"Gabriella?" asked a very shocked Troy. He couldn't seem to keep his eyes off of her.

"Troy?" questioned and equally stunned Gabriella.

"Wow...I can't believe it's really you!" exclaimed Troy, "I looked everywhere for you the next day, but I couldn't find you.

'I should of just called her,' he secretly thought in his head.

Gabriella laughed. "Yeah, well my mom whisked me away to another one of her stupid meetings in New York City."

Sharpay and the rest of the gang seemed completely baffled by the two teenagers seemingly normal conversation.

"Whoa, wait a minute. You two know each other?" asked Sharpay. She looked between Brie and Troy.

"We kinda met on News Years Eve," explained Brie.

"It's a long story having to do with karaoke and fireworks...".

By now, everybody except Troy and Gabriella had confused looks plastered on their faces. Ms. Darbus heard the bell ring and attempted to calm the rambunctious class. She clapped her hands together. "Okay class quiet down!"

The teacher waited a few seconds before continuing, "As most of you know our junior class has a new student all the way from California, Gabriella Montez." Gabriella waved shyly and flashed one of her Oscar-worthy smiles. "Anyway, the Fall Musicale auditions are three weeks from Friday. It is called Twinkle Towne and there are many roles to fill. Also, in other less-important news, sports auditions...I mean try-outs are two weeks from Tuesday..."

Gabriella heard her homeroom teacher emphasize the word try-outs and figured that she wasn't a big fan of the sports world. She spent the rest of the day getting situated in her new life. Each class that she had she shared with at least one other member of "the gang". She ate lunch with all of them and even found another girl, Chloe Michaels, who was on the volleyball team. By the end of the day, she had made tons of friends and even liked her classes. Her and Sharpay had actually come surprisingly close over the course of the day. When the bell finally rang at the end of the day, she gathered her things and headed for her locker. Taylor caught up with her, "So, where do you live?".

"Um...1724 Town Drive. It's the huge white house at the end. It it kinda hard to miss." Gabriella looked down at her feet. She felt very self-conscious about her wealth status.

"Really? Shar and Ryan live just a few houses down. We always wondered who bought the Donovan's house..." Gabriella opened her locker and transferred her books in and out.

"Do you need a ride home?" asked Taylor.

"No, I have my car. Thanks though," Gabriella smiled at a new thought that she had just thought of, "Maybe we can get together tomorrow or something?".

"Yeah, we were all going to go out anyway. You should tag along," said Taylor.

Brie again felt self-conscious. She was never the "tag-along" type. Back at her old school she was the "it-girl" and the one everybody wanted to be friends with, but she sucked up her idiotic pride and agreed.

"Sure, I'd love to! I have to get going now, see you tomorrow," yelled Gabriella over her shoulder.

On her way out of the huge oak doors, she accidentally ran into Troy, "Whoa there! Where's the fire?" Troy asked.

"Oh my god! I'm so sorry. I wasn't watching where I was going." she said sheepishly while a huge blush erupted over her cheeks.

He just waved it off, "No worries. So I'll see you tomorrow?" Gabriella foolishly thought that she detected a trace of hope in his his voice. "I guess you will. See you later Troy," she replied coolly.

Troy watched her walk to her car, completely mesmerized by her gorgeous body and quick wit, before realizing he was acting like an idiot staring at her and walked towards his own car. Gabriella went to sleep that night feeling a lot better than she had in a long time.

'This is going to be and interesting year,' thought Gabriella. Then, she drifted off into a deep sleep, no longer filled with warm, sandy beaches, but ocean-like orbs of blue.

There's the chapter. I am really sorry that it is so short. I swear it seemed longer when I wrote it. I am having a writer's block at the moment, so I am not quite sure what the next chapter is going to be about. I am thinking about bringing Brie's old friends back into the story somehow...

I saw that a lot of people put this story on their alerts, so I'm really happy! Still, though only one review...Oh well, I'll get over it. Please tell me if I should continue this story or not!!! Oh and before I forget, Troy and Gabriella will not be in the musicale. That's just for Sharpay.