Chapter 17: Whoa …
The two weeks that Lucas stayed were the best Gabriella had had in ages. He got along so well with all of her friends and for that she was grateful. It was Friday and Lucas' plane was leaving in an hour so it was time for good-byes.
"Are you sure you don't want me to drive you to the airport?" Gabriella asked for the hundredth time that day. "You really don't have to take a cab you know."
"Gabs it's okay. I don't mind taking a cab. Besides I don't want you scaring everyone by crying hysterically when I leave," Lucas teased. "Remember when you were moving and wouldn't let go of me when you had to board the plane?"
"Seriously?" Chad asked with much interest.
"Yeah, she was holding onto me with dear life and people were staring at her. They thought that she was afraid of planes at first before she started saying how much she was going to miss me and whatnot," Lucas said laughing along with the others. Gabriella had grown very red during this time from sheer embarrassment.
"Hey, it's cute Brie don't get so embarrassed," Troy said as he put an arm around her waist, pulling her into his side. With this gesture Gabriella became even redder, this time from her closeness with Troy.
Turning her attention to Lucas Gabriella made him promise to keep in touch and call her every week. After many tears, mainly from Gabriella and the other girls, Lucas turned his focus to the guys. Looking at Chad, Zeke and Jason he said, "Take care of these girls okay? I know I just met them but they're like sisters to me now." At this the crying got louder as they agreed.
Finally approaching Troy Lucas took him to the side to speak with him in private. "I know you love her," he stated bluntly.
"Wha-what do you mean? Brie and I are just friends, nothing more, nothing less," Troy said unconvincingly.
"I see the way you look and her and her you. I know what love looks like. I just want to know that you won't hurt her. I don't want to see her heartbroken like last time."
"Trust me; the last thing I would want is to hurt Brie I really care about her."
"Good, I knew I could trust you." They made their way back to the others. After more tearful good-byes Lucas gave Gabriella one more hug. "I'll miss you baby Gabi."
"I'll miss you too Lukey boy," Gabriella said as she walked him to his cab. Lucas gave Gabriella a kiss on the cheek before getting into the cab. With one last wave the cab drove away leaving four tearful girls and four boys.
The next week Troy and Gabriella were rehearsing their balcony scene for the musical. Troy/Aladdin made his way to Gabriella/Jasmine's balcony to apologize for earlier. He offered her a carpet ride and Ms. Darbus' yelled out, "End scene. Brava you two, I see that you have practiced your lines well. Now the musicale is less than two months away, just before Christmas break so I want everyone to get this right. Next week we will start with dress rehearsals so rehearsals will be done early today to get everyone's measurements for their outfits."
After getting their measurements done Troy and Gabriella said bye to Ryan, Sharpay and Kelsi and exited the auditorium. They made their way over to Troy's car. He opened the door for her and Gabriella said a thank you before getting in. The ride to Gabriella's house was filled with a comfortable silence.
When they arrived Gabriella asked Troy if he wanted to come in, her mom wasn't home and she hated being alone. Putting her things away in her room and changing into a comfortable pair of shorts Gabriella went back downstairs to find Troy looking through her movie collection. She took a seat on the couch while Troy put in a copy of Saw into the DVD player.
"Troy, you know I hate scary movies. I don't even know why my mom bought that movie, it's so gruesome," Gabriella complained.
"Yeah but it has a great moral to it: appreciate life," Troy stated.
"Doesn't make it any less gruesome," Gabriella said stubbornly. Halfway through the movie Gabriella was hiding her face in Troy's chest as he continued to watch the movie intently with an arm wrapped around her small frame.
"Okay Brie, you can open your eyes now the movie's over," Troy said. When he didn't get a response Troy looked down to find Gabriella peacefully asleep in his arms. Picking her up Troy carried her to her room and gently laid her into bed. Daring to kiss her forehead Troy whispered, "Night Brie, sweet dreams."
He then made his way downstairs to wait for Ms. Montez to get home. He didn't have to wait long when she arrived five minutes later. "Oh, hello Troy," Ana said, surprised by the young man's presence.
"Hello Ms. Montez. I was just waiting for you to arrive before I took off. Brie fell asleep while we were watching a movie. I already put her in bed so you wouldn't have to worry."
"Thank you Troy and good night."
"Good night Ms. Montez," Troy said as he made his way to his car.
What a nice young man. Ana said as she closed the door and made her way to Gabriella's room. She quietly opened the door to see her daughter's sleeping silhouette. Gabi's lucky to have him watching over her. Ana fell asleep that night thinking about how lucky she was to have someone care so much about her only daughter.
The following Tuesday was the first day of dress rehearsals and Chad, Taylor, Zeke and Jason had come to watch. Ms. Darbus was walking around the stage instructing, or in this case ordering, people what to do and where to put things. Ryan, Kelsi and Troy were waiting at the piano for Sharpay and Gabriella to come out of the dressing room so they could start rehearsing.
Troy was feeling sort of uncomfortable in his Aladdin costume with his chest exposed to all of those swooning girls. Sure he'd been more exposed before, like at Sharpay's pool party a couple of weeks back but he couldn't help but feel uncomfortable with all of the looks he was receiving.
"Gabi, come on, you look great," Troy heard Sharpay say. He turned his attention toward her voice and waited with anticipation for Gabriella to reveal herself.
"I don't know Shar," Gabriella said as she walked from behind the curtain. "It doesn't feel right."
"You look great Gabi," Sharpay said as she turned to Troy, "right Troy? Troy?"
Troy didn't hear the question; he was too busy looking at the goddess in front of him. He'd seen Gabriella in many types of attire: mini skirts, knee-length skirts, jeans, Capri's, even a bikini once but nothing compared to how amazing she looked at this moment. Her hair was curled to perfection, a light amount of makeup was placed on her face, and that Jasmine outfit she wore was breathtaking. Her off-the-shoulder top showed her navel, much to Troy's pleasure, and her pants hung loosely to her hips. Troy was staring, he knew that, but he couldn't help himself. Finally he said the one thing that he could think of, "Whoa."
Feeling Troy's stare upon her Gabriella couldn't help but blush and when he had uttered that one word she got even redder. "Whoa" was all he could think of and it made her feel special knowing that she had caused that reaction from him.
"Troy?" she asked. When he still didn't say anything Gabriella walked over to him and snapped her fingers in front of his face. "Troy?"
Coming out of his trance he found Gabriella standing in front of him. She was close and he wanted nothing more than to take her in his arms and kiss her at this moment. "Huh?"
"Troy, we have to start rehearsals now," Gabriella said giggling a little. Troy turned around to see that everyone was waiting for him. Smiling sheepishly Troy got into position to begin the first scene. Off to the side Sharpay, Taylor, Kelsi, Jason, Zeke, Ryan and Chad were smiling knowing at each other once again. When will these two just admit that they had a thing for each?
All through the first scene Gabriella couldn't help but sneak peeks at Troy's exposed chest. The vest he was wearing very little to the imagination and Gabriella pictured herself running her hands against them. Shaking the thought out of her head Gabriella got ready for the market scene where Jasmine first meets Aladdin.
It was around four o'clock when they finally made it to the balcony scene and Gabriella was nervous about the duet. Sure that had sung together numerous times but something about that day made her feel uneasy. Maybe it was being so close to Troy knowing how she was starting to feel for him. Maybe it was the fact that they would be coming in contact and Gabriella was afraid that she would be caught up in the moment and do something she would later regret.
"Do you trust me?" Troy/Aladdin asked Gabriella/Jasmine while holding out his hand for her to take.
"What?"
"Do you trust me?" he asked again.
"Yes," Gabriella/Jasmine answered unsurely as she took his hand and stepped onto the carpet. The two then broke out singing "A Whole New World" with everyone watching, mesmerized by the chemistry the pair brought off. At the end of the song there was dead silence before Ms. Darbus shouted out, "Brava! Brava!" Everyone, then starting clapping wildly, Chad whistling and cheering on his two friends.
When everyone had settled down Ms. Darbus told Troy and Gabriella to begin from the top of the balcony scene after the carpet ride. Gabriella began to get tense, it the scene where Jasmine and Aladdin shared their first kiss. Thinking of this Gabriella's mind wondered off to her first kiss with Troy, how right it had felt, how much passion was put into it.
Unknown to her Troy was thinking about the same thing. He remembered how it felt to have Gabriella's hands running through his hair; the small sounds she made that made him go crazy. Troy wasn't sure he would be able to kiss her without deepening it, just touching her sent shockwaves running down his spine.
Troy and Gabriella both took a deep breath before getting into position. Out in the audience Ryan, Sharpay and Kelsi had joined the others and all were now wondering what was going to happen.
Troy/Aladdin helped Gabriella/Jasmine back onto her balcony.
"Good night, my tender prince," Gabriella/Jasmine said.
"Sleep well, princess," Troy/Aladdin replied.
Oh god, this is it. Relax Gabi, just relax. Lean in, yeah that's it.
Why am I so nervous? I kissed her before, this shouldn't be any different. God, we're getting close. Wow, she smells good. Ugh, focus Troy!
Slowly they leaned in until there was nothing left between their lips. It was meant to be a short kiss; they both knew that but neither could pull away. The kiss slowly began to pick up as Troy wrapped his arms around Gabriella to bring her closer. Gabriella moved her hands from their place on Troy's biceps and moved them upward behind his neck.
Everyone was speechless as the scene unfolding in front of them, not knowing what to do they just waited for the couple to finish. Ms. Darbus however was getting a little irritated so she shouted, "Scene end!" It seemed as if the two hadn't heard her as they continued to kiss on stage.
Troy was surprised when Gabriella ran her tongue across his bottom lip; she wasn't asking for access, she was demanding it. He happily obliged as their tongues found one another and a battle for dominance began. It was barely audible but Troy heard it as Gabriella let out a small moan of sheer pleasure. Everything around them disappeared, it was as if they were the only two in the room and no one else mattered. They had been waiting for this for so long and neither wanted it to end, but when air became a necessity they broke apart. They rested their foreheads against each other as they regained their breaths.
"Wow," Gabriella spoke out when her breathing became regular.
"Yeah," Troy agreed, a smile playing upon his lips. They looked at each other once more, with smiles on both their faces until a loud squeal was heard.