Hi everyone. I'm basically new to this whole fanfiction thing, not writing of course...but still, bear with me. My name's Audree, and pretty much this is my story. Hope you guys like it! Review please? :) With Zac Efron on top?

"Gabriella!"

The loud echoing of her name rang through her ears as she tried to muffle the sound with the fabric of her pillow – to no avail, the voice continued gradually getting higher and nearer with every groan she protested. She didn't gather enough sleep last night to be awake at this time, to have the will power to carry herself off the bed and reach the confinements of her bathroom. Her hazy mind was incompetent to the shouts she continued to listen to like an annoying song that had been replayed countless times on the radio. Gabriella was too comfortable and cozy to roll out of bed, so instead rolled closer to the wall, allowing a silent whisper of a song to enter into her mind – it worked for a few seconds to block out the noise, but the sound was no wall to keep away the rush of air that suddenly flooded all over her body. Immediately her body began to shiver, the goose bumps were well apparent on her body as she jerked forward and opened her eyes in an instant.

"Dad!" Her own shout was enough to wake herself up from the sleepy trance she had been in – enough to counter a satisfied grin on the man whom she called her father; her own flesh and blood, her only friend in this lousy town. When the two had moved here, her expectations for the neighbors around had been low; she realized not to expect everyone to welcome her warmly, to take her in as their own family like she had once been in California. She had been here less than a week, yet not one person had come to greet her to the suburban neighborhood. Maybe it wasn't that bad; she could keep to herself for a bit, continue being the shy and impeccable student she had always been. But today…was almost a new beginning, she was sure.

Today was the first day of school.

And already, the inevitable bad mood swooped in and overcame all her other emotions.

She had no one else to thank but her own roommate of the house; her just ridiculously obnoxious father.

"Up." He set the blanket down neatly at the end of the bed, giving her a stern look when she hadn't moved an inch. "Breakfast is on the table. You have 30 minutes until classes start."

Gabriella stared agape at her father, unaware of the pallid look he was shooting her way until he had raised both eyebrows particularly high. There was no fringe to hide the obvious expression showing all over his face, so Gabriella widened her eyes when she finally understood the parental objective of her father.

"Okay." She mumbled shyly as she scooted out of bed, flashing a weak smile before she had disappeared into her bathroom. Her father let out a disbelieving laugh and sauntered out of her bedroom, shutting the door rather loud behind him – a signature that he had left Gabriella alone to herself. When her ears picked up the noise, she walked out of the bathroom like a lost puppy and spent a few seconds staring at her boxed/empty bedroom. One thing was clear on this dry, sunny morning.

She hated this town already.

Gabriella pressed out a dry smile as she skipped her way into the kitchen, meeting the busy figure of her father too diligent in the newspaper to realize the fact that she had even walked in. "You made eggs?" She leaned into the inviting smell, licking her lower lip in absolute want and hunger. As if on cue, her stomach grumbled with a loud muffle, sending a curved smile straight onto her father's face.

"I know it's your favorite." He grinned cheekily and lifted the newspaper up, sliding the other plate towards her which contained none other than her other favorite food. "Save me a piece, will ya?"

She finally allowed a genuine smile to take over the hardened expression from before and reached over, plucking a piece of bacon in between her fingers.

Maybe this day wasn't going to be as bad as she thought.

Of course, she spoke too soon.

"Move, bitch," Gabriella's nostrils flared as she let out a breath between her gritted teeth, trying her best to not reply with a comment to the overly large junior walking down the halls. So far, in the ten minutes that she had been at the school, a plethora of things happened to her.

First; the bus; Her father could not drive her due to the fact that he had almost been a half hour late to work - which was in no way how to start a new job. There weren't any seats available, and the only one that had been, was of a blue-eyed boy – gorgeous nonetheless – expect his personality didn't do any wonders for him. Before she could even finish asking if she could sit next to him, he responded with a cold, anger filled no…followed by a loud "fuck off." That boy was possibly the rudest of interactions she had witnessed today, except it was almost a runner up to the recent person she just knocked into moments ago. He knocked her books out of her hands, shoved her to the side, and merely laughed in her face. For a lack of better words…what the fuck had she done to deserve this?

"Need help?"

Gabriella cocked an eyebrow at the offer from the bubbly girl in front of her, the brown hair cascading slightly to her hips and swaying as she kneeled down to help grab the accessories.

"Thanks." Gabriella whispered sharply, standing up in due time with the brown haired girl – who she desperately hoped would be civilized the whole time during this horrible first day experience.

"Don't mind everyone…first days are always a little rough." She said with a large smile, politely pushing the book back into Gabriella's hand. And as she did, she let her own tanned hand stay there as an introduction. "I'm Alessandra. Call me Allie, though." Alessandra – Allie – beamed when Gabriella shook her hand, for an unknown reason to the other dark-haired beauty. This was very refreshing from the other greetings she had gotten. No one, not even in her old school, seemed this happy to talk a new student.

"Gabriella." She answered back with a slightly less exciting smile, dropping her hand to her side to resume the action of holding her books. Allie puckered her lips together and shrugged her shoulders nonchalantly.

"Nice to meet you," Allie marveled. "Anyways, I have to go do the announcements. Maybe we have some classes together?" She only nodded her head enthusiastically and before Gabriella could even ask what they were, she was already around the corner and away from sight.

So, this Allie girl must've been part of the student council, she mused; or something of the like. Either way, she was all too preppy and happy to be a genuine person. No one could really have a personality like that…right?

Gabriella pushed the thoughts aside as she looked down at the map, determining where the prison – class – was. Of course, with her luck, Science would be the first subject she would have to endure every single morning…for the rest of the year, which was a good estimated _ days.

She would ask if her life could get any worse, but she was already aware of that answer.

Without somewhat even a warning, a pile of books slammed down onto the desk she had seated herself in. She found her class in no time, found a spot quickly, and relaxed back tiredly to wait for the bell to ring. But apparently, someone wasn't okay with her choice.

"You're in my seat."

Her eyes fluttered open, immediately widening upon seeing the boy from the bus – who so rudely denied her request to sit down. The whole bus ride was her having to sit in the front, squishing in with two other…very smelly…people.

Gabriella's features darkened with anger as she straightened herself out in the chair. "Your seat?" She asked incredulously; to which he only responded with a sly nod. "I didn't know we had assigned seats on the first day of school." Gabriella retorted.

"Yeah, well I do." The blue eyed boy penetrated his stare further at Gabriella, those azure eyes transforming into a darker shade of his original color. The emotions seen were a mixture of anger, hate, and….it appeared to be…lust? Gabriella was surely imagining things, but this kid was churning her insides by just a cold stare in her direction. How could someone so mean, be so…captivating?

"Are you gonna get up or what?" He growled, the hesitance noticeable as he turned his gaze away from her to look down at the desk.

Gabriella gulped, unable to form a coherent sentence – nothing witty, nothing equally rude…nothing. Instead, she hastily grabbed all of her belongings and pushed past him, her only option of a seat being the one next to him.

But before she had sat down, she heard the small laugh come from him – and it was like music to her ears, even if it was supposed to be one of those satisfied, cocky laughs.

Gabriella immediately slouched down in the new, cold chair and tapped her recently abridged nails on the wood desk, patiently waiting for the teacher to begin the lesson. He had his thoughts on other things it seemed, so she narrowed her eyes and focused herself to keep her eyes straight forward – away from the abrupt student way too close to her.

Images of her old life came into her mind in snippets; her old friends who she would have done anything for, the ones she so helplessly had to leave behind. In her sophomore year, she was actually considered popular amongst all of the other classmates. People wanted to be her, wanted to befriend her…and they wouldn't dare do what any of the kids had done today. Why were things so excessively different? But she just knew she would give anything to go back to her old lif-

"Will you fucking take your pencil already?"

Gabriella blindly moved her head to the side, her lips pursed in confusion at the statement this boy had lashed out. He stared at her with an intense aura, almost glaring his way through Gabriella like she had been some invisible girl. Only until he swung the pencil in his hand did Gabriella realize what he was trying to say…or rather demand.

"Oh – um – sorry…" She whispered as a faint pink emerged onto her cheeks, embarrassed greatly while she extended her hand out to grab the pencil. When her finger tips had softly touched the graphite, the angle caused his to brush past hers, igniting a very prominent spark that caught the attention of a few classmates. Gabriella's eyes widened as her mouth opened, and then his blue eyes did the same…only he had pulled away with such force, she felt as if she would fall sideways. She was too stunned to do anything, speak…even. She knew about people feeling some sort of spark when they touched someone, usually someone they were intrigued in…but this…

It was an actual spark.

Like a fire was about to erupt.

How was that even remotely possible?

"Will you stop fucking looking at me like that?" He whispered harshly to Gabriella, giving her a dirty look before he went back to speaking to his friends, as if it had never happened. She was just left there; staring at his perfectly defined back…not knowing what to do next. There was just no way…

"When I told you not to mind anyone…I mostly meant him."

Gabriella willed herself to calm as she turned to the recognizable voice, feeling relief wash over her upon seeing Alessandra – the only nice person she had met today. With a scoff, Gabriella laughed lightly. "I don't even know what I did to him…"

"You probably didn't do anything…" She assured. "He's just normally like that. Rude, arrogant – a dick. Don't take it personally."

How could she not take it personally though? He was on her bus, in her class…it was evident she was going to be seeing him for the rest of the year.

"Gotcha." Gabriella nodded and scratched at the back of her head, searching for answers somehow.

"He's only nice to a few people…" Alessandra continued. "You learn to avoid it all." Well, this Alessandra girl definitely knew her facts about the boy. Did that mean many people did? Was he actually popular…when he acted like that?

"Are you friends with him?" Her voice came out in a whisper, afraid that he was listening in on their conversation – or anyone else for that matter.

Alessandra opened her mouth to speak, but a voice not very similar to hers spoke first – manly, deep, and coming from the front of the classroom.

Gabriella looked from Allie to the teacher, absentmindedly letting out a heavy sigh. He was tall, rugged looking, gray hairs adorning his whole head – obviously he was one of those old teachers, but the real question was…was he one of those mean ones? Or could he make this science class actually interesting? Aside from Allie, nothing was great about the classmates. She couldn't express how thankful she was for having her next to her.

"So, I'll start with attendance…and then I'll give a brief synopsis of how this school year is going to go. You can either make this a good year, or a bad year. It's all depending on you. But I insist that you all behave. Or I will not make this fun for you. I promise."

Apparently, it wasn't the latter.

"Cassie Advaga?"

Gabriella pulled out her cellphone, hiding it beneath her notebook while the teacher continued calling out the names, names she could care less about right now. With glimmering eyes, she opened up a text message from her friend back in California, her best friend who she promised to always keep in contact with.

This town blows Shar. This school blows. Im miserable. Save me, plz? ~Gabi

"Troy Bolton?"

The name had nearly no importance to her, she assumed, but when her deep brown orbs looked up and watched the boy next to her raise his hand, she rolled her eyes un-amusedly and sneered. She was desperately hoping to never find out his name…but clearly, she didn't get what she wanted.

"Alessandra…" Gabriella smiled at the name of her new friend, cutting a look over at her to watch her raise her hand…but something stood out suddenly…something Gabriella couldn't quite put her finger on. Those blue eyes and brown hair – looked an awful a lot like- "Bolton?"

No. Fucking. Way.