AN: I think only one person caught the foreshadowing in the last chapter...
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Gabriella flinched, taken aback by the words breathed into her ear. She elbowed the body that stood behind her as a reflex to get rid of the grasp that a strange man had on her. She turned her body around, looking her creeper in the eye. She released a sigh of relief when she noticed that it was in fact not a man - simply a teenage boy who seemed to be around her age.
She blinked blankly at the dark-skinned boy with the afro, knitting her sculpted eyebrows. He didn't look Italian.
"I'm sorry, what did you say?"
Chad's breath hitched in fear that he said the phrase wrong. With one glance down onto his phone, he read the phrase that Troy scribbled down earlier. Much to his relief, he did pronounce the right phrase. The only other possible explanation was that this girl didn't understand Italian.
Gulping, he repeated the phrase, "Vorrei fare l'amore voi."
Gabriella frowned in an attempt to translate the words. Her minimum knowledge of French gave her a slight idea of what this sleazy boy was trying to say, and it only brought on repulsion.
"Not interested," Gabriella mumbled bluntly, turning her back on Chad and maneuvering through the crowd in search of her blonde friend. Gabriella wasn't used to the club scene and random guys hitting on her, but she was positive that Sharpay certainly was and knew what to do.
"Wait!" Chad called out, grabbing onto her wrist, "I'm sorry, I'm just... it came out wrong-"
Gabriella struggled to free her wrist of his tight grasp, "I said I'm not interested. Let go!"
"I will, I promise. Just... please do me a favor-"
Gabriella gritted her teeth as he released her hand, planting her hands on her hips in annoyance, "What do you want?"
Chad leaned in close to her, glancing back at Troy in the distance to make sure he was watching them. Too bad he didn't focus his attention on Troy a little more closely or else he would have noticed Troy's red face failing to mask his envy.
"My friend sent me over here on a bet that I could score a chick, so I'd really appreciate it if you just played along," Chad huskily whispered into her ear.
Gabriella groaned, narrowing her eyes, "And what makes you think that I want to play along-" She stopped her rant once her brown eyes scanned over the boy that Chad pointed at. Collegiate boy was currently staring at them, and she was sure that he recognized her just as she recognized him. Instantly, her cheeks flushed as an instantaneous reaction to seeing him. Even from twenty feet away, she could sense those piercing blue eyes gazing into her own and she felt herself drowning in those great sapphire lakes.
"So, what do you say?" Chad leaned down once more and whispered, reaching out for her hand. "Can you just pretend for ten minutes or so? I'll, um, buy you a drink or something-" Chad mentally cursed himself from his lack of suaveness. It seemed that he no longer possessed the calm and collected look that he possessed back in New York before his breakup with Taylor - back when all the girls surrounded him like a pack of pesky flies.
Gabriella paid no mind to him, her eyes still glued to the sandy-haired Collegiate Boy whose blue eyes darkened in rage within a second. Shocked by the visible color change even from a distance, Gabriella shifted her attention back towards Chad, noting the dull brown color in his eyes. His eyes were nothing in comparison to the blue-eyed Adonis and those chiseled cheeks of his.
"Wh-why did your friend send you over here?" Gabriella managed to formulate words that escaped out of her mouth in a tiny whisper. Her own brown eyes clouded a bit in hurt at the thought that he was trying to set her up with his friend despite the connection they seemed to feel during their meeting earlier that afternoon. At the beach he seemed genuinely interested in her as she was in him, and it pained her to know that she managed to develop a crush in such a short amount of time on a guy who didn't reciprocate the feelings.
Chad shrugged, his fingers playing with her hand, "We had nothing better to do and wanted to have some fun before we got wasted."
Gabriella felt stung by his words, avoiding his gaze and instead staring out at a drunken Italian dancing and hopping to the Charlie Brown movement in an effort to hide the hurt from her brown orbs.
So this was all a game to him? Collegiate boy was bored, so he sent his friend over here to chat her up in an effort to entertain himself before he drowned himself in booze? Why didn't he even bother to come over and catch her name, she asked herself before a realization dawned upon her.
He must not have cared. He definitely recognized her, but cared so little that it wasn't even worth his effort to come on over himself.
Another thought crossed her mind. What if Collegiate Boy played this game at the beach today and purposely bumped into her? She sighed, knowing her wild imagination easily made up scenarios that either were or were not true. She simply did not understand why this hurt her so much.
"Why should I let you use me?" Gabriella quipped a reply.
"I'll pay for your drink?" Chad answered feebly, his assertion sounding more like a question.
Gabriella gnawed on the inside of her cheek, crossing her arms as she shrugged, "Fine."
Chad's eyes widened in surprise, twinkling. "Really?"
"Yeah," answered Gabriella in a monotone voice.
"Awesome," Chad grinned, her compliance earning him an ego boost. Maybe the Chadster hadn't lost his skills after all...
"M'lady," Chad held out his arm for her to link onto in his attempt to be chivalrous. With a sigh, she linked arms with him and followed his lead towards the bar table. As Gabriella accompanied him back to the bar, she noticed Sharpay pressed up against the red brick wall with a man who looked significantly older than her resting his hand on the curve of her backside. Shaking her head, Gabriella wondered to herself if there was anything in this world that the infamous daring Sharpay Evans would not do.
Everyone back in New York all knew how much Sharpay liked to party and hook up, and while Gabriella accompanied her friend to parties occasionally, she wasn't spotted at the hottest Downtown Manhattan clubs every Saturday night. It was merely typical that Sharpay would thrust her partying ways upon her even when in Europe. Approaching the bar, Gabriella willed herself not to look over at Troy's direction even when she felt his intense stare at her.
If he wanted to play this game, then so would she.
"What'cha like?"
"Negroni," Gabriella leaning her head to rest on Chad's shoulder as she pointed at the cocktail she wanted from the menu.
Chad turned to the barista, about to order when his eyes caught sight of something he enjoyed very much and instantly, his eyes were glued to her chest. Anyone within a 20 feet radius could see Chad's blatant stare at her chest, and Gabriella couldn't help but roll her eyes at his typical male antics.
"Negroni," Gabriella ordered herself before pointing at the star struck boy whose afro hairs seemed to curl in excitement, "Charge him."
The barista nodded, reaching out to pour gin, sweet vermouth, and bitters. After preparing the drink, she slid it over towards Gabriella, ignoring the fact that Chad was practically undressing her with his eyes. Gabriella grabbed the drink, shoving it down her throat in order to both quench her throat and help lighten her mood from the disappointment
Several seats away and separated by four men, Troy stared furiously at Chad. He clenched his jaw, restraining himself from striding over there and claiming her as his when she seemed too absorbed in the halfwit idiot who fed her the worst pickup lines of the decade.
His joke completely backfired, and Troy couldn't help but think that someone up there really, really hated him. He spent the entire evening searching for this beauty, and there she was, completely ignoring his presence while fawning over his best friend.
Fuck Chad and his wandering eyes.
She didn't deserve him; it was the first thought that came to his mind. In her little black dress, she looked beautiful, stunning, gorgeous, and all the other adjectives that didn't seem to do her justice. Yet there she was sitting next to perhaps the biggest idiot in the entire bar, seemingly oblivious to the hungry look in his eyes as he stared at the barista.
Fuck him. He had everything Troy wanted at the moment and he wasn't even grateful for it.
He wondered how she could possibly agree to that moron buying her a drink, but more importantly, he wondered how she could pretend she never even saw Troy. Not a single wink, not even a friendly wave. Nil.
As much as he hated to admit it, he was completely and utterly jealous of Chad at the moment, which sucked immensely. Troy tried his best to control his envy, but it kept resurfacing. He felt waves of excruciating pain bother him as his best friend bought her a drink and kept his attention focused on a completely different girl. Shaking his head, he couldn't believe the feelings that arose from him towards the brunette who he just met.
Slamming his glass on the table and abandoning his wine, Troy stood and stalked towards Chad and the Brearley girl. He spent the entire evening looking for this girl, and Chad wasn't even aware that this was the girl he was going crazy over.
He wasted enough time already; why waste anymore?
AN: Please submit your feedback so I know if you guys are enjoying this so far or not. Tips and suggestions are welcome.