Author's Note: My first story for the HSM Romance Challenge.
Okay, I was going to start Monday, but I'm in such a good mood. You know why? Italy WON! So So So Happy.
I was jumping up and down and everything. So, first story.

Theme: Sports

"Yes!" Gabriella screamed as Marco Materazzi hit the soccer ball with his head, sending it flying into the goal. Gabriella jumped off of the couch and started to jump up and down. She looked at Troy and yelled, "In YOUR face!" Troy had an upset look on his face as Italy now came into a tie with France. He looked at the screen and saw Materazzi with his teammates, running and jumping for joy as they tied to France in the 23rd minute of the first half of the World Cup Finals.

"Damn, Gabriella, you don't have to rub it in so much," Troy told her, trying to hold back a laugh as he saw her still jumping for joy. Gabriella stopped jumping and looked at Troy, an incredulous look across her face.

"Troy," she said, obviously trying to be calm. "Remember when Zinedine Zidane had the penalty kick, and he hit the top bar of the goal, and it fell down, landing inside the white line, and then you stood up and yelled 'Goal', and then you started to chant 'In your face', and then started to jump up and down. And then I told you not to rub it in so much, and what did you tell me, again?" Gabriella finished it off with folding her arms across her chest and leaning her weight onto her right leg.

"It's just a game. Don't get so technical. I have every right to be happy for the team I am voting for, and if your team happens to make a goal, you have every right to act the way I did," Gabriella said without waiting for an answer.

"Yeah, sorry. But, wow, I didn't know you had such great memory skills," Troy said, laughing while being serious. Gabriella chuckled and sat back next to him on the forest wood brown couch that was facing the plasma screen television, hanging on the wall above the fireplace, the large home theatre speakers next to the fireplace, giving the sound as if they were at the game itself. To top it off, on the large, black piano in the corner of the room, there was a large iPod Hi-Fi on top, giving sound to the low, soft music coming out of the iPod, an Italian CD that she had downloaded, thanks to her father, Philip, who sent it through mail, from Italy, where he was, visiting his parents and siblings, along with his wife, Gabriella's mother, Karina. They had trusted Gabriella to manage a house alone, along with the fact that her aunt, Alejandra, was checking up on her every morning and night.

"Yeah, I can remember a whole lot. Like the fact that you are half French and half German. Which turns out great for me, you want to know why." Gabriella was smirking and noticed that he had a cute look on his face, that showed that he was confused, but in a shocked kind of way.

"Lay it on me, babe." Gabriella smiled and leaned in closer to him, her lips barely touching his ears, and she whispered.

"Because Italy beat out Germany in the semi-finals, and now, they'll beat out France in the finals." She pulled away smiling and leaned her back against the suede couch, focusing on the large television screen and the sounds coming from the speakers. The players had finally stopped jumping up and down and returned to their positions to play the rest of first half of the game. Troy laughed and turned to face the television, also and spoke.

"You just watch, little missy. France will beat out Italy. Your full heritage won't win." Gabriella laughed and responded.

"I know that. I'm only half Italian. The other half is Mexican. Once they were out, I was full on Italy." Then she muttered, "Damn, Argentina." Troy laughed and it was his turn to whisper in her ear.

"I know. And guess what. France AND Germany beat out Argentina. So technically, France AND Germany would have beat out Mexico, any time." Troy pulled away, and re-assumed his position in the couch. Gabriella huffed and they went back to watching the television screen, watching the players' every move, jumping slightly when the opposing team almost made a goal, and slightly cursing when the tam they were rooting for missed the goal. When halftime came around, they had fifteen minutes of free time to fill up the plates around them with food, the cups with drinks, and such.

"I wish I was in Berlin," Gabriella said, hoping onto the high chair that stood at the island table. Troy laughed and agreed as he searched through her pantry for a particular type of chips. He grabbed the Ruffles and headed out of the pantry, closing the door and setting the Ruffles on the island, next to the Sour Cream & Onion dip Gabriella had made before the game.

"Yeah, maybe then they would speak in English." If Troy had not been actually watching the game, but just listening to it, he wouldn't have know what was going on. Gabriella put the channel on the Spanish channel, and the people were speaking in Spanish, really fast Spanish for Troy. He had taken two years of Spanish, and was in his third year, but even he couldn't comprehend what they were saying, since they talked 'speed of light' fast, as Troy referred to it. Gabriella, of course, understood, as Spanish is one of the 5 languages she knows; English, French, Italian, and German were the other four. Gabriella set it on the Spanish channel because she felt Troy should learn to understand fast Spanish, because that's how people talked in Spanish. Plus, she felt as if they had more enthusiasm than ESPN and ABC. At least Troy understood a few things that they had said: 'Copa Munidal', which in English, it means 'World Cup'. 2006 FIFA World Cup, presented by Adidas, as they said it on television.

"How do you like the game?" Gabriella hadn't heard what Troy had mumbled, or she just ignored it.

"It's cool. Very exciting." Troy pointed to the fridge with his eyebrows raised, as if asking for an approval to raid her fridge, and Gabriella nodded. He pulled out a six-pack of root beer and showed it to her, getting a nod in response. He pulled two cans out of the plastic circles that held the cans together and gave one to Gabriella, setting the other on the counter as he shut the fridge door. He opened the soda and heard the sizzle. He took a sip and set it down, looking at Gabriella who was pushing the tip that opens the can back and forth, counting in her mind before it came off. She let out a sign and got up, setting it in a drawer that was filled with many other of those tip things. She noticed Troy's stare and responded.

"I try to see how many it takes for it to come off, and it's always eight. Whenever I do it right, that is. And then I put them in the drawer and when the drawer is filled, I connect them all together and use it like a chain. It's pretty cool," Gabriella told him, stretching out the last sentence for a 'trying-to-convince-him-it's-cool' effect. He just nodded, giving her a last glance before he dipped a chip into the dip and slipped it into his mouth.

"So, how do you like the game?" He had finished the chip and waited for her response.

"I like it. A lot. Except those French dudes. They scare me every time they get near the goal." Troy raised his eyebrows and she explained. "I mean they scare me, getting me thinking they're going to make a goal." Gabriella shivered at the thought. Troy laughed and picked up the yellow bowl that contained the dip, and poured the Ruffles into a large, light blue bowl. He carried the dip and his soda back to the living room, setting it on the chestnut brown coffee table, putting his soda on a bamboo coaster. He walked to where Gabriella's fish tank was and looked at the fish. The tank was pushed against the forest green wall, and the fish were exotic, gorgeous type of fish. They seemed to enjoy their little aquarium.

Gabriella was walking to the living room, almost bumping into the bamboo tree, juggling the bowl containing the Ruffles, her soda, a small bowl of cheese, and another small bowl that contained sliced pieces of bread. Troy noticed this and walked to her quickly.

"Here, let me help you," Troy said, taking the bowl of Ruffles and the bowl of bread and setting them onto the coffee table. "You should have been patient," Troy said, mimicking a way a mother would talk to a young child. Gabriella rolled her eyes while laughing and responded.

"Yes, mom." She added a salute, which caused Troy to widen his eyes.

"Are you mimicking me? Cause if you are, I'm just going to have to do something about that." Gabriella scoffed at him, and he grabbed her, picking her up and laying her onto the floor. He sat on top of her, putting one leg on each side of her. She laughed, telling him to get off.

"No. Say you're sorry," he commanded.

"Never," Gabriella yelled, being her usual stubborn self.

"Say you're sorry or I'll fart on you."

"Eww," Gabriella laughed. She screamed for help, and then heard a bark.

"OOH, Minnie's going to get you," Gabriella said as a small Dalmatian puppy escaped from the stair case and ran to Troy, stopping centimeters from Troy's face and growling. Then, another dog of the same breed came in after her, and mimicked Minnie.

"OOH! And Mickey!"

"I thought your dogs loved me." Troy got off of her and plopped on the couch. Gabriella joined him and saw the game was back on.

"They do, they just thought you were hurting me." The two dogs jumped onto the couch, each puppy taking a lap to sleep on. Troy chuckled.

"Fine, I forgive you," Troy said to Minnie. "And you, too, Mickey."

They went to their usual things: jumping slightly when the opposing team makes a goal and silently cursing when the team they're rooting for misses a goal. Except now, the game was more intense as the shots missed merely inches away from the goal. Instead of silently cursing, they yelled and let out grunts, and shocked sounds. They were louder, as they were more into the game. Then, Gabriella was thrilled when Gianluigi Buffon, the goalkeeper, made an amazing block when Zidane kicked the ball. She jumped up and down, while the dog jumped off of the couch and started to run around, as if he knew what was happening. Gabriella and Troy laughed at the dog and sat back down. They watched the rest of the game: the tie, leading to the two fifteen minute overtimes. One the second overtime, they watched closely as Zidane was walking, mumbling a few words to before he turned around, hitting his head into what looked like Materazzi's chest. The referee came over, and reaching into the front pocket of his red shirt, pulled out a red card, signaling that Zidane, the best player for France, was out for the rest of the game. Troy grunted as Gabriella giggled. Then, it came down to penalty kicks. Both Troy and Gabriella were on the edge of their seats, when the first goal was made by the Italian team. Gabriella jumped for joy, as Troy just hoped that the French team would do the same. And they did. The second people were up, and Troy let out a huge grunt, as the second person for the French team missed the shot. Then the third and the fourth came up, and they each made the shot. It was down to the fifth one, and if the player could make the goal for the Italian team, Italy would win their 4th world cup. Fabio Grosso came out to the ball. Once the whistle was blown, and Gabriella was almost falling off of her seat, he moved back, set a running start, and kicked the ball into the goal. Gabriella jumped for joy and started screaming, a good type. The players on the team ran up to Grosso and started jumping on him, since that goal did win them the world cup made of pure gold. Troy cradled his head in his hands and Gabriella was jumping up and down. Gabriella heard a ping and walked over to her laptop, where she was signed in on AIM.

ItalianBabe101: WE WON! WE WON! WE WON!

It was an instant message from her friend, Melissa, back in San Diego. They had both been big sports freaks, and really good at math.

SandyEggoNative: WE WON! OMG, Melissa and me are talking on the phone. WE WON!

That particular message was from her friend, Victoria (Sandy Eggo means "What do you call a waffle in the sand? A Sandy Eggo (like San Diego))

ItalianDude: WE WON! ITALY IS THE BEST! WE GOT THE CUP OF GOLD

Gabriella laughed. It was another one, from her friend Josh.

YouLoveItalians: WE ARE THE CHAMPIONS!

Again, from another friend. Her name is Ellie.

LIVINinMYcity: HELL YEAH! WE BEAT THE FRENCH!

This time, from her friend, Diego.

YouKnowYouLoveMe: We won! My dad filled me in.

That one was from Sharpay. She was also half Italian, and was supporting her country.

ThatHotChick: Ellie and Victoria told me that you finally got to see the game! I was there! I can't believe we won.

That one was from her friend that lived in Italy. Gabriella was born in Italy, and moved to the United States when she was two. She moved back to Italy when she was 7, then moved back to the United States when she was 14. She had introduced her friend, Michaela, to her friends in San Diego over the Internet.

Gabriella smiled at all of her friends. She always kept in touch with them, so she had no problem telling them she was happy, then that she had to get going because she had company to attend to. Michaela told her that she had seen her parents, and that they were having fun. Their parents were close friends of hers. Gabriella smiled, said her good-byes, and logged off.

"Sorry, just my friends from San Diego, Italy, and here being all excited." Troy gave her a sarcastic look as she remembered the team he rooted for lost.

"Sorry, Troy." Gabriella hugged him from his side and he patted her arms.

"Whatever. It's just a game. No problem." He smiled at her as the entire thing finished, the whole 'getting the cup' part, and then it went on to the Spanish soap opera, indicating that it was done. They cleaned up their small mess and walked into her backyard. Gabriella, in her Italian soccer jersey that had Del Piero's name on the back, and a pair of gym shorts with her flip-flops, grabbed a soccer ball and threw off her shoes. She put the ball down and started to dribble it. Troy's eyebrows rose as he patted his French soccer jersey that had Zidane's name in the back, and a pair of white basketball shorts. He took off his Nike's and sock, and joined her in the grass She placed the ball in the middle of the yard.

"Between those trees are my goal, and between those other trees are your goal." Troy nodded as they both set to get the ball. She raised up her handing, indicating on the count of three, they would start.

"One…Two…Three."

A/N: Hope you liked it. BTW, like I said, I might do a possible Zanessa, just so Gabriella won't be OOC.
& this is just friendship. As much as I love romance, I do love friendship almost asmuch.