Over the next few days, Gabriella and Troy became more and more depressed. Gabriella thought Troy had dumped her. Troy thought Gabriella had dumped him. And, even though their friends tried to cheer them up, nothing worked. One day, the basketball team was dressed in their P.E. outfits and practicing basketball on the outside court by the cross country track. The others tried to get Troy to join them. But he ignored them and went to jog on the track instead, moving steadily away from his friends.

…

That evening, Troy shot baskets alone in his backyard. He missed a few baskets and threw the ball against the fence frustrated. He collapsed onto the grass holding his head, still frustrated over what happened between him and Gabriella. His father was watching from the back door worried. He knew that something was going on with him. He also knew it wasn't the right time to try to find out what it was.

…

At the Montez house, Gabriella walked onto the balcony. She was also upset over what went down between her and Troy. She was trying to stop tears from escaping while she stared at the sunset.

…

The next day, Gabriella and Troy happened to pass each other in the cafeteria. They glanced at each other...then defused the awkward moment by moving on without saying a word. Gabriella sat at her table and stared at her food depressed. Troy ignored his friends telling him to come sit with them. He headed to the rooftop garden. Chad and Taylor saw the exchange from opposite ends of the room and nodded. They'd seen enough. They could see the effect of what they'd done, and they knew that they'd screwed up, big time. Now they had to try to fix it…

..

Troy was sitting by himself at the edge of the balcony on the roof. He hadn't bothered to touch his lunch yet. Just then, Chad, Zeke and Jason appeared looking apologetic.

A.J. told him, "Hey. We just had another team meeting."

Troy tried to keep the bitterness out of his voice. He said, "Oh. Wonderful."

But had failed. A.J. started to say, "We had a meeting about how we haven't been acting like a team. I mean us, not you. Look, the singing thing…"

Timmy snapped, "I don't want to talk about it."

A.J. told him, "We just want you to know that we're going to be there...cheering for you."

Timmy asked, surprised, "Huh?"

Chester answered, "Yeah, Cap. If singing is something you want to do, we should be boosting you up, not tearing you down."

A.J. added, "Win or lose, we're teammates. That's what it's all about." He lightly punches Troy's arm and adds, "Even if you turn out to be the worst singer in the world."

Tad added, "Which we don't know, because we haven't actually heard you sing."

Troy sighed. It was great to finally have support from his buddies, but it didn't mean anything anymore.

Timmy pointed out, "And you're not going to hear me sing, guys. Because Gabriella won't even talk to me. And I don't know why."

Chad, Zeke and Jason exchanged uneasy glances. Troy might not want to be friends with them anymore when he finds out the truth. But it's better than hiding what happened.

A.J. stated, "We do."

Troy looked at them shocked. How could they know what really caused Gabriella to suddenly dump him. Zeke pulled a bag of cookies from his backpack and handed them to Troy.

Chester stated, "I baked these fresh today. You might want to try one before we tell you the rest."

…

Inside the chemistry lab, Gabriella was working on an equation on the blackboard when Taylor and the other members of the Scholastic Club came in and approached her.

Alicia stated, "Gabriella, we were jerks. No, we were worse than jerks, because we were mean jerks. We thought Troy Bolton and the singing thing were killing our chances of having you on the Scholastic Decathlon team."

Trixie questioned, "Why talk about it? I heard what he had to say. I'm on your team now. Done."

Alicia responded, "No. Not done. Chad knew he would get Troy to say things that would make you want to forget about the callbacks. We planned. And we're embarrassed and sorry."

Gabriella took a moment to absorb the shock of that. But, she remained headstrong. She would rather have Troy's apology over her friends' apology. After all, Troy was the one that crushed her in the first place.

Trixie stated, "No one forced Troy to say anything. And you know what? It's okay. We should be preparing for the decathlon now. So it's time to move on."

Taylor shook her head. She couldn't let this defeatist attitude go unchallenged.

Alicia stated, "No, it's not okay. The Scholastic Decathlon is...whatever. But, what you feel about us, and most importantly, Troy, that's something else."

Gabriella just sighed and turned back to the blackboard to finish the equation. Taylor looked at her fellow teammates and sighed.

Alicia whispered, "We tried."

With that, Taylor and the other members of the Scholastic Decathlon team left the lab. Gabriella didn't notice them leave. She was too busy with the equation. But she was thinking hard about what Taylor had said.

…

That evening, Troy walked over to Gabriella's house and knocked on the door. The door opened and saw Mrs. Montez.

Timmy smiled and introduced himself, "Hi, Mrs. Montez. I'm Troy Bolton."

Her eyes widened a little. So this was the Troy she had heard about from Gabriella.

She stated, "Oh...Troy..."

She glanced over her shoulder. Gabriella was standing on the stairs, just out of Troy's line of sight. She shook her head adamantly. Mrs. Montez raised one eyebrow, but she got the message. When Gabriella walked back upstairs, Mrs. Montez turned back to Troy.

She told Timmy, "Well, Gabriella is a little busy with homework and such, so now's not really a good time."

Timmy stated, "I made a mistake, Mrs. Montez, and I need to let Gabriella know that. Could you tell her that I came by to see her?"

Mrs. Montez responded, "I will...Troy. Goodnight."

She smiled and closed the door. Troy walked across the lawn. But, suddenly, he had an idea. He saw a gate to her backyard. He entered the backyard and dialed Gabriella's number. In her room, Gabriella saw Troy's photo come up on her mobile screen as Start of Something New blasted out from her phone. After a long moment, she answered.

She asked, "Hello?"

Timmy told her quickly; afraid that she might hang up, "What you heard the other day...none of that is true. I was sick of my friends riding me about singing with you, so I said things I knew would shut them up. I didn't mean any on that."

Gabriella turned on her bedside lamp. The light was noticed by Troy from where he was standing. He saw a tree close to her balcony and started climbing. Troy and Gabriella continued their conversation.

Trixie stated, coolly, "You sounded pretty convincing to me."

Timmy told her, "The guy you met on vacation is way more me than the guy that said those stupid things."

Trixie sighed and responded, "Troy, the whole singing thing is making the school whack. You said so yourself that everyone is treating you differently because of it."

Timmy told her, "Maybe that's because I don't want to only be the basketball anymore. They can't handle it. It's not my problem. It's theirs."

He pulled himself up onto the balcony. Gabriella was only a few feet away, but her back was to him. She didn't know he was there.

Trixie asked, "What about your dad?"

Timmy answered, "This isn't about my dad. This is about how I feel. And I'm not letting the team down. They let me down. So I'm going to sing. What about you?"

Trixie responded, unsure, "I don't know, Troy."

Timmy told her, "Well, you need to say yes. Because I brought you something."

Trixie asked, confused, "What do you mean?"

Timmy told her, "Turn around."

Gabriella turned around and saw Troy standing on her balcony looking at her. She hung up and opened the door to her balcony.

Timmy: This could be
The start of something new.
It feels so right
To be here with you. Oh.
And now, looking in your eyes,
I feel in my heart,
The start of something new.

His voice sounded direct, sweet and honest. Just then, he brought up sheet music.

Timmy stated, "It's a pair's audition."

Gabriella smiled and took the music from him. She stood on her balcony next to Troy and rested her head against his shoulder. Troy looked down at her and smiled himself. Everything felt right again.

…

Wishmaker1028: Please read and review! And always think outside of the box!