Ok so the flirting is about to pick up. School is starting next week and I'm going to be busy. I'll try to write a lot while I'm still on break though. Please REVIEW!

I know the story can be a bit slow but after the real flirting and drama starts everything will start heating up. Remember we are still in the innocent stages at the moment.

:P REVIEW PLEASE!

-S

There was a difference to the air around East High. Every student had their eyes trained to a clock and every body shifted back and forth, no longer able to stay still. There was a hushed mummer that couldn't be stopped in every class. The anticipation was slowly making each teen go insane. The reason for this; Winter Break.

Today was the day before Winter Break started. I walked into drama as normal and everyone's faces were lit with joy. They were all talking about plans for vacation and what holidays they celebrated. Darbus was at her computer doing emails and not really paying attention. Cell phones were out as students texted each other and dance music played softly from a computer. There were a couple people doing the Soulja Boy in the middle of the classroom. I walked to my seat and sat down, turning to Aurora.

"Hey Aurora!" I smiled at her and she returned it with a bright smile.

"Hey!! So are you still coming to the play?" she asked and ignored a guy named Chris who was still trying to talk to her.

"Yeah. I just need to know the time." This wasn't the school play we were discussing. East Presbyterian was putting on a play with little kids for the parents. Aurora and Troy were directing it and I was really excited.

"It's at 1:00 and it's about 30 minutes long. My sister's in it." She informed me.

"So…who's all going to be there? Jason, Troy, Haley?"

"Troy is coming. I don't know about the rest of them." She shrugged and turned to respond to a question that Chris had asked.

"Ok. I'll see you Christmas Eve then." If Troy was coming I'd definitely be there.

The bell rang its usual three chimes and the halls erupted in cheers. The prison we call East High had finally let its prisoners out. I walked down the hallway and tried to avoid the masses of people running and jumping and screaming as I made it to my locker.

"Hey Ryan!" I greeted with a giggle as I opened my locker next to him.

"Hey Gabs." He smiled at me with a dorky grin. "So what are you doing for Christmas?"

"We have family coming down for the actual day. But other than that, nothing." I grabbed my Algebra textbook and piled it into my backpack. "Oh, and studying for finals." I grimiced. "You?"

"Canada to see my mom for some of the time I guess. Then to my new house we just built."

"That sounds good." I stood up the same time he did. "Well I'll see you after break. Have fun"

He hugged me and then said "You too!"

I walked through the crowded lockers, each student either chatting loudly with friends or shoving books into their bags and trying to get out of the building as fast as they could. I got shoved to the side a couple times and threatened when I ran into people but I didn't care. I just wanted to leave. I grabbed Danny, who was chatting with Vanessa, who he had a crush on, and dragged him toward the door.

"Whoa! Hold on Gabriella!" he argued as I forced him through the door and out into the sunlight.

"Just get o…" I was cut off by my favorite voice in the world and suddenly I didn't mind staying at school for a few more minutes.

"Hey Gabriella! Hold up!"

I spun around and saw a blue eyed, dark haired guy walking towards me and I completely forgot about Danny who was standing there with a confused face. "Hey Troy!"

"Hey. What's up?" he asked as we both exited the school.

"Nothing." We stopped and just kind of stood there for a moment staring at each other. I then remembered Danny. "Hey Danny? You can go ahead. I'm gunna talk to Troy for a moment."

"Fine" he huffed and walked off.

"What was that?" Troy asked and watched my best friend go.

"I don't know. Nothing probably." I shrugged, not really caring. I'm a bad friend…I know.

"Oh." He shifted a large object in his arms.

I finally looked down and my eyes grew big. "What is that?" I asked and raised my eyebrows.

"It's an espresso maker." He informed in a tone that made it sound like it was obvious.

I sighed. "Well duh!" I rolled my eyes and a small smile grazed my lips. "I mean…why do you have it. You didn't have it earlier."

"Hawkins gave it to me. He's cleaning out his closet." I didn't catch the double meaning in that. He smirked and I just looked at him.

"Oh. But…an espresso maker? What are you going to do with an espresso maker?" I asked him still looking at the thing in his arms.

"Drink espresso of course." He used a duh tone which made me roll my eyes.

"Does the thing even work?" I asked and ran my fingers along the white surface.

"Nope. That's why I'm going to fix it and then use it." We started walking then, down the line of cars full of parents picking up their kids.

"Oh. I don't like coffee but when you get it fixed call me and I'll come over and maybe you can teach me how good it really is." He looked down at me and smirked.

"I'll have to do that. Hey, there's my mom and she looks pissed. I have to go." He shot an anxious glance to his mom.

"Ok. Have good break." I smiled and waved.

"You too. Peace." He threw me his signature sign and then got into the car.

There's something about Christmas time that really slows me down. I'm usually going a million miles a minute and always wanting dates to get here quicker and just living life in the fast lane. But at this time of year I want to hold onto it. I love the feeling of the crisp winter air hitting my skin. I love sitting by the fire in my pajamas drinking a cup of hot chocolate. I love watching all the old Christmas shows like Frosty the Snowman and Rudolph the Red Nose Reindeer. There is just something about the quite of the world when you walk out and see the first and only snow flakes of the season that float and catch into your hair and you shiver. There's something about watching the weather forecast and begging for a White Christmas but knowing that down in the south the chances are slim to none. To top it all off this is a time of giving, a time to spend with your loved ones.

One of my favorite things to do is get all the decorations down from the attic and watch our house go from boring to a winter wonderland. We buy a tree and hang countless decorations, all with their own memories, and light candles that have snowmen and reindeer on them. We set out plates and Santa Clauses and we blast Christmas music through the whole house. All our past fights or grudges melt away and it's just a time to come together.

Tonight I pulled out my small fake Christmas tree and was decorating it in my room. The tree was approximately 3 feet high with had woven ornaments and multicolored lights. The house smelled like cinnamon and sugar from all the candles. I had on a fuzzy purple sweater with my fairly dark hair tied up in a bun. My legs were covered in jeans and I had on huge red fuzzy socks. Lets just say I wasn't going out anywhere tonight.

My phone went off and I looked at it. Joe. "Hey Joe!" I answered my phone in a cheerful voice.

"Hey!" He answered and I could here laughter in the distance.

"What are you doing?" I asked and scrunched my eyebrows as I sat cross-legged on my bed.

"Well, Me, Troy, and Aurora were wondering if you'd like to do a 4-way."

Ok. So yes, I was still mostly naive at this point. I was in the Christmas spirit and wasn't thinking dirty. "Um…ok…?" I didn't catch on to what he was saying.

"Really?"

"Um…yeah?" I asked more than stated, now totally confused.

"Ok. Just meet us down at the church in five." I heard a deep chuckle in the distance and I knew it to be Troy.

"Wait…huh?" I had no idea what was going on.

"You, Me, Troy, Aurora. 4-way. You do know what a 4-way is right?"

Then it clicked and I tried to play it off. "Yeah. Of course I know what it is. When do you want me again?" I asked in a seductive voice.

"Well…now?" He said and again I could here chuckles.

"Sure….let me just get some stuff first." I let some acid drip into my voice. With that I hung up and then texted: Freaking Pervs. Don't call me again.

Joe replied back: Troy's idea.

I rolled my eyes. Of course it was. Tell him to go do himself. Bye Joe.

I got a call from Joe again and this time it was Alex talking. "Sorry about that. Troy was holding me down and covering my mouth so I couldn't warn you."

"That's fine. I'm kinda used to it." I shrugged. "But thanks."

"Ok. Night Gabriella." And she hung up.

And I didn't here from them again that night. Well that ruined my Christmas mood for the night.

Family. The best part of the holiday season. I never get to see all of my family in one room except for one time a year. And I wouldn't miss it for the world. It can be mid June and I'll be craving Christmas. I love my cousins. There's Mary, Darren, and Fred who are my aunt's kids. Then there's Eli and Jake who are my uncle's kids. I'm the baby of the family, or used to be until Fred had a child and his name is Lance. With all those kids there's my Aunt Katharine and her new husband Drake and then there's my Uncle Larsen. My grandparents come but I just call them Grandma and Grandpa. We have all of these people under the roof of our small one floor house near East High for Christmas.

The door opens and in comes Eli and Jake who give everyone hugs. Eli is like my protective older brother. When we go on vacation with each other he never lets me out of his sight. Jake is so wrapped up in video games that he never really listens but he's like a huge pillow and I'm really the only cousin that gets along with him. Mary and Darren walk through the door next. The fraternal twins are completely different but know that the other is always there to have their back. It's so cute. My only female cousin runs up to me and crushes me in a hug.

"Hey Sweetie!" she smiles and pulls back. Then she frowns. "I can believe you're taller than me."

It's true I'm the tallest girl in my family. I'm 5'3". That's kind of scary.

"Hey! Yep!" I laugh at her scowl. "I am taller."

I hug the rest of the gang and we all sit around and talk about life. I get asked about guys and relationships I may be in. I talk about school and my interests in drama. We exchange funny stories and watch old home movies. There's one where Darren is beating up on Eli when they are 3 and 2. Eli may be younger but he's a lot bigger. We go and sit around the table and say grace then chow down on Pizza Hut because no one felt like baking. Then we go do a photo shoot to capture the memories. Mary and I do one by ourselves with feather boas and funky hats and it turns out stupid. We spend hours shifting through pictures and remembering the old times. We open presents and just enjoy each other's company. It's really the most fun I have all year. A time where my whole family is here, a family that loves me no matter what.

Eli and Darren decide to spend the night and just hang out. They are a year apart and barely get to see each other. They had to exchange something at Wal-Mart and go to Best Buy. I figured they'd want some guy time.

"Gabriella, you want to go?" Darren asks as he pulls on his jacket.

"Um…don't you want to go by yourselves?" I ask as I hug Mary goodbye.

"No. We don't mind if you want to come." Eli shrugs. "I'm driving and I swear I'm a good driver."

I look at my mom who nods. "Ok. Let me get my shoes." I run into my room and grab some sneakers and head out the door. "Bye guys!"

We get into the car and Eli starts driving us down the road. "So….Gabriella…"

Darren jumps in. "Do you have a boyfriend?"

I think of my 4 guy friends; Danny, Ryan, Jason, and Troy. Yes. I liked Troy…very much. But I was never going to tell anyone that. That was my little secret. I was so glad it was dark in the car so they couldn't see me blush. "Well…not at the moment."

"What does that mean?" Eli asked as he turned out onto the main road.

"I don't know. It's complicated."

"Tell us! We won't tell anyone." Darren pressed and turned down the radio since I was speaking really quietly.

Why not humor them? I could act like I still liked Danny. "Well there's this guy. I've known him since kindergarten and we were boyfriend and girlfriend in 5th grade. Well we met up again earlier this year and we started getting closer. His names Danny. We went to Carrowinds with him. He won me a teddy bear. It was sweet. I like him but I don't know if he likes me." Ok the last part was a lie. We did go to Carrowinds but I didn't like him.

"Really now." I could hear the smirk in Darren's voice.

"Yep." I looked out the window. "So Eli, how's Brit?" I asked about his girlfriend, trying to find a way out of the conversation.

"Good I guess." He shrugged. "I want to get home so I can kiss her on New Years."

"Awe!!" I said and was mimicked by Darren who I smacked from behind.

"Ow!" he complained.

"Suck it up." I murmured.

We made it to Best Buy and started to walk around. I kept my insane blonde cousin in my sight along with my protective one. We just looked at video games that didn't have much meaning to me since I'd rather be reading than playing video games. Then we found a Rock Band station and started playing. Darren was the singer. He started rapping and he CAN'T rap. He might think he can but man is he the whitest rapper this world has ever seen. We were the only people in the store other than a few gangster looking dudes and Eli started looking around.

"Dude stop! We're gunna die if you keep doing that!" he stopped and looked around. Everything was dead silent.

"Sorry. Lets go."

We headed out and went to Wal-Mart. Then we went home and sat down at the table to eat burgers. You know, I thought I could trust Darren to keep a secret, but I guess not. I'm sooo thankful I didn't tell him who I really liked.

"So….who's Danny?" He asked my mom and my eyes shot up to him.

"Oh, he's one of Gabriella's friends." Her voice turned teasing and I glared at her.

"So they've known each other since kindergarten. That's interesting." Eli interjected and I sent daggers his way.

"I have a picture of him if you'd like to see it." My mom got up and got her phone and showed them the pictures.

I put my face in my hands. Even though I didn't like Danny it was still humiliating to talk about my love life with someone other than my close friends. Even if this was family.

"Look. He's just a friend. Put the picture away." I almost growled.

"Fine." Darren huffed but he had a pleased smile.

What he didn't know was that I was starting to fall for Troy Bolton. Not Danny.

Christmas Eve. Probably, other than Christmas Day, my favorite day of the year. We always go to church at 6:00pm and then cook steaks and watch It's A Wonderful Life on DVD. Then, even though I no longer believe in Santa Clause, I set out cookies that I know my dad will eat once I'm asleep. But this year there is one change.

And that change is because of Troy Bolton.

I walk into the small cathedral that is located at East Presbyterian Church and look around the pews. There are little kids running up and down the isles, adults greeting each other, and bored teens waiting along the walls. I look for two teens in particular and can't find them. The lights dim and we take our seats to view a performance.

This play isn't as grand as the one that I'd seen at school but it's cute. An Iguana wants to find out the real meaning of Christmas and goes up a Christmas tree and talks to the ornaments and they tell him all the different reasons for Christmas but the Angel at the top tells the true meaning. It's short and sweet and holds the kids' attention. We are doing this instead of a formal service because I promised Aurora that I'd come. I'd texted Troy earlier and made sure he'd be there. It was wrong that I was using church as an excuse to see him but I was. And I was getting very antsy since I hadn't spotted him.

"He better be here or I'm going to kill him." I murmured to myself about half way through the production.

I hadn't seen either director. And it was bugging me.

As the lights came back on I looked around. I'd see Aurora's little sister so that meant she was somewhere. I glanced at the very front and saw Aurora stand up in a pretty green dress. I looked down at my slacks and red shirt and felt under dressed. I walked up to her.

"Hey Aurora!" I greeted and she turned around.

Squealing she ran up to me. "Gabriella! You came!" she threw her arms around me.

"Yeah. I promised I would didn't I?" I raised my eyebrows and smiled.

"Yeah. I guess." Her grin widened as she showed all her teeth.

Suddenly another person came up and I glanced to the side to see a handsome young man walk up to us. He was wearing a white button down with light pink pin-stripes running down it vertically. His lower half was clad in black pants and black dress shoes. His dark, now very short, brown locks were jelled in spikes. Standing with his elbow propped up on my shoulder and acting like I was a crutch was Troy.

I smiled up at him. "Hey Troy! Merry Christmas."

"Hey Gabriella. I can't believe you came!" He grinned down at me.

"I promised so I came." I looked back at Aurora. "Good job you two. It was great!"

"Thanks. Did you see that random little kid run up on stage. He wasn't part of the show." She looked around for the small imposter.

"Yeah. But it went ok. The kids just helped him move around the stage and stay out of the others way." I looked toward Troy who was moving to the other side of me now and tossing a tennis ball up and down. "I want to hold it."

"It's not mine. It's Conner's. I should give it back." He said and held it firmly.

I still tried to yank it out his hand. "Give it!" I said like 5 year old.

"Nope. I'm stronger than you Gabs." He laughed as I unsuccessfully tried to pull it out of his hand.

"fine." I huffed and crossed my arms. He walked off to give the ball back and I glanced back at my parents who were standing there awkwardly. "Do you need help putting the set away?" I asked Aurora.

"No. It's ok. We've got it." She looked back at the stage.

"Ok." I saw Troy come back up and returned the smile he gave me.

He wrapped his arm around his girlfriend and her rosy lips collided with his cheek. "Merry Christmas Babe." She whispered.

"Merry Christmas." He said turning his head towards her so they could lock eyes and smile at each other. They looked so in love.

It made me sick.

I tried to keep the hurt out of my eyes. My skin boiled and my eyes tightened. I felt like growling. I wanted to push her away from him. My heart hurt. My breath stopped coming and it felt like I was choking. I'd never seen them act like a couple. Not really. I wanted to rub the kiss off of his skin. I wanted to kiss his cheek. I wanted to be the one he said Marry Christmas to and kissed. I wanted to be Aurora. Well, I didn't want to be her, I just wanted her boyfriend.

"I have to go." I choked out. "Merry Christmas." And I turned around.

The first needle was now implanted into my heart. The first sign of the pain I was about to go through. It should have been a warning.

A warning that it was only going to get worse.