DISCLAIMER: I DO NOT OWN HIGH SCHOOL MUSICAL

A/N: also, in the middle of the story, the font might change. i dont know what happened to it. it must have been during the uploading process. so sorry for that. :D


Bright lights. Pom-poms. So many faces.

I opened my eyes to see these things. I couldn't hear the music anymore. I felt someone lifting me up. Troy ? No, a paramedic. Two of them. I looked around me. Everybody in the stands was looking straight at me. Some were facing each other, talking, and pointing at me. Some had their jaws dropped while others were covering their mouths. Kelsi had her hands on top of her head. If I wasn't the one being put on display, I would have giggled at her. I saw Taylor rush by my side. She said something inaudible. I searched for Troy . Jason stood beside him, holding his shoulder while he bit his index finger's knuckle. His eyes were sympathetic. I hope he doesn't think I'm a ditz. The speakers boomed, 'She's ok, everyone.' I felt my cheeks turn a bright red. This was worse than actually falling. The paramedics came by my sides. They grabbed my arms and legs and carried me to the locker room. Everything was quiet except for their foot steps. They placed me upon a table and examined me from head to toe. Thank God. Anything to get away from there.

"You hit the ground pretty hard there, missy," said the woman paramedic as she lifted my arms to see if they were broken. "I'm surprised you only managed two bruises on your knee. You're a very lucky girl that nothing else happened to you." She continued to lift my limbs. I sat there in silence and nodded.

"Are you feeling a little dizzy? Or lightheaded?" the other paramedic asked. I shook my head. Tears started to form at I thought of how I embarrassed myself in front of hundreds of people. "Oh, come now. You're going to be just fine. But I advise you to sit out the rest of the time, just to be safe. You can go out whenever you're ready." She gave me a reassuring wink as she pointing towards the door. I nodded.

They left me alone in the locker room. I felt like screaming because of embarrassment and laughing at the same time because of it. I slowly got up to walk toward the sinks and looked in the mirror. I forced a smile at myself. I quickly retied my ponytail and redid the blue, white, and yellow ribbons to their previous state. I heard the door open and turned around. It was one of the paramedics. She smiled, left an ice pack for me on the table, and left.

I came out of the locker room with the ice pack for my bruises to find that the game had continued and neared the end of the fourth quarter. Wow, I missed almost the entire second half. Berkeley was winning by three. That means Troy was winning. I smiled as I walked back to the sidelines. Coach Emily let me sit in a chair. Taylor came by my side with a sympathetic smile.

"How are you doing?" Taylor rubbed my back. I smiled and nodded. "You know, Gabi. You're one tough cookie. You fall on your face, and you still manage a smile." I blushed. She gave me a hug. We resumed to watching the rest of the game.

Troy got fouled for the sixteenth time. As we stepped up to the free throw line, he looked over at me, nodded, and sent me the warmest smile ever. I returned the smile and watched him successfully make his shots. That gave Berkeley a seven point lead with only eight seconds to go. Eight seconds went, and the final buzzer went off. Berkeley won, knocking UCLA out of the running for the UC Basketball Championships. Even though I was sad that we didn't win, I was very happy for Troy . He deserved to win.

I followed the rest of the cheerleaders into the locker room. I heard "Gabriella! Gabriella!" calling from that familiar voice I missed hearing. Troy . He tried to escape the people bombarding him to congratulate him. He couldn't reach me so he yelled, "Meet me outside at 4:00 by the front entrance!" I nodded in reply and smiled. He returned the smile and went back to his team.

I scurried to the locker room and found out Taylor waiting for me by the door. "Gabriella! Was that…"

"Yes! It was!" I squealed. We quietly screamed and jumped up and down as we entered the locker room. Everybody swarmed around me, asking me if I was all right, if I needed anything. Honestly, people. I'm fine. The girls all gave me hugs. I felt a lot better. Even the guys stopped by after they changed in their locker rooms to see how I was doing.

One guy in particular stayed behind to talk. He told me his name was Geo. What a hot name. It suited him perfectly. He was 6'3'', had dark brown hair, brown eyes, and the most amazing abs. He reminded me of an Abercrombie model. Channing Tatum? Yeah, Channing Tatum. A/N: if you don't know who Channing Tatum is, he's super hot. Anyone seen She's The Man? He's Duke. OMG HOTTT. Look him up :D. He even had on Abercrombie clothes: a hot-pink popped-collar polo with the signature moose on the front and nice faded blue Abercrombie jeans. He looked very clean cut. Then he asked me out for a party tonight. I suddenly felt my heart skip a beat.

"Actually," I heard myself say. "I had made other plans for tonight." He frowned in disappointment. "But let me get your number, and I'll call you when I'm free." His face lit up when he handed me a piece of paper with his name and number on it. We exchanged hugs, and I returned to the girls locker room.

I ran up to Taylor , purposefully neglecting to tell her about Geo. I mean, it wasn't as if it was a big deal anyways.

"So…you and Troy ," she said. She smiled and raised her eyebrows.

I giggled. "He told me to meet him outside at 4:00 . What time is it now?"

"Uhm…3:45ish. Man, girl. You killed time. The game ended at 3, and you just come back now? What did you do out there after everyone left you, meet another guy?" She laughed as she changed out of her uniform. I stood in silence there leaning against her cubby.

"Gabriella?" Tay was completely changed out of her uniform. She struggled to take out her ribbons. She noticed I wasn't paying attention. She snapped her fingers in my face. "You okay? That fall didn't do anything to you, did it?" Her face suddenly was filled with concern.

"Oh, I promise. I'm fine." Waving my hand in the air to make it seem like it was swatting the subject away.

"I'm so excited that the plan worked out," Taylor blurted out. She realized what she had said and covered her mouth.

"Plan?" I was dumbfounded. And then. It hit me. "You knew Troy was on the Berkeley team! And you didn't tell me!" I was so overwhelmed. "And that's why you told Coach Emily to let me sing today. Kelsi knew, too?" She nodded. "You guys!" I rolled my eyes and laughed. "Oh yeah, Kelsi's here! We should go out and greet her."

We both ran out just in time to find Kelsi being the last one to come down from the stands. I gave her a hug and then lightly smacked her on the arm. "You knew Troy was a Berkeley player! And you didn't tell me!" The gym was cleared from all people. Jason came walking up behind us in regular clothes and carrying his gym bag and stood next to Kelsi. He looked like he just took a shower. His hair was still damp. "Sorry you didn't win, Jason. But…You knew Troy was here, too?" He started scratching his neck. He shrugged and nodded simultaneously. We all laughed.

"Hey, it was nice freaking you out, Gabi," said Jason. He let out a friendly grin. I punched him on the arm. "Ow! Haha. Well, you just about ready to go Kels?"

"Yeah. So guys. I'll see you back home. We're just going to hang out maybe see a movie and then dinner later." She glanced over at Taylor who was smiling.

"See you around, guys! Good luck with Troy , Gabi," said Jason. He swung his arm around Kelsi, and they both left.

"Gabi, it's almost four. You better go," said Taylor . She was pointing to the locker room's exit as we walked back inside the locker room. All the cheerleaders were changed back into their normal clothes and waved at us as they left the locker room. I looked down and saw I was still wearing my uniform.

"Like this?" I raised my eyebrows. "Blue and yellow aren't my best colors. You sure?"

"Yeah. You look hot in this uniform. It'll turn him on." She winked. "Now go." She practically shoved me out the door and threw my bags at me. She smiled and shut the door.

I glanced at my cell. It said 4:05 . Oh shoot. I'm kind of late. Wait, I should be casually late. So I waited a couple more minutes before I headed towards the front entrance. My heart was pounding so hard I was sure someone else could hear it. Thankfully, no one was around any more. Everyone cleared out since the end of the game. I reached my destination, but where was he? I was filled with utter disappointment when I didn't see him there. I looked around without success.


A/N: ok guys. thanks for the reviews! hope you guys like it so far. uhmm i kinda have an idea in mind for the next couple of chapters. do you think i should continue?