CHAPTER 1: Happy Birthday Sleepyhead

Hi to everyone reading this! Um, this is my first attempt at fanfiction, so please be kind... and if you must criticize, please make sure its constructive.

Disclaimer: I do not own HSM or any of the characters used in this fic, I simply own the plot.

"Good morning Ms. Montez," said Troy cheerfully, when Ms. Montez answered the door, "Is Gabriella up yet? We were planning to go out for breakfast this morning, for her birthday."

"Oh Troy, that's so sweet of you, taking Gabi out for breakfast… she's so lucky to have a friend like you," replied Ms. Montez smiling, Troy blushed a little, "You know, I don't think she's up yet, why don't you go up and wake her? I'm sure she won't mind."

"Umm… okay, thanks Ms. Montez," said Troy walking in the door and heading towards Gabriella's room, Ms. Montez shut the door behind him and turned to watch him walk up the stairs. Spotting the thin rectangular box he held in his hand, she shook her head and smiled, thinking those two are so adorable!

Troy arrived at Gabriella's door and knocked lightly at first, just in case she was already awake and changing or something. When there was no answer he tread quietly into the room glancing around her room. He smiled to himself… the room was very Gabriella, neat and tidy, slightly pinkish motif, a bookshelf full of novels, definitely more than he had ever read in his life. He glanced at her desk… he could see a closed textbook sitting there, labelled 'Enrichment Mathematics: Circle Geometry', he smiled again… 'what a smarty pants!' he thought to himself before quietly creeping over to her bed, where he could see Gabriella, sleeping on her side, her blanket lying just below the top of her shoulder. He could also see the top of the pillow that she was holding close to her side.

He rolled his eyes, smiling a little, 'trust Gabriella to sleep in, when we already made plans, and on her birthday too! Aww… but she looks so cute, sleeping like that, hugging that pillow… I wish I was that pillow…' thought Troy to himself blushing, 'today's gonna be the day, its going to be perfect and she'll finally know how I feel! That's if I can ever get her up that is…' Troy just stood there for a moment, unsure of how to go about this. Slowly he sat next to her on the bed and put his hand up to gently shake her shoulder.

Troy shook her gently but she didn't wake up, instead she scrunched up her eyes and snuggled deeper into the bed pulling up her blanket over her shoulder.

"Just 5 more minutes please mum… I'm dreaming… I'm dreaming about…" Gabriella yawned and Troy could have sworn he heard her whisper his name, "…Troy." It was so faint, he wasn't sure he heard it, but his heart stopped anyway.

Troy sat in silent shock, questions racing through his head, 'Did she just say…? Did she mean…?' Suddenly, Troy realised he wasn't breathing and sucked in some much needed air. 'Okay I really have to wake her up now, before I hear things she might not want me to… although that doesn't mean I don't want to hear them… maybe I could…? Stop it Troy!' his brain hissed furiously, 'This is Gabriella you're talking about here! You can't take advantage of her like that!'

So once again, Troy tried to shake her awake but, once again, she didn't respond, 'Wow… she's a pretty deep sleeper, maybe she's just having a good dream… about me… Stop it! You're doing it again!' It became clear to Troy that this method was really not working, so he decided to try something else. Grinning quietly to himself he cleared his throat and while continuing to gently shake her shoulder, he started to sing softly,

"This could be the start of something new… it feels so right to be here with you… ooohhhh… and now looking in your eyes…"

"I feel in my heart…" whispered Gabriella, starting to stir.

"The start of something new…" they both finished of together, Gabriella opening her eyes and turning to look at Troy, "Troy…?"

"Hey… Happy Birthday sleepyhead! Did you forget about our breakfast da… I mean… appointment?" replied Troy, quickly trying to cover his mistake. Fortunately for him, Gabriella didn't even notice.

"Oh, it's my birthday!" she cried sitting up, a smile emerging on her face. Troy grinned back happily.

"Yep, you better get up its like 9am already, lots of stuff to do today! C'mon get up and get in that bathroom, I'll wait here while you get ready," ordered Troy taking her hand and pulling her out of the bed.

"Okay Daaaddd! Whatever you say… what are we doing today anyway? I have a right to know, it's MY birthday, isn't it?" asked Gabriella innocently, being sure to contort her face into an innocent pout and looking gently into Troy's eyes.

"Ohhh no! You are NOT pulling that on me today, so don't even try it… I told you yesterday and the day before, that it's a surprise! Now go and get ready!" cried Troy folding his arms and sitting stubbornly on her bed, as he did so he was careful to conceal his gift in his folded arms.

"Fine! Have it your way, then! Hmmph!" responded Gabriella in mock anger, stamping her foot at the same time to add effect and then poking out her tongue at him, before walking into the bathroom. Troy laughed at her antics and fell back on her bed staring at the ceiling.

He pulled out the box he was concealing, staring at it intently. The box was a fairly thin rectangular shape, much like a necklace box… 'I wonder if she'll like it… well she'll certainly be surprised, I doubt it's what she would expect,' thought Troy grinning to himself. Sitting up Troy continued to fondle the box, gently running his fingers over it as he looked around the room thinking, 'I hope today goes well, I've spent so much time preparing it…' Troy looked towards the closed bathroom door of her bedroom (its an ensuite with the closet adjoining the bathroom) where he could hear her singing softly to herself and smiled, 'but she's totally worth every second.'

Troy looked around the room again, happy to be just where he was… actually he'd be happier still if a certain someone was there beside him, instead of the next room, but he was willing to live with just this, just now. Troy smiled to himself, his friendship with Gabriella just got better and better everyday. He had already decided that she was most definitely the best friend he ever had, it was now spring and the winter musical had long since past… the opening night had been wonderful, the whole thing going off without a hitch, and the sight of Gabriella that night had just taken his breath away. 'She's so beautiful and not just that night… everything about her is just so… wonderful!' thought Troy subconsciously slipping into a dreamy montage of memories of his short but blissful time together, 'And we're only friends! Imagine what we could be if we were anything more!' Images of Gabriella's smile, her movements, the looks she gave him, flitted across his mind, while sounds of her laughter and her voice, whether singing or talking echoed through his mind.

Not long had Troy sunken into his 'daydream' that Gabriella finished grooming herself and came out of the bathroom, only to find Troy, sitting on her bed, with a dazed expression on his face. Gabriella walked up to stand in front of him, noting as she did, that he still hadn't realised she was there. She moved to wave her hand in front of his face but decided at the same time that the sight was rather comical and moved her hand to her mouth instead to stifle the chuckle that just escaped her lips. She was not quick enough of course, as her giggle seemed to be loud enough to snap Troy out of his daze. His eyes refocused and he realised with surprise that Gabriella was standing in front of him with a coy grin on her face. He then realised after this, what had happened and his face reddened to such a degree, that Gabriella noticed his awareness too. She laughed at him and moved away to get her jacket.

"Gee, I'm sorry I took so long getting ready that you were reduced to daydreams to relieve your boredom Troy," said Gabriella with a smile, "I'll have to remember to leave you with something to do next time!"

Troy blushed even redder and Gabriella giggled, "It's nothing to be embarrassed about Troy, everyone daydreams… perhaps not so deeply, but still we all do it. Now are you coming or not, because I'm starving, aren't you?"

"Erm… yeah I am, now that I think of it, but wait! Before we go, I wanted to give you you're present," Troy said getting up and walking towards her, holding the rectangular box out towards her, "I hope you like it…"

Gabriella took the box from him, looking down at it. She noticed at once, what it looked like… it looked like one of those boxes that are used to gift-wrap jewellery, specifically necklaces. She looked up at Troy, surprise etched across her face, 'Is this what I think it is?' Troy was rubbing the back of his neck with his hand, 'Is he… nervous?' She looked back down at the package, moving as if to open it when…

"Oh wait, I forget to give you the card," said Troy reaching into his jacket and pulling out a card which he held out for her. Gabriella took it and proceeded to open it, "I'm sorry it's a little rough, but I… I wanted to give you something special and I didn't think just buying one was special enough."

Gabriella looked down at the card in her hand. It was obviously handmade, but it wasn't a botchy job, it was clear he'd spent a long time on it. The card was red and on the front was a hand drawn picture of a colourful sponge cake with the words, 'Happy Sweet 16th' was scrawled neatly on the top in a fancy looking font.

"I put 16 candles on the cake, because that's how old you are, and the card is red because I know you like that colour… the cake has many colours on it because you're such a happy and colourful person… and… you hate it don't you?" said Troy disappointedly, looking down at his feet, "I should have just bought you a card… I'm sorry…"

Gabriella didn't answer straight away; she just shook her head as she slowly opened the card. There was nothing much inside, just a few drawn balloons, but Troy had written his own message inside,

Happy Sweet 16th Gabriella,

I hope you have the greatest day of your life,

And all your wishes come true today,

Because you deserve it,

You're the best friend I've ever had,

I'm so glad I met you!

Love Troy

Gabriella just stood there for a few seconds, not knowing what to say… It was the sweetest thing any boy, or in fact anyone had ever written her. Troy meanwhile, stood rigid, almost certain he'd made a mistake, he tried to discern her feelings but her face only displayed shock, until… he noticed a single tear, roll down her cheek and as she looked up at him, he noticed her eyes were all watery.

Troy groaned inside, "Oh I'm sooo sorry Gabriella! Don't cry!" he almost wailed. Troy moved to turn away, he'd done the wrong thing… but then he felt a hand on his arm, turning him back and next thing he knew Gabriella had thrown herself on him, burying her face in his chest.

"Oh Troy… thank you! This is the nicest and most beautiful card, I've ever received!" she gushed, much to Troy's relief, he relaxed and put his arms around her.

"It was nothing, I just wanted it to be special…" he replied.

"Oh it's beautiful," said Gabriella, pulling away, much to Troy's dismay.

"So what's in the box then?" asked Gabriella smiling, suddenly playful. Troy gulped, his nerves suddenly returned, 'Oh no, how's she going to react? After giving her that card, I give her this gift? She's gonna think I'm a total dunderhead Shh… Troy, calm down! It's got to be this way; you planned it this way, remember? Now relax…actually this might be interesting, she'll be surprised, and that's for sure.' Troy thought, grinning to himself, as Gabriella slowly opened the box…

So what's in that box? I know! Tell me if you want to know to, I'm curious about how many people are curious... lol. Review please! I want to hear from you!