The Reuniting Classified © Mid_night113.

Disclaimer: I do not own High School Musical or have any affiliation to it. Same goes for any and all products/brands/companies mentioned.

Synopsis:

Gabriella's in search of a car, what happens when she discovers an ad in the Sunday Times that may just lead her to more than a new mode of transportation? Twoshot.

A warning to all potential thieves, this work is copyright 2011 Midnight113. The Reuniting Classified is completely the work and property of Midnight113, to reproduce under any other name is theft!

Reuniting Classified

Part I

"~*~"

"-"

'-'

Ah, Sunday morning. The day for rest and relaxation. Of course it would have been, if Gabriella's adorable, cute little piece of shit car hadn't completely died on her while she was in the bookstore the night before.

You can imagine her embarrassment when she exited said establishment then proceeded to her vehicle only to turn the ignition and witness the most heinous sound she had ever heard. She quietly watched the car backfire and ultimately hiss at her. Then that caused the car to overheat and so she sat there, looking at the steam that shouldn't have been rising from the hood and sighed as she dialed a tow truck.

So instead of relaxing in the pool at her best friend's house on this scorching summer day, twenty two year old Gabriella Montez was sitting at the kitchen table of her two bedroom apartment in the middle of Albuquerque, New Mexico. Currently she was eating a bowl of cereal and frantically searching the Sunday classifieds for any deals she could find on used cars.

"I'm serious Taylor, I can't not have a car. How am I going to get to work and not to mention I have class tomorrow. My professor's already riding my ass about that paper she gave me an extension on, I don't need to miss the day completely and tick her off any further plus-."

"Gabs chill, you know that woman loves you. You're the top in her class and she just wants to see you graduate. Stop stressing."

Gabriella shifted her cell phone from one hand to the other as she put her spoon back into the now empty bowl and stared with a frown at the less than helpful newspaper situated in front of her.

"I know, it's just hard to juggle everything and still try to remain on her good graces. It's not easy trying to get a degree in business when she's constantly all over me about reports due and yada, yada."

"Everything will work out eventually Gabriella."

"I hope so, except now I'm going to have to bum a ride off of Sharpay tomorrow."

"I have an idea, how about I give you ride. Do you have to work tomorrow?"

"Yeah, at around five." Gabriella stood from the table, her phone in one hand and the empty bowl in the other as she walked the short distance to the sink to rinse it out.

"Okay it's settled. I'll take you to school and work and then Tuesday we can go look for a new car for you. How about that?"

"Seriously, that would be awesome Tay. Are you sure?"

"Don't worry about it. Uh oh, I have to go. Chad's having hair issues and needs my assist. You and Miss Pink are still coming over later right?"

"I guess, I mean I don't exactly have any plans anyway since I'm stranded here and Shar's my only ride at the moment." Gabriella sighed.

"Oh thanks a lot." Taylor replied sarcastically.

"You know I love you Taylor."

"Yeah, yeah, yeah." She mocked through the phone with a hint of amusement in her voice. "You better."

Gabriella was now loading the dishwasher as she spoke, oblivious to the door opening behind her. "Besides Tay," She continued, "Sharpay has already informed me that I have no choice in the matter. She refuses to see me wallow in misery at not having a functioning car and said I must accompany her to your house so we can get tans and do each others nails to get my mind off it." Gabriella ended her impersonation with fake enthusiasm.

"Yup, that definitely sounds like Sharpay Evens to me. I can't believe you guys live together in that little place, how do you do it Gabriella?"

"Well, it's easy really. I just sort of tune her out most of the time and I've sort of become indifferent to all the pink around here."

Just as she was placing her bowl into the washer, a voice spoke causing Gabriella to shriek and nearly fall over from fright. "So this is what you do when I'm not here huh? You and TayTay jump on the phone and make fun of me and on top of that, you exaggerated. This place barely has any pink in it at all. In fact I think it needs more…" Sharpay continued to ramble on not noticing Gabriella trying to find her equilibrium again after that stunt.

"Geez Shar, why don't you just finish the job and kill me right now." Gabriella stated in an angry tone as she pressed her right hand above her breastbone attempting to catch her breath from being caught off guard.

"What happened?" Taylor inquired through the phone line causing Gabriella to put the cell on speaker phone and place it on the kitchen counter.

"Sharpay decided to give me an early death by scaring the bajeezes out of me while entering my apartment in complete silence." Gabriella scowled towards her other best friend.

Sharpay's attention was now back on Gabriella, she placed her purse on the counter across from her friend and then proceeded to place both hands on her hips, cocking her head to the side curiously.

"Seriously Bubbles, bajeezes? Who talks like that? Secondly, it's not my fault you were so busy talking to TayTay over there that you didn't hear me come into our apartment. Notice I emphasize the our in that sentence because I live here too and I'm appalled that when I do come home, I discover this. You guys talking behind my back."

"Oh don't be such a drama queen Shar, I swear you take those classes of yours too seriously and stop calling me TayTay, it's just wrong." Taylor piped up from the speaker phone.

"But I've been calling you guys Bubbles and TayTay since we met, deal with it." Sharpay was now moving over to sit at the table while Gabriella was still processing Sharpay's sudden appearance and cursing the nickname that she was christened with simply because of her prominent round cheekbones that Sharpay insisted looked like bubbles.

"What are you doing here anyway, your not supposed to be home for another hour?" She couldn't help but ask as she too joined Sharpay at the table.

"Oh they let us out early, the air conditioner broke in the room and we were all about to faint so here I am and might I add, ready for a pool party."

"Me too, I can't wait to get in that pool." Suddenly a muffled sound was heard through the speaker and Taylor mumbled something in response to the noise. "Whoops, gotta go. I forgot about his majesty's hair issue."

"That's not the only thing he has issues with." Sharpay bluntly stated nice and loud in hopes of said person hearing her.

Another muffled sound echoed through the phone and suddenly Chad's voice was heard throughout the kitchen. "Listen here Malibu Barbie, I'll have you know that the hair is what makes the man. Understand? Don't make me come over there and-" Chad was cut off abruptly and after a quick noise of what sounded like a struggle with the phone and Taylor's curt exclamation of "Chad", she had the phone once again.

"Ignore him, you know how he gets when his hair doesn't cooperate."

"Aw, poor baby Chadikins. Does he need his mommy to make it all better for him." Sharpay said in a condescending baby tone of voice while pretending to suck her thumb.

Gabriella rolled her eyes at Sharpay's antics, she and Chad were always like this with each other ever since they first met. It was always fun to watch them go at each other's throats and egg each other on but Gabriella was too stressed about her current situation to find anything amusing at the moment.

Chad's voice could barely be made out as he shouted from a distance something about taking blond extensions and hanging them from the ceiling fan. That did it for Gabriella and a little smirk appeared on her face as she tried to cover it.

Sharpay on the other hand was infuriated. Her face was red and she was just beginning to open her mouth to retort but Taylor cut her off.

"Alright then, I'll see you two when you get here. Bye."

"Bye." Came Gabriella's laughing reply. "You know, it's truly amazing how you guys can rile each other up like that when you're not even anywhere near one another." Gabriella got up from the table and began making her way to the bedroom to change into her swimsuit.

"He's just an insufferable, pea brained, chin chilla pet ass. Besides, he starts it by just existing. It's not my fault he bites the bait when I dangle it in his face."

"Nope but you know he always will, and you love it. Do me a favor huh?" Gabriella stopped at her bedroom door and turned around to acknowledge Sharpay who was now standing from the table and making her own way toward her room. "Try to get along with him Shar at least for today. I'm going to need his help when I do find a car to go look at and I don't want him in a shitty mood because of you. He's Taylor's big brother and my half brother so you need to just give into this sexual tension you two create whenever you walk into a room and just get together already because I don't know how much longer Tay and I can take of you two dancing around each other. Now I'll be ready in ten, don't take too long changing."

With that Gabriella turned and walked into her bedroom, closing the door behind her and missing Sharpay's mouth open in aghast, her jaw practically touching the floor. "How dare you make such an insinuation Gabriella! Gabriella come back in here this instant, we have to talk about this!" Sharpay was shouting towards the bedroom door. "You're completely wrong you know. I hate him and he hates me, that's just the way it is so you guys can just… you can just…"

Sharpay looked around real quick at a loss for words and really thinking about what was just said.

"I hate him, what part of insufferable bastard didn't you understand?" She all but screamed through the door. She then quickly turned around and headed to her own bedroom but not before making one more comment. "If you think that's love than you don't know the meaning of the word." Sharpay then slammed her door and leaned against the back of it for support, her brain racing from her thoughts before whispering under her breath. "Ah, fuck."

"CHAD!" Sharpay shrieked from her place on the sun lounger next to the beautiful eight foot deep underground swimming pool located conveniently at the Danforth's home.

Chad's head slowly emerged from underwater as he started chuckling at the state of Sharpay's appearance, now completely soaked from his cannon ball.

"Sorry princess, maybe you shouldn't be so close to the pool." Chad responded while floating backwards away from her towards Gabriella's side of the pool where there was more shade.

Sharpay had decided to set up her lounge chair on the other side away from the shade, stating that she wanted a fabulous tan for her performance next week on stage and as expected, her and Chad had been going at it ever since.

Gabriella and Taylor on the other hand, sat in the shaded section of the yard talking quietly amongst themselves about Gabriella's car situation. Though they were interrupted when Sharpay's shriek echoed across the yard and they turned their attention to their brother and best friend.

Sharpay got up from her chair, put her designer flip flops on and stomped over to the edge of the pool with her left hand on her hip and the Pina Colota in the other. "You big moose, I'm drenched! You've completely ruined my tanning session and you got pool water in my drink, I should-"

"Should what? Kill me with your banshee screeching or maybe you'd like to fling your Prada bag at my head. Be careful though, you might damage a fingernail or worse, the bag!" Chad mocked, laughing hard from his place inside the pool, feeling safe from her manicure nails that if inflicted into his skin could cause some serious damage. He shivered at the thought of her talons latching onto him.

Feeling insulted, Sharpay pulled the sandal off of her left foot, aimed and threw it directly at Chad's skull while exclaiming, "How about a sandal instead?" He barely moved out of the way fast enough to avoid an injury and continued to laugh at the look of defeat residing on her face.

"Uh oh, there goes one of your Jimmy Choos. You better be nice to me or I won't go retrieve it for you at the bottom of this deep pool." Chad smirked when her face mirrored that of horror. She hadn't even considered her precious Jimmy Choos when she impulsively flung it at him. Poor sandal.

"Oh you'll get it back for me Danforth you know why? Because I said so you arrogant, egotistical…"

The scene before Gabriella and Taylor was too amusing for words. They silently watched the tennis match going on between the two as they continued to serve and dish out the insults and mockery.

"Seriously Gabs, we have to do something about those two. They're driving me up the wall with this ongoing bickering contest."

"I know it, you should have heard Sharpay in the car over here. She kept going on and on about my misconceptions and how much she hates the insufferable bastard that is our brother. Her words not mine." Gabriella added the end with her hands up in defense.

"We'll figure it out but first, we have to fix your car issue. How much money are you planning on spending?"

"Not much, probably twenty five hundred. I just want a used, low maintenance and somewhat low mileage car that will get me where I have to be."

"Okay so nothing fancy and nothing like that last trash heap of yours."

"Hey now, that car was my baby Taylor, I loved it. I didn't know the radiator had a crack and the exhaust system had some problems but other than that." Gabriella shrugged her shoulders nonchalantly and took a sip from her drink. Sharpay and Chad's argument over her sandal long forgotten and tuned out.

Now granted, the car was kind of old (A ninety three) and definitely had its fare share of miles on it. She had the thing for almost a decade and was actually sad to see it die on her. She had a lot of memories in that car especially during her high school years. None of that means anything though. It still did right by her, most of the time anyway. She just never suspected there was so much wrong with it, she had taken care of the care perfectly and it ran just fine usually. Only a few instances did it give her serious trouble, like recently.

The saddest thing was when she had it toed to the dealership and inspected just to find out that it would cost her an arm and a leg to pay for the labor and parts needed to resurrect the car. So Gabriella decided she might as well say goodbye to the old thing and buy a newer vehicle to replace it as much as it killed her to admit.

She'd never forget the day she got that car, she had just turned seventeen and had some money saved from work to go look for an affordable used car and her boyfriend who was her best friend at the time, had helped her in choosing the perfect transportation. Of course she would never forget the day she saw her little Honda and realized it was perfect for her except for the fact that it was too much money. Her boyfriend had helped her pay for it and she was eternally grateful at his generosity. Her first kiss was in that car with said boyfriend and it was the first time she had said the 'L' word to him. Yup, it broke her heart to see it go but maybe it was time to finally move on with that part of her life and this was the first step.

Gabriella was pulled out of her reminiscing state when a hand waved in her face and Taylor spoke, "Have you checked the paper for any deals?" Taylor reached over Gabriella's stomach and grabbed the paper on the table to skim through it real quick.

"Yeah, I've been looking through it all day."

"How far along did you get?"

"I read the whole thing except for the last page, I was saving that for after my drink is gone." Gabriella took another sip from her Chocolate Martini and settled back against her chair, grateful for the shade and nice breeze blowing through her hair.

Taylor quickly flipped to the last page and skimmed the different listings, searching for anything that popped out at her. Then her eyes slowly widened as she skimmed the paper quickly and smiled, turning towards her friend to study her passive face.

"Check this out Gabs, we might have something here." Taylor turned back to the paper and began reading the classified. "It says, 'Manual transmission, White Ford pick up truck, ninety-six, one hundred and twelve miles, brand new tires and recently replaced fuel pump. Has some rust, needs a radiator cap. Otherwise in fine working condition. Thirteen hundred dollars or best offer.'" Taylor stopped there and smiled again. "Gabs this sounds great, you should totally call this guy and go check it out."

Gabriella was now leaning forward on her chair, the martini finished and forgotten and her brow furrowed as she contemplated something. Why did that description sound so familiar? Odd, maybe she had already read the ad earlier in the morning and that's why it's sparking such a strong memory. Yeah, that's got to be it. She quickly let the feeling pass and then redirected her attention to her friend.

"Yeah it does actually, but Taylor do I really want a truck? I mean come on, that's definitely an extreme considering I've been driving a Honda around for over five years. Don't you think I would look like an idiot?"

"Nonsense Gabriella, it's not about the size it's about the functionality and the price. This one hits home with both plus, it says or best offer. I bet you could low ball him and he would take it for probably eleven grand." Taylor's mind was working faster than Gabriella's as she went over the article bit by bit, convincing Gabriella in the end to call and set up an time to see it."

"Okay, okay." Gabriella put her left hand up to stop Taylor's rant about the car and began to take out her cell phone. "What's the number?"

Taylor rattled of the digits with excitement in her voice as Gabriella dialed and placed the phone to her ear, then quickly asked, "What's his name?"

Taylor frowned and looked down at the paper, "There isn't one, just the number."

Gabriella found that strange too and then just when she was about to respond, a smooth voice was heard on the other line.

"Hello?"

"Yes, hi. I was just calling to inquire about the pick up truck in today's currant and was wondering if it's still available and if there's a chance I could see the vehicle?" Gabriella spoke with meaning and confidence, her voice immediately changing from laid back to business suave almost instantly.

The line was silent for a second, almost as if the person on the other line was hesitating or just spacing out. Then finally, "Yeah sure, thanks for calling. I'm actually busy today with my dad but I'm free tomorrow if you want to come by and take a look at it?" The man spoke with a charm and grace, Gabriella sensed he was in his early twenties and had a calm, soft presence in his voice.

"Tomorrow's actually bad for me, I have class and work plus I have no car at the moment so I have to rely on my friend for transportation. How about Tuesday?" She bit her bottom lip in anticipation and embarrassment for having just confessed that to him and rambled on about such insignificance. He doesn't want to know all that.

"That's cool, what time is good for you? Is two thirty okay or later?"

"No, two thirty is fine. What's the address?"

"It's One Twenty Six, Cannon Drive in Albuquerque, do you know where that is?" The man asked with uncertainty in his voice.

Gabriella grabbed a pen from the side table and scribbled it down onto the newspaper next to her. Once she was done, she stared at the address for a second. Now she was the one spacing as the looked at the name of the road and tried to place it's location in her head. She was suddenly pulled from her comatose state when she heard the man loudly question her. "Miss? You still there?"

"Oh yeah…" She paused and took a deep breathe in, aware of Taylor's eyes searching her face for answers. "Sorry about that, I know the area well so I shouldn't have any problems."

"Alright then, I'll see you Tuesday. Thanks again."

"Thank you, bye."

"Bye." Gabriella closed her phone slowly while still focusing off in the distance, obviously distracted by something going on in her mind. She didn't even notice Sharpay standing in front of her now, motioning with her hand to get her attention.

"Gabriella, hello. What's going on, you look like you've see a ghost."

Taylor sat silently next to Gabriella and studied her face questioningly. "Yeah, what happened Gabs, what did he say?"

Gabriella looked up at Sharpay and then over to Taylor before speaking. "It's nothing," She said waving her hand in the air to dismiss the subject. "He just sounded really familiar, but whatever. He said he was free Tuesday at two thirty, is that good for you Tay or is it too early? I forgot to ask when you get out of work."

"No that's fine," Taylor answered rather hurriedly. "No work Tuesday so I'm free all day to be your personal chauffeur and we're not going home until we've got you a nice, inexpensive, low maintenance car girl."

Sharpay huffed as she took a seat on the edge of Taylor's bench, "Well you know I'm coming along as well, you can't car shop without me. Besides, I have the best taste of all of us combined so I'll make sure you don't make any mistakes and buy an ugly car."

"Shar this isn't a trip to the mall, it's a venture to some guys house to see a used car that most likely will be ugly but that's okay because it's cheap and close by and in okay condition. Or at least, we think it is anyway." Taylor leaned back as she stopped speaking and took a sip of her lemonade. "Besides Chad's going so you probably don't want to be in the same car as him."

"What's Chad doing?" Suddenly the girls heads all flew over to Chad who was now getting out of the pool and walking towards them, picking up the closest towel which just happen to be pink with a big 'S' inscribed on it.

Sharpay quickly grabbed the towel back from him and whacked him with it, "Get your own towel bubba, this one's mine. See, this big 'S' on the side stands for Sharpay not Chad. But I can understand how you didn't know seeing as you have such a small brain and can't spell to save your life." Sharpay had a smug grin on her face as Chad frowned at her.

"Oh I can spell alright, good enough to know that 'S' really stands for slut." Chad ducked out of the way again as the other sandal missed his head and landed into the pool behind him. He watched it sink and then turned back to her with a triumphant look on his face.

"That's two sandals at the bottom now and I'm not going to get them until you say please."

Sharpay pouted and quietly scolded herself for making the same mistake twice and cursed her lack of self control. She jumped up from her place on Taylor's bench and walked right up to him. "I don't need you to get them for me, I can get them myself!" She all but yelled in his face as Gabriella and Taylor rolled their eyes.

"Here we go again." Taylor whispered to no one in particular.

Sharpay walked to the side of the pool and studied her sandals residing at the very bottom.

Gabriella rolled her eyes and turned back to Chad, whose grin was stretching across his face at that very moment as he watched the pink catastrophe mumble to herself about unfairness when it comes to being afraid of actually submerging oneself in water. Yes, Sharpay had a fear of going under water. Which was hilarious considering how much she did love to swim, just not in the deep section and not for long periods of time. Everyone knew this about her, and Chad frequently made fun but today he was certainly getting a kick out of it.

"Chad, Taylor's taking us to go check out an old truck Tuesday afternoon and I was hoping you would come along for the ride so you could look it over and make sure nothing's seriously wrong with it." Gabriella explained her plans as Chad turned around and focused his attention on his half sibling.

"Sure, no problemo. What kind of car is it?"

"Truck actually, and it's a ninety-six ford pick up."

"Aren't you a little small for a truck?" Chad raised an eyebrow at her and she pouted at her brothers question.

"I think I can handle it, can we go see it first before I make any decisions?"

"Okay, but first I have some demands to make and I expect them to be met. My first demand is that Sharpay take her own car and second demand is food afterwards, that's it."

"Alright Chad, first off we're not taking separate cars that just stupid and a waste of money and time, you guys just have to learn to get along. I can probably grant the food request though." Taylor put her finger to her mouth contemplating something.

"Look, I'm not sitting in the same car as her, you're just going to have to strap her to the roof. Yup, that should do it." Chad grinned again as his sisters shared an incredulous look at his comment.

"I heard that you ass wipe! If I have my way, which I usually do, it's going to be you strapped to the roof of another vehicle all together!" Sharpay screeched from her position next to the pool, where she was now attempting to figure out how to successfully retrieve her sandals without getting into the water and ruining her special sun tanning lotion she had just applied, again. Chad nonchalantly gave her the finger, to which Sharpay scowled and cursed him, and then returned his attention to his sisters.

"Aright, how about a compromise." Gabriella started. "We'll eat at Larry's Diner on the way home, my teat but only if you agree to be civil."

Chad's eyes lit up at the suggestion and he did a fist pump into the air and whooped.

"Yes, I love Larry's burgers and milkshakes and I don't have to pay this is awesome!" Chad stopped, his joyful expression disappearing as he realized he looked like and idiot in front of everyone. "Uh… I mean, you drive a hard bargain but I accept. I will be such a gentleman you won't even recognize me."

Gabriella and Taylor smiled at him and then watched as Sharpay gave up and walked back over to the group.

"I find that hard to believe." Chad was about to retort but Sharpay put her hand up to silence him which amazingly worked because he closed his mouth and looked at her. "TayTay will you help me get my sandals back, your jerk brother won't assist me and I need them to go get a refill of my drink in the house." Sharpay innocently smiled at her friend and ignored Chad's scowl.

Taylor laughed and stood from her seat, putting an arm around Sharpay's shoulders as she led her away to the shed where the net was for her to scoop up the sandals nice and easy. Sharpay gave a little hop and clapped her hands together in gratitude as they walked over to the pool to fetch the footwear.

"She sure is something isn't she?" Gabriella questioned Chad as he continued to stare at the crazy blonde who he couldn't help but feel was acting so cute when she got her way.

"Yeah, something." Chad grinned and quickly hid it when Sharpay gave him an ugly glare from across the pool.

He sat down next to his half sister and smiled. Gabriella had been adopted seven years prior by Taylor's mother Denise McKessie who was married to Chad's father Charlie Danforth both of whom were best friends with Gabriella's mother Maria Montez. When Gabriella was fifteen her mother was killed in a car accident and her will claimed that Denise and Charlie were to be Gabriella's legal guardians should anything happen.

So Gabriella moved from their apartment in California to the five bedroom house in New Mexico and Chad, Taylor and her have been close ever since. It was through Chad that Gabriella met her first love, his best friend and ultimately hers as well. But after one year of being friends and one year of being lovers, it ended terribly just before graduation at East High. Five years later and Chad still had no idea what happened between them. One day they were together and the next they weren't. He had moved away to Florida and Gabriella stayed in Albuquerque devoting her time to school, work, family and friends. In fact, Chad still kept in touch with the guy from time to time, but he would never tell his sisters that. At the end of the day, even though Chad had no idea what happened, they would still always be best friends.

"Why don't you just make a move on her already?"

Chad was brought out of his thoughts at the sound of Gabriella's voice. He looked back over to Sharpay, who was now smiling gallantly as she scooped up her sandals into the net and watched them fall to the concrete with a splat. He looked back over at his little sister and smiled.

"What ever do you mean Gab?" He replied innocently.

"Oh come on, you guys are pathetic. When's this going to stop. Seriously Chad, you both act like your three when your around each other."

"Yeah, well that's because she's fun to mess with," He shrugged his shoulders and continued to watch the blond, smiling. "The way her face gets when I say something that pisses her off and she always has some kind of comeback, it's refreshing. No offense Gabs, but you and Tay can get pretty boring." Ignoring Gabriella's pout, Chad continued, changing the subject. "So did you get this guys name, the one who's selling the truck?"

Gabriella eyebrows rose and then scrunched together and she realized she had indeed forgotten to ask the man's name on the phone. "No, if completely slipped my mind. Not that he asked for mine either. I think we were both just in such a big hurry to get off the line that we didn't even think about it."

"Whatever, this guy better be legit though Gabs."

"Well, he sounded pretty genuine." She responded as they watched Sharpay and Taylor approach them from the pool, Sharpay smiling like a little child that just got her way, again.

"He better be." Chad spoke and then looked over to Sharpay. "Hey princess good work with your net because that wasn't just the saddest thing I've ever seen in my entire life. Look at you, Barbie's all proud of her accomplishment.-" Chad was cut off when he ducked, once again, out of the way of her sandal while laughing hysterically. He didn't see her hurl the other one in his direction before it was too late, it sideswiped him in the head and made him give out a low grunt and hiss as he rubbed the sore spot.

"That's what you get, idiot." Sharpay chimed, her arms folded and a smile on her face. She looked at Gabriella and said, "So I still get to go help pick out your car right Bubbles?" She looked at her friend with big over dramatized eyes. "Pretty please, I promise I'll behave. Pinky swear." Sharpay put her pinky in the air to emphasize her point.

"Yeah, yeah, yeah. But I swear if you guys say one word to each other on the drive over there I'm going to take your favorite Gucci bag away." She told her friend who proceed to huff in her direction then Gabriella quickly turned to her brother pointing a finger, "And I won't treat you at Larry's Diner if you make so much as one comment to her. Understand."

"Yes." Came the chorused reply from the two airheads.

Gabriella smirked satisfied and looked at Taylor who had an equally wide smirk on her face.

"What a couples of babies huh?" Taylor asked her sister.

"Yup, that about sums it up." Gabriella said shaking her head never once regretting her decision to stay close to her family after graduation. She smiled and silently wished that her ex-boyfriend had felt the same way.

"You know what I hate about you the most Danforth?"

"What?"

"Your hair, it's always obscuring my vision."

"Wow, big words for a blonde bimbo."

"Fuck off."

"I'd be delighted but you first bitch."

"ENOUGH!"

Chad looked over his shoulder at Gabriella from the passenger seat and Sharpay, situated directly behind him, sunk back at the harsh sound in her voice.

"Now I already accepted the fact, that it's humanly impossible for the two of you to co-exist for a twenty five minute drive to some guys house so we can do this one thing for me. I agreed to let you both come with us and you've both completely failed by arguing for the last ten minutes of this ride. Both of your rights have been revoked to your bag and to your free burger." Gabriella finally finished her rant and looked ahead of her at Taylor who was driving in the front seat next to Chad. "We almost there Tay?"

"Yup, it should be this next street up on the left. Chad, why don't you make yourself useful and read me the directions one more time." Chad picked up the paper with the scribbled directions and ignoring the snicker from Sharpay, began to read them to Taylor as they came to an intersection and a stop sign.

Gabriella looked out the window from the back seat and leaned her head against the glass. Looking at the road to her left, Cannon Drive, she suddenly felt her stomach twist. She knew she was anxious and excited to get to their intended destination but a part of her felt weary for what was to come.

"What a piece of junk." Sharpay stated rather bluntly as they all exited Taylor's car staring at the white truck in the driveway.

They had found the address rather quickly and Gabriella spotted the truck from a mile away, sitting in the drive way of a newly built Tudor home. As they pulled up to house and parked on the street, the only thing going through Gabriella's mind was the fact that the stupid truck looked all too familiar.

The four of them studied the metal body, completely rusted and pieces of the white paint chipped off here and there. Gabriella couldn't help the shocked expression that overtook her face when she noticed those retarded orange dice hanging from the review mirror. She glanced over at Chad wondering if he too had recognized the dice that coincidently looked just like the ones she had bought and placed on a similar truck. It was in that moment when Gabriella's mind started to whirl. It couldn't be the same could it?

"Hello there, can I help you kids?"

The four heads all swerved in unison towards the voice. A older man had emerged from the open garage door wearing blue jeans and a dirty t-shirt. They watched as he approached them, pulling out a rag and wiping his face and greasy hands against the fabric.

Chad's eyes lit up at the sight, his smile beaming at the man.

"Coach Bolton? Is that you under all that grease?"

Jack Bolton squinted his eye, the aged lines around his face moving with each muscle that contorted into a look of surprise and shock.

"Chad Danforth? Well you haven't changed a bit, still got the same hair I see. How the heck are ya?" Jack walked over to Chad and gave him a big manly handshake and slap on the back. "How's your dad? I haven't seen Charlie since that Christmas party a few years back that the school hosted."

"He's good, how about you Coach? Still over at East High?"

"I am, somebody had to stick around and show the new Wildcats the ropes."

Gabriella was speechless as the two old friends caught up, she was glued to her spot on the pavement of the driveway and terrified of what this all meant. If this was Jack Bolton's house, then that meant…

Just then a German Shepherd came bounding out the front door and ran straight for Gabriella. She instantly smiled at the sight of the dog and bent down to receive his greeting, her arms stretched out to catch him as she happily exclaimed, "Hey boy, come here."

The old dog rammed into Gabriella licking her face all over, causing her to fall back on her butt while laughing hysterically at the dogs behavior. "Get off me you big lug, you weigh a ton. What have they been feeding you?" She scooted backwards a bit to get a better look at him and evade some of the incessant licks but he still towered over her. "Look at you, all old and still as lively as ever." She couldn't get the smile off her face and kissed his head as she rubbed it.

"Oh Gabriella, I didn't even see you over there." The coach moved away from the other three as he walked over to the end of the driveway. "Hey you, get off your suffocating her." He proceeded to grab the dog by it's collar and pull him away from Gabriella while assisting her in getting up.

"No it's okay, he's alright." She motioned to the dog that now stood back and was content just sniffing her feet while Jack engulfed her into a hug.

"No, he's too brazen for such an old timer. How are you sweetheart?" Jack asked her as he rubbed her back softly and kissed her left cheek.

"I'm okay, how have you been Jack?"

"I'm better now that I've seen you again after all this time, what have you been up to?" He asked as he stepped away but kept an arm around her shoulders.

"Oh you know… school, work. The usual." She shrugged and smiled at him. Jack Bolton was the kindest man she had ever met, well, except for his son who had acquired somewhat similar attributes.

"You have to tell me all about it, Luce and I have missed hearing from you. It's been too long since you last called." He gave her another tight hug from the side and began to steer her toward her group of friends. "We just moved in last week, Luce designed this entire house and we just love it here. It's smaller than the old one but now that it's just the two of us, we don't mind." He informed her as they walked along the driveway.

"Well it looks beautiful, I'm sure the inside is just as lovely too." Gabriella commented while studying the different features of the home in front of her.

"Oh yes, you must come inside and see for yourself. Lucille would love to see you dear, she's been trying to call you to let you know we moved but she said you never answered." Mr. Bolton furrowed his brow and looked down at the brunette who was instantly blushing at her lack of communication.

She had tried to keep in touch with the Bolton's after everything that went down but after awhile she just became too hurt and angry with the situation and the lack of information they were providing. So she found it was best to just cut back on the conversations for fear of never moving on from the past and of always not knowing.

"I know and I'm sorry about that, it's just… it's been really hard for me and after awhile I guess I -"

"It's okay Gabriella, I understand. You don't have to tell an old man like me twice. It's good that you want to move on with your life, you should after all these years but you know," Jack Bolton smiled down at her and gave her shoulder another squeeze. "Just because some things change, doesn't mean everything has to be different. You can always talk to us sweetheart, even if we can't give you the answers you want."

Gabriella smiled at his warm and comforting words, she really had missed talking to them. They were like her second family and even though it hurt her to think about what had happened, she knew they would always be there for her if she needed them and that scared her. She still didn't know what had happened to make their son leave her and fly away to another state and they had never given her any news about him besides the occasional 'he's doing well' and 'he loves school'. This is what frustrated her to no end.

"Thank you." She whispered as they approached the rest of the gang..

She froze instantly though, when she heard a shrill whistle emanate from the front porch of the house.

"Sadie, come here boy!" She knew that voice, it's the same one she had spoken to on the phone only lighter, not as gruff.

She looked up and watched Sadie trot up the porch steps to the young man standing in the doorway. The dog came to a halt and sat at the man's feet as he stepped out of the threshold and gave the dog a pat on the head in acknowledgment. He then looked up and called out, "Hey dad, where's…" He suddenly stopped when his eyes met Gabriella's from across the yard.

It was as if they were frozen in time, no one moved or made a sound. The entire street was quiet, save for some cars passing by and a lone lawnmower a few yards down.

Gabriella just stared at the boy, or man rather, who had affected her so profoundly when she first moved to New Mexico. He was exactly as she remembered, the dirty blond hair, though shorter now. The same prominent jaw line and cheek bones and those darn eyes. They were the reason she was in this mess anyway, one look into those baby blues and Gabriella was putty. It had always been that way and even now as the stared at each other, she found comfort in the fact that, save for maturing into a man and the fact that his voice was deeper, he still hadn't changed. Not one bit. There he stood in all his glory, those black jeans and that blue checkered shirt. Those ridiculous looking vans on his feet. Everything screamed at her and two thoughts went through her head at that moment. Why was Troy fucking Bolton here and damn he looked good.