EDIT: I think I owe all my readers an apology for not updating lately. Truthfully, I can't bring myself to finish writing the next chapter. The majority of what I've written (the road trip) seems so awkward and annoying, and I wish that I didn't go with option 2 in the plot development of the last chapter (I.E. not let them kiss lol) so I'm editing the end of this chapter so that I can rewrite the next chapter and make it better. With that said, school starts for me next week and updates won't be frequent. Right now I'm just suffering from intense writer's block and I think my lack of motivation to write this is to blame. Anyway, sorry if you're disappointed that this isn't a new chapter :(
Natural Flirt
The sound of techno music penetrated through the walls of the club.
The song "Sandstorm" filled the musty, sweat-filled air.
Both Chad and Sharpay were quick to acknowledge that the club tunes played in Italy weren't too different from the songs played in the US. Considering this catchy song had no words at all, it was understandable why it was played in clubs worldwide.
"I feel like I'm living the Jersey Shore life in Miami!" Chad hollered, throwing his hand up in the air to fist pump. His brown eyes caught sight of a scantily clad blonde with wavy beach hair. His face formed into a grin as he winked at the girl. "Except there's no grenades! Woo, GFF!"
Across the room, Sharpay wasn't enjoying the scene as much as Chad, who quickly picked up some eye candy. The beats were hot, the lights were dim, the Sambuca shots flavored with licorice tasted great. There was only one minor problem - the club was full of females. The guy to girl ratio was a ridiculous 3:1, and it was really pissing Sharpay off.
Suddenly, the sound of Pitbull blasted through the speakers.
"Oh hell yeah, this is my song," Sharpay spoke to herself, abandoning her drink to strut towards the dance floor. She ignored the mass amount of females on the dance floor, deciding that nothing could deter her from drinking and dancing the night away.
"I know you want meh," She sang aloud, reaching into her clutch to pull out her cell phone. She frowned when she saw no missed calls or texts from Troy. Shaking the disappointment off, she swung her hips from side to side and let her body move to the beat.
Fortunately, she caught the attention of a set of eyes from afar before Pitbull's song ended. The mysterious male confidently made his way over towards her, surprising her from behind when his arms wrapped around her backside. His large hands settled on her hips as he began grinding his crotch area into her ass.
Meanwhile, the wavy-haired blonde grabbed Chad by the wrist, whisking him away before the sound of "Poker Face" surrounded the dance floor. Chad followed after her, his eyes wide and his mouth agape. The blonde proposed taking body shots much to Chad's excitement.
"I fucking love Italy," Chad murmured under his breath as the blonde whisked him away to the nearest leather couch in the lounging area.
"How far is the sand museum from here?" asked Gabriella, smoothing out the creases from her dress.
"Only a couple of minutes," He promised her.
"If you say so," She watched her steps carefully, trying her best to prevent her heels from getting stuck to the boardwalk.
Troy followed her gaze to her heels, his eyebrows rising in surprise as he noted the height.
"Your feet don't hurt in those?" He inquired out of curiosity.
Gabriella shrugged, "I guess I'm so used to wearing them, I've learned to deal with the pain."
"Wow, all of that work just to be a few inches taller?"
"Well, you can't help it if you're short," She responded. "And the only way to make up for it is with heels."
Troy pretended to nod in understanding.
"So, I've just realized that I don't even know your last name."
Gabriella giggled heartily. "Fishing for my Facebook name, are you?"
He blushed a bronze red as his lightly tanned face grew deeper in color, "I'm just curious."
"Montez," She supplied the answer to his question.
He nodded in response, repeating her name, "Gabriella Montez." A smile formed across the features as he realized he liked the sound of the name from the sound of his lips. "I've heard your last name before, I think. I'm just not sure where..."
"My mother established her own design line a few years ago," She replied. "That's probably where you've heard it from."
"Oh, I see. That sounds awesome."
A hint of sadness flashed across her face as she remarked, "It sounds a lot better than it actually is. The headquarters of her company is located in Barcelona, so she's never actually home," Her voice quivered slightly, "Not even for the holidays."
Troy frowned, noticing the dejected look on her face that she fought so hard from reappearing. "I'm sorry; I take back what I said."
She willed herself to remain calm, not letting any tears pour out from the glassy surface of her eyes. Finally mustering up the strength to look him in the eye, she raised her chin to look up at him and flash him a reassuring smile. "Don't worry about it. It's not important. I still have my dad..." She added an afterthought, "Sort of."
He cocked an eyebrow at her, rippling the skin above it. "What does your dad do?"
"He's in corporate finance. He travels frequently but at least it's not for long periods of time. He can make it home for my birthday and Christmas...occasionally."
The tinge of bitterness in her tone did not go unnoticed by Troy, who felt his heart sink at the thought of not having his parental figures home during the happiest time of the year. He couldn't imagine the pain she must feel from their lack of presence.
Noticing their hands were still intertwined, his grip on her hand tightened with a reassuring squeeze.
"That sounds awful, Gabi," Her eyes widened at the sound of the new nickname as she glanced up at him questioningly. Catching her alarm, he immediately began to panic, hoping he didn't cross any line.
"I mean, um, sorry... Is-is it okay if I call you that? I mean, um-" She cut him off before he could continue with his stammering.
"It's fine, I was just shocked at first is all," She smiled warmly at him, indicating that there was no need to worry.
"Oh, okay," He relieved a sharp intake of breath.
"They're going through a divorce right now," Gabriella didn't know what it was about him but she felt the urge to suddenly spill her guts after keeping her mouth shut about the entire ordeal for so long. She didn't even discuss this with Sharpay, who was one of the few people who knew about her broken family. "So they're both back in New York dealing with their lawyers, for now at least."
"And yet... you're here."
She nodded passively. "The irony of the situation. The one month that they're both at home, I'm not. Not like it matters, I'd rather be here than there where they're biting each other's heads off settling the situation."
He pursed his lips, eyebrows knitting together. "That really... sucks. I'm so sorry you have to go through that."
She shrugged disinterestedly, brushing the thought away with the palm of her hand. She offered him a meek smile before she spoke, "Well, at least I get to visit Italy to get my mind off it. Sharpay mentioned something about riding down the boot to see the sights."
A dry chuckle was audible from Troy's throat. "The boot?"
"Yeah!" She confirmed with enthusiasm, her eyes bright and doe-eyed. "Cuz y'know, Italy's shaped like a boot."
"No way," His face feigned surprise as his voice dripped with sarcasm. "Never would have guessed."
Gabriella giggled, pulling her hand away from his and using both hands to playfully shove him towards the sand, "Shut up!"
Troy grinned as he maintained his balance, ignoring the fact that sand had found its way up his dress shoes.
"What is it with you girls and pushing us guys off concrete?" teased Troy as he stepped back onto the boardwalk.
"Hey," rebutted Gabriella then paused dramatically. "At least I didn't push you into the water."
"True," Troy laughed softly, his shoulder bumping against hers innocently. Gabriella's eyes widened at the skin to skin contact that sent electricity running down her spine. Such simple physical contact sent sparks like fireworks rushing through their veins. The rush left Troy's heart beating faster and faster as he inhaled the scent of her warm vanilla sugar body spray. Gabriella fixated her entire attention upon him, her mocha brown eyes staring hungrily at him, laced with desire and yet fear for the consequences that would inevitably result from her following her gut instinct. His eyes were a brilliant blue against the red of his cheeks; it took all her willpower not to throw her arms around his neck and close the ample space between them.
The sound of several noisy teenagers meandering through the boardwalk brought both of them back to reality, away from their own little world where nothing but each other mattered.
As Troy snapped out of his trance, he cleared his throat awkwardly. Scratching the back of his neck nervously, he searched his mind for a topic to discuss that could ease the awkwardness of another interrupted moment and make him forget about what almost transpired.
"So, you and Sharpay are... uh... driving down to Florence then Rome?"
Gabriella nodded slowly, her eyes now avoiding his, knowing that every time she looked into those blue orbs, she could feel her knees growing weak.
"Cool," remarked Troy weakly, his hands settling into his pockets. "You guys should stop by in Verona, Pisa, or Bologna on your way."
"I-I... maybe... I don't really-" Gabriella struggled to formulate a response, her heart still pounding against her chest. "Sharpay calls the shots as to where we go and where we stay. I, well, obviously know little about Italy or its highways and... yeah," She finished her sentence lamely.
Troy snickered much to Gabriella's surprise. He shook his head, grinning broadly. "Sharpay? Knowing her way through Italy? That's rich."
Gabriella cocked her head in confusion, breaking her silent promise to avoid his eyes.
"That girl knows nothing about the roads outside of Jesolo. Not to mention, she sucks as a driver as I'm sure you've noticed. I doubt you'd get there in one piece," He winked charmingly. "And we wouldn't want that, would we?"
She offered him a small smile as she replied, "Yeah, I'm pretty sure I'd like to live."
"Then take my advice and find another driver."
"All right," She hesitantly agreed, furrowing her brows at the realization that she didn't know any drivers other than Sharpay and Troy. Regardless, she dropped the topic as she stared straight ahead towards a tent propped up against the sand.
"Is that the museum?"
Troy nodded his head, "Yep. It's only here for a few more months. It's cool though, I think you'll enjoy it."
"Hm," Gabriella thought aloud, contemplating her options. "Why not."
Troy spotted the ticket booth in the distance, ambling towards it and pulling out his wallet.
"Ciao, due biglietti per favore (Hi, two tickets please)?"
Gabriella felt her heart flutter at the sound of his smooth Italian. The deep bass of his husky tone as he uttered out those words in a foreign language made her all the more attracted to him - not that she would ever admit that to anyone, especially not Sharpay.
The sun kissed teenage boy in the booth nodded his head in understanding, sliding two tickets through the small space in the glass window.
"How much is it?" Gabriella reached into her Dooney & Bourke purse to pull out her wallet.
"Hey, don't worry about it," Troy slid ten Euros to the ticket box boy.
Gabriella rolled her eyes, a smile still gracing on her face. "Oh c'mon, you don't need to pay for my ticket."
"Gabriella, please," He implored, "I got it."
"But-" She protested once more only to be cut off.
"Shh," Troy brought his index finger to her lips in his attempt to shush her. "I know you can't read Italian but the rules specifically state to keep your voice down while inside the museum."
Gabriella narrowed her eyes. She had a hunch that he was bluffing but then again, she was in no position to challenge him in case the rules really did state that. At times like these, she really regretted taking French instead of Italian. Not only was she stuck with an inadequate teacher and a limited knowledge of the language, but the small amount of French she knew did not help her figure out Italian whatsoever.
"Stop pouting," Troy ordered her in a playful tone, grabbing a hold of her wrist to usher her into the depths of the museum of sand sculptures. "C'mon, just smile. It suits you well."
Her cheeks flushed beet red and the thought of whether he was just a natural flirt crossed her mind. Upon walking into the museum, she noticed sand - lots of it. Sculptures of animals and mythical creatures stood immortalized by the sand. In the center of the tent, stood a tall giant mountain of sand that appeared to be fifty feet tall. Amazed, the curve of her mouth finally formed into a smile much to Troy's delight.
While Gabriella admired the scenery and sand sculptures, Troy's intense eyes rested on her, intrigued by the changes in her expression as she scrutinized every sculpture. The tint in her cheeks from his flattering earlier still remained, making his heart swell with pride knowing that he was the one to elicit such a response from her.
"I take that back, blushing suits you even more," charmed Troy, his voice sounding alluring and captivating to her ears. He was trying to kill her, she concluded.
Gabriella scanned the crowd inside the tent, quickly taking note of the noisy chatter. Purposely diverting the topic of the conversation, she stuck her tongue out at him. "You liar, you said the rules said we'd have to be quiet. You totally just said that to get me to shut up."
Troy smirked, nodding before admitting, "Pretty much."
He suddenly leaned down towards her ear, whispering gently into her ear, "But how do you know I made the rule up?"
"I can scream and find out."
"Don't," He warned with a whisper, his body in such close proximity that Gabriella could feel the steady breathing against her ear.
Gabriella gulped uncomfortably as her body began to react to his presence. By this time, both of their gazes were no longer set upon the gnome outlined by sand. The abrupt ring tone of 'Airplanes' interrupted the heated moment. Troy cursed under his breath as he reached into his pocket to pull out the vibrating phone. His eyes narrowed into slits as he released a heavy sigh upon noticing the sender of the text message. The last thing he needed at the moment was more interruptions.
From: Chad
Message: duuudeee soo fucked up rite now hooked up with the hottest chick
Troy snorted, rolling his eyes before setting his phone on silent and shoving his Android back into his pocket. Gabriella subconsciously checked her own phone for the first time in the past hour, noticing she had three texts from Sharpay (all of which were hard to decipher from her misspelling of every other word).
"Our friends are having fun," commented Gabriella as she put her iPhone away. "I'm assuming Sharpay's on her fourth drink by now."
Troy refrained from making a remark about how Sharpay was most certainly not his friend despite the number of times their grandmas tried setting them up.
"C'mon, let's get a picture of you next to the Michelangelo sand sculpture over there," Troy pointed his index finger towards the sculpture which was currently surrounded by a group of giggly girls fawning over it while the camera flashed.
"Oh God," muttered Gabriella under her breath in mortification. "Taking a picture next to a sandy naked biblical King. Not awkward at all," She deadpanned.
"What the hell are you doing here Antonio?" Sharpay spat into his face as the stench of alcohol filled the air.
"Oh, you a know I just come here for little fun," Antonio smirked, his hand clutching a glass of wine as he stared at a very drunk Sharpay, who despite being out of it and having to hold onto a table to keep her balance, still clearly remembered his face and how much she wanted to punch it. After all the crap he put her through, screwing her over all those years ago, she wanted absolutely nothing to do with him.
"You fucking stalker. You probably followed me here," Sharpay snarled at him, her right hand reaching out to shove him away from her. This became more difficult as she felt herself wobble on her own two feet.
Antonio reached out to steady her, placing his two rough hands upon her shoulders.
"Easy there, Sharpie."
"Don't call me that," Her voice dripped with venom as she pointed to her sharp stiletto, "You lost the privilege to fucking call me that long ago. Now move the fuck away unless you want me to shove this up your dick. I'll make it hurt more than gallstones."
Antonio grimaced at the gruesome details drunk Sharpay yelled at him. The words that came out from sober Sharpay were awful enough but drunk Sharpay had absolutely no filter.
"I ask simple question. Where is your friend - Isabella was it?"
Sharpay felt dizzy, her vision becoming hazy. This in combination with Antonio's heavy accent resulted in heavy confusion.
"The fuck are you talking about Tony? I don't know no Isabella. Get the fuck away from me," She pushed past him and towards the dance floor, her hands reaching out to grasp the person nearest to her on the dance floor to prevent herself from tumbling down.
On the opposite side of the dance floor, a little less wasted Chad Danforth was enjoying his night a lot more.
After scoring two chicks' numbers, making out with a vivacious vacationing Swedish blonde, taking body shots off the stomach of said blonde, and teaching two Sicilian models how to fist-pump guido style, Chad concluded that today was the best day of summer thus far.
Spotting a new group of chicks enter the bar, Chad made his way off the dance floor toward the barista that he blatantly hit on the night before.
"Aye, chica," Chad winked at her obnoxiously, "Make yourself useful and order a round of drinks for those ladies who just sat down over there."
The barista stared at him blankly before crossing her arms across her chest. She narrowed her eyes at him, shaking her head in disgust.
"What, did they not teach you English in school?" Chad spoke rudely, "Deliver. Drinks. To those girls," His fist pointed to the area they sat down in.
The barista grabbed the nearest bottle, pouring in a small amount of alcohol into a shot glass. Lifting up the shot glass, she flicked her hand in the direction of Chad's face. The contents spilled out towards his face, burning his eyes. "Fack a you, gustafave!"
"You've never gone night swimming?" Troy's laughter echoed through the dry night air as both he and Gabriella stepped out of the tent. He shot her an incredulous look, which she responded to with a shrug.
"Never really had the opportunity, I guess. I get cold easily so I prefer swimming when the sun's out and shining."
"Montez, you have no idea what you're missing out on," Troy's grin never faltered as he edged towards the sand, slipping off his shoes.
Gabriella stared at him with wide eyes and disbelief. Her mouth hung open as she struggled to voice her thoughts, "W-we're going f-for a swim?"
Troy smiled reassuringly, "We don't have to if you don't want to. Just come, the cool sand feels nice against your feet."
She simply nodded, following suit with his wishes as she bent down and carefully removed her heels. Once she stepped into the comfort of the sand, she sighed in relief and beamed at the therapeutic feeling of the grains of sand against her toes after all that time spent in her heels. The slight moisture and coldness in the sand from the lack of sunlight relaxed them both.
Troy smirked knowingly, catching the look of relief plastered across Gabriella's face, "I told you."
He walked, drawing closer to the source of the current as Gabriella trailed behind him, her eyes glued to his back. The waves sloshed against the shore, the water appearing to be dark even in the moonlight. The moon shone brightly in contrast to the darkness of the night sky. The moonlight made the sea sparkle like diamonds on the edge of the world; the temptation of one to immerse himself or herself in the dark abyss increased by the second. The beach was secluded, abandoned in contrast to the crowdedness of it in the day time.
"It's beautiful," She breathed out, her eyes exploring the faintest trace of light on the horizon. It was a cloudy night, so the starlight shone in the sky with a shrouded glow. Nevertheless, she could pinpoint plenty more stars in the sky here than she could ever dream to imagine back home. Her ears could hear the sound of the waves crashing against the rocks, the tide a lot higher due to the full moon. Her eyes then fell to rows of wharfs leading out into the sea. As she stared at the wharfs, she could only imagine the eerie sight of a riled Sharpay advancing toward Troy and forcing him into the water.
The disturbing image led her to shut her eyes tightly in an effort to erase the thoughts from her mind.
"Tell me what you're thinking," He whispered sensually, his hand resting upon her waist as his arm drew her in closer to him protectively.
She was scared to flutter her eyes open in fear that this was all a dream – a figment of her imagination. But she knew it couldn't be a dream when she perceived the scent of his cologne mixed in with the fragrance of the salty seashore and the misty air.
"I'm thinking about how perfect this feels," whispered Gabriella almost inaudibly against the fresh air. She was overwhelmed with the conflicting sensations she felt. In the back of her mind, she knew this was wrong. She knew that she shouldn't be here, that this shouldn't be happening. She knew Sharpay would beat her to pulp if she ever found out. She had every intention of stopping him but she couldn't.
She leaned into his touch as his soft hands pushed loose strays of her dark wavy locks behind her ear. His hands snaked around her wrist, pulling her tight against him as he lowered his head to hers and leaned in. Her hands instinctively shifted towards his chest right near the heart, feeling the rhythm of his pulsating heartbeat. His hand reached out to cup the soft skin of her cheek, raising her chin up to meet his. Her eyes fluttered shut as she braced herself for the impact. Swooping down, he took a leap of faith as his lips sealed hers. Gabriella felt herself melting into a pile of mush against him as her mouth moved against his in a soft and gentle kiss, his firm arms supporting her weight. The kiss soon grew with intensity as his lips pressed more firmly, resulting in a more heated kiss. In response, her arms traveled up his back and snaked around his neck, pulling him even closer into the fervent kiss.
When breathing became a necessity, the two pulled away breathless, silently wondering if the other could hear their rapid heartbeats. Gabriella's eyes stared at his questioningly, silently conveying the question, 'What now?' He silently answered her by offering her a small smile before pressing his forehead against hers, their noses subtly brushing.
As Gabriella stared into those blue orbs that shined with the joyous light of the moon, she knew that this was a start to something new and beautiful.