A portion of this chapter is dedicated to a very close friend. Thanks for the sharing your personal experience and allowing me to use it in this story!
Chapter2
The next morning, the peaceful feeling the two had reached while snuggled within the confines of the bed was rudely interrupted by the blaring of the alarm clock. Troy reached his hand out and gave it a hard smack, knocking it off the bedside table to the floor in the process of his struggle to find the right button. He rolled over and rubbed his eyes before he turned to focus on his girlfriend, who still fast asleep. He watched the gentle rise and fall of her chest and couldn't help but notice how beautiful she looked lying next to him, one arm tucked under the pillow that had her dark brown curls spread across it while the other grasped onto the blankets, pulling them as far up to her chin as she could while trying to keep her nearly naked body warm from the cool early March air that seeped in through the window panes. He couldn't help but run a finger across her barely visible shoulder and watched as her body gave out a slight tremble in automatic response. He didn't know if the tremble was a blissful one, or if it was due to the chill in the air, but he found it cute and sexy at the same time. He just couldn't resist leaning down and following the path of his finger with his lips and listened as a small moan escaped from her lips.
She could sleep through an earthquake if one were to hit San Francisco, he thought with a smirk and a roll of his eyes. That was one of the many differences between them. In addition to the fact that- because of her petite size- Gabriella always needed all the covers that were available while his body temperature sky rocketed causing him to sweat bullets under just a sheet, Troy was the world's lightest sleeper- even the slightest creak of the floors in the apartment below them would wake him up- and he was amazed to find out that she was able to sleep through one of the heaviest thunderstorms that Albuquerque had ever seen during the latter part of their senior year at East High, causing her to almost be late to school the next day.
Troy decided to get a quick shower before he began the impossible task of trying to wake his girlfriend. As much as he dreaded the chore, he knew it had to be done if they were going to make it to the airport on time to meet Taylor at the baggage claim area and not make her have to wait. Her flight was set to arrive at 9:15 Pacific time- meaning they had to leave their apartment no later than 8:30- and it was currently 6:46. That left Troy seven minutes for both his shower and his attempt to wake Gabriella from her deep slumber if she was going to be ready in time. Shaking his head at the mere thought, he made his way from under the covers and into the bathroom. The water served its purpose of waking him up fully and once his hair and body were clean and he stepped from the bathroom with a towel wrapped around his waist, he was surprised to find the bed completely empty.
"Babe?" he called out. When he got no answer, he tried again. "Brie? Where are you?"
After still no answer, he furrowed his eyebrows in confusion and made his way through the apartment searching for her. He smelled the coffee as it brewed and rolled his eyes when he finally found her right where he thought she would be- laying on the couch wearing his old Wildcats tee shirt with her eyes closed.
"Gabriella!" he called, raising his voice slightly.
"Mmmmm…" she moaned without opening her eyes.
He smirked as an idea formed in his mind. "I'm leaving to go pick up Taylor. We'll be back soon."
"Wait!" she yelled as she jumped from the couch. "Just give me five minutes and I'll be ready!"
She began to run down the hall in the direction of the bedrooms and stopped in her tracks halfway to her destination when she heard his laughter follow her. His laughter faltered when she turned on her heels and slowly walked back to him, looking up in his face while poking a finger at his still bare chest and shooting daggers. "Why are you so cruel to me in the mornings, Bolton?" she demanded through gritted teeth. "Don't you know yet that I'm not functional until I've had-"
"- a shower and about five cups of coffee? One would think that I should know that by now," he told her with a smirk and a shake of his head. "I've been a bad boy. I deserve to be punished."
She narrowed her eyes in anger, although he knew better than to worry about it. "Don't mess with me right now!" she warned as she spun on her heel and stormed into the bedroom, slamming the door behind her and clicking the lock.
"Good morning!" he called out through the closed bedroom door with a smile playing at his lips, deciding to see exactly how far he could push it- knowing that she would be back to her normal chipper self in about fifteen minutes.
"Whatever!" was her muffled reply.
He stood outside the door until he heard the shower turn on and the shower curtain slide closed signifying that it was safe before he used the tiny key above the door frame to quietly open the door and walk in. He walked over to the dresser and pulled out a pair of boxer briefs and then to the closet and pulled out his favorite pair of jeans and slipped them both on. He then exited the bedroom and made his way back into the kitchen to make two cups of coffee. He took a sip from one and carried the other back into the steamed bathroom and set it on the counter next to the sink. As Gabriella continued her shower, he went back into the bedroom and turned on the television and rolled his eyes as he changed the station to the HLN morning news that he knew she liked to have on while she got ready.
"If one didn't know better, they'd think we were already married," he mumbled to himself. As he pulled a tee shirt from the dresser and pulled it over his head, he noticed that the water was turned off. A minute and a half later, he felt a pair of lips on his covered back and looked at her over his shoulder, noticing the life that had appeared in her deep chocolate brown eyes. That was the Gabriella he knew and loved more than anything.
"Good morning," she said with a smile in her voice as she took what he knew all too well was probably her fourth or fifth sip from her coffee cup. He leaned down to give her a kiss on her cheek.
"Good morning again," he said as she turned her lips to meet his.
"Was I crabby this morning?" He chuckled at the cute way she crinkled her nose as she asked.
"You? Crabby? No, Baby, never," he lied in exaggeration.
"I'm sorry," she said in a small voice. He leaned in to give her a kiss on her lips that were stuck out in what he thought was an adorable pout.
"For what?" he asked with laughter in his voice. "For your routine that I've come to be so very used to?" He continued to laugh and managed to duck as she reached her arm out to smack him. He caught her arm mid swing and turned her towards the closet. "Go. Get dressed. We have an hour before we have to leave."
"To go get Taylor!" she said as she bounced in the direction of the closet.
"Yes, to go get Taylor. But if you don't hurry, then she'll be forced to catch a ride from the Troy Bolton Taxi Service and I don't know if she's quite ready for that kind of 'Welcome to San Francisco' just yet."
And that was all the encouragement she needed to rush and finish getting ready.
TGFTGFTGFTGFTGFTGFTGFTGF
The two waited at the baggage claim area of American Airlines, one sitting patiently in a nearby chair and the other pacing back and forth anxiously.
"What's the deal?" she asked for about the twelfth time in the past half an hour, throwing her hands up in the air in frustration. "Why is she not here yet?"
"Babe," Troy spoke up without humor, "it was announced forty-five minutes ago that her layover in Dallas was delayed. She should be here in about-" he paused to check the watch that he wore around his wrist- "thirty minutes. Why don't you sit down while we wait?"
"She needs to be here," Gabriella said with an exaggerated mock pout on her face.
Troy looked up from the game of Tetris he was playing on his phone and gave out a patient sigh. "Brie, it's not her fault that a towel from some catering trailer whatever ended up in the air something of the plane. Will you just have a seat and calm down?"
"I'm sorry, I'm just excited to see her. It's been-
"-almost three months. You two have gone longer than that before."
"You make it sound like we have a sexual relationship and are going through a dry spell. Why does everything from you sound sexual?"
"Because you love me," he responded with the childlike grin that Gabriella had grown to love over the years.
Gabriella let out a frustrated sigh and reluctantly sat down beside Troy. "I'm acting like a child, aren't I?"
"Yeah, but it's cute." Troy looked at Gabriella as she narrowed her eyes at him and let out a small chuckle. "Babe, I know you're excited. I'm actually excited to see Taylor, too, believe it or not. I wish I didn't have to leave tomorrow morning."
Gabriella wrapped her small hands as far around his bicep as she could and rubbed them up and down his arm. "You've never spent time with her away from Chad, have you?"
"You know, now that I think about it, no we haven't. She and I have known each other since we were nine when she and her family moved to Albuquerque and she was in my fourth grade class. But we never did run in the same circles until you came along." He gave her a gentle nudge as she smiled.
"Gee, no pressure or anything," she joked, giving him a wink.
"Hey, I just remembered. I got a text from Andy a little bit ago," he told her, referring to his roommate from his first three years at Berkeley before he and Gabriella moved in together. He reached up and scratched at the fuzz that barely covered his face as he spoke again. "He and Matt are having a little party tonight at their place. Do you think Taylor would want to go and meet some of our friends? We wouldn't be able to stay long; we'll all have to get up early tomorrow morning to be at the Student Center on time."
"She might. We'll ask when she gets here."
The two sat for a few more minutes before Gabriella stood and excused herself to the bathroom. When she came back, she saw Troy standing near the baggage carousel that matched Taylor's flight. Gabriella walked to his left side and put her arms around his waist as he rested his across her shoulders pulling her closer to his side. The two stood in their embrace- lost in the bubble of bliss and ignoring the outside world completely- for several minutes before Gabriella's phone started to ring from inside her purse. She pulled back from his embrace to answer without checking the caller id as the sounds of "Never Underestimate a Girl"- her personalized ring tone for Taylor- sounded through the air.
"What's happening now?" she said to the person on the other end.
"Will the two of you un-pretzel-ize yourselves and give me the proper 'Welcome to San Francisco' that I deserve?" the person on the other end demanded.
Gabriella turned her attention to Troy with a smirk. "I didn't realize Sharpay was coming. She sure has toned down her diva tendencies," she said loud enough to be heard through the phone lines.
"I heard that and I resent it. Why don't you turn around, Smartie?"
Gabriella turned around to see her dark skinned best friend coming down the escalator. The two girls captured the attention of all the passersby in San Francisco International Airport as they released an excited squeal and ran toward each other, meeting halfway. After the initial hugs and excited bounces, they finally made their way back to Troy who was waiting patiently for the two girls to calm down so he could have his turn to give Taylor a hug of his own.
"Hey, Taylor," he spoke, finally drawing her attention to him.
"Oh, Troy. I almost didn't recognize you without a petite brunette draped all over you or a basketball in your hands," she teased.
"If only you'd been here five minutes ago," he joked back.
"What? You had a basketball?"
"Is that what they call me these days?" Gabriella piped up.
"No, Baby. You're more than just a basketball to me," he said as he leaned down placing a brief kiss to her lips.
"Excuse me. I'm still here!" Taylor exclaimed, waving her arms in the air to bring the attention back to her. "I just got here and don't plan to leave for-" she paused checking her watch"- about one hundred fifty-seven hours and forty-five minutes. That would be exactly six and a half days, for some of us," she said, sending a pointed look in Troy's direction.
"Why must you two always show off your insanely crazy math brains?" Troy asked.
"And speaking of not recognizing you, what is this?" Taylor asked, pointing to his cheek.
"Yeah, what do you think? It's for the play we're working on at school," he told her, as he rubbed a hand across his face.
Taylor turned her attention to Gabriella, raising her eyebrows in silent question.
"What?" Gabriella asked.
"What he thinks about it doesn't matter. Rule number seven… the girlfriend always has the final say in appearances."
Taylor turned her attention to Troy when she heard him muttering under his breath. "You and your stupid boyfriend rules…"
After giving him a brief glare, she then looked back in Gabriella's direction. "Well?" she prompted her.
"It grows on you after a while."
Taylor reached up to cup Troy's chin in her hand, and looked back at Gabriella. "Seriously?" she asked her. "It doesn't bug you?"
"It was itchy at first whenever we would kiss, but now it's just soft and kind of tickles," she said, giving Troy a grin. Troy took his cue and leaned down to give his girlfriend a kiss, causing Gabriella to let out a giggle. The two just knew they were getting under Taylor's skin, and they were loving every minute of it.
The three shared a brief laugh before Troy turned the conversation serious again.
"Hey, Taylor, it's like 1:45 your time. Are you hungry?"
"I'm starved!" she said.
"Why don't the two of you get her suitcase and I'll go pull the car around?" Troy suggested. "We'll go get something to eat and then head back to the apartment so Taylor can get settled."
As the three parted ways, Taylor and Gabriella walked closer to the luggage carousel and Troy walked out into the parking garage. Taylor watched as he walked out the door and when she was content that he couldn't see or hear them anymore, she immediately reached for Gabriella's left hand and began running her thumb across the top of Gabriella's ring finger.
"What are you doing?" Gabriella asked with her eyebrows scrunched in confusion.
"Well, Mr. Boyfriend is about to leave for almost a whole week to go all the way to the other side of the country. I was just checking to see if he's staked a claim on you yet or not."
Gabriella reached up to finger the T necklace that she had been wearing since high school and gently played with it. "Ha ha, Tay. That's very funny," she deadpanned, trying to cover up that she was hiding something.
Taylor sighed before taking Gabriella's hand in her own. "Listen, Honey, we've laughed about this off and on for how many years now? I just want to make sure the joke's not on you," she softly told her 'sister'.
"You're nuts, Tay. This is Troy we're talking about… me and Troy. You know I don't need a ring to know that I'm his."
"Well I just thought he would have come up with something more than a necklace from high school to show you that he's got the future on his mind." Gabriella rolled her eyes at the familiar conversation that she and Taylor seemed to have every time they talked over the past few months. Taylor grabbed her bag from the moving carousel and turned back around to notice the fed up look on Gabriella's face. She slowly re-approached Gabriella and gently nudged her in the shoulder with her own. Gabriella turned to face Taylor once more.
"We're sharing an apartment now, Taylor. And, not that you don't already know this, we are also sharing a bed. I'm pretty positive that Troy and I both have the future on our minds."
At the last statement, Taylor glanced up to see Troy standing nearby. She lowered her voice so only Gabriella could hear.
"And you don't need proof that he's thinking the same thing?"
"Nope, no proof needed at this point in time. He proves it to me every time we make love, Taylor. That means more than any ring ever will." Gabriella noticed Taylor looking over her shoulder and turned to see Troy standing next to the door. She quickly moved to stand in front of him and placed both of her hands on either side of his face, bringing his lips down to meet hers in a heartfelt kiss, working to keep it from getting too deep and passionate right there in the middle of the airport. She pulled away, meeting Troy's eyes but still leaving him confused, then turned around to face Taylor. Gabriella lifted her arms in the air and shot Taylor a simple look that said 'There's your proof. Are you happy now?' . Gabriella then turned on her heel and led the way out of the airport, leaving Troy and Taylor to share a look with each other.
"What was that all about?" he asked.
"I… um… I- I'm not quite sure," Taylor stammered.
"Somehow I don't believe that," he told her. "But I'm willing to let it go for Brie's sake. Come on, let's go eat."
Once the three of them climbed in Gabriella's gray Hyundai Santa Fe and fastened their seat belts, they drove to Red Robin in San Mateo and settled in the booth the hostess led them to. With their drinks in front of them, Gabriella finally was able to ask Taylor about the events of her flight.
"Okay, so tell us about this towel thing? What happened exactly?"
Taylor laughed as she thought back to her delay and late arrival.
"It was so crazy! So I had just gotten comfortable on the plane and was waiting for our turn for takeoff. Just as I pulled my book out of my bag, the pilot came over the intercom. He says 'Well here's a new one for ya…' . Apparently a towel from one of the catering trucks had been sucked up into one of the plane's air conditioning units. The cool air was still blowing on us, so none of us could figure out what all that meant. Could it get to the engine? Could they find the towel? Was it safe to fly the plane if they didn't find the towel?
"So I'm sitting there texting you" she gestured to Gabriella "and my mom back in Albuquerque. At first, I wasn't too worried about it, but the longer we sat there waiting, the more anxious I started to feel. What if this was way more serious than everyone was letting on?
"So anyway… Maintenance searched for nearly an hour and never located that towel. The whole time, the pilot keeps coming over the intercom keeping all the passengers informed of the progress. At one point, he says that we're going to be proceeding with our flight as scheduled. 'Your co-pilot and I would NOT be willing to put this plane in the air if it wasn't safe. We are recalibrating our flight plan and more fuel is being added,' or something like that. He goes on to say that 'we should be taking off in about 15 minutes' and that 'we will fly lower and slower to San Francisco, but we should still be there in about 5 hours'. I was freaking out the whole flight! Five hours from Dallas to San Francisco? Seriously, people? It's only supposed to be a two and a half hour flight!"
"No wonder you're so on edge," Troy commented.
"Oh, my gosh! I would be so terrified!" Gabriella commented.
"Baby, you would probably just take a Dramamine and be totally knocked out for the whole flight," Troy told her.
"Shut up," she said before turning her attention back to Taylor. "You and me," she pointed her finger back and forth between the two of them, "margaritas. Now. It'll calm us down."
"Sounds good to me, but why do you need to calm down?" Taylor questioned.
"Him," Gabriella said without hesitation, pointing in Troy's direction with her thumb.
"Hey!" Troy said in mock anguish, knowing fully that his girlfriend was joking. The trio shared a laugh as their burgers arrived and the girls ordered their margaritas. As they ate their meal, the three fell into easy conversation. Taylor asked Troy about the tournament that was taking him from town for the duration of her visit while Taylor and Gabriella exchanged stories about their law classes and the case studies they were faced with almost daily. Troy even asked Taylor about her plans for law school after she graduated from Yale. The three exchanged stories about their friends from high school that they were still in contact with. Finally, Troy brought up the invitation from his former roommate and teammate that he received earlier while at the airport.
"Hey, Taylor, some friends of mine are having a little get together tonight. Would you like to go?"
"A 'get together', Troy? Don't you mean a party?" she asked knowingly.
"Well…" he let his voice trail off, as he reached up to rub the back of his neck. Gabriella quickly came to his rescue.
"Actually, Tay, I think this really will just be a get together. Most of these guys are on the basketball team together and they have to leave early tomorrow morning. I think they realize that they can't stay up as late as they used to."
"Yeah, we're old geezers now," he said.
"That's not what I meant!" Gabriella said, crossing her arms in front of her chest.
"Babe, I know. I was picking. Seriously, Taylor, it's just basically a cookout or something before we all leave for the tournament. Are you up for it? We don't have to go if you don't want to. Brie and I want you to feel like you're able to do what you want to while you're here and not just stuff that we want to do."
"Actually, that sounds like fun. I'd like to meet some of your friends that I always hear about," Taylor told him before turning her attention to her best friend once more. "What are the plans for the week while he's gone?"
"Well, my Spring Break isn't until next week. The bad news is that I do still have classes and my internship. The good news, however, is that I only have two classes a day and none on Thursday, so I'll be able to take you to the airport when you leave. My internship is eight hours a week and normally I'll do four hours a day and get it all done in two days, but since you're here, I'll only do two a day so I can spread it all out through out the week. That way I'll be able to spend more time with you. I should be done by lunchtime each day, so the afternoons will be ours to do whatever you want."
The two girls continued to make their plans for the week. Taylor reached into her purse and pulled out the list that she had made of a few of the tourist things that she wanted to do and Gabriella added to the list some of the lesser well known sights that she knew Taylor would love. Troy texted Andy back telling him that he and the two girls would attend the cookout that evening and then announced that he had class and they needed to leave so he could get his stuff.
"Are you girls ready? I still need to go by the apartment to get my books for class."
"Class?" Taylor questioned as she looked at her watch. "But it's already three o'clock in the afternoon-" she paused as she noticed the look her two friends were giving her. "Oh, wait. I didn't change my watch. It's not three. It's only twelve, isn't it? What time is your class?"
The three laughed as Troy signed the credit card slip the waitress left for him and slipped out of the booth and made their way to the car. Not surprising to the other two, Taylor fell asleep in the backseat as her body was overcome by the jetlag. The time during the ride back to their apartment passed quickly as Troy and Gabriella held hands over the center console and chatted back and forth about the get together that would take place that evening at the apartment of two of his teammates… an evening that would be a turning point for their