My mom was home a lot this week, so I could barely write. Everytime I would get into the swing of things, she would pop up at home! Ugh, it was so annoying!

Anyway, I want to address some things before you guys get started. I'm sorry if I've confused anyone. Here's the deal though. These characters are from HIGH SCHOOL MUSICAL. Troy, Gabriella, Sharpay..... they're all from hsm. When I listed off who was who in my first prologue, it was just a guide for those of you who have seen JTMD to understand who would be who in the movie. I hope that makes sense. The only characters who are not from hsm are John, cuz he's obviously not in hsm, Gabriella's mother, who is not the same as in hsm, and Tommy. Other characters could possibly be added, but I'm not sure yet. I hope that cleared some things up. Please let me know if you're still confused.

Also, I thought it might be important to add this as well. Here's a list of what grade each of the characters are in.

John, Tommy, Taylor, and Kelsi are seniors. Troy, Gabriella, Sharpay, and Chad are juniors. Why? Cuz I'm the author and I say so. Deal with it. =)

I really hate the first part of this chapter but love the second part. I feel like I could have done better with the first part, I don't know. To those of you who have seen the movie, I hope you enjoy my little 'deleted scene' at the end. Wink, wink. ;)

Disclaimer: I do not own anything from High School Musical or John Tucker Must Die.

When Gabriella applied for this job, they should have put 'this job will fuck up your life' in the job description. But unfortunately, they didn't. So here Gabriella was, driving to the fancy restaurant she worked at, ready to take on her fourth shift ever.

Gabriella was thrilled when she first got the waitressing job. It paid decently for a waitress, and on top of that, it was an expensive restaurant so the tips weren't bad either. It was only about a fifteen minute drive away from her house, so her gas bill probably wouldn't increase by much either. Plus, it gave her a little something extra to do on the weekends. It wasn't like she had any resemblance of a social life at all.

Training had gone by uneventfully, but then her first real shift came last Friday. When she came home from school, she took a nap and asked her mother to wake her up before her date so that she would be ready for her first day. Big mistake. In typical Eva Montez fashion, she got so swept up in the next Skip that she forgot to wake the slumbering Gabriella. Which was why she was stirred awake by her buzzing phone with an incoming call from her angry boss. Not exactly the best way to start out. After sending a not so pleasant text to her irresponsible mother, Gabriella threw on her black uniform and sped off to work. On the way, she got a speeding ticket and upon arriving, she found the place was jam packed and there were no parking spots left. She spent another ten minutes parking across the street and walking through the busy road to finally get to her job.

Gabriella was now a grand total of forty-five minutes late. She prayed to God that she would keep her job after tonight.

Fortunately, she wasn't fired. But she was yelled at in front of the entire kitchen staff that proceeded to laugh at the newbie. She rushed out of the kitchen before she could cry only to be faced with how truly crowded the restaurant was. Taking a deep breath, she turned to the counter and geared up with her notepad and pen, ready to serve the awaiting customers. After stocking up her apron with extra straws and napkins, she swept a quick glance at her tables to see who she would be serving. There was an old man sitting by himself, a stressed looking couple trying to control their kids, John Bolton…….

Wait. What was John Bolton doing here?!

Gabriella, like the rest of the East High population, couldn't help but notice the infamous John Bolton at school. Gabriella hated to admit that, like most girls, the first thing she had noticed about him had been his devastatingly good looks. But after further observation, Gabriella had seen past the sparkling blue eyes and perfectly tousled hair for what he truly was. Yes, he was the total package of killer looks, charm and coyness that could ultimately only lead to one thing: a Skip. John Bolton was the Skip of East High. She had watched the reactions of her classmates whenever he floated through the halls. She had witnessed the clever flirting he orchestrated with copious amounts of girls. And she had scoffed whenever she heard his cocky bragging or saw him show off during a basketball game. This total package had thrown a huge blaring sign with flashing red lights in her face that screamed "STAY AWAY" in bold block letters. She was completely repulsed by anything that had to do with John Bolton. It was players like him that made her life a living hell. But Gabriella didn't worry much about him; it wasn't like she would ever have a chance or that he even noticed her at all. As long as they maintained their distance she was absolutely and perfectly fine. But currently, avoiding John Bolton would result in her ass getting fired. So she sucked it up and strode to his table, trying to maintain the image that he was just another diner and that she was completely calm and in control.

That image went down the stupid drain as soon as she opened her mouth. She stumbled over simple words, "I……. you……… er……….I mean, no?" She mentally cursed herself for blushing and forgetting the English language over this jerk who fucked anything he that was willing to tear off their panties. Just because he was incredibly hot, and buff, and tan, and- Damn, what happened to her control?

He chuckled at her and reached for the hem of her apron. Gabriella's breath hitched in disbelief as he gently began playing with the black fabric in between his practiced fingers. "I'm actually waiting for someone right now, sweetheart. I'll be ready in a little while, if you don't mind," he smoothly let out, looking up at her eyes.

Her brow narrowed in confusion and she swallowed hard, trying to gain back even an ounce of control. She gave a curt nod and walked away, baffled at what had just happened. Had John Bolton really just flirted with her? She let out the breath she hadn't even realized she had been holding once she was behind the counter again. Why would he flirt with her of all people? Had she just imagined the entire thing? She looked back out at him to find Taylor McKessie approaching the table. A sudden flush of anger and embarrassment swept over Gabriella's visage. It figures he would flirt with her when he already had a girlfriend. If there had been any doubt in her mind before, this had just proved that John Bolton was a classic, unadulterated Skip.

She watched as John pulled out Taylor's chair for her and gave her a light kiss on the lips. They were leaning close to each other, giving off an intimate couple bond. Taylor was definitely an alpha female at East High. If Gabriella's memory served her correctly, Taylor was president of the school TV station, the honors society, Jr. achievers, 4H club, future film makers of America, big sisters, adopt a shut in, the scholastic decathlon team, yearbook committee, and……. that was it. Taylor was at the top of her senior class with high hopes of getting into Harvard. However, she was far from a nerd. Her over involvement in extracurricular activities made her a huge social bee and her smooth dark skin and fit body had boys flitting after her. She was the perfect combination of beauty and brains. This was precisely why Gabriella was watching her flirt with John Bolton from across the table.

After letting them have some time to themselves, Gabriella finally decided to approach the table so that she could take their orders and hopefully get them out of there all the sooner. But the second she reached the table was the exact moment that John decided to lean in for a kiss, which instigated an intimate make out session. Unsure of what to do and utterly grossed out, Gabriella hurriedly walked back to the counter with a shocked face. Ugh, just what she needed, to watch them swap spit all night.

The next night, Gabriella strolled into the restaurant in a slightly better mood, hoping that tonight would be better than the last. She went into the kitchen to receive some pitchers and came out the door only to see John Bolton for the second night in a row with yet another girl. He had just been there the night before with Taylor, and now he was here with Sharpay Evans at the same table. Unbelievable! He couldn't even take a break for a night. Gabriella didn't understand how it could be so hard to just stick to one girl.

Sharpay was a junior like Gabriella, but she was already named head cheerleader over any senior girl. She was one-hundred and ten pounds of blonde attitude that commanded attention wherever she went. She was loaded considering her parents owned a country club and she had a twin brother whose life was the theatre. And being head cheerleader, well, Sharpay could literally get any boy she wanted, including John Bolton.

They were ending a kiss when Gabriella went to take their order. Before Sharpay could request a dish, John slid the menu out of her delicate hands, "Two green salads, dressing on the side. Salmon for her and lobster for me."

"I love when you do that," Sharpay said in a girly voice, giving him a flirtatious smile.

John inched his chair closer to her's, "And I love doing that."

"I love that you love that I love you doing that," Sharpay giggled. Gabriella had had just about enough puke-enticing cuteness for one night. She hurried to go place the order before she could physically gag and scoffed when she heard John say, "That top looks so hot on you. I bet it's even hotter off of you." Ew, gross. Is that what he passed as a compliment? How Skip-like of him.

Gabriella had gone through the rest of the night watching them feed their dinner to each other, exchanging kisses in between. Well, this was certainly turning out to be a great weekend.

So as Gabriella pulled into a parking space at the restaurant for her Friday night shift, she shook her head trying to release all thoughts of the cheating John Bolton. She was positive that this weekend was sure to be a better one.

How wrong she had been. Because the moment she stepped out from the kitchen, she found John Bolton sitting at the same table again! And this time he wasn't with Sharpay or Taylor. No, he was with an entirely different girl! Gabriella stared at them with her mouth hung open. What the hell? So now he had three girlfriends? What a player! How could no body have notice what the basketball star was scheming? Surely more people had to have seen something, Gabriella couldn't have been the only one. Wouldn't somebody have said something to one of them?

"I've never been here before, babe, so I hope they have good vegetarian," he down-right lied. Typical. Skips usually lied about everything.

Kelsi Neilson's light brown curls bounced as she nodded with a smile and looked down at her menu, searching out a vegan dish. She was all about world peace, animal rights, and eco-friendliness. In fact, she was so passionate about her viewpoints that she had started a teen activist club at East High. Their cause of the moment was Chicks for Chicks. Kelsi was working to improve the lives of helpless little chicks that were slaughtered everyday to become someone's dinner. She couldn't stand by while such an injustice was occurring. You could find the blue posters draped in the halls of the high school that read: Chicks for Chicks, I am NOT a nugget! Gabriella personally thought that she might be just a little bit crazy.

John suddenly stood up, snapping Gabriella out of her thoughts, "Oh my God, they serve veil here! If I wanted to torture animals I would go to a medical lab!" Gabriella rolled her chocolate eyes. This guy would do anything to get laid.

Kelsi gently reached for his hand and he sat back down. He sighed and looked into her blue eyes, "Which of course I would never do, because they torture animals."

Kelsi smirked seductively and leaned in closer to him. Gabriella wasn't sure but it seemed like vegan teen activist was code for easy. "You know, for you I don't have to give up all meat," Kelsi breathily stated before leaning in to kiss John. See, she knew it. That chick may be for chicks, but lord knows she would do anything for this man.

"I don't get it," Gabriella confided in her co-worker Hailey, who was a little ditsy and annoying in Gabriella's opinion. But she also attended East High with her and so she figured she might know something about the infamous John Bolton, "I've seen him come in here with three different girls. They all seem so confident and cool. How could they not know that he's cheating on them?"

"He's a total operator," Hailey replied, while looking out at the couple who couldn't seem to tear apart. "He dates girls from different cliques so that they never actually interact with each other. And then he tells them that his dad won't let him have a girlfriend during basketball season so they'll have to keep it a secret."

It made sense. That's why none of the girls had any idea what was going on. Another quality of a true Skip, he was full of excuses. "Wow, how'd you learn all this stuff?" she asked. That was more information than she had expected out of Hailey.

She turned when she heard the air-headed Hailey let out a small cry. "I don't know, just a guess," Hailey sobbed. Gabriella's brow narrowed in confusion as Hailey attempted to cover her tears with her hand and fled to the bathroom. That was strange. Poor Hailey must have been just another pawn in John's little game. Had he really been with that many girls?

Gabriella rubbed her temples from the headache she could feel approaching. This was certainly not what she had expected when she had walked into her job that night. Interacting with the player was not something she preferred to do.

Little did she know, she was going to be dealing with him a lot more than she had ever expected.

216……. 217……….. 218…..... 219………..

Ah, here it was. Room 220. Troy looked down at his new schedule to make sure he had the right room. Basketball season had started about two weeks ago, and it was then that Troy realized that he would need to change his free period to fourth period so that he could make the extra practices with the team. He had had chemistry fourth period, but after an appointment with his counselor, it had been switched to seventh in replace of his free period. Troy couldn't have been happier when he found out because it meant he now had another class besides gym and lunch with his best friend since pre-school, Chad Danforth.

After making sure that he indeed had the right classroom, Troy turned the doorknob and stepped into the classroom just as the bell rang. He quickly informed the middle-aged teacher of his transfer who gave him a nod and told him that she was already aware that he would now be in her class. She gave Troy some important papers and worksheets the class had been going over that week, along with the lab they would be performing today and instructed him to take a seat.

Troy scoped out the room for Chad and, sure enough, there he was, already sleeping with a basketball under his arm at the last lab table. It was just like Chad to already be nodding off before class had even really begun. Troy chuckled to himself as he twisted around the other students to reach his lazy friend. He slammed his books down with a hollow thump on the table, expecting the loud impact to wake him. It didn't work. Chad had always been a deep sleeper.

A mischievous smile formed on Troy's tan face as an idea popped into his head. In one swift movement, Troy yanked the orange basketball free from the arch of Chad's elbow, causing his balance to falter, and bounced the ball off of his afro-covered head. Chad jolted awake with a loud snort and stumbled from his chair, catching himself on the edge of the black lab table. His disoriented eyes wildly looked around the room in confusion, landing on Troy who was laughing at his friend with a glare. "What the fuck, dude?!" Chad complained, rubbing his head where the ball had made contact.

Troy laughed again at his disgruntled friend and lifted his palms up in surrender. "I was just helping you out, man. You really shouldn't be sleeping in class you know. Wouldn't want to get another detention would you?"

"Fuck off, man. I don't have to let you sit here with me you know. The only reason I'm letting you is cuz my lab partner's sick today," Chad said with a roll of his dark eyes, "And couldn't you have at least woken me up in a nicer way?"

Troy settled into his lab stool and chuckled under his breath, "It's not my fault you could sleep through a train wreck."

"Whatever dude," Chad brushed it off and planted his chin in his palm, paying attention to anything but the teacher as she began explaining the instructions for the lab. Not particularly caring about the lab much either, Troy let the teacher's words drone out and took this time to see who his other classmates were. His blue eyes swept over the rows. Quarterback Alex Bialek was two rows in front of him. Nicole Carter, his ex-girlfriend that he had dated for about a month freshman year, was in the row across from that. Trevor Cross, an anime freak who sometimes wore a cape to school, was sitting in a lab stool as well. Krissy Fair, Jessica Godfrey, Devin Hill, Shiv Shah…….

His eyes abruptly stopped and his heart skipped a beat. Sitting in the front row, all by herself, was a girl he had never seen before. She had smooth olive skin that glistened under the glow of the artificial lighting. Her thin frame was wrapped in tight jeans and a purple v-neck t-shirt that hugged her curves and revealed just a hint of cleavage. Her plump lips were set in concentration as her soft mocha eyes shifted down towards her lab packet, causing her long ebony curls to fall over her high cheekbones. Troy had never seen anything like her.

She was absolutely, breathtakingly beautiful.

Troy couldn't help his gaze as it traveled her up and down. There were a million thoughts running through his head, all focused on her. Who was she? How had he never seen her before? He watched as she tucked a lock of thick hair behind her ear, completely mesmerized. Even with all her beauty, she still seemed to have an innocent look about her. He noticed the way she shyly glanced around the room when the teacher began passing out the lab materials and the way her eyes quickly returned to the surface of her lab table once she realized she was the only one without a lab partner. She had to be new, right?

He nudged Chad, who was already beginning to nod off again, with his elbow, "Hey, Chad?"

"Hmm?" Chad mumbled, opening his drowsy eyes.

His curious sapphires had yet to leave hers, and they refused to do so as he questioned his best friend. "Who's that girl in the front row?"

Chad's tired brow narrowed as he scanned over the rows of students, his chin still resting in his palm, finally landing on the brunette Troy had been asking about. "Who, the new chick?"

Ah, so she was new. "Yeah, her," Troy confirmed with a nod, his gaze still on the beauty as the teacher laid their share of supplies in front of them.

"I don't know, man. Her name's like, Isabella or some shit like that," he answered in a tone that suggested to Troy that he could care less. He finally glanced up at his friend to see where his gaze was pointed at. "Why?"

Troy finally broke his stare at Chad's confused voice, looking down to see his friend watching him with a weird look on his dark face. "Nothing," he answered quickly, clearing his throat and trying to sound nonchalant. "I've never seen her before. She's kinda hot."

Chad turned his head towards Isabella and wrinkled up his nose. "I guess……" he somewhat agreed with a shrug, "She's kind of quiet though." Troy was surprised by Chad's reaction. Didn't he have eyes? Couldn't he see how gorgeous she was?

"I suggest you boys save gossip time for later and start working on your lab," they were startled by Mrs. Carroccio as her bony hands grasped their muscular shoulders, seeking attention from the slacking boys. "Not the best way to start my class Mr. Bolton," she tsked with a shake of her head.

"Sorry, we'll get to work now," Troy promised picking up the lab packet as the teacher began to make her way around the other lab tables.

"Stupid old bitch," Chad mumbled under his breath, not too happy with the idea of having to stand up from his comfortable position. Troy rolled his eyes and his friend stretched out his buff arms while glancing over his shoulder to peer at the lab. "What are we even doing, dude?"

"Um," Troy looked down at the lab for the first time and his eyebrows narrowed in confusion, "It says we're burning money, dude."

"Huh?" Chad asked, snatching the packet from Troy, the idea capturing his attention. What a miracle, science had finally managed to get his attention. However, something entirely different still had a hold on Troy's attention, and he let his eyes return to that something as Chad read through the lab. He watched the way her delicate body moved while completing the ending steps of the experiment. She dipped the dollar bill in a solution in the beaker on the edge of her lab table. Her unpolished fingers curled around tongs, using them to pick up the bill and move it away from her liquid-filled beaker. She was so focused; he could tell by the way she bit her pink lip and the way her eyes never left her unfinished experiment. She moved quickly and with grace, as if this was something she did every day. Troy smiled, it was cute. She lit a match and the spark sputtered to life in her fingers. She moved the flame to the bill and placed it on the tip. A slow fire began burning on the bill still held in the tongs. Then something magical happened.

She smiled.

It was the first time he had ever seen her smile. She had yet to do so since he had walked into the classroom. He had never seen anything like it and it made him suck in a sharp breath. It was brighter than the flame dancing on the bill, it lit the room. It lit his heart. It was absolutely perfect. She was perfect.

Troy suddenly felt a hard nudge on his shoulder, snapping him out of his own little world that only involved him and her. "Dude, I need your help!" Chad insisted in an irritated voice.

Troy shook his head. This was ridiculous. He was letting some girl he had never even met, whose last name he didn't even know, completely take over him. Was he crazy? He had never even talked to her before, so he should certainly not be feeling this way. "Right, what are we doing?"

"Well I already made the alcohol solution while you were in lala land, but we're supposed to put the money in it and then light it on fire. I guess it doesn't really burn the money though, just the alcohol, so it's supposed to go out after like a minute. Still a fucking waste of time if you ask me," Chad said, already soaking the dollar in the solution.

"Okay, so now what do we do?" Troy asked, impressed that Chad was taking charge of a chemistry assignment but also annoyed that he couldn't keep staring at Isabella.

"Um, light the match then let's burn this shit!" he exclaimed, holding up the bill with the tongs as he waited for Troy to complete the experiment.

He let out a chuckle, "Sure man, let's do it." He rubbed the match across the back of its package several times until it finally sputtered to life. His arm moved towards the bill, ready to set it in flames. But then he heard something. Something he had never heard before.

His chestnut locks whipped towards the source of the foreign sound that came from the same direction he had been focused on all period. There she was, standing at her lab table, the teacher patting her on the back for a job well done. She had giggled. That was the sound he had heard and it was the most beautiful sound he had ever-

"TROY! FUCK!"

Troy was suddenly thrown back by his flailing friend. He stumbled backwards and the lit match fell from his hand. His shocked eyes whirled back towards Chad………..

Holy shit. Chad was on fucking fire!

Troy must have let his hand slip while he was distracted, lighting the end of Chad's long sleeve in the process. Chad was frantically waving his arm wildly in the air, screaming as the flames began to spread up his arm. "SHIT!"

The entire class was now gaping at the last lab row, where the boy was still shaking his arm to and fro, his panicked eyes bugging out of his head. A panic swept through the room and shouts and screams were thrown into the chaos.

"OH MY GOD!"

"WHAT THE HELL?"

"SOMEBODY HELP HIM!"

Mrs. Carroccio sprang into action, sprinting to the back of the room. She pulled Chad by his other arm that wasn't in flames, hurling the screaming boy into the back corner where the emergency shower and eyewash station was. She pulled the yellow handle, sending a downpour of water over the burning teenager and triggering the fire alarm in the process. The shrill bell rang throughout the entire school and the students began to shuffle around, confused and panicked.

Troy stood where he had stumbled back, completely in shock. He had just lit his best friend on fire. Shit.

"Bolton, behind you!" a deep voice shouted.

What? Troy turned around, seeing nothing. But then a thick smoke registered in his brain and he looked down. Fuck! His match had landed on a stray piece of paper on the white ground, lighting that on fire too. His instincts took over and he desperately began stomping at the small fire. "SHIT! SHIT, SHIT, SHIT!" he shouted. The heat was beginning to seep through the sole of his gym shoe, but he had to put the fire out. He'd already destroyed everything else today. "SHIT!" His stomps increased with speed and a nervous sweat broke out on his forehead. The fire sputtered and went out beneath his feet, leaving behind a pile of ashes.

Troy sighed, it was finally out. His brilliant blues looked up and he was slammed back by the penetrating stare. She was looking at him, she had been watching. She looked confused and scared for the boy under the spray of the shower. Her chocolate eyes were filled with concern. Troy rubbed the back of his neck, suddenly embarrassed that this was the way he had captured her attention for the first time. Shit.

"Everybody leave!" Mrs. Carroccio shouted over the ringing of the alarm. "You can leave the school through the exit at the end of the hall! Mr. Bolton, come help me with Chad! EVERYONE, MOVE! HURRY!"

Troy looked towards the back of the room where his friend's arm was held out stiffly in front of him, his face contorted in agony and pain. This was all his fault. The panic was beginning to wear off, but it was being replaced with a different feeling. He felt like shit.

He glanced back at the beauty once more. She was moving towards the door, sending back concerned glances. Her eyes locked with Troy's once more before quickly looking away, as if just looking at him would cause her to combust into flames as well. He ran a hand down his distressed face, letting out a groan before making his way to his injured friend.

What a great way to make a first impression.

Please, please review! I recently noticed my anonymous reviews were disabled, which really made me pissed at myself! So now everyone can review! I'm excited to see if more people review!

Love Always,

FreakyMathGirl =)