The Someday Trilogy: This Moment

Chapter 51

It's like you know just how I feel
When you're gone I need to hear you calling out to me
Save this moment
I don't wanna stop it now
I don't want for this to end
Save this moment
I wanna find out how
The story starts, where it ends

John O'Callaghan and Betsie Larkin – 'Save This Moment'


The flight back from California was quiet. It was late Sunday afternoon; Gabriella, Taylor and Elena were on a direct flight from San Francisco International Airport to Albuquerque, via United Airlines. It had been a packed three days for the trio. Their trip earlier in the year to Boston had been a business trip for Elena and the girls had been left mostly to their own devices. But this time around, for Elena the trip to California was purely social, no work related activities or functions, so she had been present almost every step of the way. Elena had fallen asleep almost as soon as the flight home had departed and they were comfortably at cruising altitude. As for Taylor and Gabriella, they were exhausted, physically, but their minds were active, both girls filled with contemplative thought.

For Taylor it was a little simpler – Stanford University was the first campus she'd been at, other than Harvard, where she'd been able to concede that she could see herself attending the facility. Her mind was finally coming to terms with a reality for her freshman year of college that could take place somewhere other than Cambridge, Massachusetts. Taylor had a fairly crystal clear thought process herself, a direct goal, and now a backup option that she was somewhat content with. Gabriella, on the other hand, was a step further back – trying to figure out what she wanted.

"What are you thinking?" Taylor said softly breaking the silence.

Gabriella glanced over at her mother, confirming that she had nodded off, before turning back to Taylor who was seated by the window.

"I'm thinking that I miss Troy," she spoke honestly.

"It must be scary having all the power of your relationship in your hands alone," Taylor commented.

It was a very true statement. Label it what he wanted, Troy had effectively handed her the control stick, the steering wheel, the power to make the decision.

"Troy is so... I don't know when it happened, but suddenly he became the one who is totally together and I'm the hopeless wreck. He knows exactly what he wants and none of it is unreasonable and I'm just this mess of emotions. A part of me thinks I just need to make a decision and stick with it and just let everything around it fall into place."

Taylor shrugged. "Sometimes that might be the best thing. I know you and I normally think rationally but... there is value to just going with your gut and sticking with it."

"My gut keeps changing though."

"Is it your gut though, or your... libido?" Taylor asked tactfully, voice lowering even quieter.

"Taylor!" Gabriella gasped, but then giggled slightly. She shook her head. "Not my libido. But I do feel like I have... I have days where I feel overwhelmed by love and this feeling of devotion where I'd follow him anywhere. But I also have days where my gut seems to listen to my brain more than my heart." Gabriella sighed, and then asked Taylor, "What about you? Your final conclusion?"

Taylor pursed her lips, before confessing quietly, "I know... I know that getting into Harvard isn't a guarantee. I was listening to Sharpay talk about Juilliard one day and it occurred to me that I must sound exactly how she does, just with Harvard. But I do know the statistics, I'm aware of the acceptance standards. It's not a lost cause, but it's not guaranteed. And so... If I don't get into Harvard and I have to go somewhere else... I'm hoping I get into Stanford."

Gabriella nodded. "I thought as much... just the fact that you wanted to come along for this trip alone made me think that."

"You know how you're talking about being confused between your brain and your heart?"

"Yeah?"

Taylor paused. "I can't lie to you – I could hope to get into Columbia, Yale, Brown, Cornell... but if I didn't get into Harvard, Stanford is my next choice and Chad is a large part of that. It's a nice thought to think that he could be a bus ride rather than a plane ride away."

Gabriella nodded. She more than understood that thought. The idea of living somewhere so far away from Troy that just to hug him, to touch him, she'd have to book a plane flight and go across the country – in itself that seemed daunting, without even getting to the point of contemplating how she could live without his perpetual support and the comfort of his presence on a daily basis. The latter was a reality that they would inevitably have to face, regardless of her decision.

"Can I be selfish?" Taylor said, cutting into Gabriella's thoughts. "If I get into Harvard, you have to go to MIT. But if I don't, then go to Stanford. I know that you're gonna have Ryan and Kelsi in New York which is practically next door with cheap bus fares... but they'll soon have new arty friends. And you and I need each other to make sure we don't get sucked into nerd-dom." Taylor smiled lightly at Gabriella. Her tone was joking, but there was truth to her plea, her plea that she and Gabriella should remain nearby.

Gabriella laughed lightly, feeling the tug at her heart. "Don't make this even harder. Troy factoring into my thoughts alone makes it hard enough. You and me, we'll be friends no matter what."

Taylor cocked her head. "You're confident in that, but you don't have that same confidence in you and Troy?"

Gabriella sighed, and groaned slightly. "Tell me what to do, Taylor," she implored. "Because tomorrow I have to walk back into East High and see him and he's going to look at me expectantly, that I should've made some sort of decision, and I just… I just don't know."

"I don't quite understand your fixation with MIT; but if it's the dream then you have to do it. But I would not judge you for letting Troy factor in if there's a part of you which thinks that maybe MIT isn't the dream."

"I don't know what the dream is," Gabriella murmured. "That's the problem."

"It isn't the white picket fence with the perfect boyfriend and a dog?"

"Don't tell anyone, but Troy likes cats more than dogs."

Taylor gave Gabriella a small smile. Troy always had been full of surprises. "His secret is safe with me."


Taylor's mother came to the airport to pick up the trio; it was just before 7pm when Gabriella and Elena were dropped off at their front door. The house was silent, even after just having been away for a few days it had that empty feeling that no one had been there for a few days. Ryan had spent the weekend at his parents' house, at his mother's insistence that he try a 'sleepover' and see how he and his father were able to co-exist. Gabriella dumped her suitcase in her room and then clomped back down the stairs where her mother was busy at work checking to see if they had sufficient supplies to get by for dinner that night and breakfast the next morning.

"Mom?" Gabriella said hesitantly. "I know we just got back but... can I go out?"

Elena's eyebrows furrowed. "Where do you want to... oh." She realised what a silly remark it was. She paused. "Are you sure you want to see him tonight? Maybe do you want to leave it until tomorrow, take some time to think tonight?"

"Um, no I want to see him before we go back to school," Gabriella said honestly.

"Do you know what you're going to say yet?"

"I... I don't know. I just know that I need to see him. Please. Pretty please." Gabriella didn't want to beg, and she understood her mother's concern, but she couldn't explicate it any clearer other than that she had an overwhelming desire to see him. She honestly didn't know what she was going to say, but she just had to see him.

"You can go, but you have to be home by 11," Elena warned carefully. "And please make sure that Lucille is okay with you being there, you do have school tomorrow."

"I will, I promise, thank you!"

Gabriella had felt extremely brave when she'd set out from her own house, her determination fuelling the quick pace of her brisk walk over. Elena had offered to drive her but Gabriella had insisted that she would be fine, it was only a few blocks and she still felt a bit cramped from the time on the plane and she was looking forward to stretching her legs on the walk. However as his house came into view, she felt the bravery dissipating and in its place, the nerves building up. To the point where she was on the side walk in front of Troy's house, pacing backwards and forwards across his driveway.

Just inside, Lucille had been straightening up in the front room and glanced out through the window overlooking the front yard, Gabriella's blue sweater capturing her attention. She frowned slightly, raising her eyebrows at the sight of the pacing young girl in the almost dark, bar the illumination of the streetlight. She went out to the back door, poking her head around the corner to glance into the backyard with no luck. She tried the garage next and surely enough, spied Jack, Troy and Chad all huddled over the engine of Troy's truck.

"Uh, Troy?"

"Yeah mama?" Troy said, a little distracted by the spanner in his hand.

"Uh... Gabriella is outside."

He looked up sharply, questioning whether he'd heard her correctly. "Huh?"

"She's pacing on the driveway," Lucille elaborated.

He swallowed. She'd just gotten home from Stanford, from his calculations and knowledge of the flights they'd taken, and she was already at his house. He couldn't help but feel a sudden pang of optimistic anticipation; but then an equally powerful force of pessimism came in a wave. Perhaps she was there to tell him that Stanford was the last place she wanted to be, and she just wanted to get it out there before they returned to school the following day. Troy hesitated for a moment, before ducking his head back down and staring intently at the engine. "Okay," he said simply.

Chad and Jack exchanged a bit of a glance.

"Okay?" Jack repeated.

"If she wants to talk to me, she'll come to the door," Troy said simply.

He was delaying the inevitable, delaying hearing what he needed to hear. The truth was that he wasn't going to be able to simply work on his truck with knowledge she was outside, for his heart was pounding and he felt his hands trembling a little. There was a distinct possibility that the truth of what his future would hold was just outside, and he was terrified. Limbo had been tragically difficult, but while in limbo, he could retain a sliver of optimistic hope that she would make the right decision – or what he deemed to be the right decision.

"Dude," Chad said disapprovingly. "It's cold out. If she's come here, obviously she wants to talk. And it's dark. You really want her out on the street?"

Troy and Chad's eyes met – Chad knew very well why Troy was hesitating to go outside. It wasn't just a matter of Troy being petulant. There was a chance that Gabriella had come over to tell him that Stanford had been amazing and she was beyond excited to embark upon a magical Californian journey together. However just as likely was the possibility that she was coming over to tell him that Stanford just hadn't been for her. And it was that second scenario which Troy was terrified of. He'd been existing in limbo land – whilst in limbo, there was perpetual hope.

"Just get it over with," was Chad's final piece of sage advice.

Neither Jack nor Lucille had any further advice. They concurred with the simplicity of what Chad had said. It needed to be done. They didn't know what Gabriella was going to say – she was a bright young lady with an incredible future ahead and Jack and Lucille weren't naive; they recognised that there was a distinct possibility that she may think that her future just might not be with their son. If that was the case, the sooner he knew, the sooner they could support him and help him cope.

Troy stopped by the bathroom, quickly washing his greasy hands, before heading to the front room to peer out the window. He spotted the same thing Lucille had earlier – his pacing girlfriend. For a moment by the front door, he imitated her stance, but then swallowed and bit the bullet, creaking open the door.

He stood in the door frame, watching, observing, as she paced across the driveway in the opposite direction. Once she reached the far side, she did an about face and began to pace back, now facing the house. She had been staring at the pavement but spotted him out of the corner of her eye and looked up sharply, seeing him standing there watching her.

With a deep breath, Troy emerged from the door frame and moved toward her. Gabriella took a few steps as well, the couple meeting midway, halfway up the driveway.

"Hi," Troy said softly.

Gabriella swallowed, before returning softly, "Hi."

"How long have you been out here?"

She shrugged. "I'm not sure, really."

"Did you just get back from California?"

"Yes. Taylor's mom picked us all up, and dropped my mom and I at home, and then... and I came here."

They were silent for a moment, only the sound of a slight breeze in the trees, the distant sound of traffic from the closest major road, some crickets chirping. Each had a cautious stance – Troy had his hands shoved deep into the pockets of his blue jeans; Gabriella's arms were crossed, hugging herself.

"Why are you here?" Troy finally asked, the inevitable question coming out.

Gabriella swallowed. It was a fair question. The only answer she had was, "I just... I need to talk to you."

Her answer hadn't served to alleviate Troy's fears as to why she needed to speak to him. He noticed her shiver slightly, and so he asked automatically, "Do you want to go inside?"

She hesitated, wondering if perhaps they were better off remaining outside. Somehow the night air felt a bit freeing – like she had the space and air to think. But she was cold, and observed he'd emerged from the house only in a t-shirt. More so, it was a bit awkward having whatever conversation it was that they were about to have with only the illumination of the moon, stars and streetlight.

So she cautiously nodded and agreed. "Um, okay, sure."

He led the way, Gabriella trailing behind. Her eyes were fixated on his backside without realising that she was actually staring at his ass. When he reached the door and opened it, he stood back and allowed her to enter. It had become such routine, such habit, entering the Bolton household, kicking off her shoes by the door. She waited for Troy – he too slipped off his black scruffy Converse – and he led her through the house. When they reached the kitchen, Gabriella's eyes widened, seeing Troy's parents and Chad standing around in the kitchen. Both Jack and Chad were looking a little grubby with grease marks on their shirts and it suddenly occurred to her that Troy had a similar appearance. She began to put pieces together and flushed, the polite well-mannered portion of herself feeling a little embarrassed for her unannounced visit.

"Oh I um... I interrupted... you have company..." Gabriella said, somewhat awkwardly, not even stringing a full sentence together.

"Oh no, I was just leaving," Chad said quickly. "It was good timing, actually. I knew Tay would be back, so I wanna go home so I can give her a call."

Gabriella still felt a little apologetic, it wasn't like her to come over to someone's house unannounced, although she had found herself doing it with Troy more than once in recent times.

"I'm sorry I didn't call before coming over," Gabriella said, directing the comment toward Lucille and Jack.

"Not a problem honey," Lucille said, smiling brightly.

"Um, we're gonna talk in my room. Okay?"

A quick nod from both his parents confirmed that they were okay with it; or perhaps they had the sense to not try to stop it.

"Uh, so, I'm taking off," Chad said, and glanced at Troy. "Uh Hoops, shoot us a text?"

Troy nodded numbly, but didn't really hear Chad. Without further acknowledgement, he moved in the direction of his room, Gabriella trailing after him with a small smile at Lucille Bolton as she passed. He shut the door behind them, before sitting silently at the end of his bed. He didn't know what to say, how to begin, where they should start.

'So, Gabi, are you here to break up with me?'

'If you could make this quick because there's this TV program I want to catch.'

As she'd left her own house, Gabriella hadn't even been sure of exactly what she wanted to say to him. And then as she'd paced out on the driveway, her mind had still been a flurry of thoughts, decisions, options. The next step she took could potentially frame her entire future. But as he'd emerged and she'd laid eyes upon him in the doorway, staring at her with an expression that was mixed somewhere between hope and trepidation, she had developed an understanding of what she wanted to say – however she couldn't help but be terrified of the words.

She pulled the strap of her messenger bag over her head and dumped it onto the bed beside Troy. Flipping it open, she drew out a folder from which she seized a handful of brochures, which she handed over to him. Troy stared down at them, the lettering was almost a jumble.

"So, um, I went to this like, tourist information desk in San Francisco. I explained to the guy that I needed information about public transport and I gave him the particulars and he started to reel it off so fast that I couldn't keep up. I gather that there are a few options, and that one of the buses actually only runs on weekends, but that either way it would involve a bus plus the BART and maybe another bus somewhere in there, and that there are a few routes, like going through San Francisco proper, or down to San Jose and then up to Berkeley, or just straight across from Palo Alto to Union City and then from there get the BART up to Berkeley. So the 40ish miles, depending on the route, is a bit complicated by public transport but it's not completely impossible."

She finally stopped rambling and went quiet, looking at him expectantly. Troy was wide eyed, still trying to process what she'd told him. He was glancing down at the brochures – mostly public transport timetables but there was also a pamphlet about a San Francisco bus tour, and another about Alcatrez. The information was familiar – he'd researched it himself, after all – but the fact that Gabriella was standing before him, detailing it as though it was of importance was the part that was confusing him. She hadn't actually said what he thought that she was saying and he wasn't sure exactly how to react. He picked up her folder and carefully tucked the brochures back inside, and turned his attention to her, looking directly into her eyes.

"Why exactly are you telling me this?" Troy said slowly, needing to hear her say the words.

Her voice wavered a little, a tone of uncertainty as she answered."I'm telling you because... because... well... because we might need to know about this as of the end of summer vacation."

"You need to say it, Gabriella, or I'm not going to believe it." His tone was urgent, almost frantic. This wasn't something he could afford to mistake or misunderstand.

She closed her eyes momentarily, took a breath, and spoke steadily. "I'm going to accept at Stanford."

The room was silent. Troy was frozen, staring up at her. She looked at him expectantly, waiting for some type of response, acknowledgement that he'd heard her speak.

"I um... I've been waiting to hear you tell me that for like... fuck... well, pretty much since the minute I set foot on the Berkeley campus." Troy was surprisingly calm, which concerned Gabriella a little, but then his next statement provided clear context for his controlled demeanour. "I um... before I react properly, I have to ask you one question."

"Yes?"

"Are you sure?" he looked her in the eye. It was such a simple question, but in many ways it was the most important question he could ask. He couldn't help but think that it was going to be torn away, that she'd change her mind, realise she was compromising herself. And so he had to ask, those three little words, to convince himself that maybe, just maybe, the scenario that was beginning to form in his imagination could become a reality.

She paused, and sat beside him. He swivelled around, one leg folding under to face her properly.

"No," she said honestly. "I'm not sure." He appeared a little crestfallen, and she was quick to continue with her explanation. "But I don't think I'm ever going to be totally sure about any decision I make. There's only one thing that I am sure about, and that is that I love you. And so... I'm going to accept at Stanford."

The distance between she and Troy seemed to dissipate almost instantly, his lips smashing against hers messily. His hands gripped at her slender frame, pulling her firmly against him. The part of her which had hungered and craved for him every day for the last week responded eagerly. She allowed him to guide her back, lying against the soft mattress, legs dangling over the edge of the bed. He hovered above her, the concerned parents on the other side of the door and the world of worries and concerns floating away.

"Shit, Gabriella," he mumbled, during brief moments of separation in the series of kisses. "I don't... fuck... I... God I love you."

"And I love you," she responded tenderly.

He collapsed beside her onto the bed, arms curling behind her and holding her body close to his. He nuzzled the crook of her neck, immersing himself in her dark tresses momentarily before sweeping her hair aside to reveal her neck, pressing a series of soft kisses against the bare flesh.

"This is all gonna be so amazing. You're amazing. Fuck... I was so scared that you were coming here to tell me... to tell me..."

She shifted her body, lying on her side and pressed a finger to his lips, silencing him. "I didn't. I didn't come to tell you that."

"No. No you didn't." He sounded almost amazed, bewildered, trying to register the reality.

They lay quietly for a moment, faces just inches apart. Their hands met, fingers lacing, and Troy brought their adjoined hands to his lips and pressed a soft kiss to the back of her hand before narrowing the gap between them and kissing her on the lips gently, before lips parted and he deftly swept his tongue across hers. A mewl escaped from Gabriella's lips as his hands glided over her frame, a hand gently squeezing her breast as it ghosted over. She was feeling warm, partly from the sweater she was wearing inside but mostly for a whole other reason. He made it easy to get swept away, to forget about the reasons why they shouldn't be doing what they were doing. She was about to protest, his fingers were deftly working at the button and fly on her jeans but on a certain level the danger was fuelling her arousal. His body weight had shifted back, he was hovering slightly above her again, weight held up with one arm whist his other hand was stroking the cotton of her underwear.

"Troy," she gasped, clutching one hand to his support arm, her other hand on his back, fingernails scratching over the surface of his shoulder blade and strong back.

His lips deviated from hers and he pressed a lingering kiss to her neck.

"Your skin is so soft," he murmured. "I've missed you."

"I've missed you too," she responded, a whimper as his digits ghosted over her clit, only a thin barrier of cotton in the way. "Troy... we have to stop..."

"Why?" he asked, somewhat petulantly, knowing the answer but refusing to admit that he knew it just yet.

"Because your parents are home..."

Troy whimpered slightly, pouting, though he knew that she was right. He hated that she was right, because he felt overwhelmed by incomprehensible desire, desire to be as close to her as humanely possible. She felt the loss of the sensation of his palm pressing against her mound as he wriggled out of her jeans. He settled instead for pulling her close and entwining every limb possible, legs, her body flush to his, arms splayed around the other, her head leaning against his chest.

"Tell me about your weekend," he murmured by her ear. She shivered slightly at the sensation of his warm breath tickling against her skin, wriggling a little, attempting to calm her libido he'd awakened and to focus instead on conversation.

"What do you want to know?"

"Everything. I want every detail, since it was a weekend which led to you making the best decision ever."

A tender kiss pressed against her neck; and she smiled. "Well... we flew out on Friday, mom rented a car and we drove straight from the airport down to Stanford. Friday they were running this 'college student for a day' program for local students so Tay and I kind of just blended into that, joining in with their campus tour and then going to a couple of lectures." She wriggled again, moving back just slightly from his embrace – as nice as the snuggling was, it was a little awkward engaging in conversation while her face was smushed against his chest. "We went to Accelerated Chemical Principles, and also we went to Honors Multivariable Mathematics. Since it's pretty early in the fall semester, and these subjects are pretty much just building on AP subjects Tay and I do, we pretty much were able to follow along."

"That 'we' in the 'pretty much' was referring to Taylor, right? You perfectly followed along?" Troy said, raising an eyebrow.

Gabriella smiled sheepishly, but didn't respond directly to the question. "And then we'd set up appointments with someone from admissions. They were pretty much selling it to me in mine, giving me information about financial aid and scholarships."

"Good information?"

"Yeah. Comparable to what I got at MIT, really."

"Okay."

"We stayed at an Inn in Palo Alto, hung around that area for breakfast on Saturday morning and then we headed back up to San Francisco city and did this ridiculous whirlwind of site seeing."

She proceeded to give him the basic outline – they'd stayed near Union Square, and from just by their hotel they were able to take the famous Powell-Hyde cable car to get to Ghiradelli Square, and then walked to Fisherman's Wharf. The girls both wanted to visit Alcatraz as neither had been before but there hadn't been enough time.

"We can go there together," Troy said with a hopeful smile.

"I can't see it being your thing, really," she said doubtfully.

"If it's your thing, it's my thing," he responded confidently.

"This morning we headed to the BART and… well, we went across to Berkeley."

Troy's eyes widened slightly. "You had hardly any time at all and you actually took the time to go to Cal?"

She looked earnestly into his eyes. "Troy, regardless of what decision I'd made for myself for next year, today I had the chance to go look at where you've decided to spend the next four years of your life – and that's important to me. Of course I took the time."

He didn't respond verbally, instead kissing her softly in acknowledgement. It spoke volumes to him that she'd made them include Berkeley in their itinerary – they could've gone to Alcatraz, or the Golden Gate Bridge, or spent more time on campus at Stanford.

"What did you think?" he asked.

"I'm excited for you." She was very genuine in her statement.

"Really? You're not just saying that?"

"It felt very…. I don't know. I could feel that you're going to fit in," she mused. "I can't explain it, but somehow it just made sense to me. As I walked around the campus it was like I could just see you riding your skateboard around campus, or sitting at a bench eating lunch."

He grinned. "That's how I felt."

"We weren't there long," she said apologetically. "Just for the tour, and then a quick look in the campus shop – Taylor was a bit offended by the 'Beat Stanford' sweatshirts but I reminded her that MIT have 'Beat Harvard' sweatshirts too," she said wryly.

"You know, it's true what my dad was saying, about Cal and Stanford and the rivalry."

"Something tells me that the basketball and science student rivalry isn't quite as intense," Gabriella quipped.

He grinned but then turned serious. "You and me, we'll get through whatever rivalry. We've kinda proved that here at East High, that we won't let who we're "supposed" to date get in the way, right?"

"What we have, it's about us, you and me. Not about what anyone else thinks or says."

"So even if the guys on my team hate you because you're a Cardinal?"

She pressed a tender kiss to his lips. "Let them. I'll only care about what one Bear thinks of me."


Ryan woke up on Monday morning feeling a little disoriented. It had only been a short period of time that he'd been living in the Montez household; and yet waking up in his bedroom at his parents' house startled him somewhat. His alarm was beeping; and he wasn't accustomed to waking up to his alarm –normally he woke up of a week day morning without fail about two minutes before the alarm went off. Instead he was jolted out of his dreams and felt sluggish and off centre. It had been a draining weekend – more so emotionally than physically.

Gabriella and Elena's weekend away had served a distinctive purpose in Ryan's life – he spent the weekend at home, with his family. It was almost like a trial, a trial for whether he could return home. In all honesty he didn't quite feel ready to be returning into life living with his father but he was aware of the reality that his time with his mother and sister in their home was limited, that he and Sharpay would be moving out and into the world in six months and he wanted to make the most of the time they had. And if he and his father could find a way to co-exist, he was willing to compromise a certain amount. The weekend had been about exactly that – finding out whether co-existing was an option.

A soft knocking came at his bedroom door. Ryan didn't need to see them to know instinctively who it was. He called out for her to enter, and Sharpay slipped into the room wearing her pyjamas – black pants with pink roses and a pink tank top – with a pink snuggie wrapped around her shoulders and carrying Boi under her right arm.

"Morning," he greeted his twin.

She plonked herself down on the edge of his bed without hesitation, setting Boi down in front of her. He promptly curled up on the bed, dozing off.

"This is a bit early for you to be awake," he observed.

"I couldn't sleep. When I heard your alarm go off, I figured you'd be up."

"Oh I see. Any reason you couldn't sleep?"

She shrugged. "Just thinking." She paused, before asking, "Are you going down to the basement to practice?" Ryan was regimented in his training – even if all he did was some stretching, there wasn't a weekday that went by when he didn't put some sort of effort into his craft before getting ready for the day.

He nodded. "Yeah. Wanna come help? Pick at all my flaws?"

"Sure."

"Just give me five minutes, I'll meet you down there."

Sharpay nodded, and picked up Boi who didn't look too impressed to be woken up again. She paused, and asked quietly, "Are you going back to Gabriella's tonight?"

He hesitated. "I'm not sure yet."

"Because I mean… We have our birthday dinner this week so you're back here for that, and then we go to New York this weekend so we're all back together then. Might be easier to just… stay?"

Ryan sighed. "I'll think about it. Okay?"

Sharpay smiled broadly. "Okay!"


Gabriella hadn't told Elena what had happened at Troy's the night before; but when she'd spied Troy dropping her off and caught a glimpse of a series of tender kisses in the front of his truck, her motherly intuition allowed her to have her suspicions. These suspicions were further amplified when Gabriella came bounding downstairs brightly about a half hour earlier than usual.

"Not having breakfast mija?" Elena called out from the kitchen where she was brewing coffee.

"Troy is on his way, we're grabbing breakfast on the way to school," Gabriella called over her shoulder. She was in search of a textbook which she was fairly sure she'd left in the living room. She spied it on the end of the couch and lit up, grabbing the book.

Elena raised her eyebrow. "Mija, can you please come in here."

Gabriella didn't pick up on the tension in her mother's voice and rushed into the kitchen with the book and her bag, shoving the book inside as she walked.

"What's up mom?"

"Gabriella, were you planning to ask me if you can go to breakfast with Troy?" Elena asked.

Gabriella appeared genuinely puzzled. "Um… well, I didn't think it was a big deal? We're just grabbing Dunkin' Donuts on the way."

"I give you a lot of flexibility and freedom. All I ask in return is that you are honest with me, and that you tell me where and when you're going, and you show me respect."

"Mom, I honestly didn't think you'd care. We just came back from Stanford! I'm going to college soon," Gabriella pointed out.

"Soon. Not yet," Elena reminded her. "And I don't mind that you're getting breakfast, I mind that you hadn't ran it past me first."

Gabriella's cell phone began to ring with her ringtone for Troy; she looked down at it a little anxiously and looked apologetically at Elena before picking it up.

"I'll just be a minute…" she spoke into the phone. "No I'll come out. Just give me a minute… love you too, bye."

She looked expectantly back at her mother. "I'm sorry, I really am. You're right, I didn't think. I should've asked. Can I go?"

Elena sighed – tempted to crack down the whip but recognising it was practically pointless. "Go. It's fine. Just next time talk to me first, please?"

"I promise I will, thank you!" Gabriella kissed her mother's cheek in gratitude before picking up her bag and dashing away.

"And you're going to talk to me tonight about what happened at Troy's last night?" Elena prompted, calling after her daughter.

"I will! Tonight. I swear," Gabriella called back. "Love you, see you later!"


"I totally bet they've made up," Zeke predicted. "The homeroom bell is gonna ring in like, two minutes, they're still not here. They're probably gonna ditch."

"Gabriella does not skip class," Taylor said indignantly. "The fact that they're both not here, well, I agree that they've probably made up but I'm sure they're just running late."

"Or lost track of time," Chad said with a smirk.

"You only think about one thing, I swear," Taylor reprimanded.

"I don't see you complaining!"

"No one heard from either of them at all last night? Really?" Ryan said. He felt a little concerned, and even a little miff. If Gabriella had made her decision he would've thought he'd be included in the 'loop' of people who knew what was going on. He looked most directly at Taylor and Chad.

"Nada," Chad affirmed. "I told Hoops to text me – whether it went good or bad I was curious to know."

The bell rang, signalling it was time for the Wildcats to move into the building. A day heading in without Troy or Gabriella was unusual – in so many ways one or both of the couple formed the cornerstone, the central figure, of their assembly of friends. They headed into homeroom, Taylor was watching worriedly at the clock and the door, knowing that her best friend wouldn't enjoy the humiliation of being tardy at the wrath of Ms. Darbus.

Halfway through homeroom the door came flying open, interrupting an announcement from Ms. Darbus about final opportunity for yearbook photos later in the week. A slightly smug looking Troy and a red-faced Gabriella appeared hand in hand. Ms. Darbus turned to look at them in amusement. Gabriella tore her hand away from Troy's.

"I'm so sorry we're late Ms. Darbus, I uh…. My truck broke down on the way here," Troy said, not very convincingly.

"Despite the believability of that story having seen your vehicle myself, Mr. Bolton, I don't believe you," Ms. Darbus announced. "If Mr. Bolton and Ms. Montez could please take their seats immediately before my homeroom is interrupted for a prolonged period."

Gabriella shuffled past Troy, rushing back to her seat, cheeks flushed as she felt the eyes of her peers on her. Troy was a little more lax, strolling to his seat – he was more accustomed to being the focus of a teacher's annoyance.

"It wasn't too many days ago that Mr. Bolton showed up for homeroom without having taken the time to tidy his hair, it appears that today Mr. Bolton hasn't even taken the time to bathe."

Troy appeared genuinely confused and glanced around. Martha indicated to the corner of his mouth and Troy immediately wiped the back of his hand across his mouth, spying a bit of cream. He smirked – their tardiness had largely been caused by the decision to share a large cream filled donut during the drive back to school. She'd been teasing him and he'd pulled over to accost her with kisses.

"Maybe assisting with scrubbing some chairs after school in the lead-up to our spring maintenance spree might teach Mr. Bolton some practices of cleanliness?" Ms. Darbus suggested.

"I assure you ma'am, that isn't required," Troy attempted his luck.

"Nonetheless, I think a refresher course might be beneficial."

Snickers came from Troy's friends and peers.

"And that goes for you as well Ms. Montez," Ms. Darbus said pointedly, not able to punish one of the pair without punishing the other. Gabriella nodded meekly. "I'll be seeing both of you a prompt five minutes after final period concludes. Now. What was I saying before I was interrupted. Oh yes. Now, Thursday morning in the cafeteria…"

When the bell rang signalling the end of homeroom, Gabriella picked up her things and rushed up to Troy's desk before he'd even had the chance to pick up his notebook and stand up. She thwacked him on the arm.

"Thanks for at least trying to get me out of detention!" she complained with a pout.

"Chivalry is a lost art," Martha remarked from the other side of Troy.

"Hey, it's your fault that we were late," Troy reminded Gabriella with a cheeky grin.

"My fault? How was it my fault?" Gabriella demanded.

"You are the one who wanted to go back and get a donut. You are the one who was feeding me donut in the car. You are the one who was sucking cream from said donut off your finger…"

"You're the one that pulled over on the side of the road!"

"You made me!" Troy insisted. "If it wasn't for you, I would never have had to pull over!"

The banter was interrupted, their immediate friends were milling around, watching in surprised fascination. It was Kelsi who asked the question everyone was wondering about.

"So… are you guys back together?" Kelsi asked, looking pointedly between the pair.

Gabriella fell naturally into Troy's side, his arm wrapping around her and a soft kiss being pressed to her forehead before he gave the simple reply of, ""Yes."

"We never broke up, really," Gabriella added.

"Okay, this is wonderful, we're all happy, but we have class to get to, remember?" Taylor said, motioning that they all should start moving and quickly.

Reactions were mixed, from the somewhat apathetic, to genuine happiness, to a little more apprehensive. However Taylor was right in that it was neither the time or place for discussion or opinion, as they were all running late for class.

"Taylor's right," Gabriella said. "Troy and I are happy. Thanks everyone for your support. Now can we all move on?"


"Gabi, wait up!" Ryan's voice called out after her as she headed down the corridor heading to the cafeteria.

She turned, spotting Ryan darting through the corridor after her, and paused waiting by the bank of lockers for him to catch up.

"Hey," she greeted him with a smile. "I'm going to my locker on the way to the cafeteria, wanna come?"

He nodded. "Sure."

"I haven't had the chance to talk to you properly. How was your weekend back home?"

He wrinkled his nose. "Interesting, to say the least. I spent a lot of time with Sharpay, which was actually fun."

Gabriella couldn't hide her own wrinkled face. She couldn't quite fathom the relationship that Ryan and Sharpay had, especially being an only child. The majority of the time she witnessed Sharpay bossing and ordering Ryan around, how time spent with her could be 'fun' was a little beyond the realm of her comprehension.

"Yeah I know. But we worked on my Julliard routine, and gossiped a little… she opened up a bit about her and Zeke. It was… actually really nice. And my mom was so excited I was there, arranging for all my favourite meals to be prepared and pulling out musicals for us to watch together."

Gabriella smiled. "That is sweet. And… your dad?"

Ryan sighed. "Dad was okay. Chase only came up once in conversation, and it was more so initiated by mom. He did ask a question, just about Chase's major. It was very light, nothing serious. But… baby steps, you know?"

Gabriella nodded. "Baby steps are important, any kind of steps are really great. I think he's trying."

"I know he's trying," Ryan confessed. "But I just don't know how much of it is his own doing, and how much my mom has pushed him into, you know?"

"Your dad seems like the kind of person who wouldn't allow himself to be pushed unless he wanted to be pushed," she mused.

"That's what Chase said," he revealed. He sighed, and then refocused the conversation – he had more important things he wanted to discuss while it was just he and Gabriella. "So. Stanford went well, I take it?"

Gabriella nodded. "It did. It's a really wonderful university."

"You already knew that."

"I knew the stats and figures, but being there clarified it for me."

They reached Gabriella's locker and paused as she flicked open the dial and began to exchange the books from her backpack from her morning classes to her afternoon classes.

"I just… I guess I'm surprised," Ryan admitted. "That in the time since we last spoke last week, you've been there, had a whole change of direction and made things right with Troy?"

She cocked her head. "Why is it surprising?"

Ryan touched her upper arm, squeezing gently. "Gabriella, this is you and me, just you and me. I know you were feeling excited about MIT, I know you fell in love with Boston."

Her face dropped a little. Ryan did know – and there was no point in pretending that he hadn't been completely clear on her thought process prior to heading out west.

"Well… I kind of also fell in love with the Bay," she said truthfully. She picked out her final textbook from her locker and placed it into her bag, and then closed the door.

"That's fair. But… a few days ago you were torn. And now… it's like… it's like you were never there. I just… I'm a bit confused, Gabriella," Ryan said. "I wouldn't have issue if you had made a calculated decision and weighed the options and decided that you'd pursue a life at Stanford. But it almost feels like you never had made the decision that you were probably going to go to MIT, like you've wiped that from your memory."

Gabriella sighed, and mulled how to explain it to him. "It's easier this way."

"Easier?" Ryan repeated.

She nodded. "The moment I told him, said the words… it felt like a burden had been lifted. I love him, and he was so elated and now I can just enjoy Troy and I being Troy and I, without any of this crap hanging over us. I just had to make a decision, and go with it, whole heartedly."

"Do you think that the easy decision is the right decision?"

"Ryan, don't do this, please," she begged. "I'm happy. I am. Can you just… drop it? Please?"

"You're happy?"

"Yes," she spoke emphatically.

He hesitated – he was hearing her determined tone, but wasn't quite sure whether he believed it was genuine, or more so a case of persuading everyone, including herself.

"Okay," he said quietly.

"Okay," she agreed, and then gestured in the direction of the cafeteria. "Come on, before we miss out on the whole of lunch period.

They walked in silence up the corridor toward the second floor entrance to the cafeteria. Just before they reached the entrance, Ryan stopped in his stride, Gabriella pausing and looking at him questioningly.

"If you're happy, I'll drop it. I will. But… if I think you're not happy… I'm not going to sit here quietly. I know you love him, but if you make the wrong decision here, I don't think it's going to help you or him in the long run."

"Is that up to you to judge?" she asked. "Whether I'm happy, whether I'm not, what the right decision is for me?"

Ryan pursed his lips. "No," he admitted. "It's not. I only worry because I care."

"I know you do, and I appreciate that. But… can you please just trust me? I have to do this my way." Her tone was pleading.

He held his palms up, facing her, in defeat. "Okay, okay. I support you."

Gabriella sighed, giving him a look. "Why do I get the feeling you are just saying that?"

The following day, from afar, it appeared as though nothing had ever happened. It could've been December or January, when Troy and Gabriella had been existing in blissful happiness, no idea of the doom that was impending a few short months later. About fifteen minutes before the homeroom bell was due to ring, the Wildcats were gradually arriving per the tradition they'd formed over senior year, to meet around the E Pillar out the front of the school. Throughout all that they'd been through - fights, arguments, good times, bad times - meeting together before school had been a fairly solid and consistent daily occurrence. Ryan was quietly standing beside Troy and Gabriella who were talking with Paula and Marcus - a perfect couples' conversation with each of the guys standing behind their girls, arms wrapped around them. Troy was enthusiastically retelling Gabriella's tale of her weekend away; it was the third time Ryan had heard Troy's story.

"She even went to Berkeley on Sunday, which is absolutely amazing, I still can't believe you did that! So I guess she got to see for herself that even though it isn't exactly an easy distance, it is accessible..."

Gabriella was remaining quiet in Troy's arms - Troy didn't think much of it, seemingly, but Ryan wasn't oblivious to his friends state. She was allowing Troy to do the talking, Troy to be the one telling people that she'd made her decision. Ryan was finding it difficult to sit back and to not offer commentary. The appearance of bliss was merely that – an appearance, a façade.

"Gee Troy, might want to let Gabriella tell the story about her weekend," Ryan remarked.

Gabriella shot Ryan a look, he just smiled innocently in return. Troy missed the look, and just laughed. Ever since Sunday, Troy had been on some sort of high, oblivious to Ryan's tone. "Sorry babe, I guess I am kind of stealing your story."

"It's okay," Gabriella assured him, bringing their entwined hands up and kissing the back of his hand tenderly. "I think it's cute, hearing you all excited. You'd think we were already in California."

"I can feel it's just around the corner, you know?" Troy confessed. "They talk about how seniors need to be careful in the last few months of the year to keep focus and not get ahead of ourselves - but it's just all falling into place, you know? I'm ready, I feel more ready than ever. I love East High, but I'm ready for this next step in our lives."

The 'our' was poignant - the 'our' wasn't a reference to himself and his fellow East High Wildcats, it was an 'our' in the sense of he and Gabriella, their lives together.

"I'll be happy if I can just get through the year without flunking out," Marcus remarked. "Seems they're putting on the pressure last minute."

"Preparing us for college workload, maybe," Paula agreed.

"Like either of you have anything to worry about," Ryan said. "Paula, I bet your GPA is awesome, and aren't you working on being recruited, Marcus?"

"Working on it. Nothing set in stone yet," Marcus said elusively.

"Make it happen, dude," Troy advised. "It's the sweetest feeling, not having to stress out."

"Hey, you still have to pass, you said it yourself," Gabriella pointed out, not wanting Troy to get cocky about it. "Nothing is in writing, nothing is signed, you don't have that contract in your hands."

Troy was pretty confident on the basis of his trip that it was as good as signed, and shrugged dismissively. "I feel it though, I just feel like it's gonna pan out how I want it to."

"I wish I had that confidence," Ryan said darkly.

"You're going to get in," Gabriella said confidently, squeezing Ryan's arm. "You are amazing, Julliard are going to see that."

"There's no guarantees," Ryan said. "I don't think anyone can be certain about anything. And how do you know it's going to be right until you get there anyway? I might go to all this effort to get in, rehearse my ass off, and get there and just hate it."

"Go with your gut," Troy advised. "If your gut says that's where you're meant to be, you follow it. That's what me and Gabriella have both done."

Gabriella was wordless – Ryan smiled tightly. "Yes. Yes you both have."

Tuesday afternoon after school, Gabriella and Troy were curled up on the couch in Troy's living room. Gabriella was lying on her back with her head resting on Troy's thigh and her feet up on the arm of the couch, reading a novel for her English Literature class, while Troy was reading over some notes for Physics which Gabriella had made from a reading that he was supposed to have completed the week before, but was more than a little behind.

"How long until you've finished your chapters?" he murmured, his hand rubbing over her arm lightly.

She smiled, tearing her eyes away from the book and looking up at him. She returned with, "How long until you've finished your reading?"

"I can do this later," he murmured, with a slight whine. "Dad's staying back to do marking, my mom doesn't finish work until 6pm tonight…"

There was no mistaking the innuendo in his tone, where he was leading with his thought process. It was a valiant effort – one which not so long ago, in the midst of their passionate exam week or on just about any Thursday, would have been rather effective. Gabriella felt a little uneasy though, and at first attempted a deflective technique, tutting at him.

"And you wonder why boys get accused of having one track minds?"

"Only with you," he murmured, leaning over and pressing a soft kiss to her lips.

"I would hope so," she chided, a hand caressing his cheek momentarily, before her attention returned to her book.

He sighed. "I should give up, shouldn't I?"

Gabriella paused, before picking up her book mark, placing it into the novel and setting it down. She sat up, facing Troy and taking his hands in hers.

"I'd like to wait a little while," she said honestly.

"That's fine," his immediate response was, but then he hesitated, before asking, "Um, why though?" He'd been under the impression on Sunday that if they hadn't been within earshot of parents, that they would have consummated their reunion there and then.

Gabriella sighed. "Because the last month of our relationship has not exactly been solid, at all. With everything that has happened… I would feel more comfortable if we could take a bit of time to… well… to reconnect, emotionally. To be us. To get things settled."

Troy blinked. He understood her point of view, but he didn't quite believe that holding back their natural urges was going to assist in getting back to where they were. "Okay," he said slowly. "I… I do understand. I really do. I just… I think a part of us, and a part of reconnecting emotionally, is being us naturally. And if us naturally is taking advantage of the peace and quiet…" he trailed off, again leaving the innuendo hanging.

"We've been using sex as a bandaid. Covering up the wounds and hoping they'll heal."

"I don't know if that metaphor entirely makes sense since bandaids are supposed to aid in healing, aren't they?"

"You know what I mean."

"I'm not sure I entirely do," he said honestly. "But, if you will feel more comfortable if we wait, then that's it. We wait."

He wasn't entirely happy about it, but he'd learnt his lesson the hard way about allowing his natural teenage urges overtake him and run his decisions. He'd spent months being the model patient perfect boyfriend, it was a role he was familiar with and he could summon it upon himself to go back there if that was what was required to appease Gabriella.

"Thank you," she said simply, pressing her lips to his gently, and then murmuring softly, "It's not forever. I just want a little time."

He nodded shortly, giving her his best reassuring smile. "I love you. We're together. That's all that matters."

He could deal with his erection later.

"Don't forget, dress-code is formal," Sharpay reminded the Wildcats who she was seated with at the cafeteria for the fourteenth time. Troy, Gabriella, Ryan, Zeke and Kelsi were currently present.

It was Wednesday, she and Ryan's birthday dinner was taking place the following evening. She'd felt the need to emphasise the dress code verbally in addition to the bold italicised print of the word on the invitations which had been handed to an exclusive few. "This does NOT mean wearing a blazer with your usual shirt and jeans."

Troy looked a bit put out – although Gabriella had already warned him and given a list of what she suspected Sharpay would view as being formal and what wouldn't suffice.

"And please don't be late!" she added. "The evening has a schedule, canapés will be served for only twenty minutes whilst everyone arrives and if you're late, you're going to throw off the whole evening."

Ryan winced. "I think they get it, Shar." He was beginning to regret the conversation he'd had convincing Sharpay that their idea for a formal sit down dinner would go down really well and that everyone would have a great time.

"I wish you weren't going to be in New York for your actual birthday day," Gabriella said with a pout, giving Ryan a half hug.

He beamed. "I'm so glad that I am! Love you all, but New York is where I belong. It's only right to be there."

"We're going to see a show! It's a surprise, mom won't tell us which one," Sharpay added, with childish delighted and an excited clap of her hands. She paused, and pouted. "It better be good. I did give her my list of approved shows…"

"I'm sure whatever we see it is going to be fabulous," Ryan said optimistically.

"I've never been to New York City," Troy mused.

Sharpay gaped at him. "Are you for real? Never ever?"

"New York is amazing," Kelsi said dreamily. "A couple of years ago I spent almost my whole summer there with my aunt and uncle who live in Greenwich Village. As long as I was home by dark they let me come and go as I wanted, and I got the train uptown to wander around the park, and oh my God, the Strand Bookstore is amazing!"

"New York is the home of all creative souls," Sharpay said dreamily.

"What about Hollywood?" Troy offered.

"Hrm… okay, Hollywood too. New York City and Hollywood. And maybe London… I could totally spent a year in London and perform on West End. I look super cute in cold weather clothing," Sharpay mused.

"Good to know you've got back up plans," Gabriella said. She kept a straight face, but the others weren't lost on the edge of sarcasm. Sharpay was oblivious and beamed with a nod.

Sharpay's pink bejewelled Blackberry chimed with an incoming text, she picked it up from the table and glanced at the screen. She lips curved into a small smile and she promptly stood from the table, grabbing the little tub of unopened strawberry yoghurt and plastic spoon which were in front of her. "Okay, I'm heading off. See you all later!"

"Where are you going?" Ryan asked after her, raising his voice.

"Meeting a friend!" she said elusively.

"She's meeting Zeke," Kelsi said knowingly.

"Hook in," Troy said, his automatic response not taking into account the company currently around him. Gabriella gave him a judgemental look, Ryan's face contorted in slight disgust. Troy held ups palms up defensively. "Sorry, sorry, wrong crowd."

"Speaking of hooking in," Kelsi said with a slight smile and a roll of the eyes, looking at Ryan." Chase is still coming tomorrow, isn't he?"

Ryan nodded. "Yeah, not sure about your 'speaking of hooking in' statement. "

"He's driving three hours tomorrow morning and back on Friday morning," Gabriella pointed out.

"Yeah, to a dinner at my parents' house," Ryan reminded. "And then we leave first thing Friday morning."

"Find the time, seize the opportunity. It's romantic! He's coming all that way, facing your father, for you!" Gabriella said. "You have to take a little bit of time for just him and you, even for a few hours before the party."

Troy scratched the back of his neck, the 'girl talk' boring him slightly, his phone sliding out of his pocket to play with the number pad absentmindedly.

"We'll see what happens, I don't want to put pressure on it," Ryan pointed out. "And it's not all about that anyway."

"And it shouldn't be," Kelsi agreed. "Especially not when you get to see each other so infrequently. It makes it about more, I'm sure."

Troy perked up slightly, looking up thoughtfully. He made the mental note to himself to chat to Ryan sometime about he and Chase made their relationship work, being long distance but with a manageable distance – sort of comparable to what he and Gabriella were set to step into the following year.

"Anyway so… I think Darbus is going to have good news for us next week about getting the rights to one of the shows we wanted to put on."

Kelsi clapped her hands excitedly. "I hope so! Troy, you have to audition. Basketball season is over, there's no excuses now."

"Basketball season doesn't end for me," Troy pointed out. "I'm waiting on the final announcements for the McDonalds All American, and they're going to announce the state team next week."

"Yeah, but all that is over pretty quickly, isn't it? It wouldn't be a show without you now, whether you like it or not!"

"How about you just let Troy be his predictable self, all indecisive and non-committal and let him decide he'll do it on his own," Gabriella teased.

Troy rolled his eyes at her, nudging her foot with his own. "Thanks for the support, babe."

"Whichever show Darbus is able to arrange for us from our shortlist of requests, there are some good supporting roles that wouldn't have quite as much pressure as a lead," Ryan pointed out.

Troy nodded thoughtfully. "That would probably be my sort of thing. Wait til you get your show announced, then talk to me about my options. If it's completely lame, you know I won't do it."

"Because Arnold was the epitome of coolness," Gabriella teased.

"Hey, no dissing Arnold," Kelsi said, defending her character. "'He's cool in his own way."

"And no dissing Arnold because he is a part of how we got to where we are today," Troy pointed out to Gabriella.

She smiled, ducking her head slightly, memories flashing through her mind of the early days of dating Troy, sneaking comparatively chaste kisses during rehearsals for Twinkle Towne.

"Yes, that he was."


Gabriella felt exhausted. The emotional strain of the last few weeks had suddenly caught up on her. On Thursday afternoon, she dragged herself up into the cab of Troy's truck, staring listlessly out the window for the drive to her house. Her mind hadn't been able to switch off – whether it be school related, extracurricular related, university related or her personal life. And it didn't help that Ryan's words to her earlier in the week were imprinted in her brain, swirling around among everything else.

She couldn't entirely resent him for his interference - the truth was that he had her best interest at heart. She could understand how, to an outsider who knew her well, that the decision she'd made and the circumstances surrounding that decision would appear to be somewhat out of the ordinary, a little out of character even. But everything about her relationship with Troy had been somewhat unpredictable. She was so often a rational person but when it came to Troy, she found herself approaching him with her heart on her sleeve and a certain element of instinct. Ration told her that crushing on the basketball captain was wrong, but instinct told her that they had a connection. Ration told her that they'd rushed into certain elements of their relationship, but instinct told her that it just felt right.

All of the ration in the world wasn't going to help her in coming to balance her emotions and the practical comparison of the colleges and her preferences, and so all she could do was to listen to that part of her heart which just knew that willingly separating herself from him was going to tear her apart.

But his words nonetheless plagued her.

"Penny for your thoughts," Troy said.

She glanced up – the truck had pulled to a stop, they were at her house.

"You've so gotten that phrase from your mom," Gabriella said quietly.

"Possibly. Where did you go? You haven't said a word since we left school."

"I didn't even realise we'd arrived here, I zoned out," she admitted. "I feel exhausted physically but I can't turn my mind off."

"It's been a busy few days, on top of I guess… a weird few weeks," he pointed out.

She was more than relieved to have nothing planned for their Thursday afternoon off – no rehearsals or meetings, just time to rest before the dinner that evening. For a few hours before they'd need to start getting ready for the elaborate formal evening which lay ahead, the afternoon was theirs.

"Come on, let's go inside," he prompted her. She allowed him to carry her school bag with no argument, he led them around the side gate and fished out her key to the back door, and then led her inside and into the lounge room where he pulled her own to sit beside him, encouraging her to rest herself against him.

"I have stuff to do," she said with a small yawn."

"You need to rest," he said quietly. "You look beyond exhausted and you're going to get yourself sick if you don't take a bit of downtime."

"Tonight will be downtime," she protested.

"Um, you've been around Sharpay, haven't you? Between Sharpay being high maintenance and however this event is going to go having Chase AND Mr. Evans at the same table; I'm really not sure that tonight is going to be relaxing."

Gabriella couldn't help but laugh a little and roll her eyes - Troy had a point. She allowed herself to snuggle into his side, eyes closing. Troy's arm held her securely, gently stroking her arm.

"Maybe just a quick rest," she relented, body relaxing. "Don't let me fall asleep, though."

"Mmm, sure," Troy agreed, blatantly lying with a smile. He fished his iPod Shuffle out from his bag beside him on the couch and placed the earbuds into his ears, feeling the warm rise and fall of her chest as she lulled into sleep.

When Gabriella roused from her nap, her eyes fluttered open and she spotted the clock across the room, reading 3:30pm. She had hardly moved from her position snuggled into his side, an arm draped across his abdomen clutching to him like a bear. He'd thrown his hoodie across her knees which were tucked beside her on the couch.

"Is sleepyhead awake?" his voice said softly.

She yawned, burrowing her head into his side. "Mmm you let me fall asleep. Bad boyfriend."

Troy laughed and kissed the top of her head. "You needed the nap."

The short nap had done Gabriella wonders and she was already feeling a whole lot better - and feeling gratitude to Troy for encouraging her to take the time to refresh and rejuvenate herself. She was enjoying the closeness though and not quite prepared to pull away from his side, instead remaining snuggled with the warmth of his hard and yet soft body, her arm remaining in its place draped across his abdomen. Without thought, her fingers began to mindlessly rub circles on his abdomen and side, ever so gently, in a mindless pattern. His lips curved into a smile at the sensation of her touch.

"Babe, why are you touching me like that," he murmured softly.

"No real reason," her soft, sleepy reply came.

"Well if you continue like that for too much longer, my body isn't going to be too happy..."

"Or it'll be a little too happy?" she teased in response.

"Yes, a little that too."

She giggled lightly, but didn't discontinue her rub.

"I've missed us... I've missed just being with you like this. No worries, nothing to stress about, no... nothing hanging over us," she murmured. "It's nice... just us."

"You glad I didn't let you study?"

"Mmm... I can do my math homework before school tomorrow," she agreed with the words he'd spoken just earlier.

"Exactly. It'll take you what, ten minutes?"

"Less," she said, after thinking for a moment about the questions her class had been assigned.

"You're showing off now," he chided.

She smiled but didn't reply, the two remaining in silence, the only sounds being the faint sound of music coming from Troy's iPod – he'd removed the earbuds when she'd roused, but hadn't hit stop – and the ticking of the clock.

"I've missed you too," he said softly, cutting through the silence. "You being next to me... holding me like that... as pussy as it sounds, if you had... if you'd come back from Stanford with a different decision about next year and we had... you know..."

He couldn't say the words 'broken up' but she nodded slightly, indicating she understood what he meant.

"I think this is a part of what I'd miss the most. Just being together like this."

"A part of?" she murmured with a smile. "I'm sure there's something else you'd miss. Although, I suppose you could get that from anyone."

He frowned, drawing in a sharp intake of breath. "Don't even say that. I don't want it from anyone else. Only you."


Ryan was sitting in the formal dining room in his parent's house with Chase on one side and his mom on the other side, glancing around at the group of people who had gathered that evening to help celebrate he and Sharpay's 18th birthday. The Wildcats friendship dynamic had altered organically over the course of the previous twelve months. About thirteen months ago, Ryan remembered being present at the call-back audition and being witness to the magic that Troy and Gabriella had created on stage – and the magic they'd filled the auditorium with. Although neither he nor Sharpay could truly comprehend it at the time, that day had been about so much more than two people auditioning for a musical. It was a day that represented so much change in the dynamic at East High. Ryan's life had been turned upside down as a result of having Gabriella in his life, of the friendship he'd formed with her, largely having roots in a few friendly conversations during Twinkle Towne rehearsals. Chad and Taylor had been brought together, Jason had seen Kelsi on stage and been introduced formally by Troy at the game after party, Sharpay had attended the end of the basketball championships and – although no one else would ever know – it was that day which she'd confessed to her twin brother that Zeke was 'overbearing, annoying but cute.' Somehow he'd wound up here in this room of people. On their 17th birthday, Sharpay had begun throwing ideas around about how they could celebrate their 18th. Never would Ryan have imagined the dynamic in the air at that moment.

He felt a soft squeeze of his thigh and glanced up at Chase.

"You okay?" Chase asked lowly. "You kinda spaced out there."

Ryan nodded and flashed Chase an assuring smile. "Just reminiscing... contemplating.'

"Good contemplating?"

"Yeah. Good contemplating." Ryan took Chase's hand under the table, squeezing it lightly. "Thanks for being here. It means a lot."

The dinner plates were being cleared away by the server they'd hired for the evening. The event was, on the whole, going off without too much of a hitch. The boys outfits had met Sharpay's seal of approval. Sharpay had put together the seating arrangements with a great deal of thought in mind to avoid conflict and stimulate conversation, almost as though arranging a seating plan for a wedding. They had a sixteen seater dining table in their formal dining room, and it was the perfect fit – Derby and Vance Evans, the Evans' twins, their school friends, Chase and two of Sharpay's friends from their performing arts academy. The East High crew (minus Zeke) had been surprised at the presence of the two girls – they recognised Lea, who they'd seen with Sharpay over summer at Lava Springs, but they'd never met Darla before.

The parents were in the centre of the table beside one another, Sharpay put herself beside her father and Ryan on the other side of Derby. Essentially she broke the table into two halves – creative and athletic, if one was to generalise. Zeke was beside her, Jason at one end of the table, then Taylor, Chad and Troy. The concept was that if her father could be kept in conversation, he just might be able to avoid making any sort of remark directed at or about Chase – hence keeping the boys up his end. Beside Ryan was Chase and then Martha, with Darla, Lea, Kelsi and then Gabriella across from him, with Gabriella beside Troy. Conversation was flowing, the food was delicious, and all in all the crowd was pleasantly surprised at how enjoyable the evening was. It was a bit different as far as how a Wildcat 18th birthday would typically go, but neither Ryan nor Sharpay were your average students.

After the main course plates were cleared away, with a quick whisper in Sharpay's ear that he'd return in a moment, Zeke slipped away from the table. A few moments later, Vance also excused himself. Sharpay frowned, watching after her father.

"Daddy, what are you doing?" she asked suspiciously.

"I'm going to the bathroom, if that's okay with you, Princess?" Vance said, raising his eyebrows.

Sharpay didn't believe him, and couldn't help but feel suspicious that her father had plans to corner Zeke in private – the two hadn't really had the opportunity to talk and Sharpay knew her father well enough to know that Zeke wasn't going to escape without at least some form of interrogation.

"Yes, that's okay,' she said, narrowing her eyes and giving him a look.

"So tell us again about your plans for New York this weekend," Gabriella said, wanting to put Sharpay at ease with a topic that was bound to appease her. Sharpay beamed, and was more than happy to outline their itinerary for the weekend.

"Don't forget going to Porter House," Ryan pitched in, overhearing the conversation from the other end of the table. "They have the best cheesecake in the world. Like, it's so good that in the land of cheesecakes, it's as good as Gabriella's mom's brownies in the world of brownies."

"Wow," Troy said, clearly impressed. He'd had Gabriella's mom's brownies in multiple forms – plain, warmed up, warm with vanilla ice-cream, with raspberry coulis, with extra chocolate sauce, with whipped cream. Each and every time they were utterly decadent. He'd already placed his request for brownie packages to be sent by mail when they were off in California.

"I know, right?" Ryan said.

"I was just getting to Porter House, I wasn't going to leave it out. And after Porter House we're..."

"Derby, sweetheart, can I borrow you?" Vance's voice said from the doorway into the dining room.

"Is everything okay?" Sharpay asked.

Vance smiled reassuringly. "It's fine, Princess. Sit, enjoy."

Zeke passed Derby on her way out, returning to his seat.

"Did he speak to you?" Sharpay said, eyes wide. "What did he say?"

"Sharpay, it's fine. We exchanged a few words. He loves you, that's all that matters," Zeke said.

"It was bad, wasn't it?" Troy said with a sympathetic look.

Zeke gave Troy a look – a look of agreement but not wanting to discuss it.

"At least he talks to you?" Chase offered.

The table fell quiet, awkwardness spreading across the room. In context, Zeke understood that he was fortunate.

"So, are we going to witness to a famous Sharpay and Ryan birthday performance spectacular?" Kelsi asked, breaking the mood.

Ryan groaned, shooting Kelsi a look. She smiled innocently. Kelsi had attended the twins' birthday party for the last two years – it was tradition in the Evans' household at any birthday party or dinner or event, for Sharpay and Ryan to put on a performance for party goers to watch.

"Last year's was pretty epic, it'll be hard to top," Lea said, thinking back to the heartfelt performance of Without You from Rent which the twins had re-enacted.

"We do have a little something prepared," Sharpay said with a beam.

"Which we agreed we weren't going to do," Ryan hissed with a pout.

"Why not?" Chad asked. "It can't be because we're here because seriously dude, we've seen you perform enough that we don't care."

"Um, no, that's not why."

Chase made a sympathetic sound. "You're not embarrassed because I'm here, are you?"

"A little," Ryan admitted, a slight blush to his cheeks as he confessed.

"I love listening to you perform! In face, now I'm demanding to hear."

"Ryan, it's tradition. You can't mess with tradition," Sharpay pleaded. "Besides... this might be the last time that we get to perform for people on our birthday together." For good measure on her guilt trip, she added a pleading look and a pout.

Ryan sighed. "You do know that I know when you're putting on that look, right?"

"Did it work?"

"Yes," he admitted begrudgingly.

"Yay!" she squealed, with a clap of the hands.

Vance ducked back into the room. "Is everyone here?"

"Yeah, why?" Ryan asked, glancing around.

Derby appeared a moment later, carrying an elaborate birthday cake, topped with no less than 36 candles – 18 for each twin – and a handful of decorative sparklers. It was Chad who led the "Happy Birthday" chorus as Derby carried the cake in and placed it in the centre of the table between the two twins. After the final 'hip hip, hooray!'' chant was completed and the sparkling candles died out, together as a team, Sharpay and Ryan blew out the regular candles of the cake. Ryan's side was blown out with one blow, Sharpay required a couple of blows to make all of the little flames go away.

"This cake is amazing!" Ryan exclaimed. He was accustomed to having amazing cakes, normally one would be ordered from a bakery or patiserie.

"We had a little help this year," Vance said, patting Zeke on the back.

"You made this?" Sharpay said, her eyes wide.

Zeke nodded, bashfully. "It was my first time doing proper cake decorating. I had to do a few trial runs but I still think I could've done a few things differently."

"Dude, that's fu... freaking incredible!" Troy exclaimed in awe.

Zeke had constructed the cake – it was his finest piece of work. He'd been studying up on icing and cake design, with a ridiculous amount of effort going into the construction. It was a two tier cake; the right hand side decorated with pink icing and the left with blue icing. The words "Beneath the decoration was two different flavours of layers – the top a white chocolate mud and the bottom a chocolate mud. The 'Happy 18th Birthday Sharpay and Ryan' text was written in glitter text, with each of their names falling into their 'side' of the cake. A few little high heeled shoes were the feature pieces decorating Sharpay's half of the cake, and hats were on Ryan's side. Music notes were the common theme on both sides, with careful swirls of icing on the sides and on top.

Derby made sure that a series of photographs were taken of the cake and of her twins with the cake – and also with Zeke with the cake – before they begrudgingly agreed to cut into the cake. As per tradition in the Evan's household, both twins cut into the cake simultaneously. Chad jeered immaturely about cutting into the bottom of the cake and having to kiss the nearest boy/girl. Sharpay with a blush gave Zeke a quick kiss on the cheek. Ryan stood up to where his mother was standing just behind him and gave her a kiss on the cheek.

Zeke assisted with the serving of the cake, pulling the top layer off carefully so people could make their requests for white chocolate or chocolate for their slice.

"This really might be the last time for a while that we get to have a cake together for our birthday," Sharpay said quietly to Ryan as the pieces were served. She was sitting in the seat where her mother had been next to her brother.

Ryan shook his head. "We're both going to be in New York, remember? Sure, it might be a piece of cheesecake from a restaurant, but there will be cake."

"You don't know that."

"That we'll both be in New York?"

"Yeah."

"Let's make a pact. Wherever we are for our bithday, every year, we're going to have cake together. Even if you're on the other side of the world from me, off promoting some movie you're in in Japan or something – we'll each have a piece of cake together, at the same time."

Sharpay smiled. "Promise?"

"Promise."

A quick hug and the twins turned back to the frivolity of the night, enjoying their cake, being with their loved ones, and putting on what might be their final birthday performance – a humourous rendition from Annie Get Your Gun of 'Anything You Can Do.'

As senior year was coming closer and closer to its conclusion, it was all that anyone could do – embrace the good times, and make promises for the future.