Gabriella Montez is THE most popular girl at East High...and she's only a freshmen! She has a great life...until she finds out she's failing gym! In order to pass this horrible should-be-against-the-law subject, she has to win the Annual Dance Competition that's coming up. Her partner? Troy Bolton, the new student who has a shady past and is living proof that looks are VERY decieving. Will Gabriella be able to win the competition? Will Troy Bolton be able to let go of his past? And will Troy and Gabriella ever get along or will they be enemies forever?

Chapter 1

"Hey, Gabriella."

"Ohmygod, Gabriella, love your shirt!"

"Hey, Gabi!"

"HI!"

"Buenos Dias, Ella!"

Gabriella Montez walked through the hallway of East High, her hips and legs jutting in a perfect strut. She didn't smile at anyone, except the lucky few and the football jocks. She ignored all the compliments and greetings. She got them everday so who cared?

Gabriella Montez was the most popular girl at school, even more popular than the cheerleaders. She was the first freshmen to do that. Her father was a big business lawyer and he got her everything she wanted. Her mother was an exquisite beauty and everyone told Gabriella she looked just like her mother: long, straight black hair, gorgeous brown almond eyes, a short petite body, and a beautiful smile. But Gabriella didn't need to know this. She knew she was fabulous. So did everyone else, even the seniors!

As Gabriella walked into her homeroom, she was greeted by more compliments and greetings. But she walked right past through them and sat in her seat. She caught a glimmer of blue out of the corner of her eye, but she ignored it. And the compliments, too...well, some of them, anyway.

"Ohmygod, Gabi, I love your hair!"

Gabriella smiled. "I know, right?"

The teacher hushed everyone as the bell rang. "Alright, everyone, settle down."

After attendence and announcements, the teacher said, "And, as some of you may have noticed, we have a new student today."

She gestured toward the seat next to Gabriella. Everyone turned to stare. Sitting in the seat was a boy with hair that was held in place with gel. He wasn't smiling. He didn't seem to know everyone was staring at him. Or maybe he did and didn't notice. But he did look at her, though. Now Gabriella knew where the blue glimmer at come from. The boy's eyes were an unsual bright blue color.

"His name is Troy Bolton," the teacher said. "And he transferred from New York City. Welcome."

No one said anything, except a few girls did raise their eyebrows when the teacher said 'New York City.'

After that, the teacher let them spend the rest of homeroom catch up on homework or talk, like she always did. Gabriella, of course, was swarmed with admirers.

"How do you get your teeth so white?"

"Is it true you have a limo?"

"I heard it was a stretch dealie."

"Oh, Gabi, I saw this model in this magazine and she looked just like you."

"No way! Gabriella's way prettier."

Gabriella ignored everyone. They weren't friends, only admireres.

Somehow, the conversation got wheeled off to what everyone was doing this weekend. Gabriella didn't notice. She looked around. Homeroom looked the same everyday. The desks were in neat, straight rows. The blackboard was in the front of the room with the teacher's desk beside it. On the walls were posters that said things like "Make an effort, not an excuse" and "School is for the cool kids. Let the losers be dumb." (Gabriella thought that one was kinda corny).

The only new thing was Troy. Unlike the rest of the class, he was staring out the window. Some boys nearby started talking about the football game, but Troy didn't join them. In fact, he didn't seem to hear them at all. But Gabriella did notice him tapping his foot.

And his outfit! Gabriella had never seen anything like it. Actually, she had, but not on a typical school day and certainly not on a typical boy! (Sorry if that sounds sexist)

His hair was one thing (neatly combed and slicked back) but his clothes were another. He was wearing perfectly pressed black suit pants, white and maroon lace-up bowling shoes, and his shirt was a perfectly starched white collar-shirt. On the back of his shirt, in black cursive, said 'Juilliard.'

"Juilliard," Gabriella muttered. She had heard about that place. Wasn't it some sort of famous dance school in New York?

Anyway, Troy looked like he just stepped out of a fashion magazine for young gentlemen. Well, except for the shirt, of course. Gabriella didn't know if he actually went to Juilliard, but she knew he was the type of person who probably didn't even watch football, much less play the sport.

And Gabriella knew that would be a problem.

At East High, football was huge. Sure, there were other sports like basketball (that was the second-biggest sport at the school), volleyball, cheerleading, etc. But the football guys were the most popular. East High hadn't lost a game in seventeen years and they were well onto their eighteenth.

How was this kid going to handle it? And she knew people would stare at the poor guy. Everything, from his hair right down to his bowling shoes, were...well...different.

Okay, they were weird.

And sorta gay, too. (Sorry!)

Even though she barely knew him, she felt bad for him. A lot.

"Hey, Gabi, are you doing anything this weekend?" someone asked.

Gabriella turned and came face to face with Tina Johnson, the biggest popular wannabe you'd ever meet.

"So are you?" she asked again with a smile.

Gabriella shook her head. "No."

"Well, then wanna come to my party on Friday?" Tina asked. She had a hopeful twinkle in her eyes. "Chris Brown is gonna perform."

"Oh, Chris Brown," Gabriella said with no impression. "I guess that's cool. But I've already met him like ten times already. So it's okay."

Tina walked away, looking and feeling dejected. For some reason, Gabriella began to stare at Troy again. But this time, his eyes weren't on the window. His eyes were on her. No expression. He just stared.

And Gabriella didn't like it.

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See? There's a new twist. Instead of Troy being the popular kid, Gabriella is. And instead of Gabriella being the new i-so-don't-belong here student, Troy is! And I decided to make him a dancer. It's for my story.

I kinda got inspired during a Willy Wonka rehearsal at my school (I'm a techee). Anyway, the kid who plays Willy Wonka (Rick Leith) looks sorta like Zac Efron. And he keeps flirting with this girl who plays Veruca Salt (Riley something...she doesn't look anything like Vanessa). And the story came right into my head.

Oh, and I'm sorry if some of the chapters sound a bit sexist.

But I'm not sexist at all.

I promise.