Disclaimer: I do not own 'High School Musical' or any related characters.

A/N: I am so frustrated with boys at the moment, I though I'd write this and see how it goes down, cause honestly, for those who have never lived with the male species at the current moment I envy you to a point where you should all feel slightly freaked out. I mean, living with boys has it advantages (you don't cry as often) but honestly, they're generally a bunch of Neanderthals who just don't get it!! You'll get what I'm on about when you read this. So enjoy! Also, still working on SFM and praying that it starts coming together properly otherwise I'm going to throw another fit!

Frustrated Female

The scream that echoed through the house was loud enough to be heard outside. Inside, it was enough to leave anyone with ears deaf.

Gabriella Montez stared at the bathroom in pure frustration before slamming the door shut and storming downstairs in a fit of rage that warned anyone who had witnessed the ear-splitting scream to watch out. She stalked into the kitchen, shooting the two boys sitting at the kitchen table a deathly glance that warned them to keep their mouths shut. They both wisely stood up and exited the kitchen as she yanked open the refrigerator door.

Another scream of frustration escaped her lips as she stared at the contents of the fridge. Cans of Coca-Cola, bottles of beer, a full carton of milk and not one thing she'd asked them to get. She slammed the door close with such force that she could still hear the beer bottles rattling as she stared at it with such fury that she heard someone enter the kitchen and then leave it when they saw her.

Oh yes, they'd better run, Gabriella thought grimly when she heard the person leave, because once I'm through with them they won't even know which ways forward.

Turning on her heel, Gabriella stalked over to a cupboard and yanked it open, this time managing to muffle a new scream as she saw that the cereal that she'd claimed as hers was gone. Which meant one thing; they'd gotten it into their heads that she wouldn't notice. How could they honestly think that she wouldn't notice her favorite cereal missing from the cupboard? Were they really that backwards? Breathing through her nostrils, Gabriella slammed the cupboard door shut and opened a new one.

No coffee.

Gabriella stared at the space that had been reserved for the various types of coffee that she and some of the other occupants of house drank and felt another wave of frustration begin its descent towards the shore, where she knew it would crash with a force that would shatter any control she had over her vocal cords. How could they forget the coffee? It had been on the stupid list that they, apparently, hadn't even bothered to look at. Why wasn't there any coffee? Gabriella could feel the wave gaining momentum as the shore came into sight and she slammed the cupboard door shut.

She turned around when she heard the noise at the doorway, as soon as she saw who was standing there the wave crashed against the shore.

The scream that tore from her throat had them all cowering back slightly.

"What is wrong with all of you?" Gabriella shouted when the scream that had crashed through the house like a wave in a violent storm was still echoing. "Do you not listen to me at all? Are you all really that messed up in the head that it didn't occur to you to read the list that I gave you? We have no coffee. Nada. None. There is no food in the fridge. My cereal has magically disappeared and I swear to God, when I find out who it is you're going to be paying for a years supply of it!" Gabriella yelled, furiously watching as they all exchanged glances at her words. It wasn't enough that they were all scared of her at the moment, Gabriella wanted to get it through their think heads what the problem was before she exploded from frustration.

"So…you're mad because someone ate your cereal?" One of them asked tentatively and Gabriella looked at him, her eyebrows raised sarcastically at his words.

"No!" The shout exploded from her and Gabriella clenched her fists in case she lashed out. "I'm mad because the bathroom looks like it hasn't been cleaned in months. I cleaned it two days ago. I'm mad because, yet again, no-one has done their laundry and I know that I'll end up doing it! I'm mad because that stupid play station was on all night and you guys all got steadily drunker when I told you all that I needed to be up early! I'm mad because every time one of you brings a girl home I have to dispatch her because you're all to scared to do it! And I'm mad because none of you bother to listen to me about anything!" Gabriella's throat was hurting as she screamed, ignoring their resentment when she spoke of their many one-night stands and fighting the urge to slap all of them as they looked at each other uneasily.

"So it's not about the cereal, then?" The silence that had followed her outburst was broken with a question that had all of them cringing in the doorway. Gabriella stared at Jason Cross for a moment, unable to believe that he could even ask something that stupid before she screamed again.

They all covered their ears as her fourth scream tore through the silence that had followed Jason's question. Gabriella glared at them, quivering with frustration and fury as they all recovered from the piercing sound.

"I'm leaving!" The words were spoken so icily that they all snapped to attention. "And if any of you even think about calling him I will castrate you. All of you." She spat out the warning before stalking past them. The two she brushed past leaned as far away from her as they could possibly go and she knew that they all turned to watch her snatch up her bag, yank open the front door and slam it close.

Chad Danforth, Ryan Evans, Jason Cross and Zeke Baylor were four of the most inconsiderate, oblivious males she had ever met. Living with them was like living with a bunch of Neanderthals who could only communicate by pointing and grunting and wouldn't listen unless you either stroked their ego or learnt the art of their oh-so simple language. Whatever women or girl thought that men were God's gift had obviously never lived with them and were unaware of all their downfalls. Like not listening, eating anything in sight and having loud sex a room that was beside yours, without considering that you might be scarred for the rest of your life, Gabriella through grimly as stomped down the street. It was like they'd completely forgotten that she was female and it irritated her.

Honestly, they'd all known her long enough to know that she was a girl. They'd all grown up together, living on the same street and with mothers that were best friends it had been inevitable that they would either become the best of friends or the worst of enemies. As fate would have it, they'd become the best of friends after an incident that involved raw eggs, a sling shot and their fathers. They'd been best friends when they'd entered primary school and Jason's sister had been born. They'd been best friends in middle school when Ryan had broken his arm, Chad had broken his nose and her parents had gotten a divorce. They'd been best friends in high school when she was sure they'd all abandon her because Chad, Jason and Zeke had become jocks, Ryan had become a drama buff and she'd become a nerd. Now they were best friends in college, living together and apparently, all of them had forgotten that she was a girl.

They'd all suddenly seemed to forget that when she was in her room, alone, it was a good idea to leave her alone. They'd all forgotten that when there was a video tape in the recorder, it meant that she was taping something. They'd forgotten that she'd been in their life from the very start and knew them all like the back of their hand. They'd forgotten that she and the sixth member of their group had been arguing for days. They'd simply forgotten that she was a girl.

Really, was it that hard to forget? For God's sake, she actually looked like a girl. She had tumbling, dark hair, a figure that didn't look that bad in a bikini, she wore skirts and dresses and, when she remembered, she actually wore make-up. Not to mention they'd all found her tampons in the bathroom drawer the other week and freaked out about it. Yet, they all still seemed to forget they were living with a girl.

Seeing her favorite coffee shop approaching, Gabriella took a deep breath and managed to stop stomping. The one thing she didn't manage to do as she pushed open the door was to stop scowling. As soon as she was inside, Gabriella drew in a deep breath and caught the eye of the blonde waitress who narrowed her eyes when she saw her, then nodded towards the table by the window. Gabriella's shoulders slumped slightly as she made her way over to the table, pulling out the chair; she sank into it and waited patiently for her coffee.

As she looked around, Gabriella found herself beginning to relax as she studied the familiar settings of the coffee house. The dark mahogany wood of the counter, tables and fireplace would have looked harsh if it hadn't been soothed by the warm red that was splashed across the walls, both colors encouraged to be friendly and inviting by the fireplace that roared hotly now that it was winter. Glancing up when she heard the clicking of high heels on the worn, wooden floorboards, Gabriella smiled gratefully as a cappuccino was slid under nose and Sharpay Evans settled down in the seat opposite her.

Breathing in the smell of freshly made coffee, Gabriella felt herself calm down slightly as she glanced up from the coffee to Sharpay. "Hi. Do you really need to look at me like that?" She asked curiously.

Sharpay, who was the epitome of the cliché blonde and beautiful, softened her appraising expression to one of simple sympathy. A look of sympathy that Gabriella knew was only there because it stemmed from her time living with the boys.

"So…what did they do this time?" Sharpay asked as Gabriella took a sip of the coffee that she had been craving ever since she had woken up on the wrong side of the bed that morning. Placing the cup back onto the saucer, Gabriella made a face as she thought about the best way to phrase what had happened earlier.

"They were just being so, so, male." It was the only word she could think of that described why she had gone off at them. Sharpay raised an eyebrow, surveying her friend as she thought about the words.

"Uh-huh. As opposed to every other day when they were being what? Female?" Sharpay replied and Gabriella groaned at her words.

"No. I just…it was just like...look, its like living with a bunch of Neanderthals who don't do anything but scratch their butts and point and grunt as a way of communication." Gabriella said and Sharpay sighed in a way that made Gabriella look at her suspiciously. The sound had been condescending, as if Sharpay was simply listening to this new rant before they got to the real problem.

"Anything else to add to that oh so brilliant theory?" Sharpay inquired and Gabriella snorted, ignoring the way her oldest girl friend was acting like she was doing her a big favor in listening to her rant.

"They don't listen. They don't ask you to do the one thing you want them to do. They don't clean up after themselves. They drink until four in the morning and then expect you to make them a big breakfast so they can get over their stupid hangovers. They don't do their own laundry." Gabriella took a breath and Sharpay suddenly seemed to pick up where she'd left off in her list.

"They eat all your food. They find personal items in the drawer and then parade around with them or scream like a little girl when they realize what it is. They have no qualms in parading around half naked or brining home beautiful girls and then having you tell them it was only a one-night stand and they certainly have no problem in making you fall in love with them, asking you to be their girlfriend and then arguing with you over something that neither of you quite remember. Am I right?" Sharpay asked and Gabriella nodded her head emphatically, still processing the 'no qualms' part of Sharpay's list.

"Exactly!" Gabriella exclaimed triumphantly and then paled. "Wait, what?" Sharpay rolled her eyes at the sudden change in Gabriella as she comprehended the last part of Sharpay's argument.

"Give it up Gabs; you and I both know that living with these Neanderthals isn't what got you into this snit." Sharpay said bored with the façade that hadn't even been in place long enough for Gabriella to get at least the little annoyances out of her system. Instead of giving in, Gabriella feigned ignorance.

"Are you kidding me? Of course it is! Come on Sharpay, you've lived in that house before. You're there every other weekend. You know exactly what I'm on about." Sharpay simply raised her eyebrows again as Gabriella tried to talk Sharpay out of thinking it was something more than it seemed to be.

"Sure. I know what you're on about. You're only living with my brother and my boyfriend, one who's a neat freak and the other who can be so wrapped up in himself that thinking about someone else is beyond his actual capacity," Sharpay said and Gabriella blinked at her examples of Chad and Ryan. "But that doesn't explain why after two years of living with them, you decide to go off about it now, unless of course, one of your roomies was arguing with you. Coincidentally, the one you're sleeping with." Gabriella's eyes narrowed at Sharpay's smug tone and mentioning of the one person she didn't want to think about.

"I don't want to talk about him." She hissed at her blonde friend and Sharpay simply smiled at her, feeling pleased that she had gotten at least a reaction from her. The last time Sharpay had probed in that certain area of Gabriella's life; she'd been met with an ice wall that had made Sharpay think it was a much bigger deal than it actually was.

"Okay. All I'm saying is that it's odd that you decided to throw a tantrum about living with males two weeks after an argument with your sleeping with and you swear that there's absolutely no connection between the two." Sharpay said and Gabriella paused with her cappuccino midway to her mouth. How could she argue with Sharpay when she made it sound like that? It was practically impossible.

"Whatever." Gabriella muttered weakly, knowing that her reply was enough for Sharpay to confirm that there was more to her tantrum than just being frustrated about the behavior of certain males she knew.

"And on that note, I have to get back to work. I'll talk to you later. Tell Chad that I'll be around tonight, you know, once you're speaking to him again." Sharpay said and Gabriella simply nodded, looking anywhere but at Sharpay as the blonde stood up and headed for the counter where two customers were waiting patiently.

Gabriella watched her go, unable to believe that Sharpay wouldn't join her in her rant about males and wishing that she hadn't brought up the real reason behind why she had walked into the bathroom that morning and screamed bloody murder. Taking another sip of her cappuccino, Gabriella wondered who they would send after to her. If her memory served her correctly, it was Chad's turn to 'sacrifice' himself for what the others would call the 'greater good'. If Gabriella didn't know that the 'greater good' was her happiness she would have sworn they were living in a land of superheroes. As it was, they were living in a dreamland if they seriously thought she was going to let this one go.

Not to mention that she was serious when she'd said that she'd castrate all of them if they called him.

Instead of screaming as her thoughts once again turned to him, Gabriella managed to muffle a groan. She didn't want to be thinking about him. At the current moment, she didn't even want to acknowledge that he existed. Despite the fact that everything in her room reminded her of him, the faint smell of his aftershave which had been lingering in the air when she'd woken up on his side of the bed which was still warm from his body, was the whole reason she was in a bad mood. It wasn't fair that they were in the middle of a huge argument and he was still sleeping in her bed, with her unconsciously cuddling up to him during the night but leaving earlier than he normally would have in an attempt to avoid further arguing. She didn't get it and she had a feeling he knew exactly what he was doing.

It was like he was playing mind games with her and she was still struggling to get out of the hole the argument had created.

It frustrated her to a point where she wished that she hadn't grown so used to him sleeping beside her that she'd wake up in the middle of the night and strangle him to death. It made her so upset that every time she woke up and he was gone, she wanted to bury her face in his pillow and cry until she felt better. Or until he came home and picked her up to cradle her and talk about the argument.

God, she hadn't actually seen him in six days. Somehow, they'd managed to avoid each other successfully in a house where it should have been hard to avoid anyone. The worst part was she knew she'd been trying to put herself in his way just so she could talk to him for the past few days. Not even that had worked. She just wanted to see him. That was it. That was all she wanted. One solid glimpse of his face instead of the ambiguous scent of his aftershave lingering lazily in her room when she woke up.

Hearing the door to the coffee shop open and then close, Gabriella didn't bother to glance up. Not even when she heard Sharpay greet the person with a familiarity that would have normally piqued her curiosity. Instead, she continued to stare at the caramel colour of her cappuccino, trying not to wallow in the wave of depression that had washed over her as she wished she could simply look at him again.

"So was it really about cereal?" Gabriella's eyes snapped from her half drunken cappuccino to the smirking face of Troy Bolton. For a moment, all she could do was stare up at him in shock.

Then she burst into tears.

She heard him swear viciously as her vision was obscured by tears and wanted to laugh. Instead, her tears seemed to become even more violent and she buried her face in her hands, her sobs muffled even as her shoulders shook.

She felt his hand slide over her thigh to her knee and knew that he was crouched down beside her. Without thinking, she turned in her chair, threw her arms around his neck and buried her face into his shoulder. The aftershave she'd smelt when she'd woken up filled her nostrils and she clung to him even more as fresh tears streamed down her face.

"Shh baby. It's alright." He murmured it against her hair and she let out a strangled sob at the soothing sound of his voice.

Gabriella didn't care that they were in the middle of a coffee shop or that people were probably staring at them. What she cared about, as she began to calm down, was that he was there. His arms were wrapped tightly around her and his shoulder really was the one she was crying against.

"W-who called you?" She asked, hiccoughing slightly even as she kept her face hidden in his shoulder, not wanting to pull away in case she discovered it wasn't actually him.

"No-one. I got back home after class and found them all sitting shell-shocked in the living room. Jason said cereal and Chad spat the whole story out. So you're not allowed to castrate any of them." Troy murmured gently, smoothing a strand of hair away from the side of her face. Gabriella swallowed hard before she pulled away from his shoulder.

"That's not fair. I want to do something to them." She said, wiping at her wet cheeks with the back of her hand. He smiled at her in a way that made her calm down even more.

"I know you do. But taking out how mad you are at me on them isn't exactly fair. Besides, you've got so much dirt on all of them its not exactly fair to threaten to castrate them when you could do a lot more damage to their reputations." Troy told her and Gabriella shrugged, suddenly realizing that she was going to have to let him go so he wasn't crouched down beside her anymore.

Reluctantly, she let her arms drop from around his neck and Troy's fingers trailed down her cheek gently before he stood up and moved to settle in the chair that Sharpay had previously occupied. Gabriella watched him carefully, noting that he was wearing clean clothes.

The dark jeans and white v-necked shirt accentuated what was in essence, Troy Bolton. The clothes played into the deceptively casual front he had acquired when he was fourteen and maintained through high school and into college. Behind the easy clothes, idle movements and lazy blue eyes was a razor sharp mind and a personality that commanded attention and fear from everyone who he met. Not that she'd ever feared him. As far as she knew, Gabriella was the one of the only people who had little to fear when it came to Troy Bolton. Not only because she'd been close to him for nearly twenty-two years, first as one of his best friends, later as his best friend and finally as his girlfriend but because she knew that he would never try and frighten her deliberately, instead, whenever it had come to dealing with her Sharpay had once described him to be frighteningly gentle.

But that didn't matter right now. What mattered right now was the fact that he was sitting opposite her, his shirt stained with her tears, watching her with a worry that only ever came into his eyes when she was involved.

"How'd you know I was taking it out on them?" Gabriella muttered, taking a sip of her now lukewarm cappuccino and looking at him as he simply raised an eyebrow, as if surprised she had asked such an obvious question.

"It was obvious. You and I both know that you only ever get like this when we're arguing, most of the time we've already resolved the fight and it's simply a matter of distracting you for a day, maybe two, before this," Troy gestured vaguely to her, "has passed. Unfortunately, we haven't made up yet. Therefore, I couldn't do it." He watched her carefully and Gabriella knew she had to keep her face neutral unless she really wanted him to read her like an open book, the way he had dozens of times before.

"Oh. So that's why we spent all those days in bed or at the mall or driving around for the sake of an adventure." Gabriella wanted to feel resentment towards him and found she didn't have the energy. Instead, she watched as he lifted an eyebrow at her words and had a feeling that he would have rolled her eyes had he not known it would either result in her bursting into tears again or flying into him much the same way she had their friends.

"No that's not exactly it. Do you honestly think I spent all those days in bed because I was worried about you and your reaction to living in a houseful of boys?" Troy asked and Gabriella screwed up her nose at the questioning, faintly wondering if he was patronizing her in a way that she could comprehend.

"Uh…no?" The confident statement she wanted to use in order to answer his question came out as one of her own that had her wincing slightly when she watched as his eyes darkened.

"Damn it Gabriella, are you really feeling that messed up that I seriously did all that because I wanted to make sure you didn't blow up at any of us?" Troy demanded and Gabriella bit her lip as she realized that she'd made a big mistake. She didn't want another argument and she had a feeling that she'd just opened the door to one.

"No. Sorry. I don't want to argue." She muttered, staring back down at her cappuccino and hoping that he'd take that as a hint to leave her alone. When she heard him sigh in resignation, Gabriella lifted her eyes up hopefully and watched as he rubbed a hand over her face in a sign that could be taken for either weariness or simply as a way of thinking.

"Okay. I don't want to argue with you either. Want to go for a walk, instead?" Troy asked and Gabriella smiled at him, nodding as she grasped her bag and stood up in one fluid motion. Troy followed suit and stretched slightly when he stood up, reaching for her hand in a move that was as automatic as it was calculated.

When their hands intertwined, Gabriella couldn't help but lean on his arm as they began to walk out. She was tired. Her frustration this morning seemed to have bled out and she couldn't seem to find any energy that could possibly cause her too let go of Troy and go the other way. She couldn't even find the energy to remember why she was mad at him.

Instead, she placidly followed him out the door of the coffee shop, waving to Sharpay who had indicated that she would place her cappuccino on her tab as she walked just a step behind him.

As soon as they were outside on the pavement, Gabriella looked up at him as he pulled a pair of aviators out of his front pockets and put them on.

"Why am I mad at you again?" She asked curiously, wondering if he could remember seeing as she couldn't. Troy looked down at her; at least, Gabriella assumed he looked down at her. She couldn't be sure because his sunglasses were to dark for her to tell.

"Because you swore I didn't think of you as a girl anymore." Troy replied after a long moment of staring that she was sure would have made her feel uncomfortable had his eyes not been hidden by the glasses.

Gabriella narrowed her eyes thoughtfully at him as she thought about his words, wondering why on earth she had accused him of that when it was clear, at least now, that he was the only one who had ever treated her like a girl.

"Oh. What were my reasons for that?" She asked, suddenly seeing where her dummy spit this morning had come from and wondering how she hadn't seen it before.

"No idea. You just had a very female moment and I ended up getting the brunt of it last week and the guys ended up getting the end of it this morning. Jason thinks you have PMS." Troy said casually, almost as if they discussed her monthly cycle every day without cringing or feeling disturbed by what they were saying.

"Jason needs to stop thinking about my body," Gabriella snapped and then sighed. "Alright, I guess you'd like a reason for me going off?" She asked and a small smirk tugged at the edges of Troy's mouth as she looked up at him.

"Considering it felt like it was my fault? Yeah, an explanation would be nice." Troy said humorously and Gabriella smiled slightly, looking down as she began playing with his fingers.

"It's just that you guys always seem to treat me as if I'm one of the guys and you never seem to ask, listen or want to do what I ask you to do. None of you have ever listened to me about anything since we all moved in together and I mean, none of you can go shopping and bring back one thing I've asked you to get." Gabriella paused to look up at Troy pleadingly, wondering if he was listening to her at all. "It's frustrating. Especially when it seems like you all seem to forget that I'm a girl and not always in tune with you guys when you have your guy sessions. I mean, for God's sake, my own boyfriend seemed to have forgotten that I'm female." Gabriella wondered if her explanation was a good one and then wondered how Troy would take to being referred to as title and not by name.

He was silent for a moment, as if contemplating what she was saying and probably, if she knew him as well as she knew that she did, aligning all the things she'd said with their arguments over the past week and her blow up this morning.

"Okay. So you blew up at us because we made you feel like you weren't a girl?" He asked and Gabriella nodded before he continued. "Brie, have I ever once given you the impression that I didn't know you were a girl?" He asked and Gabriella frowned up at him, wondering what he was getting at.

"I don't know." She said at last and watched as he smirked slightly.

"I've never not treated you like a girl. Even when we were ten and you went through that tomboy stage, I always treated you like you were a girl. I know that the others don't, but that's probably because half the time, you don't exactly act like a girly girl. I mean, you only ever giggle when I'm in the room. It's kind of expected that they forget." Troy said reasonably and Gabriella frowned up at him, hating that he could sound so calm and rational about something that had seemed so solid only an hour before.

"But what about every thing else? None of you listen to me when I want you to get something for me. None of you! It's irritating and horrible and I just feel like a bitch when I have to repeat it and you all roll your eyes at me!" Gabriella exclaimed and Troy sighed, pulling her closer and placing a soothing kiss on her forehead.

"Hey, hey. Calm down. I can't do anything about their reaction to you but you do know that I do actually listen to you." Troy said and Gabriella sighed, wrinkling her nose slightly when he placed another kiss on her forehead. She let go of his hand and slid an arm around his waist as she thought about what he said.

"I suppose I have to talk to them then." She sighed when his arm came up and around to hold her shoulders.

"I guess. Just don't threaten to castrate them again babe, Chad's walking around with his hands covering his balls at the moment." Troy murmured into her hair and Gabriella snorted at the image of large, bushy haired Chad walking around terrified of him.

"He's an idiot. What if they don't listen to me, though? I've known them for a while and it usually takes more than me talking to them to get them to listen." Gabriella asked and was pleasantly surprised when Troy dropped a kiss on her lips and chuckled.

"You'll get them to listen. A frustrated female is a formidable opponent when it comes to facing them. Besides they all love you enough to listen to you and Chad's too scared of you at the moment to do anything but wait on you hand and foot." Troy said and Gabriella giggled slightly at his wording, wondering how long she'd have before they all resulted back to being ignorant Neanderthals.

"Okay. Let's go home." She sighed and Troy coughed slightly in what she knew was an attempt at covering a cough as they began to walk.

As she leaned against him, Gabriella couldn't help but feel glad that her frustration had bubbled over. After all, Troy had apparently forgiven her; her best friends were terrified of her and might listen to her from now on. Being a frustrated female might just be an advantage instead of a disadvantage.

A/N: Well, I actually enjoyed writing this. I know it wasn't some big, sappy romance but I think if I had delved too much into T/G's relationship it would have lost its...impact. Anyway, I hope you all enjoyed reading this because I really did enjoy writing this. Oh, and if any of the judgements of males offends any of you, just say so in your review!