Disclaimer: I do not own High School Musical or any of its characters.

A/N: Thank you to all who have reviewed. Enjoy…

Chapter Seventeen

It was Friday night and Taylor and Gabriella were getting ready to go to the dance in Gabriella's room.

"Do I look ok?" Taylor asked examining herself in the mirror.

"You look amazing Taylor, stop worrying." Gabriella complimented.

"Thanks Gabi. You look stunning, Troy just might faint." Taylor replied giggling a little.

"Thanks Tay, but there is just one thing missing." Gabriella stated as she opened her jewelry box pulling out the necklace Troy had given her and put it on. Perfect she thought.

"Girls! Are you almost ready? We're already late. Come on lets go!" Mrs. Montez called from downstairs.

"Coming!" Taylor and Gabriella yelled in unison.

Meanwhile at East High…

"Dude where are they?" Chad asked impatiently.

"I don't know man, Gabi is usually on time." Troy said.

"Yeah Taylor is too."

"Yeah but you know when those two start talking about clothes it could last forever." Troy said laughing.

"You're right. Hey maybe they're inside."

"Yeah I never thought of that. Let's go." Troy said turning around to go into the building. Troy and Chad walked into the gym and looked around for the girls. There was no sign of them.

"Let's just go wait over by the punch" Chad suggested. They walked over to the punch and stood there waiting until there was a tap on Troy's shoulder. Troy turned around and saw Gabriella standing before him. She was wearing a knee length sparkly red dress and Troy thought she couldn't possibly look anymore amazing.

"Gabi! You look…wow… You look absolutely stunning." Troy said giving her a kiss on the cheek.

"Thank you. You don't look so bad yourself." Gabriella said smiling.

"Come on lets dance." Chad said pulling Taylor on the dance floor. Troy pulled Gabriella too and they all danced together. However the entire time Jeff and his friends were saying,

"Yeah Gabi, Taylor work it"

"That's it. I've had enough." Troy said angrily. "They're dead meat."

"Troy no, calm down it's ok." Gabriella said trying to calm Troy down.

"No it is not ok. I am going to pummel them to the ground."

"Troy, not tonight, it's your night. Don't let them ruin it. They haven't hurt me. You'll just get in trouble if you start a fight." Gabriella said calmly.

"She's right son. I'll take care of them." Mr. Bolton cut in "I've been watching them the entire time. I'm going to tell Mr. Matsui and I can assure you he will not be happy. You enjoy tonight"

"Thanks dad." Troy said calming down as a slow song started playing

The strands in your eyes that color them wonderful

"Oh I love this song." Gabriella said.

"Dance with me?" Troy asked holding out his hand.

"In a heart beat." Gabriella answered taking his hand. Troy spun her in so that her back was against his chest. They swayed together as the music played.

Stop me and steal my breath.
And emeralds from mountains thrust toward the sky
Never revealing their depth.
Tell me that we belong together,
Dress it up with the trappings of love.
I'll be captivated,
I'll hang from your lips,
Instead of the gallows of heartache that hang from above.

Troy spun Gabriella around as the melody ran through them.

I'll be your crying shoulder,
I'll be love's suicide
I'll be better when I'm older,
I'll be the greatest fan of your life.

Troy spun her back in and pulled her close.

And rain falls angry on the tin roof
As we lie awake in my bed.
You're my survival, you're my living proof.
My love is alive -- not dead.
Tell me that we belong together.
Dress it up with the trappings of love.
I'll be captivated,
I'll hang from your lips,
Instead of the gallows of heartache that hang from above

Gabriella rested her head on his chest as they swayed closely.

I'll be your crying shoulder,
I'll be love's suicide
I'll be better when I'm older,
I'll be the greatest fan of your life.

And I've dropped out, I've burned up, I've fought my way back from the dead.
I've tuned in, turned on, remembered the things that you said

I'll be your crying shoulder,
I'll be love's suicide
I'll be better when I'm older,
I'll be the greatest fan of your...
I'll be your crying shoulder,
I'll be love's suicide
I'll be better when I'm older,
I'll be the greatest fan of your life.

Troy whispered the last lines of the song into Gabriella ears,

The greatest fan of your life.
...greatest fan of your life.

The song ended and Troy leaned in and gave Gabriella a long deep kiss.

"Would everyone please report to the auditorium for the award ceremony." Mr. Matsui said over the intercom.

Troy and Gabriella walked hand in hand to the auditorium and sat down with the rest of the basketball team.

"Our first award tonight is for the most spirited. The nominees are: Alice Johnson, Logan Phillips, Chad Danforth and Julia Tantin. And the winner is……………Chad Danforth!!" Mr. Matsui said as the audience applauded loudly and whistled. Chad made his way up to the stage and began to speak,

"Thank you some much for this. I have one thing that I have to say, What team?" Chad yelled.

"Wildcats!" the audience shouted back.

"What team?"

"Wildcats"

"What team?"

"Wildcats?"

"Getcha' head in the game!" the students screamed.

After all the other awards had been given out there was only one left.

"And our final award tonight is athlete of the year. The nominees are: Hannah Anderson, George Davis, Patrick Jacobs, Catherine Hamilton, Lindsey Smith and Troy Bolton. And the winner is…"

"You're my winner no matter what." Gabriella whispered in Troy's ear.

"That's all I need." Troy whispered back.

"Troy Bolton!" Mr. Matsui exclaimed. The entire auditorium stood on their feet screaming, clapping and whistling. Gabriella threw her arms around Troy and kissed him. She pulled away and pushed him to go up onto the stage.

"Thank you so much. You have one idea how much this means to me. I have dreamed of the day for my entire life. There are so many people I want to thank; my parents, of course for being there and always supporting me, the entire basketball team because they are like my brothers and finally Gabriella Montez, she has taught me so much, and not just algebra, but about life, living and love. Most of you may think I saved her life but she's the one who really saved mine." Troy said not taking his eyes off of Gabriella who was smiling as he walked back to his seat.

"Congratulations to all of our winners and nominees, I am very proud of you all. Now I believe Taylor McKessie would like to say something." Mr. Matsui said handing the microphone over to Taylor.

"Thank you Mr. Matsui. As class president I thought it was important that the student body choose someone to perform tonight. So I took a poll to help us decide." Taylor began.

"When did she take a poll? Did I miss it?" Troy whispered to Gabriella.

"I don't remember her taking a poll. I think we're both missing something here." Gabriella whispered back with a confused look on her face.

"Now the people performing tonight have no idea that they performing tonight, but I think and hope they'll want to. So would Troy Bolton and Gabriella Montez please sing for us tonight?" Taylor asked looking right at Troy and Gabriella.

Troy looked at Gabriella, who was looking at Troy.

"Do you want to?" Troy asked.

"I would want to do anything else." Gabriella smiled.

"Good. Then let's go." Troy said grabbing Gabriella's hand.

"So what are were going to sing?" Gabriella asked Troy as they walked up to the stage,

"Uh… How about the song we were singing with Kelsi."

"Yeah I love that song." Gabriella smiled.

The first few bars of music played and Gabriella sang:

Oh, oh, oh, oh –

Then Troy:

It must have been cold there in my shadow,
To never have sunlight on your face.
You were content to let me shine, thats your way.
You always walked a step behind.

Back to Gabriella:

So I was the one with all the glory,
While you were the one with all the strain.
A beautiful face without a name for so long.
A beautiful smile to hide the pain.

Then together they sang not talking their eyes off of each other,

Did you ever know that youre my hero,
And everything I would like to be?
I can fly higher than an eagle,
For you are the wind beneath my wings.

Troy went back to singing:

It might have appeared to go unnoticed,
But Ive got it all here in my heart.

And Gabriella joined in:

I want you to know I know the truth, of course I know it.
I would be nothing without you.

Did you ever know that youre my hero?
Youre everything I wish I could be.
I could fly higher than an eagle,
For you are the wind beneath my wings.

Did I ever tell you youre my hero?
Youre everything, everything I wish I could be.
Oh, and i, I could fly higher than an eagle,
For you are the wind beneath my wings,
cause you are the wind beneath my wings.

Oh, the wind beneath my wings.
You, you, you, you are the wind beneath my wings.
Fly, fly, fly away. you let me fly so high.
Oh, you, you, you, the wind beneath my wings.
Oh, you, you, you, the wind beneath my wings.

They stood on the stage together and sang softly the last lines of the sond in perfect harmony to each other like there was no one else in the room:

Fly, fly, fly high against the sky,
So high I almost touch the sky.
Thank you, thank you,
Thank God for you, the wind beneath my wings.

Everyone was once again on their feet cheering, but Gabriella was staring up at Troy and Troy was gazing into Gabriella eyes. Troy kissed her sofly and whispered in her ear,

"Gabriella I love you so much. You make my world stop when you walk into a room and I always feel better when you're around. I love you more than life its self. I'd do anything for you."

The End

A/N: Yeah that was the last chapter. I am so sad to see it go. I had so much fun writing this story. The two songs in the chapter were, I'll Be by Edwin McCain and Wind Beneath My Wings byBette Midler. I hope you enjoyed the story and I want to thank all my readers and reviewers for sticking with me. I have an idea for a new story and I need to know what you guys think,

It is senior year and everyone is going on the senior trip to Hawaii, but Gabriella has memories that haunt her forever. Also what happenes when a tsnumi hits the island while the gang is there? Will everyone be ok?

Does it sound like it will make a good story please review and tell me if you think it sounds good. I think I'm going to call it Without You. Thank again.