PROLOGUE!

Troy Bolton was the star student of East High. He had the perfect life. Perfect looks. Perfect body, Perfect grades. Perfect sports ability. Then to top it all of he had the perfect girl that every guy in East High had had his eye on at some point. She was almost like his female counterpart. She was not very popular but she did have the perfect hair, looks, body and grades. Plus she had the perfect guy. You could say they were the perfect couple. And were would be exactly the right word to use. Because sometimes things change. Sometimes it's a good thing and sometimes it isn't. Gabriella was obviously an extremely smart girl. Troy was not as smart as his girlfriend but he managed to maintain a B average in all of his subjects. Gabriella was the perfect angel in school and at home. She could never put a foot out of place. Even with Troy she could do no wrong. But sometimes people do make mistakes and things can go wrong and cause trouble. They can cause hurt to the people we love and end up destroying amazing things. But that's life and people need to learn to live with the way that the world is. Some people live in a dream or a fantasy thinking that everything is wonderful. But that isn't the real world. Those people need to come outside and see what's really going on. They need to see beyond their own little world and realize that everyone makes mistakes but sometimes we get good things from those mistakes. A lot of the time it is the knowledge of knowing how you should prevent it from happening again and why.

Everything happens for a reason. No matter what we say, how much we beg and plead, all good things have to come to an end someday. Sometimes that day is closer that you think and when it comes you need to know that it was meant to happen. It was always meant to happen. That's why the day Gabriella went missing…Troy blamed himself. She went away because of something he did. But he had no idea what it was. But he was the cause of it…he could feel it in his soul on that fateful day.

Troy stood by his locker waiting for his girlfriend, Gabriella, to come and meet him. Everyday after school he would drive her home. It was one of the few times that they got to spend time along together. She would normally come bouncing along the corridor with a happy smile on her face that would light up Troy's world. But today she didn't. She was dragging her feet and looking at the ground, as if she was afraid of making eye contact with anyone.

"You ok Gab's?" he asked her gently. She claimed she was tired and just wanted to go home. The whole ride there was silent. Gabriella's normally tanned skin seemed pale and her normally thick curls were lank and lifeless. Troy pulled into her driveway and kissed her cheek. The same way that he had been doing for the last year that they had been dating.

"So will I see you tonight?" he asked hopefully.

She shook her head sadly. "I'm busy."

"Well then I'll meet you at the lockers in the morning." She smiled at him gently before kissing him on the lips and getting out of the car. He watched her small body walk through the white front door. Little did he know that that would be the last time that he ever saw, Gabriella Montez.

Troy's POV

I got to school a bit earlier than usual that day. I was hoping to find Gabriella doing some early morning studying in the chemistry lab but when I got there it was empty. I also tried the theatre, homeroom, and the library. I even went to our special place on the rooftop but found nothing there except the plants that were blowing about in the morning breeze. I remember going to shoot some hoops until I was supposed to meet Gabriella by the lockers. I admit I got there a bit late but she wasn't the type of girl to leave after two minutes. Taylor's locker was right next door to Gabriella's and when I got there I found all the gang grouped together talking like they usually did at this time in the morning.

"Hey guys…is Gabriella not here yet?" I asked to no one in particular. I was looking around at the faces in the group, trying to find the one I was hoping to see.

"We thought she was with you…" Taylor said with confusion.

Sharpay thought for a moment before she contributed to the conversation. "Yeah but she looked quite ill yesterday…she probably won't come in." I nodded. It was unlike Gabriella to want to miss school but if she really were ill then her parents would make her stay home. He made a mental note to stop at her house on his way home tonight.

The entire day seemed to drag by for me. It was because I wanted to be somewhere. I tried not to think about the end of the day hoping that would bring it about faster than it was coming now. My last lesson of the day was English. The whole gang was in the class including Gabriella. She would normally sit next to me and I would sit and make her giggle throughout the lesson. The she would help me with the assignment because she always knew that I needed the extra push. I loved that I never needed to ask her for it. She was the type of girl who would help anyone because she was kind like that. She saw no reason why the geeks and the brainiacs should treat people from other cliques differently than they did with people in their own. She was well known around here…we both were. The musical was the main reason but because of it we had changed the entire schools history for the better and we knew that people were unlikely to forget us so easily.

The time slowly crept fowards but finally my prayers were answered as the bell went off. Signaling the end of the academic school day. All I had to get through now was basketball practice and I could go. Basket used to go quit quick because I always forgot about all of my problems while playing. It seemed like the only two things in the world was my ball and I. It was five o'clock before I got into my car and began the short journey to Gabriella's house. It had started to rain heavily and the drops were so loud you could barely hear the radio, which had the volume up as high as it would go. I pulled into the unusually empty drive way. I got soaked stepping out of my car and into the rain but I didn't care. I knew that the fire would be on and hot chocolate would be waiting. But I went to the door and knocked…there was no sound. The knock echoed through the house. I knocked again and again but still nothing. I walked over to the living room window and peered in, expecting to see the vibrant red sofa and dark wood bookcase resting in the corner with a glowing light above them. Nothing. The room was empty. The bright happy colours seemed to be replaced and in my memory now all I see is grey. Everything is grey. I ran around the back and looked in the kitchen window. But I was greeted with the same dull colours looking back at me. Panic began to surge through m as I climbed the tree onto Gabriella's balcony. Her four-poster bed, armchair, bookcase, telescope. Photographs and purple walls. All gone. Replaced with grey nothingness. I knew then that she was gone…and she didn't want anyone to know about it. I blamed myself. If I had gone to her house the night before then I would know where she had went and why. But I didn't. And now I was alone and I didn't know what to do. Life had changed with Gabriella and without her I felt lost even in a place that I knew perfectly well. I blamed myself for losing the perfect girlfriend and friend. I blamed myself for not being there. It was my fault.

The next day was the hardest day of my life. When I arrived I saw Taylor emptying Gabriella's locker with tears running down her face.

"Tay where's she gone?!" I cried. But Taylor hugged me and wept into my shoulder.

"I don't know Troy. Miss Darbus said to empty her locker because her parents have pulled her out of school. Everyone else already knows. They're in homeroom if you want to go."

"It's ok…I'll help you" Taylor nodded as we both slowly emptied the neat contents of the locker. Books, hairbrushes, paper, water bottles. I found the picture from prom. Me and my Gabriella. I picked it up and put it in my bag. It wasn't something that you could throw away. One thought continued to run through my mind. Did this make her my ex-girlfriend? I had no idea. But deep down in my hear I knew that she wasn't coming back and I knew that she knew this as well…she just…couldn't find the right words.

We all took it really hard. No one seemed to be able to speak. I got my dad to beg teachers to find out where she had gone but not one person in the entire school knew her reasons for leaving or where she had gone. All I could do now was try and move on. But how do you move on from someone so special? She lit up my world with her smile. Her hair was soft and sweet and her voice was better than an angel. But she was always my angel, always would be. Forever.

Gabriella Montez will rest in our hearts forever. We spoke about her as if she had died because to us she had. She was a part of us and her leaving made that part die. We never found out where or why she went.

I always blamed myself.

Taylor always blamed herself.

Sharpay always blamed herself.

Chad always blamed himself.

Ryan always blamed himself.

But it was my fault.

It had always been my fault

Hit everyone!

So this is the prologue of my new story hope you enjoy it as much as other stories and let me know what you guys think and if you have any questions!

Much love

Hannah

xoxoxox