"We're all going to Katherine's black and white party, right?" Cassie asked the group as we sat around for lunch on Monday.

"Yeah, I am," Char cuts a piece of her chicken, "I already got my dress."

"Yeah, same," Morgan jumps in, "mine's white."

I'm a little distracted to answer. I mean, I hear them and I know what they're talking about and what they're saying. But I'm currently looking across the courtyard at Troy talking to Kimberly Jackson, a very pretty, but annoying classmate. And I'm not just calling her annoying because she's talking to Troy.

Nope. She's been annoying me since the 5th grade. Ugh.

"Gabriella?"

I looked away from them and back at my friends. "Oh, yeah, I'm going. I'm wearing a white Chanel dress."

Morgan groans, "ugh, you're going to outshine me. I swear, white looks SO good on you."

Oh please. "Shut up."

I knew she wasn't serious about being annoyed about the whole thing. Half of the people there are probably going to wear white. Katherine actually has this party every year. People around here are always having parties, just to stay in the social scene. Or for certain charities. Seriously. There are so many parties throughout the whole year, it's ridiculous.

"I have no idea what Sean's going to wear," Morgan sighs, "he doesn't wanna wear a white suit but I told him we'd look good coming in with white."

"No," Savannah shakes her head, "have him wear black. You don't want to seem too coordinated. I think I'm gonna make Will wear black if I end up wearing white, which I think I am. I found the cutest dress."

They got to talking amongst themselves so I snuck away for a bit. Well, not physically, but my eyes wandered back to Troy. And Kimberly. Ugh.

I have no idea what the were talking about, but they were standing up, she had an iced tea in her hand and he had his binder. And they were talking, her laughing occasionally, but it didn't look like anything that serious. But I wanted to know about it so bad.

We got together to work on the project yesterday and we ended up only working on it for like 20 minutes max because we were talking and laughing and messing around and when the clock struck 5, I had to leave to go to dinner with my grandma so we didn't get much done.

And I was more than okay with that because it meant we'd have to get together twice this week.

Also, we had fun. So I was okay with not getting things done.

"Are we all gonna get ready together and then head over there or are we going separately and meeting there?" Charlotte asks as she digs into her fruit cup.

"I say we all get together at my house," Morgan offers, "and Phillip can just take us and then we can all come back and have a sleepover or something. We can also get brunch in the morning."

We all agreed to that because that's one of our favorite things to do. Sleepover and brunch. We live for it.

I was about to get up to go grab myself an iced tea, but Cassie started talking to me.

"Yeah, I heard Trevor wants to ask you to this party. Laurel told me in first period and I also heard it over the weekend," she tells me, "I mean, I don't know if it's true. Rumors get started all the time, but if he does, you should go with him. He's hot."

Trevor is good looking. But he's fucking boring. And I already know this so there no use in wasting time with him. "Cass, it's not prom. Or winter formal or anything like that. He doesn't need to ask me to be his date. That's weird."

"No, it's not!" she argues back, "it's sweet. And I think you should say yes if he asks. He's hot. And you're hot, so why not?"

I looked over at Savannah and she looked a little uncomfortable. I can't believe she was the only one who knew about my crush. I mean, they know I get together with Troy to work on a project, but they haven't said anything about it because I haven't said anything about it. They knew if something was going on, I'd obviously tell them. But I haven't told them anything. A, because well, nothing really is going on. And B, I don't know. This is different. I want to keep it safe for as long as possible so only Savannah knows. And I know she'll keep my secret. She'll take a secret to the grave, to be honest. She's the best.

Before I could even say anything, Savannah jumped in for me. "No, she can't say yes to Trevor because my cousin is going to accompany her."

What? I seriously thought she was just going to have my back and tell them to stop asking me.

But no. She comes out with this bombshell. What the heck is she talking about? Her cousin? Sure, he's hot. But he lives like an hour away. No way.

"Holy fuck, your cousin's hot," Cassie tells her, "okay, you know what? I'm going to find Trevor after school and tell him that you're already going with someone to save him the embarrassment."

I looked over at Savannah and she gave me a look which pretty much tells me to just go along with it. So I do. "Thanks."

And that was that.

"Hey, um, are you going to that black and white party on Saturday?"

I dusted away the eraser shavings on my paper before looking up at Troy. "Yeah, are you?"

He shrugged, "Yeah, I was thinking about it."

We were currently at my place working on our project. It was the last day. We're pretty much done with it. And once we're pretty much done working for the day, he starts to ask questions or engage in conversation. The first hour is usually just work. But after that, we talk about things. All sorts of things.

"I know there are a lot of parties going on, but Katherine's party is always so much fun. It's always a different theme and this year she chose that. It should be fun, though."

"Yeah," he nods, "that's what Stacy and Matt told me so I think I'll go. I mean, I have nothing else going on."

"Well, then, yeah, you should go."

He gives me a small smile and I think that means yes. I'm not quite sure. He goes back to his work and I go back to mine and that's really all we talked about regarding the party. I mean, there wasn't much else to say. What, do I ask if he wants to come with me? No way. I was reserved for Savannah's cousin who was going to "bail" last minute. I'm all for this plan because I really did not want to go with Trevor and I'm so thankful to Savannah for it.

Twenty minutes later, we were finally done with this almost month long project. And I don't know if I was happy or sad about it.

A little sad, obviously, because I won't have to forcefully hang out with Troy. But also a little happy about it because we don't have to work on it anymore. It was easy, but demanding and it just got tiring. I was so tired of writing so much. "Thank God we're done."

"I know," he agrees, closing his book, "it was easy, but wow, a lot of work."

"Yeah, I can't wait to just turn it in," I tell him, standing up and gathering all my things, "I can't believe it's been a month."

It's been a month. Yeah, sure we didn't hang out every single day, but at least twice a week so that's like 8 hang outs. Maybe more. And sure, they consisted mostly talking about the project, but we'd talk about ourselves and life and things like that, too. I don't know. I've had a good time with him, that's for sure.

I walked out of the kitchen area where we were and he followed closely behind me. He put his stuff down on the table by the elevator and then went over to use the bathroom.

And I went over to my room really quick to put my stuff away.

When I went back to the living room, though, the elevator doors were opening and in walked Savannah. And will.

"What are you doing here?"

Savannah smiled as she held hands with Will, "we were in the neighborhood and wanted to know if you wanted to grab some dinner since I know your parents are going to dinner with mine. I know you don't have plans. I just saw Lupe leaving."

Yeah, I was actually gonna grab some sushi take out because I was craving sushi so I told Lupe around 12 not to cook anything and she can leave around 4 today, which she did. And now Savannah's here. I'm sure she'd be down for sushi, but I don't feel like third wheeling, so...

"Hey, Troy!"

I looked around and saw Troy coming towards us. Fuck. For a minute, I forgot he was here. How could I forget?

He walked over to us and said hi to Will with one of those guy hand shakes or whatever, I don't know. And then he turned to Savannah and said hi. "What are you guys doing?"

"Oh, we were just in the neighborhood and were gonna ask Gabriella if she wants to come to dinner. I didn't know you were here."

"Yeah, we just finished our project," he tells her, grabbing his things.

"Well, then you should come too," she invited him and my eyes widened a bit.

No. It's going to feel like a double date and although my heart is all for it, my mind isn't. I'm too paranoid. I don't want to be that desperate girl. I don't want to make the first move. I don't want him to think I like him even though I do. No, I can't. Ugh.

But he looks over at me and shrugs. "Are you going?"

"I don't know yet," I answered truthfully, "depends where they're going."

"I know you're craving sushi, so that's fine with us," Savannah tells me, "Sushi of Gari? It's close and good."

And somehow, five minutes later, I'm gabbing myself a jacket and we're all in the elevator heading down to have an early dinner. How did this happen? Sure, it was totally organic, but I mean, I hope Troy knows that. I'm too paranoid. I'm over thinking this. Right? Yeah, yeah, I am.

Because we get to the restaurant, order our food, and 10 minutes in, we're all laughing and having the best time. Seriously, the best time.

I'm so glad I came.

"I know I said I was wearing this white Chanel, but my mom bought me this black Alexander McQueen mini and I'm obsessed with it."

"Well, go try it on and I'll tell you," Morgan tells me as she looks up from her magazine.

It's Friday night, the night before the black and white party and I'm literally trying to decide what to wear. My mom threw me off when she presented me this dress last night that she found during the day and she just had to buy it for me for the party. But I already have my Chanel one so ahhhh, I don't know.

Morgan was over because we were working on some homework for math, we were helping each other out and we didn't want to leave it until Sunday.

I slipped the dress on in my closet and picked out some black jimmy choo pumps and walked out.

"Oh my gosh," Morgan looked up. "How do you look THAT good in that dress when you're wearing no makeup and your hairs up in an ugly bun?"

"Shut up," I tell her, turning towards my full length mirror in the corner.

Hmm. Not to sound narcissistic or anything, but the dress does look good on me. And I'm in reading glasses and my greasy hair is up.

It's probably just the dress. The dress is making me look good. And so yeah, maybe I should wear it right? "I really like it, but I also really like the Chanel one and I love the thought of wearing white."

"Yeah, but I heard so many people are going to wear white," she tells me, closing her magazine, "Lizzie, Matilda, Stacy, Jennifer, Kimberly..."

Kimberly. Ugh. Why did she have to say her name?

I've always found her annoying, but I find her even more annoying now that I know she's friends with Troy. A few days ago, I saw them in the courtyard talking and today during passing period, I saw them walking through the halls together. And it irked me. So much.

"Gabriella, can you come down here for a minute?" I hear my mom yell at me.

Ugh. I was in the middle of something mom. I kicked off my heels and ran out of my room real fast. I wanted to get this done before Morgan left in a bit.

My mom was standing at the bottom of the stairs waiting for me. "What, mom? I'm a little busy right now.

"Why are you wearing that?"

"Um, I was trying on dresses for tomorrow," I look down at it, not knowing why she sounded a little horrified. What's going on?

She shakes her head and then proceeds to tell me why she called me down here, "you have a visitor coming, but I didn't know you'd be wearing THAT so um, I buzzed him in, and he should be here any minute now..."

"What are you talking about, mom?"

She didn't answer me, though. She grabbed some papers from the table and then walked away. And as soon as she was out of my sight, I turned towards the elevator whose doors were about to open. Who could be visiting me at 8 pm on a Friday night? Oh God, please don't tell me it's Greg. Ugh.

But nope. It wasn't Greg Miller. Not even close.

It was Troy.

And he was coming towards me carrying my favorite jacket of all time.

"Troy," I breathe out, "what are you doing here?" Well, obviously, I know. He's returning my jacket. But I'm playing dumb, of course.

He didn't say much and I had no idea why. He was just sort of staring at me. And it wasn't creeping me out, but I was just confused by it all. Like, talk to me.

And then I looked down and realized I was in a dress. A really nice dress. Fuck. Embarrassing.

"Oh, um," I started to explain myself, but I couldn't find the words. I was so flabbergasted and ugh. It was embarrassing.

"Are you going somewhere?"

I shake my head and laugh a little. I composed myself and tried to make light of this incredibly awkward situation. "Oh um, no, I was just trying on dresses for tomorrow when my mom told me to come downstairs and um, yeah, I had no idea what she wanted... but I guess now I do."

He gives me a small smile and holds up my jacket, "yeah, um, sorry, maybe it's late, but I was in the area and wanted to drop this off. My aunt found it on the couch the other day. I guess you left it."

"Oh right," I grabbed it from him, "yeah, thank you."

I don't know how I left my jacket there. It was a chilly day, but I think I had a sweater on under my jacket so I didn't think twice about it when leaving. Yeah, that had to have been it.

He stood there and put one hand in his pocket and scratched the back of his head with his free hand. "Are you wearing that to the party?"

Oh. Um. No. I'm not going to ask him if I should. That's fucking weird. "Oh, I don't know yet. I was just trying on dresses, trying to decide, but I haven't really made a decision yet. Maybe."

"You should."

What? Did I hear that correctly? He's telling me I should wear this. "What?"

He smiles a bit, "you should wear it, it looks nice on you."

Umm okay, I could just faint right now. But no, I can't. Keep it together, Gabriella. Don't be weird. Many guys have given you compliments before. But this, this is from Troy. A guy I'm interested in and so it means so much more. But what exactly does it mean? Ugh.

"Yeah, maybe," I tell him, so I don't sound weird about it. Like, yeah, I'll wear it for you. Ya know?

"Well, I should get going. Matt's waiting in the car, I just wanted to drop that off," he tells me backing up a little bit, "but um, I'll see you tomorrow."

"Yeah, for sure," I tell him walking towards him to sort of walk him out. But walking him out in the place means walking a few feet to the elevator and opening it for him. Ha. There's no way I'm going down like this. No. "Thanks again."

He steps into the elevator and turns around and smiles and me, "Goodnight."

And then the elevators door close and as soon as they do, I close my eyes and take a deep breath. I cannot believe that just happened.

I ran back upstairs and Morgan was laying on my bed flipping through another magazine. Shit. I forgot she was here for a minute.

"Who was it?"

"Oh, um, Troy Bolton," I tell her going to my closet, "he came to drop off my jacket."

I can hear her sit up on my bed and when I walk out of my closet, yep, she's sitting up and the magazine is tossed to the side. "Stacy and Matt's cousin? Why does he have your jacket?"

"I left it over there when I was working on our project together."

They all know I've been working on a project with him and they know he's hot, but they also know that I'd tell them if I was interested and I haven't so they haven't really said anything about it. But I know I'm going to have to tell her now. He came to my house on a Friday night to drop off my jacket. She's going to ask questions and heck, even I have questions.

She looked at me like she was confused about it. "Okay, wait, Troy Bolton brought you your jacket at 8 pm on a Friday instead of giving it to you at school?"

Umm, I guess so. "Maybe he forgot or he didn't want to carry it around at school, I don't know."

"You guys have first period together, he wouldn't have had to carry it around," she points out, "oh my gosh, is he into you?"

Okay, now, I have to loop Morgan in. I trust ALL of them. But with Savannah, it was different, I don't know. I didn't make it a point to hide it from her, but the rest, I don't know. I really don't know. Maybe because they'd be a little more meddly. They'd meddle.

But I don't know if he's into me and that's the truth. "I don't know, Morgan, I'm actually trying to figure that out myself."

"What?"

"Yeah, I'm into him and I want to know if he's into me."

"Wait, what?!" she practically screams, "you like a boy and you didn't tell ME?"

I rolled my eyes as I unzipped the back of my dress and took off my glasses to put on my dresser, "Look, yes, I like him and stuff, but it's recent and I don't know, I didn't want many people knowing because I honestly don't know if he's interested. There are times when I think he is, but then I think not. It's really frustrating and quite embarrassing because I've never liked someone who doesn't like me. And that sounds bad, but it's true. So I don't know."

"Gabs," Morgan gets off my bed and comes over to me, "are you crazy? Of course he's into you."

"You don't know that," I push past her and grab my phone from my dresser, "it's been a month of hanging out and he literally has not asked me to hang out once. Like outside of this project."

"Maybe he's shy," she shrugs, "because seriously, who wouldn't be interested in you? You're hot, you're smart, you're funny!"

She's my best friend, she's supposed to say that. And it's exactly what Savannah told me, so. "Thanks, Morg, but I don't know. Like tonight, the way he stared at me, I thought, maybe he's interested, but yeah I'm sure in a week I won't think that. It's confusing."

Morgan nodded, "guys are confusing, but also very simple. He will make a move if he's interested. Trust me. If you're that into him, just wait it out. And I can tell you are, since you haven't hooked up with someone since school started and now I know why. You were into him the whole time."

I laughed. I knew they would get a little suspicious. If I'm not dating anyone, I'm usually hooking up with someone. It's fun. And I mean, why not?

"We'll see..."

But I'm not getting my hopes up, that's for sure.