"Oh, I LOVE this one," Gabriella whispered as her fingers slowly traced the outline.
"I know. That's what I was thinking of when I came up with this dress," Sharpay confessed in the same hushed whisper Gabriella was talking in.
The week had started, the week had left them, the weeks were counting down as the holidays were quickly approaching, and another weekend coming up where the teens had time to themselves.
When Gabriella arrived home from the trip they went on, she immediately went to her house where she knew that he dad probably was. She wouldn't deny that she missed him. She was glad that everyone else had other things planned that afternoon so she didn't feel inclined in helping others get back home or wherever they were supposed to be. Instead, she got to enjoy a meal with her father who looked like he actually saw the sun that weekend. Although he still looked worn down, tired, and still a little pale from not seeing the sun that much like he was used to, he looked better than before she left.
The music that was playing throughout the auditorium on the stage ended and the girl who was currently dancing in front of Gabriella and Sharpay who sat behind a wooden table looked up expectantly.
Sharpay and Gabriella both looked up from Sharpay's sketches of clothes that she was planning on designing. They looked at each other as it only took ten seconds into the song and watching the girl--Anne--dance to bore them, so they missed the other fifty seconds of the short routine.
"Um…" Gabriella drew out as she looked at Sharpay expectantly who sat rigidly in her cheerleader uniform while Gabriella just wore short black athletic shorts and a t-shirt that still showed off her curves. "Shar…?"
"Right." It finally dawned upon Sharpay that she was the captain so she should be the one to talk. "Anne," she forced out, "your dance was really…" Sharpay was at a loss for words before she finally snapped, "not what we were expecting. Please don't contact us again."
"Sharpay!" Gabriella shrieked when Anne had finally left the stage rejected. "Next time I'll talk and we can't keep getting distracted by your pictures. It's not fair to the others."
Sharpay rolled her eyes. "We wouldn't be here if it wasn't for you quitting."
Gabriella sighed as Sharpay sensed that maybe she went just a little bit too far in making Gabriella feel guilty. "…well, let's call in the next one. Maybe there's some talent left in East High." She said cheerfully.
Gabriella smiled at her friend. She could tell Sharpay was doing her best to refrain from more comments, and she realized that it wasn't in her friend's personality to hold back, so it was a big step for Sharpay to be doing that. "Let's hope."
"Usually, I…would be…at cheer," Gabriella gasped out as her hands scraped down Troy's chiseled abs; underneath his t-shirt.
Troy connected their lips again as he and Gabriella had not gotten a lot of alone time together for the last week and a half back at school. It was now Thursday and Troy had no basketball practice due to the game that he would have to leave for in an hour so that he would get there in time for the warm up. This wasn't just any game though because this was the first game that Mr. Montez would be back for within the time he took off. This was also the last Thursday game they would be having until the second week of January due to the following week in which they would have two games--on Tuesday and Friday--and then the week after that they would have a Tuesday game, and Christmas Break would start on that Thursday.
"No…talking…about cheer," Troy whispered against her lips as there was no need to whisper since her dad was already up at the school, but Troy felt he needed to so that he wouldn't ruin the mood.
Gabriella felt Troy's hands inch higher on her shirt clad chest. His fingers would inch higher, but then decide to retreat to her waist again before he could even touch her breasts. His hands then after minutes of rubbing designs on her lower waist would inadvertently go higher before he would hesitate and retreat back to the safety of her waist.
She had never been with a guy long enough to have many make out moments, but it seemed that each time with Troy they were taking a new step forward. Back on the following Monday when they were stuck at the cabin in the morning, they had both given each other hickeys while hands started to roam on her part. She had managed to get Troy's shirt off before they were interrupted by Kyle who came barging into their room with his hand over his eyes and announcing that the rain had passed.
But now Gabriella wanted to take it a little bit farther, and she knew that Troy wanted to too, but he was letting his good natured self take the lead.
"Troy," Gabriella rasped out as his pressed a hard kiss to the side of her neck.
"Hmm?"
She gripped a handful of Troy's gray 'Wildcat' t-shirt to try to at least maintain in control of her feelings as the sensation of Troy's mouth on her neck seemed to intensify.
Troy didn't pull back from her neck. "Troy? Look at me, please."
"Yeah?" Troy looked down at her as he used his upper body strength as support so he didn't crush Gabriella.
"On the count of three I'm gonna take off my shirt, and you're gonna take off yours." Gabriella spoke steadily as she felt Troy's body tense before a smile over took his face.
"One…"
It wasn't that Troy didn't want to go further with Gabriella. He just didn't want to take advantage of her as he knew that she still was adjusting to life without her mom. He wasn't oblivious to the faraway looks that would overtake Gabriella's face during work time in class. Or when their teacher for math would be explaining a lesson that Gabriella already knew, she would be looking out the window with this sad face on instead of passing notes with Jason like she usually would be.
So when Gabriella said those magic words of what she wanted them to do, Troy's heart beat sped up.
"Two…"
Gabriella's hands gripped the hem of her shirt.
"Three…"
Troy stared. He didn't do as Gabriella requested as his eyes caught onto her breasts that were being held together by a red lace bra. It was inviting, it was enticing, it was very Gabriella.
She leaned up with a coy smile on her face. Out of the few guys she had been with, she had never been that conscious around them. She found that she was a little nervous as she noticed where Troy was staring.
"Troy?" She whispered in his ear. "I know that you know what you're doing. Please don't hesitate."
Troy's mouth clung to Gabriella's. Their tongues dueled a familiar dance that had been occurring a lot between them. His hands skimmed over her warm waist before running up her cleavage and to the two flimsy straps situated on her petite shoulders.
Gabriella's low moan was covered by his mouth as he was winning their kissing fight. But she wasn't giving up just yet as her hands skimmed their way down to the hem of his shirt and started pulling it over his head.
Their lips detached for a second as Troy's shirt was dropped to the floor.
"You're so beautiful." Troy's lips traveled down her neck and to the rising and falling of her chest. His one hand tugged down half of her bra so that one of her breast were released. His mouth danced around her already hard nipple.
Gabriella felt Troy's hand reach under her and grasp at the clasp.
"Mm…to the left." Gabriella gasped as Troy followed her instructions. "My…left….other way."
"Sorry." He murmured before his hand finally reached it's destination.
"Anyone's mistake. Don't worry about it." Gabriella let the straps slide off her arms before she watched Troy chuck the piece of clothing across the room. "Someone's eager."
"I've been eager. I am eager. I'll always be eager." Troy promised as he pressed a hard kiss to her mouth before trailing south again.
Gabriella giggled at his cheesiness before it turned into a low moan. She had never told someone outside of her family, and her close-knit circle of friends that she loved them, and when she told her friends that, she meant it in a friendly way, so she wasn't sure how to explain her feelings for Troy. When does someone know what true-love feels like?
She absolutely knew that what she felt towards Troy was more than what she's ever felt toward her family, Zeke, Chad, and even Jason. All the guys in her life couldn't compare to what she felt towards Troy. They instantly clicked as at first they did start off with fighting, but that was because she was torn between her loyalty to Jason and her new feelings towards Troy that were starting to come to surface. She was able to talk to him about anything, and she knew that she more than liked him. So how does one know what love is if they've never experienced it with a significant other?
They just do.
It had taken Zeke and Sharpay months to get to that point in their relationship, and Gabriella still sometimes doubts Sharpay's feelings. It had taken Troy and Lilly a couple of months too. Hell, Jason hadn't even attempted to find love yet. But for Troy and Gabriella, it just fell into place. They still had a lot to learn about each other, but from what they did know, they loved one another.
"Troy," Gabriella moaned as she felt him against her leg. It was only fair that he got something out of this too.
Her thin fingers started working on unbuckling his belt and pulling down the zipper to his jeans.
Troy allowed her to pull his jeans down his hips as he helped for ridding them completely. He smiled down at her as she stared up.
"You're beautiful, you know that?" Troy whispered.
"If I said no would you keep saying it?" Gabriella coyly asked as her finger nails barely touched his skin as she skimmed her hand down his chiseled chest before tracing that line over again.
"Of course." Troy mumbled against her lips as he hadn't been planning this when he came over to her house. And if anything did happen, he wouldn't be on the receiving end because he wanted to at least try to be selfless and put Gabriella's needs first. But with Gabriella laying underneath him, her hand getting dangerously close to his boxer line, and her chest open to his wandering hands and mouth, it was getting very hard to keep his raging teenage boy hormones in check.
"Lay back." She gently guided her hands up to his shoulders to roll him onto his back while she situated herself to straddle him. "Did I ever thank you for saying no at the beach house?"
"Is that a trick question, because if it is then I pick choice C: maybe." Troy held in the low moan when the palm of Gabriella's hand ran smoothly against the bulge in his boxers.
"Well, I am thankful that you said no. I've had sometime to think about it, and I realize that I was kind of acting crazy a week ago. Our first time together shouldn't be like that at all." Gabriella whispered as her fingers gripped the hem of his boxers and started to slowly pull them down.
She was leaning forward now so that when she did talk, her breath reached his warm skin near his pelvic area.
"I know it's not my first time, and it's not yours, but…it's OUR first time, and I want it to be special. It's not going to be in a spur of the moment choice or decision. I think our relationship is too good for doing it forty minutes before a basketball game, don't you think?"
By now Gabriella had slid his boxers all the way down to his knees and he kicked them off while her hands ran back up his inner thighs, but stopping short before she really touched him.
"I love you. And I just…I'm telling you now that I'm not ready for sex with you. It's not that I don't want to, but…our relationship is going good, right?" Gabriella asked.
He could sense her vulnerability even in the most intimate positions they were in. "Of course." He stroked her hair lovingly as he tried to think with his brain and not his pulsating member that was just twitching to be touched.
"Good." Gabriella nodded her head. "I just don't want this one thing to ruin what we have together, because we've only had a little time together. And it wouldn't be fair if sex somehow ruined what we have going for us. You know?"
"Brie…" Troy breathed out, "are you really that afraid that sex would ruin us?"
"Is that a trick question, because if it is then I pick C: maybe." She used his words against him before she lightly stroked him. He couldn't continue the conversation with her as his eyes shut automatically when her hand made second contact with him and took him firmly by the base before slowly pumping.
Jason Cross had seen many things in his life. Some not exciting and other things were very amusing where he had no other choice but to laugh while sitting down because his legs couldn't support him, and then he'd wind up falling to the ground rolling with chuckles and tears in his eyes.
He considered himself a man with a good personality and he was open to certain things. He might've been the basketball captain who went to parties, got drunk, hooked up with random girls who he would then precede to leave the following day, but he was nice and considerate to others. Troy Bolton was an exception, but he was learning to deal with him as he was dating his best friend.
But after a couple of days in which he distanced himself from Gabriella thinking that he was losing the one person in his life in which he could talk to about anything, he soon came to realize that she would always be around. Sure, she would be dating his half brother who he didn't particularly like in that moment, but she was happy. And who was he to take away her happiness?
It was soon after her mother died that Jason really understood what good friends did for you. Zeke and even Chad surprisingly came over to his house four nights after the death to try to distract him with basketball. Jason highly doubted that was possible, but once he got to the park and had the orange ball in hand, all his worries went away, and it was thanks to his friends. So he understood that Gabriella would need Troy now more than ever. He was willing to accept that.
So when Jason went over to Gabriella's house that Thursday, he never expected to see what he saw. Ever since he was a little boy, he had been letting himself into their house. Whether the Montez's were home or not, he would just walk in, and on that particular day, he was just going to be in and out. He had a book to return to Gabriella and was just going to lay it on her bed with a little note in it saying his thanks. He figured since her car wasn't in the driveway that she was still at school.
He should've been smart enough to realize that she had been riding with Troy the last couple of weeks and that her car was in the garage with the garage door shut so he couldn't see in.
He didn't bother knocking as he opened her bedroom door and came face to face with a sight that would be forever burned into his memory.
"Dude, that's rough, but…" Zeke let out a snort of laughter as he saw Jason's mortified face, "what did you think they were doing when no one else was home?"
Jason brought the red glass up to his lips as the music filtered in through the basement door. They had won yet another game and now they were at Sharpay's house doing a mini celebrating. Although, when it came to Sharpay, nothing could be mini as she had to outdo everyone.
"It's not funny." Jason was persistent on saying that towards Zeke. "I didn't know she was home, and they've only been dating for like a month!"
"Try a month and two weeks." Zeke corrected with amusement.
Jason snarled unpleasantly. He wasn't mad at Troy, he wasn't mad at Gabriella, he was just more so shocked and surprised by what he saw. He didn't really even know why he was so shocked that her and Troy engaged in activity of her hand giving him pleasure while they both were nearly naked together. A lot of high school kids did it, but she had never hinted that her and Troy did that together, even though he was the first person she talked to after losing her virginity sophomore year.
"Whatever. But…God," Jason ran his hand down his face, "it was SO awkward. I just dropped the book and ran."
"Gabs!"
Gabriella turned around half expecting it to be Jason or Troy, but instead came face to face with Chad's friendly face. But just standing in front of Troy's best friend brought a blush to her face as she had to wonder if Troy or even Jason had told Chad what she and Troy had been doing in the bedroom after school. Coming face to face with Chad who was smiling innocently at her though reminded her that there was no time for that talk as Jason rushed out of the house too scared or shocked to say anything. Troy and her had slowly come down from the high they felt. And then there was the basketball game that took place as it allowed no talking about personal things.
"Hey. Great game. You had like the most assists I have ever seen." She threw her arms around him as he accepted the hug.
"Thanks. It would've been better if you were cheering on the sidelines like you used to, but at least you showed up, hey?" He joked around as Gabriella just rolled her eyes childishly. Chad just chuckled before putting his arm around her shoulders in a friendly gesture to guide her to the back of the house where less noise and people were.
"You enjoying yourself? I would have expected you and Bolton to be side by side," Chad commented nonchalantly.
"What? Why," Gabriella demanded as she looked around wildly, "have you heard anything?!"
"Whoa, where's the fire? I just meant that usually you're off dancing or something. Nothing THAT major." Chad laughed again as he motioned a little to the kitchen's counter that had bar stools on one side and enough room in between the kitchen island and kitchen counter for various people of all sizes to stand.
Gabriella sat on one of the bar stools while Chad stood directly opposite of her, but leaned slightly across the counter so that he could be more comfortable.
"I have to talk to you about something." He explained.
"Okay," Gabriella said slowly, "but if you're asking me to do your English homework from now on, I can't."
"Not that." Chad insisted before he continued. "Troy's birthday is coming up. The big 18."
Gabriella had learned over the various years of high school different peoples' birthdays. She had been to small gathering parties to huge blow out parties that have been broken up by police. She had even been to a huge warehouse once for this guy who was a senior when she was a sophomore and they surprised him for his birthday. She knew when Jason's birthday was as it was in January and they usually celebrated it with New Years, but she had never really thought of when Troy's was. In the back of her mind she knew that it would make sense that it was coming up since he was older than Jason, but she had never really asked him about it.
Chad continued on, "Now a couple of guys on the team suggested this huge party that would burn it's way into everyone's memory with lots of alcohol, no parental supervision, alcohol, music, alcohol, a huge house, and did I mention alcohol?"
"This almost sounds as if Jason and Zeke suggested it," Gabriella commented dryly as she saw the flicker of amusement in Chad's eyes, "I mean, we have thrown our fair share of parties, and that was exactly the way they pitch ideas to me too."
"Well…okay, so here's the deal," Chad laid his hands flat against the countertop, "Cross didn't want people to know that he was going to help plan Troy's big birthday party since, well…you know, their 'rivalry' which is barely a rivalry anymore. And now the guys on the team are stoked that this party is in motion while Bolton is completely clueless."
"Okay, so what do you need help with?" Gabriella asked.
Chad did a double check, "You're OKAY with this?"
"Yeah. Why wouldn't I be?"
"Well, it's gonna be a huge ass party and you're offering help to plan it?!" Chad asked with incredulity. Gabriella nodded her head with laughter in her eyes. "You are the coolest girlfriend ever!"
Gabriella giggled, "Thanks Chad. Why are you so surprised? Once I knew Jason and Zeke were for sure behind this, I knew that I was going to be helping one way or another. That's usually what happens between them. They get ideas to throw these massive parties, and then they come to me for help near the end because they're lazy."
"Well I guess my part is taken care of for tonight in getting you to help. For some reason Cross and Baylor thought it would be harder to convince you. And you're sure you really want to throw Troy a surprise party, because if you don't then we'd understand except the guys--"
"Are really stoked?" Gabriella filled in. "Of course I'll help. The beer is probably taken care of with Jason and Zeke. The place we'll have to sort out later. And then inviting people, we usually just tell whoever, but since this is a surprise party, then we really can't just announce it, can we?" Gabriella mused over to herself more than Chad.
"I'll probably need your help for this as I know who Troy hangs out with now, and I've met many others who he's known longer than me, but yet I don't think I know everyone, and you do." Gabriella requested.
"Yeah, and maybe John's band can pl--Plankton and other sea creatures live there," Chad said abruptly while straightening up some. Gabriella looked at him confused before she saw out of the corner of her eye: Troy. He was walking closer to them as he was just within hearing distance of Chad's last words.
"There you guys are! I was starting to think you left." He kissed the top of Gabriella's head while wrapping an arm around her from behind. Gabriella grinned up at him as she pressed her lips against his cheek in greeting.
"Yeah, Chad was just explaining to me what you guys learned in science while I was gone. I was having trouble with a question in the review packet." Gabriella explained easily.
"Oh, yeah…" Troy fumbled as he didn't want to look like an idiot for not knowing, so he wasn't going to question it any further. "I remember that one too."
"Of course Bolton." Chad smirked. "Well I'm off. And remember Gabs, fish are friends, not food."
"He's crazy." She murmured as her body melted into Troy's.
"I know."
It was getting late, and he would rather talk to Gabriella before school so they could just get the awkward moment over. He seemed to have no problem with Troy for some strange reason. Maybe it was because they were both guys, and him and Gabriella were best friends? But it wasn't as if he had never accidentally walked in on Gabriella when she had been changing before. Although that didn't make their situation any better, but at least they were put in this situation before.
Also, he was a teenage guy. A teenage guy who did not have a girlfriend at the moment so he found it perfectly acceptable to fantasize about any girl his body desired. At the time it wasn't Gabriella, however, previously when his body did go through puberty and he would get randomly hard, he would fantasize about his best friend. It was purely out of lust, and then when other girls at the time had gone through their changes, his mind would wander around Gabriella and travel onto the next brunette.
So it wasn't like talking to her after seeing her give Troy a hand job should make it THAT embarrassing. On a scale of one to ten--ten being most embarrassing--he figured it would at least be a seven.
They ran into each while Gabriella was coming down the stairs with her black pea coat jacket on while Jason was standing near the bottom of the steps debating whether or not to leave.
"Hey." He greeted in an unsure voice. He found that he could only look at Gabriella in the face as his mind just kept replaying what he walked in on before.
"Hey. You look like you saw a ghost." Gabriella offered a small smile as she shuffled from one foot to the other.
Jason didn't know what else to say, so instead he took the easiest route and just spoke his mind. "So you're leaving?…With Troy?"
"Yeah, he' just getting the car," she explained before letting out a small sigh. "Jase, we're okay, right?"
Jason became even more alarmed. "Yeah, yeah. Of course!"
"Good." Gabriella smiled at him before nudging him in the shoulder playfully. "Because I don't want our weekend to be ruined. We're still doing something Saturday, right?"
"Yeah, except…I was thinking that we should start the planning for the party in the morning and then you and me can break off from Chad and Zeke later on in the afternoon."
Gabriella nodded her head eagerly. "Good. Great even. We can still catch that new movie, if you want?"
Jason smiled at her. Their conversations was straightforward, and there was hardly any laughing or joking, but the awkwardness that neither one admitted to still hung in the air. Jason knew it would just take time for him to block out the mental image he had seen that afternoon.
"We'll meet at my house, and please don't tell Shar. You know how she gets when it comes to parties." Jason smiled warmly at her as Gabriella took a step towards the door indicating that she should probably start heading off.
"Okay, and a heads up. You should probably leave the party soon, the football players are gonna be taking jell-o shots out and we still have school tomorrow. Nothing's worse than going to school with a hangover, especially if you have a math test."
Jason smiled at how Gabriella always seemed to be looking out for most people. "Thanks for the heads up. I think I'm gonna leave soon after I round up Chad since I'm getting a lift from him."
"Good luck, I last saw him in the basement playing on the playstation."
"So today was weird." Troy looked down at Gabriella as she took him by the hand and led him over to the wooden bench that was against her house's wall on the porch.
Gabriella nodded in agreement. "I can't believe you were the lead scorer tonight."
"Thanks," Troy says sarcastically while Gabriella gives his hand a squeeze.
After their afternoon together they felt closer to one another. Troy just didn't mean that he felt weird about how it ended with Jason walking in on them, but that he was more connected with Gabriella, and now that they had brought their physical relationship a step further, that also opened up more daydreams to filter through Troy's mind. It also made him feel things towards Gabriella that just added to his love for her. It was a good step, and he didn't feel guilty about doing it.
"That's not what I meant," Gabriella scolded lightly as her other hand that wasn't connected to Troy's laid on his chest. "I meant it in an exciting way. It's nice for a change to see someone else's name in the record book besides Jason's."
"I know that's what you meant. Just giving you a hard time is all." Troy kissed the top of her head right when Gabriella's phone sounded; indicating that she had a text.
"I just saw almost all the people I know," she muttered while digging through her purse to collect the item that beeped. She looked down at it before putting it away; a reply wasn't necessary. She looked up at Troy who had a curious face. "Just dad saying that he would be home in less than an hour. He's out with the other basketball coaches."
"What's that look for?" He asked as he moved her hair back behind her ear so he could see the side of her face better.
"What face? I'm not making a face."
"Yes you are. It's your upset or confused face. I can't decipher the two, so spill."
"It's just…I'm actually home before my DAD. I've never been home before him. When I was a cheerleader Shar would practically make me stay at these ridiculous parties thrown for the team, but now…I don't even think I saw her tonight." Gabriella vented.
Troy looked down at Gabriella sympathetically. "Are you regretting this decision?"
"No," she answered automatically, "It's just…a change, I guess. I'm still friends with them, and it's not like anyone's treating me differently, but…never mind. I don't think I actually do have a problem. More just like, shocked that I'm home on a school night before my dad."
Troy smiled as he pressed another kiss to the top of her head.
"Hey Troy?"
"Hmm?"
"You're okay that you're not dating a cheerleader anymore, right?" He could hear the light tone she used, but could also decipher the half seriousness she was letting leak through.
He grinned from ear to ear knowing she couldn't see him. It really made him happy that she would actually consider his feelings in a decision that didn't affect him personally.
"Brie, if you were a spy for another country I wouldn't care in this moment."
"But what if it was ten hours from now? Or a week from now? Would you care then?" She sat up from his grasp; no longer slouching a little, and looked at him expectantly.
His hands fell from around her shoulders. "Do really think that I only love you because of the short skirt, and the tiny red top, the way that it showed off your tight waist, and oh my God," he exclaimed, "I'm going to miss seeing your legs."
"Troy!" She slapped him playfully on the arm. "I thought you said you didn't care?"
He shrugged. "That was before I realized you had to turn in the uniform. It would've been hot playing dress up," Troy whispered in her ear before pressing a quick kiss on her cheek and pulling back to see her face.
The way his eyes were looking at her contradicted what he was saying on some levels. She knew that he really didn't care if she were a cheerleader or not, but yet if she ever did offer to 'play' dress up with him, he wouldn't object. But being able to read between the lines was nice as she knew not to take him that serious in the last couple of things he spoke.
"Thank you," she murmured.
"For what?"
"For not caring, and for just…being you."
