Chapter 4: Karaoke

Gabriella was sipping her wine and chatting with a few people when Ryan ran up to her.

"Gabriella! I found a song!" he exclaimed.

"Oh really?" Gabriella turned and looked at him. She excused herself and walked over to him.

"Ok, it's a country song. But, it's really good," Ryan smiled.

"What song is it?" she asked.

"Like We Never Loved at All by Tim McGraw and Faith Hill."

"I love that song! Tim McGraw is totally the shit," Gabriella smiled.

"Do you like him more than you like Troy?" Ryan asked.

"What do you mean? I don't like Troy."

"Darling, please. I see the way you look at him. He's totally hot, Gabi and he's totally into you."

"Really? Oh, I mean, no. He just wants me to be in the musical," Gabriella sighed.

"Yeah, and the musical's called 'Gabi, date me!'" Ryan laughed.

"Well, if you like him so much, why don't you date him?"

"I tried. He's straight; there's no cracking him."

"Aw, poor Ryan."

"Stop changing the subject!" Ryan exclaimed.

"I'm not changing the subject," she said.

"And I'm not gay."

"Really? I totally picked up a gay vibe on you, though. Damn, my gaydar is off," Gabi replied, trying to keep a straight face.

"Oh, hush, Gabi. Let's just go sing," he smiled.

"Ok, ok. Let's get this over with."

Gabriella and Ryan walked towards the makeshift stage that was set up in the middle of the room. Taking the mic, Ryan began to speak.

"Hey, I'm Ryan Evans and this is Gabriella Montez. We're going to bring a little Dixie into New York and sing 'Like We Never Loved At All.'"

The crowd applauded and became silent.

Gabriella looked at Ryan nervously, "I don't think I can do it," she whispered.

"Gabi, you can't let me down. You can't let Troy down. Look, he's watching you," Ryan replied and nodded towards Troy in the crowd.

A smile came to Gabi's face when she was met with those marvelous blue eyes.

The music began to play. The words flashed across a television that was set in front of the stage, but Gabriella didn't need them. She kept her eyes locked on Troy's as she began to sing.

"You never looked so good
As you did last night
Underneath the city lights
There walking with your friend
Laughing at the moon
I swear you looked right through me
But I'm still livin' with your goodbye
And you're just goin' on with your life
How can you just walk on by
Without one tear in your eye
Don't you have the slightest feelings left for me
Maybe that's just your way
Of dealing with the pain
Forgetting everything between our rise and fall
Like we never loved at all
You, I hear you're doin' fine
Seems like you're doin' well
As far as I can tell
Time is leaving us behind
(Leavin' us behind)
Another week has passed
And still I haven't laughed yet
So tell me what your secret is baby yeah
(I wanna know, I wanna know, I wanna know)
To letting go, letting go like you did, like you did
How can you just walk on by
Without one tear in your eye
Don't you have the slightest feelings left for me
Maybe that's just your way
Of dealing with the pain
Forgetting everything between our rise and fall
Like we never loved at all
Did you forget the magic...ohh
Did you forget the passion
Did you ever miss me
Ever long to kiss meeeee...
Ohhhh ohohh ohh Baby, baby
Maybe that's just your way
Of dealing with the pain
Forgetting everything between our rise and fall
Like we never loved...at all..."

Gabriella and Ryan set their microphones back in the stands and smiled at each other. Ryan gave Gabriella a huge hug. She looked back to the crowd to find Troy, but didn't see him anywhere. All she could see were all the people applauding and yelling their names.

"Psst, Gabi," Troy called from the side of the stage.

Gabriella turned her head to see Troy standing there. He motioned for her to come down. She hopped off the stage and he grabbed her hand. He led her outside to a swing.

"You were amazing," Troy smiled.

"You really think so?" she asked.

"Yeah. I have never heard anyone sing that well."

Gabriella smiled and looked down. Troy put his hand on her chin so that she would look up at him. They both began to lean in, knowing what was coming. Their lips were inches apart when they were interrupted.

"Gabriella Montez!" Jerry exclaimed as he walked around the corner. Troy and Gabriella quickly pulled away and turned to look at Jerry.

"Oh, hey, Jerry," Gabriella said quietly.

"You've got the role," he grinned.

"What? Are you serious?" she asked, astonished.

"Yeah, baby. You're amazing. Looks like Troy was right about something for once," he laughed.

"Haha, very funny," Troy said as he rolled his eyes.

Jerry pulled a card out of his wallet and handed it to Gabi, "Here's my card. Call me tomorrow and I'll set you up with the details."

Gabriella smiled as Jerry turned and walked away.

"Oh my gosh! I got the part!" Gabi exclaimed. She jumped off the swing and started jumping up and down. She grabbed Troy's hands and pulled him up and into a hug.

"Thank you so much for coming to get coffee that day," Gabi smiled.

They began to lean in again when they heard footsteps.

"Gabi, I met a-" he stopped talking when he saw the closeness of Troy and Gabriella's face. "Oh, shit! I'm sorry. Gabi, come find me later!" Ryan hollered as he ran off.

Troy laughed and winked at Gabi. He grabbed her chin and pulled her in. Knowing that there would be no more distractions. Their lips connected gently as they kissed. After a few moments, Gabriella pulled away and looked into Troy's eyes.

"I have to go," Gabriella said softly.

"What…why?" Troy asked confused.

"I have to open work tomorrow."

"Screw work, you're going to have to quit anyway for the production."

"Wait…what do you mean? Why do have to quit my job?"

"Because you won't have time with all of the rehearsals and shows," Troy explained.

"Well, how much time is it going to take up? Will I be at home at all?"

"Well, yeah you will be home at night."

"Troy I don't know about this," Gabriella said looking down at her feet.

"It's not like you have anything to take care of. I mean, it's just yourself."

Gabriella stopped breathing for a moment. What was she going to do about Natalie? She couldn't just leave her by herself, and she couldn't expect her mother to take care of her all the time. She had things to do too. And Natalie most definitely could not come to all the shows and rehearsals. It would be too distracting.

"Gabi, are you ok?" Troy asked worried.

"I really need to think about this some more. Can you just take me home?" Gabriella asked.

"Yeah, sure."

As they were heading towards the car, Gabi saw Ryan flirting with a really cute guy.

"Hold on Troy," Gabriella said as she walked towards Ryan. " Sorry to interrupt you Ryan, but could you give me your number so I could call you later?" she asked Ryan.

"Sure thing babe," Ryan wrote down his number and handed it to Gabriella, "Here you go."

"Thanks," said Gabriella. She was about to leave when she leaned in to whisper something into Ryan's ear, "oh and by the way, he's really cute."

Ryan smiled at Gabriella and she walked back towards Troy's car. Troy opened the door for her and she climbed in. The ride to Gabriella's apartment was a quiet one. Neither spoke a word to each other. When they reached her apartment complex, Troy got out of the car and opened Gabi's door for her again. She got out, and they began to walk up to her apartment. When they reached her door, Gabriella turned to face Troy.

"Thank you for tonight, I had a lot of fun."

"Thank you for coming. Listen, Gabi, I think that you're an excellent singer and you're really beautiful. Just give this musical a thought, ok," Troy leaned in and kissed Gabriella softly on the lips once more and walked away.

--

A/N: So, why is Gabi not telling Troy about Natalie? She's gonna get herself into a load of shit when he finds out. :(

But yea… we won't be able to update until like Monday night… but yeah:)