Hey! It's me again! I wanna thank whoever put my story on the C2: The Best HSMs! I really appreciate it. Glad to know my story is being read and liked. And my goal is 150 reviews. I'm over half there. Thanks guys! Here's another one for you!

Gabriella sat on the counter in the girl's bathroom, tears streaming down her face, as Taylor tried to calm her down.

"It's a good thing she doesn't wear makeup. It'd be everywhere right now."

"It's okay, Gabriella."

Gabriella stuttered out her words, unable to speak properly through her tears.

"It's not okay! He heard me sing! He heard my song! It would take an idiot to not know it was about him!"

Taylor was silent, unsure of what to say next.

"I basically poured out my heart to him! He's not supposed to know! I constantly have to pretend that I don't care, and I was doing fine."

After a few more minutes in the bathroom, Gabriella regained control, and left the bathroom with Taylor. When she opened the door, she saw Troy leaning against the wall, obviously waiting for her. She tried to ignore him, but he was very persistent.

"Please, Gabi! I need to know what I did! I'll do anything!"

Gabriella stood there, in front of Troy, the most sought after guy in Albuquerque, and he was practically begging.

"Why is he so stubborn? He has the thickest skull in the world!"

"Gabi, talk to me. Tell me what I did wrong so I can make it better."

Gabriella's face flushed red with anger.

"Don't call me that! You lost that right when you were lip locking with Sharpay!"

Gabriella slapped a hand over her mouth, silently groaning to herself.

"So much for not telling him."

She grabbed Taylor's arm and pulled her away, practically running down the hall, away from Troy. Troy just stood there, trying to process what he'd just heard.

"Lip locking with Sharpay? How did she find out... Taylor."

♪

"Taylor, I need some time to myself. I'll see you later okay?

Taylor nodded silently, knowing her friend needed space.

"I'll be in the science room if you need me."

Gabriella nodded and walked down the fairly empty hallway, ignoring the few people that leaned against their lockers. She found herself in front of the library doors.

"Wow. I haven't been in here in awhile. I used to live in here."

Gabriella slowly walked in and took a seat at one of the tables that sat in the middle of the library. She looked beside her and noticed the girl with the cap from the music room.

"Hello. I just wanted to thank you for letting me use the piano."

The girl looked up from her sheets and looked at Gabriella skeptically before giving her a small smile.

"No problem. It's free to anyone that wants to use it. Come back anytime. By the way, I'm Kelsi Neilson."

Gabriella shook the girl's hand.

"Gabriella Montez. Nice to meet you, Kelsi."

Gabriella looked at the sheets that sat in front of Kelsi. The pages were filled with music notes and lines.

"So, you're a composer?"

Kelsi nodded.

"Well, that's really cool."

Kelsi smiled, and Gabriella returned it with one of her own.

"Thank you. Do you play piano, too? I mean, you asked to use the piano, so I'm just assuming."

Gabriella giggled quietly.

"I play a little, but not very well. I just like to write songs and sing. I started to play so I could do both."

"Cool, so you're a composer, too?"

"Not really. I just love to write, so I mainly write words, adding music later."

'That's really neat. I have no problem with the music part. It's the lyrics that get me. I haven't been through enough to write with the kind of emotion I want to."

Gabriella nodded in understanding.

"I know what you mean. I have the opposite problem. Lyrics come easy, but it's hard to write music when you only know so many chords."

Kelsi giggled, causing Gabriella to start, also. Suddenly, Ms. Falstaff, the librarian, came up to them.

"Quiet, ladies."

Gabriella calmed down.

"Sorry, Ms. Falstaff."

The old librarian nodded and continued making her rounds.

Kelsi shuddered.

"She just pops out of nowhere. She scares me sometimes."

Gabriella giggled quietly, fearing the cranky old woman would appear behind her any moment.

"So, Kelsi, what are you working on?"

Kelsi picked up her sheets and handed them to Gabriella.

"It's music for a musical I wrote. Ms. Darbus asked me to write one for next year's Spring Musicale."

Gabriella read through the notes, a melody forming in her mind.

"It sounds really good. Is it going to be a duet?"

Kelsi nodded, surprised.

"How'd you know? I have no lyrics yet."

"Oh, I just get the feeling that it's a love song. What's it about?"

Kelsi shuffled through her papers and handed Gabriella a script.

"This is the scene where it's from. Do you think you can help me write this song?"

Gabriella smiled and nodded, reading the lines of the typed script.

♪

The next morning, Gabriella met up with Kelsi in the music room.

"Hey, Kels. Did you bring it?"

Kelsi turned away from the piano to face Gabriella.

"Yup. It's all in here; the whole play in a folder. Darbus wanted it short, sweet, and organized."

The girls giggled, knowing that if Ms. Darbus got a hold of it, it wouldn't be organized for long. Gabriella went to sit beside Kelsi, who moved over to allow Gabriella to sit on the bench.

"Okay, I came up with this last night. Could you play it from the beginning, please?"

Kelsi nodded and placed her fingers on the keys. The soft melody quickly filled the room. Gabriella opened her mouth and sang the words she had come up with the night before.

We're soaring

Flying

There's not a star in heaven that we can't reach

If we're trying

So we're breaking free

Gabriella took a breath and waited for Kelsi to comment.

"What do you think?"

"Wow, Gabriella. That was amazing. I think that would be a good chorus. What about for the first verse?"

Gabriella smiled appreciatively.

"Thanks, Kels. How about... You know the world can see us... in a way that's different than who we are?"

♪

I realize that they are pretty short, but I made sure they were all over 1000 words long. The song is sadly not mine.

Jay