Gabriella spent the next morning waiting for Troy. She looked at her watch, glaring at the minute hand. "Come on Troy, you're never late." she murmured. She was about to pull out a book to read when she heard a bunch of girls screaming. That must mean Troy's here, she thought.
"Troy! Did I mention your hair looks lush today?" asked Starla Samuels, a freshman.
"Um, thanks." Troy said uncomfortably. He headed over to his locker.
"Hi!" Gabriella shrieked excitedly, jumping in front of him.
Troy bit his lip, wondering why Gabriella was acting like one of his fan girls. "Hey?"
"So, um, after talking to you yesterday…" she began. "I was thinking…" RING! The homeroom bell chimed and students shuffled through the halls to find their homeroom.
Troy looked a bit jumpy, as if he was anxious to hear what Gabriella was about to say, "Um, I'll talk to you during lunch." he said.
She nodded sadly, "Okay." They walked in silence to Mrs. Darbus's classroom.
Troy sighed; he wanted to reach for her hand, but was saddened by the fact that he could no longer do that. They went into the classroom and he slipped into his seat.
Gabriella moped to the back of the room, where her desk was. He's probably already over me. She blew a lock of hair out of her face and drew her attention to Ms. Darbus.
"Ladies and gentlemen!" she announced dramatically. "Well, the student council has decided to name the rest of this week and all of next week, Friendship Week!"
The students groaned, that didn't sound like fun. "Man, that's so cheesy!" Chad yelled.
"And to kick off the week, we have a skit to perform, written by Principal Matsui himself!" cheered Ms. Darbus.
"The cheese master himself." Chad chuckled, laughing at his own stupid joke.
"Students, each homeroom should choose two students to perform the friendship skit for the class." said the teacher.
"Friendship skit?" Troy muttered Chad. "Man, this is going to be the lamest thing ever—"
"Troy! Troy! Troy!" cheered the homeroom students.
Troy's eyes widened, "What? No."
"Mr. Bolton, the class is waiting." said Ms. Darbus, winking.
Troy shuddered as he walked to front of the class. "Fine," he mumbled.
"Choose a girl." Ms. Darbus told him.
Troy's eyes circled around the room. "Oh Troy! Pick me!" Sharpay shrieked, waving her hands frantically in the air.
"Sorry Sharpay, I'm afraid I don't work with life-sized Barbies." he said matter-of-factly.
Sharpay smiled, "It's okay Troy. I know deep, deep down, you're just in denial. How adorable!" she squealed.
"Gabriella," he said. "Get up here."
Gabriella looked up from her calculus book. "Huh?"
"Come on," he said, smiling. If they weren't going to get back together, the least he could was try to build a friendship with her.
She giggled, "Um, okay." she replied as she made her to the front of the classroom. Ms. Darbus handed each of them a script and pointed at Gabriella to start. "Wow Benny, I am so glad you are my best friend." Gabriella giggled at the cheesy lines.
Troy cleared his throat, "Yeah Shelley, our friendship is…the bomb." he squinted, this skit was most definitely written by Principal Matsui.
"Do you want to get some ice cream later, Benny?" Gabriella recited.
"Yeah, that would be fun." Troy answered. "Let's hug."
"Yes, let's Benny." Gabriella couldn't help but laugh as their characters hugged.
Ms. Darbus swooned, "This, boys and girls, is the image of true friendship."
Gabriella grinned as she and Troy hugged, it felt good to be in his arms again. "Troy, Gabriella, you know you don't have to hug that long, right?" the teacher reminded them.
Troy and Gabriella pulled away awkwardly, "Um, yeah." Troy said, as he and Gabriella headed back to their seats. "Dude, did you see that?" he whispered to Chad.
Chad scoffed, "Pfft, yeah. That was the lamest skit ever."
"No!" Troy cried. "I'm talking about the hug. Gabriella couldn't let go of me!" he whispered excitedly, sounding like a little boy.
"Yeah…" said Chad. "Are you sure you weren't the one who was willing to let go?"
Troy raised his eyebrows, "Maybe you're right. But hey, if she didn't want to hug me, she would've tried to let go."
"That was an amazing skit, if I may say so." Ms. Darbus commented. "The Principal has also requested that teachers inform students that Friday is East High's first annual Friendship Dance."
"What the heck?" Jason snickered. "A Friendship Dance, are you serious?"
"Yes Mr. Cross, a Friendship Dance. The student council says it's a great opportunity to bond with friends. Where guys and girls can dance without any romantic pressure." said Ms. Darbus.
"Did you hear that?" Gabriella asked Taylor. "That's the perfect opportunity for me to try to work things out with Troy!"
Taylor nodded, "You're right. Without any romantic pressure, right?"
Gabriella sighed, "I don't know. Being without him makes me realize that…I need him."
"Gabriella, you told me that you'd never be able to survive in the world of relationships if you kept crawling back to the same guy!" Taylor exclaimed.
"I know, it's just…maybe it wasn't the right time for me and Troy to go our separate ways."
"But what about the newspaper? He used you." said Taylor.
Gabriella paused, "Yeah, you're right." The bell rang for students to go to first period. Gabriella gathered her things and headed out the door. On her way to first period calculus, Sharpay 'accidentally' bumped into her.
Sharpay gasped, "I am so sorry, Gabriella!" she said as sarcastically as she could, while still trying to sound a bit realistic. "Let me help you with that," she said as she picked up Gabriella's notebook, then dropping it again, causing all her papers to scatter all over the place. "Oops! I seem to have made it worse. Oh well!" she said, skipping away.
"Ugh," Gabriella muttered as she bent down to pick up her stuff. She was about to recollect her papers when a pair of hands picked them up for her.
"Let me help with you with that…for real." said Troy.
Gabriella grinned as she looked up at him, "Thanks." She picked up the rest of her stuff and stuffed it in her book bag. Troy handed her the stack of papers, and there was an awkward silence. "Um, thanks for your help Troy, but I'm going to be late for math." she told him.
He nodded, "Yeah, I'm going to be late for bio. So, that lunch meeting still on?" he asked.
Gabriella bit her lip and nodded, "Yeah." she said with a small smile painted on her face. She waved as she started walking over to her math class.
The bell chimed, excusing students from their fourth period classes. Troy raced outside his classroom and zoomed down the halls. Breathless, he arrived at the cafeteria and snagged a table before it was crowded. Ten minutes later, Troy's head was in his hands. He was starting to get tired of waiting.
"Waiting for someone?" Gabriella asked, holding her lunch tray.
Troy smiled, "Hey. I'm guessing those lunch lines get pretty long, right?" he asked.
She nodded, "Right. So, aren't you going to eat?"
"Nah, I'm not hungry." he said. "So…what did you want to talk about?"
Gabriella froze, "Right, um…"
"Yeah?" Troy asked.
"Well, I…after talking to you yesterday in the gym, I decided that maybe we should—"
"Hey guys!" said Chad, sitting down at the Taylor.
Troy rolled his eyes; Gabriella was obviously in the middle of something important. "Hey Chad."
"So what's up?" asked their bushy-haired friend.
"Oh nothing," Gabriella said sarcastically. "Maybe we should continue this later," she mouthed to Troy.
He nodded, "Okay," he mouthed back.
"Continue what?" asked Chad, smirking.
Troy shook his head, "NOTHING, Chad." Soon after that, Taylor, Zeke, and Jason joined the group.
"Troy and Gabriella were in the middle of something important," Chad stated.
"Oh really?" Zeke asked, winking at Troy.
"Ew, dude. Stop it." Troy said, disgusted.
"Tell us!" cried Jason.
"Yeah," said Taylor, smoothing out her skirt. "I'm sure we'd love to hear all about it."
"Um, I'm sorry," Gabriella started to say, "Troy and I must confer in private, excuse us." she said, taking Troy's hand and pulling him away from the rest of the group. They sat down at a table located at the other end of the cafeteria. Gabriella took hold of his hands, "I…"
"Troy!" Sharpay squealed, hopping over to their table.
"I should've known," Gabriella sighed. "I'll see you later, Troy." she said, dumping her lunch in the trash.
"Sharpay," Troy said, taking her hand.
Her eyes sparkled, "Yes Troy?" Her heart was pounding. The moment she had been waiting years for was finally about to arrive.
Troy smiled at her, "Sharpay, I've always wanted to do this." he said, leaning in.
Sharpay closed her eyes and smiled, "Me too."
He got closer and closer, instead of reaching for her lips, his mouth aimed for her ear, "GET THE HELL OUT OF HERE!" he yelled. Ryan, who was hanging out with a couple of his friends from the drama club, couldn't help but laugh. Sharpay scoffed and stormed off.
Troy got up and made his way back to his friends. "Hey guys," he said.
"So, what went on between you and Gabriella?" Chad asked hopefully.
Troy sighed, "Nothing."
"Come on man, don't lie. We know something juicy happened between you and her." Jason shared.
"Honestly, guys. Nothing happened. But something would've happened if you guys didn't interrupt us!" exclaimed Troy.
Chad put his hands up in the air, innocently, "Sorry."
"I can't wait for the Friendship Dance," explained Troy.
"Seriously, Troy?" asked Jason. "It sounds so lame."
"Maybe," Troy admitted. "But it does give me a chance to patch things up with Gabriella."
Taylor perked up, "You seriously want to get back with her?"
Troy frowned, "Why do you sound so surprised?"
"What about the newspaper?" she whispered.
Troy sighed, "Taylor, I've finally moved on from that embarrassment. Do you know how humiliating it is to see you playing with your ex-girlfriend's bra strap on the front page of the paper?"
"Then why in the world did you ask the newspaper staff to come while you and Gabriella were in the stacks?" asked Taylor.
Troy's face fell, "Taylor, would you believe me if I told you that I never called the newspaper staff?"
"So you're telling me that you had no idea the paper was coming?" Taylor questioned.
"No!" Troy shrieked. "I'm completely innocent, it wasn't me."
"Then who did?" asked Zeke, joining in the conversation.
The whole table fell quiet, as if they were all thinking. "Sharpay," they all said at the same time, including Zeke. "It fits perfectly!" Taylor piped up. "You know she'd do anything to break up you and Gabriella! Why didn't I see that before?"
"Because you wanted to be there for your best friend," said Troy.
Taylor nodded, "True. Wait till I tell Gabriella!"
"Taylor," Troy interrupted. "Do you mind if I tell her? At the Friendship Dance?"
Taylor grinned, "Aw, okay."
"But Troy," Jason started to say. "It's a Friendship Dance. No romantic pressure, remember?"
"Oh yeah," said Troy.
"Wait a second," said Chad, putting his arm around Taylor. "Girlfriend has the word 'friend' in it, doesn't it?" he asked. Chad smiled, "I love my loopholes."
Taylor sighed; Chad could be so full of himself sometimes. "I hate to admit, but Chad does have a point there. A boyfriend or girlfriend is a friend. And, Gabriella told me that she's going to try to work things out with you as well. So technically, it's not romantic pressure if both of you are agreeing to get back together."
"Um, I guess you're right." Troy said quietly.
Chad frowned, "Why the long face, man? You were so happy a minute ago."
"I'm actually kind of nervous now," Troy shrugged. "What if Gabriella thinks I'm only getting back with her because being single isn't good for my image? I mean, I know she wants to get back together with me as well, but maybe she thinks I don't want to get back with her for the joy of actually being with her."
Taylor shook her head, "Come on Troy, you'll be fine. On Friday, just go out there, and get your girl back."
"Taylor, I'm really nervous." Gabriella confessed as she was standing in front of her bathroom mirror.
"Gabs, you'll be fine. You know Troy's still crazy about you." Taylor soothed.
Gabriella's face sprouted a smile, "Really? He is?"
Taylor rolled her eyes, "Where have you been for the past two weeks Gabriella? Haven't you seen it in the way he looks at you? Or how he kept sending little letters to you even after you threw all the other twenty-something letters away? Come on, wake up and smell the coffee."
"I guess you're right," agreed Gabriella, who continued brushing her hair. Her smile faded, "But wait, it's a Friendship Dance. What if he only hangs out with me at the dance to be my friend?"
Taylor sighed; it seemed as if she was reliving the scene she had with Troy early in the week. "Trust me Gabby, everything will fall into place. Just let your heart take control, okay?"
"Okay," Gabriella nodded, with a huge smile on her face.
Troy fidgeted with the first button of his button up shirt. He had spent over an hour trying to pick out a shirt before the dance, and the one he had finally settled on still didn't feel right. "What was I thinking?" he asked himself.
"Hey," said Gabriella, biting her lip nervously. "Um, I like your shirt."
Troy grinned as he stood up, "Thanks. So, how's it going?" He was getting a little bit jumpy and his heart was racing.
"Good…thanks." she answered awkwardly. Wow, I never thought I'd end up this nervous, she thought. Maybe for now, it'd be best for us to just be friends.
"That's good," Troy gulped. Man, this is going to be way harder than I thought. It's been so long, he thought. Eh, I don't think I can do this. Until I can build up more courage, I think we should stay friends.
"Um, Troy…" Gabriella started. "I'm not really happy with all the awkwardness that's been going on between us. Do you think…maybe, we could try to be friends?"
He nodded, "Yeah! That'd be great." He paused, "I'd love to be friends."
Gabriella smiled from ear-to-ear, hiding how she was feeling inside. Truth be told, she was hoping he would hint on becoming more than just friends. He just wants to be friends, she thought sadly.
She just wants to be friends, thought Troy. He faked a smile, "So, do you want to go look for the rest of the group?"
"Yeah," she said. "Let's go." Gabriella spotted Taylor at the other end of the gym, "Taylor!" she hollered, waving a hand in the air.
Taylor smiled at Gabriella, "Hey!" she hollered back. "She's with Troy," she whispered to Chad.
"Guys, she's with Troy!" Chad whispered to the rest of the group, consisting of Jason, Zeke, and Kelsi. The rest of them nodded and fled the room. "See you guys later!" Chad and Taylor yelled from the other end of the room to Troy and Gabriella. They turned around and left the gym.
"What?" Troy asked, confused. "Chad!" he called. He sighed, "Great. Now what are we going to do?"
"Good evening, East High!" cried Principal Matsui, up at his podium. "Welcome to our first annual Friendship Dance!" His joyful shriek was followed by a mob of groans and cries coming from the students. "Quiet! Now, if you would please turn to the person standing closest to you, boy or girl, and get to know them a little better."
Troy turned to Gabriella, "This is strange, isn't it?"
"I'll say," she giggled.
Troy nodded and looked around the room. Many girls had been paired up, so they scrambled around the room to find a guy they could dance with. Once every guy and girl had been paired up, the lights dimmed and a slow song started playing. Troy's leg was shaking, a habit he always had when he was nervous. "So, um, I guess we should…dance?"
"Yeah," replied Gabriella, looking at all the other students in the room. They uncomfortably started dancing, hoping their feelings would overthrow their nervousness. Gabriella tried her best to avoid looking into his eyes, but she could feel those icy blue lights burning as he watched her. She could hear her heartbeat, and hear the thump of Troy's, perfectly timed with hers. Giving into her feelings, she decided she was brave enough to look up. Sure enough, his crystalline eyes were looking down at her. He grinned at her, and she grinned back.
"So, friends right?" he asked, still smiling.
She smiled and looked into his eyes, she pursed her lips in and nodded, "Yeah, friends." She sighed heavily, being so close to Troy, feeling his heartbeat, and sensing his breath softly blowing in front of her, she knew they were perfect together.
"Gabriella, I was thinking," Troy started. "Maybe we should get back—" his words froze as he felt Gabriella's lips on his. She was already one step ahead.
A/N: Yikes! I admit, this chapter was a little bit rushed, but I was so excited to get them back together I couldn't wait any longer! Please review, no flames!
--Kayslee