This chapter shows a different side of Gabriella, sort of a more daring side, ya know, she's gone out with the rebel guy and everything. It's also developing Troy's feelings toward her. This is really just a filler chapter, to show a bit more about Troy and Gabriella and then show a bit more of Sharpay's problem. So, I hope you enjoy!

So many scenario's sprung to Troy's head as Gabriella ushered him into the house. The curtains were drawn and there was the smell of weed hanging in the musty air. Out of all the scenario's that were playing through his mind, playing nice with this guy and sitting on his sofa, smiling politely was not one of them. And yet that was what he was doing, sitting next to this guy that Gabriella had apparently gone out with. Troy hadn't even known Gabriella to have a boyfriend in the past year, desppite being the most attractive girl in their year, and definitly the sweetest and smartest. And she had gone out with this guy.

"So, Dane, is Sharpay here?" Gabriella asked, standing in the doorway leading to a hallway. She didn't look uncomfortable at all, leaning against the doorframe and glancing around the room. "Well, not much has changed here," she grinned over at him. Their ease with each other made Troy feel out of place.

"Well, you were just here two weeks ago," Dane Mitchell pointed out, grinning back. Gabriella's cheeks reddened slightly and she stepped into the hallway. Troy's eyes went from Dane to Gabriella, and then back again. What was happening here? What was going on? Gabriella didn't blush. Gabriella didn't do things that MADE her blush! And this guy, this guy wearing no shirt at one in the afternoon and spikey, waxed up hair, was making his Gabriella blush. "Anyway, she's in the room at the end. Thought you might come around looking for her." He rolled his eyes. "God, she's a nutty one, aye?" Gabriella sighed and disappeared. Troy got up and followed her down the hallway. She pushed open the door and sprawled across the bed in the corner of the room, was Sharpay. She was sleeping deeply, her snores filling the room. There was a blanket covering her, and her hair was splayed out across the pillow and straggling around her face. Dane appeared behind them and slung his arm easily around Gabriella's shoulders.

"She text me yesterday and said she wanted a drink. Thought you'd be there so I went along," he shrugged. "When you weren't, and Micheal was already there, I thought I better stick around. Make sure that she was alright."

"And she decided she wanted to go out and get drunk somewhere else? And you went with her so she wouldn't get in trouble?" Gabriella asked, raising an eyebrow. Dane nodded and laughed.

"She's a determined bitch," he shook his head. "Especially when she's drunk." Gabriella nodded and walked over to the bed. She knelt beside the bed and shook Sharpay's shoulder gently. There was a groan.

"Shar? Honey, you have to wake up," she shook her shoulder again. Sharpay's eyes inched open and she moaned when she saw Gabriella.

"I wanna sleep," she grunted.

"I know sweetie, but Dane has to get to work, and you have to get home to see your mum and dad, because they don't know that you went out," Gabriella pulled the blanket off the protesting Sharpay and then began to try to pull her up. "Sharpay, come on," she grunted. Troy walked over from the doorway and scooped Sharpay up in his arms.

"Come on, lets get her home," he told her, walking out of the room, watching out for her head as he began down the hallway. He stopped at the doorway leading into the lounge and looked back at Gabriella and Dane. He had his hand on her elbow and she was smiling at him. He leaned forward and kissed her on the cheek, for the second time in the matter of half an hour. Troy tried not to let the feeling of jealousy seep through him. Gabriella smiled and said something to him, then turned and followed Troy out of the room. Gabriella walked out in front of Troy and opened the back door of the car.

"Thanks," he muttered, sliding Sharpay from his arms and trying to adjust her so that she was sitting up and putting the seatbelt on. Sharpay managed to sit up, her head flopped back on the headrest, and Troy plugged in the seatbelt. He hopped into the front seat and Gabriella was already turing the car on. There was silence as they pulled out of the driveway and she drove down the street, indicating at the end of the street and then turning down another. She knew these streets well, Troy realized as they made their way back into the streets that he knew. "I...Didn't know that you were going out with someone."

"I used to," Gabriella corrected him, although not adding any furthur information. There was an uncomfortable silence, and it stretched on for a while.

"When did you start going out with him?" Troy asked, trying to sound curious but not overly interested. Gabriella shrugged.

"Maybe about a year ago. But we didn't go out for very long," she replied. She didn't look like she didn't want to continue the conversation, but she wasn't helping to carry it on.

"Uh, did Taylor ever meet him?" He asked. "Sharpay obviously has."

"I met him through Sharpay, actually," Gabriella replied, finally expanding on an answer. "He was friends with one of the guys that Sharpay was hooking up with at one stage. I had gone along with her, and he was the only other sober one there. I think Taylor might have met him once, when he took me to the end of school production with me at the end of the year." Troy frowned, remembering Gabriella mentioning going to the production but he didn't remember anything about attending it with a guy, and he was pretty sure he would remember something like that.

"So, how long did you guys go out for?" He asked.

"Look, Troy, I told you I went out with him," Gabriella began, her voice sounding tight. "I told you his name, I told you how we met, and I told you when we broke up. But you were so wrapped up in your basketball-always have been-and sometimes you just let small things slip your mind." Troy frowned.

"What are you talking about? You're my bestfriend, I remember everything that you tell me," he raised an eyebrow in confusion.

"Well, obviously you didn't remember Dane," Gabriella stated. Troy frowned but didn't reply, mainly because she was right.

He didn't remember.

That night, Troy went home and shot hoops and ran shuttles until the sweat was pouring down his face. Why was he jealous of Dane? There had been guys who had liked her in the past, ones that Gabriella had hooked up with several times. And this one guy was getting to him, and it was someone that she wasn't even with anymore. There was a bang from inside the house and Troy stopped, breathing heavily, his chest heaving up and down.

He looked up, and saw angry eyes looking back at him through the kitchen window.

He sighed.

Gabriella was one of the only things going right in his life at the moment. He had to push all these thoughts away, all those of jealousy, and wanting her. He just needed her friendship.

Coz, God he needed her.

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