His Dream Girl
Summary : "Sharpay, this girl that you picked for me, if you didn't notice, is NOTHING like the kind of girl I described to you." "Sometimes Bolton, you find what you're looking for in the person you never would've thought you would." TxG
Author's Note: Thanks for all of you who reviewed. You guys absolutely make my day!
Chapter 20
"And I don't wanna go, go
I don't wanna go, go
I don't wanna it no, no
I don't wanna it no, no
I don't want to walk this earth
If I gotta do it solo (solo)."
Gabriella sighed impatiently, trying in vain to block out the sound of his voice. She was currently in the cafeteria, trying to study for her second exam. Unfortunately for her, Troy and his admirers had followed her there. On top of it all, the admirers had become his back-up singers.
"Cause I was so high
And now I'm so low
And I don't wanna walk around alone, solo
Said I don't want to walk this earth
If I gotta do it solo (solo, solo)."
She blocked her ears, attempting to concentrate.
"Troy!" she exclaimed. "I'm trying to study for an exam. I'll do anything, just let me study now please!" she begged, not being able to take it anymore.
"Anything?" Troy asked hopeful, making the music stop.
"Yeah, except getting back with you or, you know, inappropriate stuff," she retorted.
"I want a hug and a kiss," he grinned. "On the cheek of course," he added, seeing her glare.
"No," Gabriella answered sharply. He brought the mike back to his mouth. "Okay fine fine. I'll do it."
She stiffly got up and hesitantly wrapped her arms around his shoulders. She gasped when he pulled her against his chest tightly. She blushed when she heard the crowd of people clapping.
"Kiss kiss kiss!" they started chanting.
"I hate you Troy Bolton," Gabriella hissed, embarrassed.
She grudgingly kissed him on the cheek.
"Awww!" all the girls cooed.
She blushed harder and attempted to escape his strong grasp. It took a while, but she managed.
"Now, leave me alone," she said.
"As you wish," he said, sending her a loop-sided grin.
She sighed in relief as they all left the cafeteria. Gosh, she was seriously starting to forget why she was even meant to stay mad at him.
"Don't fall for his cute eyes Gabriella. He's a cheater. You should be mad at him. But, God, why is it so damn hard?" she thought.
Shaking her head, she attempted to make most of the study time she had. Trying to forget all about her charming ex-boyfriend.
-HSM-
Gabriella was pleased. She believed she actually did pretty well on her exam. She felt like a weight has been lifted off her shoulders now that she was done with exams. She was officially done high school, what a relief.
"Go, go, go, go
Go, go, go shawty
It's your birthday
We gon' party like it's yo birthday," she heard.
"What are you singing?" she inquired, crossing her arms, trying to stop a smile from spreading unto her face.
"You're done high school," Troy shrugged innocently, as the crowd behind him was continuing the song 'Up in Da Club' by 50 Cent. "It's time to celebrate!"
"Celebration time come on!" their classmates sang.
Gabriella rolled her eyes.
"Don't tell me you're becoming the soundtrack of my life," she said sarcastically.
She groaned as she saw his eyes widen, sign that he was hit with an idea. She watched as he whispered something to the guitar player who nodded. He brought the mike to his mouth.
"Your voice was the
Soundtrack of my summer
Did you know you're unlike any other?
You'll always be my thunder."
She sighed, aggravated. Of course. He just had to sing the one song he knew she was currently obsessed with. Great, just great.
"I said, your eyes
Are the brightest of all the colours
I don't wanna ever love another
You'll always be my thunder
So bring on the rain
Bring on the thunder."
She bit the inside of her cheek trying to refrain herself from crying. Gosh he was so manipulative. He knew this song gave her shivers. Why was he doing this to her?
"Today is a winding road
Tell me where to start and tell me something I don't know, whoa
Today I'm on my own
I cant move a muscle and I cant pick up the phone, I don't know."
Right there, as her ex sang beautifully with a mass of people behind him, she felt like she was about to pass out. All she hoped now was that he wouldn't start singing their song because she wouldn't know how to take it. While 'Thunder' by Boys Like Girls was beautiful, 'Two is Better than One' would definitely break all her resistance and make her run for him.
"Your voice was the soundtrack of my summer
Did you know you're unlike any other?
You'll always be my thunder, and I said
Your eyes are the brightest of all the colors
I don't wanna ever love another
You'll always be my thunder
So bring on the rain
And bring on the thunder."
This was too much. Just too much.
"Bolton, how dare you?" she barked as soon as the song stopped.
"How dare I what?" her ex-boyfriend inquired, an amused smile on his face.
His cocky smirk was irritating her and so she decided to make it go away.
"OW!" Troy yelled, clutching his now throbbing cheek.
"That was for cheating on me with a blonde," she said.
She stomped on his foot, hard.
"That was for making me mess up my first exam."
She hit him on the arm.
"That was for making me kiss and hug you earlier. And this is for singing this song when you know it makes me melt," Gabriella finished, slapping his other cheek.
Feeling satisfied with her speech, the brunette walked away, with the big crowd of students hollering behind her.
"Whoah, Gabriella what happened?" Sharpay questioned upon hearing the noise.
"Your best friend's just being unfair, that's all."
"What did he do?" the blonde asked, dreading the worst.
"He's been singing to me, all day!" she exclaimed. "He's been following me, with a microphone in his hand singing to me cute songs and-and the whole school's playing back-ups."
"He's doing what?" Sharpay asked, shocked.
"Singing! And I hate it 'cause he makes it harder to stay mad at him."
"He's been singing to you, non-stop?"
"Yes! And I can't take it anymore! He cheated; shouldn't he be too embarrassed to approach me?" she questioned to herself.
"I'm stunned, I really am. Wow, my best friend. The heartless jerk, the shallow, materialistic asshole that I call my best friend actually knows how to make things right. Who knew?" she stated, her eyes sparkling in pride.
"Can you tell him to stop please?" Gabriella pleaded her.
"Uh, I'll do what I can," Sharpay replied, still distracted.
"Thanks," the brunette nodded walking away.
As soon as Gabriella was out of sight, Sharpay walked up to her best friend and told him:
"You've been serenading Gabriella?"
"Well yeah. I mean, you always told me I had a nice voice and well, I figured I would use it to my advantage," Troy grinned happily, obviously proud of himself, not at all fazed by the abuse he'd received moments earlier.
"What have you been singing anyway?"
"Oh, you know. Chick songs. You know, like Hannah Montana, Iyaz, Boys like Girls, I tried Justin Bieber, but she wouldn't let me."
Sharpay's mouth dropped.
"Are you serious?"
"Well yeah."
"You are sooo fucking corny!" she exclaimed slapping his arm.
"Hey! We are corny okay? We're the cheese kind of couple. Sue us for being so awesomely cute together."
"You mean 'so awesomely gag-worthy' right?" the blonde replied drily.
"You're just fucking jealous over how good we are together."
"Yeah sure. Coming from the guy who's just been dumped by his eleven day girlfriend right?"
His eyes narrowed and she just knew he would bite her head off, so she quickly said:
"Anyway, I'm not here for that. As much as you feel the need to get Gabriella back, we also need to take care of the other part of the plan."
He just blankly stared at her.
"Which plan?" he asked, making her sighed in annoyance.
"You know, the Gabriella-conspiracy," she answered quietly, making sure no one else would hear.
"What consp… Oh yeah! Okay, let's do this."
They started to make their way out of the school toward the parking lot when they saw the girl-who-kissed-Troy-thus-ended-his-relationship-with-Gabriella.
"Evans, long pass," he hissed.
"Behind her?" Sharpay made sure, having noticed her too.
"Yes."
"Got it, let's do this Bolton."
"Are you able to run though?" he asked motioning to her heels.
"I can do freaking ballet in heels with my eyes closed."
Troy only rolled his eyes, and motioned her to move it. His best friend took the message and casually went in the opposite direction, approaching the mysterious blonde from behind.
"Hey, I just wanted to tell you how grateful I am for having kissed me," Troy said loudly, attracting his rival's attention. "I mean, without your help I wouldn't have realised how dumb I was for ever dating Ga… Montez," he continued trying to appear convincing.
"Oh it was no problem," the girl said.
"No really, what the hell was I thinking? I date blondes, not brunettes! I mean, blondes are soooo much better you know. With like the uh blonde hair and everything," he declared, checking discreetly behind the girl's head to see if his best friend was in position; she was. "So uh, can I take you out to see a movie sometimes?"
"Sure, Troy."
"Great. Just hand me your phone, I'll give you my number," he suggested.
He fought the urge to smile as she obliged. The girl was so easy to fool. As soon as she passed him her cell phone, Troy took a step back and yelled:
"Pinkie!" before throwing the cell phone at Sharpay.
"Got it Bluey!" she replied catching it effortlessly.
Realising she's been fooled, the mean blond started to run after Sharpay. However, she was already at the car by the time she could reach her. Troy felt elated as he saw her drive toward him; their plan was working.
"Get in Bolton," Sharpay commanded.
As soon as the passenger door was closed, they drove away as fast as they could.
"We did it Evans! We fucking did it! Man, this plan still works even years later," he giggled, excitedly.
"Of course it does. I mean, out of all the schemes we've done over the years, this one works every single fucking time," she said drily.
However he knew she was as elated as him; her eyes didn't lie after all.
"Check her text messages before we get to her house okay?" Sharpay ordered, getting back to business.
He immediately turned on the stolen cell phone and started browsing through it.
"Found anything?" the blonde questioned starting to get impatient.
"Nah. Her inbox is all filled with messages from a girl named Ashley…"
"READ THEM YOU DOOFUS!"
"Geez, no need to yell."
After discovering Ashley was the mastermind behind the Gabriella conspiracy, and that the blonde-girl-who-kissed-Troy-thus-ending-their-relationship was named Lisa; the two best friends had tracked down Ashley's address and were now standing on her porch.
"Is Ashley here?" Sharpay asked Ashley's mom, as soon as the door opened.
"Uh," the older woman blinked, taken back by the blonde's bluntness. "She's at the library studying for her exams. Do you want me to call her?"
"Oh, no need. Is it okay if I just grab the dress she borrowed from me last week? She was going to give it to me tonight, but something came up so I need it right now."
"Sure, go ahead."
She hadn't even finished her sentence that they both rushed past her, and went up the stairs. The two best friends looked through every rooms until they found hers. While Troy, closed the door, Sharpay logged onto Ashley's computer.
"That girl is seriously stupid. I mean, who leaves their account open for everyone to see?" she remarked.
"Oh well, it makes it easier for us," Troy retorted. "Thank God for her stupidity."
-HSM-
Gabriella couldn't sleep. Here she was, in her bed, dressed in her comfortable panda pyjamas, with her eyes closed, not sleeping. The lights were off, she was tucked into the sheets of her bed and her mind kept wandering to Troy.
The only reason why she had been able to sleep the night before was because she had become exhausted from all the tears she had been shedding because of his betrayal. Now, she still saw him kissing that girl over and over again, but she also saw him singing to her like he had done earlier.
Just like she did whenever she couldn't fall asleep, she started to hum a tune:
"Every night in my dreams
I see you, I feel you
That is how I know you go on."
This set her at ease. Céline Dion set her at ease. She would never admit it to anyone, but she loved the Canadian singer. Nobody knew about her guilty pleasure and nobody was meant to find out; least of all her ex-boyfriend. He would surely have a field day with this information and make fun of her merciless. Damn him.
"Near, far, wherever you are
I believe that the heart does go on
Once more, you open the door
And you're here in my heart
And my heart will go on and on."
This song from Titanic never failed to make her cry when she was younger. Tonight for the first time in years this song haunted her. Maybe it was because she felt like her ship/heart, had sunk, and she had lost her Jack/Troy.
Suddenly, she heard rustling in her backyard from the opened window.
"Y'all need to get ready to hear"
What the hell? Gabriella quickly got up.
"The unbelievable, indescribable"
Was that?
"Troy Bolton
Baby T!"
"Troy what are you doing?" she groaned pushing open the door to her balcony doors.
There, standing under the tree beside her balcony was Troy, mike in hand, with a blasting speaker at his feet.
"Everyday, I try to play, another game
But my heart can't take it.
I try to find another girl,
But all the while, I can't face it."
He sang making weird gestures with his arms to accompany the lyrics.
"You're off-key!" Gabriella exclaimed.
"Why do I miss you so much?
I wanna stop this hurt inside
Oh baby please, give us one more try," he continued, not hearing her.
"Bolton you're gonna wake up the whole town," she stated, although she couldn't stop an amused smile from spreading onto her face.
"I see you out with all your friends
Laughin' it up as you pretend
To have a good time,
I know 'cause I'm living the same lie"
"Keep it down will you?" they heard a neighbour bellowed loudly from the house next to them.
"Sorry man, not until my baby forgives me," Troy responded through the mike.
"So one of us has got to say
We can't keep living this same way
So I'll be the one
Yeah I'll say it, I'll say it, I'll say, I'll say it again," he sand, unfazed by the previous interruption
"Troy, he's probably gonna call the cops," Gabriella said.
"Baby come back to me
In my heart I still believe
We were meant to be
Together so whatever it takes"
She couldn't help it, she started to laugh at his obnoxious, loud, off-key, over the top singing.
"Baby come back to me
I should have never set you free
My baby
Come back."
"With this voice of yours, if I was your baby I would never go back to you!" the neighbour yelled.
"Thank God you're not her then," Troy retorted simply.
"I wanna call, but then I stall
'Cause after all, I just couldn't take it
'Cause if you play was to push me away
You know that day, my heart you'd break it
I know we made a mistake
Can't you stop your foolish pride
And come back to me
Let's try, let's try, let's try, let's try it again," he sang cheerfully.
"Oh my God Troy," Gabriella said shaking her head, slightly embarrassed by his antics.
"Baby come back to me
In my heart I still believe
We were meant to be"
"I'm calling the cops!"
"Fuck off man!" Troy barked back. "Can't you just let me try to win back my girl?"
"No! I've got work tomorrow."
Gabriella quietly started to giggle at their banter, especially since the instrumental was still playing in the background.
"Damn it, I missed most of the chorus. Sorry baby," her ex apologised, to which the girl in question just waved off.
"You know you miss your baby T
And I can see that you think about me
So why do you act like you don't care
Like all this love between us isn't there
I know that you're upset
I know I did you wrong
I know that you want me to pay for all the pain
I've caused
But in the end it all comes down to just one thing,
It's you and me
So I sing," he got back into rhythm.
As much as she enjoyed seeing him making a fool out of himself for her, she didn't want him to purposely get in trouble with the law and so she quickly ran back inside.
"Babyyyyy!
Baby come back to me
In my heart I still believe
We were meant to b… Hey!" he protested insulted when his music was turned off.
While he had been singing very enthusiastically into the mike, he had failed to see Gabriella had walked outside.
"Thank you!" the neighbour cried out.
"I wasn't done!" Troy whined.
Gabriella rolled her eyes and dragged him inside.
"As interesting as the sight of you singing a Vanessa Hudgens song was, I don't want you to get arrested," she said.
"You still care about me?" he inquired, eyes sparkling in joy.
"Obviously," she rolled her eyes. "How could I not? I may be mad at you for your lack of judgement, but uh, I don't believe this stupid action makes you a bad guy. This tonight proves it."
"I don't care if I'm going to get arrested. I'll be out there singing my ass off until you realise how sorry I am," Troy admitted. "I don't care if I spend the rest of the night in a jail cell for disturbing neighbours, 'cause as long as you'll think I'm into another girl, I'll do whatever it takes to prove you otherwise."
Gabriella felt her insides melting at his sincere tone.
"I don't know if it's because you're incredibly annoying or if it's 'cause I'm really stupid, but I'm not mad at you. Not anymore, that is. As much as I try to be, after all, you did cheat, the fact you've followed me all day serenading me is just... out-of-this world. And you did all this; you went through all the trouble of finding a guitarist and brought speakers in my backyard, just to apologize. How could I not forgive you?" she smiled.
A huge grin spread onto his face. And within seconds she found herself crushed onto his chest.
"Oh God, I'm so so happy," Troy declared. "Thank you, thank you, thank you."
"But, Troy, I may have forgiven you, but we're not back together."
"I know," he shrugged. "I never was expecting that, even in my wildest dreams. Of course, I still want you to be my girl again, but right now, this suits me just fine," he grinned.
She sent him a nice smile in response.
-HSM-
Sorry for the long wait, I had a mild case of writer's block. The songs used in this chapter were: 'Solo,' by Iyaz, 'Up in Da Club,' by 50 Cent, 'Thunder,' by Boys Like Girls, 'My Heart Will Go On,' by Céline Dion, and, of course, 'Come Back to Me,' by the unbelievable, indescribable, Vanessa Hudgens.
Hopefully you guys are still reading this. Only 4 chapters left!
Reviews would be much appreciated.