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One week later, Gabriella and Taylor, along with the rest of their scholastic decathlon team, nervously stood in front of the panel of judges that would preside over the final round of Nationals. They had passed the first four rounds with minimal problems but knew that the team they faced in this last round was the best of every school that had competed in the Scholastic Decathlon around the nation. The two girls hardly noticed Troy and Chad, who were sitting in the audience, having flown out with the team to California for the event and the weekend.
"Are you sure you are okay doing the final equation on the board?" asked Taylor. "You seem really nervous."
"Not any more nervous than you are," returned Gabriella. "I can do the final equation of the round for the team. We've prepared all this time but you, missy, need to make sure you are ready for the second one."
Taylor nodded as the judges signaled for the teams to take their seats. There would be three questions to tackle, the first would be done as a group, the second by a selected individual, which for East was Taylor, and the third would also be by a different individual, for East it was Gabriella. The team had debated on this strategy with their moderator before they entered the room and everyone had confidence that the two girls could pull off the win for East High before they left the team for college after graduation.
The first question was delivered to the East High team and the JFK High team from Florida at the same time before the timer was started. Gabriella and Taylor started right in with their team and started to work it out on their paper.
Troy and Chad watched from the audience, nervous along with their girlfriends, who had been busy working out the problem with their team for the past twelve minutes. Chad was truthfully a bit bored after a whole morning of the earlier rounds but knew this competition meant the world to Taylor and Gabriella both.
"How much longer is this going to take?" asked Chad just as JFK High ran up to stop the timer, indicating that they had finished the problem.
"Oh no, that's not good," commented Troy as one of the judges looked over their work and gave a thumbs up sign, indicating that they were correct.
Troy saw the crestfallen look on Gabriella's face and felt his heart break for her. She had been so excited the night before when they had taken a walk around the neighborhood of the hotel before the moderator's curfew came into effect.
I can't believe we are actually here in the Los Angeles area together! Thank you so much for coming, Troy. It means the world to me!" exclaimed Gabriella with a grin on her face.
The two were walking hand in hand along the busy street, quite a change from their usual Albuquerque surroundings. "I wouldn't miss it. After all the support you have given me through the years with basketball, it was the least Chad and I could do," said Troy. "Plus, having your parents and Taylor's parents write notes to give permission for your moderator to leave you behind in Los Angeles with us so we could spend the weekend together here just makes it even better. I know that Chad wants to check out UCLA on Saturday, but I figured after that, we could explore a little before we leave Sunday morning."
"That sounds wonderful, but we do have Nationals tomorrow morning. I can't really see past that at the moment, sorry," replied Gabriella.
"Don't be. That's why we are here after all. So are you nervous at all?" asked Troy.
"Are you kidding? Probably more nervous than our final call back for Twinkle Towne. This is huge, Troy. If we could win this year and leave that as our legacy, it would mean so much to both me and Taylor," explained Gabriella. "That's why I'm so nervous."
"Just remember, take it one question at a time and when you are up there in the final round, because I know you guys will make it at least that far, remember I'll be out there cheering for you," said Troy.
Gabriella smiled. "I know, and that helps a lot. You'll be there to remind me it's just like kindergarten, right?"
"Exactly," returned Troy with a smile.
By the time Troy came back from his memory, Taylor was in the middle of her problem on the board in the front.
"Dude, where did you just go?" asked Chad as he noticed Troy was back in the moment.
"Just thinking back to last night," answered Troy. "I hope they make it through this as Champions, otherwise we are going to have two depressed girls on our hands."
"Not to mention a horrible weekend if that happens," replied Chad.
Both watched as Taylor finished the equation on the board eight minutes later and ran to stop the timer. They saw the second get up and judge the work on the board this time and then give a thumb up sign to signal it was correct.
"I guess it's all up to Gab now," murmured Chad as the same thought passed through Gabriella's own mind.
'We're tied and it's up to me. No pressure, right Gabriella?' she thought as she hugged Taylor in congratulations.
Soon, Gabriella was handed the question card as she eyed the guy who she would be competing against from JFK receive the same question. She pushed all other thoughts aside though as she dedicated her mind to examining the question, making sure she knew every aspect of it, even after Gabriella noticed her opponent already at the board. 'This is definitely complex.'
When she was confident she knew what she was doing, Gabriella got up and started writing out the answer on the board, concentrating on writing out every aspect of the equation in order, no mistakes. Sometime after, according to the timer Gabriella glanced at, it was twenty-two minutes after she was given the card and her opponent hit the timer to indicate he was finished. Not letting that discourage her, Gabriella continued to write out her work despite the murmurings going on in the room about JFK possibly being the new champs. Just as Gabriella was finished writing out everything, she heard the judge make an announcement.
"JFK has finished first, but there was an error with the work and final answer. Chance goes to East High to finish and if correct, they will be the new Nationals champions of this year's Scholastic Decathlon competition," said the judge as she sat back down.
Gabriella looked over her work one last time and put down the marker. She looked over at Taylor and her team as they gave her their best confident smiles and then up at Troy and Chad, who were grinning down at her. 'This is the moment, now or never.'
She turned off the timer that was reset after it was declared that JFK was incorrect and nervously watched as the judge that looked over JFK's board examined her work. Taylor came over and stood with Gabriella, gripping her hand tightly in hers as they watched the judge go over every detail.
Finally, the judge turned around and smiled at the two girls and the East High team before she gave her thumb up. "WE DID IT!" exclaimed Taylor as she and Gabriella both started jumping up and down in their excitement.
"East High from Albuquerque, New Mexico is the new Scholastic Decathlon National Champions for this school year. Congratulations!" announced the third judge as she handed Gabriella and Taylor their trophy.
The entire team exchanged hugs, including their moderator, before they shook hands with the opposing team. The guy who opposed Gabriella shook her hand and smiled before he said, "Congratulations. You really do deserve the win after getting that problem right. That was the most complicated problem I've ever seen."
Gabriella smiled back at him. "Thanks, that means a lot. You and your team did well too."
He smiled back at her and let her go as she joined the rest of the team for a few pictures by press and family and friends. As they were looking different directions, Gabriella noticed her mother was one of the photographers. 'She made it!'
When the last flash went off, she ran to her mother and hugged Ms. Montez as tightly as she could. "You came!"
Ms. Montez laughed as she squeezed her daughter one last time before she let her go. "Of course I did. I've been working on coming out for the day ever since I knew you would be competing here. I didn't want to tell you in case something happened and I didn't want to be a distraction."
"Mom, this means so much to me," said Gabriella, "to always have you here to support me."
"I will always support you, even when you are far away at MIT. You are my baby girl, Gabriella," declared Ms. Montez as she hugged her daughter and kissed her on the cheek. She spied Troy waiting a short distance away and smiled. "You better go greet your boyfriend. His patience waiting for you may be running a bit short."
Gabriella laughed as she stepped away from her mom and ran over to Troy, who twirled her around. "Congratulations, brainiac! You did amazing up there!" exclaimed Troy after he kissed her soundly. "I knew you could do it!"
"It was a team effort though, Troy," protested Gabriella.
"Stop being modest. Yes it was in large part a team effort, but you, Miss Montez, were the last single competitor and the tie breaker," replied Troy. "You deserve this success, along with Taylor and the rest of your team. You've worked so hard."
"Thanks," returned Gabriella with a smile. "Now, in Chad's words, let's go celebrate!"
Troy laughed as the two walked with Ms. Montez away from the staged area for the decathlon and joined the team that were already ready to head on out and celebrate at a nice early dinner before the rest of the team and Ms. Montez flew back to Albuquerque later that night.