Gabriella walked along the sidewalk with her ear buds in as she walked home from school. She had been walking for a little while and she squinted to see the road ahead in the sun that was beating down pretty hard. The sound of the sun rays were echoing and Gabriella looked back down at her while cotton dress. Her flip flops felt like they were melting to the pavement. "Fuck my life." She said as she leaned back a little and adjusted her bag over her shoulder. She needed time to think, time to herself, time to figure out who she was, what she was doing?
Gabriella let out a sigh, she been avoiding Steven all day. This morning when she got to her locker the word whore had been spray painted on the door. She felt her inside cringe things seemed to be getting harder. Kelsi past her in the hall and couldn't even look her in the eye. No doubt Sharpay was probably telling her things that weren't true about her and Troy. Gabriella crossed her arms, they weren't true, she been avoiding Troy all week since Monday night when she undressed him in the living room. What had she been thinking? Luckily Troy was to naïve to think twice about the moment, he been all but kind and polite and she had practically drooled all over him.
Gabriella let out a sigh as the sun beat down on the back of her neck. He was different, things between them were different. The way he acted sometimes, the way she felt sometimes. A smile pulled at her lips and fell just as instantly. This was bad on so many levels. She had to think about Kelsi. She had to think about Steven. There was no telling what was going to happen. When it came to Kelsi, sure they hadn't talked in a while and sure the friendship wasn't as strong but she still wanted to honor it. She still wanted to be loyal to someone. Then there was Steven who was deranged and crazy. He had been watching her in the hall today. He was watching her at lunch and he been following her out of the school until two guys distracted him and she snuck off. As she continued to walk she had the feeling she was being followed that's when she plucked the ear buds out and heard the wheels pulling up. Fear trickled up her arms and she almost couldn't bring herself to think about what was about to happen to her.
"Why didn't you wait for me?" Troy called through the open window.
"Because I told you not to pick me up," she said stopping to squint at him as she placed her hands on her hips. That was the last thing she needed. She didn't want to get Troy involved he had enough to deal with.
Troy stopped the truck and squinted back at her. "It's hot," he said with frown. "Get in before you die of heat stroke. That's real you know."
Gabriella rolled her eyes as she looked at the truck. "I'm fine," she said.
Troy looked out at the road ahead of them. There wasn't a soul insight. "Want to drive?"
Gabriella attention shift and her interest was piqued. "You know I can't" she said bushing her bangs out of the way.
"I can teach you." He said looking at the steering wheel then back at her, "If you want?"
Gabriella looked at the road ahead of her and then up at the shining sun who wasn't giving up anytime soon. Then there was the possibility of Steven showing up. Gabriella let out a sigh and looked at Troy. "Does this piece of Junk have an air conditioner?"
"Yep." Troy said with smirk. "Come on you know you want to?"
Gabriella smiled for a moment and then looked at back at the road. "Fine." She said with a sigh of defeat.
Troy got out of the driver's side and held the door open for her as she got in pausing to toss her bag in back part of the truck. Troy shut the door and went around to the passenger side. When he got inside he smiled as she sat in the driver's side looking at all the meters and buttons. "Does it always look this complicated." She said with a puzzled expression.
"It's a stick shift." He said with a smile.
"And that means what?" she said looking back at him it was mid day and her ponytail had begun to sag. The cotton white dress looked loose and comfortable but was also held up by two thin spaghetti straps.
Troy took a deep breath. "It's a manual transmission and that means it requires the driver to shift the gears themselves. Most cars have four or five forward speeds, as well as reverse." He said leaning in a little to get closer he pointed to the petals. "The clutch pedal is located at the far left and is used when moving up or down from one gear to another. The clutch is disengaged when the pedal is pushed to the floor. The gas pedal, at the far right, works with the gears to give the engine power at different levels."
"This sounds really complicated." Gabriella said a little worried.
"You'll be fine," Troy said with a smile. "Here," he said taking her hand and putting it on the gear shift. "Learn the location of and feel of passing through the gears. Step on the clutch," He said keeping his hand on hers as he pulled the gear into 1st, 2nd and 3rd gear. "First learn to shift the gears without the car running." He said with a nod as she held the gear now on her own. "Good now step on the clutch while you move it." Troy smiled as she watched her push the gear around. "There you go make sure to place the stick all the way into gear, until it won't go any more, but don't force it. If you stop halfway, you will hear an incredibly unpleasant grinding sound which means your car is not in gear." He said with chuckle.
"Alright," Gabriella said shifting it and struggling a little. "This is a lot of work."
"Trust me it's worth It." he said with a smile. "Eventually, you will know when to shift by feel, but early on you'll have to act deliberately. Even if you've never been in a car before, you can tell when a car is in the appropriate gear: the car's not making a coughing and chugging sound, the general rule, and of course higher-powered autos will deviate from this but you want to shift before you hear that loud revving sound."
"Okay." Gabriella said with a nod.
"Ready?" Troy said before leaning over her and pulling her seat belt over. "Adjust your mirrors so you can see." He said clicking her belt.
"All right," Gabriella said with a nervous smile.
"Now, put the car in neutral before starting, or you will jump and stall the car." Troy said as he watched her intently. "The clutch is the mechanism that allows the gears to transition back and forth smoothly. If you pull the car in or out of gear without using the clutch, or release the clutch only halfway into gear, you will hear an amazingly unpleasant sound. Try to avoid this."
"Oh my god I'm freaking out." Gabriella said as the turned on the car. The hum of the engine buzzed and she could feel her hands start to shake. "What do I do now?"
"The clutch is the pedal on the left. The brake is in the middle and the gas on the right. Use your left foot on the clutch and your right foot on the brake and gas." Troy said as he scooted a little closer to her. "I'm right here, don't freak out."
"Oh my god, am I doing this? We're doing this? We're totally doing this aren't we?" Gabriella said turning to him a little and then back at the steering wheel and street ahead.
Troy smiled, "If you go slowly at first and pay close attention, you can feel it in your feet where the clutch engages and disengages. If you learn that well, you'll be set." Troy took her hand again and placed it on the gear shift. "Ready to move?"
"No, Yes, wait …okay." She said after shaking her shoulders out. "Let's move."
Giving her an odd look he "Step on the clutch, shift in to gear and lightly step on the gas." He said watching her take it all in.
"Oh my god, oh my god, oh my god." Gabriella said repeatedly as she did what he told her when the car started to move she let out a small shrieking noise of triumph.
Troy let out a laugh as he let his head go back. Almost childlike as he watched her concentrate on going forward about two inches, the best two inches of his road he'd ever been on.
Later that night Gabriella was in her bedroom with her ear buds in as she sketched out a raven in her sketchbook. Her phone was buzzing only when she picked it up she saw Steven on the caller id she hit the ignore button and pushed the phone aside. Rolling her eyes she turned her attention to her artwork, There was a muffled knock at her door and she pulled her ear buds out in time to see her mom poke her head in. "Hey I'm off to work, don't stay up to late."
"I won't," Gabriella said the sound of her phone going off again made her pick up the phone only to see Steven's number on the caller id again. Gabriella hit ignore and this time placed her phone in the drawer.
"Something wrong?" Maria said as she took a step further into the room.
"Nothing," Gabriella said with a small smile. "Just this boy at school, he wants me to go to the dance with him but I'm not interested." Gabriella said with shrug.
The drawer began to buzz once more and Gabriella jerked from the noise.
"Well he's at least persistent." Maria said with a smile. "Hey, I've been meaning to ask." She said with a laugh. "Is something going on between you and Troy?" She said with a nervous expression. "Not that there would be anything wrong with it, just I was wondering if we needed to have .." Looking back out into the hall she looked back in and leaned in a little further. "The talk," She whispered with a nervous smile.
"Oh god!" Gabriella jerked as she went to cover her ears. "I swear I'll scream," she said closing her eyes tightly.
"Alright, alright." Her mother said with a sigh.
Gabriella uncovered her ears and let out a sigh of relief as she pushed her bangs aside.
"But seriously. Are you two like …" She waved her hands in front of her trying to come up with something.
"No," Gabriella said wide eyed. "Mom, he's like a brother."
Maria rolled her eyes as she shook her head with a knowing expression. "Look all I know is there is a lot less yelling going on and today when you guys came in you were both actually smiling." She said placing a hand on her hip. "I'm just asking to be the responsible parent. I told his parents I'd watch after him."
"And what I am I chopped liver?" Gabriella said in disbelief. "Who's watching over me?"
"Trust me I wouldn't be asking if I wasn't," Her mother said with a wink. "Just promise me you'll let me know if things escalate." She said in another whisper.
"Mom!" Gabriella said again with a groan.
Her mother looked up at her with a smile. "Night Baby." She said with a smile as she waved good night.
"Night Mom," Gabriella said as she heard the door click shut behind her. Gabriella let out a sigh as she listened for the door down stairs. Unplugging her headphones from the computer sound filled the room and she stood up walking towards her French doors she opened them and looked out into the street watching as her mother got into her car and pulled out of the driveway. From a hot day there was a cool night letting out a sigh she wrapped her hands around herself and rubbed her arms. Her eyes looked over the yard at the cars in the street at the fading lights down the block as her mother's car turned into traffic. She was not falling for Troy Bolton. Was she?
Finally Friday evening had come and Troy was shorting through boxes he'd brought down from the attic to store in the garage. He had boxes stacked in the drive way shorted in piles of supplies for the house, and holiday decorations, thing put away and tools that hadn't seen the light of day in years. He assumed almost immediate he was shorting through Luis's things.
"More garage work?" Gabriella said as she stood in the driveway looking in at all the clutter spread out. She had her backpack over her shoulder as she looked around crossing her arms she looked around at all the clutter. "What is all this stuff?" Gabriella watched as his muscles flexed under the light blue shirt. Her lips went dry as he turned around giving her a view of his backside. Slowly she found herself tilting a little too much to the left for a better view.
Troy put down the box he was holding; when he turned around he was speechless at her appearance. His entire mouth went dry when their eyes met. She was wearing a pair cut off jeans and a red east high shirt. She even had pigtails. God forgive him, she had braided pigtails in her hair and all he could think of was a car wash video he seen on TV briefly during his trip in Russia. It had been in Russian and he couldn't understand what was going on but it wasn't hard to figure it out. When his mother caught him gawking she immediately unplugged the television.
Gabriella took a step forward as she used her hands to dust him off a bit. "No one's been through this stuff for almost five years," she said with frown. "Dad use to do this kind of stuff."
Troy nodded still not able to find his vocabulary. She was touching him, her fingers were brushing his shoulders and chest. Each stroke was like a fire on his skin and he could swear she was leaving scorch marks behind. "Yeah," Troy said finally looking down at her flip flops which exposed her pink painted toe nails.
"What's wrong?" Gabriella asked looking at him oddly.
Troy jerked his attention back upwards. "Nothing," Troy said looking around for something to distract him. "I asked your mom about all the stuff in the attic and she told me to make space for it in the garage."
Gabriella looked at the boxes, things they had put away, boxes of clothes, boxes of her father's things. Gabriella walked over to one of the boxes and placed her hands on it. "God I haven't seen some of this stuff in ages," she said looking back at him briefly then back at the box. Closing her eyes for a moment she thought back to the day she sealed the box. It'd been three days after they came home from the hospital and her mother couldn't do it. All her father's things just sat out waiting for him, as if at any moment he'll come back and use them. It had been unbearable. She stared at everything for so long before finally putting it all in the box. There was a hand on her shoulder and she opened her eyes as she felt Troy by her side.
"It's okay to be sad about it," Troy said softly, "It's your dad."
Gabriella shook her head. "You don't understand." She said looking around at the piles of stuff. "People only allow you a certain amount of grieving time." Gabriella said looking at the sharpie writing on each of the boxes. "After a while you're just pathetic." Gabriella said as she turned from the boxes.
"That's not true." Troy said with a raised eye brow as he reached into his back pocket for his Swiss army knife. "He was your father," Troy reached behind her his arms on either side blocking her in as he punctured the tape on the box. He could smell the strawberries, he feel her breath fanning his neck as he sliced through the tape. "At this point wouldn't it be easier to just let out instead of bottling it inside and being so angry."
"I'm not angry because of my father." Gabriella said in a low voice as Troy backed away from her. She was sounded by his scent, by his entire being. Gabriella shifted the weight in her body as her knees wobbled a little.
"Then what are you angry about?" Troy asked looking her in the eye with the same amount of stubborn she shot back at him. Troy placed both his hands on her shoulders turning her back around to face the box. "Being angry at everyone is getting you nowhere."
Gabriella looked down at the items in the box. An old book, some trinkets, old ties, and a small box she recognized. Against her better judgment she reached inside pulling out a small box and opening it to reveal her father's watch. "He loved this watch." She said touching it with her fingers and letting a wave of peace and happiness settle in from the memories.
"Then I'm sure he'd want you to wear it." Troy said taking it from her hands and putting removing it from the box.
"I don't know," Gabriella said looking back at the house and then at him. "I mean it's really big,"
"You can make it smaller; my dad had a watch like this once he lost it in Haiti." Troy unsnapped the links as and redid them then reached for her hand placing the watch around her wrist and clasping it. It was a little loose but it fit. "There now it's like he's with you all the time." Troy said with a smile.
Her heart literally skipped and she swore at any moment she was going to collapse from the pain of just being this close. "You know," Gabriella smirked as she looked at the watch. "I don't think I have anything that goes with this." She said holding up her wrist.
"Your heart does." Troy said placing his hands on his waist. Troy smiled at her and he felt happiness inside him just from her smile. The way her features softened, the way her shoulders release that pent up tension and her guard was down.
A gasp escaped from her lips as she looked up at him with her eyes wide open. "Okay you really need to stop that."
"I'm sorry," Troy jerked a bit as he looked around the driveway then back at her. "What did I do?"
"This," she said waving to the empty space between them. "We need to not do this. I cannot afford to do this?"
"Do what? Stand in the drive way?" Troy said a little lost.
Gabriella felt a blush coming up to her cheeks. "Just forget it." Gabriella let out a sigh as she looked back towards the house. "I should get in, before mom starts to worry." Grabbing her back pack she made her way up the rest of the drive. "Thanks for this," Gabriella said turning around and pointing at the watch. Sheepishly she turned from him again and made her way back to the house.
"You're welcome?" he said raising a brow as he watched her disappear inside.