A/N I DO NOT OWN ANYTHING! I ONLY OWN THIS PLOT! Thanks to my beta Elena Rain! This chapter is going to be mainly a filler fluff chapter. The real drama is towards the end. I hope you like all the fluffy goodness. SHOUT OUT TO "Im a Skyscraper" She's got some awesome stories you guys should really check out her page :D

Even at school the next day, things continued to get better. People no longer pointed and laughed at Gabriella as she walked the halls. Most of them ignored her, but there were a few that actually greeted her nicely. Gabriella just smiled. They even greeted Troy, too.

"I think I'm at the wrong school. It's been a year since someone actually said hello to me." Troy said.

Gabriella giggled. "Welcome to the real East High."

Troy smiled, it had been a long time since he last saw that smile and he missed it soo much. "Well, thank you, Miss. Montez."

"Honestly, Troy, I think it's just because we got rid of the main trouble makers. Sharpay is at some fancy boarding school, and now Peter is in jail. So without them telling everyone how to act they can actually be themselves."

"I think you're right. Come on, let's get to class."

They locked hands and went to homeroom together. There were no problems at homeroom; in fact Gabriella was actually able to focus enough to take notes, while Troy drew random pictures pretending to take notes.

When class was over they met outside in the hall. Gabriella giggled.

"Catching up on our drawing skills, Mr. Bolton?" she teased.

"No, I just don't think, Mrs. Darbus will tell us anything useful or that is worth remembering."

"Really? What about the stuff she said would be on the test tomorrow. It's going to be worth half our grade."

"Test? What test?"

"You didn't hear? There is going to be a test tomorrow. She was telling us everything that will be on it and what we need to study before hand."

Troy's eyes went wide.

"The test is on one of Shakespeare's greatest plays, Hamlet."

Troy's eyes went even wider and he turned white."I've…I've never even heard of that one."

Gabriella couldn't keep a straight face anymore, he was too funny. She burst into laughter. Troy looked confused. "It's not funny! I'm going to fail!"

Gabriella laughed harder. Then Troy realized what had just happen. "You tricked me?"

"You believed every word! Your face was priceless."

Troy's face turned was shock to amusement. It had been way too long since Gabriella was playfully and teased him. He was really starting to see the true Gabriella shining through again. But…that didn't mean he would let her get away unpunished. His smiled turned into playful evil grin and Gabriella stopped laughing.

"Troy…" she said carefully. "What are you thinking?"

"I'm just thinking about how ticklish you are." He smirked.

She squealed and quickly turned to run. She took off down the hall as Troy ran after her. They both just laughed as they ran.

Gabriella reached her next class and quickly went inside. She hid under one of the desks. She heard Troy walk inside.

"Hmmm, looks, like she isn't in here. I guess I'll leave."

He walked over to the door and closed it and then froze to make her think he really left. He saw a small head peek out from one of the desks. When she spotted him she squealed again. She jumped to run and hit her head on the desk.

"Ouch!"

Troy quickly ran over to her. "Are you all right?"

She nodded as she stood up and rubbed the sore spot on her head. "Yeah, the desk is abusing me."

He smiled softly and moved her hands from her head kissing where she had gotten hurt.

"Let's call a truce." Gabriella said

"OK, truce."

They shared a kiss on the lips. Other students started to pile in.

"I'll meet you at lunch after class." Troy said.

"Ok, Troy. I love you."

"I love you too."

They shared one more kiss and Troy left the room. Gabriella went to her normal seat in the front and sat down. She smiled and got out her pad and pen ready to take as many notes as possible. She had actually missed learning and taking notes. Without Peter, she had no reason to fear anymore.

Class was great; she answered all the questions and got an A on the pop quiz. The class went by so quickly and before Gabriella knew it, it was over.

She and Taylor left the classroom together.

"Um, Excuse me, Mr. Bryan that should be six over pi." Taylor mocked teasingly at Gabriella.

"Shut up!" Gabriella giggled blushing. "I was confused and I wanted to make sure it was his mistake not mine."

"I'm just saying, most teachers don't like being corrected in front of the other students."

Gabriella just shrugged. "It's who I am, Tay. I'm not ashamed of it."

"Good, to know, I'm glad you're turning back to the old you. You weren't yourself when Peter was here."

Gabriella smiled and nodded. "He has that effect on me, but thanks, and thanks for being so supportive and giving me the space when I needed it."

Taylor smiled. "That what friends do, right?"

Gabriella nodded. "Right."

They arrived to lunch together and grabbed their food sitting at their normal table. They guys joined up with them shortly.

"Hey, Ladies." Troy greeted.

"Hey." Gabriella smiled.

"What's up?" Chad asked.

"Nothing, just normal." Gabriella said.

"She's kidding. You should have seen her in class today. She was on fire, she answered every question the teacher asked and even aced the pop quiz we had to take." Taylor said. "OH and she even corrected the teacher in front of everyone."

"That's my girl." Troy smiled pulling her into a one armed hug kissing her head.

She on the other hand blushed and buried her face in Troy's shoulder. "It wasn't that big of a deal."

Everyone chuckled. "Baby, it's ok. Don't be shy." He cooed gently rubbing her back.

"I thought you said you weren't ashamed of it." Taylor said.

"I'm not ashamed; I just don't like people making into a big deal."

"But it is a big deal, you're super smart. Why does, that make you so upset?"

"No, it's not." Gabriella whined. "I'm just book smart, it doesn't make me anything special."

"Brie, you're very special. But, let's change the subject." Troy said.

He knew, Gabriella never liked being the center of attention so he wanted to get her out of the spot light.

"How was practice?" Taylor asked.

"There is no practice; we lost nearly five members so there really is no team. Even if Chad and I joined back up, we'd still need three more members to play." Troy explained.

"So what about try outs. I know a few boys in class that would love to be on the team." Gabriella said looking up from Troy's shoulder. "Plus, I'll even try out if it means you get to play again. You love it so much, Troy. I can see it in your eyes."

Troy sighed and nodded. "I've been doing basketball since I was born. Every weekend my dad and I would go out and spend almost all weekend playing outside. He was a Wildcat when he was our age and then after going to collage he came back here and started his own team. I just feel like we lost that now, and by doing that we let my dad down."

"So, let's get more players, let's talk to coach and see what he says. It's worth a try." Chad said.

Troy nodded and smiled. "All right, I'm in."

"So, what class do you three have after lunch? Home Eco was canceled."

"Wait, it was canceled?" Gabriella asked.

"Yeah, your dad went to the Principal too, the teacher was fired and the class was canceled. So we've got this period and next period free." Troy said.

"Sounds fun, what shall we do?"

"Well, I heard there is an empty supply closet down the hall." Troy teased.

Gabriella giggled and shook her head, while playfully slapping his arm. "You're a dork!"

"You love me!"

"Really? I do?"

"You better."

"Or else what?"

"Or else…..this!"

He started to tickle her sides and she burst into giggles squirming around. "Stop!"

"Tell me you love me and I'll stop."

"I love you!" she giggled.

Troy stopped tickling her and pulled her into a kiss. "I love you too."

"All right, love birds!" Chad said.

They ignored him and continued to kiss passionately.

Chad took his muffin and threw it at them causing them to break apart.

"Wow, way to kill the mood, Chad." Gabriella teased.

"Well stop making out in front of me. It's gross."

"Oh please, I've had to watch you make out with a ton of girls since we were 13."

"What's your point?"

Troy laughed and shook his head. "The point is, I'm going to kiss my girlfriend when I want and you aren't allowed to complain."

"Yeah!" Gabriella smiled. "If you don't like it you can leave."

"Excuse me?" Chad asked.

"You're excused." Gabriella giggled.

Chad stood up and slowly walked over to Gabriella. She looked to him nervously. She knew he'd never hurt her but he also knew her weaknesses. She gulped and Troy chuckled. He pulled her into his arms and kissed the back of her head.

"Troy, may I see your girlfriend for a moment?" Chad asked sweetly.

"What do you want with her?"

"Nothing…" he muttered like a child.

"Then you can't see her."

"Oh fine, I just want to…." He trailed off and muttered.

"Say that again…"

"I want to….." he trailed off again.

Troy and Gabriella laughed. "Unless you tell me what's you're going to do to her you can't have her."

"I want to punish her."

"How?"

Chad shrugged. "How do you punish her?"

"That's my secret." Troy smirked.

Chad whined. "It's not fair!"

Gabriella giggled. She turned and hugged Troy cuddling into his chest. He smiled and kissed her head holding her protectively.

Chad sighed and sat next to her. "All right, fine. I'll just sit here." He pulled Gabriella's legs onto his lap.

"What are you up to?" Troy asked.

"Nothing, just going to sit here." Chad answered.

He covered her legs with one of his. Gabriella looked to him suspiciously. "Chad, whatever you're thinking don't do it."

"I'm not going to do anything. At least nothing that will hurt you."

"Chad…."

"Chad, what are you thinking?" Troy asked.

He knew Gabriella still had a hard time trusting men, after everything Peter had done to her, and he didn't want her to stop trusting Chad because of some stupid mistakes.

"Stop, worrying, I won't hurt her. I'll just do something that starts with tick and ends in le."

Troy chuckled. "All right."

"No!" Gabriella squealed.

Chad smirked and squeezed her knee. She squealed and giggled, jerking her knee to try and get free.

"Chad stop it!" she giggled.

"Say sorry for talking to me like that."

"I'm sorry, stop it! I'm sorry!"

"Good girl, now say I have the best hair."

"Troy help me!"

Troy laughed. "All right, easy man, let her breathe. She's had her punishment."

Chad stopped and Gabriella quickly pulled her legs away from him. "I hate you!"

"What, Troy tickles you."

"Troy is my boyfriend. He's allowed to tickle me."

"So what am I?"

"Don't take it personally, Bro. She always says she hates me after I tickle her."

Gabriella giggled. She shrugged innocently. The rest of the free period was spent laughing, teasing, joking, just having fun and not worrying about anything. Troy was so happy to see Gabriella enjoying herself again. It had been way too long since he last heard her laugh or even seen her smile. For that matter. Little did he know, it was going to be the last time he heard her giggle for a very, very long time.

In jail, with Peter, he was talking with his inmate.

"So, you're planning to escape today right?"

"Yeah, I'm getting out of here and getting revenge against the brat who put me in here."

"What's the name?"

"Carlos Montez."

"Any relation to Gabriella Montez?"

"She is his daughter, why?"

"Well I want revenge against her and you want revenge against her father, could you help me out?"

"Depends what I have to do?"

"Just hurt Carlos Montez however you can, kill him even. I don't care. As long as Gabriella pays with her father's life."

The inmate smirked. "You get what you want and I get what I want, sounds like a win-win to me. What do I have to do?"

Peter smirked and leaned in the whisper something to his inmate.

The inmate smiled and nodded. "Perfect, I'll do it."

Troy and Gabriella were at the last class for the day, they were in the middle of an assignment when the door opened and another kid walked in. He handed the teacher a slip of paper. Then they kid left. The teacher read the note and looked up to the class.

"Mr. Bolton, Ms. Montez, you're wanted in the Principal's office." The teacher spoke.

All the students started to point and whisper.

"That's enough, I will allow you both to take this assignment home and finish it there."

"Thank you." Troy said.

He packed up his stuff and followed with Gabriella out the door.

"Troy, what did we do?"

"We didn't do anything, Angel. I'm sure it's just about all the Peter drama."

"I have a bad feeling, Troy."

"Hey, whatever happens I'm right here. I promise."

He took her hand and together they went to the office.

When they walked inside Gabriella instantly flinched back. It was the Principal, Lucille, and a woman who was dressed very fancy with a clipboard in her hands. She had a funny feeling her father should have been there too, and that's when she knew for sure…something was wrong.

Troy pulled her into his side. "What's going on, Mom?"

"Honey, we've got some bad news. Please come inside, sit down." Lucille answered.

"If this is about me my dad should be here. Where is he?"

"Come sit down and we will explain." The Principal said.

"Where is my father, and who is this lady who looks way too over dressed."

"My name is Kathleen Marks. I'm from Child Protective Services."

Gabriella flinched back again and turned white. "Where is my father!" she shrieked.

"Honey, just please come in, let me explain." Lucille said.

"No!" Gabriella pulled out of Troy's arms so she was back in the hallway. "NO! WHERE IS MY FATHER!"

Troy turned to her. She was shaking and white as snow.

"Baby, it's ok. I'm right here. Whatever is going on we're going to face it together. I'm right here you're not alone. I promise."

"Where is my dad?" she whimpered.

"I don't know, but I'm sure we will find out. But we need to go inside and sit down."

"I don't want to."

"I'll be right next to you."

She nodded softly and went inside Troy sat down and Gabriella sat down on his lap. He wrapped his arms around her. Lucille knelt in front of her.

"Listen, I have some very bad news for you."

"Where is my father, why isn't he here?"

"Honey…Gabriella… there was an accident. Your father was on his way home when another car ran a red light. I'm so sorry, Gabriella, he's…"

Gabriella's hands flew to cover her ears, as she squeezed her eyes shut tightly. She shook her head side to side. "No, no, no, no, no, no, no…" she muttered to herself.

Troy hugged her close to him and kissed her head. "Is he dead?"

"No, he's in a coma." Lucille said.

"He has little chance of waking up so it's like he dead. Which is why I'm here. Her mother is in jail and now her father is dead so…." Kathleen said.

"I've already told you, Carlos's will has said should anything happen to him Gabriella comes to live with me. You are not going to touch her."

"Well we are going to wait here till we get a copy of the will."

"Fine, but do not tell Gabriella her father is dead, because he's not and he will wake up."

"You lied to me." Gabriella whispered.

"What?" Lucille asked.

Gabriella looked up to Lucille and uncovered her ear. "You promised me my dad wouldn't get hurt and now he's in a coma. You lied to me."

"Gabriella, I promised Peter wouldn't hurt you father. This was a freak accident."

Gabriella glared and shook her head. "This is no accident and we all know it! Peter did this because I told on him. After you promised you'd keep him save you lied to me!"

"Gabriella, Peter is in jail. He can't hurt you!"

"He has friends on the outside! He did this! He killed my father and it's all your fault!"

Gabriella stood up and took off in a run. Troy stood up and took off after her. Lucille was wrong, this had Peter written all over it but how could they prove it?

A/N and so the drama begins, any guesses on who the inmate is that Peter was talking to? Leave me your thoughts in a review.

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