A/N: Yes, this is another one-shot. So much easier considering I don't have to update.

This story is an idea that literally just popped into my head the other night and I figured since I haven't written anything in a while...why not? By the way, this story takes place in between HSM1 and HSM2. Only a month or so after 'We're All In This Together'. Very very late considering HSM3 is on it's way to DVD but whatever.

Ok that was an obnoxiously long author's note. I'll stop now. As always, read, review & rejoice. So that last one isn't technically part of it but it's the holiday season (meaning school vacation) and that's plenty reason to rejoice.

Disclaimer: I own nothing. Darn.

Old Tricks
By: Miniprincess93

Just as Gabriella was packing up her notebooks and binders after the final bell, her phone started ringing. Taylor's picture popped up on the screen of her phone and she pressed 'send'.

"Hey Tay." She greeted her best friend just as she was swinging her messenger bag over her shoulder. "What's up?"

"Gabriella." Taylor said without so much as a 'hello'. "There's an emergency Scholastic Decathlon meeting in the lab." She informed her friend urgently.

"What? The competition was a month ago, and we won that, among other things. What could we possibly have to discuss already?" Gabriella asked incredulously.

"Just get up here," Taylor ordered. "Now." She said in a voice that indicated that there were no arguments. And with that, she hung up.

Gabriella ended the call with a sigh of defeat. She and Troy were supposed to do something after school today. The plans weren't definite but Gabriella was just about to change that before Taylor called.

She sent a quick text to him.

I can't hang out today. Sorry, maybe tomorrow? I'll call you.
-G

It was vague and unoriginal but Taylor wasn't in an expansive mood so vague and unoriginal was the best she could do for Troy.

Troy. Just his name alone made her smile as she made her way to the normal Scholastic Decathlon room. After the 'triple win', the two had been spending almost all their time together.

As friends.

That drove Gabriella crazy. They almost always were heavy on the flirting but Troy seemed unwilling to take it further. Friends flirt, right? She had to be content with their current state they were stuck in, not that she was. Gabriella might have made the first move a long time ago if she had any idea what the first move was.

Taylor and Kelsi, who were both fully aware of her massive crush on the East High superstar without her even having to tell them (was she that transparent? Their answer: Yes), kept on telling her to just walk up to him and kiss him senseless. It was bold and daring, two things of which Gabriella definitely was not. No, she was painfully shy and timid so the thought of spontaneously kissing Troy terrified her to no end. Plus, who's to say that if she did, Troy wouldn't pull away, disgusted and refuse to speak to Gabriella ever again?

Taylor, Kelsi and even Chad and Zeke assured her repeatedly that Troy was just as interested in her as she was in him. That was easy for them to say. Chad had officially asked Taylor to be his girlfriend during the after party (Gabriella wanted to scream 'GET A HINT BOLTON!' when they received the good news.) And Zeke, well he was in love with the Ice Queen so she wasn't completely sure if she trusted his judgment.

The instrumental version of 'The Start of Something New' broke Gabriella from her thoughts. A distinctive tone saved only for…ah, speak of the devil. She got a text from the boy who was currently plaguing her brain.

Oh ok i guess ill talk to u later
-T

Gabriella gave a disappointed smile to her phone. She had never believed in love at first sight until Troy started singing on that stage that unbelievable New Year's Eve. It was, for lack of a better word, magical. She sighed, she had to stop gushing about the guy who was never going to see her as more than just a friend. Okay, so he had almost kissed her after the Wildcats' Championship game (almost being the key word. Stupid Chad and his impeccable timing) but that was probably just a fluke. Adrenaline was running high, he probably had no idea what he was doing. And he was probably thankful that Chad had interrupted them when he did.

She hated this, it was getting her absolutely nowhere. Well figuratively at least since Gabriella finally found herself standing in the doorway of the science lab. She looked around, completely mystified.

There was nobody else there. Nobody but Taylor who was standing behind the teachers' bench.

"Tay, what's going on? Where is the rest of the team?" She asked, furrowing her brow in confusion.

"I lied." Taylor said quickly. "I kinda need to talk to you and it's not about the Scholastic Decathlon."

"And we couldn't do that at your house or whatever?" Gabriella was beyond confused. When she and Taylor had their 'heart-to-hearts' it was usually over a tub of Ben & Jerry's, in their pyjamas at a sleepover. Not at school, in a place where they generally discussed algorithms and politics.

"Nope. It had to be here." Taylor nodded. "You'll see soon enough. Come over here, let's talk."

"Okay. What about?"

"How are things with a certain Mr. Bolton?" Taylor questioned coyly.

"Ew, Coach Bolton?" Gabriella joked. Taylor gave her a look. "Kidding. Things between me and Troy are…" She sighed. "Nonexistent." She admitted glumly.

"Nothing?" Taylor surmised.

"Nothing." Gabriella repeated, steadily becoming more and more depressed about the subject. "Zero. Zip. Zilch. Nada and every other word that means that Troy and I are 'buddies'," She said in a falsely cheery voice. Than she returned back to normal "and nothing else."

Taylor laughed. Gabriella felt there was nothing funny whatsoever. "Just tell him already!" Taylor exclaimed. "Chad's already told you about a million and four times that Troy is absolutely crazy about you. He's just…slow." Taylor smiled sympathetically at her friend's distress.

"If he was any slower, he'd be going backwards." Gabriella grumbled.

Taylor sighed. "Here, let me show you something." She led Gabriella over to a laptop sitting on a desk. She opened it and proceeded to press several buttons, effectively opening up a web cam page, showing an empty locker room. Gabriella watched curiously and when she saw it, she was overwhelmed with a feeling of déjà vu.

"Taylor, seriously?" Gabriella shook her head. "Aren't you and Chad past this already? Why are you dragging me up here to get me together with Troy only to break us up?" She rolled her eyes. "Not that there's anything to break up because Troy's got some physical incapability to move any faster than a snail." Gabriella rambled as Taylor watched her impatiently.

"Just watch the damn screen." Taylor demanded, using her hands to direct Gabriella's face towards the video in which Troy and Chad were entering the camera shot, both sweaty from their recent basketball practice.

"What do you mean you haven't made a move on Gabs yet?" Chad asked Troy for what seemed like the umpteenth time.

"Exactly what it sounds like." Troy said exasperatedly. "Drop it, okay dude?"

"Come on, this girl has had you whipped from day one." Chad reminded him. "And you're telling me you two are still just friends?"

"Yes." Troy said shortly, already extremely annoyed with Chad by this point.

How many times did he need to rub in Troy's face that he still hadn't sealed the deal with Gabriella? The girl who was almost too good to be true. She was smart, funny, absolutely beautiful and a constant distraction to Troy. When he was supposed to be studying, he would pull out his phone and start texting her for some kind of communication and he thought about her almost every second. If they were talking during homeroom and they both got assigned detention with Ms. Darbus, he wouldn't mind. It meant spending more time with her.

She was so perfect, Troy was almost intimidated. There were at least a dozen times within the last month when he opened his mouth to ask her out but he always wimped out or they were rudely interrupted by one of their friends. Thinking this, he unconsciously glared at Chad. If it wasn't for him, he would have already kissed Gabriella and they might actually be somewhere by now.

"Man, how many times do I have to tell you that Taylor's said that Gabriella won't stop talking about you?"

"How do you know that she's just talking about me because we're 'buddies'?" Troy said the word venomously. At the moment, it was his worst enemy. "She did cancel on me today." Troy told Chad. (Back in the lab, Gabriella gave a look to Taylor who had the decency to look somewhat guilty.)

Behind him, Chad shifted his eyes innocently. He and Taylor weren't aware that their plans for today might interfere with Troy and Gabriella's predetermined plans. Well, they would thank them for this eventually.

"That's probably nothing." Chad assured him.

Troy didn't respond. Maybe it was something. Maybe she was cancelling because she was getting sick of him and didn't want to hang out anym-. No, he was not going to think like that. She wouldn't say ask to hang out tomorrow if she didn't actually want to hang out.

As friends. Dammit.

"If you don't make a move soon, someone else will." Chad warned. Troy's fists clenched and his jaw hardened but other than that, there was no reaction. "You like Gabriella don't you?" Chad asked when still, Troy said nothing.

Finally, Troy had enough. He whirled around. "Yes." He answered strongly. "You know I like Gabriella. Hell, you know I more than like her. Stop fucking around." He slammed his locker with as much force as he could muster.

Gabriella was staring in the general vicinity of the laptop long after Taylor had closed the computer. She hadn't moved a muscle since Troy admitted told Chad about how he felt about her.

"Gabriella?" Taylor said gently. "You okay?" She waved a hand in front of Gabriella's frozen face.

She stayed silent, not even flinching. Gabriella was just trying to soak it all in.

Troy Bolton liked her.

Troy Bolton liked her, Gabriella Montez. And she was sure she liked Troy Bolton too. This was just what she needed.

"Excuse me." She said dazedly to Taylor, making her way out of the room.

Taylor whipped out her phone and started typing a quick message to Chad.

Chad felt a vibrate in his pocket and he pulled out a text from Taylor.

I suggest you get out of there ASAP.

Troy was facing his locker so Chad snuck out of there are fast as he could without making any noise. When Troy turned around, he was in an empty locker room. He groaned. He didn't intend to get Chad mad but Gabriella just tended to do that to him. That's how much of an effect she had on him, even when she wasn't present. Speaking of, he fished his phone out of his pocket, his finger hovering over the speed dial (1, of course) and preparing to call Gabriella to see…actually he just wanted to talk to her. But if she asked, he would say needed help with his homework. Her super-genius self wouldn't be able to resist that, it was a solid plan.

Just as he was about to leave the locker room, the door opened. He expected to see Chad, coming back because he forgot his pants or something equally stupid.

He never thought people actually did double-takes in real life, like only in the Three Stooges for comic effect. But right then, he looked up briefly, then down at his phone before his head snapped right back to where it was. He let his widened eyes focus the sight.

Gabriella was standing in the hall. Of the boys' locker room. A voice inside Troy's head told him that she probably wasn't allowed in here but a louder voice told it to shut up because it was Gabriella for god sakes. She looked a little lost and scared but it was Gabriella nonetheless. He watched questioningly at her as he pocketed his phone again (calling her would certainly be no use now), wondering what she was doing there. Not that he was complaining. She was biting her lip, looking just as adorable as always and her face directed downwards but her eyes peering nervously up at him through her lashes.

Just go right up to him and kiss him. Taylor's advice was echoed in her mind the entire time she stood outside the locker room, mustering up the courage to open the door. With those fighting words, Gabriella straightened up and walked up to Troy, not quite believing that she was really going through with this. And Troy stared at her, completely confused.

She took a deep breath, raised herself to the balls of her feet and pressed her lips to his, wrapping her arms around his neck.

At first, Troy was shocked. A very good shocked but still shocked. But then that voice inside his head told him 'Bolton, you idiot, do something already.' Troy placed his arms around her lower back and pulled her hips closer to him and finally started reacting to the mind-blowing kiss that Gabriella was giving him.

She was moving her lips most harmoniously and pleasantly against his and just when she thought it was probably time to pull away, he ran his tongue gently across her bottom lip, begging for access which she happily allowed. Finally, oxygen become a necessity and they reluctantly separated although Troy gave her one last chaste peck on the lips.

Gabriella's eyes fluttered open and found Troy smiling at her, boring his crystal perfect blue eyes straight into hers from just inches away. Unconsciously, her corners of her lips turned up until they were stretched from ear to ear.

"I more than like you too." Gabriella whispered.

A/N: Yeah, I'm not sure if I like this or not. The ending is especially iffy imo. And yes, the repetition is intentional. It's just kinda showing that they're thinking similarly. Anyway, please review. Good or bad just no flames preferably…And constructive (key word: constructive) criticism is always welcome. Fanfiction even moved the button so it was more convenient. Use it!