High school was supposed to be fun right? It was supposed to be the beginning of your actual life. Middle school was still for immature little kids who thought that farting in public was funny. High school was supposed to be when one discovered themselves, right? It was supposed to feel the softness of another piece of flesh's pressed up against your own lips in a first kiss. It was supposed to be laughing until your stomach exploded in pain. It was said that it was well worth the long, dragging hours when one stared at the clock, hopelessly waiting for that cruel black stick to tick and make period go by faster. High school was supposed to be perfect.
Then why did Gabriella show up to East High on her first day with her eyes burning to let loose their tears?
She stared at the school with a helpless look plastered onto her face. The back of her orbs burned as though someone had set a hot match to them and watched the flame grow. Her course throat was swollen shut, making her want to throw up whatever she had actually gotten down during the forty minutes they were allowed to eat. The autumn wind tickled the little hairs on her arms underneath the light pink three quarter length shirt and dark jeans she was wearing. Her black hair that fell to her shoulders was curled in an ocean wave, making her look innocent, yet beautiful. Gabriella's sad eyes remained on the school helplessly, not thinking about school at all, but thinking about bloodly screaming instead.
Yet, her best friend Taylor was walking in step with her, bouncing off the walls because they had survived the first half of their days without managing to end up getting a bubbler ride. "What do you have next?" Taylor asked in curiosity evident in her voice.
Gabriella's eyes remained staring forward even as they walked into the jungle school; her mind spinning like it was loose on hinges as she shrugged. Sharp pain shot through her leg as she tried her best to walk through the feeling of a clamp crushing her ankle from last night. "English." She responded, already memorizing her schedule because it was something to keep her mind of the black, heartless eyes that haunted her vision every time she closed her eyes. "With Mr. Garble."
"Lucky!" Taylor wined as Gabriella's body shrunk as she looked up at the other students who were laughing and pointing at things. They had to have been older, since they all seemed to look like her mother. The girls had boobs that almost resembled the looming mountains outside the prison walls that surrounded her. And the boys. They all seemed to me looking at her with a vicious desire deep inside their souls. Even the older ones. "My sister said that everyone loved him last year… are you ok? You look a little pale."
No. She was not ok. Gabriella had inches of venom seeping through her pores. She was no ok, and she would not be ok either. The only thing she could focus on was the sharp blade of the screaming that replayed over in her head like a VCR. Then her mind was stuck in a sand trap, only to feel the pain in her leg of being thrown into the kitchen table with a tornado behind it. Gabriella was too deeply in her thoughts to realize that they had made it to the area where their lockers were. She gazed around to see that everyone was grouped together with only one or two other people, since no one really knew each other yet. It was the fist day right? "I'm alright."
Taylor leaned up against her locker as Gabriella took in her surroundings. There was a group of about five boys just standing and talking to each other. One of them, the shortest of the group with tight chocolate ringlets that fell over his eyes, looked up and beamed at her as though he saw the new car he wanted. Even though her brain wasn't there, she couldn't help but blush as she turned away and Taylor smiled. "That guy was totally checking you out."
Gabriella shook her head, modesty evident across her smooth features. "No he wasn't."
Taylor belted a grin on her face with a glint in her almost black eyes that Gabriella suddenly understood. Clearly she had been waiting all lunch to bring up the topic of boys. "I have to show you this guy in my biology class. Oh my gosh, he's to die for."
Gabriella rolled her eyes, thankful that they were talking to take her mind off of the dark and painful kitchen last night. "I doubt any boy is to die for."
Taylor shrugged. "Well, he is. I'll have to introduce you. He's so hot. And funny too. The guys here are so much better then middle school. Especially him." She replied with a dreamy look on her face.
The warning bell that lunch was over filled the cracks of the school. Gabriella immediately jumped to her locker that was a little walk down from Taylor's, since they were placed in alphabetical order. She opened it timidly, not wanting to be eaten up from the other students that seemed to know exactly what they were doing. Gabriella was just about to grab a spiral from the top shelf of her organized locker when she felt her body slam into her purple shelves. Pain shot through her ankle like a bullet as she cried out a little before turning around to see the ringlet haired boy standing there with an embarrassed bubble surrounding him.
"I'm so sorry!" He apologized in a voice that sounded like it belonged to a ten year-old's. His deep eyes sparkled a little while he looked at her, Gabriella catching Taylor smirking a couple lockers down. "I didn't hurt you did I?"
Gabriella shook her head, but kept the books in her hand pressed tightly against her chest in an almost fear. She couldn't believe he was talking to her right now. Just the fact that a guy talked to her on the first day made her feel like she won an Oscar. "No." She replied in a timid voice. The guy smirked at her as he nodded a little.
"Good. I guess I should watch where I'm going more." He stated while Gabriella giggled a little and closed her locker behind her. "I'm Chad by the way, Chad Danforth."
Gabriella grinned at him and smiled gently. "Gabriella Montez." He grinned cheekily back at her before Gabriella noticed that everyone was making their ways down the hallways. "Well, I'm this way." She pointed and Chad sighed.
"I'm this way." He stuck his thumb out in the opposite direction. "I'll uh… see you later?" He more asked then stated as Gabriella nodded shyly.
She walked around him, her eyes glancing back for a moment. He was cute, but she was more flattered that a guy actually talked to her when she didn't really know anyone. For the first time all day, she had a genuine smile on her face as she walked down the hallway, alone with her books tight against her. Gabriella's eyes scanned the numbers on the doors, as she glanced down at her snow colored paper schedule to find the one that matched classes.
The nightmare echo of the screaming suddenly whispered through her eardrums as she stared down at the white paper, not looking at anything really. She saw her mother's twisted face, pointing to Gabriella before a force had thrown the daughter against the kitchen table. Just thinking about it made Gabriella's ankle ache with pain. Her eyes were unfocused for a moment, before a brick wall halted her.
The weak ankle gave out on her as she slipped backwards and let her back slam against the hard floor. Pain shot through her entire body as she closed her eyes and was haunted by the image of the hell eyes that cut through her body. Gabriella let out a whimper in pain, not from hitting the floor, but the images as she swore thousands of people were watching her. The day couldn't get any worse, and the tears that had lingered in the back of her eye sockets suddenly slipped and glossed the chocolate colored orbs. She could hear the taunting sounds of laughter fill the hallway as she slowly sat up and opened her eyes to be revealed to black with white stripped Adidas shoes. All Gabriella wanted was for all of this to go away. She already was sick of her life. She wanted an out.
"Hey…. You ok?" A sudden slightly raspy, yet savor voice asked as Gabriella's gaze moved up his body. The light blue and white stripped button up covered his sun glowing bronze skin. All life was sucked from her as she looked into his smooth, flawless face that held a small yet gorgeously flared nose. His gentle lips were parted slightly as she suddenly felt light headed just from staring at him. The most beautiful, sky cerulean colored eyes grew a little wide as he took in her form. His long, sandy brown hair fell over the eyes before he flicked it to get it away. Gabriella was pretty sure she had just seen heaven. "I… uh…" The boy stated nervously before running a hand through the brown threads of his hair. "I didn't mean to hit you…"
Gabriella smiled shyly as she gathered the books that had flown from her reach. She had forgotten how to speak English while she continued to stare at him in awe. "I wasn't paying attention. It was my fault…"
The boy's eyes wouldn't leave her as she picked up the rest of her belongings. His body slowly lingered up as his hand extended, Gabriella staring at it as though it was a foreign object she had never seen before. "Let me…" He offered as Gabriella's eyes popped out of her head.
"Oh… thank you." She grabbed the course hand, feeling the ridges beneath her tender one. Explosions set off through her fingers at the touch of this guy's skin. The warning bell rung off in the distance but the two freshmen barely noticed anything that was going on in the school besides each other. "I should get going…" She pointed over his shoulder. "English…"
"With Mr.…. Garble?" The calm boy asked as the sides of his mouth tugged against each other in a smile. "Cuz that's where I'm headed."
"Yeah." She responded shyly before taking his baby blues in again one more time.
"Then I'll walk you there, make sure you don't run into anyone else." He offered with a joke as Gabriella giggled a little. "Troy."
Gabriella stared at him in confusion as they began to walk instep together. What did he say? "Sorry?"
The guy chuckled a little. "My name. It's Troy. Troy Bolton."
"Oh…" Embarrassment clouded her features. A blush flooded onto her face. She must have looked like an idiot. "I'm Gabriella. Gabriella Montez."
Troy smiled brightly at her as they stopped in front of a dimly lit room. Gabriella gazed upon him for a moment longer, not even realizing that since she first laid eyes on him, she didn't think about the pain that occurred last night.
She had no idea that this boy a few years down the road would give her the out she was begging for.
There were two words to describe the day after Sunday. One was Monday, and the other was hell.
Especially on the first heavy snowfall of the season.
Gabriella tapped her mechanical pencil against the side of her desk impatiently in the dim lit room. She didn't even care if it was her favorite class or not; there was no way she wanted to be encaged in the uncomfortable red plastic chairs that were connected to the desk. Instead, her shining eyes, like everyone else's in the room at the moment, were on the transparent window, where heavy, mystifying snowflakes were drifting from the heavens. Half the impatient class was gathered by the window. There was something magical about the first heavy snowfall of the year. Something that every student at East High breathed for, raising everyone's spirits. Well, besides the fact that it was the one weekday that everyone despised, making it Chinese torture instead.
The warning bell flew through the school as Gabriella continued to sit in her desk, watching the individual snowflakes descended from the sky. The rest of the class reluctantly took their seats, all looked towards the pearly white flakes that danced through the air. The ballet that occurred outside was transfixing, making the mystery appealing to Gabriella. She could watch the hypnotizing act all day and never get bored of it. Ever.
Gabriella's eyes were ripped away though as she saw the motion looming in the front of the classroom. She looked to find the guy who made her stomach flip walked in and was now made his way towards the back of the room. He was wearing a gray newly bought covering sweatshirt that was rolled up at the sleeves, making the golden skin leap out. As her gaze traveled up his body, she stopped at his aged eyes. They were a shade lighter then what they should have been, giving Gabriella the impression that he was being suffocated. Troy didn't even look at her, which was surprising because normally he'd make a witty comment or at least a smirk. The only time they ever talked was in music pro, and Troy never missed taking that advantage, until today. Instead, he sat down behind her just as the final bell rang.
"Alright, we all know this sucks…" The energetic voice of Mr. Garble stated distantly as the door slammed after he walked in the classroom. Gabriella heard Troy shift uncomfortably in the chair behind her. What was his problem today? "But we're going to just have to get through the day then you can go make snow angels or whatever the hell you kids do these days." He joked halfheartedly while the class laughed weakly. Gabriella's eyes glance backwards to see that Troy was staring distantly out the window. "Lucky for you all, we have an exciting day planned! You're getting a project!"
Annoyed groans slipped from the mouths of the students. Gabriella wasn't bothered by it so much, because she knew that music pro had some huge projects that were worth half their grades, but they tended to be enjoyable. "Garble… come on, man. It's the first snow of the year!" One of the guys complained, while he glanced backwards to look at Troy as if he would back him up on this. Troy continued to gaze out the window with no emotion on his face. Gabriella narrowed her eyes a little. What was that about?
"Well, lucky for you." Garble let slip sarcastically. "It's not due 'til the end of the semester." He exclaimed in a pretend to be peppy voice. "But it's worth fifty percent."
"Fifty?" The same guy asked with horror stricken across his features as though he had just seen a murder.
"Yeah… fifty. But just hang on, alright? Most people like this one." He replied before turning to the white board that was the same color as the snow outside. Mr. Garble picked up a black marker and drew a completely black square. Gabriella glanced backwards again to see that Troy had finally torn his eyes away from the window to scrunch his brow in confusion. She had to admit, the look on his smooth features was adorable. Like a puppy that didn't know what was going on. Only a hot puppy that was incredibly sexy. Wait, what? "Do any of you know what this is?" He asked the class with everyone looking at each other, not knowing what the teacher was getting at. Troy's eyes glanced down at Gabriella for the first time all day, making her stomach jump as he narrowed them more in confusion. "What?" He mouthed perplexed as she giggled her sweet laugh.
"A box?" One of the girls asked while Mr. Garble laughed a little.
"Great Amanda, I'm glad you passed geometry," He responded and shook his curly head. "It's a CD case. Since this is music production, I think it's a great time to start producing music." An immediate wave of excited whispering started. She had heard about a huge project that happened in music pro from some of the seniors last year, but she never really knew what it was. "You're gonna make a CD. You have to write at least five songs, from different genres. You can choose between pop, rock, acoustic, country, that shit you guys call hip-hop, metal, jazz, and blues. You have to have at least three different genres." He informed while capping the marker and setting it down.
"Um… what if you can't sing?" The curious girl Amanda asked while blushing underneath her brown locks.
Mr. Garble shrugged plainly. "It doesn't matter. You can edit your voice if you're too embarrassed. That's the beauty of technology," he pointed out. "And I talked to the band and orchestra directors. They said they'd be happy to loan their students for a class period or two."
"Sweet…" Someone lets out excitedly and Mr. Garble chuckles.
"Very sweet," He responded and looked down at his desk, suddenly moving papers around. "You can… uh…" Mr. Garble began to say while still looking under stacks of paper. "You'll have to design a cover, write the lyrics, and produce it, the whole shebang. Work solo if that's what you want… or with one other person…"
It was a mistake to say that, because all at once, everyone's eyes turned around and looked to the person sitting behind Gabriella. Gabriella herself looked back just to see his shocked expression, as his first reaction was to sink in his seat a little lower. But then, confidence wisped over his body in an appealing way as he sat up again, cocky smirk on his face and everything. Gabriella couldn't help but roll her eyes annoyingly and sit forward again, sliding down in her seat with her tiny arms crossed.
"Bolton… partners right?"
"No way, he's doing it with me…"
"Troy… we can make the um… music together." Amanda said while lowering her eyelid in a small wink. Gabriella's orbs grew two sizes too big as she whipped her head around again to see Troy was grinning at her in his disgusting, yet desirable leer.
"Found 'em!" Mr. Garble exclaimed proudly as he held up a huge mess of papers that almost blended in with his pale hand. He then marched up to each row and counted the heads to pass them out. "You'll have to sign up studio time with your partner, since I only have one. And you'll… you uh…" He lost his train of thought while counting the heads in Gabriella's row. "You'll have to work on it after school too. Pretty heavy project, but people seem to like it."
Gabriella took the thick packet that fell in front of her face. It was about seven pages long, from directions in the studio to example pictures. Her small hands gently hung the packet over her shoulder for Troy to grab. The nerve endings in her skin were suddenly stimulated in a shaking explosion as Troy's hand brushes against hers to grab the paper. Her eyes looked down again, trying to avoid the overwhelming temptation of twirling around and gazing him in the eyes to melt. Gabriella's mind was already spinning with ideas for what she wanted. Songs she wanted to write. Music she wanted to create.
"Just look it over for the rest of the hour… which is three minutes." She didn't notice a couple guys were staring at her with affection, wanting to be her partner to, as Amanda proclaimed, "make music". Someone else did though. Gabriella didn't notice Troy's hard eyes on the other guys who appeared like they were about to go to the bathroom to, "take care of business" just by looking at Gabriella and fantasizing. Gabriella didn't notice Troy's skin was crawling with hatred towards them.
After another few long moments of Gabriella staring at the sheet unknowingly as Troy was staring at her, the bell filled the thin air. She stood up slowly, feeling the blood rush back into her slender legs like she had just completed a five mile workout with pickups. Without looking behind her, she walked down the aisle, smiling a little at her crazy teacher before following the class out the door. Her brain was still circling the ideas she had for the project, lost in her own little world that she didn't even notice someone was calling her name through the jungle of high school.
"Gabi! Gabriella, wait up!" The sound of his voice was distant to her as she kept her stride, not slowing down for the voice that she didn't hear.
"Bolton, man partners?" Another unheard voice asked.
"I dunno man." The first voice responded unfocusedly before Gabriella heard the unmistakable sound of jogging footsteps against the linoleum floors. Her head spun to the side as her eyes enlarged at the sight of the king of the school out of breath as if he ran up to her. "Hey…" He almost panted before Gabriella had to side step out of the way of someone coming in the opposite direction.
"Uh… hi?" Gabriella more questioned than asked. Why was he talking to her? It was almost as though he was breaking the unwritten rule that they didn't talk outside of music production. So why was he here, his aged eyes burning into hers, like this was completely natural? Gabriella felt the heart inside her chest beat as though she was running sectionals.
"So uh… cool project huh?" Troy commented coolly as Gabriella turned a sharp right to make it to her locker. Confusion shown through her dark creamy skin while her illuminant spheres never left his face. What? Of course it was a cool project, but why was he talking to her?
"Yeah… it is." Gabriella breathed slowly as if Troy had mental problems, which by the way things were looking, he probably did.
"So… got a partner yet?"
Gabriella practically choked on her own air. Her eyes grew the size of elephants as she completely dropped the books she was holding, forgotten with the crash. The small body completely turned around to look at Troy from the blow he had just sent her. It was almost like he had hit her on the head with a large metal tray. An amused smile was painted onto his thin lips as his shoulder collided with the locker next to hers, letting the sound of metal crash against his arm. "Uhhh… no." She said in a slow voice again, scared of the anticipation that was coming out of her throat.
Seconds became hours as Troy's lips moved slowly. She could see each shape they formed as the words spilled out of his mouth. "Do you want to do it with me?" Her eyes grew wide again as Troy shook his head. "The project…"
Her heart stopped beating. She was pretty sure she was about to have a heart attack while she stared into his perfect face. Gabriella couldn't feel her tongue while Troy flicked his hair off to the side a little in an erotic way that almost made Gabriella just split her shirt in half right there and pounce on him. It was just Troy Bolton's irresistible manner. "Wh… what about everyone else?" She asked timidly when the feelings in her fingers tingled.
"What about them? I didn't ask any of them. I'm asking you." Troy stated in a matter of fact tone. If Gabriella weren't in a coma right now, she would have completely rolled her eyes. No sound was able to be produced from her mouth, until the warning bell rang and she realized that all the contents she was just carrying were sprawled over the floor.
"Shit!" She exclaimed heatedly and before she could bend down to collect them, Troy's body bent down first. What? Was he actually picking up her stuff for her? What alien abducted him? She had no time to think though, because she had to get to her class that was halfway across the school.
"So what do you say?" Troy asked hopefully as he returned to his full stance and placed the notebook, folder, and book into her spotless locker as Gabriella snatched the other one. Time was running out and she could barely concentrate. He wanted to be partners with her? He had the entire class to work with! Why her? Why now? Why didn't she just say no if that's what she really wanted, wasn't it?
Gabriella couldn't control what came out of her mouth in a vomit as she slammed her locker closed. "Yeah… yeah whatever we'll talk about it later." She yelled as she was halfway down the hallway. Did she just say yes?
Her eyes glanced back just for a moment to see that Troy had a triumphant fist in the air. A lazy smile draped onto her kissable lips before the final bell rang through the school.
Damn him for making her late.