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"Oh please Paul, let's sneak out of here," pleaded Gabriella, desperately trying to get her only ally in the house to go off to the Homecoming game currently going on at East High. It was now the second week of October and Gabriella had been mandated by her parents, especially her dad, to stay home and away from the game as it was East High vs. West High. "Please?"
Paul shook his head, chuckling as she tried her puppy face. "Sorry, I'm not Troy and that is not going to work with me. Besides, it's already been an hour of the game. Why would you want to go now?"
"Because I want to see East kill West on the football field?" offered Gabriella.
"Hold that thought," said Paul as his cell phone started to ring and he answered, walking away from Gabriella but keeping her in his sight as he knew she would ditch him and make a run for it as soon as he turned his back on her.
When Paul came back, he had a grim look on his face. "What is it?" asked Gabriella.
"You are definitely not going to the game now. We sent a team out to the game to scope it out. If they thought it was safe, I was going to take you as a surprise but they've seen a couple of guys wearing West High varsity jackets asking around for you. I'm guessing it's the basketball team again. I'm sorry Gabriella but you aren't going anywhere tonight," expressed Paul. "It's not safe and there are photographers outside the gate here and at the game waiting for you as the trial is starting to heat up as little bits of information is coming out to the public from an unknown source. You don't want to get hounded do you?"
Gabriella shook her head. "No, of course not. Fine, I guess we'll just camp it here. Want to watch a movie with me?"
"Sure," agreed Paul, knowing that he owed her at least that much. He followed her into the room they had dubbed the theater room as the previous owners of the mansion had been movie fanatics and had comfy cushioned seats installed in the room with a projection screen and projector that played DVDs. "So what torturous girl flick are you making me watch tonight?"
"Hmm, Romeo and Juliet with Leonardo DiCaprio as Romeo," decided Gabriella, moving to the wall with all the DVDs and pulling it out after locating it. Paul took it from her and loaded it into the DVD player, hearing an unexpected voice as the opening credits started.
"Feeling all Shakespearean are we?" asked Sharpay, who had just entered the theater room with Ryan. "Ry and I thought we'd come over to keep you company since you weren't allowed to go to the game. I don't know why you would want to go to the stupid game anyway to be honest."
"Because it's a normal high school activity that I wanted to attend," returned Gabriella with a smile. "Movie night with good company is good too though. Why don't you two sit down?"
"Thanks," said Ryan as he sat on one side of Gabriella while Sharpay sat on the other side as Paul had taken a seat towards the back.
Gabriella's mind drifted to the subject of her and Troy as the movie played on, especially during the party scene where the two young lovers meet, reminding her of their own real chance encounter back in the winter months. She focused back on the movie as Sharpay elbowed her a little, giving her a knowing look.
When the movie ended, Ryan looked over and chuckled as he saw both his sister and Gabriella wiping away a few tears. "Are you two actually crying? You especially Sharpay have seen this plenty of times before!"
"So? It's such a sweet, romantic movie. No wonder I crushed on Leonardo so much when I was younger! Between this and Titanic, he was totally the hottie of the times," returned Sharpay, giving her brother a look he was far too used to. "I think it just is so tragically romantic how they die for each other all right?"
Gabriella nodded her agreement. "It is romantic but very sad too yet happy since you know they are together on a different level of existence somewhere."
"Again, just a play girls, well in this case a movie. Paul, help me out!" pleaded Ryan who received only a chuckle from the bodyguard who had gotten up to turn on the lights again and stop the DVD before putting it back with the rest.
"Come on Ryan, let's go get some girly ice cream," said Gabriella, taking his hand and pulling him up as they walked to the kitchen where Gabriella immediately pulled out a tub of chocolate chip cookie dough ice cream and started scooping ice cream into four bowls.
Sharpay scrunched her nose up at this. "Gabriella, don't you have servants to do this for you?" asked Sharpay, looking pointedly at Paul, who was leaning against the counter next to Gabriella.
"Nope, I like to do things myself too Sharpay," returned Gabriella, who continued scooping. "And don't look at Paul, he is not my servant."
"Bodyguard, servant, isn't it the same thing?" questioned Sharpay. "I guess I'm just amazed that you're a princess yet are very independent. I think I use servants more than you do."
Ryan laughed at this. "I think that's a given sis," stated Ryan, getting slapped on the arm by Sharpay for his efforts. "Oh come on, you seriously are way too dependent on our team at home! You call them in the middle of the night to ask for a glass of iced tea with a lemon, waking one of them up, when you very well can just go downstairs and pour yourself a glass."
"Well, that's what they are there for aren't they?" replied Sharpay.
Gabriella just let her friend's comments slide by as she passed out the bowls and returned the tub of ice cream back into the freezer. She had found over the past few weeks of really getting to know the blonde girl that this was simply how Sharpay was, how she saw life, and nothing would change that for Sharpay. Gabriella jumped up on the granite counter and started eating while Sharpay and Ryan sat on the barstools and ate at the counter, Paul eating his while he leaned against the counter still.
They were almost done when Taylor, Tessa, and Zeke appeared in the kitchen. "Hey!" greeted Gabriella with a bright smile that disappeared when Chad showed up supporting Troy a little, who was clutching his side. "Oh my God, what happened?"
Gabriella jumped off the counter, putting aside her ice cream and running over to Troy, who was now leaning against a wall. "Stupid West boys are acting up again," replied Troy as he winced again as he felt Gabriella's hands lightly move over his side where he had gotten punched pretty hard by Mark Sanchez earlier at the game, sometime in the last quarter.
"J, Chad, and I found Troy surrounded by Mark and a few of his boys and jumped in to try to give him some help. Your security team broke up anything though before it got too out of hand," explained Zeke from where he stood with his arms around Tessa.
"Hey Gab, is there any ice cream left?" asked Chad, earning a smack from Taylor.
"Inappropriate much?" hissed Taylor, embarrassed her boyfriend was looking to feed his face while Troy was obviously hurt.
"Yeah, check the freezer. Actually, toss me one of those gel ice packs while you are in there please," responded Gabriella, catching it from Chad who then got down to scooping some ice cream for himself and the others. Gabriella gently raised Troy's shirt and bit her lip from making any noise as she saw the darkening patch of skin. She shook her head and felt a tear course down her cheek before Troy reached out and wiped it away with the pad of his thumb. "I'm so sorry Troy."
He shook his head. "You didn't do this to me Gabriella, Sanchez did. Unless you ordered him to attempt to beat me up, which I highly doubt, you have nothing to be sorry about."
"But this, and this," said Gabriella, pointing to his side and the slight scar that was faintly visible still through his eyebrow from the fight at the fraternity party, "would never have happened if it wasn't for me. Even the scar that's hidden now because of the bruise from the night Riley attacked me wouldn't exist on your body if we had never met, if you hadn't gotten involved with me."
"Hey, look at me," pleaded Troy, lifting Gabriella's chin up so she was looking directly into his eyes. "This is a small price to pay to have you in my life Gabriella, I've said that before and I still mean it. Don't you see Brie? You've brought far more into my life that is good, that is pure, than whatever scars my body may carry for it. You and our love means that much to me."
"Oh Troy," responded Gabriella, leaning up and kissing him before pulling away again and remembering the iced gel pack in her hands. "This is going to be cold all right?"
He nodded his understanding as she gently pressed the pack to his side, controlling his reaction to only a shudder at the coldness to not worry her further.
"Ah, no wonder I heard lots of talking all of a sudden," said Stephen as he and his wife entered the kitchen, seeing all the teenagers and Paul in the room. "I'm guessing the game is over?"
"Yup and East definitely kicked some West butt, err, tail, err…East won," answered Zeke, failing to find the right words that would be appropriate for what he wanted to say in front of Gabriella's parents.
"Good," replied Stephen, turning his attention to Gabriella and Troy, noticing that Gabriella had Troy's shirt raised and was holding an ice pack to his side. "What happened Troy?"
Troy gazed back at Gabriella's father, unsure of how much to reveal to him. Curtis entered the room, seeing that some of Gabriella's friends and her boyfriend who were at the game earlier were there. "Your highness, can I speak with you privately?"
Stephen gave his daughter's boyfriend one last look before following Curtis to another room to hear the briefing of the game that Stephen had sent Curtis and three others to in order to get a true feeling of what was going on at East High without chancing Gabriella's safety.
"Troy, maybe we should move you to a couch so you can lay down," suggested Annette, making Gabriella wonder why she hadn't thought that herself. Zeke moved to give Troy a hand in walking to the nearest living room that had a couch and helped Troy lie down, Gabriella placing the ice pack back on Troy's side under his shirt. "Do you want some Advil or Tylenol?"
"Got it right here your highness," chimed in Paul, who had gotten some pain killers and a glass of water for Troy as the others moved to the yellow living room where the teens were all seated around the room. He handed them over to Troy who gratefully took them both, swallowing the pills and drinking the glass of water before handing Gabriella the glass to put on the side table. Paul saw the bruise as Gabriella adjusted the ice pack and winced himself at the darkened skin that covered Troy's side but also abdomen. "Gabriella, I will be back with a bigger ice pack we keep in the training room. He's going to need it."
Paul disappeared just as Stephen came back in, shaking his head. "What is it?" asked Annette, seeing the upset look on her husband's face. "Is something else wrong?"
"No, Curtis just informed me that not only were there murmurings of some West High students looking for Gabriella but that there was an actual start of a fight which is where I believe Troy here got his bruise on his side. Curtis said they stopped it but weren't able to intervene before the first punch was thrown. Is this true Troy?" asked Stephen, looking at Gabriella's boyfriend direct in the eyes. "What was the fight about?"
Troy swallowed, giving himself some time to think and to choose his words wisely. "I got surrounded by our rivals when I was coming back from the bathroom. Zeke, Chad, and our friend Jason arrived to be by my side before anything happened, just the taunting."
"What was the taunting about?" pushed Stephen, already knowing what it most likely was. Troy nervously looked over at Gabriella, who was sitting on the edge of one of the couch's cushions as she held the new ice pack Paul had just given her over Troy's injury. Stephen saw the look and that was all he needed to know. "You were protecting my daughter's honor weren't you."
Unable to lie to Stephen, Troy nodded his head, looking away from Gabriella, knowing the admission would upset her. "Yes sir," responded Troy. "They were looking for trouble tonight anyway."
"But they knew she was your soft spot, that you were their connection to Gabriella," replied Stephen. "If they hurt you, they would hurt her."
"With all due respect sir, I don't know if this was all because of your daughter," stated Zeke. "There's been a deep rivalry between East High and West High for a long time and West guys are known for just trying to start trouble where they can."
"I appreciate you trying to help Zeke but this just confirmed my fears about it not being safe for Gabriella to go to anything school related except for school itself and that is already pushing it. I'm sorry Gabriella but you won't be going to the Homecoming Dance tomorrow night," revealed Stephen, giving his daughter a regretful look.
"No! Dad, you can't do that!" protested Gabriella, getting off the couch and standing up, facing her father. "That's not fair!"
"I'm sorry Gabriella but that's final. It's too risky," apologized Stephen, hating to ruin his daughter's plans but not willing to risk losing her for a high school dance.
Annette looked between her daughter and her husband, seeing their wills starting to clash again. 'There has to be something I can do to smooth this out before this escalates into another yelling match between the two.'
Troy looked over at Gabriella, who wore a heartbroken expression on her face mixed with her frustration at now being told she couldn't go to the dance. "Hey, Brie, I'll stay home with you. We don't need to go to the dance just so I can make a fool of myself on the dance floor."
Gabriella turned and looked back at Troy after hearing his gentle voice, soothing her nerves. "Are you sure Troy?" she asked, walking back to the couch and sitting down on the edge again. "It's your senior year, your last Homecoming Dance at East High."
Troy shrugged his shoulders, taking her right hand in his. "It won't matter if I go if you aren't there with me. We'll just stay home, here, and have our own fun. That is, good clean PG-13 fun," corrected Troy, blushing as his own ears heard how his words could have been misinterpreted. "We could dance without the fear of being made fun of, well that's meant for me, and we can also maybe even cook a dinner together? We can totally make the best of it."
Tessa felt a grin cross her face again as she saw the sweetness of this latest gesture of Troy's in an effort to make Gabriella feel less awkward in these different situations. "I'll be here too, that is if you want company and not just alone date time," offered Tessa. "It's not like I can go to East's Homecoming dance with my boyfriend anyway."
Gabriella looked back at Troy and asked with a look if that was okay. "Sure, that would be great Tessa," replied Troy, getting a kiss on the cheek from his girlfriend. "Just no teasing all night long all right?"
"I think I can manage that," agreed Tessa.
"Whoa, hold up. If my girlfriend is going to be here, I'd rather be here with you guys than at the dance. Can you make room for one more on the VIP list?" asked Zeke.
"So a double date?" summed up Gabriella, looking at Troy to see his reaction, which looked to be positive gauging from the smile on his face. "I think we can handle that."
"You do realize that I feel horribly left out now," complained Sharpay. "Why do we need a silly high school dance anyway? As Troy said, we can have our own fun here or at our place. We have full control of the music that way and no stupid other people ruining the night. I say we all just skip it and make our own party. I can talk to Mommy or Daddy about hosting it at our mansion."
Annette and Stephen both stood there, amazed at this turn of events. 'I've always known Gabriella knew how to pick her friends but this is just amazing they are all willing to give up their last Homecoming Dance to spend the night with her, and especially for Troy for starting it all by his offer,' thought Annette, looking at all the faces in the room which were getting more excited as ideas started getting tossed around. She looked to Stephen, who was also in a thoughtful mode. "What do you say to us hosting it here sweet husband of mine? After all, it is because of our issues with Gabriella's security that her friends are rallying to make sure she isn't left at home alone."
Stephen didn't need to think about it for a moment longer. "I agree, let's have the pseudo Homecoming Dance here. It'll be good to provide them all with some fun in a safe environment, one where I can keep an eye on our daughter at all times too."
"You will not!" replied Annette. "Really Stephen, if Troy's behavior in regards to Gabriella by now hasn't shown you that he is worthy of your trust in this regards, I don't know what will."
"That's just it, she's my baby girl Annette. I'll always see any guy that's not me as a threat and yes I admit that," responded Stephen.
Annette gave her husband a small smile. "Well, I can respect that but you do have to let her grow up sometimes Stephen, trust me. So will you make the announcement or should I?"
"Why don't you? That way they all still see me as the strict father," said Stephen with a wink.
After a small laugh and a shake of her head, Annette cleared her throat getting the attention of everyone in the room. "Well, Stephen and I have talked about it and since you are all deciding to ditch your Homecoming Dance to spend time with our daughter because of our decision, Stephen and I would be happy to host this event for you tomorrow night. I'll work on finding a DJ of some sort and will figure out the best place in this huge house for you to have it."
Gabriella grinned at this and ran up to hug both of her parents, thanking them both for making this new idea of the gang's possible.
"Why don't we potluck it for dinner then?" suggested Zeke. "We can all get dressed up in our planned attire and then come over here at like 5:30 each with a dish and just share. It'll be fun to taste what everyone makes."
"Says the expert baker and cook," joked Chad. "I'm game with that. Everyone else?"
Everyone in the room nodded their heads. "What about Kelsi, Martha, and J?" asked Gabriella. "And Sharpay, I'm sure you want to bring your boyfriend, and Ryan if you have a date."
"Michael will be here definitely. I think he'll actually be relieved we'll be going to a friend's party instead of a high school dance," revealed Sharpay. "I can do the decorations!"
"Umm, only if you promise everything won't be sparkly pink," replied Taylor, already knowing that would be the color of everything as was typical Sharpay Evans style.
"I'll call J and see if he's game," offered Zeke.
Taylor raised her hand quickly. "I'll make sure Martha and Kelsi are here. Just the gang, right?"
"And their dates but I think that yes, that's about the limit," decided Gabriella, taking a seat again next to Troy. "And Sharpay, I would love for you to help me with decorations but we won't go too overboard, all right?"
Sharpay rolled her eyes. "Now where is the fun in that huh? All right, we'll go shopping tomorrow morning. OH! We so have to get a background so we can do those cheesy pictures with our own digital cameras!"
Gabriella laughed. "All right, we can do that too. So it's all set then?"
Troy looked around at their group of friends who all had smiles on their faces while they nodded their agreement. "Well, I guess that's settled then. Who needs East High's Homecoming Dance when the real party is going to be right here tomorrow night, eh?"
The girls quickly gathered around Gabriella to start talking about getting together to get dressed and to do each other's hair and makeup while the guys, for lack of anything else to talk about, started talking about their favorite topic when the girls were around, sports. Troy and Gabriella though couldn't help but glance at each other every so often, Troy throwing in a wink and a grin in every so often to see that light blush on his girlfriend's face that he found so adorable.
'Maybe tomorrow night is the night to do something special to make it really memorable for her. But what?' he wondered as he forced himself to look away from the vision that was Gabriella. Troy turned his attention back to the waiting guys who wanted to know his opinion on the prospects of football season and quickly lost himself in that conversation, shelving the idea that started to form in his mind until later that night when he was home alone to really put some work into it.