I am pleased to announce the winner of the poll is…(drumroll) Win A Date With…
Thank you for all your votes I really appreciate it. This is a shorter story for me!
I need some help, I am entering a writing comp and I need someone to read my stories and tell me which they think is best for the comp. They are stories I have up on my profile so that means you will bypass the excitement of waiting for updates if I end up posting it; but I would really appreciate an objective and honest opinion on my work.
If anyone would like to help please contact me ASAP (I have to have my piece ready by the 28th latest) with your name and reason why you feel you have the qualities to judge my work and provide feedback :)
Many Thanks to you all, my wonderful fans who I would not be without! I am also going to be looking at publishing via Amazon this year I would really love your support on that!
Ang
Chapter 1
'Win a date with Gabriella Montez!'
That's right; one lucky fan has the opportunity to spend one night with up and coming singer, Gabriella Montez. Better known as Gabi, the 23-year-old is offering her company for one whole night to one of you!
The package includes a hotel room at the five star luxury 'Mountain Lake' Hotel in Denver where she'll be gigging. Also included in this amazing give-away is dinner at a five star restaurant and an overnight stay with Gabi- plus on top of all this, you get to watch her play live and meet again backstage afterwards with a full access backstage passes!
'Young Music' magazine have teamed up with Gabi's record label, 'Serpent Records' to bring this EXCLUSIVE prize to you all.
All you have to do is answer the following question to be in with a chance of winning the experience of a lifetime!
Q. What was the name of Gabriella's last single?
Was it:
Fire in the Blood
Fire in the hood
Burning Blood.
Answers by post to Young Music magazine at the usual address or by email with your details.'
"Hey, man, did you see this?" Chad Danforth asked his pal, Troy Bolton as they kicked back with smoothies in the 'Retro' juice bar, just north of Sunset Blvd.
Troy looked over, non plussed. "No, what is it?"
"A competition to meet the woman of your dreams…" Chad led with a teasing smile.
"Eva Mendes?" Troy asked, holding his breath.
"Gabriella Montez," Chad amended with a withering look. "Don't tell me you've gone off her already…"
Troy looked at his friend for a long moment. No, he hadn't 'gone off her' at all. He never really stopped thinking about her, but his friend didn't need to know that. If he did, Troy could only imagine the kind of ribbing he might get.
"No, but she never does meet and greets…" Troy relayed to his friend lightly.
"This is more than a meet and greet," Chad explained. "You get to spend the night with her…"
"What?!" Troy snatched the paper from his friend's fingers and busied his eyes across the page to take in the details. "…overnight stay," he echoed from the advert.
"See, I knew you'd want to enter," Chad smiled.
Troy looked at him. "I have no chance of winning this."
"Not until you enter, you don't," his friend agreed.
Troy hesitated. "You really think I should do this?"
Chad smirked. "Jesus, T, you've talked about her constantly for the past year, why are you even thinking about it?"
"Because I…" He paused, licking his lips. "I'm not…"
Troy had trouble saying the words that plagued his mind. I'm not the kind of guy she'd want to be spending the night with.
"Not what, dude?" Chad wondered. "You're good looking, popular, the ladies love you…what aren't you?"
Troy swallowed and dropped his gaze to the paper that now lay on the table in front of him. He finally drew his gaze up to his friend with a squint.
"I'm not the guy you just said for a start."
Chad frowned. "Dude…"
Troy cleared his throat and folded the paper up, handing it back to Chad.
"Thanks for showing me. Maybe another time, huh?" He suggested as he rose from his seat and shoved his hands in his pockets as he moved away from the table.
Chad watched him go with one thought firmly planted in his mind.
If Troy didn't want to enter the comp, then he would just have to do it for him-he would thank him for it in the end….
/
"Okay, we have the winner's entries here…" Taylor McKessie brought in a huge tub of paper slips and dumped it in front of Gabriella as she practised her latest song on her acoustic guitar.
"Really, all these?" Gabriella looked stunned.
Taylor smiled at her friend and boss. She had been PA to Gabi for a year now, since the start of her recording career. She was still the same sweet, down-to-earth girl she had always been. She was still surprised by her popularity.
"Yep, all these," Taylor assured.
Gabi looked at her. "Wow."
"Popular lady," her friend commented and Gabi rolled her eyes.
"Yeah while I'm all preened and styled and in good light. You wait till this unlucky fan spends the night with me…then they'll see the real Gabriella Montez…"
"Well, good," Taylor said. "The real you is even more gorgeous than the preened you."
"Thanks, Tay," Gabi blushed coyly. "But we will see…"
"Okay, dig in…" Taylor coaxed her over to the huge vat of entries.
"Alright…" Gabi stuck her arm into the plastic bin and snaked it around, grasping onto one of the thin paper slips and pulling it out with a flourish. "Ta-daa!"
"The winner is…" Taylor prompted.
Gabi unfolded the slip and blinked.
"Gabi?" Her friend asked at her blank look.
Gabi flicked her eyes to her friend. "You mean guys entered for this thing?"
Taylor frowned and took the paper from her, reading the words written there.
"Troy Bolton, California…" She stated. "What's wrong with that?"
"He's a guy!" Gabi complained.
"Yeah, and?"
"And we're supposed to be sharing a room Tay," Gabi reminded.
"Well, you'll have security," Taylor assured. "We're not going to let anyone hurt you…"
Gabi nodded, looking distantly away as she came to terms with this news.
"What's up?" Taylor asked as her friend's face creased with worry.
"I just…that fan who broke into my dressing room that time…" She shared brokenly of the traumatising event that had occurred about six months ago.
The guy had just burst in after her gig and in the ensuing struggle, he'd grasped her wrists and shoved her against a wall before the venue security had gotten there to throw the guy out. The incident still scared her and although she agreed to the fan experience, she hadn't expected it to be a guy that won.
Taylor hugged her and stroked her hair down. "We've got Jack now," Taylor said of her personal bodyguard who attended public events with her.
"I know," Gabi nodded. "I'm being silly…"
"No, I get it," Taylor said. "But we'll vet this guy…check his background and make sure he's not a weirdo or anything…"
Gabi smiled gratefully. "Thank you."
"Okay, you wanna call him?" Taylor checked.
Gabi looked up, wide eyed. "Should I?"
Taylor twisted her lips. "We should film it…"
Gabi smirked. "You're going to California?"
Taylor shrugged. "I could surprise him at work."
Gabi smiled. "Actually, that sounds good."
Taylor nodded. "Right, wish me luck!" Her friend turned to go.
"Good luck!" Gabi called as she left.
/
"Chad? Is there something you want to tell me?" Troy checked as a black woman surrounded by a camera crew piled into the diner where Troy was wiping down the counter between serving coffee.
Chad looked over his shoulder from his position on the other side of the counter and his eyes widened in surprise.
"Troy Bolton?" The black woman spoke and he squinted against the light that came from above the filming camera.
"Yes?" He answered warily.
"Congratulations! You are going to meet Gabriella Montez! You are the winner of our competition!"
Troy's jaw hung open but it wasn't from the shock of winning- it was from the impossible fact he had even been entered.
He swung his eyes to his best friend and Chad ducked his head down, hiding a massive grin as Troy gaped like a fish.
"What?" Troy sucked in a breath, not quite believing her words.
"You won! You get to meet your idol!" She repeated sparkily and she pursed her lips. "That is what you wanted, right?" She added softly.
Troy made a wild face of bemusement and shock as he swallowed on a very dry throat.
"Ah…"
"Yes!" Chad answered for him, laughing inside at Troy's utter surprise. He couldn't have planned this any better had he tried. He had no idea they were going to send a film crew out to capture his reaction and he loved that his friend played up to the moment perfectly. "He's wanted to meet her for over a year…"
"You're his friend?" Taylor turned her mic and the crew towards him.
"Uh-huh," Chad smiled, flicking a salacious look up and down Taylor's form. "And you are?"
"Taylor McKessie, Gabi's PA," Taylor greeted, shaking first his hand, then offering it to Troy, who still stood motionless, now seemingly gritting his teeth together.
"He doesn't look happy," Taylor remarked to Chad worriedly.
"It's a big shock," Chad shared lightly. "A BIG shock…"
Taylor nodded. "As it would be for any fan!" She turned the charm back on for the piece they would use for the tour DVD. "You are coming with me, Mr. Bolton," she added as she reached across the counter for his hand.
"I'm what?" He echoed, stunned.
She winked, signalling he should play along for the camera.
"You're coming with me, right now! We're going all the way back to Colorado for your date with Gabi!"
Troy blinked three times.
"Dude!" Chad hissed, jolting him into action.
He took Taylor's hand and let her guide him around the counter as the crew filmed his shocked exit.
"Every fan would love to be in his position right now!" Taylor told the camera of Troy, in a stupor beside her. "What are you thinking right now Troy?" She poked the mic at him.
Troy shifted his eyes towards the counter where his friend sat.
"That murder is not a crime if you've been provoked…" He remarked dryly, gaining a bemused look from Taylor. He flicked his eyes towards the camera.
"I'm just really surprised to have won," he added hoping they would edit out his last comment.
They filmed the pair of them leaving the diner at which point Taylor told him he didn't really need to leave right away and asked what time he finished his shift.
Troy shook his head, still in shock.
"I'm gonna kill Chad…" He murmured.
"Is that your friend?" She checked.
"Yeah," he turned toward the diner to check what his friend was doing and saw Chad explaining to his boss the reason why he was outside with his own camera crew.
"You should bring him along," Taylor offered.
"No. No way." Troy answered flatly.
"Okayy…well, what time should we pick you up?" She asked again.
He sighed. "I need to go home and get some clothes together. Can you get me about five?"
"Sure, write your address for me," she passed him a piece of paper and he considered giving Chad's address to joke the joker but something inside him was intrigued as to what would happen when he met the wonderful Gabriella in person.
He handed the paper back to her with a nervous swallow.
"You…didn't know, did you?" She asked intuitively.
He smirked at her insight. "Not exactly…"
"But you are a fan?" She checked and he nodded.
"I am."
"Good," Taylor added, with a secret smile of her own. Somehow she didn't think Gabi had anything to worry about with this hunk sharing her room. Who cared if he was crazy? He was too good-looking to worry about it.
But there was something about his friend she had found interesting, too. The way he had looked at her. Only he wasn't going to bring the black guy- Chad- with him, worse luck.
"See you at five," she told him as she turned away with the crew to discuss their coverage.
"Yeah…" He mused, still dreaming. "See you at five."
/
"Please dude…" Chad begged.
"No."
"Come on, she said I could go!" He argued of Taylor's inviting him on the trip.
"You're the one who got me into this mess," Troy accused.
"Exactly!" Chad excited. "So I should go!"
"You should go instead of me," Troy suggested wryly.
"We should both go," Chad amended.
"I told you I didn't want to enter," Troy broached as he threw clothes into a suitcase with heavy sighs.
"I didn't know you'd win!" Chad excused. "This is awesome!"
"So you go…" Troy twisted and stopped packing.
"No. You're the fan…"
"So what will you do while I'm…" He sucked in a breath. A big, nervous breath that almost suffocated him.
Chad shrugged. "Talk to that Taylor girl…"
Troy squinted his eyes and finally let a trademark smile curl his lips. "You dog."
"What! She was hot," he smirked.
"Well…I guess I could use some moral support." He conceded.
"I swear I'll just come on the plane with you and stay out of the way…" Chad offered.
Troy smiled. "Alright. Let's do this."
Chad let out a whoop and gasped.
"I have to pack too!"
"Yep," Troy chuckled at his friends antics.
"Alright, don't panic…catch you later…" He muttered as he slipped out of Troy's room and thundered down his stairs, slamming the front door behind him.
/
"What time is he getting in?" Gabi asked Taylor lightly, more nervous about their incoming arrival than she liked to let on.
Taylor smiled into the phone.
"About nine."
"And the date starts tonight?" Gabi sounded worried.
"No, we'll start tomorrow. They can stay here the night, have breakfast, go out into town tomorrow and then tomorrow night we can bring them to the gig, have dinner after and have the stay-over then…"
"They?" Gabi frowned into the phone.
"Oh, Troy's bringing his friend along." Taylor explained.
"On the date?" Gabi repeated, shocked.
Taylor giggled. "I doubt it! He's just coming along for the trip…"
"How does he seem?" Gabi asked next. "Is he sorta normal?"
Taylor pursed her lips in amusement. "Oh, he's completely normal," she assured warmly.
"Are you sure- how do you know?" Gabi asked nervously.
"I just…do," she said quickly. "He's kind of a lot like you actually…"
"In what way?" Gabi asked suspiciously.
"Sort of quiet…sort of confused-looking…and really, really handsome," she added her favourite point.
"I'm handsome?" Gabi objected.
"You know what I mean," Taylor sighed lightly at Gabi's refusal to take her hint.
"See you later then," Gabi offered.
"Yep. You meeting us at the airport?"
Gabi licked her lips. "I don't know…"
"Alright…well, it would look good and we could film it…"
"Do we have to?" Gabi sulked.
"What did you think would happen when you agreed to this thing?" Her friend asked softly. "You're lucky they let me do the presenting job…"
"True," Gabi sighed. "I just…I don't like the idea of all those people watching…"
Taylor shrugged. "I'll just see you back at the hotel."
"I'll meet you at the room," Gabi suggested. "I can greet them there."
"Good idea…lay on the bed and then we can film the look on his face," Taylor added before she parted fondly with her friend who told her exactly what she thought of that idea.
No way in hell was she going to drape herself on the bed for this unknown man. He would just have to put up with her boring self. Poor guy didn't even know what he was letting himself in for by being with her for 24 hours.
She frowned sadly. She just hoped she didn't disappoint him too much.
/
"I'm gonna be such a disappointment," Troy sighed as he lay his head back against the rest in the first class seating they'd been treated to by the record company.
"What?" Chad looked over, puzzled.
Troy swallowed. "Never mind."
"No man, tell me," Chad insisted supportively.
"Well think about it…most of her fans are young girls and this would have been the perfect trip for some teenage girl to be going on…it would have been like a girl's sleepover and stuff. And then I turn up. It's not exactly what she's expecting is it?" Troy derided.
"Dude, if I was her I'd take you over a tween any day," Chad insisted.
"You're my best friend you have to say that…"
"No, no, I could say I'd prefer a hot piece of ass to turn up on my doorstep…"
Troy chuckled at his friend's joke.
"Look," Chad squinted across. "I'm sorry that I did this without telling you. If that's what makes this harder for you, then I'm sorry, dude…"
Troy sucked in a breath. "I'm afraid of meeting the real her, you know? She's been an idol for a year now and I'm afraid of losing that…what if she's not who I think she is?"
His blue eyes beseeched the brown ones of his friend, his messy-spiky brown hair speared by his fingers as they ran through the strands.
"Then we gotta find you a new girl to stalk," Chad suggested.
Troy rolled his eyes with a smile. "I don't stalk her…"
"Not yet," his friend quipped.
"I wouldn't ever…" He added assuredly.
"I know, man," Chad grinned. "Lay back and relax, if nothing else, we get to spend a few days in Colorado…"
Troy smiled. "True. We best do some snow-boarding while we're there."
Chad smiled back. "Hey…after your date thing, why don't we stay a bit? Your boss doesn't expect you back until next week, my boss doesn't even care…we could make a week of it…"
Troy turned a warm grin onto his friend. "I like your style, Danforth…"
Chad clasped his hand in silent agreement. "Look out Denver, here we come…"