Okay, finally got a chapter up. I start school next week, so don't expect too many updates. I will finish the story, though, no worries there:

Gabriella didn't take the bus home. She walked. It took half an hour longer, but she knew that her mother was out at her new job, and wouldn't be at home worrying about her. She had memorized the way home because she had walked to the school in the weekend. Once she got home, she dumped her bag, which landed with a thunk, weighed down by the homework they had received that day. Usually she didn't mind doing homework, but she couldn't be bothered right now. Gabriella walked into the kitchen and began to fish around in a box for a cup. Mrs Montez still hadn't gotten around to unpacking. She finally found a cup at the bottom of one box, and she filled it with coke. Then the phone rang.

"Hello, Gabriella Montez speaking," Gabriella said automatically into the phone. She heard a bit of rustling on the other end of the phone and then a familiar voice filter through.

"Hey sweetie, it's me," Mrs Montez said. "Look, there's this nice woman that I work for. She's looking for a regular baby-sitter for her daughter who's twelve. She's just got divorced and having a bit of a rough time. It's for an hour every Monday and Thursdays. I didn't say you'd do it, because I know how annoyed you get when I arrange things for you. But, if you're interested…" she drifted off. Gabriella sighed and chewed on her lower lip for a moment. "Honey? You there?"

"Yeah," Gabriella nodded from her end of the phone. "Yeah, uh, I'll do it." There was a sigh from the other end of the phone, but it sounded more like one of relief.

"Okay, I'll let her know." And then the phone was put down. Gabriella stared at the phone for a moment, lost in thought. Then her cat jumped up onto the bench and frightened her. Gabriella let out a squeal, and the cat hissed at the sudden noise and leapt back off the bench and scampered out of the kitchen. Gabriella sighed again and put the phone back on it's cradle. She tipped the rest of her coke down the drain and picked up her bag. She dragged it up the stairs behind her. Once up in her new room, she flopped back on her bed and stared up at the poster she had stuck above her.

It was of her favorite actress, Natalie Portman. Natalie's clear brown eyes stared straight back at her defiantly. Gabriella sighed and rolled off her bed and picked up the homework. The first one was Science, and she finished that in ten or so minutes. It was easy work that she had down when she was Year 8. She had taken a lot of advanced classes, but she had gotten her mother to not brag about it, and so far the teachers were just teaching her what they taught everyone else. That was the way Gabriella wanted it at the moment, she didn't want people to think that she was some nerd who enjoyed lots of homework. She didn't that image here again at the school.

The next day on the bus, Gabriella took a seat next to a brown haired boy with a stud through his ear. He didn't seem to care that she was sitting there, but he didn't try to make any friendly conversation. That was the way Gabriella liked it. When Troy got on the bus, he got the same big greeting how he had the day before. But this time she noticed his eyes immediately went to his seat, and when he found it empty, they quickly searched the rest of the bus until they reached her eyes. She broke the contact by quickly looking down at her cell-phone in her hand. When she looked up again, he was seating by himself, his legs up on the seat.
At school, after third period, Troy left a bunch of his friends, who were going to Technology. He had a free period. He went into the library and walked to the back of the library. There was a desk right at the back, behind a row of ancient dictionaries which hadn't been touched in years. Not many people went back there, and he was always the only one back there when he had his free period. When he rounded the corner to the desk, he spotted Gabriella curled up in a corner. She wasn't at the desk, but on the ground, leaning on a cushion from one of the chairs. She had a strand of hair between two of her fingers and was twirling it around. Her eyes were focused on her cell-phone and she was biting her lip viciously.

"You know, if you bite too much of you lower lip, it's gonna get pretty munted," Troy stated as he leaned against the rack which held the dictionaries. Gabriella looked up at him with a frightened expression. But when she saw it was him, she rolled her eyes and looked back at her cell-phone. "You know you're not allowed cell-phone's on during school time."

"Do I look like I care?" She asked abruptly. "And do you mind? I was here by myself before, and I'd prefer to keep it that way." Troy lifted on eyebrow at her, not used to having cute girls blow him off like that.

"Feisty, aren't you?"

"Arrogant, aren't you?" Gabriella shot back. Troy's eyes hardened as he walked over to her and sat on a chair. "Why are you staying here?" She looked a bit nervous.

"I have a free period. I have nothing to do. A new girl has just said more insulting words to me than I have heard from any other person from this school. I'm interested," Troy's eyes had gone back to the friendly look they had before. Gabriella moved her feet and licked her lips quickly. "Where did you come from?" He asked, leaning back in his chair.

"Why do you care? Isn't there a group of cheerleaders who would prefer to talk to you?" Gabriella spat back. Troy glanced away and then back at her.

"Most of those cheerleaders are blonde, and if they aren't naturally blonde, they should be. They act as though I'm their hero or something," Troy muttered. Gabriella gave him a sharp look before saying,

"You're blonde." Troy blinked at her for a moment, and then laughed lightly. Gabriella found that she didn't really mind him laughing—especially since he had a nice laugh. His eyes lit up and danced, and two dimples creased his cheeks. "Look, I don't mind if you stay here, but I want to finish this, so just stay quiet, 'kay?" Gabriella slipped her phone away and went on with some homework. There was a sarcastic retort on the tip of Troy's tongue, but he decided that it would be easier to just stay quiet. Especially if they were going to stay her together and he was going to be able to try an decipher her some more.

Unfortunately, all that he had figured out by the end of their free period, was that she had a Pinkalicious phone with silver cell-phone art, she had the word HATE scrawled in the margin of her textbook, and that her camisole under her low-cut top was purple. That wasn't going to help him in getting closer to her, and he felt annoyed at himself for that.

Next period was Math. Troy had always had trouble in Math, and he sat at his desk, half-heartedly doodling answers in. Most of his attention was focused on Gabriella. She wasn't in the class, but he could still remember everything about her. He remembered how a strand of hair always fell across her forehead, often shadowing her eye. She found it annoying, he picked up, because she kept pushing it away with an irritated sigh. He didn't know why he had spent the entire last period with her….he hardly even knew her! Although, she was cute….

"Mr Bolton?" Came the voice of the teacher. Troy's head snapped up. "Would you care to join us here on earth?" A few giggles came from the several cheerleaders in the class. Troy had the grace to blush and duck his head. The teacher shook her head and smiled at him. Troy was a sweet boy, it was a shame that he had such a high position in the school. It wasn't like she was a stereo-typer or anything, but when people were popular at school, it usually went to their head. Troy wasn't completely arrogant yet, but give or take a few more years, the sweet boy the teacher saw would be gone, and arrogance would have taken it's spot.

Troy felt a eyes on him, and looked up. Two of the cheerleaders were staring adoringly at him. Feeling self-conscious, Troy blushed again and went back to the Math in his book. That was one of the things he liked about Gabriella, she didn't stare at him like that. In fact, she didn't stare at him at all. She barely even looked at him! When she did, though, it sent shivers down his spine. Troy let out a quiet groan and slapped his forehead. Gotta stop thinkin' 'bout her!!!! He thought to himself. It was useless, though. The rest of the period, his mind was set on Gabriella.

It was lunch next, and Gabriella sat in the cafeteria alone. She had been sitting by herself for the past few days. She wanted to make friends, but she didn't at the same time. It happened every time: she made friends and then they found out about her home life, and dumped her just like that. She could usually handle it: it was normal for her. But something was different this time. This time, they could be here for longer than usual. Her father wasn't here. He was in prison, back where they used to live. She didn't really need to worry about people finding out about him.

After a while, Gabriella got up from her seat and walked past a few tables to get to the rubbish bin. She dumped the rest of her lunch—most of her lunch—into the bin. Then she walked past a few more tables and pushed open the door to the hallway. The jock table gave her frowns, except for one blonde guy in particular. She didn't notice though, as she walked down the empty hallways.

"Hey! Gabriella!" Troy called as he jogged out of the cafeteria. Gabriella turned around in surprise as Troy caught up to her. He glanced over his shoulder as they turned the corner. They walked in silence for moment, the only noise coming from their shoes on the polished floors echoing around them.

"Is there something you wanted?" Gabriella asked after a few minutes. Troy shook his head. "Then why did you run after me?" She asked in confusion. Troy gave a short laugh.

"You make me sound like a Romeo or somethin'," Troy told her with a grin. Gabriella shrugged. "Well, I was gonna asked you something…" Troy bit his lower lip nervously. Gabriella surveyed him with a slight smile. "Well, I'm kinda having some trouble in Math. I saw your book in free period, and…..I was kinda hoping….if, you know….."

"Could help you?" Gabriella offered. Troy nodded appreciatively. "Well, I can, but not Monday or Thursday afternoons because I've got something on. Any other day of the week is free." Troy grinned at her.

"Great! Coz, like, I've got basketball practice Monday's and Thursday's. Um, tomorrow, my house?" Troy suggested. Gabriella thought about it for a moment and then slowly nodded. "I'm gonna warn you now: as soon as my dad sees you, he'll go straight into oh-nice-new-girlfriend mode, kay, so just ignore him.." Gabriella nodded and pushed strand of ebony hair away from her eyes. "Thanks! You're a life saver!" Troy grinned at her again before running back to the cafeteria. It was then Gabriella remembered she didn't know where he lived.

It was Thursday afternoon, and so Gabriella made her way to the address her mother had given her. It was a few blocks away from their house, so she could walk to it and home again. When she arrived, she heard yelling from inside. Not the yelling as in someone was on one side of the house and was communicating with someone on the other side of the house. It was more of the someone is angry and yelling at someone else.

Gabriella chewed nervously on her lower lip and was about to walk up to the front door when a boy stormed out, taking no notice of her. Gabriella watched him go with frightened eyes. Then she turned back toward the house where a girl around twelve or thirteen.

"Um, Jeanette?" Gabriella asked. The girl nodded. Gabriella glanced after the boy and winced. "Who was that?" Jeanette Rodgers sighed and crossed her arms.

"Boyfriend. I just dumped him," Jeanette replied. Gabriella nodded slowly. "I still like him, just can't handle it right now," Jeanette shrugged. "You wanna come in?" Gabriella smiled and followed her into the house. "Um, next time, bring your togs. We got a spa pool, and it's great!" Jeanette grinned.

"Okay," Gabriella glanced around. There were still boxes everywhere from moving. Gabriella followed Jeanette into the kitchen and sat down on a barstool. She studied the younger girl as she walked around, getting herself a drink. She had sandy blonde hair which was tied back tightly in a knot. She hadn't smiled, but there were creases in her cheek which gave away the fact she had dimples when she smiled. Her eyes were a piercing blue, which reminded her of someone else. Gabriella shrugged, not being able to put a name on it. "Who looks after you the other days of the week?" Gabriella asked.

"Well, I'm out on Wednesday, I go to net-ball, and then I go back to my friends. Tuesdays and Fridays I go to my dad's house. He lives with my brother," Jeanette replied. "My brother can't look after me coz he's got sport practice, or he's just plain too lazy."

"Your brother that bad?" Gabriella asked with a smile.

"No," Jeanette admitted with a slight smile. "He's actually quite cool."

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