After homeroom, Gabriella met Sharpay Evans the school's ice queen then her and Troy signed up for the musical Twinkle Town. She wanted to give Sharpay a good competition. The rest of the day went smoothly and now everyone's headed home. Troy and Gabriella get on the bus and were home in twenty minutes. They go inside Gabby's house and drop their things by the door. "Mama! You home!" There's no answer. "Guess not." Gabby said and walked in the kitchen to find a note. She reads it out loud. "Was sent on a business trip last minute to San Francisco, California. Lucille has dropped Troy's things off in your room. He will be staying with you until I get back. Will be gone for two weeks. Love and miss you, Mija. Mama."

"Well, looks like it's just us for two weeks then." Troy said.

Gabriella sighed and turned around wrapping her arms around his neck. "At least you'll be staying here with me. So since we don't have homework, what do you want to do?"

"How about a movie?"

"There's nothing else I want to see and we saw the only good one on Saturday."

"Alright. Then what about a dance club? My 25 year old cousin owns the one downtown by Wendy's and he'll let us in for free. Plus, he knows we won't drink anything except water or soda. So we can't get in trouble. Chad and I used to go there all the time as freshmen."

"Ok. But lets change first."

"Good idea."

And with that, they ran upstairs to change.

The couple came down changed in five minutes. Troy had on some nice jeans with a nice red t-shirt. Gabriella had on a nice red spaghetti strap dress that ended just above her knees and matching strappy heels. They walked out the door locking it behind them and it took them thirty minutes to get to the dance club. There was a tall, buff security guard at the door and smiled when he saw Troy. "Troy! Long time no see, Man!"

Troy smiled. "Hey, Alan. Sorry. School had been busy and this is the first time since freshman year that I've had time for anything else. This is my girlfriend and the love of my life Gabriella Montez. She's sort of new around here. Gabby, this is Alan Fortner. He's the head security guard here at the club and also my cousin's best friend since they were in pre-school."

"Hi, Alan. Nice to meet you."

"And it's good to meet you, Young Lady." He told her. Gabby blushed. Alan turned to Troy. "Where'd you find such a beautiful and polite young woman, Troy?"

"We met at the lodge my parents and I went to on vacation in Colorado last week. We happened to be at the same place at the same time and we were forced to sing karaoke together for this New Years Eve party. After that, everything just fell into place. We talked found out her mom was transferred here to Albuquerque and that we were neighbors. But we didn't know about the neighbors thing until we landed at the Albuquerque Airport the next afternoon. It was love at first sight. But what you don't know is that she's like a female version of Albert Einstein. VERY smart. But that's just an added bonus to the fact she's the most beautiful woman I've ever seen."

"Damn, Man! Congrats! You plan to marry her?"

"Not just marry, but soon. I plan to propose by the end of the year."

"Wow! I'm happy for you, Man."

"Thanks. Is Shawn in?"

"At the bar serving drinks. The barman called in sick and couldn't make it, so Shawn's filling in."

"Cool. Thanks, Alan. See you later." Troy said and walked inside with Gabby hand in hand to the bar. "Hey, Shawn!"

Shawn looked up at the voice and stopped what he's doing. He recognized Troy and came around to greet him with a man hug. "Troy! My little cousin! What's up, Dude? Long time no see."

"Sorry about that. School had gotten really busy and stuff. But it's all good now. I want you to meet Gabriella Montez. My girlfriend and the love of my life."

"It's nice to meet you, Shawn."

"You too, Gabriella. Where'd you find such a fine young lady, Troy?"

"On vacation believe it or not in Colorado last week at this ski lodge at a New Years Eve party. We were forced to sing karaoke together and that's how we met. Love at first sight. We talked and then everything else just fell into place."

"Wow! Congrats, Dude!"

"Thanks. I plan to propose by the end of the year. Not sure exactly when though. Gabby's bonus to her beauty is that she's smart. Smart like a female version of Albert Einstein."

"Wow! Beauty and brains!"

Gabby blushed again. "She's certainly one of a kind, Shawn." Troy said pulling Gabby against his side with his arm around her waist.

"Sure is. I still can't find the right one and I'm 25!"

Troy laughed. "Yeah, well, you'll find one soon enough. I just found mine early."

Shawn laughed. "I see that. Did you guys want anything to drink?"

"Not right now. Thanks though. We're just gonna go dance for a while."

"Alright. Let me know if you want or need anything."

"We will." Troy replied and dragged Gabriella to the dance floor.

After two hours of dancing, the couple went to take a break at the bar. The two sat down. "Shawn, can we have a couple of waters?"

Shawn smiled. "Sure thing. Be right back." He said and went to get the said waters.

He came back with them a minute later and handed them to the couple. "Thanks, Shawn." Gabriella said.

"Sure. No problem. Just let me know if you need or want anything."

She nodded and sipped her glass of water. Troy did the same and was done in two minutes. "Lets go back and dance."

"No. It's ok. I just want to stay here and drink some more water for now. My legs are kind of sore from the last two hours of dancing."

"Alright. You sure you'll be ok?"

"Yeah. You go have fun. I'll watch."

"Alright. But it won't be as fun by myself."

"You'll be fine. Besides, I'll be watching."

"Ok, Baby." He said then pecked her lips before going back to the dance floor.

Gabby watched as Troy danced sipping her fourth glass of water ten minutes later. A drunk guy walks up to the bar. "Can I get a shot of whisky?" He asked in his slightly slurred voice. Shawn got the drink and handed it to him and walked away. The drunk guy drank his whisky and saw Gabby and walked up to her. "Hey, Sexy Thing. Wanna go to my place?"

Gabriella looked at him. "No thanks. You're drunk and I'm seventeen."

"You're at least 21 or you wouldn't be here. Come on." He said grabbing her arm.

"Let go of me. I said no."

The guy gripped harder and covered her mouth picking her up and taking her to a private room. He ripped her dress off then her bra and panties. "You're gonna have sex with me." He said harshly.

Gabriella bit his tongue as he tried to kiss her and screamed. "TROY! SOMEBODY HELP!"

Troy heard her scream and so did Shawn. The two stopped what they were doing and ran to where the scream came from. Gabriella was naked and struggling. "GABBY!" Troy yelled.

Shawn showed up with Alan and Alan pulled the guy off. "Get off of her!"

Gabby started to cry and Troy picked her up hugging her tight. "Shhhhh. It's ok. You're ok now. Did he hurt you?"

The drunk man struggled, but Alan handcuffed him and called for the police. Shawn walked up to him. "You're never welcome to this club again." He said and then he went to grab his coat as it was a trench coat and brought it back to the room. "Wear my coat, Gabriella. I'm so sorry this happened. I'll take you guys home."

Troy nodded. "Thanks, Man."

"No problem, Little Cousin."

Gabriella sniffled and wrapped Shawn's coat around her naked body. Shawn picked up her ripped clothes and threw them away as they were not fixable. Troy picked her up bridal style as he stood up and Shawn led them to his car. Troy put her in the back seat and got in next to her. Gabby sat in his lap and cuddled into him. He wrapped his arms around her protectively and rubbed her back. Shawn drove them home and Troy took Gabby inside and layed her on the couch. "I'm gonna go talk to my mom quick and tell her what happened. I'll be right back."

Gabby nodded. "Ok."

Troy kissed her forehead and turned to Shawn. "Thanks for dropping us off. I appreciate it."

"Hey. It's not a problem, Dude. She didn't deserve that. And besides, I love you. You're my little cousin and when something bad happens to your girl, it's like something bad happening to my family. And she will be soon, so I'll do anything for you both." He said then turned to a distraught Gabriella. "You can keep the coat until later tonight. I'll be by later. You guys need anything, call me."

Gabriella just nodded with a slight smile. Shawn and Troy swapped numbers and he left. Troy turned to Gabby. "You sure you'll be ok by yourself while I go over to my house to talk to my mom?"

Gabby nodded. "Just hurry back."

"I will be as quick as I can and then we'll go upstairs and take a bath."

"Ok."

Troy went to his house and talked to his mom.