DISCLAIMER: I DO NOT OWN HIGH SCHOOL MUSICAL

A/N: Thanks for all the great reviews everyone! Really really appreciate them!


Oh, boy. What an afternoon I had. Singing the Star-Spangled Banner, falling flat on my face, meeting Geo, and seeing Troy. Singing today reminded me of the old days. At first I was totally petrified. But after I saw Troy, I felt right. Everything came out smoothly and freely, as if it was natural. Man, do I owe Taylor big time, but I'm also going to get her for that. She told me that she deliberately had told Coach Emily to let me sing because Troy was there. She also knew that I couldn't really sing in public without Troy there. That should have been my first hint before I freaked out. I should have known Troy would have been there because Tay wouldn't put me on the spot like that. I felt complete again. But what if he just wants to be friends again? Just catch up for the sake of it because he was here for the game.This was his chance of letting things between us be cool.I mean, we left things off in a terrible manner.

Flashback.

It was two days after graduation. Troy called me, saying that he wanted to meet me at the promenade at four. It was one, so I decided that I could take a short nap before getting ready. Before I fell asleep my cell rang. It was Taylor. She was crying.

"Tay, calm down. Breathe in and out. Ok, what's wrong?" She was sobbing.

"Chad."

"What about Chad?"

"He dumped me." She blew her nose.

"What! Why?"

"Because he's a JERK!"

"Taylor. Please. Calm down."

"He is going away this summer to Maui for a co-ed sports enrichment thing. He said that he didn't want to be attached if he found another girl who would happen to be going to the same college as he. And he acted like it was no big deal!" She sounded more angry than upset.

"Oh, I'm so sorry Taylor."

"You deserve a lot better, Tay."

"Thanks, Gabi." She seemed to collect herself from a teary mess. "I'll talk to you later." She hung up.

OH MY GOD IT'S 3:45! I rushed to get ready. My hair was a mess, for when I was talking to Taylor, I was still lying in bed, rolling around in the covers as I tried to calm her down. I had no time to do anything to it, so I pulled it into a loose ponytail. Oh god, I looked so plain without my make-up. I quickly applied mascara, blush, and lip gloss. I jammed into a shirt and threw on a pair of jeans, slipped into some flip-flops, and ran out the door. Troy was waiting for me outside of Ben & Jerry's. He looked rather nervous.

"Hey, Gabriella." He gave me a light hug.

"Don't worry, Bolton. I've had all my shots." He chuckled and squeezed me a little harder. "So what's on your mind?" I stood in line to order an ice cream cone. Talking to Taylor made me a little hungry. He payed for my ice cream and led me outside. We walked down a block of shops, staring at things in the windows, commenting on what we liked and didn't liked.

"So what are your plans for the summer?" he asked. He grabbed my hand and led me towards a bench. We sat right in front of a man playing his guitar. I was still munching on the last bits of the cone. I noticed that he kept a space between us and folded his hands in his lap.

"I don't know. I was hoping to spend them with you as much as we could before school starts? I'm going to miss you when I don't see you around campus anymore. UCLA and Berkeley might as well be a million miles apart."I tried to scoot in closer, but I could tell he wanted some space. I backed off. He seemed to be concentrating on the man playing his guitar. He playing with his thumbs. "We can make our relationship work. We at least have the whole summer to figure things out."

"About that. You see," he began. "My dad is really excited about my playing ball in Berkeley. He thinks that I would do really well. Sohesigned me up for this sports camp for incoming college freshmen to keep me in shape. It's a ten-week camp...in Maui." Ten weeks! That's longer than I anticipated. Practically the whole summer! I was shocked. Terribly shocked. Was he talking about the same camp Chad was going to?

He practically read my mind, "Chad's going, too. It's a co-ed camp." Oh. No. Did this mean that he was going to break up with me for the same reason Chad broke up with Taylor?

"Oh," I said quietly. I lowered my head and tried to keep my tears from falling. This is it. He's going to dump me. Wait. I should do it before he does! My head quickly shot up. "You know what, Troy. You have fun at that sports camp thing. I'm sure you'll meet a lot of girls there, too. And you don't want to be tied down by that just because you have someone waiting for you here in New Mexico." He looked totally surprised. It was as if I slapped him in the face. "Someone who cares about you, worries about you, thinks about you all the time." At this point, I stood up. I tried to keep my voice from shaking."So, don't be tied down by me just because you want to have a great time at that summer camp." I turned and walked away.I bumped into the guitarist without turning toapologize.I could hear him call my name, but he didn't come after me like I thought he would.

I didn't stop walking until I was in my room.I sat on my bed staring atthe closed bedroom door still thinking he was going to come in and tell me something else.I was filled with mixed emotions. Did I just break up with Troy Bolton? Did that even count as a break up or were we just taking a break?I didn't know what I just did. I told myself that if he did care then he would call me.I was an idiot to believe this.A week passed. Two weeks passed. Summer passed. I went to Southern California and ended up dorming with Taylor and Kelsi. I kept my cell charged and on at all times just in case that phone call would come. A semester passed. I gave up on that hopeless thought. Troy never tried to communicate with me.

End of Flashback.

Kelsi and I came in the apartment. I looked over at her, a smile on her face. Wait a sec. Why was she home so early?

"Hey Kels?

"Yeah?"

"I thought you and Jason were going to hang out? Dinner and a movie?" I remembered her saying that before she and Jason walked out of the gym. "It's only 4:45."

"Oh, yeah. Well, we were on our way when Jason got a call. Some guy named on the basketball team named Leo reminded him about a party tonight at someone's mansion in Beverley Hills. Before Jason could turn him down, I quickly told him that we should go. I mean, how often do you get to party in Beverley Hills?" She walked in the living room and plopped on the couch. I followed and sat down on a chair.

"Kels. Did you mean Geo?"

"Oh, yeah. Geo. That's the name. You know him?" Without moving any part of her body, her head turned towards me.

"Uhm..yeah."

"Huh, I think I met him once. Didn't like him at all. He was hitting on me with Jason right beside me." Her face was filled with repugnance.

"Then why did you say you'd go to that party with Jason knowing Geo'd be there?"

"Hey, like I said. How often do you get to party in Beverley Hills? I'll just be partying it up with Jason anyways. I won't leave his side for a minute...even if he has to use the bathroom." She winked. We both laughed. Even though Kelsi looked the same on the outside, she recently loosened up when she turned 21.

"Hey. What's going on?" Taylor emerged from the bedroom. "Why are the both of you back so early?"

Before I could say anything, Kels chimed in. "Change of plans.I'm going to a party with Jason later, but Gabriella has yet to tell us why she left Troy so early." They both smiled and I blushed.

"Oh my god, how did it go?" Taylor asked. Kelsi quickly sat up and made room for Taylor to join us. "Tell us everything!"

"Does everything have to include Geo?"

"OH MY GOD! GEO? BASKETBALL GEO? UCLA BASKETBALL GEO?" Taylor's eyes bulged.

"That's the Geo."

"How do you know Geo?"

"I forgot to mention earlier that he stopped by the locker room to see how I was doing." I pointed to my bruises. "Then he asked me out to that party Kelsi and Jason are going to."

They both screamed.

"But I said 'no', so he gave me his number in case I changed my mind." I rummaged through my bag and found the slip of paper he handed to me earlier:

Geo (310) 555-3425

I waited until they finished screaming. Then told them exactly what happened after Tay threw my bags at me and locked me out of the locker room. I happily retold Kelsi's make out session with Jason. She turned the color of a tomato.

"DAYUUM Gabriella! Geo and Troy? Two of the hottest guys I've ever seen.How do you do it? I can't even get a guy anymore. Now you have two!" Taylor was getting giddy again. Kelsi on the other hand wasn't as thrilled.

"Gabs, you should really be careful around Geo."

"It's ok Kels. I don't really like him."

"OH!" Taylor's face lit up. "GABRIELLA! THE LETTER! DID YOU READ THE LETTER YET!"

"Oh, no."

"Go get it!" They yelled in unison.

I ran in my room, and started searching under the pile of clothes that were heaped on my bed. "Where the heck is it? I thought I put it on my bed...AH! Got it." I retrieved the letter and returned to the living room. Kelsi had a tub of popcorn on her lap. Taylor was taking handfuls out of the tub. "What are you guys doing?"

"This letter seems like it's worth a tub of popcorn. You want some?" Kelsi held out the bowl of popcorn in my face. I shook my head.

"Read it already!" They said in unison. They were getting really good at that unison stuff.


A/N: fluff fluff. please R&R! the next couple of chapters are going to be soo good, that is if enough people R&R.

i've decided that if i get at least 10 reviews, then i'll start another chapter. until then... :