A/N: I am really sorry about the long wait; i had school. It's longer than the other chapters, so that might help! ) Read(dott)review(dott)ENJOY!! I think it goes on a bit, dragging, but it's good, i left a bit-of-a-cliffy at the end, makes 'em wait more!!!
Disclaimer: I don't own High School Muscial (1 or 2 or 3!) I only own the plot and OCs! :)
Chapter Four: Cousin Reunion
The sun was streaming in through the huge window as I got up and groaned "Why does it have to be bright in summer?!"
I checked the time on my cell phone; it said 8:09 am. I rolled my eyes; the house would be asleep right now; unless Troy was up! Because Mollie and I were always asleep late and mom went out for work very early at 7:30 am, so I wouldn't be waking up at the same time as her until I start school, then we'd both leave the house at the same time, 7:00 am.
I yawned a thought, for a split second, of going back to sleep, but no; the scent of bacon and eggs woke me up immediately!
I had no idea that Troy could cook, being a guy and all; I mean, it had to be Troy cooking! Mom was out to work, and Mollie was asleep at the end of my bed!
I walked into the bathroom, washed my face and tied my hair up into a messy bun.
I looked at myself in the mirror and saw a very 'cute-but-tired-but-also-really-beautiful' 15 year old looking back at me. I smiled at myself and sauntered down the stairs into the kitchen where Troy was frying bacon on the stove I giggled, he heard and turned around, smiling, it was obviously me! "Watch out! Don't burn my breakfast!" I laughed as he turned back to the stove; I walked up to him and stood right behind him, without him noticing, of course! "So…why are you making breakfast?"
He jumped a bit, but then quickly went back to cooking, grinning. "I felt like it…Hey, did you know that our mom's are exactly the same! The whole kitchen is unerringly the same as mine!"
"Weird. Major Weird." he smiled and said, "There, your food is ready."
I smiled, "Smells great! Have you eaten?" he shook his head, "C'mon, share with me." He shrugged and we sat at the table.
I started eating, cautiously, as I didn't know what kind of cook he was…
"Oh my god! This tastes so good!" I smiled in surprise; I didn't know that he was this good! He grinned at me, "Unexpected, huh?" I nodded, as my mouth was full. He just smiled as he finished his half of his breakfast, more like three quarters; but I let him take it, I wasn't too hungry anyway.
"I'm gonna go take a shower, after helping you cleaning up, of course!" He just kept grinning as we loaded the dish and glasses into the dishwasher. "Cool, I was just gonna wait for mom to drop my stuff off, then I'll go for a shower." I smiled and nodded before I went up to my room to choose something to wear. I searched my first wardrobe…I found nothing perfect, in the second one, I found a cute yellow top and some skinny jeans to go with it; I'd checked the weather before coming up here, and I found that it wasn't gonna be as hot as yesterday was, it was only gonna be 84°F, not too hot, just warm. I took a long shower; stepped out of the shower, put dome clothes on, blow dried my hair, although it still bounced back into curls, I think that it looked great like that.
I put on some foundation, a bit of eyeliner, a load of mascara, a stroke of blusher and smear of lip gloss. I checked myself in the mirror one last time and saw perfection smiling back, I grinned, content, and walked into the hallway, finding Troy, in his pyjamas, at the door talking to his mom. I smiled at his mom and covered his eyes with my hands, "Guess who?"
I felt him try to roll his eyes, I giggled, he replied, "Oh, let me think…is it Mollie?"
"No!" I giggled, he smiled; I could feel it, even if I couldn't see it;
"Who is it…?"
"You have gotta guess!" I persuaded him; he shrugged and said, "Okay, fine, it's you, my Gabi." I grinned, "Yup!" I took my hands from over his eyes, he turned around and slipped his arms around my waist, so that I couldn't get away.
I looked up at his face, he was grinning. I rolled my eyes at him and smiled at his , then I gave him a 'Do-you-really-think-you-were-gonna-get away-with-it?' look, then ducked out of his grasp and ran up to my room and locked the door. I turned around and suddenly realised that I'd ran up into his room by accident! Oops! I couldn't even go out, because he was standing there waiting for me. I bit my lip, with no idea coming up in my head.
I knew him well enough to know that he wasn't going to give up anytime soon!
I looked around the room, it wasn't different, but the bed wasn't made and the blinds were closed; different to what I saw last night.
He knocked on the door, I knocked back; I could tell that he was smiling.
After around…five minutes, I gave up and opened the door.
He was standing there grinning; I smiled and kissed his cheek; he automatically wrapped his arms around me again, I smiled as we walked down the stairs into the hall; he might have not realised it, but he still had his arm around my waist. His mom obviously stopped it and looked at his hand, then at his face; he didn't take the hint. She tried clearing her throat, that didn't work either; I tried stepping on his foot, he just looked at me, I rolled my eyes at him.
We walked up to his mom, who was smiling, obviously. She tried once more to look at his hand on my waist, and then look up at his face. This time it worked and he looked down at his hand on my waist, then slowly dropped it and looked at us, his mom and I, sheepishly, I rolled my eyes at him then spoke to Lucy, "He finally took your hint!" she smiled and I turned to her son, "What took you so long to respond?" I knew that his answer was gonna be 'witty' according to him; "I was just gazing at your beautiful face. I hope that's not a crime." You see?
"Whatever, the crime bit at the end totally ruined it."
He rolled his eyes at me and spoke to his mom, "Hey, mom; have you bought my stuff with you?" she nodded and handed him the gym bag by her side; he took it off of her and places it on the bottom step of the staircase. I just stood there watching, while his mom closed the door behind her.
He turned around and said, "I'm gonna go take a shower, then we can go out somewhere, okay?" I nodded in response and he took the gym bag upstairs and disappeared out of sight.
I sighed and walked up to my room, hearing to shower turn on in Troy's room. I smiled for no reason, and then heard my cell phone ring;
'Used to think that I wasn't strong enough
Too afraid of really fallin' in love (ohh)
Something told me I could let go with you
And that's how I made my decision
To giv-'
It was my 19 year old cousin, Noël.
"Good God! Gabriella Christiana Montez! How long has it been!?"
I grinned; this was Noël's usual reaction. This was only because she lived in Arizona; and when I lived in New York, we lived really far apart, so we couldn't see each other as much, but now we've moved to New Mexico, she's probably calling to remind me that we can see each other more often! It's typical Noël! She'll also gossip about everyone and everything!
"Hey Noël, how are ya?" I smiled; our conversations were really similar at the beginning."I'm good thanks! What about you? How's Albuquerque?"
I grinned, "Albuquerque's great, moved in yesterday morning! I'm good here; I met this guy, and w-"
"A guy!? Who? What? Where? And when?!" Sometimes Noël reminds me of Nessa…or maybe it's the other way round…I laugh at their similarity in personalities.
"Who: Troy Alexander Bolton; What: I met him and have a kinda huge crush on him; Where: I met him in the backyard and we did the eye magnet thing twice; When: This morning." I smirked at what I was gonna get in reply; exactly the same as what Nessa gave…
There was silence
"Noël…?"
"Oh My God! You did the Eye Magnet thing…twice!!!! That is totally something special!" You see, they're totally twins, I should tell Troy.
"I know…" I replied.
"I am so happy for you!" she was truly excited, but she'd gotten it all wrong… "Noël, hun, I think you've got this one thing wrong…"
"What!?" she seemed a bit…anxious.
"One little thing. We're not dating."
There was more silence.
"No…?"
"Oh, right…please can I speak to this guy?" she was really random, just like Nessa…sometimes I think that they should be sisters!
"Ummm…and what tells you that he's here right now?"
"The tone of your voice." this is why we were cousins, she could tell my every move and anything I said, she could detect a lie or something; it gets scary sometimes.
"Yeah…he's here, but he's in the shower…I don't think you'd wanna wait till he gets out…" Actually, I had no idea f he was out or not, or if he was gonna take long or not; but I was guessing; actually I didn't know if he was standing outside watching me right now or not!
I sneaked a peak out of my room. The coast was clear, I popped back into my room and got back on my cell; Noël had just started talking again, "So! I can totally wait! You know, I know; we both know that I have time for it." I grinned; Noël went to University of Arizona in Tuscan, Arizona; they had long summer vacations.
"Ummm…I gotta go…bye!"
Yet I didn't hang up.
"Gabi, I'll talk later, I gotta go; Mark's calling me."
I smiled, Mark was her boyfriend; they'd been together since they were in their junior year, they'd had crushes on each other since they were freshmen, which is when they met. They're so cute together; they're perfect for each other. I hope Troy and I turn out like that, that is if we ever go out!
"Yeah, bye Noël!"
"Bye!" we both hung up at the same time; I flipped my cell phone off and looked up and saw Troy standing there, smiling, his hair was wet and messy, it made him look hot; he was wearing a Ralph Lauren shirt and dark jeans; he was an image of perfection; the finishing touch? His cerulean blue eyes.
I was staring at him longingly, when he cleared my mind by clearing his throat. I snapped out of my daydream, then wondered how long he'd been standing there…I hope that he hadn't been there long! He could've heard my whole conversation with Noël, hearing that I had a huge crush on him! Oh My God! I am gonna die; he can't hear that, that's between me, Nessa and Noël! He can't possibly know that…then why is he standing there grinning!? He might hate me now! He might not ever want to speak t me anymore! Oh My God! What am I gonna do? He's gonna hate me forever, and now I'll never get my dreams to come true! Never! I'm gonna die unmarried, unloved and most of all, lonely with my Troy. Oh My God! I will die homeless and loveless, without Troy! What if he-
"Gabi?" I snapped out of my worries and the screaming words in my head…"Yeah…?" I replied, as if nothing had happened; maybe I was worrying for no reason, maybe he hasn't heard me! I hope so! I really do!
Okay, inhale…exhale…inhale…exhale; much better-
"Gabs?" Troy had walked all the way up to me, he was looking down at me with a whole load of concern in his eyes; I had a weird urge to lean up and kiss those beautiful lips right now; but I pressed it further down into my mind, so I wouldn't do something I'd regret.
"Yeah…?" I looked up into his deep blue eyes, as if nothing was wrong.
"Nothing, I just wondered…you were in your own little world…what were you thinking?" I smiled and shrugged, "Nothing…just, nothing. Why?"
"No reason…wanna go now?" I nodded in response and then said, "Let me just get my bag." He waited till I found my handbag and stuffed my cell phone, lip salve, mascara, lip gloss, iPod and credit card.
I put some dry food in Mollie's bowl and filled her water bowl with water and left three treats out around the house; I always did this when I left the house alone to her. I locked all the doors and windows before leaving; then triple locked the front and back doors before we left the house.
We walked down the same street, in the same way at a similar time as yesterday; yet it somehow felt better.
"Where are we going?" I asked Troy, as we made our way through early shoppers in the high street; "Macy's." he replied with one word.
I smiled, "Why?"
"I want you to meet someone." He simply replied I looked up at him for two seconds, and then looked away; he wants me to meet someone. Who are they, a guy or a girl? I guess I'd find out soon!
We entered a huge Macy's branch; it was bigger than the one I regularly shopped at back in New York; but not as big as the one I saw in LA when Nessa and I went two summers ago.
Troy looked down at me, I smiled up as he led me, blindly to somewhere…I found that we were heading towards the shoe section, I shrugged, I had no idea who we were going to meet, and the shoe section didn't help.
"Troy! Oh My God! Troy! Over Here!" some girl screamed; Troy smiled and we walked over to a tall brunette in jeans and a simple t-shirt; "Hey Troy!" her voice was really high pitched, totally annoying. Troy grinned again, "Hey Vicki, How've you been?" she grinned, "Good, U of A has been doing me well, ya; so what new with you?" then she noticed me, half hiding behind Troy, "Oh! Troy, you haven't introduced me to your girlfriend-"
I smiled, saving Troy, "Oh! Troy you idiot; I'm Gabriella, Troy new neighbour, and you're-"
She smiled warmly, "I'm Troy's cousin, Victoria, but known as Vicki! I'm 20, I go to U of A, University of Albuquerque, second year there! And Troy hasn't told me anything about you so, sorry about the, you know. I accidentally said that you were Troy's girlfriend, it was by mistake, I mean, I know how annoyed you'd be; my baby cousin is really unattractive, so I don't blame you for not dating him!" I giggled, Vicki was really my type of friend! She reminded me a bit of Noël!
"You know what, you remind me a lot of my cousin, Noël! She's in Tuscany, Arizona, she's at University of Arizona. She's 19 and really loud, we look pretty similar and we're always getting along whenever we see each other!" Troy glared at us, I shrugged at him, "It's not our fault that we're easy with each other, unlike some people that I could mention!"
Vicki smirked and we both laughed hysterically, for no reason! Troy just stared at us weirdly, and then shuffled away from us, indicating to other people that he didn't know us.
We stopped laughing after five minutes, then looked around for Troy,
"Where is that idiot?" Vicki looked around for him, I smiled, I'd seen him way down the isle, randomly looking at some silver stilettos in my size. I pointed hi out to Vicki and told her about the stilettos, she squealed, "Awww! He really likes you! He's looking at shoes for you!" she was getting pretty excited about this one little thing; but I, on the other hand, was confused, "How do you know that?" I smiled. She rolled her eyes and replied, "Why would I not know that? I am his cousin, and only sister! So, technically, I should know and it's my duty!" she grinned and then we carried on spying at Troy.
That lasted for 20 minutes, before Troy came up to us; mainly me; and asked if I liked the pair of shoes he'd been looking at for the last half hour!
I nodded in response and said, "They fit me too" As I cat walked down the isle Troy gaping at my confidence in 5 inch 'thinner-than-a-stick' heels. I smiled as I walked back to them, "I really love these, they're pretty comfortable, how much are they?"
He smiled, "They're about $60." He waited for my reaction; "That's okay, we'll buy them." Apparently he hadn't finished his reply to my price question, "They're $60 each, so that means that they're $120, in total."
"Okay, they're totally going back on the shelf." I took them off instantly, there was no way mom was gonna let me buy these! I wasn't allowed to waste money, even though she was earning $200, 000 a year! We, apparently, needed to save up for university and the future. I mean,
W-h-a-t-e-v-e-r.
He stopped me before I put them back on the shelf; he stopped me in one of the worst ways, my grasping my hand.
I rolled my eyes and turned around into an embrace.
I knew that Vicki was squealing in the background, and I also knew that this was all being recorded on CCTV. I knew it all, yet I loved every moment of it.
He let go of me, grinning. I rolled my eyes and handed him the shoes, "You win, let's buy pay for them."
I walked off with Vicki, who knew her way well around here. I mean, seriously; I'm not stupid enough to wander round here on my own, not knowing anything about here, I'd definitely get lost!
Troy tagged behind us and tried to stop me from paying with my card and handed over $120 in cash, instead. I rolled my eyes at him; typical guy, doesn't let the girl pay, whether he should or shouldn't.
We walked out of Macy's with one small bag in my hand; compared to the rest of the people coming out of the place, we looked extremely weird; every other person who came out the shop was loaded with bags, hardly able to carry all of them!
I smiled at Vicki, who was gonna come round the place with us.
We walked all the way to East High, again. I asked Troy, "Why are we here, again?" He looked down at me and smiled, "Two reasons; you need to get familiar to the place; and Vicki needs to relive memories."
I smiled warmly to Vicki; of course she'd gone to East High and graduated two years ago! She'd probably done something great during gap year, and then started University of Albuquerque; it's as simple as that, but I didn't understand till now.
We waked though the gates, I looked at Vicki, looking for a sign on her face for recognition; Troy was doing the same. Vicki saw the front doors and, you won't believe it, started crying. Hard.
A/N: I hope you liked that, plz review!
xx
PS: the song used for Gabi's ringtone is 'Hold Me Now' by Mia Rose (youtube star currently recording album 'My Philosophy' can't wait! Please find the song on youtube or the net, it's really good! xx
PPS: Noel and Vicki, new characters that will deffo come around again and again and again and again in this stroy (and sequels!) and will help Troy and Gabi through...life...including OCs, and other others FROM the movies:) I hope this is maknig sense! lol
xx peace