Gabriella squinted and looked at her clock. 7:30. So that meant she'd gotten...3 hours of sleep? Great. She could tell already that this day would be just perfect.
She walked into her kitchen, not surprised to see Taylor gone and a note on the kitchen table. She picked up the piece of paper and read, "Hey Gab, I'm going to walk to get my car and go to work. Call me when you get up. Love, T."
Gabriella picked up her phone and dialed Taylor's cell phone.
"Hey," Taylor greeted her. "How much sleep you end up getting?"
"Not much." Gabriella answered. "You?"
"A few hours," Taylor answered. "More than I expected to. Listen, you want to do lunch? I think we should...talk."
"Yeah, sounds great," Gabriella answered. "Meet you at Johnny Carino's at 11:30?"
"Great. See you there."
Gabriella hung up and went back into her room. She deliberately stepped around her Troy box, which was lying on the floor, and went to her closet to find something to wear to work. She ended up with jeans, a pair of black ballet flats, and a red shirt that had been a gift from Taylor. She grabbed a gray sweater, as she had learned the hard way that her office was home to subzero temperatures.
She got into her car and drove to the Target right by the Starbucks where just last night, she had seen Troy. She went straight to the bakery, got a cinnamon roll and a chocolate milk, and went to check out.
"Hey, Dan," she greeted the clerk, who looked up and smiled.
"Hey, Gabi," he said. "How are you today?"
"Ask me tomorrow," she replied. "$2.17, right?"
Dan smiled. "Exactly." He took her money. "See you tomorrow, Gabi."
She waved goodbye and started eating the cinnamon roll. She walked to her car and turned it on, but didn't make a move to start driving. She sat motionless, remembering.
FLASHBACK
"May I have this dance, Madame?"Troy asked in a mock-eloquent voice.
Gabriella giggled. "But of course!" she replied, extending her hand, which Troy immediately took.
As they swayed to a song that must be played at every single dance across America, Selena's "Dreaming of You," Gabriella could feel Troy waiting to say something.
"What is it?" she whispered.
He looked her straight in the eye. "Gabriella, I love you."
She smiled. "I love you too."
"There's more," he said. "I want you to promise me, that you'll never forget me. Ever."
"Troy," she said. "How could I ever forget?"
"Just promise."
"Of course I promise." Gabriella said. "As long as you do too."
"Of course." Troy answered. "I want you to know that I'll always remember you, wherever I am or whatever I'm doing."
Gabriella smiled again. "How about this?" she said. "Let's make a deal, that on the New Year's that we're both twenty-one, we'll go back to the ski lodge. Wherever we may be."
"Deal," Troy whispered.
END FLASHBACK
Gabriella sighed. She had gone to the ski lodge that New Year's, with Taylor. Taylor didn't know what it was about and that it was such a big deal to her best friend. She was just happy to go on a vacation, to have a good time. Gabriella had looked for Troy everywhere she went. She didn't know why she wanted him to be there. Maybe she hadn't quite given up on fate yet.
But he hadn't come.
After that vacation, Gabriella lost her strong faith in fate that Troy had caused her to acquire. She moved on, choosing to remember the heartbreak rather than the happiness. It had certainly ended up affecting her life. Sure, she dated a few guys, but there was never anyone special. Maybe it was because she compared them all to Troy, without even meaning to.
Suddenly, Gabriella switched her Ipod on, put her car in Drive, and took off for work, listening to Michelle Branch's "Everywhere." Really, it was a good choice.
'Cause you're everywhere to me
and when I close my eyes it's you I see.
HSMHSMHSMHSMHSMHSMHSMHSMHSMHSMHSMHSMHSMHSMHSMHSM
Gabriella walked into Johnny Carino's, extremely proud of herself for getting somewhere on time for once. She looked around, confirming her thought that she had beaten Taylor. She sat down at a table, and looked at the menu. She had just decided to get the fetuccine alfredo when Taylor slid in across from her.
"Hey," they both said, almost in unison. Taylor added, "How're you?"
"Fine," Gabriella answered. "And you?"
"Fine." Taylor answered.
There was a moment of silence, until Gabriella smiled and said, "We are both such liars."
Taylor nodded. "Don't I know it. So...what are we going to do?"
Gabriella took her time answering. "Well, we could either be mature adults and talk to them, because chances are we'll see them again, or we could be cowards and avoid any place they might be."
Taylor nodded again. "I like the cowards choice."
Gabriella laughed. "I know." She paused. "We never really talked about it, did we? Once I got through the shock of my breakup, it was too late to ask you about yours and make you relive it. So, what happened?"
"Well..." Taylor began. "Basically, the day after graduation, Chad told me that he thought we were better off apart, because we needed to 'experience the world independently' or something like that."
"You're kidding me," Gabriella said. "That's almost exactly what Troy told me."
Taylor half smiled. "It's true then, they do absolutely everything together. Even plan breakups."
"You know why we're discussing this, right?" Gabriella said. Taylor just looked at her, clearly confused. "We wouldn't even be bothering unless we were happy they were back, would we?" Gabriella finished softly.
Taylor nodded. "I know," she said. "So, what on Earth do we do?"
HSMHSMHSMHSMHSMHSMHSMHSMHSMHSMHSMHSMHSMHSMHSM
"Chad," Troy said. "Are you sure this is going to work?"
Chad laughed. "Troy, it was your idea."
"Oh yeah," Troy said. "So, it's going to work, right?"
Chad laughed again and nodded in a way that was confident but not cocky, if that was possible.
"How could it not?"