Chapter One
It was many years ago during a sweet autumn day near a sparkling lake. A young girl of sixteen years was sketching in a notebook. She had wavy black hair and light, playful brown chocolate eyes that were a bit magnified by her black-framed glasses. Strands of her hair blew this way and that, but she did not bother fixing it. She didn't even notice it. All her attention was on the notebook in front of her.
It was a pretty drawing. The paper showed detail in every shadow, fern, tree, and leaf. The odd thing, though, was that she was sketching on the left side of the paper looking as though the picture was only a quarter of the way done, but the left side of the paper held all the fine details of a finished drawing. She was sitting on the ground with her back up against a tall oak overlooking the lake. There was the sound of a purr of an engine in the background, and the girl turned her head from the drawing to the noise.
A handsome looking black Audi had parked in the gravel road, and an even more handsome young boy stepped out of the car. He was seventeen, and his messy brown hair was soft and shined in the light. The wind made it so that his hair was also flying in different directions, but you could still see his bright blue eyes dancing on his face. He walked leisurely toward the girl, and had an easy smile on. It was just so easy for her to smile at that face. His smile widened, and he jogged over and sat down next to her.
He reached for her notebook, but frowned when she pulled it away with a playful smile on her face. The frown disappeared and was replaced with an involuntary smile. He jutted out his bottom lip and held out his hand.
May I please see it? his eyes seemed to be asking.
She held it out in an exasperated surrender, and smiled when she felt him snatch it from her. The girl looked at his face to gauge his reaction. His face was blank at first, but it then changed to confusion as he looked at the sketch. The emotion on his face was amused when he finally handed it back to her. She looked questioningly at him, but he just shook his head at her and turned to the lowering sun. Instead of looking at the sun like he did, she turned her head to the side and looked at his profile.
How can anyone be so perfect?, she thought. She let out a small chuckle because when she spent hours complaining to him about his gaggle of fans, she was basically one of them, fawning over him like a starry-eyed fan-girl.
He turned to her questioningly, but she just shook her head. He smiled, looked down at her hand, and intertwined it with his own. She smiled at their interlocked fingers, and then looked up at him.
"Best friend," he mouthed with a smile and turned back to the sunset.
She internally sighed.
Troy Bolton would never come to the knowledge of Gabriella's deep, undying love for him.
*****