East High was your average high school, everyone had their label and everyone had their clique. You were either a jock, cheerleader, theatre kids, band geeks, nerds and burnouts. There was only one person in all of East High who fit into more than one label and his name was Troy Bolton. Troy Bolton was the captain of the Wildcats basketball team, his dad was the school coach, he was an AP student and all-around tough guy, no one messed with Troy. For the students attending the high school, he was East High's king. He was the most sought after guy in the school with his piercing blue eyes and his shaggy brown hair, he was toned from basketball and his attitude attracted almost all the girls from school.

Unlike Troy, Gabriella only belonged to one category: nerds. She, along with her best friend Taylor, were captains of the scholastic decathlon team and the science club. The only thing that Troy and Gabriella had in common was their participation in AP classes at East High. She was gorgeous though the rest of the school didn't see it

Gabriella walked into her AP English (literature) class that morning, seeing that her friends were already at their desks. Just as Gabriella sat down, Ms Darbus entered the room. "Good morning students, I am aware that you would normally have Mrs Kingston taking this class, however for this unit, I will be your teacher." Some groans were heard but most of the class stayed silent. "That's enough. Your unit is Shakespeare and it will be a project. In pairs, you will study a Shakespearean play and present a multimodal on one of the themes in the play."

Gabriella, Taylor and Kelsi made eye contact and Taylor raised her hand, speaking when Ms Darbus nodded. "I know you said pairs, but would Gabriella, Kelsi and I be able to work together?"

"Miss McKessie, as you can see, this is already a small class and there are seven plays to be split between seven pairs. I will be assigning the partners for this assignment." The whole class groaned at the statement, knowing the teacher was determined to break the status quo. "Now, I will be reading out the partners and the play you will be studying. Your partner and play are final so don't complain. Ashleigh and Riley - Hamlet, Kelsi and Ryan - Macbeth, Sarah and Nick - King Lear, Taylor and Zeke - Merchant of Venice, Lauren and Matthew - Julius Caesar, Allison and Sam - The Temptest and Gabriella and Troy - Romeo and Juliet."

Gabriella's eyes widened and she turned to Taylor and Kelsi, whispering. "I can't work with Troy and especially not on Romeo and Juliet."

Kelsi looked at her sympathetically. "It'll be ok Gabi."

Ms Darbus interrupted their private conversation. "The play texts are on Mrs Kingston's desk and you will spend the rest of the lesson discussing a plan with your partner to read the text, establish your theme and make your multimodal for the due date listed on the task sheet. This task is going to require you to work together outside of class."

Gabriella sighed as the class got up to collect their play texts and walked over to Troy's desk where he was sitting. "So um I guess we're working together." He nodded in response before hinting to the empty desk beside him. Gabriella sat down and fiddled with her hands nervously, not knowing what to say. "So Ms Darbus said we'd have to work outside of class um when would you be free?"

"Practice finishes at 4:30, you can come to my house at 5:00." He noticed the nervous expression on her face and rolled his eyes. "Chill Montez, my dad and brother will be there."

She nodded slowly. "Ok so the multimodal is due in 8 weeks and there's 5 acts in the play so if we read an act each week, we'll have 3 weeks for the multimodal, does that sound ok?"

"Sure whatever, how do you know there's 5 acts?"

"I've already read it, I try and get ahead for my subjects over the summer so I'm not as stressed during school... I'm sorry that sounds dumb."

"No not really." Gabriella noticed a softness in his eyes before it disappeared as quickly as it came and he cleared his throat. "So if you've already read it, what theme should we do. If we know what theme we're looking for, it'll be easier to read and look for quotes and stuff while we're reading."

"Ok yeah that makes sense, um I think, I'll have to check with Ms Darbus but I was thinking we could do fate or human action that led to the tragedy." He nodded and Gabriella raised her hand, waiting for Ms Darbus to walk over the pair. "Ms Darbus, I was wondering if we could check our idea for the theme for the multimodal?" Gabriella continued when Ms Darbus nodded. "Our idea was whether it was fate or human action that led to the tragedy."

"Have you both read the play?" Troy shook his head. "So if you haven't read it, how have you already decided a theme?"

Gabriella spoke up. "Well Shakespeare is known for his tragedies and since I've already read the play, I know what happens. We figured that if we have the idea for the theme we're focusing on, it will make the task easier while we're reading the play."

"Very well Dear, that sounds like a good theme to focus on."

"Ok thank you Ms Darbus." Gabriella smiled before the teacher walked away. Just as Gabriella was about to speak, the bell rang and she started packing up.

"Give me your phone?"

"What?"

"I'm putting my number in so I can text you the address." She nodded, handing him the phone and he put his number in. "Alright, see you after school Montez, 5:00."

That afternoon, Gabriella knocked on the door, Troy opened it silently and they walked into the house. Gabriella followed him up to his room and stood at the doorway as he went and sat on his bed. "Are you gonna come in or are you just gonna stand there?" She nodded wordlessly and sat down on his desk chair.

"So I spoke to Mrs Kingston earlier last semester before we started the unit and she said to use sticky notes to mark quotes and everything so I went to the store before I came and brought some."

"Whatever you say Montez, you got a system for it or something?"

She nodded slowly. "Blue is aesthetic features, green is stylistic devices, orange is themes, pink is characterisation, yellow is for important points and red is for quotes."

He nodded in response. "Anything else she suggest?"

"She said it would be better to read out loud so we retain it and understand it better. I'd rather not but if she thinks it will help then I guess I will... if that's ok with you."

"Sure whatever, let's just start reading." They started reading the first act of Romeo and Juliet with Gabriella listing points they should mark in the playbook.

They had just finished reading act 1 scene 3 when the door opened and a little girl walked in. She had the same piercing blue eyes as Troy and her hair was a darker brown tied in braids. She ran in and hugged Troy. Gabriella smiled as Troy moved his play text and pulled the little girl into his arms, watching as she leant against his shoulder. "Hi Troy."

"Hey Bubba, did you have fun at school?"

"Yeah I played with my friends and we did art today. Mommy put my picture on the fridge." The little girl looked at Gabriella and turned to her brother. "Who's that?"

"Oh, Gabriella, this is my sister Torrence, Tori this is my friend Gabriella."

Gabriella smiled at the girl. "It's nice to meet you Torrence, how old are you?"

"I'm five and you can call me Tori, I don't like being called Torrence, I feel like I'm in trouble."

"Ok I'll call you Tori, I feel like I'm getting in trouble when I get called Gabriella too."

Torrence grinned. "So can I call you Gabi instead of Gabriella?"

"If you want to Sweetheart."

Troy brought his sister's attention back to him. "Ok Bubba, Gabriella and I have some work to do for school so I'll come find you before dinner ok?"

"Ok Troy, will you play with me after?" Troy nodded and kissed Torrence's cheek, making the girl giggle. "Ok bye Troy, bye Gabi."

Torrence left the room and Troy turned back to Gabriella. "I uh pretend you didn't see that."

She shook her head slightly. "That's nothing to be ashamed of Troy, she's your little sister and she obviously adores you so I'd have a worse opinion of you if you were a jerk to her. She's a little cutie." He looked away nervously and she placed her hand on his. "There's nothing wrong with being sweet, you don't have to be a tough guy all the time."

"It's only with Tori."

She looked down to see where her hand was and immediately moved it, putting it to her side. "I um your secrets safe with me." She looked down at the time. "I should probably get going, my mom will be waiting, I'll um see you tomorrow Troy, thanks for your help with the project."

"Sure Montez, catch you later."

The girls were sitting in the cafeteria the next day eating their lunch. Taylor turned to Gabriella. "So Gabi, how did your project go with Troy yesterday?"

"It was ok." They hinted for her to elaborate and she shrugged. "I don't really know what you want me to say, it was fine, we got through the first three scenes and established all the quotes and language conventions that we needed to." When no one spoke, she turned to Kelsi. "Kels, how'd you go with Ryan?"

Kelsi smiled sadly. "It was fine, I still don't think he likes me like that but it's alright."

Sharpay placed her hand on Kelsi's shoulder. "Don't worry hun, he'll realise it soon enough." Kelsi nodded in response and the bell rang, they all walked to their lockers. As Gabriella was grabbing her books, she felt a presence behind her and turned to be faced with Ryan.

"Hi Gabriella."

"Oh hey Ryan, did you need something?"

"Well you and Sharpay have been friends for a while and we've spent a lot of time together during that so I was wondering if I could take you out this weekend?"

Gabriella's eyes widened. "Look Ryan, I uh I appreciate the offer but it would be wrong of me to lead you on, you're a nice guy but I just don't have those kind of feelings for you, I'm sorry. But there is someone close to you that does have those feelings, you just need to realise it."

"Come on Gabriella, just come with me on one date and I'll make it worth your while."

He started getting closer to her, backing her against the locker. "Ryan please stop -"

"Evans, is there a problem?" They both turned to see Troy and Ryan backed off from her as Troy stood beside her.

"No problem here Bolton."

"I believe I heard her ask you to stop." Ryan nodded slowly. "And you didn't. A word of advice Evans, when a girl says no, take the hint and back off. Now get lost." Ryan walked away.

Gabriella fiddled with the bracelet on her wrist. "Um thanks Troy, you didn't have to do that."

"It's fine, he was trying to force you into it and it's not right for guys to do that... I just picture it being my sister and I'd never want a guy treating her like that."

"That's sweet Troy, I know that the school sees you as the tough guy but I'm glad that you can show that you're a nice guy as well." She kissed his cheek and blushed fiercely. "I'll um see you in literature." She said before walking away.

Troy watched as she walked away. 'What is happening? I'm only ever like this with my family. I couldn't possibly like Gabriella Montez... could I?'

That afternoon, Gabriella and Troy were in his room studying the play when they heard Jack's voice booming through the house. A few seconds later, the door opened and Torrence walked in with tear-filled eyes. "Daddy's yelling at Jordy."

Troy opened his arms to his sister. "Come here." The girl willingly climbed into his arms and buried herself into his chest. "It's ok Bubba, don't be scared."

"I love you Troy."

"I love you too Tori, don't worry, nothing's gonna happen."

Gabriella turned to Troy. "Is she ok?"

"Yeah, she doesn't like yelling so whenever someone raises their voice, she gets kinda scared."

Gabriella smiled sadly and rubbed the five-year-old's back, only for the girl to turn in her brother's lap and grab her hand. "Can I stay in here with you and Gabi please?"

"Of course you can, do want to help us read some of the lines?" The little girl nodded excitedly and Gabriella watched in awe as Troy helped his sister read the Shakespearean text. Around five minutes later, there was a knock on the door and a freshman walked in. He looked like a mini Troy but with the same dark hair as Torrence. "Hey Bud, you ok?" The boy nodded slightly. "What was all that about?"

Jordan sighed. "I told Dad that I'm auditioning for the school musical and as you probably heard Dad's not happy about it."

It was Troy's turn to sigh. "Jordan, you had to know that it was gonna turn out like that. Dad and Darbus have had this hatred since they started working at East High. What did he say about it?"

"He said it was a waste of time, that I should be focusing on basketball and school work instead of wasting my effort on one of Darbus's 'musicales'"

Gabriella spoke up. "I know it's not my place and that I don't know Coach Bolton very well but if you want to audition for the musical, I think you should go for it and I'm sure your dad will come around."

Jordan smiled. "Thanks, Gabriella isn't it?"

She nodded. "No worries and if you need anything in the auditions or rehearsals, a friend of mine is always in the musical so she'd be happy to help you out."

As Gabriella and Jordan kept talking, Troy's mind wandered. 'She was great with Jordan just now and I can tell she'd be great with Tori. I don't feel like I have to be the tough guy around her, I can just be Troy. God she's so sweet and smart and beautiful - wait... I've fallen for Gabriella Montez.'

His thoughts were interrupted by Jordan's voice. "Well I'm gonna take Tori so you guys can get back to your work, thanks Gabi, Troy."

"No worries Bud, we'll talk later." After his siblings left the room, he turned to Gabriella. "Thanks you know for how you were with Jordan just now."

She shook her head. "Of course, he seems like a sweet kid and there's nothing wrong with him auditioning for the musical. I meant what I said too, I'm gonna make sure Sharpay looks out for him but I have a lot of respect for him for doing something that may be considered 'outside his clique.'"

"Yeah that's Jordan for you, he's never been afraid to put his mind to something."

"That's sweet Troy." She smiled slightly. "I think I'm gonna get going, we've gotten through the first act which is good so um I'll see you tomorrow."

"See you tomorrow Gabriella." The use of her first name made her bite her lip to prevent her smile before she left.

By the next week, Gabriella had gotten a lot closer to Troy, Jordan and Torrence. Her friends had been pestering her about it but she hadn't told them overly much, wanting to respect Troy's privacy with his family. Her thoughts were interrupted by Sharpay. "Come on Gabi, you haven't told us anything. You're the only person Troy acknowledges outside of the jocks and you've asked me to look out for mini Bolton during musical."

"It's Jordan and Shar, no offence, it's not really any of your business. Troy and I are working together for literature, that's it, we study over at his house so I know Jordan."

"You expect me to believe that you're going over to Troy Bolton's house nearly every afternoon only to do your literature project? Riiight."

Gabriella narrowed her eyes. "Sharpay, you have known me for how many years and you think that I would be doing anything with Troy without us being a relationship? If you think that then I don't think I can say much for our friendship."

"Gabi -"

Gabriella shook her head and was about to walk off when Jordan walked passed them, looking upset. She grabbed his arm gently, getting the boy's attention. "Jordan, what's up? What's wrong?" She was surprised when she felt Jordan hug her. "Are you ok?" She felt him shake his head against her shoulder. "What happened... if you're ok with telling me."

"I just found out that my girlfriend cheated on me. She didn't like that I wasn't only being a jock so she's been making out with one of my mates on the basketball team."

She hugged the freshman tighter. "I'm so sorry Jordan, I can't say I understand what you're feeling but you didn't deserve it to happen. If that's how she's going to act then she doesn't deserve you because you're a good kid."

They pulled away from the hug. "Thanks Gabi, I'm sorry you had to deal with it. It's just - Troy doesn't really like me coming up to him during school, especially about stuff like this which I guess I understand but I didn't mean to drop it all on you."

"Honestly, it's fine. I know Troy is different at home than he is at school, but unfortunately he's got a reputation here that he has to keep up to stay afloat in this school. But if you ever need to talk to someone, you can always come to me."

"Thanks Gabi." He leaned up to whisper in her ear. "Troy's an idiot if he lets you go." He grinned at the blush that covered her cheeks. "I knew it, you like him, don't you?"

"Is it that obvious? He's just a different guy than he is here. Seeing him with you and Tori, I like that Troy."

"Don't tell him I told you this, but I think he likes you too." He laughed at her wide-eyed expression. "Come on Gabi, don't look so surprised, I know my brother and I know that I've never seen him act with a girl, the way he acts with you. I know he acted like the tough guy everyone sees but even after the couple days you've come over to our house, I know he's the real Troy with you." With that, Jordan left a shocked Gabriella standing in the hallway.

"You like Troy Bolton?"

Gabriella's gaze shot to Sharpay and remembering that she was still angry at her, she just shook her head and walked off to the rooftop garden, her own secret hideout. As she ascended the stairs, her heart stopped to find Troy standing there. "Oh sorry, I didn't know anyone else came up here, I'll um just -"

"Brie, you don't have to leave."

"Brie?"

"Oh um." He rubbed the back of his neck nervously. "Is that ok that I call you that?"

She smiled and nodded. "Of course, I like it. No one's ever called me Brie before but it's really pretty. It's a shame there's no nicknames for Troy." She walked over to him. "I didn't know you came up here."

"Yeah we must've just missed each other." He noticed the somewhat sad look in her eyes. "Are you ok?"

She nodded slowly. "Yeah just some drama with Sharpay, I just had to get away from it all."

"What was it about?" He thought he may have been pushing too far so he added. "If you wanna talk about it."

"Oh it was um it was actually about you." She noticed his wide-eyed expression. "She kind of accused me of us doing... more than just studying literature."

"Oh... do you want me to talk to her. I know the school's opinion of me and the whole clique mentality -"

"I don't care about the clique mentality, that's why I was really proud of Jordan for auditioning for the musical. I'm just more hurt that Sharpay would think that I would do something like that without being in a relationship with the person."

"That's understandable Brie, I'm sorry she made that assumption."

She shook her head. "It's not your fault Troy."

Gabriella was surprised when Torrence answered the door that afternoon. "Hi Gabi, Troy and Jordy went to the park, do you want to play with me?"

Assuming that they went to talk about what Jordan had told her that morning, Gabriella smiled at the little girl. "I'd love to play with you Tori, what do you want to play?"

"We can go to my room and play with my dollies."

The older girl smiled and followed the five-year-old to her room. She walked into the Disney themed room and watched as the girl excitedly grabbed all the toys she wanted to play with. They spent the next 20 minutes playing with the toys and didn't notice the door quietly open and Troy standing in the doorway watching his younger sister play with Gabriella. He felt someone pull his shoulder and was faced with Jordan. "You like her, don't you?" Troy only nodded in response. "Then why the hell haven't you asked her out yet?"

"It's complicated Bud, you know what the school's like."

"Who the hell cares about the school, I've seen the way you are with Gabi and I know you two are good for each other... Just think about it ok? Good girls like Gabi don't come around often, I'm well aware of that." Jordan smirked as he watched his brother try to come up with a response. "Just make sure you ask her out before you lose the chance." He pat his brother on the shoulder before leaving to his room.

Troy shook his head slightly and knocked on the door. "Hey Brie, sorry I'm late, I just had to have a chat with Jordan about well what he spoke to you about earlier."

She smiled. "It's fine Troy, Tori and I have had fun playing, haven't we sweetheart." Gabriella giggled as the little girl nodded resolutely with a grin on her face.

"That's good, you're really great with her, you know that?" He internally grinned at her blush before turning his attention to his younger sister. "Bubba, do you mind if I steal Brie to work on our school work?"

Torrence didn't answer his question, instead asking her own. "Is Gabi your girlfriend?"

Her question made Troy stumble on his words. "I uh wh- why would you think that?"

"Because you called Gabi a name no one else does and if Gabi is your girlfriend then you and her will get married and Gabi will be my sister."

Not really knowing what to say, Troy responded. "No Tori, she's not my girlfriend." 'But you want her to be and obviously so does your family." His conscious added.

"But she will be one day?"

"We'll see Bubba."

He hinted for Gabriella to follow him and she stood, walking over to the door. "Bye Tori, I had fun playing with you. I'll see you before I go home."

"Ok Gabi, love you."

Gabriella's eyes widened before she caught herself. "Love you too sweetheart."

They left the little girl's room and walked into Troy's. "Brie, I'm sorry about Tori, I hope she didn't make you uncomfortable."

"It's fine, she's only little but she's a cutie. Did everything go ok with Jordan?"

Troy smiled at her concern. "Yeah I think he's ok now, I feel sorry for him, it was a pretty lousy thing for her to do."

"Yeah he didn't deserve it but if she did that because he auditioned for the musical then she really didn't deserve him. She'll regret it when she sees how successful he is in basketball and the musical."

"That's really sweet Brie." He said placing his hand on hers before he realised. When he did, he pulled back awkwardly and rubbed his neck. "Uhm can I ask you something?" Gabriella nodded for him to continue. "You're friends with Sharpay so I wanted to know if she was with anyone?"

Gabriella's heart broke slightly but she pasted a smile on her face. "Oh um no, she's not with anyone at the moment. I - I could set you guys up if you want, she's gorgeous and well you're you, you'd be a really cute -" She was cut off by Troy's laugh. "What? What did I say?"

"Brie, I wasn't asking for me. Zeke has had a major crush on her for years and he didn't feel like he could ask Taylor so I said I'd ask you for him." He watched as she looked down embarrassed, he lifted her chin. "Don't be embarrassed, I probably could've worded that better but for the record, Sharpay isn't my type, I'm not really into blondes."

She nodded. "So uh Shakespeare, yeah we should start on act three today." He inwardly sighed as she changed topics so quickly but went along with what she was saying and they got through the first scenes of act three. Gabriella looked at the time and sighed. "Well I should probably get going, my mom will be waiting."

He nodded. "I'll walk you out." He inwardly smirked as her eyes widened, he liked that reaction. "Though you should probably tell Tori and Jordan that you're going otherwise I'll never hear the end of it from her."

Gabriella giggled in response and they walked to Torrence's room. "Hey Tori, I just wanted to come tell you that I'm going home but I'll see you tomorrow afternoon."

The little girl jumped up from her place playing with her toys and hugged Gabriella's legs. "Can you stay Gabi?" When she shook her head, Torrence started begging. "Please. Please. Please."

When she wouldn't stop, Troy spoke up. "Torrence Rose." The five-year-old looked down, making him sigh. "Tori, I know you want Gabi to stay but she can't, it's a school night and she has to go home to her mom."

"I'm sorry."

"It's alright Bubba, you'll see her tomorrow."

"Ok." Torrence turned back to Gabriella. "Bye Gabi, love you."

Gabriella hugged the little girl and kissed the top of her head. "Love you too Tori, I'll see you tomorrow." They left the room and went over to Jordan's, entering when he said to come in. "Just wanted to say goodbye before I left to go home, I hope everything's ok."

He nodded. "Thanks Gabi for your help today. See you at school or here tomorrow."

"Bye Jordan." Troy and Gabriella walked down to the front door and stood facing each other.

He shocked Gabriella by pulling her into a hug and whispering into her ear. "Thanks for everything with Jordan and Tori today, I really appreciate how great you are with them."

She blushed slightly when they pulled back. "There's nothing to appreciate, you have a great family Troy and I'm happy to help out any way I can. It can get kinda lonely with just me and my mom, I wish I had a sibling sometimes."

"You're never alone Brie."

He didn't know how much those words meant to her and it was Troy who was shocked this time by Gabriella kissing his cheek. "Thanks Troy, I'll see you tomorrow. Good night."

"Good night Brie, see you tomorrow."

Gabriella walked into school the next morning and barely made it to her locker before Sharpay pounced on her, bouncing around like an excited child. "Guess what. Guess what. Guess what."

"Someone had ice cream instead of breakfast this morning?"

Sharpay narrowed her eyes playfully. "No Zeke asked me out and now we're dating. Can you believe it?"

Gabriella was shocked, 'damn he works fast.' She centred her thoughts and smiled. "Wow Shar, that's amazing, I'm really happy for you."

"Apparently he was kinda nervous to ask at first but he found out that I wasn't with anyone and decided to ask me out. Now all that's left to do is hook Ryan and Kelsi up and get you and Troy to admit your feelings for each other."

Gabriella put her hand over Sharpay's mouth, hissing. "Sharpay, could you say it any louder, I don't think the people in Australia quite heard you yet." She took her hand away. "Besides, even if I do like him, I'm not his type. He's the best looking guy at the school, all the girls around here worship the ground he walks on and he's the wildcat captain. I'm just me."

"Gabi -"

"No. I'm not fishing for compliments here. I'm not saying this for you to tell me I'm pretty or that he would be lucky to have me or whatever crap you are about to feed me. I'm simply stating a fact Shar. No matter how close Troy and I get, we're only project partners and he's never going to see me as more than that."

With that, Gabriella sighed and walked away. Little did she know, Troy had been around the corner and overheard the whole conversation. He smiled knowing that she felt the same way but he didn't like how she viewed herself. 'That's something that definitely has to change when we get together.' That thought made him smile, when they get together because now that he knew how she felt, he was determined for them to be a couple as soon as possible.

Troy was waiting in the living room when Gabriella knocked on the door that afternoon. Instead of letting her in, he grabbed her hand as he walked out the door and walked her over to his truck. "Troy, what are we doing? We have literature -"

"Brie, we're already ahead of our plan for literature, we're having the afternoon off and I'm taking you somewhere." He saw her about to question. "It's a surprise and no I won't tell you but I think you'll love it, or at least I hope you will." She nodded and got into the truck before he drove them to a clearing in the forest. "It's a bit of a walk, don't worry, I'm not planning anything. I just think you'll like it as much as I do." She followed him for about 10 minutes before they came to a rocky cliff area. He grabbed her hand and led her over to the edge. She gasped as she saw that the rocks rounded around a lake, but it was almost as if the lake was an unground water cave. The blues and greens swirled together and she stood in awe.

"Troy, this is amazing I- how did you find this place?"

"I came across it when I was 12 and I thought it was so cool so I came here whenever I needed to get away. I thought you would like it."

"I love it."

He smiled at her and pulled her to sit down, both of them putting their feet into the water. After a few minutes of silence, he spoke his thoughts. "You know you're the only person I've ever brought here. No one else knows about this place, except you now."

"Well I'm honoured, this place is so cool Troy, thank you for sharing it with me." She leant her head on his shoulder and felt his arm snake around her waist. "Please don't push me in."

"Huh?"

"Please don't push me in the water, I - I kinda have an irrational fear of rushing water and I get kinda anxious about water in general. It's stupid."

He pulled her closer to his side. "I won't push you in Brie and it's not stupid. Everyone has fears regardless of how irrational they are. I'm scared of clowns and I'm not really sure why."

They stayed silent in each other's arms before a thought popped into Gabriella's head. "What made you bring me here today and why was I the only one you chose to?"

Troy had to think about his answer, he didn't want to give anything away just yet. "Well I didn't really feel like sharing it with anyone else but I knew that I wanted to show you this place. I guess I brought you here today because you deserved a break from literature, we've been working really hard and I guess to show that I'm not only talking to you because of literature or my siblings."

"That's really sweet Troy and I'm glad that I've got to see this side of you, the person you are outside of school because he's the most caring guy I've met."

A couple weeks later they had completely finished reading through the play and were moving towards planning and starting the multimodal presentation, sticking to the original theme of fate or human action leading to the events of Romeo and Juliet. Taking a break from their preparation, Troy turned to Gabriella. "Hey Brie, can I ask you something?"

She gave him her full attention. "Of course."

"Well, the championship game is on Friday and I was wondering if you would come watch me. You could sit with Tori and Jordan behind the players' bench."

Gabriella smiled. "Sure I'd love to."

The grin on his face made her heart melt. "Awesome! Tori's gonna be so excited, you're all she talks about these days. She uh -" A blush flooded through his cheeks. "She's been pretty determined that you're going to be her sister. She really loves you."

"I love her too Troy, she's a little cutie and I always used to wish that I had a sister." With that, they returned their attention back to their assignment. "So what ideas do you have about the theme?"

"Well I was thinking that we could mention the belief in fate during Shakespearean times. Like how in Elizabethan and Jacobean England, religion and fate were major parts of society and Shakespeare's known to include those in his plays. We could talk about the whole 'star-crossed lovers' and Romeo cursing the stars." Gabriella internally smiled, behind the facade that the school saw, Troy was actually a really intelligent guy and it was moments like these that reminded her of this fact.

"That's really good, we should mention that as one of the first points. I was thinking we talk about the impetuousness of the characters and how it was human action that led to the tragedy. The entire tragedy was a result of the chain reaction that was plain death and heartache." Troy smiled in awe, listening to Gabriella verbally explain her thinking out loud. "It was practically Mercutio provoking Tybalt, causing his death, then to Tybalt's death, Romeo's banishment. That made Juliet fake her death, making Romeo kill himself and then she kills herself. So even though they were led to believe that fate led to the tragedy, it was really their own impetuous natures and actions." She noticed Troy smiling at her. "What is it? Am I talking too much?"

He shook his head. "No, not at all. It's amazing how you came up with that." He chuckled at her blush. "I'm serious, it's no wonder Darbus loves you. With ideas like that, there's no way that we won't get an A on this assignment."

She only shrugged in response. "I liked Romeo and Juliet, I'm kinda glad that Ms Darbus gave it to us. As unrealistic and immature it is of the characters, that kind of love for a person is amazing and something everyone can only wish for... I bet you think that's stupid, don't you?"

He shook his head. "No, not at all."

It came to Friday and Gabriella was putting her books in her locker before the game, as she shut the door, she felt a presence behind her and internally sighed when she realised it was Ryan. "Hi Gabriella, Shar said it was ok for me to sit with you guys today so I figured we could go to the gym together."

"Umm well I suppose we could but you might as well walk ahead because I'm not sitting with the girls today."

"What, why not? Did you guys have a fight or something?"

"No, it's not that, I'm sitting -"

"GABI!" She grinned as she heard Torrence's voice and felt the little girl hug her legs. She lifted her into her arms and hugged the five-year-old. "Hi Gabi, I missed you."

Gabriella laughed. "I missed you too Tori, but I saw you yesterday."

"I know but I like when you come over."

"Me too Sweetheart." A thought popped into Gabriella's head. "Tori, did you run away from someone to find me because I don't think you'd be here on your own." She lifted Torrence's chin when she looked down. "You're not in trouble, but you have to be careful. You can't just run off like that, it's really dangerous. Who are you supposed to be with right now?"

"Mommy and Jordy."

Gabriella kissed the side of the girl's head. "Ok, let's go find them then." Her attention was brought to Ryan when he cleared his throat, she'd forgotten he was there. "Oh sorry Ryan, I'll uh see you around." As they walked off, Torrence asked who Ryan was. "That's my friend's brother, he can be kind of annoying sometimes."

"So you don't like him like you like Troy."

She blushed and shook her head. "No I don't like Ryan the same way I like Troy." Just as she'd finished the sentence, Torrence pointed out her mother (Lucille) with Jordan beside her and they walked over. "Mrs Bolton, I'm sorry Tori ran off like that, I hope she didn't scare you too much. She was safe with me. I'm Gabriella, Troy's friend."

Lucille smiled. "Ah so you're the famous Gabriella I've been hearing so much about from my three kids." She laughed at Gabriella's blush. "No need to be embarrassed Dear, I'm glad to finally meet you, I'm told by Tori that you're going to be her sister one day." The comment only made Gabriella blush even more.

"Mom, he'd be an idiot not to." Jordan spoke up, nudging Gabriella.

Lucille laughed. "Alright Jordan, that's enough, we're embarrassing the poor girl. So Gabriella, will you be sitting with us today?"

"Please sit with us Gabi, please." Torrence begged.

Gabriella smiled. "Um yeah, Troy said that I could sit with you guys, if that's alright of course."

Lucille waved her off. "Of course it's alright Dear. Troy obviously likes you enough to ask you to sit on the player's bench, he's never done that for anyone before. It's obvious that Jordan likes you and Tori adores you. Besides you seem like a really sweet girl."

"I - thank you Mrs Bolton. It's lovely to finally meet you."

"The feeling is mutual Gabriella. Come on, let's go take a seat before the game starts."

Troy had seen Gabriella sitting with his family and inwardly grinned; his plan was slowly fitting into place, he just had one more integral part to get in order and then he was ready to ask Gabriella to be his girlfriend. When they called halftime, Troy walked over to his family and pulled Torrence into his arms. Everyone smiled as the little girl wrinkled her nose. "Yuck, you're sweaty."

He smiled and leant down to whisper in her ear. "I know but I need to tell you something, can you help me?" Torrence nodded excitedly so he whispered to you. "You can't tell Gabi ok? You have to keep it a secret. I'm going to ask Gabi to be my girlfriend and I need you to do something for me. If we win today, you need to bring Gabi onto the court ok? Do you think you can do that for me?"

"Ok Troy." He could see the excitement in her eyes and could hear it in her voice.

"You've got to keep this a secret ok?" She nodded and he kissed her cheek. "Thanks Bubba." He placed his sister back on the bleacher and turned towards Gabriella and his family. "What do you think? Are you enjoying the game so far?"

Gabriella smiled. "You're playing really well Troy."

"Thanks Brie."

Troy's attention was brought back to his team and he quickly turned to Gabriella, Lucille and his siblings. "I've gotta get back and I'll see you after the game." They nodded and he went back to his team for the final half of the championship game.

The buzzer went off and the Wildcats won the game. Gabriella cheered, oblivious to the grin on Torrence's face. When the little girl saw Troy look over at her, she grabbed Gabriella's hand and pulled her down to the court. "Tori, hold on, we can't just go down here." She felt Torrence let go of her hand and then arms wrap around her shoulders. She turned in Troy's arms and smiled, hugging him. "Congratulations Wildcat."

He hugged her. "Thanks Brie, I appreciate it."

She seemed to realise their position and attempted to pull out of his arms. "Sorry, I didn't - " She felt him hold her closer. "Troy, what are you doing?"

He leant down to her ear and whispered. "Shh it's alright. Can you turn around for me?" He could feel as her breath quickened and she nodded slightly, doing what he asked; the rest of the crowd around them seemed to disappear and the only thing that mattered was the two of them. When she was facing away from him, he exhaled and pulled the necklace out of his pocket. She looked down as she felt the silver rest on her chest and bit her lip as she saw the T before he finished clasping it.

She turned towards him. "Troy what -"

He took her hands in his. "Gabriella, in the time that I've really gotten to know you, I've fallen for you. I can be myself around you and I love how you are with my brother and sister. I want you to wear this necklace to show the school that you're my girl. Brie, will you be my girlfriend?" Gabriella was in shock and she could only nod in response as she hugged him.

She whispered into his chest. "I'd love to Troy, I've fallen for you too." He grinned and connected their lips in their first sweet kiss. She noticed the silence and looked up to see everyone's eyes on them, she buried her head back into his chest. "Everyone's going to hate me for this."

He hugged her tighter and kissed her forehead. "It'll be alright Baby, I promise, nothing's going to happen to you when I'm around." She nodded in response and they felt the presence of someone behind them, they turned to be faced with the cheerleading squad. "Is there a problem?"

The gym erupted with angry voices, questioning their relationship and insulting Gabriella. "Why the hell are you with her?", "We'd be a better couple.", "You should be with a cheerleader not a nerd."

"That's enough." Troy yelled out. "I don't care what any of you have to say or think. I am with Gabriella and that is not going to change. And none of you better even think about doing anything to Gabriella or you're going to have to deal with me and trust me, that's not something you want to deal with." His speech was interrupted by his sister running to him and hugging his legs.

"Yay Troy and Gabi." Troy lifted Torrence into his arms.

"Thank you for your help Bubba, are you happy?"

She nodded excitedly. "Gabi's gonna be my sister."

Troy chuckled in response. "We'll see Tori, we'll see what happens." He noticed his mother, father and brother coming towards them. He saw the grin on Jordan's face and mouthed 'I know, thanks Bud' to which the freshman only nodded in response. As his family stopped in front of them, he switched Torrence in his arms so that he could wrap an arm around Gabriella. "Mom, Dad, I'd like you to officially meet my girlfriend Gabriella." He watched as they smiled and greeted her before he interrupted the conversation. "How about we go out and celebrate, how about it Bubba, do you want to go out for some ice-cream?" Torrence nodded excitedly.

The next few weeks saw their relationship strengthening, most people were accepting of Troy and Gabriella's relationship and for those who weren't, they only spoke poorly of them once before Troy sorted them out. Their relationship resulted in the status quo dissolving in East High. Gabriella walked into school that day and opened her locker, organising her books. She smiled as she felt arms wrap around her waist and a kiss on her cheek. She turned in his arms to face her boyfriend. "Morning Wildcat, are you ready for literature?"

His thumb rubbed along her hipbone as he replied. "We're gonna do great Baby." She kissed his cheek and finished organising her books before they walked hand in hand to literature. They were one of the last pairs to be called to present their multimodal and Ms Darbus was very impressed by their presentation, so much so that she called them back after class. "I just wanted to tell you that your multimodal was very impressive, your assignment was well planned and it is clear that you worked very well together. I'm also glad that you two have come together and you have practically dissolved the cliques in this school, it's something we have been trying to do for years and you have succeeded within a few months. I want you to know that you should be very proud of yourselves and your performance today."

"Thank you Ms Darbus." They both replied.

They walked out of class and Gabriella jumped into his arms. "Did you hear that? Ms Darbus loved our multimodal, we did it!"

He smiled at the excitement in her voice and placed a chaste kiss on her lips. "I'm very proud of you Baby and I guess we have to thank Ms Darbus, she's part of the reason we're together." He wrapped his arms around her waist and pulled her to him. "Thank you for everything Brie, you helped me break free of my reputation and you saw the real me. I know this is really soon and I don't expect you to say it back, but I love you."

Gabriella bit her lip and looked down. "It is really soon but I love you too Troy, you've helped me more than you know."