Heartbroken
"Wake up." A gentle hand shook Gabriella from her dreams.
"Huh?"
"You were sleeping on the couch again. It's not good for you." His blue eyes were worried, though moments before they seemed to be full of something she couldn't comprehend.
"You woke me up just to tell me that?" She pouted.
He chuckled and lifted her chin, giving her a kiss. His lips were soft and tender as always, and she felt him lifting her up. When she pulled away, she was lying on the bed. "Thanks so much."
"Anything for you." But the usual loving sparkle wasn't there in his eyes anymore. Instead, they were hollow, seemed to be filled with endless sadness.
"What's wrong?" She brought her hand up to touch his face.
"I need to leave. For a year. And I can't bring you. I'm sorry." He looked down.
She closed her eyes, so she couldn't show her despair. A single tear dripped onto the finely woven silk sheets.
"Alright," she finally sighed. "It's not like I can do anything about it. Just promise me that you'll be safe and come back alive," she joked, trying to lighten the situation.
"I promise," he said. He sighed and kissed her hair, wiping away the tears that were now freely flowing down her face. "I know we haven't been apart since we've been married, but there's always a first time for anything. But till death do us part, right?" He tried to make her smile, and she did, though it was weak.
"Keep this," he whispered, giving her a velvet box. She gasped when she saw the beautiful gold locket inside.
"I'll keep it forever," she said.
"That's all I ask."
The scene changed then. A group of young adults huddled near a gravestone, dressed in black. They were all in their youth, beautiful and supposed to be happy and carefree, but grief destroyed their features. On every face, tears stained the pale skin and matted the luscious hair to their faces. Even the men had red eyes, but none were as horrible to see as the pretty brunette. Her eyes were puffy and red, and she kept fingering a golden heart locket, tears flowing steadily down her face.
"He was a good friend, and a great son," whispered his father.
"A great leader and the most caring person," said his best friend. He stepped forward, planting a basketball on the fresh dirt. Finally, everyone stepped back and allowed the brunette to step up.
"He was the best husband I could have. He stuck with me through bad times, and was a comfort to all of us. He was my true love." She could barely choke out the phrases. They watched as the dirt was planted in, and laid flowers around.
"He was the best person I've ever met. He was Troy Bolton."
"Gabriella? Gabs!" Gabriela Montez woke up and stared at Chad Danforth. The dull ache in her throat told her that she had been screaming before Chad woke her up.
"Nightmare again?" asked Chad knowingly. She nodded. She'd been having dreams of Troy's death for a whole year. Ever since that fatal plane crash. She could feel wetness on her cheeks and realized she'd been crying too.
"I just miss him so much, Chad," she whispered.
"We all do, Gabby. But remember, he wants you to keep living your life."
"But he promised, Chad. He promised he was going to come home safe and sound. Why did this happen to me, Chad? Why me?"
"Everyone knows you don't deserve this, Gabriella. But we need to keep living, as he told us."
"But he said, 'Till death do us part.' He's dead, Chad. And we've finally been torn apart. I can't keep living like this! Hoping that somehow, he's still alive."
"I'm sure we can get over this, little sis. We've been through harder."
"Yeah, but with him." She couldn't bear to say his name anymore.
"It's midnight," sighed Chad. "Can we talk tomorrow?"
"Yeah. Sorry for bursting out."
"It's to be expected."
After he left, Gabriella closed her eyes, trying to conjure up Troy's face the night he proposed. How the shine in his eyes was brighter than before, almost lighting up the whole restaurant.
And how it felt to kiss him.
But she couldn't. Somehow, the sad truth was keeping her from it. It had been one year. How could she do this? Forget about him and get on with her life? Because he had been her life. And now that he was gone, her life was gone as well.
She tried in vain to think of his happy face, but all she could see was the grief-stricken one the night before he left. She couldn't sleep like this, afraid that nightmares would claim her again. So she got out of bed and went to the car, driving to a place they knew well. The beach they'd spent their first date. The moon basked the sand with a silvery glow, and the tide was like a lullaby, smashing against the smooth rocks. Gabriella took off her shoes and waded into the water, going deeper and deeper, until her head went under. She didn't try to go up again. And finally, Troy's face shone behind her eyelids, smiling, and welcoming her as she joined him once more.