A/N: Hey everyone! So thanks for the reviews, but I still need as much input from my regular readers as possible – I know I can't please everyone, but if I don't even have enough for a majority, then it doesn't give me much to work with. By the way, Gabriella and Troy were singing 'Talk Dirty To Me', by Poison. I just got Guitar Hero III, and have been addicted to it ever since :p. Anyways, enjoy the chapter and, um, REVIEW!
Chaper 11: Their Last First Day
Gabriella woke up the next morning, groaning. She did NOT want to go to school today. The trepidation of being in the same building as Sharpay was unbearable. However, on the bright side, she was with Troy, and she'd also be with Taylor and Chad. This was the only thing that gave her the spirit to get out of bed and get ready. She wore a white A-line sundress with a few black stripes and sequins on it. The spaghetti straps and empire waistline showed off her body, but still left enough to the imagination. She topped off the outfit with a plain pair of flats. Just as she was finished eating, she heard a car pull into her driveway. That's strange, she thought, I'm not expecting anyone. As she made her way to the window to see who it was, she heard a heavenly voice boom through the house.
"Can I drive a pretty girl to school on this fine Monday morning?" Gabriella pretty much ran to her front door, where she hurriedly greeted Troy with a sweet kiss.
"I'll take that as a yes." He said, smiling.
"Just let me grab my bag!" Gabriella grabbed her oversized purse, which held a few blank notebooks and her pencil case.
The two drove to school, without much excitement. Gabriella took a deep breath as she prepared to exit the car.
"Gaby, calm down. It won't be that bad." He said, climbing out of the car. He took her hand, and they both walked into school. Lots of people greeted them, and Gabriella got a variety of looks from everyone in school. She was wondering how long it would take to adapt to Troy's popular lifestyle. She wasn't a loser, or a loner. She had great friends, like Taylor. She was more of a floater. No one hated her, but at the same time not everyone even knew who she was, and if they did it was because she was a surf champ. Now she felt like the majority of the girls at her school hated her, and she hadn't even spoken to them. Troy squeezed her hand in silent reassurance, as if reading her mind. They walked up to a group of very tall people, whom Gabriella guessed was the basketball team.
"Hey guys!" Troy greeted all his friends with their guy handshake.
"Hey Troy! Gabsters!" Chad said happily. All the guys were introduced to Gabriella, and Gabriella giggled as they all nodded in approval. Gabriella walked to the wall with Troy, where the homeroom lists were posted. She grimaced at first when she found out she was in Darbus' homeroom, but her frown was turned upside down and she squealed when her eyes saw the name 'Troy Bolton' a few names above her own.
"Troy! We're in the same homeroom!"
"Well, would you look at that!" Troy said with a smile. He leaned in and kissed his girlfriend, who quickly kissed back before they separated to stock their lockers for the rest of the year. Chad ran up to Troy as he was finishing organizing his books.
"So dude, all the guys are totally into Gabriella. Especially since she's a kick-ass surfer! That's hot."
"Cool."
"You love her." Troy shot Chad a glare.
"What? No." Troy avoided making eye contact with his best friend. Was it a lie to say that he didn't lover her?
"OK, whatever you say dude. I'm gonna go find Tay. See ya."
"Later."
Troy was about to go find Gabriella, but he was blinded by a hand covering his eyes. They were alien to him – definitely not Gabriella's.
"Guess whooooo?" A sickeningly sweet voice cooed into his ear.
"Um, Ms. Darbus?" Troy said flatly.
" Oh Troy! You are so funny!" Troy's eyes were released from their dark imprisonment and found themselves staring into the eyes of a particularly familiar blonde. "So, guess what? We are in the same homeroom class this year!" Troy found himself getting annoyed by this girl's over-cheerfulness.
"Look, um. First of all I don't even know your name and –"
"Sharpay. Sharpay Evans." She said with a huge, toothy smile.
"OK, Sharpay," Troy tried to hide a smile at her name, "secondly, us being in the same homeroom really doesn't mean that much. We only have two classes where we're with our homeroom. Also, we've only met you once. Actually, it was more like you met me. So, if you'll excuse me…"
"All more the reason why we should get to know each other! Say, you and me, Friday night, a movie? I hear there's a great romantic comedy coming out."
"No thanks. I have plans Friday night." Sharpay scoffed.
"Plans? Who could you have plans with that's more important than moi?"
"My girlfriend." Troy was becoming increasingly annoyed with Sharpay with each word that shot out of her glossy lips. Sharpay snorted.
"Oh, that Gabriella person? Really, she is nothing compared to this." She said, bringing her arm up and down her body, displaying it.
"Well I'm sorry you feel that way, but if you'll excuse me, I have to go." He said, and pushed past her into homeroom. He didn't enjoy being rude, but if that's what it took to have Sharpay back off, then so be it. He took his usual spot at the front of the class, but groaned when Sharpay sat two desks to his left. At least he had Martha right next to him as a distraction – and wall. He turned around to talk to Chad, who sat behind him, and quickly made eye contact with Gabriella, giving her a quick wink. However, she snapped forward at the dramatic and very annoying sing-song of Ms. Darbus.
"Ah, the first day of school…" The class groaned as Ms. Darbus began another one of her infamous rants. "And don't forget to join the drama club! You may sign up today; the posters are outside the auditorium!" The bell rang, and the whole class sighed in relief, except Sharpay, of course. Not only was she a surf junkie, but she also starred in all of her old school's drama productions – and she starred as the lead each time.
Gabriella groaned as she glanced at her next class – gym. She didn't really like gym. It's not that she wasn't capable of doing the activities and sports – she was usually more than capable – it's just that she hated having to get all sweaty for a bunch of sports she didn't really like. Surfing, swimming and running were pretty much the only physical activities she enjoyed doing. She hurried off to class to change into an outfit better suited for sweating.
Gabriella walked into class in a pair of red short shorts and a white T-shirt. Her eyes lit up as she heard the voice of her friends near by. She had completely forgotten that gym was one of the few homeroom classes. Gym suddenly became a lot easier. Standing in a circle together was Taylor, Chad and Troy, who were standing with a few other people. Kelsi, one of Gabriella's friends and the composer of most of the school's plays, Martha, another one of Gabriella's friends and the sickest hip-hop dancer you've ever seen. Also in the social circle was a few of Troy's friends: Zeke, who could make a sweet slam dunk and a sweet crème brulee and Jason, who could dribble at an impressive speed, but was a little slow, both of whom Gabriella had already met earlier that morning. Gabriella entered the circle with a smile, and graciously accepted the numerous greetings.
As the conversation continued throughout the gymnasium, it all came to a halt as a certain blonde entered the room. She was definitely the type of person who knew how to make an entrance. She strutted into the room, followed by her brother, Ryan. She assessed each student around her in search of people worthy of her company. She walked up to a group of girls who were known to be the snobs of the school, and immediately announced herself as the leader of their group.
"God, can you believe what she's wearing? I mean, I knew she liked pink, but that is just ridiculous." Gabriella said, rolling her eyes. It didn't take a brain surgeon to know that Sharpay liked pink, as every bathing suit and surfboard Gabriella ever saw her use had plenty of pink in it. But Sharpay was wearing light pink shorts and a hot pink tank top bedazzled in pink rhinestones. She also wore white tube socks with pink striped on them and a pear of white Puma's with highlighter pink laces.
"Damn, she's hot!" exclaimed Zeke, rubbing his hands together. Troy and Gabriella exchanged glances, rolling their eyes.
"OK class," said Coach Bolton, the gym teacher, "since it's only the first day of school and I still have some paper work to finish up, so I'm going to split the class into two teams and you're going to play dodgeball." The class cheered, and Coach Bolton separated the class into two teams. Taylor, Troy, Zeke, Kelsi and Ryan were on the same team, while Gabriella, Chad, Sharpay, Jason and Martha were on a team together.
"You're goin' down, Bolton!" Gabriella said with a playful glare.
"Bring it, Montez!" Troy said, matching her expression. Just as Troy passed Gabriella, he caught Sharpay giving him a dainty wave, but he pretended not to see her. However, he did make sure to aim right for her when he grabbed the first rubber ball. She squealed when it hit her, square in the legs. Troy and his friends laughed, and she huffed off to the side, where she chose to remain 'out' for the rest of the class. Meanwhile, Troy and Gabriella were both flirting with each other, throwing balls back and forth the whole time.
By the end of the day, Gabriella decided that school wasn't going to be so bad, as long as Sharpay kept herself occupied with the snobs and kept the flirting to a minimum. On the way home, Troy imitated Sharpay's perky attempt to ask Troy out, and both laughed at her expense, of course. As they approached Gabriella's house, Gabriella sighed and thanked Troy. He had made their first day back a lot easier than Gabriella had anticipated, which she, in the end, was grateful for since this was technically the last 'first day' of high school that she would ever have. He smiled and gave her a quick peck before seeing her off. Maybe he did love her. She was all he though about, and she was the only girl that made him nervous, but excited at the same time. She brought out the best in him, and he loved that about her. The hardest part was going to be telling her. Even Troy never told any of his past hook-ups that he loved them. He didn't even say it to get girls to do stuff, which was a common tactic amongst some of the other 'hotshots' in the school. His biggest fear would be scaring her off, which was the last thing he intended to do when saying those words. He slowly pulled out of her driveway, figuring that instead of worrying about the future, he would take their relationship one day at a time, and just hope that when he did finally tell Gabriella those words, that she felt the same way.
