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Chapter eighteen

Troyella

Gabriella walked down out into her house the next day from her backyard, retiring from her star watching in the backyard and she rubbed her hands on her arms to warm herself up. The only light that she saw as she stepped into the kitchen was the TV Charlie was watching in the family room. She walked quietly towards the stairs, stopping when she saw Troy's basketball bag by the front door. She pressed her body up against the hallway wall and slowly and carefully stuck her head to the side to see if Troy was in the family room. He wasn't and she furrowed her brow as she stepped out of her hiding spot and looked at Charlie.

"Why is Troy's bag here?" She asked him.

"He stopped by to drop the bag off here. He needs me to take it to practice for him because he's not going to be home tonight and won't have time to pick it up at his house before practice." Charlie explained. "I told him you weren't home when he came."

"Oh." She nodded slowly. "Thanks."

"No problem." He said as he changed the channel to some kind of action film.

Gabriella walked out of the family room and towards the stairs, making her way up them. She stopped when she was halfway up and looked at Troy's bag behind her. She bit her lip, tiptoeing back down the stairs after a minute. She put her hand on her hip, debating with herself secretly before she squatted down and unzipped his bag. She grabbed his red East High t-shirt and zipped the bag shut, standing up and racing up the stairs before she could change her mind.

Carelessly ripping her tank top off, she pulled his t-shirt on, smiling as his scent was all that she could smell. She flicked her lights off in her room and wiggled underneath her covers as she got comfortable. She smiled softly, but slowly started to frown when she realized that she had to steal his shirt to feel close to him now. She sighed and felt the fabric between her fingers, staring at the ceiling before she fell asleep.

***

Zeke and Sharpay were in Sharpay's kitchen, getting out ingredients for a new recipe that Zeke had created with a secret assistant that he wouldn't let Sharpay know about no matter how long she spent begging him to tell him. He simply replied with "its top secret" and she would pout, but let it go after a while. They looked at the piece of paper in front of them, making sure they had everything.

"Okay, we have to perfect these." He told her.
"They seem perfect to me." Sharpay said to Zeke with a smile.

"We won't know until we try them." Zeke replied. "Ready?" He asked as he picked up a measuring cup.

"Of course." She smiled.

Sitting on the counter, inhaling the scent of the baking cookies in the oven, Zeke and Sharpay sat quietly, looking out at Sharpay's pool from their spot by the kitchen sink. Zeke looked over at Sharpay who seemed to be thinking about something and he took her hand in his, smiling as Sharpay looked at him.

"Are you okay?" He asked her.

"Are you sure you're not going back?" She asked quietly, still not convinced that he was going to be staying with the Bolton's even though Troy wouldn't be there.

"I'm sure." He said softly, moving a piece of her hair away from her face. "I'm staying with you." He smiled.

He leaned towards her, kissing her meaningfully, pulling her closer to him as they deepened the kiss. He smiled through the kiss, noticing how Sharpay tasted like the cookie dough that they made. They pulled apart when the oven timer went off and Zeke jumped off of the counter, pulling the cookie sheet out of the oven.

He picked a cookie off of the baking sheet after they cooled and broke it in half, giving Sharpay a half. She smiled as she bit into it and he watched her with a smile.

"Like it?" He asked.

"Yeah. They're really good." She nodded. "Your cookies keep getting better."

"I can't take all of the credit. My secret assistant basically made up the recipe."

"You're not going to tell me?" She asked him as she batted her eyelashes at him.

Zeke shook his head, laughing softly as he took another bit of the cookie.

"I know this is going to sound weird," Sharpay started as she swallowed. "But these cookies kind of remind me of Gabriella. She wears some kind of cranberry perfume and that's what these taste like." She told him.

Zeke smiled, nodding slowly.

"Yeah, you're right." He smirked as she looked over at him.

She shook her head, smiling subtly as she looked at the cookie and then back at Zeke.

"So when were you going to tell me Troy was in love with Gabriella?" She asked as she swallowed the last of her Gabriella cookie, loving that she figured the puzzle out.

Zeke smiled, scouting off of the counter before he could answer her.

***

Taylor dribbled the basketball that she had on the driveway at Chad's house, watching as he made a basket with a different basketball. She was tired and her eyes were heavy as the cool summer night air brushed against her. She and Chad were quiet as they made baskets, thinking about similar things. The dark sky was making it harder to see the basket even though the porch lights were on and Chad looked over at Taylor as he caught the basketball that was bouncing back to him in his hands.

"Are you tired?" He asked her when he saw her yawn.

"Yeah." Taylor admitted. "All of this worrying has worn me out." She said, eying Chad as he made his way over to her.

He tossed his basketball onto the grass and took Taylor's from her, tossing it next to his. Before she had a chance to guess what he was going to do next, Chad had her in his arms, carrying her towards the front door of his house.

"Chad! What are you doing?" She laughed as they stepped into his house.

"You said you were tired." He smiled, laughing as his mom eyed them from the family room.

"Hi, Gayle!" Taylor said as she waved to her before she and Chad disappeared up the stairs. "You're crazy." She told him as he walked down the hallway towards his room.

He chuckled as he kicked his door open, closing it behind him with Taylor still in his arms. He set her down gently on his bed and she laughed, watching as he lay down next to her.

"I'm tired too." He admitted, adjusting his head on his pillow.

Taylor smiled at him, scouting closer to him so that her head was sharing his pillow. He wrapped his arm around her and kissed her on her forehead softly.

"So, you're worried." He asked her in a whisper. "About Troy and Gabriella?"

"I don't want Gabriella to get hurt anymore than she already is." Taylor told him.

"She's tough, Tay." Chad assured her. "She doesn't get hurt easily."

"That was before Troy, Chad." Taylor replied. "What if Gabriella's heart gets broken and she cant handle it?"

"We'll have to wait and see, Tay. That's all we can do." He said, running his hand along her arm slowly.

Taylor nodded, closing her eyes as she leaned her head against his chest, inhaling his scent as he closed his eyes too, falling asleep slowly.

***

The guys walked into East High and Charlie handed Troy his bag when he saw him coming from the parking lot. They were laughing together as they walked into the gym and Troy smiled even though this was his last day with the basketball team. Walking into the locker room and making his way over to his locker, Troy hummed softly, setting his bag on the bench. He unzipped his bag and furrowed his brow when he saw that the shirt he put in it was missing.

"Hey, Charlie." He said to Charlie who was a few lockers down from him.

"Yeah?" He asked.

"Where's my shirt?" He asked him.

"What do you mean?" Charlie asked as he shoved his clothes in his locker, done changing.

"The shirt that I put in here is gone." He explained.

"Dude, do you think I took it?" Charlie asked with a laugh. "I have no idea where your shirt is." He said, pulling out an extra shirt from his locker. "You can wear one of mine."

"Thanks, man." Troy said as he caught the grey t-shirt that Charlie tossed him.

Charlie jogged out of the locker room, breathing a sigh of relief. He had gone into Gabriella's room that morning to tell her that he was leaving for practice and saw that she was sleeping in an East High basketball t-shirt that was not his. He figured she had taken it from Troy when they hung out or something, but now he knew that she had taken it from his bag last night and it made him feel extra sorry for his hurting sister.

***

To: GabriellaSWEETMontez(at)comcast(dot)net

Subject: This isn't the end of Troyella

From: TroyPROBolton(at)comcast(dot)net

Hey, Gabs. I know that what I told everyone the other day came out of no where and I'm sorry if you feel like I lied to you, but I was just trying to make sure that I wanted to go back to California before I told anyone. I didn't think I missed it as much as you knew I did, but seeing Will and talking about California made me finally realize it.

Sharpay came over to visit Zeke today and she wouldn't talk to me. I'm pretty sure she flicked me off, but I'll let it slide. I'm sure she was just fixing her manicure. Jk. I don't want to stop talking to you, Gabs. Nothing is going to change about us. It's going to be like old times now.

I'm leaving tomorrow. Charlie said that everyone is meeting at your house before Will and I go. I hope I'll get to see you before I go, Gabriella. I'm sorry that we haven't been talking as much as usual and I'm starting to forget what you look like since you've somewhat been avoiding me (I saw you outside when I dropped my bag off). We can't let this come between us.

Your Best Friend,

Troy Bolton

P.S. This isn't the end of Troyella (apparently that's the gang's nickname for us).

Gabriella kept her hand still on the mouse that had clicked on his email. She blinked furiously, breathing deeply and waving a hand in front of her eyes to stop the burning sensation that was currently occurring. She heard herself let out a whine and she tried to keep a steady breathing pattern, but she was already hyperventilating, pulling her knees to her chest as she leaned her head against them, just trying not to cry. Please, she thought to herself, don't let him get to you. Don't cry!

Gabriella heard a knocked on her door and then it opened, revealing Charlie with a handful of DVDs in his hand. She looked at him, holding her breath so he couldn't tell that she was almost reaching her breaking point. He smiled, being a typical guy and not noticing that anything was wrong in that moment.

"I rented some movies. I'll be in the family room if you want to watch them." He told her, leaving as she nodded.

Gabriella let out a long sigh and closed down her email, forgetting about the things Troy didn't want to happen and the things he did. She shook her head, trying to forget one major issue. She wanted to forget Troyella.

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unknownbyhim22