"Happy Christmas!" Troy's aunt, Carol, said as she walked through the door. Isn't Carol her name? You see, this is the first time being at Troy's parent's house for Christmas. I mean it's not like I have any other place to go for Christmas because all of my family hates me…but you know. Amy came skipping into the kitchen with a candy cane in her hand and a new dress on.
"Aunt Carol! You are in America now! It's MERRY Christmas…not HAPPY Christmas!" She had a little giggle and looked at me,
"Hi Aunt Gabi!" Amy was eight years old had bouncing blonde curls and she glanced around the kitchen. I spoke,
"Amy I'm not your Aunt…" She was gone before I even finished. "Aunt Carol" was Troy and Amy's father's sister. I helped her with the presents in her hands and she laughed,
"Amy calls everyone 'Aunt.' I'm terribly sorry…I didn't catch your name." She made me laugh with her British accent. I smiled.
"Gabriella Montez, I'm Troy's girlfriend." For one year now. Ever since we met back up at that basketball game we've been going strong. We moved in together two months ago and it was amazing. I quit my Hollywood career and EllaM is just a 'used to be.' No one in Hollywood knows Gabriella Montez…there I am just EllaM. And I like it that way. Mr. Bolton, however, is still playing basketball and soaking up the fame, while I cheer on the side lines. It's funny because even though EllaM is a 'used to be' everyone still knows that she (I) am dating Troy.
"Ah…I've heard a lot about you." I helped her with the presents. She had to have at least twenty in her hands. Which wasn't surprising considering the house was full of people. About forty.
"Um…thanks." Carol had dark brown hair and piercing blue eyes. I really feel like the odd ball out because I'm literally one of the only people without blue eyes. I sat the presents down under the tree, near the other presents. There was literally a whole room full of presents. She smiled.
"Nice to meet you, Gabriella…now I've got to find my darling brother to tell him how lovely his new home is." I stood there awkwardly for a minute and turned around to run into Troy. We both bumped our heads and let out a quiet profanity.
"How nice of it to run into you…are you sneaking a peak at the presents?" I giggled and looked at him,
"Exactly…no! What are you doing?" He smiled,
"I was looking for you. Aunt Carol said she left you in here." I smiled and spoke,
"Well…you've found me. What do you need?" He smiled,
"Well I wanted to tell you that I loved you and to make sure you were ok…but with that tone…" He was kidding and kissed me. It was one of those kisses that were ok if it was only the parents but not forty people…someone cleared their throat and their stood his father. Awkward…
"Mistletoe?" I said pointing to nothing in the air and giggling a bit. Both Boltons laughed and walked out of the room. Note to self, no being alone with Troy means no awkward moments.
The dinner table was split up into about three segments. There was the 'kids table', which was about ages from 12-2. There were eight kids there, with plates full of chicken legs and macaroni and cheese. Then there was the 'teen table' that was filled Troy's cousins, from ages 13-20 and there were like twelve teens there.
Then there was the table I am sitting at. Troy calls it the 'VIP table' because that's where he always sits. There were twenty people at the table. Let me go by family.
First there was Lucy (Troy's mother's) side. She has a sister named Mary, who married Alan and have a daughter name Stephanie who is married to a man named Aaron. They are all sitting next to each other. Then there is Lucy's brother Michael, and his wife Amanda. They have three daughters, Angela who is married to Mark, Lacy who is married to Steven, and Hilary who is married to Stefan.
Then there is Jack (Troy's father's side) He has three sisters. Jamie is married to Marcus and they have a daughter, Cecily who is married to Hayden. Then there is Joyce who is married to Charlie, with no children. Then there is Julie who isn't married. Thus leaves, Troy, Me, Lucy, and Jack. Confusing.
Currently the conversation had lead to Troy and I…very awkward. I was sitting silently eating and blushing while everyone else was roaring in laughter. Lucy was telling the awkward story about when she walked in on us 'doing the dirty.'
"It's not that funny." Troy got in. His cousin Stephanie cracked up,
"As the youngest here, Troy, you should know that you are going to be the butt of all of the jokes." I spoke and giggled,
"Speaking of butt…I think the funniest story is the one where Troy pooped his pants at Christmas…want to tell that one again?" I swear Troy's face turned the color of the sliced tomatoes on my plate as the table burst out laughing, he looked at Cecily,
"You didn't." His cousin had told me as I unloaded presents. Cecily smiled and took a bite of her green beans while I took a sip of iced tea. "I was four!" I took a sip of my tea again and coughed,
"-Teen!" (Like four-teen.) That got the whole table in laughter again. He really was four but it's funnier to see how embarrassed he can get.
"Brie! I was SO not fourteen!" Stephanie spoke,
"But you did yell "I POOPED IN MY PANTS!" during the prayer." We all burst out laughing. Troy even laughed this time. It was pretty funny. His mom spoke,
"Then you showed everyone your poop before we even ate our first bite." I laughed and Cecily looked at me.
"I forgot to tell you that part. You see, Troy was a very…outgoing child and always wanted attention. So he stood up on the counter to drop his pants and show the poop." I almost chocked on my tea because it was so funny.
"He dropped his pants at the table to show you his poop?" Troy spoke,
"Who wants broccoli…anyone? I love broccoli! It's green and…" I laughed,
"Makes you poop!" Everyone laughed again and by the looks of his face…I could tell he was getting a bit upset. I spoke slowly,
"But I bet he was cute!" He laughed a little and squeezed my hand under the table, as a thank you. Jamie spoke laughing,
"Aw…Baby Troy is in looooooove…!" That's awkward, I mean it's not like we aren't…but like his whole family is here. And he is the baby of the family…so that makes it like 20 times worse.
"Yes I am…." He said smiling. That's so sweet. Like the sweetest thing ever! He just said he loved me in front of everyone! Julie flipped her blonde hair and laughed,
"Aw…baby Troy is growing up!"
After everyone was finished with dinner it was a period of relaxation. Where people just talked and the kids shook the presents and played with the toys that they had already gotten.
"Come on a walk with me…" Troy whispered in my ear grabbing my right hand. We smiled and walked out the door without anyone saying a word…weird. It was about seven thirty and it was not dark, dark…but not light outside. It was…romantic.
"You are a hit with my family." He said messing with his suit jacket. You see, his family Christmas dinners…are semiformal. So he is wearing a sportsman jacket and I am wearing this cute dress and it's just so formal.
"Um…aren't people going to see us?" He cracked up and squeezed my hand,
"This isn't LA…this is Albuquerque…no paparazzi would step foot here." I laughed and looked around,
"We are going to get lost!" He laughed and kept walking. We hadn't been back here in forever…and by 'we' I mean 'me'. He came down here about a month ago to do something for his mom and told me that I didn't need to go so…I didn't. I stayed and shopped with Shar and Tay-Bee all weekend.
"Excuse me, little missy, I know exactly where I am going." We kept walking down the street getting further and further away from his parents' house. I slid off my heels and held them in my hand…my feet did hurt.
"Well then, mister, where exactly are we going?" He shrugged and put his other hand in his pocket,
"We are walking." I just kept walking and we just talked and laughed and enjoyed company,
"Ok, if you had to choose between basketball and Christmas…which would you choose?" He thought for a minute,
"When you say Christmas do you mean like the whole dinner with the family/ opening presents or like completely wipe December 25 off the calendar? And when you say 'no basketball' do you mean like pro ball or like I can never play basketball again?" I just laughed at his ignorance and he looked over at me.
"I'd pick Christmas dinner with my family over any basketball game." I just smiled and kept walking. He's such a perfect man. We got to a park and sat on a bench laughing. It was freezing and we did need to get back but it was…fun.
"Aw…I'd pick Christmas dinner with your family over your smelly…I mean WONDERFUL basketball games." We cracked up and he just grinned.
"Do you remember a couple of weeks ago when I came down here?" I looked at my watch and saw the time…it was eight thirty! I bet the kids were like dying to open presents.
"Are you kidding me? You were gone like…a whole weekend! I missed you so much!" He grabbed my hand,
"I got you a present while I was down here." I frowned,
"Trooooy…I thought we weren't giving presents this year!" He smiled and looked at me,
"Well…this present is priceless and I didn't spend any money on it." I smiled and wondered exactly what he would give me. A rose? A…
"You see, my dad's parents died when I was about two and my grandmother specifically left something and I want to give it to you." I was silent for a minute and whispered.
"A family heirloom?" He smiled,
"You see, it's not really mine. It belongs to someone else." Great. A stolen family heirloom…how romantic?
"Oh…who does it belong to?" This is confusing then he raised an eyebrow,
"You." Me?
"Me?" Then he did the most amazing thing a guy would ever do. There in the moonlight on Christmas Eve, he got down on one knee and whispered,
"It belongs to my wife." That just brought tears into my eyes and then he said those four sacred words, "Will you marry me?" I did that cheesy thing and cried. Not really cried but got tears in my eyes,
"Yes." That's all I needed to say. That's all I wanted for Christmas.
"FINALLY!" One of the kids yelled as we walked into the door. And immediately they all ripped into their presents. I whispered in my fiancée's ear,
"Brie, our kids are never going to act like that." She rolled her eyes and looked at me,
"They are related to Troy Bolton…you know they are going to act like that…they might yell louder!" Amy screamed,
"OH MY GOSH!!" And Brie just looked at me as if she knew that was on cue. Then my mom just hushed her,
"Amy, please be quiet." Amy looked down at her new…whatever thing and hugged it for dear life. I looked at her,
"Fine." Cecily walked over toward us and smiled. Cecily's goal in life is to ruin my life…but she does do it in humor. I love my cousin. Not like that…but like family.
"Where have you two been?" We shrugged and Cecily spoke again, "You guys weren't…?" Brie cracked up,
"I can't believe you even thought that!" I watched Amy open her presents. In my family we only get presents for the kids and our parents. So I ended up (by 'me' I mean 'Brie') getting like twenty kids/ teen toys and then my parents presents.
"Well I'm going to make sure that my son isn't screaming like Amy." We looked over and Amy was screaming after she opened every present, big or little. I did that when I was little.
"I lo-"My mom tapped us on the shoulder and smiled,
"You are looking anti-social over here. Please come over here. People are going to start leaving soon and you aren't going to see them for a long time." I smiled,
"Ok, ok." We waited for a few minutes until all of the kids got organized and played with their toys. Then I let out a long deep breath and Brie whispered,
"I love you…so much." I kissed her cheek,
"I love you…so much…too." Then I stood at the front of the room and cleared my throat loudly and said in a low voice,
"Attention! Attention Please!" Everyone hushed and looked over at me. I could feel the eyes on me and I could feel hers on me the most. Talk about pressure.
"I would like to make an announcement." I took a deep breath and closed my eyes.
"I am engaged to Ms. Gabriella Montez over there. And I love her more than anything." There was a loud 'aw' by the girls and cheers from the guys. Then we were swarmed with family asking about weddings, rings,
Basketball and love.
Awww...the end! Hope you loved it!