AN: I have a problem... I've realized I'm addicted to updating this story haha. Please vote in the poll on my profile and held me decide which story I should work on more often. Thanks!
"Brearley girl!"
Gabriella turned her head to face the boy she met at the beach a few hours earlier. She felt her heart speed up its beating and willed herself to remain blase despite the fact butterflies kept resurfacing. She suddenly felt sick to her stomach and wanted nothing more than to get out of this smoky bar. The man next to Chad was smoking a cigar, his eyes glued to the screen that was showing a re-run of the Spain-Portugal game. Gabriella felt nauseous from the combination of the second-hand smoke and the sight of his stunning eyes and features. His eyes were glued to her, making her feel nervous, jittery, and uneasy all at the same time.
Beside her, she could sense Chad's discomfort as Chad attempted to mouth words to Troy, presumably telling him to leave them alone.
As Gabriella looked up, she noticed his eyes full of shock as if he was in disbelief that she was actually going to pretend that she did not know who he was. Deciding it was best to acknowledge his presence, she searched her mind for an appropriate response.
"Collegiate boy," Gabriella replied in a tone similar to his - firm and unattached.
Sitting between them, Chad looked completely and utterly confused as he looked from Gabriella to Troy to Gabriella again. Rubbing his temple, he turned to Gabriella with an inquisition.
"What the- How do you know he goes to Collegiate?"
Gabriella smiled playfully, bringing the tip of her glass to her lips and sipping on her Negroni, "Lucky guess."
Troy finally cracked an amused smile, impressed by her ability to remain both cryptic and alluring at the same time.
Chad's frown lines deepened as he muttered, "The fuck?"
The words were directed more towards himself than anyone else as Chad attempted to make sense of the series of events.
Chad then turned to Troy, "How do you know- oh..."
Troy smirked as the realization dawned upon Chad. Instantly, Chad turned red-faced, displaying a small amount of guilt for his attempt to snag the girl the captain has been droning nonstop over.
"Small world, huh?" Chad attempted to crack a joke though neither Gabriella nor Troy laughed. "Wow, I need a drink. Oh, barista, over here!" Chad winked at the Italian lady who appeared to be at least five years older than he was.
Turning back to Troy, Chad winked and elbowed him. "Hey, I told ya the Italian attracts the ladies."
Troy simply narrowed his eyes, recalling the anger and annoyance he felt towards Chad a few moments ago, "Chad, we need to talk."
Flashing Gabriella a small smile, Troy excused himself for a moment before dragging Chad away by the collar of his shirt.
"Ow, dude what the fuck?" Chad screamed once he was out of Gabriella's hearing range.
"What the hell is wrong with you?"
Chad appeared to be scandalized. "What the hell is wrong with me? What the hell is wrong with you? Listen, man. I had NO idea she was Brearley girl, okay? So chill out. You can have her, I didn't like her that much anyway!" Chad snapped a little too loudly.
Troy gritted his teeth in anger. He was incredibly furious even though he had no reason to be. He never felt a greater urge to punch his best friend more so than at this moment. He wanted to yell at Chad and release his anger on someone, but he knew that his reason to be angry was not justified. It wasn't Chad's fault that he picked her out of all the girls in the bar. In fact, he had no idea that she would even be there tonight. Thus, he could not pinpoint his frustration on Chad nor could he put any blame on him.
Instead of yelling and fueling this brief argument, Troy ran a hand through his shaggy hair and released a groan. "God, everything is so messed up right now. God, Chad... you just had to pick her, didn't you?"
Glancing back at the table, Troy noticed Gabriella twirling a stray curl idly and focusing on her drink more so than his and Chad's conversation at the front door.
Troy couldn't deal with the possibility that she may feel something for Chad. No, no - it couldn't be.
Chad could have told him the truth about how he convinced her to play along, but then that would flatten his ego and ruin his male pride.
"Well, Troy. Now that the Chadster's not tied down anymore, he makes all the ladies hoot," Chad remarked cockily as Troy rolled his eyes at Chad talking about himself in third person. "If I had known who she was I would've toned down on the charm a bit. I mean, you saw the chick... she was all over me-"
"You're full of shit, Danforth."
"And you're a psycho jealous maniac. Don't hate, learn to appreciate!"
Troy slit his eyes. "Do me a favor and go fuck the barista or something and stay away from her."
Chad huffed, "With pleasure."
With that, the two teenage boys were about to part when they noticed a familiar mass of blonde hair blocking the view of Gabriella. Exchanging knowing glances, their eyes widened and their mouths opened simultaneously in awe.
"Holy crap, is that Evans?"
Once Troy heard Chad voicing the same thoughts he was having, he knew that he could not possibly be imagining the scene.
Troy gulped, suddenly feeling the urge to hide from the incarnation of the devil itself - the devil who broke his arm and pushed him off a wharf, throwing him into a near-death experience.
"So, I was like, no Paulo, I am not going to blow you," Sharpay flicked her blonde hair over her shoulder as she stole Gabriella's drink and chugged down the remnants before slamming the glass back down at the table in annoyance, "Ugh, Italians..."
Gabriella shot her an apologetic smile, "Sorry that didn't work out so well for you Sharpay. But I mean, we are at a bar," With one look back at Troy and Chad mid-argument she added, "Don't expect the guys around here to be classy or anything."
Sharpay sighed heavily, sticking out her bottom lip while sulking, "You're right. I'm just gonna have to do what you did and find myself my own beach cutie."
Gabriella groaned inwardly at the sound of that mention. She debated whether or not to tell Sharpay that 'her beach cutie' and his hairy friend were nothing but jerks who used her for a bet they seemed to have.
Noticing the change in her friend, Sharpay frowned and inquired what was wrong.
Knowing that Sharpay knew her all too well and also knowing the fact that Sharpay and her manipulative ways would eventually get her spill regardless of whether Gabriella told her now or not, Gabriella decided to save them both some time and just come out with it.
"He's here. He and his friend."
Sharpay tilted her head in confusion and knitted her brows in confusion for a moment before she understood what Gabriella was talking about and her eyes widened in excitement.
"Oh my God," Sharpay squealed, her head flailing about wildly in search of the hot guys. "Where? Is his friend hot? Oh my God, if he is please hook...me...up!"
"They're over there in front of the doors," Gabriella mumbled grumpily, debating whether or not to order another drink then put the tab on that hairy asshole.
Sharpay twirled around to face the two boys who were staring at her with horrified expressions. Instantly, her excited smile simmered away and was replaced with an angry, incredulous look upon her face.
"Bolton and Danforth!" Sharpay hollered, her hand curling up into a fist as she turned around to face Gabriella once more, "Your beach hottie is either Bolton or Danforth? Are you fucking kidding me, Gabriella?"
Gabriella linked in confusion. How did Sharpay know their names?
Looking back at the two boys, Sharpay's sharp eyes noticed Troy Bolton himself frantically pulling the door open, planning an escapade.
"Oh, no you don't," Sharpay shrieked, wagging her finger at them, "Get your asses back in here or I'll castrate both of you right here, right now."
Gabriella stared at them, her mouth agape as her eyes spied both of them returning from the door and obeying her order. The entire bar seemed to be curiously staring at the threesome, wondering what all the commotion was about even if they didn't understand a single word in English.
What in the world was going on?
"Evans," Chad plastered a fake smile upon his face, "Always a pleasure to see you-"
"Cut the crap, Danforth," Sharpay snapped, her irises flaming in anger.
Chad's smile disappeared and a scowl adorned his face instead, "—silicon bitch."
Sharpay growled, making both Troy and Chad jump from both their spots.
"Your hair looks like a briar patch, Danforth. I keep expecting racist, animated Disney characters to pop up and start singing about life on the bayou."
Chad's mouth fell open as he pointed his stubby finger at Sharpay in an accusing manner, "You stole that line from Glee! Don't even deny it!"
"Coming out of the closet so soon, Danforth?"
"N-no!" Chad stuttered in his defense, "My m-mom is obsessed with Glee. She cougars over that F-Finn guy. He's in her fridge now. He's her motivation to diet."
"Can someone explain to me what the hell is going on?" Gabriella cut in, standing up to put herself in between the two bickering teenagers.
"How do you know Sharpay?" Troy demanded, confusion lining his face.
Sharpay laughed bitterly before digging her sharp fingernail into Troy's jaw, lifting his face up to look her in the eye. "Oh, sweetie. Gabriella's my best friend."
The blue-eyed boy stood there unable to move, dumbfounded.
He finally learned her name. Unfortunately, he learned her name from the blonde that he could barely stand.
She was the friend of Sharpay's that he wanted to spend all summer avoiding. Ironically, all the time he spent tonight searching for the brunette completely contradicted everything he promised to himself.
She was the girl his grandmother wanted so desperately to introduce him to, but he had no interest to even associate with any of Sharpay's friends.
In his mind, he made up his mind to hate any of her friends before even meeting them. Anyone who was friends with that bitch had to be a bitch. That was the mentality that both he and Chad agreed on when they made a pact to avoid the blonde and any of her bitchy friends as much as possible this summer.
Brearley girl was Gabriella, who was Sharpay's best friend.
This sucked immensely.