ET Chapter 6: Lost in Mind or in Heart

Gabriella had no idea what to expect when she danced with Troy. As a dancer, she had been paired with innumerable partners over the years both on and off stage. There were some were up to or closer to her level, able to keep up with her. There were some who despite years of trying really couldn't get their feet into the rhythm of the music. Then, there were some who couldn't tell their left foot from their right.

Since she came to Albuquerque, there had been four partners she danced with. There was Paco, whom she lifted into her arms and spin around the room with, the two of them laughing while getting sick from all the spinning. Anita, whom, even though she was a fierce Latin dancer, she danced like a manic with, the two of them laughing at their horrible moves. Javier whenever they were in a bonding moment and let themselves go in the music. And, of course, Rob, whose flawless skills and balanced rhythm matched her own.

With pup, it was hard how he should be categorized as a dancer.

Surprisingly, he wasn't a clueless manic who moved and jumped around like he was having a heart attack. Or kept tripping and stepping on her toes. That honestly was what she was expecting, because she was one to expect the worse.

But Bolton really surprised her.

Gabriella wasn't going to go stretch the truth and say he was a Derek Hough in the making. That would be the understatement of the year. Paco could dance circle around him and he was only thirteen months old. But she was also wouldn't say he was the worst dancer in history. He thankfully knew his left from his right and had some rhythm in him. Those were the pros.

Yet with every pros, there were cons. For example, he may not have tripped every single time, but did a couple of times. He was so stiff; he could be mistaken for a corpse. And there was the also the fact he could not relax.

"Okay, let's take a quick break." said Gabriella. They've practicing and re-practicing from seven to noon. Five hours later, Troy's dancing was not extremely more awful as they were before. Before Troy was deadweight who thought moving his left foot in and shaking it all about was dancing. Now, well, he was getting to get the hang of moving his feet.

Gabriella pulled away from Troy, went over to her bag, and pulled out her water bottle. She pressed the thankfully ice-cold water to her forehead, brushing it against her head slowly, and took a long gulp of her water.

"A little help here?"

It was the irritated, tired voice puffing out short breaths between words that made her turn around. She smirked at the blue eyes scowling at her while the rest of him was too tired and busy sweating to do anything more. "Safe to say, pup, you're out of your element."

Troy could only manage propping his upper body up, saying a sarcastic "Ya think?" between his panting breaths before falling back onto the ground. Out of his mind exhausted, his body aching in pain and dripping in sweat, drool leaking from his slightly opened lips, he collapsed onto the floor the second Gabriella went to get water. He wasn't sure if his body even felt the fall. It was too busy feeling the pain five hours of dancing caused.

I knew it was going to be difficult and painful, he thought. But this, this is just fucking ridiculous. Cruel is more like it.

Suddenly a boring-ass but completely safe PowerPoint or a poster was looking better and better to him.

As if she could read his mind, Gabriella kneeled before him, eyed his sweaty and worn out self, and shook her head. "I may not be Gossip Girl, but I do know things about you, pup. The focused, determined straight-A nerdy jock. Accepts all challenges thrown at him. Never backs down. I don't expect you to throw in the towel just yet."

She helped him up and he pulled away quickly, before the strange spark could burn him again. When they were dancing together, their bodies pressing against each other tightly, the spark grew into multiple sparks that grew stronger and stronger until it like some sort of barrier surrounding them.

"I'm not-I'm just…" The more she stared at him, the more he stammered. What was it about her that made him unable to remember how to finish a complete sentence? Sighing, he rubbed the back of his neck. "Why don't we just do the tango already and be done with it?"

"Sure. And while we're at it, why not let a new medical intern do open-heart surgery for his first day?" Troy gave her a frosted glare, but it was one that was wasted on Gabriella. "You can't immediately jump into something big without being familiar with the basics. That's what Madame Gorski use to say all the time."

Once again, Troy was beginning to see there were some brains attached to this mysterious beauty. He wondered who this Madame Gorski person was anyway, but knew it wasn't the time to start asking questions. Even if he asked, he knew Gabriella would pretend he didn't say anything at all.

"Blame it on the nerves." he said a heartbeat later. "I wasn't a dancer to being with and I doubt I'll be one in the future. I just…don't want you to feel like you're wasting your time with me."

When Gabriella looked at him again, he made out the small curve on the left corner of her lip. It wasn't exactly a smile, but the closest thing to one. "It's not like I have a shit-load of things to do Saturday morning besides sleep. And that I can do in the afternoons," The words settled between them as the silence came again. Then she added with a shrug "Truth be told, pup, you're not the worst dancer I've been paired with it."

Troy stared at her, unsure what to make of it. For a moment he thought she was only saying to spare his feelings, but saw the deep sincere in her eyes. Besides she didn't come off as one to sugar up the truth. Still, Miss Sass Montez actually saying that wasn't an insult was a shocker.

"Then again, you're also far from being a good dancer. You still have a long way to go."

Now she sounded like the Montez he was getting used to. Troy rolled his eyes half-heartedly, although there was a small half smile on his face he couldn't control. "So again?"

"Again." she confirmed with a nod. But there was that fleeting smile that danced across her face, brightening to the fullest for a moment, and vanished too soon.

Gabriella told him time after time to listen to the music and relax, for God's sake. The listening wasn't so difficult once he got the hang of it. It was the relaxing part he couldn't do. Being so close to her, being swarmed by her scent of jasmine and honeysuckle, he was amazed he could actually move his body and manage to breath.

Barely.

This time he tried with all his might to relax by blocking everything out. The sunshine, the cool air, and the fact their bodies seem to fit perfectly together, her scent. And amazingly it worked.

Troy held Gabriella's hand in one hand and placed his other hand around her waist. She wrapped one arm around his neck while her other hand was in his. Her fingers brushed lightly against his bare skin, attracting the sparks that burned him there. Trying to fight it and focusing on relaxing, he led them through the waltz again for the seventy-third time.

Forward, side, close. Forward, side, close. He was starting to get into it. Not exactly full-out speculator at it, but he did manage to move without being too hard or too stiff. By the small gleam in Gabriella's eyes, he could tell she was pleased.

He was getting it. He was actually getting it. Maybe dancing wasn't so horrible after all. Maybe it was okay. Maybe fun. Maybe even-

"Argh!" His left foot took a step back instead of forward. Troy tried to fix it, but he turned too quickly and fell to the ground, taking Gabriella with him. She was lying underneath not saying a word, but he could hear the anger and annoyance firing inside her.

When Troy slowly lifted his head up from shoulder blade, where his face landed during the fall and where her strange tattoo was, Gabriella's first reaction was to punch him. Hand balled into a tight fist and ready to start swinging, she stopped short as she looked into his eyes. Those deep blue eyes that was passionate in their own way but very vulnerable, almost as vulnerable as that of a puppy's. She never saw a boy so ashamed and innocent like he did that moment. Any other guy would have made it look so weird, but not Bolton.

She wasn't sure what to make of it.

She wanted to punch him. Troy was sure of that the moment his eyes look into those dark ones that were cold and hard. Then, suddenly, something came over her, disintegrating her anger bit by bit until it was gone from sight completely. They were almost back to being their cold, unmoving self, but there was something new in them, something he seen only very few times in her eyes that beckoned him.

Troy opened his mouth to say something, but Gabriella shook her head before a word could be said. His eyes were speaking to her the exact way hers were telling him something, pulling them closer and closer to each other so they could read it better. Closer and closer to their lips that were beginning to slightly part.

They say, be afraid
You're not like the others
Futuristic lover
Different DNA
They don't understand you

You're from a whole 'nother world
A different dimension
You open my eyes
And I'm ready to go
Lead me into the light

Kiss me, kiss me
Infect me with your love and
Fill me with your poison

Take me, take me
Wanna be a victim
Ready for abduction

Boy, you're an alien
Your touch so foreign
It's supernatural
Extraterrestrial

Hearing the ring tone snapped them out of the trance, the spell broken. Troy looked into Gabriella's eyes again, to see that thing he saw before, but it was gone completely.

"You can get off me now, pup." she said calmly.

Nodding quickly and stupidly, he realized he was still on top of her and got off. Quickly, he rolled off her and watched her walk over to her bag, getting out a cherry red flip phone.

"You got me. Go," she said. She listened to the person on the other line before she started scowling. From where he was sitting, he heard shrieking. It sounded like a baby crying.

"The way you were fucking, I figured you were too busy to give a shit. Oh really?" she raised her eyebrow, looking like she was getting madder as her voice rose. "You know what? Fuck you! Mierda vete a la mierda! Mierda joder! Hijo de puta cabrón!"

She ended the call with a "Lo que sea. Vete a la mierda!" before she hanged up. She looked down at the phone angrily, like she wished she could throw it against the wall, possibly picturing whoever got her so mad. She settled with squeezing it tightly in her clenched fist and putting it back in her bag.

Troy knew watching and hearing someone's private conversation was wrong. He lost count how many times he threw pillows or paper balls at his friends for listening in on his calls. But seeing her looking so upset really struck him, hitting home.

"Everything ok?"

"Fine," Her back was to him, her voice calm. Too calm. She took in a deep breath, but didn't turn around. "Just the usual shit at home."

That was something he was all too familiar with. "Story of my life."

She looked over her shoulder at him, a dark eyebrow arched questioningly. It must have been a shock learning East High's primo boy has issues of his own.

After that revelation was out, thanks to slip of tongue, he braced himself for questions. What was going on? Was he okay? Was there anything she could do to help him? But Gabriella didn't ask questions. She didn't say anything at all and nodded once, as if they were both agreeing life sucks sometimes.

"So, was that your dad?" She didn't want to talk about it. Troy knew because he was in that situation plenty of times beofre, but something in him felt like he had to say it. Maybe it was because this was the first time he saw another emotion besides boredom in Gabriella. Maybe it was because he was one of those guys who couldn't move on from a moment when someone else was upset. Or maybe it was because this was the first time someone other than him had family issues.

Her response was a snort he took as a no

"Your mom then?" he tried.

If she found first question silly, she found this one amusing. Letting out a breath of laughter that was sarcastic and cold, she shook her head and finally turned back to him. "It's someone who likes putting his head up his ass."

Okay, thought Troy, arching his eyebrow slightly. She didn't want to answer the question and he didn't push her any further.

They both decided that coming here every Saturday at seven was the perfect solution for practicing their project. Troy knew he was going to get shit (and hits) for missing his training, but at the moment couldn't care less if his dad thought less of him. It wasn't like Jack didn't already.

Soon after Troy walked Gabriella to her bike and watched her ride off after she saluted him a goodbye wave, he was baffled.

If her phone hadn't gone off, they would have moved closer to each other. They probably would've been kissing. They were so close to each other, it would only take a breath for their lips to touch.

Heat, he thought. The heat from the bright sun and all that dancing must have messed up his head. He was officially going crazy because it was just heat of something. Heat of the moment actually.

Even if he was interested in having a girlfriend, Gabriella, despite being beautiful, wasn't his type. And he knew he definely wasn't what she had in mind for her ideal guy.

So that's that.

On his way to the library, where he planned to get some studying done, there was something his mind couldn't wrap around.

If it meant nothing to him at all, then why couldn't he forget about it?

Why couldn't he stop thinking about what would have happened if her phone hadn't gone off?

AN: tHANKS for reading ET and I'm glad you like it. Also thanks to the reviwers who gave me amazing ideas that helped make thsi chapter. Have any ideas/suggestions that should happen next? Let me know. I'd love to hear them.

You rock. Thanks.