Chapter 2

Gym.

Gabriella hated gym.

She wanted to know who started this class. She'd like to go up to that person and give him a piece of her mind!

Wasn't it against the law to force kids to do things they didn't want to do? What was it called? Child abuse?

Well, forcing her to do gym was certainly what she would call child abuse!

The only good thing about gym class was that she didn't have to wear those hideous gym uniforms. At least the principal had enough sense to ban those.

Most of the girls in her gym class wore tank tops and shorts. Some shy girls stuck with T-shirts, but Gabriella was one of the tank-topians (that's what some of the guys called the girls who wore tank tops). The guys just stuck with T-shirts or jerseys with basketball shorts.

As soon as she finished changing, Gabriella ran out of the locker rooms. She really hated them, especially the ugly gray lockers that were supposed to be white. The boys were lucky. Their lockers were bright red.

Since she was one of the first students to be out, the gym was nearly empty, except for the teachers and a few students.

One of them was Troy.

She hadn't noticed him before and now that he saw what he was wearing, she knew why. His gym outfit, a regular SYC jersey and white basketball shorts, surprised her. She was expecting something more, what was the word she had learned in English?...outlandish.

That was it...outlandish.

His hair still looked neatly combed and shiny. And he still wasn't smiling.

Gabriella wondered if he smiled when he was a baby.

Probably not.

In a few minutes, gym class had started. Since it was still a bit warm, the kids were supposed to run laps in gym class.

This was something Gabriella hated to do. She was good at running but she hated getting all sweaty. It made her feel sticky and gross.

And she knew some of the other girls felt that way, too.

But she jogged at a steady pace while some girls tried to keep their paces even with her. They kept firing her with compliments and questions.

"Your hair is so pretty, Gabriella."

"Where'd you get that tank top? It's so adorable."

"That color looks so great on you."

"It's no wonder you're more popular than the cheerleaders. You're prettier than they are."

But soon they got bored and started to lag. Gabriella sped up until she was ahead of them.

Suddenly, she felt someone whiz by. She only saw the back of the person, but she knew who it was.

Troy Bolton.

Gabriella somehow managed to keep jogging while she stared. Troy was probably the most graceful runner she had ever seen. While everyone seemed slow and tired, he seemed to fly around the field, even though he was basically going at the same pace as everyone.

And Gabriella wasn't the only one who noticed.

During that afternoon, Troy seemed to be mentioned in almost every single conversation.

Everywhere Gabriella went, all she heard was "Troy Bolton this...Troy Bolton that..."

He certainly made quite an impression.

"Troy Bolton has such bright blue eyes," one girl said.

"I love his hair! It's so elegent but sexy at the same time," another one said.

"I think he's gay," a football jock said.

"Dude, you're just saying that because your girlfriend thinks he's cute," another one teased.

And Gabriella liked it. It was nice to have everyone's attention on someone else rather than her. And Troy seemed to doing just that

She thought Troy would be flattered by all this attention. But he seemed really irritated. He was always scowling and anytime someone said hi, he would just glare at that person and walk away in the other direction.

But this didn't seem to slow down everyone's attention. In fact, it seemed to speed it up. Soon, there were all kinds of rumors.

"I heard he was arrested twice!"

"Didn't someone say he has sex with girls for fun?"

"No. That's just the football guys."

"I just know Troy wears contacts. There is no way his eyes can really be that bright!"

"Why is he so mean, though?"

"Maybe he doesn't like people. Or maybe it's because he's an orphan. Orphans can be so..."

"...resenting?"

"Yeah."

Gabriella had to giggle. That orphan rumor was probably the most ridiculous rumor she had ever heard!

But the kids that seemed interested in Troy the most were the drama kids.

"He's so cute!"

"He looks just like Zac Efron!"

"I love his shirt. I can't believe he went to Juilliard?"

"How do you know he's been to Juilliard?"

"Hello? Where else would he have gotten that shirt?"

"I heard he's been in twelve dancing recitals."

"I thought it was seven."

"And he played Romeo in a school play at his last school."

"Ohmygod! Whoever played Juliet is soooo lucky!"

Yep, definitely the drama kids.

But despite everyone's interest in him, nobody seemed to approach him anymore. They kept their distance and just whispered and stared.

And Troy never talked.

Until, one time...

before eighth period...

Gabriella stood outside her eighth period class...history. Their teacher was who-knows-where so all the students were mingling outside the classroom door.

Gabriella heard a high-pitched giggle nearby. She didn't need to look to see who it was.

It was Tiffany Green...the Drama Queen of East High.

"Oh, yeah, Troy is soooo cute," she said. "And he likes me. I know he does."

Gabriella and some other onlookers rolled their eyes. If anyone thought that a new student who didn't talk to anyone liked her, it was Tiffany.

Then suddenly the giggling stopped.

"Oh, hi, Troy," Tiffany said.

Gabriella turned around. She had to see this!

"Listen, I just had a dance studio built in my basement," the Drama bitch continued. "And I'm having a party to celebrate this Saturday. Wanna come?"

For a moment, everyone was silent, including Troy.

And then...

"I can't," he said.

Gabriella was surprised by his voice. How could someone who looked so...sissy have such a deep, manly voice?

"I have better things to do," he continued.

Tiffany's jaw dropped while everyone else laughed or stared.

Gabriella filed this into her memory bank. Tiffany Green had just been rejected!

This was too good to forget!

I know Sharpay is actually the Drama Queen. But she WILL be in the story. And she IS very good at the Fine Arts. You'll read about her later.

And the rest of the gang, too.