Eh! It's Thirteen! That's an unlucky number! Unfortunately, this chapter is also kinda short...

Note: After writing Shaylee's ramble, I wanted some gum...really bad...

Disclaimer: RYAN IS MINE! (I wish)

I Trust You- Chapter Thirteen

Gabriella stood close enough to Troy so other girls would know he was taken, but far away enough to let him know she was still mad at him.

"C'mon Gabriella, I said I was sorry"

Gabriella didn't respond.

"I was just being nice. You know how hard it is to fit in at Eat High."

"Either way, you think she's prettier than me."

"When did I say that?"
"By sitting by her."

"But I was just trying to be nice!"

Annoyed, Gabriella flipped her hair. Doing so, she caught sight of a vibrant red color.

"Is that Ryan Evans with that Shaylee girl?" she asked. Troy turned around quickly 'Too quickly' Gabriella thought. "Well, why don't we go over and say hi."

Ryan watched nervously as Troy and Gabriella made their way over to them. He looked around for an escape path, but it was too late.

"Well what a pleasant surprise!" Gabriella said as she approached their table. Troy sat down next to Shaylee in a 'casual' way. Gabriella glared, but sat next to Ryan. Ryan nervously played with his napkin, avoiding eye contact.

"Well, Shaylee, I see you've made a friend already. How nice." Gabriella smiled sweetly at Shaylee, but Ryan knew she didn't mean it. Gabriella wanted Shaylee to be friendless and alone. Not that Ryan had anything against Gabriella, but if someone challenged her position as 'the prettiest girl in Albuquerque' Gabriella could get pretty nasty in her own way. Shaylee, completely oblivious to the large amount of silent hostility aimed directly at her, smiled back with a genuine smile.

"Yeah. Ryan's a nice guy." She said, playing with what was left of her Slushie with her straw. "He's a good listener too; I don't think he interrupted me once! He met my siblings too. Vican changed her name again. It used to be Violet. Before that it was Avarielle. My brother turned three last week. Did you know that the Kentucky Derby was first held in 1875? Yeah. I didn't know that for a while.I also didn't know thata cow is pregnant for nine months, just like humans.Ooh hey! Look over there! I want a gumball! Anyone else want one?" With that, Shaylee bounced out of her seat and over to a candy machine.

Gabriella stared at the empty seat for a few moments, as if she were unaware that within a minute Shaylee had taken the topic of conversation from Ryan to the Kentucky Derby, to gumballs, and then disappearing in the blink of an eye.

"I don't want a gumball," she responded to the empty seat. Ryan smiled.

"She'll bring you one anyway." Ryan said. He glanced over his shoulder and watched as Shaylee talked with some little kids.

"Wow. She's like, an unstoppable force of nature." Troy commented. "I'd hate to get on her bad side"

"I don't think she has a bad side," Ryan said. Gabriella shot Troy a very nasty look.

"Well, you didn't try very hard to stay off of my bad side!" She hissed. "I can't take this any more Troy! It's either her or me and from the way that you keep staring at her, I think I know who you'll pick! Ryan, call me and tell me what she talks about when you get back home." With that she gave an indignant flip of her dark hair and stormed off.

"Whoa. I think Gabriella just dumped me." Troy said, watching her push past the doors to the girl's bathroom. "That means, maybe I've got a chance with that Shaylee girl?"

Ryan nodded, but bit his lip. If Troy wanted something, he usually got it.

"Ok, well, I'm going then. Why don't you talk to her for me? You know? Do a favor for your friend, right? I'll see you later." Troy left the table. Ryan watched as he made his way out the doors. 'Did he seriously just call me a friend?" Ryan thought.

"Oh. Did your friends leave?" Ryan turned to see Shaylee staring at the empty seats. "I guess that's ok, because I wanted another gumball, but I didn't know who else wanted two and I didn't want to get two for myself and have someone feel left out so I just got one for each of us but seeing as there is only two of us now, I can have two and you can have two and I won't have to make a second trip." Ryan smiled, but thought about what Troy had said. If Troy wanted to claim Shaylee as his girlfriend, he would. Ryan sighed. Troy always got everything; he had athletic talents, he got the girl that he wanted, he even got the lead role in the past winter musical. Ryan didn't want to admit, but he was a little jealous of Troy.

"But I mean, two gumballs is a little selfish, but one looses its flavor too fast, so if you eat two, it's sort of like it lasts a little longer. Anyway, which colors do you want? I have red, blue, pink, and green. I don't care which two I have. Except I hate white. White makes me feel sick. But that doesn't really matter, seeing as I didn't get white. Which colors do you like? I like them all. Except white, which I said already. Oh, I also don't like yellow."

"Do you always talk this much?" Ryan asked. Shaylee stopped and stared off into space for a moment.

"No. Well, I mean I talk, but not as much." Shaylee blushed slightly. "I guess I'm just nervous. Which is unusual for me; I'm normally quite calm" Shaylee sat and stared at the four gumballs, sitting quietly for the first time all day. Ryan couldn't help but smile. So he wasn't the only nervous one.

Oh hey! Exciting stuff happened to me! First of all, my best friend in the whole world got caught shoplifting at a mall yesterday (I don't know why she would do something like that. It's so not like her). Also...

I SENT AN EMAIL TO LUCAS GRABEEL!

I mean, yeah, it probably won't get read, but still. I did it!