A piercing shrill fills the air as Troy puts his hands onto the back of his head, feeling his lungs burn in a way he had never felt before. They were inside the gym, which didn't seem to have air conditioning in, practicing shooting by forming teams of two and making it a race to see who could get to fifty the fastest. It didn't take a genius to figure out that Troy was on the top of his game today. It also didn't take one to figure out that it was because he was going on a date tonight with Gabriella. But unfortunately, since Troy was on the top of his game, that meant Perez was in a worse mood then he usually would be in.

"What Bolton? Too intense for you?" Perez yells as Troy stands strait up and looks into his beady black eyes with disgust, while still panting.

"No sir." Troy responds, trying not to give off any attitude because that would only end up in him getting in more trouble.

"Then we should crank it up a notch shouldn't we?" He says as the guys groan and Troy feels fire shoot down his veins. "We wouldn't want Bolton to feel like he wasn't getting a workout in."

Troy narrows his eyes as the piercing shrill enters his ears. They start up again, with his team passing to a player on the immediate right and taking it down the court. One of the cocky soon to be junior from Alabama, Joey, tries to take a half court shot, and all Troy does is roll his eyes. "Drive it… don't get fancy." He mumbles as another senior from New York turns around and rolls his eyes as well.

"The idiot has been trying to be cocky all week. He thinks if he can get on Perez's good side, next year will be a breeze fro him." He informs Troy.

"Showing off isn't gonna get you on his good side." Troy says, knowing from experience.

It was his turn as he feels the ball get checked into his hands, feeling the bumpy surface press against them. He could hear his team cheering and coaching behind him, but couldn't make out what they were saying. He dribbles the ball down and passes it to the person on his right who drives it forward, then passes it back to Troy who shoots it and watches as it goes in with a swish. His eyes meet with the black beady ones who didn't even seem to notice how great Troy was doing. "Nice shot man." Jason calls and Troy just gives him a nod.

Joey was up again and takes it down, trying to make the half court shot again, but misses once again. Troy looks back at him to see that he was strutting his stuff over to the line again and Troy turns to look at him. "Drive it. You haven't made that shot yet, you're not gonna make it. If you use your speed, it will give you a better shot."

Joey rolls his eyes. "Thanks coach. I'll try to remember that one." He says sarcastically and the other guys turn to glare at him. Everyone in his group liked Troy, so it was a shock that someone actually smart-assed him. Troy rolls his eyes again, telling the other guys not to worry about it.

The freshman Troy had been watching the first week, Tyler, gets the ball and Troy smirks. "Come on Ty… drive it you got this!" He yells support along with the rest of his team as Tyler shoots the ball and makes it in. He runs back, Troy giving him a high five in the process.

Troy feels the ball reach his hands again as he passes to Jason, but not before hearing, "Drive it Bolton, you'll get a better shot." In a mocking voice that he knew came from Joey. Jason passes it back to Troy who watches as it bounces off the rim. He curses and then comes running back, Joey smirking like a little kid on Christmas. "Nice shot." He mocks and Troy could feel the competitive side of him radiate off from him.

Joey gets the ball again and Troy finally couldn't take his competitive side anymore. "Come on… get your ass moving!" Troy yells as Joey takes a shot from the half court line again misses completely. His team looks up at him with a shocked looks on their faces, since Troy was now yelling. He even swears he sees Perez with the corner of his eyes looking at him to see how this scene played out.

"I'd like you see you try that." He says and Troy rolls his eyes.

"I don't have to prove anything to you." He says as he swears he sees Perez have a flicker of a smile on his face. Did that just happen?

"What? Do you not have enough game?" He asks and Troy feels himself being pulled back to moment in the backyard with Aaron and how jealous he was his big brother was better at practically everything. His anger from Perez also bubbles over as he turns back, his piercing blue eyes turning to eyes as he storms forward.

"Fine… Ball!" He yells and runs down the court. He could see his brother's face as he looks up at the net. Come on Troy… it's easy, just sink it in. Aaron's words were swimming around his head as he makes the half court shot in with nothing but net. He turns around and smirks to see that Joey, along with everyone else's mouths, was dropped. "That's how it's done." Troy spits out smirking.

He looks up to see that Perez was staring at him with a hard look. Any other coach would have praised his accomplishment, but Perez just looks away with out a word. But Troy smirks to himself. In his book, he not saying anything was a compliment.

Gabriella sits on her bed and plays with the brown necklace lying on her skin nervously. It was six thirty, and she was already done getting ready. She was wearing a purple long scoop tank top with black knee length spandex and black low heels, remembering Troy telling her she wasn't supposed to be extremely dressed up. Now she was just waiting impatiently, wanting the clock to move faster. "Calm down Brie. It's just dinner."

Gabriella sighs and looks to see that Taylor was sitting on the opposite bed, drying her wet hair since she knew Chad was going to come over as soon as she left. "I know… but it's a first date… an you know… I just want it to go right." She says while scratching her arm nervously.

Taylor smiles at her. "Relax ok? God, it seems like you've never been on a date before." She says and Gabriella looks away thinking that she had been on plenty.

There was a knock on the door and panic suddenly rushes through Gabriella's body. Her head spins around to look at the clock. Six fifty. How the hell could he be this early? Guys were normally late weren't they? She watches as Taylor smiles at her and rolls her eyes, walking to the door. Gabriella hears a click and then the door opening, while she straightens out her top and glances in the mirror to make sure she looked perfect. She could hear something mumbled. Was that Taylor stalling? Did she ask Taylor to stall? She couldn't remember, but she also couldn't remember what her legs felt like until she finally got up off the bed.

Another click and Gabriella's stomach flips in disappointment as she sees another figure walking into the room. She tries not to look pathetically disappointed, when in all actuality, she was. "You're dressed up." The girl says as if it wasn't obvious. Was that a complitment?

"Um… yea." Gabriella says while Amber looks at her up and down, with her hip popped out.

"Well… we're going to get tacos." She says while still eying Gabriella up. "So we'll meet you in the lobby in thrity."

Gabriella flashes Taylor a dangerous look. There was no way she was missing this date for some team dinner. "Er…" Taylor starts. "Brie has plans." She says and Amber tilts her head.

"Oh…so a date huh?" She says while sitting on the edge of Gabriella's bed, without even asking to. "Who's the guy?"

"So… tacos huh?" Taylor says and Gabriella gives her a weird look.

Amber takes her eyes off Gabriella and glances at Taylor for a moment. "Um, yea." She says and then turns back to Gabriella. Her eyes move up to Taylor's who seemed to have a weird, somewhat panicked look in them as she looked back at her. "So who's the guy.

Gabriella glances at Taylor again and then looks down at Amber. "Troy."

Amber's eyes raise immediately. "As in Troy Bolton?"

"How many Troy's do you know?" Gabriella asks, in a rude tone, but she was getting impatient.

Amber looks at her strangely again for a moment. Her green eyes narrow on Gabriella, but then a small smile comes onto her face. "Oh well…" She states while standing and looking her up and down again. "Hope you've had some experience." She says with a smirks. "Have fun." She says as she turns to look at Taylor. "Thirty minutes. Lobby." She says and turns around to walk out the door. Gabriella hears it shut.

"What the hell did she mean by that?" She asks as Taylor rolls her eyes.

"Nothing ok?" She says, even though Gabriella was pretty sure it wasn't nothing. It was never nothing. But she tries to shrug it off. Amber was probably just trying to get into her head, as usual. "Just relax." She says as she stands up and faces Gabriella. "Guess Chad's not coming over."

Gabriella sighs and sits down on the bed again. But no sooner did she sit down on the bed, and then a rapping on the door knob could be heard again. Her body tenses as she looks at Taylor, who gives her a knowing smile and walks to the door again. She glances at the clock again. Seven-o-one. She takes a deep breath and grabs the black purse that was sitting on the night stand, panic spreading through her body once again. She hears footsteps and turns around to face the doorway, to see Troy was standing there in kaki pants, a light blue button up shirt that was rolled at the sleeves with the top three buttons unbuttoned so you could see his white undershirt. "Wow." He says while taking a few steps forward. "You look incredible."

She could feel a blush form on her cheeks as she takes a step forward. "Thanks… It's so we even out when I stand next to you."

Troy chuckles a little. "Thanks. I feel so much better."

Gabriella smiles back at him. "Anytime."

"Get out of here." Taylor says while pushing Gabriella towards Troy, her stumbling in her heels in the process. "Oh, sorry. Anyways, have fun!" She calls as Gabriella leads Troy out the door and watches as it shuts. She feels the air brush against her skin gently as Troy turns to her and they fall into step, walking towards the lobby.

Gabriella tries her best not to let the diet coke fly out of her nose as she breaks out into laughter. Troy had tears in his eyes as he wipes them with one hand and looks at Gabriella. "Dead serious. The dog almost bit off his leg. But he still managed to get his precious signed Hark Aaron ball back."

She takes a sip of her soda to try to calm her down as Troy finishes telling his story about how he and Chad hit Chad's baseball into an old grouchy lady's yard, almost getting attacked in the process when they were ten years old. The date was going extremely well, both of them enjoying the other's company. Gabriella finally gets her breathing back to normal as she smirks at him. "You guys were stupid."

Troy nods and takes a sip of his soda, Gabriella figuring he wasn't drinking because she wasn't. The lighting was dimmed and the walls were orange, making his tan skin glow. "Yea… he's still stupid." He says and Gabriella rolls her eyes.

"You both are." She retorts and Troy's eyes land on her.

"You're just full of compliments tonight aren't ya?" He says with humor laced in his voice as Gabriella shrugs.

"It's ok… you compliment yourself enough for the both of us." She jokes back and he sighs playfully.

"Guess you're right." He says while their waiter walks by their table. Troy looks up at Gabriella. "Do you want dessert?"

Her stomach was so full from her Mexican food that she was pretty sure it was going to explode. "I'm pretty sure I'd die if I ate anymore." She says and Troy chuckles and runs a hand through his gorgeous brown hair.

"¡Camarero!" He yells as a waiter turns around. Gabriella's eyes grow wide. She didn't know Troy could speak Spanish. "La cuenta, por favor." He asks the waiter for the bill as the waiter grins and turns away. He looks back at Gabriella with a smirk. "What's that look?"

"Since when can you speak Spanish?" She says while Troy shrugs.

"Since this is my fourth time coming down here. You think I might pick up a little bit." He says with playful look in his eyes. "Just basic shit."

Gabriella nods with a smile. "I'm impressed." She says while he plays with the edge of the white table cloth.

"You should be." He says with another smirk. "So are you fluent in it or whatever?"

Gabriella smiles and shakes her head, looking at the way his forehead creased when he was curious. It was adorable. She could stare at the little things forever and never get bored with him. "Nah. We have a huge Mexican family, where THEY all speak it fluently; I just pick up little bits."

Troy nods and looks to see that the waiter had come back with the bill. "Gracais." Troy says as he takes the small black book and opens it up, his eyes growing wide. "Damn… you ordered a lot. I don't think I can pay for this."

Gabriella suddenly feels self conscious as she rubs her arm nervously. "Sorry! You should have told me…"

His eyes look up playfully. "Chill Gab. I'm kidding."

Gabriella sighs in relief and then gives him a nasty glare. "Don't do that to me Bolton!"

Troy laughs as he takes out his wallet and pulls the money out. He stares down at the paper and then pulls out another bill and puts his wallet back into his pocket. His eyes look back up to hers as he smiles. "You ready to go?" Gabriella nods and stands up. Troy walks over to her and takes her hand, lacing theirs together. She couldn't help but feel shivers run through the impact point as they make their way through the restaurant and find themselves outside right on the edge of the beach. "You up for taking a walk?"

Gabriella nods and Troy leads her towards the sand. "Wait." She says and pauses while letting go of Troy's hand to grab the back of each strap of her heels and pulls them off. She feels the cool sand connect with her feet as she takes a couple strides forward to connect their hands again. "Much better."

They start walking down the beach, towards where Gabriella knew their hotels were a mile and a half away. They could have walked to the restaurant, but she assumed Troy didn't want to wear her out at first. She could see the moon was shining perfectly, since it was rounding on 9:30 PM, and the sun had set already. "How bad to heels hurt?"

Gabriella couldn't help but let a laugh escape her throat at the stupid question. She couldn't believe he just asked that. "Like hell… but they're ok once you get used to them. I've been dancing in them since I was little, so they aren't that bad." She pauses and looks back up at him. "Why the hell did you just ask me that?"

Troy shrugs. "I don't know… I've always wondered."

Gabriella gives him a skeptical look and shakes her head playfully. "You have a problem."

Troy playfully glares at her. "You know what? Maybe I'll just take you home. All you can do tonight is make fun of me." He says and Gabriella takes her other arm and wraps it around the same one that she was holding.

"You know I'm kidding Troy. Don't be an ass." She says and Troy smirks. "I'm sorry."

Troy smirks down at her. "You're lucky you're hot." He compliments her and Gabriella feels a blush erupt on her face. "Cuz otherwise I wouldn't forgive you."

Gabriella rolls her eyes as she feels the warm salt water dance around her feet. She closes her eyes to the feeling of peace. No one was out on the beach beside them. There was nothing else to think about beside the guy she was standing next to. But he was all she'd be able to think about anyways.

They walk a little further in a comfortable silence. It wasn't awkward; she wasn't searching for things to say. It was just… nice. The lights from the different hotels were glowing light fireflies while she could hear soft Mexican music from different hotels. It was extremely peaceful. "So why dance?"

Gabriella looks up at him to see that his crystal blue eyes were boring down into hers. She raises an eyebrow and looks at him curiously. "What?"

Troy shrugs his shoulders as he looks at the ground for a moment. "Why dancing? There are so many other things you could do. So why the hell did you choose dancing?"

She was taking aback by this question. No one ever asked her why she did it. They just asked how long she did it for. But why? Never. A small smile plays on her face as she sighs and looks straight ahead of her. "I guess it's the feeling… you know? The feeling that you can fly across the stage. The feeling of the music and passion pumping through your veins. When you nail a routine that is nearly impossible, it's the best feeling in the world. It's like… happiness spreads through out your body. I do it to be happy." She says simply and Troy smirks down at her.

"You look like your going to orgasm right now." He says and Gabriella rolls her eyes.

"I guess what I love." She says and Troy looks down at the sand again. "So why basketball?"

Troy rolls his eyes and turns to her. "It's fun."

Gabriella hits his arm playfully. "Come on… I just spilled out my soul. It's your turn."

Troy nods and then looks at the ground again. "Fine. I don't know. I love competition." He says plainly and Gabriella could see him scuffle his feet a little. "I've grown up around it. My dad's the coach you know? And my br…" He starts, but then shakes his head to stop. "I'm good at it too. It chills me out." He says as Gabriella nods in understanding.

"I guess dancing's like that too. If I've had a rough day, it's the only thing that calms me down." She explains and Troy nods. She looks out into the ocean to see the bright white orb was reflected in the midnight blue water. She hadn't even realized that they had both stopped and were now facing each other. "It really is beautiful."

Troy smiles and looks down at her. "You're really beautiful."

Gabriella rolls her eyes. "Cliché Bolton. How many girls have you used that on?" She asks and Troy shakes his head.

"Not many." He says as he looks down into her brown orbs. Gabriella finds herself getting lost in his own piercing blue. "You're not like them." He says while Gabriella could see his head tilt a little.

"I guess I'm unique." She whispers as she could feel his breath on her face. Her heart was pounding against her chest as he lips began to tingle in anticipation.

"I love it." He whispers back as she feels her eye lids close. A suddenly feeling of warmth covers her lips as they connect together. She feels fireworks shoot through her body from her mouth as a soft hand reaches up and cups the side of her face. What she had been waiting for since El Calor was suddenly a reality as she could feel her lower body connect with his as his arm was around her lower back. They disconnect after a minute for air as Troy looks down at her with lust in his eyes.

"Wow." Was the only thing that could come out of her mouth as she looks back up at him to see he was leaning down again. Their lips connect again for a moment before he breaks them apart and beams down at her.

"And I loved that." He says which makes Gabriella giggle a little as his comments.

"You need to get new lines." She says softly and Troy smirks down at her and shrugs.

"They seem to be working." He says while a flush of red erupts on her cheeks.

After another incredible kiss, they begin to walk again, towards Gabriella's hotel. Once there, they get in through the back doors and climb up the stairs. It was surprising that it was going on 10:30 PM, neither one of them wanting to leave, but knowing they had to.

Gabriella turns around while leaning her back up against the white door and smiles at him. "Well this was fun." She says and Troy nods, putting a hand above one of her shoulders and leaning towards her. "But I gotta get to bed."

"Alright." He says and leans down. Gabriella feels the shocks run through her body again as they kiss for a final time and then he lets go and stares into her eyes. "I'll call you tomorrow."

The smile on Gabriella's face grows larger as she nods. "Alright. 'Night Troy."

Troy smiles back at her and gives her a small wave. "'Night Gab."

She watches as he turns around and walks towards the stairs again and doesn't turn around until her leaves her sight. A sigh erupts on her throat as she thinks about how incredible the night turned out, and how depressed she was that it just ended.

A/N: This will probably be the last chapter before I leave. So expect an update next Thursday or Friday. Unless I can get at a computer before then, but don't count on it. Anyways, thanks so much for reading! I hope you liked this chapter!