Author's Note: Hey everybody! So first things first... SHOUT OUT TIME! First to keyonna13c: Thanks for reviewing for the first time! I always love it when new people review. Tati6181994: Another first time reviewer! Thanks! candycanes18ify: Thanks for the compliment AND for reviewing! Also, again to Callie1121: Actually, the type of chocolate your thinking of is Nutella, but I thought of that too. If you can come up with a better mash up name, feel free to leave a suggestion, I'm not very good with that kind of stuff!:) And finally to EVERYBODY: I can't believe how many reviews this story has gotten. All of you guys are so sweet to take time out of your day to give me some feedback. Forty-one reviews so far! I can't even believe it. Thanks so much! Please continue to review and enjoy chapter thirteen!

"This could be the start of something new, It feels so right to be here with you..."

I smiled as I heard my new ringtone and quickly closed the book I was reading. I grabbed my phone and hit talk.

"Hello?"

"Hey Ella." Nate's voice brought a happy smile to my face. I sat down in my beanbag chair and pulled my feet up under me.

"Hey. What's up?"

"Nothing much. Missing you."

I rolled my eyes. "Nate, you saw me this morning."

"Rehearsing together isn't the same as just talking."

I laughed. "So you didn't enjoy it? I was kind of under the impression you liked rehearsing quite a bit during the kiss scene."

Nate laughed too. "Alright, that part was pretty awesome, but I still missed just hanging out with you." He paused a moment. "What did you think about Gabriella calling in sick?"

I sighed and rubbed my forehead. "Well when my dad finally talked to her yesterday, she said she wasn't mad but that she needed some time to think some things over. I don't really know what's going on."

"Everything's going to be okay. I know it is." Nate's reassuring voice brought a smile back to my lips for a minute, but then it faded.

"I hope so." I sighed again. "I can't believe it's only been three days since she and Alex came over. It feels like forever."

"Well the reunion is tomorrow. Maybe they'll work it out there."
"Maybe..." I said doubtfully.

"Has Alex contacted you at all?"

"No. But I haven't tried to reach him. I figured he needed time too." I stood up and walked to my closet. I opened the door and fingered the shiny fabric of the formal dress I was planning on wearing tomorrow. "I really hope everything works out."

"I do too. And Ella?" Nate's voice sounded very tender. "You know I'm on your side right? Whatever happens, I'll be right there with you."

"Thanks." I took a deep breath. "Nate I-I, well there's something I've been wanting to tell you."

"Yeah?" He sounded nervous.

"Um, well, I know we've only been official for a few days now, but I've been thinking about it and I wanted to tell you..." Suddenly I glimpsed Gabriella walking up the steps to our house through my window. I jumped up. "Uh, Nate, I'm sorry, but I got to go. Bye!"

"Ella wha-?" I hung up. It's probably for the best anyway, I thought as I hurried to the door, we might not even be ready for that yet. I love you is a big deal.

I opened the door before she even had a chance to knock. "Gabriella!" I couldn't hide my joy. "Hi!"

Her face looked tired and she smiled sadly. "Hi Ella."

"What's wrong? Are you okay? Do you need to sit down?" I pulled her inside and led her to the couch but she shook her head.

"I'm fine. I just need to talk to your dad."

"Gabriella?" I turned to see my dad behind us, his face a mixture of emotions.

"Troy." She said quietly. "We need to talk."

I glanced toward my bedroom door. "I'll just leave so you guys can-"

She stopped me. "It's okay Ella. You need to hear this too." She took a deep breath. "Troy, what I came to say is that I can't do this." She held up her hand as he opened his mouth, shocked. "Please hear me out. I don't know what you expected to happen after this. I don't know what I expected to happen. But I've realized something over the last couple of days." She clasped her hands, tears shining in her eyes, but her voice strong. "It's been so long Troy. So long since we were in highschool. When I saw Sharpay kiss you-"

"Ella, you know that wasn't me. She was drunk. It was obvious. I gave her absolutely no encouragement." My dad looked almost desperate.

Gabriella stopped him again. "I know Troy. I understand. And I want to apologize for rushing out of here like that. It wasn't right. But like I was going to say, it hurt me. So much." Her eyes dropped to the floor for a minute, then she raised them. "I'm sorry, but I can't be with you. I can't risk having you again, cause if you left, or we were parted again, I-I" She stopped, a single tear snaking it's way down her face. She struggled for a minute to gain control then continued. "I couldn't handle it." My dad opened his mouth again, but she continued quickly. "I know this may not seem to make any sense, but it's just impossible. We're not in highschool anymore Troy. What we had? It's over."

"Gabriella..." He trailed off, his eyes full of tears. I gasped. It was the first time I had seen my dad cry in a long time. "Please..."

She looked at him for a long moment, then turned to me, her eyes full of pain. "Ella, I-"

"Stop!" I hadn't realized till then I was crying. "Don't tell me. You told me you would always be there if I needed to talk."

"I know. And I can be." Gabriella moved towards me, as if she were going to hug me. "Ella, this has nothing to do with you."

I jerked away. "You said you understood." My voice broke, but I kept going. "You told me you understood how it felt to feel alone. Well I don't think you do." I swiped angrily at the tears coming down my cheeks. "I think you understand how it feels to leave people alone. That's all you do. You run away, and then tell others they shouldn't. I can't believe you! You told me not to push away the people I love, but what are you doing right now?"

"Ella, I'm sorry!" Gabriella's eyes were full of hurt. "I can't expect you to forgive me, but at least understand I have to go."

"You don't have to." I sighed. "You want too."

"No I-"

"Go! Just go! Run away!" I pulled away when my dad reached for me. "Go!" I ran to my bedroom and slammed the door. I threw myself down on my bed and sobbed into the pillows.

Eventually I heard my bedroom door open and close. Someone sat on my bed and stroked my hair as I cried. Finally I stopped, and rolled over to look at who had been comforting me.

"Don't worry. Just me." Nate pulled me into a sitting position and into his arms.

I partially pulled away. "How did you-?"

"Your dad called me." He pulled me back, but I pushed away again.
"I'm a mess!"

Nate pushed some hair out of my eyes. "You look beautiful."

I rolled my eyes even as I smiled. "Liar."

He smiled too. "There's the smile I know and love."

I settled myself back into his arms. "Is my dad okay with you being in here?" I knew my dad wasn't keen on me and any guy I was dating being in my bedroom alone together.

I felt Nate nod. "He was cool with it. I asked."

I sighed and listened to Nate's heart beat for a minute as I lay against his chest. "I feel awful."

"Why?" Nate rubbed my arm gently, in a soothing gesture. "You were hurt. You lashed out. It happens. No one could blame you."

I bit my lip. "I just had all of these dreams in my head. About how they would get married and we could all be a family, and it would almost be like having a new mother." Nate grabbed my hand and squeezed it, but said nothing. "Is that silly?" I asked.

"No it's not. It's beautiful. And you never know, it might still happen."

I pulled away. "You think so?"

He shrugged. "Miracles happen."

I sighed. "I wish there was a way I could help them." I glanced at Nate's concerned face. "Hey, thanks for coming. You were really sweet."

Nate flushed. "It was nothing."

"It was something." I leaned forward and kissed him. "Thank you." Come on Ella, just say it. You do love him. You know you do.

He smiled. "Ella, I love you."

I gasped. "How did you know?"

"Know what?" He looked confused.

"That's what I was going to say to you earlier. I was just getting my courage up to say it."

He beamed. "So does that mean you love me too?"

I smiled. "Yes. Most definitely." I leaned forward and whispered it in his ear. "I love you Nate."

He smiled and kissed me, then whispered back. "I love you too."

I lay back against his chest and listened to his heart beat. It was faster than the first time. I smiled. Then suddenly I sat bolt upright. "I have a fabulous idea."

He raised his eyebrows. "What?"

"I know how to help my dad get Gabriella back." My smile grew larger. "But I'm going to need your help."

"My help? How?"

I jumped off the bed and ran over to my desk. I moved aside the photos of Nate and pulled out the little red note book I had hidden in there only a week ago. "This!"

He looked confused. "My poems?"

"No, your songs!" I grinned. "We could make a song out of one of these and have my dad sing it to Gabriella. We could help him, if he wanted us to." I had another brainstorm. "He could sing it at the reunion dinner!" I glanced at Nate, who looked uncertain. "You don't mind do you?"

"No." He smiled at me. "It's a great plan. It's just neither of us knows how to write music. How can we write a song?"

I paused for a second, then brightened. "Wait here a second!" I ran out of my room and into my dad's study. My dad looked up, surprised.

"Ella!"

"Hey dad!" I smiled at him. "Where's your old yearbook?"

"Uh, right here." He handed it to me. "But why do you need it?"

"Looking for something." I moved toward the door then looked behind me. "Sorry about earlier by the way."

He smiled, still looking a little confused. "It's alright but-"

"Sorry, I got to go show Nate something!"

I ran back to my room, flipping through pages of the yearbook as I went. As I walked in the door I found the right section. "Aha!"

"What is it?" Nate looked interested.

"It's this." I showed him the page that I had turned to. "It's for the musical they did that year. Something called Senior Year." I laughed. "How original." I scanned the page, looking for something in particular. "There!" I pointed triumphantly to a picture at the bottom of the page. It showed a boy and a girl sitting at a piano. The girl was wearing glasses and a hat, and the boy was smiling at her. Nate looked at it.

"Um, so?"

"Read the caption underneath." I pointed to it.

"'Kelsi Nielsen, Musician, Lyricist, and Orchestra Director. Ryan Evans, Choreographer.'" He looked up. "Hey, isn't Ryan Evans Stephen and Michelle's uncle?"

I took a closer look at the picture. "Yeah, it looks like it. But that's not the point. This girl Kelsi wrote all the songs for this musical."

Nate looked confused. "Excuse my ignorance, but why is this a big deal?"

I rolled my eyes. "Hold on a second." I turned to the back of the yearbook and read the message Kelsi had written to my dad.
Troy-

It's been a great couple of years. You're an amazing friend, and I'm glad to have known you. You and Gabriella are going to go far and I know you both are headed towards bright futures. Thanks for giving a voice to so many of my songs, it was awesome working with you. Wish me luck at Julliard and stay in touch!

-Kelsi

"Wow." I couldn't believe our good luck. "She went to Julliard. So she must be good. And it looks like her and my dad were pretty close friends. This could actually work."

"Wait, hold on a minute." Nate sat all the way up. "You're not actually suggesting we try to get this Kelsi person to write music to go with my amateur poem? That's crazy!"

I hesitated for a minute. "I know it's a long shot, but it's pretty much our only shot. Let me see if I can find her online. Who knows, she may be coming to the reunion." I opened my lap top and sat back down on my bed. Carefully I typed Kelsi Nielsen into the search bar. "Woah."

"What?" Nate peered at the screen. "Wow. She's pretty famous in her own circles I guess."

"You can say that again." I scrolled through the search results. "She's a well known composer now. And not only does she compose classic musical, she also does arrangements for popular music artists!" I grinned. "This has to work."

"But we still don't know if she's even coming to the reunion." Nate interjected.

"Wait, it looks like this page is her Twitter account." I clicked on it and glanced at her latest tweet. "'Heading back to my home town for my highschool reunion tomorrow. Wow, time really does fly!' Oh my gosh! Nate! She's actually coming back!"

"Ella, even if she were willing to do us a favor by writing music for us, do you really think she'd be able to do it in one day? Maybe less?" Nate looked doubtful.

"I don't know." I took a deep breath. "But we're definitely going to find out."

AN: So what did you think? Leave your opinion in a review! We're coming down into the the home stretch of this story! As far as I can figure it out there's probably about five chapters left, roughly. Already working on the next chapter, so send me some love in your reviews and I'll try to write it and get it posted soon. Getting in the mood to start another story, but I've decided to wait until this one is finished. Speaking of new stories, take a second to answer the poll below. Just put the letter of the answer that most applies to you in your review. I'm not promising to go with the majority, but I will definitely take people's opinions to heart and consider them.

Quick Poll:
After this story is over, which you would you rather see from me?

A.) A sequel to this story of course!

B.) Another Highschool Musical story, but not a sequel to this.

C.) Another fanfiction story, but not based on HSM.

D.) A sequel to this story, but from another character's point of view and focusing on another family or couple.

E.) No more stories. One was enough.