AN: And I'm back! Thank you once again for all the reviews, and for plot suggestions. However, I have already completely writing this story so most of your comments will probably not happen. Actually, I think so far none of them are happening. Sorry! But hopefully you'll still like the story.

Chapter 5 will probably be up in 2 days, since that's what my pattern has been. And remember: 10 days 'till my birthday!

Title: Where She Belongs
Rating: T
Author: MadiWillow
Summary: Ms. Montez's company transferred her back to San Diego, California. Troy and Gabriella lost touch after the move, but what will happen when they meet up again in college?
Genre: Romance/Drama
Chapter: Chapter 4

Gabriella slept sounder that night then she had in a long time, and when a ringing phone jerked her awake at eight the next morning, it took her a moment to realize why she was so happy.

"Hello?" she asked groggily into the phone, forgetting where she was.

"Uh, hello?" asked a voice on the other line. "Isn't this Troy's place?"

"What are you-," Gabriella paused. "I mean, yes." She sat up and yawned.

"Who are you?" asked the somewhat familiar male voice. "Hey, did Troy finally get himself a girlfriend? Well, it's about time!"

"Um, who's this?" asked Gabriella.

"Tell him it's Chad," said the voice.

Gabriella froze. "Chad?"

There was a pause. "Uh, do I know you? You do sound kinda familiar, but I don't know any UCLA girls..."

"Chad, it's me! Gabriella!" she cried.

Another pause. "Wait, no. What? Gabriella? The Gabriella?"

Gabriella giggled. "Yes, it's me!" she exclaimed. "Wow, it's so great to talk to you!"

"Hold on a sec," Chad instructed and Gabriella heard him saying, "Taylor? Hey, Taylor, get over here! Gabriella's on the phone! Yes, that Gabriella! That's what she says!"

Gabriella heard some commotion on the other line and then a familiar voice shrieked, "Gabriella! Is that really you?"

Laughing, she responded, "Yes, Taylor, it's me. It's so great to hear from you!"

"OH MY GOSH, OH MY GOSH!" screamed Taylor on the other line. Gabriella heard Chad yell over her, "Taylor, shut up, you're going to wake up Sharpay and Zeke!"

"Too late, they're already up," said Taylor and then to Gabriella, she said, "What are you doing at Troy's apartment?"

"Well, it's a long story-," started Gabriella.

"Who's at Troy's place?" a familiar girls voice said in the background. "Did Troy finally get himself a girlfriend?"

"No, it's Gabriella," supplied Chad.

"Gabriella!" the girl exclaimed. It sounded as though the phone was being wrestled away from Taylor, and Gabriella heard Sharpay's voice squeal, "Gabriella, is that really you?"

"Yeah, it's me," said Gabriella. "I know it's late, but congratulations on the engagement."

"Oh, thanks!" said Sharpay excitedly. "I can't believe this! What are you doing at Troy's?"

"It's a really long story-," repeated Gabriella, but this time she was interrupted by a knock on the door. "Hold on," she said to Sharpay and then, "Come in!"

Troy walked in, carrying two glasses of orange juice.

"Good morning," said Troy, grinning as he handed her a glass. Then he noticed the phone and said, "Who're you on the phone with? I didn't even hear it ring."

Gabriella giggled. "Chad called." She took a gulp of the juice.

"Oooh, Chad," said Troy.

"Yeah, so now Chad, Taylor, Sharpay, and Zeke all know that I spent the night at Troy Bolton's apartment," She picked up the phone again and said, "Hey, guys, I'll call you later." Her statement was met with protests but she hung up anyway. "Sorry for answering your phone, I forgot I was here-,"

"No, don't worry about it," said Troy sipping his orange juice. "So Jeremiah hasn't called yet?"

"Nope," Gabriella sighed. "He's probably still passed out."

Troy nodded, as if he understood. "Well, would you like some breakfast? I'm not the best cook, but I can probably make eggs and some toast."

Gabriella smiled at his gesture. "Thanks, but I usually don't have breakfast."

"No breakfast?" asked Troy, faking an appalled expression. "Do you know how unhealthy that is?"

She giggled. "I usually get a latte at Starbucks. Sometimes I'll get a muffin, but only sometimes."

He nodded. "Want me to drive you over there?"

Gabriella nodded. "Sure, that'd be great!" She looked down at herself. "Um, let me just get ready."

"Oh, right, no problem," Troy stood up quickly and strode out of the door, closing it behind him.

Gabriella stretched and got out of bed. Still slightly amused by her phone conversation, she put on the same clothes she'd worn from the day before. They looked fine on her, just a little wrinkled. Then she noticed, a bit too late, that she hadn't taken her makeup off from the day before, so her mascara was smudged. Horrified that Troy had seen her like that, she quickly grabbed a cotton ball, wet it, and dabbed at her makeup. Once all of her old makeup was off, she pulled a tube of mascara from her purse and reapplied some, then smeared on some lip gloss, slipped on her sandals, tied her hair up in a ponytail, and left the room.

"Hey, I'm ready," Gabriella told Troy, who was lounging on the couch waiting for her.

"Great!" Troy stood up and clapped his hands together. "Let's go!"

They left the apartment and went down in the elevator in silence. Once they reached the car and pulled out of the parking lot, Gabriella decided to make some conversation. "So, uh, your roommate wasn't home, huh?"

Troy shook his head. "Nope. He's probably passed out, too."

Gabriella nodded. "I never really understood why people like getting drunk so much. I mean, you drink and have some fun, sure, but then you pass out, throw up, or get terrible headaches." she mused. "Why do you have to get drunk to have fun? You can have fun sober, too."

Troy nodded slowly. "Yeah," he paused, and then added, "So, um... you didn't have fun that one time we got drunk, then?"

She shot him a glance. "Why do you ask?"

Troy shrugged quickly. "No reason. Just asking."

Gabriella, still giving Troy a baffled expression, answered, "Well... yeah, I did. I mean, the hangover sucked, but I did have fun." She paused. "But I haven't gotten drunk since then. I just... never had anyone fun to do it with."

Troy nodded silently. They drove in silence for another few minutes before he stated simply, "You know, I haven't sang since you moved away."

Turning her head sharply to look at Troy, Gabriella said, "Wow, really?" Troy kept on looking forward, as if embarrassed. Gabriella burst out laughing. "Me either!"

Troy glanced at her too. "You haven't?"

Giggling, she said, "Nope! Isn't that kinda weird?"

"Yeah," laughed Troy. "How come you haven't?"

Gabriella shrugged. "I never really felt the need to. You?"

"Same thing, pretty much," said Troy quietly.

They reached the nearest Starbucks and Troy parked. They both got out and Gabriella asked him, "Do you like this place?"

Troy shrugged. "They have some good stuff."

Gabriella grinned. They both ordered their drinks, and Troy, his stomach grumbling, got a muffin too. They sat at a small table and sipped their drinks together, Gabriella eating some of Troy's muffin absently.

After a few minutes of small talk, Troy grinned and said, "You do realize that you're eating my food, right?"

Gabriella's eyes widened in shock as she realized what she was doing. She swallowed and exclaimed, "Oh my gosh, I'm so sorry!" She turned a violent shade of magenta. "I can't believe I did that, I'm so, so sorry!"

Troy laughed. "Chill, Gabriella, I really don't mind. I was just wondering if you knew you were doing it."

Gabriella started to giggle too. "I guess not." Just then her phone started to vibrate and, glancing at the screen, she saw that it was Jeremiah's. "Hold on a sec," she told Troy, pressed the call button, and said, "Hello?"

"Hey, Gabi," said Jeremiah's voice on the other line. "Where you at?"

"Don't call me that," said Gabriella robotically. "I'm at Starbucks."

"Figures..." Gabriella heard him breathe on the other end. She narrowed her eyes in frustration. "Where'd you sleep last night?"

"I... stayed at a hotel," answered Gabriella, not looking at Troy.

"Well, I'm gonna come get you. Are you at that Starbucks by the school?"

"The Starbucks at the school..." she mused, glancing at Troy. He nodded. "Yeah."

"Okay, honey, see you in a few. I love you."

"Same here," Gabriella quickly hung out and took a sip of her drink.

There was an uncomfortable silence before Troy said, "So, um, you just lied to him, didn't you?"

Gabriella nodded slowly.

"How long have you guys been dating for?"

"Six months,"

"Is it a good thing to be lying this far into the relationship?"

"Don't act like you know everything about relationships," snapped Gabriella and immediately regretted it. "I'm sorry, it's just-," she stopped, and started over. "He would've been suspicious if I told him that I'd spent that night at my ex-boyfriend's house whom I haven't seen in three and a half years."

Troy shrugged. "Why? Would he think something had happened?"

"Well, yeah! Wouldn't you?"

"Not if you told me otherwise,"

Gabriella didn't say anything.

"Would you believe me if we were dating and I spent that night at an old girlfriend's house and said that nothing had happened?" challenged Troy.

Gabriella thought about that. She knew Troy too well to think that he would lie to her, or do anything to hurt her. "Well, yeah..."

"What if Jeremiah told you that?"

She stared at Troy incredulously. What was this, 20 Questions? But then she realized Troy was right. She probably wouldn't believe him. Sighing, she said, "Maybe not." But then she fired up again. "So does that make you think that we're not good together? Maybe we are good together, I just don't trust him as well as I trusted you!"

Troy shrugged his shoulders. "That's true." She didn't notice the slightly sarcastic tone in his voice.

"Trust takes time to build!" said Gabriella, feeling more confident. "It's not something that can be gained like that." She snapped her fingers.

"Or in six months,"

Gabriella opened her mouth in indignation but before she could answer, out of the corner of her eye, she saw Jeremiah's car. "Jeremiah's here," She stood up and grabbed her coffee, taking a long drink from it. "Thanks for taking me out to dinner and letting me stay at your place last night," she said stiffly, her manners always coming into play. "It was good getting to catch up."

She started to walk away, and Troy called after her, "I'll call you!"

Gabriella just couldn't stay mad at him. She turned around swiftly, smiled, waved, and strode through the door and into the car.

"Hey, baby!" said Jeremiah, leaning across to kiss her on the mouth as she fastened her seat belt. "How was your night?"

Gabriella shrugged. "Pretty good." She glanced quickly at the Starbucks and saw Troy looking at her. He gave her a tiny smile which she returned before turning back to Jeremiah. "What about yours?"

"It was awesome!" exclaimed Jeremiah enthusiastically. He did a U-turn in the car and drove toward the freeway. "That was probably the best party I have ever been to before. It was fucking insane!"

Gabriella nodded, already bored.

"What hotel did you stay at?"

"Oh um, The Hilton," she answered quickly, naming the first hotel that came to her mind. She shut her eyes in horror – the Hilton? She could've thought of something better – or cheaper!

Jeremiah raised his eyebrows. "Wow, the Hilton?" he mused. "Pretty expensive place, huh?"

Gabriella shrugged, "Yeah, well, um, it was just a one-night thing, and, uh, it's not like I got room service, I just, you know, slept there, and, well, I couldn't find any other place to stay-," she rambled.

Jeremiah laughed. "Gabi, calm down."

Gabriella sighed loudly. "Jeremiah, I am begging you, please stop calling me that!"

Clicking his tongue impatiently, Jeremiah retorted, "Why won't you just shut up about that?"

"Because I don't like it!" Gabriella never yelled, but her voice was building in anger and frustration at Jeremiah's stubbornness.

"When I met your mom over Christmas, she called you Gabi the whole time, and you didn't seem so pissed off at her about it!" Jeremiah shouted.

Gabriella started to get tears in her eyes. "It's just one of those things that only parent's can get away with, you know? Please, Jeremiah, just enough with the nickname!"

"You know what, I like the name Gabi so I'm gonna call you that, whether you like it or not!" Jeremiah roared, the car swerving.

Gabriella blinked at him in surprise. She sat there, reeling, until she found her voice and said, "So, you'd wanna call me something even if it makes me unhappy? I thought you loved me."

"But you don't love me!" said Jeremiah angrily. "Don't think I haven't noticed, Gabi, but you have never said 'I love you' to me. You always say 'me too', which may imply the same thing, but it still isn't the same thing."

Gabriella didn't answer. In fact, the two of them didn't talk to each other for another two hours as they sailed along the freeway. She had her head leaning against the window, tears silently rolling down her cheeks. She knew her mascara was running but she didn't care.

So, Jeremiah had figured it out. Well, he was bound to someday. They hadn't broken up, though, had they? She didn't know... she sniffed, but he made no effort to comfort her.

She knew Troy thought they had a bad relationship, and she hated to admit it, but he was right; they did. She didn't even know why they were dating. Gabriella did like Jeremiah but... I don't know, I'm so confused, she thought miserably.

Suddenly her phone started vibrating. Jumping slightly, Gabriella retrieved it from her purse and glanced at the number. It was 'unknown'. She pressed the call button anyway and said, her voice cracking from its lack of use, "Hello?"

"Gabriella?" a static-y voice said on the other line.

"Taylor, hi," said Gabriella weakly, trying to sound upbeat and positive. "What's going on?" She raised her voice slightly, as Jeremiah had made no effort to turn down the radio.

"Ooh, I can't believe it's you!" came Sharpay's voice.

"We're on different phones," explained Taylor.

"Oh, I see," giggled Gabriella. "So you guys live together? With Chad and Zeke?"

"Who are you talking to?" hissed Jeremiah.

"Um, hold on," said Gabriella into the phone. She put her hand over the speaker and said, "It's a couple of old friends from high school. I haven't talked to them in a really long time." She paused. "Uh, so would you mind turning down the radio? It's kinda hard to hear."

Jeremiah sighed in annoyance. "Just call them when we get back to school."

"But I haven't talked to them in three and a half years," she protested. "I'd prefer to talk to them now."

"Well, you guys have made it this long," snapped Jeremiah. "You can wait longer." He then turned up the volume louder, ending the conversation.

Gabriella let out a loud "Ugh!" in anger and said, "Do you think you guys can call me back later tonight, around 7? Thanks, bye." She hung up without waiting for an answer and closed her eyes, drifting into an angry, uncomfortable sleep.