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During the second weekend of May, there has always been a large party thrown by Chad's big brother's fraternity that he had been a member of for almost two years at University of Albuquerque in celebration of finals being over. Chad had informed Troy that he and Chad's big brother, Chucky, expected Troy, Gabriella, and whoever else they wanted to bring to be there, no excuses. For that reason alone, Troy, Gabriella, Tessa, and Paul now stood outside Gabriella's parked car, cautiously eyeing the huge crowd of college students who were already partying out on the lawn of the frat house a few blocks away. Even from where they stood, all four could hear the partying going on and had mixed feelings about going on in but they weren't given a choice as Chad spotted the four teenagers from where he was talking to a sorority girl on the grass.
"Well, it's too late to turn back now," murmured Gabriella, smiling a little only because Troy gave her hand an encouraging squeeze before dropping it. Although they were going to a party together, both of them didn't want to attract any attention to their real status but yet felt safe enough going to this party since they didn't know any of the people attending besides their own friends and Chad's older brother. In some ways, this was the ideal setting for them to go and mingle.
As they neared the frat house, Troy recognized Jason and Zeke in the mix but didn't see anyone else from East while Gabriella and Tessa were both relieved that there were no signs of West students lurking about. Tessa and Gabriella greeted Chad with hugs while Troy and Chad exchanged their special handshake and Paul just waved.
"Go on inside, there's plenty of drinks and food inside to be had," instructed Chad before he waved them off and turned his attention back to the girl he was talking to.
"Oooh, if Taylor could see her lunkhead basketball man now," murmured Tessa to Gabriella as the two watched Chad hit on the older girl. "I wonder what she would think."
"You know she'd kill you if she ever heard you refer to Chad that way, right?" returned Gabriella with a giggle. "However, I do think Taylor would find that very interesting, seeing Chad be all smooth operator."
The two girls laughed as they followed Paul and Troy into the fraternity house, making sure not to lose either guy in the crush of people dancing around and socializing. They reached the table with the drinks already prepared and saw offers of alcohol everywhere. Paul shot Gabriella a look, who returned it with an innocent smile before reaching for a sealed bottle of water and holding it up so Paul could see that was her intended choice of beverage. Tessa grabbed a red cup full of soda and some type of alcohol from the smell of it while Troy grabbed a sealed can of soda for himself and passed another to Paul.
"What? I'm the only one of the four of us who is going to let loose tonight?" demanded Tessa. "Come on Troy, you at least have to have something with me. I know about the wet blanket here and her desire not to touch alcohol. You're too much of a gentleman to let a lady drink by herself, right?"
Troy rolled his eyes at Gabriella's best friend before shooting a look over at Gabriella herself. "Go ahead Troy, I don't mind. I just don't like the taste myself," said Gabriella.
"You heard the young women Bolton. You better drink it up tonight," commanded a deep voice from nearby. "None of this whiney little boy crap that you are too mature, too responsible, and yet underage. Tonight is the night you forget about all your problems of teenage years, all right?"
Troy whipped around and grinned at the tall, dark skinned guy with wild hair just like his younger brother. "Chucky! Man, it's great to see you," greeted Troy as he did the same special handshake with Chucky as he did with Chad. "Shouldn't my wiser and big 'brother' not be encouraging me to get drunk and stupid while I'm technically his responsibility at this party?"
"Who says you are mine? I just invited you dork," responded Chucky with a grin. "So who do we have here? I don't recall ever seeing these beauties at East, while I went there or when I've swung by to see the boys and Coach."
Tessa boldly smiled more at this new guy while Gabriella blushed at his title for them. Troy grinned as he spied this and chuckled a little. "Chucky, I want you to meet my gir… err… friend Gabriella and her friends Tessa and Paul. They actually go to West."
Chucky quirked an eyebrow at this. "Friends with West Knights now are we? Wow, times have changed, I remember how much everyone at East used to hate those at West and vice versa. Even here at college there are still East and West people who can't be in the room together without sneering."
"Unfortunately, that's still the way it is," replied Gabriella. "It is nice to meet you Chucky, thanks for inviting us."
"Sure, and it's good to meet more of Troy's friends. It sounds like you may have a bit more of an elevated status than 'friend' to him but I respect the keeping quiet thing. Hey, if you two are into each other, that's all that matters, that's my take on it," stated Chucky. "And before you say anything Bolton, I know, I used to be the first to throw it down with West but people grow up and for those that don't, I do feel sorry for them."
Troy grinned. "I knew there was a reason why I loved having you around Chucky! I feel the same way as you, except I'm trying to change things now while I'm still there. Well, if you call trying my lack of participation in the rivalry changing things. Chad, J, and Zeke seem to have tamed down too."
"Of course they would if you are. Don't you see Troy? You are the leader of the team, most likely of the school. If you make things okay in your books, people will follow. That's just the way it all works in high school with the popular guy leading the way," explained Chucky. "Now, enough of this talk! Pick up a jello shot and join me lil bro!"
Chad, Zeke, and J appeared out of nowhere to be by their sides at that exact moment so Troy picked one of the small white paper cups with his four friends. They toasted to friendship and downed it, Tessa, picking one up and following suit while Gabriella and Paul stood back, watching the festivities. After another two rounds, Troy put a stop to his partaking of the shots and moved to join Gabriella by her side as Tessa and the boys did another three.
"Something tells me it was smart of me to be the driver tonight," teased Gabriella, laughter in her eyes as Tessa and the three guys made their way to where Troy, Paul, and Gabriella were leaning against a couch.
"What was that? I couldn't hear you," responded Tessa, looking a bit wobbly. Zeke stuck his arm out and securely wrapped it around her waist, helping stabilize the brunette. She gave him a grateful look before turning back to Gabriella. "You sure you don't want any?"
"Nope, DD here," replied Gabriella.
"But I thought your name was Gabriella," threw in Jason, earning a look from Chad, Zeke, and Troy.
"Not this again," said Chad with a roll of the eyes. "Yes, her name is Gabriella and is also known as Brie. Remember, we talked about this the other day at lunch?"
A look like a light bulb finally turned on for Jason crossed his face. "Oh! But wait, what does DD mean?"
Before any of the other guys could reply with a smart remark, Gabriella answered. "Designated Driver. I know you three came separately but I can always do a few trips if necessary to get everyone home safe."
"Ah, that's so sweet!" returned Jason. "Dude Troy, I like her! Totally is what Alicia was supposed to be."
Chucky shot Troy a questioning look. "All right, what did I miss? Did you actually have a girlfriend before this sweet thing?"
"Sort of," mumbled Troy, glaring at Jason. "Lasted little more than a month or so. She was totally not who she pretended to be when we were dating before the relationship."
"Dude, isn't that her?" interrupted Zeke, pointing towards a short girl who had dark brown hair a few feet away.
The entire group swung their heads around to look at the girl in question who was dancing with a tall guy who had spiky black hair. Chucky shook his head. "No man, that's my big brother in the fraternity with his girlfriend. Names are Tom and Sammy."
Tessa took in the appearance of both the guy and girl and thought it was odd how very familiar they seemed. 'Oh God, could they be older siblings?' wondered Tessa, looking over at Gabriella, who seemed to have thought the same thing by the way she paled. 'Question is, are they close enough to invite their younger siblings to this party if they are who they seem to be?'
Gabriella longingly looked at the alcoholic beverages but pushed the idea aside as soon as she saw Paul had caught her glance. She shrugged before turning her attention back to Troy, who seemed oblivious to the idea that the couple dancing could be related to his ex and her current tormentor.
Seeing that the group of teenagers seemed to have gotten stuck at looking at Tom and Sammy, Chucky decided to suggest they play flippy cup to help loosen them up a bit. Again, Troy started playing with Chucky, Chad, Zeke, Jason, and Tessa but bowed out after two rounds to watch. Chucky's goal had been met in the form of Troy loosening up just enough to not really care they were in plain view of anyone as he wrapped his right arm around Gabriella's waist.
"Troy, people can see," whispered Gabriella into his ear, loud enough so he could understand her over the music. "What about being careful?"
"We are. Look around, there's no one who we know from school besides our friends who are discreet and trustworthy. Come on Brie, don't you want to just be us and throw caution to the wind?" replied Troy, giving her a roguish smile.
Gabriella's resolve crumbled at that smile, allowing herself to snuggle up to Troy's side as he tightened his embrace around her, instantly forgetting the foreboding feeling she felt when she spotted Tom and Sammy as possible older siblings. She didn't even notice the look on Paul's face as he saw this as he shook his head at the couple's abandonment as Paul saw Troy place a kiss on top of Gabriella's head. After the gang got tired of playing flippy cup, everyone moved into the room where the speakers were blaring the most, filling the room with the loud beats of the music. Tessa immediately took to the floor, dragging Zeke behind her, who didn't look to be complaining while Chad and Jason went after some college aged girls. Paul was the only one to stand against the wall and watch over everyone, especially Gabriella, as Troy actually led her into a dance after stealing a long kiss from her lips.
The party continued on as the hours flew by, Saturday night turning into really early Sunday morning. It was at this time, around 1 AM in the morning, that Gabriella's foreboding feelings were realized as an actual foretelling of what was to come at the party.
Paul was the first to recognize West High's basketball captain talking to who Paul recognized as fellow basketball teammates with a petite brown haired girl next to him who Paul had never seen before. Without another thought, Paul made his way over to where Gabriella and Troy were currently dancing and tried to pull Gabriella away from Troy's arms. "Gabriella, please, use your common sense now," pleaded Paul, who was tracking Riley's movements. He groaned as soon as he saw that Riley had managed to spot Gabriella, who was currently still in Troy's arms, thanks to the help of that dark haired girl.
"What do you need Paul?" asked Gabriella, having not heard him clearly just a second ago, now confused as to why Paul would interrupt her fun with Troy. It was only when she saw the serious look on Paul's face did Gabriella understand that there must be danger afoot, danger that was in the form of Riley Sutton, who now stood in front of the three of them, a murderous look on his face with a girl she recognized as Alicia slightly behind him with a smirk on her little face. Gabriella felt Troy's embrace on her tighten for a moment before he quickly unwrapped his arms from around her and pushed her behind him.
Riley shook his head at this. "It's too late, I know you two are together and have been trying to fool the world with your little 'we're not even friends' act," mocked Riley, ending in a higher tone he meant to sound like Gabriella. "You didn't think I was stupid enough to believe that shit forever did you? There are no second chances out of this Gabriella, you've dug your grave. Now you get to see me pummel your boyfriend for your poor choice."
Before Troy could say or do anything, Gabriella shot around him and placed herself firmly between the two guys. "Maybe I do have something with Troy but that doesn't change the fact that you and I don't have anything to go on Riley. I don't understand why you are so obsessed with this stupid rivalry! I mean, you are clearly here with Alicia who goes to East!" pointed out Gabriella.
"Alicia is different, she's the one that helped me figure out the truth of your little charade and is the little sister of my brother's girlfriend who went to West like my brother did. It's not Alicia's fault that her family moved into East's zoning when it was her time to go to high school. Her heart has always been a West's heart, more so than yours sadly," replied Riley with a shake of the head. "You know Gabriella, we really could have had something special, at least a fantastic one night but you had to be stupid and ruin it all by chasing Golden Dork. Maybe after tonight you will have learned your lesson."
Troy quickly grabbed Gabriella's shoulders and pushed her in the direction of Paul, who caught her in his arms, holding her back from her obvious desire of pouncing on Riley. "You want a fight Sutton? You have better fight me and not someone half your size," spat out Troy, glaring at the other teenager and completely ignoring Alicia's presence, a fact that immediately erased her smirk from her face.
"Oh, don't worry Bolton, you were always first on my list to take down first," agreed Riley. "Maybe after you are out of my way, Gabriella will welcome me with open arms."
"In your dreams," yelled Gabriella before getting pulled back from lunging at Riley again by Paul. This distracted Troy however, who turned his head to look at her and consequently missed seeing Riley throw the first punch right to Troy's chin.
Troy turned his head back to look at Riley and managed to sneer at his opponent, despite the burst of pain from the punch. "You want to try that again when I'm actually looking at you coward?" taunted Troy, finally letting the anger that he had contained for so long to bubble to the surface. 'I know I promised Brie not to go after Riley but after all he has done to her and now trying to start with me, I can't back down now.'
Riley let out a loud laugh. "Me, the coward? Wow, that's a change. I'm not the one who was trying to hide something as big as a relationship or a fling or whatever it is between you and Gabriella. No, that title best fits you who can't even protect your girl from another guy without her walking away with a bruise of some kind. I'd say that made you less than a man, at least in my books, right boys?"
There was agreement from his buddies behind Riley while Troy felt his fists clench even harder at these words, trying to keep a leash on his anger to have some type of control over the situation. That fragile control though shattered as Riley lunged at Troy and brought both of them down to the floor in one swift movement where they started fighting, neither having a clear hold or advantage over the other, despite Troy's slightly intoxicated state.
"TROY!" screamed Gabriella, being held back by Paul again, his arms securely around her arms and her waist, holding her in place. "RILEY, STOP!"
The two boys finally started to draw attention from some of the college students who weren't completely wasted as Riley picked himself up and then Troy before slamming Troy into a wall. Troy followed, pushing Riley back into a speaker and landing a solid blow to Riley's nose and right eye. Blow for blow was exchanged until some of the fraternity's designated sober brothers stepped in and interfered, dragging both a resisting Riley and a seething but cooperative Troy away from each other.
"Break it up you two," commanded Tom, one of the fraternity brothers, surprised when he saw one of the guys involved in the fight was his real younger brother. "Riley? What the hell happened here?"
"This is the jerk I've told you about, East High's Gold Dork, no I think Golden Wuss is more appropriate now," sneered Riley. "He started it, ask my boys."
Tom shook his head. "No, I know your boys will have your back no matter what, just like I want to right now. Look, we don't want any trouble here or we'll get our fraternity kicked off campus. Can you both just keep it under wraps or do we have to take our own measures?"
Troy spotted Chucky and Chad making their way towards him and knew that the fight was over for good then. He held his arms and hands up in surrender, signaling the release of his body from the two fraternity brothers who held him. One of them clasped Troy's shoulder and squeezed before giving him a nod. Troy had just turned his attention back to Gabriella, who rushed into his arms as soon as he was freed when both of them went crashing to the ground, Riley trying to punch Troy with Gabriella unfortunately caught in the middle. She winced in pain as one of Riley's blows struck her cheek and corner of her lips but was greatly relieved when Riley's weight was pulled off her and Troy by Riley's apparent brother and Chucky.
"Man, you need to control your real younger brother," commented Chucky with a shake of his head as another fraternity brother took hold of a still struggling Riley. Chucky went over to the two on the ground and helped Gabriella up first and then Troy, who instantly reached out to gingerly touch Gabriella's cheek and busted corner of her lips.
"Are you all right Brie?" he asked, real genuine concern evident in his blue eyes as he searched her a few times over to see if she had any other injuries.
She gave him a lopsided grin. "I've been better but I'm worried about you. You got it way worse than me," responded Gabriella. "God, how many times are you going to get bruises and lose blood because of me?"
"However long it takes," replied Troy. "I'd rather it be me than you anytime."
"I'll make sure to remember that for the future! This isn't the end of it Bolton!" yelled Riley while he was being dragged out of the room and out of the frat house, his buddies following behind. Alicia just stood there, shaking her head in disgust at the couple, before her own older sibling, Sammy, came by and grabbed her arm to march her right out of the party while it looked like Sammy was giving Alicia a piece of her own mind.
Relieved that it seemed like danger was finally gone, Gabriella and Troy turned their attention back on each other while they, along with Paul, took inventory of their injuries. Troy had a nasty cut slightly above his right eyebrow, cutting through the tail end of the brow, a couple of additional developing bruises on his face, a split lip that rivaled Gabriella's, several cuts on his hands and knuckles and what felt like a few speckled bruises on his abdomen. Gabriella fared better than Troy but still had too many injuries than Paul and Troy both would have liked.
"I'm so going to get it for this, I so am going to get it," mumbled Paul to himself but just loud enough for Gabriella to hear him.
"No you aren't relax. You did your thing of trying to protect me but just as I've told Troy, you can't protect me from everything," said Gabriella, patting Paul's shoulder. "I won't let you get in trouble, all right?"
Paul gave her a grateful smile before Gabriella turned her attention back on Troy. Seeing the blood trickling down his face reminded Gabriella that they both needed cleaning up so she took Troy's hand in hers and dragged him to the bathroom upstairs one of the sober brothers directed her to. Once there, she winced briefly when she spied her own image in the mirror above the sink but refocused immediately on cleaning up Troy's face. While Troy winced as he washed his hands, Gabriella took a paper towel and dabbed at the cut after washing away the blood that had trickled down from the cut above his eyebrow. Once satisfied that it was pretty clean, Gabriella softly wiped at the injury at the corner of his mouth, smiling and wincing herself as she saw his attempted smile form on his lips.
"Hey now, no derailing the nurse's attentions here," complained Gabriella, looking briefly up into his eyes before refocusing on washing away the dried blood.
Troy decided to give Gabriella the same care and wet a towel to dab at Gabriella's cut at her lip at the same time, causing her brown eyes to meet his again before refocusing. When both were finally cleaned up as best as they could, they threw out the paper towels and walked out of the bathroom with their hands tightly intertwined with each other's, neither caring now who saw them as their secret was out for the world to see after what just went on.
Chucky smirked at them as he waited a few feet away, a square bandage, medical tape, and some ointment being waved their way. "Figured you would need this for that cut. It's not going to stop bleeding unless you put something like this to help put pressure," explained Chucky, who indicated for the two to walk back to the bathroom, this time with Chucky behind them.
Troy continued to hold Gabriella's hand as Chucky cleaned the cut again, this time putting the ointment on with a q-tip and then slapping the bandage over the injury, causing Troy to jump in pain. "OWWW!"
"Oh stop being a baby, your girlfriend is here," replied Chucky with another grin. "You are just lucky that I was here to help bail you out and that Tom is actually a nice guy and actually gave his brother an ear lashing for the fight, I heard it. I didn't realize that his little brother is the same guy that Chad has spat nasty things about in the past though. What a small world."
Gabriella's and Troy's eyes connected at this and both of them found it within themselves to grin. "You don't have to tell us that," murmured Troy, not taking his eyes off his girlfriend for a fraction of a second. "We already found that out months ago."
Chucky watched as the chemistry between the two ignited to the point of almost being tangible as they continued to stare into each other's eyes. He shook his head and left them staring at each other before they leaned in and finally kissed, careful to avoid their injuries, thinking about how his younger brother Chad may just be right about something. 'Troy really is enamored by this girl and they are both so sickly sweet together. Although, from my perspective, I'm just glad Troy finally found a young woman worthy of him who seems to share his feelings one-hundred percent. They'll need that to hold onto tight if they are to survive anything else this punk Riley is set to do to them together as a couple.'