Gabriella had been furious when they had put on the billboards the picture of Troy kissing her. She'd had a huge hissy fit and had only recently calmed down. There was no way she'd have it taken down though, she'd lose the bet, and she was a sore loser.

She'd got dressed and was on her way to school. (picture in profile) She'd figured that there would be loads of paparazzi there so she'd dressed to impress.

She was wearing a dress originally for a premier but she decided she'd just have to get another. It was a silk black, tight spaghetti strap dress. As expected, she saw a hoard of cameras waiting for her.

What she didn't expect was Troy stood in the middle, answering questions.

She stepped out, ever the graceful model. Suddenly, half the people were surrounding her. She felt herself being pushed towards Troy as the cameras surged forward. Now was the time she wished she'd not got rid of the bodyguards.

'Hey' Troy said smiling.

'Hi' she replied, smiling back.

'What's going on?' she continued.

'I have no idea, I walked up and suddenly all these people jumped out of nowhere and started talking to me, well, shouting to me, I can barely hear you!' he shouted.

'What?' she shouted back, though she heard him, she was joking with him.

'I said-' he began and then realised she was joking when he saw her smiling, 'why you!-'

Again he was cut off when Gabriella began to speak, but not to him.

When order had been restored, Gabriella began to speak to them. Explaining that they'd done the shoot for no particular reason, there was no way she was telling them about the bet. When she'd finished, she turned sharply and walked into school, pulling Troy with her.

'Woah Montez, people might get the wrong idea' Troy joked.

Gabriella immediately let go of his hand and sighed.

'Look Bolton, I'm really not in the mood, I don't feel too hot and I could really do without it right now'

'You look pretty hot to me' he replied.

Gabriella didn't answer, she felt too faint. She was sweating slightly and there was a lump at the back of her throat, she could hear her heart beat racing and could feel the blood pumping in her ears.

'Gabriella? Are you ok?' Troy asked, suddenly concerned.

She didn't reply, but slid to the ground, putting her head in her hands.

'Gabriella? Come on you're scaring me now' he told her, shaking her arm.

'Troy' she muttered.

'Yeah, Gabs, it's Troy, come on, speak to me' he said, getting frantic.

They were in an empty hallway and he had no idea what to do.

'I think I need to go home' she said quietly.

'Where's home? I'll take you' Troy said.

'Hilton' she mumbled.

'The Hilton? You're staying in a hotel?' Troy asked confused.

'Hilton' she repeated.

'Right, come on' he said, lifting her up bridal style.

He exited through the back entrance, not wanting to cause a scene with the press.

They arrived at the Hilton and Troy got Gabriella's room card from reception, before carrying her in the lift. He struggled to open the door with her in his arms but eventually he did it.

He laid her down on the bed and she moaned. She was still awake but barely.

'I can't sleep' she mumbled.

'Try, close your eyes and try' he said, not sure whether to call a doctor, she looked bad but she was talking, that had to count for something.

'Too, hot' she said, gasping.

Troy panicked, she didn't have a sheet over her, only that tight dress.

'Dress, off, too hot' she mumbled, trying to move her arms but they felt as heavy as led.

'I'll do it' he said.

He un-zipped it down the side and slowly pulled it out from under her. He tried not to look but saw she was wearing black lacy underwear. He quickly covered her with a sheet and got a cold glass of water.

'Here, drink this' he said, putting the straw in her mouth and holding her head up.

She managed to swallow some and he laid her head back down.

Gabriella slowly lifted her arm and patted his hand.

'Good friend…good friend' she mumbled, before falling into a deep sleep.

Troy smiled at what she'd said, he wasn't sure how this would affect them. He wanted to be more with her, he wanted to kiss her but at the same time he wanted her to want him, like every other girl, but it wasn't happening. He also wanted to be able to feel nothing towards her, just see her as some girl he hadn't conquered yet, but that also wasn't happening.

He liked a challenge, yeah, but no girl had ever held out for this long against him. He was going to have to try harder to get her.

He was beginning to realise Gabriella Montez was no ordinary girl.

A/N

Sorry it took so long!!!

Btw, I read somewhere that in HSM2, Ryan falls for a girl named Talullah from a rival country club and Sharpay tries to split them but ends up falling for Tallulah's brother who's doing the same thing, I don't know if this is true or not so if you guys could help me out a little, that would be great, xx