This story may be slightly confusing to you, don't worry though, this is only the beginning. The pieces will come together soon, I promise.

"I've finally come to realize that we are all the same; if there's nothing left to lose then there is everything to gain. All the paragraphs and pages you could write could not contain; it is curious and careless and it's flowing through my veins. The fear of growing old and doing what you're told."

You're Making it Come Alive, My Favorite Highway

Gabriella felt like the entire student body was gathered by the bulletin board that was just outside of the auditorium, purposely trying to prevent her from even getting an inch near her class. And of course, the class was with the feared Mr. Simmons who found it disrespectful on the highest levels if you were to arrive late to his class.

She only had one more class after the one she was headed to, and then it was the weekend. To her, it was much needed and awaited for. But at this rate, Gabriella could not even see herself getting through the end of the day, let alone walking out the school doors when the final dismissive bell sounded. There was some minor pushing and shoving that she felt as she attempted to get through the crowd, but brushed it off her shoulder until she felt an intentional bump, a little rougher than the others. She turned, red-faced and ready to retort. "Hey what's your-"

"Hey, Montez," Troy said smoothly, his voice that same sexy timbre that alerted all of Gabriella's senses. He was doing is best to avoid the hype of students that were swarming the bulletin board, just as she was.

She offered a smile, the best she could do considering she was about ready to plow through the crowd. "Hey…do you have any idea about what is going on?"

He shrugged simply. "Yeah, the schedule for basketball playoffs has been posted."

Gabriella eyed him suspiciously, taking in his stance that stood tall over her, towering almost, looking down on her. "You seem so excited." Sarcasm had always been her second language.

Troy shrugged again, nodding his head to the left, indicating that he had found a way through. But it was another hallway, a crossroad to her main destination. "Are you coming?"

"Yeah…"

"Where are you even headed?"

"I have physiology with Simmons."

He nodded. "Ok, I can get you there. Just keep up, ok?" Troy scolded as if she were nothing more than a child, causing her to roll her eyes. She swore he did it purposely.

"I think I can manage." With that being said, the two began walking side by side down what seemed to be a deserted hallway. "So…" She began, not enjoying the noise of just their shoes on the carpeted floors. Gabriella was never one who could take silence for a period of time longer than a few seconds.

"So?"

She sighed. "Why aren't you excited for the playoffs? I mean…you are on the team."

"Yeah, what is your point?" Troy looked at her as if she had just made the most idiotic remark. "I'm not just on the team, I'm captain," He corrected cockily, allowing himself to smile.

Gabriella glared. "Same difference. Don't you live for this then? You should be pumped."

"Pumped?"

"Yeah…ready and just..not like this. You look about as amused as someone studying a toenail," Gabriella rounded the corner, wondering if Troy was walking faster just to make her work to keep his pace.

"I just don't care for it," He replied. "There is only so much basketball one person can take."

The way he said it made her wonder if he meant that on a deeper level. Too much to handle that forced you to crack…or too much to take that the sport became boring? She was not too sure.

She pondered this, chewing on her bottom lip. "I thought you loved basketball? I mean, you are not oddly obsessed, carrying a basketball around all day like someone I know," Gabriella coughed jokingly, referring to her new-found friend, Chad Danforth.

Troy laughed too, watching the way that she walked in long strides to keep up with him. He noticed the way her forehead creased when she talked to him and was in thought, and also the ways her eyes lit up at certain words he said. This was something that made him feel like she actually was taking an interest in him. Maybe he was glad for that fact, since it allowed him to know that the feeling was mutual. He would never admit to that though.

"I love basketball, sure. I just…" His voice trailed off as he looked at a nearby clock hanging in the hallway, three minutes to get to their classes.

"You just…?"

"Looks like we are here," Troy pointed to the door number of Mr. Simmon's classroom, effectively ending their short-lived conversation.

"Yeah… so much to learn," She said slowly, making it known that she was not referring to physiology as she eyed him down once more, feeling the same magnetism that she felt whenever her eyes dared to connect with his.

He shook his head with a smile on his face, wondering if this girl was ever going to give up. At first, he thought that he wanted her to. He thought that maybe she was just going to be someone who got in his way. Now…he decided it might be nice to have her around and have someone try to understand him. Who knew, maybe this was the start of something with meaning.

"Have fun," He called after she had entered the room, the sarcasm in his tone causing her to turn around and shoot him a death glare.

One more class period until he could see her again.

"And I want you all to have a good, clean, and safe weekend!" Mrs. Darbus bellowed, her cheeks a bright pink after she had finally ended her rant on Shakespeare that had seemed to take up the majority of the class. Sharpay was not complaining though, she loved the theater and to have Darbus so immersed in her preaching, she had not noticed she and Chad's eye sex they were engaging themselves in.

"You too, Mrs. D!" Jason Cross replied sincerely, smiling from cheek to cheek, causing Sharpay to roll her eyes. He was a lot to take on but then again, she had known him for so long that she was used to him. Stealing a quick glance at the clock, she noted that there were about five minutes until they could leave the classroom. Five minutes until the weekend. They were going to be the longest five minutes of her life, she knew it.

Allowing her hazel eyes to travel around the classroom, she scanned for any new notifications of theater productions that were coming up sometime in the near future. Nothing. Her eyes wandered aimlessly until they landed smack dab on the quiet basketball captain and the new girl that she had claimed as hers, finally a girl that she could eventually call her best friend.

Both teenagers looked as though they were in a conversation, Troy's eyes dancing and his body turned so that he could face Gabriella. Sharpay knew that it was far too soon to predict the future, but she also knew that in the past few weeks, she was seeing a side of Troy that she had not seen in a long time. He looked almost happy. It stunned her in every way possible. She did not understand what Gabriella's secret was.

She let her eyes roam over the girl's posture…she was turned facing Troy though, her back to Sharpay. She was dressed in dark jeans, a hoodie jacket and her hair pulled back in a loose bun. Nothing too fancy.

She must be easy, Sharpay thought, but then shook her head of the thought. No, Gabriella did not come off to be that kind of girl. Troy never went for friendlier girls, anyway. There had to be something, though. Something about her was making Troy Bolton unravel, slowly he was smiling more often, laughing regularly.

Sharpay would figure it out, she always did.

The sudden ring of the final bell caused her body to jolt upright, the snigger of her boyfriend who had witnessed a zoned out Sharpay get zapped back into reality was all she could focus on. Sharpay slapped Chad's bicep before linking her arm with his; the bipolar couple of East High.

"Hey G!" Sharpay called once they were out in the open hall, causing both Gabriella and Troy to come to a halt. Chad smirked at Troy who scratched the back of his head sheepishly. "G…T, tomato, tomato," Sharpay shrugged it off, reading Chad's mind.

Just when Gabriella had gotten used to her nickname being Curly Q, Sharpay decided to change it up. Of course. "Yeah?" Gabriella answered, confused just as Troy was, not sure if she was trying to gain her attention or his.

"So I am assuming you have heard about the party tonight, right?" Sharpay asked, knowing that it had been brought up several times at the lunch table throughout the week.

"Oh yeah, party," She mumbled. "Do you actually go to those things?"

Sharpay went wide-eyed, nodding urgently as Chad and Troy took the lead, making the conversation mobile. "I live for them."

Gabriella quirked her eyebrow with interest, maybe she was the one who was not understanding something. "A party like chips, dip and soda? Or a party, party?"

"Party."

"Great." She still did not seem too excited.

"Not a big fan?" Sharpay asked, a frown settling on her face.

"Nope. I do not usually associate myself with them," Gabriella shrugged.

"Oh, well come anyway," Sharpay insisted, "it will be fun."

"Really?"

"Really."

"I do not want to impose on your plans…" Gabriella said slowly, her eyes seeking out Chad, figuring that he must have originally planned on hanging out with his girlfriend.

"I'll take you," Troy interjected the conversation randomly, Sharpay's eyes closing into small slits as she studied him so intently, wondering if he was up to something.

He had to be, that was the only thing that really explained his actions lately. There had to be something that was going on…something…

"You go to parties?" Gabriella asked him, her eyebrows raising. From the start, Troy did not strike her as the partying type, mainly because he came off as an introvert.

"Live for them," He mocked his blonde friend, ignoring her as she scoffed beside him, , walking alongside Chad who was zoned out in his own world, ready for the weekend.

Gabriella sighed, defeated. "Then I guess I should go?"

"Sure," Troy pretended as though he could not care less. But he did. He wondered if she could tell.

"This is going to be so much fun!" The blonde shrieked, her eyes lighting up like fireworks as she clapped her hands together. "We will initiate you, officially making you a Wildcat."

"Great," She mumbled once more, blowing a frustrated breath to get a curl that had fallen in front of her eye away from her face.

"Don't sound too excited, you might hurt yourself," Chad joined in jokingly. "We are on to your games, we know that you are just going to tell the Knights all of our plays."

"Oh yes, of course, because I seem like I know so much about basketball," Gabriella giggled, slowing down when she felt someone pull on the key-chain on her backpack.

Troy flipped over the piece of metal, his fingers running over the indentations. Don't forget, he made out the words inscribed in the key-chain, not even noticing that Gabriella had come to a stop as he studied the chain, effectively causing the whole group to stop as well.

"It could all be an act. That could explain why she has been tolerating Troy, more than most people would," Chad gestured to his dazed friend as Sharpay snapped her fingers in front of his face, ending Troy's thoughts as his head snapped upright.

"You guys tolerate me?"

"Yes, you and your Tin-man ways," Sharpay laughed.

"Tin-man…" Troy's voice trailed off in confusion. "Didn't he lack a heart?"

"You're definitely not lacking a heart," Gabriella nudged his shoulder playfully, assuring him that the banter was all in good fun; nothing more than a joke somehow sensing what he was thinking, making him do a double take. "You do however lack modesty."

"Keep it up Montez and you'll become the Hitch-man, lacking a ride home," Troy nudged back, admiring the shine in Gabriella's eyes as she continued to laugh.

Sharpay smiled widely, loving that her friend, Troy, was back and coming off as happy…this was new. "Now we can't have that, can we?"

September 25th, 2009

I remember the splash of water, the squish of the sand beneath my feet, the muddy like floor seeping through the cracks of my toes. Usually, I don't remember a lot but when it comes to the mountain house...I recall every detail. I was being led out deeper into the warm water, the sun beating down on my skin, awakening me. This would be the first time I would learn how to swim. I had not known it then but that moment would be something I would refer back to my entire life. Why? Because I had not given up. I wanted to quit as I attempted what was called a "doggy paddle". He encouraged me to not give up. So I did not. And now, over twelve years later, I am still alive and hey- I can swim. So try something new today. Make a list of goals and figure out just how you will achieve them. Don't give up, don't even think of that pesky little "Q" word. Look at it this way...the world is your pool. Dive in.

-B