Disclaimer: It's probably obvious, but I don't own any of the HSM characters or their related elements.

Author Note: So, I should remind everyone that these oneshots are unrelated (unless some irresistible connection presents itself that I have to follow up on, which we'll take as it comes). This one takes place before Troy and Gabi have gotten together, which is a bit of a jump from their familiarity in the first oneshot.

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HSM Romance Challenge

Theme: Books

Working with Taylor on an English group project had its plus sides, thought Gabriella. On the one hand, you knew you would get everything done well and done on time. But on the other hand, Taylor insisted that you needed to do the bulk of your research in the library during your free period on Thursday.

Gabriella had balked. "I kind of wanted to do some chem homework in the cafeteria." It's where Troy spends his free period, she thought.

But Taylor had looked at her blankly. "Gabriella. It's simple. Using free period maximizes our productivity. Otherwise we'd have to stay after school." And time-management and productivity were not things Taylor McKessie negotiated. Ever.

So grudgingly, Gabriella found herself searching through the library stacks with a sheet of scribbled call numbers in one hand and six heavy books in the other, hunting down the last secondary source on Romeo and Juliet that East High owned. Zeroing on her final target, her eyes scanned the numbers on the sides of the books … 820, 821, 822... until she hit an empty space in the shelf where a pair of friendly blue eyes were suddenly looking at her.

"Hey," said Troy, grinning mischievously from the other side.

She jumped back, startled, then felt a secret thrill race through her as he came around the side of the bookshelf, loping easily in her direction. Inside, her heart began to pick up speed. Wow, he's cute.

"What are you doing here?" she whispered, grinning as he came near.

"I could ask you the same thing," he said, smiling. "I thought you were usually in the cafeteria during free period. And you're a tough one to track down. I had to ask about ten people before I found one who'd seen you come in here."

She looked at him, feeling warm inside. "You were looking for me?"

"Well… I was just kind of in the neighborhood, yeah." A flush seemed to be rising on his neck, and he suddenly seemed nervous. "And… I just wanted to be sure you hadn't escaped this place without me knowing about it. Cause if I'm going down in that musical, you're definitely coming with me."

She laughed, shifting the books in her hands. "Well, I'm just looking for stuff for an English project, so maybe you could help." She waved her list. "There's just one left, and… hey, it's right there, if you don't mind grabbing it for me." She tried to indicate by nodding her head to the shelf behind him.

"Which one? This one?" He grabbed the book and put it on top of her stack. Then suddenly, a playful look overtook his face. "And you know, you might need this one too."

He grabbed another one and put it onto the pile. "Life Strategies by Dr Phil?" she said, laughing. Her arms sagged as more and more books began to arrive. "The Moosewood Cookbook? The… autobiography of Winston Churchill? NASCAR Racing for Dummies?"

"These are all very important books, Gabriella," Troy said in a serious voice. "I thought a scholar such as yourself would know."

But suddenly her arms buckled. The stack flew through the air and crashed on the floor. Ms. Falstaff appeared out of nowhere, and the stern look on her face deepened when she saw the scattered books.

"Mr. Bolton, Miss Montez," she said. "Library materials are to be respected. As is the quiet that other students may need for study while here." She looked at Troy pointedly. "Please keep your voices down and pick up those books. I don't want to have to throw either of you out of here."

Sending them another suspicious glance, the librarian moved off again. Then letting out a small sigh, Gabriella bent down and started to gather the books up. Troy dropped to his knees beside her and hurriedly began to help, separating the books he had chosen from the ones she needed. "Sorry, Gabi. I goof off sometimes. It just got out of hand. I didn't mean to drop them like that." He let out a breath. "It's just…"

He trailed off suddenly, his hand meeting Gabriella's as they both reached for the last book. She saw him let go as if burned and the book dropped to the floor.

"Troy." She looked at him seriously, scooping the book up again. "Are you OK? What's going on?"

"Oh, it's nothing…" Then suddenly he let out a breath and sat back against the shelves, looking her straight in the eye. "Ahh… you know what? It's you. You make me do all these weird things like pile books on you till you fall over. Just being around you… it kind of drives me crazy, you know?"

What? She felt a blush blooming on her cheeks as he grinned at her. "Uh... I do?"

"Well… it's a good thing, I think." He shrugged. "Listen. You were right. There was a reason I came by the library. I was planning to ask you something today, and it kind of threw me when you weren't in the cafeteria." He looked at her hopefully. "There's a movie playing tomorrow night… and I was wondering… do you want to go?"

She smiled shyly, feeling warm all over. "You're… asking me out?"

"Yes. I mean, no." He started to turn red again. "I mean… only if you want me to."

But she grinned, picking up her pile of books and stood up. "I'd love to go to the movies with you, Troy."

A smile spread on his face. "That's… great."

They smiled at each other for a minute, then suddenly he got to his feet, scooping up the pile of random books he had chosen for her. "Now if you'll excuse me now, Miss Montez, I've got some reading to do."

Grinning, he started to reshelve the books. She waved, heading back to her table.

Troy. She sat down and Taylor looked up in the seat across from her.

"You look pretty happy." Taylor twirled her pen absently, looking down at the outline she had written on her clipboard. "So… did you get what you needed back there?"

Opening her notebook, Gabriella stole a glance back at Troy over Taylor's shoulder. He waved, and she smiled back, feeling giddy inside.

"Yeah, Taylor… I'm pretty sure I did."

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Author's Note: OK, I promise that Troy won't be dropping things in every oneshot. I just got stuck on writing about books and HAD to make it work somehow. I kind of feel the end was clunky on this one…. but no matter, I have big plans for the next one :)