I'm holding on for you

Prologue

Hey guys! Guess what? My finals are over! YAY! *celebration trumpets* Do you know what that means? New story, summer and the end of my junior year. Now, don't expect me to update constantly because I've still got Tae Kwon Do class and Theatre class… I'll be kind of busy, but I promise to try my best to update.

I hope you like the story, I'm excited about it and I hope that it works out; tell me what you think!

Please Read, Enjoy and Review!

His story isn't so different from many others…

In some ways… it is, though.

Life's too short to wake up with regrets. He once read that phrase somewhere. He scoffed when he did; like if it was that easy to do so.

His life was never as easy as everyone thought when they saw the big house he lived in; he wasn't exactly a rich person, but his economic state wasn't so bad. But of course, he wished he had something that his dad's money would never buy back -his mother's life.

He had to learn how to be independent, how to solve his own problems without having that one person you can turn to when you're lost. He learned how to survive…on his own.

He doesn't cry anymore.

And he learned to trust no one… but himself.

…

…that changed when he met her.

"Mom!" his own high-pitched scream penetrated his ears as the tears flowed down his cheeks in horror.

His eyes shot open as a slight cover of sweat pearled his forehead; his accelerated breaths matched the rhythm of his pounding heart and the annoying beeping of his alarm clock on his bedside table.

He cursed himself under his breath as he closed his eyes again. Not again. He groaned and rubbed his face with his right hand. That fucking dream again!

He sighed as he looked over to his left and slammed his hand over the noisy device, making it go silent. He rubbed his face one more time before he sat up straight, the silky sheets slipping off and revealing his muscular and well defined torso.

He stretched his arms lazily above his head and then relaxed, looking around his messy room before throwing the covers off of him and standing up.

He searched for his jeans around the floor of his bedroom and when he found them, he slipped them up, not minding on changing into a new pair of boxers first. He walked over to his closet and opened the first drawer, pulling out one of the many black and plain t-shirts he had in there. He slipped it on and then walked over to the bathroom.

He looked at himself in the mirror; his blue eyes scanning him from top to bottom; he just found that same boring boy from every morning. He opened the water tap and cupped some water between his hands, splashing it on his face a couple of times, afterwards.

He dried his face with a towel and then combed his hair with his fingers, pushing it backwards and letting it settle in its messy and natural way.

He sighed and walked out of his bathroom and then out of his room, running down the stairs of the third floor and into the kitchen.

It didn't surprise him that his father wasn't there; he must've gone to work already. Huh… this morning he didn't even say goodbye, not that Troy cared.

He walked over to the fridge and opened it, taking out the only bottle of milk left and a box of cereal from the cupboard. He served his plain breakfast and took a spoon and an apple. He sat down and began chewing his Cheerios.

Suddenly a newspaper slammed in front of him and he looked up, a little startled to find his dad glaring down at him. Troy relaxed his face and arched an eyebrow at him.

"May I help you?" he asked with a monotone voice and shoved another spoonful of cereal into his mouth. Looks like he got it wrong –Jack Bolton's still at home. Weird.

"The principal called me last night to my work" his father answered somewhat angry.

"So?"

"So?" he imitated him childishly "Why have you been getting late to class and talking back to the teachers?"

Troy smirked up at his dad "Because it's fun…"

"It's no fun if they have to be disturbing me at work!" he complained. Oh! Now he gets it.

Troy rolled his eyes "Of course..." he bit his apple "And what are you going to do? Ground me?" he mocked as he stood up and placed his cereal bowl into the sink.

"I should…" Jack growled.

Troy chuckled "Well, good-luck with that" he grabbed his blue hoody, lying on the chair next to him and slipped it on "See ya…someday" he faked a smile at Jack and walked past him.

"TROY BOLTON! GET BACK IN HERE!"

"Tomorrow!" he yelled back and grabbed his car keys and his almost empty backpack.

He was a good student, his only problem was the teachers; apparently they're a bunch of useless douche bags and he could give a better class than them. He got 4 detentions last week for talking back to the math, physics, history and biology-lab teachers; he found it funny when Mr. Fritch –the history teacher- got red with anger as he yelled at him… it got worse when Troy began laughing at him; his classmates couldn't understand where he got the guts to challenge Fritch.

Troy parked his car in front of a building that wasn't exactly school and got out; placing his hoody over his head as he noticed that it began drizzling.

It was the only flower shop open this early.

Once he got in, he heard a little bell chime on top of him and he closed the door behind him. He sighed as he looked around and pushed his hoody down, making his way over to the counter and tapping the bell in front of him, since he didn't see a soul in there.

"I'm coming! I'm coming!" a voice announced "Just a second!"

A girl with a red apron rushed in, struggling with two huge flower arrangements in her tanned arms, hiding her face. Troy wondered if she could see where she was going.

Troy raised an eyebrow and blinked as he stared at the clumsy girl "Uhm… yeah… uhm, take your time…"

"Thanks! Just let me place these two big boys over –Ah!" And down she went as she slipped with an invisible puddle of the recently watered plants, landing flat on her back.

Troy's eyes went wide "Oh shit!" he said under his breath as a bunch of leafs and red petals of the roses floated around and the white baskets collided against the girl's tiny body; she was smart to cover her face with her arms. Troy sped around the counter and was quick to get to the girl on the floor "Are you alright?" he asked, helping her sit up.

"Ow…" she answered as she rubbed the back of her head "No…" she fluttered her eyes open and she groaned as she saw the flowers and pieces of green sponge lying all over the floor "Savannah's going to kill me!"

Troy couldn't help but chuckle at her "You could've broken something and you're minding about some flowers?"

She groaned again "She's going to charge me for them"

Troy sighed and grabbed the girl's arm, helping her stand up "Probably… but it's better than getting fired…" he tried to joke.

The girl turned her head to look at him and he let go of her arm "She better not fire me! I just got this job yesterday!"

"Ah!" Troy nodded "You're new…"

She nodded and sighed "Yeah! I hope to keep it that way." She brushed some hair out of her face and looked up to him again, turning her body completely to face him; for some unknown reason she blushed "Uhm… thanks for helping me…"

"No problem" he nodded his head and stared back at her.

… Maybe it was his imagination, but he could swear he felt his heart skip a beat as his cerulean eyes met her brown ones. He didn't know why, but suddenly… he felt nervous.

Troy cleared his throat as he looked away; he started to feel hot on his cheeks "So uhm… I wonder if you could help me out…"

The girl blinked "Oh!" she nodded and smiled "Sure! What kind of flowers are you looking for?" she motioned him with her hand to please get back to the front of the counter.

He followed her instructions and leaned against the bar "Well… I'm looking for red tulips, but… I didn't see any when I got in…" he frowned lightly as she straightened up her apron and lifted her hair up in a hairclip.

The brown eyed girl twisted her mouth to a side "Yeah, I'm sorry… we ran out of those…"

Troy's frown grew deeper "Are you sure?" he almost groaned in disappointment.

She nodded "I'm sorry… uhm… but maybe I can help you to pick out something else!" she offered "What does your special girl like?" she grinned.

Troy shrugged "I'm not sure…"

She nodded, frowning a little "Well… okay. Red Tulips" she said to herself as she went around the counter too and motioned Troy to follow her "She's probably a little sophisticated, kind… girly" she turned to smile at Troy as he followed her with a curious look in his eyes "But… for the red, I'd say she's a little wild" she turned back around and stopped in front of one of the shelves. She pulled out a white flower with an orange center "This is called Liriodendron" she said, handing him the flower "Very rare and hard to find, but… it's kind of a tulip and it's gorgeous"

Troy took it between his fingers and stared at it kind of awed. The flower was really pretty… the brown eyed girl isn't stupid.

"I'm almost 100% sure she'll like them" she grinned in satisfaction at Troy's expression. She knew she did well.

Troy looked up at her with a slight smile "I'll take a dozen…"

"Great!" the girl clapped her hands and took eleven of the best looking flowers that were in the vase. She took the flower from Troy's hand and motioned him with her head to follow her again "Alright! Please come with me!"

Troy chuckled lightly as he followed her; her white shirt and jeans were wet of the puddle she slipped on. The apron didn't cover that!

She placed the flowers on top of a silvered paper and a transparent one, clueless to Troy's slight mocking grin. She rolled the flowers carefully and then she tied them up with an orange ribbon. She handed the bouquet over to Troy and walked back behind of the counter.

Typing a few keys, she smiled up at him "It will be 20 dollars, please"

Troy nodded his head and pulled out his wallet, taking out a 20 and placing it on the counter. The girl took it and typed a few more things, a ding came out of the cashier and she placed the money inside. She closed it and ripped out the ticket.

"Here you go!" she handed him the ticket and a small chocolate. Troy raised an eyebrow at that. "What?"

"Since when do you guys give us chocolates?" he asked, looking at her funny.

She shrugged "Since today…"

Troy chuckled and nodded, placing the piece of sweet treat inside his pocket "Alright! Well… thanks a lot…" he looked to her uniform "Marissa" he read.

"What?" she blinked and looked down to her uniform "Shoot! I picked the wrong one!" she groaned and began undoing the strings of the apron "This is not my day!" she sighed.

Troy stared at her sympathetically and shook his head lightly; this girl is a total mess "If it helps… you'll have worse…"

She looked up at him and glared "Thank you! That's really sweet!" she said sarcastically and he chuckled.

"See you later Flower Girl" he turned around and began making his way to the front door.

"It's Gabriella!" she yelled back at him and he smirked lightly to himself, opening the front door and turning back around to look at her.

"See you later, Gabriella" he repeated and then closed the door, making his way back to his car.

Troy crouched down on his knees "Hey mom…" he greeted softly, picking up the old bouquet of red tulips in the vase and throwing them to a side; he replaced them with the new bouquet "They ran out of tulips… but I hope you like these…" he smiled lightly "A new employee of your favorite flower shop, helped me pick them up for you…" he placed his hand on top of the cold stone of her grave "She said… that it's called….Lirio-crap-something" he chuckled "It sounded better when she said it, really!" he looked down to his feet and then back up at the grave; his smile fell "Today's your birthday… you know? And he didn't even remember" he murmured, frowning angrily "How could he not remember?" he chuckled bitterly "You were his wife!" he shook his head "I know he's my father… but he's a dick, mom!"

He closed his eyes tightly "I know… that you would want me… to try and make our relationship work… but how can I, when he doesn't even give a shit that I exist? He would rather have me dead as well and not having to deal with me" he opened them again "He… he stopped being my dad the day you left us…" he told her "I know, I know, I've told you this a thousand times but…" he sighed "You're… the only one who always seems to listen…" he chuckled to himself "And you're dead!" he bit his lips together "And… next month… will be 10 years, mom. Ten years since…I killed you…" he murmured the last part and sat down on the grass, his back leaning against the stone, not saying anything else.

He leaned his head against his mother's grave, looking for some kind of comfort he didn't seem to find in anybody else around him. He missed her a lot … even if his eyes didn't show it; they were open, dry; nowhere near tears. But it wasn't like he didn't want to cry for her… it wasn't like that.

The last time he cried was in this same place…

He held to his father's hand in dear life as he looked down to his mother's grave. His eyes were already red and puffy for the hours and hours of crying.

Jack and Troy Bolton were the lasts ones there after the burial. Jack seemed to be deep in thoughts as Troy sniffled and wiped his tears away with the back of his free hand, wanting his mom to be there more than ever. He couldn't believe that she was dead, she was his mom! She was supposed to be stronger than anyone else in the whole world! She couldn't die! Moms are supposed to stay with you forever, right? They're like super heroes! Then why wasn't she there? Why isn't she carrying him in her arms and comforting him? Telling him that everything would get fixed and kiss his forehead.

One moment she's laughing at him and Chad trying to play basketball… and the next… she's lying in the middle of the road, her head bleeding and her face paling with each passing second.

"Mommy" he choked again and sniffled. The world for this 7 year old seemed to come to an end; how could he live without his mom? "Mommy…"

"Troy, stop it" His father whispered.

But he wouldn't. He shook his head "I want mommy…"

"Troy…" Jack sighed "Stop it. Mom's no longer here…"

"But I want her!" he cried "She's my mom!"

"Troy!" Jack looked down at him "Please!"

"But dad!" Troy whimpered.

Jack crouched down on his knees so he was at an eye level with Troy "Son, listen to me! Mom's gone! She's not coming back" he shook his head, his voice cracking slightly.

But he refused to believe it "No dad! She promised! She promised she would always be there for me! She'll come back!" he cried, stomping his foot on the grass.

"Troy!" he grabbed him by his little arms "No" he shook his head "You have to be brave…and face the truth. Your mom is gone! Mom's gone and she won't be back! She can't come back!"

Troy shook his head "She promised!"

"I know! But sometimes… mommies can't always keep their promises…"

"But she will! I know it!" he insisted.

Jack sighed. He couldn't deal with this right now. He stood up and grabbed Troy's little hand in his "Let's go home Troy…"

He shook his head "No!" he cried "We can't leave her!"

"Troy…" Jack tried pulling him "She'll be fine… she's fine where she is right now!"

"No!" he screamed "NO! NO! NO!"

"TROY!" he yelled at him "Let's go!"

Troy sat down on the grass and Jack turned to look at him; that was it for his patience.

"Troy… I'll give you three to stand up…" he warned him.

Another tear escaped Troy's eyes "I can't leave my mom. She needs me!"

Jack pulled on Troy's hands and pulled him up. Troy was about to argue when a hand collided with his cheek and he looked up shocked. He placed his little hand on top of it; his dad had never hit him before.

"Stop it!" Jack yelled on his face "Be a man! Men don't cry!" he hissed at him "You killed her, Troy! You!"

Troy let more tears fall "That's not t-true!" he hiccupped and sniffled, shaking his head.

"Yes you did! You and your stupid little friend, Chad with your stupid ball!" he growled "You don't get to cry over her! You killed her! You… don't get… to cry over her! NOW LET'S GO!" he grabbed his hand again and pulled him with him, making Troy almost stumble over.

Troy shook his head to stop the horrible memory from continuing. He knew that his father was right in that; it was the only thing he's ever agreed with him… he couldn't cry over his mom, why would he? It was his fault she was dead…

But that didn't make it any less painful and… it didn't make him miss her any less.

Troy sighed and lifted his watch up to his face. His eyes widened lightly. 8:05 am.

"Shit!" he hissed and stood up. Late again…

To be continued.

Hey Guys! Sooo… what did ya think? Did you like it? Should I continue? I like it :)

Please leave a review behind! I promise I'll write the next chapter as soon as possible, of course if you review…

Sorry for grammar and spelling mistakes.

Xoxo Mary.