Title: Summer Getaway

Summary: This was supposed to be his time to just chill and hang out with his friends. But a turn of events landed Troy Bolton at the last place he'd want to be at. Can Gabriella Montez change his views on what Troy thinks will be the summer of his death? AU.

Disclaimer: Not mine. Not ever.

Chapter 6: Start of Something New

Gabriella suddenly found it very hard to continue finishing the song, which she had given a temporary title Something New, without Troy with her. After they had 'hung out' in her room in that fateful day, and he had come to work with her, they had been hanging out more and more. Gabriella didn't dread being the one to 'baby-sit' Troy whenever her mother had work. In fact, she looked forward to it. They usually just spend it in her room, and Troy listened on while she finished the compositing for Something New, or just watch as she made changes in the musical. Either that, or Troy tags along when Gabriella worked.

Either way, Gabriella found herself loving every minute she spends with Troy. When he came along with her at work, he just either sits at the lounge area, sometimes charming customers, or he even helped out behind the counter or being a waiter. And when they were just at home, his presence made it easier for her to actually finish this song she'd been working on for practically two weeks. It's as if he gave her some inspiration for this song. Gabriella denied any kind of feelings that may have come as they spend time together, but it was always at the back of her mind.

At the moment, Gabriella was stationed at the piano in the Coffee House continuing to work on Something New. The café was practically empty, since lunch had ended an hour ago, all the kids had gone back to whatever it is they do on summer or the adults went back to work. So it was just Gabriella and Ryan, who was wiping off the counter. Ryan gave Gabriella a free pass to continue working on the song since they really needed it to be finished before they auditions for the summer musical ended. Kelsi and Sharpay had heard snippets of the song and they immediately fell in love with it and agreed to make it the starting piece for the musical. Now, the pressure was even on for Gabriella since she needed this done quick.

Gabriella tried to revive some inspiration in order to finish something up in this song, but it was too difficult for her. She sighed in frustration and looked over the music sheet again. She's almost there. She knew it. But she just didn't have enough to finish it up. She kept trying anyways, she knew the girls were counting on her. She just wished she was back home in her room, working on this while Troy munched down on her chocolate mints. But today, Maria had a day off and decided to take Troy out for the day while Gabriella worked assuming that's what her daughter wanted. Boy was she wrong.

As she played the melody again on the piano, she suddenly felt a tap on her shoulder. She jumped in surprised and turned around to find Troy smiling at her.

"Troy!" she said in a surprised yet happy voice. She immediately stood up and hugged him which surprised both of them, but they didn't let go. Since they started 'hanging out' on Monday, they have been spending their time together for the week. Technically, this was the first time they've been separated since then. "What are you doing here?" she asked when they finally pulled back, both felt the loss of one another's arms around them, but hid it. "I thought you and mom were having lunch?"

"We were, but your mom had to go to the office so she dropped me off." he explained, happy to see her. Not that he didn't like hanging out with Maria, but he'd much rather be with Gabriella. "Still working on it?" he asked nodding towards the music sheet in front of them.

"Yeah." she sighed. The two of them sat down on the piano bench and they looked over the music sheet. "I don't know. I just can't seem to finish it." she sighed again this time with a sad look.

"Hey what's wrong?" he asked, noticing the look on her face.

"Nothing. Just…Shar and Kels are really counting on me to finish this and make it sound spectacular, and I'm just worried that I'll disappoint them. This is the first time I haven't exactly delivered a song by the time span of an hour. In fact, this is the longest I've ever worked on a song. And I'm just worried it's not gonna live up to it's potential."

"Hey, hey, hey." he said softly, placing an arm around her. "Don't talk like that. I've heard what this song sounds like and it is amazing. Don't cut yourself so short. I've heard all of the other songs you've composed and they are amazing. And I'm pretty sure this ones gonna turn out just as awesome. I should know, I was there half the time you worked on it."

Gabriella couldn't help but smile. Usually when she heard assurance from her friends, mom and teachers, she still had doubts in her head, but coming from Troy, she just believes in them. She looked up at him with that soft smile of hers, her eyes connecting with him immediately. What is it about him that just…made her believe?

Troy didn't know what was happening. One minute he was hugging Gabriella, the next, he was looking at her in the eyes. Troy's been with many girls before. Either he went out with them for a short period of time or just a few minutes of making out. But not once had he ever looked at the girl in the eyes before. Never had he felt such a connection with any of them. But in fairness, non of them were Gabriella. He didn't know what it was, but he knew that he should look away immediately and get himself out of it before he loses his control.

Troy cleared his throat and was the first one to look away. "So…" he started, averting his eyes from hers, and stood up to give themselves a little distance. Gabriella also got herself out of that eye lock and averted her gaze from his. "Um…your mom told me you were gonna go to the theater?" he said, still not looking at her.

"Uh yeah." Gabriella said somewhat absently. Then her eyes went wide. "Oh my gosh." she said then glanced at the clock. "I am so late." she then stood up and started frantically gathering the papers.

"What's wrong?" Troy asked, finally looking at her, this time in worry.

"I have to be there in five minutes." she said, finally having all the papers in her hand and neatly stacked. She walked off the stage and headed to the counter, with Troy following her. "So you're probably coming with me right?" she asked as she placed all her things in her bag which was hidden behind the counter.

"Uh, yeah. If that's alright." he said, rubbing the back of his neck with his hand.

"Sure. Just as long as you don't mind being with us 'drama freaks.'" she smirked.

"As long as you don't try and put me in leotards, we're good."

Gabriella chuckled. She took off her Coffee House apron and placed it on one of the hangers then slung her bag over her shoulder. "Ryan, we're leaving." she called to her friend who was on the other side of the room, cleaning tables.

"See ya there later." he called to them. "Bye Troy."

"Bye." Troy waved at him before he and Gabriella walked out of the café.

Since he had been hanging out at the Coffee House with Gabriella at times, Troy had also established friendly terms with Gabriella's friends. He also found out things about them. How they became friends and such. He knew that Sharpay and Gabriella have been friends since the first grade, therefore they're 'lifetime best friends' as Sharpay would put it. As well as Ryan and Gabriella who have a brother sister relationship. And Kelsi they had befriended in the fifth grade when the girl moved to town. And then there was Zeke who had been their 'protector' when the gang entered high school. Troy loved knowing these people. They were fun to be with.

The ride to the theater wasn't that long. In fact, it only took a mere ten minutes to get there. Making Gabriella only four minutes late. Though it didn't really affect the meeting much since Kelsi and Sharpay ere just joking around with the music set. But when they arrived at the building, Troy was confused as to why they were at a school. Not just that, he found out it's Gabriella's high school.

"Why are we here?" Troy asked when they got out of Gabriella's car. "I thought we were going to the community theater place?"

"We are." she said simply as they walked to the building, though Troy was a bit reluctant.

"But this is a high school."

"I know." she said. "This is our community theater." then she dug out a key from her bag and unlocked the doubled doors of the school.

"You have a key to the school?"

"Mh-hm." she nodded. "Everyone in the theater staff has them."

"And you're on the staff?"

"Of course. I am one of the producers of practically all productions held at the theater." she smirked at him, who was still amazed that she could get in the closed down school with no problems. The two entered the school and Troy was did not prepare his eyes for this.

"Whoa." he said, taking a step back. "A lot of…red."

Gabriella chuckled at him. "Yeah. We're just filled with school spirit."

"I'll say." he mumbled, following Gabriella.

"You see," Gabriella proceeded to explain. "the community theater is managed by East High's drama teacher, our teacher, Miss Darbus. And it's also sponsored by East High. So the principal lets us use the auditorium for auditions, rehearsals, and to play our productions. She does have an office outside of the school, but that's only for enrollment and for business purposes. Our real office is the school's auditorium."

Just as she finished her explanation, they arrived at the auditorium. When Gabriella opened the door, they saw that Kelsi and Sharpay were on the stage rocking out. Kelsi on the keyboards while Sharpay played with the drums to an unknown beat.

"Hey guys." Gabriella greeted them as she and Troy walked down towards the stage.

"Hey Gabs." they greeted back, stopping their music. "Troy!" they said in surprise to see him.

"Mom had to go to work. Hope it's ok he tagged along." Gabriella said, as she and Troy stepped on the stage.

"No problem." Sharpay said. "Though he'll have to worry about Darbus." hearing that, Troy's ears perked a little bit.

"Speaking of, where is she?" Gabriella asked.

"She in her office right now." Kelsi replied. "She'll be out soon."

"Uh wait a minute." Troy interjected. "What do I have to worry about?"

"Don't worry Troy." Sharpay chuckled. "She'll just probably make you sing or something."

"What?!" he exclaimed. Then glanced at Gabriella. "I don't sing." Gabriella just shrugged then walked with the girls to the backstage. "Gabs! I don't sing!"

-

Fortunately for Troy, after much convincing to the eccentric drama teacher, he was assigned to paint some props while the girls worked. He would have been fine just sitting back and sleeping on one of the chairs, but Miss Darbus wouldn't have any of it. Apparently, if he wanted to be with the group, he had to do something. He would have argued with her that he didn't want to be in the group, but Gabriella told him to go along with it, just to save them some time.

So he was left to paint card board boxes and try and made them look like tables and other furniture's, while the girls discussed about the musical. Troy had overheard all of it. Most of the conversations consisted of Sharpay interrupting every now and then to put suggestions and trying to convince Miss Darbus in putting her own touches to the musical. Most of the time, the idea was shot down.

They discussed about the songs they'll be using for the auditions, and the scenes people will be acting out. They also asked Gabriella about Something New and she answered, after receiving an assuring smile from Troy, that she was almost done with it. Then they went over the check list on what they have and what they'll need for the musical. After that it was just a matter of looking over the musical and see if there's anymore they needed to revive.

They also talked about casting matter. Since most of the people auditioning for the musical will be ones who had auditioned in the past, they considered which of them would be perfect for which roles. And Troy also learned that not only were the girls producing and directing this musical, but they will also star in it as well. Sharpay already had her part, Kelsi had her small part in it, too shy to take any big roles, and Gabriella will be the lead. He also learned that Gabriella had been the leading lady in practically all of the productions they had since the summer before high school when Gabriella first had her starring role and Miss Darbus loved her performance so much, that she casted Gabriella as lead every year.

After their meeting, Miss Darbus had left the school, leaving the kids to resume with their work. Sharpay and Kelsi went back to playing with the music sets some more while Gabriella took Troy somewhere.

"So where are we going?" Troy asked in confusion following Gabriella down the hallway of the school.

Gabriella turned to look at him with a smile. "To the jungle."

"Huh?" then Gabriella entered a room to which he followed. The room led a way to a staircase and the two walked up. They arrived on the rooftop of the school where it was filled with plants with different colors combined. "Wow." he said in amazement. "This place is…" he was at loss of words as he scanned the small area.

"Like it?" she asked, looking at him with a pleased smile.

"Yeah. I've never seen anything like this." he said. "I mean, there's my mom's priced garden, but it's nothing compared to this." which were true. His mother's garden was something out of a magazine, the flowers were spectacular, there was a fountain to give it ambiance, and it had won many prices. But compared to what he's seeing now, his mother's garden seemed nothing. "This really is something."

"I know." Gabriella smiled, proud of herself as she sat down on the bench. "The science department are to be blamed for this. And since I'm also part of that department, I was chosen as the handler for this place, so I have the key. The only key might I add."

Troy looked at her, amazed yet again. "You are in a lot of departments." he said, sitting down next to her. "Your in the drama club, science club, what's next? Don't tell me you do sports too?"

"No." she chuckled. "I've tried. I'm not good at it."

"But still. You're just the little working bee aren't you?" She just shrugged shyly. "So why'd you take me here?"

"No reason." she shrugged again. "I just really like this place. It's where I come to just think and…get away from it all for just a moment. Sharpay and Kelsi don't know about this place. Non of them do except for the science club and they rarely come up here."

"And yet you took me here?"

"Yeah." she looked down shyly. "I just thought you needed the time away from Sharpay and Kelsi and from painting."

"I kind of do and for that I thank you." he said. "And I am truly honored that you took me here."

She giggled slightly and smiled at him. "You know, I underestimated you at first?"

"Really?" he said sarcastically. "And why would you have Miss Montez?"

"Well," she giggled again. "From what my mom told me about you before you came, I kind of already pictured you as a Ritchie-rich esq. kind of kid. Someone who's used to getting his way and not caring if he got in trouble or not. And you kind of acted like it too in the beginning. I know you're not happy being here and you may not have voiced it or showed it, but you still sent a vibe that you didn't."

"I know." he sighed somewhat in shame.

"But hanging out with you, you kind of proved me wrong. You can be a nice guy."

He just looked at her with a grin. "Well, to be honest, I didn't really like being here. I mean, this was my summer to just kick back and hang out with my friends before I had to worry about college and stuff. Being sent to Albuquerque just ruined it and I was purposely giving off that vibe. But…hanging out with you changed it. It's actually kind of…fun here."

Gabriella couldn't help but giggle. Again. "I say this is a start of something."

"I agree." he said. "The start of…our friendship?"

"Didn't we start that last week?"

"Ok, how bout…the start of something new?" he said in a mocking tone, repeating the line of her song.

Gabriella just looked at him with a raised brow, but couldn't help but chuckle. "That actually sounds good."

"Ok then. You know what would make this even more official, if only we had drinks to toast to."

"Ooh, I have Snapple's."

"That'll work."

Gabriella then reached into her bag and pulled out two bottles of strawberry Snapple's. she handed one to Troy and kept the other.

"Ok, to the start of something new."