A/N: So this is the complete first chapter. I hope you like it!
Question: Would you prefer me to upload as I finish each chapter, or would you prefer me to write 6 or 7 chapters and then do weekly updates like with Serendipity and A Long Road To Love? Let me know!
Chapter One
"Hold up," Troy Bolton called, silencing the main hallway of East High. Students turned from their lockers, abandoning their conversations, curious as to what he wanted.
A nearby group of cheerleaders giggled and admired him as he slowly surveyed the crowds. Dressed in jeans, white shirt and a sports jacket, he was the epitome of school spirit. This was expected as he was captain of the basketball team, football team, and golf team. But all the cheerleaders were interested in was the way his shirt showed a few pectoral muscles.
"Who did it?" he asked, ignoring the cheerleaders and continuing his inspection of the student body.
His best friend approached and cautiously clapped Troy on the shoulder. "Who did what?"
He narrowed his eyes at Chad Danforth. "Who parked in my space?"
The hallway groaned in disappointment and went back to their business, evidently expecting a juicier story.
Chad quirked an eyebrow. "Really, hoops?"
Troy nodded his head. "And do you know the worst part?"
"That you're obsessive about a parking space?"
He laughed sarcastically. "No. I had to park by the dumpsters. I just know that Lola is going to be covered in spilled coffee by lunch."
Taylor, Chad's girlfriend, approached and greeted her boyfriend with a chaste kiss, quickly taking Chad's basketball from him. "Do you know who did it?"
"No," he mumbled, looking at the ground.
"Well what kind of car is it?" Chad asked, trying to wrestle his basketball off Taylor.
"It wasn't even a car. It was just a stupid motorcycle," he grumbled, folding his arms like a child who couldn't get his own way. Which, in a way, he was.
"What kind of motorcycle?" Chad asked absentmindedly as he finally pried his basketball from Taylor.
"I don't know," Troy exploded, running his hand through his sandy hair. "All I know is that someone parked in my space. It looked like it was about to fall apart anyway."
Jason Cross, another of Troy's friends, ran up to him. "Troy, someone's parked in your space."
Troy gritted his teeth. "I know."
"I was going to stop him but he's a scary dude." Jason pulled a face.
"You saw him?"
Jason nodded. "Terrifying. Seven foot, bulging muscles and tattoos all over his face."
Taylor nudged Jason. "Is that the scary dude?"
Troy turned to see that Taylor was pointing at a petite girl with a head full of unruly dark curls that fell to halfway down her back. Dressed in a white shirt, jeans, black boots and an oversized leather jacket, she looked like she had eaten her fair share of bugs. She was clutching a wad of papers in one hand and a motorcycle helmet in the other, a backpack hanging from her shoulder. She wandered over to a locker and began dialling in her combination.
Troy raised an eyebrow in Jason's direction.
Jason shrugged. "I swear she was a dude outside."
Troy rolled his eyes and before anyone could stop him, he marched over to her. He looked her up and down, noticing how tanned she was and how high her cheekbones were. She began trying to cram her helmet into her locker, but to no avail. "Hi, I'm Troy Bolton," he said, smiling charmingly down at her.
She paused for a moment to look him up and down before she turned back to her locker, pushing her shoulder against her helmet.
"Try this," he offered as he took her helmet, twisted it and watched it slide smoothly to the bottom of the locker.
She glanced at him, her lips flicking up in a brief smile, and then began organising her books.
"Listen," Troy began, leaning against the locker next to hers. "You kind of parked your bike in my space, so could you be a doll and move it?" He winked down at her.
She lifted her head, blinking a few times and then opened her mouth, a bunch of jumbled syllables tumbling out.
He frowned, recognising the odd word from Spanish class and instantly wished he'd studied more and not stared at the girl who sat in front of him. "Oh, you don't speak English," he said slowly.
She just smiled politely up at him and turned back to her locker.
He slowly walked away and met back up with his friends. "She doesn't even speak English."
Taylor rolled her eyes. "She probably doesn't want to be bothered by some jock on her first day of school."
The bell rang and students began shuffling toward their homeroom. Troy vaguely registered Taylor pushing Chad in the direction of Ms Darbus's classroom but he could only stand in the middle of the hall and stare at the biker chick as she grabbed a few books and battled her way to her homeroom.
He took a deep breath and headed in the opposite direction, towards the principal's office. He didn't know who the biker girl was, he didn't care if it was her first day, and he didn't care if she didn't speak English. He was Troy Bolton and he was going to get his space back.
"Mr Matsui, please," Troy begged, dropping down to his knees.
Mr Matsui, the principal, glanced across at Jack Bolton, the gym coach and, coincidentally, Troy's father. "Troy, there is nothing I can do."
"But-"
"Troy," Jack interrupted. "I don't think it's that big of a deal. It's only a parking space."
Troy jumped to his feet. "It's only a parking space? Dad, I have had that space since before I got my permit."
"And Jason Cross had to lie in it for the first six months," Mr Matsui exclaimed. "Troy, there is nothing I can do unless you want to carpool with your father to park in the teachers' spaces."
Troy looked at Jack hopefully.
"No," Jack said. "Your mom and I bought you that car so that I wouldn't be late to work anymore. It's just a parking space."
"It's not 'just' a parking space," Troy mumbled, using air quotes. "It's my parking space and I want it back."
He folded his arms and swept his gaze around the principal's office. He looked at the filing cabinets, the certificates that documented Mr Matsui's college education, the trophy for principal of the year (although Troy suspected Mr Matsui had bought it himself), the dry erase board, and the mini basketball hoop. Troy finally gazed out the large window behind Mr Matsui's desk which overlooked the parking lot. He spied that tiny little motorcycle and turned to punch Mr Matsui's filing cabinet.
"Shit," he muttered, flexing his hand.
"Language," Jack warned.
"Look Troy, I'm sorry. There are no assigned student parking spaces. It says so in the student handbook," Mr Matsui explained, holding up a binder.
Troy snatched it up and began flicking through the pages. "There's always a loophole and I'm determined to find it."
Mr Matsui rose from behind his desk. "Troy, there's a meeting with the dance committee in here."
Troy frowned, looking at his dad. "Why are you here?"
Jack sighed. "We have to organise the decorating around basketball practice and cleaning up before the big game Saturday."
Troy shrugged and sat down in one of the chairs, turning his attention back to the handbook. "They won't bother me."
Mr Matsui and Jack sighed unanimously as the principal sat back down.
Troy began studying the handbook harder than he had ever studied for a class. Troy Bolton had many talents, but one of his greatest talents was finding rules that let him get what he wanted. There was a joke among his friends that it was a shame he was so interested in sports because he would make an amazing lawyer. He scoured every page, reading every word, thinking about how good it would feel to swing Lola back into her usual space by the fountain, not the dumpsters.
The door suddenly swung open and in strolled the committee, led by none other than Sharpay Evans, donned in her usual combination of pink and glitter. Troy glanced up to see Taylor also filing in, clutching a pile of papers, alongside Kelsi Nielson, another of Troy's friends. A few other students that Troy recognised wandered in behind and closed the door.
Kelsi sat next to him. "Hi Troy. What are you doing here?"
He briefly lowered the binder to glance at his friends. "Searching for justice."
Sharpay rolled her eyes and flipped her blonde hair over her shoulder. "Please tell me he's not twittering on about that blasted parking space?"
Jack shrugged. "You know my son just like I do."
Taylor frowned disapprovingly. "You know Ms Darbus is furious that you missed homeroom because of a parking space?"
Mr Matsui cleared his throat. "So Sharpay, you know that the fall ball is one of the highlights of the school year. What have you planned for refreshments?"
"That's Taylor's department," she snapped, glaring at the dark skinned girl.
"Well, I don't know because Sharpay refuses to pick a theme for this dance," Taylor retorted.
Mr Matsui took his glasses off and pinched the bridge of his nose. "What about music?"
"Aha!" Troy leapt to his feet and shoved the binder under Mr Matsui's nose.
The principal took it off him. "What am I supposed to be looking at?"
"Article eight," Troy said, as if it was the most obvious thing in the world for the principal of East High to be looking at during a meeting with the dance committee. "All regulations are subject to review."
Mr Matsui handed the binder back to Troy. "Aha. Article nine. Except for student parking."
Troy pulled a face and sat back down in the chair he'd been occupying. He grumbled incoherently as he began perusing the binder all over again.
There was a knock at the door and Troy felt his anger bubbling in his stomach when the biker girl peered around the door, not even noticing him.
"May I help you?" Mr Matsui asked.
The girl stepped into the room and approached the principal's desk. "Hi, I'm Gabriella Montez. I'm new here. Ms Darbus said I should clear my schedule with you." She handed over a sheet of paper.
"Wait. You speak English?" Troy exclaimed as he jumped to his feet.
Gabriella turned to him and quirked an eyebrow. "Si, hijo de puta."
Troy turned to Taylor. "Tay, what did she say?"
Taylor laughed. "I'm not translating that motor mouth. Besides, I told you she just didn't want to be bothered on her first day."
Gabriella smirked at Troy before she turned back to Mr Matsui. "Sorry for interrupting. I didn't know you were in a meeting."
Mr Matsui smiled politely, giving the schedule back to Gabriella. "No worries, Miss Montez. I actually remember reviewing your transcript and, I have to say, I was very impressed. 4.0 GPA, captain of the basketball team, wrestling team, and scholastic decathlon team? I believe your light will shine very brightly here at East High."
Troy suddenly laughed. "Welcome to East High, Einstein-ette."
Gabriella rolled her eyes but before she could respond, Jack stepped forward. "Basketball and wrestling? Really? Would you like to try out for the teams?"
"But Dad," Troy protested.
"Your dad works at school? That makes sense," she mumbled.
"Troy, I was speaking to Gabriella," Jack exclaimed, moving his gaze back to the young girl.
Gabriella shuffled her feet in discomfort. "I'm sorry, Coach..."
"Bolton," Jack finished, holding his hand out.
She shook his hand. "Thank you for inviting me to try out, but I don't really play sports anymore."
"Why? Did you have to rediscover gravity?" Troy joked, grinning widely down at her.
"Thank you, Troy," Mr Matsui warned, giving him a pointed look. "Gabriella, let me be the first to welcome you to East High."
"I would like to speak to the captain of the scholastic decathlon team, though," Gabriella explained.
Before she knew it, Taylor was by her side, holding out a card.
"Allow me to introduce our class president and captain of the scholastic decathlon team, Taylor McKessie," Mr Matsui said.
Taylor nodded. "We meet Mondays and Wednesdays at lunch and almost every day after school. If you're as good as Mr Matsui said, you'll fit right in."
"Sir," Troy exclaimed, pushing Gabriella out of the way. He grinned triumphantly. "Article five: the principal can overrule any regulation in an emergency."
Mr Matsui stood up. "Troy, you losing a parking space does not qualify as an emergency. Now sit down or get back to homeroom."
"I'll just...take a seat," he muttered as he turned around, halting in his tracks. "That's my seat."
Gabriella looked up and shrugged. "I didn't see 'Property of Egotistical Jerk' stitched into it."
"But it's my seat," he repeated through gritted teeth.
"Not anymore," she said, smirking up at him.
He turned to Mr Matsui. "I'll get back to you." He turned to Gabriella. "And you too!"
She watched him storm out of the room and began studying her schedule again, drowning out the conversation that went on around her. It was something about an upcoming dance she'd seen advertised in the halls. She focused on her classes, trying to guess if she shared any lessons with Troy. She didn't take gym, so she wouldn't encounter him there. She doubted he took AP classes, so that just left drama and autoshop. And then there's lunch, the wonderful experience that it is, what with trying to figure out where everyone sat, trying to avoid spilled food, and trying to stomach cafeteria food which never changed, no matter what school you were at.
But, the important thing was that it seemed like she would be able to avoid Troy the majority of the time. The last thing she wanted or needed was trouble or aggravation. She had moved to Albuquerque with her father wanting nothing more than a quiet life. Despite that, she didn't think it would happen. Not with the start she'd had with Troy. Deep down, she knew that no matter how many classes they didn't have together, he would still manage to get in her way.
"Well, let's ask Gabriella," a voice exclaimed.
Her stomach dropped as she lifted her head to see the whole room staring at her.
"Ask Gabriella what?" she asked slowly.
Taylor stepped forward. "As a new student with no bias towards past dances or friendships with members of the dance committee, what do you prefer? Fall in Paris?"
"Get it?" Sharpay interrupted. "Paris is the city of love. So you would fall in Paris."
Gabriella nodded slowly, slightly scared by the proud grin on the blonde's face.
"Or an autumn harvest?" Taylor finished. "You know, pumpkins, trees, leaves..."
"And this dance is Friday?" Gabriella rolled her eyes. "If I have to choose, I prefer the harvest."
Taylor grinned triumphantly at Sharpay. "Told you."
Sharpay sneered at her friend. "Are you coming to the dance, Gabriella?"
Gabriella shifted uncomfortably under everybody's gaze. It was tricky. She was in a room full of people who were excited for the dance and she'd never been to one before. "Well, I hadn't really thought about it. I don't think so. I don't really know anybody."
"You know us," Taylor said, giving her a comforting smile. "Besides, if you help us with the decorations, your ticket would be free."
Gabriella sighed. "I don't know."
Sharpay shrugged. "We'd be happy to go with you and introduce you to some people."
"Fine," Gabriella mumbled. "But only because I love pumpkin pie."