Author's Note- Okay, so I really wanted to update and write more to this chapter, but it was taking too long, so this is the first half of the chapter that I originally had planned so it's more like a filler chapter introducing more characters that will come up in the story. Hope you guys like it, I don't know if I really do, but here you go…
Gabriella got out of Chad's car and started walking through the parking lot with him. "So, I'll just find a way home tonight or if I can't, then I'll just wait for guy's practice to end and you can give me a ride home?" Gabriella asked biting her lip knowing that she was going to get another lecture about her leg which she was actually managing to walk on to make it look normal.
Chad sighed and then immediately yawned and Gabriella just shook her head at him. "You know…maybe you should--" Chad got cut off.
"should take it easy during practice…tell mom and dad…sit out in the game tomorrow…go to the doctors…stop walking on my leg…you know Chad, the list is endless, but rules were made to break." Gabriella said with a smile.
Chad yawned again and shook his head at his lil sis. He decided to change the subject and said in a bored stubborn tone, "Why are we here at…" Chad looked down at his 'pretend' watch and exclaimed, "6:45! When school doesn't actually start until 7:30." Chad said.
Gabriella rolled her eyes, "I have to go to the library to get something done because I didn't have time to do it last night, feel free to ditch me when we get inside because I know that you'll hyperventilate and stop breathing all together from the books." Gabriella teased.
"Ha ha, make fun all you want, but…I'm still blaming you for getting me here at this time in the morning." Chad said since Gabriella did wake him up at 5:30 so that he could get ready for school and take her since she still couldn't risk hurting her leg with pushing down on the peddle of her car. "If you weren't making out with Troy last night, then we wouldn't be here right now." Chad said as they reached the door and stepped inside after going through the metal detectors that the school still had up.
They stood in the middle of the hallway and Gabriella didn't even bother denying that that wasn't what her and Troy were doing because Chad would just taunt her more on it.
"Well, have fun, but I'm going to the gym. See you around sis, and I don't want to here that you got caught in the janitor's closet with Troy." Chad called over his shoulder and chuckled to lighten the mood and turn that comment into a joke, but Gabriella knew that he was serious and she nodded her head as she brushed off his comment, not in the mood to get in a little spat with Chad about her private relationships with her boyfriend.
Gabriella turned her body and started for the library thinking about her night with Troy after he drove them home.
Troy helped Gabriella in the house and Gabriella called out, "Mom, Dad!?" There was no answer as Gabriella shrugged her shoulders. "They're probably still at work."
Troy nodded as he led them over to the couch with Gabriella in his arms bridal style. He gently laid her down. "Now, let's look at your leg." Troy said getting down on his knees and started to gently turn her legs so that the cut was facing him. Troy winced when he looked at it and Gabriella noticed before he calmed himself down.
"Troy, it's not that bad. I can hardly feel it." Gabriella said lying through her teeth.
"That's because you've probably become numb to the pain due to blood lose." Troy said as Gabriella rolled her eyes at how dramatic he was being. "Now, let's clean it." Troy said starting to get up and to get out the first aid kit.
Troy came back with a wash cloth and hydrogen peroxide and Gabriella gulped seeing that.
"Can't we just use water?" Gabriella asked in a small voice as she shrunk back into the couch.
Troy knelt down and interlaced their fingers as he brought her hand up to his mouth and kissed each of her five fingers and knuckles. "I promise it won't hurt that much." Troy mumbled against her skin.
"Promise?" Gabriella asked even though she knew that it probably was going to hurt like hell.
"It'll only hurt a little." Troy said as he brought his hand back and dabbed the wash cloth with the solution.
Gabriella's eyes got big and she said, "Only a little?! Yeah right, it's going to hurt and…it won't get better, I don't get how it can be better if it hurts hell of a lot more?!" Gabriella exclaimed as Troy looked at her with a small smile.
"Please Gabi, just hold still. It won't hurt that long and after you can take a nice warm bath and just relax…" Gabriella was smiling at this. "…with me." Troy added.
Gabriella shot him a look. "With you? In a tub? And me? Together?" Gabriella chuckled and rolled her eyes. "Nice idea, come up with a new one." Gabriella said.
Troy smirked at her. "Okay, get ready for a bath, but skip it and just get to the good stuff." Troy said.
Gabriella gave a small smile and said, "Just hurry up with this."
Troy nodded as Gabriella gripped his shoulder and shut her eyes as Troy applied the hydrogen peroxide to her wound and she squeezed her eyes shut and gripped his shoulder tighter as she held in her whimpers.
Troy gently applied the cloth to Gabriella's hurt leg and pressed down making sure that it was being cleaned thoroughly. Troy winced as Gabriella's hand gripped his shoulder tighter to keep from crying out.
"Okay." Gabriella said as she moved her leg away from Troy. "I think that's clean enough, thanks." Gabriella said in a bitter tone with tears in her eyes as her leg seemed like it was throbbing more..
"Gabi…I'm sorry, it's just it needed to be cleaned and--" Troy was cut off by Gabriella's two fingers gently being placed over his dry lips.
"Troy…I know, and thank you." Gabriella said as she took back her fingers from his lips.
Troy gave a small smile as Gabriella tried to stand up and Troy held her in place on the couch lightly by her upper arms.
"Troy, I need to get up." Gabriella said confused by his actions.
Troy shrugged and then said, "I forgot to do something in the car." Gabriella was about to ask 'what,' but never got a chance to as Troy's lips came crashing down upon hers and his hands went to her waist and his lips pressed harder against her own set of lips as she leaned back and Troy lifted his body to follow her and straddle her, as he was careful not to hit her hurt leg.
Gabriella detached her lips from Troy's as he took the open opportunity to kiss down her jaw line and to her neck.
Gabriella cleared her throat as Troy continued to kiss at any open skin. "Troy…" Gabriella waited but there was no response as his tongue grazed over the base of her neck and throat. "Troy…as much as…" Gabriella let out a sigh of distraction as Troy's hands slipped under her damp t-shirt from sweat and started massaging her stomach by her navel. "…I love this…." Gabriella started to finish her thought as Troy's lips worked their way up her neck to her ear.
His tongue grazed her ear lobe right before he gently bit and nipped at it. He whispered huskily in her ear, "You know I love you, right." Troy said as more of a comment of reassurance than question.
Gabriella swallowed as all she could do was nod her head. 'Didn't we just talk about this in the car?' Gabriella asked herself.
Gabriella tried to continue her ever lasting sentence as Troy's hands began to massage higher on her stomach from her navel to the top of her rib cage. Troy's hands were cool against her skin as his mouth kissed down her neck again and started sucking her tender flesh.
"Troy…as much as this is fun…I'm all sweaty." Troy pulled back from the red mark starting to form on her skin and grinned down at her. "No, not like that, from basketball." Gabriella said and Troy sighed.
"I can deal. Lord only knows how many times you've had to deal with me being sweaty from basketball." Troy said as his hands went yet against higher on Gabriella and started to massage her breasts through her white sports bra and ruffled hair rubbed up against her side of the face as his lips started sucking in the spot where they previously were before Gabriella interrupted.
Gabriella let a low quiet moan escape her mouth as she felt Troy smile into her neck and pulled back to stare down at her. Gabriella opened her eyes that somehow ended up closing in the process of Troy leaving his mark and the massaging.
Troy brought one of his hands up to her forehead and moved some of Gabriella's loose curls to the side that were matted to her forehead from her sweat. Troy pulled his hand away and put it into it's spot as he just laid his hands down on her stomach, neither one of them moving as Troy gave off a chuckle.
"You're right, you are all sticky." Troy joked.
Gabriella hit him in the chest as he withdrew his hands from under her shirt to defend himself as Gabriella tried to get out from under him the best she could with her leg.
"That's it. I'm going to go rinse off." Gabriella said as Troy finally got off of her and Gabriella sat up.
"Come on Gabi, it's hot." Troy said with an amusing laugh as Gabriella huffed with annoyance.
"That's disgusting Troy." Gabriella said as she stood up wobbly, but then gained back most of her balance.
"Need help getting up the stairs? That's going to cost you." Troy said with a smirk.
"You're loving this." Gabriella said as she went over by the stairs.
"I am not. I just am liking how easy I can over power you now." Troy said as Gabriella glared at him playfully and he gave off a chuckle that said 'I'm-kidding.'
After an hour Gabriella was all done with her bath and drying of her hair as she threw on shorts and a tank top with her hair up in a pony tail. "Hey there beautiful." Troy greeted in the doorframe as he leaned against it with a smirk.
Gabriella turned around with a smile. "Hey there handsome. What have you been up to?"
Troy shrugged, "Going through Chad's things, looking threw your draws and cabinets and of course looking through the photo album." Troy said as Gabriella's face dropped when Troy walked into her room.
"You didn't, did you?" Troy nodded. "How did you even find them?" Gabriella asked as Troy stepped closer.
"I have my ways, and by the way…the bunny costume…priceless." Troy grinned as he interlaced their fingers and held her so that their faces were inches apart.
"Oh God, just kill me now." Gabriella groaned with dread in her voice. "That was from last year and a Halloween party and…I was drunk…" Gabriella said.
"I thought that the fish nets were pretty hot." Troy said as he licked his lips and stared down at her. "Almost as hot as you right now."
Gabriella rolled her eyes. "Cheesy Bolton, Chees-" Gabriella was cut off against by Troy's lips crashing down on her. He scooped her up in his arms bridal style and gently laid her down on the bed with his mouth nuzzled into her neck again as Gabriella giggled softly.
Troy straddled her avoiding her leg and whispered against her lips, "So, how's the leg feeling?"
Gabriella's hands were already under Troy's shirt feeling his muscular chest as she replied against Troy's lips, "Better." Which was the truth, she just didn't say how much better or how little.
"That's good, and I see you're not sticky anymore." Troy mumbled as he tried to stick his tongue in her mouth as Gabriella gasped a little as Troy's hands slid right up her shirt without any warning or clue and grasped her breasts.
Gabriella never got time to retort to what Troy said as his tongue ran over all the cracks and crevices of Gabriella's mouth and then started massaging her tongue with his own. Gabriella lightly moaned as Troy kissed down her jaw line, shoulder, and then collar bone and up again to the base of her neck. Gabriella's hands were working in over drive as she quickly stripped him of his shirt and dropped it carelessly to the ground.
Gabriella breathed out, "Turn…turn over." Troy quickly turned over so that he was laying on his back as her cold comforter connected with his back and Gabriella brought her body over Troy's as she did the best she could to straddle him with her leg. Troy's hands wound around Gabriella's backside as his fingers played with her hair in the pony tail as he let out little grunts as Gabriella kissed up his stomach and went over every little ripple, fold, and muscle.
Gabriella grinned as she felt Troy on her thigh through his basketball shorts as her lips swirled around Troy's neck and gripped him tighter as she was attempting to leave her mark on the base of his neck. Troy's hands were just about to bring Gabriella's strap tank top over her head when they heard the front door open and close.
"ELLA!" Chad's voice called.
Gabriella just stared down at Troy with shock covering both of their faces as they broke apart at the same time once they heard Chad's feet coming up the stairs.
"Hey, how's your leg?!" Chad called out again as Gabriella could almost pinpoint him walking into his room and throwing his bag down.
Troy reached down and threw on his shirt as he quickly pulled it over his head and that's when he realized that they had an even bigger problem on hand,…he still had a boner. Troy swallowed as Gabriella was straightening out her shirt and she looked to see Troy turning a little red and Gabriella looked around frantically as if the answer to their little problem would poof out of no where.
It was one thing for Chad to accept their relationship. It was even nice of him to not get too disgusted if Troy and Gabriella would kiss each other in public. Chad even went out on a limb and contained himself from punching Troy after the whole Christmas present lingerie fiasco. But…walking in on his best friend and lil sister getting that 'cozy' was not on Chad's to do list.
"Troy." Gabriella hissed. "…put it down." Gabriella and Troy's panic both succeeded a new level as they heard Chad's voice again.
"ELLA, DO YOU KNOW WHAT'S UP WITH TROY?!" Gabriella and Troy didn't answer. "NEVERMIND, I'LL JUST COME IN TO TALK TO YOU!" They both heard Chad's bedroom door close shut.
"What do you expect me to do?!" Troy hissed back in a whisper.
"Anything…just get rid of it." Gabriella demanded as they heard Chad's footsteps even closer and Troy grabbed Gabriella by the shoulders and pulled her back to his chest so that she was standing in front of him.
Gabriella looked up and was about to say something, but Chad appeared in the doorway with a confused face on.
"Hey, Troy's here." Chad said to himself out loud. "Hey man…what's up?" Chad asked hesitantly as he eyed the blushing Troy and the panicked Gabriella up and down and saw that Troy's shirt was inside out and on backwards and Gabriella had a huge…HICKEY on her neck in broad daylight, no one could miss it.
"Oh…um…" Gabriella looked up at Troy as he positioned himself better behind her. Troy shrugged, not knowing what to say as Gabriella looked back at Chad. "We were just…talking." Gabriella filled in the blank weakly as Troy looked down at her with a you-got-to-be-kidding-me look.
That had to be one of the lamest excuses possible with how they looked, at least say something a little bit more believable like they got into a fight, or they just played basketball, or hell you could even say they were playing hide-and-seek like 8 year olds, anything but…talking.
Chad looked at them and stared at Gabriella's neck with a cock of an eye brow. "Really, and during 'talking,'…" Chad used air quotes. "You just happened to accidentally hit her with your lips, in the neck, which they just happened to have gotten stuck so the only other possible thing that you could do was suck on my sister?"
Troy scratched the back of his neck as Gabriella put her hand up to her neck and placed her fingers over the large hickey as if it would magically erase.
"Well…you know…I…we…she…" Troy started as he looked around. "We were just….talking." Troy sighed defeated as he used Gabriella's lame excuse.
"Talking?" Chad pressed the matter further as he leaned in the doorway of Gabriella's bedroom as Gabriella was about to go sit down to make herself more comfortable, Troy kept her in place by holding her shoulders so that Chad wouldn't' see his 'problem,' that was throbbing now.
"Yes." They both said in small voices.
"Your shirts turned inside out man and backwards….but hey, if that's your kind of talking then…God, this is so fucked up…I'm not going to say that I approve because what if it was mom or dad that walked up? What would you two have done if they asked Ella to come talk to them and they saw Troy and his…his…that." Chad said trying to think of something less awkward to say, but failed as Troy turned a new color of red. Chad sighed loudly and shook his head, "I was just coming to see how your leg was and what the hell Troy meant when he was talking to him mom." Chad said.
"Well…after the Christmas party we had together, Gabi gave me another present, it turns out that your aunt is a lawyer or works with them or something, and Gabi looked into me being emancipated." Troy said.
"So that was your second gift you gave him? That's why you were talking to that guy, I knew that I recognized him from somewhere." Chad said remembering back to when he used to go to the law office to visit his aunt.
Gabriella nodded, "Yeah. And my leg is better…much better." Gabriella said with a small smile.
Chad just shook his head, "Yeah, I bet." Trying to get the thought of his best friend making his sister feel better like that.
"Please don't tell mom or dad." Gabriella pleaded.
Chad smirked and Troy leaned down and whispered into Gabriella's ear. "I don't like that look."
"I would never tell mom and dad…it's called you-two-owe-me." Chad smirked even wickeder as he chuckled at Gabriella's and Troy's dreaded faces. "I'll be in touch lil sis and best friend." Chad said leaving them.
Troy turned Gabriella around in his arms as they heard Chad's bedroom door shut and he grinned down at her and whispered huskily in her ear, "So…where were we?"
"Oh no. I'm not going to have our first time together be in my bedroom with my brother down the hall." Gabriella said to Troy sternly.
"But you were willing to do it knowing that he would be home soon." Troy whined as he pulled on a loose curl of Gabriella's.
"Nice try Troy, but…I'm not falling for it." Gabriella said as she walked out of her room and Troy followed with a groan.
Gabriella was taken out of her last night memory with a locker slamming open and crashing into someone else's locker. Gabriella looked up startled and spotted two senior girls that were on the cheer leading squad, cornering either a freshman or a sophomore. Gabriella took a step closer and noticed the time; 7:05.
Gabriella then noticed that the two seniors that were cornering the scared looking lower classmen were none other than V's two best friends. Gabriella groaned inwardly as she looked over the two to make sure that she had to two people correct. Gabriella was pretty sure that the one with thick blonde hair that went past her shoulders, blue eyes that looked like the sky, perfect straight white teeth, and the slim body belonged to a girl named Sarah as the other one's name was Faith with shoulder length golden brown hair, brown teddy bear eyes, pink nails that shined when light hit them, and also a slim body were trying to intimidate a lower classman.
Gabriella started walking over, but found it funny that V wasn't with them. But however, her two best friends were all decked out in their cheerleading outfits since there was a wrestling meet that night. Gabriella looked around the hall half expecting that her cousin would soon pop up, but then again V had changed a little as she showed concern for Gabriella after the whole hostage thing, and now that Gabriella thought about it, she hadn't seen V around her two friends lately, usually she was with one boy in particular…Jason and even then, the two weren't groping or even touching each other with hands, they would just merely talk in the hallways going to class.
Gabriella reached them and decided to step in front of the lower classman as she received shocked faces from Faith and Sarah. Gabriella figured that they were probably shocked since they were supposed to be 'friends,' since they hung out around the same people meaning the jocks. They were cheerleaders and Gabriella was a person that cheerleaders cheered for, even if she wasn't a guy.
"Hey, what's going on?" Gabriella asked casually. Before Faith or Sarah could answer Gabriella held up one finger indicating that they should wait and she spun around to look at the freshman. Yup, now that Gabriella got a good look at the other small girl, she looked to be about a freshman, 14 maybe 15 years old.
She had red chin length hair with a couple of freckles on her upper cheeks with white skin with a creamy look to it. She wore a pair of glasses that reminded her of this other junior girl Gabriella knew, her name was Kelsi. Gabriella stuck out her hand to the shaking freshman girl and said in a sweet voice, "Hi, I'm Gabriella Montez, junior."
The girl hesitantly took Gabriella's hand and shook it. "I'm Erin Burd, freshman."
Gabriella smiled even bigger when she finally recognized this girl from somewhere, "Hey, you're on the freshman basketball team." Gabriella smiled widely as Erin nodded her head. "I knew it I recognized you from somewhere, at try outs." Gabriella said happily as they were rudely interrupted by a clearing of the throat coming from either Faith or Sarah.
Gabriella turned around with an annoyed face on and then smiled falsely at the two girls standing in front of her. "Gabs." Faith said sweetly as she was trying her hardest to cover up her own annoyance. "We were kind of in the middle of something here."
Gabriella looked at the two and frowned. "And your point?" Gabriella asked bluntly.
"Ha." Sarah let out a little exasperated laugh and then said, "Gabs, you're so funny. Just let us talk to our good friend…whatever, we just need to talk to her and teach her some of the basic rules here at East High, so if you would excuse us." Sarah said straining her patience as she laid a hand on Gabriella's shoulder in a weak attempt to move her kindly.
Gabriella stood her ground as she gave a hard stare and put her own hand on Sarah's hand that was gripping her shoulder and yanked it off of her. Gabriella could see out of the corner of her eye that Shar, Zeke, and Troy were just turning the corner and they were laughing at something because to Gabriella, Troy's laugh was so distinct, she could point it out in any amount of people and crowds. Gabriella saw Shar stop in the middle of the boys and grip their arms making them freeze in their spots with questioning looks as Shar did the one thing Gabriella was hoping she wouldn't, she pointed and Troy and Zeke looked her way.
Sarah took her hand back and stepped closer to Gabriella as they both stood at the same height.
"Gabs…" Sarah said in her miss-I'm-so-perfect voice that was straining as Gabriella noticed that Sarah's other hand was forming into a fist and turning white. "I think you misunderstood us." Sarah said pointing between Faith and herself as she laid another hand on Gabriella's shoulder, this time gripping it tighter to try to get Gabriella to understand that she meant business.
Gabriella looked down at her hand and took it again in her own and threw it back at her, causing Sarah to tumble back a couple of steps. People in the hallway were watching now as Erin was still with her back to the lockers and Gabriella walked forward causing Faith and Sarah to back up a little.
"Listen." Gabriella hissed. "Don't ever touch me again. Got it?!" Gabriella demanded even though she didn't want an answer since she really didn't want to listen to their annoying voices anymore than she had too.
"Gabs…we were just having a little fun." Faith said.
"I don't give a shit." Gabriella snapped. "If you want to have a little fun go find some pathetic guy that would fuck you and take him in the janitor's closet." Gabriella glared at the two with disgust in her eyes, if it was one thing she hated, it would be bullies just because others didn't follow the rules, or they were just smaller than them.
"But--" Faith was cut off as Gabriella advanced them even more and now Gabriella had them with their own backs against the lockers.
"NO." Gabriella said with the shake of her head. "What the hell is wrong with you guys? Was Erin doing something to offend you personally?! Who the hell gave you permission to decide who to pick on and who not to?!" Gabriella demanded.
"What the hell is up with you and your cousin?!" Sarah snapped back with her back still to the lockers.
"What?" Gabriella asked not understanding why V would be brought up.
"Yeah, all of sudden she's all Mother Teresa on us." Faith answered.
"Where is my cousin?" Gabriella asked through gritted teeth trying to keep her anger in.
"Bathroom." They said at the same time.
"You better watch it Montez." Sarah said with her own glare. Faith whispered something to Sarah and Sarah looked at Gabriella again. "Danforth." Sarah and Faith started walking away but not before kicking the locker door that was left open, closed. Gabriella was standing close enough to the locker that it seemed as if God slowed down this moment just for Gabriella to live through it and remember it, all of it.
Someone left their locker open and Faith had kicked it, and as it went to shut the top corner of the bottom locker knocked it's sharp corner into Gabriella's leg and all of a sudden, Gabriella felt a new pain as she winced. The locker door bounced off of Gabriella's leg and wound up slamming open again as Gabriella backed away wanting to grip her leg which was hidden by a pair of jeans, but that would draw even more attention.
Gabriella wanted to just sit down, no she wanted to lay down, no, not even that, Gabriella just wanted the pain to stop. Gabriella backed up against the yellow dirty lockers as she knew that Shar, Zeke, and Troy were going to come walking towards her with questions as she stood, panting against the lockers with Erin by her side.
"Hey, thank you Gabriella." Erin said.
Gabriella opened her eyes and looked at Erin with the best smile she could come up with, "No problem, hey I'll see you at practice tonight." Gabriella said as Erin walked off.
Gabriella knew that Troy, Zeke, and Shar were bound to come up to her after a couple of seconds and she knew that Troy couldn't see her like this again. Gabriella stood straighter as she decided to just go to the bathroom to check her leg and to try to avoid the questions Troy, and the others were to ask. Gabriella turned to leave as she saw the three approaching very quickly, as she tried to walk forward and got a couple of steps before she knew that her leg would give out without her crutches now.
Gabriella looked around thinking of what to do and then someone grabbed her arm and put his around hers to support her. "Need a hand, or in this case an arm?" Jason asked as he smiled at Gabriella and Gabriella realizing that Troy was a couple of feet away from them nodded and they started walking through the crowds. Gabriella felt bad, beyond bad, but she didn't want Troy to worry anymore than he already was.
"So, what you did for Erin was nice." Jason said as he helped Gabriella walk down the hallway.
"Thanks."
"So, where are you off too?" Jason asked.
"The bathroom, I have to look at my leg." Gabriella said.
"Yeah, I saw the locker hit it, is everything okay?" Jason asked.
"Um…there getting there." Gabriella said with a nod as they reached the bathroom door. Gabriella was about to go in when she noticed that Jason was standing by the door. "Jason, you can leave now, I don't want you to be late for class." Gabriella wanted to smack herself, could she sound anymore like some preppy school girl that loves school?
"Nah, I'm actually waiting for someone. It's fine." Jason told her.
"Well if the person that you're waiting for gets here before I come out, feel free to ditch me and go with them." Gabriella said as she opened the door.
Jason nodded with a smile. "Whatever you say MD."
"MD?" Gabriella asked.
"Montez-Danforth." Jason nodded in conclusion.
Gabriella stepped into the bathroom and called out before the door closed, "I like it."
Author's Note- So what do you think, and now there is not going to be anything between Jason and Gabriella besides friendship. Review please, you guys are the best.