The Anniversary Gift

Summary: Gabriella was sure that Troy forgot their one-year anniversary. She was so sure of it. TROYELLA.

Disclaimer: I don't own any high school musical characters, and I don't own Disney either. I don't think I really own anything, I'm just writing this for my own consent!

Author's Note: This was my third one-shot. After I heard the sentence structure was messed up, I tried and gave this another shot. Inspiration wasn't from me! Enjoy! I didn't know what the title should have been; I didn't want to reveal the story...at all. Always, schoolgirl 101

Gabriella wiped her eyes as she plopped herself onto her bed.

"He forgot," she whispered and threw her favorite stuffed bear at the wall.

Troy Bolton, her boyfriend whom happened to be the guy she loved, forgot their one-year anniversary. Gabriella, being the good girlfriend, pretended that she didn't care. She pretended that it was okay to forget their very special day. She pretended it was perfectly fine she had spent the last two months preparing for his gift. She pretended that it didn't matter she had to leave town two weeks ago, to get the signature of his favorite basketball player for her anniversary gift to him.

It took her two months to figure out what Troy would want as a gift. Gabriella knew Troy was rich. He had everything. She wanted her gift to be special. She thought about it long and hard, and knew by getting that signature, even if on a useless napkin, Troy would love it.

She had it signed on his favorite jersey. He told her he dreamed of someone famous signing that jersey. And she had remembered him telling her that. She promised herself she wouldn't forget. She had to steal that jersey, carefully, very carefully. He went nuts after it mysteriously disappeared.

Gabriella's eyes shot towards her digital alarm clock. 5:48 PM. The sky was still bright the sun would be setting soon. Gabriella was sure Troy wasn't going to be coming over late that night, tapping his hand on the glass door of her balcony.

She was so sure of it.

Gabriella frowned as she stared at Troy's mishandled gift, that he said, she would love.

Earlier That Day:

"Troy!" Gabriella smiled brightly when she walked into the Bolton's house.

"Oh, hey Gabs," Troy smiled and hugged his girlfriend, kissing her on the cheek.

Gabriella beamed happily and she took in his scent. He smelled so good, like her favorite mac and cheese dish. He probably had that for lunch, considering it was one in the afternoon.

"Troy," Gabriella said looking deep into his staggering blue eyes.

"Yeah Gabs?" he asked.

"Happy anniversary," she whispered revealing a beautifully wrapped box behind her back.

"Gabs," Troy breathed. "You, well, you didn't have to get anything for me."

"I wanted to Troy," Gabriella smiled brightly at him.

"Thanks Gabs," Troy hugged her once more and his eyes gazed at the red and white wrapping.

"Open it," Gabriella grinned happily like a child would on Christmas.

"Okay," Troy said as he tore the wrapping to shreds.

Gabriella giggled. She didn't seem to care that she had spent half an hour to wrap the stupid gift.

Troy's eyes widened at the sight of his gift. "Gabs, is it..."

"Yeah, it is," she smiled.

Troy grinned happily. He hugged Gabriella and pulled her into a deep kiss. "I love it. Thanks so much. I mean...wow."

Gabriella smiled. "You deserve it."

Troy smiled happily and peeled off his shirt, replacing it with the jersey. "I love it so much Gabs. I can't believe you remembered."

Gabriella smiled.

She was happy that Troy loved it. But she couldn't help to be excited to what he had gotten her. She was sure he remembered.

"Oh, your gift, Gabs!" Troy said. "Wait right here, I'll get it for you," Troy smiled as he ran up the stairs to his room.

It felt like an eternity before he came down the stairs.

"Close your eyes," Troy grinned.

Gabriella smiled and shut her eyes tightly.

"Here Gabs," Troy said as he placed an object into her hands.

Gabriella opened her eyes and looked immediately at her gift.

"Yeah, I'm sorry I didn't have time to wrap it, but it's the thought that counts right?" Troy said scratching the back of his neck. "I'm sure you'll love it."

Gabriella nodded and looked Troy in the eyes. "Of course Troy. Thanks, I love it," she attempted to smile brightly.

"Don't start it until you get home, okay?" he said kissing her on the forehead.

Gabriella nodded and looked down at her gift.

It was a puzzle. She looked at the picture on the box. It was of a gorilla, eating a banana. Gabriella frowned as she looked at the box. "Three hundred and fifty pieces," Gabriella frowned.

She couldn't help but frown. She thought Troy knew. She hated puzzles. And to make matters worse, the puzzle had already been opened and tampered with. Troy was re-gifting a gift to her. Did he even notice? Or did he forget their special day? Gabriella sighed.

She looked at the gift sitting across from her and almost felt like screaming. Hadn't she told Troy she hated puzzles?

She hated how there were so many pieces and only one solution. She hated how someone would sit on the floor for several hours, get a sore back, and feel nothing when they just shoved the puzzle back into the box when they were finished. She hated how puzzles were like a gift that could only be used once and then forgotten about. And Troy, he had already opened the gift! The puzzle should already be forgotten about.

She also couldn't help it, but she hated gorillas. They were evil, although no one else wanted to admit that fact. She had gotten nightmares once about them. She was also allergic to bananas. She hated everything about the gift.

But Troy had given it to her, and Troy was perfect. Gabriella loved him enough to forget about everything she hated about the gift and actually start the puzzle. She knew Troy would want her to start it. But she just couldn't bring herself to do something that she hated. "I'm sorry Troy," she whispered.

Gabriella threw the box onto her carpeted floor and watched as the pieces scattered out and filled the floor.

She looked at the pieces and noticed black writing. "Did he write on the back of the puzzle also?" Gabriella mumbled, as she stared at the puzzle.

"He did." she whispered.

Her eyes darted towards all the pieces. Black writing, black writing, black writing. How was she supposed to read it?

Gabriella frowned. She knew what she had to do.

"I can't believe he's making me do this," she frowned.

One Hour Later

Gabriella screamed loudly. Her hands were trembling, and she hated it. She wasn't even halfway done, and she wanted to shove the puzzle back into the box. But she had put hard work into starting the puzzle.

This was why she hated puzzles. She hated how you wouldn't feel accomplished until it was 100 percent finished. Not even a 99 percent finished puzzle would be satisfying; it had to be 100.

Her back was getting sore, and her eyes were strained. Her neck felt like it had a cramp, if that was even possible. Not to mention her legs kept falling asleep. But she continued. She wanted to read it. She needed to finish it.

Three Hours Later

Tears were shielding her vision as she stared at the puzzle. She calculated in her head that she was about 65 percent done, but it still sucked. She wanted to get it done with. She just needed to finish it. She couldn't help but cry. She hated this gift. She hated everything about it.

Why did she even want to read the writing for? Why did she care?

She hated that jabbing a piece into another would not make the pieces fit. There was only one that would be perfect for the other; there were no almost's or maybe's.

Four Hours Later

Gabriella didn't know what to do. She didn't want to sit on the floor working on this stupid puzzle. She was bored and lonely. Her body felt like it just died. She was sore, very sore.

Gabriella was getting there, but she couldn't take it. She wanted to hit the puzzle, but she would cry if it broke. She was starting to get attached to the thing.

Five Hours and Thirty Minutes Later

Her fingers wobbled as she held up the last piece. She looked down at the inanimate object that caused her to cry, to scream, and even sweat.

There was one piece left, and until that piece was in its rightful place, she would not be at peace.

She bit her lip and placed it down softly.

She looked at the puzzle and stared intently. A smile broke off of her face. It was a gorilla...eating a banana...but that gorilla never looked so good.

It was almost 11:30, and Gabriella smiled. She had finished the puzzle on their anniversary; it was a good feeling.

As careful as she could, Gabriella placed cardboard pieces under the puzzle, and over the puzzle. She had to read the writing. The black writing. She flipped the puzzle to the other side where she knew the writing lay.

Gabriella moved the cardboard to the side, and looked at the writing, it was in the shape of a heart.

Her eyes twinkled.

Gabs,

You finished it. I'm so proud of you. God, how long did this take you? It took me about three hours to finish. My mom always told me I had puzzle genes in my blood. I'm not sure if I believe her. ;)

First of all, I know you hate puzzles Gabs. I know how you say, "There are so many pieces, with only one solution." You hate that. I guess it didn't help that I gave you a three hundred and fifty piece puzzle to do. But listen. We're like a puzzle Gabs. Please don't think 'Lunkhead basketball boy' is going crazy. You can't just jam pieces together hoping they will fit. They just magically do. And the pieces that fit together are perfect for each other. We're perfect for each other Gabs, just like a puzzle.

Our relationship is like a puzzle. There are so many pieces to it, and when the pieces are all together, you can see the outcome of it. And the outcome is perfect. We have so many things that bring us together and make us fit. If one thing goes wrong in our relationship, the pieces won't fit together. Our relationship has rocky points, but we always get through them, and these hard points come together, just like a puzzle.

Three hundred and fifty pieces is a lot. It's hard to do, and I know that. But keeping a perfect relationship is hard. We have our struggles and our hard points. I didn't want to make this easy for you by giving you a couple of pieces to finish. Our relationship wasn't made easy. Our relationship was made through all of our struggles. We came from two different worlds in the beginning, and it was hard. It was hard for people to accept us, and when they finally did, the outcome of all our struggles was the best part. Our relationship is just like a puzzle.

You probably got really sore working on this Gabriella, and I'm sorry. But going though the pain and suffering makes the end product even more enjoyable. I was really sore when I did this puzzle, but it was even harder to write this to you, although I'm glad I did.

And Gabriella, I know you hate gorillas, and you're allergic to bananas. You probably hate the appearance of this puzzle, right? But, let me tell you this. I don't care about appearances; it's the inside that counts. I wouldn't care if anyone thought you were the most hideous girl in the world. You're beautiful to me Gabriella; you're the most beautiful girl I have ever seen in my life. Appearance is shallow and only skin-deep. Looking beyond appearance really shows who a person is on the inside.

One more thing, I know how you hate that once someone is done with a puzzle, he/she throws it back into the box and the puzzle is never opened again. Don't do that Gabs. This puzzle is a symbol of our relationship and my love for you. Glue it together. Keep the puzzle in one piece. It will always be a symbol of how our hearts mend as one and how our relationship can always be perfect no matter how many struggles we have.

I love you so much Gabriella, and I want you to know that. You will always be in my heart, and hopefully, I will always be in yours. Happy anniversary. I would never forget our special day. I'm sure of it. I'm so sure of it. Yours always, Troy Bolton

Gabriella wiped the tears that were set on her face and smiled. She loved Troy with all her heart; he had the pieces that completed her puzzle.

She smiled brightly as she ran her fingers on the outline of the heart.

A familiar knock rang on the glass door of her balcony, and Gabriella immediately jumped up and opened the door.

"So you finished it?" Troy cheekily smiled.

Gabriella nodded as she pulled Troy into a hug. "Thank you," she whispered softly.

"You're welcome Gabs," Troy smiled as he leaned up to kiss her softly on the lips.

Gabriella responded to the kiss and wrapped her arms around Troy's neck.

"I love you Gabriella," he said softly.

"I love you too Troy," she smiled.

"I meant what I wrote Gabriella. That puzzle will always be a symbol of our relationship and my love for you."

Gabriella nodded. "I'm glad. You're too good to be true Troy Bolton," she whispered. "And one more thing. I'm really starting to love puzzles now," she admitted.

Troy grinned.

"You know, I brought you something special Gabriella."

Troy revealed what he had hid in his pocket, and Gabriella's eyes widened.

"It's the real gift," he admitted.

Gabriella beamed up at Troy and nodded. She kissed him on the lips and wrapped him in a deep hug.

"I'm glad you like it." Troy smiled.

Gabriella nodded. She loved it. It was the most thoughtful gift she ever could have gotten.

It was a bottle of glue.