Sweetest Devotion ||Troy Bolton||

Chapter Five

After grabbing Gabriella, the three walked outside to prevent the difficulty of speaking over the roars of the crowd.

"But seriously, you have an amazing voice-you're a singer, right?" complimented Troy as he wrapped his arms around Sophie, holding her from behind.

Remembering the doubt that was written on the girl's face before singing, Sophie was curious too. How did this girl not know she could sing?

"Just church choir is all," Gabriella began, a blush forming on her face. "I tried to solo and nearly fainted."

"Really? Why is that?" Sophie inquired.

"I looked at the people staring at me, next thing I knew, I was staring at the ceiling. End of solo career," Gabriella awkwardly chuckled, still not over the embarrassment the incident caused her. 

"Well I'd say tonight is a solid step in the direction of popstar," noted Sophie.

"Well what about you!" Gabriella proclaimed. "You were way better than anyone that got up on that stage tonight!"

Flattered, Sophie tried to brush it off only for Troy to interrupt her.

"Soph has always been able to sing. She did a couple musicals when we were younger too." he said as he nuzzled Sophie's neck, not mentioning why she stopped.

Gabriella smiled as she watched Sophie's half-hearted attempt to push Troy away, mumbling something about PDA with a smile on her face.

"Troy was great up there too," Sophie giggled as Troy finally stopped.

"Yeah, you sound like you've sung a lot too," suggested Gabriella.

"Yeah, sure, my showerhead is very impressed with me," joked Troy.

The sounds of the final countdown of the year interrupted whatever Sophie was about to say. Her attention diverted to the crowd around her, Troy took this as his chance to swoop in and steal a kiss at midnight, marking the start of the new year. The couple turned back to Gabriella, not wanting the girl to feel left out. Sounds of cheering and fireworks filled the air.

"I guess I better go find my mom and wish her a happy new year," laughed Gabriella.

"Yeah, me too, I mean, not your mom. My mom...and dad." Troy said, his voice getting quieter as he finished his sentence.

Sophie stared at her boyfriend for a few seconds, wondering how he can get so awkward so quickly. Shaking the thought away, Sophie turned her attention to her new friend.

"Here Gabby-Can I call you Gabby?- put your number in my phone! We'll keep in touch," notified Sophie, telling more than asking.

Not minding the new friend she found in the girl, Gabriella excitedly enters her number into Sophie's phone. Troy watches as the two girls chatter about this and that, happy that the night didn't end up like he thought it would.

"Alright Wildcat, time to go find the parental units," Sophie declares as Gabriella walks away. The two hold hands as they search for Troy's parents, stopping to watch the occasional firework.

"Hey, Soph," Troy said.

"Yeah, babe"

"I had a lot of fun singing with you tonight."

"Don't worry, I won't tell Chad."

"How did you know?"