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CHAPTER 2
"Are you one of those moody artists?" Gabi asked him as he threw his bag on the desk in art class.
She hovered, not sure what the etiquette was here. Did you wait to be invited to sit with someone?
"No." He answered succinctly and Gabi lifted her brows.
"Okayy…" She said lightly, gripping her bag at her shoulder, turning away.
"Wait…" He called "You're not sitting with me?"
Gabi looked around her, wondering who he normally sat with. Her question was answered as the blonde who had given her evils appeared and sat right in Troy's lap, twining her arms around his neck.
"Whoa, Sharpay…" He coughed awkwardly, standing so she had to move from his lap. "I want you to meet Lauren, she's new here from New York," he added.
Sharpay's keen blue gaze flicked down her body. "And they dressed like biker hookers in N-Y-C did they?" She asked Gabi, accentuating her abbreviation of New York.
Troy's brows lifted in shock. "Sharpay! What…?" He queried as Gabi stared right back at the girl.
"I guess so." She answered easily, knowing her outfit suited her and knowing Troy's dipped gaze toward her legs was the fifth look she had counted so far today.
"Lauren's sitting with me today." Troy stated, ignoring her gaze on him, knowing she hadn't answered his question and now not giving her a chance to.
"Oh, I see." Sharpay said coolly. "Call me later then," she pouted, flicking her blonde hair into his eye which he jerked his head at, swearing softly when she still caught him in the face.
"I wish she wouldn't do that!" He tutted.
"Oh, I love flicking my hair!" Gabi retorted quickly.
Troy screwed up his face and lifted a brow "But you don't hardly have any to flick…" He queried confusedly.
Gabi blushed at her gaffe. Geez, she'd only been there an hour, how in the hell was she going to keep this pretense up for months?
"I mean, before I cut it…" She amended quickly, sitting next to Troy where he brought his head round to face her.
"I can't imagine you with long hair." He smiled bemusedly, then, "I'll be right back," before he got up and went over to Sharpay.
Gabi took advantage of the moment to slip her finger into the sketchbook he'd left on the desk, lifting the cover to sneak a look at his drawings.
What she found there shocked and pleasantly surprised her. He was an amazing artist. His dark drawings were detailed and accurate. But they were all dark. She couldn't help but wonder what was behind them.
"Hey, do you mind?" He asked defensively, sitting back down next to her and retrieving his pad.
"Sorry." She apologized lamely, used to having access to anything she wanted and not accustomed to being told off.
Troy scowled at her and she couldn't hide her smile again at his apparent moodiness.
"I wish you'd stop laughing at me," he commented. "I'd love to know what's so damn funny."
Gabi turned her eyes up at him, taking his sketch book and finding a blank page. She picked up a pencil and traced his beautiful eyes with hers before copying the shape with her pencil.
The dark rim around the edge of his blue eyes was more obvious when he looked to the side and she couldn't help admiring his handsomeness.
"You just make me smile, Troy Bolton, is that so hard to believe?" She wondered.
"I have the feeling you're laughing at me." He returned drily.
"Well, you are kind of cute when you pretend to be all moody. Girls love that, you know." She whispered the last part and her eyes were lit up with amusement at the fact he might be putting on a moody front to impress the girls.
Little did she know that he had to go home every night and listen to his mom bad-mouthing his father as they settled their divorce. And when he went to his dad's, he got the same thing from his side. If that wasn't enough to put anyone in a bad mood, he didn't know what was.
"I just can't picture you all like 'Go Team' and stuff." She added with a twist of her lips.
"You have a lot to learn, Lauren." He said and she finished up her pencil drawing of him, handing him back the pad.
The picture of him was scarily accurate and how she had depicted his features stunned him.
Underneath she had written 'Smile, it won't break your face' and he had to grin at that, musing that she was really quite different to any girl he had met before.
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Gabi slicked on a subtle sheen of lip colour, unable to resist the temptation to wear make up where there were cute boys concerned.
Being on set, flirting with the extras, it had been second nature to her. She didn't often take it further than that because any time she felt that little flutter in her tummy for someone on set, they'd no sooner met before a new set of characters were brought in, leaving it pretty impossible for her to form a bond with anyone apart from her best friend, Amy.
She sighed as she stood back from the mirror, touching the ends of her fake hair and wishing she could go back to New York where everything was exciting and she was becoming recognisable as a star in her own right.
What would she be without her show, without that persona to adopt every week?
"Lauren are you here?" Taylor asked from the doorway and Gabi straightened.
"I'm here, Tay" She said in response, smiling at her new friend.
"Oh, you're putting make up on." Taylor smiled knowingly "Someone we want to impress?" She guessed.
"Not really, just cute boys generally." She shrugged nonchalantly.
"I don't think Troy would have asked me to practice if it weren't for you." Taylor said with an arched brow and Gabi felt for her.
She was right, the boys round here were probably as fickle as the ones back home and Gabi couldn't work out why she had the cool factor but she guessed its because she was new and after a few weeks, they'd soon get bored of her.
"Who cares? I wouldn't go without you." Gabi returned, taking Taylor's hand and pulling her along the corridor with a giggle as she gently pushed the gym door open.
She was greeted with the sight of about ten boys stood round a basketball net, all practicing shooting.
Troy watched as Gabi walked into the gym with a little hip-wiggle as she bit her lip in a naughty fashion, the sight making him frown again at the similarity it cast between her and his favourite star.
He briefly wondered if maybe Gabriella had a secret twin and this girl was her and neither of them knew, but he shook the silly idea from his mind, taking a ball and lofting it easily into the net as the girls sat down and Gabi pulled out a fluffy pink notepad which he stared at in shock, knowing this time that the item was definitely something he had seen Gabriella with in the candid shots he'd seen of her leaving the studio.
He sauntered over to the pair of them, casting a look over his shoulder for his dad, the team coach and not seeing him.
"Hey, that book…" He called and Lauren looked up, smiling warmly.
"You like it? I can get you one if you like, Troy." She teased.
He blinked. "Funny. But you know, your lookey likey has one just like it." He added.
"You know what stationery Gabriella Montez uses?" She queried with a half amused, half disgusted look and he felt the blush rise up his whole body, bursting onto his cheeks with hot redness.
"I saw it once…" He excused quickly, rubbing his hands together.
"Well if you must know, I'm a fan of Gabriella's too." She pursed her lips and flicked her eyes down.
"That's cool." He said lamely and turned to go, then turned back. "You wanna hang out tomorrow night…watch the show together?" He asked, not knowing where his confidence came from and Taylor's surprised look told him he was being awfully bold in asking the new girl out on her first day.
Gabi considered the good-looking basketball boy in front of her with a soft smile. Seeing him in his kit certainly had her intrigued as to how those muscled arms felt and how his soft lips would kiss. She was easily distracted by them because he kept licking them and pressing them together.
She hated watching herself on TV but she didn't really have much choice because she wanted to hang out with Troy. She looked shyly to Taylor who nodded with encouragement.
"Okay, sure," she shrugged.
"Troy!" His dad called. "Ten laps!" He instructed and Troy rolled his eyes.
"Okay, I'll meet you after school tomorrow!" He said and jogged off, leaving Gabi in shock as she turned to her new friend once more.
"What in the heck was that?" She wondered aloud.
"That was Troy Bolton asking you out." Taylor affirmed and Gabi frowned.
"He just thinks I look like Gabriella right?" She checked.
Taylor shrugged. "Who knows with him. Most of the time Sharpay is running round after him."
"So, is he single?" Gabi queried lightly as she bit into her pink pen and decided to tuck her book away, mentally reminding herself to remove all traces of her former life.
"As far as I know, he hasn't locked lips with anyone since the kissing booth at the summer fete." Taylor supplied.
Gabi smiled. "He's kinda cute," she admitted. "Oh my gosh, what am I going to wear?" She suddenly thought. "Tay, you have to come over and help me choose…" She begged, standing up.
"What, now?!" Taylor screeched.
"Yes, please…" She begged.
"Sure, okay…" Taylor said, looking stunned as she followed Gabi.
"Hey, you're flaking on me?" Troy called with a pretend-hurt voice as he watched the two girls head for the door.
"This is way too boring!" Gabi called back as she left the gym.
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