Welcome To My Life, a high school musical fanfic

I seem to be into the whole abuse thing at the moment, so, yeah. Um, this is actually really crappy, so sorry to everyone who expects more of me.

Disclaimer: I do not own any of the HSM characters or the song.

The screaming and shouting must've been heard from all the way down the street. Troy was unsuccessfully trying to cover his head with his pillow and block out the abuse which could be heard from downstairs. A few minutes later, his sister sprinted in and immediately climbed under the covers next to him. He could feel her shivering next to him, and could feel her tears on his bare arm. Troy hugged her tightly, wishing that he could cry like her, but he had to be strong. He had to strong for Samantha Bolton, and for himself.

He held his sister tightly, and soon, he felt her relax against him and fall asleep, still shaking a bit and whimpering every now and again. Troy glared at his closed door, wanting to make his parents see what they were doing not only to themselves and himself, but also to their six-year-old daughter. They had no right to be hurting her in the way that they were. He knew that she could scared at school as well, and that whenever someone started shouting, she went into close-down mode, and couldn't concentrate on anything else, except for covering her ears and hiding her face.

Being older, he managed to handle the damage which was being inflicted emotionally and physically upon himself. Well, he managed to handle it slightly better…

Do you ever feel like breaking down?
Do you ever feel out of place?
Like somehow you just don't belong
And no one understands you
Do you ever wanna run away?
Do you lock yourself in your room?
With the radio on turned up so loud
That no one hears you screaming

At school, he made his way through the hallways, his head down, and his shaggy hair covering the bruise under his left ear. People always came up to him, big smiles on their faces, the girls fluttering the eye-lashes as though they were all-that. No-one knew what was happening to him. Chad Danforth had attempted to understand what was happening to his best-friend a while ago, but had given up when he realized he wasn't getting anywhere.

Gabriella Montez had remained steady, and had been the one person he could rely on to never change. She was still soft-spoken, inwardly confident in herself, and just plain amazing. They hadn't gotten together or anything, but were still best-friends. She didn't know what was happening to him, and every now and again pressed the point, but when she realized she wasn't really getting anywhere either, she left it, although the concerned look appeared in her chocolate colored eyes everytime she saw a new bruise and everytime she heard a new excuse.

He reached his locker and opened the door, and all his books fell out, on top of him. There were a few laughs from behind him.

Life just gets better, Troy thought sarcastically.

No you don't know what it's like
When nothing feels all right
You don't know what it's like
To be like me

He walked home with Chad and Gabriella. Both looked worried as they exchanged nervous looks as Troy took off his jersey and revealed a nasty gash on his upper arm. They knew they wouldn't get the right answer is they asked him, so they left it, although uncomfortable. Chad left down his street and Gabriella was left walking alongside Troy. He felt her arm brush against his a few times and he couldn't help but blush slightly. The next time she brushed her arm against his, he grasped her hand. Gabriella giggled and smiled up at him, a blush creeping up her neck as well.

A moment later, she rubbed her thumb against a cut on his hand. She raised his hand to her face as they paused. She turned his hands over and studied the cut on his finger. She watched him as she ran her hand along the cut on his hand, then she looked up at him imploringly, asking what had happened. Troy pulled his hand away from her suddenly and sprinted away. Gabriella watched him go, biting her lower lip nervously.

To be hurt
To feel lost
To be left out in the dark
To be kicked when you're down
To feel like you've been pushed around
To be on the edge of breaking down
And no one's there to save you
No you don't know what it's like
Welcome to my life

When he got home—at either-thirty—his dad looked ready to explode. The first thing Troy saw when he walked into the lounge, was his father's fist coming straight at his face. The Lucille Bolton screamed at Jack Bolton and he slapped her as well. There was a strange squeal as Lucille bit his hand and threw something heavy at him. Troy curled up and hid his head, trying not to hurt his bloody nose and slit upper lip. He knew that his sister would be standing at the door, watching with tearful eyes. One thing he was grateful for, was that his father had never hit her.

Lucille and Jack stopped hitting each other long enough to start screaming abuse at each other. Then the hitting again, and this time his mother collapsed against the wall. Then Jack kicked Troy. Troy tried not to react, and so Jack kicked him again, his foot digging into his ribcage. Troy let out a groan and Jack laughed, sounding slightly sadistic.

Jack seemed to get bored of not getting much of a reaction, and so he left the room. A moment later, Troy and Samantha heard the door slam as their father left the house to go down to the pub. Lucille didn't heard because she was laying unconscious of the floor, blood congealing at the cut on the side of her face, and her mouth bleeding. Troy groaned slightly as he rolled over and stood up, flexing his aching arms and his bruised torso. His nose was still bleeding steadily, and he tilted his head backwards, pinching the base. Samantha watched him with wide, worried eyes, and he tried to give her a reassuring smile.

Do you wanna be somebody else?
Are you sick of feeling so left out?
Are you desperate to find something more?
Before your life is over
Are you stuck inside a world you hate?
Are you sick of everyone around?
With their big fake smiles and stupid lies
While deep inside you're bleeding

He took off his shirt and dropped it in a bucket of water, before walking back to the lounge. He picked up his sister and put her in bed, giving her her teddy-bear and tucking her in. Then he put on a shirt carefully and went back downstairs. Somehow, he pushed past his aching body, and picked up his mother, carrying her to her room, where he gently laid her on her bed, before walking out again.

Troy walked into the bathroom and locked the door, sitting down on the tiled floor and staring at the bath. A razor with a sharp-looking blade was sitting on the edge of the bath, and Troy reached over and picked it up, staring at it for a long moment. He turned it over in his hands, before putting it to the tender skin on the inside of his arm. For a moment, he couldn't believe what he was doing.

Then he dug the razor into his arm, and pain seared through his body. When it passed, all he felt was relief.

No you don't know what it's like
When nothing feels all right
You don't know what it's like
To be like me

The next morning, Troy was shoved out of bed by Jack. He fell on the ground and let out an 'oof'. Troy groaned, as he had landed on his bruised side. Jack paid no attention to his sons groan and walked out of the room. Troy managed to get to his feet and he got changed slowly. The mark from the razor was obvious and he pulled his long-sleeved tee-shirt down over it. He then went into Samantha's room and got her changed and ready at school. She was so lucky that she was young and that Jack hadn't started hitting her. Troy glared at the wall. He wouldn't let his father hit her, he'd die trying to save his little sister from what he and his mother had to go through.

Breakfast was silent, and Samantha looked too afraid to make a sound when she saw the bruises on her mothers face and the scratches on Troy's arm as he reached across the table to get a cereal packet. Jack left without a word and Troy's jaw twitched as he realized that now he and Samantha didn't have any way of getting to school.

"Mum, can we borrow the car?" He asked quietly. Lucille nodded, not looking up.

Samantha sat in the passenger seat, shooting worried looks at her brother as they backed out of the driveway and started down the road. He turned left at the end of the street and Samantha frowned.

"This is the way too school," she said. Troy nodded.

"I know," he mumbled. Samantha didn't say anything else. She trusted Troy more than anyone or anything. He was the one that was always there for her when their parents were fighting, he was the one that always held her when she was scared or crying. He was the one that made sure she had everything ready for school, and that she wasn't getting picked on.

So it didn't matter which was Troy went, Samantha would trust him entirely.

No one ever lied straight to your face
No one ever stabbed you in the back
You might think I'm happy but I'm not gonna be okay
Everybody always gave you what you wanted
Never had to work it was always there
You don't know what it's like, what it's like

"Hey, Gabriella?" Troy said into his cell-phone.

"Oh, hey Troy? Where are you, school's about to start?" She asked.

"I'm not coming to school...I need your help," he said. Gabriella listened to him on the other end of the phone, making comforting noises every now and again, so that he knew she was listening. "Please, Gabriella?" Troy finished. There was silence on the other end of the phone and she took in a deep breath.

"Okay, I'll meet you there," she said and the line went dead.

Troy was waiting outside the police station, holding Samantha in his arms when Gabriella arrived. She ran over to him and hugged him hard, one of her arms going around Samantha as well. Troy hugged her back, tears welling up in his eyes and leaking down his cheeks as she hugged him tightly. When she pulled back, she smiled reassuringly up at him and nodded.

"Okay, let's go," she said, and pulled him inside the police station after her. Samantha looked down at the petite Latino girl who Troy was following and then around at the busy police station. There were people in uniform walking around and they were getting a couple of strange looks from a man and woman on the other side of the room. Gabriella reached the front desk first and said in a firm voice, "We would like to report a case of abuse." The woman frowned slightly as she looked from Gabriella to Troy and Samantha. "Domestic abuse." The woman finally nodded and called for an officer to come up.

After Troy and Samantha had been interviewed and photos of Troy's cuts and bruises had been taken, they were free to leave the police station as long as they had somewhere safe that they could go. Gabriella had offered to take them to an aunt's place, but Troy had shaken his head, knowing that would be one of the first places that his dad would look for him. She had then suggested her place, which Troy had agreed too. She drove his mothers car over to her house and unlocked the door, letting them in.

Samantha started watching TV and Troy and Gabriella walked into the kitchen. Gabriella didn't know what to say, so she just walked over to Troy and hugged him. Troy hugged back, his head resting in her dark hair. Tears spilled down his cheeks and she held him as he cried.

"Everything's gonna be alright," she told him. Troy nodded into her shoulder. "I promise."

Okay, that's it. Please review!