Dreams or Desire

A/N: So for some reason I got like half the reviews on the last chapter as I did on the first two, and I'm not quite sure. If you have any type of suggestions, please let me know, and I hope you like this chapter better.

"Are you as scared of him as I am?" Sharpay Evans turned to her closest friends among the Laker Girls and shook her head, sending Gabriella into a state of relief, now knowing that she wasn't the only one. Scary was definitely a way to describe Jay Johnson. After serving for twenty years in the United States Army, the extremely muscular man put together a physical training method based on the values and tactics used in basic training. He knew how to get people into shape better than anyone, which is why the Laker Girls had hired him years ago to whip the girls into shape. And that is exactly what he did.

"Considering you are the cheerleaders for one of the best teams in the National Basketball Association, it is essential that you are aware of the basics to the sport!" Gabriella once again turned to Sharpay.

"Does he have to yell everything?"

"I think so." Gabriella rolled her eyes before turning to the drill sergeant in front of them.

"Therefore, to help you we have asked for some help. Ladies, please welcome starting point guard, Jordan Farmar, and starting shooting guard, Troy Bolton." All of the girls applauded as the two guys ran out, except of course for Gabriella. Frozen in place, every curse word was running through her head. "You will split into two groups, rookies and veterans, and you will be coached by one of these guys."

"Please be Jordan, please be Jordan," Gabriella murmured to herself.

"Jordan will be with the veterans and Troy will be with the rookies."

"Fuck!" Everyone turned to Gabriella in shock. She froze and turned beat red. She glanced at Troy who had a massive smirk on his face. She would have narrowed her eyes at him, but she realized everyone was still staring at her. "Umm…sorry…some…some pain just shot through my back. All those high kicks, you know?" She chuckled, rubbing her back, trying to prove that she wasn't absolutely humiliated. Thankfully it worked, for the girls laughed, most of them understanding.

"Anyway, rookies, go with Troy, veterans with Jordan. You will practice for about 20 minutes, then scrimmage."

"Come on rookies!" Troy exclaimed and the girls, all very excited, except for Gabriella of course, followed him to one end of the court. "Ok, we're gonna work on dribbling first, so grab a ball then go to the end line." All the girls went to the ball rack, and Gabriella not being excited to do so, didn't rush over, therefore ended up the last one, leaving her to grab a ball when Troy was the only one there.

"And here I thought you'd be excited to see me." She looked up at him, and just shot him a death glare, before making her way to the line. He just laughed, before making his way to the free throw line. "Ok is there anyone here who doesn't know how to dribble." The girls shook their heads or replied with 'no' and Troy nodded. "Great. Okay, you are going to dribble to me with your right hand then back with your left. Go!" All the girls began dribbling towards him, and Troy watched intently as they all did. However, unknown to them, he wasn't watching their dribbling, but checking them out, and ultimately deciding that none of the girls, the rookies at least, had anything on Gabriella. After dribbling, they moved to the free throw line to work on their shooting. Troy smiled as Gabriella approached the line. He had the perfect plan. After taking her shot, he was going to stand behind her, place his hands on hers, and show her not only to shoot properly, but that he had a greater affect on her than she imagine. But right as she shot the ball, his face fell. She had shot it with perfect form and it had landed in the basket with nothing but net. Therefore Gabriella smirked at Troy before getting back into the line.

"Ok ladies! Time to scrimmage!" Jay exclaimed. "Guys get your starting five."

"Ok girls bring it in." All the girls walked over to Troy, and got into a huddle. "Okay, who wants to start?"

"I will!" Gabriella exclaimed, knowing Troy was going to be on the bench. He just smiled.

"Ok, who else?" For more girls volunteered, and they then put their hands in the middle. "Rookies on three. 1…2…3…"

"Rookies!" The girls cheered and the five made their way to the center of the court as Troy and the rest of the girls went to the bunch. Soon the game was underway, and knowing it was a game that was just for fun, he didn't really coach the girls from the sidelines, but cheering the girls on instead. A few minutes later, he came up with a new plan, and smiled at how good it was. Therefore, he turned to the girl who was seated next to him.

"On the next whistle you are going to go in for Gabriella," Troy instructed and the girl nodded. A few minutes later Jay blew the whistle, due to a ball that went out of bounds. "Jay! Sub!" Jay nodded and the girl got up, calling Gabriella's name. Gabriella nodded and made her way to the bench, but froze for a moment when she saw that the only empty seat was next to Troy. She rolled her eyes and he smirked, before reluctantly sitting down next to him. Noticing that the rest of the girls were occupied with cheering for their teammates, he realized it would be his perfect opportunity. "You know you're going to have to at least talk to me sometime." She just glared at him. "I'm not gonna stop until you promise to meet me in the players parking lot after. Just to talk." She rolled her eyes.

"Fine." He smiled successfully and leaned back into his chair, and she just shook her head.

--

After their training session, Gabriella grabbed her bag, and waited for everyone to leave before reluctantly making her way to the parking lot. She truthfully had no idea why she had given into him, but she figured it was better than him talking to her in front of Jay and her teammates. As soon as she entered the parking lot, she did everything she could do to not freeze in her spot. There he was, leaning against his Bentley, his aviators covering those amazing blue eyes, looking as suave and sexy as can be. Her heart began to race as she made her way over to him. Although butterflies were fluttering in her stomach, she did plastered an annoyed look across her face.

"What do you want Troy?"

"Well hello to you too." She glared at him and he smirked.

"I'm serious. What do you want?" He sighed, and took off his sunglasses so he could look her in the eye.

"I need to ask you something."

"What?" she asked impatiently.

"If you weren't a Laker Girl, or I wasn't a Laker, and I was to ask you out, what would you say?" She sighed and ran her hand through her hair, not knowing what to say. Of course she would go out with him, any girl in her right mind would, but if she were to admit that, he would never let her hear the end of it.

"I dunno," she finally replied. "But I do know that if you wanted to hang out as friends I would say yes." He smiled slightly, even though it wasn't the exact answer he was looking for, at least it wasn't a flat out no.

"Ok, so how about for tonight we forget about our jobs and hang out…as friends." She sighed and rolled her eyes.

"You have hit on me every single time I've seen you. What makes you think that I actually believe you want to hang out as friends?"

"Well I know you have no reason to, but I hoped you would believe me when I say that I rather hang out with you as a friend than not hang out with you at all."

"It doesn't matter Troy. We can't live in the hypothetical and we can't just forget what we do for a night. I'm sorry, but I can't." With that she turned around to walk off, but he grabbed her wrist to stop her. She turned and looked at him annoyed.

"I just need to know. Would I have a chance?" She took a deep breath and looked at him in the eye with all seriousness.

"Yes."

Please Review!!! Sorry it took me a while to update, I had some writer's block. A new chapter of I Know What It's Like should be up soon as well.