AN: Thanks, once again, for all the lovely reviews. Sometimes it's just so fun to torture readers. :)

1 week 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 6

The week passed by very quickly for Gabriella, and she couldn't believe how much had changed from the week before. Jeremiah had been magically transformed into a loving and caring boyfriend. She now enjoyed looking into his deep, emerald green eyes and admiring his tan skin and brown hair. He'd stopped calling her Gabi, he called her all the time, and he'd started accompanying her to Starbucks every morning, even if he didn't eat anything. That all made Gabriella happy, and soon she didn't start doubting herself when she said 'I love you' to him.

But that's not all that had changed. Taylor and Sharpay called her every night that week, and it seemed as though they'd told everyone what had happened. She'd spoken to Chad and Zeke briefly a couple times, Kelsi and Ryan had called twice, and Jason once, all to tell her than they were happy to hear from her again and they hoped to see her soon. But Troy called the most. He called her every day at lunch, after her last class, and before she went to bed. Gabriella enjoyed it, even though she didn't feel comfortable talking to him in front of Jeremiah and had requested her not call in the mornings any more.

On Friday night, when Gabriella was just getting back from classes to drop off her bag before going out to dinner with Jeremiah – he'd decided to bail on his friends to go out with her – when her phone went off. She answered it without checking the Caller ID. "Hello?"

"Hey Gabriella," said Taylor.

"Oh, hi. What's up?"

"Nothing," said Taylor. "So listen. Troy told you about our monthly gathering things, right?"

"Yeah," said Gabriella. "Why?"

"Well, we're having one this weekend. Do you wanna come?"

"Um, well, I don't know," Gabriella said uneasily. "I mean, you guys all go to school in Southern California, which is a pretty long drive and I don't have a car, and I can't really afford to fly-,"

"Well, Jeremiah's invited too, you know," said Taylor. "Can he drive you?"

"Um, he's busy this weekend," lied Gabriella. Even though they had a stronger relationship, she didn't want Jeremiah to hang out with her and her old friends just yet.

"Okay, well, we had a feeling he would be," Taylor said. "So we formed a plan."

"Huh?"

"You remember how Ryan and Sharpay's parents commute to different states for their jobs? Like, a lot?" asked Taylor.

"Mhm," recalled Gabriella. "So?"

"Well, it would be a bit pricey for us to fly out to see each other once, sometimes twice, a month," stated Taylor. "So Ryan and Sharpay's parents let us use their frequent flyer miles, and, lemme tell you, they have a lot."

"Really?" asked Gabriella. "They let you use them?"

"Yeah," said Taylor, as if it were no big deal. "Ryan and Sharpay are rich, their parents don't care about paying for plane tickets."

"Oh, well, okay," said Gabriella. "So how am I going to get my ticket? You gonna mail it overnight?" she joked, grinning.

"Well, no," said Taylor. "Troy said he'd fly down to San Fran and give you your miles and then you two would fly down to San Luis Obispo together."

"San Luis Obispo?"

"Yeah, we're going to visit Kelsi and Ryan. It's really nice there this time of year. So what do you say? Is that alright?"

Gabriella shrugged. "Yeah, I guess," She wondered why Troy was willing to fly down to see her, just to give her her miles. She figured that if they'd been planning this for a while, they could've just mailed it.

"Great!" squealed Taylor. "Troy already bought his ticket. His plane there lands at around 7:30a.m., and the flight to San Luis is at 9."

"Did you guys already buy my ticket?"

"Yeah. But we took it out of your share of frequent flyer miles." Taylor laughed.

"And when will I be coming back? Did you guys already buy my ticket home?"

"No, but we're all shooting to fly back around 5, so even if it's delayed we'll have time to get home and to bed early. Well, we'll see you then. Don't forget a bathing suit!"

"Bathing suit?" asked Gabriella. "It's only March!"

"But it's always warm in San Luis Obispo," explained Taylor. "Pretty much 70 degrees, all year round. Now that I think about it, don't just pack your bathing suit, but summer clothes too." she paused. "And some pants and a jacket too, I guess, since it gets cold at night. See you tomorrow!" and then she hung up.

Gabriella woke up the next morning an hour earlier than usual since she still had to pack. She hadn't had time to pack night before since, after she and Jeremiah had had dinner, he'd surprised her with a huge picnic dessert at Golden Gate Park, and they hadn't gotten back until very late. Yawning, Gabriella actually wished she could have a few more hours of sleep, but she really needed to shower and pack, and besides, she could sleep on the plane.

She sat up groggily and stretched. Blinking in the darkness, she saw that Jessyca was actually there, sprawled on the bed with her mouth open. Gabriella smiled slightly at the amusing sight before stumbling out of her own bed towards her dresser.

Gabriella stared at her clothes, trying to think of something to wear. These jeans are a little tight... I wonder if Troy would notice... Gabriella's eyes widened in shock. Why did she care so much about what Troy thought? Quickly, she dressed herself in jeans and a pink shirt. She lugged her suitcase out from under her bed and threw in half of her wardrobe.

She went to the bathroom to comb her hair before braiding it into pigtails, washed her face, brushed her teeth, and did her makeup. Then she threw that into her suitcase. She put her phone, wallet, iPod, and a pack of gum into her purse and then dug through her drawers before finding her abandoned-since-summer sunglasses to put into her purse too. It was now 6:30; she had to get to the airport by 7 to check in, so there was no time to get Starbucks. As she wrote a note to Jessyca, explaining where she was going for the weekend, she prayed that their was a Starbucks at the airport. All those times she'd been to the airport she'd never noticed whether or not there was one – she'd always had some before she got there.

Dragging her suitcase behind her out to the front of the school, Gabriella shivered in the cold. She hadn't thought about wearing her jacket out with her, and now she was freezing in her t-shirt. She walked out to the front to the front of the school and hailed a taxi to take her to the airport.

Luckily there wasn't much traffic, so she reached the airport by 6:50. It was only when she got into the airport that she realized that Troy was bringing her ticket for her, she she couldn't check in or go through security.

"Ughh," she groaned in annoyance. She sat down on a bench outside and closed her eyes for a couple seconds, but had to open them because she knew she was going to fall asleep. Checking her phone, she saw it was only 6:55. She had time to take a taxi to the nearest Starbucks and be back by 7:30 to meet Troy so she could get her ticket.

Gabriella went outside, hailed yet another taxi after five minutes of trying, and asked him to drive her to the nearest Starbucks, which, unfortunately, was ten minutes away. She begged the driver to wait for her while she quickly went inside, ordered her usual latte and what was now her usual muffin and hurried back into the taxi to go back to the airport. It was a few minutes before 7:30, so Gabriella figured she was back on time when her phone rang as she was emerging from the taxi.

"Hey, are you here yet?" asked Troy when she answered.

"Yeah," panted Gabriella as she jogged into the airport. "You're already waiting for me? I thought your flight didn't get in until 7:30."

"Well, amazingly, our flight was early," laughed Troy. "I just got here."

"And I see you," smiled Gabriella, hanging up the phone. She took a long sip of her latte, feeling much more awake than she had a half an hour ago, and strode toward Troy, who'd hung up also and was looking around for her.

Finally, he spotted her when she was just a few feet away and she saw his face light up. "Hey!" he smiled, giving her a brief hug. "I'll take that," Troy grabbed the suitcase from her hands and wheeled it behind him. "Oh, and this is yours." He pulled a plane ticket from his back pants pocket and handed it to her. "9:30 flight to San Luis Obispo."

"Thanks," she grinned, taking the ticket from him.

They checked in and went through the security. After a few minutes of Gabriella drinking her coffee and eating her muffin, Troy said, "So. Are you excited to see everyone again?"

Gabriella sighed. "Well, kinda. More nervous, I think."

"Why nervous?"

"Well," Gabriella paused, trying to find the right words. "It is sorta my fault for not keeping in touch with you guys; you know, for not calling."

"They're not gonna be mad at you," Troy assured her.

"Oh, well, I know that," said Gabriella quickly. "I mean, I've talked to them all at least once. It just might be a little awkward at first. I might feel like I'm intruding, since I'm the new one in the group."

"The new one?" scoffed Troy. "You started the group. You've just been taking a break for a few years."

Gabriella giggled. Troy gave her a side glance and then lunged for her bag with the muffin. She yelped loudly and jumped back. "What are you doing?" she cried, starting to laugh. Troy grabbed the bag from her hands and pulled out the rest of the muffin, jamming the rest of it into his mouth. "Hey!" said Gabriella, hitting his shoulder. "I wasn't done with that yet!"

Troy just grinned, chewing greedily.

"You so owe me another!"

Troy swallowed and said, "Alright, alright, fine. We'll split another."

Gabriella smiled. "And you can pay." she joked.

"I know," Troy grinned again.

After a few silent minutes of walking to find a Starbucks, Gabriella said, "Uh, you know I was kidding, right?"

"About...?" prodded Troy.

"About the paying. I'll pay."

"No, no, I ate your muffin, so I'll buy you another." protested Troy.

"No-," argued Gabriella, cursing herself for having joked about that.

"Gabriella, chill," said Troy. "Your politeness comes into play too much. I'll pay."

"Fine, fine," sighed Gabriella.

Troy smiled at her. "Come on, do you and Jeremiah get in a big discussion about who's going to pay every time you guys go to dinner?"

"No," said Gabriella, smiling now. "We split the check."

"Really? Well, that's nice," said Troy.

"What?" said Gabriella, stopping from the tone in his voice. "Is that so wrong? You know, you and I always split the check."

"I know!" said Troy, turning around and throwing his hands up in surrender. "I didn't mean anything by that."

Gabriella narrowed her eyes and took a few steps toward him. "You seem to take every opportunity to put Jeremiah down. Why do you do that?"

"I don't!" said Troy in an unconvincing voice.

"Yes, you do," corrected Gabriella. "It's starting to bother me."

Troy sighed. "It's just-," Troy stopped, and then started again, "Something about him just doesn't sit well with me. I can't explain it. But I am truly sorry, and I promise to stop. So," he smiled, trying to get her in a good mood again. "Still want that muffin?"

"Um... not really," shrugged Gabriella. "I'm not too hungry anyway."

"Oh, well, alright," said Troy. Gabriella could hear in his voice that he was upset that he'd ruined the happiness.

"We should just go and find the gate," said Gabriella quietly as they started walking again.

They walked along in silence for a long time, looking for the gate. When they found it, they sat side-by-side, not talking, until Troy pulled out a book and started reading. Gabriella looked over at him in surprise.

Troy glanced at her. "What?"

"You're reading?" she smiled a little, pointing at the thick book.

"Oh," Troy let out a laugh. "Yeah. It's for my English class."

"Ah, of course," grinned Gabriella as she pulled out her phone to check the time. 8:15. "There's always a reason why."

"Well, this is an interesting book," confessed Troy. "I like reading it. But, yes, I admit it, I wouldn't have read it if I hadn't been assigned to."

Gabriella laughed. They settled back into silence as Troy continued to read and as Gabriella took out her iPod, draining her coffee cup.

They sat that way for the next half an hour, listening to music and reading, sometimes glancing up to look at each other. A couple times they met each other's eyes before blushing and looking back to the ground. It was kinda fun, non-verbally flirting with Troy, until her phone rang and reminded her that she had a boyfriend.

"Hey, Jeremiah!"

"Hey, baby," said Jeremiah over the phone. "I wanted to talk to you before your flight. What time does it leave?"

"Well, it's supposed to be nine, but of course it's delayed," sighed Gabriella, looking over at the flight information projected behind the flight attendance desk.

"Aw, I'm sorry, honey," cooed Jeremiah. Gabriella giggled. She saw, out of the corner of her eye, Troy look up from his book to stare at her. "Well, have a safe flight. Call me later."

"I will," she promise.

"Okay. I love you."

"I love you too,"

"Bye baby,"

"Bye," Gabriella pressed the end button on her phone and stuck it back into her purse, her cheeks starting to burn up from Troy's starting. Finally she turned to face him and said, "What?"

"So, you say 'I love you' to him now?" Troy smiled, as if happy for them. "Congratulations."

Gabriella raised an eyebrow. "Congratulations? What is that supposed to mean?"

"Nothing!" said Troy quickly. "Nothing at all. I'm just happy for you. You know, that you were able to find someone that you truly care about and who respects and cares about you."

Taken aback, she answered, "Oh. Um, well, thanks." She put her iPod headphones back into her ears and turned the music back on. She was aware that Troy watched her for a while longer before turning back to his book, but noticed that he wasn't turning the pages anymore.