Defining Moments

Disclaimer: I do not own the High School Musical franchise, all I own is this plot and the characters I have created.

There are moments in your life that bring you happiness, others that bring you sadness. And then there are those terrifying moments that change your life forever; you know the ones that turn your life upside down, change your view of the world and never leave you as the same person you once were.

My first life-changing moment happened when I was fifteen years old…

I laughed as I walked home with my two best friends, Taylor McKessie and Sharpay Evans. We have known each other our whole lives, our parents were all friends. "You didn't!" I exclaimed, "You are so bad, Shar." I said. We are talking about boys, typical behaviour for teenage girls.

Sharpay was the biggest girly-girl I had ever met; she loves all things pink, never leaves her room without make-up on, loves fashion and has a panic attack whenever her phone isn't within a two meter radius of herself.

Sharpay giggled then shrugged in mock innocence, "What? The janitor's closet is a perfectly acceptable place to make out in." she said. Oh, right, she is also a little bit of a slut, and the fun one of our little group.

We all cracked up laughing.

"Well" said Taylor, "Details woman, details." Taylor is smart, like me. She is a self-declared 'nerd' and doesn't care about what people think of her. She is that girl in those movies, you know the one that is really confident in her abilities and even though she isn't 'popular', manages to 'get the guy'. Her boyfriend's name is Chad Danforth, the most popular guy in school and a best friend of mine, honestly the boy is like a brother; they have been going out for about four months now. Her life is perfect. Sometimes I feel as if I am just the sidekick while she is the main character.

That is fine with me though, I have never been comfortable with too much attention anyways. I am happy in the shadows. I haven't even kissed a boy, don't get me wrong, I'm no prude; I just want my first kiss to be with somebody special.

Sharpay laughed, "Oh, like you don't know what it is like."

Taylor rolled her eyes, "Fine, I was just asking for 'virgin lips' here anyways."

"Hey!" I said in offence. They laughed at me.

"It's not like we're lying, G." Sharpay said.

"Plus, you know I admire you for waiting for the perfect guy." Taylor said and smiled at me in support.

"Oh, you know what; Calvin Phillips has a huge crush on you G. Maybe he can be your 'prince charming' or whatever." Sharpay said, "He's a really good kisser too, I can tell him to ask you out."

I laughed, "Thanks, but no thanks S. Calvin Phillips isn't the one for me, but I will find him, one day. Not all of us are as lucky as Miss I-found-my-one-true-love-at fifteen." I gave Taylor a pointed look and she grinned. We got to my house, "Ok guys, I will see you tomorrow." They nodded and we said our goodbyes.

A smile played on my face as I walked through my front door. My life was just as it should be, and I couldn't be happier. I heard my name called out and made my way to the living room. My sister, her husband of a month, two police men and three men in suits were all sitting there. "What's going on?" I asked, confused. My sister looked frozen; she was just sitting there staring at the floor. Adam, her husband, had red rims around his eyes and looked as if he had been crying. He looked at me, an expression that I couldn't pick out on his face.

"Sit down, Gabriella." He said.

I did as I was told. I noticed the absence of my parents. "Where are mum and dad?" I asked and as soon as I did, I wished I could take it back. My sister finally looked up at me and I could see the stream of tears running down her face. Ok, seriously, what the hell is going on? "Rachel?" I asked, afraid of the answer.

My sister shook her head a started to sob, leaning on Adam as he comforted her. I looked at the police officers, "Tell me." I said, but in my heart I already knew the answer.

One of the officers looked at me, a sympathetic expression on his face, "I am so sorry." He took in a deep breath, "Your parents were in a car accident at 1:32pm today. It was fatal on impact. I am so sorry for you loss." He explained.

And with those words, my life as I knew it crashed down around me.

That night I literally cried until I collapsed from exhaustion. And then I never cried again. Nothing ever seemed worthy of my tears in comparison to that moment.

I changed that day. No longer was my life one of childish innocence. I no longer believed in 'happily ever afters', or 'forever'. People aren't indestructible, they are born and they die; simple as that. Nobody will be there for you forever. I learned that the hard way.

Everything was turned upside down. My sister and Adam became my legal guardians and they moved into my house. I also went from being 'that girl who hangs out with Taylor and Sharpay' to 'that girl whose parents died' to the 'it girl'. I transformed myself into the most popular girl in school; I took Taylors place. I became a bit of a tease and a flirt. Every guy wanted to be with me, and I was flattered by the attention; but I didn't believe in 'prince charming' anymore. That was until I started getting the attention of an older, married man.

This brings me to my second life-altering moment; I was seventeen years old…

I giggled as he flipped me onto my back and began kissing my neck. We were on his boat, and it was late. I felt his nakedness on mine, and I loved it. I love him. He looked into my eyes and smiled, he then proceeded to kiss my nose. I looked lovingly at him.

He stroked my face as he talked, "You mean everything to me, Gabriella." He said, "I love you."

"I love you too" I returned.

"You are so beautiful; I have never seen anybody as beautiful as you." He said and I blushed. "I can't wait till you graduate and we can be together in public."

I nodded. I am graduating a year early because I skipped a grade. It is really very convenient, considering my current romantic situation. It felt good to have a man in my life; not a boy, a man. And we loved each other. He was even going to leave his wife for me.

"Me too" I said. We began kissing and I felt him on my thigh, I spread open my legs wider and he entered me for the third time that night. This whole thing began three months ago and he took my virginity just over a month ago. I am so happy it was with him. He made me believe in 'fairy tales' and 'happily ever afters' again. He understood me. He was the love of my life.

"Oh, come on G!" Sharpay said to me three days later, "Just tell me who it is."

I shook my head, "No. Not yet. Soon, I promise." I smiled. Life was good. We were going to the mall so I could buy some sexy new lingerie for Richard; not that they knew who it was for. They couldn't, at least not yet. Not until I graduated.

We walked outside the school and I was met by none other than Richard's wife. She looked angry, yet calm as she walked up to me. "We need to talk, Miss Montez." She said. And something in me knew that she had found out. The jig was up and she was about to get her heart broken, I felt a bit sorry for her to be honest.

I nodded, "Shar, can we do this later?" I asked.

Sharpay shrugged, "Ok, call me."

I agreed and she left. I looked at his wife. "What do you want?" I asked.

She looked at me superiority, "Let's go somewhere more private" she suggested, though it sounded more like a command. Twenty minutes later found us on Richards boat, her boat too I guess. We were sitting down on the couches. "I am sure you know this boat very well by now" she finally spoke.

I didn't see the point in lying. She knew. "Yes" I answered "Better than you." I know it was a low blow, but I was protective of my relationship.

She laughed. "Oh honey, you really think you are the first one he has brought onto this boat, professed his love for and then proceeded to take your virginity?" She scoffed, "Please."

I refused to believe it. He loved me, he had to…right? Why would Richard just string me along? I mean more to him than that. "You're lying." I said.

She looked me dead in the eye, "Let me guess; he said he loved you, and that he has 'never seen anybody as beautiful as you' and that he was going to leave me for you." She shook her head, "You aren't special. You are merely one of many. Unlike you, he will never leave me; his image is too important to him. And I won't leave him because his money is too important to me. It's a win-win situation. And now, he is done with you and I have to 'get rid of the trash' as he put it." She paused, "So, you stay away from both him and I and you never breathe a word of this to anyone; and I won't crush you like a bug. Got it?" She questioned.

I shook my head, "I don't believe you." I said. It couldn't be true, it just couldn't.

An evil smirk appeared on her face, "We thought you would say that."

"What?" I asked, just as I did, Richard walked into the room. His expression was one of coldness, boredom and indifference. In that moment, I knew what she said had been true.

I stood, marched over to him and slapped him with every ounce of strength I possessed before leaving.

I was broken. I had given this man everything and he spat in my face.

A few days later, I broke down and told Adam and Rachel everything; how Richard took advantage of me and how his wife threatened me. To say Adam was pissed is an understatement. He stormed over there and demanded that they leave town or he would expose them. Adam is a brilliant lawyer and what he said obviously worked.

Richard and his wife weren't about to just up and leave without causing some problems for me.

At the annual Annapolis Ball they decided to take their revenge. I had just been crowned 'Miss Annapolis' for the third time, Richard got up onto the stage in the middle of my 'thank you' speech. He announced to everyone there that he was leaving and the reason he was leaving because I had seduced him and caused a crack in his marriage. He made himself out to be the victim and made me sound like the villain that shattered his marriage. He said that even though he had done nothing wrong, he was leaving because he was the 'bigger person' and I had 'tarnished his good name'.

Everybody felt sorry for him and believed every lie that came out of his mouth. He left a hero and I was from then on known as the evil slut who ruined his life.

That wasn't even the worst part though; it was the fact that for a while there, even I believed him. I thought it was my fault and the guilt consumed me. Looking back now I know it wasn't; I was a vulnerable, impressionable seventeen year old who he took advantage of.

I didn't realise that then though, and I regret my actions in the aftermath. My friends tried to help me but instead of dealing with my issues, instead of defending myself; I ran. I couldn't handle the look of contempt that I received every time I left the house. I wanted out.

And when I got offered a scholarship to Georgetown University I accepted it eagerly. I hardly even said goodbye to my friends and made no effort to keep in touch; that is my biggest regret.

And now, six years later, here I am, twenty-three years old and in the reverberations of my third life-altering moment…

It all started with a phone call.

A/N: Ok, so this is my first attempt at a story with chapters. I don't plan on it being too long, it has just been on my mind for a while and I wanted to give it a shot.

I am all for constructive criticism, so please feel free to tell me how I should fix my writing.