Love Is A Chance Happening With Fortune

It was 1:57PM on a Friday afternoon. Three minutes before school let out for the weekend and the students of East High were ready to begin there after school endeavors. Whether it be a five hour shopping binge for the Varsity cheerleaders, a time for sex, drugs, and alcohol exposure for the burn-outs and feral kids who portray the gritty, and raw downtown scene, or a mighty intense game of Dungeons and Dragons for those who…well aren't as socially equipped.

As the final bell rang a pack of Wildcats had exited their classes and rushed to leave the place they hated most. Once the crowds had disappeared into oblivion, one girl stood.

Gabriella Montez was slowly opening her locker for the tears streaming down her face were blurring her vision. She seized her cries for she knew the damage was done and there was nothing more she could do for the situation. As she slowly turned around, she was met face to face with her best friend, the one and only Troy Bolton.

"Gabi, what's wrong?" he asked evidently worried

"It's stupid, it's nothing." She replied trying to avoid the question.

"No, it's not. Just tell me what's wrong and I can help you fix things." He said in an attempt to comfort her.

"It's…it's Nick…we br-broke up. I saw him with…Courtney. He told me he's still in love with her, and that I-I was just a replacement for her until he was sure he could get her back." She said trying desperately to hold back the tears.

Troy was obviously upset by this. The fact that anyone would hurt a sweet, lovable girl like Gabriella was beyond him. She was his best friend and it killed him to know she was in any kind of pain.

"Bastard." He stated bitterly. "Where is he Gabi? I'm going to go kick his ass and teach him a lesson."

"Troy, please don't. Things are bad enough as they are, I'm not prepared for things to get even messier." She pleaded

"Gabi! He doesn't deserve a girl like you, he never did and someone needs to make him realize it." He said calmly before the anger within him began to rise in him. "That stupid shit head is the biggest waste of space I've seen and he's a sorry excuse for a human."

"Troy! Listen to me! I don't have the energy to do this right now! I don't want to deal with him. He hurt me, yes, but I'll get over it. I just want to go home, gain twenty pounds from a tub of Ben & Jerry's and sulk in a tub of bubbles and bath salts." She retorted.

"Okay, okay, I'm sorry. But you know how much I hate seeing you like this." He said sincerely

"I know, and I love you for that, it's why you're my best friend."

Yeah, friend, nothing more right? If only she could see how much I love her and want to be with her. But I guess it's too late. We're already at the 'friends' stage in our relationship. I hate myself. Troy thought.

"You know what Troy? Screw the ice cream and one millionth viewing of A Walk To Remember. Do you want to spend the night with me? It will be like the times we spent together before Nick-shit head-Atchison and I started going out." She replied with her first smile all day.

"I would be delighted to accompany you this evening Miss Montez." He said in a very regal tone.

"Then let's go." She said as they finally walked out of the school.

Moments later they arrived at her house. She opened the door and they entered

"So, how does it feel to finally enter through the front door." She said with a smirk

"Ha ha Montez." He answered sarcastically. "You know this is nice and all, but I much prefer climbing that big ass tree that leads up to your balcony and scaring the hell out of you at night."

"Well if that ever gets old, here's your option."

"So where's your mom?" he questioned. "I could use some of that Spanish style cooking of hers."

"She's in Seattle for a business convention. She won't be back for a couple of days."

"Oh so we have the whole house to ourselves." He said seductively. "Is that why you wanted me to spend the night with you."

"You wish." She said

Yeah I do. It's like she's reading my mind. He thought

"Anyways, I think you're forgetting about Kilo and Solomon." She said happily. "They'll be with us the whole time and they're watching you Bolton."

Just than two dogs ran up to them. A large black Labrador, and a tiny white Shi Tzu.

"Oh I forget about your giant terrifying dogs Gabi." He replied laughing and bending down to pet them.

As he said this, the dogs jumped up on him and started licking his face. Gabriella stood there laughing.

"Okay, I get the point." He said as he stood up

"So what do you want to do right now?" she asked

I don't know, burn all your pictures of Nick, and get the nerve to tell you how I feel, kiss you and make you finally realize you should be with me, ect., ect., ect.

"Whatever." He replied bluntly

"Okay…how about a movie?"

"As long as it's not The Notebook, A Walk to Remember, Message in a Bottle, or any other movie if any based off of a Nicholas Sparks novel." He said honestly.

"But Troy…"

"But Gabriella…"

"Then what do you want to watch?" she said trying to avoid an argument

"Do you have Bloodsport?" he asked seriously

"A Walk to Remember it is" she said with a smile

"Fine. I'll watch the movie about the two teenagers who meet and fall in love, despite the fact that no one, especially there friends and family don't want them to be together, and how he continuously saves her from the bad things in the world, and ultimately they defy the odds by being able to be together. I mean how realistic is this? When do you see a couple of teenagers actually trying to be together, essentially when people are trying to tear them apart?" Troy said.

"Well…" she started. "When we first met, everybody was trying to keep us from being friends, Chad, Taylor, your Dad…"

"I guess." He said now thinking about

"Now look at us, we're best friends"

"Yeah, when you look at I that way."

I wish it were that way, I leave all my friends in an instant if I meant I were going to be with you. He thought to himself.

Troy and Gabriella snuggled up on the couch as they watched the movie. Half way through, Troy's stomach began to gurgle and they both took notice in this.

"Hungry much Troy?" she said holding back laughter

"Maybe just a little." He responded

"Well I can't cook like my mom does, but I can order the best Chinese food in the county."

"Then what are you waiting for?" he said

Gabriella called the restaurant and ordered some dinner. As the movie was nearing to the end, the ringing of the doorbell echoed throughout the house. Gabriella paid the deliveryman and grabbed the food. She brought it to the living room and her and Troy ate their meal as they finished the movie. When the movie shot to the credits, they were eating their fortune cookies.

Troy read his: To love is to risk not being loved in return. To hope is to risk pain. To try is to risk failure, but risk must be taken because the greatest hazard in life is to risk nothing.

This was the kind of confidence Troy needed. He had been yearning to tell Gabriella how he felt but never had self-assurance to do so.

"What does yours say?" she asked

"Nothing. It's lame, it says…you like Chinese food" he laughed

"Huh. What do you want to do now?"

"Let's go for a walk." He suggested. "We haven't done that in a while. I miss it."

"Sounds great."

They got up from the couch and went outside. The sun was no longer shining for the clouds have overwhelmed it. A breeze had blown through Gabriella's hair and the diminutive ray of light shone on her face and captivated the gaze of Troy's eyes.

"We might have to go in soon Troy, it looks like it's going to rain." She said staring up at the sky

"Alright, I just want to stay out here a little longer and talk."

"Okay…so what's up?" she asked confused

"How do you know when you're in love with someone?"

"I guess it's when you really miss someone when something good happens, because you want to share it with them, and you miss them when something is troubling you because they're the only one who understands you. You miss them when you laugh and cry because you know that person can make your laughter grow and your tears go away, and you miss them all the time because when you lay awake at night and think of all the wonderful times you've spent together, you realize those were the best moments of your life." She spoke genuinely

"Well then Gabriella…I'm in love with you." He said

"Troy…but…wh-…I don't…"

"Let me finish." He said silencing her even more. "It may seem sudden and out of the blue, but I've always had this feeling that we were meant to be together. When we met, that was fate, becoming your best friend was a choice, but…falling for you…I had no control over."

"Where is this all coming from?" she asked still in shock

"It's coming from my fortune cookie."

"A cookie told you to tell me you were in love with me?"

"No. The confidence I've needed to tell you how I felt came from the cookie." He said handing her the fortune. " You have no idea how long I've felt this way about you."

"I can't believe you feel this way."

As she said this, the look on Troy's face became distressed and full of sorrow.

"…Because I've been in love with you too. I never thought you felt the same way. That's why I went out with Nick in the first place."

Once they had owned up to their true feelings, the rain began to trickle down from the sky, it grew stronger, but it did not seem to faze the couple as they were currently lost in each others eyes.

"You know Gabi, I knew I was in love with you when I started having trouble sleeping at night because I was kept up thinking of you, and even when I finally got myself to fall asleep, I would spend the entire night dreaming of you."

The rain was now pouring down hard. The two were now completely soaked. None of that mattered because at that very moment, in the torrential rain, Troy had marched up to Gabriella and took her in his embrace as he caressed her face and kissed her softly on the lips in the most romantic means. In an instant she intensified the kiss and deepened it in a passionate way.

"I love you Troy." Gabriella said once able to catch her breath

"I love you too." He returned

They walked back to the house hand in hand.

"You know I really hope you gave that delivery guy a good tip." He said with a smile "That was one of the best meals I've ever had."

"Yeah, I gave him a decent tip." She replied. "But let's go inside and I'll give you a great one."

They opened the door and entered the house and kissed each other again. Only to shut the door and block out the rest of the world in order to make their moment last forever.