Chapter 6

Troy Bolton and Gabriella stared at each other. But while Gabriella's eyes had shock swimming in them, Troy's eyes were full of anger and...was it...triumph?

Suddenly, a petite young woman came in. She was wearing a black turtleneck with stretchy pants. She looked urgent.

"Mrs. Johnson," she said. "Come quick! Miss Kimblery had sprained her ankle and had broken her arm."

Julie quickly hurried out the door, saying, "I must attend to a student. Go on with your practicing."

As soon as she left and the door was closed, a girl made her way over to the boombox, but Troy stopped her.

"What are you doing here?" he asked bitterly to Gabriella.

Gabriella's eyes started to narrow. "This is a free country, Bolton. We can come here if we want to."

"Hey, I've heard about you," a girl said. She was the blonde that Troy had danced with.

"What about it?" Gabriella asked without thinking.

The blonde raised her eyebrows before saying, "Wow, Troy, she's even meaner than I thought."

Troy just rolled his eyes. "Stay out of this, Sharpay."

"Make me," she said. Her voice was full of attitude. She turned back to Gabriella. "You're Tiffany Green, right?"

Gabriella almost laughed right there.

"Tiffany Green?" she said. "I am NOT Tiffany Green."

Janine and Haley just laughed out loud. In unison, they said, "She's Gabriella."

"Oh, right, the popular one," Sharpay said. "I'm Sharpay Evans."

"Sharpay?" Janine repeated. "As in, like, the dog?"

Sharpay seemedoffended. "For your information, my name isn't spelled like the dog's. It's spelled S-H-A-R-P-A-Y."

"Quit it, guys," Troy said. "They're just a bunch of amateurs."

Gabriella glared at him.

Amateurs?

Gabriella eyes him up and down. It was then she realized how different he looked.

At school, he was a tall, skinny boy with neat hair and clothes. Gabriella overheard some guys saying he looked like a wimp.

But now, with a black shirt and pants, he looked far from a wimp. He seemed taller and scarier. His hair was coming loose so he had a few wisps swaying in front of his eyes. And his arms looked like they had swallowed rocks!

Sharpay giggled. "Amateurs. That's a good one."

Gabriella knew she should be insulted, but when Sharpay giggled, she actually felt better. It felt kind of nice to be the one laughed at for a change.

"So what do you guys do here?" Haley said, looking around. "Just...dance?"

A few students gasped. Gabriella knew that was a bad choice of words.

"We," Sharpay hissed. "do not just dance. We act and sing, too. And we do those things because it's what we love to do. How dare you accuse us of being amateurs?"

"Sharpay!" Troy said loudly. "Shut up."

Sharpay pointed accusingly at Haley. "But, Troy, she--"

"I said SHUT UP!" Troy yelled in an extremely loud voice.

Gabriella jumped back. She knew Troy's voice was deep but how did he get so loud?

"They don't know any better," Troy said loudly. "So why don'tyou just shut your mouth?"

Sharpay pouted but she didn't say anything. No one else did, either.

It wasn't hard for Gabriella to see that Troy was in charge here...besides his aunt.

Janien huffed. "Fine. Let's go, guys."

Haley quickly followed her out the door, but Gabriella stayed put. She was still curious about something.

"Hey, B--Troy," Gabriella said, deciding she should choose her words carefully. "Why--"

Troy just grabbed her arm and led her to the door. He closed the door behind him and grabbed Gabriella firmly by the arms.

"Listen," Troy hissed. Gabriella stared at his eyes. They looked like blue fire.

Wait till I tell the kids at school, Gabriella thought.

Who knew Troy Bolton could be so...tough?

"Don't tell anyone at school about this," Troy hissed.

"Why?' Gabriella asked. "Why don't you--"

"Look, kids already make fun of me because I look like a dancer," Troy cut in. "Do you get what I'm saying?"

"But kids already know you are a dancer," Gabriella pointed out to him.

"They're pretty sure they know I'm a dancer," Troy corrected. "They're not 100 percent sure but they're about 97 maybe 98 percent. And I wanna keep it that way. I don't want guys calling me a wimp and girls scoffing at me."

"But guys do think you're a wimp," Gabriella blurted out. Then she added, "But the girls actually think you're pretty cute."

"Okay," Troy said. "Look at it this way. What will people think when you tell them that you went to a dance studio? What will people think when you tell them that you stayed afterwards to talk to me?"

Gabriella froze.

Troy's words had hit home.

"Fine, I won't tell anyone," Gabriella promised. "Can you let go of my arms now?"

That's exactly what Troy did.

Gabriella quickly ran out of the studio and looked around for her friends.

"Some friends," she muttered to herself. They had just ran off without her!

"That was Gabriella Montez?" Sharpay asked. "Wow. She really is--"

"Sharpay, how many times do I have to tell you to shut up?" Troy asked.

Sharpay kept her glare but she shrank back a bit.

"She seemed nice," a redhead said.

Sharpay and Troy both glared at her this time.

"Nice?" Sharpay hissed. "She and her friends practically called us amateurs."

"And you do not know what she is like at school," Troy added. "You guys are all lucky you're homeschooled."

"Ask your aunt to homeschool you," the redhead said.

"Do you not think I've tried that already?" Troy said. "It's out of the question. Aunt Julie just doesn't wanna teach me. And all those homeschooling tutors are way too expensive. Even for my aunt."

"So what are those girls like at school?" a boy dared to ask.

After moments of silence, Troy said, "Those two other girls...Haley and Janine, I think...aren't really a problem. They're really annoying and everything. So is Tiffany green."

Sharpay gave a hmph when she heard that name. She didn't like Tiffany trying to steal her crush.

"But they mostly do it because of Gabriella," Troy continued.

"What does she do?" Sharpay said, leaning in closer. She was always up for stories about mean people.

Plus, she liked being close to Troy.

"She doesn't really talk to me," Troy admitted. "But she's always saying stuff about me behind my back. Then she starts all these rumors. And she acts like she's all that because she's so popular."

"That's tough," Sharpay groaned. "But at least you still have me, right?"

"Sharpay," Troy said. "I'm NOT gonna go out with you." He looked at her directly in the face. "Deal with it."

Sharpay crossed her arms and slumped.

The same thing had happened for over three years now.

"So she makes fun of you because you're a dancer?" the boy asked. "Dude, that's harsh."

"Whatever," Troy said, standing up. "It's no big deal, anyway."

He went over to the boom box and pressed play. The music began again.

"Shall we re-start the dance?" Troy asked.

Kids grabbed partners while Troy grabbed Sharpay's hand and took her to the middle of the dance floor.

The kids did this for fun all the time.

They had still left the window open but they never looked out of it.

If they had poked their head out and looked down, they would've seen a lonely petite brunette standing on the sidewalk, looking up at the window with a look of longing sketched on her face.

And then they would've seen her walk home.

When Troy got home, he went into his bedroom and took out an old photo. It was the photo of him as a baby, being held between his mother and his father.

He started to think of Gabriella. Of her laughing at him and talking about him behind his back. And yet, he didn't want to her enemy. Sure, he hated her but at the same time...

sigh.

"She's just like Dad all over again," Troy whispered to himself.

Then he shoved the photo away and went to sleep.

Now what did Troy mean by that?

u'll find out later.

Okay, 1st of all, Gabriella's not the one starting the rumors. Troy just thinks she is.

And i decided to make Sharpay semi-evil in this story(she's gonna team up with Tiffany one day). The other kids are gonna show up soon. Don't worry. I won't leave out anybody.

I'll squeeze them in somehow.