"It's not fair!" Gabriella beat against Troy's chest as she sobbed into his arms. "You can't leave me!"
Troy smiled. "I'll only be gone a couple years. I'll write….Gabriella? You're not mad, right?"
"Mad? No, I'm PISSED. How could you just go off and join the army? Did you think about how I would feel?" Gabriella choked on a sob. "I wanted to spend the rest of my life with you! How can I do that when you're getting shipped off to Iraq?"
Gabriella wished she were back in the days of high school, when things were simple.
Troy sunk down on a bench. "I thought you'd be happy for me." He said in a small voice. "I thought you'd be proud!"
"Troy, you have talent! You can score a basketball faster than you could say it! Why waste four scholarships? Why waste me?"
"But...you'll wait for me, right?"
"Oh, that's right…little Gaby waiting at the home front for her Troy to come home. It's not like we're married!"
"WELL THEN, MAYBE WE SHOULD BE!" Troy screamed.
Gabriella took a step back. "What?"
"Gabriella…I'm going into the army. I'm gonna train, and one day I'm going to fight for my country. I can't do that unless I know you're waiting for me, here. This is my dream, Gaby!"
"And what about my dreams? I wanna teach, Troy! I don't wanna be a little wife staying here, wait-!"
"It won't be like that!"
"I believe the correct term would be 'wouldn't', because we're not getting married!"
Troy looked in the distance, and nodded. "I guess not." He grabbed his keys from the counter and headed home. Gabriella stood there, crying, waiting for comfort. When none came, she heaved herself up to her bed, where she fell into a deep, sorrowful sleep.