GABRIELLA

Senior year, day one.

Fuck.

I just called Troy hot to his face.

It's no secret he is. It's not like he doesn't know that. But calling your boyfriends best friend hot? That's a definite no.

But he didn't make a big deal about it, thank God.

He's used to it.

Every single girl around here fawns over him. Cheerleaders, soccer players, the softball girls, the really smart girls, everyone. Literally everyone has a crush on Troy Bolton. It's not even annoying because he kind of just ignores it. Sure, he has his fair share of hook ups but for the most part, he doesn't buy into it.

The beauty of being the girlfriend of his best friend is I get a bit of insight to Troy Bolton.

Also, our dads work together.

There's more than meets the eye there and I feel like not a lot of people get to see that which is kind of a bummer. They just see hot and great at soccer.

When class is over, I'm pulled away with a hand around my waist.

"Hey."

"Hi," Chris leans down and kisses me.

This is catching me so off guard. I haven't really talked to him the last few days since we've been in our fight.

But all of a sudden, he's kissing me out of nowhere?

"How are you?"

"Good," I tell him. Out of the corner of my eye, I see Troy looking at us. He laughs and then walks away. I'm not even sure why. Maybe he knows we're fighting or were fighting and finds it funny we're not kissing in the hallway. "Um, what are you doing?"

"What? I can't kiss my girlfriend?"

I nod, "you can. I just... you haven't talked to me since Friday night. You didn't even text me back when I texted you this weekend."

He sighs, "I'm sorry. I was just cooling off. I don't want to fight."

Well, me neither.

But he lied to me. He was supposed to pick me up at 7 to go see a movie, but he was an hour late so of course I asked what he was doing and he said he got caught up passing and shooting the ball around at Troy's. But it was bullshit because 20 minutes before he told me that, Troy snapped his little sister on their dinner date. I brought that up and he said, shit, I went home after and hung out for a bit and I told him he was being shady and he got really defensive and mad and we haven't talked since.

I don't really think I did anything wrong here. I mean, he was late to pick me up so why wouldn't I question it?

And why wouldn't I call him out on a straight up LIE?

It's dumb.

But whatever. I don't really feel like fighting with him. It's exhausting.

"I don't, either," I tell him.

"Wanna come over after school?" He asks me, "I got a ride from Troy. Maybe you can give me a ride home. We'll grab some food?"

"Sorry, I can't after school, but you can come over for dinner. I'm sure my parents wouldn't mind."

"Okay," he nods, "yeah, sure, I will."

Chris is an open book. He'll share with me that his mom and dad are fighting. If he has to take care of his aunt. Etc. And I'm not like that. I keep my family life pretty private. Not that there's anything going on at home. My parents are in a perfectly, committed, happy relationships. My brother just started his first year at Brown and we're all proud of him. But if there was dirty laundry to share, I wouldn't. It's just not me. And so while I got on Chris for lying, I was about to lie if he asked what I was going to do right after school but thankfully, Chris being Chris, didn't ask. He doesn't really ask questions like that.

He can't know what I'm doing after school because it's private. It's a private family thing and it's something I just don't want to talk about.

Or even think about.

"I gotta head to my next class," I tell him, "see ya at lunch."

He gives me a quick peck before heading off.

I turn the corner and standing in front of the classroom I'm about to walk into is Morgan Brown in the flesh.

"There you are."

"Sorry," I tell her, "was with Chris."

She rolls her eyes, "did he apologize for that night? I hope so. He's an asshole."

Usually when we fight and she talks about him like that, I'll defend him and be like, don't say that. But this time I didn't have the energy. I just followed her in, took a seat next to her and got ready for the teacher to walk in and tell us about the course for this semester.

"Did you buy your ticket to the game on Friday?"

"Not yet."

"Let's buy it at lunch," she tells me, "also, Ryan Moore is having a party after the game. I'm thinking about finally making my move."

"Really, just gonna go for it?"

She shrugs, "it's senior year. I need to be a little more... adventurous."

I laugh.

Morgan Brown is my best friend here. We met the second I transferred my sophomore year and have been inseparable since then. She has gorgeous, short, shoulder length brown hair that I wish worked on me and these green eyes that just pop out at you. She's gorgeous. And she could literally have any guy she wants. Yet, she's shy and the thought of her having a boyfriend has kind of freaked her out so she's kind of always made herself unavailable.

"Trust me, it's not what it's cracked up to be."

"I know you've been with Chris for a little over a year," she rolls her eyes, "but if you want out, get out. I don't understand what's holding you back."

I shrug, "I love him."

She laughs, "who do you think you're talking to here, Gabriella?"

Yeah, she's right. It's been different.

But that doesn't mean I don't love him. We've been together for over a year. I do love him. And care about him. And I don't know. It's comfortable. I just can't see us heading in different directions. And sure, we've been fighting a lot lately and whatever, but do I want to break up with him? I don't think so.

I don't know.

None of that really matters right now, there are way more important things to think about

And Chris isn't really a priority.

"Hi, grandma."

"Gabriella, sweetie, hi," my grandma puts down her book the minute I step into her room, "how was your first day?"

"It was good," I smile at her, "nothing exciting."

She extends her arms out and I reach in and give her the best hug I could.

God, this really sucks.

I should be visiting my grandma at her home, not in a hospital room where she's hooked up to a machine. It's tough seeing her like this. I hate it more than anything in this world. I wish she was healthy. I wish this didn't happen to her. I wish she could get out of here and go back home to the life she had.

Fuck cancer.

"How are you doing today?" I ask her.

"Well, I'm okay," she says, "it's just been an adjustment, but I'm hopeful that I'll get better, that I'll at least be able to go home soon, back to my bed."

"I hope so," I smile, "have you had anything to eat for lunch?"

She nods, "about an hour ago, the nurse brought me half a sandwich and some soup."

That's good.

My grandma is the light of my life.

She had my mom when she was only 20 years old and my mom had me when she was 28 so she's pretty young for a grandma. She's a young, older person. Hasn't even hit 70 yet. And she was the life of the party. She'd crack jokes left and right, she'd accept anyone with open arms, she made food all day long for no apparent reason just to feed whoever walked through her door. I grew up everyday with her and she was my favorite person in the whole world.

"I don't want to talk about cancer," she tells me, "let's talk about you."

"I'm not sure what there is to talk about," I shrug, taking a seat on one of the chairs they have for guests, "my life's pretty boring right now, to be honest."

"How's Christopher doing?"

I laugh, "Chris is fine. Why do you always say his full name?"

She adjusts her pillows behind her a bit, "I hate the name. Christopher is a little less... bad."

"You do?"

"Oh, yes," she nods, "your grandpa wanted to name your uncle Christopher and I told him that no, I hate it. But he loved it. It was really hard. He was pretty set on it and by the grace of God, I suggested Adrian and he went with it. Thought it was better suited with our last name."

"I think so, too. I can't picture him being a Chris."

She made a face and I laughed. "Young love. I remember meeting your grandfather around your age. It was scary and wonderful all at once."

Oh God, no.

I know what's coming next.

She's going to ask me if I think he's the one or whatever.

But the trust is, I don't want to talk about Chris. I'm not one hundred percent over the whole thing that happened between us. It's just sitting weird with me and the way he approached things this morning made me feel weird, too. So, I don't want to think about it.

"You're young, though, and beautiful. Do you really want to be tied down? I mean, the opportunities are endless for you right now."

"I'm not tied down, grandma. I'm just... dating him. It's not anything..."

"It's serious. One year?"

Well, yes, it's serious and it's a committed relationship. But there are no plans to marry.

At all.

"We're just... it's high school. I love him. He loves me. But I'm not thinking about anything beyond that. He's not going to hold me back, I'm not going to hold him back. I don't really know what's going to happen to us in the future. But I don't think I want to break up with him."

"Well, then," she chuckles to herself, "I just want to make sure you're not in a relationship just to be in one. I want it to be fulfilling and your best days."

"Yeah," I smile at her, "I want them to be as well."

And they're not.

Not lately, anyway. Things are different and I don't really understand why.

It's just a little more fighting.

And a little more space between us.

But there are bigger things to worry about right now.

Like my grandma.