"My body is shot."

Gabriella's eyes look up from the yellow tinted paper to look down at the body that was lying on the floor. The blonde's skin was almost the color of the paper in Gabriella's hand. Her eyes were closed as her gray tank top was a little off-centered, along with her sweatpants as well. She couldn't remember the last time Sharpay actually wore sweatpants, so it was obvious to Gabriella that she had the biggest hangover probably of her life.

"That's what happens when you get trashed Shar." The dark girl states as Gabriella looks to see Taylor was sitting on the small bed with another small figure whose eyes were scanning a paper that looked exactly like the one Gabriella was holding. The only difference was that the small girl wearing glasses didn't let her eyes leave the paper and looked panicked.

"Can you not yell? Thanks Mom." Sharpay says with a sarcastic voice that makes Gabriella roll her eyes.

Her mind was spinning from the events that happened last night. Not that it hadn't been spinning already, but the DVD of her and Troy's life was going on a repeat cycle. Her lips still tingled a little from the sensation of his being pushed up against hers. It of course was just her imagination, but it still didn't take away from the feeling. His hands on her body, everything. She had waited so long, too long. Most people would be running to him.

But Gabriella was never like most girls.

"Why didn't you stop me?" Sharpay asks while Taylor rolls her eyes.

"Sober Sharpay doesn't even listen to anything we say…" Taylor states. "Wasted Sharpay is like dealing with hell."

Sharpay tries to glare up at her, but her face doesn't change much since she was still squinting. "Go study Biology or something."

The dark girl rolls her eyes again and then looks over at Gabriella and Kelsi. "So when do you two have to leave?" Taylor asks in a hushed tone. Gabriella suddenly hears a loud groan and then a "thump" as one of the white pillows that were on the floor comes crashing over Sharpay's head. Her face was covered by it as she was moaning loudly, probably suffering from the biggest headache of her life.

They were sitting in Kelsi's room since Kelsi and Gabriella had to leave in a few hours to go to auditions for choir. Kelsi was struggling with songs that she had to play for other people, while Gabriella couldn't get the sound of her own song right. To her, she gave off the nails on the chalkboard sound with each note that was sung. It also didn't help that all she could think about was what she wanted with the chestnut brown haired boy, and the song was called "We'll Be Together". Not helping.

"Auditions start at three." Kelsi says in almost a rehersed tone as she makes a pen mark on the sheet of paper she was looking at. "I have to be there by two-thirty for 'cleansing of the pianist' or whatever Darbus' crazy idea is."

Gabriella nods, knowing it was true about her crazy ideas. "And I'm going with her." She says while picking up the tan colored rubber band that was sitting on her wrist and snaps it. How could she audition with a song that sounded like pigs and what she wanted to do about Troy on her mind right now? Her head was telling her to wait, but her heart… her heart was begging for his kisses again. Which meant her other organ in between her legs was also begging for his kisses, and so much more. "I can't sit still for more then like an hour." She states while Sharpay finally removes the pillow from her head, only to squint into the sunlight coming through the windows.

"Oh please." She says in an annoyed tone. "You obviously could stay in the bathroom last night."

Gabriella's face blushes immediately. Of course, she had told the three what happened after she left the basement last night, figuring that Troy told all the guys also. "Shar… drop it." Taylor warns in a defiant voice.

"Whatever." She responds while squinting up at Gabriella. "It's not like you didn't want it."

Gabriella bites her bottom lip. She was right. She was completely right. She wanted it. And she still wanted it, plus so much more. She needed him, but how could she do it? The fear of him being in control of her was overcoming her. He could change his mind about her in a second. He did about Olivia, didn't he? "It doesn't matter ok? I've got to get this song…" She says while looking at the lyrics, wanting to throw up after doing so. "I can't turn mine off? What is my heart, a TV or something?"

Finally, Kelsi lifts up her head to let the sunlight on her glasses reflect as she stares at Gabriella. "Can I take a look?" She asks timidly, in the voice Kelsi always talks in. Gabriella slowly hands the sheet over for her to look at.

There was silence in the room, except for the occasional moans erupting from Sharpay. Gabriella looks over at Taylor, who just rolls her eyes at their overly dramatic friend and then looks back to Kelsi to see her eyebrows were narrowed beneath her glasses. She could almost hear the clock ticking. It was just under an hour and a half until auditions and she was no where ready. Not if this song sounded like Sharpay on the floor right now.

After what felt like forever, Kelsi finally looks up from the paper and sighs. "The song is cute…" She says while handing the paper back to Gabriella. "But you never do anything cute. You're bored." Her quiet tone says while she takes off her glasses. "That's why it sounds like a dying cat. It's a boring, easy song. You need something with passion." She wipes the glasses on her navy blue long sleeved shirt.

Gabriella's body tenses. "What? It's a bad song!" Her eyes immediately dart to the clock. Her heart was starting to beat a little faster with her nerves starting to act up. This wasn't good. Not good at all. "What am I supposed to do? We have to leave in an hour and a half!"

Kelsi sighs and puts her glasses on. She places her hand out to Gabriella as if to calm her down, even though that wasn't going to happen anytime soon. What was she going to do? "Try to calm down." Kelsi instructs, which surprises Gabriella since she usually never took charge with anything. "We can work with it I guess." She says, but didn't look hopeful. It wasn't that Gabriella didn't believe she'd get a solo, but it was more the fact that she needed this to be perfect. Singing is what saved her life during her eating disorder; she couldn't loose control of that too.

Gabriella shakes her head and looks up to the ceiling. "It's useless… don't even bother."

Her eyes close. How could everything slip from her so quickly? It seemed like she was falling in a well, and there were no sides to grip onto to climb back up. But what she didn't know was that in the well, there was a hand reaching from the top to pull her up. A hand with a scarlet ring on its finger.

Kelsi sighs as she looks down at the pile of songs below her. Suddenly, Gabriella watches hopelessly as her eyes narrow a little and then her hands shuffle through the yellow papers that were sitting there. "Wait…" She says while her fingers were working magic. Taylor was staring at her while Gabriella had a curious, yet slightly anxious look on her face. "Got it…" She says while pulling out a sheet of paper. This sheet was completely white, unlike the other yellowish tinged ones. It also looked a lot sturdier then the other ones, like it could have been construction paper. "Here."

Gabriella picks up the sheet and her stomach flips. Horror was stricken across her features as she looks up at Kelsi. "'Don't you dare?' Kels, I can't learn a new song in an hour and a half!"

Panic was officially surging through her veins. "Yes you can. It's either that or screeching cats." Kelsi says while pointing towards the other sheet of music. Gabriella holds up both of them, reading the lyrics on the new song. "I wrote that. And I think you'll be able to relate."

Her hands felt heavy as she held the papers. She had a decision to make. Keep the old one, which was safe, what she was used to. She wouldn't have to worry about unexpected turns, because this one she had down to each note. But the other. The other song was more powerful, more exciting. It was stronger, and it her in a more emotional way. Kind of like the decision she had to make with Troy.

The only problem is she didn't know which was scarier, doing something new and dangerous, or not doing anything at all.


"Dude, you're an idiot."

Troy looks up at the guy with the huge afro in front of him. He shrugs and continues to dry his hair off with the white towel he was holding. "Probably." He mutters while glancing up in the mirror to make sure his hair wasn't standing up. His bright yellow t-shirt really wasn't complimenting with his back basketball shorts, making him feel like a bumble bee. He also had a shadow above his lip from where he hadn't shaven that morning. But it wasn't his fault. He wasn't planning on doing this before he had gotten to basketball that afternoon.

"No… not probably, you are." Chad says while taking a couple steps forward and lowering his voice. "She said she needed a couple days, and here you go, prancing trying to whisk her away. Dude, it's just gonna scare her off."

He glances back at Chad and shakes his head. "No dude. It's not like that. I wasn't even gonna stay, but Jason wants to watch Kelsi." He says while glancing in the mirror to see that the rest of the guys were still changing.

He had told Chad what happened immediately after Gabriella ran out of the bathroom after he had gotten up off her last night. He had neither seen, nor talked to her since the bathroom scene, keeping true to his word. This morning, he had called Zeke and talked to him about it, since Zeke usually had good advice. But he hadn't mentioned it to Jason, because he seemed to have the worst hang over of his life, since he was the only one besides Sharpay who was completely smashed last night.

They had just gotten done with basketball practice, since they seemed to be the only sport who would have to come in and practice during winter break, not that Troy minded much. It also just so happened that the auditions for choir started a half hour ago, and Jason asked him to stay to watch Kelsi, since he didn't realize Troy shouldn't be talking to Gabriella. But Troy didn't have to worry about Olivia, since he remembered her saying she wasn't going to try out because she wasn't as passionate about singing, and just did choir for fun.

"It doesn't matter man. You're gonna be so fucked." He says while Troy shakes his head.

"No… I'm not. I'm not going to mention anything about well… us." He says while sighing and leaning up against the white wall of the locker room to wait for Jason to slowly change. "Best friend Troy is going to the auditions today."

Chad rolls his eyes at the stupidity of how that sounded, and Troy knew it after it came out of his mouth. "So what's the other Troy then? Horny Troy?"

It was Troy's turn to rolls his eyes as Chad laughs. "Shut up man."

"You know it's true." He responds and then pauses, for a couple seniors walk past Troy giving him a small wave. "If that dude hadn't knocked on the door, you know something would have happened."

The piercing blue eyes move away from the almost black as he looks at the ground. He knew that there was no way he'd be able to stop himself if things started to get taken further with Gabriella. But the question that was circling his mind was, would she have stopped him? His head was telling him yes, of course she would have. But his heart knew otherwise, and he just had to touch that part of her to convince her that they needed to be together.

He was angry when she first said that she needed to think things through. Hadn't she been thinking about things while she avoided him? Why were they going through this same cycle all over again? Something told him she was afraid. Afraid he'd break her heart. Or maybe she was afraid that if they took things to the next level, they wouldn't be able to be best friends anymore. Which was completely wrong, because whatever happens, Troy would always be there for her, no matter what.

"Dude, where's my shoe?" A groan says as Troy's head looks to see that Jason was looking around the locker-room with his head down. His usually pale skin was even paler as he looked like he could pass out at any moment.

"Found it!" Zeke's voice could be heard from around the lockers as he comes out holding a white sneaker.

"You look awful man." Chad says while clapping Jason on the shoulder, only to find that the light boy stumbles a little.

"Thanks." Jason says sarcastically while placing his shoe on and attempts to tie it.

"So we're practicing early tomorrow right?" Zeke asks to conferm if it was true or not. Troy nods his head slowly as he continues to lean up against the white wall with his foot propped up behind him.

"Yeah. My dad wants us to be out of here by like eight." He says thinking of how tomorrow night he was going to have to spend it with the family, even though the only one he could think about was Gabriella. Would she even want to hang out on Christmas? Christmas Eve was tomorrow, and it was tradition for them to hang out on Christmas, give each other presents, the whole deal. Would they still do it if Gabriella couldn't trust just being with him?

"Ok… I think I'm ready." Jason announces while Troy smirks his bright white smile.

"You sure man? We can pace it there." He jokes while Jason glares at him slightly.

"Shut up." He responds while the four guys walks towards the entrance of the locker room.

After saying goodbye to Chad and Zeke, the two guys walk towards the other side of the school to head to the auditorium. Troy's knees were shaking as they walked. He was going as her best friend, but what happens if she yells at him for coming? What if she tells him he had just ruined every chance he had at having her because he was a stalker? What if she never wanted to talk to him again?

They open the tan doors to the theater and Troy immediately feels a change of atmosphere. East High was mostly about the incredible sports that were played there, but the talent on stage was just as good as the basketball team itself. Only one small girl who looked like a freshman was standing on stage. There were about twenty students sitting in the first two rows of the audience with a big woman in satin robes standing up now. She seemed to be in mid-sentence when Troy suddenly hears a slam behind him, and his head immediately spins around to see Jason had a sheepish look on his face, forgetting to be quiet when closing the door.

"… Next time, sing more in your rage and you'll…" Darbus' dreamy voice that could be pointed out a mile away stops as she turns around, with the rest of the choir class except for a few. Kelsi, who was sitting at the piano, suddenly beams while her eyes were on the two. Troy suddenly feels his face become hot as he tries to scan faces, seeing a lot of the girls looking angry, and then blushing when realizing who it was. But his eyes were set for only one girl, who didn't seem to be turned around right now, but he could point out the beautiful black curly locks out anywhere. "Nice going." Troy says out of the corner of his mouth while him and Jason find seats in the back row of the audience.

"Sorry." Jason mutters back as Troy keeps his eyes on the girl who wouldn't turn around. He knew it was because she always had to be focused before singing, and wouldn't let anything distract her. Singing was so important to her; most people had no idea except him.

"…the theater does not tolerate loud noises during performances…" Ms. Darbus says while staring down the two boys with her bug eyed glasses. Troy sinks in his seat as Jason mutters an apology; though there was no way she would be able to hear it. "Anyways… Travis and Rachael!"

'Look behind you. Just turn around.' Troy almost begs with Gabriella in his head, but knew it was useless. They could usually read each other's minds, but Troy was starting to get crazy thinking that maybe she'd be able to hear him inside her head. He looks up to the stage to see a small girl who looked scared with a guy who looked confident. His eyes were on the back of Gabriella's head while the piano starts to play. He doesn't even notice the girl's hands lift up the microphone.

"Am I heading for disaster?"

Troy's body suddenly freezes. That was the song. The song that started all of this. His eyes immediately lift up from Gabriella's head to see that the girl was still singing timidly. He couldn't help but realize how gorgeous Gabriella's voice was compared to this girl. And he wasn't going to lie, his voice sounded so much better than the guys too. But maybe that was just because he sang it with the voice of an angel. Gabriella seemed to have noticed too, because the black locks spring up and look at the stage.

The two finish and then take a bow. The rest of the theater claps a little while Darbus stands up and smiles. "Bravo! Brava!" She also looks to the girl who Troy was staring at also and smiles brightly at her. "You two really turned it around. Now onto solos, next!"

Troy's eyes remain on Gabriella's body for the next two performers. Couldn't she just look around? Look at the clock in the back of the theater or something? Almost as though his prayer was answered, the girl sitting next to Gabriella suddenly nudges her shoulder. Troy could see her head look up from whatever she was looking at. The girl nods to the back of the theater and almost as if in slow motion, Gabriella's head finally turns around. The piercing ocean blue connect with the deep chocolate brown, to see her own eyes grow wide and then she immediately turns around, sinking in her seat a little.

Oh no. That couldn't be good. She didn't want him there. It was obvious. She didn't want him and now would probably never talk to him again. Troy sinks in his own seat, feeling his heart drop to the floor. She hated him. What was he, stupid? Why didn't he just listen to Chad?

"Er… thank you Emily." Ms. Darbus says while waving her hand as if to wave the girl away from her sight. She looks down at a sheet of paper and Troy could almost hear the smile on her face. "Ms. Montez, could you maybe show us why we gather to listen to performers?"

Troy's stomach flips at the sound of Gabriella's name. He watches as the girl timidly stands up. She moves to the side and begins walking, Troy noticing how thin she actually was. Why did she ever believe she needed to loose weight? She was perfect the way she was, perfectly curved. God, he'd give anything to run his hands over to bare body. Just to be able to hold her in his arms would be enough to satisfy him for a lifetime.

Gabriella's ballet flats echo against the steps as she runs up them to the stage. As she reaches the top, she straightens out her jean skirt a little and then her three quarter sleeved length navy blue knit top. Her feet briskly take her to the center where the microphone was. Troy watches as the deep brown eyes look at the small girl sitting at the piano, who gives her a reassuring smile. Jason says something next to him, but Troy wasn't paying attention; he couldn't take his eyes off her. She grabs the microphone with her small right hand as Kelsi's fingers begin to move on the piano, also giving her a small nod in encouragement. Gabriella's eyes were closed, until she opens her mouth and looks blankly at the wall behind Troy.

Dark cloud moving in,

Just one fall of rain could wash away

Wash away the pain

Her voice was worthy of angels. Troy could see her body shaking a little, proving to him how nervous she actually was. But what was catching his attention was the emotion that was laced into her voice. Was this from all the emotion that he was feeling too about everything going on between them right now?

Just one ray of sun

To warm my skin

Rid me of the cold you're drowning in

He couldn't help but feel a deeper side of him being touched at this moment. If he would have looked around, he would have seen all of the people sitting in the audience staring at her like she was Mariah Carey. But he wasn't looking at anyone else. The only one he could see right now was the girl on the stage. Her eyes close for a moment, then open up as they lock on the piercing blue, shocking him a little.

I could say that I don't care

But the truth is I'd follow you anywhere

I've been waiting such a long long time

Don't you dare change, your mind.

That was it. This was about him. She didn't know if she chose this because of him, but it was completely about him and he knew it. Her eyes wouldn't leave his through the entire refrain, but finally close before she looks to the ground for a moment. It was about how she was scared. That's all it had to do with.

Don't wander round looking for someone to replace me

Don't wander round wasting the rest of your life

Don't wander round waiting for someone else to save you

And don't you make the same mistake… twice

Right before the word "twice" comes out of her mouth, her eyes lock onto Troy's again. He lowers his head a little, as if to look at her through the brows of his eyes, promising her he'd never do that. It was clear to Troy now. She was afraid that he was going to suddenly change his mind about her. Like how he liked Olivia, then suddenly he didn't anymore. But this was different. Because he loved Gabriella, no matter what. No one would ever replace her. Never.

I could say that I don't care

But the truth is I'd follow you…

I've been waiting such a long long time

Don't you dare change, your mind

Her voice suddenly gets powerful. It fills the room as her eyes close, probably not able to hold the emotion. Troy's body almost feels like it could be lifted off of the red theater chair. All he wanted to do was run up down the aisle and up to the stage to lift her up and kiss her, promising he'd never leave her. He'd never stop loving her. No matter if it was best friend, or lover, he'd never stop loving her.

The noise of the piano fills the room one last time before there was a moment of silence. The deep brown eyes and the ocean blue were locked on each others while Gabriella takes a step back from the microphone. Suddenly, Troy stands up in the back row and puts his hands together, making a "clap". He does it again, and then suddenly hears the rest of the auditorium erupt in applause. She smiles a closed smile as her eyes finally rip away from Troy's to look at Kelsi, who gives her a thumbs up.

For the next half hour, no one else's performance came close to being as good as Gabriella's. It seemed that everyone else was so intimidated by how good she sang, that they didn't even attempt to beat her. After what felt like forever, Darbus says her closings, then walks out through the doors as the rest of the choir plus Troy and Jason stand up. Kelsi walks down the stage to meet Gabriella, and Troy's stomach was in knots. Both he and Jason walk down the aisle until they reach the bottom, where the two girls were looking at them. The blue and the brown connect, as his body was shaking once again. This was it.

"You did amazing!" Jason says while pulling Kelsi into a hug. She returns it and the shrugs.

"Thanks." She says and then glances at Gabriella. "It's this girl who should be getting the glory."

Gabriella's eyes move away from Troy's as she looks at the ground modestly. "It was alright for putting together in an hour." She says while still staring at the floor. He wanted to say something, but his mouth seemed to be completely dry. He was an idiot.

"You…" He finally manages to get out. Gabriella's head lifts up to meet his eyes once again. "You're beautiful…" He says looking at her to see her skin was glowing. The piercing blue eyes grow wide at realizing what he just said and he shakes his head. "I mean sang… You sang beautifully." He says while leaning towards her and dropping his voice a little, trying not to be threatening.

Her mouth opens, not looking angry at all, which made Troy relieved. "Thanks."

Troy gives her a smile, trying to convince her with all of his heart that he would never leave her if they got together. He wanted her to be in his favor, but didn't want to push it too hard. "And just so you know…" He says in a more quiet tone while glancing to see that Kelsi and Jason were too wrapped up in their selves to be paying attention. "I wouldn't dare change my mind."

Gabriella's eyes gloss over for a second, before she closes them and nods. "I'm starting to believe that. But I've been waiting so long Troy…" She says while opening them again. "I won't get hurt. I can't. You know I can't."

Troy nods slowly and gives her a small smile. "I know. That's why you can trust me." He says while taking a step back. "I'll see ya later." He says while taking two more steps back with their eyes locked, then turns around and walks towards the exit.