CHAPTER 37: AGAIN?

"Hey Dad," Troy said walking into Robert's office and Robert looked up.

"Hey," Robert replied. Troy sat down in the chair on the other side of Robert's desk and put his feet on the desk. Robert shot him a glare and Troy chuckled before putting his feet down.

"Anyways," Troy started. "I did some more research on colleges and I have a first choice…" At this a grin instantly appeared on Robert's face.

"And?" he asked in anticipation.

"I really like Georgetown. And I'm not saying that just because Gabi likes it. I really do want to get an education and I can tell that it isn't the type of school that lets their athletes get away with everything. They've done really well in the tournament the past few years. And come on Dad, THE Allen Iverson went there! A.I.!" He exclaimed getting excited, sitting up in his chair. "9-time All-Star, MVP, future hall of famer…"

"I know Troy," Robert chuckled.

"So you'll look into it?" Troy asked.

"I'll make some calls," he replied and Troy smiled. "But…" Troy rolled his eyes and Robert glared at him. "You have to promise to look at a few other schools."

"Which ones," Troy asked.

"Duke," Robert said and Troy nodded. "UNC, Kansas, Florida, Memphis, UCLA."

"Ok…" Troy replied and Robert smiled, "except for UCLA."

"Why not? You want a school with titles and legends?! Do you know how many…"

"Of course I do. But I cant go back there," Troy said seriously and Robert sighed.

"It is all the way across town. No where close to where you grew up," Robert replied.

"Yeah, but what happens when we go to USC, which is 5 minutes from where I grew up. You're the one who got me out of that. If anyone would understand it would be you," Troy replied desperately.

"Ok," Robert replied, now understanding where Troy was coming from.

"Thanks," Troy said.

"No problem," Robert replied and Troy left. He went up to Gabriella's room and flopped down on her bed, where she was sitting.

"Guess what?" he asked.

"What?"

"I just told Dad what my first choice school is," Troy informed her.

"Yeah?" she asked with a smile. "What is it?"

"Georgetown," he replied with a wide smile. Her smile became wider and she couldn't help but squeal. He laughed as she hugged him tightly, and of course returned the hug.

"But wait…" she said seriously and his laughter ceased and he looked at her confused. "What if we don't get in?"

"You are a straight A student who scored 2200 on her SATs," Troy replied looking at her like she was crazy.

"Yeah, and I bet most of the applicants applying there did as well," she protested. "It takes more than that! You have to be well rounded!"

"Ella you do way too many extra curricular activities and have more community service hours than a normal human being," he replied.

"Hey! I like working at the animal shelter!" she exclaimed, pouting.

"I know baby," he chuckled. "But what I meant, is I don't think you will have a problem getting in."

"You never know Troy!" Gabriella exclaimed.

"Ok," he laughed.

--

"So you guys excited?" Robert asked and Troy and Gabriella glared at him, which made him laugh. Today was the college fair that came to Albuquerque for the weekend, for East, West, North, and West High. North and East High were scheduled to go on Saturday, since the schools were smart enough to not only put kids from rival schools into one room, but to put them in a room together in front of some of the best colleges in the country. "I swear to god you are the only teenagers not excited to go to college."

"Oh we are excited to go to college trust me," Gabriella replied.

"We just aren't excited for the process," Troy finished.

"Well you guys shouldn't worry. You are both very smart and any college would be crazy not to accept you," Maria said.

"You're our mom, you have to say that," Gabriella replied.

"No I don't and if you ask anyone else they will tell you that I'm right," she replied.

"Whatever," Gabriella replied.

"Ok well you two need to go get ready, we should get there early. And please wear something that will make a good impression." Robert said. They both nodded and got up to get ready.

The four walked into the Albuquerque convention center to see about 50 booths all with huge signs of the name of the school and about 50 kids and parents. Robert had insisted that they get there early so they could spend as much time at the booths and get as much individual attention as possible.

"Look!" Gabriella exclaimed. "There's Georgetown!" They all looked to see a booth that had a big sign that read 'Georgetown' in blue and grey.

"Ok," Robert replied. The four walked over to the booth, Troy and Gabriella a step in front of Robert and Maria.

"Hi! I'm Gabriella Montez!" She said in a very cheery tone that made the Georgetown rep smile.

"Richard Stagler, it's nice to meet you Gabriella," he smiled back, shaking the hand she has stuck out as soon as she had introduced herself.

"You as well," she smiled back and he looked to Troy.

"Troy Bolton, nice to meet you," Troy said shaking his hand.

"You too," Richard replied just as Maria walked up.

"You must be Gabriella's parents," Richard said, noticing the resemblence.

"We sure are, and Troy's legal guardians as well," Robert said.

"Oh!" Richard replied surprised. "Well in that case, I'm Richard Stagler, I'm an admissions officer at Georgetown."

"It's very nice to meet you. I'm Robert, and this is my wife Maria."

"Nice to meet you. So are you two are interested in Georgetown?" Richard asked.

"Yeah! It's our first choice!" Gabriella exclaimed. The all couldn't help but smile at Gabriella's enthusiasm.

"Really? You as well Troy?"

"Yeah. I wanna play basketball there," he replied.

"Wow. Are you looking to get recruited?"

"Yeah. Definitely."

"Ok, and what about you Gabriella? Why do you like Georgetown?"

"It's everything in a school I want. The academics, the campus life, and I really want to be in D.C."

"Are you interested in politics?"

"Very," she replied.

"Well if there is one school that can get you a first hand look at that it is Georgetown," Richard replied.

"That's exactly what I want," she replied and he smiled.

"What else besides basketball interests you about Georgetown?"

"Well I want a school that doesn't let its athletes slide by. I want any education and I feel Georgetown will do that."

"You're correct. We don't give our athletes any special treatment when it comes to academics."

"Good."

"Do you guys have any questions?"

"Is there anything we can do besides send in a highlight tape for Troy?"

"Well first you should know that Georgetown's basketball program is very prestigious..."

"Our Troy here is the number 17 point guard in the country and not to mention the MVP of East High's champion team," Robert said putting an arm around Troy with a proud smile. All Troy could do was blush.

"Well that is very impressive," Richard replied with a smile.

"Thank you," Troy replied.

"Well, here is the number of the Athletic department, I suggest you contact them as soon as possible," Richard said, handing Robert a card.

"Thanks so much," Robert said.

"No, thank you. It's always great to hear such enthusiasm about Georgetown," Richard said and the four smiled. They said their goodbyes and walked away to go to another booth.

"Look, there is UNC," Robert said and Troy rolled his eyes. "You promised Troy."

"Yeah, yeah," he replied and they all laughed.

--

"Troy here is actually the number 17…" Robert said and Gabriella rolled her eyes. It had been like this for the past half an hour. Robert was practically pimping out Troy to every person that represented a college with a good basketball program. Gabriella looked at her mom who looked at her sympathetically. Maria was smart, had a talent for reading people, therefore she knew that Robert was seriously frustrating Gabriella.

"Do you want to step outside sweetie?" Maria asked in a caring tone, and Gabriella nodded. "Ok, do you want me to come with you?"

"No, I'm okay," she mumbled. Maria nodded and Gabriella walked away. She walked towards the doors, coincidently passing Sharpay and Ashley. The two girls noticed their best friend walk by and looked at each other confused.

"Does she look upset to you?" Ashley asked Sharpay, confused.

"Yeah, plus Gabriella of all people would not walk out on something like this," Sharpay replied.

"You're right," Ashley agreed. "We should go check on her." The girls told their parents they were leaving and walked out of the auditorium. They walked down the hallway and soon saw Gabriella sitting on a bench. She had her hands in her lap and her head down.

"Gabi?" Sharpay said in a caring tone and she looked up.

"Are you okay," Ashley asked as they sat on either side of Gabriella.

"Yeah, of course," she replied with a fake smile. "Why wouldn't I be?"

"Come on Gabi, we can see it in your eyes. Plus you are the last person who would ever walk out of a college fair," Sharpay replied and Gabriella sighed, knowing her friend was right.

"I'm just annoyed that's all," Gabriella admitted.

"What is it?" Ashley asked.

"My Dad. I swear every booth we went to all he talked about was the fact that Troy is the number 17 point guard in the country and was the MVP of the championship game," she replied, tears welling up in her eyes.

"Gabi…" Sharpay started.

"I love Troy. I really do, and I am so proud of him for his accomplishments," she defended, tears now streaming down her face. "But…but it's happening again."

"With your Dad?" Sharpay asked and Gabriella nodded.

"It was as if I wasn't even there. I mean I'm not a girl who needs to be the center of attention, and I don't want to be, but I would like to be noticed for once," Gabriella cried and the girls nodded understandingly. Ashley placed her hand on Gabriella's back and rubbed it lightly, trying to comfort her friend as best as possible. "I have a 4.0 GPA! I got a 2200 on my SATs! And I worked my ass off for it! Why doesn't he care?"

"He does Gabi…" Ashley started but Gabriella cut her off.

"But he doesn't Ash. His face doesn't light up when he talks about me, at least not in the way it lights up when he talks about Troy," Gabriella explained through her tears. "It's kinda ironic in a way."

"What is?" Ashley asked.

"If it wasn't for my Dad, I wouldn't have Troy, who I love and makes me so happy. But if it wasn't for Troy, my relationship with my Dad wouldn't be crumbling," she replied and the girls sighed.

"I know it's hard Gabi. Maybe we should do something to get your mind off of it," Sharpay suggested.

"That's a good idea," Ashley agreed.

"Thanks guys, but I don't know what could make me feel better right now," Gabriella replied, wiping away her tears.

"Not even shopping and a girls night full of makeovers, dressing up, chick flicks, and ice cream?" Sharpay asked and Gabriella smiled.

"Ok," she replied weakly and the girls smiled.

"Yay! Let's go!" Sharpay exclaimed. Ashley and Gabriella giggled and the three girls left the conversation.

Meanwhile…

Maria felt her phone vibrate, reached into her purse and looked to see she had a text message from Gabriella.

Just left with Ash and Shar. We're gonna have a girls night. Love you.

Maria sighed and put it back into her purse. Just then Robert and Troy turned around.

"Where's Gabriella?" Troy immediately asked, confused as to why his girlfriend who was just standing there was now absent.

"She left," Maria replied.

"Why?" Robert asked confused.

"She got bored," Maria replied. "She saw all the schools she wanted to see."

"Ok," Robert replied. "Look! There's Memphis!" Maria sighed sadly as Robert led Troy to the Memphis booth, knowing that nothing good was about to happen.

Please Review!! 1000+ reviews! I'm so excited! That was my goal! Please keep them coming! This chapter was supposed to be up 2 days ago but I wasnt allowed to cause of the Zanessa stories I wrote a while back. So, sorry to all of you who worked hard on Zanessa/Zashley stories and had them deleted. Four of mine were deleted too. I only cared about one of them, but it still sucks.