Okay here's the next chapter
everyone… I hope you enjoy! And don't forget to review! Tell me what you think!
CHAPTER 7: The Mall
The walk to the mall was fairly uneventful. They continued to walk hand in hand, and at some point Troy surreptitiously intertwined their fingers… much to the delight of Gabriella who coyly pretended not to notice.
Troy and Gabriella spent most of the trip talking and laughing about the days events, however they both made a conscious effort not to mention certain aspects of the day…
It had become fairly apparent to both of them, what was happening. They were pretty much assured of the others feelings and yet it seemed that neither was willing or ready to be the one to finally initiate the first move…
They eventually reached the mall and walked in quickly, Gabriella pulling on Troy's hand as she moved automatically to one of her favourite stores…
Two hours, 8 stores and 5 shopping bags later, Troy was standing, idly flicking through a rack, as he waited for Gabriella to come out of a change room. He was slowly getting bored and tired, 'Gah! How can girls spend sooo much time shopping! It's so boring! What were you thinking Troy, for ever agreeing to take a girl shopping?'
He continued to flick through the rack, not even paying attention to what he was looking through, his mind wandering… wandering over to the change room in which a certain object of his affection was currently changing her clothes. Soon Troy's mind became more imaginative with its thoughts as he imagined her actually changing her clothes… he felt his throat constrict and go dry and he suddenly had a very distinct urge to go in and see for himself…
Troy immediately cursed himself for this thought, mentally slapping himself for being such a perve, 'Stop it! Have some self-control man! You're being a sicko right now! Gabriella will NEVER want you if you keep acting this way…' Troy's thoughts were suddenly interrupted by giggling and he turned his head to see a small group of young teenage girls, huddled together, giggling and whispering to each other. He stared in confusion as he noticed they kept stealing glances at him, falling into greater fits of laughter as they did so…
"Erm… Troy…?" Troy turned to see Gabriella poking her head out of the change room, smirking slightly as she gave him a weird look, "… erm… why are you looking through a rack of plus sized women's underwear?"
Troy snapped his head around to look at the rack he'd been rummaging through, and felt himself blush a very deep shade of red as he realized he was looking through a rack of women's underwear, it was even worse for him to realize that Gabriella was being kind when she'd described them as plus sized… Troy was a little scared to think who would actually need them that size.
"… I… err… I wasn't! No! ... it… it's not how it looks… I… I just happ… happened to be lean… leaning on this rack… I… I… wasn't looking through it…" he replied nervously, his voice cracking slightly.
She raised her eyebrows at him slightly, stifling a giggle with her hand, "Um… Are you sure about that?" she asked. She took her hand away from her mouth and pointed at his hands.
Troy slowly bent his head to look down at his hands… he nearly died of absolute embarrassment, right then and there!. He blinked twice, hoping that it was all a nightmare, but when he looked again, the reality was still the same… there in his hands was an enormous pair of red satin granny panties. Troy eyes widened in horror and he looked back up at Gabriella to see her laughing hysterically, gripping the side of the change room door to stop herself from falling over. Troy hastened to stuff the article in question back on the rack and practically sprinted away from the rack like a kid caught with his hand in the cookie jar.
"It's not how it looks, I swear!" cried Troy, closing his eyes and slightly wishing he was dead or somewhere else… anywhere else.
Gabriella laughed harder, tears forming in her eyes. She eventually regained some control and moved her hands up to wipe away the tears. She moved back into the stall, apparently forgetting why she'd wanted his attention in the first place, probably just to ask what he thought of her outfit, and exited again a moment later, back in her old clothes. She walked over to Troy, grinning as she struggled to maintain composure. Troy looked at the ground, still blushing a deep shade of red, his heart was beating like a jackhammer, 'Good God! Why did this happen to me! Why! And in front of Gabriella of all people!'
Gabriella put her hand on his arm as she noticed how embarrassed he seemed…
"It's okay Troy, don't worry about it… I'm sure it happens to everyone…" she said, trying to calm him down. Her voice relaxed him somewhat and he looked her in the eye… they maintained eye contact for all of two seconds before Gabriella collapsed into another fit of hysteria.
"Hahahahaha… I'm sorry but I… I never realized that red was you're colour!" laughed Gabriella, holding her sides as she continued to laugh. Troy laughed nervously and stared back down at the ground… he couldn't believe this was happening! 'Why me?'
"Ha-ha… that's sooo funny Gabriella… I never knew you were such a comedian," replied Troy sarcastically, looking away from her, pouting to hide his embarrassment.
"Aww… c'mon Troy! You know I'm only joking…" said Gabriella, finally calming down. She put a hand up to rub his arm, "Aww… is Troy a little bit upset?"
He glanced at her, containing a grin as she curled her lip in an exaggerated frown, "No!" he replied stubbornly.
"Yes you are… how about we get you out of here? I think you've had more than enough shopping for one day… let's go get some ice-cream," suggested Gabriella. She looked at him thoughtfully and added without thinking, "You know… you're pretty cute when you pout like that."
Troy glanced at her again, but this time couldn't stop a small smile from forming on his face. He couldn't stop it widening either when he noticed her blushing a little. He brightened up immediately, grabbing her hand and pulling her out of the store.
"Come on! let's go find some ice-cream!"
They soon found an ice-cream store and a cone each. They then continued to walk through the mall enjoying their ice-creams in silence. Troy finished his first and sat down on a bench, waiting for Gabriella to finish hers. She sat down too, finishing the last bits of her cone.
They sat in silence for awhile, each getting lost in their own thoughts. Troy glanced at Gabriella and Gabriella caught his eye before he could move away… they soon found themselves staring openly at each other. Troy was looking at her thoughtfully and Gabriella wondered, 'Will this… finally be it?' Troy leaned in closer to her and moved his hand up near her cheek…
"Hey… you have some…" he started gently, moving his hand to wipe some ice-cream off the side of her lip.
His hand still at her cheek, he started to lightly caress her cheek with his thumb. Gabriella closed her eyes, enjoying the feel of his touch… she could practically hear her heart beating… Troy looked down at her face, her eyes were closed, he knew she was waiting for him, he was absolutely certain that she wanted this as much as he did and he slowly leaned in thinking that now was finally the time... he slowly closed his eyes and was about to…
"Troy! Hey Troy! Gabriella!" called out a voice and both Gabriella and Troy snapped their eyes open at the sound, both silently cursing the owner of the voice… 'Chad…!'
They next heard the sound of someone else's voice, accompanying Chad's, reprimanding him…
"What are you blind! What is wrong with you! Don't you see what you just interrupted?" cried a voice that sounded like Taylor.
Troy and Gabriella turned to look at their friends, Troy glaring at Chad, Gabriella glaring at Taylor.
"What's up guys? Enjoying your birthday Gabriella?" asked the ever oblivious Chad.
"I'm sooo sorry you guys!" said Taylor, hitting Chad on the arm, "We swear we didn't know you guys were here… Chad just saw you two sitting on the bench and spoke before I could stop him."
"It's okay guys… really. Nothing was going to happen… Troy and I were just finishing an ice-cream," replied Gabriella a little sadly. Troy looked at her, crestfallen… 'Why do things keep getting in the way? … Stupid Chad with his crappy timing!'
"So what are you guys up to now? You wanna hang out?" asked Taylor.
"No! Erm… no… actually… you know what? Me and Gabriella were just about to go in to a movie, so I'm afraid we're gonna have leave you two to it… sorry," replied Troy… not sorry at all.
"Cool a movie! I feel like a movie, how about you Taylor?" cried Chad, really not getting the drift.
"Um… no you don't want to do that Chad… because… I… already agreed to let Gabriella pick a movie, and she picked a major chick flick… you wouldn't like it…" said Troy, trying again.
"Nah! That's cool Troy… I'm sure I'll last, I'm sooo bored I could do anything… me and Taylor are really only hanging out here until the pa.."
"NO Chad! Umm… we can't! … I just remembered we… have… to… be over there!" interrupted Taylor, yanking Chad away from Troy and Gabriella, "Sorry guys, I guess I'll see you two later…"
Troy and Gabriella waved at them as Taylor pulled Chad through the mall, other people watched them too, pointing and giving weird looks.
"Umm… that was… weird," said Gabriella after they were well out of sight.
"Haha… yeah it was," agreed Troy rubbing the back of his neck… he really wanted to kiss Gabriella, but something was always getting in the way!
"What was Chad talking about anyway? Sounded like he was about to say something else…"
"Erm… no… no he wasn't… he… he was just being Chad…" replied Troy quickly and seeing the confused look on Gabriella's face he added, "So how about that movie, huh?"
"Oooh yes… the movie! The one you just said I that I'm allowed to pick…" said Gabriella, grinning, "Let's go then… I wanna see what there is to choose from…"
The two walked towards the cinema end of the mall, not really talking much, until…
"Oooh Troy! A photo booth! Come on, let's go get a photo!" cried Gabriella at the sight of the machine.
"Erm… no… I don't really… want to," he said uncertainly as Gabriella pouted at him.
"Aww… come on Troy! You have to… I can't go in by myself and besides…" she said, grinning at him with a winning smile, "… I have no more change for the machine… sooo… I kind of need you to… contribute…"
"Oooohhh… so nooow the truth is revealed!" replied Troy, shaking his head. Gabriella continued to pout at him and he felt himself giving in… Suddenly another idea popped into his mind and he decided to agree, "Oh okay… but only because I can't resist that pout…"
"What pout? … Oh you mean this one?" asked Gabriella pouting at him. Troy laughed out loud.
"Haha… Yes! That's the one…!"
"Well… I'll have to keep that in mind then," said Gabriella grinning, "Now come on! Let's go!"
She tried to pull him in but Troy resisted, "Wait! I'll only do this on one condition… you let me keep one of the photos… and it's got to be any one I choose… no question!"
Gabriella looked at him, surprised at his strange request, "Erm… yeah sure…"
"Great! Then let's go!" said Troy, putting some money into the machine and dragging Gabriella in.
The interior of the booth only had one chair so Troy sat on it and Gabriella sat on Troy, putting an arm around his neck, while he put one around her waist. Troy's insides were squirming… he couldn't believe he was going to do this… he was hardly paying attention, so when the first photo flashed, his expression was surprised and slightly thoughtful, while Gabriella was beaming from ear to ear.
Troy snapped out of his trance after the first photo and turned to look at Gabriella… she felt his eyes on him and turned to look at him too. Troy took his chance before anything could stop him and quickly leaning in, he closed his eyes… pressing his lips against hers.
Gabriella's eyes widened in surprise… but then her mouth warmed to the feeling of his lips against hers and she closed her eyes too, kissing him back… this is when the second flash came…
Troy opened his eyes and slowly pulled away… Gabriella opened her eyes too and the both looked at each other, neither saying a word… that was the third flash.
Gabriella blinked as the flash startled her and she turned towards the front again, her face still emanating her shock… meanwhile Troy turned too, but his faced donned a happy smile… and the machine went off for the fourth time…
They continued to sit there together… still silent, both too afraid to speak for fear that they'd find, what they thought had happened, never happened or something. Gabriella got up first, since she was sitting on Troy, and walked out of the booth, her face still echoing her surprise, however now she had slight grin on her face… Troy followed her out, his face also contorted in a happy daze and the two waited in silence for the machine to pop out their photos.
When the photos were finally popped out, Gabriella reached for them, looking down at the four photos… in the first she was smiling, while Troy had a thoughtful gaze. In the second… well, the second is fairly self-explanatory… in any case Gabriella couldn't help but blush slightly at the sight of it, 'It looks so right… and… it felt so good…'. In the third they seem to be gazing at each other and the fourth, looks kind of like the first, except their expressions have switched.
Troy reached out a hand to take them from her and Gabriella looked up at him. He looked right back at her… grinning slightly…
"We had a deal… remember?" he asked softly, and she nodded, remembering the deal.
He took the photos from her and looked at each carefully… he then bent the edges tearing them slowly so that he wouldn't ruin the actually pictures and took one of them, handing the rest back to Gabriella. Gabriella looked at the photos remaining and instantly realized which was missing…
"… Wh… Why do you want that one?" she couldn't help but ask… it was already her favourite.
"Erm… just because I like it…" he said answered her vaguely, "… Now how about that movie?"
Okay that's it for now… Did you like this chapter? I finally let them… you know what, lol! Tell me what you think in a review!
