Hi Readers - here's the next chapter.

If there are any Greek fans, please read my first fanfic for Greek called "Can't Let Go" - I just posted the first chapter today.

Enjoy!

CHAPTER TWELVE: SMILE LIKE YOU MEAN IT

Gabriella was nervous as she made her way back to Ms. Darbus' classroom for Family Living. After homeroom this morning, Troy had walked out of there before she could have a chance to talk to him. She knew she was supposed to get TJ, but Troy held on the doll. At lunch Troy didn't sit with the group. Gabriella had an idea where he probably was but she knew there was no way she could leave the table to find him.

She was also annoyed that by now the whole school had heard about her date with Zeke Baylor. She knew Sharpay and the others were to blame for that. She was seriously thinking about canceling the date, but decided she owed it to herself and Zeke to give it a shot. She needed to get over Troy and if her attention was focused on someone else, it might help her. Gabriella knew that even as she thought about these things, it was going to take a long time before she could ever get over someone as amazing as Troy.

As she walked into the classroom, she saw Troy and made her way over to the desk next to him. "Hey Troy," Gabriella said.

Without looking up at her, Troy mumbled. "Hey."

"How's TJ?" She asked.

Troy shrugged. "He hasn't made a peep all day."

"That's good news then. I heard that the Martha's baby cried out during their Spanish test the other day. It really irked the other students." Gabriella said with a laugh, but Troy wasn't laughing with her. "Troy?"

"Yeah?" He mumbled again.

"Please tell me this is not how we're going to communicate." Gabriella said.

This time, Troy looked up and gave Gabriella a sad look. "Isn't this what you wanted? Less communication with me."

"That's not what I meant." Gabriella told him.

The sad expression on Troy's face changed to one of annoyance. "Then what do you mean? You're confusing me. One minute you're into me, the next you act like I'm nothing. I don't know what you want." Troy said with exasperation.

Gabriella leaned closer towards him and said. "I just meant that we have to be careful when we talk. I just don't want it to be so obvious."

"Like how you're so obvious with Zeke." Troy challenged.

"I was going to tell you about that." Gabriella muttered.

"Why do you feel like you owe me an explanation? You said it yourself, we're not together. So why would I care?"

Gabriella felt like she'd been slapped. "I won't go out with Zeke if you don't want me to."

Troy shrugged. "It's your life. Do what you want. I don't really care."

Gabriella tried to hide her hurt. She knew that Troy was just putting up a front. He was obviously hurt because of the way he was treating her and talking to her. "You do care." Gabriella whispered to him. "There's only one reason why you're treating me like this."

"Believe what you want to believe, Gabriella. You made it pretty clear that you don't want to be with me. So, I'm letting you go. You don't have to worry about me chasing you anymore. You're right; it would've never worked out."

Gabriella didn't know what to say. She knew that she had to get out of the classroom before she started crying. She went up to Mrs. Bishop and asked if she could be excused because she felt like she was going to throw up. Mrs. Bishop gave her a sympathetic look and told her she could be excused.

Gabriella threw another look back at Troy and she saw him look at her with a sad expression. She rolled her eyes and went out of the classroom and ran to the bathroom and locked herself in one of the stalls. She leaned her head against the coolness of the door and let the tears come out. How could everything be so unfair? Why couldn't she have been the one dating Troy from the beginning? She wished there was someone she could talk to about Troy, but none of their mutual friends would ever understand or support it. She was all alone.

She heard the bathroom door open and heard two girls coming in. Gabriella wiped her tears from her eyes and tried to remain calm. She heard one of the girls say, "Troy Bolton is so hot. He looks so good in that sweater today."

"I know. I feel so sorry for Sharpay." The other girl said.

Girl One laughed. "You do not. You were dancing with joy when you heard they broke up. It's about time, too."

"Of course I'm happy they broke up. Someone that hot does not need to be tied down." Girl Two said laughing.

Gabriella rolled her eyes as she listened to the girls talking. She wasn't sure if she recognized their voices, but she assumed they were either juniors or seniors, possibly cheerleaders.

"Speaking of hotness. Did you see Zeke Baylor today?" Girl Two asked.

"He's so tall. I'd love for him to look down at me." Girl One said.

"Can you believe he asked out Gabriella Montez?" Girl Two asked.

Gabriella's throat tightened as she heard her name. She should just open the bathroom stall right now and surprise them. But she decided against it.

"I know. I was shocked when I heard she said yes. We all know how picky she is. Half the male student body has asked her out and she's turned them all down. And we have some really hot guys at this school." Girl One babbled on.

"I bet you it's because Zeke's family's filthy rich. Who would've thought Gabriella was a gold digger? I would've figured Sharpay to be more like that." Girl Two said with a snort.

Gabriella could feel her face getting red and angry. She hated being a part of gossip and what these girls were saying were insulting and false about her and about Sharpay. She knew she had to show them she was there. Gabriella unlocked the bathroom stall and stepped out much to the embarrassment and surprise of the two cheerleaders looking back at her.

Gabriella washed her hands and as she wiped her hands with a paper towel, she stared at both girls with a glare in her eyes and walked out of the bathroom without giving either of them a second look or thought. She made her way to her locker and opened it. She stared at herself in the mirror taped inside her locker and noticed that her eyes no longer showed that she'd been crying. Perhaps she could return to class. She would show Troy that she was fine. If he wanted to be over her, then let him. Gabriella headed back towards the classroom and plastered a smile on her face. She knew she was about to put on her best performance portraying a girl-who's-really-happy-that-her-crush-no-longer-likes-her. Right, she thought. There was a reason why she always stayed away from theatre. Gabriella reached the door and sighed, "Here goes," she muttered as she opened the door and walked in.

Troy felt like a jerk as he watched Gabriella leave the classroom. It had pained him when she turned around to look at him. He had every reason to be annoyed right now. Gabriella was confusing him. She was the one that had accepted a date with that good-for-nothing Zeke. He was getting sick of hearing about their date. He heard about it in every class he had today. It was nauseating. It wasn't fair. He pursued Gabriella first and he knew that no matter how much Gabriella insisted that they couldn't be together, he knew she felt the same way he did.

Mrs. Bishop had told the class to look over their packets and start working on their family budgets. He didn't know if Gabriella was coming back to class or not. How were they going to complete this project within the next week? Things were weird and tense between them now. Maybe they would have to work on the project Saturday night or something. Ha! Yeah right, Troy thought. Like Gabriella wouldn't see through that. She would know he was deliberately trying to break her date with Zeke. But hadn't Gabriella told him she wouldn't go out with Zeke if he didn't want her to. When he heard her say that, he was ecstatic, but instead he had told her he didn't care and acted aloof towards her. There was one thing he knew for sure – he wanted them to stop pretending and be together already. He couldn't stand to hurt Gabriella anymore with his dumb words and he didn't want to be hurt by her actions.

He was reviewing the packet when the classroom door opened and Gabriella came back into the room. She looked over at him and had a big smile on her face. Troy felt unsteady as Gabriella made her way over to him and took her seat next to him.

"Hi Troy," Gabriella said enthusiastically.

Troy gave her a confused look. He swore that when she left the room earlier, she looked sad and upset by the way he treated her. The girl sitting next to him was smiling ear-to-ear. It kind of creeped him out a bit. "Hi Gabriella," he said hesitantly.

"Did I miss much?" She asked.

"We're supposed to work on our monthly budgets."

Gabriella grabbed the folder from him. "Hmmm. Easy enough."

"Brie?" He asked.

Gabriella looked up and her smile widened. "Yes?"

"Are you okay?" He asked with genuine concern.

"Of course I'm okay. Why wouldn't I be?"

"You just seem extremely upbeat."

"I'm just trying to remain positive despite everything else."

"And what's everything else?" Troy asked.

"You know what I'm talking about Troy. Everything else. You and Me."

"So you're happy? That things aren't working between you and me."

Gabriella shrugged. "It is what it is. Who are we trying to kid, right? I'm just being realistic."

Now Troy knew that Gabriella was putting up front. Despite the smile plastered on her face. He could see the sadness in her eyes. "Yeah, who are we kidding?" Troy agreed.

Gabriella looked at Troy. "Anyway, let's just concentrate on the project. Let's leave the drama out. Agreed?"

Troy held Gabriella's gaze with his own. "Agreed."

Gabriella smiled at him. "Great! Let's look over the budget then." She took papers out of the folder and spread them out on the desk. Gabriella looked over the numbers as Troy looked at her.

He had no idea where the real Gabriella was. Who was this person sitting next to him? He had to get to the bottom of it. He knew the only way he could get Gabriella to really talk to him if it was outside of school. "Brie?" He said to her.

Gabriella looked up from the papers. "Yeah?"

"We need to talk. Tonight."

"We're already talking." She told him.

"We need to have a real talk. About us."

Gabriella knew as much as she fought it that Troy had a point. "Fine."

"Do you want to come to my house? Or I could come to yours." Troy suggested.

"Let's go somewhere else." Gabriella said. "How about IHOP?"

"You really like that place, don't you?" Troy smiled.

Gabriella shrugged. "No, it's just that a lot of people don't go there on a school night. So we should be safe."

"I'll meet you after practice. Let's meet at 7:00. Sound good?"

"Sure." Gabriella said quietly.

"And we'll really talk about our situation?" He asked.

"Yes, we need to."

They had been so engrossed in their little conversation; they didn't realize class was over as the bell rang to dismiss them. Gabriella grabbed her things and TJ's carrier. "See ya tonight," she whispered.

Troy's heart fluttered as he felt her whisper on the back of his neck. He watched her leave the classroom and smiled. He couldn't wait to talk to Gabriella. He knew he had to convince her to be with him. He just hoped that Gabriella would see things his way. It was really the only thing that made sense to him these days. They belonged together. Despite how much it would hurt Sharpay, it wasn't like they plotted or planned behind her back. Everything had to work out. He just hoped they would.

A/N: The title of this chapter is called "Smile Like You Mean It" by The Killers - this is an amazing song!