E.T

He remembers the first time he ever met her…

It was an early, warm autumn morning at East High-too early for Troy's liking. Usually he was used to being woken up and getting to school by at least seven thirty, but on Mondays, which were his least favorite days of the week, like today, Wednesdays, and Fridays, his dad woke him up at four-thirty in the morning for his training. For his training, he had to complete fifty pushups with two fifty-pound weights on his back, fifty sit-ups with the same fifty-pound weights on his stomach, jumping rope a hundred and fifty times, running around the entire block five times at a good pace, and finishing off with thirty free throws in a row.

All while his dad watched him with the Bolton men's piercing, ocean blue eyes that were cold slits, loudly barking at his son to go faster and faster, making him wish he could stuff the basketball into his mouth so he can have peace and quiet.

Come on, Troy, let's go. Faster, faster. Get'ca your head in the game. Even classrooms away from his dad, he could still him barking those orders. He weakly winced as he felt sharp pain biting onto his poor shoulder he rubbed tenderly. Every muscle in his body was completely stiff and painful in the end, and he could feel from the shoulder pain the Hot and Cold cream he put on wasn't doing much to tame the pain.

He once told his dad how much the routine really put a lot of straining on his body. Big mistake there. His dad always tell him at the end, as he's panting out of breath, dripping in sweat, and drinking every sip in his water bottle, that those routines would help him be strong and help lead the Wildcats to the Championships'.

Oddly enough, that seemed to be one of the very few things his dad was right about. Although the workouts caused him much pain in his body and he felt so drained, he had to admit they did help him not only do great in basketball, but also with the ladies who seemed intrigued with his toned-muscular body, which was one of the many things girls liked about him.

Trying to focus on his history notes for the quiz they were going to get in the next class, Troy couldn't help but overhear some of the conversation going on around him between his group of close friends. His best friend since preschool and school's class clown, Chad Danforth, was talking with their good friends, Zeke Baylor, Ryan Evans, and Jason Cross, about their plans to see Rise of the Planet of the Apes. Seated onto their boyfriends' laps, Taylor McKessie, the school's brainy beauty, Sharpay Evans, Ryan's twin sister and Ice Queen, and Kelsi Nelson, the talented composer, were talking about going shopping this weekend, celebrities they liked and adored and those thought shouldn't even be famous in the first place, articles they read in their magazines, and other girl things he didn't understand nor cared to.

"So about it, Captain?" Chad asked, bringing Troy back to reality.

"How about what?" he asked, confused.

"Going with us to the movies this Saturday," Jason grinned. "We're going to see The Rise of the Planet of the Apes and I heard it's awesome."

Troy stared at his friends, who were waiting for his answer, feeling a strong sense of deja vu from the conversation. It seemed almost like a dance to him, they lead him on with the question and he, following their lead, gives them the same answer. "I don't think so, guys."

Almost instantly, right on cue, they groaned and rolled their eyes. No matter how many times they ask him to hang out with them, he always delivers the same answer, even though they're always hoping he'd change his mind at least once.

"And what the excuse this time?" Troy's practically his brother, but even Chad couldn't help being more than a bit annoyed his best friend wouldn't hang out with them. The only time they ever see him, besides school or practice, was when he'd come over to one of their houses or they come over to his, with both visits not lasting that long because Troy always seemed to be on his strict schedule.

"First off, they're not excuses. They're genuine reasons," The gang groaned louder, much to his annoyance, but that didn't stop him from continuing. "Second, I just can't."

Sharpay took time off from working on her manicure and tapped her sparkly pink nail-filer against her chin as she eyed Troy, a smirk playing on her lips as she flipped back her blond hair. "Can't, Bolton, or simply too scared?"

At that, loud hollers and whistles erupted from the gang, while the drama queen and basketball captain had a stare-off, the captain frowning in annoyance while the queen was still smirking, till Troy finally pulled away.

Normally at anything else, Troy would defend himself, but in this case it was different because he could see his friends had a point.

The truth was Troy was one who always liked following his schedule with nothing new or unexpected crashing its' perfection. He wakes up at six A.M, get dressed and spends thirty minutes getting ready, goes to school, studies hard and practices hard, comes home, do homework, and go to bed and do the same thing all over again. Lather, rinse, repeat, which was just the way he liked things to be for him.

And not only that, but he does this schedule for not himself but also for his parents- his dad in particular. His dad, who was also his hard-core trainer and a much harder coach, isn't someone who can easily be pleased and Troy following the rules without hesitance was the only thing, besides basketball, that pleased him, even if it was just a little bit. As a result, Troy's at the top of his class, got the best grades and was a joy to teachers, didn't go to parties or hung out with his friends that often, turned down dates he's been asked to, and was, well, awkward.

The girls, Sharpay especially, always told him if he wasn't "such a hottie" and basketball captain, he'd be at the bottom of the school's food chain, and sometimes he couldn't help but agree with them. He supposed he was good-looking enough thanks to the body he got from basketball and his dad's workout routine, had eyes Taylor always said reminded her of the ocean, and took entirely after his dad who was voted "Most beautiful" and "Mr. Popular" and was king to almost every dance he went to. Unlike his legendary dad and his friends, he was only decently popular, but that was only because he was a great, hard-working captain who helped lead the Wildcats onto back-to-back Championships. If it wasn't for that, being the son to the famous Jack Bolton, and his friendship connections, he'd be a loner who had nothing else to do but focus on getting a good grade on the next test and pushing himself to work harder, which he already was.

"Seriously, Troy," Zeke said, and he brought himself back into the conversation. "I know how much of a hard-ass your dad can be, but one afternoon off the schedule wouldn't kill anyone."

"Except maybe our boredom." Ryan muttered quietly and yet they all, except for Troy, burst into laughter.

Troy had enough of this conversation and returned his attention back to his notes on the French Revolution, determined not to get anything lower than an A- on today's quiz. He study two days before, skimmed through it again before he finally went to bed, and studied on the drive to school, committing every date and person and everything else to memory till he was sure he could recite it in his sleep. But studying it one more time before History class couldn't hurt right?

"Come on, man," Jason begged. "I'd rather hang out with you outside school and the gym."

"One break wouldn't hurt anybody, Troy." Taylor insisted.

Except me, he thought, frowning. If it doesn't get me killed first. He wished his friends could relate with him and sympathize, but sadly none of them, not even Chad, understand what's going on with him. None of them had hard-ass fathers who barely gave them the time of day, not sure what to talk to them about except basketball, which was the only thing they had in common, and would make their lives absolute hell if they made a mistake on anything. Like getting a B+ as a grade for one of his classes his dad looked down upon like it was a big, fat F. Forgetting to straightened up his room because he was in hurry to get to school and had to walk the whole three miles, which got him a hard punch to the gut and a week's grounding. Being late to practice just once because his tutoring session was running late, which earned him three extra hours of practice and triple the routine work-outs.

Seeing the frown on his face, Kelsi decided Troy handled enough harassment for one day, took pity on him, and said to the others who were still chuckling a bit, "I think Troy suffers enough embarrassment from us for one day."

Thank you, Kelsi, he praised as he shared a smile with her, being reminded once again why out of all three girls he preferred her the most. She teased him to a no-means's end like the others, but at least she understood a bit when enough was enough and when to give the teasing and jokes a rest.

His friends then disburses when the morning bell rang, alerting students and teachers alike, it was time to start another school day, and they all agreed to meet at their usual table at lunch before taking their seats. Once everyone in the class was seated and at least quiet enough, Ms. Darbus rose from her seat, stepped off from her "stage" with her handy clipboard in one hand and coffee in the other, ready to give today's announcements.

"Good morning, students," she greeted with her half-smile. "I trust all of you are looking forward to another educational-filled week in East High."

Already knowing the respond she'd get for that comment, she quickly moved on. "As I'm sure you're all aware, report cards come out next week. I suggest to those of you who are doing poorly in your classes," She glared at Chad hard, having a good guess on what his grades were. She already knew what his grade in English was going to be. "I highly recommend you use this advantage to improve your grades."

"Come on, Ms. D," Chad grinned, never one to miss out on a huge opportunity to show off his smart mouth. "I believe there's no such thing as a bad grade."

"Our views on good and bad grades are worlds apart, Mr. Danforth." she remarked, causing loud laughter and cat-calls to erupt in the small room.

"Dude," Troy reached across to nudge Chad in the shoulder. "You seem to forget she's your English teacher who can easily fail you." That is, if you already hadn't, he silently added.

"Relax," Chad winked. "She won't be able to fail me once she gets a taste of the winning Danforth charm."

Riiight, he thought, rolling his eyes.

"Moving on," Ms. Darbus said. "Tutoring sessions begin three-thirty sharp, so once again I highly suggest-"

Just then, Principal Matsui came into the classroom, causing quite a stirring buzz in the class. Rarely does the Principal ever make an appearance outside his office and the auditorium, and he does it's usually for two reasons: 1). He had horrible news to personally deliver for one of the students. 2). someone got themselves into deep trouble; he decided to publicly humiliate them in front of everyone.

He walked over to Ms. Darbus and handed her a file folder that looked more like a five hundred-paged novel, and the two looked to be in a intense conversation as Ms. Darbus skimmed through the pages in the folder, shaking her head, while the Principal was wildly gesturing his hands, till she finally closed the folder and looked away from him, with a frown on her face, while he looked satisfied.

"Attention class!" He loudly clapped his hands a few times till the chatter finally died down and he had their attention. "I have very good, interesting news. We have a new student who will be joining the East High family. And I trust all of you to make her feel welcome."

A new girl! That was quite a rarity, even more than the Principal making an appearance because usually new girls, and also guys, are in the freshmen class.

Everyone couldn't help wondering and making guesses on what the new girl's like? Hot or ugly? Blonde, red-head, or brunette? The preppy type or goth-Emo? Will she interested in cheerleading, be a drama-obsessed, a book-worm, or just be a loner? The possibilities were nearly endless.

Uninterested, Troy returned to his notes, trying to block out the sound of chatter around him.

"A Miss Gabriella Montez who comes to us from New York City," Ms. Darbus read off, impressed, causing even more of an uproar for the class. "Miss Montez."

They waited for her to walk through the door, but thirty seconds went by and nothing.

"Miss Montez!" Still nothing. "Don't be shy. No one is going to hurt you, dear."

"Miss Montez!" Ms. Darbus barked at the doorway, her patience clearly, and quickly, running out. "The theater waits for no one."

So the new girl wasn't one who answered when being called the first time-or the second and third. That added even more speculation and lesser possibilities to what she was like. Till finally the sound of shoes walked entered into the room, cutting through the loud noise like a sharp knife and putting it into dead silence.

Troy slowly looked up from his notes to see what the fuss was about and his eyes widened in shock, unable to do anything but stare as she walked in.

She was, in one word, beautiful. Lustrous, long raven hair cascading down her back and shoulders that looked so soft to touch, a beautiful face that looked like it was crafted precisely and beautifully by angels even if her eyes were covered by her dark shades, blemish-free and flawless olive-tanned skin, and beautiful dark red lips that were full and sweet-looking.

The only other thing beautiful as her looks were her body: petite, possibly 5'3 or 5'4, with her shoes adding some height, very voluptuous and full, firm yet lean legs, and lean and graceful-like like a body that belonged to a dancer. She was showing off her figure in a very wow-ish ensemble that barely contained her curves: a simple, white mid-drift tank top and showed off her entire, toned stomach that had a dark orange-tannish flower tattoo around it and her sparkling diamond-stub navel piercing, short-short bleach denim shorts and black cowboy boots that made her legs look endless.

Aside from her from navel piercing, she had others: a silver stub nose ring, two silver eyebrow stars, and some thing black on her shoulder he quickly dismissed was a lock of her hair.

For a full two-minute, she just stood there. Not moving and completely silent, with her hands stuffed into her pockets and chewing her gum quietly. She definitely wasn't the shy type since she wasn't fidgeting or looking nervous, but then again it was hard on what really to make of this girl.

"Don't be shy, Gabriella," Principal Matsui took a step forward with his left hand slightly raised, as if he was going to place his hand on her shoulder. Yet, at the last minute, as she turned back and gave him a look, he quickly withdrawal the hand away from her shoulder and gestured toward the class. "Tell us something about yourself."

Gabriella turned back to them, still silent. She chewed her gum for about ten more seconds, parted her lips, and blew a huge pink bubble that was almost the size of her head till it popped. Unfazed, she sucked it back into her mouth and started chewing again.

"Miss Montez," Ms. Darbus scowled. "Since you are a new student, I'm willing to let this slip once. But here in East High, we don't chew gum. Now spit out."

Still chewing, Gabriella turned back to Ms. Darbus, and, seeing a disgusted scowl on the woman's face, shrugged her shoulders. With a swift turn of her heel, she walked over to the teacher, took Ms. Darbus's hand, and, to everyone's astonishment and disgust, spit out the huge wad of gum into the woman's palm before balling her hand into a tight fist.

Holy…the class was so quiet; you could hear a penny fall onto the ground. Ms. Darbus was far from being everyone's favorite teacher at the school, annoyed them more than half of the time, and there were tons of people who loved getting under her skin. However, none of them, not even Chad who knew countless ways to amuse her, ever pulled off something completely…bold and disgusting.

"What the-Why would-What is-Dear Lord!" Mr. Darbus cringed, for once lost at words.

A smirk, small but completely devilish, appeared on Gabriella's red lips as she patted Ms. Darbus hand, saying "Be a doll will you, Dumbass, and throw that away for me?"

Not even waiting for a reply, and missing the woman's shocked expression, Gabriella walked over to the empty desk in the back of the class, the third seat; already figuring out it was going to be her new home. The whole class, him especially, couldn't tear their eyes away from her, the sound of her heels clanking breaking the heavy silence.

Finally she was seated, legs crossed as were her arms, leaning back against her seat and staring straight ahead. Everyone slowly turned their attention back to Ms. Darbus, who was trying to pull herself together after her little ordeal, and the rest of the announcements were called out.

All throughout homeroom, more than a few people couldn't help taking more than a few curious glances at the new student. Especially Troy, who took way more than a few glances and looked much longer than expected.

He couldn't stop staring at her; he couldn't explain why he was even looking at her in the first place. He wasn't blind; she was pretty, yes, beautiful even. But East High had plenty of girls like that, although most didn't exactly have her…style (?). Besides staring was wrong, a fact his prim and proper grandmother drilled into his head since he was little, and him continuing to look at her wasn't helping at all.

With those dark shades still on, it was hard to tell what was going through her mind. He wondered if she was aware nearly everyone kept staring at her or basically ignored them.

"Mr. Bolton!" With a jolt, fear running through him hot and cold at the possibly of trouble, he quickly turned his attention back to the front, where it belonged. But it was too late. Everyone was now staring at him, smirks on their faces, and Ms. Darbus was steaming. "Perhaps you'll let us in on what seems to capture your attention."

No, not really, he gulped. It was one thing to be called out in front of the class, it was a completely other thing if he had to answer that question.

"We're waiting, Mr. Bolton." Ms. Darbus may not be the cruelest teacher, at least in his opinion, but still she was a teacher and like most wouldn't let a chance to humiliate a student slip away.

If people weren't paying attention now, they definitely were now. He felt like a mouse trapped in corner. He tried to block out their stares and the sounds of their laughter, but that wasn't easy to do, especially when the laughing was slowly getting louder.

Remain calm, remain calm, he tried unsuccessfully. His entire face felt hot, as if he was burning up, sweat gathered around his forehead, and he could tell his cheeks, if not his entire face, were blushing bright red.

"Uh…um…" he stuttered, unsure what to say. The smirks were getting bigger and the chuckling was getting louder. His blush was getting even redder to his amazement and embarrassment.

"Pathetic."

At the moment, Troy couldn't be anymore grateful for the word "Pathetic". As grateful as he was to the word, he even more grateful to the person who said it.

He turned back to give the person a grateful smile, but his smile froze in place when he saw who the speaker was.

It was Gabriella, who now held everyone's attention but unlike him didn't look uncomfortable at all.

"Excuse me, Miss Montez?" Ms. Darbus questioned.

"Please don't tell me you're deaf, too, Ms. Dumbass," she sighed before pushing her shades back and revealing her whole face, which was ten times more beautiful than before. Rolling her dark mocha eyes that looked almost as dark as her hair, she continued. "Like I was saying, it's pathetic. A pup," she nodded Troy's direction. "Can't even think about things, like getting out of this hell-hole, without getting in trouble with the devil. Which, in case you haven't figure out already, is you."

Sweet Jesus, Troy thought. If he even mumbled something like that to anyone, his father would be sure to hear him and kill him. How the heck this girl can say it out loud without fear or hesitance was beyond him.

"I beg your pardon-" Ms. Darbus started, but got cut off by her.

"Let me cut to the chase while we still have some time, Dumbass," Gabriella said. "I think it's really pathetic that a thousand-something year old grandma like yourself still gets a kick out of torturing her students. That's pathetic because it's sure as hell not going to make your pathetic life any less sad." If that wasn't enough to stun the class, the next thing she said really took it home. "Tell me. Has it been awhile since a certain someone's been turned on?"

For the longest, longest time, and possibly the first time in East High history, Ms. Darbus homeroom was completely silent. Not chatter, no cat-calls, no gasps, no noise. Even his best friend, Danforth, who always knew what to say during anything, was speechless.

He wasn't sure about the rest of thing, but Troy knew for himself his jaw dropped wide open and could have touched the ground.

"Well, Dumbass," She was not only unfazed by the hype she was creating, she was also enjoying it. He can tell by the faded glint in her dark eyes and the mocking tone in her voice, "We're waiting."

"Excuse-"Ms. Darbus began, only to get cut off again. Only this time by the school bell's loud ringing.

Without a word, Ms. Montez got herself up from her seat, put down her shades, and was already out the door before they could finally grasp what was going on.

"It's Darbus." She muttered, a bit too late, both stunned and insulted at once. "Darbus, young lady."

Sweet Jesus, Troy thought, looking back at the desk where she was five seconds ago and back to the door where she made her grand exit.

Who the hell is this girl?