Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters or places created by the High School Musical franchise or by Disney nor the songs used in this story by various artists.

Part 3 – Troy's POV – Crush

I hung up the phone tonight,
Something happened for the first time,
Deep inside it was a rush, what a rush
Cause the possibility,
That you would ever feel the same away about me,
It's just too much, just too much
Why do I keep running from the truth,
All I ever think about is you
You got me hypnotized, so mesmerized,
And I just got to know

The smell of nail polish fills my nostrils as I walk back into the living room at my girlfriend's house, or should I say mansion. Since Katherine Anderson, my girlfriend, was thirsty about ten minutes ago, I had offered to go back to the kitchen to get her some water only to have her tell me she wanted a Diet Coke with a splash of grenadine and a cherry with a lime slice that was exactly a fifth of the lime. Wanting to keep her happy, especially after our fight the other night, I walked to the gigantic kitchen and searched through the three refrigerators to find what I needed, wishing then that one of her servants had come to my rescue but not a one had shown up. Typical of my luck, I swear.

Anyway, when I am finally done getting her drink just right, I put away everything like the unused parts of the lime and the grenadine bottle before making my way back to the living room to find Katherine now busy having her nails painted by a servant. I find myself rolling my eyes at this but silently put her drink down next to her and see her give me just a glance before criticizing the way the woman was painting her toes.

"Maya, I told you only on the nail! My skin does not need a fine coat of ruby red on them!"

"Yes miss, I'm sorry," I hear the woman reply, causing me to sigh quietly.

It was times like these when I find myself wondering how I ever ended up going out with a girl like Katherine, remembering only how flattered I was that one of the sexiest girls in our class took interest in me near the start of senior year. Honestly, I never knew that she knew I existed until Katherine was suddenly everywhere I went at school, there to flirt and giggle and make me feel special with all her attention.

Chad Danforth, one of two of my childhood best friends, loves telling me what a trap Katherine has set for me but I disagree. Despite her diva behavior, like now, Katherine is actually great. Maybe she's not as sweet and as intellectual as I always thought my dream girl would be, but she definitely knows how to have a good time and makes me feel like I'm the King of the World… most times.

"Troy, dear, would you be a dear and get me another lime?" Katherine requests of me, giving me that sexy smile of hers that she has already figured out could get me to do just about anything.

I nod my head and get up from the couch I had settled into, walking back to the kitchen to slice another fifth of a lime for her and put it on a napkin before returning the lime to the fridge and walking back, feeling much like a servant instead of Katherine's boyfriend. By the time I'm back, the servant is finishing up and is gone within five more minutes while Katherine is busy drinking her Diet Coke.

Unable to resist, I ask, "Do your servants always do your nails?"

Katherine gives me a look that clearly says that they do. "Unless I get them done at a salon, my servants always paint my nails. What other way is there to do it?"

"Umm, I don't know…" I reply, not really wanting to get into a discussion about this right now with her, already feeling like we had met our argument quota the other night over something that was so out there to fight about.

"Exactly why this is a girly thing that most guys unless they are gay or metro don't need to bother themselves with. I bet you wouldn't even know the right end of a nail buffer to use!"

I plaster a smile on my face as Katherine continues to chatter on, thinking of the last time I saw a girl add some color to her nails, that girl being my other childhood best friend, Gabriella Montez.

"Ella, what exactly are you doing with those markers?" I asked as I put down the sports magazine I was reading to look at Gabriella who was sitting next to me, her back against the headboard and her legs drawn up so her thighs were pressed against her front. It was a Tuesday night and, as she always is, Gabriella is over to spend a few hours with me while we have our exclusive Ella and Troy time.

She glanced over at me and gave me an impish smile. "I'm coloring my nails. What does it look like I'm doing?"

"I am no expert but isn't it usually called painting your nails?"

"It is if you are using nail polish but as you observed, Mr. Einstein, I am using markers and not nail polish," she breezily replied, giving me another smile as she waved the markers in front of my face. "Now, since you've so inconsiderately interrupted my concentration, what color should they be?"

"Your toes?" I heard myself ask. Is she really using just markers on her toes to color them?

Gabriella rolled her eyes at me. "Duh! Silly boy! What else would I be coloring, my actual feet?"

I smirked at this. "Well, with you Ella, I just never know."

She pushed just enough against my upper arm to shove me over to the right a little before I righted myself. "Enough chatter from you smart aleck. Colors?"

"Are you just putting the marker straight onto your nails?" I questioned, too confused as to how this actually worked to pick a color just yet.

Gabriella sighed, reaching over to the nightstand on her side to pick up a nail polish bottle. "First, I put on a clear coat to make sure I don't permanently stain my nails and I let that dry, which I already have. Next, I color them solid colors or make designs then wait about ten minutes for them to dry. Last step is putting a clear coat on top of the coloring to make sure nothing rubs off. Done with the Inquisition?"

"Hey, I just am curious! It's not like I do any of this!" I protested. "What about red and white to support me and the start of basketball season?"

"Slight problem. No white marker," Gabriella pointed out, giving me a sarcastic look that I've only seen her pull off so well, making me nervously rub the back of my neck.

"Oh yeah, duh…"

Gabriella giggled, making me grin again. "Don't worry, with all the colors they have available, I think I have seen several white markers. The classic pack though that I have here, non-toxic of course, doesn't have white. It has brown, violet, gray, red, orange, yellow, black, green, pink, and blue."

She always knows how to make me feel better and not quite as stupid as I should feel. Another reason to add to the list of why she's my best friend.

Apparently, I ended up taking too long in trying to choose a color because Gabriella gets a mischievous twinkle in her mocha eyes before she sprung her color choices on me. "I know! Blue and yellow!"

I was about to agree when it clicked in my head why she looked so impish again while she suggested it to me. "Hell no! I will disown your sorry ass if you even think to show up at a game of mine let alone school with West High colors! No fucking way Ella!"

"Oh, but I was so hoping I'd catch that dreamy captain's attention on the Knight's Varsity Basketball team," she replied, placing the back of her left hand against her forehead. "Why, I think I shall faint the next time I'm near him! He's so dreamy!"

"Go shove it Gabriella!" Okay, so that wasn't the ideal response my mother would want me to say to a girl but this was Gabriella we're talking about. When we were little, I think I stopped even really conceptualizing Gabriella as a girl, one of them, the hard to understand creatures boys often crushed on, even when we both hit puberty. "Fine, I'll pick and I'll color your nails to make sure they don't turn out blue and yellow!"

An eyebrow arched up as she looked at me in disbelief. "You, Troy Bolton, my Wildcat, are going to color my nails for me? What is the world coming to? Are you up to the task?"

"Oh give me a break, it's just coloring. I am not making any cutesy little patterns for you though," I warned her, picking up a red and yellow marker, the closest I could get to East High colors as yellow was an official color that was sometimes used in the halls and on uniforms.

When I shifted on the bed and moved over so I was now facing her, I tried to take one of her feet in my hands only to have her pull it back. "What? Give me your foot Gabriella."

She bit her lip, a look on her face as she eyed me a bit warily. "Troy, I've never had anyone else do my nails except for that one time Sharpay made me go with her and Taylor to the spa. Touching my feet is a bit personal don't you think? I can do it, really."

"Forget it, I'm doing it. It's just me Gabriella, the same guy who saw you running around in just an undershirt and your Superwoman underwear when you were seven," I replied, chuckling as I saw her blush.

After sighing, Gabriella extended her legs out as she let me place her left foot in my lap. "I was five by the way, maybe six but definitely not seven. At least I don't wear my favorite super hero on my underwear anymore unlike someone."

"Touché Ella, touché!" Of course Gabriella was referring to my boxers she had seen me in the countless times she was over in the summer and it was just too hot to wear anything else but my shorts that I liked low on my hips and my boxers that were visible above that. So what if some of them had Spiderman and Superman on them?

True to her word, after I was done, we sat there and talked for about ten to fifteen minutes before Gabriella grabbed the clear nail polish bottle again only to give me a startled look when I took it from her. "Let me finish my artwork!"

"All right, whatever you say Wildcat," Gabriella replied, handing me the bottle and sitting back to let me finish the job, smiling back at her once I was done.

That was quite a bit different than what I experienced today but I guess every girl has different methods and preferences than the other, right? I guiltily look at Katherine and feel relief when she isn't looking at me, knowing in part of my mind that she would have a hard time reading my mind anyway. Problem is, that same down to earth girl of my memory, the low-maintenance girl who was content coloring her nails with a marker, was the reason why Kat and I fought the other night.

Why? Why the fight considering that Gabriella is just that, my best friend? Katherine has it in her mind that I'm crushing on my best friend. How ridiculous is that? Gabriella is one of the best people I know but I don't like her like that, no way, at least that's the way I always thought when some other random person would suggest that Gabriella and I make a beautiful couple. How can you say that to someone who has practically grown up with said girl like a brother to a sister would?

For the rest of the afternoon, Katherine and I cuddle on the couch and watch a movie before I force myself back up off the couch, this time to head home to be there in time for dinner. Instead of walking me to do the door, citing she was tired, Katherine pulls me down to give me a deep, lingering kiss before letting me go, giving me again that sexy smile of hers.

"Bye Troy," she sexily purrs, making me grin as I bid her farewell and see myself out.

Once settled into my truck, I wait until I am on the main road to call up Gabriella, who answers on the second ring, wanting to check up on her as I always do in the early evenings. "Whatcha doing Ella?"

"Oh, just coloring my nails," Gabriella replies, making me chuckle, which she hears. "What's so funny Wildcat?"

"I was just thinking of the time I colored your nails is all. You better not be coloring them blue and yellow or I'm going to turn this truck in the direction of your house straight away to fix that right away!" I exclaim, grinning as I hear her adorable giggle that is uniquely her.

"Promise, no blue and yellow combinations for me," Gabriella swears. "I could never hurt you like that Troy."

My grin widens as I know this is the truth. Gabriella has such a gentle soul that she could never really do anyone else any serious harm, yet another thing I loved about her. I freeze, thankful I'm at a stoplight, as I catch myself and my wording, albeit wording that remained only in my head. Did I really just say that it was another thing that I loved about her? A word so big that I would never dream of using it when I think about Katherine and especially when I talk to her? No way, it's just all the accusations Katherine threw at me the other night that has me thinking this way. Of course I don't love Gabriella…

"Wildcat? Troy? Are you still there?" I hear Gabriella ask, worry in her voice. "Troy?"

Shaking myself, I focus back on the present. "Sorry Ella, just spaced. I'm actually driving so I probably should focus on the road. Wouldn't want to get my rusty old car banged up."

"Be nice to that car. You and your dad worked on it and I know you love it despite your swearing at it every so often when you need to fix something. I'll talk to you later tonight?"

"Yup, bye!" I quickly hang up the phone and lean my head on the steering wheel after I toss the cell phone onto the bench next to me.

Did I really use the word love in terms of Gabriella? Impossible…

Do you ever think, when you're all alone,
All that we can be, where this thing can go
Am I crazy or falling in love,
Is it real or just another crush
Do you catch a breath, when I look at you,
Are you holding back, like the way I do
Cause I'm tryin', tryin' to walk away
But I know this crush aint' goin' away, goin' away

So I've come to the conclusion that girls exist only to make you insane. Yup, that's the only logical reason why I've been reduced to feeling like the scum of the earth at the moment. All the fights with Katherine over the fact that my girlfriend is convinced I have a thing for my best friend has caused so much tension between us that it is no longer fun to be with her.

Even worse, all the arguing with Katherine has really got me thinking… What if she's right? Could she be right? Sure Gabriella is smart and genuine, funny and sweet, not to mention a great listener. That all makes her a great best friend though and nothing else, right? Never before have I ever had to sit back and question what I think and feel about Gabriella and now that Katherine has made me sit in a corner practically to try to work this all out, I can't help but wonder if Katherine is right, if I have a crush on Gabriella… or even more.

Then again, there's nothing like a fiery ultimatum to make a person really sit there and think about everything and everyone in his life. Yup, Katherine, slapped me with one the other day just moments after I caught her being flirty with Tony Fitzgerald.

After Gabriella quickly left me after spying Katherine down the hall, the laughter that was bubbling from me disappeared as I nervously rubbed the back of my neck. I could tell that Katherine was livid, especially with our arguments lately, but what did she expect? Gabriella has been in my life for far longer than Katherine has been and my habits with Gabriella just don't die that easily or quickly, no matter how angry Katherine gets.

What I hadn't expected though was when Katherine disappeared to clearly avoid me to run into her as she flirted with another guy on the team, catching them just as I heard Tony murmur, "…You really are pretty Katherine. Troy is a lucky guy."

Yeah, my girlfriend is pretty, sexy more like it. I stood off to the side as I continued to observe the way Tony was holding Katherine and listened to their exchange. "Thanks Tony. Umm, you can let go now."

Strangely, as much as I hate the image of Tony holding onto Katherine's upper arms like that, I'm not burning with jealousy, as movies and tv shows depict a boyfriend should behave. Maybe it's all the accusations Katherine has thrown at me lately that make me more level headed, grounded, as I hear him back off.

"Oh, sorry!" he apologized, putting a genuine apologetic look on his face. That's bullshit right there because Tony is so not the type to be soft for any girl. He's the biggest player there is on the East High court and I'm not talking about basketball. "So, umm, where's Troy?"

I paused as I waited to hear what snappy comment Katherine would come up with, missing what she said first. The second part of what she said though was clear as she stumbled, "He's, umm, he's…"

"He's right here," I volunteered, tired of the little scene already. "How's it going Tony?"

Tony and I bumped fists, an acceptable greeting between any pair of guys, and I began chatting him up about basketball, knowing that it would give Katherine the best idea that I didn't care that she was trying to make me jealous or whatever else she was trying to do. I saw Katherine get bored rather quickly and wrap it up, having little interest in wasting my breath on Tony when I really just wanted to talk to Katherine.

Soon enough, Tony left and I'm left with Katherine in the stairwell, groups of East High students moving around us. We stared at each other, the silence between us heavy, both seemingly waiting for the other to break down first. Before I knew it, Katherine turned around and left to march through the door next to us and sulked all the way down the halls to her locker.

True, she held her head up high but I knew Katherine well enough to see through her theatrics. I wanted to talk to her but it's going to be on my terms and she's going to talk first. While she busied herself at her locker, I stood there on the other side of the door, rubbing the back of my neck and shuffling my feet out of boredom.

Luckily, before I died of boredom, Katherine finished and turned to look at me for the first time after she closed her locker door. "Oh, hi Troy. I didn't realize you were there."

"Oh, really?" I asked, as one of my eyebrows rose and I surveyed her from my current position of leaning against some random locker. "I think you did, just like how you saw me at Gabriella's just a little bit earlier but then disappeared to what it appears avoid me. What's going on Kat?"

Yup, I really did ask that. Why? Because I wanted her to understand what the hell it feels like always being on the defensive, to be the one answering questions. "Oh, don't mind me Troy. I'm just busy imagining ways of how you and your best friend could be flirting and having a blast in the very halls I walk through too. It just must be my mind being so completely bored in classes that I just keep dreaming up ways for you to be picking her up and spinning around for now good reason. Wow, I really am so delusional aren't I?"

My mind froze. As prepared as I was for this new battle, hearing Katherine's take on what she saw with me and Gabriella not more than twenty minutes ago painted a picture of a happy couple in my head, one that consisted of me and my best friend. Shit. Now was so not the time. Instead, I turned the tables on her, steeling myself for another fiery exchange. "Katherine, I thought we have discussed this already. It's been going so good between us babe that I honestly thought we were over all this bullshit."

Denial… The best thing I thought of there on the spot to hide the truth from the both of us. God, what am I doing?

"Then why is the bullshit still occurring Troy, huh? I'm sick and tired of hearing you tell me I'm a head case when every time I turn a corner here at school, cause God knows I will not hang out with your stupid friends again if she's there, you're there with her! Do you know what that does to me? How that paints me to look like? A fool!"

"Come on Kat, don't be like this. No one is calling you a fool," I answered, not really wanting to hurt Katherine despite the attitude she was giving me. After all, I still am attracted to her and liked her. I just, I had to wonder if I ever could love her.

"No, of course they don't. They all think I'm lucky to be dating you. Well guess what? You're damn lucky to be dating me! Newsflash, I'm not some innocent and shy girl like that mouse of a best friend you have. Other guys are interested in me, Tony included, and I could have any one of them! Am I with them though? No! Why? Because I seem to only want you!"

"Well what the fuck do you want me to do? I keep telling you the truth, there is nothing going on between me and Gabriella! Next thing I know you'll get some fucking crazy idea of having me cut her out of my life to prove that I'm serious about you. Straight out of some chick flick movie!" As soon as the words left my mouth I knew it was a mistake.

"Actually, that's exactly what I want Troy."

Fuck, this girl was crazy all right. I just told her that it was an insane idea! "What? No, absolutely no way Katherine! Gabriella is my best friend!"

"Then you're telling me there is something going on between you two then? Glad to hear you finally admit it!"

No, I didn't say that… aloud. Fine, maybe I have been thinking of Gabriella a little differently ever since Katherine has forced me to look at Gabriella being in my life. Maybe I was caught off guard the other night during mini-golf when I was helping Gabriella with her putt, when I felt the electricity run between us, shocking me in the end. I've never experienced anything quite like it and I hadn't a clue what caused it other than the thought I had earlier in the night of how much she really had matured looks wise since we were little and how naturally beautiful she was. "For the last time, there is nothing going on between me and Gabriella… now or before. You don't know what you're asking me to do Katherine."

"Oh, but I do Troy." Holy crap, the nut smiled at me. "We've been together for a few months now and I know exactly what Gabriella means to you and how she feels about you and you her, that is if what you're saying to me is the truth. She's just a friend and I'm your girlfriend, the girl you asked to Homecoming, the girl who you love steaming up the windows of your truck with. Choose Troy, Gabriella or me."

Was she really serious? This so can't end well, no matter what I do. It would have been easier if I really didn't care at all for Katherine but I did. As much of a nag she had been lately, I still liked her in that way, like a crush. "Please Kat, don't do this."

"Choose Troy, because I don't have it in me to keep watching the guy I really like, that I have committed myself to, play me like a violin, so smoothly, while he woos another girl."

As if I didn't feel bad enough, I saw tears, actual tears from Katherine and knew that I was the one that had put them there. All right, now I did feel bad, horribly bad. How did all this happen? What did we do to get to this crazy ultimatum from the flirty, fun couple we used to be just under a month ago? When her eyes filled with even more tears, I couldn't hold myself back and stepped forward to touch her cheek, to show her that despite our angry words, I still cared about her.

I wasn't surprised though when she stepped away. "Katherine…"

"Choose, God damn it Troy, choose!" There was a foreign quality to her voice, something that betrayed the fact that Katherine wasn't the Great Ice Queen I knew kids at school thought of her as. Sharpay Evans was the only other girl at school that inspired that type of reaction.

As Katherine continued to stand there, ranging from standing strong and faltering, all right before my very eyes, I realized I couldn't choose right there. It wouldn't be fair to any of us. "I can't, I'm sorry."

Within a second, I see that icy mask that often melted away for me in the past few months come up with such force that I felt in my gut that it was permanent. For that reason alone I allowed Katherine to walk away. It wasn't over between us but if I knew instinctively that if I didn't decide, and made sure that decision was in Katherine's favor, I would be single yet again in the matter of a short span of time.

Now, just a couple of days later, I sit here with Gabriella, on our bench in the neighborhood park, under the tree that I loved helping her climb when we were little, lost in my memories and thoughts. As hard as I've tried, I can't stop thinking about Katherine's ultimatum and what it really means for my life. She had ordered me to choose between her and someone who I never thought I'd ever part with. Hell, Gabriella and I had recently talked about applying to some of the same colleges on one of our Tuesday nights.

It wasn't fair but I am starting to see Katherine's point. There is something thrumming just under the surface between me and Gabriella. When I really started focusing on it when all this began between me and Kat, I started to slowly feel it, hear it. How long had this all been going on? Did Gabriella feel this too or is this just me being totally crazy?

Gabriella's giggle is what fishes me out of the sea of thoughts I'm in, reminding me of her wonderfully happy take on life. She's not looking at me but I have to wonder what she's laughing about. Damn, she's adorable when she giggles like that.

I snap to though when I see her catch me looking at her. "What?"

"What's so funny?"

"Oh, umm, well, I was thinking of how we got our matching scars."

Our matching scars… Oh man, I haven't thought about those in ages! The memory of little Gabriella looking so proud to have beat me to riding without help only to see her fall, followed by me crashing into and over her made me smile. It was strange to feel my mouth stretch this way after such a long time of worrying and thinking I shouldn't be smiling but our childhood memories together always make me laugh or smile at least. Those were the days…

"You mean how you gave me mine?"

I hide my chuckles as Gabriella comically drops her jaw, leaving her mouth so wide open. I'm tempted to remind her that a fly could easily be her next protein snack if she didn't close it but resist when I see her cutely deny that she gave me the scar on my knee. "I did no such thing!"

"Oh come on Ella, admit it. If you hadn't lost your balance first and then crashed right in my way, I wouldn't have been hurt!" That is true although I know I probably would have fallen anyway with how wobbly I had been from the get go without help. Seeing Gabriella pout some more, I can't help but grin, loving the fact that I could rile her up at will still. I pause as I catch myself using that word again… loving, love, lovely, loved… I've used them all in terms of Gabriella and how I see her, feel about her. Thing is, I keep trying to suppress it all because I know it's not right to feel this way about her. Not only is she my best friend but I have a girlfriend who I'm supposed to love, right?

"Cause you are so graceful you wouldn't have hurt yourself on your own, right? What about the time you ran right through the screen door, popping it off its track, when you and I were playing war in your house?"

Oh, she did not just bring up that idiotic injury of mine. My mom still makes fun of me every time we see a Windex commercial with the birds who think they can fly right through the glass. "Again, your fault. You were chasing me!" And, right on cue, she rolls her eyes at me. "You were always the chaser."

"And what does that tell you Troy if I was the one chasing you with a working toy gun with those fun Nerf balls? It means I was always the winner!"

Seeing that look on her face, a classic Gabriella look that tells me she thinks she has won, causes me to laugh even more, relieved to be feeling this light hearted again. "All right, I give you that, most of the time. God, how I really wish we could just go back in time and live the worry free life we had back then Ella. Things have always just been so good, so easy with you. I wish every girl I ever dated and date could be like you. Thanks Gabriella, for being such an amazing best friend to me. I'm one hell of a lucky guy to have not only two childhood best friends but one especially who is as special as you are. My life wouldn't be the same without you in it."

I reach over and pull Gabriella back into my side, where she belongs, feeling her adjust to our position again. "You mean quite a deal to me too Troy, a great deal. More than I think you could ever imagine."

Hope blooms in my… heart?... Is that right? Resisting the sudden urge to kiss the top of her dark head, feeling guilty in a flash because I shouldn't have even thought it while I still have a girlfriend, I settle for wrapping my arm a little tighter around her as I think to myself, "I understand that feeling more than you could possibly imagine Gabriella…"

Has it ever crossed your mind when we're hangin',
Spending time girl,
Are we just friends, is there more, is there more
See it's a chance we've gotta take,
Cause I believe that we can make this into
Something that will last,
Last forever, forever

After weeks of self-torture, feeling worse than dirt on the bottom of a muddy shoe, I now feel free, alive, and grateful. All right, maybe I'm going overboard… no I'm not! I just dodged two serious, life-altering mistakes at the same time. What can be better than that?

I stood there as I watched Katherine basically attack Tony, strangely not feeling hurt or betrayed in the slightest. Instead, I felt amused. Just moments before, I had just said goodbye to Chad, Jason, and Zeke, who were still getting their stuff together after the game, walking to my car, when I spotted Katherine's familiar silhouette. Now, well, I couldn't get rid of the need to finally put an end to all the bullshit that existed between me and clearly my now ex. "Wow, you really weren't lying when you said Tony was interested."

"I told you there were other guys Troy. Other guys that are just as good looking as you and as talented." She speaks the truth, she did tell me that, but I guess I just had too much faith in what a girlfriend was supposed to be, someone faithful and trustworthy, to really have listened to her underhanded warning. I hadn't a clue that she intended to cheat, not even in just thought but actually stick her tongue down some other guy's throat cheat. This whole ending to me and Katherine seemed like it came out of a bad teen movie but I was strangely amused and had no qualms of letting that be known.

"You know what's really pathetic? That I was trying so hard to please you, to make things right between you and me, that I honestly contemplated giving up my best friend for you a week and some odd ago. Thing is, every time I thought of cutting her out of my life, it felt like I was cutting out the fresh oxygen I need to breathe. I was trying so fucking hard to find a way to make us work Katherine when really, I just needed to see that you already moved on. You could have at least told me Katherine."

"I did, I warned you! It's not fun being on the receiving end of seeing your girlfriend flirt with a friend is it? I told you that it felt like shit!"

Did she really think that cheating on me with a guy I knew she didn't give the time of day to before a little while ago really compared to what I have shared with Gabriella? That it held a candle to my best friend, to someone who I deeply cared about?

"No, it doesn't feel like shit because what I just saw wasn't a girlfriend flirting with a friend or even a best friend. It was an ex-girlfriend making out with her new victim. Get over yourself Kat, there's a big difference between what you just did, what maybe you've been doing all along with Tony, and my relationship with my best friend, Gabriella."

"You've always loved Gabriella though Troy, admit it! We may be over but don't do me this disservice. Admit it!"

Katherine's accusation made me pause, it made me freeze. Yeah, I've thought about it, how I maybe did love Gabriella, but it's been easily dismissed as just thoughts of fancy in my head. Having heard the actual words though, spoken aloud, by someone else, was like cold water being thrown on me when I'm in a deep slumber. It woke me up. I knew it was the truth and I couldn't help but grin.

"Maybe I have Katherine, maybe you've been right. Thing is, I was so into you that I pushed aside all those inklings. If it wasn't for your constant badgering me about it, things would have been different. I probably never would have stopped to really examine how I see Gabriella. Thanks Kat. Have a good night you two!"

That was an experience I think I will always remember for the rest of my life and it's fresh in my mind now as I am driving to Gabriella's house, pushing my truck faster than it's ever gone. It was the moment I realized what I already had in my life, who I had in my life.

I need to talk to Gabriella, I need to know if I've really just been imaging all this or if this is real. Could it be real? Am I going to scare her off? Shit, what if I do really scare her off?

As I feel my truck protest against how hard I'm pushing it, I swear as it starts sputtering and then loses power on me, slowing my high speed down to a crawl before it stops all together. Crap! So not what I need right now. Come on baby, start again for me!

After trying to restart my truck a handful of times only to hear it sputter out, I realize that it's a goner, at least for now. Maybe it can be salvaged later on but right now, I can't worry about it. I need to get to Gabriella's and I need to do it now before this new revelation I have really sinks into my head and I begin to really think about what I'm doing. For once in my life, I was leading with the heart, my true heart, and it felt amazing.

For that reason alone, I had no problem locking my truck doors and taking off running the last few blocks to Gabriella's house, making sure only that I had my keys and my cell, not caring about the fact that I had left my truck without hazard lights on a fairly busy road, grateful at least that it was mostly to the side.

"You've always loved Gabriella though Troy…"

As I replay the memory of Katherine's voice slinging that phrase at me as if it was the dirtiest thing in the world, I find myself smiling more and more, despite the burn I was starting to feel from pushing so hard during my run without warming up.

After running forever, although I know it wasn't all that long, I finally make it to the Montez household. Looking at my watch, I know that my brainiac of a best friend was most likely still up studying for some big exam or something that counted for a huge part of her grade, the only reasons why she ever skips a game of mine. Not feeling like dealing with her parents if they are home, as much as I like and respect them, I choose in a heartbeat to go straight to the backyard, all too familiar with how to move around the side of the house and into the open backyard, taking a few steps out from under the balcony to see that Gabriella's bedroom light is still on.

Getting more anxious as I stand there, all the different scenarios of what could happen once I make it up on that balcony, ranging from outright rejection and ruining years of being best friends to complete ecstasy that Gabriella feels the same way, playing in my mind, I know I just need to go and do it.

Climbing the tree, I start coming up with excuses if she does freak out:

Oh, Gabriella, I was just kidding! Did you really think that I'd feel that way?

How did that speech sound? I want to try out for Ms. Darbus' new musical and wanted to run my audition lines by you.

Me? Love you? That's impossible!

With each excuse my pitiful mind comes up with, I recognize that I could never say any of that to her, no matter how much I may cause some rather weird moments between us. I've never lied to Gabriella, not when it was important and this, to me, is one of the most important things I have ever had to say to her.

I was putting myself out there by doing this I realize, literally too as I climb up on the last branch and quickly walk across to leap over the railing of the balcony. My heart is pounding a hundred plus miles an hour, my breath is coming in huge gasps, but I brush it all aside. She's so close, I'm just inches away from making all this real. Hearing Katherine say that I was in love with Gabriella made me realize that my crush was actually love, but the thought of me saying it aloud myself, to Gabriella herself, made it all that much more real, final.

Without another thought, I pound on her balcony doors after trying the door handles and finding them locked. "Ella! Gabriella! Please, open up!"

There is silence that greets me so I continue to bang until I hear her. "Troy?"

I almost fall through the doorway when Gabriella finally opens one of the doors, catching myself so she can't tell as I instead walk into her room. When I'm a few feet into her room, I turn and look at her and feel like I'm really seeing her, all of her, for the first time.

"Troy, what's wrong? What's the matter?"

Not able to do anything else but try to catch my breath now, I stare back at her, all the thoughts and plans that had raced through my head earlier now coming to a dead stop as the moment of truth was finally here.

"Troy?" she hesitantly asks. I see the genuine concern there in her brown eyes and kick myself for not having seen Gabriella for all she is before. Nope, like a complete idiot, you almost graduated high school with your best friend without realizing what a real jewel she is in your life. Now to find out if she feels even the slightest bit the same way.

"Ella? Gabriella?" I get out… Yeah, real smooth Troy.

"Troy, what is it? You're scaring me. Did you have a fight with Katherine? I know you've been bummed out about things with her but maybe…"

I shake my head, wanting to laugh at how cute she is, so understanding and sympathetic even when I acknowledge the fact that she never quite warmed up to my now ex-girlfriend. "It's not that, well it is but it isn't. Katherine and I are over Gabriella."

There is a moment where Gabriella's face goes neutral before that sweet, "I am so sorry for you" look shows up on her face. In fact, those exact words almost come out of her mouth next. "Troy, I'm so sorry."

Shaking my head again though, I silence her, forcing myself to do what I ran all those blocks to do, what I had to do. Slowly, I walk towards Gabriella and stop right in front of her, seeing her eyes widen a bit more as if she senses a change in me. God, I hope I don't smell from my sweating… shit…

Leaving those thoughts behind, knowing if I did it was far too late now, I push on, hesitantly reaching out a hand to cup her face, seeing my hand shake ever so slightly, something it has never done before when reaching out to touch Gabriella. I feel the softness of her cheek, seeing the natural rosy tint to them. "Ella, I need to tell you something."

I see her visibly swallow as she continues to stare at me, not even blinking. "What… umm…"

Before Gabriella can go any further, I lift up my other hand and place my index finger there on her lips, silencing her. "This has taken me a lot to realize, to admit to myself because you've been one of my best friends for as long as I can remember. We've learned to ride bikes together, we've learned how to bake some yummy cookies we concocted up that are our own only after busting your mom's hand mixer when we were eight. You taught me how to dance enough to not make a fool of myself at our first dance in junior high, you helped me dress for my first real date with that sophomore in our freshman year of high school. Every single big and fun milestone in my life involves you Gabriella."

I pause, needing to breathe again after that rush of words, hoping I was really making my point to her, glad to see her still looking at me, giving me all of her attention. Wait, are those tears in her eyes?

After blinking, I no longer see them and dismiss it to my mind playing tricks on me, focusing again on what I plan on telling her tonight, if I can ever get to my point. Licking my lips, I concentrate on her face, the way she is intently looking at me, waiting for whatever it is I have to say. "I have a crush on you Gabriella Montez. As inappropriate as it is since you are my best friend, having grown up thinking of you as not a girl but yet a sister, I can't fight it anymore, I can't run away from it. I'm in love with you Gabriella."

There is a short gasp followed by Gabriella raising her right hand to cover her heart, her eyes now bright with unshed tears that I know I'm not imagining this time. "Troy…"

I wait there with my breath held, resisting the instinct to back pedal, to retract everything I just admitted to her, declared to her. What could she possibly be thinking? Is Gabriella trying to think of a way to let me down gently? Is she feeling all weird now because she knows I have a major schoolboy crush on her? No, it's not that small, what I feel for her. I outright love her, no doubt.

As I brush away a tear that has finally escaped her eyes, I feel her tremble before she drags in air through her own lungs and… smiles at me! She's smiling at me!

"Troy, I've waited more than two years to hear you say that in person and not just in a dream or a fantasy. I've watched you date so many other girls, even check out countless more with Chad, and all this time I've been dreaming of the day you would open your eyes and see me, not as your best friend but as a girl who is in love with you."

Her confession doesn't make the grin on my face at that moment go away but it does make me ask, "Then why did you never say anything? Why did you wait for me to say something?"

She gives me one of her classic half smiles, shaking her pretty little head at me. "Because I didn't think you'd feel the same way. In fact, in the past couple of weeks, I sometimes wondered with the way you were acting so standoffish with me that you didn't like me even as a best friend. I was already resigned to graduate high school knowing that I had the biggest crush ever on my best friend and that I would never be able to do anything about it."

"God Gabriella, how much wasted time…" I start, realizing though that's a lie. No time with her ever is wasted. "I take that back. Every second you are in my life, via phone, email, in person, matters, it all matters and is so precious. You can crush all you want but I'm here telling you I love you Gabriella, my sweet Ella."

There, right there, I know I've seen the most beautiful image ever in my life, the bright smile on her face as Gabriella looks up at me with as much love in her eyes as I'm positive are shining from mine. The last thing I hear is the last thing I ever want to hear.

"I love you too Troy, my strong Wildcat."

With that, our faces inch closer, as if we are in slow motion, until our lips press softly together, sending shivers and yet warmth through my body. Opening my eyes briefly as I wrap my arms around her tiny body to pull her closer to mine, I see that she is just as affected by our first kiss, the first of millions to come. I run my fingers through her hair and hear her sigh, allowing me to deepen the kiss, feeling how much she trusted me with the way she left herself so vulnerable with me, just as vulnerable as she has made me to her.

No lie, this single kiss, well rather series of kisses now, have sent me to the moon and back and I know without a doubt in my mind that this is what we were meant to be to each other. It may have taken us years of being best friends, years and months of us crushing on each other, but in that moment I knew, with all my being, that we would be the greatest loves of each other's lives for the rest of time.

Why do I keep running from the truth,
All I ever think about is you
You got me hypnotized, so mesmerized,
And I just got to know

Do you ever think, when you're all alone,
all that we can be, where this thing can go
Am I crazy or falling in love,
Is it real or just another crush
Do you catch a breath, when I look at you,
Are you holding back, like the way I do
Cause I'm tryin', tryin' to walk away
But I know this crush aint' goin' away, goin' away