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Gabriella had borrowed her mom's car to drive to the airport to pick up Tristan. She had gone around five times before she spotted the familiar black haired guy from her past and pulled over to the curb. "Tristan!" she exclaimed before he swept her up into a big hug.
"Gaby! God, I've missed you so much since you left," returned Tristan with a smile that reflected in his green eyes. "Sandy missed you too, I hope you don't mind that she came."
Gabriella immediately let go of Tristan to see her blond best friend running up to hug her. "Gabriella! I had to surprise you too! It wasn't fair that Tristan got to see you and not me. I hope your mom is okay with me crashing too."
"I'm sure she won't mind," replied Gabriella before she got a dirty look from a security officer. "Umm, we better get back in the car and get rolling. The officer doesn't look too pleased at our loitering."
The three piled into the car, Tristan letting Sandra have the front seat while he sat in the back. On the way back to the Montez home, Gabriella showed them a quick overview of the highlights of the city, including East High and some of the gang's favorite hang outs, and then parked the car in the driveway of her home.
"We're here," announced Gabriella as she turned off the engine and got out of the car.
"It's so, suburban," teased Sandra with a smile for her best friend. "Definitely a nice change from L.A. Are you really sure your mom won't mind us staying here?"
After Gabriella unlocked the front door, she turned to face her best friend. "Come on Sandra, my mom loves you. She'll be fine with this, I promise."
Gabriella opened the door after Sandra gave her a small nod and led the two into the entryway before she closed and locked the front door. "Nice place," mentioned Tristan as he looked around. "I think I like it better than your L.A. pad."
"Well it is more comfortable," said Gabriella as she dropped the keys in the basket on the table before she turned to her friends. "Tristan, we have you set up in the guest bedroom that is down here, off the living room. Sandra, well you can either sleep on the uncomfortable couch or you can share with me. I have a queen."
"Can't I switch with Sandra?" teased Tristan.
"Sure, you can sleep on the couch and Sandra can take the guest bed. Nice of you to offer Tristan," replied Gabriella with a knowing smile.
"I didn't mean that! I meant with you," he returned.
Gabriella pretended to think about it for a few moments before she shook her head. "Nope, not going to happen! Sorry, guest bedroom for you Tristan. Let me show you it while I let Sandra make up her mind."
Tristan followed Gabriella deeper into the house as they walked through the formal dining room, then the living room, then finally the guest bedroom with a full bath being across the way. "You know, I was just teasing back there. I wouldn't dream up being so presumptuous while staying in your home with your mom," stated Tristan as he put his bag down on the double bed.
She smiled back at him. "I know that. That's why I told you that you could have the couch then."
He in turn gave her his charming grin that could always make Gabriella melt. "Don't I get a hello hug or something?"
"Silly me to forget," murmured Gabriella as she stepped into his waiting embrace and sighed as she felt his familiar arms wrap around her waist. Before she realized what was happening, Tristan bent his head down and softly kissed her fully on the mouth, the first time in a while. Gabriella returned the kiss for a few moments before she stepped back.
"Sorry, I couldn't help myself," apologized Tristan. "It's been too long without you Gaby."
"I know," returned Gabriella. "Tristan, I have to be honest with you about something. Remember when we started dating again this summer that I mentioned to you that I was still sort of dating a guy here?"
Tristan nodded his head. "Yeah, but I thought you were under the impression it was over somewhere in the middle cause the fool stopped calling you."
"That is what I thought, but I guess he's still interested in dating and so am I," got out Gabriella, not wanting to look Tristan in the eyes. "I'm sorry if you thought we were exclusive."
Internally, Tristan was hurt. He had thought this trip would bring them closer together into a relationship again, but he knew from their past that pushing Gabriella would do him no good. "I understand. I don't like it but it is your life Gabriella. We never talked about being exclusive this summer and I admit I was hoping we would be after this trip, but I can see that you may have other reservations about it besides this dating another guy like the distance. Let's be grownups and just enjoy the moment all right, instead of being angst filled teens."
Gabriella gave him a small smile before she replied, "I knew there was a reason why I like you. Thanks for being so mature Tristan, it means a lot."
With that, Gabriella left the guest bedroom and found Sandra was still standing in the entryway. "Decision?"
"Your bed of course! That way we can also have girl talk with no one else around!" exclaimed Sandra as she followed Gabriella up the stairs to her bedroom.
Gabriella helped Sandra unpack a little and giggled as her best friend from L.A. fretted over what to change into before the three of them headed back out. She thanked her mom in her mind for leaving her with the car for the day while Ms. Montez caught a ride to work with a co-worker that morning. "So, what are you guys interested in doing?"
"Well, we saw the sites earlier this morning. What about lunch at a favorite hangout of yours?" suggested Sandra.
She thought for a moment before she smiled. "What about going to a coffee café down the street here? Great coffee for you caffeine addicts in the car plus great sandwiches and salads."
"Sounds promising," commented Tristan in the back.
"All right then, that's where we'll go," decided Gabriella as she continued to drive down the street before she parked in the parking lot next to the café.
The three looked over the offerings written on the chalkboard above the cashier and ordered their lunches before the sat together in a booth, Tristan and Gabriella on one side, Sandra on the other. Tristan saw the barista signaling to them that their drinks were ready so he got up and went to get them for all three of them.
Sandra took the chance to look at her best friend, who had a bit of a dreamy look on her face, as Gabriella watched Tristan walk away, enjoying his 5'10" frame. "So, you really are thinking of him in that sense again," interrupted Sandra. "Even after all this time, what has happened in the past?"
Gabriella turned her head and smiled. "I'm thinking about it but I'm not really all that sure to be honest."
"Still thinking about the day you broke up?" asked Sandra.
"How could I forget? It was about two months before we moved from L.A., maybe divine intervention?" returned Gabriella.
Tristan and Gabriella were sitting in Tristan's convertible up in the hills at their favorite spot that overlooked the city. He had his arm wrapped around her shoulders as she leaned her head against his shoulder, both enjoying the calm of the night, both bundled in jackets to fight off the cold winds that blew every once in a while.
Gabriella turned her head up to look into Tristan's green eyes as a soft ballad came on the radio. He returned her gaze before he smiled. Tristan raised his hand and placed it on the side of her face before he kissed her passionately on the lips, pushing her back into the passenger seat in the process. After some time, he leaned his body more over her as he reclined her seat back as he covered her body with his as they continued to make out. Gabriella allowed Tristan to take her shirt off as he kissed her stomach and then her shoulders. She in turn took off his shirt and admired his small build before she started to kiss his shoulder, stopping as she felt Tristan's hands going lower, to the top button of her jeans.
"Tristan, no," stated Gabriella as she put her hands down between them to stop him.
"Come on Gaby, you know you want to," replied Tristan as he tried again to undo her jeans.
"NO!" exclaimed Gabriella as she pushed him back a little. "Tristan, I thought you understood I wasn't ready."
Tristan groaned. "Not this again. Gaby, come on, it's time to grow up."
"I can't believe you said that. Is that what you really think?" demanded Gabriella. For the first time as she stared at him with his shirt off, she noticed a series of dark marks on his left shoulder, marks she hadn't made. "Oh my God, is that it? You've been cheating on me!"
"What?" he asked in a confused manner before he remembered the hickies. Tristan slapped his hand over them while he found his shirt on the driver's side of the car and slipped it back on before he moved back over to that side of the car. "They aren't what you think."
Gabriella scoffed at this. "Right, they just are little blood clots that formed on your shoulder as an allergic reaction from the pleasure you gave some other girl!"
"You are overreacting Gaby! She didn't mean anything to me," protested Tristan.
"So you admit it, you were with someone else recently," returned Gabriella.
Tristan, knowing he couldn't lie out of this, nodded his head. "Yes, I was."
"Take me home," demanded Gabriella as she pulled her jacket that she had just put back on closer to her body. After he didn't start the car, Gabriella dared to look over at him again, which gave Tristan the perfect view of the tears in her eyes. "Now!"
Tristan closed his eyes for a moment before he started the car and the drive back to their neighborhood, then to Gabriella's house. When they turned onto her street, Tristan saw Gabriella unbuckle her seat belt and pick her purse off the floor. "That anxious to get away from me?"
"Don't even try that act with me," bit out Gabriella. "This isn't my fault. I'm not the one that cheated on you."
"Well maybe if you were less of a prude I wouldn't have to go to a girl like Samantha!" shouted Tristan back.
Gabriella just shook her head at this. "Well at least I was a prude for a good reason. I knew better than to give myself away to you. We are so over Tristan, so over!"
As soon as the car stopped, Gabriella got out of the car, slammed the door, and ran up to her house, locking the door firmly behind her as she leaned against it and cried.
"He tried to call me for days after that, to talk in school, but I couldn't face him, not after all that," remembered Gabriella.
"I know, I was there with you. I guess that's why I was a bit surprised to see you had picked back up with him this summer and now," admitted Sandra who was glad Tristan had hung back at the counter to wait for their lunches too while he was up.
"Tristan just seemed so different this summer, like he actually grew up. Maybe it was wishful thinking," replied Gabriella. "Don't you see though that he's a lot sweeter now, more attentive?"
"I agree, he has changed, otherwise I wouldn't have stood by your side as you dated him. I guess I'm just a bit wary of you getting hurt again by him. I saw Tristan and how determined he seemed to want to change after you broke up with him. Even after you moved away, Tristan didn't ever really look at another girl. I never heard murmurings about him dating anyone. When you came back into town and bumped into him, that was the first time I had heard of a romantic rumor about the guy in all those months," stated Sandra. "Look, you are my best friend. If he makes you happy then I am happy, but I just want to make sure you this is what you want."
"Well, that's the whole thing Sandra, I'm not sure. Because as sweet as Tristan is now, sometimes I do get the old Tristan vibes from him. And then there is the matter of Troy," confessed Gabriella. "I thought I was over him too this summer, cemented by the image of him necking with Sharpay, and yet I still find myself drawn to him. God, I am just boy crazy."
Sandra laughed at this. "No, just a confused normal teenage girl who has two guys fighting for her attention. I do want to meet this Troy of yours by the way. Does he know about Tristan and you?"
"That I dated Tristan this summer and that he is here now, yes. The history and what happened in the relationship before the move, no. I'd rather Troy know only the story of my life from the day I met him on New Year's Eve," returned Gabriella. "The night I thought I'd start the new year right, healed from the breakup and stronger than before. Little did I know I'd meet another guy who would turn my world around."
"And here I am living vicariously through you," joked Sandra. "We'll talk more tonight. I see Tristan coming back finally."
Both girls plastered smiles on their faces as Tristan came back with the drinks first and then the lunches. "This looks really good Gaby. Great pick."
"Thanks," replied Gabriella as she took a bite into her roast beef croissant sandwich.
When the three were almost done, Gabriella heard a familiar voice echo through the café and turned to see Taylor and Chad had entered through the door with Kelsi and Jason right behind them. "Taylor!" exclaimed Gabriella.
Taylor whipped her head in their direction and smiled as she pulled Chad by the hand she was holding over to Gabriella's table, with Kelsi and Jason following behind them. "Hey Gabriella!"
Gabriella smiled at her best friend here. "Oh, let me make the introductions. This is Tristan sitting right next to me and that's my best friend from L.A., Sandra, who surprised me with her visit as well today. Sandra and Tristan, this is my best friend here Taylor, her boyfriend Chad, my good friend Kelsi and her boyfriend Jason. Wow, this is so weird to have two pieces of my life meet."
The group laughed at this revelation she had. "Well it is nice to finally meet you both," said Taylor as she took a seat next to Sandra while Chad and Jason moved to add a smaller table to the end of the booth so that they could sit down with Kelsi there.
"So, you are out here for a few days?" asked Kelsi.
"Yes, since we have a week and a half before school starts, we thought we'd spend some time in Gabriella's new city after she spent a summer back in our old shared city with her," answered Sandra before Tristan could say anything.
The seven teenagers continued to talk over lunch until the four who arrived later finished theirs too. Chad couldn't help but stare at Tristan a little more than he should have, occasionally watching the interactions between Gabriella and Tristan too. Taylor noticed this and gently elbowed her boyfriend. "Stop staring at them," murmured Taylor.
"Can't help it, foreign scene in front of me," replied Chad in a quiet tone.
"You are just scoping him out for Troy aren't you?" accused Taylor.
"Maybe," conceded Chad. "But I also am checking him out to make sure he's good for Gab should she choose him in the end of this dating thing."
Taylor nodded her head and let it go.
"Well, as much as I enjoy us all hanging out together, I promised Sandra to take her to the mall this afternoon," announced Gabriella. "And Tristan is coming kicking and screaming as usual."
"Why would you want to shop at our lowly mall when you have The Beverly and other high fashioned malls in the L.A. area?" asked a curious Taylor.
"To see what it is like here, and who says what's in L.A. is so high fashioned? Sometimes I just think it is overpriced," admitted Sandra.
The girls laughed at this. "You so could fit in right with us," commented Kelsi. "Then again, I wouldn't expect any less from Gabriella's best friend in Los Angeles."
"So I guess that's the end to our lunch. You three should stop by the park tomorrow. We're doing a barbecue with the entire gang at the East side of the lake. You game?" invited Jason.
Gabriella looked at Sandra and Tristan, who both smiled and nodded their agreement to go. "Guess we're in. What time?"
"Great! I think we are going to fire up the grill around 11. Bring blankets to sit on and Gabriella, can you have your mom make some of her brownies?" begged Jason.
"I don't know if I can get her to do that but I can make some too. Not as good but still they'll be brownies," replied Gabriella with a smile.
They parted ways as they got to the parking lot, Taylor hugging Gabriella good-bye. "Get some good rest tonight Gabriella. You're going to need it tomorrow when those two meet."
Gabriella instantly knew what Taylor was referring to and nodded her head. "I know. Thanks Taylor."
She turned and waved as her friends here in Albuquerque drove off and laughed as she could see Sandra and Tristan fighting over the music stations in the car since she gave them the keys to start the car while she said her good-byes. "Some things never change," she said aloud with a smile before she got into the driver's seat and drove off to the mall.