Thanks for all of the reviews, guys! Here's chapter five! Enjoy!

Protecting Miss Montez

Chapter five

Yale

The White House was peacefully quiet and everything was in place, cleaned, and calm as usual, but inside the Oval Office, a negotiation was already in talks, causing the normal peace and quiet to be disrupted until it was figured out.

"Please, Dad!" Gabriella stood with her hands on her hips in front of her dad's desk, watching as he arranged a stack of papers with a shake of his head. He specifically remembered telling her not to interrupt him while he was working, but obviously it didn't seem important enough to her.

"No, Gabi." He said again, glancing over at Charles who was lounging on the couch in the middle of the room, eating M&Ms from a glass bowl perched on the edge.

"Come on, Dad. I want to know how it feels to go to a real college. I've been stuck in this house for years."

"You've gotten the privilege of staying here." President Montez corrected her with a nod, writing quickly on a sticky note that was on the stack of papers he had just perfected in a stack. "And you're taking courses online… that's just like real college."

"Really, Dad, you're going to feed me that…"

President Montez raised his eyebrows at her before she could chose to say the word she would have.

"…crap." She finished with a dejected sigh.

"This wouldn't have anything to do with the fact that, I don't know, you want to get miles away from Drew?" He asked as he leaned back in his chair, knowing that he wasn't going to get anything done fast.

"Psssssh…" Gabriella fake laughed at her dad and pointed her finger at him as if he had just made a great joke. "No, of course not." she shook her head.

"Alright, I'll make a deal with you." He said as he sat forward again, folding his hands on the desk in front of him as he looked up at his now hopeful daughter. "You can take a tour of any college of your choice, but you will continue taking your online courses and Troy has to go with you."

"How about everything except the Troy part." Gabriella negotiated with him, not wanting to get chaperoned at a simple college tour. She'd stick out like a sore thumb if she had a guy in a suit following her around.

"How about just the Troy part and you don't get to go at all." He said in more of an annoyed tone now, wanting to get back to work.

"Fine." Gabriella sighed while running a hand through her long hair. "Whatever." She added as she walked towards the door, pushing it open in annoyance, hearing no reassuring words from her father as the door closed behind her.

"I hope you have your bags packed." Gabriella said as she began power walking down the hallway, feeling frustrated already.

"Why?" Troy asked as he barely tried to keep up with her, rolling his eyes at yet another upset march down the hall.

"We're going to Yale." She stated.

"Of course we are."

***

Troy yawned for about the third time since he got up early in the morning and again he looked down at his navy blue Yale sweatshirt that Gabriella had given him to wear and he shook his head as he felt like his cool status was currently being ruined because of her. He rubbed his tired eyes as he looked out of the airplane window, inhaling the surprisingly fresh air while he shifted in his cushiony seat.

Gabriella was somewhere… he wasn't watching her or anything considering that this was her plane and there was security around everywhere. He was just concerned with getting some sleep because she had him working on his weekend off, causing him to be even crankier than usual.

As he was about to drift off into a quiet sleep, he felt someone's elbow hit his, pushing it off of the arm rest and onto his lap. He exhaled calmly, opening one eye lid at a time before he turned to the side slowly, seeing an excited Gabriella smiling at him.

"What'cha doing?" She asked him curiously, her long hair falling against his arm as she leaned against his arm rest, too close for comfort.

"What are you doing?" Troy asked as he moved closer to the window, seeing that she was oddly happy.

Gabriella rolled her eyes, sitting back in the seat next to him as she sighed.

"I was trying to be nice to you, but there's no point. I'm bored." She explained, folding her hands in her lap as a passing flight attendant handed her a drink that she asked for earlier.

"You have an entire plane to yourself and why you chose to sit here is beyond me." Troy said to her with a shake of his head, wanting to get the day over already.

"Listen, you're going to be around me a lot for… I don't know how long… and I think it would be in our best interest to get to know each other or at least get along."

"I'll agree to getting along, but getting to know each other isn't what I signed up for." Troy replied as he set his head against the back of his seat.

"Well, in order to get along I have to know some things about you so that I won't annoy you by doing something you don't like… or something." Gabriella went on, talking quickly and in one breath as she explained her logic to him.

"I don't like people talking to me." Troy said to her, looking at her seriously.

"You're going to have to get over that, buddy." Gabriella told him as she patted his arm quickly. "Let's play twenty questions!" She gasped at her own idea, excited to play this game with him.

"Isn't that what couples do in the movies to get to know each other?" Troy asked with an eyebrow raise.

"EW." Gabriella responded in distaste. "We're not a couple, nor will we be… so it doesn't matter, let's just play." She smiled.

"Whatever you say."

"Okay, so who wants to go first?" Troy looked at her with no expression as she asked, giving her an unclear go ahead to get on with it already.

"Obviously since you're going to be that way, I will." Gabriella said sarcastically, getting comfortable in her seat as he sighed tiredly. "What's your favorite color?"

Troy sighed again, rather not putting up a fight so that the game of twenty questions would get over relatively quickly.

"Blue." He responded simply.

"Oh, good! That means I picked the right sweatshirt for you." Gabriella smiled as she pointed to his blue sweatshirt.

"Lucky guess."

"Now it's your turn to ask me a question." Gabriella said after waiting a few seconds for him to say something.

"Oh, gee, what should I ask that I don't already know about you?" Troy said sarcastically out loud, pondering the thought momentarily as Gabriella's eyes narrowed in a squinted glare.

"What's that supposed to mean? You don't know anything about me."

"I know enough." He replied with a sigh.

"Fine." Gabriella said as she slowly stood up from her seat, moving away from him. "Then we won't play anymore. See you when we're on land." She mumbled, walking towards the back of the plane where a few young flight attendants sat playing card. She sat with them, looking back at Troy with an eye roll when she realized he had shut his eyes again to try to get some sleep instead of looking as if he felt bad for hurting her feelings.

Even though Troy was obviously not excited about taking the trip to Yale, Gabriella had been, but her excitement was replaced with an awkward memory when her dad made her and Troy come to his office before they left for a talk.

***

"Here's the issue." President Montez started off when they both appeared before him in their matching Yale t-shirts and tired eyes, only Gabriella was smiling, Troy was trying to look like he was looking forward to this trip with Gabriella Montez. "I was okay with you two being around each other when Gabriella was dating Drew…" He seemed to be feeling awkward as he chose his words carefully.

He stopped though when Troy made a noise, drawing his attention and Gabriella's to him. His lips were tightly pressed together and he was becoming red slowly as he held in a laugh.

"Are you laughing?" Gabriella asked quickly, shoving him out of his uncomfortable position, which caused him to let out his loud laugh.

"No." He regained his composer and shook his head, looking back at the President.

"As I was saying… there won't be anyone to stop you two from… how do I say this…"

"EW." Gabriella filled in for him, looking at Troy in surprise. "Does he really look like my type, Dad?"

"Yeah." Troy nodded with a laugh, adding his comments somewhat unprofessionally. "She's not my type."

"How am I not your type?" Gabriella asked slowly, flipping a part of her thick hair behind her shoulder, raising her eyebrows.

President Montez raised his eyebrows at the two, seeing that they really didn't get along and that it would be a while before he had to worry about them being attracted to each other. Because in all honesty, he knew that opposites attracted… but those who were alike fell in love, and they were more alike then they thought.

"You're too much like Sharpay Evans."

"The fashion designer?" President Montez asked.

Troy nodded, causing Gabriella to gasp.

"I take that as a complement and the next time I talk to her I'm going to tell her that you said that." She nodded quickly, feeling better now that she had something on him.

"When are you really going to talk to her again?" He asked her, sighing because he wasn't planning on having a casual conversation in front of the President.

"I talk to her on the phone about every two days. We have a lot in common."

"See." Troy said, looking at the President as he said it.

"What do you have in common, sweetheart?" Her dad asked with a chuckle, knowing that he really didn't have to worry about their trip.

Gabriella's innocent expression changed into one that Troy would have seen appear on Sharpay's face when she came up with one of her plans. A smile that crept up slowly.

"Troy Bolton."

***

After the drive to Yale from the airport in the limo, Troy and Gabriella finally got out of the quiet car on the front lawn of the school. Gabriella's eyes lit up as if she was witnessing the ball drop in Times Square on New Years Eve and Troy looked around as if he was looking for someone. Neither though, looked at each other as they walked next to each other, still looking around.

"So, where are we going first?" Troy finally said after they stopped by a large tree, getting glanced at by passing students and faculty. Gabriella was still smiling and the morning breeze blew her hair in different directions as she looked at the large building.

"I think there's someone meeting us here to take us on a tour." She answered him, looking around to see if there was anyone important coming towards them.

"So, what, we're told to meet at the big oak tree by the library? How official." Troy said with an eye roll.

"Will you stop complaining? You should be honored to come to an Ivy League school like this. I am." She said, finally looking at him, seeing that his shaggy hair was moving softly in the wind and that he was no longer paying attention to her.

She followed his gaze and it fell upon a dark skinned girl, laughing with her girlfriends as she pointed to one of their books, looking to be explaining something. Gabriella furrowed her brow and then looked back at Troy who was surprising her with a genuine smile.

"Do you know her or something?" Gabriella asked him, bringing his attention back to her and before he could answer her, she heard his name exclaimed in the distance and then, right as she was turning to see who was there, Troy was being gently attacked with a hug by the girl he was just staring at.

They both laughed as Troy hugged her back, giving her a warm rub on the back as she finally looked up at him, then hugging him tightly yet again, causing them to laugh again. Gabriella felt as if she was watching a scene out of a movie, becoming uncomfortable as she stepped back to witness it.

"How are you?" The girl asked him, smiling up at him as he answered her, glancing at Gabriella.

"I'm good… here for a tour. Someone was supposed to meet us here." He answered her, seeing her smile widened as she heard him say us, meaning he was clearly here with someone else. Female maybe?

She looked at Gabriella, smiling at her and then she gave Troy a gentle shove.

"Is this your girlfriend?" She asked him in a whisper.

"No…"

"No." Gabriella interrupted Troy and she faced her, squinting slightly as she seemed to recognize her. "I'm Gabriella Montez and I'm here for a tour."

"Wait a minute. You're who?" She asked her with wide eyes, now noticing her as she envisioned her with her hair pulled back because that's the only way she'd ever seen her.

"Gabriella Montez and you are?" She tried to be polite, tried to keep a smile on her face as yet another person freaked at her identity.

"Taylor Mckessie, Troy's old friend." She said finally, shaking Gabriella's hand with a smile.

"Do you know a girl from every place we visit?" She asked Troy with an eyebrow raise, seeing him roll his eyes at her just because her presence annoyed him.

"What do you mean?" Taylor asked, looking at Troy curiously as they stood in a triangular position, all looking at each other.

"I saw Sharpay a few days ago." Troy explained with a shrug.

"I miss her so much." Taylor said in response, seeming to be truly serious as she started to think of her other old friend, one that she had always been close with, only now that Sharpay was a fashion icon, and she was still in school, they drifted apart and only talked on the phone monthly. "So. How about I give you a tour since no one is here to help you out?" She quickly changed the subject before she started to go down memory lane; most likely bringing something up that Troy wouldn't want to talk about.

"That'd be a lot more fun than having to listen to some old guy all day." Troy smiled as Taylor linked her arm with his, then as she turned to Gabriella, she linked her other arm with hers.

Gabriella smiled, noticing how quick all of Troy's friends were to accepting her as who she was, barely phased after a few minutes by the fact that she was the President's daughter. As they walked towards the entrance to the school, Taylor confronted her curiosity.

"So, like how does the President's daughter get to go off to Yale for a tour all by herself for the day?" Taylor asked Gabriella, looking over at her as she thought out loud.

"Actually, I'm not alone." Gabriella smiled shyly, shrugging at the obvious answer.

"Oh." Taylor's voice grew quieter and she looked around them. "Are there people following us?" She asked.

Gabriella giggled softly as Troy shook his head from the other side of Taylor. He smirked softly as he walked on without saying anything, letting Gabriella take care of the explanation.

"No." She shook her head, smiling at the dark skinned girl. "Troy's with me."

"I knew you were dating her!" Taylor turned to Troy quickly, giving him a playful look.

"No, he's definitely not dating me." Gabriella tried to explain.

"Way to build up my confidence, Montez." Troy said with a laugh.

"Maybe if you would have played twenty questions with me on the plane I would have known that that would have been an insult to you!" Gabriella said quickly back, glaring at him.

"I'm really confused."

"You know Taylor, for getting into Yale, you're very clueless." Troy said to his friend, getting a different looking glare from her, one that wasn't like Gabriella's recent one.

"Taylor," Gabriella laughed as she started, seeing Troy's friend looking back over at her. "He's here to protect me."

If she knew Troy better, she would have sworn he glanced at her when she said it, like he got a funny feeling in his stomach as he heard the way she said it, but she barely knew the guy. Maybe if he would have played twenty questions with her, she would have gotten a fuzzy feeling in her stomach by the way he seemed to react, but they hadn't played and she didn't notice. And there was no fuzzy feeling in her stomach.

Taylor's eyes squinted at her after she heard her answer and then she looked at Troy.

"You're part of the secret service?" She whispered to him.

Troy shrugged.

"You can like… get yourself killed."

"Only if I'm not careful." He smiled, nudging her to calm down and not to worry like she was programmed to do. Ever since they met in elementary school she was the one to worry about him and his friends, making sure they ate their lunch before playing on the playground. It was always her role… and recently she was the only one there to play it.

"So is this the school?" Gabriella asked once they stepped in, realizing that the two were too busy secretly communicating with each other to realize that they were now in the beautifully smart school.

"This is it." Taylor smiled, releasing her arms from theirs so that they could follow her as she talked.

***

Gabriella and Troy had had a fun day at Yale, although Troy would never admit it. Taylor had been nice, clicking with Gabriella when they started their own conversations and they both had laughed together when at least three girls tried flirting with Troy obviously. But the best part of the day was when they went into one of the empty classrooms, an English one with inspirational quotes painted on the walls, where Gabriella asked if they needed a pass to be in there. Taylor replied happily with a,

"Girl! You are my pass!"

And Troy laughed with both of them at that, but now, Troy and Gabriella were back in the plane, going back home after they promised to come back for dinner some time so that Troy and Taylor could catch up. Also, when Taylor asked secretly about Chad, her ex-boyfriend, Gabriella pretended not to hear, occupying herself with a brochure that she plucked from a bulletin board so that Troy wouldn't realize that he was caught… that he knew Chad Danforth… his favorite Lakers' player.

It was night time already and Troy and Gabriella were the only tired individuals on the plane. The pilot and the rest of the staff were still energetically smiling; ready to wait on the two, but Gabriella wasn't up for giving out order, which was why she had climbed all the way to the front of the plane to retrieve a blanket so that when she laid on the couch in the back, she would have something to cover up with.

The lights around the plane were dim as Gabriella walked back towards her couch and she slowed when she noticed Troy sleeping in the seat he had been sitting in on the way there and he was leaning against the window as he breathed evenly.

She looked down at the only blanket left on the plane that was tucked between her arms and sighed, releasing the blanket from between her arm and her body and carefully put it over Troy with a soft smile, leaving him to sleep as she went back to the couch, lying on it as she tried to stay warm just by wrapping her arms around herself.

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unknownbyhim22