Thanks to spotzy, ToniMarie63, heyhiyahowyadoin, xpinkdiamondx and bleumanistheonlyman for reviewing the last chapter!!

I tried to update earlier, but I couldn't login. So here you guys go, only two official chapters left :-D

Chapter 5

The last few weeks of September were quiet in the Bolton-Danforth household. Zoey had hoped that the silence was due to lots of studying-especially on Chad's part, but after getting Chad's progress report, she knew it had to be something else.

"Don't worry about it," Jack advised after she had expressed her concern to him. "We simply have a girl problem on our hands."

"What type of girl problem?" She asked.

"Chad and Troy both like Gabriella," Jack told her.

"They do?" She asked surprised. Gabriella had been over numerous times for dinner and every one of those nights Troy had made himself scarce.

Jack nodded.

"Well what are we going to do?" She asked him.

"Nothing, it's best if we let the two of them work this out, Zoe," Jack stated.

Zoey hadn't been pleased with his response, but agreed to go with his ruling to let Chad and Troy deal with the situation on their own.

While Zoey worried about her sons, Gabriella hoped that something would happen and Troy would ask her to go with him to the homecoming dance. But with just one week until the dance, she was loosing hope.

"You should just ask him," Taylor stated. "It's the twenty-first century; we don't have to wait for men to ask us anything."

"No, he has to ask her," Sharpay insisted. "It would be social suicide for her to ask him to homecoming."

"If you haven't noticed, the guys at our school are morons," Taylor said. "If she wants to go with Troy to the dance, she needs to ask him."

"You or I could get away with asking him, Taylor, but she's only been here for a month, if she asked Troy to homecoming and he said no and people heard, she'd be made fun of for the rest of the school year," Sharpay crossed her arms.

"So I'll just go to his house and ask him," Gabriella said. "I have to go over there to pick up a book I left over there anyway."

"You sure hang out with Chad a lot," Taylor said, glancing at Sharpay.

"Yeah, so?" Gabriella asked as they walked to class. "He's my friend. He's the first person I met when I moved here."

"Are you sure Troy isn't interpreting your hanging out with Chad as you and Chad dating?" Taylor asked her.

"Me and Chad dating?" Gabriella asked. "We aren't dating. Chad is just my friend, besides Troy is Chad's brother, if anybody would know Chad and I aren't dating, it would be him. They tell each other everything."

"I don't know," Sharpay said, a worried look crossing her face. "They haven't exactly been the closest friends since, well, you came to East High."

"Sharpay!" Taylor exclaimed.

"Well it's true," Sharpay replied. "Gabriella is my friend and I want her to know the truth, I'm not going to lie to her."

"Look guys, I'm gonna go to class, I'll see you later," Gabriella said.

"Good job," Taylor glared at Sharpay before she followed Gabriella into the classroom. She took her seat next to Gabriella and said, "Sharpay doesn't know what she's talking about, Gabriella."

After lunch, Gabriella got a note from the office saying that both Chad and her sister had checked out of school complaining of sick stomachs.

"Great," she muttered. She handed the note to Taylor, who looked at her confused. From the corner of her eye, she saw Taylor scribble something on the piece of paper then hand it back to her.

You should ask Troy for a ride home. Then you can ask him to homecoming!

Gabriella looked at her friend and shook her head no. But after class got out, Gabriella watched in horror as Taylor bounded over to Troy and started talking to him. She watched as he looked back at her then nodded.

"What did you do?" She demanded as she and Taylor walked to the locker room.

"I just told him that Chad went home sick and you needed a ride," Taylor stated. "He said he'd give you a ride, you just have to meet him by his locker."

"I hate you," Gabriella muttered.

The ride home from school was silent from the moment Gabriella arrived at Troy's locker. He led her to his truck and turned on the radio so it was too loud for them to talk. Then he dropped her off at home then without even saying goodbye, he sped off.

It wasn't until an hour later that Gabriella remembered she needed the book she'd left at Chad's house. Since her mom was home, Gabriella borrowed her car and drove over to his house.

"Hi Gabriella," Zoey greeted, opening the front door. "Chad's asleep."

"I actually came here to talk to Troy," Gabriella said. "And pick up a book I left here the other night."

"Oh," Zoey's mouthed formed into an o. "Troy should be in his room, I'll go get him, but you can get your book-it's on the kitchen counter."

Gabriella grabbed her book from the counter and was walking out of the kitchen when Troy and Zoey came down the stairs.

"I'll be in the kitchen," Zoey informed them. She slipped into the kitchen, but stayed near the door so she could hear them.

"Why are you here, Gabriella?" Troy asked, speaking to her for the first time in weeks. He had been surprised when Zoey had informed him that Gabriella was here to see him and when he tried to tell his stepmom to tell Gabriella he wasn't there, she told him she would do no such thing and that he had to go downstairs and talk to her.

"Why didn't you call me?" Gabriella asked him, trying to keep her voice levels equal. "I thought you liked me Troy."

"Well obviously you thought wrong," Troy said. Even he winced at his words, he hadn't meant to be so harsh.

"Then why did you ask for my phone number?" She asked, her voice on the edge of cracking.

"Just wanted to make you feel welcome, I guess," he replied. "Is there anything else you wanted to ask?"

"No," Gabriella said, she turned and fled the house.

In the kitchen, Zoey's brows furrowed in confusion-why did Troy tell Gabriella he didn't like her, when his dad thought he did? Hearing footsteps coming towards her, she sat down at the table and picked up the newspaper and pretended to read as Troy came in to get something to drink.

"I know you were listening," Troy said, off handedly. "I saw your reflection in the mirror."

"Why did you tell her you don't like her?" Zoey asked him. Troy shrugged. "Troy, talk to me."

"Ask Chad," he replied. He pulled his keys out of his pocket then left the house.

Curious, Zoey went up to Chad's room, but sighed when she found her son asleep. Her questioning would have to wait until later.

When he heard the door close, Chad opened his eyes and stared at the wall. He had come out of his room to get something to drink, but had stopped when he heard Gabriella talking to Troy. He couldn't see her, but he could tell from her voice that she was hurting.

Just thinking of the sound of her voice made his stomach hurt-not from the flu, but from guilt.