Reluctant Hostility © Midnight113.

Disclaimer: I do not own High School Musical or have any affiliation to it.

Synopsis: It's been three months since Gabriella left school so she could take care of her mom, three months since she had lied to Troy and three months since she'd last seen him… until now. Sequel to BH. T&G.

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

Chapter One

Keeping Promises

"~*~"

''-''

'-'

"I can't do long distance relationships Gabriella, that's not the type of guy I am."

"What are you saying?"

"I think we should end this before it gets anymore serious, before we get attached more then we already are to each other."

"You're not serious? Troy, you can't just say that you want to end this just like that. I promise I'll -"

"Look Gabriella, it's been great while it lasted. And for a while, I really thought we had something but… it's not working out. We can't do this from across the country and I don't think I want to. So I'm gonna go, but I… good luck with everything."

Three Months Later…

Gabriella closed her eyes tightly as her hand rested on the wooden handle, inhaling the sweet scent of the cool air around her. She hesitated pulling the door towards her, instead focusing on the memory that she had been replaying over and over again in her mind. For the last three months she had stayed and cared for her mom in Albuquerque. The surgery had been successful and so had Maria's recovery from the thyroid cancer. She still needed to take medication for it and some tests still needed to be performed but other than that, Maria Montez had beaten it.

Once her mom had started to feel even an ounce like her old self, she had immediately tried to convince Gabriella of her improvement, hoping she would agree and finally take some time for herself after three months. While Gabriella had been in New Mexico, she had decided to take some classes at University of Albuquerque. Her mother had assumed these courses would revolve around criminal justice but was instead pleasantly surprised when Gabriella revealed they were creative writing courses. Feeling guilty with the way Gabriella had been working herself into the ground for the past few months, Maria had taken it upon herself to talk her daughter into taking a little trip now that she was feeling better and that her course was finished. Sensing that her mother was right, Gabriella had finally agreed before packing up her duffel bag and heading for the one place she knew she had to go.

No matter how hard she had tried though, Troy Bolton always managed to invade her thoughts regardless of where she was and what she was doing. The past few months without him had been harder on her than she could have ever thought possible. After listening to him break up with her over the phone, Gabriella had told herself that right after her mom's surgery she would call him and explain everything. She knew the chances of him believing her would be slim but she had to try.

So after a long talk with Dr. Anderson while her mother was recuperating from surgery, Gabriella had dialed Troy's number. She waited for him to pick up but he never did. She had tried him back the next day but instead, it had gone straight to voicemail. After a week of calling him everyday and leaving voicemails for him to call her back, Gabriella had finally given up when the final call she had made informed her that the number she had been trying to reach was no longer in service.

Letting the regret and guilt inside her wash away, she cleared her mind and heart. Taking another deep breath to soothe her nerves, she pulled open the large glass door and stepped through the threshold. Her duffel bag hung loosely at her side, slung over her shoulder as she cautiously entered.

The familiar scent of paper and wood clawed at her senses, sparking that hint of recognition deep within the recesses of her mind as she walked further into the store. She was amazed at just how unchanged the atmosphere was, every little detail exactly as she remembered right down to the cherry wooden shelves and gray carpet. The only hint of transformation that had taken place was reflected in the many new interesting book titles sprawled out across the table displays. Moving around the table, her eyes scanned the room as she allowed herself to take in every memory that flooded back to her. It was as if the dam she had created to block it out had finally broken into millions of pieces, letting the memories leak through and torment her. Her eyes lingered on one particular bookshelf as she recalled the first kiss she had ever shared with Troy. Feeling a hint of sharp pain stab through her, Gabriella averted her eyes and blocked out the thought. Relief seeped through her when she finally spotted who was standing behind a tower of books on the countertop ahead of her. Taking a step forward, Gabriella dropped the duffel bag to the floor next to her and lifted a few books from the pile, moving them to the side to reveal her bright smiling face.

The woman on the other side of the pile looked up from her cataloging and furrowed her brow. "Gabriella?"

Sending her old friend a shy smile, Gabriella gave a small wave. "Hey Tay, long time no see."

She watched anxiously, waiting to see how Taylor would respond to her sudden appearance and smiled once Taylor broke out into a wide grin.

"Gabs!" Moving around the counter, she engulfed Gabriella in a firm, tight hug, nearly knocking both petite women over. "Where have you been? I haven't talked to you in ages, why didn't you return my text?" Taylor scolded, pulling back and placing her hands on her hips.

Giving a light chuckle, Gabriella sent her a sad smile. "I know, I'm a bad friend but… I wanted to surprise everyone."

Taylor's mock anger disappeared as she moved in to hug Gabriella once more. "Well this is some surprise. How are you? How's U of A?"

Gabriella had called all of her friends after her mother's surgery… not yet wanting to tell them about her mother's condition before she told Troy. So for the time being, she had told everyone the same story about her mom losing her job. With her recent visit back though, she planned to rectify that and finally tell everyone the truth.

"I'm doing good, and the couple classes I'm taking are just what I needed while I was back home. I'm just glad Harvard let me transfer my credits there, or at least the ones I had." Gabriella shrugged, leaning against the counter.

"That's great Gabriella, I'm glad. What about your mom? Did she find a job yet?" Taylor asked, folding her arms as she mimicked Gabriella's stance across from her.

Feeling the shame of lying to everyone, Gabriella sunk down slightly and sighed. "About that, I have a confession to make."

"Uh oh." Taylor added.

"Yeah, I uh… my mom never actually lost her job." Taylor tilted her head curiously and nodded slowly.

"Okay… so then why did you leave?"

"She's sick, she has thyroid cancer and that's why I had to leave so quickly."

Taylor's face widened in shock. "Are you serious, is she okay?"

"Yeah, she's doing a lot better actually. The surgery went well and now that she's feeling like her old self, she told me I should come back and visit everyone so… here I am." Gabriella widened her arms to emphasize her point.

Taylor bit the inside of her cheek, shifting her weight from one foot to the other. "Wow, Gabs. I had no idea." She shook her head, looking down at her feet and then back up. "Why didn't you tell us?"

Gabriella looked down at the gray carpet and sighed, running a hand through her long black curls. "I didn't want Troy to find out, he's… been through a lot of stuff in the past and I didn't want him to have to deal with anymore than he had to. Not after he had just met my mom and had grown so fond of her." Gabriella's voice quieted as she finished her explanation. "Looking back now, I think it's the biggest mistake I've ever made." She admitted sadly.

Taylor nodded in understanding, moving forward to give her another half hug. "Well if you did it with the best intentions, who is anyone to judge right?"

"Taylor? Please don't tell him what I just told you. I came back to make things right again between us, I have to tell him the truth." Gabriella explained, looking her friend right in the eye.

"Oh, so you came back just for him huh?" Taylor teased with a wink. "Nah, don't worry Gabs. I won't say anything."

"Thank you." Gabriella let out a breath of relief and looked around the dead store. "So… is he here?"

Taylor shook her head. "Nope, it's his day off. I'm in charge now. The new girl is in the back taking her break while I finish with this inventory." Taylor motioned to the pile of books on the counter.

Gabriella's eyes moved down over the name tag pinned to Taylor's blouse and smiled as she scanned over the words, 'assistant manager'. "Tay, you did it!"

Taylor looked down to see what Gabriella was staring at and smiled. "Yeah, last month. It wasn't that hard either." She joked, rolling her eyes.

"Congrats Tay, so how's business been?" Just as Taylor was about to respond, a girl's voice boomed from behind.

"Hey Taylor… is it alright if I… Gabriella?"

Looking past Taylor's head, Gabriella furrowed her brow and focused on the little brunette who was standing next to a bookshelf. "Kelsi?"

"Gabriella, you're here!" The petite woman responded loudly with a laugh, walking around the counter to give her a big hug. "How've you been?"

Gabriella returned the gesture with a bright smile. "I've been good, what about you?"

Shrugging her shoulders, Kelsi replied, "Eh… same old. Why haven't you been responding to my text messages!" She shouted in mock anger. "I've had to ask Ryan to ask Sharpay what's been going on with you lately and even then she's been very vague with her responses." Kelsi frowned, folding her arms.

"I know," Gabriella sighed, rubbing her arms as she stared at Kelsi's questioning gaze. "I've just been so busy and... it's complicated." She trailed off. "Speaking of Ryan though, how have you guys been?" She asked.

"Oh… " Kelsi's face lit up at that. "He finally told me he loves me." She announced happily, hopping up to sit on top of the counter.

"Really? When?" Gabriella asked her old roommate.

"Last month, we went on vacation to the Bahamas and he blurted it out while we were at dinner. It was so sweet." Kelsi cooed, reminiscing.

"Yeah, disgustingly sweet." Taylor piped in, causing Kelsi to smack her arm.

"You're one to talk, how are things with you and Zeke?" Kelsi teased causing Taylor to blush and Gabriella's eyes to widen in shock.

"What? You and Zeke? When did this happen?" Gabriella asked curiously.

"About two weeks ago, it's nothing serious. We're taking it slow." Taylor mumbled.

"I never knew you two liked each other." Gabriella mused.

"Neither did we, until he baked me a chocolate crème pie when Jeremy broke up with me. That kind of sealed the deal." Taylor giggled.

"Oh of course, who would have thought huh?" Gabriella shook her head and then looked over at Kelsi. "So you work here now?"

"Yeah, Troy told me about the job and I decided it wouldn't hurt to get the extra money so I could attempt to pay off some loans." Kelsi informed her.

"Yeah… and how is Troy?" Gabriella asked quietly.

"Oh he's uh… he's great." Taylor commented.

"Really?" Gabriella didn't bother to mask the disbelief in her question.

"Nope, not at all." Taylor admitted.

Gabriella sent her a small smile. "He hates me."

"Oh no he doesn't. He's just… angry."

Gabriella scoffed. "No, I'm pretty sure he hates me. And he has every right to."

"Come on, don't say that." Kelsi tried to soothe, leaning over to place a hand on Gabriella's arm.

"Yeah, why… Troy was just talking about you the other day." Taylor admitted once again.

Gabriella's ears perked up and she looked over at Taylor. "Really? What did he say?"

"Uh… well, basically he might have made a small comment about how someone didn't put the science fiction section in order properly and when I said that you were the last person to organize that section he sort of growled at me and told me not to mention your name again."

Gabriella slumped against the counter even more. "Well that's helpful."

Just as Kelsi was about to comment a voice broke through the quiet store. "Hey girls, I brought lunch."

Gabriella froze, her eyes widening as she held her breath. Her back was to the front of the store as she stood next to the counter, directly in front of Taylor and Kelsi who were both looking over her shoulder at the new male voice that had just been introduced into the room.

Gabriella kept her gaze down on the counter, feeling a slight shiver run through her body as the man who had just spoken brushed by quickly on his way to the backroom. He dropped the Chinese take out on the counter and kept walking. "I just have to go get some paperwork that I forgot to take home and then I have to go because Rufus is in the car."

The two girls watched as Troy kept walking to the backroom, waiting for the door to chime signaling that he had entered but the sound never came.

Gabriella kept her head down, the sound of his voice still echoing in her ears and reigniting the flame inside of her that never really died. Looking up slowly, she missed the nervous looks that Taylor and Kelsi shared. Instead, she focused solely on the back of Troy's head as he stilled in the middle of the store, his whole body tensing. He looked to be thinking about something and Gabriella felt herself gulp as her nerves skyrocketed through her body from her toes to the tips of her fingers.

She waited for him to turn back around and acknowledge her but he never did. She did, however, catch the way his hand moved out of his pocket and rested loosely at his side until he clenched his fist slowly. Her eyes focusing immediately on the familiar watch resting on his wrist. She felt a flicker of hope wash over her, what she would give to see his light blue eyes look at her again but instead she was met with his rigid back.

Her hopes rose again when he turned his head slightly, allowing her only a glimpse of his side profile before he bit out gruffly, "If she's not buying something in the next five minutes, make sure she leaves and then come get me." With that, he continued his walk to the back room and slammed the door shut, causing all three woman to wince.

"That went a lot better than I had imagined it would." Taylor attempted to joke.

Gabriella let out the breath she wasn't even aware she was still holding and rubbed her forehead back and forth. "Oh yeah, that went swell."

"Anybody want to fill me in, I feel a little lost." Kelsi supplied, rocking back on her balls of her feet.

After Gabriella explained quietly what had happened between her and Troy and about her mother's cancer, Kelsi had been more than understanding and sympathetic towards the situation, feeling awful for what Gabriella had gone through. Offering some comforting words to Gabriella, Kelsi had asked her where she was planning on staying.

"With Sharpay, I'm taking a taxi over there now to surprise her." Gabriella nodded. "She's already offered me room and board for free whenever I got around to getting back out here." She smiled, remembering Sharpay's words.

Kelsi nodded while Taylor made a suggestion, "Why don't you hang around for awhile, go get some coffee and I'll give you a ride? We should be out of here in a couple hours but I'm sure I can talk Troy into letting us close up early since there's no business."

Gabriella thought about it for a moment. "Alright, sounds good. I'll just be down at the café then. Give me a text if anything changes." Gabriella moved around the counter and then smiled. "I guess my five minutes is up huh?"

Taylor returned her smile with one of her own. "You know he's watching you on the surveillance cameras right?" Gabriella nodded while Taylor giggled. "Want to get something to read while you wait for me?"

Looking around, Gabriella studied the couple new releases sitting on the counter before picking one out and buying it. "Thanks. I better get out of here before he fires you both." She joked sadly, taking her bag and pointing at the take out. "Enjoy your lunch, I'll see you guys later." Gabriella waved, backing up towards the door.

"Call me later Gabriella. I miss talking to you." Kelsi admitted with a sad smile.

"I will." And with that they waved and Gabriella sent one last look up towards the spot where she knew a camera was on her. Pushing the door open, she stepped out into the nice warm, June weather and began walking away from 'The Treasure Trove'. She had only gone a few steps before she noticed something off in the distance. Grinning, she started walking towards it.

A few minutes later, Troy exited the bookstore. Walking with his paperwork in hand, he kept his gaze focused on the sidewalk as he made his way back to his truck. His thoughts were consumed with Gabriella's sudden appearance at the store. What was she doing there?

He was jolted from his thoughts when he noticed someone leaning against his truck. Troy observed the same backside from before now leaning up and scratching Rufus' head through the open window. Letting out a sigh, Troy stopped walking, preparing to turn and walk back to the store but then remembering Rufus was waiting for him, decided to tough it out and keep walking.

As he neared his truck, he watched Gabriella rubbing Rufus through the window, cooing silently at him. The dog who was no longer the small puppy he once was, wagged his tail excitingly as he licked her hand all over, obviously recognizing her after her short absence.

Gabriella watched as Rufus' attention moved past her, sensing the dog was looking at its owner, Gabriella turned around and finally was met with those bright blue ceruleans she had been dreaming of for the past three months.

Troy immediately froze in place a few feet from her, his eyes boring into her own. He tried not to let his gaze scan her body, instead focusing all his attention on moving past her. Making sure there was no contact, he reached for his door but she moved quickly to the side and blocked him before he could get his hand around the handle. Troy leaped back before his hand could come in contact with her, almost as if he had come too close to getting burned.

Gabriella gave him an incredulous stare before leaning back against the door and folding her arms. "We need to talk."

Troy raised an eyebrow, secretly noting that this was the first thing she had said to him in three months. Feeling a need to get away from her, he tightened his paperwork under his armpit and clenched his jaw. "Move." He gruffly boasted, hoping it would get her to do his bidding.

Gabriella tilted her head innocently. "Finally, he speaks to me."

Troy's anger skyrocketed as he moved forward slightly trying to intimidate her. "Move." He repeated.

"I did not just fly across the country for you to ignore me. We need to talk Troy, it's important."

Noticing she had shifted slightly, he reached for his car and then pulled his hand back when she blocked him again. "Fuck!" He seethed, moving back away from her.

Gabriella wanted to laugh at the situation, she was merely controlling him by standing in his way. She never would have guessed that she had the power to make him fear touching her. After thinking about it for a moment, she frowned slightly realizing how awful that thought was... he was afraid of touching her.

"Stop being so immature and move out of my way." He barked out at her, completely frustrated now and showing it.

"Oh I'm immature, what would you call that little stunt before in the bookstore? Yeah, that was real mature Troy." She scoffed. "Oh and changing your cell number just screams maturity."

Troy moved a little closer but still maintaining a safe distance, he tilted his head down so that he was eye level with her before speaking, "I don't give a shit, I'm not talking to you."

"Five minutes." She requested. "That's all. You don't have to talk, just give me five minutes."

"No." Came his curt reply.

"Troy please, I really need to-"

"Is there something wrong with your purchase?" He asked, looking down at her bag.

Gabriella furrowed her brow, following his eyes and then shook her head. "Well, no… I didn't even read it yet."

"Then there's nothing for us to talk about."

Rolling her eyes, she groaned in annoyance. "Troy come on, just get a quick coffee with me and-"

"Oh now it's coffee?"

Gabriella slouched against the truck, her face pleading. "Please?"

Troy stared at her, studying her face. Moving forward just a little more, he scowled and spoke again, more clearly this. "No, now move."

Gabriella matched his scowl with one of her own. "I'm not moving until you agree to get coffee with me so I can talk to you."

Troy was nearly shaking now. "Fine! Don't move." He walked to the side of the truck, placing his foot on the step and pulling himself over the bed of the truck, moving to the other side. In no time at all he was pulling open the passenger door and sliding in, ignoring Gabriella's evil glare through the drivers seat window as he slid across from the passenger side, being careful not to crush Rufus as he maneuvered to the other seat.

Turning the ignition, Troy listened to the truck hum to life and switched on the air conditioning, looking over at her out of the corner of his eye. Rufus licked the side of his face happily before curling himself in a ball and taking his place on the seat.

Gabriella shook her head. "You can't just ignore me Troy. You never could, even before."

Clenching his hands around the steering wheel until his knuckles were white, Troy looked over at her and hoarsely whispered, "We'll see about that."

Watching as Troy prepared to roll the window up, she replied, "Nice watch."

Troy stopped his movement for a moment before retorting, "Nice jacket." Pressing the button and closing off any further communication.

Gabriella scrunched up her nose and then looked down at her jacket, it was Troy's leather jacket she was still wearing. It was the one important thing she had brought with her and the one thing that reminded her most of him. It wasn't until she watched him pull away out of the lot when she realized that was how he had know it was her in the bookstore. He didn't even have to look at her face, the jacket, his jacket, gave her away. Giving the bookstore one last look, she began walking in the direction of the café, a small smile lighting up her face. At least he didn't completely ignore her, that alone was an improvement.

After catching up with Taylor at the café, Gabriella was finally at Sharpay's luxurious penthouse. Bidding farewell to Taylor with the promise of calling her later, she made her way to the elevator and patently rode it all the way to the top of the twenty story building.

Stepping off, she pulled open her cell phone and read off the new address that Sharpay had given her a few months ago when she had informed Gabriella of her move. Reading the number in the text, Gabriella shifted her bag over her shoulder as she approached the door. Pressing the bell, she anxiously waited for an answer, surprised when the door finally opened to reveal Chad… topless.

"Gabs?"

Gabriella opened her mouth and then shut it, deciding instead to send him a small wave and sheepish grin first. "Hey Chad."

Looking her up and down, he scratched the back of his messy afro and smiled before frowning. "What are you doing here?"

"Uh…"

"Who's at the door muffin?" Sharpay asked, peeking around Chad's buff chest before letting out an inhuman squeal of delight. "Oh my God! Gabriella!"

Gabriella smiled, opening her arms wide, "Surprise." Rushing forward, Sharpay pushed Chad out of the way so she could get by and reach her friend who she latched onto tightly, squeezing the daylights out of her. "Hey Shar… can't breathe."

"Oh, whoops." Letting out a small giggle, Sharpay pulled back to study her friend. "Look at you, you look good girl. What are you doing here, and why didn't you tell me you were coming, I would have sent Pierre to get you, I don't have a pink limo for nothing you know-"

"Pumpkin, breathe." Chad instructed calmly.

Inhaling slowly, Sharpay shut her eyes and then opened them with a cheshire cat smile. "Get in here."

Gabriella smiled while being pulled into the apartment. "I'm not interrupting anything I am?" She asked looking back at Chad's shirtless self and noticing Sharpay's pink silk robe.

"Never, Chadikins and I were just about to order pizza… why didn't you tell me you were coming I would have already ordered it." She scolded, slapping Gabriella arm playfully.

"Well, I wanted to surprise you."

"So when we talked on the phone earlier you were already here?"

"Yeah, I was on the plane actually." She scratched her head.

"Ahh, that's why you were asking if I'd be around later. You sly dog. Well you of course are staying here with us, how long are you in town for?" Sharpay asked, taking Gabriella's bag and handing it to Chad. "Could you put this in the guest room sweetie?"

Chad leaned in a smiled sweetly, "Of course honey."

Gabriella shook her head at their sick cuteness and then sat down on the sofa. "I'm here until I talk to Troy, I hope that's okay. I can stay at a hotel if-"

"Don't even finish that sentence." Sharpay put her hand up as she plopped down on the sofa, Chad reentering the room taking his spot next to her.

Chad cleared his throat, causing both girls to look over at him. "So… you plan to see Troy while you're here?"

Gabriella rolled her eyes and groaned, leaning her head back against the cushions. "More like, do I plan to see him again after today."

Sharpay quirked an eyebrow while moving closer. "Are you serious, you've already crossed paths with lover boy? How did it go? What did he say? Did you-"

"Calm down Shar, is wasn't as glamorous as you think. There was no, 'fall into his arms and make up, happy ending'. She replied. "It was more, anger and avoidance."

Sharpay sulked. "Did he talk to you?"

"Yeah, if you want to call it that. He was more interested in getting me to move out of his way and made it pretty clear he had no intention of ever seeing or talking to me again."

"I'm sure he missed you."

Gabriella shook her head. "He hates me. I have to tell him."

Chad raised an eyebrow at that and curiously leaned forward. "Tell him what?"

Looking over at Chad, Gabriella bit her bottom lip. "Uh… I don't think I should tell you, you're Troy's best friend."

"That's right I am, so start talking because you're putting me in a very weird position right now, ow!" Chad looked over at Sharpay who had just smacked his arm.

"Be nice." She scolded. "This is between Gabriella and Troy, it's up to her to decide what she's going to do and who she tells what to."

Gabriella smiled. "Thanks Shar."

"You're welcome." She waited a moment before turning her body sideways to stare at her friend full on. "So are you going to tell Troy soon?" She asked causing Gabriella to roll her eyes.

"Yes Shar, as soon as he agrees to sit down and have a cup of coffee with me."

"Okay, good start." Sharpay hopped up and placed both of her hands on her hips. "For now, let's get you unpacked and discuss your strategy while Chad orders the pizza. Snookums, Gabriella and I want pepperoni." She declared, grabbing her friends hand and pulling her to the guest bedroom while flinging Chad's cell at him. It landed on his lap perfectly and he chuckled, picking it up to order the food.

"Alright, but I'm picking the movie this time."

Sharpay waved him away with her hand and steered Gabriella into the bedroom. "Sure you are honey." Once they were in the confines of the room she whispered, "We're watching whatever I want… he just doesn't know it yet." She winked, closing the door behind them.

Gabriella giggled, her finger subconsciously playing with the hem of the leather jacket she was still wearing. Thoughts of Troy clouded her mind as she stared blankly at her duffel bag on the bed.

It wasn't until Sharpay snapped her fingers in front of Gabriella's face, that she was lifted from her daze. "Huh?" Gabriella scratched her neck and frowned. "Sorry, I spaced for a minute… what did you say?"

"I said, are you going to try and see Troy again tomorrow?" Sharpay repeated as she opened a couple chest drawers.

Gabriella nodded. "Yeah, if he'll even look at me."

Sharpay sent her a sympathetic look. "I still can't believe you lied to him."

"I had to Shar. I was going to tell him, you know that. I just didn't expect him-"

"To not take your calls and change his number?" Sharpay added. "I tried to get Chad to give it to me but he wouldn't, I guess Troy doesn't trust me anymore ever since I lied to him about you being at the library all those months ago." She shrugged. "He can't stay mad forever though."

Gabriella gave light scoff, "Yeah, well you don't know him like I do."

"And let's keep it that way, shall we?" She teased, flinging some of Gabriella's clothes at her. "I don't think you'd like it if I knew him that well."

Gabriella giggled, as she caught the blouses and smiled. "Hey Shar? Thanks for keeping your promise and not telling anyone about my mom." Staring down at the clothes in her hands, Gabriella realized that she had kept her own promise to Troy as well. She'd told him she would come back and she did, that would have to count for something... it just had to.

Sharpay looked over at her and nodded. "I told you I would."

"I know it's just… I also know it can be hard for you to keep secrets." She added.

Sending her an incredulous look, Sharpay snorted. "Please, I can keep a secret."

"Uh huh."

"But since you brought it up, when can I tell Chad because keeping him in the dark has sucked. I've had no one to talk to about-" Once Sharpay noticed Gabriella stern look she trailed off and gave a sheepish grin. "Or we can just keep quiet about it, whichever works."

"Soon Shar, I just don't want him to hear it from Chad and since he's Troy's best friend, that makes things a little more complicated."

Letting out a sigh, she sat down on the bed. "True. So how are you planning to get around while you're here?"

"Uh… I hadn't really thought about it. I guess walking and taking a cab."

Sharpay lifted her hand to stop her friend. "Nope, wouldn't hear of it. Pierre will be at you disposal for as long as you need, much safer than a dirty cab or walking." Sharpay informed her, leaving no room for protest. "Now that we have that settled, tell me everything that happened between you and Troy boy." She asked with a hint of excitement. "What did you say, what did he say… did he ignore you?"

Gabriella rolled her eyes and began recounting the day's earlier events to Sharpay, hoping that tomorrow she'd have better luck at getting him to listen to her.

A/N: Hello there, *waves*, how's everybody doing? So in honor of the release of Beastly (finally right?), I decided to post the beginning chapter to BH's sequel, which I've named Reluctant Hostility. I hope the title makes sense to everyone because it does to me. How was it? Any good, yes...no? Should I stop now? Let me know because I'm super anxious to hear everyone's thoughts on this story, hopefully it's good and doesn't disappoint anyone but I can't make any promises. Thank you all so much for the incredible response to the final chapter of BH, that was just beyond amazing. I know it was crazy, sudden and dramatic but that's life and I think it set up the sequel exactly how I wanted it to so let's hope I can pull it off. Reviews are always appreciated and my apologies for any grammatical errors.

Now, I know some of you are aware that my work was plagiarized recently, my thanks again to the person who informed me about that little situation. As a precaution I removed all of my work for the time being just because I feel leaving it exposed online leaves it pretty vulnerable, especially since I'm still a little shocked someone even bothered to steal my work. Regardless, I do love all of my stories and they do have special meanings for me since I wrote them at specific times in my life so until further notice I am keeping them down. I am not, however, going to let this little mishap deter me from continuing to write and post here on this site. You guys have been amazing and I'm not just going to stop posting because of this one incident, that wouldn't be fair to anyone and why punish you guys right? That lets the other people win and I'm not having that, I'm way too grateful for the support my stories have received to just stop. So until I feel my work has been down long enough and is protected properly (even though it's impossible to feel secure after dealing with plagiarism), I'll be posting the sequel but I won't be putting BH back up right away for several reasons just in case. I'm also aware that some of you haven't had a chance to finish reading the first one and therefore won't be able to follow this sequel which I apologize for but I just don't feel comfortable posting BH back up right now. Thanks for understanding and reading this... you guys rock! I hope you enjoyed!

P.S. Definitely go check out Beastly if you haven't already, it was pretty good. Although, I was a little disappointed with the ending but overall it was a great romance story and Vanessa was excellent in it.