Chapter 3

Troy saw her near the pool alone so he decided to ask her what was wrong.

"Is my voice really that bad?" Troy chuckled as he stood beside her.

"Huh?" She asked having no idea of what he's talking about.

"You sort of ran away when I started singing." He rubbed the back of his neck softly followed by a nervous snigger.

"Oh no. Your voice is great.. Its just that.." Gabriella couldn't continue because she kept on remembering Josh somehow.

"That what?" He wanted her to carry on.
"Why did you choose that song?" She wasn't really dropping the subject but she was curious to know why.

"I don't know. Why?" He noticed that Gabriella looked really depressed and confused about something.

"Because that was the last song that Josh sang to me." Gabriella burst out crying and he quickly hugged her astonished of what he was doing. In his surprise, Gabriella hugged him back.

"Thanks Troy!" Gabriella pulled away and flashed him a little smile.

"Anytime!" Troy was stunned because that was the first time she heard Gabriella say something nice to him in a serious way.

"So do you want us to get to know each other sometime?" Troy giggled nervously. He haven't quite guess what type of person Gabriella really is.

"Does breakfast sound good?" Gabriella smiled and something about her struck him.

"Sounds great. Breakfast tomorrow at Danny's Café (Just made that up). See you there!" Troy walked away with a satisfied smile on his face.

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"Gabriella, up so early?" Mrs Montez asked as she looked at her daughter all dressed up.

"I have to go to umm.." Gabriella asked herself if Troy asked her on a date or not.

"an appointment." She finished quickly and headed towards the door.

"Later mum!" She called out and hopped onto her car. She was about five minutes late and she could see Troy waiting patiently tapping his fingers on the table.

"Hi Troy!" Gabriella said cheerfully.

"Oh hey Gabriella!" Troy quickly stood up and offered her a seat.

"So um.. What school do you go to?" Troy asked as they finished ordering their breakfast.

"I'm going to East High after the holidays." Gabriella didn't really sounded excited. She was actually pretty sad.

"Cool! I go there too. Maybe we could hang out and I can show you around." He suggested hoping that he could at least lighten her day.

"That's great." Unluckily, it didn't really help. She still didn't sound cheerful. It went pretty quiet because both of them were surfing their minds to think of something interesting to talk about.

They finished their food and all they did was look at the surroundings.

"Wanna go for a walk?" Troy finally broke the long awkward silence between them.

"Ok." She nodded her head and they both head to the door.

"So, how does it feel?" Gabriella asked randomly as the walked round the park searching for somewhere to sit on.

"What do you mean?" Troy enquired looking totally lost. He was wondering if they've been talking for a while and he wasn't listening or she asked just then.

"To have Josh's heart." She finally made it clear to Troy. Every time she think about Josh, something always tears her heart apart.

"Oh. Umm.. It feels, well normal." Troy was trying to find something that felt different but it was the same. Sometimes he even forgets that he has somebody else's heart. But he really appreciated what Josh did to him.
"Ok." She just nodded her head without any describable expression on her face.

"Let's go sit over there!" Troy pointed at the seat underneath a gigantic tree.

"Ok." Gabriella didn't really talked much. She only agrees with him.

"I'm sorry." Now its Troy turns to ask randomly.

"Huh?" Gabriella just gave him a clueless and weird look.

"About Josh." He looked down not wanting to catch Gabriella's sad eyes.

"Oh. Its ok. Its totally not your fault. Just take care of yourself." Troy could tell that Gabriella was really hurt about Josh's death. He could see in her eyes the sorrow and pain and it also hurts him to see her that way.

"I'll take care of my self for you. You should take care too ok?" He grinned at her and she blushed a little. That something that never happened to both of them this past few weeks.

"I will." They both looked away feeling awkward.

"So umm… what's your favourite subject?" Troy didn't want the silence to continue. He didn't even want to ask that type of question either.

"Maths." Gabriella giggled, feeling like a nerd a little.

"Cool. You're probably good at it right?" He asked, at least making the conversation longer and more interesting, maybe.

"Kinda. How about you?" She turned to look at him and notices that Troy had similar eyes as Josh.

"No, I suck at Maths." He laughed a little bit embarrass.

"Oh. I mean what's your favourite subject?" She tried not to laugh so she wouldn't be rude but that question made Troy more embarrass.

"Oh umm.. Is sport included?" Luckily, his red cheeks already faded.

"Yeah ok. What sport do you play?" She smiled at him and he smiled back.

"Basketball! But umm.. I can't play yet." His smile slowly faded as the thought struck him.

"Oh. You're not fully recovered yet right?" She was smart and she already figured it out in one click.

"Yeah. If I do anything tiring, I'll be up in the hospital again." He looked down remembering all the boring and sad moments that he had in the hospital.

"How about you? What's your favourite sport?" Troy asked dropping the thoughts about the hospital.

"I love swimming and kinda like basketball too." Gabriella admitted smiling to herself.

"Cool. Swimming is fun I reckon." He agreed with her and a long silence filled the surroundings again.

"I need to head back home. I guess I'll see you next week at school?" Troy stood up.

"Yeah." She also stood up answering his question.

"You know what, if you need anything, call me ok. Here's my number." Troy was actually prepared for it because he already have a piece of paper with his number written on it.

"Do you want my number?" Gabriella asked unsure that he will just reject her.

"Yeah that'd be cool." He tried his best not to sound too excited in front of her. He took out his phone and Gabriella started dictating her number. After that, Gabriella left with a small grin on her face while Troy was lost in his own world.

It was the night before school and Troy or Gabriella hasn't called each other yet. Troy was sitting on his bed holding the phone in his hand trying to decided whether or not, to call Gabriella. He took a deep breath and searched for Gabriella's number in his contacts. Finally he found it, he put his thumb over the call button for a few seconds before pressing it. Troy's heart started beating like a thunder as he waited for someone to answer it.

"Hello?" Gabriella's soft voice was finally heard.

"Oh hi Gabriella. Umm.. I was just wondering if you actually know the way to school." Troy started nervously.

"Not really actually. My mum showed me the way once but I wasn't paying attention, so yeah." She blushed a little bit in embarrassment.

"Do you mind if I pick you up tomorrow so next time you'll know the way." He got more nervous asking this question.

"That would be nice. Do you know the way to my house?" She asked with a small smile on her face.

"Its actually pretty funny because you live just across my street." He giggled uneasily.

"Oh cool. But how did you know my address?" She asked curiously and he kinda feel like he was a stalker.

"Oh Mrs Kyle told me that's why. Don't worry I didn't stalk you or anything. I would never do that." He quickly explained almost twisting his tongue.

"Cool then. I'll see you tomorrow. Thank you Troy!" She beamed to herself. Something that hadn't happen this past few months.

"Bye!" Both of them hung up and Troy felt so relieve. It sounded really great when Gabriella said his name.

Troy woke up really early the next morning. His mum was so surprise because it was the first time that he got up before his alarm clock went.

"Good morning mum!" Troy ran to the kitchen and gave his mum a hug.

"Your looking well today." Mrs Bolton laughed as her son sat down on the seat excitedly.

"I just feel good today and I'm kinda picking up someone." He smiled to himself and didn't know that his mum was watching him. She was looking at him like he was a crazy person.

"I better go get dress. Nice breakfast mum." Troy ran slowly back upstairs and straight to the shower being careful not to tire his self.

"What's up with Troy today?" Mr Bolton asked his wife judging by Troy's happy expression on his face while running upstairs just give him worries.

"I don't know." Mrs Bolton just smiled and also head upstairs to her room.

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