(A/N: Hey:) Here is yet ANOTHER one-shot...by me:)
I'm pretty sure anything I mention about the geographical placement of...places...are incorrect. I'm not even sure if there's a lake anywhere near Albuquerque. So this is simply a warning not to use this story as a reference for any essay you may need to write about Albuquerque, New Mexico or anything of the sort...
Disclaimer: I do not own High School Musical. If I did, there would've been a LOT more shirtless Corbin Bleu and Zac Efron scenes.)
"Troy, Chad and Tay are here already...Nah, but pretty soon: we wanna get good seats...Chad...Have I told you how nice you are to your best friend?...Good, 'cause you're really not...I know I am...Okay, see ya." Gabriella placed the cordless phone back in the cradle. "He'll be here in five," She announced to her friends. They all sat and chatted about anything and everything up until Troy arrived.
"That was a long five minutes," Chad commented as Troy walked into the house a good fifteen minutes later than he said he'd be.
"Yea, sorry. The babysitter was late and I had to watch Ellie," Troy apologized, referring to his two year old sister. His parents had gone off on a second honeymoon and trusted his eighteen year old son to father their only daughter for two weeks.
Taylor stood up. "Well, I think we should leave now. Traffic's gonna be horrible," She reminded them. Without another word, the remaining three nodded and stood with Taylor and walked towards the front door.
"Ma, we're leaving!" Gabriella called out from the foyer.
Gabriella's mother walked out from the kitchen. "Don't you need a jacket, mija? You'll be eaten alive by those bugs," Her mother advised, looking at Gabriella's bare arms.
"No, it's okay," She declined, knowing that she mysteriously didn't get as many bug bites as most other people she knew. Mainly, though, she just didn't really feel like running upstairs to grab a sweater. Her mother simply nodded.
"Okay, you kids have fun," She encouraged, giving them a soft motherly smile. "And be careful," She added.
"Thanks, Ms. Montez," Troy returned the smile. Chad and Taylor followed his lead, flashing small smiles and nodding as if agreeing with him.
"Bye, mom." Gabriella stepped forward and gave her mother a quick kiss on the cheek before following her friends out the door and piling into Chad's car.
They had been driving through the many parking lots for about fifteen minutes now, only seeing empty handicapp and lifeguard reserved spots.
"It's all your fault, Troy," Taylor blamed him jokingly. "You and your tardiness..."
"Hey, I had to wait for the babysitter to get there before I left," He defended, laughing. A familiar tune began to get louder with every second.
"Oooo ice cream!" Gabriella and Chad both exclaimed, pointing their fingers at an ice cream truck as they neared it.
"Both hands on the wheel!" Taylor screeched at Chad as the car jerked sideways, almost hitting a pick-up truck.
"Guys, let's get ice cream!" Gabriella proposed, ignoring Taylor's command to Chad, practically bouncing in her seat.
"I see a spot!" Troy called out, pointing to his left where a beat up old Honda was backing out of a spot. Chad signalled and they all waited patiently for the car to pull fully out of the parking spot. But as soon as it was clear, Chad zoomed in. They all exited the car, only opening the door as wide as they needed, careful not to put any scratches or dings in the cars on either side of Chad's.
"Come on! Let's go get ice cream before the fireworks start!" Gabriella cried, running towards the colourful truck, Chad following closely behind her. They lined up, bought their ice cream and walked away happily, Gabriella holding her SpongeBob popsicle and Chad holding his Spiderman one. Troy purchased a Rolo chocolate cone and Taylor decided on a plain fruit pop. "Where do you wanna sit?" Gabriella questioned the group, taking a bite out of the corner of SpongeBob's head.
The sun was beginning to set. Despite the busy lakefront, the atmosphere seemed serene and peaceful and the clouds were tinted pink and orange, as was the sky. "Let's sit there," Taylor suggested, pointing to a couple of logs sitting a fair distance from the shore. The four walked over and sat on the logs, finishing off the last of their popsicles and dumping the sticks into a nearby trash can.
Gabriella noted how nice the sand looked; not a rock in sight. "Ooo who wants to go sit in the sand there?" She pointed further up shore, looking expectantly at Chad, knowing if she ever wanted to do something unexpected, crazy, or fun, Chad was the one to ask. Surprisingly, he shook his head.
"I don't feel like...sitting in sand," He declined, making a face. She glanced over at Taylor, silently asking if she'd go with her but recieved the same reaction.
"I'll go with you," Troy told her, grinning at her chilishness. Gabriella grinned back and they both walked down the beach towards one of the few unoccupied spaces. "Let's make a sand castle," He suggested, still grinning.
"With dry sand?" Gabriella raised an eyebrow at him, taking a handful of sand and letting it fall through her fingers to emphasize that the sand was, in fact, dry.
"Well...How 'bout a sand dune?" He asked her, already starting to make a mound of dry sand. She shrugged, deciding to help him. They ended up with a big pile of sand. "That's uhm...nice, isn't it?" Troy commented, realizing making a sand dune wasn't as satisfying as it would seem.
Both hearing a loud yell, they turned around just in time to see a rather large child, looking about six or seven years old, running towards them. They quickly moved out of the way as the boy purposely trekked through the sand dune, whipping around quickly to laugh and point at Troy and Gabriella obnoxiously before running off again. "Hey, Troy, what time is it?" Gabriella asked her friend, completely brushing off the fact that a little boy had just ruined a project that had taken up a good ten seconds of her life.
Troy reached into his jeans' pocket and pulled out his Motorola RAZR, taking a quick glance at the screen before shoving the phone back into his pocket again. "9:24. Why?"
"We still have another half hour till the fireworks start," Gabriella informed him before tilting her head up to look at the sky, seeing a dark sheet dotted randomly with shining gold glitter. "Look at the stars!"
"There are only six," Troy laughed. She looked confused.
"Six? I only see four..."
Troy took his pointer finger and raised his arm. "One...two...three...four...five...six," He pointed to each star as he counted.
"I can't see stars three and five." He scooted her closer to him and took her hand in his, raising her pointer finger as well. Raising both their arms this time, he recounted the sparkling dots and pointed at each one again as he did so. From where she was sitting, the stars suddenly became more visible to her. "They're so pretty."
"Yea, they're beautiful," Troy agreed, looking at Gabriella as she admired the stars, studying her features. Unexpectedly, Gabriella began to lie down. She smiled as Troy lay down on her left side. They both admired the stars together silently before Troy spoke up. "Do you think SpongeBob's gay?"
Gabriella laughed at his out of the blue question. "I dunno...He's a sponge."
"Well, remember that episode where SpongeBob and Patrick have this clam...And Patrick's the dad and SpongeBob's the mom..." Troy assumed she had viewed the episode before. To him, SpongeBob was something EVERYONE had to have experienced. If he came across someone who had never watched it, he'd drag him or her over to his house, sit him or her down and have a marathon or SpongeBob.
"And then Patrick always says he's at work but he's really under his rock eating the whole day?" She recalled. He nodded his head. "Yea, I guess he COULD be. But...He's still a sponge. Is it even possible for a sponge to be gay?"
"Not in real life. But it's a cartoon!"
"I suppose," Gabriella finally accepted. Troy shifted sligtly in his spot, accidentally poking Gabriella in the side as he did so. She jumped. "Hey, did you just poke me?" She asked him, even though it was clear that he had, indeed, poked her.
"Sorry." Troy grinned sheepishly. The continued to watch the stars. More were appearing with each minute. Seconds later, he felt a finger poke his side. He looked at Gabriella with a raised eyebrow.
"Sorry," She mocked. He poked her back. She poked him. It had turned into a poking-war. Gabriella and Troy both laughed together as they tried to keep the other from poking them. Using his quick reflexes, when Gabriella came in to poke him again, he blocked her hand with his.
Their fingers, now intertwined, stopped poking. They caught each other's gazes but Gabriella quickly looked away nervously, tearing her right hand out of his left. They both realized that the hands in between both of them were still intertwined, but neither made a move to break away. Hearing a loug bang Gabriella and Troy both shot up, releasing the other's hand. The fireworks had started. The two watched as the colours exploded in the sky, looking like colourful, (temporary) stars. Pictures flew up and glittered across the sky, making the crowd gasp in amazement.
Feeling a small chill, Gabriella subconcsiously wrapped her arms around herself for warmth, not ripping her eyes away from the firworks. She soon felt something fall across her shoulders. Looking behind her, she realized it was Troy's jacket and gave him a grateful smile before changing it to a concerned look. "Won't you be cold?"
"No, I'm good. I've been thrown into the snow shirtless, this is nothing," Troy boasted, flashing her a lopsided grin.
"Thanks." Gabriella returned the grin as she slipped her arms through the sleeves.
"That's pretty small on me," He remarked, seeing how the sleeves fell over her hands, hiding them. She just nodded, acknowledging his statement. Except for the occasional 'Wow,' they watched the rest of the fireworks wordlessly.
"Let's go find Tay and Chad," Gabriella suggested as the fireworks ended and they both rose from their spots. Without waiting for an answer, she advanced, clutching Troy's Letterman's jacket closer to her body as another light gust of wind passed them. It being dark as it was, she didn't notice the logs she was walking towards and stumbled when she came across them. Troy ran quickly up to her side to steady her.
"Careful," He warned, sending her a slight smirk, mocking her. Gabriella shot a playful glare at him and composed herself, dusting off imaginary specks of dirt. "Hey, I think I see them," Troy told her, squinting. It was hard to make out if it really was them, it being so dark. They walked closer up to their friends and were soon greeted by the sight of their two best friends playing a heated game of tonsil hockey with the other. Gabriella tried her best to suppress the happy scream that was bubbling up inside her. Troy just burst into laughter. They had been waiting for this moment far too long. "Enjoy the fireworks, Chad?" He smirked at his best friend who's hair was now bushier than usual.
Chad reluctantly pulled away from his kiss. "Do I interrupt you when you're getting action?" He inquired his friend, irritated.
"Yea, you do. You interrupt me before I get it, too," reminded Troy. Chad didn't argue, knowing Troy was right.
He smoothed down his hair best he could and changed the subject. "Hey, movie at my house?" Chad offered, already leading the way to the car. Everyone nodded and followed his lead.
As they all slid out of the car parked in the Danforth driveway, Gabriella's phone rang.
"Hello?...Yea, we're at Chad's now," Troy, who was sitting closest to her, heard the voice on the other end: it sounded angry. "...No, I know, but--...I did that already!...Okay, fine," Gabriella snapped her phone shut irritatedly. "I'm sorry, guys...But I have to get home."
"Do you need a ride?" Chad asked worriedly, motioning to the car.
"Nah, I got it. I'll walk," She smiled gratefully at him.
Troy quickly jumped in, "It's eleven at night, Gabs. I'll walk with you," He offered.
"Troy, that's sweet, but you don't have to. You can stay and watch the movie," Gabriella said, giving him an understanding nod.
"No, It's okay. It's much better than staying here trying to watch a movie while the two of them suck face," He joked. "Peace out. Don't do anything I wouldn't do," He added to Taylor and Chad, before walking with Gabriella down the driveway to begin their ten minute walk home.
"You guys sure you don't need a ride?" Chad called after them, scowling at Troy's comment.
"Yea," Gabriella yelled back.
"Good," They could hear Chad mumble, annoyed, before he and Taylor walked into the house, slamming the door behind them. He was easily irritated.
Troy and Gabriella continued to walk in a comfortable silence, taking in the calm atmosphere and the cool night air.
"Are you okay?" Troy asked, concerned, after Gabriella hadn't talked for a good five minutes. When she moved to Albuquerque, she was shy. But once she warmed up to the new setting, she became more open, hyper and talkative.
Gabriella nodded. "Yea. I'm just thinking."
"That's always a good thing," Troy encouraged, giving a small chuckle. "What about?"
"Nothing in particular, really. I just had so much fun tonight," She admitted to him, grinning widely at him. Troy couldn't help but notice the twinkle in her eye when she told him this; the way the moonlight shined on her face and reflected softly off her silky dark locks. The way she looked with his large red and white Letterman's jacket wrapped around her petite frame. He really loved her. Well, maybe love was a little too strong a word to use at this point in their relationship; but he knew what he felt was definitely more than just a high school crush.
"Yea...lots of fun," He agreed absentmindedly as he stared, mesmerized, into her brown eyes. He quickly shook himself out of it when he realized they had reached her house. Without a word, Troy walked her up to her front porch.
"Thanks for walking me home, Troy. Make sure you call me when you get home, too. Just so I know you're safe," Gabriella cautioned him, smiling. He gave a small nod.
"Goodnight," said Troy. Though, he made no movement to step off her front porch.
"Goodnight, Troy," She replied before sliding her house key into the lock and beginning to walk inside.
With a sudden surge of courage, he called her again gently, "Gabriella," She spun back around with a questioning look on her face. Without giving a second thought to the consequences he might have to face, he leaned foreward and planted a light kiss on her cheek. "Goodnight," He repeated to her before turning away and beginning his walk home, his heart now beating wildly in his chest. Troy was shocked that he'd actually had the bravery to do that. But even more shocked at the fact that he had needed bravery. He hadn't been this nervous around a girl since the fourth grade when Troy had had his very first girlfriend.
"Troy!" He whipped around at the sound of her sweet voice. Under the light the porch light emitted, he noticed her cheeks had reddned considerably, her eyes still held that twinkle, and a smile was tugging at the corner of her lips; it was obvious, though, that she was trying to hide it.
"Yea?"
"You forgot your jacket," Gabriella reminded him, ready to remove it and hand it to him.
"Uhm," Troy thought for a moment. "Keep it for now," He finally decided, grinning the widest he'd grinned the whole night and turning again to continue his journey home.
(A/N: Hope you liked it, I didn't really wanna go for the 'Oh, I know we're best friends and all and we've never dated or even talked about dating, but I love you so much so I'm gonna shove my tongue down your throat now' ending...I thought this ending would be cuter:P And thanks to ZacEfronIsHot (Stacey) for beta-ing this for me (Her stories are amazing, you should check them out!)! Well, thanks for reading, and I'd love feedback on this!
Party hard!!
Lara xx)