Lovesick

*Chapter 8

A/N: Hey everyone! Here's the next chapter! I hope you liked the two chapters I updated a while ago. I know I liked them. :) I'm very sorry my updates haven't been as frequent like I said they would be but I really am trying to make that work. I just need to adjust to it. Give me a few more weeks or so and hopefully my updates should come more often. My goal is to get the next chapter up by the end of this week. For real this time. Please read and review! Enjoy!

Disclaimer: I'm not associated with High School Musical.

Chapter 8 – Stress & Self Control

The morning after parties, especially on school nights were always hard. Gabriella had woken up with a major headache that quickly reminded her of what had happened last night. She was dealing with her first hangover. It wasn't as bad as she thought but it was still something. She found some comfortable jeans and a nice blouse for school. After getting ready and eating breakfast, she hurried out the door with the hopes of avoiding questions from her mom. Last night Troy, of course, had stayed with her until he was sure it was okay to leave and then had told her mom about what happened. Damn him for doing that. Ugh, she was perfectly fine. She wasn't three years old.

She shook her head to get rid of the thoughts. She got in her black Audi and pulled out of the driveway. She started to feel a little woozy. She took some deep breaths quickly so that she wouldn't lose concentration. The last thing she needed was to end up in a car crash.

A few minutes later, Gabriella arrived in the school parking lot. She parked her car turned off the engine and collected all her thought s together. She glanced in the mirror and for the first time she couldn't recognize who she was. She had noticeable bags under her eyes and her hair was thrown in a messy bun. She wasn't supposed to look this. She was supposed to be a sweet, beautiful girl. But she was starting to feel like that part of her was slowly starting to disappear.

Letting out a frustrated sigh, she grabbed her bag and stepped out of the car. After locking up, she made her way up the sidewalk. The halls of the school were quiet as Gabriella walked to her locker. She could only hear her own footsteps and an occasional locker closing shut. Gabriella's mind wandered to the time when she and Troy would come to school early in the morning and play hide and go seek around the school. They were freshmen then. She remembered the look on his face when she would always find the places he would hide but he never found hers. Confusion would dance across his features as she struggled unsuccessfully to contain her laughter. She loved the way they had been then. And what about now? Their friendship was on the edge of becoming broken. It scared Gabriella to admit it but it was true. Very true.

Her mind wandered to Troy many times before she found her locker. She opened it up and looked for her binder.

"Damn it," she muttered. She sucked in a breath when she realized what she had said. She was really changing.

She was so into finding her stupid binder that she didn't noticed Troy had stopped at her locker. When she turned, she nearly jumped.

"Jeez Troy," she slightly fell back into the locker. What are you doing here?"

"Well I saw that you had come to school early and was wondering why. Is everything okay?" He leaned against the locker.

Gabriella pushed the curls out of her face. "Yeah, I'm fine. I've just got this throbbing headache…" She trailed off.

"I'm sorry. Why are you at school then?"

"Because I have a Physics test third period today. I can't miss it."

Troy nodded. "I see. Well I hope my company makes you feel as least somewhat better."

She smiled. "It does. Thank you Troy." She looked at him curiously. "Troy, can I ask you something?"

He met her gaze. "Sure. What is it?"

"Do you feel as close to me as you did before Scott and I started dating?"

"Well sometimes. I mean it's hard to tell now. You're with me one minute and then the next you're not. Our friendship has changed and I'm scared, Gabriella. I want us to be okay. I just don't know how to fix it."

Gabriella looked down. "I know, Troy. I'm scared too. If I could break up with Scot in a heartbeat I would. But it's not that easy. Even though that the main problem that's preventing us from being together, I have to give Scott a chance. I really do like him.

"I know. I'm trying very hard to accept him as your boyfriend but I just can't. I can't get myself to do it. I'll try though. For you." He took her hand.

Gabriella felt her heart almost burst at the kind words he had just said. She noticed that he was still holding her hand and gently pulled it away. Did she just let him hold her hand?

She cleared her throat. "So, I guess I'd better go. Scott will probably be here soon." She gathered up her books and then closed her locker.

"Okay. I'll see you later then."

"Okay," She turned to leave but then turned around. "Hey Troy?"

Troy turned. "Yeah?"

"Thank you for saving me last night. I don't know what I would of done if you weren't there."

He smiled. "You're welcome. Take it easy okay? I'll see you."

She smiled back. "I'll try. See you later." With that, she turned and walked to her boyfriend's locker.

"Babe, are you excited for next week?" Scott asked. Scott and Gabriella were sitting on the couch in Gabriella's living room, working on homework.

Gabriella looked up at him, confused. "Next week? What's next week?"

"Our one-month anniversary. You forget already?"

Gabriella's eyes suddenly widened. "Oh my gosh, it's next week! I totally forgot! Gosh, I'm really sorry. I've been so busy with school and everything." She set her books aside.

Scott sighed. "If you're too busy next week, we can celebrate another week." He ran his hands through her hair.

"No, it's okay. I just don't know what to get you. Anniversaries have to be special."

"You don't have to get me anything. I just want you." He smirked.

"We are not getting into this. We haven't even been together for a month yet. And besides, I'm not ready."

"I know. I'm sorry I said it."

Gabriella sighed. They sat there for a few minutes before Scott stood up. "I have to go. I have practice in an hour."

Gabriella stretched and then stood up. "Okay, I'll see you tomorrow then. Maybe I'll call you later though." She leaned up and kissed him on the lips. When she pulled back, she could see that there was some frustration on his face.

"What's wrong?" She put her hand on his neck.

"Nothing." He pulled the curls away from her face.

"Scott, what I just saw wasn't nothing. Tell me what it is."

"Gabriella, it's nothing. Really. I'm just tired."

Gabriella slighting flinched at the way he replied but then quickly pushed it aside. There was no use pushing the situation any further. "Okay," She sighed. "I'll let you go then. I'll talk to you later." She kissed him softly on the cheek.

Scott gave her a small smile before turning and leaving. As Gabriella saw him walk away, further from her, she started to feel like yet another person in her life was beginning to slip away.

The Wildcats' basketball team had practice everyday that started at 4:30pm and ended at 7:30pm. It was 3 hours of torture. They had to do warm-ups, 100 full-courts suicides, 5 sets of 15 lay-ups, and many other exercises that were insanely hard to get through. Mr. Bolton was cracking down on the team because they had to get focused for the playoffs that would be coming up. They would be playing their rival West High. The two rivals were constantly avenging the other. West high has a 3-1 lead. East High only has a 2-2 streak. That meant that the Wildcats had to be prepared for the playoffs. More specifically, Troy had to be prepared because as the team captain, the team was counting on him to lead them to victory. But there were just so many distractions…

Troy snapped out of his thoughts when he heard the sound of a basketball hitting the wooden gym floor. He pushed himself off the bleachers and went over to grab a basketball from the cage.

"Hoops. Ready for practice? Those suicides made me pull a leg muscle." Chad set the basketball on the ground and started to stretch.

"Dude, tell me about it. My dad is just trying to get us focused for the playoffs in November. You know how he is around this time."

"Yeah I've noticed."

Troy took the basketball and dribbled it up to the basket. He shot a right-handed lay-up but it bounced off the backboard. "Damn it," He muttered. He really needed to focus.

Coach Bolton came out of the locker room and blew the whistle. "Alright guys, on the right side of the court. 150 suicides. Full-court. Yesterday's practice wasn't good enough so you're gonna do 50 extra. Let's go."

The whole team groaned and muttered under their breath. They had a long practice ahead of them.

The basketball team had spent possibly the hardest practice of their lives doing lay-ups, suicides, dribbling, passing, blocking, and on and on. To say that was the hardest 3 hours of their lives would be an understatement.

Troy sat down on the benches in the locker room and wiped the sweat off his forehead. He was exhausted. A few lockers down, Scott was talking to some of the other guys from the team. They walked by and stopped at some lockers a few feet away from him. Troy couldn't help but hear what Scott was talking about.

"…Well but that's the thing. Now that I'm dating Gabriella, I can finally get laid." Scott bragged.

Troy's hands immediately curled into fists. That was it.

Troy stood up and walked over to Scott. "What did you just say?" Troy demanded angrily.

"Oh what did I say? I said I'm going to get laid. By your best friend." Scott smirked.

Before Scott even had time to react, Troy lunged at him, slamming him into the lockers behind him. Scott pushed Troy off him. He brought his fist back and then punched Troy in the eye. A sharp pain hit Troy's eye as he stumbled back. Chad saw what was happening and held the two back before they got to each other again.

"Hey, hey. Break it up. Troy, what the hell man?" Chad pulled him away from Scott.

Troy glared at Scott. "If you hurt her, I swear I'll make you sorry you ever dated her."

Scott put his hands up. "Whatever Bolton. You know, maybe it's not me that wants to get laid. Talk to my girlfriend." He turned and walked out of the locker room.

Troy stood, trying to get himself together. Why couldn't he though?

Looks like someone needs some self-control.

Later that night, Gabriella was working on her Physics homework in her bedroom when her mom came to the door.

"Gabriella, Troy is here to talk to you. He's downstairs."

Gabriella got off her bed and went downstairs.

"Hey…" Gabriella stopped and her eyes widened. "Oh my gosh, Troy! What happened to your eye?" She came up and brushed her fingers across the blackish-purple under his right eye.

He flinched at the pain. "I got, um, hit in my eye with a basketball." He mumbled.

She looked at him. "Now Troy Bolton, that's a lie. I know you better than that. Seriously what happened?"

"I got in a fight with Scott."

"Troy. Why?"

"Because he said he wanted to get laid."

"He what?"

"He wants to get laid. By you."

"What? That's ridiculous! Scott would never say something like that."

"Well he did. Or I never would have attacked him like that and gotten a black eye."

"Troy…you didn't have to defend me like that. But I'm glad you did."

Troy smiled. "You're lucky I didn't give him the black eye."

"He would have deserved it. Trust me." She grinned.

Troy smiled back. He would never get tired of seeing her brown eyes sparkle when she was with him. She was just so…perfect.

He quickly pushed his thoughts aside.

Gabriella came over and wrapped her arms around his waist. She then laid her head against his chest, right next his beating heart. "I really miss you Troy." She murmured.

Troy held her close, breathing in her vanilla scent. What would life be like if she were his girlfriend? Life would be amazing. "I miss you too."

After a few more seconds, she pulled back and looked at him. "Why are you here anyways?" Her nose scrunched up in curiosity. He loved that about her.

"What I can't see my own best friend?" He teased.

"See, I know you too well to believe that. Well that it's the whole truth." She poked him in the stomach.

He laughed. "I'm actually here because I wanted to talk to your mom."

"Why?"

"I just have to ask her something."

"About what?"

"About something coming up with my mom that she might want to talk to her about."

"What do you mean?"

"It's nothing, Gabriella. It's just an event coming up."

She looked at him seriously. "Oh. Okay then," She tore her eyes away from his. "I'm gonna go shower. Thanks for stopping by."

He nodded and looked down. He had never lied to her before. "I'll see you at school."

"Okay. Bye Troy." She waved before walking up the steps.

Troy waited until he was sure she closed her bedroom door before walking into the kitchen. Mrs. Montez was cleaning off the countertops. She looked up and smiled when she saw Troy.

"Oh hi Troy. I didn't think you were staying."

"I'm not. I, uh, wanted to talk to you about Gabriella," He paused, thinking over what he was going to say. "I'm really worried about her."

Mrs. Montez set the rag that was in her hand down on the counter. "I am too. I've noticed all these changes in her lately that I don't like. She's being exposed to alcohol, I'm finding birth control pills in her drawers, and she's over at her boyfriend's house all the time. Her grades are starting to slip Troy and I don't know what to do."

Troy thought about what she had just said. He had no idea that all of this was going on. "Mrs. Montez, I think it's Scott. He's not the best person in the world for her to be attracted too. It's my fault that she's doing this. I'm not protecting her enough. She thinks we're falling apart, which we are, but she doesn't want to fix it. She wants to do this for Scott to impress him because she thinks he loves her. I know him and I can tell you that he doesn't."

"I know Troy. But maybe it's Gabriella too. Maybe she is changing but not because of Scott. I'm pretty sure that's not the case but who knows. She doesn't even talk to me as much anymore."

Troy looked down. Even though he didn't want to believe it, she was right. Gabriella might just be the one who's changing. "I'm sorry that you've been going though all of this. You know, since your husband passed away."

Mrs. Montez looked as if she was about to cry. "Oh Troy, it's okay. I'm getting through it. You're such a wonderful person. I can't believe my own daughter chose to be with School and not you. I told her she'd regret her decision sooner or later."

Troy looked up. "Wait, she wanted to be with me? Like as a couple?"

"Oops. I think I've said too much already." She smiled. "Troy, she's in love with you. I've tried to get her to admit it a million times but she refuses to believe it. And she promised that she'd never admit it to you for the sake of your friendship but I'm sure you can see it even if no one said anything."

Troy stood there, completely full of mixed emotions. Love. Hurt. Betrayal. Happiness. Hope. Gabriella was in love with him.

"I, uh, don't really know what to say. I think I should go home and think about all of it. Thank you Mrs. Montez. I really appreciate it."

She smiled. "You're certainly welcome. Hey Troy?"

Troy looked at her.

"Don't stop believing in your hope for her love. She would drop everything just to hear you say that you love her. She just doesn't know what she has standing in front of her. She'll realize it sooner or later. Just give it some time."

He gave her a small smile. "Thanks. I won't let anything happen to her."

"I know you won't. You never do."

With that, Troy turned and left. For the first time, he started to feel like everything was going to turn out okay. If it didn't, well, he'd deal with it when he got there.

Just give it some time. Mrs. Montez's words repeated in his head as he walked home.

It was the first day that Troy fell even more in love with her. Secretly of course.

A/N: Pretty good chapter huh? I really liked it. :D I will try my very best to get the next chapter up as soon as I can (it's been a year since I first started this story; I'm very busy). I have a three-day weekend so I'm hoping to be able to work on the next chapter on my day off. xD Just a little hint: the next chapter will be mainly about Troy and Gabriella. There might be a little bit of fluff so you'll have to wait and see. :) Please, please review! I love everyone who reviews so please review more! Be back soon! :D

-Alyssa