A/N: AAAAHHH! dodges flying shoes DON'T KILL ME. I know I haven't exactly updated for like two months. School's getting to me and I haven't had the time to update. Sorry guys! Anyway, another chapter!
Enjoy!
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The weekend was over and school had started again. Gabriella had not seen Troy for a while now. He was busy with his basketball practices and she was grateful for that. She blew out a huge breath as she rummaged through her locker. At the corner of her eye, she saw Taylor coming her way. Suddenly, the memories of their shopping spree last Saturday flashed through her eyes.
Flashback
"So… anything interesting I should know about?" asked Taylor, as she and Gabriella rummaged through the heaps of clothes at the mall.
"What do you mean Taylor?' Gabriella asked her friend, her eyebrows furrowed in concentration as she picked up a cute hot pink tank top from the pile.
"Oh come on, don't act dumb. You and Troy? Friday Fun Night? Surely you guys did something…" Taylor urged her best friend.
Gabriella rolled her eyes, although her heartbeat was beating pretty quickly as she recalls the night before. Thunderstorms…
"Yeah, we did so something…" Gabriella started, Taylor listening intently as she followed Gabriella to the cashier, with her own heap of clothing.
"We watched DVDs and ate pizza. Just like any other Friday Fun Night. End of story."
"Right. Let me remind you, there was a thunderstorm last night and the last time I checked you were afraid of them. I'm prepared to bet a hundred bucks that you asked Troy to stay with you last night since your mom's not at home." Taylor raised her eyebrows.
Gabriella sighed. She obviously was not going to give up. She carried the bag with her newly-paid clothes in it and made her way to the exit.
"Ugh…fine. If I tell you what happened, would you please stop asking questions? It's not that serious anyway. Just a simple 'best friend thing'…even you would have done it for me." She told Taylor, once Taylor caught up with her. Both of them walked briskly to Taylor's car to go for lunch at a diner nearby.
"Yes! And I don't care. I just want to know. So what happened? Did you even sleep? I know you didn't. The storm was brutal. Where'd he sleep? You called for him didn't you? Wait. Did you go to him or did he go to you? And – "
"Taylor! Please calm down. May I remind you that you're driving. I would like to live the rest of my life and not die right now." Gabriella chastised as Taylor pouted.
"Well… we did the usual as I told you. Yes, I told him to stay cause I knew there was going to be a thunderstorm… the weatherman told me. So we argued about the weatherman for a while…" Gabriella turned to look at Taylor who has this amused look on her face.
She glanced at Gabriella before turning back to the road, giggling. "Long story… so anyway the thunder was so loud and I kept whimpering so I went to him, to answer your question… and he comforted me and stayed with me the whole night."
Taylor suddenly burst out squealing loudly in the car. Gabriella covered her ears and waited for Taylor to finish whatever she wanted to let go of.
"Geez Tay, give me a five second warning next time, will you? And see? I told you it was normal thing for best friends to do. Nothing to get excited about." Gabriella said, trying to convince herself as well. Her heartbeat was still beating uncontrollably.
"Chad doesn't even do that whenever I come over to his house and a storm suddenly comes in. You could hit him with a boulder and he wouldn't even wake up." Taylor snorted, as she turned off the car's motor and went out of her seat, Gabriella doing the same.
"Well… that's because Troy's Troy and Chad's well… Chad." Gabriella laughed.
"I know. Why can't my boyfriend be like your 'best friend'?" Taylor asked, air quoting the word 'best friend'. Gabriella chose to ignore that.
"So anyway… have you picked out a dress for the prom?" She asked Taylor, while walking through the entrance of Gerald's Diner.
"Not yet," Taylor frowned. "We should totally go shopping with the girls when prom's near." Gabriella nodded.
A comfortable silence soon ensued as the girls went through the menu, debating on what food to order. Suddenly, the entrance door opened and in came Cecilia and her group of friends.
Gabriella looked up and nudged Taylor with her foot, causing her to look up as well. Cecilia and her friends sat directly behind the booth Taylor and Gabriella were at.
Taylor and Gabriella could hear whatever they are saying perfectly well. Both girls hid their faces from the menu they were holding, as they listened intently to the conversation the other group of girls were having.
"So Cecilia, have a date for the prom yet?" her friend, Natasha, asked.
"Not yet. Although, I've heard Troy Bolton has a crush on me for so long now. He's been hinting that he likes me too." Cecilia said excitedly.
"I thought he was dating his long-time best friend? That Gabriella Montez girl?" another friend, Maddie, asked.
"I know he is. Tyler Wemming told me that they were only pretending to get him away from Gabriella."
"But… they made out in school! I'm pretty sure you saw it too… many times. Passionately, might I add. It doesn't look like they're pretending to me," Maddie pointed out, while Natasha nodded in agreement.
Gabriella blushed when she heard this as Taylor shifted in her seat to get a good look at Gabriella before mouthing 'I told you so' to her.
"I know. A part of me thinks that they're only doing it to make it even more believable. I mean, don't you find it weird that Troy and Gabriella suddenly dated after Tyler asked Gabriella to the Senior Prom? It's all so… rushed." Cecilia said, waving her arms for effect.
"Hmm… I don't know Cecilia." Maddie frowned.
"So… what are you gonna do about it? Take Troy away from her?" Natasha asked. At this, Gabriella's breath hitched.
"No! I will never do such thing! I'm not that kind of person…and if my beliefs are right and they are still only pretending, then Troy will come to me. I will wait for him. I mean, his crush on me won't just die away like that. To be honest, I've never spoken to him before…" she blushed.
"I know he glances at me during homeroom. I know he stares at me in English. I've noticed him. Too bad he doesn't know that. I was planning to talk to him during the prom. But now… I'm not really sure. I guess I have to wait and see." Cecilia finished, her face beet-root as her friends giggled in excitement.
Gabriella bit her lip and rushed out of the diner, successfully hiding herself from Cecilia, with Taylor following closely behind. Both girls did not say anything until Taylor pulled out of their parking space at the diner.
Taylor didn't know what to say. She doesn't know what was going through Gabriella's mind right now. "Gabi… I-"
"I'm done with this, Tay." Gabriella said, taking deep breaths.
"What? What do you mean?" Taylor asked, looking frantically at her best friend.
"I shouldn't have been so stupid and told Tyler that Troy was my boyfriend. This is entirely my fault! I'm ruining Troy's chances with Cecilia!" Gabriella groaned, as she put her head in her hands.
Taylor decided not to say anything as Gabriella continued on with her rant.
"I know Troy likes Cecilia for ages now. Now I know Cecilia likes Troy. I'm getting in their way! How can I be so stupid? I should have listened to Troy and let him ask Cecilia to the stupid dance and not get him into this stupid mess…" She trailed off as she let out a frustrated sigh.
"Hey, hey, hey… Gabi, calm down. First of all, Troy agreed to do it and- "
"That's because I begged him!" Gabriella interrupted.
"And… like I said before, have you ever heard him mentioning Cecilia nowadays?" Taylor asked, her eyes fixed on the road.
"Well… no… but maybe it's because he doesn't want to make me feel even guiltier of what I've done. He doesn't want to disappoint me… I mean… he's my best friend… he would do anything for me like I would do the same for him," Gabriella snapped.
Taylor sighed as she turned to Gabriella at a red light. She did not want to the things that were going through her head since she knew that that would anger Gabriella even more. "So what are you planning to do now?"
"What's right," Gabriella replied silently.
Taylor let out a loud sigh again as she drove off to Gabriella's house to drop her off. She knew that nothing she say will change Gabriella's mind. She's just stubborn like that.
End Flashback
(A/N: Woah. Sorry if that was too long! But it was all necessary.)
"Gabi… Gabi… hello?"
Gabriella snapped back to reality to Taylor's constant shaking on her shoulder. She closed her locker after getting all her books for the first period. "Are you okay?" Taylor asked her, concered.
"I… yeah…"
"Listen-" Taylor was cut off by Troy who was now walking towards them. "Gabi!"
Taylor and Gabriella turned. He finally reached Gabriella and stood in front of her. He looked around to see if anybody was looking before leaning in to capture his lips with hers, Gabriella turned so that it landed on her cheek. She swore she saw a look of hurt and confusion flashed through his eyes but both of them shrugged it off.
"Hey… how are doing? Hi Taylor," Troy asked Gabriella and acknowledging Taylor at the same time.
"I'll leave you two alone," Taylor said before walking off, probably to find Chad.
"I'm… fine," Gabriella replied, looking down.
"Okay… listen, you know that there's going to be a Mathematics test tomorrow right? Well… I kind of need some help. I know that you, me, Chad and Taylor are gonna study in the library later but I think I could use more help after that. Can you come over my house later on?" Troy asked pleadingly.
"Yeah… sure," Gabriella said, while giving him a small smile.
"Great! See you I homeroom," Troy said. He leaned down to kiss her cheek before walking off to his own locker. Gabriella stared after for a while before also walking off towards homeroom.
--
Troy, Chad, Gabriella and Taylor had studied in the library after school until six, and then finally splitting up to go home.
Gabriella's aunt's sick condition became much worse and her mom intended to stay there for a little while longer to take care of her. Although this kind of disappointed Gabriella, a part of her could not help but feel happy that her mom was not at home. Simply because she has the whole house to herself and she could do anything there without her mother making her do chores and everything.
Troy being well… Troy, was still unsure of some sums and still needed help on certain things. Of course Gabriella, being conscientious, offered to help. That led them into Troy's room on his bed, lying on their stomachs with their books laid open on the foot of his bed.
"I'm going to fail this test," Troy grumbled as he tried to solve the quadratic equation Gabriella laid out for him.
Gabriella sighed. "No you're not," she assured him.
"You're going to do just fine, you know all of it. You're thinking too hard. Apply the formulas that I thought you and you will find x in no time."
"That's just it...my brain can't think anymore."
Gabriella shut her book and tossed it on the floor. "Then, that's the sign to stop studying for a while."
"I can't quit, I need to study more," Troy said as he shook his head.
Gabriella raised her eyebrows at this. He was spending way too much time with her.
She slammed his book and took it away.
"Hey, give me that!" Troy whined.
She grinned as she held out his book away from him. "If I didn't know any better, I'd say you were acting more like...me."
He scowled. "Ha ha, very funny," he said and led out his hand. "The book please?"
Gabriella sat up on his bed and put the book behind her back. "No. You know that I'm always right and I say that it's time to quit."
"That's it," he said and then lunged for the book, tackling a laughing Gabriella on her back as she held the book out as far as she could from him.
"Okay desperate time calls for desperate measures."
Gabriella flinched and busted out a fit of giggles when he started tickling her ribs. "Troy...stop," she laughed as she dropped the book onto the floor and squirmed under him.
The book forgotten, Troy laughed as he continued to tickle her sides. "Not until you say 'Troy is the most irresistible guy you have ever met.'"
"You wish!" she said and then yelped out a laugh when he moved his hand just above her knee and squeezed it. Gabriella was obviously very ticklish. "Ah...ah...okay...Troy...is the...most…"
"Irrestibleeee," he encouraged her as he loomed over her.
"...irresistible...guy I have ever…met...ah...okay, stop I said it, I said it!"
Troy laughed as he finally let up on her.
"You're weak, Montez!" Troy said to her as she smirked at him.
"Oh, so now we're on the last name basis, huh Bolton?" Gabriella teased back.
"Sure we are Montez. In that way, that'll teach you not to mess with me."
Out of breath, Gabriella smiled up at him. "I'll be sure to remember that," she said and then casually pushed back some strands of his bangs that fell over his face.
"That was fun." She said, forgetting about Cecilia for a moment.
He smiled softly and tried to ignore the slight twinge in his heart when he looked at her.
"I needed a break that was for sure...so I guess I should be thanking you."
"Hey, what are friends for," she said as she couldn't help but notice how right it felt when they were together like this.
"Yeah," he said softly. "Friends." He then shifted until he was lying partly on his side; his stomach and pelvis were pressed against her. "You know...if we were really dating...I would kiss you now."
Gabriella's smile dropped and heart started beating faster than ever as Cecilia's words came crashing down on her. I'm on their way.
"W-would you now?" She gasped out.
"Oh, definitely...I mean it's the perfect setting, don't you think?"
She nodded uneasily while she bit her bottom lip. "Sure."
"Hmmm...well, unfortunately," he said with a shrug. "We're not."
"Yeah..."
"A shame," he said with a sexy grin.
Seeing him smile almost made Gabriella forget about everything. She was this close to reaching up and pulling him down for a kiss… but she knew it wasn't right. She needed to get out of there before she does anything she might regret later on.
She let out shaky breath as she sat up. "I better go."
"What?" he asked startled as he placed a hand on the other side of her, preventing her to go. "Why?"
"It's late," she lied and tried to sit up again and this time got off the bed, but Troy grabbed her wrist before she could leave.
He waited until she turned and looked at him. "Tell me the real reason."
She gave him a pleading look. "Troy..."
"I didn't do anything wrong did I?" he asked with worry in his eyes as he turned to sit on the edge of his bed. "I didn't make you feel uncomfortable or anything?"
"No, of course not," Gabriella said as she lifted a hand and touched the side of her face.
"Then why are you leaving?" he asked as he reached up and grabbed her hand. "Stay here tonight."
She took a deep breath as she tried to hold back her new and unfamiliar emotions. "I can't...it will be too real."
"Is that such a bad thing?" he asked as he felt his pulse quicken.
What was he doing exactly? Was he stepping across the line? Did he want to actually quit this game and make it official? What about Cecilia? He didn't know what he wanted exactly, but he knew he didn't want to be without Gabriella tonight.
"No," she finally said as she shook her head. "It would be a bad thing. Listen Troy, I overheard Cecilia and her friends talking just now. She said that she noticed you. She likes you. It's your dream, Troy. You have always wanted to hear that. Believe me, I know. She said that she wanted to speak to you during prom... I don't know… maybe she wants to talk about you and her. She knows that you have been crushing on her Troy…" Gabriella let out a shaky breath before continuing.
"I'm the reason why the both of you can't have your relationship. I'm the one who's holding you down. I shouldn't have brought you into this mess. I shouldn't have told Tyler those things. I should have handled it myself. I'm… so sorry." Gabriella whispered the last part as tears started to fall from her gorgeous brown eyes.
Gabriella suddenly leaned down and kissed Troy softly on the mouth, lingering for as long as she can. She wanted to remember this. It might be the last time she could kiss him and she wanted it to be embedded in her brain. "And… that's the reason why I should go."
Troy sat there, too stunned to speak as he watched her slowly back away and then turned and walked out of his room.
What exactly just happened?
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A/N: Yes! I finally got that out of my system! Lol. Well… how was it? Bad? Good? I'm not sure when I might be able to update again. First Term exams are coming (21st February) so yeah… wish me luck! REVIEW PLEASE!
PS: I want to dedicate this chapter to Wan Yin (Hey Kyle buddy!) and CuPid gOt sTRucK Bii LuV for keeping on encouraging me to update!