Chapter Text
32.7 miles.
Gabriella bites the inside of her cheek, fingers tapping against the scrapbook that Taylor had made her. It’d originally gotten lost in the mail, Gabriella having to do a lot of back and forth– trekking across campus to the mail office, waiting till after 9pm to call Taylor and ask about it only to get gently reprimanded every time.
“Just call me when you’re at the post office,” Taylor had said in a huff, that thin line between annoyed and fond that Gabriella had come to appreciate coming through as she’d laid out on her bed. It might not have cost extra to call long-distance during the day but unlike Taylor, she didn’t have unlimited minutes– running it over in her mind again and again with the question of whether or not her package was missing or stolen when Taylor had cleared her throat.
“It’ll be fine. If it’s not there next week, then I’ll call the U.S. Postmaster General or something.”
Gabriella had just laughed, completely convinced that Taylor meant every word. The call was unnecessary, the scrapbook coming in just a few days later and now held in her hands, the weight of it feeling even more significant.
32.7 miles.
It’s how far Troy is– in distance, at least. He hasn’t actually driven it yet, still in Albuquerque until he and his dad made the drive over here.
It’s one benefit, Gabriella thinks, of having moved into Stanford early– already settled into her dorm and feeling better about her classes. The spring and summer quarters had passed by quickly, giving Gabriella the chance to get a feel for the campus and for her Honors cohort– the simultaneous camaraderie and competition giving her the same buzz of being in a show.
There wasn’t a Sharpay out here at the very least but then again, Gabriella muses, she was one of a kind.
It’s with that thought in mind that Gabriella finally opens up the scrapbook, immediately smiling at the first picture that Taylor had put on the first page– the two of them in bio, back when they’d first met. Gabriella’s fingers trace across the page, seeing Taylor’s small but flowy script across the edge.
Never forget who loves you most!!! Miss you love you mean it. - Taylor
Gabriella blinks back the pinprick of tears as she turns the page, marveling at all the different pictures and notes that Taylor had managed to stick into it. It’s a living memorial to the last year and a half– a whole world of memories that pinches at something deep in her chest at how much was there despite how little time she’d spent there.
From the look of it, no one would’ve ever been able to tell that Gabriella hadn’t been there with the rest of them– growing up in the same classes since they were all in elementary school. It’s overwhelming, how much love and care that Taylor’s put into this– knowing that if there was anyone who would get how special this was to her, it would be her.
And Troy.
Gabriella’s phone rings, wiping under her eyes and trying not to smudge her makeup as looks at the caller ID– smiling big at the name that pops up. She flips open her phone to answer, smiling as she says, “hey you.”
“Hey yourself,” Troy’s voice carries through, crackling slightly as she laughs.
“Where are you?”
“I’m in the g– rage,” he says, Gabriella sitting up as he keeps going. “H–r you?”
“You’re where ?”
“I’m– hold–” she hears the phone muffling, vaguely hearing Troy say something in the background for a beat before he comes back on the phone again, clearer this time. “Hey.”
“Hey,” she says, pulling the scrapbook closer to her.
“Sorry, Chad’s here pretending to help me pack.”
There’s another voice that Gabriella can barely here– one that she assumes to be Chad as Troy laughs and continues, “how are you?”
“Good. Finally got the scrapbook.”
“ Good ,” he says, sounding relieved. “Taylor was going to murder someone if it didn’t show up.”
“It’s really nice,” she says, looking back down on it as she flips the pages– seeing little notes and scribbles from their friends across the edges.
“Did you get to page 34 yet?”
Gabriella makes a face despite Troy not being able to see it, looking down at the edges and then laughing as she says, “of course , she numbered them.”
Troy laughs, Gabriella flipping until she lands on the right page– smile impossibly getting wider as she sees a picture of her and Troy at graduation, the two of them smiling at the camera.
“I love it,” she says, eyes scanning the rest of the page and seeing Troy’s scrawl at the end.
Love you is all that it says, but it feels like enough, holding the book closer to her chest.
“I miss you,” Troy says, voice dropping an octave– a warm feeling building as she smiles.
“I miss you too.”
“32.7 miles.”
“I know,” she says, only to hear something at the door begin to rattle.
“I’m finishing up all this now and you know I was thinking, maybe I can convince my dad for us to–”
“Hold on, someone’s at the door,” Gabriella interjects, frowning as the door continues to rattle– hearing voices on the other side.
“Are you okay?”
“Yeah, I’m– I’ll call you back,” she says, giving a quick ‘love you’ before snapping the phone shut and standing up slowly.
Her mom had insisted that she bring a baseball bat into the room, for protection which Gabriella had thought silly at the time. She has no idea where it is now, eyes still fixed on the door with her phone in her hand ready to call for help if she needs.
Right when Gabriella is about to call out and ask who is it, the door opens– watching as a girl with her hair pulled back sighs heavily as two boys run in.
“We got in–” they run and then stop, almost falling over each other as they stare at Gabriella.
“Hi?” She says awkwardly, eyes shifting from them to the girl– pieces snapping into place as she realizes what’s happening. “You’re Natasha.”
The girl– Natasha– immediately frowns, a woman coming up behind her with a warm smile as she brings in some luggage.
“Hi, are you the roommate?” She asks, her smile disarming as Natasha stares at her warily.
“I didn’t think I had a roommate,” Natasha finally says, looking between the woman– presumably her mom and behind her– a man who Gabriella guesses is her dad as he walks in with a look of surprise.
“Everyone has a roommate, baby,” the woman says, extending her hand out. “I’m Sasha Duncan, this is my husband Arthur. My boys Damien and Devin and this,” she points to her daughter– Gabriella watching as she goes through a few dozen emotions before settling into a forced neutrality, “is Tashi.”
“Nice to meet you, Mrs. Duncan,” Gabriella says, shaking her hand and smiling in return. “All of you.”
She meets Tashi’s eyes again, awkwardly smiling in return. Tashi doesn’t quite smile but doesn’t frown either– Gabriella getting the distinct impression that she’s being studied. It’s a sensation that she’s experienced a thousand times before, going school to school and having all eyes on her as the new girl more times than she could count. She doesn’t flinch, waiting for Tashi who finally meets her eyes– nodding once.
“You too.”
“Sorry for all of this,” Tashi’s mom says in a huff, Gabriella smiling as she motions towards all the luggage and tubs they were bringing in. “I promise we won’t take up too much–”
“That’s okay,” Gabriella says, slipping her phone in her pocket and grabbing her scrapbook and purse– pulling her crossbody over her shoulder. “I was heading out anyway, give you guys space.”
“Oh you don’t have to leave your own room,” Mrs. Duncan says, Gabriella shaking her head as she squeezes past the boys, slips on her flats, and heads towards the door.
“Really, it’s fine,” she says, meeting Tashi’s eyes, “we’ll have plenty of time to get to know each other, right?”
Tashi almost smirks, letting out a small huff and then lugging in what looks like a bag full of athletic gear. Gabriella doesn’t want to think of how they’re going to fit all of that in their dorm but if she had the freedom to sort out her space on her own without watching eyes, she figures she can do the same for the girl who will be sleeping three feet away from her.
“See you around,” she says, mostly to Tashi then nods back to Mr. and Mrs. Duncan. “Nice meeting you.”
They wave and say their goodbyes, Gabriella slipping past them and into the hallway– making a beeline towards the stairs.
It’s only when she’s outside, halfway out the dorm that she fishes her phone out of her pocket again, dialing Troy again.
He answers on the first ring, heart squeezing at the worried, “hello?”
“Hey, I’m okay, promise,” she says, hearing him expel a breath on the other end. “My roommate came in.”
“Roommate? I thought you had a single.”
“I think she did too,” Gabriella says with a smirk, readjusting the strap of her bag as she clutches her scrapbook tight.
“Was she nice?”
“Yeah,” she says, shrugging despite Troy not being able to see it. “I mean, we barely met.”
“Yeah well, sometimes you just know , right?” He asks, imagining the smile on his face and a flash of a memory of their night at the ski lodge.
“Yeah,” Gabriella says warmly, “sometimes you do.”
She walks across the quad, hearing Troy and Chad bicker in the background as she heads towards the library. She can kill a few hours there in her favorite study spot, give Tashi and her family time to unpack and settle down– give her some time to read through all the notes and pages that Taylor had stuffed in.
Time and experience taught her well enough.
Memories were meant to be cherished.