The Gardener

Summary: During that transitional summer from freshman year to sophomore, Troy took the job of gardener to be able to work with long time crush Gabriella. He expected a nice tan, bulging muscles and cash but that's not all he received. Coming back to school, after that disastrous summer how can he pretend nothing has changed when everything had?

Author's note: Sorry for not updating sooner. Thanks for all the people that reviewed/favorited/alerted, you guys are the best!

Chapter one

June 22nd 2009

"Troy, wake up."

Ugh, this sounds like my mom's voice. Is it September yet? Shit, summer vacation went by too fast.

"Troy, you know that gardening job you wanted? Well it was available so I got it for you," she declares.

I snap my eyes open; did she just say what I think she said?

"What?" I sputter.

"You're going to be a gardener Troy," she repeats grinning.

"Seriously?" Somehow I just can't bring myself to believe this.

"Seriously," she confirms.

I grin big time and hug my mom tightly.

"Thank you, thank you, thank you!" I repeat.

For weeks now I've been asking my mom to get me hired for the gardening job offered to students during the summer. She's working at the community center so she can pull a few strings. I know, I know, mowing the lawns of the rich men of Albuquerque all day long in the scorching sun is probably not your idea of the perfect summer job, but it is for me. The reason for my excitement has a name, it's Gabriella Anne Montez. For almost 4 years I've had a crush on her. I know she's totally out of my league and I also know that her dad always hires a gardener for the summer. So basically, I'm going to get paid for staring at the most beautiful girl all summer long.

"When do I start?" I ask eagerly.

"Today, at 10."

I look at my alarm clock and my eyes bulge out when I see it's already nine.

"Oh shit! I only have one hour!" I exclaim, quickly getting up and rushing into the shower.

Behind me I hear my mom chuckle. It wouldn't surprise me that she knows about my fondness of the brunette. My friends do have big mouths after all. With only a towel wrapped around my waist I look at myself in the bathroom mirror, inspecting to see if I'm decent enough for her. My chest is still flat and so is my stomach, my arms are really skinny too, and even if I flex there's not really a bump. I'm not exactly pale but not incredibly tan either. Damn, why didn't I start going to the gym like I had planned? There is also no trace whatsoever of my beard, my skin being as soft as a baby's. Luckily my long mop of hair takes away from that fact (it is so massive; it shields my face from view).

"Troy, breakfast's ready! You have 30 minutes before you need to grab the lawnmower and all the stuff you need," my mom yelled from downstairs.

I go in my room and get dressed in my gray Bermuda shorts that fall below the knees over a clean pair of boxers. Now for the shirt, I open my drawer and start to ponder about what would look best on me. I grab my white graphic tee with a bunch of graffiti on it. It's baggy enough to hide my skinny frame, but fit well enough so I don't look lost in it. I apply some deodorant and made my way downstairs.

"Wow, you look quite dashing for someone who's going to be exposed to the sun all day and sweat a lot," my mom remarks.

"You always gotta look at your best whatever the circumstances," I shrug.

She drives me to the community center and the manager of my new job explains all the basics I need to know about how the different tools work, when to take breaks and all that. With my lawnmower, several scissors, bug spray, gloves etc., I was ready to go.

My mom takes me to my first neighbourhood. It's the richest of the whole town, the yards are huge and the houses aren't even close to one other, various tree separating them. I know by the look of it that this is Gabriella's street. I meet up with the owner of the first house and he explains to me what he expects for the summer. I start by mowing his front yard, only to discover that it's harder than I had expected. By 11 the sun is already high in the sky and the temperature is scorching hot. Remembering what my boss said, I take off my shirt and just work the rest of the way, shirtless. My hair is becoming a bother; it just warms my neck and forehead and won't stop hanging in front of my face. Finished, I gladly take the glass of water the owner gives me before going to the next house where I repeat it all over again.

"This is so tiring," I mumble pushing the machine in front of me.

My neck is covered in sweat, my chest is covered in sweat, my shoulders are covered in sweat, my face is covered in sweat! I'm sweating all over and trust me, it is not at all rewarding. I feel like the most disgusting guy on earth right now. Finally I reach the Montez' house. Feeling my energy level boost up a little, I ring the doorbell. I wonder if I should put my shirt back on or not but decide against it, since it would just look even more disgusting.

"Oh, you must be our new gardener!" a tall man greets me, opening the door.

He looks like Gabriella a lot; they have the same eyes.

"Yes sir, my name's Troy Bolton, what can I do for you today, sir?" I inquire politely.

"Well, um, I guess you could start by mowing the lawn," he replies slowly, as if trying to remember what needs to be done.

"Will do, sir," I oblige.

Many times, his wife or he came to offer me some water, but not once did I see my Gabriella. I'm starting to think that maybe she went somewhere else for the whole summer. I feel pretty disappointed when I realise I hadn't thought of that earlier. However I got my answer when Mr. Montez' phone starts to ring.

"Hello?" he says, flipping his cell phone open. "Oh Ella! How are you? Your uncle's treating you well I hope. Oh no, here nothing major happened, don't worry. Yes, we did get our new gardener," he casts me a glance and I continue to cut the grass, pretending like I'm not listening to them at all. "Don't ask me that, I'm a man, I can't say another guy's cute. It's true! You'll just have to see for yourself in three weeks. Yeah. Okay, take care baby girl. Love you too. Bye."

So she is going to show up! I start to grin like a fool. When I finally finished all the houses in Gabriella's neighbourhood, it was 4; I went home. I take a long and relaxing shower to erase all traces of sweat I shed throughout the day. My body is not aching that much but I bet tomorrow's going to be a different story.

June 27th, 2009

I remember waking up on that second day, feeling so sore that I could barely move. I couldn't even move without feeling pain. That time, I dressed lighter, remembering how sweaty I've gotten the day before. By the end of that day, I was hurting so much that when I got home, I just took a shower and went to bed, without eating supper.

The third day, I was still sore, but not as much as the day before and just went to work without a shirt on, knowing it would be a bother more than anything else.

The following two days were spent the same way and as each day passed by, I realised I got tanner.

Finally, today is my day off. When I wake up, it is 2 PM and first thing I decide to do is go to the hair salon to cut my hair that is seriously pissing me off.

I got a buzz.

"What happened to your hair?!" my mom exclaims when I step into the house.

I am still sulking about the huge amount of hair I lost and deeply regret it, since I don't feel like myself anymore. I really should've thought thoroughly about it instead of just acting on an impulse.

"It was bothering me at work," I mumble, looking down. "And now I regret it."

"Oh Troy honey," she coo, stepping closer to touch my hair (or lack of). "It's not bad; it's different but not bad."

"It's way too short. I could've just gone bald and it wouldn't have made a difference," I mutter bitterly.

"Ah now don't get too overdramatic," she says. "I mean, honestly? Your old haircut was hiding your face all the time and now that it's shorter, we can see your beautiful blue eyes. I know you might feel naked right now, but I think you might like this hairstyle better than the last one."

Not a chance, but whatever, I won't sulk anymore, I need to take action.

"Can you drive me to the mall?" I inquire.

"Sure."

Walking around with my hood firmly on top of my head, I make my way around the air-conditioned indoor Albuquerque mall. That's when I find it, the thing I'm looking for. I uncover my head and try on beanie after beanie only to find myself buying a gray one, a black one, a blue, a green… basically all of them with the tips my client gave me this first week. I've almost dried up the whole stash of money I've made with first the haircut and now the beanies. Finally outside the store, I put on the gray one and start to feel better. I have 30 more minutes before my mom will pick me up so I just walk around, bored out of my mind. I eventually just sit down at one of the empty tables near the various food courts.

"You see that guy with the gray beanie, over there?" I hear a voice behind me.

I do not need to turn around to know that it is Sharpay Evans; I just pretend that I did not hear but continue to eavesdrop.

"Yeah, he looks familiar." I can not recognise the other girl's voice.

"His name's Troy Bolton," Gabriella's best friend continues.

"What, the Troy? The skinny kid with too much hair?"

"Yeah, but I guess he shaved it all off. Anyways, you know how Gabi's family always hires a gardener during the summer?" I presume the other girl nodded. "Well, he got the job because he wants to see her all summer long."

"Why would he do that?" the other girl gasps.

"Because he has a crush on her, duh," Sharpay declares.

I close my eyes as the other girl started to squeal at how cute that was. Shit, am I that obvious?

"Aww, how do you know that?"

"Well, in 6th grade when she moved into his class, she told me how shy he used to be around her and I remember that at our middle school Valentine ball he almost fainted when he asked her to dance."

"Aww damn, Gabriella always has the cute ones!" the other girl whines.

I want to crawl ten feet under the ground. Fortunately they can't see my face that is currently burning hot.

"Plus you must be deaf if you don't hear the way his lunkheads friends holler in the hallways whenever she's a meter away from him."

"Oh, that is why they're always acting like monkeys whenever we see them!"

"Yup."

"But does she know that he likes her?"

That's what I was waiting for.

"Ah come on, you know Gabi! Unless you tell her that a guy is trying to hit on her, she won't notice it."

"True that. Are you gonna tell her about him?"

"Nah, I want to see to what extent will this guy go to impress her. It'll be funny to see."

Not wanting to hear them gossip anymore I get up, humiliated, as I hear them laugh, and walk away. This is why I will never have any sort of contact with Sharpay Evans. Adjusting my beanie on my head I try to hide my red face the best I can considering that, now, I don't have my hair to do it for me anymore.

- - -

Sorry if this chapter was boring and so not explanatory to the cliffhanger I left in the previous chapter.

Anyways, review please?