My whole world went quiet. The loud party atmosphere that had seemed so carefree mere minutes ago was now silent. I saw them dancing, I saw others drinking, but my attention was on the phone in my hand. I felt myself falling, my world tilting, but hands caught me before I touched the floor. They're not the hands you need. A little voice in the back of my head said. I searched for the face, but the fluffy brown afro was not what I wanted to see.
"NO!" My scream was so loud that everyone heard, and someone cut the music as I lay against the ground sobbing. "no… no, no, no!" I pounded the ground with my fists, and I felt some arms around me. I recognised Taylor's grasp and cried into her shoulder whilst Chad grabbed my phone off the floor.
"Hello?" I heard him ask. "Oh. Hi Maria. Is something wrong? Gabriella's collapsed." I heard him say. A crushing silence followed, and I heard Chad choke on a tear. "Oh." My phone tumbled to the floor, but my hysterical crying covered any noise.
"Chad what is it?" I heard Taylor ask. "Chad?" No answer. "Baby, what's happened?"
"Troy's dead." His flat voice came. A gasp came from the crowd. Another sob came from me as I felt my heart twisting. He wasn't dead. He couldn't be. He was at home, studying for the final next week. He wasn't gone. He was fine.
"Oh my…"
"He was on his way here and he got stabbed outside the pub." Chad choked, and I screamed into Taylor's shoulder.
"HE'S NOT DEAD, HE'S FINE." I screamed. "He's fine, he's fine." I mumbled to myself.
"Gabs, honey…" Taylor tried. I shook my head, so she opted for rubbing my back and rocking me gently.
"He's fine, Tay! He's fine, he's fine…" Another tear choked me, and I couldn't breathe. Hyperventilating, I dropped to the floor again.
"Gabs." Taylor's voice was choked, forced. I couldn't see her through my blurred vision. All of a sudden I was lifted into the air, and someone was carrying me somewhere. I felt cold as I was bundled into a car, but all I could focus on was the throbbing pangs in my heart. All I wanted was Troy. I needed his smell, his touch, his kisses.
"Troy… Troy, I need you… Troy…" I sobbed against the leather seats. After a few minutes I was lifted from the car and carried somewhere.
"Gabriella?" My mom's worried voice came. I sobbed again as I was set down somewhere. Arms went around me and started stroking my back in what was meant to be a reassuring way. But that was Troy's job. He reassured me. I pushed the hands away, running up to my room. I grabbed my phone, dialling the familiar number.
"hi, this is troy. Please leave a message and I'll try and get back to you. If this is my baby girl gabby, I'm probably five minutes away." I sobbed, and hung up, dialling again.
After listening to the message another 20 times, my vision was even more blurred, and I had one thing on my mind. The guy who killed him. I ran out of my room, throwing open the door and running, ignoring the people calling me. I ran as fast as I had ever run before.
"You can't run fast, babe. I'll always catch you." I sobbed, and tears blurred my vision once more as I ran onto the road, heading to the pub with the crime scene tape opposite me. I sobbed, and heard a blaring horn. The noise sounded far away as people called my name and people tried running towards me. Confused, I turned towards the blaring light and was greeted with a sharp inpact and a painless white.
"Come with me." I heard his voice, and nodded.
"Always."