Acuña
DISCLAIMER: I DON'T OWN ANYTHING EXCEPT THE PLOT FOR THIS STORY.
So I just thought up this idea today, I'm not sure if its going to work yet but you'll never know if you don't try. So you will need to let me know what you think once you've read the first chapter.
Ciudad Acuña, Mexico. Late July 2014
Troy Bolton sat in complete shock, staring straight at the wall of his uncomfortable apartment in the dirty town of Acuña, close to the boarder with the United States.
His strong need to discover the world, along with the strains of the average American life had forced him to pack his bags and leave his comfortable life in Albuquerque for the less comfortable life traveling around South America.
He created a plan based on a dream, of all the beautiful places he could see and all the amazing things he could do.
But this was never part of the dream.
He looked down at the tiny girl who was cradled in his arms, it soon becoming clear that he had no idea what to do. He had never needed to take care of anyone but himself, he had never really wanted it any other way, but now he had no choice.
The girl in his arms began to whimper, how could he possibly take care of someone else when he could barely even take care of himself.
He looked around at the bare stonewalls of his cold, dark and dirty apartment that he had acquired just days ago. He couldn't say that he was happy here, or that he didn't wish he were in a nice, warm, cozy apartment somewhere close to home. There was no way that he could keep her here.
He stood up from his chair swiftly, placing the girl gently down on the hard couch as he did.
He ran into his room, grabbing the bag that had held the contents of his life for the last year and a half. He ran from his room, delicately picking up the girl from the couch before rushing out of the door.
---
El Paso Border Control Point, Texas USA. August 2014
"Documentation sir?" a large border control officer stepped in front of Troy blocking his path. Troy began to sweat, he hadn't even thought about documentation for him or the girl that was sleeping unaware in his arms.
"I…I don't have any sir, the girl is mine I swear it to you but I don't have any documentation." The officer sighed frustratedly, taking Troy by the shoulder and leading him towards a small office.
He sat down at a desk in front of a tired looking computer. He began typing but soon looked up at Troy, clearly searching for more information.
"Name and date of birth?" He smoke flatly, showing no sympathy for Troy and the obvious mistakes he'd made.
"Troy Bolton. March 20 1989." The man typed the information, looked closely at the screen before looking up again at Troy, this time examining his facial features very carefully.
"And the girl?" Troy looked down at her, staring closely at her tiny features. His mind took him back 5 years to when he would sit and dream with a girl about what their children would be like.
This was never part of the dream.
"Sofia Sanchez. She was born sometime in July in Acuña." The officer once again sighed, his frustrations building even further.
"Look, son. There's no record of this baby anywhere. I'm letting you through but we're gonna have to take the child." Troy frowned, his grip on the baby tightened. She hadn't come into his life in the best of ways but there was no way he was letting someone take her away from him.
"No way, please I'm all that she has now. She's my daughter, don't take her from me for no reason." Troy wondered what would happen to her if he was to just leave her there and make his way back to his old life, but there was something in him telling him he simply couldn't.
"Look Mr. Bolton, this is what I'm going to do but only because it's almost midnight and I want to go home. I'm issuing you with this notice that says as soon as you reach your destination, which I'm assuming is Albuquerque given that is where you are from, you must seek a DNA test and have the baby give the necessary vaccinations for entrance to the United States. Go before I change my mind." Troy quickly stood up, leaving the office and stepping across the imaginary line that separated the two countries.
He took a deep breath, taking in the warm Texas air. He hadn't really thought about how he would get to his destination from here, his drivers' license had long disappeared. He reached deep into his pocket, pulled out what money he had left and sighed in frustration. Twenty Peso…there was no way $1.50 was going to get him anywhere.
"Looks like were walking home, Princess" Troy gently brushed one of the girls tiny curls from her face, he couldn't believe how much he had taken to being a father since she was trust into his arms so suddenly. He couldn't really remember what he did with his days before her.
---
Somewhere between El Paso and Santa Teresa NM, USA. August 2014.
Troy walked slowly along the dirt track that ran adjacent to the highway.
He was tired and as the hours moved into early morning, the air became crisp and cold.
The baby had started crying hours ago and there was nothing he could do to make it stop. With no money for infant milk, all he could do was let her suck on the corner of a muslin sheet dipped in water.
He had been watching as headlight rushed past him, not a single was stopping. It wasn't like he was expecting him to stop, nor was he asking them to stop but he hoped when someone noticed he had a baby that maybe they just might pull over.
"Where are you heading to son?" Troy looked up and stopped an older man talking to him through the window of a large RV that was pulled up on the side of the highway.
"Albuquerque" Troy responded simply, returning his attention to the baby in his arms. He wished desperately that he could give her what she needed but all he could do for now was try and calm her down.
"You'll be walking until Christmas if you carry on like this. Get in, we're heading to Salem" Troy considered the idea for a few short seconds before smiling at the man and nodding his head in gratitude.
"Thank you so much, I'm really sorry about the baby, it's just she's hungry. I hope you don't mind the noise" Troy adjusted his grip on the girl, lifting her closer to his shoulder and stroking her back gently.
"Well we can't have the little one hungry. My daughter has a baby about the same age, I'm sure there's a bottle and some formulae left over from her visit, right Hank?" This time it was a woman's voice that filled Troy's ears. He looked up at the RV door opened and an older woman stepped out.
Troy began to feel relieved that none of the other drivers had pulled over to offer him assistance, he knew that with these two people he could be able to find a few hours of comfort for himself and the near hysterical girl cradled against his shoulder.
"Where have you come from? You look like you've been walking for hours." The woman ushered Troy into the warmth of the RV, sitting him down on the large comfortable couch.
"Mexico, I hitched rides here and there, but we walked a lot of the way. We left Acuña in late July." The lady walked back to the kitchen area with bottle filled with warm formulae milk and handed it to Troy.
"Thank you so much, I don't know how I would have fed her if you guys hadn't have come along" Troy placed the bottle against the Sofia's lips, she accepted it immediately and began taking in the much needed milk.
"Hank spotted that you had a baby, we couldn't just let you walk along the highway, had something happened to either of you we could have never forgiven ourselves. I'm Mary-Ann by the way" Troy smiled and nodded, looking back down at Sofia whose tears had finally subsided.
"Troy and Sofia" Mary-Ann smiled warmly at Troy. She was fascinated by the young man that sat in front of her; she couldn't quite work out how he had ended up with a tiny baby, walking to Albuquerque from Mexico.
"What's your story?" She asked, desperate to know how such a smart looking boy ended up in such a harsh situation.
"How long have you got?" Troy joked; he lifted up Sofia and looked deep into her dark brown eyes. It definitely had been a long journey from where he started, to where he found himself today.
"Between here and Salem…about 2 hours and 45 minutes" Mary-Ann joked back. Troy made himself comfortable on the couch, laying down a now sleeping Sofia in his lap.
"Well, I started off really happy in Albuquerque…"
Troy opened his eyes slowly, taking in his surroundings. It took him a few minutes to realize where he was but as soon as he felt a gentle breath brush against his chest he knew right away.
His eyes moved from the ceiling down to the sleeping beauty enclosed in his arms. He couldn't believe that she was his; she was so beautiful.
He ran a finger gently down her body, starting at her smooth cheek before moving down to her perfect sized breasts before tracing a pattern around her belly button gently.
"Hmm, morning" she whispered, his gentle touch causing her to wake from her deep sleep.
"I didn't mean to wake you, I just cant believe how beautiful you are. Every time I get to see you like this and hold you like this, it blows me away." She smiled up at the boy who made her feel so safe when she was tucked into his arms.
"We've been together for years, I cant believe you still think like that." She looked deeply into his eyes before kissing him gently on the lips.
"I'll always think like that, even when we're old and wrinkly, you'll always be the most beautiful girl in the world" she blushed, snuggling her face into his warm neck.
"I love you," she giggled, kissing the stop on his neck that she knew gave him goose pimples.
"I love you too"
---
"She really was my whole entire world" Troy told Mary-Ann. The happy memories of all of the years that they had shared together sending a warm sensation through his veins.
"So why did you leave her?" She asked, curious to know, if Troy's previous life was so perfect why did he run.
"I left because of the pressures from other people, she never put pressure on me but I knew that if I stayed in Albuquerque I would go mad. So that meant leaving her to. I never told anyone I was leaving, I just did it" Troy explain. He looked down at Sofia wondering, if he hadn't left would he be a daddy anyway.
---
Troy stopped his frantic packing for a second to take a look at the 20 year old sleeping beauty between his sheets, blissfully unaware of what was happening around her.
He couldn't bare that he had to leave her behind but he knew but it was the only way he could escape the pressures that were driving him to insanity.
He shoved the last T-shirt in his bag before stepping closer to his bed and kneeling next to the sleeping beauty. He pressed a kiss to her forehead, a single tear running down his cheek. He was going to miss her so much.
"I love you baby. God I love you so much. Don't you ever forget that." He placed more kisses lightly over her face before touching her lips with his, applying just enough pressure to make her kiss back but not enough to wake her.
"I want you to carry on your life like I was never here. Get married to the perfect guy and have lots of beautiful babies. Your so beautiful" he touched her soft hair, he so desperately wanted to touch every single part of her body but he knew the longer he stayed the longer it would get much harder to leave.
He slowly walked across his room towards the door; carefully avoiding the floorboards he knew would creek loudly and wake everyone in the house.
Opening the front door quietly, he took one look back at his old house before turning back around and disappearing off into the world.
---
"This is us when we were 18. I couldn't bare to leave this picture behind" Troy handed a picture of a couple snuggled together on a hammock.
"What happened after you left?" Mary-Ann was becoming engrossed in the story the young man was telling her, it was like something out of a movie but the true reality of it forced her to need to hear more.
"I'd traveled through Texas mostly, I remember I was staying in a motel and my face came on the news. My mom and Gabriella were there, crying desperately for me to come home. So I ran even further." As Troy told his story, he wondered what would have happened if he had been found. It was also the first time he stopped to think what was going to happen when he finally did arrive in Albuquerque.
"Did you ever make contact with anyone?" the next question was asked, prompting Troy to carry on the story of the journey that had led him into complete loneliness.
"No, I knew that if I spoke to anyone I'd miss them so much I'd do home. That wasn't what I wanted" he sighed, all of the happy memories suddenly flooding his head.
"Tell me how this beautiful little girl happened" Mary-Ann took a sleeping Sofia into her arms, examining her delicate features and lightly tanned skin, before placing her down gently in Troy's lap.
---
Troy walked around the small Mexican town that he had just arrived in. It was the first time he'd visited somewhere so small but he definitely liked it. It was definitely somewhere he could imagine himself living in for a long time.
He spotted a club; in his mind it was the best way for him to meet new people in the area, so he went in.
"Hey there Papi, haven't seen you around here before" a small Mexican girl approached him almost immediately after he walked through the door. Her English was broken but easily understandable to Troy.
"Just arrived in town," Troy allowed his eyes to move up and down the girl's body several times. She looked just like the girl that he'd left behind. He watched her carefully as she pulled his body closer to hers.
"Well then, let me show you around" She took hold of Troy's hand and led him out of the club into the sticky night air.
Before he knew it, he was naked. Having sex with someone who he didn't even know. It was something he thought he'd never do, but here he was doing it.
He knew that it was wrong but once the feelings of pleasure began to move through his veins he couldn't stop himself.
It was over as quickly as it began though, he couldn't bare what he'd done. He hadn't been with anyone since he left Albuquerque; it had felt like he was cheating.
---
"I didn't see her after that. She must have known where I was living though, because she came around one day with Sofia and never came back. I was so shocked; I couldn't believe it. There I was living in a horrible apartment, I knew that I couldn't stay there with her. She deserves better" Troy sighed; it pained him to remember the terrible thing he had done.
To some it might not have been a big deal but to him it was horrible, he'd made a promise to himself that it was something he'd never do. Yet there he, paralyzed to stop.
He desperately regretted that night, yet a piece of him was thankful that it brought him Sofia.
"This is us son. I'm sorry we couldn't take you further but it's late, were stopping over until the morning and then turning off the highway." Hank pulled into the parking lot of a motel before turning off the engine.
"Thank you so much for bringing us this far. I don't know what we would have done had you not come along. Thank you" Troy smiled sincerely at Mary-Ann and Hank and he stepped out of the RV into cold night air.
"Come on Princess. Time to look for another ride" Troy held Sofia closer to his body, if he had money he would have gotten them a room for the night but with only a dollar fifty, that didn't seem like an option.
---
Troy smiled happily to himself.
He was finally home.
Turning around to thank the driver of the small truck who had picked him up in Salem and dropped him and Sofia safely at Albuquerque bus depot.
"We're home baby girl" Troy whispered, looking down at the baby sleeping soundly in his arms.
As he walked up the large street slowly, he remembered all of the happy times he had had here. He almost couldn't remember why it was he had left in the first place.
He followed the route to his parent's house that was still ingrained in his mind; he could never forget it. He smiled at the sights that he recognized and marveled at the ones he had never seen before, taking them in and storing them safely in his memory.
Before he knew it he was on the street where his parent's house was situated, it suddenly dawned on him, what if they didn't live there anymore?
As he got closer to the house, he noted that it still looked the same. The outside walls were still painted a happy shade of baby blue and the yellow flowers that lined the pathway still in perfectly neat rows.
He walked up the pathway nervously, wondering what would happen when the door he was approaching opened. Would it even be his parents behind the door? Or would it be someone he had never seen before?
Taking a deep breath he knocked on the door, waiting painstakingly for someone…anyone to open it.
As the door opened, Troy looked up from Sofia's tired features into a pair of eyes he knew so well.
"Mom," he tried to force out more words, but the emotions overwhelming his body forced his vocal chords to become paralyzed.
The sound of shattering glass sounded through the air, as Lucille Bolton dropped the glass of orange juice that once rested in her in hand. She could not believe her eyes.
"Oh my god…"
So there's chapter one, I don't think this will be a really, really, really long story but we'll see how it plays out. I'd love to hear what you all thought of it, its something a little different for me and feedback about whether it works would be greatly appreciated!