When they pulled up to the house, Gabriella was in shock. The house had to be at least an acre. It was gated, so Gabriella instructed Samantha to call her friend as she searched for a parking space.
"He's gonna meet us at the gate." Samantha said as she clutched her coat together.
"It's so cold!" Gabriella mumbled. They walked faster and finally reached the front gate.
"Sam!" A boy said. Gabriella almost gasped. He looked so familiar.
"Will, thanks so much for inviting us. Just from the outside I see that your house is amazing!" Samantha said giving him a hug. He smiled at her and then turned to the rest of them.
"I'm William, Will for short, names?" Gabriella was stuck on his eyes. They were an intense blue. He definitely reminded her of Troy. She felt herself get sad.
"My name is Gloria. This is Taylor and Gabriella." Gabriella extended her hand and he shook it.
"Well, the party is going nuts inside so come on." They walked inside the gates and Will shut it.
"Since you guys are so late, you get the luxury of taking the golf cart." Will said with a smile. They piled into the cart. It was a large one that had a tent around it. Gabriella was relieved for the shelter.
As they rode over the grounds, Gabriella couldn't believe people lived this way. It took about five minutes to reach the front of the house. Thank God we were late, she thought as she imagined the long walk they would have had to endure.
When they walked up the stone steps, Gabriella could hear the music pounding from the inside. Taylor nudged her and smiled. Gabriella returned it but felt herself getting nervous. Before Will had a chance to open the large door, it swung open.
"Dude, you took forever!" A drunk guy said. "I was coming to look for you!" He grabbed Will's arm and pulled him in.
"I'll find you later, Sam!" Will screamed over the music. The foyer of the house was extremely packed. There was foam on the floor and strobe lights flashing different colors. The DJ was located on the balcony spinning. Gabriella was impressed.
Taylor took their coats and threw it into a random closet before dragging Gabriella out onto the dance floor. Gabriella laughed and began dancing with her. She noticed guys checking them out but she didn't care. This was the best party she had been to and she wasn't going to let any guys come in her way.
"Let's get something to drink!" Gabriella yelled over the music an hour later.
"Right now?" Taylor said sadly.
"Okay, I'll just be right back then." Gabriella said. When Gabriella reached the bar, she saw Gloria there flirting with a guy. She was being very touchy feely and Gabriella realized she was drunk.
"Gloria, come here." She said sternly. Gloria looked at her and rolled her eyes.
"Gabriella, I'm fine." She said before continuing to talk to the guy. He leaned over and whispered in her ear. Gabriella shook her head and requested three shots of vodka.
When he poured them, she quickly tossed them back before ordering two more and doing the same.
"Do you wanna slow down?" The bartender said with a smirk.
"I'm trying to have a good time!" Gabriella said flirtatiously. "Now do your job and get me a vodka and coke, please. "
He smiled and quickly made her drink. She sat there and quickly sipped it down, eager to feel a buzz. Gabriella looked to her left and saw Gloria making out with the guy she had been talking to. He was clearly in college, i.e. too old for her.
Gabriella contemplated stopping her but she decided against it. She shook her head and got up. Immediately, she felt herself stumbled a little. Someone grabbed her quickly and laughed. He sounded familiar.
"Chad, what are YOU doing here?" Gabriella said. Everything she thought seemed right but her words were sounding slurred. She didn't expect the liquor to catch up to her so quickly.
"My friend's brother is throwing the party. Is Taylor here?" Gabriella nodded and pointed out to the dance floor.
"Chad, you're killing my mood. I'm just tryna shake my ass!" Gabriella said. Chad began laughing and shook his head. "Wait! Wait! If you're here does that mean Troy is here?"
"Yeah, he's by the hot tub. It's through that door by the stairs." Chad said. "I hope you guys can talk tonight."
"Maybeeeeee…" Gabriella said looking him in his eyes. She had the sudden urge to kiss him and began grabbing onto his shirt. Chad realized what was happening and said, "Gabriella, chill out."
"Oh my god. Okay," She let go and began walking as straight as she could towards the pool area. She ended up outside. It was cold! Her heels were getting stuck in the grass.
"No!" Gabriella said sadly. She took off her heels, picked them up and continued on her trek to the pool. She walked through a short maze and ended up in a stoned area. There were a lot of people out here just relaxing. Some were brave enough to swim in the pool, laughing, splashing each other: drunk.
"Where is the hot tub?" Gabriella asked a random girl who just came out the pool. She wrung her haid and smiled.
"It right behind the cliff thing." She said pointing to the manmade waterfall. Gabriella smiled and stumbled off. The hot tub was huge. She was pretty sure it could fit twenty people. Gabriella stripped down to her bikini and stepped down into the hot tub. It instantly warmed her. She quickly forgot her mission and began relaxing. Suddenly she sucked in water and realized she had slipped under the water. She pulled herself up and began coughing hard.
"Gabriella?" She looked up as she continued to cough.
"Oh *cough* my God *cough* Troy." She said extremely embarrassed. He patted her on the her back until she stopped coughing.
"Someone's a little drunk." Troy said with a laugh. She felt herself smiling back. "Where are your friends?"
"Inside….each with a guy. Even my fourteen year old cousin is getting some action while I'm here with fucked up hair."
"And me…if you don't mind." Troy said slowly.
"Sure," Troy sat next to her and just looked at her. She looked away and they sat in silence for a while. She felt his hand take hers and she sighed. Next, she felt him kissing her neck and she moaned. She wanted to say no but had a hard time verbalizing the word.
"Do you wanna go upstairs?" Troy asked in a low tone. Gabriella bit her lip and nodded. Troy kissed her gently.
