She was watching them from behind the glass door that led out to the deck and didn't hear Ryan coming up behind her. "What are you doing?!"
Gabriella jumped and clapped a hand over her mouth to keep from screaming, "Huh?" She asked, turning away from the window to Ryan.
"I said 'what are you doing?'" He repeated, crossing his arms and surveying her.
"Oh! Um, I was just…Where's the bathroom?" Gabriella asked, trying to change the subject.
Ryan slid around her and flicked on a switch, flooding the bathroom that was two feet away from Gabriella with light. "Oh…" Gabriella muttered dumbly, "Wow, I'm so out of it!" She tried to act dumb again.
"Right, well, here you go…" Ryan pretended to believe her.
Gabriella nodded and went into the bathroom, leaning against the counter and rubbing her hands over her face tiredly.
After the door closed, Ryan sighed sadly and looked out the window at Troy and Sharpay as well. What was she looking at? They're just talking! Does she like Troy or something?! He thought wildly, thinking about how carefully she had been watching Troy since she'd come to East High. But why would she want Sharpay to audition with Troy?! Unless she's planning on sabotaging Sharpay so she can win in the end! These thoughts were ricocheting through Ryan's head so fast; he couldn't make any sense of them so he shook his head and went back into the living room, flopping onto the floor again.
A few minutes later, Gabriella came back in and hopped over next to him. They sat in awkward silence for at least five minutes until Naomi came in, "God, are you guys sitting Shiva?" She asked, looking around in the darkness.
Ryan and Gabriella looked at each other then away quickly. "Uh, right, well, if you guys want dessert, come on into the kitchen, I'm off to get the love birds…" She giggled then went out onto the deck.
Ryan and Gabriella sat in silence until finally Ryan cleared his throat, "Do you want some dessert?" His voice was hoarse.
Gabriella wasn't really hungry but nodded anyway, "Sure, sounds great." Ryan stood up and pulled Gabriella onto his back then trudged into the kitchen.
Meanwhile, Troy and Sharpay were in a heated debate! "McSteamy is too a hottie!" Sharpay glared at Troy.
"He is not! He has a weird shaped head! McDreamy is way better!" He shot back.
"Nu-uh! McSteamy is hot! His body is like whoa!"
"So?! McDreamy is nicer and has better hair!"
"But McSteamy is hot and naughty!"
"But McDreamy is Prince Charming!" Naomi came out onto the deck and watched this with lots of amusement then finally cleared her throat, "Uh, guys?" She asked when there was a slight break in the argument.
"What?!" Troy and Sharpay asked, turning towards her.
"Desserts ready when you are!" Naomi warded off another argument and backed into the house.
The teens watched her go back into the house then looked into each other and started laughing. "Poor Naomi! I think we scared her!" Troy gasped, clutching his side from laughing.
"Oh! It's alright! We yell at her accidentally all the time, she's used to it!" Sharpay reassured, wiping her eyes.
"We should go get more food!" Troy cheered. "Here, here!" Sharpay laughed, standing up and grabbing the plates then going into the house. Troy grabbed the cups and napkins and followed her inside.
Naomi came back into the kitchen to see Gabriella and Ryan sitting at the counter on the stools. Gabriella was tracing patterns on the counter top with her pinkie; Ryan was staring into space, drumming lightly with his fingers.
"God, guys, who died?!" She joked, trying to break the awkwardness.
"No one!" They exclaimed simultaneously.
"Sure, let's go with that," Naomi rolled her eyes, "Okay, we have fresh fruit, hot chocolate, lemon meringue pie or Boston cream pie! Take your pick!"
Ryan turned towards Gabriella, "Anything you like?" He asked quietly. Besides you… Her subconscious screamed and Gabriella inwardly slapped it, "Um, lemon meringue pie, please?" She turned to Naomi.
"Alright! Good choice!" Naomi sliced a piece of the yellow pie onto a plate and slid it to Gabriella, who caught it for herself this time.
"Ry-guy, how about you?" Ryan thought for awhile, "Lemon meringue is fine," He decided. Naomi sliced another piece and slid it to him. They slid off the stools and went back into the living room.
Once the pie was gone, Gabriella began braiding her own hair while Ryan fidgeted with the edge of a blanket. "Gabriella, I-"
"No, Ryan! Let me go first," She begged.
Ryan shrugged, "Okay…"
"Listen, I'm sorry about this! I wish I could explain it to you but I can't," She whispered sadly, "It's sort of complicated but I can tell you that I never meant to hurt you or anyone else doing this. When I came here, I didn't expect to meet someone like you…I thought it would be like everything else! I'd get to Troy, do my job then get out of here! But then I met you and things went backwards…I'm so sorry…" She whispered, stumbling to her feet and going as fast as she could out the door, yelling thanks to Naomi.
Ryan jumped up and ran after her but when he got outside, she was gone. Ryan looked around, "Gabriella?!" He shouted but she was long gone.
Gabriella appeared in her room and threw herself on her bed, crying hysterically and feeling pathetic. Ryan shrugged and went back into the house.
"Where'd she go?" Naomi asked, coming into the foyer, wiping a bowl with a wet rag.
"I have no idea…" Ryan sighed. "Well, you can help me clean up!" Naomi said brightly, dragging him back into the kitchen to do the dishes.
Troy and Sharpay were sitting at the stools, eating Boston cream pie and giving each other secretive smiles every few minutes.
"Hey Ryan!" Sharpay greeted, licking her fork clean.
"Hey Shar, Troy," Ryan mumbled sullenly, drying the dishes. Troy and Sharpay looked at each other and shrugged then finished their pie.
"Come on, Troy, we have to sing some more!"
"Aw, come on, Sharpay!" Troy groaned, sliding off his stool and handing Naomi his plate, "Thank you, it was great." Naomi smiled at him, "No problem, honey!"
"Aw come on, Troy!" Sharpay pouted, also handing Naomi her plate then winking at Ryan and grabbing Troy's hand then dragging him down the steps.
Ryan finished his work for Naomi then went upstairs, showered and fell onto his bed, thinking about Gabriella.
Sharpay sat at the piano and she and Troy sang through the song at least five times. "Wow, much better!" Sharpay marveled.
"Thanks!" Troy laughed, his voice getting sore.
"We might actually be able to do this! But we're going to need to work on this again tomorrow," Sharpay sighed and Troy groaned again. "Come on, we're done for the night!" Sharpay laughed at Troy's grateful expression.
"What do you want to do?" Troy asked, looking around a little bit.
"Uh…We could go up to my room and watch a movie or something…It's kind of creepy down here after dark!" Sharpay shuddered.
"Uh, sure, sounds great!" Troy replied, hiding his nervousness about being alone in Sharpay's room with her.
"Great!" Sharpay was also very nervous. She led him up the two floors then down the hall to a giant bedroom with a queen size bed and flat screen TV on the wall.
"Pick a movie," Sharpay called over her shoulder, pulling out some clothes and going into her bathroom.
"Uh, okay," Troy began digging through her movie collection and pulled out Ferris Bueller's Day Off. Sharpay walked back into the room wearing loose fitting lounge pants and a tank top, "Whatcha pick?"
Troy held up the movie to her and she squealed, "I love that movie!" She took it from him and put it into the DVD player while Troy grabbed his bag and went into the bathroom.
He came back out in a pair of basketball shorts and a t-shirt. Sharpay was curled up on her stomach on her bed, waiting for him so she could start the movie. Troy jumped onto the bed next to her and she hit play.
They fell into silence, watching Matthew Broderick fool his parents into letting him stay home then watching him convince his best friend to pick him up so they could fetch his girlfriend from school.
"I love this part!" Sharpay mused, turning up the volume so 'Twist and Shout' boomed around them.
"Really? I do too!" Troy laughed at the coincidence then began singing along. Sharpay got up and began dancing around her room, grabbing Troy's hands and pulling her up with him, "Twist and Shout! Come on, come on, come on, come on, come on, come on, baby now!" They sang at the top of their lungs, spinning around together.
The scene ended, leaving them standing in the middle of her room, breathing hard.
Sharpay shook her head, "Uh, yeah…" She mumbled, falling back onto her bed, "Tell anyone about that, Bolton, and I'll be forced to kill you in your sleep!" She threatened.
Troy's eyes widened, "Uh okay…" He muttered, jumping up next to her again. They continued watching the movie until it ended then Sharpay flicked off the TV and rolled over to her clock, "Oh my God, it's almost 11:30!" She gasped, "I can't believe it!"
Troy yawned, "I can, I'm exhausted…" Sharpay rolled her eyes at him,
"Way to be a weakling!" She teased, trying not to yawn but finally giving in.
"Oh! Who's the weakling now?!"
"Oh, shut up!" Sharpay grumbled. She pulled back her blankets and slid into bed.
Troy got off the bed and stood in the doorway awkwardly, "Uh, goodnight?"
"Oh, duh!" Sharpay jumped out of bed and led him down the hallway to the guest room, "Here you go! If you need anything, I'm right down the hall and so is Ryan!" She called over her shoulder, "Sleep tight!"
Troy thanked her then jumped into his bed, sighing at the comfort.
Sharpay went back into her room and got back into bed, flicking her light off and sighing happily into the darkness.
Ryan could not sleep! He kept thinking about what Gabriella had said, trying to make sense of it. Finally, he jumped out of bed, pulled on his jacket and climbed down the side of the house, walking towards Gabriella's house.
During all of this, Gabriella had taken a shower and finally stopped crying. She was sitting on her bed, writing down all that she'd seen between Troy and Sharpay in her notebook when suddenly, Mr. Daniels appeared in her room!
Gabriella didn't scream but she did jump out of her skin and fall onto the ground. Mr. Daniels rolled his eyes at her and helped her up, "Weren't you expecting a visit from me?!" He laughed at her.
"I was but couldn't you find a better way to show up?! Instead of just popping into my room at random!" She snapped irritably.
"Someone's not happy," He observed.
"None of this is working right!" She exclaimed, throwing her hands in the air.
"Sure it is! Check it out!" Mr. Daniels conjured an image of Troy and Sharpay dancing to a Beatles song and laughing, "Look at how close they're getting!" He smiled wistfully, "You're doing a great job!"
"But it's not working on me…" She said sadly.
"Ah, you mean with Mr. Evans…" Mr. Daniels realized, "Ah, young Rose, you know better."
"But Mr. Daniels isn't there some way?" She asked desperately.
"Even if there were, is it worth it?"
"Yes it's worth it! I think I love him!" Rose/Gabriella started sobbing and Mr. Daniels handed her a Kleenex.
"You don't love him," He insisted, "It's just a crush, you'll move on once you're free."
"I don't want to be free!" She shouted, "I want Ryan!" She sobbed some more.
"I was afraid of this…" He muttered, stroking her back, "Rose, this happens often. We send guardians out and they meet someone special and want to stay. But we can't allow them to stay. This is not your time period! After this, you get to leave and finally rest!"
"I don't care about that anymore…" Rose mumbled, curling up in a ball.
"I'm sorry this had to happen to you but you cannot stay here," Mr. Daniels said softly before disappearing.
Gabriella began crying again, gripping the sheets on her bed, her shoulders shaking from crying so hard. Ryan had climbed her balcony and seen the entire thing and was freaking out. What the hell was that?! Who was that guy?! Where'd he go?! Is she dead? She loves me?! His mind was doing the crazy screaming thing again and he couldn't keep up.
Gabriella sat up and wiped her eyes, trying to calm herself down. Ryan, who had been facing her yard, turned around to see what she was doing.
Gabriella thought she felt someone watching her so she spun around, saw Ryan and screamed.
She ran to the door and threw it open, "Ryan?!" She gasped, her insides freezing.
"Gabriella…Rose…Who are you?" He whispered.
Not quite as long as the last one but way more important! Thanks for the reviews, I really love hearing from you! Sorry about updating randomly but I have another story I'm working on along with a few other writing projects! Send in any suggestions or corrections, thank you! XOXO