(Flashback)
Five year old Troy Bolton.
"Tomorrow's the big day, my little boy." Lucille Bolton reassured his son as she finished his bedtime story.
"Mommy?"
"Yes, honey?"
"Is Gabby gonna be there?"
"Yes, honey. We are going to pick her up in the morning now get to sleep you need it."
"Ok Mommy" Troy quickly went to bed and everything went dark…
The next morning….
"Troy, come on Gabby's waiting!" Troy's father Jack exclaimed
"Ok, Daddy!"
"I hope she doesn't leave without us picking her up"
"Oh Daddy please hurry!"
"Ha-ha don't worry son its ok, she would never leave without you. Now grab you backpack and lunch from mom."
"Ok Daddy." Troy ran up to his mother gave her a kiss and grabbed his lunch and backpack.
Five year old Gabriella Montez, patiently waiting at the front door, she had been waiting for 30 minutes. She always loved seeing Troy, he always made her smile.
"Mama! Where's Troy!" Gabriella impatiently asked
"Gabby, you woke up too early, they won't be here for another couple minutes"
Knock, Knock
Gabriella ran to the door and opened it, there was Troy.
"Troy!"
"Gabby!"
The two embraced in a hug and were soon interrupted.
"Ok you two let's go before is gonna get mad." Troy's father called.
"Ok" The two said in sync.
They took each others hands and climbed in the car.
After School
Troy was playing basketball with his dad, after his long day at kindergarten.
"Come on Troy you got it, just go left!"
"Daddy I'm tired!"
"One more basket son just one more!"
Troy shot at the basket and it swooped in.
"Alright!"
Troy breathed and fell to the grass. "Daddy, I can't do this all the time."
"You're doing great son!"
Jack was a pushy father, ever since Troy started walking, he wanted him to run.
As they were playing basketball Lucille was in the kitchen cooking Troy's favorite food chicken casserole with rice. Just as she was cutting the onions the front door slammed and she heard footsteps coming from the living room. She thought it was her husband and son coming in from playing basketball, but then she knew it wasn't them because they were in the back. Just as she turned around, BAM! The gun fired and shot her in the chest. Troy and Jack both looked at each other and ran inside only to find Lucille Bolton, mother and son, lying on the ground a pool of blood all her spot where she lay. Troy dropped to the ground near his mother and Jack ran to the phone.
"Hello?"
"My wife has been shot!"
"Please come fast!"
15 minutes later
"Police open up!" officers and medics crowded in and reached the scene.
"It's worse than we thought. "
Jack and Troy were rushed outside. The police asked Jack if they could pull Troy aside and ask him some questions.
"Ok but don't overload him please!" Frustration and sadness moved across Jack's face as Troy's hands slowly slipped out of his father's. He was lead across the street so he could answer some questions.
He dropped down to his height and sadly greeted him "Hello Troy."
Troy wiped his eyes and the policeman continued. "I'm Officer Buckley; I understand that this man is your father?" Troy nodded and glanced over to see his father crying over a big bag.
"Where was he when this happened to your mother?" Troy cringed and closed his eyes.
"He….was….playing….basket…ball…with me" Troy felt a tear ran down his face as he breathed in.
"Has he ever tried to hurt your mother?" Troy shook his head.
The police man sighed and said "Let's go back" Troy nodded.
He led Troy back to his father; Jack ran and held him to his side.
"It's going to be alright son."
"We are terribly sorry but we are going to have to put you under protective custody for at least 3 months. We need to investigate further."
"Why?"
"We believe this murder is associated to a chain of murders happening around the country."
"Ok, where are we going?"
"We are going to put you in an apartment in Seattle, don't worry you will be able to come back and everything will be covered."
"Ok when do we have to leave?"
"We are going to take you now we will send everything you need in about 2 days."
"Whatever you have to do to stop this person from doing it again." Jack understood.
(End flashback)
Beep, Beep, Beep The faint noise of the alarm clock became clearer, and Troy, sweating all over jolted up and turned it off. He quickly got up and grabbed his clothes so he could save time after taking a shower. He bumped into the dresser while trying to get to the bathroom. He let out a sigh as the warm water splashed on his face.
"First day" he muttered.
He got dressed and dried his hair; he went to brush his teeth looking at himself in the mirror and noticed something. His eyes were red.
"Damn' I need to get more sleep" he wiped his eyes and spat out his water
Downstairs Jack was making some breakfast and looked at his watch.
"Troy!" he called, "You're going to be late!"
Just as he finished Troy ran down the stairs and grabbed his backpack and car keys.
"I'll see you later dad!" Troy rushed trying to get out.
"Wait! Don't forget to meet me at the cemetery at 5:00!"
Troy started tearing up and quickly screamed "Ok, Dad!"
The door slammed and Troy ran to his car, noticing there was a new neighbor.
Troy drove into East High's parking lot and turned the key; he stepped out of the car and flipped his hair looking for his buddy, Chad. He wiped his eyes to make sure nobody could see he had been crying. As he stepped out of the car, a familiar voice shouted "Heads up!" Troy caught the ball just as it was about to hit is face, "Damn' it Chad!" The curly haired afro guy just laughed.
"You gotta get ready for the season sooner or later"
"Yeah, Chad but you forgot the fact basketball doesn't start until December!"
"Oh"
"Oh? Maybe you should get your brain going for school!"
"Calm down dude, you're like this every year"
"Well, maybe some things are more important than basketball"
"Like what?"
Troy shook his head and started walking
"Let's drop it, I have Darbus for homeroom I don't want detention the first day."
"Alright let's go"
Chad remembered what had happened and he completely regretted the whole thing. Troy walked into homeroom only to find his spot taken by an impatient cheerleader
"Rebecca" Troy smirked
"Hi Troy" she smiled
"Hey Rebecca, keeping my seat warm?"
She coughed and gave a sheepish smile "No, I just wanted to be the first girl you said hi to."
"Well, it's your lucky day, now scoot"
She sneered and sat up. Then her friend Melony signaled her to get back. She shrugged and clapped. "Nice talking to you!"
"You too" Troy rolled his eyes and sat down.
The bell rang and Troy slightly jumped. He shook it off; Troy stared at the black board until slammed a few books on his desk.
She shouted "Calm Down! Now, I don't want to go through this every morning so, I took the liberty to give you assigned seats."
"Aww…come on!" some kid shouted and she signaled him to go to the office.
"Ahem, now let's begin, , , , …" she trailed on while Troy trailed off.
"And " he jolted up to find a kid waiting next to him he looked at his teacher.
She signaled him to the back, he was relieved and went to the back. He rested his head from his loss of sleep earlier. carried on about who knows what, but soon stopped when she was interrupted by a petite brunette.
"Gabriella Montez" read her schedule and signed it
"I'm not late am I?"
"For you not today"
"Thank you so much "
"Well I already read off the seating chart and there is one open back there."
"Thank you"
Gabriella walked back to the seat in the back; she spotted at the guy next to her sleeping and thought …nice hair. I always loved those hairstyles. He looks kind of familiar, but how would I know if I haven't seen his face
She rolled her eyes and muttered "Why don't they listen in class at all?"
Troy stretched and turned his head to see the brunette; he blinked a few times and recognized her eyes. They were deeper than before; could it be his childhood friend?
"Gabriella?" he questioned
She turned her head when she heard her name. She spotted his ocean blue eyes and all she could repeat was "Troy?"
What are the odds? Troy is gone forever ever since kindergarten, right?
It can't be Gabriella. She left after I had to go under protection. Maybe I should introduce myself.
"Hi, I'm Troy Bolton, and you are?"
Oh, man that sounded gay
It is Troy! I can't believe it. Ok let's just calm down…Oh I can't take it!
She teared up and forced him into a hug "Gabriella Montez" she whispered.
It's her! My old best friend!
"Where did you go after the first day?"
"I can't tell you right now."
Just then they looked up and found 26 pairs of eyes staring at them.
"Maybe I should've said hi to you after homeroom" Troy whispered
"Umm…yeah" Gabriella pulled away and looked at the clock.
"What time do we get out?" The bell rang.
"Now" Troy joked.
Gabriella pushed his shoulder and started walking away.
"Same old Gabby"
She smiled and said "Well at least, I'm not same old Troy"
"What's wrong with that?"
She laughed and grabbed his hand.
"Meet me by the lunch room at free period."
Free Period
Free Period was next and they had 50 minutes to catch up. Troy walked her to his secret garden.
"Wow, this is nice, now what are we up here for?"
"I thought we'd catch up" Troy leaned on the rail and Gabriella walked up to him.
"Oh yeah, kindergarten was really lonely without you."
"Something happened"
"What was it?"
Troy sighed and looked at the bench, asking for Gabriella to sit with him. She nodded and followed him.
Gabriella's eyes were serious. He looked at her and started crying. She pulled him into a hug and patted his head.
"What's wrong?" she pleaded
"The first day of kindergarten, something happened, something bad."
"What happened?"
He wiped his eyes and took her hands "My mom" Troy answered.
"Lucille? Oh no…"
Troy nodded and cried "Someone broke in the house when we were playing basketball, and shot her in the chest, I can still remember her face as she was lying there"
"Is that why you left?"
Troy nodded and continued "The police told us we had to go to Seattle for a few months."
"I moved about one month after you left." She answered
"You did? But how…"
"My mom's company transferred us back here."
"Oh" Troy sighed.
"Ok why don't we talk about something else, like how is basketball going?"
Troy sniffled and said "I made varsity when I was a sophomore so I was voted captain this year."
"Congratulations!"
"Yeah, my dad kinda pushed me into it."
"How's Jack?"
"He's great, how's Maria?"
"She's fine, I guess."
"You guess?"
"Well, she's been pretty busy with work and stuff so we don't really have time to talk."
"Who do you talk to then?"
"I don't, I'm usually alone and it's kinda scary sometimes."
"Yeah ever since what happened I've been lonely too."
"You don't have a girlfriend at all?"
"Well all the girl's at this school are either stuck up, or I'm too close to them to ruin anything."
"You have friends right?"
"Yeah, I'm not anti-social or anything" he joked.
She giggled and said "Well you were kinda shy with me when we first met."
"I was a little kid."
"Yeah you're right"
"We did have fun when we were kids though"
"I'll always miss those times when we sat on the porch looking at the stars"
"Yeah, I miss when we would go and play basketball; it hasn't been the same without you."
"We have a whole lot of time to catch up; my mom's company promised no more moves at all"
"Really that's great, I mean for you of course"
"It is great, for me of course"
"How about I introduce you to some of my friends?"
"Ok, I hope they like me" she muttered
"Of course they will" Troy smiled and Gabriella blushed from embarrassment
In the halls
They walked down the almost vacant halls together, Troy's arm around her shoulder and were spotted by some friendly faces. "Troy!" squeaked a small blonde who came up to hug him.
"Sharpay!" He slowly patted her back and she pulled away
"Hi, I'm Sharpay, well of course you know that now, you must be his friend?"
"Yeah, he was showing me around since I'm new here." She smiled at Sharpay's kindness
"We were also best friends in kindergarten" Troy cut in.
"Oh that's so cool, Troy and I were like brother and sister since 1st grade, apparently we were both new to the school" Gabriella glanced at Troy and he smiled weakly.
"So, I'm Gabriella." She realized she didn't say her name
"Oh I'm sorry; I was completely in on the conversation I didn't ask your name!"
She giggled and replied "It's okay"
The crowd behind them finally noticed what was going on and turned around.
"Oh hello, I'm Chad, Troy's best friend"
"Hi Chad" Gabriella was happy when she was kindly accepted
"I'm Zeke and not to be rude or anything but this will take too long so I'll just introduce the rest"
She smiled and laughed while saying "Okay"
"This is Taylor, Kelsi, Martha, Jason, and Ryan"
"Wow big group" she whispered to Troy.
"You get used to it after a while, I promise." He whispered back
He thinks we're going to be friends for a while?
Damn', I think I just jumped into a commitment.
She gave a reassuring smile. "Okay, um I have to go get used to school and stuff so I'll be on my way.
"I'll see you after school, meet at the place", he winked. She suddenly knew what he was talking about.
"Okay, nice meeting all of you!" she smiled as she walked to Math.
This day is going by so slow! I think I'm gonna pull my hair out!
Gabriella was too caught up in her thoughts as she ran into something stiff.
"I told you freshman to…" the voice was cut off.
"I'm so sorry, I should have been looking"
"Oh no it's ok" the voice held out a hand for her to take. She grabbed it and looked up; she saw green eyes, like envy. He had a bright smile and a warm look on his face.
"Peter" he smiled and let go of her hand.
"Gabriella" she smiled.
"I haven't seen you around here, I'm sure I would've noticed you." She gave a kind but fake smile and finally replied "That's nice of you, I'm new here so that's probably why. Thanks for being kind to me, I have to go now."
"Wait! Can I see you again?"
"We'll see."
The End of the Day
It was 3:10 and the bell had just rung, Gabriella was packing up her things when she was tapped on the shoulder, she turned around, it was an African American girl about her height with a kind smile. She remembered her before.
"Taylor, right?" she gave a questionable smile.
"Yeah, I heard you were an average 4.0 student back at your old school."
"Where did you hear that?"
"I heard it from somebody on the team."
"What team?"
"The Scholastic Decathlon team"
"Oh…..well I want to get to know the school before signing up for anything"
"I'll help you catch up; Troy's not the only one who wants to be your friend."
Gabriella smiled as she knew she was officially accepted in their group.
"Alright, but only if you promise to walk me to my classes tomorrow I was so lost today, and the teachers won't let me back in tomorrow if I'm late."
"It's a deal" Taylor exclaimed.
"So I'll meet you here bright and early tomorrow then."
"Yes, thanks so much for doing this"
"No thank you!"
"Oh I'm running late, gotta meet Troy."
"Ok I'll see you tomorrow"
Gabriella nodded and ran off to the garden.
Where is she? I thought I said right after school. Man, I think I need to go soon. Dad's gonna be waiting.
I hope he isn't mad, I'm late.
Gabriella climbed the stairs that led to the roof.
"You're late" Troy stated.
"I know Troy I am really sorry" Gabriella begged
"Gabriella, chill, I just wanted to know if you wanted a ride home."
"That would be great, considering I missed the bus"
"Alright, let's go I have to be somewhere at 5" Troy tried to sound okay.
She gave him a hug and whispered "Can you say hi for me?"
"To my dad?" she shook her head
"She was like a second mother to me"
"Oh" he hugged her tightly and put his head on her shoulder
"I'm so glad you care" he started crying again.
"Troy, I would care if your rabbit died" she stated.
He wiped his eyes and took her hand in his; she was lead to the parking lot and climbed in his car.
"Wow, nice car" she was amazed
"When your dad's a top basketball coach at the college, you can get pretty much anything."
"Yeah, I guess so"
"He still coaches high school though, right?"
"Yeah he takes off basketball season so he can work with me and the guys"
"That's nice"
"Ok, where do you live?"
"I live on 1500 Brighton Street"
"No way"
"Yes way, why are you so excited?"
"I live across the street"
"No way!" Gabriella was more excited.
"I guess I'm not the only one excited"
"You bet"
Troy pulled into her driveway.
"Is your mom home?" he asked.
"I think so you want to go say hi?"
"Of course I do" he grinned and put his arm on her shoulder.
"Ok let's go but you have to hurry it up."
"I will, I promise."
"Mom! Are you there?" Gabriella called her mother.
"Yes honey, I'm in the kitchen, what is it?"
"I hope it's all right if I brought a friend over."
"You made a friend? On the first day too, I am pleased with…" Maria Montez dropped her oven mitt as she realized who it was. He smiled at her and she ran to hug her daughter's old best friend.
"Troy, it's you!"
"Yes it is me"
"Honey, call me Maria, it's been so long!"
"Ok Maria, well I just wanted to drop in and say hi, I'm right across the street so I'll be fine and I need to get somewhere, thanks again …I mean Maria" Troy smiled and she waved bye. The door slammed and Maria turned to her daughter "Where is he going?" Gabriella felt herself start to cry and she sighed "Lucille's grave"
"Oh my, what happened?"
"It was the day after kindergarten and she was cooking and some guy walked in and shot her"
"Its okay honey, I'm sure she had a nice life."
"Yeah, it wasn't long enough though"
"Well, I hope they are okay"
"I'm not sure mom; he was pretty beat up today"
"Well that's what I would do if I lost my mother"
"It was eleven years ago. I hope he would have gotten better by then."
"Well, Troy was a sensitive boy and at that young age and what happened to his mother, he should be traumatized."
"I hope he's fine at school tomorrow I can't stand when somebody is like that."
"He should be fine, and since you're back another piece of his heart is too."
"Why is that?"
"When you were younger, The Boltons and I would watch you two sit on the porch and look at the stars, it was like you two were in a different world." Gabriella smiled at the thought of them sitting under the stars, sometimes even on the basketball court, Troy had had.
Troy walked into his house and looked at the time; it was only 4:00.
Ok its only 4:00 I have to go get dressed and meet dad at the cemetery with my photo and flowers.
Troy went to his closet and found his suit he wore for the awards ceremony last year.
"Perfect" he whispered and grabbed his shoes.
He got dressed in 10 minutes grabbed the keys and went to Cara's Flower Shoppe.
"You look nice special occasion?" the cashier questioned, unknown of his problems.
"I got a wedding to go to." Troy lied and grabbed the flowers "Thanks" he ran off and started the engine.
He wanted to be there a little early so he could talk with his mother privately.
Troy walked through the tombstones, knowing exactly which one was his mother.
"Lucille Bolton 1968-1996" he stared at the engraving and sighed.
"Hey mom, I started my junior year today, Gabriella came back so she wanted me to say hi to you, I always thought you were there with me and today it felt like you gave me the gift of having my old best friend back again, She's really nice and beautiful, I hope we can catch up and be stronger friends, because she is a piece of me that still holds you and I together. Enough about Gabriella, I wanted to say I miss you and I always will, I never knew how much you meant until you were gone, I wish you could have been there when I won my first basketball game, had my first date, and I wish you would be there when I actually graduate, I love you always mom, I hope your listening and hopefully soon I will be there with you, because you were an angel on earth."
Troy dropped the flowers and found his father right behind him, he moved out of the way so he could speak with his wife.
Troy focused on her tombstone, there wasn't enough space to describe his mother all that read was 'Lucille Bolton, mother, wife, and daughter, she will always be remembered and was truly a great mother' He kneeled on the ground and wiped the dirt off of it so it would be more clear and fixed the flowers, after they had said hello to there mother, Jack told Troy to come straight home and said "I'm making her favorite for tonight, I need help from you to make it."
Troy nodded and wiped his eyes; he put the keys in the slot, shifted the gear and sped away.
They finished cooking and started to clean up, after they were done with cleaning, Troy asked to be excused
"Okay son."
"Uh Dad, I was wondering if I could bring a friend over tomorrow, after school?"
"Yeah son, that's okay"
"Alright what time will you be home though?"
"Why do you want to know?"
"I want you to meet my friend, she's very special"
"I'll be home at 4, there's a college party at the university, so they asked if they could skip practice."
"Okay, dad"
The Next Day
"Gabriella!" Troy exclaimed to his old best friend
"Hi, Troy!" she waved and came up to him.
"I was wondering if you wanted to come over to my house tonight and stay for dinner."
"That would be great!" Gabriella nodded and gave him a hug
"Okay, Troy here's the deal…" Jason bluntly continued "now the Lakers are on top of the season right now but…"
"Uh...Jason, I'm kind of busy", he looked at Gabriella and smiled, she smiled back and Jason gave a confused expression.
"Oh! Sorry man" he grabbed his hand and gave him a 'bro' hug and ran off to catch up with Chad.
"Are you ok?" Gabriella questioned
Troy breathed and said "Yeah I'm good now"
"So dinner sounds great" Gabriella continued
"Yeah I want Dad to see you again, I mean Jack"
"Great! I can't wait Troy." She kissed his cheek and ran off
"See you later!" Troy breathed and leaned against the lockers as his head was still tilted to look at Gabriella run off.
"So, Troy…" Troy spun around and saw a peppy cheerleader
"Yes, Rebecca?"
"Oh please call me Becky. I missed you over summer." She pursed her lips
"Yeah, it wasn't the same." Troy lied
She laughed and hit his shoulder, "I hope we can catch up soon"
Troy nodded and started walking away "Call me!" she shouted.
"Um, I'll see if I can."
Troy shook his head and breathed out as he walked into math.
"Hoops come over here."
"That won't be necessary we have assigned seating"
"What's with the assigned seating this year?"
Troy heard his name get called and sat down.
"Basketball captain and football captain next to each other? That's not going to be good" he smirked and gave Troy a look that implied 'It's on'
"Shut it, Hawkman."
"Don't sass me Bolton I can tear your preppy ass apart."
"At least the chicks aren't afraid of me."
"That was one case man, don't bring it up, she was asking for it."
"Yeah, that's why she was in shock and sent to the hospital for a week. Oh, and she's transferred schools as well."
"Pathetic" the football captain breathed
"People like you shouldn't have a chance to be in regular society" Troy bolted
"People like me deserve to beat people like you to a pulp." Exclaimed Hawkman
"You couldn't if you tried" Troy got up and made signals
"Enough! Peter, to the other side now! Bolton you stay there" the teacher shouted "This is why we have assigned seats ."