"Come on, just relax." Taylor tries to calm her down as Gabriella could feel her muscles starting to rebel against her. The dark lit backstage was making their stage make up glow as she could hear the music pumping through the speakers. To say she was nervous was the understatement of the century. She was more then nervous, she was completely petrified. She had no idea that this was open to the public to watch. She had no idea tourists came to see this show, or that parents flew down to watch. There had to be at least two hundred people in the audience and no one told her this before.
"I'm trying!" Gabriella spits back with panic laced in her voice. They were up in four performances. Every bone in Gabriella's body was shaking. She couldn't do this. Sure, over the last few weeks she had nailed the solo with grace, and she had done this a hundred times, but there was just something about her surroundings this made her freak out. This wasn't abnormal though, every recital she had ever performed in she seemed to have a mental break down.
"Brie… breathe in ok?" Sharpay says while grabbing her shoulders. She could see that her eye shadow was bright blue that she knew were on her own eyes as well to match with their blue and silver costumes. Her hands were shaking in the silver armband she was wearing along with her knees in her black dance shoes.
She looks to the side to see the familiar brunette. For once, Amber didn't have the smooth look on her face. For the past couple weeks, both she and Marcus had seemed to leave Gabriella alone, probably because they had broken up a week ago, but she knew that Amber would never change her ways. But at least for now, she looked just as nervous as everyone else, almost humanizing her.
"I know I know!" She says while waving air into her face to try to calm her down. "I need some air." She says while searching for the stage door to leave. The other girls were looking at her, whispering and asking each other if she was alright, but Gabriella couldn't here them. Once she locates the gray door in the back of the stage, she runs to it, tripping on multiple cords in the process. But she regains composer as she briskly walks past the group that was on deck, who all looked just as pale as her.
The showcase was being held at a local theater down town, and as she walks out into the dark hallway, she could feel dust fill her lungs as she tries to take deep breaths. Her long, tan legs begin pacing back and forth on the dark wooden floor. She couldn't do this. She had done a million solos before, but this was more nerve wracking then anything she could have ever imagined.
She was pretty sure there were Scouts from different performing groups coming as well. No one was kidding when they said that this camp was one of the best out there. Her feet stop pacing as she looks up into the oak colored trophy case sitting on the opposite wall to the door. There were pictures of a company, all with dark skin and who looked beautiful the way their bodies moved. She found that it was so much easier looking at this then thinking about what was to come in only a few more minutes.
"How is it you can still look so fucking sexy even when you're nervous as hell?" A voice enters the hallway that suddenly makes Gabriella's butterflies cease the slightest. Her head turns around to see perfection walking towards her in a yellow polo that seemed to make his skin glow.
"What are you doing here?" She asks, not meaning to sound rude, but finding it odd that her boyfriend was in the same hallway as her at the exact same time.
"Tay slipped out the side door and told me you were having an anxiety attack." He says while smiling and showing his bright white teeth.
Gabriella rolls her eyes as she hears his footsteps stop echoing around the hallway as he places two hands on her waist, but Gabriella doesn't relax in his grasp like she normally did. "I'm not having an anxiety attack." She says defensively even though deep down she felt like she was.
Troy smiles as he rolls his eyes. "Ok… so are you ok?" He asks while Gabriella kept taking deep breaths.
"Oh yea, great, there are only like… two-hundred people watching, along with scouts for companies. I'm fantastic." She says sarcastically while still breathing in the dusty air.
"Come here." Troy says while pulling her body to him and wrapping his arms around her lower back while she remains stiff in them. "You're the best dancer I've ever met, if anyone can nail this solo it's you alright?" He says while rubbing her back soothingly. Gabriella's arms which were extremely tense before, suddenly relax as she closes her eyes and does her best not to wipe her stage make-up off onto his yellow shirt.
"I know… it's just scary." She says while Troy kisses the top of her head that was caked with hairspray since it was pulled up in a half pony tails with curls.
"You're gonna do great. I know you will." He says while she smiles slightly. The past weeks with him had been incredible, and she defiantly wouldn't trade them for the world. They had their fights here and there, but they had decided to take things a little slower then what they first had, not jumping into sex and Gabriella knew that them waiting would defiantly pay off in the end.
"You have to say that…" She says while pulling away from him to stare into his piercing blue eyes that were boring down at her with love shining through them.
"No I don't, and I wouldn't say it if I didn't think it." He says while gently kissing her forehead, Gabriella not caring that he might mess up her cover-up.
She suddenly hears a round of applause erupt from behind the door. She sighs as she looks back up to him, seeing that he was smiling down at her encouragingly. With another deep breath, she nods as if he had said something and lets the breath out.
"Ok… I can do this." She says more to herself then to Troy.
He places another kiss onto her forehead and holds her for a moment. "That's my girl."
Gabriella nods again as she pulls apart. "I should get back."
"Yeah." Troy responds as he runs his warm, comforting hands up and down her arms. "You'll do great ok?"
Gabriella nods and gives him a warm smile. "Thanks Troy."
He smiles back and the leans down. The both move their heads to the side a little as though to kiss the side of their lips so Gabriella wouldn't mess up her perfect stage make-up. "I love you ok?" He says while he takes a step backwards. "And… if you do good in this, then I'll make it up to you." He says while wiggling his eyebrows.
Gabriella rolls her eyes. "How about a footrub tonight?"
Troy smiles back at her and smirks. "Play your cards right and that could turn into a full body rub."
Gabriella giggles as she gives him a small wave. "You wish Bolton."
He starts walking backwards while smirking. "Kick some ass Gab." He says while she opens the door and blows him a kiss. "I'll be watching."
Although someone else might find that intimidating, Gabriella found this surprisingly comforting that he would be there. So she walks in the door, so much more calm then she was when she left, and walks towards where the rest of the team was standing, their faces paling with every second that went by.
Gabriella looks at her best friend and gives her a weak smile. "Thanks Tay. I needed that."
Taylor gives her another weak smile back, but Gabriella could tell her body was shaking with nerves. The butterflies were settling in Gabriella's stomach again as she could hear Camilla's voice pierce through the claps of the audience. "We're on deck, let's move!"
Gabriella smiles as she turns to Taylor and holds out her hand. Taylor takes it, while they both give each other a hard squeeze. Sharpay grabs Taylor's other hand, and Gabriella smiles, thinking how amazing her friends were, and she had only known then for three months now. "Good luck." Taylor says while Gabriella could feel her hands shaking a little again.
The music of the other group stops and Gabriella could hear the clapping. She glances around the blue curtain, swearing that off to the side a little; she could see the glow of a pair of two piercing blue eyes, giving her the strength and confidence to do this.
"Five, six, seven, eight…" She hears Camilla's voice as they all walk out in step together as the lights go black. Gabriella's mouth immediately forms a smile, a reflex she did when she was on stage. Her legs fold beneath her as she sinks down into a splits in front of the rest of the Augusta group, along with her own Wildcats. This was her time to shine, and no one else's.
The crowd stops clapping as the lights suddenly turn on. She was completely blinded and couldn't see anything in the audience. The music suddenly plays, but she wasn't listening. She was hearing the counts that were replaying in her head. Finally, her body moves up from the position she was in while her smile grows bigger, if that was even possible.
Everything was wiped clean from her mind, as all she could remember was it was the pitter patter of the feet floating across the stage that made her fall in love.
"Holy shit! You were fucking amazing!" Troy exclaims for the thousandth time as Gabriella giggles as little and feels his arm pull her closer to his body. Gabriella smiles up at him as the tiki tourches make his face glow, along with the perfection that glowed with it.
"Troy's right Brie. You nailed it." Chad says while taking a sip of whatever was in his cup and smiling at her.
"Thanks Chad." She says while taking her own sip of the water bottle she was holding. It was about four hours after they had performed, and they were now standing on a platform of a local club that was about for miles from El Calor, but this one was above ground with the moon shinning down on all of them. Basically, the entire dance camp had decided to come here after their performance. Gabriella's smile couldn't be wiped off her face. Everything she did tonight was perfect, and Chad was right, she nailed it.
"Yeah, yeah, yeah but did you really expect anything else?" Sharpay asks while holding onto Zeke's hand tightly. Gabriella smiles at her friend and Troy kisses the top of her head in response.
"I told you you could do it." He says while she beams up and him.
"And you own me a foot rub." She says while Troy sighs as though he was distressed about it.
"Damn it and I thought you'd forgot." He says jokingly as Gabriella rolls her eyes but feels his arm pull her closer, if that was even possible.
"No way…" She responds while beaming up at him.
Her eyes suddenly move down from his as she watches a familiar brunette walking towards her. Amber hadn't said a word to her all night, but Gabriella just assumed that was because she was mad at how amazing Gabriella did, and how there was no way she could do any better. But she didn't look extremely now as she finally stops in front of the group that consitied of Troy, Chad, Zeke, Sharpay, and Taylor since Jason was off to the side, probably on the phone with his girlfriend who Gabriella was going to meet soon.
"Well… you seemed to cover everyone's expectations." She says while looking Gabriella up and down. She steps forward for a moment, out of Troy's grasp almost as if to show she didn't need her boyfriend to protect her from anything. She could handle it on her own.
"Thanks." She says while taking Amber's trick while looking her up and down. "I'm glad you feel that way.
She gives Gabriella a smile that she could tell if it was fake or real. Gabriella finally figures that it was just the way Amber was, you could never tell what she was thinking, but you really shouldn't worry about it either. "You must be happy." She says with a little edge of jealousy to her voice.
Gabriella smiles and glances back to see that Troy had a smirk on his face. "You could say that."
She smiles a little and sighs. "You must be excited to head back to the states then, Zoey will love to see something like that."
Gabriella wasn't sure if she was trying to intimate her or not, but it wasn't really bothering her so she shrugs. "Well… you're the captain, you would know."
Amber's smirk falls a little as she glances back at Troy also. "I wouldn't want to interrupt anything." She says while turning back to Gabriella. "See ya."
With that, Amber turns around and walks in the other direction. Gabriella rolls her eyes after her as she feels two arms wrap around her waist as she smiles while feeling a wet kiss on her cheek. "What was that about?"
Gabriella shrugs but then glances back into his blue eyes. "Who knows, who cares. Come on…" She says while turning around smiling brightly at him. She grabs both of his hands while starts to pull him backwards towards the white platform that had pillars reaching over forty feet with what looked like a see-through canopy over head. "Dance with me."
Troy smirks as he shakes his head a little. "Don't you ever get enough dancing?" He asks but Gabriella could still feel his feet move forwards.
She smiles innocently back at him. "Do you ever get enough basketball?"
Troy finally takes a few steps forward, spinning her around so they were now walking side by side with their hands laced. "Nah… it's one of the things on my list that I don't get enough of." He says while they finally make it to the dance floor to listen to the rap music sending surges through Gabriella's body. Even though her legs hurt a little from dancing, she still was on the high from the showcase and could feel the energy rush through her veins.
He spins her arm so she was now facing away from him as she could feel two hands slip on her waist and begin moving his hips to the rhythm. She smiles as her hands grab his and lace together, pushing her butt up against his groin. "And what else is on this list?" She asks while Troy's hand drop lower on her hips.
"Oh you know, peanut butter and jelly, ESPN… you." He says the last part in a husky voice while brushing his lips against her ear.
Gabriella could feel shivers run through her body at the touch as she giggles a little. "Well I'm glad I'm luck enough to make the list." She says while Troy's mouth drops down and connects with her neck. It didn't take long for him to find her sweet spot, which had now basically turned into his spot. She feels electrical currents rush through her body at the touch as her hand wrap around the back of his neck.
"You're at the top." He says as his lips dance to the beat of the music against her neck.
"Aren't I special?" She whispers while turning her head to the side a little to give him a better access.
"You are." He whispers again while Gabriella smiles lazily. Her eyes scan over the crowd as she could feel Troy's hips drop lower and she could feel a small poke begin to form against her butt.
"Can't we just skip the plane ride home on Monday and stay here?" Gabriella begs even though she knew Troy had nothing to do with it. He chuckles a little against her neck as he lifts his head up and away.
"Sorry Gab… my parents would flip." He says while Gabriella giggles a little.
"We can just say we got lost." She says innocently as Troy laughs a little again.
"Then you defiantly won't be on my parent's good side." He says, reminding her how it was funny that they had been dating for this long, and she had no idea what his parents looked like yet.
"You're no fun." She says while spinning around in his arms and feeling her pelvis rub against his. Troy smiles seductively at her and leans down. She could feel his warm lips press against hers as his tongue wastes no time to slip into her mouth. She wraps her arms around his neck while Troy's hands were on the small of her back.
He pulls apart and leans down into her ear. "I can be. I still owe you that massage."
Gabriella could feel her cheeks get a little red at the thought as she smiles up into his piercing blue eyes that were filled with lust and love at the same time. "You're right." She says while then pulling away from him for a moment. She grabs his hand and touches the top of her hair gently, to see that it was still formed into place from all the hairspray she had used hours ago.
She leads him off the platform and looks to see that Sharpay and Zeke had gone dancing, while Taylor and Chad were talking with Jason about something off to the side. She could see the dark, almost black eyes lock on the two as Chad's afro bounces a little. "Hey!" He calls while throwing his arm up. "Where you going?"
Gabriella giggles a little as she could feel Troy's lips on her neck. "Don't bother coming to the room tonight man." Troy says while Gabriella turns around to see his smile was huge.
Chad rolls his eyes as Troy grabs her hand again. "The condoms are in the nightstand!"
Gabriella giggles again as she watches Taylor slap his bicep. "Chad!"
Troy smirks down at her, both knowing that they weren't going to need them, since even though they loved each other; Gabriella knew that they weren't ready for sex yet. But that didn't mean that foreplay was out of the question.
"God he's an idiot." Troy says while they walk out the doors of the club. Gabriella glances at the huge bouncer standing at the door, while reflexively increasing her speed, not wanting to get busted for not being eighteen yet.
"That's alright. You two are perfect for each other then." She says with a smile on her face as she drops Troy's hand.
He stares at her in pretend shock for a moment, before shaking his head. Gabriella could feel her feet start to move as she runs towards the road. But before she could get there, Troy runs in front of her and picks her up. Gabriella's back bends a little as Troy dips her slightly, and then presses his lips against hers in a passionate kiss that wouldn't be broken up for the world.