Dreams or Desire

"Jesus Gabs! Stop bouncing! You are making me nervous!" Gabriella looked at her friend and smiled embarrassed. It was the Los Angeles Lakers home opener and to say she was nervous would be an understatement.

"Sorry," she giggled. She turned back to her locker and picked up her hairspray. Just as she did, she noticed that there was a folded piece of paper behind it. With a confused look across her face, she grabbed the piece of paper and opened it up. As soon as she did so and began to read the scribbly writing, she froze.

I can't wait to see you cheering me on tonight.  Good luck.

Troy

Gabriella's heart began to pound through her chest. The last time she had seen Troy was their secret meeting in the parking lot, and to say she hadn't thought about it more than a few times would be a lie. Sharpay looked over to see her friend who was still frozen in place.

"What's wrong? You've performed in front of tons of people before!" Gabriella whipped her head around and looked at her friend. Sharpay was right. She wasn't nervous to perform in front of tons of people. She was nervous to perform in front of one person. Seeing the worried look on her friends face, Sharpay knew that it was more serious than she had predicted. "Do you want to talk alone?" Gabriella just nodded, before following Sharpay into one of the bathrooms, which were single rooms, not stalls, so they would have complete privacy. "What's goin on babe?" Gabriella sighed before taking a deep breath.

"You have to promise me you won't say anything."

"Of course. What happened?" Gabriella handed Sharpay the note she had received a moment earlier. Sharpay looked at her confused, but took the note anyway and opened it up. As soon as she read it, she froze and her jaw hit the floor.

"Troy! As in Troy Bolton?!" Gabriella just nodded, with the worried look still in her eyes. "When? How?" Gabriella preceded to tell Sharpay the whole story, from the night they met to the secret meeting in the parking lot.

"I don't know why I said yes! I just did! God I'm so stupid!" Sharpay sighed to her friend, before placing a hand on her shoulder.

"No you aren't Gab. He's gorgeous and suave, no girl in their right mind would say no to him. But the question is, do you like him?" Gabriella sighed and shrugged.

"I don't know. He's so cocky, but for some reason it's sexy. I mean when we first met he didn't try to hit on me; he just wanted to have friendly conversation. He's never used a pick up line or anything. How often does that happen these days? And it just feels good to be chased. To be wanted. Especially by a guy who could get any girl he wants. You know?"

"Of course I know what you are saying. And if I was in your position I would probably have hooked up with him a long time ago." Gabriella couldn't help but chuckle at this. "Look babe, you have worked really hard to get here, so I know why you are so worried about this, but don't be. If Kelly hasn't found out yet, she never will. So we're gonna go out there and kick ass, and Troy is going to want you even more."

"And that is a good thing?" Gabriella asked, looking at her like she was crazy.

"Yes, because you two would be a hot couple."

"You're encouraging this?"

"Yes, and I bet you when you get out there, and see get all sweaty and be so passionate, with those gorgeous blue eyes of his, you will want him more as well." Gabriella just glared at her.

"Thanks Shar. This has really helped," Gabriella replied sarcastically. Sharpay just gave her a cheeky smile.

"Anytime babe. Now, you ready?" Gabriella took a deep breath.

"Yeah."

--

Before they knew it, all twenty girls were center court preparing for the entrance of the 2008-2009 Los Angeles Lakers. The arena went dark and Gabriella looked up to see the introductory video begin. As soon as she did so, a video clip of Troy driving to the basket and dunking the ball was displayed on the massive video screen. Her heart began to pound. This was it. This was the moment she had been waiting for as long as she could remember, and she wasn't about to let some guy who had she had spoken to three times ruin it. As soon as the video was over adrenaline began to rush through Gabriella's body, as she turned to the audience. As instructed, she cheered and jumped up and down, as each player was announced. It took a lot to not turn her head when Troy's name was called, but she managed. Little did she know, that at the same moment Troy was doing all he could to focus on the game, and not smile widely when he saw her in the skimpy uniform.

--

"God he's hot." Gabriella turned to her friend, who was sitting next to her, and just glared. They were sitting on the floor to the right side of one of the baskets, and had a front row view of the game, which had begun ten minutes earlier.

"Thanks I hadn't realized," Gabriella muttered back, and Sharpay just laughed. Just then the ref blew his whistle, signaling the end of the first quarter. The girls immediately stood up, getting ready for their first performance.

"You ready?" Gabriella couldn't help but smile.

"Yeah."

Meanwhile, Troy plopped down on the bench, taking a few deep breaths. He had played as hard as he could for the first quarter, leading the Lakers to be 15 points up. Considering they were in the lead by a large amount, they didn't huddle up, and the players just took a break, with the coach only talking to a few. Most of them, including Troy, turned to watch the girls who would be cheering them on for the rest of the year. Troy's eyes immediately went to Gabriella, and he was automatically hooked. She had more energy than most of the girls and so much stage presence. He then felt a nudge in his side and he turned to Jordan, who was to the right of him.

"Which one is she?" Troy turned back to the dancers.

"Second row, third to the left. The brunette." Jordan's jaw dropped.

"Damn." Just then, Gabriella kicked her right leg up, and it went up to the side of her head, accentuating her flexibility. Troy froze. Flexibility was a turn on to any guy. At that moment he became even more captivated by the brunette beauty. Seeing the look on Troy's face, Jordan laughed. "You got it bad dude." Troy sighed.

"Yeah."

An hour and a half later, the Lakers pretty much had their win sealed. It was the fourth quarter and they were beating the Phoenix Suns by 20 points. This led to the starters all on the bench, joking and fooling around. The Suns called a time out and both teams returned to the bench, however, the Lakers once again did not enter the huddle. Just then 'Crank That' began to play through the speakers. Jordan began to lean into Troy and 'crank it' leading the guys to laugh, then follow his lead. Meanwhile, Gabriella, looked up to the jumbotron, to see what the whole stadium was laughing and cheering about. Sure enough, there were Troy, Jordan, and Brett, dancing on the bench. Gabriella couldn't help but smile. This was the first time she Troy be playful, and joke around. And it was safe to say that she liked it.

"You got it bad babe." Gabriella turned to Sharpay who was looking at her with an amused smile.

"No I don't."

"Yeah, you do." Gabriella thought for a second. Could she really possibly have feelings for the guy who was completely off limits?

"I dunno. I might."

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