "I've been having a bad month."

She raised her eyebrows. "How so?" She wiped her tears off her face.

"Well this last summer I went to Albuquerque to see family. I met a boy there." I started.

"Oh no." She said, laughing a little.

I nodded. "Oh no is right. We got really close and at the end of the summer he went back to California and I came back here. We were trying to make things work but he just stopped calling me. He hasn't text me or anything. I know he is dedicated to football and everything but I'm sure he has at least a spare moment to talk to me. To at least say it's not going to work out. You know." I started tearing up. "He is the first person I'd ever loved. And he is starting to break my heart." I put my head in my hands. She rubbed my back.

"You really hide things well." she said, giggling quietly.

I sat up and wiped my face and smiled. "Even if you have a bad day, a bad month or a bad year. We've got a game to play. Maliss. We have to let it go for a couple of hours. Let the sport we love make all the pain go away for at least a little while."

She nodded. "You're absolutely right, Gabi. I'm sorry about your boy problems. I hope you get a call soon."

I smiled weakly. "Me too." We walked over to everybody who was stretching and joined them. I was happy I didn't have to think about Troy for a couple of hours.

Today was New Years eve. People were having a whole bunch of parties but I didn't feel like going out. I just wanted to sleep into the new year. I watched Cam as my parents were out. I fed him and he was in bed by 9. I finished cleaning the house and I was in bed and watching an MTV countdown about to fall asleep myself.

As soon as I closed my eyes my phone rang. I picked it up. "Hello?" I said.

It was quiet for a second. "Hey Gabi." Troy said on the other side of the line.

I swore my heart stopped. My eyes flew open. "H-hey, Troy." I spoke quietly.

"Did I wake you up? I'm sorry." Troy said quietly, the background was quiet.

"Why aren't you out partyin'?" I said, sitting up in my bed.

"I didn't want to. My mom's out and I'm home alone." He said, sighing. "Why aren't you out?"

"I was watching Cam and I didn't want to go out." I said, I didn't really know what to say. "What have you been up to?"

"Football mostly. What about you?" He asked me.

"Prepping for softball season." I said. "Did you decide on a college yet?"

He sighed. "No. I'm in between Oregon and Stanford. They are willing to give me the most."

"It's understandable." I said. I didn't really know how to feel. I felt like he was pretending that everything was alright "I haven't spoken to you in a while."

"I know I'm sorry. I've been so busy." He said.

I rolled my eyes. "You could've text me or something."

"I know. I'm sorry." He said. "I miss you gabs."

I bit my bottom lip. "If you did you would at least try to call me." I sniffled. "But I get it, I'm an athlete. I know how it is."

"Gabs… I barely have time to do my homework." He sighed again. "I do miss you. I lo-"

"Stop." I said quietly. "don't please." The tears burned in my eyes. "I'm not going to sit here and wait for you anymore after you tell me you love me and that were going to work everything out."

"Gabi- please.." He said. "I do want to make this work and I love you and I'm sorry I cant be there for you like you want me to be."

"I love you too Troy but I can't wait for you to call me everyday and you don't" I wiped my eyes. "It hurts Troy. I really miss you"

"What do you want me to do Gabs?" He said sighing. "I wish I could be there I really do. I'm doing the best I can." He sounded annoyed.

I was trying so hard not to break down. "You don't have to worry about me anymore." I said quietly. "I don't think this is going to workout."

"Gabi-" Troy started.

"I'm sorry. Goodbye Troy." I said.

"Goodbye Gabriella" He said quietly.

I hung up and closed my eyes laying back on my bed letting the hurt consume me. I felt the tears roll down to my ears. I opened my eyes after a minute. I turned over and look at the clock. 12:05. "Happy new year." I said quietly to myself. I closed my eyes and started to fall asleep.