Whatever It Takes
Summary: Troy and Gabriella were engaged for 5 months. After a fight, Gabriella leaves. Three weeks later, Troy makes it his goal to find her, set things straight, and bring Gabriella back home. Follow Troy and Gabriella through the ups and downs of their difficult engagement. TxG
Disclaimer: I own absolutely nothing!
The first 2 chapters are going to be fillers and background info before getting into the more exciting parts of the story.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Chapter 1
No POV
Gabriella Montez; petite figure with an adorable face and gorgeous soft curls. Though her and Troy are not on speaking terms, she is still hopelessly in love with her fiance. She is best friends with colleagues: Taylor Danforth and Sharpay Baylor. These three 25 year-olds used to teach together at East High School. Unbeknownst to everyone, Gabriella now teaches at West High School.
Troy Bolton; built figure, perfect face with gorgeous blue eyes and sandy coloured hair. He plays professional basketball and is captain of the Red Hawks. Basketball has always been a very important part of his life, but now he has moved Gabriella to #1 and is trying to show her that she will always come first. Troy is best friends with teammate, Chad Danforth, and chef, Zeke Baylor.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Gabriella's POV
I came home to my newly rented apartment after my first day at West High School and threw my keys onto the counter. I couldn't believe how much my life had changes in the past 3 weeks. My fiance, Troy Bolton, and I went from the perfect couple to a match made in hell in the short span of a month. I just couldn't take our bickering anymore. I knew I had to get away, at least for a little while. So during Troy's next away game I packed my bags and left without telling anyone. So now here I am living on my own in the west side of Albuquerque.
As soon as I left home, I was second guessing myself. I wasn't sure if I could remember how to live without Troy. I still miss him after 3 weeks and feel horrible for leaving without a note, but I guess these feelings are expected. I wasn't sure how I was going to adjust to teaching at a new school. I loved the students at East High and am great friends with most of my colleagues. Looking back on my first day at West High, I guess it wasn't as bad as I thought.
Flashback
As I walking into the doors of the rivalry school, I couldn't help but feel uncomfortable. But I knew it was what I had to do. At least until I was able to sort my thoughts and fix things with Troy. I can't believe I let everything get this bad. The worst part is that he probably didn't think that our fight was a big deal. I hope he understands that it was too hard for me to be in the same house and not talk to him at all.
ugh, Gabriella forget about Troy! It's your first day teaching at a new school. Get your head straight -
I walked to the front office to see an old lady with huge glasses sitting at a worn-out, brown desk.
"Hi, I'm Gabriella Montez, the new English teacher," I started, hesitantly, "Principal Smith asked me to meet her here first thing this morning."
The secretary looked up at me, clearly not enthused.
"Take a seat Ms. Montez. I'm sure Ms. Smith will arrive soon. And try to keep the noise to a minimum, it's too early in the morning for me," came her grumpy response.
I took a seat on an uncomfortable, black chair located against the wall of the main office. Principal Smith entered after two, excruciatingly long minutes.
"Ah! Ms. Montez, welcome to West High. If you'll follow me, I'll show you to your new classroom." Ms. Smith explained in an excited tone.
While speed walking through many hallways, I tried to take everything in. The atmosphere was very different from the one I was used to at East High. The colours were dull, and most students wore gloomy expressions on their faces.
"This will be your new English classroom," Principal Smith interrupted my thoughts, "feel free to decorate the room and add any personal belongings to your desk. I'll be in my office if you need me. Feel free to stop by at any time."
As I looked around the classroom all I could think was 'wow!'. Most desks were drawn on in pen and permanent marker. The 3 computers I had were full of dust and looked like the last time they had been used was years ago. I decided not to worry about it and looked at the time. My first class was going to start in five minutes. I started to freak out. What if they hate me, or I picked the wrong outfit this morning? What if they had seen me in a magazine and treated me differently than other teachers, just because of Troy? The ringing bell brought me out of my thoughts. This was it!
"If everyone could take their seats. You can pick where you'd like to sit for now," I said, in a less than confident voice.
Just as I thought everyone was calming down, I began to hear wolf whistles coming from the back of the room. They looked like jocks. None of the students at East High would ever do that. Since it was the first day, I decided to let it pass.
"Hi, I'm Ms. Montez," I started, "your new English teacher." I heard multiple groans coming from all directions in the room.
"Okay, so I'll take that as you saying English is not one of your favourite subjects."
"You got that right!" shouted one of the guys from the back.
"Well since it's the first day, how about we start off with getting to know each other. We'll go down the rows and everyone tell me your name, or what you want me to call you by." I said, "after we get through that, you guys can ask me some questions. Lets start at the front over here," I pointed to a girl with dark brown hair.
"Carly."
"Michael, but call me Mike."
"Laura."
Each student said their name. We got through that pretty quickly. I looked at the clock and noticed we still has half an hour left of class.
A knock on the door took me out of my thoughts. I walked to open the door and was shocked to see the one and only Matthew Bolton.
"Hey Gabs," Matthew said, walking past me to take his seat. The class was confused. They were probably all wondering why and how Matthew knew me. I quickly recovered from the shock and decided to talk to Matthew after class.
"Okay, so do you have any questions for me?" I asked.
A boy I remembered as Kyle raised his hand, "How do you know Matt?" he asked.
I didn't know what to say. I completely forgot that Matt was taking 2 courses at West High this semester as well as beginning his first year in university. Then I wondered how the students knew Matt since he graduated last year. How stupid could I be, of course grade elevens and twelves knew each other and hung out occasionally. I have to snap out of it, but what should I say. I didn't want rumors being spread about me only after my first day teaching.
"Um, we go way back through family ties," I quickly responded. "Next question."
The questions were generally normal after the first one. They just asked my age, favourite food and colour, which high school and university I attended. Some of the girls asked where I got my outfit. Which the guys once again whistled at. The whistling made me quite uncomfortable, but Matthew turned around and glared at most of the guys, which shut them up. Before I knew it, the bell rang signaling the end of class.
"Matthew, please stay behind for a minute," I said politely. Once the students were gone, I closed the door and walked back to my desk to talk to Matt.
"Gabri--"
"You can't tell Troy that I'm here," I interrupted, dropping to my knees, "things just haven't been right and I really needed to get away. Running may have been a bit drastic but there's nothing I can do about it now."
"So this is why Troy's game hasn't been great lately." Matthew said, disregarding practically everything I just asked of him.
"I just got onto my knees and begged you not to tell Troy that you know I'm here, and that's all you have to say?" I asked, slightly confused.
"Gabs, you're like a sister to me. And even though I want to tell Troy, I have a feeling that you guys will eventually be able to work things out," Matt said sincerely, giving me a bone crushing hug. "Plus I guess I'll be passing this class since I now have something to hold against you," Matt pointed out, leaving the room and turning back into his old, cocky self.
End Flashback
So that was my first day at West High. After the morning I was pretty much worn out. I am now ready to sit back and relax in my new apartment. I went to my closet and grabbed some sweatpants and one of Troy's sweatshirts that I had brought with me. I then changed into the warm clothes, snuggled into bed, and turned on the TV to one of my favourite shows. Just as I was about to doze off, I heard my cell phone vibrating on the night table. I grabbed my phone and instantly laid my finger on the ignore button. I hadn't been answering calls from anyone except my mom. I looked at the screen. Troy. This is probably about the ten thousandth time he called in the past 3 weeks. Though I missed him dearly, I knew that I just wasn't ready to talk. So once again, I clicked ignore.
I tried numerous times to fall back asleep but I had a feeling in the back of my mind that told me I was forgetting about something today. I thought about the date: April 22. The date seemed so familiar. Oh my gosh, I know what it is; I promised him I'd be there no matter what. He needs me to be there. I quickly pulled on some jeans, let my curls flow down my back, and grabbed my rhinestone jersey as I went to get my keys. Today is Troy's first-ever professional playoff game and it's starting in exactly 10 minutes.