Kessy- um yeah what is with that lol. Silly Ang :/
Thanks for the reviews everyone, keep 'em coming ;)
CHAPTER 2
"Meet me tonight?" Troy texted into his phone, pressing send.
A bleep told him he had an answer.
"By the rail tracks. I'll be there in ten. Don't be late." Gabi replied and he sat up in shock.
Ten minutes? Damn, he better move. He grabbed his board and thundered down the stairs, jumping the last three steps and not stopping before he flew out the door and stepped onto his board, gliding down the sidewalk toward their agreed meeting place.
It was getting dark and he wondered why she picked the worst part of town to meet him. That thought was accentuated when he saw what she was wearing.
A soft denim playsuit with the shortest shorts covered her small body, unpoppered at the top to show off her small cleavage, she had large hoops in her ears and her hair was loose and curly all down her body.
"You really shouldn't wander around at night dressed like that." He aired his thoughts, taking off his hoodie as he approached her. She was leaning so becomingly against an old carriage, like she was just inviting any advances toward her.
But he knew better than that. He had seen her in action, first hand, spurning Aidan away.
Why was she teasing him like this? He wondered as he tried to wrap the jacket around her and she just rolled her eyes at him.
"Why not?" She challenged to his question, taking the jacket even though she didn't let him cover her with it.
"You look hot." He said starkly, not afraid to say it.
"All I care about is cheering. Nothing else matters." She stated.
"What if some guy attacks you? Does that matter?" He asked as she began walking and he followed her ass as it wiggled from side to side. Her gladiator sandals were adding a certain womanly curve to her legs.
"Oh, alright, dad." She sighed, sticking her arms into his sweat jacket and pulling it around her. "How's this? Ugly enough?" She enquired.
She was balancing on an unused track, placing one foot in front of the other as she concentrated hard, her tongue poking out between her lips, the ones he wanted to kiss.
"I don't think you could look ugly if you tried." He mused, unintentionally complimenting her.
"What do you want with me, Troy Bolton?" she wondered, turning as he trailed after her. His sweats reminded her sharply that he was a basketball hero at East High. She could almost forget that when he was wearing jeans and cruising on his board.
"Here, I have the flyer…" He said and went into his trouser pocket for the folded piece of paper, surprised when Gabi's hand joined his in there.
She had come right up to him and driven her fingers into his pocket with a sly smile.
"Ooh let me see!" She enthused, taking the paper from him and unfolding it with unhidden excitement, her eyes gleaming as she read the leaflet.
"This sounds amazing." She admitted.
"I know." He said quietly.
"But you've seen me skate and I have no idea what you can do on a pair of wheels." She pointed out.
"You're thinking about this, then?" He asked nervously.
"If you can convince me this isn't some ridiculous attempt to either steal moves for your squad or get me into bed, then yeah, maybe I am." She allowed, knowing she had no real reason to distrust him.
He sighed, knocking his head back. "I see the rumours about me are the same, then."
She pursed her lips. "You're a woman's dream, Troy. Don't'cha know anything?" She teased, twisting and dancing across the lines toward an empty train shed.
"Hey…I'm not like that you know…" He called, sighing as he had to follow her to get her to listen. She wouldn't stand still for one goddamn minute.
"You're not amazing in bed?" She asked, disappointed.
She waited for his answer with an innocent smile.
"I wouldn't actually know, would I?" He asked shyly.
"Well the girls you've been with obviously do. And they gave you a good review…" She offered as she pressed her lips together and slid through a small gap into the space inside.
"I don't know how they can…" He managed to force out as he too climbed through with a struggle. "Seeing as I never slept with any of them." He finished and sucked in a breath, realising it was pretty dark inside the shed but the perfect space for them to practice. The floor was concrete, smooth and large. They'd have to practice jumps and drops somewhere else but this would be a great start.
"Then who did you sleep with because they sure have a big mouth?" She asked, feeling his chest against her shoulder where he stood behind her.
"No-one." He answered.
She tilted her head toward him, barely able to make him out.
"Oh, sure." She berated quickly.
"It's true. I'm…I'm a virgin." He admitted.
Somehow she knew he was telling the truth. And somewhere deep inside, she wanted to be his first. She frowned at the thought, wondering why she had never had this urge with any of the boy at her own school. Someone nice and safe and one of her 'own kind'.
An image of Aidan popped into her mind, his clammy hands grabbing at her. There wasn't really much chance of him making her feel like having sex with him.
Yet Troy's silent appreciation, his gentle touches when they had danced, his vocalized attraction to her, all added up to a feeling growing in the pit of her tummy.
One she had sworn she would never have to deal with. Sex just wasn't an option for her. Sex came hand in hand with love. And love wasn't allowed during the basketball season. Last time she checked, it wasn't summer break.
A little shiver ran down her as the night air wrapped around her. A pair of warm hands encased her upper arms.
"I mean it, Troy. I have to be able to trust you." She warned, climbing back out of the shed and letting him follow as they left the old station behind.
"How am I meant to do that?" He asked. "Please don't ask me to throw a game…" He begged.
"It's not about the basketball." She snapped her head up. "I'd never ask you to do that." She frowned.
"Okay, I'm sorry…" He offered, seeing some of the East High class crowding in the distance as they laughed and made their way home from the cinema at the centre of town.
He had to go a different way to her from here to get home, but he continued with her.
"Troy, go home now." She said softly, stopping in the shadows.
"I'm walking you home." He objected.
"You don't need to." She assured him.
"Apparently, I do. Apparently I need to prove myself." He launched back.
"By risking death?" She joked.
"I don't like the thought of Aidan hiding in the shadows…" He admitted.
She had to smile at his very blatant possessiveness despite their non-existent status.
"I'll kick him in the nuts if he touches me." She said flatly.
He was hovering, hands tucked in pockets as she watched him.
"I don't know what else I can do…" He said desperately. He wanted so badly for her to work with him and he was willing to do anything- even throw a game if he had to. But she had passed his own little test by saying she would never ask him to do that. That made her different to at least five other manipulative girls he had dated.
"Just…just keep being you." She said gently, her bold brashness dipping for a few seconds to reveal a softer Gabi, one he had never seen before.
She turned to go again and he bit his lip, sighing.
"Gabi…" He called softly, opening his eyes, seeing her tiny figure encased in the dark.
"Yes, Troyby?" She asked expectantly.
"Be careful…On Friday, after the game. Just promise me you won't go home alone." He asked, feeling his tummy tighten with fear at her next words.
She seemed to understand though because her dark eyes widened with the knowledge of what he was telling her.
"I promise." Was all she said as she vanished into the dark.
He still didn't know if she was agreeing to his offer or not. But she was beginning to trust him and he had to do everything in his power to make sure he didn't ruin that. Gabriella Montez just might be his ticket to freedom and she didn't even know it yet.
---
The gymnasium was packed to the brim. The noise level was breaking sound barriers. The air was thick with anticipation, not only for the game, but for what would happen afterwards.
East High Wildcats and West High Bears had yet to complete a game without a fight of some description breaking out.
Gabi high kicked her legs as she rallied the crowd and in the distance, she was all too aware of a certain Wildcat, warming up with his team mates.
The spotlight hit the centre of the floor and the narrator took a microphone and began to introduce the teams and the cheer squads. Any minute now she would be up there strutting her stuff.
The spotlight was addictive, just like the muscle burn in her body as she performed to the crowd, her own movements exact to the beat of the music, her squad following suit.
The final split announced the end of the routine and a few wolf-whistles rounded the hall, making her smile in appreciation.
She jogged off the centre spot after her team, finding a hand going around her wrist as she went to disappear into the changing rooms before the game started.
"Nice ass." The voice announced and she turned, frowning.
It was pretty much what Troy had said to her the night he'd found her dancing but somehow, his words were more complimentary than the black boy's.
She wrenched her wrist from his grip.
"But not yours to comment on." She lifted a brow.
"Not yet. I could get you in a heartbeat." Chad stated confidently.
Gabi laughed at this. "You surely are kidding me." She offered to his stare.
"We'll see, Montez. When you're screaming my name, you'll be taking that back." He promised.
"I'm not even gonna remember your name, let alone scream it." She returned in disgust, turning to go.
"Don't bet on it!" Chad called after her.
Troy jogged over, turning his friend by the shoulder.
"What are you doing?" He asked, just as Aidan crashed over to them, pushing Chad to the floor.
"Don't you dare speak to our squad, Danforth." Aidan threatened.
Chad merely chuckled and stood up. "Or what, Gregory?" Chad asked back.
"She's mine, alright?" He announced, causing Troy to look at Aidan now.
"I don't think so. Someone told me she only likes girls." Chad riled.
"Oh she likes men alright, only real ones. Ones with a big dick." He announced crudely.
Troy felt his anger rise at Aldan's words but knew he had to stay calm. They were just words. Gabriella was her own person and it wasn't up to him who she chose to sleep with or date. He couldn't help the little flicker of jealousy that ran through him at the thought she had slept with Aidan, though.
"Let's go, Chad." He said quietly to his buddy.
Chad looked at him like he was crazy.
"Yeah, run along now, little boy. Just like Toy here told ya." Aidan gloated and Troy ignored the dig at his name, taking a breath and blocking Chad from fronting up to Aidan.
"Gonna get you out there." Chad warned through clenched teeth, pointing to the floor of the gymnasium as he backed up, Troy following him with a relieved sigh.
"What the fuck, you're gonna let him stand there and talk to us like that, man?" Chad asked him as they made their way to the bench, stripping off their warm-up gear.
"I told you, win it out there first." Troy repeated.
Chad nodded slowly.
"Okay, sure thing, Captain." He agreed as the team assembled for their pre-game words.
Game underway, cheerleaders at each side of the floor, Gabi silently worried about what had gone on between Aidan and the East High boys. She had heard voices, she had even heard Aidan claim she liked big dicks, but she hadn't heard much of what was said in return.
Bending over to shake her pom-poms low by her ankles, before slowly bringing them up her body, she was startled to feel a cheeky pinch of her butt and whipped round to find Aidan grinning like an ape at her.
Great, that was all she needed. Along with Troy's subtle suggestion that she needed to watch her back for East High boys, she now had to fend off Aidan as well.
As much a she loved using her body as a tool to both attract boys and to tease them, she now felt like her little game was becoming far to dangerous to play.
It was only fun if the person she was teasing could be trusted and Aidan was definitely not one of them. Neither was Chad if his innuendo was anything to go by. He had practically told her he was going to bed her whether she like it or not.
The thought ran a trickle of fear down her spine. If there was one thing she couldn't bear, it was being forced. She'd had enough of that where she had come from and she didn't need any more, thank you.
She may have lost her virginity before she came to Albuquerque but she was determined not to take that step again until she was ready. Until she was in love. Which wouldn't be for some time yet, as her rules stated.
"Go Bears!" She called as Aidan hit a basket and he swept down the court line toward her but she jumped out of the way before he could take another grope at her and she smiled to herself at his shocked look.
He came back toward her, angry. "Hey, you're a bear, remember. You belong to me." He stated possessively.
"Uh, no. I don't belong to anyone." She returned.
"You want that Wildcat to be all over you?" He jerked his head to Chad and she caught sight of Troy, subtly eyeing her to make sure she was ok.
"I don't want you all over me or him all over me, thank you very much." She pointed out. "There are fourteen of us here, go pick some other unsuspecting female." She suggested, placing her hands on her hips.
Aidan licked his teeth and jogged off, glaring at her over his shoulder.
She kept a steady gaze back, only flicking her eyes to Troy once Aidan was back at the circle.
He squinted, a tiny sign to ask if she were okay.
"Kick some Wildcat butt!" She yelled, showing she were fine. More than fine. She didn't need any egotistical basketball player to fight her battles and claim her like she was some pathetic girl.
--
Taking heed of Troy's suggestion, Gabi dressed in her sweat pants and hoodie, covering her skin where she would normally bare it.
She waited for Taylor at her locker, smiling when she saw her friend approach shyly.
"Hey, girl." Gabi greeted warmly.
"Hey, Gabi." Taylor smiled back. "I'm glad you called me. It seems like ages since we had a proper girly talk." Taylor commented.
"I know." Gabi looked down at her toes. "I'm sorry I've been a crap friend."
"Hey, you've had cheer practice. I know how important it is to you." Taylor's dark eyes shone with understanding.
"Did you see those boys acting all like cavemen earlier? Ugh." Gabi rolled her eyes.
"You don't know how beautiful you are, Gabi. All the boys are fighting over you." Taylor pointed out.
"For my beauty?" She wondered. "All any one of them ever said to me was that I had a nice ass. I don't see how my face came into any of that. All they want is to bed me." She tutted sceptically.
Even the Wildcat, she added silently.
"You are amazing, Gabi. I'm glad you're taking your time to choose, though." Taylor smiled as they walked side by side in the dark, cold air.
"I'm not choosing any of them." He curled her lip to punctuate her disgust.
"Oh." Taylor was confused Gabi could tell, but she had a lot riding on her cheer season.
"No boys, remember? My motto." She added.
"Oh, sure." Taylor smiled wanly.
"What about men?" Chad asked from behind them and Gabi sighed.
"Let me know when I see one." She returned without even looking at him.
So Troy's warning had been right. Had he known about this all along? She turned then, wondering if he was there but he wasn't. Just Chad.
"Oh but Aidan was very particular about your requirements…that you like a well-endowed man." Chad grinned, clutching at his crotch.
She allowed her gaze to drop there, then lift back to his face.
"That's not gonna be you then is it, Chad?" She asked sweetly, taking Taylor's arm and continuing toward her house.
"Hey…" He called and caught them up, taking her arm in a vicious grip, his face coming close to hers. "Don't insult me and walk off…" He warned.
"Get the fuck off me." She warned very precisely.
"Or what?" He laughed.
"Or this." She said and swiftly brought her knee up, grabbing Taylor's hand and running for her house, not looking back as she heard Chad groaning.
She had never been so pleased to see her porch before.
"Oh my god, Gabi!" Taylor said between hitched, strained breaths.
"I know, I'm sorry, Tay." She panted back.
"I'm gonna walk with you every night." Taylor promised.
"No. I should never have put you in danger." Gabi swore. "I'll find another way home." She promised, her mind a blank as to how she was going to avoid the ever increasing pressure of East High versus West High.
She dropped her head into her hands as she realised there was no way out of this. She'd have to fight her way through, like usual.