Chapter 3:

"Dude, I cannot believe you rented Rent, that'll just be giving in to our girlfriend's whiny orders," Chad said as everyone settled down in the basement of the Bolton home to watch Rent.

"Personally Chad, I think I can survive two and a half hours of Rent in order to get Kelsi off my case," Jason replied.

"Come on, you all are judging the movie before you even see it!" Gabriella exclaimed. "We wouldn't have to go through watching it now if you all didn't have basketball practice that one Friday evening when we wanted to go see this."

"Yeah, I bet you all weren't used to paying for your own stuff at the theater, and actually paying attention to the movie!" Chad exclaimed, earning him a whack from every girl in the room. "Hey, hey, HEY! I thought that this was a movie party, not beat up Chad party!"

"Personally, I like the second one better," Gabriella said as she settled down on the couch, leaning up against Troy's chest. Troy aimed the remote control at the DVD player, and pressed play. The screen changed from the menu screen which was a collection of pictures and video clips to a black screen. When the credits began to roll, the introduction to the ever-famous song Seasons of Love began to play.

"I know him," Gabriella said when the name Adam Pascal came up. Everyone looked at her like she was making it up.

"No way, why didn't you tell us this when we saw the movie?" Sharpay asked her. Gabriella shrugged.

"Didn't feel like it."

"You're lying."

"Sharpay," Zeke said. "This is Gabriella, is it possible for her to lie?"
"I guess not, but that can't be true. Call him or something to prove it." Troy paused the movie, and Gabriella looked at the digital clock sitting on the DVD player.

"If it's 8:30 here, then it's about 10:30 in New York. Sorry, he has two sons, it would be too late, and I don't want his wife to get mad at me. I could…" She paused to pull her cell phone out of her pocket. "I could try to text him though, no promises that he'd get back to me tonight though." She began to type a message into her cell phone as Troy resumed the movie.

You there? Gabriella asked Adam. Luckily, Adam's cell phone was on, so he got back to her right away.

Yeah, what's up Gabi?

"Ha!" Gabriella exclaimed. "See? Look!" she held up her cell phone, while everyone looked at the reply.

"It could just be anyone, Gabi," Troy said. He knew that Gabriella wouldn't lie, but he was right, and someone was bound to point that fact out.

"Okay, here."

My friends don't believe me that I know you, so could you just send me a message with your name in it so they believe me? I know it sounds weird and all, but could you?

Okay, to all of Gabi's friends, this isAdam Pascal from "Rent". How's that? Gabriella showed everyone the message.

"See? I used to live down the street from him growing up in New York. I babysat for his kids, and he got me tickets to shows, and backstage passes. He also got me free copies of Rent and Chicago, because Benny from Rent is in Chicago."

"That is so cool!" Kelsi exclaimed. Gabriella beamed as she continued to text Adam while everyone went back to the movie.

Thanks. So, what's up with you?

Nothing much. Watching the boys and everything while Cybelle works. Are you still coming up to our house for two weeks this summer? Your Mom mentioned that you wanted to bring a friend, do you still want to?

Yeah, it's my boyfriend, I think my Mom talked to his parents, but I'm not sure. I haven't mentioned it to him, and I'm using him as a pillow right now.

You mean Troy?

Yeah.

Okay, I just wanted to know before I got you some things.

Some things? What would those "some things" happen to be?

It's a surprise. Listen, I really have to go, Cybelle's mad at me for not getting the kids into bed. I'll call you sometime tomorrow. Love 'ya.

Love 'ya too. Bye.

"What do you mean by 'love 'ya'?" Troy asked as he read Gabriella's last message to Adam.

"Oh, it's just something I do to him. He's like an Uncle to me, that's all don't worry." Gabriella placed a small kiss on his cheek. "You're not jealous are you?" Troy shook his head.

"Not really. I was a little confused, that's all." Gabriella leaned up against Troy as he wrapped his arms around her waist. Everyone watched the movie in silence, well all except for Chad who would add his opinion on the love status of some of the characters.

"That is so wrong!" he exclaimed at the end of I'll Cover You.

"Shut-up. Nobody cares what you have to say," Taylor said to him. Chad shrugged and said that even though that was true, he thought that he should voice his opinion just in case someone did agree with him.

After the movie, Troy walked Gabriella home so she wouldn't have to walk home in the dark. They stopped outside of her doorway, and Troy pulled her onto the bench swing that hung from the top of the porch.

"Hey Gabi, could I ask you a question?" he asked her as he gently began to rock the swing back and forth with his foot.

"Depends," Gabriella mumbled as she buried her face in his neck. "Does it require a lot of thought, because I'm only in the mood for yes or no questions at the moment?"

"It depends. If you could go anywhere in the world, where would you go, and why?" Gabriella sat up and looked at her boyfriend, slightly confused.

"Where did this come from?"
"I don't know. Would you just answer it?" Gabriella leaned back up against him.

"you remember that part in Rent where the guys were all on the subway, and singing about how wonderful Santa Fe was, and how they would all go there one day to forget their worries?" Troy nodded. "Well, that's where I want to go, Santa Fe. How about you? Where would you go?"

"Anywhere that we're together, I'm fine with." Troy kissed the top of her head. "The guys and I were talking while you all were upstairs getting some more food after the movie, and we got this idea."

"This can't be good."

"Have faith in me woman! We really liked Rent, even though we won't admit it, and we thought that it would be cool to do that last song together in the talent show in two months."

"Are you serious? That would be so cool! Could we?"

"We're going to talk about it at lunch on Monday, but I think that we are. We just need to find the background music, and the lyrics."

"Oh, I can get that from Adam easily if I ask him really nicely. I was also thinking about something." Troy rolled his eyes.

"Here we go, one of your crazy ideas. Last time you had an idea we were singing in the spring musical!"

"It's not that bad! Well, every summer, I fly out to New York for two weeks, and stay at Adam's house. Well, this year he said I could bring a friend, and I think my Mom talked to your parents already, and I was wondering if you wanted to come with me to New York."

"I'd love to, but I'd have to check with my parents of course, but I think that they'd be cool with it. If your Mom trusts Adam and his wife, then I'm pretty sure that they will." Troy kissed the top of her head. "You'd better get inside. It's getting chilly out, and you don't have a jacket. Call me in the morning?" Gabriella got up off Troy's lap and nodded.

"First thing."

"Better make it around noon."

"Okay, I'll call you around noon." Troy kissed her on the lips.

"Love you," he whispered in her ear. His hot breath tickled her skin.

"Love you too," she replied just as quietly before she slipped into her dark house. Two houses away, she could see Taylor and Chad talking on her porch.

When Gabriella got inside, her house was deathly quiet. She dumped her keys and her purse on the table next to the front door while taking off her sandals. She thought she heard a noise in the other room, but figured that it was the wind. However, when she flipped on the kitchen lights, she saw a familiar figure sitting at the table.

A/N: Yeah, in case you haven't figured it out, I'm a Rent-Head. Adam Pascal plays Roger in Rent, and is REALLY hot with long hair. If you want to know who I'm talking about, go google his name, trust me, he's hot (but sadly married). I know the whole Adam thing was really random, but I was really bored! Until next time! Much love!