Hey everyone! So, this is the last update for Christmas break... I'm saddened greatly that I have to go back to school on Monday. :( I'll try to update as frequenly as I can when school starts and I hope you all get a chance to read!

I loved all of your predictions of what Gabriella is up to. Many of them made me laugh! I hope I can make you laugh some how to return the favor! Enjoy!

I'll Email You

Chapter fourteen

A Surprise

Gabriella skipped towards her bathroom, laughing softly at herself as she fluffed her hair and made sure she looked somewhat decent before she made her way over to Troy's house were they were having a get together with everyone. She rolled her eyes at Charlie as he walked slowly towards the front door and before he could protest, Gabriella grabbed his hand and pulled him down the driveway, power walking towards Troy's house.

"Why are you so excited?" Charlie asked as he tried to remove his hand from hers.

"I'm not." Gabriella smiled as she tugged harder on Charlie's hand, wanting him to hurry up already and start walking faster! "Does my hair look okay?" She asked him, arranging her hair along her shoulders.

"Looks like you just rolled out of bed." He yawned, his own hair looking like he just rolled out of bed, which didn't exactly surprise Gabriella.

"No, seriously, how does it look?" She asked as she looked over at him after ringing the doorbell.

"It looks normal." Charlie said with a sigh.

Gabriella smirked, taking any variation of a compliment from Charlie that she could get. The door open, revealing Mrs. Bolton with a happy smile on her face.

"Hey Gabriella!" She beamed with excitement. "Come on in!" She said, stepping aside so that she and Charlie could come in. "You're not getting into to much trouble, are you?" She laughed softly as she directed her question to Charlie.

"I can't promise that I haven't." Charlie smiled genuinely, glancing at Gabriella as she made her way towards the kitchen.

The group was already there: Sharpay, Zeke, Taylor, Chad, and of course, Troy. Although Gabriella hated being the last person anywhere, she was okay with it today as she hugged Sharpay and Taylor, smiling as Zeke laughed loudly as he and Troy talked together.

"Hey, man!" Chad said with a smile as Charlie appeared into the kitchen, looking as though he was thinking about something. Gabriella observed him as he smiled and greeted his friends.

Sharpay shrieked as Zeke whispered something funny in her ear and Gabriella smiled, seeing Troy and Chad look over at them as well. Taylor glanced over at Chad and Chad awkwardly glanced away from her as their eyes met. Gabriella's giggle made Taylor raise an eyebrow and look away from Chad.

"What are you laughing at?" She asked, popping an M&M in her mouth that she took from the glass bowl on the counter. Gabriella's giggle continued as she sat on the counter.

"You and Chad." Gabriella smiled, shrugging as she grabbed a handful of M&Ms.

"What do you mean by 'me and Chad'?" She asked as if she never heard them associated in the same sentence.

"You're kidding, right?" Gabriella asked as she arranged the M&Ms in her hand by color.

"About what?" Taylor asked quickly, scratching the back of her head awkwardly.

"The other day Troy comes barging into my room…" Gabriella started, rolling her eyes as Taylor raised an eyebrow. "And he tells me that you and Chad are dating because he thinks that because you kissed him on the cheek, everything is suddenly official." Gabriella explained.

"How does Troy know all of that? I haven't even told you about it." Taylor asked suspiciously.

"Chad told him… and why haven't you told me, Miss Taylor?" Gabriella asked her, smiling playfully.

"Because I didn't want to make a huge deal about it." Taylor whispered.

Gabriella leaned forward as she looked at Taylor seriously.

"Why are you whispering?" She asked with a smirk.

"Because if I make any sudden movements or loud noises around Chad, he freaks out!" Taylor explained quickly.

"Huh?" Gabriella asked in confusion, not sure of what her friend was talking about.

"CHAD!" Taylor exclaimed loudly, turning to look over at him.

"What?!" He asked quickly, turning around so suddenly that he knocked over a cup of water.

Troy laughed out loud as Gabriella gasped, grabbing a towel to clean the water spill.

"See." Taylor sighed.

"I think I would have done the same thing." Gabriella said with a small laugh, feeling bad for Chad and the awkward state he was in. "Maybe you should talk to him."

"And risk being thrown up on? No thanks." Taylor said in a monotone, rolling her eyes at the flirting Sharpay and Zeke. She glanced over at Chad and noticed that Troy was watching Gabriella carefully decide what color M&Ms she was going to eat first. "Are you in love with Troy?" She asked.

Gabriella slipped off of the edge of the counter, causing the carefully sorted M&Ms to fly out of her hand and onto the wood floor of the kitchen, bouncing around annoyingly. Gabriella's hand flew to her throat as she chocked on a brown M&M and she fanned her face as the group suddenly started laughing (Charlie) and panicking (Troy) all at the same time.

"Are you okay?" Troy asked quickly, coming around the kitchen island, stepping on a spinning blue M&M.

"Yeah." Gabriella coughed. "I'm okay." She said, eyeing Taylor. "I'm so not." She pointed at her, making sure she understood and Taylor nodded, trying to hide her smile.

"Gosh, Tay, you've already caused two accidents! Who will be next?" Chad asked from his spot by Charlie, laughing softly.

Taylor rolled her eyes, choosing not to blurt the comment she would have so harshly thrown at Chad. Troy looked at Gabriella with concern seen clearly in his eyes.

"I'm fine, really. It was just one of those darn brown M&Ms." Gabriella explained with a small smile.

"Ah," Troy nodded with a laugh. "Your least favorite."

Gabriella smiled softly and knelt on the ground to pick up the scattered M&Ms from the floor. She laughed as she saw a spinning red M&M and she stopped it as she laid her hand on top of it and then added it to the pile in her hand. The sound of an unfamiliar voice made her furrow her brow as she heard him.

"Surprise, surprise, surprise, dudes!" A happy voice exclaimed, causing both Troy and Zeke to holler in excitement and move quickly towards him while everyone just smiled and looked at each other in confusion.

Gabriella cautiously stood up from the ground and saw the blonde, tan surfer in the doorway. His surfboard could be seen leaning against the foyer wall beyond him. He had a muscle shirt on, one that had the words LIFEGUARD bolded in white letters on the front. Gabriella smirked as Sharpay fanned herself with her hand, looking over at her as she mouthed the word HOT. Troy and Zeke's large smiles gave away that they obviously knew this guy and were beyond ecstatic to see him as they each gave him a hug. Gabriella smiled softly as she watch the guys talk loudly.

"Who is that?" Charlie asked, startling Gabriella slightly as he appeared behind her almost mysteriously.

"I'm not sure." Gabriella shrugged as she watched them.

Troy and Zeke turned towards the group, letting this guy get a look at their friends. The guy smiled, looking excited.

"Everyone, this is Will. Will, this is everyone." Zeke laughed softly, pointing to his friends.

"Hey, Will!" Chad exclaimed sticking his hand out to shake Will's, laughing slightly as Will pulled him into a hug.

"It's great to meet you!" He said, still smiling as he patted Chad on the arm.

"You too." Chad chuckled, taking a step away from Will. "This is Taylor." Chad said, pointing to Taylor who was yawning as she stood by the island.

"Hi." She smiled softly.

Will smiled, outstretching his arms to hug Taylor, but Chad put his hand out to stop him. Shaking his head slightly.

"She's my girlfriend." Chad replied, making everyone's attention directed towards him, thinking it was weird to finally hear one of them admit that.

"Chad," Taylor sighed. "It's just a hug." She rolled her eyes, hugging Will, not denying what Chad had said.

"It's nice to meet you." He nodded, taking a step backwards, turning as he smiled at Sharpay. "You must be Sharpay, Zeke's girlfriend." He said to her.

"Yes, I am." Sharpay said with a smile, outstretching her hand to shake his.

Zeke laughed loudly and shook his head.

"He won't bite." Zeke told her, still laughing.

Sharpay shrugged, clearing her throat as she hugged him quickly. Will stepped away from Sharpay and spotted Gabriella and Charlie leaning against the kitchen counter by the sink, watching him.

"Are you two, like, twins?" He asked them, noticing the close resemblance between the two.

The group laughed loudly while Gabriella groaned and Charlie rolled his eyes.

"Way to make a first impression, man." Charlie said to him, patting him harshly on the arm.

"I'm Gabriella." Gabriella said with a shake of her head, elbowing her brother in the side. "It's nice to met you."

"Gabriella Montez? I've heard a lot about you." He smiled, hugging her. "You're so much prettier than I imagined!" He admitted, making Troy groan in embarrassment.

Gabriella giggled, hearing Chad whisper something to Taylor, which resulting in getting whacked by an eye-rolling Taylor.

"So, what are you doing here, man?" Troy asked as he sat down on a bar stool.

"I just thought it was time to visit! I missed you guys and plus, I'm sure you missed me." He laughed at his egotistical comment, glancing at Gabriella.

"Hey, are you still dating that one girl… Tammy?" Zeke asked, laughing at his faked attempt to forget the girl's name.

"I proposed to her two weeks ago!" Will said, making both Zeke and Troy's jaw drop and the girls "aw" in response.

"You're kidding!" Troy said in shock.

"Nope. She said yes! I've never been happier." Will explained, his smile wide and beaming bright.

"How long have you known her?" Sharpay asked, leaning against the counter next to Gabriella.

Will smiled, laughing quietly as if he was thinking of something secretly.

"She's been my best friend for as long as I can remember." He replied, causing the coke that Charlie was just about to swallow come up threw his nose as he choked on it. The way Troy glanced at Gabriella went unnoticed by her, but noticed by Taylor and Sharpay and they looked at each other with a raise of their eyebrows.

"You're disgusting, Charlie." Gabriella whispered taking a few steps towards the kitchen island to grab a napkin for him, handing it to him.

"You okay, dude?" Will asked him.

"I'm good." Charlie nodded, clearing his throat.

With a few more words exchanged, Mrs. Bolton walked into the kitchen, smiling slightly.

"Where did the surfboard come…" She stopped when she saw Will and her smile increased as she opened her arms wide. "Hey, Will!" She exclaimed, hugging him in a motherly way.

"Is it just me, or do Californian's hug a lot?" Chad whispered to Taylor as Mrs. Bolton gushed over the familiar face.

Later, when the group had most of Will's life story told to them and they got a chance to get to know each other further, Charlie left, using the excuse that he was tired, followed by Taylor shortly afterwards, getting a soft kiss from Chad before she disappeared behind the front door. Zeke smiled as he felt Sharpay's head against his shoulder, noticing that she had fallen asleep as Will told the story about when he and Troy almost got attacked by a shark, realizing soon after that it was a dolphin. Laughing at the same parts that she had laughed at when she read it in the email from Troy, she smiled over at him as she heard him laugh with her.

Sharpay woke up a few minutes later, yawning softly as she sat up.

"Do you want me to take you home?" Zeke asked her as her wrapped a piece of her blonde hair around his finger, watching as it fell against her back as he let go of it.

"I can drop her off on my way home, Zeke." Chad offered. "I mean, unless you want to." He said as he stood up from the couch.

"I'd love for you to take me home." Sharpay said with a friendly smile. "And we can talk about your relationship with Taylor!" She added.

"Wonderful." Chad said sarcastically as Sharpay linked her arm with his, walking towards the front door.

"I'll see you tomorrow." Sharpay blew a kiss to Zeke and waved at Troy and Will.

Zeke stood as he heard the engine of Chad's car rumble from the driveway.

"I'll see you guys tomorrow. I'm beat." Zeke yawned.

"You're whipped." Will chuckled.

"Says the guy who proposed to his high school sweetheart." Zeke replied, heading upstairs with a smile.

Gabriella smiled, sitting up with a sigh.

"I should leave you two to catch up." Gabriella said to Troy and Will.

"Ah, don't leave because of me." Will said with a laugh.

"It's okay." Gabriella smiled, standing up, sticking her cell phone in her pocket after she picked it up from the coffee table.

Troy stood as well, walking with her to the front door. He smiled as he leaned against the door frame, watching her on the front porch.

"Today was an exciting day, wasn't it?" Gabriella asked Troy with a smirk, sticking her hands in her jean pockets.

"Yeah, I definitely didn't expect this." Troy explained, his happy smile that had been on his face for most of the day, widening.

"Are you happy?" Gabriella asked softly, inhaling the cool summer air.

"Very." Troy answered, nodding.

"Alright wildcat," Gabriella started. "Goodnight."

"Goodnight." Troy replied as Gabriella turned to go. "Hey, Gabs." He said quietly.

"Yeah?" She asked as she turned to face him once again.

"Come here." He said, tilting his head to the side to indicate that he wanted her to come closer.

She furrowed her brow, but did what she was asked to do and she smiled as she stood in front of him, smelling his familiar cologne. He leaned forward slightly and kissed her on the cheek, making a smile appear quickly on her lips.

"I'll email you."

Gabriella nodded, not sure why she suddenly couldn't say anything in return and headed towards the sidewalk to make her way home, laughing when she came to the corner Troy always stood at when he waved to her, and she turned to face Troy's house and she waved at him, where he was waiting on the porch, barely visible now, but Gabriella saw him wave anyways.

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Much love,

unknownbyhim22