Disclaimer: I own nothing.
Gabriella sighed sadly as she walked down the hall to the auditorium. Her and her supposed best friend, Troy, were scheduled to meet on the roof before rehearsals with Kelsi and Ms. Darbus, but, as always, Troy didn't show. He had been blowing her off a lot in the last month, ever since Troy started dating Rachel, the captain of the cheerleading squad. Gabriella hated her with a passion, but at the same time, she was envious of Rachel. Gabriella always felt like she was nothing compared to Rachel, and that she wasn't good enough. Gabriella figured that this was why Troy was always blowing her off was because Rachel was better than her. She understood that Troy had a girlfriend now, and couldn't spend a whole lot of time with her, but whenever he did make plans with her, he didn't show up, which hurt Gabriella, knowing that Troy didn't care enough about her to show up. Whenever Gabriella would ask him why he wasn't there, he would always use the excuse that his dad made him practice.
Gabriella slowly opened the auditorium doors, and was met by Kelsi.
"Hey, Gabriella, what's wrong?" Kelsi asked her, noticing the sad expression on her friend's face.
"It's Troy again. Once again, he made plans to hang out with me before rehearsals, and once again, he didn't show up." Gabriella said, as a tear fell from her eye, "It's like he doesn't care enough about me to even tell me that he can't come."
"I'm sure Troy didn't mean to blow you off." Kelsi assured her, "He's just been 'preoccupied' lately."
"Yea, with Rachel." Gabriella said disgustedly, "I don't know what Troy sees in that girl! I wish he would dump her, because Rachel is definitely not right for him!"
A smirk appeared on Kelsi's face, "You want Troy, don't you?"
Gabriella wasn't exactly sure how to answer this one. She did want Troy, the old Troy, not the person he had been acting like for the past month. "I do want Troy, the old Troy. The one who was my friend."
"What do you mean?" Kelsi asked her confusedly.
"Haven't you noticed the way Troy's been acting since he got together with Rachel?" she asked her, "He's become a whole different person, and honestly, I hate it! The old Troy was nice, sweet, funny, kind, and caring. I wanted to be around him as much as possible then, but now, he's changed. In my opinion, he's become a jerk, and in a way, he kind of scares me, because I don't know what he'll say or do next, but I can't help but to still want to be near him."
"Yea, I have noticed he's been acting different, but I just thought he was stressed out." Kelsi said, "Why don't you just tell Troy?"
"Well, I would, but every time I get to talk to him, we only have a minute, if that." Gabriella said.
The auditorium doors started opening again, this time revealing Troy.
"Hey, Kelsi, hey, Gabi." Troy greeted them, as though he had forgotten the plans he had made with Gabriella.
"Don't call me that! Only my real friends can call me Gabi!" she snapped.
"Gabriella, what's going on?" Troy asked her, a bit taken aback from her sudden moodiness.
"You mean you forgot?!" Gabriella was now angrier than ever, "You made plans to meet me on the rooftop after school today!"
"That was today?" Troy asked her, for he had totally forgot, "Gabriella, I'm so sorry! I totally forgot! I promise you that it won't happen again!"
"You're right it won't happen again, because I'm through with you, Troy! Ever since you started dating that piece of trash, all you've done was blow me off! Well, I'm sick of it!" Gabriella snapped.
"Rachel is not a piece of trash, Gabriella!" Troy said angrily.
"You've changed, Troy, and I don't like it." Gabriella said quietly as tears started filling her eyes.
"Well, you're just going to have to deal with it." Troy said coldly.
Gabriella looked into Troy's eyes, which were as cold as his attitude. She was finally sick and tired of trying with Troy, for there was nothing she could say or do that would possibly get the Troy Bolton she knew and loved back. He would just have to figure this out on his own, "When you come back to your senses, Troy, then talk to me, but until then, just stay away from me!" With that, she went to run out of the room, but Troy grabbed her arm.
"Troy, let go!" Gabriella yelled, as more tears fell from her eyes. She felt pain start in her arm from his extremely tight grip. She tried to get out, but he just held on tighter.
"Gabriella, what's gotten into you?" he asked her.
"What's gotten into me? Troy, what's gotten into you?" Gabriella asked him, still trying to get out of his grip, "Let go! You're hurting my arm!"
"Nothing is wrong with me! You're the one who's been acting like a jerk ever since I started dating Rachel!" he said, but didn't loosen his grip, "You're jealous, aren't you?"
Gabriella looked into his eyes, and was met by his cold stare. She cried harder, wondering how someone as nice as Troy was, could turn into the monster standing before her. She knew that she had to get away from Troy until he came back to his senses. "Troy, just please let me go, and I won't interfere in your life any further. I'll forget the musical, and I'll try to forget you, if that's what you want."
Troy looked down at the sobbing girl in front of him, as if just now realizing what he was doing. He looked into her deep brown eyes, and saw a look of fear and sadness, and realized that he was the cause of it. He didn't mean to hurt her, he loved her, he really did. He now knew that she was right, he had changed, and he didn't like it either.
He released his grip on her arm, but as soon as he did, she took off running out of the auditorium.
"Gabriella, wait!" Troy called after her, but she was gone.
"Troy, how could you do that to her!" Kelsi yelled at him, "Gabriella was right! You have changed!"
"I didn't mean it, I swear!" Troy said, staring off in the direction she had gone, wondering if he should run after her, or give her some space.
"Don't tell me, tell her!" Kelsi said, "She's the one who needs your explanation!"
Troy took off running after Gabriella, already knowing where she was. He ran into a classroom, and stopped at the other set of doors, and pressed his ear to the door, listening for a sign that she was there. He heard loud sobbing, indicating she was there. He quietly opened the door, and slowly walked up, trying not to let on that he was there.
"H-how c-could h-he?" Gabriella cried out. Troy stopped, and listened to her continue. "I-I can't believe I ever loved that jerk!"
Gabriella was about to continue her rant, but that's when she felt someone's arms wrap themselves around her in a tight, comforting embrace. She knew immediately who it was, and became mad all over again, "Don't touch me! All you'll do is hurt me again!"
Troy sighed, regretting everything that he'd done to her in the past month, "Gabriella, I'm not here to hurt you. I'm here because I care about you, and because I need to apologize for being a terrible friend."
"Y-you don't care about me!" Gabriella said angrily, "If you cared at all about me, you wouldn't have treated me the way you have been for the past month!"
"Gabriella, look at me." Troy pleaded, "I need you to look at me when I say what I'm about to say."
"Fine." she said, giving in, and turned in his arms to look at him. She searched his eyes, and found the look that she had been longing to see in his eyes. It was the look that told her that he wouldn't hurt her again, and that he was back.
"Gabriella, I'm sorry for blowing you off all the time. I'm sorry for acting like a jerk, and I'm definitely sorry for hurting you earlier. I didn't mean it, I was just being stupid. The truth is, I love you, Gabriella, and I don't want to lose you."
"Y-you're back!" Gabriella cried out happily, and hugged him tightly, "This is the Troy Bolton that I fell in love with!"
Troy smiled, as he leaned in and kissed her lips passionately.
Gabriella felt as though she were on cloud nine. She enjoyed the fact that he was kissing her, but something didn't seem right, and she figured out what it was, and so she pulled back.
Troy looked at he alarmed, "Gabi, what's wrong?"
"You're still with Rachel, that's what's wrong." she answered.
"Oh yea." Troy said, "I wanted to dump her anyways."
"I never did like her." Gabriella said, "And, earlier, when you accused me of being jealous of her, you were right, I was."
"Why would you be jealous of her?" he asked, "You're a lot better than her."
"Because she had the one thing I wanted." she answered simply.
"What?" he asked curiously.
"You." she said, and kissed him, which he gladly returned.
"I must say, you're a much better kisser than her, too." he told her once they had to pull apart. She blushed at that comment.
"You've changed again, Troy, but this time, I love it."
Ok, I hope that wasn't too bad, and wasn't a total waste of time. Thanks to those who read & reviewed!