Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters or places created by the High School Musical franchise or by Disney!

Chapter 1

"Thanks Mom for the ride!" Gabriella Montez called out before getting out of her mom's car in front of East High. It was the first day of school, the start of senior year, and Gabriella couldn't have felt any lonelier. Ever since that night she quit her job at Lava Springs and ended her relationship with her ex, Gabriella hadn't seen Troy nor talked to him. She did her best the remaining part of summer to occupy her time with other things to distract herself but nothing worked, even working double shifts at a diner in the south end of Albuquerque.

Rumor had it that Troy Bolton still remained the new Troy Bolton, the one impressed with the fancy clothes and the exciting prospects with the University of Albuquerque. Taylor had talked to Gabriella a few times a week, but with their work schedules, the best friends were unable to hang out like they were used to. Taylor had hinted that Troy had probably crossed to the dark side permanently with Sharpay and her group of girls, which left Chad, Zeke, and Jason especially frustrated. Gabriella knew that going through the doors to East High was going to be one of the toughest things she ever did in her short life so far, but she knew it had to be done.

Slowly, Gabriella began to make her way over to the front doors and walked past the fountain that reminded her of all the happy memories of the year before, especially the last day of school when she had celebrated the start of summer in Troy's arms. She remembered feeling very optimistic of what summer had to offer her, a girl who finally got her wish to stay in one place over the summer and not transfer schools in her senior year. Little did she know then what was going to happen, that she would be returning to the same place without the love of her life.

She made it through the doors and gave a sigh of relief that the halls were not crowded at all, just a few students here and there. Gabriella walked to her new locker and pulled out the books she needed for the first two periods having placed them there after registration was completed. She had also had her mom contact the administrative office last week to ask for a switch in locker locations citing convenience to her classes. Gabriella looked over at the locker door she had open and smiled as she saw all the pictures of her and her friends, both from here and her past. She had made the collage during some of her free time, knowing she was going to need a boost during school time. After scanning over the pictures, she genuinely smiled as she remembered all those good times from her past and the true friendships she shared with the people in the pictures. A dull ache formed in her heart though as she silently reminded herself that Troy was not in a single one – she hadn't allowed herself that liberty when putting them together.

Gabriella closed the locker and headed over to the cafeteria where she had promised to meet Taylor. Since no one was there, she took a seat at the table nearest and pulled out her planner to look over her schedule.

"GABRIELLA!" screamed a familiar voice, putting a smile on her face.

She turned and stood to open her arms to Taylor McKessie, who enthusiastically squeezed her best friend. "Good morning to you too Taylor! Can you let go though? I need to breathe…" Gabriella got out, taking in a deep breath as Taylor let go.

"It's so good to see you!" Taylor exclaimed, smiling back at Gabriella. "I know we've been talking on the phone but seeing you and hearing your voice is much better."

Gabriella let out a laugh. "Agreed! So we have four out of six classes together plus homeroom right?" she confirmed.

Taylor nodded. "It's going to be great! So, where is your new locker anyway?"

"Down in the math wing," Gabriella responded. "Quite the opposite direction of my first one. I'm going to have to get used to that."

"Quite a bit away from a certain someone too," Taylor added, eyeing her best friend. "Are you going to be okay seeing him again?"

Gabriella nodded. "It's not like we're enemies Taylor. Just not dating. The weeks that have gone by without sight nor sound of him have helped me really think about the situation and realize that maybe our time will come, but it just wasn't this summer."

"Well hello to East High's hottest ladies!" Chad Danforth called out, coming over to kiss Taylor briefly before wrapping Gabriella in a hug. "How's it going, lil sis?"

"Just fine," Gabriella got out with a laugh. "Man, who turned you into a morning person?"

"What? Can't a guy just try to put his best foot forward here? I admit, I'm a bit on the cheerful side but I made a resolution this summer to be the best person I could be and to live in the moment. I don't want to be caught in the trap that our captain is in," Chad returned, dropping his smile.

"Our captain?"

"Yeah, our basketball captain."

After seeing Gabriella's confused look, Taylor steps in and explained. "Chad, Zeke, and Jason, along with the rest of the basketball team, have kind of taken to referring to Troy as their captain instead of Troy or friend these days."

"It's only because he doesn't act like a friend these days," Chad returned. "Besides, if he keeps alienating his team this way, Coach Bolton along with him, they may not have a team. We're talking about pursuing our other sports we love to play and just playing city basketball or something."

"Things didn't get better after I left, huh?" Gabriella asked, not knowing from her conversations with Taylor that things had gotten this bad between the basketball guys.

Chad shook his head. "Sadly, no. Even Coach Bolton seems to have forgotten the rest of us exist. He hasn't had us play at the Bolton's house or at the gym or at the park in quite a while. Kind of just like he forgot that we were all there to play as a team for that championship this year, not just Troy."

Gabriella leaned over and gave Chad another hug. "I'm sorry Chad," she whispered. "I know what it's like to lose that guy from your life too."

Chad gave Gabriella a hug back, smiling when he feels Taylor wrap her arms around her best friend and her boyfriend too. "We still have each other though, let's remember that!" Taylor stated, referring to the rest of their group – Zeke, Jason, Kelsi, Martha, and Ryan. "Ryan still hasn't talked to Sharpay much since the talent show. Can't say that I blame him."

"On that subject, Gab, I have to tell you something, so you're ready," Chad said, a serious look on his face as he looked over at her.

"What is it?" she asked.

"Well after you left, Troy got further into his world and his future, we all know that. What I don't think many people know quite yet is that he has started seeing Sharpay. I don't know how it happened but I started seeing them together off the golf course and after work hours flirting big time, especially towards the end of the summer. I just don't want you to be unprepared," Chad warned.

Gabriella slowly nodded her head in understanding while clearing her throat as she felt the tears build up. Taylor squeezed her hand to let her know she isn't alone and Gabriella squeezed back. "Thanks Chad for the warning. I'm glad I heard it from you and not the rumor mill. It would have hurt that much more."

Chad wrapped an arm around Gabriella's shoulders and an arm around Taylor's waist. "Hey, as Taylor said, we're all in this together. Now though, luck just so has it that we all have the same homeroom so I get to escort you two lovely ladies to class. Ready to start senior year at good old East High?"

The two girls nodded and wrapped their arms around Chad's waist to start their journey to their destined homeroom.

Ryan Evans eyed his twin sister and Troy hanging out at Sharpay's pink locker and rolled his eyes as he saw Sharpay pull a fake pout until Troy leaned over and kissed her. 'Ugh, get a room already!' he thought, hating the scene in front of him. Troy and Sharpay had started hanging out together more and slowly but surely, Sharpay had gotten her wish. The supposed primo girl at East High was now with the primo boy.

He spotted Chad, Taylor, and Gabriella coming down the hall and smiled seeing their happy faces and arms wrapped around each other. "Hey guys, can I join that little chorus line?" he called out, seeing Gabriella brighten as she spotted him and nodded her head.

"Come on Ryan, we're heading to the start of a fantastic senior year," Chad greeted, extra loud as he spots Troy and Sharpay kissing. "But remember, I don't dance!"

Ryan laughed and joined the three friends as they walked towards homeroom sharing stories and comparing schedules. When the four reached the room, they took their seats in the middle of the rows with Ryan sitting behind Gabriella, Taylor in front of her with Chad on her right. Soon, the rest of the gang came in. Martha took a seat next to Taylor, Kelsi a seat next to Ryan, Jason the seat in front of her and on the right of Gabriella, leaving Zeke to take the seat on Gabriella's left. Gabriella looked around at the friendly faces and noticed they had effectively blocked her in almost. She brushed it off though and started chatting with Kelsi and Ryan about the drama club only to look up at the doorway as the entire room, the group and their fellow seniors present included, got quiet as Troy and Sharpay showed up holding hands.

"Well hello everyone!" Sharpay called out, oblivious to the glares that she and her new boytoy were being given. "Troy, where do you want to sit?"

Troy scanned the students already seated and cringed as he saw his old group of friends all sitting together, his ex-girlfriend in the middle. 'Well that was well-planned of them,' he thought to himself. "Sharpay, why don't we sit up here? There's two prime seats together."

"But Troy, we can't write notes from up here. Let's go to the back!" Sharpay said, not noticing there were no seats in the area she had suggested.

"Sharpay, there are other people already there," Troy responded, seeing the back two rows filled.

"They'll move for us, we're the popular couple at East High," Sharpay returned, sending a glare to the kids in the back.

Sure enough, two girls got up from the back and took the empty seat next to Ryan and behind Zeke while her friend took the seat next to her. Troy and Sharpay made their way past his old group and took the now vacated seats, Sharpay very satisfied with her morning so far.

After seeing Gabriella's heartbroken look after seeing the new couple for the first time, Chad grabbed her attention and started telling her stupid things he learned about cooking while helping his mom with a family dinner two weeks ago, gratified when he sees genuine smiles and laughter return. Soon Ryan, Taylor, Kelsi, and Jason joined in, adding their own silly stories to the mix, which helped Gabriella lighten her mood as she imagined her friends and these different escapades they were describing to her.

From the back of the room, for the first time in weeks, Troy watched the scene unfold in front of him, ignoring the resentment and jealousy he felt deep down. To avoid these feelings, Troy had done his best to stay out on the golf course during the rest of the summer to avoid his friends and slowly found himself spending quite a bit of time with Sharpay. They hadn't had a talk, but he and Sharpay had started dating only two weeks before school started, both thinking it was quite natural as they had started to hang out so much together and she was definitely interested in him. Now though, with the group chatting and laughing away, Troy wasn't so sure about the decisions he made this summer. Troy recalled briefly the fun the gang had all had at the beginning of summer, even at the start of their jobs at Lava Springs, leaving him with a bit of sadness resonating in his mind. He looked over at Sharpay who was currently checking her makeup and was reminded of why he sacrificed the group for this, his present state, for his future. Mr. Evans and his friend had pretty much told him last week that he was a sure thing pretty much for the scholarship at U of A but that he just needed to keep his grades and his game up there too. As Ms. Darbus started to talk just after the bell rang, Troy's last thoughts were of his commitment to do just that, to study hard and play hard, to ensure his future was cemented at U of A.