I keep checking my phone.

But I'm getting nothing. Zip. Zero. Zilch.

Well, I am getting stuff, but it's not from people who I think should be sending me stuff.

Emily.

And Brady.

They haven't tried talking to me since yesterday afternoon.

And I don't want to talk to them. I shouldn't talk to them right now. But the fact that they're not reaching out is mind blowing to me. Are they giving me space? Am I not getting their texts? Are they trying to think of what they could say and they're trying to form the perfect sentence? I don't get it. Why are they not reaching out to me? I'm the one that's supposed to ignore them while they're supposed to beg for my forgiveness.

Mostly Emily. Brady, I couldn't give two shits about and I don't expect or need him to reach out to me.

"Is it your mom?"

"What?" I look up and see Troy handing me the water I asked for, "oh no."

"You okay?" He asks me.

I nod, twisting the cap off and taking a sip.

And then I put it on the coffee table in front of me.

"It's just Morgan," I semi lie. My last text is to Morgan, but she hasn't texted me back in about ten minutes. I was maybe checking Emily's twitter but there's been no activity since yesterday morning. "She's just asking how I'm doing and stuff."

"You told her?"

"Well, yeah, she's my best friend."

Troy nods, taking a seat on the couch diagonal from the one I am. "Right. Another aspect of your life Emily was jealous of."

Emily was jealous of Morgan? Actually, I could kind of see that.

"Really?"

"Yeah," Troy laughs, "man, I shouldn't be talking shit on my sister, throwing her under the bus, but yeah. Did you not get that vibe? My sister has friends, but they're just friends you hang out with here and there, not lifelong friends. And the fact that you have another person that you could tell everything to, well, that made her jealous. She'd always just make snide comments about how Morgan seems a little boring."

"I guess I could see that. That sucks."

Troy gave me a weird look. "That sucks? What sucks?"

I shrug, "the fact that Emily's jealous. I get it in a way, but it's like, she has no reason to be. She has a great life. She has everything she could want."

"Yeah, well..."

"I don't wanna talk about her."

Troy nods, like he fully understands, "yeah, sorry I brought it up."

It's hard to think about her, let alone talk about her.

Emily's been in my life since I was in the 4th grade. Back then, you didn't need many things in common to be friends so we became friends. And once our parents become friends too, that only made our friendship stronger so we became the best of friends. And I'm not just saying this because of everything that has happened, but if we met during high school, I don't think we'd be that close. We're different. But at the core, I thought we were the same.

When I met Morgan, I could sense that Emily was a bit jealous, but I just thought because she maybe thought she could replace her.

Not because I had someone else to share my life with or anything like that.

It makes sense.

But I don't want to think about it.

"What were you going to do in LA anyway?" I tell Troy, realizing we hadn't talked about that.

"Just chill with Chris. I haven't seen him in a while."

"What happened?"

"He got sick, went to Urgent Care or something like that. Turns out he had strep throat. So, I'm saving my visit for another day."

I lean back on the couch and watch as Troy's on his phone.

If it weren't for him, I'd be holed up in my room right now with Morgan on the bed next to me wanting to talk about everything that happened. Obviously that's what friends are for, but right now, I didn't want any of that. I wasn't ready to come to terms with it.

So being here with Troy was great.

And I really, really appreciate him being there for me. He's been nothing but nice. But like my mom has said, he's always been nice.

"So no girl this weekend?"

"What?" Troy looks up from his phone at over at me.

I shrug, not knowing if I offended him. But we've always joked around. "No girl?"

He chuckled a bit and shook his head, "it's not every weekend and it's not like I'm going around town hooking up with every single girl out there."

"Oh, you're not?"

"No," he says, "that's too many girls."

"Don't you get tired of all of that?" I ask him, actually curious to know why he doesn't ever just date one girl and settle down with her. Surely, there's a beeline of girls trying to get a date with Troy Bolton. "Don't you want someone? Or is it like a fear of commitment?"

He stayed quiet for a moment. Maybe he doesn't want to talk about this.

I gotta respect that.

But then he shrugged, "I just haven't found the right girl, I guess. It's not about this fear."

"But how would you know if you don't take them out?"

"You just know. And I have."

"Oh, you don't just go to their house or they come to your house or whatever?"

He shakes his head, "I mean, sure, sometimes. Man, you make it seem like the minute they walk into my house, we start going at it. It's not like that. We hang out, if it happens it happens. It's not purely for that. I've taken girls to dinner. Nothing just ever clicks."

I get that. But they also have to want it.

And I'm not sure he does.

"Do you even want it? A girlfriend? Someone you're there for, someone to hang out with and talk to and love and all that good stuff?"

"I haven't really thought about it," he says, "I mean, maybe."

"Natasha Simon asked me the other day about you. If you'd ever go out with a girl like her."

Troy laughs. "What does she mean by that?"

I shrug, "I don't know. I guess cause she's kind of a tomboy, plays softball and soccer. I think maybe even tennis."

"Does she really?"

"I think," I laugh, "I told her I had no idea, which I don't. I don't know your type. I don't know what you like and I think that's kind of weird since I've known you for so long. Like what do you look for in a girl? It doesn't have to be physical."

"I haven't really thought about it, to be honest."

I roll my eyes. He's not gonna get out of this that easy. "Come on, if you think about it, I'm sure you can come up with so many things."

So, he does.

He thinks about it for a moment.

And then he actually lets me in on the kind of girl he wants.

"I think she has to be really self aware," Troy starts telling me which is interesting. "You know, just be aware of what you're doing, what you're saying, how it could affect people. I'd be nice if she was close to her parents, but it's not this big necessity unless she just despises them. I don't know, ambitious, has goals. She needs to be confident and not in the way where she's loud and out there and stands her ground, but just in herself and know that she's worth it and she can do anything she wants to do. Obviously, if she's nice and funny and can take a joke. Generous. A simple girl, really."

"A simple girl," I find myself saying in a soft whisper, suddenly intrigued in everything he has to say about his perfect girl. "Um, is that it?"

"Sure," he shrugs, "do you know anybody?"

Do I know anybody?

Myself, I think, but quickly stop.

I cannot believe that was just a thought in my mind. What in the world?

There is absolutely no way I'm attracted to Troy Bolton.

Okay, everyone that knows Troy Bolton is attracted to him, but I'm using it in the way that would make you like them. There's just no way I'm having these thoughts, these feelings... that's crazy. It's being clouded by him being so nice to me and bringing me here.

Because honestly, why would Troy Bolton like a girl like me when he has someone like Kacie or Jenna?

Sure, they're annoying but they're gorgeous.

For the first time in years, I'm seeing him differently.

And that's scaring the shit out of me.

What is going on?

For the rest of the night, I tired to push it out of my mind and not see Troy in that way.

But it's hard when he looks like that.

And acts like he's acting... which is really, really nice.

He made us dinner.

He grilled some steaks and some corn on the cob and some baked potatoes and it was all so fucking good.

Now, we're just laying around in the living room trying to decide on a movie to watch. I'm leaning towards a drama, but he suggested a comedy, so I don't know. Nothing too heavy, just the right amount. But we're having a hard time coming up with a compromise so it's been ten minutes of sitting here.

"Hello?" Troy suddenly says into his phone.

He gets up and walks over to the dining room area that's connected, but I can still hear him.

He's talking to his mom.

"I didn't ask her to come," I hear him say and then move a bit so I can hear more clearly even though I probably shouldn't. "She's fine. Yeah, I talked to her earlier today. I'm not sure why she didn't go with Kristina. Mom, it's fine."

That was pretty much the gist of it.

I think his mom was just wondering why Emily was at home and Troy was in Palm Springs. Eventually, it'll come out.

But for now, it didn't need to be this big thing.

Troy comes back a minute later and gives me a small smile. "Sorry, that was my mom."

"Everything okay?"

"Mhm," he puts his phone down on the couch, "just checking up. She's been busy enjoying herself in New York she hasn't really checked in on us and I guess she figured out Emily didn't come to Palm Springs with me. Obviously, I didn't tell her why. She can do that herself on Monday night."

For the first time all weekend, I think about people knowing my business.

We've been in our own little bubble here.

But come Monday, Brady and I are going to be broken up.

And who knows about Emily.

I have no idea if they're feeling remorseful, if they're regretting it, if it was this one time thing for them... or if they're shacking up. If they're hanging out and having the best time and they genuinely like each other. People are going to know that.

It sucks. It sucks people will know my business and people will know my best friend betrayed me and my boyfriend cheated on me.

"Do you think she really likes him?"

"Um, I have no idea," Troy shrugs, looking uncomfortable.

"What if she does?"

He shrugs again, I think not knowing why I'm asking, if I even want to talk about it.

All these thoughts are running through my head now.

What if this isn't about me at all like Troy said, like she just wanted what I have? What if it's not some little fling? What if it's not just attraction? What if they genuinely like and care for each other and they could be the great love of their lives? Then what? Can I actually be mad at them for that?

"Why are you thinking about that?"

"Because what if they're meant to be together and I'm over here mad when I shouldn't be mad at that. You can't help who you like."

"Are you fucking kidding me right now?" Troy laughs, sitting next to me.

No? I'm not?

I'm not sure why he's laying.

"No, I just... why are you laughing at that?"

"I'm not laughing at you, just... it's crazy to think that you're actually trying to justify it or find a reason for it to be okay. And that could be true, they could really like each other, but it doesn't change the fact of what they did. And that just... you're a fucking good person, Gabriella."

That made me blush. Now that I think about it, whenever Troy compliments me, it makes me blush.

It always has.

One time in 8th grade at a pool party when Sean Connery said I was pretty, Troy agreed and it made me blush like crazy.

I don't know if he was serious or not, but it still made me blush.

And again when he told Parker Scott in 10th grade that I was too good for him.

I mean, I got mad, but I still blushed.

Troy Bolton is hands down the most attractive guy I know. And lately, he's been the nicest person. He's always been nice, but it was laced with annoying tendencies. And lately, I've also been seeing him in a new light. A light that I didn't know existed to me. I mean, the more time I spend with him, the more he's growing on me. The more I think about how attractive he is and how funny and easy going. It's crazy. And I hate it. I hate how all night I've been thinking about it. I hate how he brought me here and made me feel one hundred times better than I would have felt at home. I hate it.

He doesn't do girlfriends. He never has and I don't know when he will. And it's strange even thinking about that.

Why would I care?

Well, maybe because I think I have a crush on him.

I have a crush on Troy Bolton.

"I'm just trying to you know, find the silver lining in all of this."

"I think the silver lining is that you're not with Brady anymore," he tells me, "because you and I both know you deserved way more. You deserve more."

"Why do you keep saying that? Who?" I roll my eyes, "and why? Everyone wants Brady."

Troy shakes his head. "Everyone wants Brady because it's the thing to do. And you deserve more than him. I've seen the way he is around you and though it's not bad, you deserve to be treated better because you are better. You're one of the best girls I know. I mean, you don't even know how great you are, which makes you even better. You're beautiful and smart and kind and generous and all these great things that someone like Brady would take advantage of. You deserve to be with someone who wouldn't dream of doing what he did and appreciate you..."

I don't even let him finish what he's saying.

Because I lean over and kiss him.

Hard.

Without even thinking about how bad of an idea how it could be, I kissed him.

Hearing those words come out of his mouth, a light bulb went off in my head. I was crushing on Troy Bolton. And I needed to kiss him right then and there.

So, I did. I kissed him.

And now my lips are on his and his are on mine and he's barely moving them and I''m kind of regretting it.

But then, I feel his lips move against mine and all is alright in the world.

With one swift movement, I deepened the kiss and pushed him back so I was on top of him on this couch. His hands were gently cupping my face before his right hand made his way up my neck and into my hair. My hands were in his hair and then on his face ad then in his hair again.

And we were making out. Full on making out.

Until he pulled back.

"Gabriella," he whispered, "I..."

"No," I shut him up with a kiss, "no, don't say anything. I want this."

He didn't say anything else. He kissed me back.

Kissing Troy Bolton was unlike anything I've ever experienced. It was almost magical. It felt right. And it felt like it was supposed to happen a long time ago.

In this moment, I didn't care that he hooked up with girls left and right and had commitment issues.

Because kissing him felt so good.

Kissing Troy Bolton is something I never knew how badly I wanted.

And I don't want to stop.