AN: This is my first story. I have been working on it for awhile. I hope you like it. (I'll probably update once a week, fyi).

"Bolton has the ball—he's at the top of the key--he fakes left, spins right, between the legs, reverse lay-up—and he scores! Bolton wins the game, and the crowd goes wild—Ahhhhh!!"

"Get over yourself Bolton; lucky shot"

"Come on Montez…luck had nothing to do with it. That's four games in a row that I have won," Troy said with a smirk on his face.

"Yeah, four games that you only won by one point, and against a girl nonetheless," said Gabriella with a huge smile on her face.

"Tell me Bolton, how does it feel to almost lose to a girl every time we play?"

"Montez, you're no girl!"

"What!? What is that supposed to mean Troy?"

"I mean, you don't play like most girls; you play like a guy. That's probably because we've been playing against each other since we were five," Troy said with a slightly fearful look in his eyes hoping he hadn't offended his best friend too much.

"It's alright Bolton; I understood what you meant. I just wanted to watch you desperately try to dig yourself out of yet another hole," Gabriella smiled while Troy acted offended.

"You're gonna get it now Montez!" And with that, Troy grabbed Gabriella by the waist and threw her over his shoulder as he ran off towards the pool in his backyard with Gabriella kicking the entire way.

When they reached the pool, Troy shifted Gabriella so she was in his arms being held over the pool bridal style. "Alright Montez, say the magic phrase."

"No way Bolton; I'd rather die first," Gabriella managed to get out through her laughter.

"Alright then," Troy said as he started to drop Gabriella only to catch her a second later as Gabriella shrieked.

"Okay, okay, okay…Troy Bolton is…the ugliest guy at East High," Gabriella said with a smirk on her face before she started laughing uncontrollably. She shrieked again as Troy dropped her legs so that her toes were touching the water.

"Troy, it's freakin' freezing!! Don't do that!"

"Say it then."

"No way."

Troy dropped her legs so her ankles were now immersed in the water, but he was still holding her around her waist. He could barely control his laughter as she screamed once again.

"Okay, stop! Troy Bolton is without a doubt the hottest guy at East High."

"Why thank you Miss Montez. You are too kind." And with that, Troy set Gabriella down beside the pool.

Once she was set down on her feet, Gabriella got an evil look in her eye and pushed Troy into the pool.

As Troy emerged from the water shivering and shaking the water out of his hair, he looked up at Gabriella who was once again laughing uncontrollably. "You're in for it now Montez!"

And with that, Troy began to chase Gabriella around his backyard. She took off for the basketball court, went out to the playground, and up to the fort their dads built for them as kids. She had a few options of which way to get down as Troy began to climb up. She looked towards the pole she could slide down, but decided the slide would be an easier escape. Troy anticipated this and ran down the steps catching her at the end of the slide. He gave her a huge hug in order to get her soaking wet, and then he threw her over his shoulder once again. This time, as he neared the pool, he jumped in with her still over his shoulder.

"Told you that you would get it Montez! That'll teach you to mess with me!"

"Troy, I can't believe you did that! Now my good basketball shorts are soaking wet!"

Troy began to laugh as Gabriella tried to dunk his head underwater. Just then, Troy's mom walked out. "Troy, your phone has been beeping for the past twenty minutes and Anna and I can't figure out how to get it to stop."

Troy and Gabriella looked at each other and began laughing at their moms and their issues with technology.

"Thanks mom. I'll get out and turn it off. Just set it right there on the table," Troy said as he began to climb up the steps out of the pool with Gabriella following close behind.

"Troy Bolton and Gabriella Montez, what are you two doing in the pool with your shoes and basketball clothes on!?" Troy's mother yelled out more shocked than angry seeing them get out of the pool.

"Well you see Mrs. Bolton, your son decided it would be funny to throw me in the pool along with him after I insulted his unbelievably huge ego," Gabriella said slightly laughing as Troy faked looking hurt. Lucille Bolton just shook her head and walked back inside amused at the two.

Troy shook his head as he walked over to his phone and shut off the alarm that he had set.

"What was that for?" Gabriella asked.

"Oh, the movie starts in thirty minutes. We better get showered and dressed. Taylor and Chad are meeting us there at 10:45, and it's 10:15 right now. Come on," Troy said as he started walking inside pulling Gabriella along, "you can shower here".

"Troy, I can shower at my own house…I only live next door."

"You could…but it's easier and quicker if you just do it here," Troy said as Gabriella nodded in agreement.

Troy and Gabriella have been neighbors since they were born. Their parents were all friends in high school, and Gabriella's parents had moved from San Diego up to the small town Troy's parents lived in a little north of San Diego a few months before Gabriella was born. The area they lived in was very open. Troy's grandfather gave each of his children a piece of land to build a house on. Troy's family lived next to his grandparents, and Troy's uncle lived next to them on the other side. Gabriella's family built their house right across from the Bolton home. Gabriella and Troy have been best friends since birth. Their families are all really close and they are all together often, even for family vacations.

Gabriella has always been quite the tomboy. Growing up, she has always been around boys more than girls. Troy has two older twin brothers, Adam and Aaron, who are twenty, and a younger brother Tyler, who is ten. He also has two cousins who live next door—Kyle, who is fifteen and Chris, who is ten. Gabriella has two brothers—Anthony, who is nineteen, and Michael, who is twelve. She also has a newborn baby sister, Emilee, who is three months old. Being the tomboy that she is, Gabriella has always been into sports. She and Troy were always on the same little league baseball, and basketball teams. She even talked her parents into letting her play football when she was eight years old. However, when she turned ten years old, her parents stopped letting her play on boys' teams and tried to force her into more feminine things. Yet her parents didn't succeed in that because Gabriella has never been girlie.

Now as a junior in high school, she still has very few friends who are girls. Aside from Taylor, Sharpay, and Kelsi (whose boyfriends are on the basketball team), she only hangs out with Troy and his basketball team. Much to the disappointment of her parents, Gabriella's wardrobe consists of baseball caps, t-shirts, jeans, and basketball clothes. She never wears make-up or does her hair, and she only wears clothes that are baggy and comfortable.

After ten minutes, both Troy and Gabriella were showered and dressed headed out the front door towards Troy's car. They arrived at the theater, and paid for their tickets before walking inside to get some seats. Troy bought some popcorn and drinks for the two and they made their way to their seats. Taylor and Chad came in moments later holding hands and sat down next to Troy. Chad had always been one of Troy's best friends, and he was a good friend of Gabriella's. Taylor, his girlfriend, had become somewhat close with Gabriella; Taylor was the closest female friend Gabriella had. As Taylor and Chad continued to hold hands and kiss, Troy became disgusted because they were showing a little too much PDA for his liking.

"Next time we go to the movies, we're going alone; or, we're not sitting next to these two", Troy whispered in Gabriella's ear making her smile.

Throughout the movie, Troy began to lean closer to Gabriella because he was trying to get as far away from Taylor and Chad who were constantly kissing and cuddling. Eventually, Troy let out a sigh as he stood up and grabbed Gabriella's hand. She looked at him confused, but he just continued to walk down the stairs two rows and walked to the center and sat down.

Once seated, Gabriella leaned over, "Okay, so what the heck was that all about?"

"Well, I was getting tired of seeing and hearing what those two were doing, so I decided to move. I didn't want to be down here by myself, so I brought you with me".

"Fine, but how come we left the popcorn up there wise guy?"

"Crap! Ah, I'll go get some more."

"No, it's cool. No worries. The movie will be over soon anyways." Gabriella said as she put her hand down on the armrest between the two of them, unaware of the fact that Troy's hand was already there. As their hands briefly touched, sparks went through them both, and they both quickly pulled away.

'What the crap am I doing? I can't keep feeling this way about Gabi. She is my best friend, and there is no way she feels the same way about me. She's too beautiful, smart, funny, talented, kind…way out of my league'. Troy quickly glanced at Gabriella before focusing once again on the movie. He had developed a crush on Gabriella in junior high, and those feelings had just grown stronger. He thought back to the first time he realized he was in love with her.

Troy was walking down the school halls with his friends Gabriella, Chad, Taylor, Zeke, Sharpay, Kelsi, Jason, and Ryan. They were all discussing the upcoming Spring Dance that was to be held in two weeks. The guys pulled Troy aside for a moment and told the girls they would catch up in a minute.

"So what was so important that you had to grab my shirt and interrupt my conversation with Gabi?" Troy asked Chad.

"Well Captain, we want to know if you have asked her to the Spring Dance yet?" Chad quickly responded.

"Why do I have to ask her…the last few dances we went as a group of friends and everything was fine."

"Because we all have dates, Troy. You and Gabi are the only two going solo at the moment."

"What about Ryan? Who's he going with?"

"I'm going with Jessica who's in the drama club" Ryan responded.

"So Gabi and I are going to be sitting at the table alone while you all ditch us for your PDA moments?" The guys all nodded, but Chad quickly spoke up.

"Not if you and Gabi go together and have some of your own PDA moments!"

Troy looked shocked and slightly taken back by the comment as he slapped Chad on his head.

"Ahh! Watch the hair!" Chad yelled.

"Ahh! Watch your comments!" Troy replied mockingly in the same tone.

"Anyways Captain, we all know you two like each other. You have since elementary school. So just ask her before someone else does. You guys are going to hang out all night anyways, like last year when you ditched all of us to go watch the Lakers' playoff game in the teachers' lounge".

Troy smiled remembering that night, while the guys all rolled their eyes.

-- -- -- --

Later that day Gabriella and Troy were at her house playing ping-pong in the backyard. Gabriella suddenly stopped. "Hey Troy, are you going solo to the dance this year?"

"I don't know. Why?"

"Cause the girls were saying they all have dates now, and I'm the only one without one. I was wondering if…" Gabi suddenly looked shy, something Troy wasn't used to, and she looked away.

"If what, Gabi?" Troy asked nervously, hoping that she would ask him and hint that she liked him, even though he was pretty positive she didn't like him in that way.

"Well, if you would like to go together as friends…I mean not as a date, but just together so that we won't be solo. I mean we would hang out together anyways…but I guess it's just the formality of it all." Gabriella nervously said.

She definitely felt more for Troy and wanted to go as more than friends, but she knew (or at least thought she knew) that Troy would never feel the same way about a girl like her who only wore basketball clothes and acted like one of the guys.

Troy was silent and he began to stare down at his feet unable to look Gabriella in the eyes. It felt like a knife went through his heart when she said "as friends". He didn't want to hurt her and say no, yet he didn't want to expose his feelings now that he thought she didn't feel that way.

Gabriella noticing Troy's actions, quickly said, "It's okay Troy. Forget I said anything. Dances aren't for me anyways. My parents just pressure me to go, but I think I'll just stay home this year anyways."

Troy quickly looked up into Gabriella's eyes and shook his head indicating she was wrong. "No Gabi. I would love to go with you as your da-uh I mean friend. Don't say you're not going, 'cause then who would I go with to sneak into the teachers' lounge to watch Game 5 of the Lakers versus the Kings?" Troy replied, with a smile forming on his face at the end.

Gabriella seeing this smile, became weak in the knees, and nervously grabbed onto the table. She began to smile and laugh lightly at his comment about the Lakers and responded, "You're right. Game 5 wouldn't be the same watching it at home by myself without you throwing stuff at the TV."

-- -- -- --

A couple of days later, the night of the dance had arrived. The girls were all getting ready at Gabriella's house, while the boys were at Troy's place across the street. After the guys were ready, they grabbed their flowers for the girls and headed over to Gabriella's house. Mrs. Montez let them all in giving each of them a hug, and smiling widely at Troy. He was wearing a black suit with a black shirt and a white tie, and he was holding a single red rose. "The girls are upstairs; I'll go let them know you're here" she said as she began to walk up the stairs.

Gabriella was the first one to come down because she never took long getting ready. She walked down the stairs in a white floor-length, spaghetti strap dress. Troy's stomach was full of butterflies when they made eye contact. He'd seen her before somewhat dressed up, but never like this. Her hair was slightly pulled up but it looked very natural as did her make-up. Mr. and Mrs. Montez along with all the guys were smirking and staring at the two as Troy grabbed her hand and handed her the single red rose. Both were blushing yet still looking into each other's eyes. Troy pulled her into a hug and whispered, "You look amazing."

Gabriella blushed as Troy pulled back. Troy looked around at everyone staring at the two of them and suddenly felt embarrassed. He saw Gabriella looked like she was embarrassed as well, so he decided to help them both out. "Wanna go outside while we wait for the rest of them to finish getting ready and come down?" Troy asked. Gabriella smiled before agreeing.

When they arrived at the dance, they all made their way to a table in the corner of the room. Everyone except Troy and Gabriella then made their way to the dance floor. Gabriella and Troy went to the snack table and got some food and drinks. They then sat at the table talking and laughing, just hanging out like they normally would.

"Hey, what time is it?" Troy asked suddenly.

"Um…6:30, why?"

"Cause the game starts at 7:00, and I wanted to ask you for a dance before we make a break for it and sneak into the teachers' lounge for the game." Troy didn't know what came over him to give him the courage to ask her to dance, but he was glad that he did.

Gabriella blushed. "Game starts at 7:15 you dork; but let me go to the bathroom and then when I get back we'll start our secret mission. Sound good?"

"What about the dance?" Troy asked grinning widely.

"That too." Gabriella said smiling as her face turned a very bright shade of pink before she headed off for the restrooms.

Rachel, the head cheerleader, was watching and listening to the two as she sat at the table next to them. When Gabriella headed towards the restroom, Rachel got up and followed her. Once inside, she grabbed Gabriella on the shoulder and spun her around, looking into her eyes with what Gabriella identified as anger and jealousy.

"Look, Troy is off limits for you Gabriella. Just because you two are close friends, that doesn't mean he likes you as something more. Who would like a girl like you who dresses like a boy? No one. Guys like girls who look good—who are beautiful—and you are the farthest from that. Trust me, Troy Bolton does not want to dance with you, kiss you, or date you, and he never will." And with that, Rachel turned around and stormed out of the bathroom. All this time, Gabriella's eyes were filling with tears.

Gabriella immediately ran out of the bathroom and tried to run towards the door without people seeing her. But this didn't go unnoticed by Troy. Troy was held up though by Rachel who stepped in front of him and began to chat. Troy heard nothing of what she said, all that was going through his mind were thoughts of what happened to Gabriella. In the middle of Rachel's sentence, Troy gently pushed past Rachel and headed towards the exit. When he arrived at the Montez home, he could see that Gabriella was in her room. He knew the Montez family was over at his house with his parents, so he went to the back of the house and climbed up the tree onto Gabriella's balcony.

Gabriella looked up when she heard a gentle tapping on the window. She quickly tried to dry her tears as she walked towards the balcony door. Troy's heart broke when he saw her red eyes and tear stained face. When she opened the door, she tried to act nonchalant as she went to give Troy a high five and said, "What's up?"

Troy, however, refused the high five and said nothing as he grabbed her shoulder and pulled her into a loving hug. Gabriella lost it again at that moment and tears began to stream down her face. Troy continued to hug her and gently rub her back for what seemed like hours until she finally stopped crying. He took her over to the swing on the balcony and sat down beside her, as he put his arm around her and pulled her head down to lay on his shoulder. After a while, he finally sensed she had calmed down enough, so he decided to get her to tell him what went wrong.

"Gabi, what happened? You don't have to tell me if you don't want to, but if you don't mind, I'd like to hear about it."

"It's no big deal Troy, and trust me, you don't want to hear about my stupid problems."

"Hey, look at me," Troy said as he lifted her chin with his fingers, "nothing about you is stupid; now spill…I'm your best friend, and I want to know."

"Well, I was in the bathroom, when Rachel came up to me, and said some hurtful, yet true stuff. It got to me…I cried…I ran home…that's pretty much it."

"What did she say?" Troy asked, his eyes filling with anger.

"She just pointed out some facts about me that I am aware of; yet, that I don't like to think about." Troy looked at her willing her with his eyes to continue. "She said that I probably have never had a boyfriend, let alone a first date, a first kiss, or even a first dance. I've never told you this really Troy, but I've never really had a guy like me that I know of. I know guys like me as a friend because I can play sports, and kick their butts most of the time, I love going to rock concerts, I'm not girlie, I hate shopping…you know…the reasons you guys are basically friends with me. I'm one of the guys. But, that doesn't mean I don't want those things—that I don't want to go on dates, be given flowers, dress up once in awhile, dance, have a boyfriend, etc, etc. Not only do I want all of those things, yet never really had any, but also my family and others close to me often straight up say or imply that until I become more feminine, those things will never happen. It just hurts, and I guess I have low self-esteem, and tough Gabriella has a soft spot."

Gabriella said all of this somewhat tearfully, looking at the ground, afraid to look Troy in the eyes. She couldn't tell her best friend that she loved him and had a crush on him since elementary school…she couldn't tell him that it hurt so much because Rachel said that Troy would never feel that way about her.

Troy realized this was his shot—his moment to tell Gabriella that he liked her and wanted to fulfill all of those things for her, but he didn't have the courage to say all of that yet. He was afraid she wouldn't feel that way about him and if he told her his feelings, she would be polite and try to let him down as easily as possible but in the process, their friendship would be slightly ruined. But, he decided he had enough courage for one thing. Troy stood up and reached his hand out to Gabriella. As she looked at him questioningly, he kneeled down in front of her, and wiped the tears from her face with his right hand. "Gabriella Montez, may I have the honor of this dance?"

Gabriella looked up at him and smiled. "Uh Troy…there's no music."

"Who says we need music? Besides, I believe you owe me a dance from earlier."

Gabriella softly put her hand inside his and stood up. He put his other hand on her waist, as she put hers on his shoulder. They stepped closer to each other as she leaned her head on his shoulder once again. Then Troy did something completely unexpected that rarely happened unless he was messing around, thought he was alone, or if he was in church—Troy started singing. But not just singing any song…he began to sing one of her favorites.

When I see your smile,
Tears roll down my face
I can't replace
And now that I'm strong, I have figured out,
How this world turns cold and it breaks through my soul
And I know I'll find deep inside me, I can be the one

I will never let you fall
I'll stand up with you forever
I'll be there for you through it all
Even if saving you sends me to heaven

It's okay
It's okay
It's okay

Seasons are changing,
And waves are crashing,
And stars are falling all for us
Days grow longer and nights grow shorter,
I can show you I'll be the one

I will never let you fall.
I'll stand up with you forever
I'll be there for you through it all
Even if saving you sends me to heaven

'Cause you're my, you're my,
My true love, my whole heart
Please don't throw that away
'Cause I'm here for you
Please don't walk away and,
Please tell me you'll stay

Use me as you will
Pull my strings just for a thrill
And I know I'll be okay,
Though my skies are turning gray

I will never let you fall
I'll stand up with you forever
I'll be there for you through it all,
Even if saving you sends me to heaven

I will never let you fall
I'll stand up with you forever
I'll be there for you through it all,
Even if saving you sends me to heaven

As Troy finished the song, they were still dancing, and Gabriella had tears in her eyes. Very rarely did she cry, but tonight she couldn't help it; no guy had ever asked her to dance, and no guy had ever sung for her. And, it wasn't just some guy…it was Troy. She didn't know he could sing that well, because he normally sang quietly or loudly while joking around. He definitely had a beautiful voice and this was one of the moments she knew she would forever remember.

Troy saw Gabriella crying and gently wiped away her tears once again as he looked deep into her beautiful brown eyes. He finally had the courage to tell her, he thought, but just as he was about to, her bedroom door swung open and Anthony walked through shouting her name.

"Gabi! Hey Troy! Did you two see the game? It was freakin' incredible! 4th quarter, down by two, Fisher kicks it out to Kobe at the 3-point line, two seconds left, he pulls back, shoots, and scores! Bye-bye Kings…hello round three of the playoffs for the Lakers. Amazing!"

Seeing the look on their faces and the fact that they were holding hands, Anthony stopped. "Oh, sorry…were you two busy? I'll go back to my room," he said as he smirked and turned around. Being around the two so much, he figured Troy liked Gabriella and he knew Gabriella liked Troy since she'd mentioned it to him once.

Once Anthony was gone, Gabriella turned to Troy. "How could we forget to watch the game, and how come you came up here instead of going home and watching it?" Gabriella asked.

"Hey…you are much more important than a basketball game. Besides, I have it on tivo…wanna go watch it?"

Gabriella smiled and nodded as the two headed over to Troy's house. Troy had wanted to say something to Gabriella about his feelings before Anthony came in, but now he just felt too nervous and uncertain of her feelings. One thing was for certain though…Troy Bolton knew that he was in fact in love with his best friend. There was no denying it now.

As they walked out of the movie, Troy and Gabriella met up with Taylor and Chad in the lobby. The four then headed over to California Pizza Kitchen to grab some lunch.

"So, why did you two get up and leave halfway through the movie?" Chad asked as the four sat down.

"We didn't leave…we were just getting away from you two lovebirds," Troy responded.

"Or, you were going to sit somewhere else so you could make out without Taylor and me sitting next to you," Chad responded with a smile on his face, making the two blush and look away.

"The only people making out in that theater were you two...so don't accuse us of PDA," Troy said once he felt the embarrassing moment had passed.

"Whatever dude," Chad responded.

"Anyways, you guys excited about school starting next week?" Taylor asked.

"I am definitely looking forward to starting up volleyball and basketball training again, and my classes are definitely going to be exciting this year," Gabriella said.

"Yeah, I don't know about the classes part…but I'm definitely excited for basketball training…and our first football game, which is next Saturday night," Troy replied.

Troy and Gabriella were both very much into sports. Both were also at the top of their class academically, however Gabriella had a little more interest in academics than Troy.

"Speaking of football…what week is homecoming?" Taylor asked Troy.

Troy had just taken a bite of pizza, so Chad decided to respond. "Homecoming is the weekend of October 15th, which gives Troy a couple of weeks to ask Gabi here to be his date," he ended nonchalantly.

Troy kicked Chad under the table while he gave him a "shut your mouth" look, while Gabriella blushed and focused on looking outside.

After lunch, Chad went to drop Taylor off at home before he drove over to Troy's to meet up with him and Gabriella to play a little basketball. When Gabriella went inside to get a drink, Troy turned to Chad. "What the heck was with your comment about homecoming?"

"What!? That it's the weekend of the 15th? Was I wrong?" Chad asked suddenly worried he had said the wrong date.

"No Chad…about me asking Gabi to be my date! Why'd you say that?"

"Maybe because you are head-over-heels in love with her, but too chicken to say something."

"Well why'd you say that? She wouldn't want to be my date anyways."

"Why not Captain? You two have gone to a dance together before."

"Yeah, but that was as friends…you said 'date' and 'date' implies more than friends."

"So, don't you want to go with her as 'more than friends'?"

"Of course…but she doesn't, and that's the problem," Troy replied sadly.

"How do you know she doesn't? Has she said that to you?"

"No; but I'm definitely not the type of guy she likes."

"Again I ask…has she said that to you?" Chad replied. Troy shook his head indicating that she hadn't. "Exactly…I see the way she looks at you. Dude, you have a shot. Now go for it before some other guy does, and you're left all alone sulking to me about how much you hate your life."

It was at that moment that Troy realized that Chad was right. If he didn't act soon, Troy knew some other guy would come along and Gabriella would say yes to him. Troy understood that he may not be what Gabriella was looking for in a guy, but he knew that if he never asked, he would always be left wondering if he really was the right guy and he was just too scared to ever act upon his feelings therefore missing his shot.