Floor 6

...

Before I begin, I just want to thank you guys for the response you gave for the first chapter of the story. I definitely wasn't expecting that many people to subscribe, favorite, and review:) Second chapters always get my nerves up because I feel they have to continue to draw the reader into the plot without writing in too much action, so I hope you like it. On a side note, the first chapter was short, but I do tend to be a lengthy writer, so please bear with the long chapters from now on. Also, I'm posting the link to something similar to Troy and Gabi's loft in my profile so you can see what I mean if I didn't explain well in here. Anyhow, I hope you all have a merry Christmas and happy, safe holidays. Enjoy the chapter!

...

Gabriella sighed as she stepped into her deep blue Hyundai and turned on the ignition, taking a sip of coffee before putting the vehicle in drive. Today was the day-she was moving into her newly acquired apartment and meeting Troy, who would be her roommate for the entire academic year. She had talked to him once since the initial conversation to work out who was bringing what furniture, but other than that, they hadn't spoken, which made Gabriella slightly skeptical of how the situation would play out.

As Gabriella swung out of the driveway, Greg Montez, her father, followed after in his pick-up truck, the back of which was loaded with Gabriella's bed, a lounge chair, and the five boxes of clothes, dishes, bathroom accessories, and school supplies she had packed. Although most young women would feel awkward having their dad come with them to meet up with a guy, Gabriella was grateful for the opportunity. That way, she'd have an easy escape if something went wrong with Troy and she'd also intimidate him by showing she had a significantly protective father who wouldn't deal with any crap he might try to pull. Not that he was thinking about anything for sure, but no one ever knew.

The ride to Akron went smoothly; there was little traffic, making the total travel time only four hours. Upon arriving at the apartment building Troy had designated, butterflies flew into Gabriella's stomach.

"So here we are," Greg said, stepping out of his truck after he and his daughter found spaces beside each other to park. "Now where's this boy?"

As if on cue, a young man walked onto the scene. His disheveled sandy hair was falling into his piercing blue eyes and his biceps, one of which was tattooed with a feather, bulged through the sleeves of his fitted t-shirt. "Are you Gabriella Montez?" he queried.

"Yes, I am," Gabriella replied. "But I usually go by Gabi. Or Brie."

"I like Brie. I think I'll stick with that. And as you probably have already guessed, I'm Troy Bolton." Troy smiled and held out his hand for Gabriella to shake. "And I'm assuming this is your father?" he asked, turning toward Greg.

"You got it. Call me Greg," Greg spoke, shaking Troy's hand.

Damn he's hot, Gabriella thought to herself. For the past week, she'd been imagining her roommate to be some fat, geeky guy who wore skinny jeans and boldly framed glasses. Maybe this won't be so bad after all.

"So, we're apartment number fifteen on floor six," Troy went on. "I was just up there and it looks pretty nice. Wanna come see?"

"I was actually thinking of grabbing something to eat," Gabriella confessed. "I haven't really had anything all day."

"Me neither. I was too busy getting things ready to move in to the new place. What do you say I order a pizza? That way we can eat while we work."

"Sure," agreed Gabriella.

Troy called in an order for a pizza, then the little crew headed up to the apartment to see what could be done. It was a small place, as was expected, but nevertheless had a cozy glow. The walls were painted beige and tinted white curtains framed the windows. The main room consisted of a loft, to which there was a modest set of stairs, and a set of three short shelves built into the wall opposite the loft. In the kitchen, which was to the left of the open living space, there was a stove with an overhanging microwave, a simple refrigerator, and a small pantry. Along the brief hallway that branched between the two rooms there was a linen closet that could be used for towels and cleaning supplies. At the end of the hall stood the tiny bathroom, which consisted of a cramped shower, a toilet, and a sink with two tiny cabinets underneath.

"We can make this work, right?" Troy said optimistically once they were standing in the main room.

"I hope all my stuff can fit in here," Gabriella considered, her eyes darting around. "I brought dishes and a couple pots and pans, but now I'm not sure if there will be any place to put them."

"The cooking stuff can go under the stove," suggested Troy. "And sorry to say, but you might wanna have your dad take the dishes back home. I have paper plates, a few plastic bowls, and a set of utensils that can fit in the kitchen drawer, so it might be easier to go with that."

"Okay. Well what about the furniture arrangements?"

"I was thinking, if you're okay with it that is, that we could share the loft. It's pretty long, so we could fit two mattresses up there."

"No trying to get in my daughter's pants," reminded Greg firmly.

"I'm not, sir. I would stay in my half of the loft and she'd stay in hers. It's only practical in this tiny place."

"I'll agree to that," Gabriella said.

"I'm warning you guys. Both of you," Greg enforced, his voice stern. Ever since Gabriella had been born, he'd taken the role of a bodyguard. Because she was the youngest girl, he was always more than careful to keep her safe. Needless to say, the thought of his baby girl rooming in a studio apartment with a hunky male terrified him, and caused thoughts he'd never dreamed of thinking to pop into his mind.

"I promise, Dad. We aren't gonna do anything," assured Gabriella with an eye roll. She loved her dad, but sometimes his overprotective nature frustrated her. He had been calm as could be when he'd discovered Catherine had lost her virginity to her boyfriend under the Montez roof at the age of twenty. Not to mention that he'd purchased condoms for Alex when he announced he had asked out a girl. However, when it came to Gabriella, she was always expected to be an innocent figure. Greg had lectured her countless times about dressing modestly, saving herself for marriage, and finding a respectful man who wouldn't want her for her body alone. As bold and outspoken as she was, she had surprisingly managed to follow those standards throughout her life, with the exception of a few bikinis and a couple crop tops that showed off her neat belly piercing.

"I second that promise," Troy echoed. "Now how about we get the stuff in here?"

...

Six hours later, the set-up of the apartment was complete and Greg had regretfully said good-bye to his daughter and started the trip back to Dayton. The house was looking good; the loft was set up with the two double mattresses lying vertically from each other, each with it's own set of sheets and covers. Beneath it was a couch with a fleece throw blanket draped over the back, a chair, and a coffee table along with a small TV. This area was what Troy and Gabriella had decided would be the quiet spot of the house. A large dresser stood along the remainder of the wall, half of which contained Gabriella's clothes and half of which held Troy's. A floor lamp stood by the door beside the two desks Troy and Gabriella had brought to do homework at. On the shelves above them were a variety of odds and ends, including trophies from Gabriella's high school debate team, Troy's signed Cincinnati Reds baseball, and a small selection of board games.

"So, what do you say we get to know each other?" Troy suggested.

"Okay. Let's go up to the loft. Not for anything raunchy of course, just because it seems comfy up there," Gabriella spoke.

"Alright."

Troy and Gabriella climbed the stairs to the loft and sat across from one another on Gabriella's bed. "So, the first thing I should probably warn you about is that I love to hug. So chances are, you'll get a hug from me every now and then for probably no real reason at all. But I'll try not to bother you too much."

"Oh, I don't mind," Troy insisted. "I know as a guy I shouldn't be admitting this, but I tend to hug, too. And you're gonna kind of be like a sister to me while we're here, so it shouldn't get too weird."

"Well if we're gonna be like siblings, please don't be as much of a teasing ass as my brother Alex is."

"I can't promise I won't joke around, but I also tend to have a protective side when it comes to girls. So how old is this brother?"

"Sixteen. I also have a twenty-three-year-old sister Catherine. What about you?"

"I just have an older brother named Michael. He's twenty-five."

Gabriella nodded in acknowledgement. "So...is there anything I need to know about you?"

"Well, like most guys I like sleeping in boxers. But I'll be willing to cover up if you're uncomfortable."

"I guess it'll be okay." Gabriella shrugged. "But I am somewhat uncomfortable with nudity, so please put on more if you're gonna be anywhere in the house besides your bed."

"I will," promised Troy. "It's just that I get so warm at night when it's summer weather like this." Akron tended to become hot and humid in the summertime and cold and snowy in winter. There was no long-term happy medium to the weather. "I'm originally from Vermont, so I'm not that used to the heat," he continued.

"I feel you. I have to confess that if I were a guy, I'd be sleeping in my underwear, too." Gabriella sighed. "Guys are such lucky bastards not having to be modest in this weather. But still-you gotta wear more if you leave the loft."

Troy smiled and shook his head. "You're funny, Brie. I think I'm gonna like rooming with you."

"Oh you do now, do you?" Raising her neatly shaped eyebrows, Gabriella slid over to sit beside Troy and nudge him with her elbow.

"Hey, stop that." His eyes glistening with playfulness, Troy gently knocked Gabriella onto the soft mattress and kneeled beside her face. "Wanna wrestle?"

"It's on."

For the next five minutes, the two roommates chased each other around the apartment, teasingly pushing and grabbing one another's arms. The war ended when Troy lifted a kicking Gabriella off the ground and carried her to the loft, where he tossed her onto her bed and tickled her sides.

"Troy! What the fuck? Stop," giggled Gabriella, shoving Troy over.

Giving up, Troy pulled himself into a sitting position and pulled his shirt off, revealing his sculpted chest and much-coveted six-pack.

"Hey, why are you undressing?"

"I'm sweating. Gonna go change, then maybe we can have some dinner and watch a movie."

"Well you better not be getting naked on my mattress." However, contrary to her words, Gabriella found her brown eyes peeled to Troy's ripped body. Damn. He works out, she thought.

"No way. I'm just taking my shirt off here." Troy tossed the sweaty shirt onto Gabriella's face before descending the stairs to the loft.

"Eww, that's disgusting!" Throwing the shirt after him, Gabriella watched until he was locked in the bathroom, then climbed out of bed and found comfy clothes to change into when it was her turn.

"What do you think of Superbad?" Troy queried when he and Gabriella were both finished changing. He was in a pair of basketball shorts with a t-shirt while she was wearing a camisole and pajama shorts. She had also thrown her long hair into a messy bun and washed off her makeup.

"I love it." Gabriella plopped down onto the couch where Troy was already sitting. He was holding a plate of sandwiches he'd put together while she was changing.

"We are gonna get along just fine." Smiling, Troy turned on the TV and chose Superbad from the list of Netflix films he could watch.

Troy and Gabriella ate their meal, then pulled the TV out into the open space in the room and climbed up onto the loft to finish watching the movie.

"This is fucking hilarious," Troy said as the scene came on where Fogell first changed his name to "McLovin."

"I know," giggled Gabriella. She and Troy were lying beside each other horizontally on Troy's bed.

"So how old are you?" Troy asked suddenly after a long pause.

"Eighteen. You?"

"Aww, you're a baby," Troy said, nudging Gabriella's arm. "I'm almost twenty-one. Only a couple more months till I can go buy us some drinks."

"You could always make a fake ID and get it now like McLovin," Gabriella pointed out jokingly.

"I don't think so."

Troy and Gabriella watched the remainder of the movie in silence. Then, seeing as it was nearly ten o' clock, and feeling exhausted from the busy day they'd had, they turned out the lights and each crawled onto their own mattress to sleep.

"Hey Brie," Troy whispered.

"Hm?" groaned Gabriella.

"You comfy? Your bed's okay, the air conditioning is cool enough, you have enough covers..."

"Yeah, I'm fine." Letting out a yawn, Gabriella snuggled against the large pile of pillows she had. "Good-night, Troy."

"Night, Brie. See you in the morning."

...

The next morning, Gabriella awoke to find Troy's bed empty. Looking at her phone, which she had kept under her mattress for easy access, she noticed that it was already nine-thirty and, groaning, sat up to stretch.

"Hey, sleepyhead," Troy greeted as he stepped out of the kitchen with a bowl of cereal. He was in his boxers and a t-shirt; evidentially he had undressed underneath his covers after the lights were out and put the top back on out of respect for Gabriella before getting breakfast. "I was just about to eat. Come join me."

Gabriella fixed her hair tie, which had come loose from moving around in bed overnight, then climbed down from the loft and walked to the kitchen to pour her own cereal before claiming a vacant spot on the couch where Troy was. Since they didn't have room for a table, they had to find alternate places to eat. "You must wake up early," she remarked, grabbing the throw blanket from off the top of the seat and draping it over her lap. Despite the fact that it was a bearable temperature inside, Gabriella had a habit of using a blanket while relaxing, mainly for comfort above everything else.

"Yeah. I've always been a morning person," Troy confirmed. "I'm guessing you're not?"

"I hate mornings," moaned Gabriella, unconsciously leaning against Troy's shoulder as she ate her breakfast.

"Do I need to wrestle you again?" Troy questioned playfully.

"For what?"

"Bitching."

"No, but I could use a hug." Putting her bowl down, Gabriella wrapped her arms around Troy's waist and cuddled against his chest.

"Well good morning to you, too." Troy hugged Gabriella in return.

Pulling away, Gabriella grabbed the remote control and turned on the TV. "Let's find something to watch."

"I was actually gonna have a shower."

"Now? How can you voluntarily get ready now? I'm still fucking sleepy."

"What time do you normally start, then?"

"Um...like after lunch. And sometimes I hang out in my pajamas all day if I'm not doing anything important."

"You lazy bum." Troy nudged Gabriella's arm.

"Shut the fuck up."

"Potty mouth."

"Jerk." Gabriella stuck her tongue out.

"Alright, I'm out of here. Behave your ass." Smirking, Troy stood up, took both his and Gabriella's empty bowls to the kitchen, then grabbed clean clothes and a towel and headed into the bathroom. Ten minutes later he emerged, his hair wet, face shaved, and teeth brushed. "Hey Brie, I was gonna go to the grocery store and grab some food for us so we can have something besides sandwiches and cereal. Want anything specific?"

"Uh...I like tacos, so if you wanna pick up a taco kit and some beef that'd be good. And also pasta," Gabriella replied. She was lying on the couch wrapped in her blanket while watching Minute to Win It.

"Okay. What about hot dogs? Do you like that?"

"Yeah. Want some cash?"

"No, I got it for now. You can buy the food next week." Troy grabbed his wallet from on top of the dresser and stuck it in his back pocket.

"Mm-kay," mumbled Gabriella, stretching her legs and pulling herself into a sitting position.

"I'll be back," said Troy. "Should I knock before I come in or just open the door?"

"Knock, please. I might just change out here if I'm home alone, so unless you really wanna see your little sister's ass..." Gabriella joked, referring to the day before when Troy had told her they'd become like siblings after living together for a while.

"I'd better knock then," Troy resolved as he opened the door to exit. "See you soon."

...

"So what's your schedule?" Gabriella asked. She and Troy were sitting up in their loft eating a snack of cashews and raisins while chatting about whatever popped into their heads.

"Well I'm a journalism major, so I have a research and report class at nine in the morning and a communications course at eleven on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays. Then for Tuesdays and Thursdays, I have literature at noon and an editing workshop at three. Then I work at the mini market just down the street from us Wednesdays from three to eight and Saturdays from nine to five. What about you?"

"I'm going for nursing and I'm taking bio at eleven and psych at three on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays. Tuesdays and Thursdays I have my gen ed requirement of basic comp at ten, then at four I have an algebra class. Then I'm starting a job at a clothing boutique in the mall Saturdays and Sundays from ten to three."

"So we probably won't be hanging out here together all too often," Troy observed.

"We should have a Friday movie night every week," suggested Gabriella. "We can take turns choosing a movie, then we can sit up here and watch it while eating junk."

"That should work," Troy agreed. After a pause he added, "By the way, are there any boyfriends I should know about?"

"Nope. I'm completely single, no strings attached, so I won't be bringing anyone home to fuck if that's what you had in mind." Gabriella giggled.

"I didn't mean it that way," corrected Troy. "I just was wondering so I'd know whether or not to expect frequent visitors."

"Well I might bring female friends here to hang out every now and then, but no guys. Except maybe my brother every now and then." Gabriella tossed a raisin into her mouth. "What about you? Are you dating?"

"No. I'm too busy for a girlfriend. I'd like one, though. I'm the kind of guy that enjoys having a girl to take care of."

"Have you ever dated?"

"Yeah. I had a girlfriend my senior year of high school, but she wanted sex when I wasn't ready so we called it quits. Then I dated again in my freshman year of college, but the girl and I just weren't compatible. What about you?"

"Does middle school dating count?"

"Not really." Troy laughed.

"Well then, I haven't dated. My dad is really protective over me, so I think that might have something to do with it. With my older sister he's not as bad, but seeing how I'm the youngest girl, I'm his baby."

"Oh, I see. Would you like a boyfriend, though?"

Gabriella shrugged. "I don't know. Relationships gave their pros and cons. Sometimes I think it's better to just be friends, especially at this point in life." She considered for a minute before asking. "You weren't trying to hit on me there, were you?"

"Oh no, not at all," promised Troy sincerely. "I was just curious. I actually think it would be a bad idea for us to let anything happen."

"Same here. Nothing would be worse than fighting with your boyfriend, then realizing you gotta share a loft with him for months on end."

"Yeah," said Troy. "I agree; that would be pretty bad."

"So we're good then?"

"What do you mean?"

"We both think we shouldn't date each other?"

"Definitely. We'll just be friends." Troy held up his hand. "Deal?"

"Deal." Gabriella confirmed as she gave Troy a high-five. "Now how about we play a board game?"