Well, I hope you all liked the last chapter!
When Gabriella got home that night, she had a dreamy smile on her face. It didn't take much for her mother to sum up that Troy had been at Jeanette's house, and something had happened between the two of them. Mrs Montez had put up with the one-word answered and dreamy looks from her smile on her daughters face for the evening—she was just glad that her daughter was finally happy. Gabriella hadn't really, truly smiled in what seemed like for so long! She also hadn't trusted herself to be with another guy since a year or two ago, when her father had punched in a boys nose when he saw Gabriella holding hands with a boy.
Mrs Montez was glad for her daughter.
Mr Montez made his regular call, at half-past eight. As usual, Gabriella's face closed down when Mrs Montez said that he wanted to talk to her, and she refused. He had been patient until now, but now he sounded angry, even when he had just got on the phone.
"Sam, what is it?" Mrs Montez asked, hearing her husbands annoyed tone and feeling worried.
"Is she seeing someone?!" He thundered into the phone. Mrs Montez bit her lower lip; she wasn't quite sure how to respond to that. She didn't want to lie, because she knew that he would somehow find out, but she didn't want to tell the truth, because she knew how her husbands felt when Gabriella was with someone. "Are you going to answer me?!" He basically shouted in her ear.
"Uh, well, Gabriella is friends with this new boy at her school, but that's all," Mrs Montez quickly said. Gabriella was standing around the corner, listening to the conversation. She knew her father couldn't do anything. He could scare them, but he couldn't actually hurt them…could he?
When Gabriella got on the bus, people eyed her carefully. She wondered if they knew about her and Troy. Then again, it wasn't exactly unobvious, since he had sat next to her the last couple of times on the bus, and from the looks on the other people's faces, that wasn't something that usually happened. Her cell-phone had been switched off all night, and Taylor had promised to text her, so Gabriella turned on her cell-phone.
"What the heck?!" She cried as she saw the screensaver. It was of her and Troy kissing in the pool. Gabriella's eyes clouded in confusion. She didn't know who could have taken the photo since only her and Troy had been there…and Jeanette. Gabriella suppressed laughter as she realized that Jeanette must've taken over her phone. She went into the photo folder and it was filled with them in the pool. Gabriella on Troy's shoulders, and then of them kissing.
"Whatchya lookin' at?" Someone asked as the fell into the seat next o her. It was Taylor. Gabriella quickly snapped her phone shut and tried to put it in her pocket.
"Nothin'," she replied. Taylor laughed.
"Yep, sure," Taylor snatched the phone out of her hand and opened it. "Oh my goodness. You kissed Troy! You kissed Troy Bolton!" Gabriella slapped her hand over Taylor's mouth as several people in front of them turned around. Finally, Gabriella removed her hand and Taylor grinned widely. "Knew you had it for him. But him for you…wow…" Gabriella snatched her phone back and put it in her hoodie pocket.
"Yeah, well, what about you and Chad?" Gabriella asked. Taylor rolled her eyes and looked at Gabriella disbelievingly.
"Girl, what is it with you, me and Chad? There's nothing between us two—we hate each other!" Taylor told her. Gabriella didn't say anything. She just looked out the bus window with a smile on her lips. Taylor scowled at her for a moment before nudging her in the arm and asking, "Why has he told Troy something about me?" Gabriella just kept smiling, much to Taylor's annoyance. "Look, hunni, I want to know what people are saying about me—especially Chad!" Gabriella turned and looked at Taylor.
"Why 'especially Chad'?" Gabriella asked in a sing-song voice. "Do you really care about the way he talks about you?" Taylor narrowed her eyes and crossed her arms in a huff. "Oh, Tay's got a crush on a basketball boy…" Gabriella sung under her breath. Taylor frowned even harder before hissing,
"You really want me announcing to the whole bus you had a nice game of tonsil hockey with Bolton in the weekend?" Gabriella finally closed her mouth and shut up, but that didn't stop her smiling annoyingly and humming the same tune she was singing ' Tay's got a crush' under her breath. Taylor just shoved her iPod headphones into her ears and tried to ignore her.
When Troy hopped on the bus, most people glanced over to where Gabriella was sitting, next to Taylor. Troy gave Gabriella a slight smile, and then sat in the seat next to Chad, where he hadn't sat in a few days. Chad slapped hands with Troy and a cheerleader came over and purposefully sat on his knee, sending a deathly glare down to Gabriella, who rolled her eyes in answer.
During homeroom, whenever Gabriella looked up, she always found Troy's eyes on her. She blushed everytime, to her annoyance, and turned back to Taylor or Sharpay Evans. Chad noticed that Troy seemed distracted during homeroom as well, and when the bell when to signal First Period, he grabbed Troy's arm and pulled his away from the rest of the group.
"Dude, what's with you? You were so distracted—When Miss called your name, you didn't even notice until I whacked you!" Chad said. Troy shrugged and glanced over his shoulder, to where Gabriella was digging through her locker, unaware of the two of them. "And I know it's got something to do with the new chick with nice eyes…you been staring at her for ages, and you been sitting next to her on the bus! You never do that!"
"Look, I gotta go…I'm gonna be late for class," Troy mumbled as he saw Gabriella close her locker and blend into the crowd. He took off after her and Chad groaned.
"And there, you go and do it again!" He muttered angrily. Behind him, Taylor snorted. "What do you want, McKessie?" He muttered. Taylor smiled disarmingly and walked closer to him. "She's your mate, keep her away from him."
"Won't do that, boof-head, coz I don't care if they're together," she said as she walked past. Chad glared after her, before clicking at what she had actually said. He ran up to her, grabbed her arm, and pulled her into an empty classroom. Taylor glanced around the deserted room and locked door and then glared at him. "Do not even think of trying to make out with me at this moment."
"Don't worry, brainiac, that's one of the last things on my mind," Chad hissed back. "Look, Gabriella's your mate. She hot and all, but she's totally distracting Troy. He played well at the game, but he's been totally flunking out at practices." Taylor rolled her eyes sky-ward. She'd heard from somewhere that Troy's dad had drinking problems. She wasn't sure if it was true, but she was pretty confident.
"Look, Gabriella might be a slight distraction, but if he's not doing well at basketball, it might have something to do with more than a girl," she brushed past him to the door. "Look closer into the team for the distraction," she called over her shoulder.
Chad stared after her for a moment, taking in what she had said. The team, he thought. Him and his mates weren't acting any differently, it was only Troy. That left the coach, Coach Bolton, Troy's dad. But what would Troy's dad have to do with anything. Chad thought about for a minute longer, and then realized that he was going to be super late for class, and quickly bailed.
Gabriella had Science next, and she was glad that Sharpay was in her class. Sharpay was overly dramatic, and bit obsessed with herself and an all over Drama Queen, but there was something about her demeanor which Gabriella really liked. She couldn't quite put her finger on it, but the energy which Sharpay always seemed to have, made Gabriella happy that she was around.
As Gabriella and Sharpay sat at the back of the class, measuring out liquids, Sharpay asked,
"What's with you and Bolton?" Gabriella paused for a moment, wondering whether Taylor had told her about the photos or not. But when Gabriella looked at Sharpay's face, there wasn't a knowing look on it or anything, just curiosity. "Like, do you know him from a club or something, coz he's never sat by a chick on the bus. Sometimes a chick goes and sits next to him, but he's never sat by another girl. Barely even sits next to his mates! They just talk over the seats or across the aisle." Gabriella shook her head and smiled.
"Nah, there's nothing going on," she replied, thinking back to the pool. "I guess he just can't resist being attracted to my natural charm!" She said and laughed. Sharpay rolled her eyes, but laughed along as well.
It was sort of a fill in chapter, but oh well!
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