Hey Everyone! You're great! I got two more reviews than I wished for. Thank you! Happy Thanksgiving everyone... sorry it's a day late! Okay, well this chapter is much longer. Enjoy.

I'll Email You

Chapter three

Troy and Zeke

Gabriella walked slowly out of her house with a gym bag of Charlie's stuff that he stupidly forgot before he went to his basketball camp. Her mom was making her take it to him since he wouldn't be able to come back to get it. Gabriella chucked the bag in the passenger's seat and put her key in the ignition, driving off to East High.

She thought about her date with Jeremy the weekend before and rolled her eyes at the memory. Jeremy was a loser, and though she never would admit it, Charlie had been right all along. Jeremy only talked about himself and football, never once asking anything about Gabriella or caring about anything that didn't involve him.

She sighed as she stepped out of her car, noting that her summer was being wasted away with basketball schedules and Charlie's friends roaming the house. She wished that she could have a day with Sharpay and Taylor without having to worry about her brother embarrassing her.

East High looked calm as she walked up to it. The usual crowd of people that she saw during the school year was not there and she smiled as she walked through the hallway without being shoved out of someone's way. She heard squeaking of shoes and whistles being blown in the gym and carefully opened the gym door.

The team was doing drills and she stood to the side of the bleachers as she watched. A tall, shaggy-haired guy was drinking a bottle of water and he was watching the drills intently. His skin shimmered from the sweat that was covering his body.

"Excuse me." Gabriella said quickly before he could walk back out onto the court.

He turned to look at her and she shifted in her spot when he scanned up and down her body with his eyes.

"Yeah?" He asked once he tore his eyes away from her tan legs.

"Um… do you think you can give this bag to Charlie?" She asked as she pointed to the bag she was carrying.

He walked closer to her and took the bag from her with a smile. She couldn't help but feel that she had met him before. His eyes seemed so familiar to her.

"I'm sorry, but do I know you?" Gabriella asked after a minute of staring at him.

"I'm not sure. Who exactly are you?" He asked her with a small chuckle.

Gabriella felt herself blush and she smiled as she scratched an itch on her right elbow.

"I'm Charlie's sister." She said.

"Hi, Charlie's sister." He grinned.

"Oh, I mean, I'm Gabriella." She laughed with a nod.

She noticed how his eyes lit up and he slowly set Charlie's bag down on the ground. He stuck his hand out to shake hers and she smiled as his hand wrapped around hers.

"I'm Troy Bolton."

Gabriella's eyes widened and her smile grew.

"Are you serious?" She asked almost in a whisper.

"I am." Troy smiled.

Gabriella squealed and hugged him tightly, laughing as he laughed too, hugging her back. She didn't care that he was covered in sweat or that her brother was probably watching them now, she was too happy to think about anything else other than the fact that she was hugging Troy Bolton.

"I can't believe it's you." Gabriella smiled as she looked up at him.

"I can't believe it's you." He said with a nod.

"I don't know what to say!" Gabriella explained with a laugh.

"Well, I know you can go home." They heard from next to them.

Gabriella rolled her eyes as she saw Charlie and a few of his teammates standing a couple of feet away from her. Gabriella picked up his bag and chucked it at him.

"You forgot your bag, idiot." She told him.

"I don't really need it." Charlie said as he glared at her.

"Well, try explaining that to mom." Gabriella said as her car keys jingled in her hand.

Gabriella glanced at the guy who was now standing next to Troy. She smiled at his shirt that said get over it; I bake and figured that he was Zeke.

"Why were you hugging my teammate?" Charlie asked.

"Is there a rule that says I can't?" Gabriella asked with a sigh.

"No, but there should be." Charlie stated.

"I've known Troy for a while." Gabriella said with a small smile.

"How?"

"He's the guy I've been emailing." Gabriella told him.

"No, way." The guy who Gabriella thought was Zeke said. "You're Gabriella Montez?" He asked.

"Yeah, that's me." Gabriella smiled.

"I'm Zeke Baylor, I've heard a lot about you." He said as he shook her hand.

"I've heard a lot about you too." Gabriella smiled.

"Wait, thanks to you I never see my sister." Charlie said as he looked directly at Troy.

"Um… sorry, man." Troy said as a look of guilt formed on his face.

"No, seriously, thank you!" Charlie said with a smile. "I don't have to deal with her hormonal crap half as much as I did before she started emailing you!"

"You're welcome?" Troy said unsurely.

Gabriella rolled her eyes and shot her brother a harsh glare.

"When you get home, Charlie, Sharpay and Taylor will be over, so don't bug us, okay?" Gabriella asked as she started to walk towards the gym doors.

"Can I come over?" Chad asked.

"No, Chad." Gabriella said as she turned to face the group again. "And for the last time, Taylor is not interested in you."

"She totally is!" Chad said surely.

"Dude, you don't have to ask my sister's permission to come over." Charlie told him. "You all can come over after practice."

Gabriella shook her head as she looked at her brother and wished she never said anything about her plan with her friends. The last thing she wanted was her brother's team at her house. She smiled at Troy and Zeke before she pushed the gym doors open and left, walking down the hallway with excitement bubbling in her stomach.

Sharpay was singing along to the radio as she sat next to Taylor who was reading a magazine on Gabriella's bed. They had just given each other manicures and pedicures and they were waiting for their nails to dry before they did anything else. The girls sighed as they heard the loud voices of the basketball team coming into the house from downstairs.

"So, you actually met Troy?" Taylor asked Gabriella who was brushing her hair in front of her bathroom mirror.

"Yeah! I didn't believe it at first, but he seemed so familiar to me." Gabriella smiled.

"Is he cute?" Sharpay asked.

Gabriella smiled as she stepped out of the bathroom and walked towards her friends, sitting down next to them.

"You have no idea! His eyes, oh my God!" Gabriella explained.

"Is he how you pictured him?" Taylor asked.

"Yeah, but even cuter." Gabriella replied. "Oh, and you know his friend I told you about… Zeke?"

"The amazing baker?" Sharpay sighed dreamingly.

"He's here too." Gabriella said with a smile.

Sharpay gasped and almost fell off of Gabriella's bed, but grabbed onto her head board before she could fall off. She fanned her face and took a few yoga breaths to calm herself down.

"You okay there, Sharpay?" Taylor laughed.

"I think so. I can't breath, but I'll be fine." She stated.

"Do you want to go meet him?" Gabriella suggested.

"I couldn't! I'd be way too nervous." Sharpay said with a quick nod

"All you have to do is say hi. It'll be easy."

"That's easy for you to say, you've grown up with a brother." Sharpay explained.

"Uh, Shar, so have you." Taylor said with a laugh.

"He doesn't count. He's my twin, so he's pretty much a guy version of me." Sharpay explained.

"Well, do you want to go or not?" Gabriella asked Sharpay as she watched her face expressions change with thought.

"Let's go." She smiled.

The girls were walking down the stairs as they whispered quick comments about each other's hair and clothing choices. Gabriella laughed at Sharpay's panicking voice and stopped at the end of the stairs before revealing them into the downstairs.

"Calm down." Gabriella smiled as she looked at Sharpay.

"I can't breath." Sharpay repeated for the fiftieth time.

"You don't have anything to worry about, come on." Gabriella said as she stepped into the hallway and looked at the kitchen full of guys.

Sharpay and Taylor followed Gabriella into the kitchen where they saw the showered and changed basketball team. They smiled shyly and Gabriella stopped in the middle of the kitchen calmly.

"Gabriella, get lost." Charlie said when he saw her.

"No. I told you I was having friends over, so we can be here if we want to." Gabriella stated.

"Well, what do you want?" Charlie asked.

"Sharpay wants to meet Zeke." Gabriella said, getting elbowed in the side by Sharpay for making her sound obsessive.

Gabriella spotted Zeke turn around on the bar stool he was sitting at by the island in the middle of the kitchen. She smiled at him and he smiled back. The girls walked over to him as the rest of the team resumed their conversation. Troy was sitting next to Zeke and turned around when they came over.

"Zeke, this is my friend, Sharpay Evans. Sharpay, this is Zeke Baylor." Gabriella smiled as she pointed from Zeke to Sharpay.

"It's nice to meet you." Zeke said as he shook her hand.

Gabriella gave Sharpay a little push to make her squeak out a reply and then looked at Troy.

"Troy, this is Taylor. Taylor this is Troy." She said with a smile.

"How's that charity project going?" Troy asked as he shook her hand.

"It's great. Thanks for asking." Taylor said with a smile.

Chad eyed Troy suspiciously from his spot next to Charlie and crossed his arms over his chest as he watched the girls interact with them so willingly. They were smiley and happy and Chad wondered why.

"So you like to bake?" Sharpay asked.

"Yeah, do you like cookies?" Zeke asked hopefully.

"Love them." Sharpay stated with a smile. "Actually, my parents are having some kind of business dinner and they needed someone to bake all of the desserts… if you want me to, I can refer you to them." Sharpay said.

"Really? So like a job, huh?" Zeke asked.

"Yeah, I mean, if you only bake for fun, I totally understand." Sharpay said with a nod.

"No, I'd love to." Zeke smiled.

"Well, I'll talk to them. They usually pay like five grand, unless you have a certain amount you want…they go all out so…"

Zeke's eyes widened and Sharpay slowly stopped talking.

"Five grand to bake some cookies?" Zeke asked in almost a whisper.

Sharpay nodded with a smirk. Zeke smiled brightly and stood up from his bar stool and gave Sharpay a big bear hug. Gabriella and Taylor smiled at each other when they saw Sharpay's face expression and Troy laughed quietly.

"Alright, Gabriella, please, can you go?" Charlie asked. "You and your friends keep hugging my teammates." He said as he and Chad walked over to them.

"Whatever, Charlie." Gabriella said as she carefully pulled Sharpay away from Zeke.

The girls disappeared out of the kitchen and Zeke smiled as he heard Sharpay squeal in excitement from the hallway. Chad was glaring at Troy and Troy cleared his throat awkwardly.

"You okay, Chad?" He asked.

"How did you get Taylor to talk to you?" He asked.

"Umm… I talked to her first." Troy said slowly.

"Well, I do that too, but she always ends up yelling at me." Chad explained as he sat down in the bar stool next to Troy.

"Maybe you shouldn't make degrading comments about her body." Troy suggested.

"How do you know I do that?" Chad asked in confusion.

"Gabriella and I have known each other since ninth grade… she's told me about you and Taylor." Troy explained.

Chad shook his head at the thought.

"Just work on being polite and stuff and everything will work out." Troy suggested.

"Californian guys must be the heartthrobs of America, because I have no idea how they do this." Chad sighed as he ran his hands through his hair as he leaned against the counter on his elbows.

Troy laughed and patted him on the shoulder, smiling as he thought about his day. The girls were excited as they stepped back into Gabriella's room and after a few minutes of Sharpay squealing and jumping around the room, they sat on Gabriella's balcony and looked up at the stars, watching as the basketball players left the house one by one.

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unknownbyhim22