Disclaimer: It's probably obvious, but I don't own any of the HSM characters or their related elements.
Author's Note: So, I'm back after finishing Once and Again, my Troyella reunion story. But weirdly (or maybe obviously), now I can't quite imagine the Challenge Troyella as separate from the reunion Troyella. So, for the most part, the next few oneshots will probably be very much like a prequel to O&A. And they might stay that way… but I don't know, let's see what happens!
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HSM Romance Challenge
Theme: First Date
Trying to seem nonchalant, Troy ran over quickly to meet Gabriella as she arrived at her locker in the morning. Saturday had been their first date, and he had spent the rest of the weekend floating on air, waiting for Monday until he could finally see her again.
"Hey," he said, grinning as he leaned on the locker next to hers. "How was your weekend?"
But Gabriella simply sighed, occupied with cracking her lock. "OK," she said absently, opening the locker door and heaving her messenger bag inside. "How was yours?"
And startled at her tone, Troy suddenly he felt like he had crashed back down to earth. The whole weekend, he had thought she had been feeling just the way he was. It hadn't occurred to him that maybe… she wasn't.
Blinking, he tried to recover. Don't mention the date. "Uh… it was good," he said, as she sorted through her notebooks and checked her planner. "I watched the game on Sunday with Chad, did some homework. You know, the usual."
"The usual?"
She closed her locker door and he realized she was grinning at him. "Does that mean your Saturdays always include a hot date with a transfer student?"
Montez. Now he felt like he was glowing inside. A smile spread on his face as he ran to catch up with her walking down the hallway.
"Well," he said. "I can't lie to you. Transfer students are my weakness. The minute one shows up, I've got to take them to the movies."
She sent him a teasing glance as they turned the corner. "Do you share a banana split with all of them too?"
"Afraid so," he said, pretending to be serious. "The Russian exchange student, Mikhail? He found it pretty weird. But you know I'm all about follow through. I had to insist."
They reached her classroom and she turned to face him, laughing. "And did you try to kiss him outside his place at the end of the night?"
"Well, I tried," he said, grinning. "But he just wasn't that into me."
"That's good," she said, smiling. "Cause I'd hate to think I had competition on that end."
And before he could say anything, she stood on her tiptoes and kissed him, soft and quick. He blinked at her as they broke apart, his heart racing madly.
"Nope—no competition on that end, Montez," he breathed, staring at her intently. Then he grinned. "Although, there is a new kid from Chicago in town…"
She pushed his arm and laughed. "Oh, don't even think about it."
With that, she turned and walked into the classroom, waving as she sat down at her seat. He could see her mouth the words See you at lunch as she shot one last look his way. Turning, he realized he felt like he was six inches off the ground again. And somehow, lunch had never sounded so good.
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Author's Note: Wow, this is short. I'm getting back into the swing of things though, so hope it suffices!