A/N: Hey everyone! I finally have a long chapter. Enjoy!

Chapter 5

The next Friday, Gabriella was excitedly getting ready for the championship game. She tried asking her mom for permission to go, but her mom refused. Gabriella tried not to look too disappointed because she didn't want her mom to catch on that she really wanted to go.

Gabriella looked at herself in her full-length bedroom mirror. She looked great. She kept her dark, curly hair down in its natural curls. She had on light pink eye shadow and she'd dabbed on some mascara and eyeliner. Gabriella wore a white hoodie that said Abercrombie & Fitch on it with a grey tee under it and a pair of jeans. She also wore a pair of cute ballet shoes she had got from Target last month. She then grabbed her pink Razor from her nightstand and slipped it into her black handbag. She then grabbed her black handbag and started down her stairs.

Her mother had left about an hour ago. She wouldn't be back until about 12:30. If Gabriella left by 11:30 and got home by 12:00 she would have enough time to get ready for bed and go to sleep before her mother got home.

The game would start at 8 and it was 7:24 right now. Her friends should be there any minute. So to pass the time by, Gabriella decided to flip through channels. She finally had settled on a new episode of Degrassi: The Next Generation, when her doorbell rang. Gabriella quickly got up, grabbed her handbag, and walked out of her front door.

Taylor and Sharpay greeted her at the door, while Chad and Troy were sitting in the car. She quickly looked her door and then went to Chad's black Nissan. She then got into the spacious back seat with Taylor and Sharpay. Chad then took off.

It seemed to take forever to get to West High School, even though it was only about 30 minutes away. When they finally got there and got settled in the gym, tip off had started.

"Are you guys upset that you didn't get to the championship game, while the JV did?" Sharpay asked Chad and Troy.

"Nah," Troy said nonchalant. "We already got our championship. I wouldn't want to press my luck twice."

"Are you kidding man?" Chad said to Troy. "I was mad as hell that we didn't go to the championship. We could have beaten North if we had the stamina. We were just too damn uncaring about the whole thing."

"Chad, it's over with, baby. Don't worry about it anymore," Taylor told him.

Chad had seemed to let it go. They watched the game in peace until the first half ended. Then everyone went out into the hall towards the concession stand and bathrooms. All the girls went into the bathroom to reapply makeup and talk.

"So, did your mom suspect at all?" Taylor asked Gabriella.

"Nope. She was too busy getting ready to notice that I was doing the same thing."

"Well that's good," Sharpay said.

"Yeah," Gabriella said. "I'm glad too because if she did then---."

"What the hell did you just say to me!" they heard someone yell from the hall.

The girls quickly gathered up their purses and ran out of the bathroom to see what was going on. They then saw the scene. Chad was the one who had yelled. He looked majorly pissed off about something.

"Didn't ya hear me dick-head? I just told ya what you already know," some guy told Chad.

"You got some nerve telling me something like that!" Chad told him as he pushed him.

The guy had on a West High letter jacket. So Gabriella assumed that he was a West basketball player.

The West player pushed Chad back. The guy outweighed Chad by about 20 pounds, but Chad didn't care. He kept pushing. Taylor yelled at him to stop, but Chad wouldn't listen as usual. The West player then said, "I bet your girlfriend could fight better then you." That really made Chad mad, so he punched the West player right in the jaw. Troy and another West High player then tried to break them apart, but not before the West player punched Chad's nose. Troy dragged Chad back before he could swing at him again. Troy led him outside to help him cool off. Taylor, Gabriella, and Sharpay followed them.

"I could have kicked his ass, Troy!" Chad yelled.

"I know, Chad, but right now you need to cool down."

Just then a security guard came out and told them not to come back in, or else they'd have to call the police. He told them that someone could go in really fast to get their stuff, but then they all had to leave. Sharpay went to get their stuff, while Taylor decided to question Chad.

"What the hell were you thinking Chad Danforth?" She asked him. "You just got us kicked out. Way to go!"

"Hey, I was defending your ass, Taylor!" he screamed back at her.

"How were you defending me? By humiliating me?"

"No, the guy was talking shit about you, so I had to shut him up."

"What was he saying about me?"

"Nothing, never mind."

"Tell me! What was so bad that he said about me?"

"I said never mind, Taylor!"

"You always do this," Taylor yelled at him. Gabriella was sure the whole parking lot could hear the fight. "You never tell me what is really going on."

"Yes, I do."

"No, you don't!"

"Whatever," Chad said as he unlocked his car and got into it. "I'm ready to leave. Ya'll coming or not?"

Before they could answer Sharpay came running back with all their stuff. Gabrielle already had her hoodie and her purse so Sharpay didn't have any of her stuff.

They all then got into the car and sped off. The car was silent until they got on the highway. Taylor started the fight back up with Chad so the rest of the car was forced to listen to their squabble.

"Just tell me!" Taylor shouted at Chad. She was sitting right next to him. Gabriella didn't see the need to yell at him. She was huddled up next to Troy in the backseat. Troy was absent-mindedly stroking Gabriella's hair. Sharpay was silently looking out the window, trying hard to ignore the argument.

"Alright," Chad said. "He said that you had slept with him last year after the East/West game." Gabriella couldn't really believe that Chad had just said that. She was sure that Taylor would never, ever do that to Chad. She would never cheat on him.

"What?" Taylor yelled. "Did you believe him?"

"Um…"

"Did you?" She yelled back.

"Yes, I did believe him for a second. That's why I flipped out."

"You know I wouldn't do anything like that don't you?" She looked at him pleadingly. Gabriella hoped that she would just drop the fight. Chad was losing focus on the road. It was dark out so he couldn't see very well. Everyone knew that Chad had failed driver's ed about 5 times before finally getting his license.

"Umm…" he said looking over to Taylor confusingly. Gabriella saw it coming. Chad had shift the wheel with his left arm as he was turning to look at Taylor. Gabriella grabbed onto Troy's arm.

"Chad!" Taylor shouted. "Watch the r----"

Gabriella watched Chad try to spin the wheels around but it was too late. They were heading straight into the ditch. She grabbed onto Troy harder, but suddenly everything went black.

A/N: I know. Cliffhangers. We all hate them, but they make the story seem so much more exciting! I should have the next chapter in tonight.