It was the clicking of the heels on the hardwood floor that make her complete body tense up.
The dark coffee brown eyes looked up from where they were looking at her crackling cereal and couldn't help but find a frown on her face. The woman that had just walked in the door barely looked at her while she stepped into the dark wood of the kitchen. She walked with an air of dignity. Her skin was the same olive color as the girl sitting at the table's, with extremely light brown eyes, unlike hers. She also had high cheek bones, with perfect make up applied with diligence on her body. Her chest seemed to stick up in a way that made her look more important than what she was in her white blouse and black skirt. Her black heels were way too high for the girl's liking and she hated the way her hair flowed down past her shoulders, curled in ocean waves. She could have pulled off as the coffee brown girl's older sister. But that was what bothered Gabriella the most.
She was her mother.
"Good morning Gabriella. Hello Ari." The woman greeted in a voice that Gabriella knew meant she had other things on her mind than the two girls sitting at the table. She watched as the woman opened the silver refrigerator. Gabriella's eyes then moved to the opposite end of the table, raising her eyebrows a little at the other girl who was sitting there, her own deep brown eyes locked on the mother that was bending down to stick out her perfectly shaped butt.
The smaller, eight year old girl had similar features as Gabriella. Her hair was midnight black, though it fell just below her shoulders. Her face was the same olive color, and her nose was small unlike the mother who had a slightly pointed one. But her face was a little chubbier, since she hadn't grown out of her baby fat yet, and she would form the high cheek bones that her mother had once she got older. Arianna Montez.
"Morning mom." Ari responded in her small, soft voice as her mother grabbed an apple from the fridge.
Maria Montez was thirty-three years old. But Gabriella found that instead of acting like she was thirty-three, she more acted like she was a sixteen year old out having a good time. Sometimes Gabriella wondered whether or not she was the adult, or if Gabriella was the adult. Maria got pregnant with Gabriella when she was sixteen, so the daughter always got the impression that she never got the teenage years she wanted. Now, she seemed to be making up for it.
But in a way it was good, because Gabriella and her sister Ari were close. Well, as close as one could be when they were almost eight years apart. She treated her as a friend, but it also seemed as though she was partially her caretaker also. Since Gabriella's mother had her own agenda that was hidden from Ari, but Gabriella was not blind to it.
"Do you have anything exciting planned for school today?" She asked Ari in the voice that was trying to be motherly, but Gabriella could tell she was slightly faking it.
"Ummmm… I have art today! Mrs. Victor said that my project was one of the best she's seen in awhile." Ari announced proudly with a smile on her face, where Gabriella excelled at music, Ari excelled at art.
"Great." Her mother admired distantly. "I'm not going to be home until late tonight." Maria stated while taking a bite of her apple and leaning against the counter. She worked in real-estate, helping selling houses which was surprising for Gabriella since she had her so early in life. She had heard most women who got pregnant early in life didn't make it out of high school. Well, her mother did, and got a successful job with a great paycheck that paid for the expensive house. "I have er… work to do…" She informed while closing her suitcase.
Gabriella's eyes narrowed on her mother. No. She didn't. Instead she had something else to work on, and it had lips and a male member instead. "You've been working for every night in the past week." Gabriella complained with slight venom coming from her mouth. Her mother gave her a shot of daggers in her light eyes. Those eyes that could make even men in her own grade fall to their knees. She hated how hot her mom was.
"I have stuff to work on." She rebutted back while shaking her head dangerously at Gabriella, as if not to give the secret that she was out with yet another man instead of being home with her family. "Goodbye sweetie." She waved while kissing Ari's forehead, then walking towards the door to try to give Gabriella a small smile. "Have a good day Ella."
Gabriella watched as her mother walked out the door without a second glance. A small sigh erupted from her throat as she stood up and fixed the grey sweater she was wearing and glanced in the shiny granite countertop to see her curly side ponytail looked well enough for her liking. She placed the bowl in the sink while Ari stood up as well. "You ready for me to take you?" Gabriella asked as the younger girl walked towards the sink. It was tradition. Gabriella's mother would leave, and then Gabriella would drive Ari to school, then head to East High.
"Mom's always working. And she has to go to teacher conferences next week." Ari stated while looking up with pain in her eyes. Gabriella bit her bottom lip, not wanting to give away to her younger sister that their mother was usually sleeping with some guy instead of being at work.
"She'll be there ok?" Gabriella soothed to try to make up for her mother's lack of parenting skills. "Come one, get your lunch or I'm going to have to leave without you and you'll have to walk all the way up Rockridge Peak."
Ari's eyes grew wide as she ran to the refrigerator. "Not fair! You can't make me do that! Rachael said that there are bears there!"
Gabriella laughed a little as she grabbed her black pea coat from the chair she was sitting on, along with her school bag and purse. "Then hurry up or you'll find out." She joked while nudging Ari with her arm as she placed the brown bag into her small pink backpack. "Maybe if you're good, after I run and come home we'll go get ice cream. I've been craving it."
Ari smiled as she nodded excitedly. "Yeah! Just don't run for four hours like you did yesterday."
Gabriella grinned as she gave her a half hug and they walked towards the door that would reveal the cold climate of Colorado. "I'm not making any promises…"
Thud, thud… thud, thud.
The drummer inside his chest pounded against the peck as a sudden flying object magnetically clung in his hands. His powerful legs that were situated in his white and red shoes spring off the floor as he drives it to the other end. The salty liquid that swam down the entire golden skin was as though his issues were just siding away. The eyes closed for a moment, surrounding him with total night as he could feel every single problem slip away from him. It was the one time, the one moment, event that he could just run away. He could escape.
The cerulean eyes opened again as he chucks the orange sphere across the court to Zeke who was waiting for it. Basketball was the one thing that kept Troy Bolton sane. It was the one thing that made him happy. Snowboarding was up there, but he had time to think in snowboarding. Not with basketball. With the contact sport, he didn't have to think about anything. All he had to do was dribble, pass, shoot.
There were no thoughts of needles involved.
"Bolton!" Zeke yelled as he passed the ball to Troy, who jumped over the ringlet head to grab onto it. His red practice jersey clung to his body like a sock to a shirt in a dryer as he landed on the floor again. The heat in the gym increased about forty degrees, making it feel like he ran into the Sahara desert. Sweat collected in his eyebrows, making it almost impossible to see as he dribbled three times towards the paint, getting down low before taking a shot, letting the ball release from his fingertips while he felt hands claw at his shoulders to block it.
The ball swished into the net and in responds, a sudden "tweet" filled the thin air of the gym. His muscular body turned to see a twenty seven year old man standing on the sidelines with a silver whistle in his mouth. Every movement stopped in the gym as all of the teenagers looked to the guy, waiting for his cue to make a movement. A small smile grew on his pale skin. "Nice work Bolton. Everyone bring it in!"
An eruptions of squeaking on the hardwood exploded as all twelve of the guys run over to where the tall, defined man was standing. Half of them were in white practice uniforms, and the other half were in red. Troy and Chad both take a knee next to each other, each in a different color. "That's how it's done." Troy murmured and Chad rolled his eyes after Zeke then took a knee next to him.
The man standing above them all stared down with his hard, frosted colored eyes. Troy swore they could be put up to one of the grey mountains outside the gym and they were match perfectly. He also had skin the color of a blank piece of computer paper. His jaw was almost the size of California and while he folded his arms, one could see the budging bicep ball, making you not want to mess with this guy. "You guys have seventy two hours until the first game." He announced in a powerful voice that sounded like fireworks exploding. "I need each and everyone one of you to stay focused. It's time to show them how the Wildcats take in downtown."
A vomit of deep cheers from the team echoed in the gym as a gleam hinted in Troy's eyes. His competitive side was oozing though his pores and mixed with his sweat while it trickled down his face. There was no messing with them. It was his senior year and he was going to get this done right.
"Alright, hit the showers, you guys smell like shit." The coach, Coach Andrews, granted them as each guy stood up with fire in their veins. Their jeers could be heard echoing through the school as they all ran to the locker room, Troy beaming about Friday.
After rinsing off his body, Troy found himself throwing his black t-shirt on, making the bronze skin on his bare arms stand out like a girl on Broadway. His wet hair that looked more black than brown, dripped with extra shower water as he shook his head a little. "Dude, you're like a dog!" Troy's best friend stated as Troy looked up to see Chad walking to him with all his clothes on and the tight ringlets beginning to dry. "Damn, no wonder Sadie likes you so much, she probably wants to sniff you're ass." He joked with an amused smirk on his face.
Troy rolled his eyes. "You're fucking hilarious." His hands brought the white towel that was placed on his head up and attempted to towel dry his hair, only to give him a bed head.
"Whatever man, you'd like it." He smirked with his dark lips.
"Yeah… remind me how's it going with McKessie again?" Troy threw the towel at Chad as the midnight eyes narrow in anger.
"Shut the fuck up Bolton." Chad retorted as Troy suddenly heard a small chuckle and turned to see Zeke walking towards them.
"You must be talking about Taylor." Zeke stated while shaking his head and placing his hand on Chad's shoulders. "You heard Gabriella and Taylor the other day… she's into the college guy."
Troy couldn't help but shiver at the sound of his crush's name. Chad had been into Taylor for as long as Troy could remember, but lately it sounded like Taylor had a huge obsession with one of the guys that came into Troy's snowboard shop often. It sucked, because he always thought Chad and Taylor would be adorable together, seeing as Chad was Troy's best guy friend and Taylor was Troy's best friend who was a girl. "Hey, I got game. It's fine…" Chad says while putting his hands up as though someone was going to shoot him. "Let her play with the older guy for awhile. It's all part of the plan."
"The plan?" Troy asked amused as he picked up his red gym bag from the bench and followed Chad and Zeke out of the locker room, guys smirking at Troy and trying to give him high fives in the process.
"Yeah, the plan. Let the ass play with her a little, then when he breaks her heart, I'll be there to pick up the pieces." Chad states triumphantly that his "plan" was going to work. Troy rolled his eyes while they opened the door back into the stinky gym.
"Yeah, and when he's fucking your girl, you'll be sitting on your ass waiting for..." The cyan eyes looked into the gym and suddenly felt his heart stop beating. Sitting in the corner of the gym was a long legged goddess was sitting on the floor, with her leg bent up towards her chest as she was holding it. Her cascading black waves were pulled into a ponytail that sat on the top of her head. Her body was covered in black spandex pants that showed off her curves to Troy's liking and a tight top that was long sleeved and red with a hood, probably to keep her warm outside. Her face looked clammy; even though Troy was sure she had just gotten in from outside where it was thirty degrees. But he knew better, since she was sure to be out running a moment ago.
"Speaking of sitting on your ass and waiting…" An amused smirk was on Chad's lips as her looked at the vixen that switched legs, but was staring straight ahead and didn't even seem to notice the guys. "It's funny how she actually hangs out with us and you can't manage to nail her. Let alone talk to her."
Troy glared at him. The answer to that was simple. It was easier to talk to any other girl, because he knew if he wanted, he could get into bed with them. Not that he did with every other girl, only the ones that knew how to rub him right. Pardon the pun. But with Gabriella? He got scared out of his mind. Sure, once he started talking to her, he could. But getting to start? That was an issue. "I can talk to her!" Troy stated proudly before he felt a push on his back, making him stumble forward a little.
"Then go man!" He looked back to see Chad and Zeke were smirking. He sent ice through his eyes at him before looking back at Gabriella while taking a deep inhale to try and gain as much oxygen as he possibly could. Her eyes were still staring distantly towards nothing as she was gently biting her nails, something he noticed she did when she had that look on her face. He was just about to put his foot down before hearing the sound of nails on a chalk board.
"TROY!" Gabriella's head immediately spun around and locked on Troy's body that was frozen to the floor right now. His eyes were the size of the moon and he could hear the click of something obnoxiously sounding like heels behind him. The amused eyebrows of Gabriella rose as Troy closed his eyes as though in pain. "I haven't seen you all day!"
He opened his eyes to reveal a long, golden hair standing in font of him. She had a mischievous look on her face like a lion staring at a piece of meat while Troy did his best to smile, though it more looked like a twisted line than anything. "Hey Sharpay."
He was a ladies' man; there was no doubt about that. People would say that any one who didn't have a dick was Troy's type. Well, they were wrong. No matter how desperate for sex he was, he would never, ever get into the same bed with Sharpay Evans. It was a disgusting thought that almost made him want to throw up. Maybe it was just the fact that she looked more like a Barbie than a human being was what turned him off. Who knows, all he did was that he was beyond irritated that Sharpay had just cut him off from talking to Gabriella.
"Well give me a hug silly!" She ordered while pulling at his black t-shit, then placing her arms around his neck in a hug. Troy tried his best not to throw up over her obviously expensive clothes. "So… when's the first game? I gotta make sure I'm front row so I can… enjoy the view." She stated while looking Troy's body up and down like it was a designer purse.
He could hear the chuckles of Chad and Zeke behind him. His eyes looked over Sharpay's shoulders to see that Gabriella was trying to stifle laughs also. The ocean blue orbs narrow on her, though she doesn't stop laughing. "Um… Friday."
Sharpay giggles as though something was funny, even though there was nothing funny about Friday. "Well, sounds fabulous." Her light eyes sparkled a little, only making Troy look over her shoulder more to see Gabriella got up. No. He was going to talk to her.
"Yep, real fabulous." He responded before glancing down at Sharpay again. "I guess I'll see ya then." He informed, not even bothering if he was rude or not. Slowly, he walked around Sharpay to see that Gabriella's eyes were on him, and she was frozen in her spot.
"Oh well… tootles!" Sharpay squealed and Troy glanced back to see her waving her fingers at him. Out of somewhat politeness, Troy smirked back.
He was halfway across the court, with confusion still plastered on Gabriella's face. He got her. He was going to catch her off guard. It was one thing to talk to her during class, but another to go up to her outside of it. It was going to be ok, right? He took another deep breath and was about to cross the free-throw line when suddenly, another voice rung out. "BOLTON!"
Troy closed his eyes and angrily spun around. "WHAT?" He yelled at Chad, more out of frustration than anything. His eyes landed on his best friend, who looked like he had just seen a horror movie. Zeke looked at Chad confused, along with Troy, until he saw Chad point to something towards the doors. The cyan eyes looked to where his finger was directing, to see a woman in black high heels, a black skirt and matching blazer with her arms crossed. His stomach completely dropped as the black pumps tapped its foot in an almost impatient tone.
"Fuck." He muttered.
"How the hell is this place so spotless?" The questioning tone asked while she placed her black purse onto the granite island countertop. "You're supposed to be seventeen." Troy could feel his eyes roll as he slid the black backpack off his shoulder and threw his gym bag into the living room. A sudden "click" of nails against the hardwood echoed through the room. A small smirk painted onto Troy's face as he kneeled down and greeted Sadie who came running towards him.
"Hey girl." He whispered as though the woman in her mid-twenties wasn't standing in his kitchen right now with her briefcase now sitting on his table. He rubbed her fur, feeling the softness between his rough fingers as he then scratched behind her ears, just the way she liked it. "Don't worry, the bitch will be gone soon." He whispered before kissing the top of Sadie's head and patted her back after he stood up.
"I heard that." The woman replied as she sat her thin body down at his table with her black, oval almond eyes narrowing at him. Her face with smooth, a tan color that hand a yellow pigment to it. Her long, dark brown hair had almost a red tint with she tilted her head in the light, letting the tight ponytail pull at her rounded cheeks not to be mistaken for pudgy. Her make up was applied professionally and Troy looked at the woman, reminding him much of an East Asian woman. Which she probably was. But Troy didn't know, nor did he care much.
"I'm gonna be eighteen by the way." Troy pointed own while he took a spot on the opposite side of the table, the furthest away from the woman as possible. Sadie panted over, placing her two paws up onto Troy's lap, making him run his hand through her soft fur again. "And I'm not as much as a fuck up as you think I am."
"Watch the language." She warned and Troy rolled his eyes, not going to listen to someone who wasn't even ten years older than he was. "I never said you were a fu… screw up." She caught herself. "Have you seen your grades? I know people who'd kill to get grades like that."
Troy shrugged as though he didn't care. "I don't have a choice remember?" He reminded while looking through his brow at her, feeling Sadie's chin rest on his thigh as she stopped panting, obviously getting tired. "Welfare doesn't give guys with Ds chances, do they Sydney?"
The woman's eyes looked up to meet his as her fake nails tap the table, irritating Troy's ears. She let out a sigh as she opens up her brief case. Sydney Tiscon was the closest thing to a guardian Troy had. Well, sort of. She came up to check on him every once in awhile, and took care of his financial situation. She was basically the reason he was living in the nice house that he had been ever since sophomore year. He could remember the first time he met her, and how he thought she was so hot. But now? Visits with her were like visits with his dentist.
"I visited her this weekend." She stated in a solemn tone, making the cerulean eyes shoot up with a sudden interest.
Sadie must have felt Troy's change of demeanor, for she barks while looking up at him with her own bright blue eyes. The clouded one stared into his face, though Troy's didn't move from Sydney. "Why?" He asked rudely.
"I wanted to check up on her." She sighed as Troy chewed on the side of his face to try to cover up the sudden burning feeling in the back of his throat. "As much as you don't think so, I do care about you Troy."
Troy snorted as Sadie barked again. "I don't need you to." He replied harshly.
Sydney shook her head. "You don't get it Troy. A lot of us have your back. And if you'd stop having a stick up your ass, maybe you would get it."
Troy laughed a sarcastic laugh again. "Me? Stick up my ass? Please, have you met me?"
Sydney rolled her eyes. "Yes, I have." She sighed again. "Look, I'm just saying… you're lonely. I can't believe I'm saying this, but have people over." Troy's eyes darted up to hers again. "And someone besides Chad."
It was true. Most people would have taken advantage living alone. If he wanted to, he could have brought girls over every night. He could have had parties all the time. It would have been easy. But he didn't. The only friend he had ever had in his house was Chad. Confusing, because Troy was all about being social. But he had his reasons. "What? You want me to go out and buy booze and throw a party? Fuck you rock!"
He stood up as though he was going to the store as Sydney glared at him. Sadie barked happily as though they were going somewhere. "Sit." She instructed in a firm voice as Troy scowled at her. "You know what I mean." She responded in a threatening voice as Troy sat back down in his chair, only to slump back down and have Sadie rest her head on his thigh again, disappointed.
"Whatever. It doesn't matter." He spit out with a shrug. But suddenly, his guard was let down as he looked up at the woman with the question swimming in his eyes. He lifted up the hand that wasn't on Sadie and slowly runs a hand through his own soft hair, a habit he picked up when he was a freshman. "Um… how was she?"
Sydney smiled softly at him, always finding herself liking this vulnerable side to Troy. "The first thing she asked was about you." She explained while Troy's eyes immediately dropped down to look at Sadie's cloudy one.
He responded the only think he could think up. "Yeah…"