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"Gabriella, Taylor, Chad, and Troy are here!" called up Ms. Montez after she answered the door to see the two young men on her door step. "Why don't you two come in? I'll see what's keeping the girls."
"Thanks, Ms. Montez," said Troy as he and Chad closed the door behind them. 'It feels so weird to be here again, waiting for Gabriella to come down those stairs as my date for the evening.'
Ms. Montez came back down with a digital camera in her hand. "They'll be down in just a moment. Taylor just needed help with one thing. Oh, and here they are."
As Gabriella's mom started taking pictures of Taylor and then Gabriella coming down the stairs, Chad and Troy were both as fixated on the sight in front of them. Troy swallowed hard and cleared his throat a little as he ran his hand over his brown hair, making sure everything was in place. 'Next to Gabriella, I have to look picture perfect to even start to compliment her,' he thought as he saw her sweet smile directed at him. Troy met Gabriella at the bottom of the stairs and took her hand in his as he walked over to where he was standing a moment before. "You look gorgeous, Gabriella."
Gabriella blushed a little at this but smiled even more. "Thank you, Troy. You look rather handsome yourself in your black suit and green tie."
With a smile of his own, Troy slipped on the corsage he bought for her and posed for a few quick pictures for Ms. Montez with Gabriella in his arms and also the two with Chad and Taylor. Chad and Taylor led the way out, leaving Troy and Gabriella to follow them out.
"Have fun tonight, Gabriella, and remember curfew, 1 A.M!" called out Ms. Montez.
Gabriella nodded her head in acknowledgement as she took Troy's offered assistance into Chad's car before he got in on the other side.
After a nice dinner at Troy and Chad's favorite steak house, the foursome drove to Albuquerque's City Hall and parked in the parking structure. Troy helped Gabriella out and didn't let go of her hand as they walked towards the dance, both of them smiling all the way. As they entered, they realized none of the other gang was there, so the two couples decided to take their couple professional pictures while it wasn't crowded. When Taylor and Chad returned to the main room, Gabriella and Troy decided to take a walk outside City Hall where the trees were all lit up with Christmas tree lights. Neither said anything as they walked with their hands intertwined for a little bit under the trees.
Troy looked over at Gabriella as they stopped in the middle of the trees and admired the lights together. 'I can't get over how beautiful she looks tonight, especially with all these lights around playing off her hair,' he thought as he caught her smiling at all of her surroundings before her gaze landed on him.
"What?" she asked as she found him staring at her.
Troy shook his head but continued to smile. "Just you, looking as beautiful as you do, with so little effort," spoke Troy. "Gabriella, I guess a part of me is still in awe of you, after all this time."
Gabriella smiled up at him. "Well that's good to hear. Taylor's older sister says that a guys should never feel that he fully understands a woman."
Troy laughed. "I'm going to have to really spend some time with Taylor's older sister one day."
"Maybe," responded Gabriella. "But I don't want you to get to know her too well. You may get too many good ideas."
"Saying I have stupid ideas when it comes to girls?" asked Troy.
"No, I like the Troy Bolton authentic ideas. They are usually much more sweeter and from the heart, not calculated to make a girl happy," stated Gabriella.
Troy leaned down and kissed Gabriella on the cheek, making both of them blush and grin at the same time. "That felt…" started Troy.
"So perfect?" finished Gabriella. "At least, for me."
"I would have said amazingly perfect but that works too," responded Troy before he leaned down to kiss Gabriella on the lips this time.
"TROY! HELP!"
Troy pulled back from the kiss before it happened and whipped his head around towards where he heard the voice from. There, at the end of the trees, he saw Sharpay on the ground, holding her left foot. Without thought, Troy rushed over to her side and dropped to the ground next to her. "Sharpay, are you okay?"
Sharpay turned her watery eyes from her foot up to his blue ones. "I fell, and I don't know if it's broken," she said as she indicated her left foot.
Troy gently took her foot into his hands and took off her shoe, gently feeling for areas of tenderness.
Gabriella watched from where she and Troy were just standing and shook her head. 'I don't believe for a second that girl fell and twisted her ankle on accident,' she thought, which surprised herself. She never thought that way.
"If you're thinking that the girl is up to her old tricks, I wouldn't blame you," said Taylor as she and Chad approached Gabriella. "How'd she interfere this time?"
Not taking her eyes off the pair, Gabriella responded, "We were about to kiss and all of a sudden, Sharpay calls out to him that she needs help. I didn't see how she fell in all fairness but from the looks of her, she's not in real pain."
"Yet," replied Chad. "I swear, if she wasn't a girl…"
"We wouldn't have this problem most likely," returned Taylor as she shook her head. "She's never done playing her games is she?"
"Wait, she interrupted your kiss? Yay, it wasn't me finally!" exclaimed Chad before he earned a well deserved smack from Taylor. "Ouch, can't I be happy he doesn't have to chase me down tonight?"
Gabriella slowly walked towards the pair and watched as Troy slipped Sharpay's shoe back onto her foot. "Looks like you are okay, Sharpay," said Troy as he got up and gave her his hand to help her up.
Sharpay took his offered hand and stumbled a bit but felt Troy place his other hand on her right side to steady her. She looked up at him and batted her eyes. "Oh Troy, you are my hero," she purred as she leaned up and kissed him.
Troy pulled away from her and stared in disbelief. "Sharpay, what are you doing?" he asked as he stepped away and immediately dropped his hands from her.
Sharpay batted her eyes at him. "Only what I had to do," she answered as she tilted her head in the general direction of where Gabriella stood a few feet away with Chad and Taylor a few yards behind her.
"Gabriella," he started, only to see her shake her head.
In a move that surprised them all, Gabriella walked up to the two and wrapped her arm around Troy's waist, smiling at Sharpay as he wrapped his arm around her in return. "Troy, that was so nice of you to help Sharpay back up. I'm sure Tara and Joanna over there can help Sharpay into the dance. I just saw Ryan, Audrina, and the rest of the gang head inside. Why don't we join them and leave Sharpay with her friends?"
Troy just nodded his head, speechless by Gabriella's actions. When he turned to walk with her inside, Troy spotted Tara and Joanna as they rushed to Sharpay's side from their evident hiding spot. He shook his head in disbelief that he just got played by Sharpay again. Chad and Taylor quickly caught up and joined the couple as they walked back into the now fully swinging dance.
After a few songs, Taylor sensed the tension between Gabriella and Troy as they sat next to each other at the round table and decided it was time she stepped in. She grabbed Gabriella's left hand and pulled her up as she dragged her into the dance floor. Taylor started dancing as Gabriella just stood there and rolled her eyes. "Come on, Gabriella. Shake that behind of yours! You know you want to," tempted Taylor.
Kelsi and Martha, along with Audrina, joined the two and started dancing with Taylor. Eventually, after some more cajoling, Gabriella started to dance with them and started laughing soon after. Relieved, Taylor moved over to Gabriella to better have a conversation. "So, what's with the tension?"
Gabriella looked over at her best friend and shrugged. "It is what it is. I wasn't going to give Sharpay an inch after an obvious ploy, but I still feel a bit weird about how Troy rushed over so quickly to help her out."
"He's just that good of a guy, you know that," replied Taylor. "I'm not defending what he did but I want to remind you that if you let Sharpay's seed of doubt bloom after that ploy, there is no telling what she will do next."
"I know, and I recognize that is just the good guy in Troy coming to her rescue, as he would to anyone's, but it does still twinge a bit," confessed Gabriella.
"Just means you have those type of feelings for him again," reminded Taylor.
A slow song came on and the girls slowly got claimed by their respective dates. Troy gingerly approached Gabriella and gave her a small smile. "Can I have this dance?" he asked.
Gabriella nodded as she stepped into his waiting arms. She smiled despite her thoughts and mood as he wrapped his arms around her waist, bringing her closer to him as she wrapped her hands behind his neck. They let the romantic lyrics wash over them as they just held each other close and swayed to the music.
When the next song came on, also a slow romantic melody, Troy decided he needed to break this silence. "Gabriella, I'm sorry. I fell for her ploy again. Guess I'm not as smart as I thought I was."
Gabriella lifted her head from his shoulder where she had been resting it and looked into his blue eyes. "No, you are smart, but sometimes your heart is much bigger than it should be when it comes to Sharpay Evans. I love the fact that you are so caring Troy, don't get me wrong, but she knows this and she will use it to her advantage."
Troy chuckled. "You make it sound like war."
"It sort of is for the girls at East High, especially when the opposition is Sharpay Evans and her little crew," replied Gabriella. "Look, I'm not upset about the kiss, I know that was her doing, I saw the whole thing. This tension that's in the air between us, it's my fear."
"Your fear?" questioned Troy as adjusted his arms to pull her a little closer to him.
"Yes, my fear. Believe it or not, Troy, I am still scared that I could turn around and find you back in her arms listening to her lies. You deserve so much more than she can offer. I know she has the scholarship and her influence and her money but you know that doesn't mean everything," said Gabriella.
Troy nodded his head in agreement. "I know it isn't everything. In fact, I'd say that I have everything right here with me tonight. My friends and the best woman in the world, someone who has gone through a lot just for me."
Gabriella smiled up at him and leaned up to kiss his cheek. "That was a kiss for the man who has fought hard to entice me back into his life, something I didn't think would have ever happened during this past summer. Whether we are just close friends or we become something more down the line, I'm just happy we can be in each other's lives again."
"Hey, can I cut in?" interrupted Ryan, looking apologetically at Troy who nodded and let go of Gabriella. Ryan took Gabriella loosely into his arms and started to dance with her as he watched Troy walk back to the table.
Gabriella studied Ryan's face and knew something was up. "All right, Ryan. Spill it."
Ryan looked back down at his best friend and rolled his eyes. "And now who is seeing through the other? That's my job!"
"Whatever, Mr. Evans. I know you did not just interrupt my dance with Troy just to joke with me, especially at the cost of you letting Audrina slip away to her friends. What's going on?" asked Gabriella.
"All right, you have me there. I heard about Troy and Sharpay's kiss outside, it's the gossip going around the dance," replied Ryan. "I don't believe that's all it was."
"It wasn't. Your evil twin was at it again, pretended to fall just as Troy and I were about to share our first kiss and of course, he ran over to help her and then she planted one on him," retold Gabriella. "I don't think I'll be able to get that memory out of my head any time soon."
"I don't blame you," commented Ryan. "Well at least I know the truth now. I came over to see if I needed to kick his behind as I promised you I would if he hurt you."
Gabriella laughed. "No, not right now at least."
"Well good, I didn't really look forward to getting attacked right after by Chad, Zeke, and Jason. That is, before I explained why I did it and then watched them take shots at him too," imagined Ryan.
"Oh my, heaven help Troy if that day ever comes," said Gabriella.
"No kidding! All right, well I just wanted to make sure you were fine," stated Ryan.
"I'm good. In fact, I think I'm going to go use the ladies' room. If you will excuse me," she said as she stepped out of Ryan's arms and made her way to the restroom outside the main room. When she was done washing her hands, Gabriella exited the restroom only to find Tara and Joanna right in front of her.
"God, how long could you possibly take in there? Obviously, you didn't touch up your makeup, you still look awful," spoke Tara.
"Honestly, take some pride in being a girl," added Joanna.
Gabriella rolled her eyes and moved to walk away from the two when Sharpay stepped in her way. She turned to go the other way but found that Joanna and Tara had moved to block her path. Gabriella turned back around and faced Sharpay. "Obviously, you planned this. What do you want, Sharpay?"
Sharpay looked Gabriella up and down before she replied, "Clearly not your fashion or looks. My girls are right, you do look awful."
Gabriella pushed aside the jab at her and pushed on. "Is this really why you have me cornered?"
"No," answered Sharpay. "I just wanted to say that I admire your brave face you put on after the kiss but I also saw that look for fear in your eyes. You know that I can snap Troy back to me within seconds and you are actually smart enough to know it'll be a reality soon."
"There you are going wrong again. It's not going to happen, Sharpay. Troy is too smart to fall for your games again," asserted Gabriella.
"That's what you would like to think but we both know how quickly he ran over to my aid tonight. Who says under the right circumstances that he won't do that again and more?" challenged Sharpay. "Remember, I am the queen of these schemes and nothing you do will stop me, especially if you think dating him again will put me off. If anything, it will just make me want him that much more."
Gabriella slowly shook her head in sadness at this. "You know what is making me sad right now? The fact that you only want Troy because you can't have him and you don't want to see me or him happy."
"That's not true," answered Sharpay. "Troy will be happy, with me."
"Wrong, he won't be because you have no dimension, nothing to keep him interested in the long run," replied Gabriella.
"And you do?" questioned Sharpay. "I don't think so! Give it up, Gabriella, and get out of my way now to avoid certain pain."
"You know what, Sharpay? I'm through with giving you the power to rule my life. I'm not stepping aside so you can make Troy miserable again. He has worked too hard to get this life he wanted," stated Gabriella.
Sharpay looked Gabriella over once again and dismissively said, "Fine, have it your way. At least I warned you."
Gabriella watched as Sharpay snapped her fingers as Tara and Joanna came running to join their "leader" back into the dance.
"Back to her evil ways again, I see," commented Chad, which caused Gabriella to jump as she hadn't noticed his presence. "You did good, lil sis."
"I don't know, sounds like a storm is brewing in that little blonde head of hers," returned Gabriella. "I just wish she would get a life instead of interfering in mine."
"Look at it this way, at least we know she is definitely planning something unlike this summer. We know what her ultimate goal is, Troy, and we can ban together to make sure she never reaches it," explained Chad as he gave Gabriella a comforting hug. "You don't have to do this alone. If no one else, I'm here to help, but I think everyone else will too."
"Thanks Chad, that means a lot right now," confessed Gabriella as she hugged him back. "Come on, let's not let Sharpay win tonight."
"I get your drift, Gab," replied Chad. "Back to the dance we go to…"
"To have the time of our lives," finished Gabriella with a smile.