Gabriella stared at the image in front of her after Annette put the finishing touches on her daughter's head. She was already dressed in the ivory strapless gown she bought with Tessa a week ago, but her mother had helped sweep all her hair up off her shoulders and into an elegant do on the back of her head while clipping little gems into her hair on both sides of her head.

Annette stepped back and smiled at the vision of her daughter. 'She really does look every inch of who she really is,' thought the mother with a proud smile on her face. "You look wonderful daughter."

Gabriella turned to smile at her mom. "Thank you," replied Gabriella, giving her mother a hug. "Now, just to slip on the mask."

Her mother picked up the white mask with silver glittery designs on it from Gabriella's bedside table and tied it around Gabriella's head, securing the strings to Gabriella's hair with bobby pins. "There, now you really are perfect."

'Now only if everything in my life was perfect,' thought Gabriella while she thought back to earlier on in the day at the homeless children's center.

Tessa, Gabriella, and Taylor sat together on a picnic bench outside while they babysat a small group of toddlers so their parents could run some errands without having to carry them around. Earlier on in the morning, they had helped prepare and serve breakfast for the people staying there at the shelter, both the adults and children, but the children were their main focus.

"So, Gabriella, I hear from Tessa that you know Troy Bolton," commented Taylor, not realizing that it was still a touchy subject between Gabriella and Tessa.

Gabriella shot Tessa a look that said it all before she replied, "Yes, I do. He and I met over winter break but we're not friends or anything, especially if Tessa keeps interfering."

"What? Oh come on Gabriella. You have to admit that you had to throw the poor boy a bone and let him know at least it was you last night at the game. I think he was starting to wonder if you were a figment of his imagination," stated Tessa.

"But you didn't have to text him back for me! And you were flirty!" argued Gabriella.

Taylor laughed. "Tessa flirty? Never!"

Tessa just shot her other friend a look. "Gaby, come on. I only did it because I'm trying to give you this opportunity to explore what you may have with this guy. If he turns out to be a jerk then let him go, but you'll never know until you actually talk to him."

"Wait, so something happened at the game?" asked Taylor, confused as to what exactly happened.

"Not exactly," replied Gabriella. "I saw Troy with his girlfriend after the game and told myself it just wasn't meant to be. We then got roped into going to dinner with Riley and his crew and on the way there, Troy texted me. Instead of letting me decide what to send back, Tessa texted him back for me, letting him know it really was me from break and that he did a great job. He texted back that he wanted to meet and I never responded back."

"And she wouldn't let me anywhere near her cell phone after that," added Tessa.

"For good reason! You already did something I wouldn't have by texting him back," argued Gabriella.

"Whoa, hang on you two. All this fuss over Troy Bolton? Seriously?" questioned Taylor.

Tessa and Gabriella turned their attention to their friend. "Yeah, is he that bad of a guy?" asked Gabriella.

"To be honest, I haven't given him much more thought other than the fact that he is the golden boy of our school who seems to rule without even trying. He's a jock and at East High, we don't mix groups so I don't know more than that. I do know he is dating Alicia Covina, a fellow junior that seems to have changed since she started dating Troy. All her friends are complaining about how arrogant she's become," dished Taylor.

"See Gaby? There is hope. No guy would honestly want to go out with a girl who just wants to be with him for popularity," stated Tessa.

"Still though, he has her as his girlfriend. I'm not going to try and break them up for heaven's sake," replied Gabriella.

Taylor scoffed. "Please Gabriella, if rumors around East is true, then you'd only be severing the tiny thread of which Alicia is hanging onto Troy with. There are bets I've heard of when they are breaking up even."

"See?" said Tessa.

Gabriella sighed. "Look, whatever state his relationship is in, it's not my business. I hardly even know Troy and as annoyed as I am at you Tessa for interfering, you're still my closest friend here but I'd rather you back off a little on this subject."

Tessa nodded her head. "I can respect that. I know you are a lot shyer than me after all. Look, honestly, all I've ever wanted to do is to help you either get with or get over this guy who has your attention. There are plenty of other guys for you to meet in this big city, a good chunk of who will be at the ball tonight."

"That's true. Hey, can I meet up with you guys there maybe? Tonight is the perfect chance to hang out since we'll all be 'disguised' or so is the idea for most of the night until the unmasking," said Taylor.

"Sure, Gabriella is wearing a strapless ivory dress with little embroidered flowers on the bottom half and I am wearing a spaghetti strapped violet ball gown. I can guarantee we'll be together so just look for the two dresses together. We'll even use a secret code for the fun of it. Hmm, what should it be?" responded Tessa.

Gabriella thought before she suggested, "How about Taylor says 'Happily' and we respond 'Ever after'?"

"Brilliant! An opener and a confirmation, that's great," exclaimed Taylor.

"And you tried telling me you aren't a romantic, psh!" teased Tessa with a smile.

Just then, the doorbell rang, signaling the arrival of Tessa and their two other friends, Beth Smith and Sarah Johnson, who would be going to the ball together in Sarah's car. Annette went downstairs to answer the door for the three girls and let them in as Gabriella made her way down the stairs.

"Wow, was I right or was I right in making you buy that dress Gaby?" commented Tessa with a grin.

"You look like you stepped out of a fairytale book or something," added Sarah.

Gabriella grinned as she hugged her three friends. "Thank you for the compliments ladies, you all look fabulous yourself. Oh shoot, I forgot my camera upstairs!"

Beth waved hers that was hanging around her wrist. "Don't worry, I have mine. I'll share and take great pictures, promise!"

"Speaking of, if you would like I can take a nice group one of the four of you before you all leave," offered Annette, taking the camera from a happy Beth.

The four girls gathered together and smiled while they posed a few different ways before they left for the evening. "Gabriella, don't forget curfew!" called out Annette.

"Midnight right?" returned Gabriella.

"The unmasking at the ball isn't until midnight, I wouldn't do that to you. Since you came home early last night, let's make it 1 AM."

Gabriella grinned. "I can do that! You are the best Mom!"

"I know," said Annette before she closed and locked the front door.

After twenty-five minutes, the four girls got out of the parked car and walked towards the convention center in downtown Albuquerque where the Masquerade Ball was being held with their jackets and wraps around their shoulders tightly to fight off the cold bite the wind was carrying. An hour and a half of the official dance had already passed so the girls were not surprised at the number of people already in the room dancing and socializing at tables. They picked out a table and laid their stuff down, still surveying the room's decorations and all the people that were scattered throughout the room.

"Gabriella, isn't that girl wearing the same dress as you?" asked Sarah, drawing the other girls' attention towards a girl ten feet away, looking around the room for something or someone, dressed in the same ivory strapless dress with flowers on the bottom.

Beth added, "Don't worry Gabriella, it may be the same dress but you look so much more stunning in it. Besides, she totally didn't accessorize right, leaving her hair down like that totally takes away from the beauty of the dress."

"Maybe," said Gabriella, silently wondering if that was Troy's girlfriend.

"Hey, don't worry about her. Tonight is a masquerade ball, when we get to mingle with everyone, regardless of their school, and not know their real identities. No one will know it is you wearing the duplicate dress. Besides, Beth is right Gaby. You look so much better in it, just as I told you back at the store last week," stated Tessa, giving Gabriella a firm squeeze around her shoulders. "We're here to have fun, right ladies?"

"Right!" agreed Beth and Sarah, smiles on their faces.

Gabriella looked at her friends and finally let go of the corner of her lip that she had been chewing on. "All right, let's dance!"

The four girls laughed a little together as they held hands and got onto the dance floor, having the time of their lives and just enjoying each other's company.

The East High varsity basketball team arrived at the Masquerade Ball around 10:30 after a very long and late dinner. They had dressed in suits and had thrown on the same mask Zeke had bought all of them earlier on in the week. Currently, an hour later, most of the guys were still lingering along one side of the room, watching the dancers on the dance floor enjoy themselves while they just talked together.

'Having anonymity at an event like this has distinct advantages, like not having to say hello to everyone or searching for a certain "girlfriend",' thought Troy. A group of girls walked by and giggled, all waving their hands at the group of guys gathered together. 'Then again, there are some that will recognize us if we stay clumped like this. Oh well!'

"So how are we supposed to know what girls we can dance with?" asked Jason.

"What do you mean J? Just find a girl who isn't attached to the hip with a guy," replied Zeke.

"Well yeah, if this was just an East High dance. What if the girl ends up going to West?" argued Jason.

"So what man?" responded Troy. "Doesn't make her your enemy. Sometimes I think this school wide dislike for each other is just ridiculous. Yeah, we have our problems with certain people on the West's basketball team personally, but that doesn't mean every student there is on the crap list in my books at least."

"But you are just saying that because your latest crush is a West High student, which by the way I would not run around school proclaiming. That wasn't the tune you were singing a few weeks ago about West," pointed out Chad.

Troy swallowed, knowing that his best friend had a valid point. "Look, all I'm saying is that it really shouldn't matter what school any of us go to and also, let me point this out, that tonight's dance is all about getting along and intermingling."

"Oh yeah? Well how about we pick out a random girl from this set and we'll make you dance with her?" suggested Zeke.

Troy rolled his eyes. "And that would prove what?"

"I'm just saying, if you are all for not caring who you dance with, why don't you prove it? Dance with some random girl we choose and risk the reputation you'll earn for it if she's a West High girl."

"Well if I'm going to do it, I say we all do it," returned Troy.

"Nope, this is your thing. You want to prove a point that we should be more open-minded about girls no matter their school, you dance with who we choose, no arguing," stated Chad.

"But I have a girlfriend," complained Troy.

Chad choked on his laughter. "I know you did not just try to weasel out of this with that excuse. We all know you aren't all that attached to her now, especially lately."

Troy sighed, knowing Jason was thinking the same thing. "Fine, pick."

Jason, Zeke, and Chad gathered together and singled out a girl who was sipping from a glass near the refreshment table, sort of in the shadows although her ivory dress was very visible from where they stood. "Her, that girl dressed in the strapless white dress, next to the refreshment table," stated Jason.

Troy turned his attention over to the area his friends were pointing at and groaned. "Guys, you just picked out Alicia!"

The three laughed for a few moments before they sobered. "Well, what are the odds of that," said Zeke. "How do you know for sure though? Her face is covered."

"Because I was there when she bought that dress," replied Troy. "But if you still want me to dance with her, I will, just to shut you boys up."

"We did pick her so I guess you're stuck, sorry bud. At least she isn't a West chick," said Chad, dooming Troy to make his way over to her.

Troy started walking towards his "mission" and stopped shortly when he was in front of her. "Care to dance?" he asked, noting his voice was a bit huskier than normal.

She smiled back at him and nodded after a moment of hesitation, gently taking his offered hand. 'That's a bit odd behavior for her,' thought Troy.

A slow song was playing so Troy pulled her close to him, placing his arms around her, his hands resting on the small of her back while she reached up and let her hands linger on his shoulders.

Almost instantly, as they started to sway together, Troy started to realize that the girl he was dancing with was not his girlfriend. Now that she was in the light, well the dim light that was cast by the rotating lights from the DJ, Troy noticed her hair wasn't black but was a dark brown with waves that were kept together in her updo. 'Who is she?' he wondered as he searched her eyes while she stared back up at him but didn't say anything.

Taking her lead, Troy continued to dance with her in silence, thinking of all the differences in the way she even moved in his arms, so different from any other girl he had danced with. 'It's almost like we've known each other forever and can move as one without even knowing who each other are,' he thought.

The song eventually ended and his partner made a move to step out of his embrace but something made Troy pull her back to him, noting the blush that had risen on her cheeks that were visible under the mask as another slow ballad came on. As a few verses of the second song passed, she seemed to relax into his hold again, even letting Troy pull her a little bit closer to him, not even realizing he was doing it.

A third slow song came on and this time, neither made a move to step away from the other. Troy had caught her looking up at him, studying him, a few times but at other times she seemed content with just dancing with him while she looked away from him. While he was studying her smiling profile towards the end of the current song, she turned her head and smiled a little more while she flushed pink again as her eyes connected with his. The two leaned in towards each other, giving in to the draw they both felt towards each other, and sighed together as their lips finally met, in the softest of kisses. When they pulled apart, Troy chuckled lightly as she placed two of her fingertips up to her lips, touching it as if she was wondering at the feeling. 'I felt the chemistry too, trust me,' he thought as he continued to watch her before leaning down and kissing her again.

The two were interrupted when a girl Troy vaguely recognized ran over to them, easily recognizable to the girl he was dancing with since the lights were now back on for a few moments for the unveiling. "Gabriella, it's time to take your mask off babe! It's midnight!"

'GABRIELLA?' he wondered as the girl untied the strings of the mask Gabriella was wearing and took it off, revealing her whole face, especially her brown eyes, to Troy's view. 'Wow.'

Gabriella looked over at Tessa for a moment as she took her mask back from her friend before she turned her attention to the guy whose arms she was still in. "And your identity?" she asked.

Troy raised a shaking hand up to the bottom of his mask and lifted it up so that it was resting on the top of his head, watching her reaction as he did so.

"TROY?" questioned Gabriella, shocked that the charming young man she had just danced with, not needing any conversation with, was the same guy from New Year's. 'Well that would make sense with that familiar draw and chemistry I felt just now like I felt then.'

Before either could say anything further to each other, they were interrupted again but this time by a screech. Gabriella felt herself pushed out of Troy's hold by the girl who was unmasked and wearing the same dress as her, the girl from the mall and the game, Troy's girlfriend. Even before she could say anything, Gabriella felt a sharp pain on her cheek as the girl's hand made contact, effectively leaving a red mark from her slap. "SLUT!" screamed the girl before Troy and one of his friends, the guy with the big head of hair, pulled her away.

Tessa shot the girl a look that could kill before turning her attention to Gabriella, who was now gingerly touching her stinging cheek. "Gaby, are you okay?"

Tears filled Gabriella's eyes as she watched Troy look down at the girl in his arms that he was restraining with the help of his friend while also trying to push away the pain from the slap. Soon, she saw Sarah, Beth, and even Taylor run to her aid, concern in their eyes. Taylor looked at her new friend and back over at the offender. "Alicia!" exclaimed Taylor, now realizing that the person who attacked Gabriella was in fact Troy's girlfriend.

"What? And who are you anyway?" asked Alicia, a little bit more calm than a few moments before. "A West High slut?"

Taylor rolled her eyes. "Actually, I go to East High with you but then again, I wouldn't expect a popular wannabe to know who I am. Troy, why don't you get her out of here with the rest of your jock crew?"

Troy ignored the comment as he let go of the non-struggling Alicia and made his way towards Gabriella before he felt his hand being grabbed firmly and then his arm yanked back in the other direction. "TROY! You better not be going to comfort that slut!" screamed Alicia.

He took one last look at Gabriella, feeling guilty for what just happened to her, before he turned his attention back on Alicia. "What makes her that Alicia? I don't see a single thing about her that qualifies her for that undignified title."

Alicia angrily yanked her arm away from Chad's grasp as she realized he still had her in his hold before stepping closer to Troy. "What makes HER a SLUT? Let me think…SHE KISSED MY BOYFRIEND!"

Troy noticed it got quieter in the room as he suspected Alicia just grabbed the attention of most of the students in the room but pushed it aside, not willing to allow this girl to go any further. "Wrong Alicia, I kissed her, well at least the second time but that's beside the point."

"YOU KISSED TWICE?!?" screamed a now hysterical Alicia. "TWICE?"

Troy groaned. "Yes, twice. Listen, why don't we take this outside so we can talk in private, all right?"

"No, I refuse to go anywhere with you Troy Bolton! I can't believe you kissed her! She's probably some trash from West High. I've never seen her before and she's not even pretty!"

"Actually, I think she is," returned Troy. "Beautiful actually, but your name calling isn't getting you anywhere Alicia. Come on, let's go and talk about this outside."

"Absolutely not! I refuse to be shut up by you! How did she lure you away Troy? I was willing to give you anything you wanted, anything you needed. Why wasn't I enough?"

"It just hasn't been working Alicia, you know that," admitted Troy.

"But it has!" protested Alicia. "Everything was fine until tonight. We may have had a few fights lately but that's just it, they were simple fights. Wait, I know, you thought she was me while she had her mask on, right? You saw the dress and thought it was me you were dancing with and so you kissed me. That makes sense. Troy, please tell me that was it."

'Tempting as it is to lie right now, I can't,' thought Troy before he shook his head, causing her to scream louder. "Alicia, please, I'm going to ask this one last time. Please come and talk with me outside."

"FORGET IT! I DON'T WANT TO BE WITH ANY GUY WHO CHEATS ON ME. I AM WAY BETTER THAN THAT!" screamed Alicia.

Sighing, Troy agreed, surprising them all. "You're right Alicia, you do deserve someone who will be faithful to you and will love you. Obviously, that's not me. I guess we are over then, huh?"

Hearing his words sobered Alicia quickly, knowing Troy was absolutely serious about ending their relationship. "NO! Wait, Troy, we don't have to break up, honest. I can overlook this, I can."

"No, you've said enough tonight Alicia. Besides, I don't think I can be with a girl who viciously tampers with my phone and doesn't respect my friends," said Troy, knowing every word he said was true and hearing the anger in his voice himself.

"Troy, please, I won't do that ever again! Your cell phone will be off limits to me and I'll be nice to your friends, honest," pleaded Alicia.

"I'm sorry Alicia, it's over," said Troy in a soft yet firm voice, looking her in the eyes before he turned back around to look at Gabriella, who was still staring at him.

"Answer me this," called out Alicia from behind him. "She's the girl from the picture, isn't she? The one on your phone?"

Troy turned back around and pinned her with a look with his currently steel blue and gray eyes. "Maybe, maybe not. Because I never knew who called that night you decided to ignore the call and then delete it from my phone, I honestly can't answer you. Your tricks, the nastiness you've developed, all of it has led up to tonight Alicia. It's no one else's fault except for mine as well as yours for not having the guts to end it sooner. Gabriella has no fault in this at all."

"Troy Bolton, you are going to live to regret this, mark my words!" threatened Alicia one last time before she ran out of the large room with no one following her.

Chad shot him a worried look before Troy turned his attention back on Gabriella. "Gabriella, are you all right?" he asked, finally able to walk back to her.

Gabriella hesitantly nodded her head. "It just stings, I'm fine. Are you okay?"

"Surprisingly, yes. As Chad would say, this has been coming for a long time," replied Troy. "And before you ask, no, I am not in the habit of kissing random girls and cheating on my girlfriend. Both were a first for me tonight but I'm glad. I can't believe we've found each other again."

She stared back at him, feeling as if everyone around them disappeared as she gazed into his sky blue eyes. "Me either," she returned, closing her eyes at the sensations his hand caused when he gingerly held it up to her injured cheek. The wonderful feelings only increased when Gabriella opened her eyes and watched as Troy leaned in and softly kissed her cheek.

Troy smiled down at her as he pulled away. "Maybe that will make it feel better?"

Just as Gabriella was about to answer, she watched in horror as a fist flew out of nowhere and connected with Troy's jaw. "STAY AWAY FROM HER!" yelled the owner of the fist.

Troy stumbled back a step and then rubbed his jaw as he eyed the other guy. "Riley Sutton, so we finally come to blows. I think you are just using a fake relationship with Gabriella to just get in a fight with me. I know you've been itching for one since we were freshman."

"Troy, don't," pleaded Gabriella, not wanting to see him hurt. "There's nothing going on with me and Riley. It's not worth it!"

He took his eyes off of Riley for a moment to look over at Gabriella, who was giving him an imploring look with her eyes to not fight tonight. Troy nodded his head in agreement with her wishes before he turned his attention back to his opponent. "You heard the lady, she would rather us not fight over a non-existent issue."

This enraged Riley even more so he acted on his impulse and launched himself at Troy, bringing both of them down to the ground where they began to wrestle and throw punches where they could.

Gabriella watched from the sidelines, wanting to break it up but unable to see where she could successfully pull them apart. She forgot about her stinging cheek as she began to worry more for Troy's safety as she heard the sounds of bone meeting bone through layers of skin and clothing.

Within a few moments, Chad and Jason were able to pull Troy away from Riley while two of Riley's teammates did the same with him. Security finally made it and eyed the two boys who were now bruised and bleeding. "Both of you, out!" called out a guard.

There were immediate protests from the crowd.

"West High started it!"

"East High is lying!"

"Riley threw the first punch!"

"Bolton insulted Riley and his girl!"

"ENOUGH!" yelled another guard. "If you want to continue this dance, I suggest you all be quiet."

"Now, you three, and you three, outside, now," instructed a third guard, pointing to Riley and his teammates as well as Troy and his two friends.

"Troy!" called out Gabriella, unable to help herself as tears filled her eyes again at the thought that Troy was about to get into big trouble because of her.

He turned his head towards her and gave her a reassuring smile after Troy saw her mouth, "I'm sorry."

After the two groups of guys were gone, the DJ started playing music again but Gabriella still felt that there were too many pairs of eyes watching her at the moment. Sensing her unease, Taylor and Tessa both wrapped an arm around their friend.

"Come on Gabriella, let's go," said Tessa, shooting glares at the people who dared to give her friend dirty looks. When they got to Sarah's car, they were about to get in when Tessa realized Taylor was backing away. "Tay, do you have a ride?"

"No, I'll just get a cab or something," replied Taylor, stopping her retreat.

"No way, get in the car," stated Sarah. "We are not leaving you here after what just happened."

"But I live out of your way," protested Taylor.

Sarah rolled her eyes. "Just get in silly. I think we can use the talk time anyway. We have thirty minutes before Gabriella turns into a pumpkin, which is enough time to get you home and then her, right on time."

Taylor threw Gabriella a questioning look, not knowing how Gabriella felt about East High students at the moment. "Come on Taylor, I know you aren't anything like Alicia, far from it," invited Gabriella, feeling Taylor's uncertainty.

Gabriella scooted over to the middle seat in the back so Taylor could climb into the car, giving her a smile. Sarah then started up the car and reversed out of her spot, exiting the parking lot within moments.

"Wait, what about Troy?" said Gabriella, worry evident in her voice.

"Don't worry about him Gaby," soothed Tessa. "He's got his friends. They'll make sure he's okay."

"Yeah Gabriella. Chad and Jason will stand by him and support him. I'm sure Zeke is also on his way to help save the day, they are inseparable like that. Troy will be fine," assured Taylor.

Gabriella sighed. "I guess you are right," she said. She still felt bad though over the mess he was involved in because of her so Gabriella pulled out her cell phone and decided to text him.

I'm so sorry about tonight, I hope you are okay. I'd understand if you never want to talk to me again but I needed to say that I am very sorry. Oh, and thank you for the dance. You just might be a better dancer than you are a singer, maybe.

She pressed send and heard a giggle from both girls she sat between. "What?"

"If you weren't infatuated with him before, you are so under Troy Bolton's spell now," teased Tessa, who had read the message over her friend's shoulder.

Gabriella didn't say anything further while she slipped her phone back into her purse but shook her head at her friend's antics. 'I know it'll be a while until she drops this but tonight, the way Troy made me feel again, was all worth it,' thought Gabriella with a dreamy smile as she thought back to the dance and those magical kisses.

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