AN: Here I am with another short story for you guys! I really hope that you like it and that it doesn't bore you; I'm really excited about this story and where I see it going. All I can say is that it's going to get good.Real good ;) Tell me what you think of it and review!!

Chapter 1

If you asked any high school student inside of any high school what their favorite time of the school day was, you would always get the same answer: lunch. For 25 minutes every day, it was a time where school, work, homework, cranky teachers, and unfair assignments didn't have to be dealt with. It was a chance to sit back, relax, eat some food, talk about your plans for the weekend, and just breath.

There was a tray full of food sitting in front of him, loud conversations around him, the latest test and quizzes being discussed, and many opportunities for him to but into any of them and speak his own opinion. There were many opportunities for him to enjoy himself; but he couldn't, that was impossible at the moment.

His eyes were silently begging a certain someone to talk to him, to just talkto him. One hand was on either side of his face as he stared deeply across the circular red lunch table with his elbows propping them up. His eyes were on her and only her, and there was nothing that could break his gaze. For the past three weeks it had been this exact way and why he hadn't done something already to change that he didn't know, but enough was enough. Seeing her this way was tearing him to shreds, keeping him up all night, causing his basketball skills to suffer, and he was now tuning out all of his other friends and his teachers. All he could think about was Gabriella and what she was doing to herself. More importantly, all he could think about was the fact that he had no freaking clue what was even going on with her in the first place and why she was being the way that she was.

On the other side of the table, his crystal blue eyes could certainly be felt on her, but she still refused to look up. If she did, she would have to face his questioning and desperate eyes, eyes that she knew she could easily fall for. There was enough on her plate as it was, and to have to stop to explain it all to someone just wouldn't fit in her already hectic schedule.

She knew she was slowly but surely killing him, breaking his heart as she repeatedly turned him down and "missed" his calls. It had become clear as day three weeks ago when it first started; the very first day he knew something was stressing her out and he asked her about it. All she did was shrug her arm free from his grasp, slam her locker shut, and start her lonely walk home. The coldness and aggravation in her eyes didn't go unmissed by him either, making him even more worried than what he already was.

So on the opposite side of the table sat a girl in distress, a girl who just needed a break but would never allow herself that luxury, and across from her sat her best friend going insane from the lack of openness she was having with him.

Before either of them knew it the lunch bell rang inside of the large cafeteria and Troy was brought back to reality; school. Slowly he removed his tired body from the table and brought his hands down to discard his untouched lunch. His eyes never left her restless body the entire time as he moved around to gather up his books and move in her direction following her to their next class together.

The entire trip down the hallway she would walk with a frown on her face and her arms crossed in front of her, trying her best to ignore all of the friendly hellos from passing students. She was well aware that he was six steps behind her; but she ignored it and kept moving. When she finally arrived to their class, she would take her usual seat at the back desk with Troy to the right of her.

Instead of listening to the teacher, Troy focused his attention on the beautiful girl sitting next to him who was clearly in distress. The urge to confront her about what was going on again was overpowering; if it wasn't for a small amount of self-control that he had, he would have pushed back his chair and asked her forcefully right then and there.

But he didn't; he sat back and watched his friend buried way beneath all of the books, all of the stress, all of the pressure. She never once showed any emotion on her face though. Not once did she show sadness, anger or stress. It was almost as if she had no hope left that things could get better.

And as her best friend, it was definitely his job to change that.

Soon enough Troy heard the obnoxious bell ring through the classroom signaling the end of the school day and everyone was frantically shoving his or her belongings into their backpacks. Troy just stood back and watched Gabriella quickly gather her belongings, apparently in a rush to get out of the school and go home.

Taking a risky move, Troy outstretched his hand and grabbed her arm to stop her from moving any further. 'Gabi'

She just looked down at his hand on her arm and brought her now narrow eyes up to reach Troy's hopeful ones. That look alone was enough for Troy to quickly remove his hand from her small arm. 'Please… just talk to me.'

'I have to get home.'

It was only five words, but it was still a start. 'Let me drive you, I know your mom's working late. Please?'

'I'd rather you didn't.'

'Gabi…'

She had already turned her back to him and was walking out the classroom door and down the long and narrow hallway leading to the front doors. Snapping back to his senses, his feet started to move as he quickly ran after her. 'Gabi!' Surely he heard him, seeing how everyone else in the school did as he screamed her name. But she didn't budge; didn't flinch; didn't react at all to his desperate voice.

'Come on!' He turned his body with enough power behind him to slam his fist into the locker beside him, the sound of his flesh hitting hard and cold metal echoed through the hallway. 'Shit' He examined his hand for a few seconds, noticed the bright red and swelling knuckles, shoved his hand in his pocket, and ran to his car with rage on his mind.

A bystander would look at the way he was moving his car and think that the driver was either out for blood or trying to show off. In a matter of seconds Troy had thrown his books into his car, not caring where they landed, put his car in reverse, put it back into drive and floored the gas pedal exiting the parking lot with a tornado of dust behind him.

Being this angry was definitely not the best way to go and approach Gabriella, so instead he headed home, a home that was only three houses down from Gabriella's.

As he drove by her house like a mad man, he could tell that no one had gone home yet as there was a package on their front porch. Yanking the steering wheel with one hand to the right, his black Audi flew up his driveway and came to a screeching halt as he slammed on his breaks. Not caring about his books, Troy angrily threw open his car door and made his way up his front porch, completely seeing but ignoring the mail sitting on the swing. He threw open the heavy front door and still managed to slam it shut, causing the foyer to shake.

Troy made his way into his kitchen throwing his keys on the granite counter top before rushing over to the sink. Finally bringing his hand up to his face to examine it for the first time, he couldn't help but wince at the sight of it. With an array of colors spread all over his hand, dry blood was still visible and his knuckles were twice the size that they should be. He just rolled his eyes and opened his freezer. After setting a frozen bag of peas on it, he marched his way out of the kitchen and up the back stairs to his bedroom.

Once again, another door was thrown open and slammed shut before he dropped his body down on his perfectly made bed, courtesy of his mother of course. He covered his eyes with his right arm and let his left hand rest on his chest with the bag of peas on top of it.

All Troy could think about was Gabriella and what could have possibly gotten into her. She had never looked at him the way that she did today. No matter what happened, she would always soften when he was around. Troy had that special way with her; if she was ever stressed out he would just go and put his arms around her small waist and her body would immediately relax. But for her to just turn on him like that? That was insane. It was out of character, and frankly, it really pissed him off.

Frustration was steaming out of his ears so he removed his arm from his eyes and sat up quickly. The first thing that came into his eyesight was of course a picture of her. Him and her actually.

It was a newer picture of the two of them on their vacation to the Bahamas that they had gone on with both of their families that previous summer. They were in the ocean at one of the most breathtaking beaches Troy had ever been to. Troy was giving Gabriella a piggyback ride to the shore and water was streaming down both of their bodies. Her smile couldn't get any bigger and neither could his. A few seconds after his mother took this picture, Gabriella had leaned forward to give him a huge wet-wily on his cheek and immediately after Troy's body came crashing down to the soft sand with Gabriella on top of him.

To say the least, that was the best vacation he had ever been on.

Just thinking about all of their good times helped to lower Troy's temper. He felt his body slowly start to relax and he even let go of the painful fist he was holding.

'This needs to end.'

AN: This chapter seemed kind of short to me, but I really only wanted to focus on Troy and there wasn't anything else that I could put in this chapter. This will be a Troyella, in case any of you were wondering. Please tell me your honest opinion, whether it's one word or a million! And check out all of my other stories too, they're really good. I have a new one out called I'd Lie. Check them out, and review!!

FiFi xoxo