CHAPTER ELEVEN: inclination
(in·kluh·ney·shuhn)n.
1. A strong fondness; affection.

Gabriella woke up to the sound of the phone ringing, "what the…" she groaned and picked up her cell phone on her table. "Hello?" she grumbled softly. Gabriella had no clue what time it was nor did she bother looking at the red numbers.

"Hi honey, it's mom."

Gabriella sighed and finally took a look at the clock. 4:30AM. It was way too early to get up for school; she needed her rest for her volleyball match today. "Hi mom, aren't you suppose to be on your flight home now?" she asked.

There was a silent tone on the other end for a minute. "Yeah we were supposed to be on one, but the flight got delayed due to some weather issue and we thought it over and 3 more days won't hurt right?" her mom asked. "I mean I know I'll miss your birthday, but I promise the minute I get back we'll go do something."

Some mom she was. Gabriella didn't say anything. "Whatever, it's fine. Bye." At this moment she didn't really care what her mom said, she was so tired she wasn't even sure she heard her mom right. Gabriella threw the phone back on the table and closed her eyes, drifting off to the same sleep. If Gabriella heard her right, she felt disappointed that her mom was missing her birthday. She never missed Gabriella's birthday, ever. To make matters worse, Gabriella and Troy had to stay together longer and she knew he didn't want that. Though, last night they got along quite well because of what Gabriella had done. The Wildcats won 55-43 and Troy led the scoring with 22 points and 14 assists. Gabriella could tell last night that the coach knew he had a good decision to let Troy play because when Troy was resting for half a quarter, they slipped back. After the game, Troy thanked Gabriella on his way to the locker room and Gabriella gave him an assuring smile. Neither of them really spoke to each other when they got home though, Gabriella was exhausted and showered before going off to bed. Troy hung out with the team after the game and then came in late last night.

"YO. Wake up."

The sound of Troy's voice stirred her awake and she came face to face with a clean and neat face. His face was close to her so he could see every detail on his face. She groaned and took her hand and shoved his face away from her. "I'm tired," she grumbled and closed her eyes again.

"Well that's too bad, you have your playoff game today so you better get up and get going lady," Troy spoke and then opened the curtains of her back door. The sun shined straight through to Gabriella and he smirked. Troy slowly walked out of the room and blasted his music loudly.

"I hate him," she mumbled and threw the pillow at her door. Gabriella got up and checked her phone and noticed that her mom did call her last night and she knew what her mom called for. She sighed and went up to Troy's room. She knocked on his door and waited for him to open it. There was no way she was walking in and he'd be half naked.

"What?" he asked.

Gabriella narrowed her eyes at him, "did your mom call you last night?" she asked.

Troy opened his phone and noticed he had 3 miss calls. "Probably," he said. "Why?"

Gabriella bit her lip, wondering if she should tell him. There was a fear in her that Troy would flip out and lash out at her. "Well, our parents aren't coming back till Sunday night," she told him. It was Thursday today and they had another 3 days together.

Troy blinked. "Seriously?" he asked.

Gabriella nodded. "Well their plane was delayed and they agreed they'll stay till the next flight," she spoke softly. "I was just letting you know." Gabriella left his room and went to get ready for school.

Troy sat back on his bed and lowered the music. Why would his mom do that to him? He wanted to go home so he could finally sleep in his own bed. "Great." It was awkward for him when he stayed here because he and Gabriella never got along ever. One or the other would piss the other one off which caused them to fight. Troy sighed, "There's nothing I can do about it now." He spoke to no one in particular and finally got ready for school. Why would his mom torture him like that? He knew his mom knew how much he wanted to be back at his own house. Troy finished getting ready and went downstairs to put a breakfast together for himself. He was too pissed off to cook her some too. Troy sat at the breakfast table and ate in peace…until she walked down the stairs.

Gabriella stood there all ready for school when she noticed there wasn't any food for her on the table. She didn't mind, but lately Troy cooked her food. Gabriella stared him down for a minute and then went over to the fridge to get her something to eat. There weren't any noise coming from either of them as they ate breakfast at the table together. Gabriella ate cereal for breakfast since she didn't have time to cook something up. "You ready to go?" she simply asked him.

Troy got up from his spot and dumped his stuff into the sink. The sink was piling up, neither of them wanted to do the dishes. He got his backpack and went to her car without a single word. It was a normal routine they had.

Gabriella got into the driver side and buckled herself. She turned to Troy. Right now she really wanted to say something mean, but she kept it to herself. "Are you okay?" she asked nonchalantly.

"I'm fine," he muttered.

"You're mad that you're mom isn't coming home huh?" she asked.

"Look, let's just go to school. There's nothing I can do about my mom, so whatever," Troy said and buckled himself up.

Gabriella gazed at him and then turned forward. Troy had mood swings; he was like bipolar or something because he was giving her attitude. Gabriella drove to school faster than usual, there was tension in the car and she knew he felt it too. Like usual, Gabriella parked in her normal spot and the two of them left the car at the same time. This time Troy stormed off quickly, leaving her back at her car. "Asshole." Luckily for her by the time she got to the school doors she was greeted by her best friends Taylor and Sharpay. "Hey," she said with a smile.

"Do you realize what's coming up?" Taylor asked.

How could Gabriella forget? It was her birthday, her eighteenth birthday that her mom was going to be missing. "Yes I do realize," she simply responded.

"It's going to be so crazy and fun," Sharpay added and walked with them to their lockers. Their lockers were lined up next to each other; it's been like that since their freshman year. The three girls entered their combinations together and their lockers smoothly opened.

"Did you invite Troy?" Sharpay asked with a curious tone to her voice.

Gabriella rolled her eyes, "well, he does live with me so it would make sense if he came," Gabriella added.

"Oh you two need to go out already!" Taylor exclaimed.

Gabriella shook her head to that idea. She and Troy together was like being brothers and sisters. It was gross. "Me and Troy will never happen, I'd rather date a dog than date him."

"Ouch Gabriella, that's a bit harsh," the deep voice from behind spoke up. Gabriella knew who it was the moment the words came out of his mouth.

Gabriella smirked, "what do you want Bolton?" she asked coldly.

"Well considering they are my friends too, I'd like to talk to them," he shot back.

Gabriella shook her head and closed her locker. "Look I don't need your bitchy little attitude, so I'm going to class. I'll see you girls later," she said and walked off.

Troy watched her walk off and looked at Sharpay and Taylor who were glaring and shaking their heads at him. "What?" he found it almost amusing that her friends would always take her side. "Not my fault she's a bitch all the time," Troy spoke.

"This little hate rivalry you guys got going needs to stop. You're eighteen, she's turning eighteen soon. Don't you think you're a little too old for these games?" Taylor asked. Taylor always knew how to get into Troy's head. It was like taking candy from a baby.

Troy acted like he was busy getting his books from his locker. "she's the one who-" he started to get defensive.

"Look." Taylor's voice was sharp and it took both Sharpay and Troy by surprise. "I don't care whose fault it is or who started what. You're both being immature about this and I bet if Chad were here he'd say the same thing. Her birthday is tomorrow, and you need to be nice okay?"

Troy shrugged. "Whatever," he grumbled.

Taylor stormed off to find her best friend and Sharpay stayed for a minute with Troy. "Look, maybe you should try to work things out with her. Act if you have to but don't leave you two in the dust. You're going to remember this day when you graduate and you'll realize that you should've fixed things."

All of this is coming from Sharpay?

Troy didn't bother looking at Sharpay. He heard her heels click away and he knew she left. Troy glanced as she walked away and now he had an idea what to do. All he hoped for is that whatever Sharpay was getting at would be right.

* * *

"Game 2 goes to the Vikings. The wildcats are down 2 games to nothing; can the defending champion bring it back?" The announcer's voice echoed throughout the packed gym on a Thursday night. Gabriella wasn't on her game tonight; she only had eight kills, 2 aces, and she had 5 errors. That wasn't normal for her; she's never gotten so little kills and so many errors before.

The coach threw the clipboard onto the ground. "Alright listen here, you're down 2 sets to none, one more game and they take it all. I know all of you," the coach's eyes were mainly on Gabriella, "I know all of you can put more effort and win this, after this game, we're in the finals. You ladies deserve to be in that final, they are not better than you," the coach went on with a speech and then the buzzer noise sounded.

Gabriella walked out into the court and went to the front where her beginning position was. She fixed her knee pad and spandex before touching the number fourteen on her jersey. Gabriella finally gazed out into the crowd and saw so many people there; including scouts. Gabriella looked over at the student section and noticed Troy standing there with Chad and the other basketball players. Her attention focused in on him, he was the only one who stood out to her.

"You can do it Gabi."

She knew she read his lips right, she just had to. Gabriella nodded at him and then got into her position.

"Hannah Lee serves…it's a bullet serve but it's no problem for Krystal the liberal…she hits it over to Jessica who delivers a nice set to Gabriella...."

Gabriella focused her mind on the ball and up she jumped with a perfect take off. One quick motion hit and the ball went slamming to the gym floor. Point, Wildcats. The gym erupted with a cheer and Gabriella huddled with her team. 24 more points to go.

The match went close the whole time that Gabriella was in. They managed to take the 1st set 25-21. Ten kills from Gabriella in that round. After spiking the game point, she looked up and noticed that the guys were cheering. Gabriella smiled at them and then went back to the coach after that round was done.

"Amazing round ladies. Alright let's keep the momentum up and win the second set."

Gabriella went back out into the gym floor and glanced quickly back up at her friends. This time she noticed another person added. Krissy. Gabriella watched as she tried to hug Troy again and Troy was hugging her back. She felt something go through her body. Was she jealous? "No there's no time for jealousy Gabi," she told herself and then played the game with a higher intensity. Krissy got to her head and she was going to win this game. The second game went 25-12. Gabriella had 15 kills.

"Gabriella calm down," Jessica spoke after that round. "I know you really want this, but it looks like you're about to rip some girl's head off," Jessica walked with Gabriella back to the coach and then after a short break they all went out again.

Gabriella knew she couldn't let Troy and Krissy get to his head. If they wanted to get together again, fine. She was going to deal with it because she hated him. It was that simple. Why couldn't she get his face out of her mind? Gabriella shook her head and started the game. This was it, it was a tie breaker and also for the win.

She wasn't going to lose. She couldn't lose because of Troy or Krissy. This was way more important than them, she just couldn't lose. Why would he take her back after she broke up with him? Why would she want him back? Of course, it was Troy Bolton. All the girls wanted him. Gabriella got another set to her and she spiked it harder than before, she felt a wetness coming to her face. It's just sweat Gabriella. As Gabriella landed on her feet, she wiped her face and noticed it from her eyes. Oh my god, I can't like him.

Finally it was game point for the wildcats. The moment that everyone was waiting for. The whole gym became quiet and the only noise was from Gabriella who was serving. Bounce. Bounce. She threw it up in the air…wham. A nice serve soared over the net and no one could get to it. Ace. Point. The gym erupted with cheers and the team surrounded Gabriella.

"What an amazing win by the wildcats! They came back from 2 sets to nothing to take it home! They're going to the finals!"

Gabriella pushed Troy out of her mind at this point. Students in the gym started to come down and crowd around the team after the two teams shook hands. Gabriella noticed Troy though, he wasn't with Krissy, and he was with Chad. A big relief ran through her body and now she knew she could enjoy the rest of the night.

* * *

Friday. It was finally her birthday and her mom wasn't there. Today Gabriella skipped school she had too much to plan to go to school. Gabriella was a smart girl anyway and she knew she could catch up in class whenever she wanted to. After her volleyball match yesterday, she didn't speak to Troy since he stayed the night at Chad's all day. The time almost hit 8 PM when Gabriella was getting ready for her birthday party tonight. She sat in her room with Sharpay and Taylor who were also getting ready. Gabriella was curling her hair while the other girls were doing their hair. After perfecting her hair, she started on her make-up. She was excited for the party tonight because for one she never had a party like this before and two; she was turning eighteen. Only the three of them were here right now, Troy went to Chad's house to do something and people were going to arrive soon. Gabriella then got into her outfit that she had planned and at 8:30, she was done. "How do I look?" she spun around for her two best friends who had a look like they approved.

"So pretty!" Taylor exclaimed and hugged her best friend. "Here I want to give you my gift before anyone else comes," she told Gabriella and gave her a wrapped box.

Sharpay got up and got her gift out of her purse, "me too! In case you get drunk or something I want you to remember," she laughs.

Gabriella opened Taylor's gift first and it was a pair of earrings that she's been wanting since the beginning on the year. "Oh my gosh Tay! Thank you so much, I love it." She hugged her best friend and then took the other gift. "You guys are too nice, I wasn't expecting anything," she laughed. "It's around the age where I just don't expect gifts anymore." Gabriella unwrapped Sharpay's gift and she got a juicy couture jacket that she saw at the mall. "Sharpay!" she hugged Sharpay and smiled. "I love this too, thank you so much. Both of you." Gabriella placed her present in the closet and right on time; the bell rung.

"Party time!" they all exclaimed and quickly went downstairs. Sharpay got all the stuff together and Taylor turned on the music while Gabriella got the door. A couple girls on her volleyball team arrived with presents in their hands. She took it from them and placed them safely in one of the closets. "Thank you all for coming," she said to them and explained where everything was. As she was about to close the door, guys from the football and soccer team walked through. She didn't remember inviting them, but she couldn't kick them out now. They even gave her presents. "Thanks," she said to them and explained where things were. The moment Gabriella turned back to the door, more people came. Cheerleaders, athletes, kids from her class, and some kids from the lacrosse team all came at the same time. She wondered if Cohen would come; she didn't invite him but she wouldn't be surprised if he showed up. Finally the basketball team showed up. Chad and Troy were the last ones to walk in and Chad gave her a present. "Hey guys," she said to them and hugged Chad. "Troy." She nodded at him and then closed the door behind them. "Apparently everyone is here," she laughed and walked with them to the party area.

Troy walked into the kitchen where he saw different kinds of cliques. He scoffed and got himself something to drink. He was home already so he could get as drunk as he want because he slept upstairs. Troy stood on the balcony with Chad, Zeke, and some cheerleaders who were talking about the game. He glanced into the room and saw Gabriella standing with her friends. Man, she looked beautiful tonight. The same moment, Gabriella met eyes with Troy and both of them looked away quickly and Troy went back to the conversation.

Gabriella noticed that he was looking at her and she felt herself blushing for some odd reason. She pushed the thought out of her mind and remembered to mingle with her other guests. Gabriella saw Sharpay and Taylor arguing about who was hotter for being old; Paul Walker or Brad Pitt. Gabriella laughed at her best friends and started for the cheerleader girls. Troy was out there and she knew that either he could get mad at her for hanging out his friends; but this was her party and she was allowed to talk to whoever she wanted. Tonight she wasn't looking for a fight though, it was her birthday and no one was going to ruin it.

She could hear people coming in from the front door and she assumed it was a couple other friends. It wouldn't surprise her if half of the school came because the word probably spread and Gabriella was known around school. People liked her as a person and maybe that's why they brought gifts.

She felt a hand around her waist and instantly she turned around as a reaction. It was Cohen. "Cohen?" she asked.

"Hey Gabs," he splurred. He was drunk. Gabriella could smell the alcohol in his breath and his eyes were all weird.

"What do you want Cohen?" she asked impatiently. She had guests to entertain and she didn't want to deal with Cohen.

Cohen now had his other hand on the other side of her waist. "I miss you," he said to her and tried kissing her ear but she moved away from him. "Come on, I know you miss me too," he said to her.

Gabriella broke free from his grip and crossed her arm. "I think you should go," she said firmly.

Cohen laughed and shook his head, "baby, I'm not leaving because I think I should be here, now come here and kiss me," he opened his arm wide for her but she whacked it away.

"Please go."

Cohen smiled at her. There was no way he was taking her seriously.

"The girl asked you to go man," a voice from behind Gabriella spoke. Gabriella turned around and saw Troy coming with Chad.

Cohen looked up at Troy and laughed at his voice. "What the hell do you want?" Cohen spat.

Troy smirked, "get the fuck out, she asked you to leave now go or I'll make you leave," Troy threatened.

"You can't threaten me, I'm not scared of a shitty person like you," Cohen didn't even bother moving and Gabriella knew it was time to get out of the way.

"Cohen just leave before you get hurt," Gabriella pushed him away gently, but there wasn't any movement from Cohen.

Troy narrowed his eyes at him. One more push, Troy would hit him.

"So I heard Marissa broke up with you? Oh that's right; she broke up with you for me. I think when I told her about you and Krissy, she came to my open arms. I was with her that night," Cohen taunted, all the alcohol in him was talking.

Troy rolled up his sleeve of his buttoned up shirt and looked back at Chad who didn't even bother stopping it. All this time he blamed Gabriella for doing it, it was Cohen who did it all along. He should have known; the one person who hated him the most besides Gabriella had to have something to do with it. Troy looked at Gabriella and could tell she was on the verge of tears and didn't want a fight. He looked at Cohen and then back at Gabriella before shaking his head. "Fuck it," he said and then looked at Chad. Both of the two guys; instead of punching him they picked him up. Two guys were stronger than one. They threw him out of the house and closed the door. "Stay the fuck out."

Troy looked back at Gabriella who was staring, "At least you can say thanks," Troy scoffed.

Gabriella shook her head at him and walked away to enjoy what was left of her party. Gabriella knew she had to drink something tonight, it was starting to get out of hand and she needed to have some fun. She was tired of stopping everyone from doing something wrong and she knew she'd regret having this party in the morning.

Troy and Gabriella didn't run into each other for the rest of the party. Troy stayed at where he was the whole time with his friends and teammates. He didn't even bother looking around for Gabriella, in fact he was pissed that she'd be mad at him for a nice thing he did. Around one am, people started leaving. Guys were leaving with girls and some people were too drunk to leave, but their friend would pick them up and take them. Troy looked around the house; it was a mess. The last people to leave were Zeke, Chad, Sharpay, and Taylor. "It's fine guys, I'll clean up around here or call someone to do it," Troy said to them.

"Where's Gabriella I want to say happy birthday before I leave," Zeke said.

They all shrugged, "she probably fell asleep in her room," Sharpay said. "I'll just call her tomorrow." The group left and Troy sighed wondering how he was going to clean up this place. It was Gabriella's house anyway; he didn't need to clean anything. Troy went upstairs and saw the bedroom light on in her room. "Hm, I wonder why she didn't say goodbye to her guests." Troy went into his room and grabbed out his present. He went back downstairs to Gabriella's room and knocked on the door.

"Come in," Gabriella called out. She assumed it was Sharpay or Taylor. Gabriella spent the time in her room opening presents from all of her guests. She got clothes, gift cards, money, and volleyball stuff.

Troy opened the door and walked in.

"Oh it's you. What do you want?" she asked rudely.

Troy narrowed his eyes, "You know what? I got a present for you," he tossed it on the bed and mumbled something under his breath before leaving her room.

Gabriella watched him leave and then looked at the box on the bed. Gabriella was surprise he'd get her a present. He was the last person she'd expect to get him a gift. Gabriella waited a few minutes and then ripped off the wrapper. She then opened the box and she was shocked. Gabriella took out the item and instantly she felt mixed emotions run though her.

It was the furby. It as the exact same furby; well the look, but it was brand new. It was that exact furby that Troy broke when they were younger. It was the furby that Troy broke that made her hate him forever. She didn't care if she was too old for it; it was a furby. The furby. Gabriella threw the box on the floor gently and noticed something else that fell out. It was a smaller box. Gabriella took the box and opened the box that revealed a beautiful necklace. It was amazing and she loved it. Gabriella got off her bed and went to Troy's room. She knocked on the door waiting for his response.

Troy opened the door and he was shocked that Gabriella hugged him. Her arm wrapped around his neck when she leaned forward to hug him.

"Thank you," she said softly. "It's the best present I've ever gotten." Gabriella forgot the hate she had for him, she felt something else. She wasn't sure what it was but it was something else. Gabriella realized that while she was hugging him, that their body fit together perfectly like it was meant to be.

REVIEW PLEASE! I will no longer prolong Troyella as you guys don't want me to. Haha (: