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Troy had spent all weekend with the guys after spending Friday avoiding Gabriella at all costs. He spent time practicing with his friends, working out with them, playing video games with them, and even eating with them. Chad, Zeke, and Jason were all there for him, the brothers that they were, supporting him where they could. All of them had been shocked by Troy's actions, each knowing they would never forget the absolutely distraught and devastated look on their friend's face as he entered the gym on Thursday. They had continued practice after he had shortly told Coach Bolton that he just wanted to play, giving him an outlet for his emotions.
Now as Troy and Chad drove up together, Chad looks over at his best friend from preschool with concern written all over his face. "Are you sure you can do this Troy?" he asks, knowing that had the positions been changed, Chad himself wouldn't want to be at school today.
Troy nods his head and stays focused on the school that is becoming larger as they drive closer. "This was my doing, and I have to deal with the consequences, no matter the pain," he replies, unbuckling his seatbelt as Chad parks.
"Hey Chad," Taylor greets, giving him a small kiss. "Hi Troy."
Feeling a pang in his heart at the sight of his best friend with his girlfriend, Troy murmurs a quick hello before ducking into the halls of East High.
"How was this weekend?" Taylor asks, not having seen Chad all weekend.
Chad takes Taylor's hand in his as they begin to walk to the school. "It was okay. Thanks for understanding by the way. Troy really needed his friends."
"No worries, it's the same for us girls. Although, I think Gabriella may have made more progress than him this weekend," she states. "Friday night when I came over to surprise her with a new CD I made for her to help cheer her up, she just started weeping and crying uncontrollably. We talked all night as we rehashed things that happened and that led up to the break up. Saturday, she was more mellow, depressed but was as sociable as we could expect her to be when Ryan, Kelsi, and Martha came over. Sunday though, I am not quite sure how it happened, but she had the most determined look on her face."
"Like she was going to win Troy back today?" Chad asks, hoping that could mean a short life to this misery both their friends were going through.
Taylor shakes her head. "I'm not quite sure, but I think whatever she has made her mind up to do, she is going to do it 100%. She has that look of determination in her eyes and her body language, like this morning, that indicates to me that she's taking control of her destiny now."
Gabriella is standing at her locker taking out her A.P. English books and her Latin 3 book for her morning classes as Hunter approaches and gives her a smile. "Good morning Ms. Montez."
She looks over at him and gives him a small smile. "Good morning Mr. Smith. Where were you on Friday?" she asks, having wondered where he was all day last week.
"Oh, well, I had an audition in LA," he mumbles, not looking her in the eyes.
Gabriella laughs a little at his shyness about his career. "Honestly Hunter, I never would have thought you'd be so modest about your career. It's something to be proud of, not ashamed of," she says, capturing his attention. "I mean, you are good at what you do and your job is just like any other jobs us non-famous teens have. You just have the worldwide recognition for it."
Hunter chuckles at this. "Gee, I'm just one of the teens then huh?"
"Maybe. So how did the audition go?" she asks, closing her locker and grabbing her bag.
They begin walking down the hall to A.P. English as Hunter fills her in on the details, that it was for a movie and that he would hear back later this week about callbacks if they liked him.
Troy passes the two on his way to his locker and meets Gabriella's eyes briefly before flickering over to Hunter who is looking at him with a question on his face. Instead of stopping, like he wanted to, Troy forces himself to continue walking down the hall, ignoring the pain in his chest. 'Guess she is already moving on with him,' he thinks, making it to his locker. 'Good for her.' Deep down though, Troy knew he would rather have her in his arms at that moment, sharing in their usual morning kisses, than in another wing with another guy.
When Gabriella and Hunter take their seats in their classroom, Hunter gets the courage to ask Gabriella what happened between her and Troy.
Gabriella sadly looks over at Hunter and replies, "Troy broke up with me last Thursday. In a way it's good you weren't here on Friday so you didn't have to see what a mess I was."
"He's crazy," Hunter replies, patting Gabriella on her shoulder. "Any guy would be crazy to give up such a wonderful young woman like you."
She gives him a small smile. "Thanks, but I definitely don't feel that way right now."
"Don't worry, things will get better, I promise. Heartbreak is always a tough condition to battle through. I know, why don't you let me take you out tonight? I know it is a school night but what if we go to that Italian restaurant you were telling me about last week? We'll go early so we can get home and still do homework. I know how much you love staying on top of that!"
Gabriella takes a moment and remembers what she committed herself to do yesterday. "Sure Hunter, that sounds like a good idea. Pick me up at my house around 4:30?"
"Sounds like a plan," he responds. "Can you give me directions?"
She nods and hands him a piece of paper after a little while with the instructions from the school. Taylor enters the classroom and smiles at her best friend, who was giving Hunter a small smile. 'Hey, it's progress,' she thinks, taking her seat and giving her attention over to what the teacher was writing on the board.
As 4:20 rolls around, Gabriella finds herself sitting at her desk, writing in her journal about the day, from the start of the day where Hunter asked her to a dinner to seeing Troy avoid them at lunch and PE, and now the moments before Hunter was to pick her up. She finishes her entry and goes to the bathroom to reapply her lip gloss and straighten the flowery top she is wearing. Gabriella fingers the T necklace she is still wearing around her neck and reluctantly takes it off, allowing a tear to slip down her cheek before brushing it aside. She places the necklace in a heart shaped jewelry box on her dresser just before the doorbell rings.
Gabriella hurries down the stairs and opens the door, smiling as she takes in Hunter in a pair of slacks and a red button up shirt. "Hi," she greets, a little shyly.
Hunter chuckles at her sudden shyness. "Gabriella, it's me you are talking to. I know we have only known each other for a week but I think you know me well enough not to be Ms. Shy with me."
She giggles a little when she realizes how silly she was being. "All right, you have a point. Momentary slip. I saw Hunter Smith the superstar from Hollywood, not Hunter Smith the regular teenager who is becoming one of my good friends. Let me write my mom a note real quick and we'll go, okay?"
Hunter waits at the door until Gabriella returns, grabbing a sweater, and exiting the Montez household. He helps her into his convertible and drives to the restaurant with her directions guiding the way. When they reach the restaurant, Hunter jogs to the other side of the car to open the door for Gabriella, which makes her smile. "Such the gentleman," she comments, taking his offered hand to get out. They enter the restaurant and are seated next to the window, overlooking the lake.
"This is a wonderful place Gabriella! If the food is as good as the ambiance, I know I am going to be a very happy guy after the meal," he says, looking over the menu.
The waitress comes around and stops as she realizes who is sitting in front of her. "Oh my! You're Hunter Smith!"
He shoots Gabriella a look before plastering on a smile at the waitress. "That's me. And who are you young lady?"
"I'm Heidi. Umm, also your waitress. What can I get you to drink?" the waitress responds, trying to get her bearings.
"Gabriella?" he asks of the girl sitting across the table from him. "Did you want a virgin strawberry drink or a coke?"
"A Shirley Temple sounds good actually. Thanks," Gabriella says to the waitress who writes it down.
"And I'll have a Palmer," Hunter says. "Actually, if you are ready Gabriella, we could give you the orders as well."
"Sure," she replies, reopening the menu and giving the waitress the order.
After the waitress leaves, Hunter turns his attention back to Gabriella. "Awkward, huh?" he asks, referring to the encounter. "I never get used to it, never get used to being recognized as a 'star' than a normal teen guy out on a date."
Gabriella gulps as she hears the word date. "Date?"
"Well, we could call it an outing if you feel better about it."
"It just kind of feels a little too soon, you know what I mean?" Gabriella replies. "I'm sorry Hunter."
Hunter just shrugs his shoulders. "Don't be. I totally understand. Remember, this dinner is about cheering you up, nothing more. So, why don't you tell me more about this writing I've heard about. I hear I'm a character in one of them."
"Oh my God, who told you?" she asks, stunned that he calmly asked about her fan fiction about him. "You weren't supposed to know!" Gabriella covers her face with her hands to try to hide her face that is warming up quite a bit. She feels Hunter's hands gently grab hers and pull them away from her face.
"Gabriella, it's okay. I overheard some brunette girl talking about a fan fiction story she had found of yours and gloating about how she slipped the story to Troy, which she thought he would hate since it was about me," Hunter supplies. "Of course, this sounds like it happened before I even got to East High, which is a huge coincidence in itself, but I can imagine that one action of hers changed your relationship and life just a tad only to have me appear the next week."
Gabriella looks at Hunter and realizes how wonderful he really is. "You know so much more than you let on Hunter," she says. "You definitely have taken in more details about my life than you have let on."
"Nah, just powers of observation again," he replies. "Everything for you the past few weeks must have been way too surreal right?"
"Right," she says. "Like it was out of my story in some ways, in meeting you. Oh, Hunter, this is way embarrassing."
Hunter smiles at her and brushes some of her dark brown hair back behind her ear. "You don't have any reason to be embarrassed. I know what I said about meeting crazed fans and I meant what I said, that I didn't think it was weird knowing that you knew about me. You have honestly treated me as a normal teenager who just moved schools, befriending me and sharing your friends with me. Just because you wrote a fictional story with a guy who shares my name with my image in mind isn't going demolish the friendship we have slowly developed in the past week."
She closes her eyes momentarily, her emotions and brain not able to process everything he just said along with everything else she has been dwelling in the past few days. "Too incredible to be true," she says, not realizing she spoke aloud.
"What's too incredible? The fact that I'm normal or that we're sitting her with this discussion or what?" he asks, intrigued by her comment.
"Everything," Gabriella replies, opening her eyes and looking at Hunter. "You being at East High, you knowing about my story but still wanting to be my friend. It just, I don't know, seems like a fan fiction."
Hunter nods, understanding. "Well I can promise you that the sincerity of my offer of friendship to you is genuine. You are different from most girls I meet Gabriella. You are clearly not interested in me just because of my status; you seem to actually care about me as a person, which is an incredible feeling."
"That's what Troy said to me once," she recalls, getting a wistful look on her face.
"All right, that confirms it! He knew the treasure he had in his possession and still let you go. But it's all right because his loss is my gain, right?" he teases, causing her to smile.
"Thanks Hunter, for everything. I really appreciate it."
He smiles back at her even more and is about to say something important when Heidi brings their food to the table and refills their drinks. They continue on in easy conversation and share a berry tart for dessert.
When Hunter walks out with Gabriella, he places his hand on the lower part of her back out of instinct, making her smile. He helps her get back into his car and kisses her on the cheek before seeing a flash of light go off, more obvious because of the setting sun. Hunter curses under his breath and gets into the other side of the car and drives off, going a little bit faster than normal, scaring Gabriella.
"Hunter, why are you driving so fast?" she asks, realizing he was speeding quite a bit down the street.
"Paparazzi," is all he said, focusing on the road and checking the rear mirror every so often. After some time, Gabriella realizes that they are not driving to her neighborhood but another that is gated. As soon as they pass through the gates, she hears Hunter sigh and slow the car down. "Sorry," he murmurs, looking over at Gabriella for the first time. "They drive me crazy."
Gabriella nods her understanding. "I could see why. You hate them following you I'm sure."
"The term 'invasion of privacy' means nothing to them. In fact, I almost got into a brawl once because they found their way into our backyard in one of my old homes and tripped over my little sister's carriage she was in, causing her to fall out and onto the grass. I was so angry I almost got physical but my dad interfered and threw the guy out, calling the cops when he saw that the photographer was still trying to get pictures through the window," Hunter says. "My sister was fine, we had her checked at the hospital, but that was just, way too much for me to handle. That was a few years ago, when I started to get more well known and since then, I have been very careful around them."
"I don't blame you," Gabriella responds, truly surprised at the lengths some photographers go.
"I hate to say this but I have to warn you that pictures are going to show up on the internet from tonight," Hunter says, looking at Gabriella. "Truthfully, I won't be embarrassed to be seen with you but I want you to know so you can prepare for it. I'm sure, if East High is just like every other high school in the country, it will be everywhere, and I want you prepared for what could be waiting for you."
"Don't worry about me," Gabriella says. "They're already gossiping about the breakup. I can handle this, at least I think." She gives him a small smile as he parks in front of his house. "So, how do I get home?"
"Why don't you come inside," he suggests, opening her door for her. "We can call your mom and have her come get you if that's okay. If I drive back out there with you, I can guarantee they'll chase us all the way to your house and I don't want to risk your life with a speed chase."
"Thank you for thinking of that," Gabriella murmurs, following Hunter into his home.
"Mom, Dad, Christine!" Hunter calls out, placing his keys on the table next to the door. "I'm home!"
Gabriella giggles as a young girl, who she assumes is Christine his sister, comes running down the stairs and jumps into Hunter's waiting arms. "Hunter!" she screams, snuggling into his embrace as he picks her up.
"Hello Christine. I want you to meet someone, this is Gabriella," he introduces, smiling as Christine reaches a hand out to Gabriella, who shakes it.
"Gabriella, you are pretty," she greets, causing Gabriella to smile even more at the little girl.
"Well thank you Christine. You are very pretty yourself."
Christine blushes then squirms to be put down. "For a six year old, she's still very blunt," Mrs. Smith says, making her presence in the room known. "Hello Gabriella, it is nice to meet you."
"It's nice to meet you too," Gabriella replies, smiling at the older woman. "You have a beautiful home."
"Well thank you, I try. With this little one running around all the time and trying to unpack, it gets a bit crazy."
"Mom, we're going to call Gabriella's mom to come pick her up. The paparazzi are on my tail again, I guess with the album coming out next week, and I don't want to expose Gabriella to more than she has to be," he informs his mom. "Is it okay if she stays here for a bit?"
"Absolutely!" Mrs. Smith responds. "We're all on the same team when it comes to defending against those crazed photographers. Gabriella, why don't you have a seat in the living room?"
"Sure," Gabriella responds, following Hunter into the living room where Christine has plopped down to watch a cartoon. Once seated on the couch, Gabriella calls her mom and asks her to pick her up. Hunter takes the cell phone from her to give Mrs. Montez the directions and a guest pass code to get in as he programs it into the console in the wall for a one-time entry.
"She said she'll be here in about an hour. Do you maybe want to work on the Calculus homework together?" he asks, knowing he still had that to be done tonight.
"Actually, I kind of already did it this weekend. Maybe the new homework from today's A.P. English?"
"Wow, so the rumors are true," Hunter replies, chuckling softly. "You are a smartie and well organized. I'm impressed. Sure, I'm up for tackling that homework. Let me get my books from my room so we can share that and an extra notebook and pen for you."
They are half way done with the homework assignment when Mrs. Montez comes for Gabriella. "Thanks for everything Hunter, tonight was just what I needed," Gabriella says, hugging Hunter. "You are an amazing guy and I am lucky to call you my friend."
He smiles down at her and kisses her on the cheek. "I feel the same Gabriella. See you tomorrow!"
Gabriella gets into her mom's car who gives her a knowing look, which Gabriella chooses to ignore. She waves good-bye to Hunter and sits back in her seat, thinking of everything that has happened in the span of a week. 'What is my life becoming?' she wonders, absently watching things pass by as her mom drove on. 'Could I really have feelings for Hunter while still being so heartbroken over Troy? Can that be possible?'