Chapter 16:

Karaoke

"Can't we skip this?" Gabriella pleaded. "My mom already gave me the talk."

"Don't worry," Rosie said as she sat down. "I just want to know if you guys are being safe."

"Of course we are. And don't worry about birth control. Mom already got me on that," Gabriella assured her. Rosie nodded and smiled. "I know. I asked your mom."

"You what? Rosie, now she'll think I'm having sex."

"Gabriella, she already guessed at it anyway. But sweetheart, no one is judging you. We know you guys really love each other and this isn't just infatuation with sex. So, we're allowing you guys to lock the doors once in a while and have fun. Just as long as Troy always has a condom. And just in case you run out, I stored a few in your underwear drawer." Rosie wiggled her eyebrows and Gabriella groaned.

"Okay, this has officially become more awkward," Gabriella said and stood. Rosie laughed. "Okay, I'll let you go, but remember what I said, Gabriella."

"I will. I am so not getting pregnant. The media would always be on me."

Rosie smiled. "Well, I'll see you in the morning, okay? Get some sleep."

Gabriella nodded and walked up the steps and to her room. Maxine was on her bed. They had recently brought Maxine another bed instead of the pullout one under Gabriella's bed. "Hey."

"Hey." Maxine threw her plush ball up in the air then it came down again. Gabriella sat on her bed. "You okay?"

"Define okay." Maxine sat up and placed the ball on her nightstand. She turned to Gabriella and sighed.

"What's wrong, Max?"

"Okay, I like this boy, but he doesn't like me back because he's already taken."

Gabriella thought back on all her friends. It's either Chad or Ryan. "Who? Do I know him?"

"Yeah…"

"Well then who is it?"

"It's Chad. But Gabriella, Taylor and I are best friends. I can't break it because I like Chad."

Gabriella sighed and hugged Maxine. "Oh, Max. This is seriously horrible. It's like One Tree Hill when Peyton and Brooke each had a thing for Lucas."

"I'm talking more than Peyton and Brooke friendship, Gabriella. I've known Taylor since I was four and I can't just throw our friendship away because of a guy."

"Maybe you should see another boy and maybe you'll have stronger feelings for him."

"Yeah, and who do you think I'd be able to get?"

"Maxine, you're extremely beautiful. Like, really, really beautiful. If I were a lesbian—which I'm not—then I'd totally date you. But anyway, you can get any guy to fall at your feet in seconds. In fact, tomorrow at school will be boy day. I'll set you up with three different boys and you tell me how much you like each. Which ever one is the best, you get to know him, go out on a few dates and there."

"I don't know…"

"Oh come on, Max. It'll be fun."

"Fine."

"Good night."

"Night."

…

"Maxine is going to find herself a boy today," Gabriella told Leilani and the Twins later in fourth period.

"We should hook her up with Matt Pendigly," Charlene suggested. "He is so hot and charming."

"Matt?" Leilani scrunched up her nose. "He's fake. He slept with half of the girl population. And he even slept with his step mother."

"His step mother?"

Leilani nodded. "Yeah. Then he went to Vegas with her and his dad and him and his step mother had a fake wedding." Leilani laughed. "His dad was mad."

"I bet," Gabriella said with shock evident on her face. "My goodness, he is such a man whore."

"So Matt's crossed off the list."

"How about Howard Leering?" Acelyn suggested. "Don't tell me he's fake."

"He's actually nice," Leilani said. "Can we put him in?"

"Go ahead. I don't even know him."

Leilani wrote down Howard's name. "Nick Copper."

"Done deal," Charlene and Acelyn said together.

"Are you girls working on the project?" Miss K came over to them, eyeing them suspiciously. Leilani quickly hid the paper under her arms. "Yes, ma'am," they said together.

"I'll be watching," Miss K said then moved on. Gabriella looked back at the Twins and Leilani. "I'll work while you guys pick. I don't know anyone at this school."

They nodded and went on with the list. While Gabriella was seeing the different plants on her paper, Reyna came behind her. Reyna smirked and poured the bluish-pinkish substance from her beaker all over Gabriella. Gabriella gasped as the stuff drenched her clothes and hair.

"Reyna Petro!" Miss K barked. "To the principal's office now!"

Reyna smirked. "Oh, I'm sorry, Gabriella. My hand slipped." Reyna kicked the leg of Gabriella's chair and the chair toppled over, leaving Gabriella and her project all over her. "Oops." Then Reyna left.

And for the first time in Gabriella's short high school life, she was humiliated and just wanted to cry. Leilani and the Twins rushed to her side and helped her up. "Want me to take you to the bathroom?"

"No, I'll go alone," Gabriella decided and walked out of the room. Her side hurt from the fall and she felt all disgusting and wet. She got to the bathroom and looked at herself in the mirror. She looked horrible. Her hair was mashed with the chemicals and that made her hair stick to her face. Her clothes were drenched and through her white shirt you could easily see her black lace bra.

Gabriella grabbed a bunch of paper towels and tried to wipe the wetness off of her, but it didn't help. It only made her more messy and sticky.

"Reyna's a bitch," a voice said. Gabriella quickly turned around and was relieved to see it was only Kelsi. But she was surprised too. Kelsi was shy and quit and never cursed. "But you have to learn to ignore her." Kelsi pulled out a bottle shampoo and a shirt from her bag. "I always come prepared when I go to the same school as Reyna."

Gabriella smiled and hugged Kelsi. "Thanks, Kels. You're seriously a life savor."

Kelsi smiled and shrugged. "It's fine. Now, put your head over the sink. I'll wash your hair." Gabriella did as she was told and Kelsi turned on the faucet. She squirted some shampoo in her hand and started washing Gabriella hair. "You're only a victim of Reyna's when you're unpopular and she's jealous of you. And Gabriella, she's really, really, really jealous of you. Especially since you're dating Troy."

"Why can't she be jealous of someone else?" Gabriella groaned. "I'm tired of this. And I'm tired of Reyna."

"Do you know why Reyna's like this?" Kelsi asked nonchalantly. Gabriella shook her head faintly under the flapping water and Kelsi's hands. "Well, Reyna wasn't always this mean. When she was twelve, her father left her and her mom and her little brother. The thing is, her little brother died a few days later from drowning in the bathtub and he was only four. Reyna was a wreck. She blamed her mother for all of it because her mother had left her little brother in the tub and Reyna thought her mother drove away her father." Kelsi shook her head. "It's sad. To pay for both of them Reyna's mom worked two jobs. One at the hospital and the other as a stripper.

"Later, when Reyna was thirteen, her mother started doing drugs. It became addictive for her. In fact, it was so addictive that one day she overdosed only a few months ago. The shocking thing was that the doctor told Reyna and her stepdad that Reyna's mom had ovarian cancer and lung cancer. She only had six more months to live." Kelsi sighed and turned off the faucet. "It's still wrong what Reyna does, but I still feel bad for her."

Gabriella took the paper towels Kelsi handed her and started drying her hair. "Yeah, me too."

Kelsi handed Gabriella the shirt and Gabriella quickly peeled off the drenched one. She wiped at her stomach with the paper towels then put on the shirt. "You're seriously a life savor," Gabriella said. "Thanks."

Kelsi grinned. "It's fine. No one should be treated like that."

"Yeah." Gabriella pushed open the door to the bathroom and peeked out. The hallway was still empty except for a few people roaming around. "Thank goodness the coast is clear." Gabriella and Kelsi walked out of the bathroom.

"I have to get to class. Talk to you later?" Kelsi said.

Gabriella nodded and smiled. "Most definitely. See you." They departed ways. Gabriella walked slowly back to her class, not wanting to get there early.

When she got there, everyone turned to look at her. She sat back down at her spot and started working. Everyone else went back to work as well. "What happened?" Leilani asked.

"I went to the bathroom. Kelsi helped me. Did you know she cursed?"

Leilani and the Twins laughed. "Yeah. She's a potty mouth when she wants to be."

…

Sammy grabbed his karaoke machine. He walked down the steps in only his underwear and white beater and socks.

Everyone was crowded in the living room waiting for his performance.

"I had the time of my life," he lip singed with Black Eyed Pea's The Time. "And I never felt this way before. And I swear this is true and I owe it all to you. Oh, I had the time of my life. And I never felt this way before. And I swear this is true and I owe it all to you, you, you, you, you, you, you, you, you, you, you, you. Dirty Bit." He broke down into the Robot and everyone laughed. "Dirty Bit." Then the song changed.

"DJ Khaled! Hey, yeah. All I do is win, win, win no matter what. Got money on my mind I can never get enough and every time I step up in the building everybody's hands go up…and they stay there. And they stay there. And they stay there, up down, up down." Sammy started raising his hand in the air then dropping it. Everyone laughed again and copied his motions. "'Cause all I do is win, win, win. If you goin' in put your hands in the air and stay there."

The song changed again to Michael Jackson's Billie Jean. Everyone whooped as Sammy attempted to do the moonwalk and then the crotch grab. He slipped on his white glove and his hat. Instead of singing he danced to the song instead. But when the chorus came on, he went all out. "Billie Jean is not my lover! She's just a girl who thinks that I am the one."

Once again the song changed. Sammy lifted his hands over his head and then swayed them back and forth as the song came on. "Another day is gone. I'm still all alone. How could this be? That you're not here with me. You never said goodbye. Someone tell me why did you have to go and leave my world so cold." He started moving back and forth. He reached into his shirt pocket and pulled out a flashlight. He waved it in the air and a few laughs escaped his audience.

"Everyday I sit and ask myself. Something whispers in my ear and says. You are not alone. I am here with you. Though you're far away I am here to stay and you are not alone. I am here with you and though we're far apart. You're always in my heart. You are not alone." The music stopped and so did Sammy. He put his flashlight back in his shirt.

The tune to Baby by Justin Bieber started. Troy and Emil groaned and put their heads in their hands. Selena, Leilani, Maxine and Reva all jumped up and started squealing.

"Ooh, oh. Ooohoh, oh. Ohhoh, oh. You know you love me. I know you care," Sammy lip sung as he danced. "Just shout whenever and I'll be there. You want my love. You want my heart. And we will never, ever, ever be apart. Are we an item? Girl quit playing. We're just friends, what are you saying? Say there's another and look into my eyes. My first love broke my heart for the first time and I was like baby, baby, baby, oh. Like baby, baby, baby, no. Like baby, baby, baby, oh. Thought you'd always be mine. Baby, baby, baby, oh. Like baby, baby, baby, no. Like baby, baby, bay, oh. Thought you'd always be mine, mine." The music stopped and Sammy stopped dancing. He bowed, picked up his karaoke machine then left. His small audience clapped and cheered behind him.

Loco came running up to Leilani and humping her leg again. Reva grabbed Loco quick. "Okay, I'm seriously not the dog type."

Reva laughed. "Don't you hear him calling you, Lei? Baby, baby, bay, oh. Like baby, baby, baby, no. Like baby, baby, baby, no. Thought you'd always be mine. He's trying to serenade you."

"More like rape me." Leilani pinched her and plopped back down on the couch.

Sammy came racing down the steps. "Yoda's missing!"

Reva screamed and jumped on the couch. "He's what? So he's roaming around the house and he could crawl on anyone right now?"

"No," Sammy said, looking at her head. "He could crawl on you right now." Reva's breathing quickened. Her hand reached up and when she felt Yoda's hairy body scratch across her hand, she screamed. Yoda was startled. He crawled down the side of her face which made Reva scream harder and Yoda to get more scared.

Reva started threw Yoda off of her. Sammy quickly dropped to the ground and grabbed Yoda before Reva could kill him. "Your dog is scaring him!"

"No, your bug is scaring Loco!"

"Nuh-uh! I can't live with these women anymore!" Sammy put Yoda in his mouth then marched off to the kitchen. Reva jumped down off the couch. "I'll need to burn the side of my face," she groaned.

"Mom wants us home," Leilani announced, standing up. "I hate family meetings."

"It's usually bad news," Emil said.

"What kind of bad news?" Gabriella asked.

Emil shrugged. "I don't know. But hey, we'll see you guys tomorrow." Emil kissed Reva and Troy kissed Gabriella. "Bye."

Sammy came out the kitchen. "Who ate my ice cream?"

"Loco was hungry," Reva said sheepishly. Sammy narrowed his eyes at her then backed out of the room.

I probably should've said this in Chap 15, but I'm back! Oh, and I finally got SLRGGC done. I'll post that chapter up. Thanks for reading and all the reviewers who, well, reviewed!I wish I could point you guys out all individually, but I'm kind of on a tight schedule.

Thanks!-Brittany