Chapter 14

After 30 minutes, the whole gang gathered again in the Bolton's mansion. All the boys were already playing in the water, waiting for the girls to finish changing.

"Hey guys! We're here!" Sharpay exclaimed and jumped on the water causing a huge splash. Zeke on the other hand was just staring at Sharpay who was wearing a yellow bikini.

"What's up guys?" Taylor said who was wearing a red bikini came up shyly and was greeted by a splash by Chad.

"You're dead Chad!" Taylor exclaimed and jumped in the water. She started splashing Chad with water until he gave up.

"Where's Gabi?" Troy asked curiously while wandering around the place.

"She just had a phone call. She'll be here in a minute." Sharpay said and then out came Kelsi wearing a similar bikini as Sharpay.

"Hey Troy, where did all your guards went? Just a few minutes ago they were here checking on us because your mom sent them. Where are they?" Sharpay asked curiously.

"I really have no idea. Something probably got their attention. They're easily amused you know. And they're not that old so they still kinda wanna have fun like teenagers." Troy explained while shrugging and getting off the pool.

"Where are you going?" Jason asked.

"I'm just gonna go get a drink." Troy said pointing at the table with orange juice in a jar and a few glasses.

Troy was now pouring his juice in his glass when he suddenly heard Gabriella voice coming.

"Ok mom. Take care. I love you too. Bye!" Gabriella appeared from inside the house wearing a baby blue bikini that has the exact colour of Troy's eyes.

"I'm sorry guys!" Gabriella apologised and turned to around to find two body guards behind her.

"They are totally creeping me out!" Gabriella said in her mind.

Troy's POV

Damn! Can she get any hotter than the weather?? Wow! She looks so GORGEOUS!

End of POV

"Does Troy realised that he is totally checking Gabriella out and his glass is over pouring with juice?" Sharpay laughed.

"I'm not so sure. He's too busy staring at Gabriella." Taylor laughed with her.

"Oh my gosh! Troy is staring at me. Stay cool Gabs, stay cool. Damn, he sure have a hot body!" Gabriella thought and looked away from Troy who was still staring at her.

"Troy! I can't believe you finished the whole jug of orange juice!" Chad whined and Troy finally managed to break his gaze at Gabriella. He looked down to find the orange juice all over the floor and his glass over pouring.

"Crap!" He quickly put the jug and the glass of juice on the table and started blushing furiously.

"Troy are you ok?" Gabriella rushed to him who just noticed the over flowing juice because she was too busy checking him out too.

"Umm.. Yeah.. I'm fine." Troy stuttered.

"Well, at least we know why the guards weren't hanging around here." Zeke laughed and everyone soon laughed except for Troy and Gabriella.

"What are they talking about?" Gabriella asked Troy.

"Umm.. Nothing." Troy answered.

"So you ready to get your ass kicked in swimming?" Gabriella challenged with a smile.

"You bet I am." Troy exclaimed and they both ran to the pool and jumped exactly the same time.

"First one to the other end!" Gabriella laughed and they both raced to the end of the pool.

Troy was winning but Gabriella wasn't far behind him. Actually, she was just right behind him.

"Dang, she is one great swimmer." Troy thought as he looked over at Gabriella. Troy was the first one to reach the end and Gabriella soon followed.

"Gabi you are one of the best swimmers I've ever seen. I bet you can even beat Chad." Troy laughed but he was exhausted because his pool was pretty big and they swam all the way. They're arms were now resting on the edge of the pool with their bodies dangling in the water.

"Why thank you. You're not bad yourself." Gabriella laughed while catching her breath.

"Are you ok?" Troy asked worriedly.

"Yeah I'm fine. I'm just a little bit asthmatic." Gabriella explained and Troy's mouth dropped in concern.

"Why didn't you tell me? We could've just stopped." He exclaimed, panicking.

"I'm fine Troy. I never had asthma attack. Its not serious at all. Just that I easily loose my breath sometimes when I get myself tired, like really, really tired." She reassured him.

"That's good. If you drown, man I will never forgive myself." He said and that made her smile widely.

"Why wouldn't you forgive yourself?" Gabriella challenged with a sneaky smile.

"Because he loves you. Come on lovebirds. Let's play some truth or dare." Sharpay said quickly and thought that Troy and Gabriella didn't really caught what she said because she was talking too fast. But they absolutely heard what she said.

"Let's jump!" Chad exclaimed and pulled everyone to jump over Gabriella and Troy and into the water.

All of them were now settled in the middle of the pool.

"Ok. Let's start with Chad. Truth or Dare?" Sharpay asked excitedly.

"Dare." Chad said toughly.

"Ohhhh…" Everyone cooed.

"Ok umm… go to the guards there and flirt with them like a girl." Jason said while Chad stared at the guards with horrid face.

"Fine." Chad said and everyone clapped except for Taylor who looked unsure.

They all watched as Chad walked over to the guards acting like a total girl.

"Hello guys." Chad flirted with a girly voice while the guards stared at him, completely horrified.

"Are you having fun? Ohh I like your tie." Chad pointed to one of the guards and the whole gang burst out laughing. He continued to flirt with them until the two guards ran away looking shocked and scared.

"That was good Chad." Gabriella laughed.

"I can't believe you did that." Taylor said but still couldn't help but laugh.

"Anyway, who's next?" Zeke asked and before they could continue, Mrs Bolton appeared.

"Troy! Your father wants to talk to you." Mrs Bolton exclaimed.

"I wonder what's up now." Troy mumbled and got off the pool to take the phone from his mother.

"Hey dad!" Troy greeted as he walked inside the house.

"Troy how're you doing? Listen, you have a mini game against West High in two days. Its not a big deal. I can't come so I sent your uncle Ronnie to coach you guys." Mr Bolton said over the phone and Troy's eyes widened in horror.

"You can't be serious dad." Troy argued.

"Uncle Ronnie gives us torturous practice!!" He exclaimed.
"He doesn't. Come on you can handle it." Mr Bolton chuckled.

"Oh but dad. I'm not in the team yet remember?" Troy said happily.

"I know but I told you this is just a mini game. It's a practice for you." Mr Bolton said and Troy frowned.
"OK fine. When will Uncle Ronnie arrive?" Troy asked.

"Tomorrow. Tell the whole team to gather at the gym after school because you're going to start your training." Mr Bolton said.

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"I wonder why coach called." Chad said.

"Well anyway, back to the game….." Sharpay said.
"Gabriella you're next. Truth or dare?" Sharpay asked with full interest.

"Umm.. Dare." Gabriella answered but she had no idea why she said dare.

"Ok.. Umm.." Sharpay thought. She doesn't know what to do to Gabriella since Troy was still inside.

"Just pretend to drown. Have to be realistic ok?" Sharpay said and everyone nodded.

"At least its nothing compare to what Chad did." Gabriella said and everyone started laughing including Chad but he looked a little embarrassed.

"Ok. I'm gonna 'drown' now." Gabriella said emphasizing the word drown.

Gabriella moved a little far away from the gang so there's a little space.

"Go!" Taylor said and Gabriella pretended to be drowning. She was doing a REALLY good job because the gang actually thought that she was drowning.

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Troy finished talking to his dad. He head outside to the swimming pool only to find a drowning Gabriella and the gang who didn't seem to care.

"What the hell?!" Troy said panicky and quickly dived on the water to save Gabriella.

The gang watched Troy with interest. He obviously didn't know that Gabriella was only pretending.

"GABRIELLA!" Troy yelled and quickly lifted Gabriella up.

"What the--" Gabriella was confused because she didn't know that she was so supposed to be saved.

"Are you ok?" Troy asked worriedly. He really thought that Gabriella was drowning and it scared the hell out of him.

"Yeah of course. I was only pretending. That was a dare. I did a pretty good job didn't I?" Gabriella giggled and the whole gang burst out laughing except for Troy who was upset and furious.

"A dare?!" Troy exploded and the gang suddenly froze by Troy's sudden reaction.

"Gabi, I thought I was gonna loose you. Did you realised how scared I was? Now it all turns out to be a stupid joke!" Troy exclaimed furiously and swam out of the pool. He could feel tears stinging his eyes but he held them in. It really scared him to death to see Gabriella in the pool, drowning.

"Oh my gosh! Troy's really upset." Taylor said sadly.

"What are we gonna do?" Jason asked while lowering his head.

"Why did he react like that? Didn't he know it was only a dare?" Gabriella asked confused and a little guilty for making Troy upset.

"He didn't know it was a dare because he was talking to his dad remember? He reacted like that because he really cares about you and he thought that something bad happened to you." Sharpay exclaimed and Gabriella let out a little gasp.

"We better talk to him." Kelsi said.

"I'll talk to him." Gabriella quickly said and swam to the edge. The gang nodded because they know that Troy deserves a time alone with Gabriella.

Gabriella dried herself with a towel and went inside the house.

"Mrs Bolton, do you know where Troy is?" Gabriella asked politely.

"Yeah. He's right there sitting on a bench in the garden." Mrs Bolton answered while pointing out the window where Troy was.

"Thank you Mrs Bolton." Gabriella said quickly walked towards Troy.

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Troy was sitting on the bench with a frown. He was really afraid that something bad happened to Gabriella and he couldn't believe it was only a dare.

"Hey!" Gabriella greeted softly. Troy looked up to find Gabriella with her wet hair resting on her shoulder. He immediately felt chills run down his spines just seeing Gabriella, but he was still upset.

"Hey." He greeted back quietly.

"Can I sit with you?" Gabriella asked hopefully.

"Yeah, I guess." Troy answered plainly.

Gabriella sat on the edge of the bench while Troy sat in the middle. There was a long silence forming between them.

"Listen, I'm really sorry about what happened in the pool." Gabriella started nervously but didn't get any response from Troy.

"It was a dare and it was a mistake. I didn't know that you will actually save me." She said and Troy lowered his head.

"Gabi, I was just really scared. I thought I was gonna loose you." Troy confessed and tried to hold back his tears. He doesn't know why but Gabriella seemed to always make his whole body soft and gentle. He stood up and started to walk away but Gabriella pulled him back.

"Troy, I'm really sorry." Gabriella said and before she knew it, her head was buried on Troy's chest with his arms wrapped around her.

"Please promise me that you'll never do anything like that again." Troy whispered in her ears. Gabriella could feel her heart jumping like crazy as she listened to his caring words.

"I promise." Gabriella said and hugged him back.

The day ended and all of them head home.

"See you at school Troy. Oh by the way, how are we gonna get to East High?" Gabriella asked curiously.

"You mean, how are you gonna get to East High." Taylor said.

"Aren't you going too?" Gabriella asked confused.

"I never said that." Taylor chuckled.

"I catch the bus to school. So maybe we can catch it together. The bus stops just across the street." Troy explained and Gabriella nodded in understanding.

"Ok cool. Well, see you tomorrow." Gabriella said.

"Bye!" Troy said as the two girls headed outside.

The next day, surprisingly, Troy didn't need to be dragged down the stairs by his mother. Troy got up really early feeling excited.

"I see Troy's ready for school. Or should I say ready to see Gabriella." Mrs Bolton laughed.

"Funny mom." Troy said sarcastically.

"You love Gabriella and you know it." Mrs Bolton said and Troy couldn't help but blush.

"My little boy is growing up!" Mrs Bolton exclaimed.

"I'm gonna go now mom. Bye!" Troy said and ran to the door. Before he could entirely close the door, he paused.

"By the way, who wouldn't fall in love with Gabriella!" Troy exclaimed and quickly closed the door before his mom could comment on that.

Troy was walking towards the bus stop when he suddenly thought of something.

"I guess it wouldn't hurt to pick Gabriella up so we can walk together." Troy whispered happily and headed towards Taylor's cousins' house.

"I wonder if she's ready yet." Troy mumbled as he stood in front of the door. He lifted his hand to knock and it was about to hit the door really loud when suddenly, out came Gabriella. Troy lost his balance because he put his weight on the hand that was about to hit the door.

"Whoah!" Troy exclaimed and landed on Gabriella.

"What the--" Gabriella held on to Troy but unfortunately, she couldn't carry Troy because he was too heavy for her. They fell right on the ground with Troy on top of Gabriella.

"Why do we always end up in this position?" Troy and Gabriella said in their minds exactly the same time.

"I'm so sorry!" Troy exclaimed and quickly got up.

"Its fine. Its not your fault that you're an idiot." Gabriella joked and Troy laughed at his own stupidity.
"What are you doing here?" Gabriella asked.

"I came to pick you up so we can walk together." Troy said and grinned.

Troy and Gabriella walked side to side quietly to the bus stop.

"You really didn't have to pick me up you know." Gabriella started.

"I wanted to." Troy said and Gabriella smiled.

"Thanks. Umm… are you sure that it's a good thing going in the bus?" Gabriella asked with an unsure face.

"Yeah. Don't worry, there's not many students who catches my bus in the morning." Troy chuckled.

"Right." She mumbled but still unsure.

"What's with the face? Its not like you've never been in a bus before." Troy joked and looked down to find Gabriella fiddling with her shirt and avoiding eye contact.

"Maybe." She whispered.

"You can't be serious! You've never been in a bus before?!" He exclaimed looking very shocked. Gabriella nodded like a little girl and Troy found that really cute.

"I guess its gonna be your first time." Troy grinned as they stopped in front of the bus stop.

"Yeah. First time in the bus and first time to go to school. What's next?" Gabriella giggled and saw the bus coming.

"Is that our bus?" Gabriella asked and Troy nodded.

The bus stopped right in front of them. Being a gentleman, Troy told Gabriella to go first.

"Ladies' first." Troy said and Gabriella giggled. She went in and saw faces looking right at her with surprised expressions. She sat in the middle of the bus and Troy sat next to her. The bus then started moving.

"Hey Troy!" The girls started waving at Troy while Troy just rolled his eyes and faced Gabriella.

"Hate getting attention from blonde cheerleaders?" Gabriella asked curiously.

"You have no idea. They think they're my type and its really annoying." Troy said obviously annoyed at the staring girls behind him.

"Well, what's your type anyway?" Gabriella asked curiously while Troy gulped nervously.

"Should I tell her the truth or not? But if I lie she will think I like those blonde girls." Troy thought.

"Umm.. I like petite brunettes with long hair, chocolate eyes, perfect skin." Troy said while looking right at Gabriella.

"Is he describing me or what?" Gabriella thought happily. They just stared at each other eyes and didn't realised that they were now at school.

"Oy lovebirds, are you planning on jigging? School is here you know." The driver yelled at them and the two went out the bus feeling embarrassed.

The two of them walked through the halls of East High only to find the whole crowd staring at them. No one seems to recognise Gabriella because not much people have actually seen her, like Troy before.

"This is kinda freaking me out. Do they always stare like that?" Gabriella whispered and moved closer to Troy.

"They don't usually stare like that." Troy whispered back and everyone started murmuring things like 'is she Troy's girlfriend?' and all those kinda stuff.

"Do you know where the gang is?" Gabriella asked silently.

"I'm pretty sure they're in the gym. That's where we always hang out." Troy said and grabbed Gabriella's hand which made the other's think that they really are going out.

Troy and Gabriella finally arrived in the gym and saw the whole gang.

"So this is the gym… Pretty cool!" Gabriella said as he looked around the place.

"Its not like you've never been in a basketball court before." Chad said and Gabriella smiled sheepishly.

"You haven't?!" The girls exclaimed and made Gabriella jumped a bit.

"Can you blame me? This is my first time." Gabriella said and hid behind Troy as if the girls were gonna eat her.

"How come its your first time?" Jason asked in shocked because almost everyday, he and the gang were always in a basketball court.

"Because her dad doesn't want her to have anything to do with basketball. End of story!" Troy answered for her and the gang nodded in understanding.

"Who's that guy with a hat?" Gabriella whispered to Troy.

"Oh that's Ryan!" Troy said.

"Oh right.. By the way Gabriella, this is my twin brother Ryan." Sharpay introduced.

"Pleasure to meet Sharpay's other half." Gabriella giggled and shook Ryan's hand.

"Pleasure's mine!" Ryan said happily finally meeting the Gabriella Montez.

"So, how did you guys get here?" Zeke asked.

"Oh we caught the bus." Troy answered plainly.

"Oh nothing special. I thought you went in a limo or something." Jason joked.

"Its pretty special for Gabriella since its her first time to ride the bus." Troy informed and everyone gasped while Gabriella turned a little red.

"Well, I bet Troy ruined your first bus ride." Chad laughed and received a smack on the head by Troy. Before they could say anything else, the bell rang.

"We better go." Troy said grabbing Gabriella's hand again. It seemed normal to both of them to just grab each other's hand.

The whole gang arrived in Mrs Darbus class. People already started chatting and whispering about Gabriella.

"Is this what school like? I mean people always whisper." Gabriella said to Sharpay.

"Pretty much especially if you're new and you're hanging out with Troy Bolton." Sharpay giggled and Gabriella just nodded his head. The whole gang sat right at the back and they didn't have enough chairs to fit Gabriella since someone was already sitting next to Troy.

"I'll just sit here." Gabriella told Troy and pointed at the seat at the front but Troy wouldn't let that happened because he don't want her sitting alone. Suddenly, the girl next to Troy started talking to him non stop out of no where.

"Hey guys, I'm gonna move next to Gabriella ok?" Troy said and quickly reached for the seat next to Gabriella. When he was about to sit down, a guy sat right before him. Troy gave the guy a murderous look and the guy quickly ran for his life while the gang at the back tried to hold their laughs.

"Hey!" Troy said.

"Oh hey Troy. What are you doing here?" Gabriella asked but deep inside she was happy that Troy sat with her.

"I wanted to sit next to you." Troy grinned.

"Oh thanks Troy. How about the rest of the gang?" Gabriella asked.

"Screw them." He chuckled then Mrs Darbus came.

"Alright everyone! Tomorrow will be the audition for the Spring Musical." Mrs Darbus said and Gabriella just stared at Mrs Darbus because she wore really weird clothes (no offence). Mrs Darbus started talking and talking until Gabriella and Troy lost interest.

"Hey what do you have next?" Troy asked quietly.
"I have Math, you?" Gabriella replied.

"I have math too. Wanna walk together?" Troy asked nervously.

"Yeah sure!" Gabriella answered happily.

"You two! Detention!" Mrs Darbus said looking straight at Gabriella and Troy.

"What?!" Troy exclaimed while Gabriella's jaw dropped.

"Mrs Darbus, give me detention but you don't have to include Gabriella because she's new and its all totally my fault." Troy said and everyone stared at him shocked. As far as the people know, Troy would never take the blame if it cause him detention.

"I don't care! Both of you will meet me at lunch in the auditorium." Mrs Darbus said and both Gabriella and Troy groaned.

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Hope you like this chapter!! Merry Christmas everyone!! Please review.