*Lovesick

Chapter 9

A/N: Alright, here's the next chapter! So sorry for the delay; I know I had said I would get it up this Monday but I was kind of lazy that day. Hehe. I think you guys will like this chapter a lot. :) Thank you so much for all the readers I have. I have 29! That's amazing. You guys are seriously the best. This is what makes me continue writing fanfiction. Enjoy and please review!

Chapter 9 – Just You and Just Us

Gabriella had exactly 10 days to get an anniversary gift together for Scott. It was going to be their first anniversary. To say Gabriella was a little nervous would be an understatement. What she would be getting him, she had no idea. She did know, though, that she needed a break. Today, school was out because they were doing teacher-prep classes for new teachers. As Gabriella was getting dressed that morning, she had made the decision to spend the day with Troy No Scott, just her and Troy. She hasn't been nice enough to even give Troy an hour of her time so she was going to make up for how selfish she had been.

After calling Scott and telling him that she was feeling a little tired and wanted to stay home, she got her things together and went to Troy's house. When she got there, she was that the back door to his house was open. She walked to the back and saw Troy in jeans and a white t-shirt. He was at his tool shed, tinkering with the tools. When he looked and saw her, he smiled.

"Hey, what are you doing here?" He set his tools down.

"I'm just here to kidnap you. C'mon. You're spending the entire day with me."

Troy looked at her curiously. "Is this a joke or do you really mean it?"

"Mmm, do I look like I'm lying?"

"Kind of."

"Ouch. Hey, I'm still your best friend." She teased.

He smiled; glad to see her smiling at his jokes again. "Okay, let me just get some stuff together and then I'll be out."

Gabriella smiled. She had a feeling today was going to be a good day.

Troy and Gabriella arrived at the park in the early afternoon. Troy had picked sandwiches, chips, and Gabriella's favorite snack: chocolate-covered strawberries. No one knew how to make her chocolate-covered strawberries better than Troy. He had set out a blanket and their food in the grass. They sat elbow to elbow on the blanket.

"You know," Gabriella said. "No one will ever make these better than you. These are the best."

Troy smiled, taking a bite of one of his strawberries. "If I told you how I made them taste so good, you'd probably reveal it to the world."

She smiled. "Probably," She set her food aside. "So how have you been?"

"Good. Me and basketball; not so much. My dad's practically trying to kill us in basketball practice."

"Aren't playoffs like a while from now?"

"Yup. He acts like it's happening tomorrow."

"Well, you'll get through it. You always do."

Troy nodded. "What about you?"

"Mmm, it's okay. I should have been looking for an anniversary gift for Scott but I didn't. It's just been too much right now."

"I understand. How are you and your mom doing? The other day she seemed kind of upset."

"Things are fine I guess. She's still a little shocked about what happened last week but she's get over it. What did you talk to her about?"

"Nothing." He mumbled. "It was nothing important."

She looked at him curiously. "Troy, you know if there's ever anything you need to talk about, I'm here."

"Yeah, I know." He sighed. "So what made you decide to want to hang out with me?" Usually this never happens that much anymore." He tossed another strawberry in his mouth.

"That's the point. We never get to hang out anymore and I hate it. I wish we could just run away and not have to deal with all the stress anymore, you know."

Troy smiled. "We could, you know."

She giggled. "Yeah like it'd be that easy."

He looked at her. "You know I remember that time when I was think 12 years old, you were 11 and we went to Sharpay's birthday party and played Truth or Dare. I know you remember that."

Gabriella felt herself starting to blush. "Oh mi gosh Troy! Why'd you remind me about that."

Troy smirked. He knew exactly what had happened at that party 7 years ago…

Best friends, Troy, Gabriella, Chad, Ryan, Sharpay, Taylor, Martha, Jason, Kelsi and Zeke all sat around the dining room table waiting to play one of their favorite games: Truth or Dare. Every year, Sharpay played this game with everyone for her birthday. Her parents were always in the other room so it was the perfect time to take advantage of the opportunity.

Sharpay looked at Zeke first. "Zeke, you start first."

"Okay," He looked around the table. "Chad: Truth or Dare?"

"Truth."

Zeke thought for a second. "Do you have a crush on someone in this room?"

Across from Chad, Taylor's cheeks turned bright pink. "Yes I do."

Zeke smirked. "Who?"

"Dude, you can't ask another question!"

"Fine."

"Even though everyone knows who it is." Troy muttered under his breath.

Chad glared at him. "Dude, shut up! Everyone knows who you have a crush on too!"

Taylor elbowed Gabriella who blushed furiously.

"Troy, truth of dare?"

Crap. He thought. He didn't want to choose truth because he knew exactly what he was going to ask but a dare would just be worse. "Um, dare." He could feel his heart beating against his chest.

"I dare you…to kiss Gabriella."

All eyes flew to Gabriella who froze.

"Chad, come on. You know I can't do that."

"You said dare. Double dare. You can't change it or you owe me another Shaquille O' Neal basketball card. The collector's one."

"I hate you, I hope you know that." He stood up and slowly walked over to Gabriella's side. He sighed. "Gabriella, let's just do this and get it over with. Jeez, I don't even know what to do." He looked at her and could see her screaming inside. He was doing the same exact thing. He slowly leaned in towards her and closed his eyes. He felts her lips connect with his for a second; but what seemed like an entire minutes. He pulled back quickly and looked down. Gabriella was blushing furiously as the rest of their friends looked at them in shock. None of them thought they were really going to do it. They just had their first kiss as best friends. From then on, everything for them was different…

"I remember that. I almost killed Chad for doing that."

Gabriella giggled. "At least it was just a dare."

"Yeah." Troy knew it meant so much more though.

"Troy, do you have a crush on anyone? I've never asked you that before."

He looked at her. "Yeah, kind of."

She sat up, curious. "Really, who is it?"

"I can't tell you."

"Why not? I'm your best friend."

"It's not that, I just can't tell because I don't even know if I really like her anymore."

She frowned. "Aww well can you give me some hints then?"

He looked down. "Well she goes to our school and she's in most of our classes."

"Hmm, okay. What else?"

"Well sometimes we talk a lot and other times we don't. She has the most amazing brown eyes."

"Oh, I got it! Is it Melanie?"

Troy thought of Melanie Truman, the cute, sweet, but at times stuck-up cheerleader in their homeroom. "No. She flirts way too much."

She giggled. "It was a guess. Do I know her?"

"Maybe."

"Come on. Really?"

"Okay, okay. Sometimes she hangs out with Sharpay."

Gabriella thought about all of Sharpay's friends. "I can't think of anyone that you talk too that hangs out with Sharpay. Does she know how you feel about her?"

"It's hard to tell. She's a super nice person and I can't help but smile every time she looks at me. Everytime I want to tell her how I feel, something keeps holding me back. It's like I can't tell her the truth because I'm afraid of the answer. I want a chance with her but I don't think it's going to work out."

She looked at him for the first time. He was really in love with whoever this girl was. Gabriella couldn't seem to realize that this girl he was talking about was sitting right next to him. "Well hopefully things will work out. I'm clueless as to who this secret crush is. Tell me," She took his cell phone that was lying on the blanket. "Or I call Chad and tell him that you said he could tell me." She got up and ran from him.

"Oh no you don't." Troy got up and started chasing her. He grabbed her and playfully wrestled her to the ground.

"Is it always going to be like this?" He taunted, tickling her sides. Gabriella couldn't stop the giggles that poured out of her mouth as she wiggled around behind him.

"Okay," She breathed, trying to plead her case. "I'll give it back."

Troy stopped and looked down at her. It took both of them a second to realize that they were on the ground; Troy straddling her waist. "So, my phone."

She smiled at him. He was so perfect. She took in his light tan skin, the curve of his biceps, the tinted shadows of his face, and his perfect blue eyes. Gabriella got lost in them for what seemed like an eternity. The awkwardness finally set in for the two of them. Gabriella swore he was about to kiss her right there. She mentally kicked herself. What was she thinking? "Here," She handed him back his phone. "I will find out though."

Troy pushed himself off the ground so Gabriella could get up. "That wasn't funny." He mumbled.

She glanced at him and smirked. "Yes it was. You looked really panicked for a second there."

He smiled. She always had a way to get him to crack a smile. "Just wait," He popped another grape into his mouth. "Payback's hell."

Her eyes widened at his words. "Troy! What has gotten into you?"

He laughed. "Nothing. Nothing at all."

She playfully slapped his on the arm. The two spent the rest of the day with each other. Gabriella got about 50 missed calls from Scott but she didn't care. The only person she cared about right now was Troy. And that's how it would be for as long as she was alive.

The stars were coming out when Gabriella stopped at Troy's house. She parked at the sidewalk and turned off the ignition. She sighed and then turned to him. "Troy, I've never had this much fun since last summer. Thank you. I really appreciate it."

He returned a smile. "I had a bunch of fun. It beats working on a truck all day," He opened the door and slide out of the car. "I'll see you Brie. Thanks again."

She didn't reply. She stepped out of the car and walked to his side. She came to him and wrapped her arms around his waist. "I'm sorry I just really missed you Troy. I'm so glad we spent this day together." She mumbled into his chest.

Troy smiled and let his hands fall to her back. He breathed in her vanilla scent for the tenth time that night. She felt warm against him, all heat and light vanilla. He pulled her closer than he had ever done before. Neither one of them pulled away, for they didn't want this moment to end because of the fear that they would lose each other if they did. "I won't go anywhere without you, Brie. I promise."

That was a promise he would never forget.

(A/N: Aww cute chapter right? I loved this one. There was finally some Troyella fluff like I had said before and now it's time to get to the real stuff. There will be more Scott and Gabriella, just a heads up. The next chapter is going to be about their 1-month anniversary. I should get it up quicker this time because I have a 4-day weekend coming up : ) I hope you guys love my story even more! Please review, like always. Toodles!

-xoxo, Alyssa