"Shit," Troy Bolton cursed, slamming his gym locker shut hard. The metal clanged loudly and he turned on his heel and through his duffle bag over his shoulder. He ran a hand through his long and thick wet hair, as a loud grunt passed from his plump pink lips. He sighed again, leaving the locker room, the door banging shut behind him. He was surprised to find Tiffany standing at the gym's double doors, a sympathetic look on her face.
She walked toward him, her Stiletto heels clicking, and her fake blonde hair swishing behind her. "Troy," she whispered, her voice thickly sweet. She offered him a sympathetic gesture, placing her hand gently on his shoulder.
Troy shrugged her hand away and shook his head. "Not now, Tiff." He slid past her, his shoulder bumping hers as he did so. He walked straight for the double doors, not so much as glancing at her as he went.
"I'm just trying to help," she called after him. She ran to catch up with him. "What's the big deal? It's not like you even knew the kid."
Troy turned around to face her, a grimace on his face. "Like you know," he said, his voice gruff and hoarse. He felt tears brimming his cobalt blue eyes but he quickly blinked them away. He was not going to cry. Troy Bolton, the most popular guy in school, was not going to cry. "You only like me because I'm popular."
"I'm sorry," Tiffany said softly. "I didn't know you and whatever his name was-"
"His name was Chad," Troy interrupted her rudely. "You've got to give him some credit."
"Credit?" Tiffany almost shrieked. "The kid brought a gun to school and shot himself… In front of half the school! How the hell can you give a freak like that credit, or even respect?"
Troy pushed the double doors open and turned into the school's almost empty hallway. The bell had rung fifteen or so minutes ago. And only stragglers had remained inside. Especially not after what half of them had just witnessed. Troy could still picture it now…
"Dude!" Troy yelled, high-fiving his friend Jason. "How's it goin' man?"
"Great, baby," Jason grinned, as they did their secret handshake, knowing every eye in the hall was currently on them. But something suddenly distracted Jason, and he turned to look down the hall, just as everyone else had. Chad Danforth, one of the total dorks of the school, came walking down the hallway. It wasn't anything new, everyone stared at him, anywhere he went.
"It's not like that," Troy sighed, giving Tiffany another piercing look. "You don't get it."
"Explain it to me," Tiffany replied, hands on her hips, stopping in the middle of the hall in front of Troy, making him come to a stop as well.
It was different this time. Something was odd. Troy could feel it in his stomach. The air was tense, so was everyone else. People sucked in their breaths as Chad stopped in the hallway, standing right in front of Troy and Jason. Everyone stared, wide-eyed at Chad as he held the gun up to his head.
"It was his last plea for help," Troy whispered. "Someone should have stopped him… He wanted someone to stop him."
Chad gave Troy a sad look.
"Chad, don't do this," Troy said, holding his hands up, and taking two small steps toward Chad. "You don't have to do this."
"What's it to you?" Chad asked, giving Troy a nasty glare. His finger shook on the trigger of the gun. "You never cared." And he pulled the trigger.
Troy shook his head, trying to rid the memory of his brain. But it didn't work like that. It wouldn't go away that easily. "That was why he did it in front of everyone. It was a plea for help."
Tiffany shook her head. "Baby, I think you're going crazy. This isn't your fault. You didn't do anything. The kid just went insane… That's all. There was nothing you, or anyone else, could have done to stop him. He chose to do that."
Troy rolled his eyes. "Never mind. Forget it. I'll be fine."
"Okay," Tiffany sighed. "So there's this party at Jason's tonight, right? Are you going?"
Troy nodded, pulling himself together as much as he could. "Yeah. Of course. Why wouldn't I?"
Tiffany smiled and took Troy's hand in hers. "Good. Give me a ride?"
"What's wrong?" Tiffany asked, noting that Troy looked a little out of it tonight.
"What?" Troy immediately snapped out of his daze. "Oh, sorry. Nothing."
"Gabriella Montez?" Tiffany almost yelled suddenly. "What the hell is she doing here? Isn't she, like, a Bible-hugger or something?"
Troy looked to follow Tiffany's gaze across the room. She was glaring at the girl standing in the corner with her friend. They were both looking rather intrigued as they watched the drunk people dancing around in front of them. She was short and petite. Her dark curly hair was pulled back into a sloppy bun on top of her head, leaving a few curls down to frame her face. She had a heart-shaped face and flawless skin. Her eyes were an intense shade of chocolate brown. She was dressed in a pair of hip-hugging skinny jeans and a purple tank top.
Troy snorted loudly. "I've never even seen that chick in my life. Her friend looks a bit familiar, though…" Troy spoke in Tiffany's ear, trying to remember the girls.
Her friend was taller than she was and a bit bigger than she was. She was African American. Her hair had been tamed into dark waves. Her eyes were a very dark brown, making her skin tone pop. She was dressed in a pair of stone-washed jeans and a v-neck pink shirt, with a pink tank under it.
"Yeah, they're in our homeroom," Tiffany said, a hint of jealousy in her voice as she turned back to Troy. She started to grind intensely with him. "They are total freaks. They were friends with that kid who shot himself…"
Troy suddenly looked up. "They were?"
Tiffany nodded and then rolled her eyes, placing Troy's hands on her hips, trying to get him to move more intensely with her, trying to increase their speed, and make things more hot. She flipped her long blonde hair over her shoulder and moaned as Troy's hands slid down to her butt. "But who cares about them?" She whispered, trying to be seductive. "This is our time. Wanna go upstairs?"
Troy's eyes widened. "What? Hell yeah."
Tiffany smiled and took Troy's hand and they took off running up the stairs. Troy shut the door behind them, and his lips immediately attacked Tiffany's. He pushed her back onto the bed, climbing on top of her. "Are you a virgin?" She asked him, her fingers trailing down his chest.
Troy nodded and swallowed hard. "Not for long."
"We are gathered here today…" The minister was saying.
But Troy was paying hardly any attention to him. He watched the few people who were standing around the gravesite. It was a sad thing to witness; a funeral. The few people that were there were crying. The most sad thing of all, though, was that Troy knew every single one of them. Chad's aunt and uncle, and grandma, and mom, and cousin. All of Chad's small family. Troy knew every single one of them. That was because he and Chad had been best friends growing up.
Troy's eyes traveled over to where Dana, Chad's mom, was standing. She was sobbing silently into a handkerchief. But what interested him most were the two girls standing right next to her. Gabriella Montez was rubbing her back and crying too. Taylor McKessie held her hand tightly, as her own tears slipped slowly down her face. Troy stood in the back, watching Chad's few friends and family cry and mourn, feeling completely out of place, as the minister continued to talk and talk.
Without Troy noticing, once the ceremony was over, Dana had made her way over to him. She approached him and Troy saw how much different she looked since the last time he'd seen her; more than three years ago. Her hair was still light brown, but there were gray streaks in It at random places. Her face had more wrinkles, and she had bags and purple circles under her eyes, which were red and raw from her crying. But yet, she smiled at Troy, the warmest smile Troy had ever seen in a long time.
"Troy," she choked out, her voice hoarse, as if she hadn't talked in ages. She gave him a tight hug. "You've grown up so much."
"I-I- yeah…" Troy stuttered to find the words to say, but his voice didn't seem to want to work. He couldn't find the right words. I'm sorry your son is dead? He was a good kid? How could he say any of that when they hadn't even spoken in years?
She looked at him, her smile fading, her face becoming more serious, which made her look even more old. "Did h-he… Did he s-say anything to y-you about… About…?" She couldn't seem to finish her sentence.
Troy couldn't blame her. Being in the state she was, how could anyone blame her. "No," Troy replied.
Dana nodded. "Okay…" She gave Troy one last saddened smile before she turned to go be comforted by the rest of her family.
Troy turned to leave as well, but he was stopped by Gabriella Montez approaching him. She was dressed in black dress pants and a black sweater. Her hair was down and curly for the occasion. Her eyeliner and mascara was running down her face. She wiped her eyes on her sleeve and sniffed quietly, stopping right in front of Troy.
"What?" Troy grunted, his voice a little more harsh than he'd meant.
"Why are you here?" Gabriella asked, her voice soft and sweet. "Is this some kind of closure for you or something?"
"No," Troy shook his head, avoiding Gabriella's gaze. "I was just leaving, thanks."
Gabriella grabbed Troy's arm, sending a weird electrical spark through his body. He gave her an odd look, only to find himself facing her skeptical face. "Why are you here?" She asked again. Troy wasn't sure if she was actually asking, or if she already knew. Something in her eyes was different, an emotion he'd never seen before.
Troy raised a thick eyebrow. "Why does it matter?"
"You didn't answer my question," Gabriella replied, her voice angelic. She turned to face Troy, almost forcing herself to look into his eyes. "You, Troy Bolton, the most popular guy in school, is here, when he could be at some lame party. Instead, you're at Chad Danforth's funeral, a boy who was extremely nice and smart, but totally unpopular, simply because he wasn't a basketball player. Again, why are you here exactly?"
Troy didn't know if she was trying to sound harsh and demanding or not. But it wasn't working out too well if she was. Her voice was too soft and sweet for that. He sent her another odd look, as if he needn't waste any time talking to her. He yanked his arm from her grip and started to walk away again.
"You're going to walk away just like that?" Gabriella asked. "Just like you walked away from Chad when he needed you the most?"
Troy turned around and gave her an ice cold glare. "How did you know?"
"He talked about you, Troy," Gabriella said, taking tiny steps to reach him again. "All the time. You guys used to be best friends."
"Well, then if you already knew, why did you ask why I was here?" Troy asked.
Gabriella looked him dead in the eyes. "I was trying to get you to open up, instead of being a walking, talking robot all of the time. I thought maybe you had some feelings locked up inside and you needed to talk. I guess I was wrong. Wouldn't be the first time, though." She brushed gently past Troy, earning him another electrical spark.
Troy's cobalt blue eyes followed her as she walked to join her friend. They linked arms and walked down to meet up with Dana again, where Troy assumed, they were exchanging comforting words and hugs and touches. He sighed loudly. He walked toward his old beat up blue pickup truck and climbed in, revving the engine up. He pulled out of the graveyard, passing Dana and the girls as he did this. Dana waved and smiled. Troy wanted to wave back, but he didn't. He just gave her a curt nod and drove on.
Guilt was what Troy felt in the pit of his stomach. Dana and Gabriella's words had only increased that feeling of guilt. But something, though he wasn't sure what, was telling him that everything was going to be okay, that Dana was going to be fine. And for the first time in three years, he needed to talk to the one person who could always make him feel better as kids, the one who could make him laugh, the one who wasn't here now; Chad Danforth.
A/N: Okay, so I really want to know. How hard would you guys fight to save a life of someone, even if it was a stranger?
