Thanks to spotzy, tashLOVE, liv3.in.lov3 and Mony19 for reviewing the last chapter!!

Chapter 3

After dropping Gabriella and Marie off at home, Chad couldn't wait to get to his own house and find out what Troy thought of Gabriella. According to Gabriella, she and Troy had had nearly every single class together and so he was sure Troy had definite thoughts on Gabriella-unfortunately more than Chad had counted on.

When Chad walked into the house, he could hear Jack and Troy talking in the kitchen and was making his way there when he heard Troy mention Gabriella's name. Curious as to why his best friend was talking about her, Chad paused and listened to the conversation.

"There's something about her that's different, dad," Troy said as he helped cut up vegetables for the stir fry his dad was making. "I don't know what it is, but she's different from the other girls at East High."

"Are you saying she didn't faun over you like the other girls?" Jack teased.

"Dad," Troy rolled his eyes. "It's not like that. She's just different than the other girls."

"She certainly doesn't look like she puts as much time into her appearance as Sharpay," Jack stated.

"Maybe," Troy nodded.

As they started to talk about something else, Chad went up to his room and laid down on his bed. This couldn't be happening to him, not with Gabriella. Troy could have any girl he wanted at East High and he wanted Gabriella, the one girl that Chad actually stood a chance with. If only there was a way for Chad to mark his territory…

That was it! He would have to tell Troy that Gabriella was his and he needed to back off.

Chad waited until after dinner to approach his step-brother. He knocked on Troy's bedroom door twice before letting himself in. "Hey, can we talk?"

"Yeah, sure, what's up?" Troy asked, looking up from his computer.

"You need to stay away from Gabriella," Chad said simply, wanting to get straight to the point.

"Excuse me?" Troy couldn't believe what he was hearing from Chad's mouth.

"Stay away from her, Troy. I mean it."

"What are you her father?"

"No, but I know him."

"So, you're saying that I should stay away from her because you know her father?"

"No, I'm saying stay away from her because I saw her first."

"Oh really?"

"Yeah, I met her when mom and Jack were on their honeymoon."

"Big deal, you've known her a whole week longer than me."

"Damn it, Troy! You've already got every freaking girl at East High in love with you! Why can't you just let me have one?! I only want one and that's Gabriella."

"What makes you think she wants you?"

Downstairs, Zoey looked at Jack as they heard the boys yelling at each other. She gave him a look and Jack nodded before he tossed the dish towel he'd been drying dishes with on the counter.

"I'm on it," he said. He kissed her cheek then headed for the stairs. He had sensed unease brewing during dinner-mostly from Chad directed at Troy. He wasn't sure what had happened to make Chad so mad at Troy, but when he got to Troy's room, he found the two boys wrestling in Troy's room. Hoping they'd be able to work it out on their own, he leaned against the door jam.

"You're just jealous that the girls like me more than they like you," Troy stated.

"They only like you because they want to be most popular guy in school," Chad retorted as he put Troy in a headlock.

"I can't breath!" Troy screeched.

Sensing Chad was mad enough to choke his brother; Jack stepped into action and broke the two boys apart. He pushed Troy onto the bed and pushed Chad into the chair at the desk.

"Would you two like to fill me in on what the hell is going on up here?" He demanded as he looked from one mad, arms crossed teen to the other. Neither boy answered. "Alright, then, Chad tell me why you're mad at Troy."

"He has every freaking girl at school chasing after him and he wants Gabriella," Chad stated. "But she's mine."

"She's not yours," Troy rolled his eyes. "And you can't tell me to stay away from something that isn't yours. You could try, but that doesn't mean I'd listen."

"You two should be glad your mother isn't up here, if she heard you talking about a girl like she was a piece of meat, she'd have your hides," Jack shook his head. "Chad, what criteria are you using that says Gabriella is yours."

"I met her while you and mom were on your honeymoon," Chad replied. "I even took her and her sister to and from school today."

"So that's why you were up early," Jack smiled before returning to the subject at hand. "The way I see it boys, you have two options. The first being that neither of you dates her and the second being that you decide which one of you gets to date her." He looked between the two. "I'll be downstairs, but know, we're listening and I don't want to hear any more wrestling."

"It should be me," Chad said after Jack left the room. "She's my friend and I've known her the longest."

"That's the dumbest excuse I've ever heard," Troy rolled his eyes.

"I don't care, Troy, she's my friend and I care about her a lot," Chad narrowed his eyes at his step-brother. "I won't let you hurt her and don't say you won't, because I know you better than you know yourself, Troy. You can't give a girl like Gabriella what she needs. You're eyes wander to much."

"Yeah, well I guess you know best then, so fine, I'll stay away from her," Troy stated, his teeth clenched. "I hope you two are happy with each other." He left his room and went into the bathroom, slamming the door behind him.

Chad went into his room and collapsed onto his bed. He was doing the right thing, he knew he was. Troy was notorious for being a date 'em and leave 'em type of guy-not in the have sex with 'em and dump 'em sense, but in the go out on a couple dates with them before moving on to someone elese, who was most likely their best friend.

Chad cared too much about Gabriella to let Troy do that to her. He was doing this for both her good and his own-after all, since Troy tended to date a girl and all of her best friends, Chad had a hard time finding dates because he was Troy's friend.

It still irked Chad that the cheerleaders would squeal and cheer when ever Troy's name was said. Who cared if Troy was the Wildcat superstar? He wasn't the only man on the team and he certainly couldn't win basketball games by himself.

Truth in all, Chad was sick of playing second best to Troy and he felt like the time had finally come for Troy to take a back seat to him.

So I've decided to stick with my original ending which will be in Chapter 7... half of you will be happy with that ending and the other half of you will be made happy with the first alternate ending. I've started writing the last chapter and I hope to finish it tonight and get started on the alternate endings. Wish me luck!