- Gabriella? Are you okay? Troy will you help her to her seat? – Chad looked at as worriedly, examining the broken-heel–startled–by–dog situation, while Taylor looked a bit embarrassed.
Troy Bolton. My most insane, embarrassing and forever secret high school crush.
The silence stretched between us to become uncomfortable as we kept looking each other in the eyes. I turned away first and tried to stand up. My body can manage to hang in Troy Bolton's arms like some damsel in distress, looking in his ocean-like eyes only for so long. Seemed like my movement turned Troy into action.
- Sure, - he straightened his back and gave me his arm, - Let me help you. – His face bore a hard unreadable expression. – I'm Troy Bolton, by the way. Chad's best friend. And I'm also going to be his Best Man. And you are Taylor's Maid of Honor, I suppose? – He asked in the most nonchalant way, looking at me, as if he saw me for the first time in his life. Like we didn't know each other at all. Like we didn't talk to each other in school when we were younger.
Like I didn't notice that he had recognized me.
I wouldn't have been offended if he didn't recognize me, really. Only disappointed a little, may be. It wasn't like we were friends in high school, we haven't seen each other since the graduation day, and I did change a little bit in my appearance since that time. I lost some weight, grew up a little bit and my figure changed to become more of a woman than a girl. I'm a late bloomer as one can say. On the whole, I can't say that I took a complete change into beauty from the beast but now I care for myself more: I started using cosmetic products of different kinds, not too much though; I look after my hair, which don't look as frizzy as they did in high school; loss of weight pushed me into wearing more colorful and appealing clothes and I finally started wearing contact lenses after some arguments with my mom. As I said, I'm still myself, just grown up a little bit, just enough to overcome basic self-consciousness.
Before my confusion could become glaringly obvious, I showed him a fake smile, fake enough that he would notice.
- That would be me, - I said in the sweetest voice I could manage. – Gabriella Montez. Nice to meet you.
I straightened up, flipped my hair back and with a straight spine strutted in my heels to finally sit down on my chair. That was supposed to look cool and nonchalant, but with my broken heel and proud look it resembled more of some limping warrior after a battle. As I tried to sit down as carefully as possible, Troy exchanged pleasantries with Taylor. Oh, he is going to sit by my side! How niice… Not.
All this time the golden Labrador sat forgotten near Troy's leg, looking at him somewhat guiltily.
- This is Gabby, by the way. – Troy said, and I flinched a little bit at the nickname. – I'm sorry that we caused such a mishap. She is a trained dog, usually she behaves appropriately, I don't know what has gotten into her. – He was apologizing more to Chad and Taylor than me. And I am the victim here, by the way!
Troy went to sit beside me; Gabby followed his lead, laying in between us. She looked at me as if realizing she has done something wrong. I wasn't angry at her though, I'm the clumsy one here.
- I am sorry, Gabriella. – Chad said sincerely. – I told Troy bringing his dog wouldn't be a good idea.
- It's fine, it's not her fault. – I jumped in my seat a little, because at that moment I felt something warm and wet licking at my foot. I giggled at her. I love dogs.
- Gabby! Stop. – Troy said to his dog. She stopped licking my foot begrudgingly and laid her head on Troy's foot instead.
- By the way, isn't it funny, that Troy's dog's name is also Gabriella? You can pretend it was named after you! – Chad joked. Oh yeah, just hilarious.
- I'm fine with it, I guess, as long as nobody calls me Gabby. – I replied a little unhappily.
- Nobody's going to, this nickname is meant for the dog, - Troy grumbled, blushing a little for some reason. Did he just imply that my name was only good enough to make pet's nicknames out of it? Should I be offended?
As we started to look through our menus, Chad and Taylor, who was still a little embarrassed for me, decided to engage us with a small talk.
- So, Gabriella. – Chad turned to me. – Taylor told me that you have just moved here from New York. How do you find Albuquerque so far? Must be a little boring comparing with the bustling and eventful life in NY.
- Oh, not at all. – I said as I closed my menu, deciding to go with my favourite carbonara. – New York had been great for me, I loved my life there, and university. I found my friends there, and it does hold a lot of warm and happy memories for me, but I guess I'm not one to go to a lot of nosy parties. Calm and sunny life of Albuquerque suits me well enough; I haven't exactly settled in just yet, but I have a feeling that it was the right decision to move here. – I paused. Chad honestly didn't seem to remember me. I decided not to place him into uncomfortable position and pretend that I don't know him too. - What about you? For how long have you been living in Albuquerque?
- I've been here my whole life, since childhood. I don't know, I guess our town is not much, but I've always liked this place, it always seemed enough for me. Studied here too, went to U of A straight after high school to play basketball. Actually, - he turned his head to Troy, who seemed to stiffen a little at this, - We were supposed to play in the same team with this traitor, who then decided to go and change his major. – Chad shook his head. – Maan, remember how we used to play in high school? We were almost the kings of school!
Taylor perked up at this. – Really? – she smirked. – What, were you some big hotshots?
- You know it, baby! – Chad wiggled his eyebrows at Taylor. Ew. – And I say we deserved that attention! We were champions in a row our last three years at Ea-
- Come on, man, don't exaggerate, - Troy interrupted him hurriedly. Why the rush, dude? Some female neighbors might think you're hiding something. – It was just high school, nothing grand.
- What? – Chad scrunched his face in confusion. He was clearly almost at loss of words. – But it was, at the time! Don't you remember how we worked our as.. – he glanced at me and Taylor uncomfortably before continuing, - How hard we worked to get that championship trophy each year? – aww, how cute, he tries not to swear in our presence!
- I'm sure Troy is just being modest. – Taylor said. – Bet he is not as big of a show off as you are, - She actually pinched Chad's side at those words, making him squirm a little and chuckle at her.
- Oh, he isn't, is he? That is such a rare thing to find a guy being modest with his sports achievements, especially in high school. Now, Troy, don't be shy, tell us all you want about your life in high school, I'm sure you two were the center of everybody's attention. – I spoke in the most irritating voice, looking at Troy tauntingly. Nobody except for Troy seemed to notice my tone of voice. Just my goal.
Troy shot me an irritated look. I squinted my eyes back at him. Two can play this game, honey.
Unfortunately, our nice conversation was interrupted by Mr. funny-moustache, who chose that moment to appear to take our orders.
After our orders have been taken, Troy decided to change the subject.
- So, guys. – He cleared his throat. – What are the plans for your wedding? Have you got it figured out yet?
- You see, this came a bit unexpected even to both of us, - Taylor looked at Chad with a tender smile, their hands lying intertwined on the table. Unexpected? You don't saay. – So we decided that there is no sense in long preparations before the wedding. It will take place in a month, in August. We have already agreed on basic things, such as church, guests, etc., the only things left are some minor preparations and finding an apartment to move in right after our honeymoon.
- By the way, bachelor party is on you, man. – Chad pointed at Troy. I couldn't help but smile at them. Chad and Taylor seemed so happy and excited. I wish that I will be able to understand these feelings someday.
- Yes, Gabriella, I think I will need your help with dresses, flowers and other girl stuff. You won't mind too much, will you? - Taylor said, looking at me hopefully.
- Of course not, Tay. I'm looking forward to it. – I grinned at her. – It will be probably too hard for you to do everything on your own anyways, considering that you don't know this town at all. Good thing I have lived –
- Your orders, ladies and gentlemen! – The bright voice interrupted me, just as I was about to make it hard for Troy, again. Arrgh, I'm gonna kill this Johnathan and wipe this cheerful expression from his face!
The rest of the dinner passed in a quite pleasant manner. We have discussed some of the future preparations, settling that the four of us will need to meet frequently in order to plan the banquet, dance, repetition, etc. Taylor and Chad have asked us to do them such favor and neither me, nor Troy were opposed to the idea, so we exchanged our phone numbers. I've learned to understand that Chad, despite that I thought of him as a complete doofus in high school, is a nice guy with good humor, and he obviously cares about Taylor deeply. That could be seen from his attention towards me, trying to make me feel comfortable after my lousy entrance and make a good impression on me, to the way he was looking at Taylor, the way they smiled at each other. Despite the unpredictability of the situation, I felt absolutely content with it, as if everything was going the right way.
Well, not absolutely content. There was still this glaring problem of Troy making it seem as if he didn't remember me at all. And I am 100% sure that he does remember me. Somehow he managed to not speak directly to me for the whole dinner and didn't look at me at all. At one time our elbows brushed against each other and I thought poor guy was going to turn over in his chair. Apparently, he didn't want to touch me that much.
- So, Gabriella, - Chad said as we stepped to our cars, with me trying to keep up with them in my broken heel. I was about to drive me and Taylor back to my apartment and it seemed like Chad was riding in the same car with Troy and Gabby. – It was really nice getting to know you. I feel that we can become great friends! I mean, it'd be nice if someone could secretly spill me info on Taylor's feelings when she's going to have her mood swings or something. – At that Taylor hit his shoulder and glared at him while I laughed.
- It's a deal. – I grinned at him.
- Sweet! – Chad smiled brightly at me. – Now that we are friends, I'm gonna give you a nickname. I'm gonna call you Gabster! I like it.
- Sure, I'm fine with it. – I giggled. And then, remembering something, added – As long as you don't call me Arabella we're good.
Chad looked at me, confused a little, but let it go. It was Troy's movement that caught my attention. He was trying to stifle a laugh and failing at that. That little cheat! He remembers even that!
A lot of guys in high school used my help with their studies, not even bothering to remember my name. But Chad was an exception to this. He managed to call me different names all the time. At the time I thought it was because he was being a jerk, now I think that on the contrary, he was trying to gain my favor in such a weird way. Anyway, there was this one time, when Troy came to wait for him, just as Chad was saying to me "Thanks a lot for helping me out, Arabella". I was quite used to that already, so let it slide, but Troy seemed to look somewhat insulted. I remember that one incident quite well, because of the way Troy was glaring at Chad and then dragged him away by the elbow hissing something like "Dude, you're seated in homeroom right in front of Gabriella and you couldn't even manage to remember her name?!" I swooned at that, I admit. But Troy was nice to everybody so I tried not to let it get to my head too much. And failed, obviously.
Snapping out from my little flashback, I kneeled to look at Gabby, while Taylor, Chad and Troy were saying their 'Goodnights'. She wiggled her tail and stepped closer to me, licking my hands that I stretched out to pet her. I think she likes me.
- Bye-bye, girly. – I said smiling at this adorable creature. – Hope to see you soon. I promise not to wear heels so that we can hug properly next time. – by this time I was scratching behind her ear and she seemed pleased with my movements.
Smiling, I stood up and looked at the guys to catch Troy staring at me. He looked away immediately.
- It was nice to meet you, Troy Bolton. – He returned his gaze on me. I think it was a little confused and ashamed, but that could be just my wishful thinking. – See you next time.
- Yeah, - he cleared his throat. – Until next time.
With final hugs and kisses between Chad and Taylor we went to sit in our cars to drive home.
I woke up the next morning because of the sun blaring right in my eyes through the window. I turned to look at the clock on my cellphone. 8:13 am. Ugh. It's too early for the day-off.
Turning on my back I stared at the ceiling, recalling yesterday's dinner. Why did Troy behave the way he did? Towards me, I mean. I can't say that he has changed and suddenly turned into some sort of a jerk because I saw the way he spoke to Taylor and Chad. He was still the same kind and caring guy I knew from before.
Why did it bother me so much after all this time? It's not like I have been pining after him all these years. Well, not entirely. I've had a couple of boyfriends at college, trying to give into the feelings, really trying, but there was always something missing. I think the same situation was explained in that movie, "13 going on 30". There was no goosebumps on my skin when we were together, my heart didn't skip a beat. I haven't been that crazy about somebody since high school, but I was adult enough to understand, that my life can't center around somebody, who I've not even been friends with. So meeting him now…
He is still so handsome. I think he gained even more muscles; at least his arms are more muscular that's for sure. His jaw seems strong and his features seem more sculptured than they did before. His hair is a little shorter and darker, his eyes are the same gorgeous colour and for those brief moments that I was in his arms, I realized that he smells just as amazing as he did. It seems creepy, I know. I think I just have to blame chemistry on that, on that strange pull towards him that I've always felt in my stomach. Even his voice seemed sexy to me all this time when I thought I was going crazy, and I didn't even know that it was him!
Yes, he is attractive. But if he thinks that his behavior is charming, he is deadly wrong. I don't know yet how I will address him when I see him, but I still have enough time to figure it out.
I turned to look at the time again. 8:27. I guess there is no use lying in the bed any longer. I got up and went into the living room. Taylor was steel asleep on the couch. I guess I can go for a jog to the nearest park then.
I quickly brushed my teeth, pulled on my old grey tank top, running shorts and comfortable snickers. After thinking what I should do with my hair I decided to just throw it into a messy pony tail. I'll have a shower later anyways, no need in trying to untangle them now. Grabbing my cell and earphones I went out of my apartment towards the elevator. Hmm what to play, what to play… I'll just put on shuffle.
Every day I wake up
Every day I wake up alone
That is the first song that came. Seriously? God, even my phone is mocking me. I stepped into the elevator. Just as the doors were about to close, I saw the head of the golden Labrador picking in, and its owner stopping the elevator doors' from closing. And here I thought I still have time. Juust great.
Kill me just kill me
Or get me out of the sun
The song is so fitting, it's not even funny. No wonder I heard his voice then, apparently, we are neighbors. As they went into the elevator, Gabby sat town, wagging her tail excitedly at me, while Troy widened his eyes in surprise.
- Oh, hey uh.. Good morning. – he said uncomfortably.
- Good morning. – I smiled politely at him, leaning down to pet Gabby. Seemed like they were going for a morning walk. She had a toy ready to play in her mouth, and Troy was also dressed comfortably in a navy T-shirt and shorts, and sneakers.
- Uhh… You live here? – Troy asked me, scratching the back of his neck and avoiding my gaze.
- Yes. Decided that I am too old for living with my mom and rented an apartment here.
- Oh… Your mom lives here too? – I looked at him, unimpressed. He is looking at the wall beside me, because he knows that my mom lives here. And he knows that I know that he knows. We were paired up a few times at school and had to study at my home. Guess we are continuing to play this weird game he started yesterday.
- U-huh, she does. – I blew away my hair angrily as the elevator reached first floor. Trying to ignore his slightly sheepish look I put back my earphones, saying, - Until next time, neighbor.
I hurried towards the exit without looking back, so that Troy was left behind. Guys are so confusing I swear.
When I returned back home after my jogging my mood was slightly better. Running is a huge stress reliever, I'm telling you. Taylor was at the kitchen, making coffee.
- Good morning, sunshine! – She beamed at me. – I'm just finishing preparing breakfast, care to share it with me?
My stomach rumbled at that and we laughed.
- Sure, Tay, I'll just go for a shower, won't be long.
After my shower I went straight to the kitchen to see breakfast already on the table. It was rather simple, but picture-pretty: toasts, eggs, jam, fruit and coffee.
- One could get used to that. Taylor, I'm not going to let you marry Chad, you're going to stay at my apartment and make me breakfast. – She giggled at me. – Somebody's happy. Have you got any plans for today? – I asked her, spreading jam on my toast.
- Actually, yes. – She said, chewing her own toast. – I was thinking, since it's your day off, we could go for shopping: to find dresses, flowers, cake, things like that, that I won't be able to do on my own. Well, with dresses I think that we will only look for mine, because I've called Sharpay and she insisted upon helping me with bridesmaid dresses.
- You've already called Sharpay? – U-oh. I can't even imagine what her reaction could have been; she is a very emotional person.
- Yes. Believe it or not, she didn't scream at me that much. Just squealed and said "You bitch why didn't you say anything before". She's already packing.
Ha-ha, that sounds like Sharpay.
- Who else are you going to invite from New York? – I asked, going for another toast. What? I'm hungry.
- I was thinking only about our closest group of friends, you know: Sharpay, Martha and Ryan. And my sister with her family, of course, I wouldn't even be here, if it wasn't for her. – Taylor is being modest but it is partly true. Sam is Taylor's only relative, since the death of girls' parents. She cared about Taylor a lot and was always there for her. – By the way, there was this idea that came to me and Chad, but I wanted to discuss it with you first.
Sounds intriguing.
- What's that?
- As we've mentioned before it won't be a big wedding, only close friends and relatives. But we figured that the number of guests shouldn't stop us from having fun, right? – She paused, holding a coffee mug in her hands. – We decided to make a program for this event, something like concert program. – She paused again. Now I'm not too sure about where she's going with it…
- What do you mean? – I asked her confusedly.
- I mean, we were thinking to about doing different competitions, guys could play a couple of songs as a band, and we can do a group dance! I've already talked with Ryan about it, he is willing to help. – Taylor rushed excitedly. – Oh, and the waltz! I don't want it to be some awkward dance, I was thinking to rehearse a real waltz, you know? The four of us will start: Me and Chad, you and Troy; and then the rest of our friends will join us. Sounds great, isn't it? – I think my eye is twitching. – Gabriella, say something. I know you don't like to be in front of public but there won't be that much people and Troy will be always by your side anyway. He seems like a great guy, I'm sure he will support you.
Oh I'm sure he will. He was all support for me these last couple of days now, wasn't he? I really don't know what to say.
- Gabriella? Please. Ryan will help us, he already said he would and you guys are great friends. It will be fun! – Taylor said, looking pleadingly at me. I really don't like this idea. But it is her wedding, I can't just say no to her.
- Okay. Just don't yell at me if ruin everything. I will try my best. – I say, after taking a deep breath. Taylor squealed happily.
- Thank you! Thank you thank you thank you! You won't ruin anything, I promise! – She rushed to hug me. – Phew, we sure have a lot of work to do! Ryan and Sharpay are arriving tomorrow morning, Martha the day after them. So tomorrow we will arrange the meeting for you guys and also we'll be able to start rehearsing the waltz with you and Troy!
Oh the joy. Why did I agree to this again? Somebody, just kill me.
AN: A big, huge "Thank you!" to the people who reviewed. That made me happy for the hole day and more!
I think this chapter may have seemed a bit boring, but I really don't want to rush it, it will seem to unnatural for me. I am having a lot of fun writing this, hope some of you like to read it too. Possible reviews and feedback are always appreciated.