The next morning, Troy was in Gabriella's driveway in the truck he and his father had rebuilt together. Gabriella had planned on taking the bus but Troy had talked to Mrs. Montez and had gotten permission to drive her this year.

Gabriella came tearing out the door, convinced that she would miss the bus if she was a second later, and practically ran into Troy.

"What are you doing here? You're going to be late!" she said, getting more and more flustered by the second.

"Relax, babe, your mom said I could drive you this year," he told her, rubbing her shoulders in an attempt to calm her.

"Really?" she asked as she looked back at her door. Mrs. Montez was locking the door behind her as she was leaving for work.

"Gabby, get in the truck and calm down! You'll have a great day, just relax!" Mrs. Montez instructed her daughter. "Oh, I forgot to tell you that I have to go out of town next week, so see if Taylor or Kelsi can stay with you. Have a good day!"

"Bye, Mom!" Gabriella climbed into the truck and Troy drove them to school. Gabriella sat in silence, oblivious to Troy's feeble attempts at conversation.

"Gabriella? Are you even there?" Troy asked as he pulled into the parking lot of East High.

"Huh? Oh, I'm sorry, Troy. It's just that I'm dreading this school year. What college I go to depends on this year."

"Same for me, too, Gabs. Schools only care about what happens this season for me."

Troy parked the truck and they walked in together. "We've got to go to the cafeteria to pick up our schedules," he said, taking her hand and leading her off in the right direction. "What APs are you taking this year?"

"Calculus, chemistry, physics, history and English. My only elective is drama… no study halls for me this year," Gabriella said rather glumly as she and Troy joined the long line to get their schedules. The line was moving pretty fast and after only a few moments Coach Bolton handed them their schedules. They went to their lockers, deposited their belongings and made their way to drama with Ms. Darbus.

"Ah! Troy! Gabriella! I am so pleased that you two will be continuing your exploration of the world of the theater!" They shared a pained look, both thinking how this was the only elective that fit into both of their schedules. The desks were grouped in pairs so Troy and Gabriella grabbed desks together near the back. They sat waiting for class to begin, Troy twirling the ring on Gabriella's right ring finger around.

"This is pretty," Troy said. It really was a beautiful ring. It was silver or white gold with an oval shaped sapphire in the center. On either side of the sapphire were six small diamonds. He had never seen her wearing it before.

"Thanks." Gabriella pulled her hands away from him and placed them in her lap. Troy looked into the now cloudy, chocolate eyes that were avoiding his gaze.

"Brie?" he asked gently.

Her eyes snapped up. "Please don't call me that. Ever."

"Gabs, what's wrong?" He spoke softly since people were starting to filter in.

"It's just…" she sighed, "it's the last birthday present Dad gave me before he died." A tear slipped down her cheek. "He died four years ago tomorrow."

Troy mentally slapped himself. In the nine months that he had known her, Gabriella seldom spoke of her father. Troy had only seen two photographs of him in her house, both of which were in her room. One was of her parents on their wedding day: the other was of just her and her father sitting on a porch swing eating ice cream. He still didn't know how he had died.

"I'm sorry. I didn't know, Gabby."

"I know. It's not your fault, Troy." She looked up to see Taylor and Chad walking in, followed by the rest of the gang. "Do you want to meet at our special place during lunch?"

"Sure, whatever I need." She reached across the desk again and gave his hand a squeeze as Ms. Darbus began calling roll.