A/N: Sorry i haven't been keeping to my 'update every three days' schedule. i have been busy the last few days. Enjoy this chapter...5 to go!!

Disclaimer: refer to chap. 2

MORE THAN FRIENDS?

"HAPPY BIRTHDAY!" the gang all yelled when Gabriella walked into the building. Troy walked up to her and handed her a party hat and three helium balloons.

"You guys gave me a fright!" exclaimed Gabriella.

"It's what we do best," said Sharpay as they all gave Gabriella hugs. When they finished, they all walked with her to her locker. The gang got there early and decorated it for her.

"That looks awesome!" said Gabriella, "but I need to pull some of it down to open it."

"That's cool," said Troy and Gabriella pulled off some of the streamers and opened her locker. When she pulled open the door, a sign rolled down and hung from her locker. It read:

Happy Birthday Gabi! Love your guys and gals!

"Thanks you guys," said Gabriella and there was another round of hugs.

During their break, the gang went outside to celebrate Gabriella's birthday further. They brought out with them a cake, some bags of chips and lollies.

"So, have you gotten anything from your mum yet?" asked Sharpay as she opened a bag of lollies.

"I got some clothes and shoes, but we are going shopping after our lunch on Saturday so I am going to get stuff then as well," Gabriella explained, helping herself to some chips.

"Now I bought some candles and matches, should we cut the cake?" Troy asked.

"Yes! Cut it, I want cake!" said Chad and Troy pulled out a bag from behind him with some purple candles and matches. He put the candles in the cake and lit them. The gang sang 'Happy Birthday' so loud that all the groups around them looked to see what all the commotion was. Gabriella was red when they finished singing, she blew out the candles and everyone cheered.

"Free period we have our last practice before the game, don't we?" asked Chad.

"Yeah, we do. Is everyone here watching the game?" Troy asked.

"I am," said Gabriella.

"Me too," said Taylor and Kelsi together.

"Me three," said Sharpay.

"I can't come," said Ryan.

"Why?" Zeke asked.

"I have this thing on after school, sorry," Ryan explained.

"That's cool," said Troy and he took a piece of cake.

During free period, all the girls went to the boys practice. They were sitting high in the stands and were cheering as loud as they could.

"Okay guys, Tennessee drill (A/N: actual basketball drill!!)! Let's go!" Coach Bolton yelled and all the guys ran in different directions.

"I'm bored," said Taylor.

"Me too," agreed Sharpay, "someone should go and ask if they can have a 'shirts and skins' match."

"Gabi, you go!" nominated Taylor.

"Why me?" Gabriella asked as she stood up.

"Because he will say yes to you because it is your birthday," explained Sharpay, "now go!" Gabriella ran down the stairs of the stand and ran up to Coach Bolton.

"Hi Coach," she said.

"Hi Gabi, what's up?" Coach Bolton replied.

"The girls and I were wondering, well training is pretty boring, so to make it more interesting for us, can they have a shirts and skins match?" Gabriella explained, finishing with a sweet, innocent smile.

"You know what? You girls need something to cheer about and seeing as it is your birthday, okay," Coach Bolton agreed.

"Thanks," said Gabriella and she ran to the stands, but ran back.

"The girls also said to play Troy, Chad, Jason and Zeke as skins," and she ran back up the stands before Coach Bolton could say 'no'.

"He said yes!" said Gabriella, "and I told him to play Troy and your boyfriends as skins!"

"Awesome!" said Sharpay and she gave Gabriella a high five as she sat back down. Coach Bolton blew his whistle and the team ran over to him.

"Wait for it," said Sharpay as all the girls watched intently. Suddenly, Troy, Chad, Jason and Zeke took off their tops and Sharpay whistled. Troy threw his top into his bag and pointed to Gabriella as if to say 'I'm gonna get you for this'. All the girls couldn't help but squeal at the site of their boyfriend's torsos. Gabriella even smiled at Troy's 'hot' body. The boys began to play and the girls were cheering louder than ever. Sharpay grabbed Gabriella's hand and pulled her to the bottom of the stands. She pulled out her camera and began taking pictures of the guys on the skins team. Troy shot a three pointer and all the girls cheered. As he was running down to play defence, he yelled out to Gabriella;

"I'm gonna get you for this!" Gabriella giggled.

"Hey Gabi, look at this picture," said Sharpay as she turned her camera around. It was a picture of Troy in the air on his three pointer.

"That shot's awesome!" said Gabriella, "You should be a photographer."

"It is a good shot, isn't it?" Sharpay said, turning the camera around to admire her work.

When practice was over, all the guys went to the locker rooms but Troy, Chad, Jason and Zeke went up to the girls.

"Was that your idea?" Troy asked Gabriella.

"No, it was Sharpay's idea. I was just told to ask," Gabriella explained.

"Well, you girls should watch your back, 'coz we'll get you!" warned Chad.

"Guys, I hate to tell you, but you should have your showers. You smell," said Taylor. Chad lifted up his arm and all the girls ran out of the gym.

"Nice," said Jason and all the guys walked to the locker rooms.

Ten minutes before the end of school, the East High basketball team were called out of their classes to get ready for their game. When the West High Knights arrived, all the girls were looking out the windows at the team. When the bell went, Taylor, Sharpay and Kelsi met at Gabriella's locker.

"Ready to go?" asked Gabriella.

"Yeah, I made this last night," said Taylor, holding up a poster that was half a metre thick and three metres long. It had written on it; 'EAST HIGH WILDCATS!' in red, black and gold.

"That looks great! We are going to be better at cheering than the cheerleaders," said Sharpay.

"Yeah, we can beat those skanks down!" said Gabriella.

"I didn't know you could be so mean Gabi," said Taylor.

"You haven't seen all sides of me," said Gabriella in an evil tone.

"Let's go guys," said Kelsi and the four girls made their way to the gym. They got seats right behind the Wildcat's team bench. When they sat down, the commentator walked to the centre of the court and the cheerleaders lined the entrances.

"And today's match will be a good one, ladies and gentlemen. So let's welcome the away team from the west, the West High Knights!" The West High players ran out onto the court and there were cheers coming from the other side of the stands.

"We can do better than that, ready girls?" said Sharpay.

"And now, for the home team, EAST HIGH WILDCATS!" yelled the commentator. Sharpay, Taylor, Gabriella and Kelsi stood up and yelled at the top of their lungs. Troy led the team out onto the court. Before grabbing a basketball, Troy pointed to Gabriella in the crowd. Sharpay nudged Gabriella and she cheered louder than ever.

There was thirty seconds left on the clock and East High was trailing by two points and had possession of the ball. Troy dribbled the ball down the court and passed it to Chad on the wing. He then cut through the key and received the ball in the corner. By this time, there was ten seconds left on the clock. Troy put up the three pointer and it bounced off the ring and to Zeke under the basket. Zeke put the shot up and sinks it so the score is tied. The siren went and the crowd went silent. The commentator was the first one to speak.

"And the scores are tied, so that means…OVERTIME!" and the crowd started screaming.

"What's overtime?" asked Kelsi.

"It is when the teams play an extra five minutes," Sharpay explained. The teams had a two minute break and then went back onto the court.

Thirty seconds to go in the overtime and no one had scored. West High had possession. They were passing it around, looking for the perfect shot. With five seconds to go, the point guard put up a shot from the three point line. It bounced off the ring and into Troy's hands. Troy sprinted towards the basket but wasn't fast enough. The siren went when he was on the three point line. The crowd was once again silent as the referees discussed what to do. They went to the scorer's bench and told the commentator what to say.

"Okay guys and girls we're in for a big treat. The ref's have declared war and we are going into sudden death." All the players ran to their benches as if they knew what he was talking about, while the commentator explained to the crowd.

"Sudden death, for those of you who don't know, is when the first person to score a basket wins." The stands erupted. The players went back onto the court and they began with a jump ball. East High gained possession with Troy being the ball carrier. He ran the ball down the court and passed it to Jason on the opposite wing. Troy cut through the key and received the ball on the block. He posted up on a player who was much taller than he was. He faked to the centre and turned baseline. He put up the shot…swish! The crowd roared and Gabriella was one of the loudest. The four girls ran down onto the court and left their poster behind them. Gabriella ran up to Troy and yelled over the noise,

"Congratulations! That was an amazing shot!"

"I'm so glad that went in!" he yelled back. He gave her a hug and went to join the rest of the celebrations.

"You have to tell him how you feel," said Taylor.

"I know, I'll tell him when he comes out of the locker rooms," said Gabriella.

"Okay," said Taylor and she went off into the celebrations.

After about an hour, the gym was empty. All the team had gotten changed and were now exiting the locker rooms and meeting friends outside. Chad, Troy, Zeke and Jason were last to come out.

"Hey, great game," said Taylor.

"Thanks, you cheered better than the cheerleaders," said Chad.

"Told you," said Gabriella.

"So, we can go back to my house, dad said you can all stay the night," said Troy.

"Ahh…Troy, can I talk to you for a second?" said Gabriella.

"Sure," said Troy and he turned to the gang behind him, "Ahh…scat."

"Sure thing," said Chad. They all walked off and Taylor smiled at Gabriella.

"What's up?" Troy asked as he turned back to Gabriella.

"I know you are still on a high from your win, but I have to say this," she said.

"What is it?" Troy asked, looking worried.

"Okay," she took a deep breath, "I still have feelings for you." Gabriella didn't wait for Troy to answer, she ran down the corridor, past the gang and out the door. Troy stood still for a moment and then caught up with the gang.

"What did she say?" Sharpay asked, "We just saw her run out the door."

"She said she still has feelings for me," Troy answered, still shocked with the news.

"And what did you say that made her run out?" Chad asked.

"Nothing," Troy said.

"Nothing?!" exclaimed Taylor, "No wonder she ran off."

"Well she didn't really give me a chance to answer," Troy explained.

"So she told you and ran off?" asked Sharpay.

"Pretty much," said Troy.

"I gotta go find her," said Taylor and she ran down the corridor and out the door. Taylor found Gabriella sitting outside the door on a bench.

"What was that?" Taylor asked as she took a seat beside her.

"It went wrong," said Gabriella.

"How do you know? You didn't give him a chance to speak," Taylor said.

"You didn't see his face," Gabriella argued.

"You wouldn't have had a chance to see his face with how fast you ran off," said Taylor.

"I'm not gonna go to Troy's tonight," said Gabriella, changing the subject, "I don't feel like going."

"Suit yourself," said Taylor, "But we are going to have lots of fun." Suddenly, a car pulled up.

"That's my mum, have fun at Troy's." she gave her friend a hug and ran to the car. The rest of the gang came out in time to see the car drive off.

A/N: I hope you liked it!! I would have loved to be at that shirts and skins match!! please review.

Next up: Party preparation!!