Chapter 7
Gabriella remembered her first kiss and subsequently, her first boyfriend. She was twelve years old and it was with a boy named Dylan Farrow, who had food stuck in his braces and lips that felt like sandpaper. Dylan grew up to be a successful businessman, working for his father straight out of high school. He was someone dependable, predictable, and in all honesty, completely and utterly boring. Generally speaking, Dylan Farrow was the exact opposite of Troy Bolton. Troy was the first man to make feel Gabriella whole, made her feel alive, and, simply put, made her feel like a complete woman. The feelings he invoked in her were indescribable and she longed to be with him in every sense. When he had shown up unexpectedly at her house, Gabriella thought they really were going to go all the way and her stomach twisted happily at the mere idea of it. But they had been interrupted by Sharpay, whose intrusion was both welcomed and uninvited. Gabriella's mind filled with the things that could've happened between the two and she blushed, shaking her head in disbelief at her own, sudden maturity and self-confidence. There was no doubt about it; Troy Bolton had turned her world upside down.
"Gabriella!" Sharpay's voice screamed for her from downstairs. Hurriedly, and with a trace of guilt across her face, Gabriella made her way to the kitchen, where her blonde roommate was puzzling over the mess of papers strewn about her marble island. It had been a week since the incident and Gabriella still blushed, every time she caught sight of the wall Troy had slammed her into.
"Everything okay, Shar? What happened here?" Gabriella asked. She was grateful that Sharpay hadn't seen anything when she walked in on her and Troy, Sharpay, being the somewhat self-involved princess she was, merely started rambling on and on about a party and tutted around the kitchen, leaving Troy and Gabriella to quickly recover themselves.
"These are the party plans. And I'm having a huge crisis! Do I invite Brooke Danvers or not?" she asked, tapping a pen to the side of her head, in full thinking mode.
"Uh…party?" Gabriella asked, sitting on a stool and scanning one of the papers, which looked to be a grocery list.
"Yes, a party! I was talking about this with you and Troy only a few minutes ago, silly!" Sharpay squealed and excitedly plopped herself on a stool across from Gabriella. "I realized that Troy hasn't had a proper AU welcome and it fits perfectly with the end of summer! We're going to have a massive barbecue and pool party! Won't that be fun? But I need your help. So, Brooke, yes or no?" Sharpay's tone turned businesslike as she held up a name card.
"Yeah, I guess. Why wouldn't you invite her?" Gabriella said tiredly.
"Because of Jason. You know he and Brooke were like, totally on last summer. And now that he's with Kelsi…things could get ugly. Whatever. She's on the list," Sharpay quickly scribbled on a pink notepad.
"Can I see the guest list?" Gabriella asked. Sharpay tossed her the notepad and she went back to work on the grocery list. Gabriella mulled over the guest list, imagining people showing up to their house. There was the usual group, Kelsi, Martha, and Taylor. Then there were the boys, Chad, Jason, and Zeke. Several of their other classmates also made the list, and some had stars next to them. Gabriella's heart did flip-flops when her eyes read Troy Bolton, written in Sharpay's swirly handwriting, but the flip-flops took a nosedive as she read the name underneath his: Chase Morgan.
"You can't invite him," Gabriella said quietly.
"What?" Sharpay asked.
"You can't invite him," Gabriella repeated, her throat suddenly turning into sandpaper. She swallowed, at an attempt to breathe.
"I can't invite Troy? Are you kidding me, Montez? You spend the past two days pining over him, getting all hot and bothered by him. Then I walk into the kitchen today and I actually see the two of you getting hot and bothered and now I can't invite him?" Sharpay said through gritted teeth. Gabriella ignored the fact that Sharpay had seen her and Troy's passionate make out session, but looked up at her roommate.
"I am asking you, as my best friend, you can't invite him. Chase, I mean," Gabriella swallowed again.
"Chase? But…oh, Gabs. I completely forgot. Your one-night-stand and walk of shame. We've all been there. With Chase, even," Sharpay put a hand on Gabriella's shoulder, in an effort to comfort her. "The thing is, I can't not invite him,"
"Why not?"
"Because…well, because I already have. Chase Morgan's the life of the party, Gabs. You know that. A party isn't a party without him. Plus, he's from a different college, he'll be bringing new guys, he'll add a new flavor,"
"A new flavor? Sharpay, this isn't cooking class, this is my screwed up love life! I can't let Troy find out that I hooked up with Chase Morgan!"
"Why not? Troy and you aren't…exclusive or anything. You guys aren't dating. He's just gotten under your skin, is all," Sharpay said, in a calm voice. Gabriella winced at her comment. Sharpay was right, her and Troy were nothing more than make out buddies. The night with Chase had nothing to do with Troy, except for the fact that Gabriella wanted to let go of her own sexual frustrations.
"…you're right. You're completely right. I hate that," Gabriella grumbled.
"You love me," Sharpay smirked.
Gabriella wandered about the house, musing to herself after Zeke had picked up Sharpay for what seemed like their millionth date later that night.
"Come out with us, we don't mind," Sharpay had offered. Gabriella declined, the feeling of being a third wheel sounded less appealing than another night with Chase. Instead, she had opted to stay at home and wallow. She hadn't heard from Troy in over a week, but the mere mention of his name sent her head reeling. She wanted more of him, simply put. Twice, she had thought of calling up Chase, but she knew it was wrong to use him, as Sharpay had put it, "a fuck buddy." Gabriella knew Chase wouldn't hesitate, though, he had been calling the house everyday, asking for her.
"This is ridiculous," Gabriella said to herself, slamming the phone down, after dialing the first few digits of Chase's number. She decided to take a bubble bath, to calm herself down. Quickly undressing, Gabriella stepped into the warm bubbles, letting them coast slowly over her body. She closed her eyes and hummed along to the sounds of Sarah McLachlan drifting out of the radio. The doorbell rang, but she was too relaxed to be bothered by it. The front door was rarely locked and Gabriella knew that whoever it was, would knock on her bathroom door sooner or later.
Several minutes passed, Gabriella realized, since the doorbell first rang. Nobody had come to knock on her door and she couldn't hear anybody making any noise from downstairs. Overcome with the fear that somebody could've broken in, Gabriella quickly stepped out of the bathtub and wrapped herself with a fluffy white bathrobe. She walked downstairs, hesitating at each step. Mustering up all her courage, Gabriella poised herself at the kitchen door, ready to burst in.
"Hah!" she screamed, flinging open the door. "You…?" she stuttered, when she realized who it was.
"Wow. Any thief would definitely be terrified of you," he said, giving her the once-over. His blue eyes sparkled with a mischief, as if he had known she was going to burst in on him any minute.
"What are you doing here?" she asked, one hand on her hip, ignoring the fact that her heart was thumping a mile a minute.
"Sharpay asked me to come and look over some party details. She's really going all out, isn't she?" he popped a grape in his mouth, casually scanning the papers that hadn't moved since earlier.
"Well, it is a Sharpay Evans creation. It's expected. What makes you think you can just walk in here, unannounced?" she asked him, taking a seat on the kitchen stool.
"The fact that the door is unlocked. Don't worry. I was going to come for you after I wrote down some extra invites," he said, the tone of his voice sending shivers up Gabriella's spine.
"You knew I was home alone tonight," she commented, more of a statement than a question. Troy shrugged his shoulders and gave her a lopsided smile. Gabriella's heart leaped, as she realized he had finally come for her, that she was the sole purpose of his journey. Oh, and that once again, they were alone.
