Chapter 2:
On Friday, I paced around my room trying to get ready for my date. Troy watched with an amused smirk on his face. I threw a pillow at him and with his basketball reflexes; he of course, caught it.
"That hurt Brie." He said feigning hurt. I tried not to let him see how much that nickname meant to me especially when he said it by walking into my closet. Tay honked outside. I poked my head out of the closet.
"Troy, tell her I'll be out in like 5 minutes."
"Tay, she needs 5 hours!" yelled Troy.
"What the hell Troy?" I asked angrily. He shrugged and kissed my cheek before leaving. I was too angry and in a rush to notice his solemn expression. I would have asked what was wrong. I patted down my hair once more and applied some mascara. I knew I was kinda overdoing it because I hardly needed makeup with my genetics. I'm about every Hispanic flavor out there including some branched out Latin. I pulled my baby doll tee down and fixed my jeans. I grabbed my purse and my jacket and ran downstairs and outside to Tay's silver Altima. She clucked at me disapprovingly before starting the engine. We drove straight to the movies because it was 8:30. Tay found a nice parking spot and parked. Before I could get out she spoke.
"Gabs? Are you sure you want to do this?" she asked softly. I nodded and tried to convince myself.
"Of course. Randy's a cool guy. He's sweet, sensitive, caring, loyal, and—"
"Oh my god!" Tay and I exclaimed at the same time.
"I just described a dog!" I yelped. "Damn, this is a bad idea Tay, why couldn't I let you talk me out of it last week like you were trying?"
"Cause you're way too damn stubborn. Let's face it Gabriella, you're a stubborn person. When you want something you can't have you go out of your way to substitute it." She answered unlocking the door. "At least go on the date. Don't stand the guy up. It's Troy's loss—"her cell rang 'Hate that I love you' by Rihanna and Ne-yo. I looked at her skeptically as she pressed talk.
"Hey," she said embarrassedly. Someone replied back. Tay's eyes lit up. "Really. Well, yeah, she does. Does he? Oh my gosh! They really are oblivious. Hold on." She turned to me. "Go on your date gabs. I'll be waiting here." Before turning back. "Yeah, they just have to figure it out themselves." Those were the last words I heard from Tay before I got in line and met up with Randy. To make this short, let's just say, the date didn't go to well. And I did nothing intentionally. It was all Randy. I was glad because it made it that much easier to tell him to go to hell.
"You mean he took 3 other girls to the movies in one night?" repeated Tay in disbelief. I nodded sadly. She hugged me. "Don't worry Gabs, I know someone who likes you back and isn't a player."
"Yeah?" I asked tiredly. "Who?"
"You'll see." She smiled before yawning. Suddenly I was awake.
"Tay! Who?" Tay grinned sleepily at me before closing her eyes. I screamed in frustration before going to sit outside on my balcony. I looked into Troy's backyard and watched him miss every one of his shots. Something's not right. I thought climbing down my tree. I was half-way there when I looked down. Suddenly the ground seemed very far away. I panicked. Someone help me! I silently S.O.S.ed. My prayers were answered when the branch I was holding snapped. I fell down screaming. Just as I thought I was going to hit the ground, I fell swiftly into the arms of my rescuer. I opened my eyes slowly. My mocha eyes met the worried gaze of none other than Troy Bolton. He carried over to his yard and sat me down on a lawn chair. He looked into my eyes and felt my forehead to make sure I was okay.
"Jeez, Brie. Are you trying to give me a heart attack?" he half-joked. I shook my head and grinned lazily. He chuckled and nuzzled his face in my hair. I sat there contently. He broke away and looked down at me removing a few stray hairs from my face.
"So, what's wrong?" I asked. He looked away before I could read his eyes. I turned his chin back and stared him down. He sighed and shrugged. "Seriously troy, what's wrong? You're one of my best friends. If there's something wrong with you I want to help."
"It's…there's a girl." He said finally. I gulped trying to keep calm. I nodded weakly for him to go on. "You see, I'm pretty good friends with this girl, but every time I try and tell her my feelings, I get interrupted or she tells me about her going on a date."
"Oh," I said feeling even more dejected.
"What should I do?" he asked. I closed my eyes and took a deep breath.
"Well, if you really like her, you need to tell her your feelings no matter what. It may ruin the friendship but at least you won't go on wondering what if you'd asked her out or what if…you know?" I answered. He nodded.
"What would be the best way to ask her?"
"I don't know Troy." I answered remorsefully. "What kinda girl is she?"
"Well, even though she has liked a lot of material possessions she says she's pretty simple."
"Hmm, materialistic but simplistic on the inside. Why don't you just do it the old fashioned way? Ask her out to some place romantic yet simple?" I suggested quietly. He nodded eagerly. He got up and hugged me. I returned it limply not feeling energetic. I pulled away to go but he tightened his grip making forced to look at his smiling face. I bowed my head down but he lifted my chin.
"Brie? Will you go out with me?" he asked hopefully. I looked at him incredulously. He let go shamefully. I touched his wrist and smiled brightly.
"yes." He grinned widely and swung me around laughing. We tumbled onto the grass panting. He drew me near him and I climbed on top of him straddling him. It wasn't unusual position for us now it was just interesting because we were kinda together now. I looked down into his cobalt blue eyes and saw love there. He pulled me down and kissed me softly on the lips. His lips were soft and supple, meshing against mine. For a moment we had forgotten we were in his backyard. We were lost in our own little story that was finally getting a happy ending. Better yet, a happy beginning.