THE WINDOW

Part One

One Can Be a Crowd

Twenty seven-year-old Gabriella Montez did not know what was wrong with her today. Everything was going wrong, it seemed. She had gotten up too late and had therefore not managed to catch the bus she had told herself to take. She had rushed out of the flat she shared with her boyfriend for three years, Troy Bolton, in a vain attempt to actually make it – which she hadn't, of course, and therefore she had walked back to her apartment, only to realize that it was a good thing she hadn't caught the bus, because she was wearing two different shoes and no shirt beneath her zip-down jacket. Not to mention that she hadn't brushed her teeth, hadn't done her makeup, hadn't showered and hadn't had a thing for breakfast.

After locking herself into the apartment again, she found a change of clothes and went to take a shower. She couldn't even explain why taking the other bus was so important, because she actually had all the time in the world. Really. She was in no rush at all. It was Thursday and she didn't have work. Troy had practice this morning and straight after he was going to meet his best friend, Chad, who was getting married to his high school girlfriend, Taylor, on Sunday, and they had a lot of things they needed to take care of, so there was no telling when he would be home.

Suits me fine anyway, Gabriella mused to herself as she stepped into the hot shower, immediately letting the water cascade down her back and drench her hair. It wasn't that she didn't want to see Troy, because that was far from it, but sometimes she just really needed time to herself. The only thing on her agenda today was to pamper herself – that was why she had wanted to get to the mall early, because what was a better place than the mall for pampering? -, and she had planned to buy herself a few new outfits (including a new dress for the wedding on Sunday), get her nails done and stuff like that. She wouldn't know what time she'd be home, so it was wonderful that Troy wouldn't be expecting dinner.

Gabriella rinsed out her shampoo and quickly reached for the bottle with conditioner as she hummed softly to herself. She had always loved singing and it had come in handy for her. She wouldn't have met Troy if they hadn't both loved to sing. She knew it sounded crazy that a professional basketball player like Troy could carry a tune, but he was quite the singer, and as it turned out – he had once been one out of four to get a scholarship at Julliard. He hadn't gotten one, which was pretty alright too, because otherwise she wouldn't have met him.

He had gone to the University of Albuquerque to play ball with Chad after high school, but had also managed to have time to help out the local community theater; he had been acting, singing, doing props and all that stuff. He had spent a lot of time helping out down there, which was lucky since – well, since one of the first things Gabriella did, when she moved to New Mexico to be with her mother at the age of twenty three, was joining it as well.

Her mother had moved to New Mexico when Gabriella started at Stanford to study prelaw, and as soon as Gabriella was done there, she moved to Albuquerque as well to be near her mother since it was only the two of them and it was hard to be apart. But it was her luck really, she found an okay job and met Troy during the first week in town. It was kind of like love at first sight. It was really weird since Gabriella had never really had a boyfriend or anything, but she just felt this connection with Troy and they started dating pretty quickly after their first meeting. Things had only blossomed from there and now they had been together for three years, were living together and they had a nice relationship.

Gabriella turned the water off and stepped onto the cold tiles, reaching for a towel to dry herself off with. She bent her head and started drying her long hair while she wondered about herself and Troy. She was pretty content in this relationship, they were good, they were, but she was… well, kind of bored at times. She felt like she hadn't really done the things she wanted to. And she hated being stuck here in New Mexico. She got a lot of great job offers from around the world and she would love to take them. She just wasn't sure how to tell Troy. She knew they would never make a long-distance relationship; there was no way they could handle that, they weren't strong enough, and Troy wouldn't go for it – he would break things off with her and she really wasn't ready to lose him. She wasn't even sure if a job was worth losing him for, she was just… curious.

When Gabriella was done drying her hair off she stood up and stared at herself in the slightly fogged mirror. Her eyes scanned her entire body, from the collarbone, down her breast, to her hips, to the center between her legs. She had never had much fat on her body but she definitely wasn't skinny either. She turned to stand with her side facing the mirror and lifted up in her breasts slightly. They were alright too. Making a face she dropped them again and reached for the towel yet another time to dry off her body.

When she was dressed, Gabriella went into the kitchen again to make some coffee; she decided to take her time now. It didn't matter which bus she caught – she'd have all the time in the world anyway. She found a note on the table from Troy, telling her that he would probably get a pizza with Chad since Taylor had a meeting with one of her friends about music for the wedding; two of their high school friends had started up a band that played for weddings, birthdays, anniversaries and so on. They would be the entertainment at the Danforth-McKessie wedding while also being on the guest list.

Gabriella didn't really eat in the mornings so she went into their bedroom to get her makeup done and fix her hair so she would be ready to go as soon as she had finished off her coffee. It was only ten thirty so she'd have plenty of time to find a proper and flattering dress (plus shoes and accessories – a girl's gotta have her fun!) without getting completely stressed out.

When everything seemed acceptable when she looked in the mirror, Gabriella turned to the clock by her bed and saw that there was twenty minutes until the next bus where there. It was just down the street from her flat so it didn't take more than five minutes to walk, so it was perfect timing on her behalf. She made sure she had everything she might need in her handbag before she went into the kitchen to drink her coffee and really wake up. It was still very hot when she poured it, so she went to find proper shoes. She would be walking a lot so high heels was not a good choice; on the other hand though, she wouldn't really want to wear sneakers to the mall. Since she was wearing a pair of ordinary jeans and a top she figured that ballerina shoes was a good choice – they were simple and black and matched everything well; including the zip-down jacket, which she now would have something underneath.

She checked the time again and went into the kitchen to finish her coffee. She didn't know what it was with her, but it was like… no matter what she did, she always ended up having to hurry. Downing the cup she almost burned her tongue, but she shook it off, grabbed her stuff and rushed into the hallway. She dug her hand into her bag and searched for the keys which took about a minute, and then she quickly locked the door and fled down the stairs.

Despite everything – she really was in a good mood today. Of course she was, a day of shopping, even for a serious lawyer like her, was always enough to make her happy. She pondered about which restaurant to eat lunch at as she walked down the sidewalk, but she couldn't really decide because there was so many different ones. She would have to go to one of the ones Troy didn't enjoy because the other ones they regularly went to.

As she arrived at the bus stop, she saw the bus in the distance and was glad that she made it without actually having to run this time and almost bounced into the filled bus behind a teenage couple (who were clearly skipping school) and an old lady. She looked down the isle between the seats and hated that these city busses had fewer seats than regular busses. It just sucked, but it was probably because the old people had to have room for all their stuff, and the mothers had to have room for their babies. When the couple and the old woman had taken a seat Gabriella could only see one vacant seat in the back of the bus, and as it took off, she made her way down there while keeping herself steady by grabbing the seats.

A blonde woman was sitting in the seat near the isle and Gabriella figured she'd just ask her to scoot over and everything would be fine. It was sort of a long drive through the city because Albuquerque was big so she really didn't want to stand up the entire ride. When she stopped in front of the seat, the blonde woman looked up and Gabriella locked eyes with her; surprised. She had never seen such brown eyes before, it was kind of breathtaking.

"Can I help you?" the blonde woman asked with a kind smile, and Gabriella couldn't help but think that this woman was one of the most beautiful people she had ever met – no lie. There was just something about her, and it struck the Latina, even if she had just known of this woman's existence for about thirty seconds.

At first Gabriella didn't answer, but then she blinked slightly and finally said, "I eh… I was just wondering if I could have a seat?" she couldn't help but giggle slightly after her sentence because she had never seemed more foolish in her own eyes – today really wasn't a good day for her, it seemed.

The blonde smiled warmly at her, "But of course!" she cheered, and reached for her bag, which had been lying on the seat next to the window. She then took a hold of the side of the seat and stood up. With one food on the isle, Gabriella stopped her,

"No, no, I…" she smiled at the blonde because this woman was sweet and she rarely experienced that these days, "I don't have to have that seat-" she motioned for the window seat, silently hoping that she really would scoot over, because for some reason, Gabriella hated the window seat, "-you can just move over, that's totally fine."

The blonde paused for a second before she looked up at Gabriella with glistening brown eyes, "But I don't like sitting by the window." She whispered, a smile playing across her pink lips.

Gabriella paused, "Me neither." She then revealed, before the both of them broke into a fit of giggles.

A few seconds later the blonde moved away from the seat totally and held out her hands in a playful manner, so Gabriella knew where to go, "I was here first." She teased her with a saying look in her eyes, and Gabriella knew that she was right, so she moved in, sat down and placed her handbag in her lap.

"I'll just have to focus my attention elsewhere during the ride, then." She told the other woman, as she moved in and sat down at her seat again.

She looked at Gabriella with a smirk, "I think I can help you with that." She said, then held out her hand and continued, "I'm Sharpay by the way."

Gabriella shook the hand and felt like getting back at her, "Hi Sharpay by the way, I'm Gabriella."

Sharpay raised an eyebrow but didn't comment on the joke, in stead she leaned her head back and said, "So where are you getting off? If I have to entertain you I'll have to make sure my stop is not before yours."

Gabriella focused her entire attention on Sharpay because if she turned her head and looked outside she was sure she'd have to puke, "I have my entire day devoted to shopping at the Albuquerque mall."

"Wow." The blonde said and let her brown eyes go big, "Me too!" she then laughed.

Gabriella had never thought it would be so easy to talk to a complete stranger but she actually found it nice and kind of familiar to talk to this woman. It was strange, but she liked it and she was sure that it would be a good ride to the mall, "What are you shopping for? My best friend is getting married on Sunday and I really need a new dress."

Sharpay moved slightly in her seat and popped both knees onto the seat in front of her and rested comfortably, "I'm in New Mexico to help out my brother and his wife with this job they're doing. I have to get a new dress for that, I live in New York, originally I am from here, but work's there, so…" she trailed off.

"What do you work with?" Gabriella quickly asked. She didn't know what it was, but she just wanted to talk to this woman and get to now more about her. She was intriguing, she really was.

The blonde looked around slightly and leaned in closer, "I'm an actress." She whispered.

Gabriella pulled back slightly and searched her face. If she was an actress, she had got to have seen her in something. Mentally scanning every movie she had seen recently, she tried to place her face but couldn't, no matter which movie she went through.

"You're trying to place me, aren't you?" Sharpay questioned, a glint in her eye.

Gabriella immediately felt bad for doing that. Perhaps Sharpay hadn't gotten her big break yet and therefore Gabriella hadn't seen her in anything. Nice one, just make a complete stranger feel bad, Montez, Gabriella scolded herself. "Yeah…" she softly trailed off.

Sharpay giggled lowly, "You can't do that. I don't do movies. I'm on Broadway."

Gabriella almost felt her eyes pop out of her head by that new information. Sharpay seemed quite young, but at this rate nothing would surprise her with this woman – she seemed capable of anything, Gabriella was sure of that. "Broadway? Wow!" she gushed.

Sharpay bit her lip and had a dreamy look in her eyes for a few seconds before she said, "It was always theater or no acting for me. Being a movie-actress wasn't gonna do it. It was the stage or nothing." She explained in a deep voice. Suddenly she seemed to bounce back and become giddy again, "But what about you? What do you work with?"

"I work at a law firm." Gabriella explained and felt like a complete bore next to this amazing woman, "I went to Stanford and I could probably find something much better if I wasn't stuck in this town with my boyfriend. He's a professional basketball player and has to stay here – well, except for when he's out playing, y'know?"

Sharpay nodded her head, "I always found law so exciting. I mean – just imagine, you're fighting against all evil in this country, you should be proud."

Gabriella had never really looked at it that way, but she felt herself blush slightly by the nice comments coming out of Sharpay's mouth. At least she didn't feel so boring after all. "Thank you." She then softly said.

Sharpay waved it off, "No problem. Sometimes I need my twinnie to tell me that what I do has importance as well. Y'know like, when there's one evening when I screw up and I start doubting my entire career. I always just call him and he starts talking to make me feel better. I think that's just life."

The only thing Gabriella wanted to comment on about that, was this, "Wow! You're a twin?"

Sharpay laughed, "Yeah, he's pretty great, Ryan. He still lives here, like I told you. It's hard being away from him. We had to part after high school though – I went to Julliard, got a scholarship. Ryan could have gone as well, Daddy could have paid his way out of it, but he didn't want to leave his girlfriend. It was a good choice too, they're still together, have two beautiful kids."

Gabriella smiled, "That's wonderful, seems almost perfect."

"They are perfect." Sharpay just replied.

Gabriella quickly gazed out the window to see how far they were and was surprised to realize how quickly time had went by in this woman's company. She turned back to the blonde and felt like a suggestion, "Hey? If you're looking for a dress and I'm looking for a dress… Why don't we look together?"

Sharpay winked at her, "I'd really like that."

The bus came to a stop and Sharpay got off of her seat so they could get out and into the fresh air. Safely on the ground where Gabriella was so sure they really belonged, she said, "What kind of dress are you looking for?"

"I don't know." Sharpay explained, as they took off down the sidewalk; there was a couple of minutes' walk to the mall, "I own so many dresses, but they almost seem too formal for this job. I'm not quite sure though. Ryan said something black, since that's what they're wearing anyway…"

Gabriella laughed, "Well," she said, "let's just see what we can find."

--

"Oh, that's rich!" Sharpay laughed as she stared at Gabriella through the mirror – she had nervously entered the dressing room Sharpay was changing in because she needed an opinion, but as she saw Sharpay's face in the mirror, she couldn't help but laugh herself.

That dress was just not flattering on her… on anyone really, Gabriella suspected.

She made a face, "I think I need to take this off, don't you?"

Sharpay nodded stiffly in the mirror and moved a hand up to brush her hair back; exposing her neck. It caused Gabriella to pause on her way out and really look into the mirror; Sharpay was dressed in a black dress, simple and elegant; it went to about her knees, had a little bit of this and that underneath which made it flow nicely, it clung to her upper body beautifully, and Gabriella felt like looking at her forever.

Sharpay turned around to look at her with a glint in her eye, "This is good, is it not?"

"If you don't buy it I might have to kill you." Was Gabriella's response, before she giggled lightly and reached a hand out to brush across Sharpay's exposed shoulder; it felt weird to be so comfortable with someone she had just met, but it was nice… she felt really awesome being with Sharpay. It was like when she first met Troy – an instant connection, chemistry like never before. It was just weird to experience it with another female; plus, she kind of still had Troy.

Sharpay's back did a squirm beneath her fingernail and the blonde paused, still, looking at her with intensity, "Before you do anything to make me want you, I think you might want to know that I'm a lesbian."

Gabriella's hand fell from Sharpay's ivory skin to hang by her own side. She wasn't disgusted by it, she had no problems with gay people, she just didn't know what to do about Sharpay. She felt… so weirdly attracted to her and it had never happened before with a woman – it actually rarely happened at all. She didn't just fall for people, she wasn't just attracted to them, but for some reason, even if she had a loving boyfriend at home, she still wanted to close the door to this dressing room, push Sharpay up against the wall and do things she had never thought she'd do.

She sighed though and took a step back; no ruining her relationship today – she would never see Sharpay after this and it wasn't worth it, it couldn't be worth it, "Okay." She said, took another step so she was outside and then swallowed loudly, "I'm just gonna go change."

Sharpay reached out for her hand and therefore stopped her. Their eyes locked and the blonde gave her a look, "You've got a boyfriend and I want to fuck you so bad… it's not a good combo." She laughed nervously, laughter rolling off her tongue.

Gabriella blinked, "No, not really." She sternly said, found this situation so unbelievably weird that she almost couldn't handle it.

"How about I get out of this dress and help you find one as well?" Sharpay suggested, finally dropping Gabriella's hand (but the Latina still didn't move), "Today has been great so far, and I'd really like to continue to have fun… I – I have a girlfriend anyway."

Gabriella liked the idea. She wasn't sure how to feel about it; knowing that they both wanted to explore this quick and needy attraction, knowing that it would be so easy to go to her apartment because Troy wasn't there, knowing that she could try it out with this strange woman and then go back to her safe haven when she was done. She wasn't sure about anything with this woman, but it was probably the best idea to just try to act like friends and just forget the attraction they had for each other, just – go shopping and have fun.

She swallowed again and said, "I saw a red one in the other end of the store. I think I'm gonna go get that one."

Sharpay didn't move, "Red'll look good on you." She just said, before she closed the door between them to change and Gabriella got a whiff of air in her face because of the quick movement.

She stood there for a few seconds, not quite ready to snap out of it. She was just struck by the entire day, the way everything seemed to happen so fast, to change her so quickly in ways she wasn't sure she wanted to be changed. She closed her eyes and breathed softly in, ready to act normal and go get that dress. But as she opened them again, Sharpay was right in front of her; all dressed in her own clothes, jacket thrown across one arm, bag in the other.

"What the crap are you doing?" the blonde questioned, wonderment written across her face.

Gabriella almost jumped into the air in surprise, but instead she shook her head, "How the fuck did you change so quickly?"

Sharpay made a face, saying that clearly Gabriella was nuts, "I'm an actress, duh. We have to change very fast at times. That was like… super-slow for me."

Gabriella shook her head and turned around to go find the dress, Sharpay stopped her though,

"I'll go find it. You go get out of that one." She ordered in a snappy voice and loaded all her stuff into Gabriella's arms, and the poor Latina stumbled into her changing room as Sharpay went off to find a red dress. She dropped Sharpay's things on the floor and turned around to guide herself through to mirror and to the zipper. She got the zipper down and squirmed out of the dress; letting it drop to the floor, not minding if it got dirty – it was ugly anyway.

She heard a knock on the door and opened it slightly, afraid to expose herself fully to Sharpay; afraid to ruin something – even if she wasn't sure what. Sharpay seemed to be thinking alike though, because she gently got the dress through the small crack and when Gabriella had it in her hand, she slipped her arm out and let the door fall shut.

Gabriella kept quiet and changed into the red dress as quickly as possible. When she had it on, she studied her own appearance in the mirror for a few seconds and nodded to herself in approval – she looked good. Red had always been a good colour on her, as Sharpay so quickly had seen right before. She turned around and checked her backside in the mirror too (also awesome), before she grabbed the handle and pulled the door open. Sharpay immediately looked up when she stepped outside and the grin on her face couldn't have been bigger.

Gabriella spun around a couple of times and the blonde woman let her eyes search Gabriella completely; which when Gabriella had gotten used to it at first, actually felt pretty nice. Sharpay then crossed her arms in front of her chest and said, "Nice Gabriella. I think you should wear this to that wedding."

Gabriella looked down herself and tried to get control of her smile, before she looked up again, "I look nice, don't I?"

"Very." Sharpay firmly agreed.

Gabriella thought about it for yet another second as she turned to look into the mirror in the changing room again; there was something about this dress. It was just so perfect for her. She turned back to Sharpay with a glint in her eye, "How about I change back, we pay and then get something to eat?"

Sharpay nodded immediately, "Deal." She said, before she teasingly checked her watch and pointed at one of the chairs for the husbands who were dragged to watch their wives try on clothes for two hours, "I think I'll just take a seat then. Who knows how slow you'll be changing back?"

Gabriella reached out to hit her, but only caught the air, before she went into the changing room again, grinning madly. She couldn't help herself. Even if she wasn't supposed to, she felt herself like Sharpay more and more – and that definitely wasn't good at all…

…was it??

--

So lunch was kind of… different. Yeah, yeah, different was the word for it. Gabriella had thought that maybe Sharpay would have wanted to go some place fancy, but in stead she had said that she wanted to go to this pizza place that she and her brother used to go to all the time when they were in high school.

So there they were – eating lunch.

Gabriella had never really been much of a pizza eater; neither burgers nor tacos, it really just wasn't her thing. But this pizza tasted kind of nice, it actually did. And it was enjoyable to be out having lunch with Sharpay because she quickly learned that she wasn't bored with her at all.

Right now, Sharpay was glancing around the entire place, while chewing loudly on her pizza slice. Gabriella cocked her eyebrows together and shot Sharpay a funny look when the blonde turned her head that way.

"What?" Sharpay questioned and dropped the slice to her place, "I mean… No one knows me here. If I was in movies I couldn't have been here with you like this – and I definitely couldn't eat like this, so I might as well enjoy that I can."

Gabriella chuckled and reached for a French fry from the plate they shared together, "You're so weird."

Sharpay shrugged, "Soon enough I might not be able to."

Gabriella chewed and said, "What do you mean?"

Sharpay took three fries at once and stuffed them into her mouth, followed by a big sip of coke, "I've been talking with my agent about getting out a record. The soundtracks I did from Chicago and Wicked have been pretty successful, and a record has always been another dream of mine."

Gabriella placed her elbows on the table and couldn't help but listen intensely as Sharpay spoke; it was like there was nothing this woman couldn't do – Sure, be on Broadway, no problem! How about a record? That sounds like fun! Gabriella couldn't really comprehend that anyone had a life like that; it seemed so far away from the life she led. "Really? What do you wanna sing?"

"Ballads, mostly, I think." Sharpay said and looked into her plate, "I mean… I've only done show tunes, so far. But I think that I could really do it, y'know?"

Gabriella stuck out her tongue, "I wouldn't know, I haven't heard you sing – but it seems likely that you could." She teased her. It was the truth though; was there really anything that Sharpay couldn't do?

Sharpay bowed her head, "Thank you."

That caused Gabriella to giggle again because she simply couldn't help herself. Sharpay smiled widely from across the table, but looked down when suddenly her purse started ringing. Gabriella stopped laughing and reached for another slice of pizza as Sharpay got a hot pink cell phone out of her purse.

"My brother." She quickly explained, before she flipped the phone open with a roll of her eyes and said, "Yo twin!" she giggled and Gabriella covered her own mouth to hide her laugh, "No, I can't greet anyone normally, you should know by now." She made a funny face as her brother spoke, before saying, "I'm at the mall with Gabriella. Why?" she paused again and held out her hand and moved the fingers together and apart as to explain to Gabriella that he talked a lot, "Gabriella is… Gabriella…" another pause, "I don't know. I just met her, goof." She giggled loudly, before saying, "Oh really? I'll go outside right now." And then she hung up her phone and threw it in her bag.

Gabriella already knew that she had to leave, she could tell so by the conversation she'd just heard one part of, but still she said, "What?" because she didn't really want it to be true – she wanted to spend more time with Sharpay, she didn't want this day to end so soon.

Sharpay shot her an apologetic smile, "I have to go meet my brother right outside. We have to pick up his kids, I promised them yesterday to spend some time with them."

Gabriella nodded softly, quickly bummed out because of the news, but she knew that it couldn't be different. Of course Sharpay wouldn't want to blow off her brother's kids because of a woman she had just met. "No need to explain. I had a nice time today…"

Sharpay pulled her wallet out of her purse and placed a bunch of cash on the table, "That should cover lunch." She said, and before Gabriella could object because she wanted to pay her own food, she continued, "I want to, I do. You've made my day much better, so thank you for that."

Gabriella closed her mouth and leaned back in her chair, watching the other woman as she pushed her chair back, got on her jacket and got a hold of all her things. She stood up then, to give the blonde a proper goodbye. "So yeah… Goodbye Sharpay by the way." She couldn't help but say.

Sharpay smiled lovingly at her and leaned in close, "Goodbye Gabriella." She whispered, and before Gabriella knew what happened, Sharpay had placed a short kiss on her lips; quickly, wonderfully. Gabriella almost didn't have time to soak in her dream before it was gone and Sharpay winked at her, "I just had to do that, I just did." She said, before she stroked Gabriella across the cheek and turned around and left the restaurant.

Hello everyone! Thanks for tuning in. After a while where I've been writing mostly Hannah Montana, I've decided to give this idea a shot because who can say no to a good Gabpay? I hope you enjoyed this first chapter. This story won't be too long, but I can't wait to write more on it, since I'm really excited about it. I can't promise regular updates because of school, but I'll do my best.

Please drop off a review and tell me what you thought?

Disclaimer; I don't own High School Musical.