Hey, everyone! So, it's been a while and I've missed you all. I won't be posting any stories for a while, but I do have a lot of OneShots to post... I think I have three... Enjoy!

You Are Beautiful

East High was colorful, normal, the usual happening as the group stood by Troy's locker, laughing loudly as they talked about Zeke's misshape in cooking class; something to do with a fire and crying teacher. Sharpay smiled, laughing as Zeke's arm tightened around her waist as he leaned against an unused locker for support.

In the distance of the long hallway, a slamming door was heard and the group stopped talking, looking in the direction of the noise. Sharpay's eyes widened as she saw her friend, Taylor gasped, and Chad, although he didn't mean to, gagged.

"What the hell!" Sharpay exclaimed as she saw Gabriella walking down the hallway, completely clothed in black, her nails painted a deep red and her eyes glaring at the people who dared get in her way.

Troy watched her in confusion, his heart pounding as he saw her new look, beautiful as usual, but strangely sad. Sharpay's nails dug into her thighs, Taylor's eyes squinted as if she was seeing something from a different world, and Chad politely looked away.

Gabriella's leather boots clicked on the hallway floor and her black makeup became better apparent as she stepped closer to the group, her eyes sad, but so mean. She tapped her foot as she eyed her locker, waiting for Chad to move aside. He stumbled to the side and watched as she slammed her locker open, pulling out a pink binder, one that looked so odd next to her high neck line and dark clothing.

"What's up with your clothes?" Taylor asked, trying to sound as calm as she could.

"I needed a change." Gabriella said in a monotone, touching up her bright red lip stick in her mirror.

"Where are you going?" Sharpay asked quickly as Gabriella closed her locker, turning away from the group.

"To hell by the looks of it." She said as she saw how the group looked at her.

She closed her eyes shut tightly as she turned around, feeling the tears in her eyes as she picked up her pace, hearing a dirty comment from a guy leaning against his locker.

"What just happened?" Troy asked the group as they watched Gabriella disappear down the hallway.

"A vampire bit my best friend and now suddenly she forgot what the color pink looks like!" Sharpay exclaimed, putting a hand on her neck as if her crazy explanation was anywhere near the truth.

"She looked like she was dead!" Chad said in shock.

"Or worse!" Jason said with a nod.

"What's worse than being dead, Jason?" Taylor asked him in disbelief.

"She could have been bit by a vampire!" He said, agreeing with Sharpay as she nodded.

"Okay, first of all, she was not bit by a vampire, Sharpay is just in a Twilight stage and wants everyone to be vampires and second of all, what is Dean Samson doing making out with that cheerleader?" Zeke asked as he pointed down the hallway at the couple slammed up against a bulletin board.

"That jerk! He's dating Gabriella!" Taylor whisper yelled to the group, watching as Troy's eyes grew dark with hatred.

"Wait a minute." Chad said as he grabbed Taylor before she ran off to give Dean Samson a piece of her mind. "Maybe that's why Gabriella looks the way she does."

"Because Dean Samson's a vampire?!" Jason asked in surprise.

"Shut up, Jason!" Zeke scowled him, rolling his eyes.

"I think he broke up with her, guys." Chad said, releasing Taylor's arm as she relaxed, her facial expression now sad.

"That's terrible, I mean, they were in love." Sharpay said sadly.

The group looked at Troy in confusion as he let out a loud laugh, continuing as if he thought the group would join him, but he slowly stopped when he realized they were now just staring at him.

"Oh, I thought you were making a joke… it was pretty funny." He said, clearing his throat as he glanced down at the ground, rubbing his neck awkwardly.

"Why on earth would you laugh about something like this, Troy?" Taylor asked him curiously, wondering why a good friend of Gabriella's would laugh at her pain.

"He's been cheating on her for weeks." Troy whispered to the group.

The girls gasped, taking a step away from him as they glared at him.

"And you didn't tell her?!" They said together.

"Would you have?" Troy asked them angrily. "That guy is scum and you all have been fooled by his act! Gabriella wouldn't have believed me if her life depended on it!"

"Go fix this!" Sharpay said as she hit him harshly on the arm and then shoved him in the direction Gabriella had disappeared to.

"How am I going to fix this?!" He asked them desperately, rolling his eyes as Jason tried to help.

"Bite her!" He suggested only to get a chorus of shut ups.

Troy groaned, walking leisurely down the hallway, looking from left to right to try to find Gabriella. Hearing nothing as he stepped into the library, Troy stuck his hands in his pockets, walking slowly among the rows of books, looking for his needy friend. Passing the computers and bean bag chairs, Troy finally spotted Gabriella in the very back corner of the library, leaning her head against the wall as she sat, looking down at a dark green book and although her eyes were coated with makeup, Troy could see the brown of her eyes as he knelt down on the carpeted ground.

"You look different today." Troy told her, sitting as if they were enjoying a peaceful picnic, as if nothing was wrong, nothing was bothering him.

"Sometimes different is good." Gabriella whispered, poking at a crease in a page of the book.

"You're right." Troy nodded. "That's why I'm thinking about dying my hair pink. What do you think? I bet Sharpay would love it." He smiled, watching for her reaction, but never getting one.

"Pink's not your color." She told him, keeping her eyes on the book lying on the floor.

"Maybe orange than? Vampire black?" He smiled, knowing that Jason would have probably suggested that color sooner or later.

"I don't want to talk to you." She whispered to him, closing her eyes suddenly.

Troy's heart became heavy as he sensed the obvious break down that Gabriella needed, one that would have happened if she opened her eyes and looked at him or talked above a whisper.

"You need to talk to someone." Troy told her, placing his hand on hers, only to get it pushed away immediately as Gabriella stood up.

"No I don't." She said in a regular volume, whimpering as she heard her voice crack.

"Gabs, what happened?" Troy said, grabbing her by the arm before she could run away.

"Nothing happened, okay, Troy?" She said loudly, her voice cracking every other word, her black eye makeup seeming to get blacker as she finally looked up at him.

"You have to tell me, Gabs. I can help!" Troy explained to her, pulling her closer to him.

"Let go of me." She hissed, pushing him away from her, but staying in her spot. "You could have told me he was cheating on me!" She screeched, feeling her throat ache. "You could have helped then!"

"Gabs, I…" Troy started, taking a step closer to her.

"You didn't want to hurt me?" She asked him quietly, anger clear in her voice as her lip trembled.

"I didn't." He said as he shook his head.

"He hurt me, Troy! You could have saved me from all of this." She cried, not letting tears fall yet, no, not in front of him.

"What happened?" Troy asked calmly, wanting to believe Gabriella as she blamed him, but he shook his head, he couldn't.

"For days, for weeks, he's been seeing someone else, Troy." She whispered weakly. "When I told him he was a worthless waste of air he took his anger out on me. I was angry, Troy, not him. I should have hit him!"

Troy's eyes widened, his chest shook with anger, his face grew red as Gabriella watched him, his eyes now falling on the bruise barely covered by her bangs. He hadn't noticed it before, he was too busy looking at her beautiful brown eyes, but now, now he was mad, so angry as she seemed to shrink before him and before she could stop him, he was running so fast away from her.

Gabriella's chest ached as she ran down the hallway, the heels on her boots feeling as if they'd snap at any given moment and she stopped as she gasped, seeing Troy just now launching himself onto Dean, beating the crap out of him as Zeke, Jason, and Chad, as if in slow motion, ran towards him, trying with all their might to get him off of Dean. Gabriella's eyes became heavy as she watched and something inside of her broke, causing her to smile, to not feel bad at all.

Putting a hand on her head, she watched as the fight took place and before she knew it, she was leaning over a garbage can, heaving up her breakfast, squeezing her eyes shut as she saw the blood, the teachers now could be heard breaking it up.

Gabriella stood, wiping her mouth of the burning substance, weakly dragging herself to the nurse's office. She needed to get out of there, the sight before her wasn't so pretty.

***

The sky was dark, the stars were bright, and the moon was full. The grass of the Montez's house was damp as Troy stepped carefully across it, the sound of the neighbor's dog, the unseen crickets, and a parking car somewhere was heard along with the faint sound of the doorbell that Troy heard as he stood on the porch.

A cat was sitting on the porch, watching him as it stayed in its spot. Emmet was its name. Sharpay had named it when she saw it for the first time hanging around the house. Emmet was a loner for the most part and Troy watched as his eyes reflected in the darkness.

"Troy." He heard his name said softly and he turned to see Ms. Montez in the doorway.

"I'm sorry for coming so late, Ms. Montez." He apologized.

"Don't worry. Come on in, Troy." She smiled somewhat as she stepped aside. "Gabriella told me everything. I'm sorry that you were brought into this, sweetheart." She told him.

"It was my choice, Ms. Montez." Troy nodded as he glanced away from her shortly.

"She needs someone, Troy." Ms. Montez told him, becoming teary eyed. "I've never seen her like this before: so weak and such. She can barely lift her head off of her pillow and I'm afraid she's going to make herself worse."

"Is she in her room? Can I see her?" Troy asked quietly, feeling his heart beat pounding now.

"Yes, go." Ms. Montez nodded, gesturing towards the stairs.

Troy paced himself as he made his way up the stairs, hearing the creaking of one step in particular that Gabriella always told him to jump over because she hated the sound and he smiled softly, remembering, but forgetting at the same time.

He saw Gabriella's room once he was finally in the hallway and he made his way over to the door that was opened a crack. He stepped into Gabriella's room and tiptoed closer to her. Her back was to him and she was in grey sweatpants and a navy blue tank top. Her hair was pulled up in a messy bun and Troy wasn't sure if she was awake or sleeping. The lamp on her nightstand let off a soft glow like a dying fire would have and he became warm as the coziness of the room overwhelmed him.

"Mom?" He heard her whisper softly.

"Um… no, it's me… Troy." He said as he stopped at the side of her bed.

She swallowed as if it was hard to do and Troy slowly walked around her bed so that he could see her face. Her eyes opened and she squinted painfully, seeing him watching her.

"You can sit." She whispered to him.

Troy sat on the opposite side of the bed and lay down after a few minutes of silence, scooting closer to her as she tried to keep her eyes open. He studied her face as he stayed inches away from her. Her skin was pale, a sick color, and her eyes were bare, no makeup in sight, no darkness at all. Her hair was a mess, but Troy liked the look as he let his eyes wander, seeing the bruise on her forehead.

"Are you… sick?" He asked her quietly.

"I'm not sure." She admitted, closing her eyes when she heard her raspy voice. "My mom said that I'm making myself sick, so I don't think this really counts."

"Did it hurt?" Troy asked as he ran a finger over her bruise, pulling away when she flinched.

"The truth did. Not this." She told him, opening her eyes again, keeping them level to his chest, not his eyes. "Are you in trouble?" She asked him quietly.

"I'm suspended for a few days. I would have been expelled… but I have connections." He said seriously, watching as she smiled just barely, but slowly frowned.

"Why'd you hurt him?" She asked him.

"Are you defending him?!" Troy asked too quickly, too harshly, too loudly.

"I…"

"Never mind, I'm sorry." Troy said quickly when he saw her shake, not knowing what to say.

"I'm sorry for asking." Gabriella said with a shake of her head. "I shouldn't have." She said nervously.

"No. It's fine. Don't be sorry." Troy said to her sincerely.

They laid there for a moment in silence, Gabriella focusing on Troy's plain shirt and Troy focusing on her eyelashes that were blinking occasionally.

"Did you love him with all of your heart?" Troy asked curiously, hurting even himself with the question.

"I've only loved you with all of my heart." Gabriella told him and he already knew that, they'd been an item once, but best friends was all they could handle after a while of fighting, of hurting, of loving.

"Why are you hurting so much?" He asked her, feeling tears appear in his eyes as she looked up at him, tears falling already.

"Do you remember how I told you that I told Dean he was a worthless waste of air?" She asked him.

"He deserved that." Troy told her honestly.

"I didn't tell him that." Gabriella admitted. "He said that to me."

Troy's hand curled into a tight fist as he heard her and he soon felt her hand on his whitening knuckles, moving it back to normal, in a less angry position.

"Don't." She whispered.

"You're not telling me everything." He said to her. "I know you."

Gabriella's lip trembled as she listened to him speak, his breath brushing up against her forehead as her hand was soon entwined in his. Troy wrapped his arms around her as she began to cry, holding her securely as her tears ran down his neck.

"I wasn't good enough." She hiccupped. "I wasn't skinny enough or perfect." She let out a soft sob, gripping Troy's shirt in her hand that was forming its own angry fist.

"No." Troy whispered as he shook his head, holding her tighter.

"I wasn't beautiful or pretty enough for him." She sucked in his scent, the comforting aroma that she loved. "I'm worthless and a waste of air." She cried.

"No." Troy argued with her, pushing her away softly so that he could see her face, holding onto her arms as she cried, wishing so badly that this never happened.

Gabriella shook her head, pushing him away from her.

"I am." She told him, "Just tell me the truth for once."

"I'd be lying to you." He said loudly, taking a deep breath when she flinched.

He looked at her sadly, brushing her hair back so that he could see the bruise on her forehead. He took her hands in his and looked directly into her eyes.

"You are perfect, Gabs." He said to her, watching as her tears slowed. "You deserve all the air in the world. You are beautiful." He said clearly.

Gabriella swallowed, looking at Troy seriously, watching as he talked to her. She nodded slowly.

"I believe you." She admitted, watching a look of relief wash over his face.

"And believe me when I say I'm never letting you date another guy that's not me." Troy said seriously, wanting to protect her for forever.

"Okay." Gabriella nodded, letting a few more tears slip from her eyes. "I believe you."

Troy leaned towards her, lifting her chin up and brought his lips to hers, kissing her softly so that she'd know he meant every word he said, and she kissed him back as she believed him. She was beautiful and she finally believed it.

Like it? Review!

Much love,

unknownbyhim22