Gabriella felt the heavy stage make up start to droop a little as the sweat started to wipe it off. She was holding a gold object that came up to about her knee with a dancer standing on the top of it. Her eyes scan and find a familiar pair. She runs over and jumps up into her mother's arms. "First place Mom!" She exclaims while jumping up and down in her mom's arms. She felt like she was on cloud nine, and nothing would tear her down.
"I'm so proud of you honey." Her mom says while kissing her forehead. "You danced incredible."
Gabriella beams as she stares back at her mother. The ten year old's eyes scan the crowd looking for another familiar pair of brown orbs, but she found herself unsuccessful. She looks up at her mother with a questioning look. "Where's dad?" She asks even though she knew the answer to that question. It was obvious, and her mother's body stiffens up a little as she asks.
"Working... again." She says and Gabriella could feel the tone of bitterness laced with her voice. It was all her dad was doing lately, working. But as the CEO of an insurance company, that was all he could do. Even at ten, Gabriella knew it was hard for him to balance work and family, but if there was ever a choice, work would always win, no questions asked. Gabriella hated it.
"So he didn't come at all?" Gabriella asks with a depressed look on her face as her mother takes a deep breath and sighs.
"Don't worry about it sweety. You got first place!" She says and puts on a fake smile for her daughter, but Gabriella could see right through it. "How do you want to celebrate?"
"Can we go? I want to get food!" Gabriella exclaims and Mrs. Montez nods.
"Sure. We'll stop at Burger King or something on the way home." She says as she suddenly hears a small yelp.
Gabriella suddenly sees a very petite blonde woman running towards her as she picks Gabriella's small body up and spins her around. "That's the best I've ever seen you dance!" She exclaims and Gabriella feels her body being put back to the ground as she smiles up at her coach. "Way to go kiddo."
"Thanks Miss Sandy!" She exclaims as she glances to the side, seeing the other girls carrying their smaller trophies than Gabriella's.
"I'm so proud of you!" Miss Sandy says while giving Gabriella another bone crushing squeeze and then looks at her mom. "And there was a scout from Rimial Company tonight." She says with a smile that seemed impossible to wipe off. Gabriella's mother looks ecstatic while Gabriella didn't comprehend what the coach was saying. All she cared about at that moment was the fact her stomach was roaring, begging for food.
"Mom! Can we go? I wanna get a cheeseburger!" She complains while her mother waves her hand as if to shut her up.
"Rimial? Oh my God!" She exclaims while covering her mouth with her hand in shock. "Did you talk to them? Did they see Ella? What did they say?" Her mom lets out as Gabriella groans angrily.
Miss Sandy smiles at the oldest Montez woman. "They loved Gabs' performance."
Mrs. Montez covers her mouth again and looks down at Gabriella, who still had her arms crossed. She was starving and she just wanted something to eat! Nothing was processing of what the older women were saying. "Oh my God." Mrs. Montez says again while Gabriella looks up at her mom.
"Can we PLEASE go?" Gabriella begs and Mrs Montez waves her hand as if telling her to shut up again.
"Well... are we going to hear from them? Is there anyway she can get in? Oh my God Rimial?" Her mom blabbers as Gabriella gets even more irritated.
"They said they're going to keep watching her. But they're defiantly interested. If she made the company... do you know how good those girls are?" Miss. Sandy asks as Gabriella feels her stomach practically start to eat away at her skin she was so hungry.
"I know... and the studio would be close too. Only a half an hour drive." She says with a look on her face that Gabriella knew meant she was excited about something. That look wasn't coming onto her face that often anymore, especially around her father.
"They don't take girls under thirteen, but maybe she'll be an exception." Miss Sandy states.
"Mom!" Gabriella whines one more time as both women look down at her.
"We'll talk later alright Maria?" She says and then turns to Gabriella. "And I'm so proud of you. See you at rehearsal on Monday." She says with a wave as the Montez women turn around and walk the other way.
"I suppose I should call your father... not that it matters." Mrs. Montez says the last part under her breath, but Gabriella wasn't deaf to hear it. Her mom puts her cell phone up to her ear and pauses for awhile. "Hi... I just wanted to let you know your daughter took first, but if you would have showed up you would have known that." She says with anger and slams the phone shut, then turns back to Gabriella. "So... Burger King?"
Gabriella looks up at her mom to see a tear was formed in her eye. But she quickly wipes it away and tries to smile down at her daughter. "Yea." Gabriella says slowly, not really sure what to do or say.
Her mom puts on a fake smile and puts her arm around Gabriella's small shoulder. "Then Burger King it is."
"So... remind me again how the hell you got me to come?" Troy asks as he leans towards the almost black hair to take in her scent as he feels the petite girl that was holding his hand to smell her coconut shampoo. A scent that he found was he new favorite in the world.
Gabriella rolls her gorgeous brown eyes. "Because... everyone else is here. And it's dancing. Remember... the thing I love?" She says while fixing a part of her tight curls as Troy couldn't hep but smile at how amazing she looked in her strapless white dress that reached right above the knee and white heels.
They were standing on the edge of the beach with tiki torches surrounding them. further up on the sand was a giant platform with couples dancing together. Not grinding, dancing. The dance team was told about one of the other teams that another hotel was hosting a dance party. Salsa, Tango, anything. Troy was pretty sure that Gabriella was in heaven right now, because her eyes were lit up like the moon that was shining down on them and she had this smile on her face that wouldn't seem to be able to be wiped away.
It had been a week since their first date, and the two had been practically inseparable since then. Troy hadn't officially asked her out or anything, but they were a couple. Both of them couldn't get enough of each other. Troy hadn't felt this way about a girl in the longest time. He couldn't actually remember a time he fell this hard for someone, but man. It felt good.
Troy unlaces their hands and drapes his arm around her shoulders as he watches a blonde and her boyfriend run to the two who were on the side, watching some of the other people move. "Wow... are you ok?" Sharpay asks while still hanging onto Zeke's hand as though her life depended on it.
Gabriella looks from left to right as Troy feels a soft breeze play with the back of his neck. "Yea... why wouldn't I be?"
Sharpay rolls her eyes as if the answer was obvious. "Because I think this is the longest I've ever seen you off a dance floor. Seriously... are you sick or something?"
A gorgeous smile erupts from Gabriella's mouth as Troy couldn't help but feel one of his own fall onto his lips. That was the effect Gabriella had on him. When she was happy or excited, so was he."No Shar, I'm not sick." She responds and looks up, beaming at Troy. "So where's Tay and Chad?" She asks as she scrunches her hair a little, even though Troy thought it looked perfect.
Sharpay rolls her eyes. "They left about ten minutes ago. They've only been dating a week and they seriously can't stop making out." Troy laughs a little. He had been given the dirty details of their make out sessions last night, and Sharpay was right. It hadn't gotten further then that, but after so long of waiting for each other, it didn't seem that weird that they were doing that this early in their relationship. Although, he was pretty sure if he started making out with Gabriella, it wouldn't be weird either.
A sudden feeling of dryness hits Troy's throat as he looks down at Gabriella. "I'm gonna go get something to drink, you want anything?"
Gabriella looks at him for a moment, then shakes her head. "Just don't get lost." She says while nudging her hip into his as he smirks at her.
"I'll go with you." Zeke responds as Troy kisses the top of Gabriella's head and then the two guys make their way up the beach and onto the foreign hotel grounds to where they knew the bar was. "So what's with you and Gabs?" Zeke asks and Troy raises his eyebrow at him.
"What do you mean?" Troy asks while they stop in front of the bar and the fat bartender looks at them.
"I'll have a Corona." Zeke says and then turns back to Troy. "Are you guys together?"
"Make that two." Troy says and smirks when the bartender doesn't ask for an ID. He turns back to Zeke and shrugs his shoulders lightly while tapping his hand on the edge of the counter. "We're just having fun." Troy says, even though he wanted so much more then to just have fun with Gabriella. So much more. "How's Shar?"
Troy watches as Zeke looks away from Troy and shrugs. "She's alright." He says and Troy narrows his eyebrows while putting the bottle to his mouth and taking a sip.
"Just alright?" He asks as Zeke nods and looks at Troy again, playing with his hands on the neck of the beer bottle.
"Yea... I don't know... It's hard to explain." Zeke says while Troy's eyes travel over to where Sharpay was now dancing with Will and Gabriella was talking with Melissa and Angie on the side.
"Go for it." Troy says while twisting the bottle in his hand.
Zeke sighs. "In public, everything's great. But alone? Not so great." He says and Troy feels his eyebrow cock.
"What... you mean like in bed?" He asks while Zeke turns a bright shade of red. "Ok... that answers that."
"When we first started doing it, it was great. Now? It seems like she's not always there. Like she's wishing something else would happen. Maybe I'm not satisfying her needs or something." Zeke sighs and takes a sip of his beer. "I just don't wanna loose her. She's great, and I don't want her to break it off cuz she's bored or something."
Troy nods, understanding how much pressure that must have put on him. Although Troy wouldn't know first hand, since he had never had consent sex with one girl since he hadn't had a girlfriend since freshman year. "Did she tell you she was bored?" He asks as he looks to the side to see a couple dancers smiling and blushing while looking at him. Troy gives them a smirk back and then turns to one of his best friends.
Zeke shakes his head. "No." Troy takes another sip of his beer.
"Then maybe she's not. Just... spice it up a little. You know? Do on her balcony or something." Troy says as Zeke rolls his eyes.
"Leave it to you to come up with the kinkiest things." He says as Troy smirks.
"That's nothing. I could up with worse." He says while feeling his eyes reflexively land on the brunette that was laughing at something Angie just said. A smile plays on his lips as he couldn't help but think about what it would feel like to touch her, lick her, be inside her. But he just shakes his head and takes one last sip of beer before putting the empty bottle down and turning to Zeke. "But I gotta go take care of something. Catch ya later?" He asks while doing the manly guy handshake that every male seemed to know.
"Yea. See ya Troy." He says as Troy begins to make his way across the pool and down onto the sand again. He walks over at an angle and comes up behind Gabriella while she was in midsentance while wrapping his arms around her neck and kissing her cheek. "Hey."
Angie and Melissa give them slightly jealous looks for a moment before Gabriella turns around and smiling. "Damn it, I thought you would get lost. Too bad."
"Funny." Troy says sarcastically as he looks at the other girls. "Hey ladies."
"Hey Troy." Angie greets him as Melissa just smiles at him. Troy could see Gabriella's smile falter a little, but hey he was just trying to be a nice guy.
"You look great." Melissa says as Troy glances down to remember he was wearing a red polo with khaki shorts underneith.
"Er... thanks." He says awkwardly, but glancing to see that Gabriella was smiling up at him.
"She's right." She says while Troy smirks at her.
"So..." He says and glances up to see the people on the dance floor were salsaing. A smirk falls onto his face as he figures it was time to let Gabriella in on one of his many secrets. "You wanna show off your dancing?"
Gabriella's eyes grow wide with excitement for a moment before she glances at the dancefloor and beams back at him. "Your serious?" She asks as Troy smirks and holds out his hand. "It's not grinding Troy."
Troy could feel a smile playing on his face. "I know... but I can at least try can't I?" He asks as Gabriella grabs his hand and stands up from the bench she was sitting on and laces their fingers together.
"I see you guys later." She says to Angie and Melissa, who both had slightly jealous looks on their faces. Gabriella eagerly leads Troy out to the dance floor, where three other couples were already dancing, two including Zeke and Sharpay, along with Will and Amber. "We'll take this slow alright?"
Troy spins Gabriella into his chest and grabs her waist while clutching her hand, watching with amusement as her eyes grow slightly wide in surprise. "I can keep up."
Their steps fall into place with the other three as Troy moves his feet perfectly while he knew Zeke and Will were stumbling a little. It was almost as amusing as seeing Gabriella's shocked look on her perfect features as Troy dips her gently while her hand traces the outline of his jaw as he pulls her back up. "Shit..." She mumbles as Troy spins her again to the beat of the Latino music. Their hips sway together as Troy keeps up with Gabriella's perfect salsa. "I didn't know you could salsa... or dance."
Troy smirks as he dips her again. "There's a lot you don't know about me Gabi." He says as Gabriella gives him a playful smirk.
"Which is surprising considering how cocky you are." She says as Troy's jaw drops playfully.
"Ouch, that hurt." He says as he spins her out of his arms for a moment. She then turns around and throws hers back around his neck and brings her leg up so it wraps around his. Troy could feel their pelvises rubbing together and could feel his member twitch a little.
After dancing for another ten minutes, people around the edges clap as Troy and Gabriella leave the platform and walk back out onto the grass. He picks her up in his arms and feels at home as she squeezes hers around his neck and giggles. He sets her down after a moment and lightly kisses her lips. Her hand slaps his chest a little as she shakes her head at him. "Why the fuck didn't you tell me you could dance?"
Troy's thumbs draw small circles onto her back as he shrugs. "You never asked." He says as she rolls her eyes.
"Since when?" She asks as Troy shrugs his shoulders again.
"I've been coming down to this camp with the dance team since I was a freshman. Don't you think I'd pick up on it a bit?" It was true, Troy learned to salsa, tango, and break dance since he first came down here his freshman year. Gabriella beams up at him as she grabs his hands that were on her lower back and plays with his fingers, sending shivers over his body.
"I still can't believe you didn't tell me." She says as Troy shrugs and disconnects one of their hands.
"Shit happens, you'll get over it." He says as Gabriella rolls her eyes. He then leads her over to a picnic table that was set up around the dance floor and sits on the top. Gabriella sits down next to him and they both watch as Will and Amber continue to dance, while they could see Sharpay and Zeke leaving the floor and heading off somewhere in the distance.
Troy glances over to see Gabriella watching Amber's footwork intently. He didn't even have to be in rehearsals to know that Gabriella and Amber probably had a rivalry going on, even if they didn't know it. Both were incredibly good dancers, but from what he saw, he was pretty sure Gabriella was better. "I've never seen anyone salsa like that."
He sighs as his eyes look to where Gabriella's were locked on and shrugs. "You're just as good." He says and Gabriella's face falls into a small smile. "Plus yours is all talent."
For the first time since they sat down, Gabriella's brown orbs rip away from Amber as she looks into Troy's piercing blue eyes. "What do you mean?"
Troy shrugs as he looks ahead and stares at Amber's perfectly formed legs for a moment, subconsciously knowing that Gabriella's were so much better. "Her parents hired a Russian dancer to teach her when she was four. She and Sharpay, who were best friends until high school started, took lessons from her since they both had a shit load of money." He explains as Gabriella looks at him curiously.
"Amber and Shar were best friends? What happened?" She asks as Troy glances back at her and shrugs.
"I don't know for sure." He lies completely, looking away from her and staring at the ground for a moment. Him being able to dance was a secret that he could let out tonight. But this secret? It would have to be kept secret. "They kinda stopped being best friends when Shar and Tay became close freshman year. But they got into an argument last summer." He says while continuing to not look at Gabriella, not able to face her.
"What was the argument about?" Gabriella asks the question that Troy was so desperately trying to avoid, so he just shrugs and sighs as he looks down at her.
"I'm not sure..." He lies, still refusing to make eye contact with her.
A silence erupts between the two as the watch the dancers for awhile before Gabriella turns to him. "Troy? What are we?"
Troy feels his throat close up as she had just been reading what his mind was thinking about for the past week. He knew what he wanted to be with her, but would she want to be the same thing back? "Well..." Troy tries to joke his was out of his nervousness. "You're a girl and I'm a guy..."
Gabriella rolls her eyes. "You know what I mean." She says as she seemed to have the same nervous face on that Troy had.
Troy looks down at their hands that were laced together, finding them so much easier to look at then up into her face. "Um... well..."
He could feel Gabriella take in a deep breath beside him. Was she just as nervous as he was? That meant she wanted the same answer. "I mean... cuz we've been like this.." She lifts up their hands and Troy finally looks back up into her gorgeous brown eyes. "For a week. So what are we?"
Troy swallows the lump in his throat as he gives her a weak smile. "We could be friends, friends with benefits, dating... or a couple. Take your pick."
He couldn't breathe as he watches her face tense up a little. "Um... what do you want?" She asks as Troy takes a deep breath and smiles down at her.
"How 'bout this. If someone asks me, I'll say I have a girlfriend." He says slowly, nervous for Gabriella's reaction.
Her lips curve into a perfect smile as she throws her arms around his neck and kisses him soundlessly. Troy feels sparks fly across his entire body as his hand cups the side of her face to pull her closer to him. The kiss was slow as Troy nibbles on her lips gently until she finally pulls away with her eyes lit up. "Sounds great to me." She says with a smile on her face that Troy never wanted to be wiped away.
A/N: So I lied. I found a computer but am super busy so I probably won't post again until the time I said I would origionally be posting. But since you guys have been so great, I decided to put this up. Anyways, thanks so much for reading and reviewing! You guys are amazing!