Disclaimer- I own every character that DID NOT appear in the movie. Let's just put it that way. Sadly, I don't own High School Musical. And there's no way in hell that I could afford to own any of the designer names that appear in this story!

Moving on!

I told that little trophy wife that I was going to get butchered if I wore clothes like the ones she forced me to wear. Well, I wasn't exactly being butchered at that exact moment, but everyone was staring really intensely at me as I walked in forty minuteslate to my first period class. I shifted my weight from one uncomfortable tweed flower Mui Mui to the other. They were officially the stupidest shoes I've ever worn in my life.

"Sorry I'm late." I said quietly to my new frail teacher. "I'm new, and I was trying to find my way around."

The teacher just waved me away to the only empty desk, across from the only girl that still held me at her attention. I gave her a little smile and she just looked away, twisting a lock of her chocolate brown hair around her finger. Giving me a chance to check her out.

It was totally obvious that she was cheerleader, thanks to her petite form. I was a giant standing next to her. And she was most definitely the 'popular girl' by the way everyone looked to her before doing anything.

She looked back to me and gave me a bright smile. I looked to the front of the room again, knowing that I should have been paying attention to what the teacher was saying, but I just couldn't. My mind wandered back to Albuquerque and my small group of friends. And how hard it was to say goodbye.

This school didn't have a normal bell. You know, the ones that give serious headaches if you're standing right under them. They were electronic. Three "rings" then it was over.

"Nice shoes." the girl's walnut brown eyes flicked down to my feet. She nodded in approval. "Mui Mui. Great touch." she smiled once more before leaving me there with a small grin.

Had... I just made a first friend?

But I knew from experience to never jump to the conclusion.

I seriously thought that a taller version of Taylor Lautner was standing next to me as more teenagers filed into the choir room. That was one thing I was never going to give up, even if it means moving into the Tropical Rainforest with only one outfit... singing.

"Hi." he gave me a small, dazzling smile. "You new here?"

Like it wasn't obvious. But I still found it considerate that he actually cared. I shyly nodded. "My name's Gabriella." I held out my hand. "Montez. Gabriella Montez."

"Aiden Elliot." he took my hand, allowing me to lose myself in his amber topaz eyes. "Welcome to Newport High."

"My first welcome." I smiled warmly. I noticed that he was still holding my hand. "Everyone else around here seems busy with being smart. Or popular."

"Well, what did you expect? Why else would you come to a private school?" he laughed, squeezing my hand before letting it drop to my side. I looked to the front of the choir room, looking for a teacher. Aiden elbowed me. I turned to him and he showed me a mouthful of perfect teeth again. "Do you have any lunch plans?" he asked.

"That depends." I smiled back. "Are you asking me?"

"That depends. Are you accepting?"

"I... I know I'm going to sound like a dork when I say this..." I rolled my eyes at myself and nervously fidgeted with the hem of my skirt. "But the school Conduct Code says no leaving school grounds without permission."

"Don't worry, we do this all the time." Aralyn, Aiden's total partner in crime assured me. "Aiden!" she shrieked. "Keep your eyes on the road." she ran her hand over her platinum blonde Peter Pan feather cut. "This is my dad's car, and if he finds out that I wrecked it skipping school, then I'm taking you down with me."

"What happened to not worrying?" I laughed from the backseat of the 2007 Chrysler Aspen. I ran my hand along the leather interior, catching a glimpse of Aiden's intense eyes in my direction. "Eyes up front, Elliot." I pointed.

"What's the big deal? Ara, your dad has what, eight other cars that he can drive around? What's one fucked-up ride?"

"Hmmm... let's see... oh, yeah! Five hundred thirty thousand dollars! And my ass on a plate above our fireplace. Do we have to pull over and let me drive?"

"Nope... we're here." Aiden grinned, pulling into a driveway. Aralyn and Aiden jumped out.

"I thought we were going to a resaurant." I cautiously shut the car door, looking at the extraordinary propery stretched out and towered above us. I could hear the roaring of the ocean from behind the house.

"My mom's a chef." Aiden shrugged. "But she's not home." he ran his fingers through his black hair, pre-spiked. Aralyn and Aiden casually entered the house. turned out they did sneak out all the time.

"Oh! Aid! Forget the lunch. I want to draw the shoreline." Ara ambled through the house, but I tried not to gape at everything. I had to learn to understand that everyone lived in the lap of luxury in Newport Beach. "You can give Gabriella a surf lesson. That is... if she isn't scared." Ara elbowed Aiden next to her.

"I don't have a wetsuit. Or a bathing suit. Whatever you call it." I followed Aiden and Aralyn out to the balcony. Only twelve feet below us was the beach. "This is beautiful." I leaned against the railing, watching the crystal water collide with the pearl-colored sand.

I felt something hit my back. I turned to see a small wetsuit and a white T-shirton the wood of the floor. "Suit up." Aiden grinned at me, pulling off his shirt and unbuckling his jeans. Woah, was her seriously about to change in front of me? I panicked, covering my face.

"Okay... not right in front of me, Aiden." I made a partition between my eyes and hastened back towards the house. Ara followed after me.

"Ain't he a sweet kid?" she sighed. "I mean, if he didn't like you, I would..."

"Don't get my hopes up, Aralyn." I shook my head, pulling off my blouse and covering myself with the white T-shirt. I shimmied on the wetsuit. "There is no way that a boy like him isn't single." I shook my head, watching him from the glass as he pulled his wetsuit over his boxers.

"Wanna know a secret?" Aralyn whispered. "He does have a girlfriend. And we'll leave it at that."

Probably because he was coming our way.

"This view is amazing." Aralyn pulled off her sunglasses and continued to sketch on the pad she balanced on her lap. "So how was it?" she asked, looking up at us.

I smiled, remembering how Aiden shared his board with me, and held me close as each break hovered overhead. "Fine." I said simply, unzipping my wetsuit and dropping out of it, leaving me in nothing but his white T-shirt and underwear from that day. "You gotta bathroom somewhere in this warehouse?" I turned to Aiden. He led the way to one.

He opened the door, then glanced down at his soaked shirt I was wearing. He turned red and wide-eyed, stumbling away.

I bit my lip in question, watching him go down an empty hallway back to the balcony. And when I turned on the light to the bathroom and took a look at myself in the mirror, I felt like I wanted to kill myself.

How embarrassing.

Let's just say that if it had been Spring Break and Aiden was the judge, I would've won the wet t-shirt contest.

Grrrrr... I hate when I screw up filler chapters! But don't worry, everyone in this chapter will show up again and have a pretty sweet ending. PLEASE TELL ME WHAT YOU THINK!