Hey, everyone! I opened fanfiction today to see that it was changed again and it really annoyed me! I don't like it! Well, here, it's really hot and nice outside, but I'm stuck studying for finals. I only have three more days of school and literally can not wait until summer! This chapter is a filler chapter, but the rest of the chapters after this one I know you'll all love! Enjoy!

Everything to Me

Chapter thirteen

Troy jogged down December Street for the second time that morning. He was jogging since he had the day off and since it was cool enough not to get over heated. He had already jogged around the entire town once and was going for a second round. Occasionally, he'd hear the soft giggle of a girl as he passed shirtless or see the raised eyebrows of older women, but he wasn't fazed. He simply kept his pace going and thought of the only girl that he was interested in.

He passed the bar that he worked in, and waved at the garbage men collecting trash from the town. When he passed the beach, he could see Rocket lying underneath the lifeguard tower with a hat pulled over his eyes and a female companion snoozing next to him. Troy grinned to himself, wondering if the girl was just another girl who Rocket thought needed some sunscreen or was actually someone he was interested in.

Troy turned passed the beach, going toward the tree lined road that lead up to the mansions on the other side of the lake. His calves burned as he ran faster up the hill to be able to make it up quicker, and just as he made it to the top of the hill, he heard a horn honk. He glanced behind him and smiled when he saw Gabriella slowing next to him. She was in her work clothes, sunglasses pulled over her eyes.

"Hey, Hot Bod," Gabriella said.

Troy laughed, shaking his head at her as he kept running.

"What are you doing here? Aren't you working?" Troy asked.

"I'm on my lunch break. I'm tired of eating Lean Cuisine, so I decided to come home for lunch," she explained. "Are you going to slow down or are you going to make me keep going five miles per hour?"

"I'm so going faster than five miles per hour," Troy said, looking at her.

"Okay, you're more in the range of eight to ten," Gabriella said.

Troy slowed down, letting Gabriella stop her crawl down the road. He breathed heavily as he set his hands on his hips. Gabriella grinned at him.

"Do you want to come to my house for lunch?" Gabriella asked. "My parents aren't home."

"Well in that case," Troy started, smiling. "I'll meet you at your house."

"You don't want a lift?" Gabriella asked.

"I'll just run. It's not that far," Troy answered.

"Okay, I'll race ya," Gabriella laughed, seeing Troy take off the second she said it. She pressed on the gas and made her way home, passing Troy on her way there. He was smiling when she saw him in her rearview mirror.

Once Gabriella was parked in her driveway and out of her car, Troy was running up the driveway, his sweat glistening in the sun.

"Do you always go jogging in the morning?" Gabriella asked. They walked hand in hand as Gabriella lead him through the garage and into her house.

"Just when I get a day off," Troy answered. "I have to live up to my Hot Bod nickname."

Gabriella giggled at his answer and kicked off her heels by the garage door. Troy instantly looked around the large house. They were in the living room once they moved away from the garage entry way, and the ceilings were tall and modern. The furniture was new and virtually untouched, he noticed. From the living room, part of the kitchen could be seen.

"Okay, so I think I have time to basically make sandwiches, is that okay?" Gabriella asked as they went toward the kitchen.

"Sounds good to me," Troy said. The kitchen was extremely expensive looking. It had granite countertops and stainless steel appliances. Troy's kitchen used to look the same when he was in his old house.

Gabriella went to the large refrigerator, disappearing behind the heavy door as she pulled out the lunch meat. She set the bags of lunch meat on the counter before grabbing two plates from the cabinets next to the refrigerator. Troy stood next to her as she opened the bags.

"Ham or turkey?"

"Turkey," Troy answered. He grinned when she tossed him the turkey and opened the bag of ham for herself. He quickly washed his hands in the sink next to her and made himself a sandwich. "How's work going today?" Troy asked as he cut his sandwich down the middle. Gabriella cut hers on a diagonal.

"Good but busy. I'm slowly becoming friends with a girl named Suzanne. She's a little crazy but she always has great stories to tell," Gabriella answered. She led Troy over to the kitchen table and they both sat down next to each other, facing the windows that looked out at the backyard.

"Well, I'm glad you're liking it there," Troy answered before taking a bite of his sandwich.

"Me too."

Gabriella absent mindedly rubbed Troy's back, both of them falling into a good silence as they ate lunch together. Gabriella liked the feeling of coming home and having lunch with Troy, even if they weren't saying much. It definitely beat eating with the fishes in the aquarium staring back at her.

"I feel like your parents are going to walk in any minute," Troy admitted as he leaned back in his chair. "I bet they would just be thrilled to see me sitting in their kitchen shirtless."

"I'm sure they'd completely understand why I like you so much if they saw you right now," Gabriella joked, winking at him.

"I feel used," Troy joked back, reaching over to her so that he could play with her hair. She was starting to get the feeling that her long hair intrigued him.

"I should probably get back to work," Gabriella told him after looking at her black watch that was wrapped around her right wrist.

Troy nodded, scouting back the kitchen chair so that he could stand up. He took Gabriella's plate and his own and set them in the sink. Gabriella watched before taking his hand and walking to her car with him.

"Do you want a ride home?" Gabriella asked.

"I think I'll just run there," Troy said, still holding her hand as they faced each other.

"You'll probably regret that since you just ate."

Troy shrugged. "It's mostly down hill from here. You have to get to work anyways."

"Okay," Gabriella said in a sing song voice. "But don't call me when you're hunched over in the street cramping and all that."

"I won't." Troy laughed.

"I'll see you later," Gabriella said. She gave him a quick kiss, squinting at the sun.

"What time do you get off?"

"Around six, why?"

"Meet me at the park," Troy told her.

"The park?" Gabriella questioned. "What are we going to do at the park?"

"Take a walk, play Frisbee, I don't really know, but then again, I'm not much of a date planner," Troy said, stepping away from her.

"I agree, fisher," Gabriella laughed, making fun of him slightly for taking her fishing on their first date.

"I'll see you after six," Troy said as he started making his way down the driveway. He didn't turn around to wait for her list of curious questions, but he could tell she was watching him leave before he turned the corner and disappeared down the road.

...

Gabriella had changed into a grey t-shirt and a pair of jeans to meet Troy at the park. She had an army green jacket pulled over her t-shirt since it was starting to get cold outside. Her car was parked in between two mini vans and she waited on a blue bench until she saw Troy walking through the playground, coming toward her. She met him halfway and greeted him with a kiss.

"So what's the plan?" Gabriella asked. "I've been wondering about this all day."

"I figured I'd teach you how to play Frisbee," Troy answered. He pulled out a Frisbee from underneath his arm, and Gabriella laughed.

"How do you know I don't know how to play?" Gabriella asked as they made their way toward an open area. Troy raised his eyebrows at her and she laughed again. "Okay, so I don't know how to play."

"It's easy," Troy said as he jogged a good distance away from her. "Ready?" he yelled from his spot.

"Sure!" Gabriella replied, squealing when Troy threw the Frisbee and it came soaring at her. She caught it between two hands and felt the rough plastic scratch at her hands. Gabriella tried throwing it back, but it ended up bouncing on the grass and rolling on its side over to Troy.

"That was pretty bad," Troy laughed. Gabriella playfully frowned at him, and he made his way over to her with the Frisbee. "Hold it like this," Troy said once he was next to her.

He held the Frisbee in his hand so that the back of his hand was pointing to where he was going to throw it. He handed it over to Gabriella and she held it like he had been holding the plastic disk.

"Now all you have to do is flick your wrist toward your target," Troy said. He held his hand over the hand that was holding onto the disk and he rested his free hand on her stomach after his arm wrapped around her. "Like this," Troy said, flicking his wrist with her hand in his hand. He kept a good grasp on her hand so that she wouldn't let go of the Frisbee. "But when you flick your wrist you just have to let it go, okay?"

"Okay," Gabriella nodded. "I'll try, but having you hold me like that was pretty distracting, so I don't know how much of that information I actually absorbed."

"At least you're honest," Troy said with a laugh. He jogged back to his spot, turning to see Gabriella tapping the Frisbee on her palm as she waited for him to be ready. She held the Frisbee the way he showed her to once he was standing waiting, and then she threw it to him.

The Frisbee soared over him, and then bounced a few feet away from him, but other than the too long of a throw, it wasn't bad.

"Good job!" Troy shouted to her as he collected the green disk from the ground.

Gabriella squealed in her spot across from him and gave him a thumbs up. He grinned as he threw it back to her, watching as she hesitantly caught the quick moving disk in between her hands.

"Do you think I could go pro at Frisbee?" Gabriella asked jokingly.

"It's very possible," Troy said back, catching the Frisbee that she threw at him.

Gabriella smiled, catching the Frisbee he threw back at her. They tossed the Frisbee to each other for an hour before they called it quits, and now, as the sky darkened and the kids on the playground went home, Troy and Gabriella walked hand in hand on the sidewalk that looped around the ponds and playgrounds. They were currently talking about Rocket.

"I saw him with a girl this morning," Troy told Gabriella. "I don't know who that girl is to him, but they were definitely together."

"That makes me so excited," Gabriella said. "I mean, Rocket is such a sweetheart, the idea of him being alone is just so sad."

"I don't know, I feel like a girl would have to be crazy to like Rocket," Troy said with a laugh. He snaked his arm around her waist and Gabriella did the same to him.

"Stop that," Gabriella laughed. "I bet he thinks the same about you."

"That would make you crazy then," Troy pointed out.

"I stepped right into that one, didn't I?" Gabriella asked.

"You did."

"Well, I'm happy for Rocket if he is dating someone. I can't imagine life without love."

"If he is dating, it's definitely a change of heart. He's the one who told me that women are ugly once you get to know them."

"That's so mean," Gabriella said in surprise. "Where did that come from?"

"I don't know," Troy said honestly. "He's an odd dude."

"That he is," Gabriella agreed.

"Enough about Rocket, let's talk about you," Troy said. The wind blew, causing a chill to run down Gabriella's spin. She leaned closer to Troy.

"Eh, I don't want to talk about me," Gabriella mocked a tantrum. "Let's talk about you."

"If you insist," Troy said with a smile, he rubbed her arm with his hand that wrapped around her.

"How are you feeling about going to my parent's dinner party?" Gabriella asked. She squinted when she looked up and looked directly into the setting sun.

"I'm not really worried. I know how to work a room," Troy answered. When Gabriella looked over at him, he was grinning, most likely covering up the truth.

"Fine," Gabriella started. "If you don't want to tell me the truth, you don't have to."

Troy pulled her tighter next to him and he chuckled as he kissed the top of her head.

"What do you want me to say?" Troy asked casually, keeping up the pace of their lazy walk.

"I don't know. That you're nervous and want to fake food poisoning on the eve of the dinner."

"Wow," Troy said, glancing down at her. "It sounds like you're the one who's thinking about it a lot."

Gabriella shrugged, hearing a twig from one of the many trees around them, snap under her foot. The wind picked up slightly, given them more reason to snuggle closer to each other.

"I'm just hoping for the best. I mean, I remember when I took a high school boyfriend to a party with me and he actually did fake food poisoning. I don't think he ever talked to me after that, now that I really think about it," Gabriella answered.

"Well, if for some reason I do decide to fake food poisoning, I'll be sure to let you in on it," Troy replied.

"That makes me feel much better," Gabriella said sarcastically.

"Don't worry," Troy said with a laugh. "Everything will turn out fine."

"Alright, but I'm holding you to that expectation," Gabriella said. "If the night goes anywhere but fine, you're the one who'll pay."

Troy laughed when he heard the giggle escape Gabriella's mouth and he simply let her comment sink in, continuing their walk down the paved walkways of the park. By the time they were back to that spot after making a complete 360, the sky was dark and speckled with stars. Most of the park goers were already tucked away in their mini vans and sleeping on their way home, but Troy and Gabriella were there for a while, until the sound of the crickets were the only noises left and the ponds were no longer moving with the wind.

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Much love,

unknownbyhim22