Chapter 10: The Plan

"…. and what's worse it the fact that I still have to see him at rehearsals," Gabriella said finishing off her story. "Oh and let's not forget the one-on-one rehearsals I'm going to have with him every other Saturday."

"That's quite a predicament you have gotten yourself into Gabi," Taylor said after hearing about her friend's troubles. "I would usually have an answer for things but this one has completely stumped me. Anyone got any ideas?"

"Don't look at me," Kelsi replied. "I don't have a clue on boy issues. How about you Ms. Former Ice Queen? Anything?"

"As a matter of fact, yes I do. But first I need you ask you a question Gabi: do you love him?"

"Love?!"

"Love, like, whatever. Do you have any feelings for him whatsoever?"

"You mean besides repulsion, no," Gabriella said, lying through her teeth. The other three girls looked at each other with knowing looks. They were not credulous; they knew that there was some sort of chemistry between their friend and the basketball captain. Though she wouldn't admit it Gabriella had a thing for Troy Bolton.

"Okay, then the only way to get rid of him is to show him that you are unavailable, and to do that you need a date."

"I see where you are going but who? We need someone that can intimidate Troy enough to get him to back off."

"We'll figure that out later on tonight, right now I think that it would be best to return to the party. After all the host cannot be inside the house for too long."

The girls were currently changing into their pajamas, getting ready for their girls' night in. When they had returned back to the party that afternoon Gabriella soon found out that Troy had already left and for some reason that had disappointed Gabriella. Sharpay had seen the look on her friend's face and knew that her plan would surely work. Now that the girls had all settled down on cushions with snacks and goodies they were ready to discuss Sharpay's well thought out plan. After going through potential dates for Gabriella she excused herself from the group to use the restroom. Once Gabriella had left the room Taylor and Kelsi turned to Sharpay. "Okay, what's really going on in that head of yours?" Taylor questioned.

"What on earth are you talking about?" Sharpay questioned back trying to look as innocent as possible.

"Shar, we both know you well enough to know that you have other motives for this," Kelsi stated matter-of-factly.

"Okay, I'm planning on getting Gabriella and Troy together."

"What?! You want to set up one of your friends with the lunkhead basketball captain?!" Taylor exclaimed, shocked by Sharpay's plan.

"Well, yeah."

"But he is such a jerk!" whined Taylor.

"We thought that Jason, Chad and Zeke were jerks before we got to know them," Kelsi reasoned logically. "Maybe Troy won't be all that bad if we got to know him."

"So will you guys help me out?" Sharpay asked. "By looking at him he seems to care somewhat about Gabi. I formulated this plan to see if he is good enough for Gabi. This plan will show whether he truly cares for her or not."

As Kelsi and Taylor agreed to help Sharpay Gabriella returned back to the group. "So do we have a winner yet?"

"Um, actually we realized that there is no one at school who is able to intimidate Troy," Taylor responded.

"What? Not a single person?"

"No but we do have someone who is almost as popular that would work. His name is Blake Simons."

"The captain of the football team? I guess he would work but isn't he sort of a jerk himself?"

"Yes, but we know that he wouldn't try anything with you. Not yet anyways. He pulls off this bullshit gentleman act until he is able to get you to trust him -"

"And then he tries to get in your pants," Taylor finished for Sharpay.

"Yes, but by then Troy would have already moved on and you can dump the idiot football captain."

"I don't know you guys. It seems kind of risky," Gabriella said with uncertainty.

"But do you really want Troy to keep on bugging you?" Kelsi asked.

"No, but I don't want to go out with Blake either. Ugh! Why do guys have to be such idiots? Fine I'll do it but on my own terms." The others nodded as Gabriella began laying down her conditions. "One, I go on a date but it will be a double; I don't want to be alone with the creep. Two, under no circumstances will there be a second date because I'll just continuously switch guys; none of which will last longer than two weeks. Three, I only do this until Troy finds someone else to hassle; once he has the plan stops."

"So what you're saying is that you will seem available yet unattainable, thus causing him to lose interest," Sharpay said as she put everything together.

"Exactly, I go out with other guys make it seem like I can't stand him -"

"'Seem like'? So you're saying that you are able to tolerate his existence?" Taylor inquired.

"What? No, I'll just act as if he annoys me more than he already does," Gabriella covered.

"Whatever, we'll need to go shopping tomorrow," Sharpay proposed.

"Why?"

"You need clothes for this plan, skirts to be exact. You cannot be wearing jeans too often; you need to put out a vibe of desirability."

"Seems logical enough. We'll go shopping tomorrow but nothing skimpy, that's where I draw the line."

"Don't worry once I'm through with you you'll be classically sexy and desirable, I wouldn't let my friends walking around looking trashy."

Sunday had come and gone with much success. They had gone shopping and found perfect outfits for Gabriella to wear in order to get the plan going. Standing in front of her mirror Gabriella examined her reflection. There looking back at her was a petite brown haired girl in a denim mini had reached mid-thigh, black halter top with a jean jacket over and matching black stilettos. Her hair was left down, her curls tumbling over her shoulders and her makeup was light. Grabbing her bag and keys Gabriella made her way downstairs and out the door to her car.

Once she stepped foot into the halls of East High it seemed as if all previous conversations had abruptly stopped and all eyes were on her. Taking a deep breathe Gabriella walked down the hall toward her locker consciously aware that the male population were all staring at her with lust-filled eyes. She arrived at the locker to find Taylor, Sharpay and Kelsi waiting for her.

"It's going to be a long day," Gabriella announced as she reached her friends and turned the dial to open her locker. "Did you see those guys were looking at me? It was as if I was some piece of meat they couldn't wait to devour."

"Well, this will make our plan work out much easier. Troy will see that he wouldn't be able to compete with all those guys and back off," Sharpay stated.

"Or he could see that I am unattainable thus making it a challenge and we all know how much he likes a good challenge. What if this plan just makes him want me even more?"

"Don't worry about it. Once he gets bored he'll find another conquest. I doubt he is that persistent," Taylor remarked.

"Yeah, right. This plan better work or I'm going to be pissed as hell," Gabriella grumbled as they made their way into homeroom. Once they enter Gabriella felt a pair of eyes staring holes into her. Chancing it Gabriella turned and found none other than Troy Bolton staring at her slack jawed. Despite herself Gabriella couldn't help but smile inside knowing that her appearance caused him to be so flabbergasted.

Troy turned around to find Gabriella looking stunningly beautiful. Sure she always looked beautiful but that skirt made her legs go on for miles and the halter fitted her comfortably, showing off her voluptuous curves. He knew he was staring but he couldn't help himself, who would be able to with an angel standing there.

Composing herself Gabriella made her way to her desk. As she passed Troy's desk Gabriella slipped, as she was falling she braced herself for the impact of the floor. Instead of feeling the cold floor against her face Gabriella felt to strong arms secured around her waist. Turning around she found Troy supporting her weight. "Um, thanks."

"No problem," Troy said as he helped her steady herself onto her feet. Without another word Troy turned back around and sat down at his desk.

"Gabi, come on," Taylor said getting her friend's attention. Gabriella walked to her desk and sat down wondering why Troy hadn't said anything more than two words. Two days ago he was so determined to get her to talk to him and now that she was trying to get him to leave her alone he had already done so. Is he up to something? Gabriella thought as Ms. Darbus began reading the morning announcements.

It was lunchtime and Gabriella sat at her usual table thinking about the morning. All morning Troy had not looked at her straight in the eye nor did he talk to her at all. She should be happy about this change but instead it made her feel empty.

"Gabi? Gabi? Gabi?!" Sharpay shouted causing Gabriella to return to reality.

"Huh? What is it?"

"Are you okay sweetie?" Taylor asked looking concerned. "We've been trying to get your attention for the past three minutes."

"Oh, I'm fine just lost in thought I guess," Gabriella answered whilst picking at her lunch.

"What were you thinking about?" Kelsi chimed in.

"Or rather who?" Taylor remarked with a sly grin.

"No one it's just the plan. I know we were doing it to get Troy to leave me alone but he won't even speak to me anymore so I'm thinking that we forget about it. I doubt he's going to try anything anymore. I think that he's finally accepted that nothing's going to happen between us."

Nodding her head Sharpay thought about what Gabriella had said. "I'm not so hungry anymore you guys, I think I'm going to go to the library for a bit," Gabriella said getting up from her seat.

"Do you want us to go with you?" Taylor asked, still concerned about her friend.

"No, I'll be fine. I'll see you guys later okay." Once Gabriella left Taylor and Kelsi looked at each other with concern.

"I hope she's okay," Kelsi said quietly.

"Well, it's obvious what's going on with her," Sharpay said with a smile on her face. This caused Kelsi and Taylor to be even more confused about what was happening.

"What do you mean? What's so obvious?"

"She's obviously confused about why Troy isn't paying any attention to her anymore. As much as she refuses to admit it she has a thing for him."

"So what do we do now?"

"There's nothing we can do at this point, we just have to wait and see what happens."

Shaking her head Taylor asked the question that was on everyone's mind. "Why does she have to be so damn stubborn headed?"

"There's something going on. When she's ready she'll tell us," Kelsi said.