6pm...

Troy swung the door open and his breath caught in his throat Gabriella was stood on his front step. She was dressed in grey jogging bottoms, a plain white T-shit and flip flops her hair was down and her face void of make-up. Troy didn't think she'd ever looked better.

"Hey" She whispered tugging the strap of her bag up her shoulder.

"Hey, come in" He smiled holding the door open for her. She smiled and stepped inside looking around.

"Are your parent's here?" She asked.

"Nope" He shook his head.

"Oh"

"Come on I'll show you to my room" He grinned and she stopped dead.

"Y-your room?" Her eyes were wide, he frowned

"Yeah I figured that was the best place to study" He shrugged and she nodded her head quickly, duh! "Do you want a drink?" He asked as he reached the door to the kitchen. Gabriella stopped looking through the door that led to the sparkling white kitchen.

"Er... yeah, ok" She nodded and Troy resisted the urge to take her hand. Instead he waited for her to walk inside.

Following her in the blue eyed boy flung the fridge door open as his eyes darted over the fully stocked shelves.

"Orange?" He asked and Gabriella smiled nodding her head.

"Orange is fine thank you Troy" She accepted the juice and the pair stood awkwardly in the kitchen neither knowing what to say. Troy finally took a step towards her and her eyes widened; she gulped down her juice then thrust the glass into his hands.

"So, studying" She smiled with false enthusiasm.

"Right" He nodded putting the glass on the counter before leading the way up the stairs.

30 minutes later...

Gabriella looked at Troy and grinned.

"That's right, I can't believe you were ever having trouble with this" She smiled and he shook his head.

"Me neither." He smiled back; Gabriella was his savour he now understood everything and they'd only been here for 30 minutes. "Thank you for doing this with me" He whispered and she smiled leaning into his side. They were sat on his bed books spread out in front of them and empty crisp packets strewn on the floor.

"You're welcome Troy" She whispered. He didn't mean to do it he just did, he didn't think about it but before he could change his mind he'd planted a soft kiss on the top off her head.

"You're so beautiful Ella" He smiled. At the nickname she jumped away from him her eyes wide, she saw the realisation dawn on his face. "I-I didn't mean... I'm sorry, it just came out" He hurried.

"Troy I... I should really go" She whispered and saw the disappointment evident in his eyes.

"I'm sorry it just came out, I won't say it again and I promise I won't call you Ella" He murmured and she sighed taking a step forwards.

"I like the name Ella" She announced and his head snapped up.

"You do?"

"Yeah, but Troy I'm you're teacher... No matter how I feel, how we feel, we just can't" She whispered and he nodded tears stinging his eyes. He knew it was stupid, that he'd only known her for a few days but he knew she was the one for him. He'd never felt anything like this before and he just couldn't bear the thought of not being able to see her every day.

Gabriella slowly crawled back onto the bed and looked up at him.

"Troy" She whispered, he turned his head up to look up at her. At the anguished look Gabriella bit her lip and took a deep breath. Slowly she wrapped her arms around him stroking his back gently. "Don't cry Troy" She murmured.

The tears never fell he held them back and savoured the moment that Gabriella held him.

"I really should go Troy" She sighed after a moment of silence. Troy frowned he wanted nothing more than to keep her hear, to hold her to him and never let go, but those were not the words that left his mouth.

"Yeah I guess" He nodded and Gabriella released him smiling sadly.

"I'll see you tomorrow" She whispered as she picked up her bag and walked over to the door. Troy didn't think he could bear walking her out his house; it was as if she was walking away from him. Instead he stayed where he was and nodded up at her.

"Yeah I'll see you tomorrow..." Taking a deep breath he decided to test the waters a little "Night Ella" He whispered. Her hand froze on the doorknob but she glanced back over her shoulder and smiled at him.

"Goodnight Troy"

Next Day...

Troy was nervous, his next lesson was AP chemistry and he really didn't know how to act. Chad flicked a note onto his table and Troy opened it.

You alright? You look nervous as hell

Chad

Troy sighed and nodded at his friend, the bell went and he got to his feet leaving the room and hurrying to chemistry. He waited outside with the other students and eventually they were let in.

His eyes landed on her immediately, she was dressed in a deep red shirt and a black floaty skirt her red heels strapped to her feet. Gabriella's eyes followed him as he walked to his desk and sat down; she sighed and smiled at the class.

"Good morning"

Troy watched everything she did, when she was nervous she bit her lip. When she was thinking she twirled her hair around her finger.

Gabriella set the class a written task and sat down her eyes glued to Troy, she adored him. Adored the way he ran a hand through his hair, the way he chewed the end of his pen, the way he smiled when he glanced up and caught her looking at him. She sighed, why was this so difficult? She'd never thought she'd ever the feel the way she was now. When she finally did she couldn't be with him. The world hated her.

The bell rang snapping her from her thoughts; she smiled at the class as they got to their feet shoving their books into their bags. She watched as Troy moved slower than the rest as if the whole room had been set in fast forward apart from him. Students flooded out the door until it was just the two of them left in the room.

She really didn't mean to cry, she felt the tears on her cheeks before she even realised she was. In a heartbeat Troy had dropped his bag and his arms were wrapped around her.

"Don't cry Ella, please don't cry" He whispered into her hair.

She wiped furiously at her tears begging them to stop.

"I'm sorry... I didn't- didn't mean to cry" She stammered and he smiled down at her.

"There's no need to say sorry El" He murmured just as the second bell went.

"You need to go" He hurried trying to stop her tears "You'll be late for class"

Troy just looked down at her and tilted his head to one side. Slowly he lifted his hands up to her face and wiped her tears away with the pad of his thumb.

"Are you ok?" He asked and she nodded quickly.

"I'm fine Troy," She blinked rapidly to hold the tears back "You don't want to be late for lessons" She whispered and he sighed not moving a muscle, this made her frown. "Go on" She urged attempting to push him towards the door, he didn't move an inch.

"I'm not going anywhere until you're alright" He replied, adamantly folding his arms.

"Troy I'm fine" She begged but he shook his head sitting on the edge of her desk. Finally she gave in and allowed his arms to encircle her. The pair stood in the middle of the room neither saying a word, Gabriella stopped crying. With Troy's arms wrapped around her nothing seemed so hard anymore, and everything seemed worth it. Slowly she pulled back and looked up at him.

"I'm ok now Troy, I promise" She whispered. He looked deep into her eyes for a moment before nodding and grabbing his bag.

"I'll see you later El" He smiled and before he gave himself time to think or her time to pull away, planted a kiss on her forehead.

Gabriella stood frozen to the spot as he left the room; slowly she brought a hand to her forehead and let the radiant smile cross her features. With a giggle she bounded over to her desk.

A/N: I'm not really sure what I think of this chapter... did you like it? Hmmmm... Well I really like the next one I'm writing :D Hopefully will be up soon I've just got a bit more to do. Love you all! xxx