This couldn't be happening to him. All he wanted was to be together and live happily ever after. But he had ruined his own dream. He had fallen into the Evans' trap and took advantage of something that was never going to happen anyway. He planned too far ahead. He had strained to look into the future, but didn't even see it standing right next to him all along. He had lost the one he loved over some stupid scholarship. And now he was paying for it.
With his life.
FLASHBACK
Troy was just walking back from his workout with the Redhawks and to tell the honest truth, he was exhausted. They were brutal, uncaring people and he was starting to miss the Wildcats. At least they didn't criticize his every step and move.
As he walked across the bridge to Lava Springs, he heard shouting coming from two ladies he was very familiar with. Sharpay and Gabriella.
"...I'm done here! But you better step away from the mirror long enough to check the damage that we'll always be right behind you!" Gabriella shouted to Sharpay, who was looking very surprised at the moment. No one had ever stood up to her like Gabriella just did. And she was furious about it.
"GIRLS!!!" the heated blonde screamed. The girls sitting on the table behind her automatically followed like a shadow, asking Sharpay if she was alright.
Troy ran up to Gabriella and snapped "What do you mean you're done here?! You can't just quit!"
Gabriella replied "Oh, so now you remember that I work here! And what do you care?! You're always out with the Redhawks or with Sharpay and her parents!"
Troy quickly answered "Hey! You know that's just because of the scholarship! When this is all over, we can hang out more, but as for right now, I'm just too busy!"
Gabriella, trying to choke back tears, nearly shouted "Troy, you know that this isn't about the scholarship anymore! You've blown off all of your friends and family and it's really starting to affect all of us, including me!"
Troy angrily replied "Well I'm sorry that I didn't decide to throw my life away and hang out with you!" As soon as those words escaped his mouth, he instantly regretted it. Gabriella stared back at him with shocked and broken eyes, trying not to cry.
"Gabriella, I-I didn't mean it. I just-" Troy tried, but was cut off by her taking off across the bridge, her head buried in her hands.
"GABRIELLA!!! GABBY, COME BACK!!!" Troy screamed after her, running at full speed. Gabriella suddenly stopped short, almost Troy almost crash into her.
"I'm sorry that you feel that way Troy," Gabriela whimpered, clutching the 'T' necklace hanging around her neck. She turned around to face Troy and said "I thought that this was a symbol of what we had, but I guess we never really had anything, did we? So you can just... have it back." With that, she carefully unhooked it from her neck and placed it in his hand. "Give it to Sharpay. I'm sure she'll paint it a pretty pink or something. She's the one you really want to be with anyway."
"Gabby, I-" Troy croaked, his cheeks stained with tears.
"Bye Troy." Gabriella sobbed, not being able to hold it in anymore. She took off down the road and could be heard crying from across the hill. Troy melted onto his knees, feeling his palm bleeding from holding necklace so tightly. He murmured "I'm so sorry Gabriella."
END FLASHBACK
On the ground I lay
Motionless in pain
I can see my life flashing before my eyes
Did I fall asleep?
Is this all a dream?
Wake me up, I'm living a nightmare
Gabriella was 100 percent right. He wasn't who he was a few months ago anymore. He had turned into another one of Sharpay's little poodles, just like Ryan was. He couldn't even stand to see the images of Gabriella's teary face rushing through his mind as he lay on the cold, bloody road.
Looking to his left, he could see his car, mangled and intertwined with another person's truck. Anyone could easily see that the man inside of the truck was dead. The entire vehicle was coated in blood and other body parts that Troy didn't want to identify. The man reminded him of his father, who he knew was extremely disappointed in him. He had blown off his own team for some collage people that didn't even care how good he was. The Wildcats had been in the newspaper for weeks straight because of their big win against the undefeated Knights and to have the captain of East High's basketball team hanging out with them would bring major publicity to them. He wished that he could've seen that sooner.
This honestly had to be a dream. One minute he was driving home through tears and the next, he was just waking up from the biggest nightmare ever. He had collided with someone on the road and died on impact. When he tried to get up, he found that his legs were broken and his body lost about a gallon of blood already. That's when he realized it.
That wasn't a dream. Except for dying on impact, he was remembering what happened before the end of his life came. Wishing that he could just fall asleep was out of the question now. He knew that if he closed his eyes, they would never open again.
I will not die
I will survive
He remembered that when he saw Gabriella walk away from him, his only thought was "I wish I were dead." He surely did feel diseased when the love of his life ran away from him because of his own mistake. Now, all he wanted to do was live. Fight for the chance to look into Gabriella's eyes again and tell her how big of an ass he was being at the time. He couldn't die. He had to survive for her. He couldn't give up hope. Even in his time of dying.
I will not die, I'll wait here for you
I feel alive, when you're beside me
I will not die, I'll wait here for you
In my time of dying
"TROY!!!" a sudden scream came from behind Troy. He couldn't sit up to see who it was. All he could do was follow the figure running at full speed towards his destroyed body. The person kneeled down and carefully cradled his head in their lap. Troy felt teardrops fall and land on his face, mixing in with the blood and making it watery. He looked up into the brown eyes that he hoped that he would see again.
Gabriella.
"G-gabriella." Troy barely managed to whisper, feeling his throat rip from his words.
Gabriella shook her head and ordered "Don't talk. You'll just waste your energy."
Troy smiled lightly. He could feel his spirits lift and the will to live returning to his heart. He soon realized that Gabriella made the fight for life easier. He would have to wait for the ambulance. For her. He couldn't give up yet. He had to live and remain by her side forever. Even in his time of dying.
On this bed I lay
Losing everything
I can see my life passing me by
Was it all too much?
Or just not enough?
Wake me up, I'm living a nightmare
Troy woke up again, this time in a completely white room. He couldn't feel his body, except for his head. He lost all feeling everywhere, signaling that he was paralyzed from the neck down. He didn't need a doctor to tell him that.
As quickly as his eyes opened, they closed again. He tried his hardest to open them, but it was no use. The force of death was taking its toll on him. He was losing his life and nothing he could do could stop it. He was losing everything.
A bright light shone into his closed eyes and Troy recognized it immediately. He saw his mother in the hospital screaming her head off. He was being born. A cry erupted into the room. Lucy had given birth to Troy Alexander Bolton. His first day on Earth was flashing before his eyes.
The next was his first basket. His father was trying to teach him how to correctly shoot a basketball. Jack demonstrated a few times and missed the basket every time. A 4 year old Troy took the ball from his father and took a clean shot at his target. The ball flew right in. He laughed at the face of his father, his jaw dropped and his eyes wide. He took off inside the house to tell his wife.
After that was Gabriella's first day at East High. Troy's eyes went wide at the recognition of the girl that he met at the ski resort. He waited for her after homeroom had let out and started whispering, not knowing why he was. He was probably embarrassed to be seen talking to the new geeky-looking girl. But he didn't care about that now. Not that it really mattered anyway. He was in a hospital bed, waiting for his last breath.
Finally, the most dreaded time of his life came. His first day at Lava Springs. The beginning of the end. Mr. Evans slung his arm around Troy's shoulder and asked him if he wanted to move away from his friends and work with teaching kids how to correctly play golf. Troy quickly accepted, not thinking about the effect it would have on his friends and girlfriend. It wasn't until the fight that he had with Gabriella that he remembered what he was doing to himself and to everybody else.
The very last thing that entered his mind was his face when he was driving home. It had been his fault that he crashed and killed the driver that he had crashed into. He didn't know who he killed, but he just felt like crying at the fact of actually killing an innocent person. He felt like a murderer.
I will not die
I will survive
He couldn't give up yet. Not even if he deserved dying for the things he's done. He needed to stay strong. He needed to find a way out of this nightmare he was living and correct his broken life. He needed to return to the Wildcats, convince Chad to talk to him again, get his job at the kitchen back, and most importantly, win back his place in Gabriella's heart.
He wouldn't die. He couldn't die. He would survive. For his parents, for his friends, and for himself. He could do this.
I will not die, I'll wait here for you
I feel alive, when you're beside me
I will not die, I'll wait here for you
In my time of dying
The more he convinced himself that he would live, the more he felt the need to close his eyes for the last time. He was wasting his energy. He needed to stop thinking that the best would happen and start trying to find the facts. Things that could be proven.
He heard someone walk in the room and concluded that it must have been a doctor. He heard about 6 pairs of footsteps behind the doctor and could tell that they were all crying. 2 of them were his parents, 1 was Chad, 1 was Zeke, 1 was Jason, and the other, thankfully, was Gabriella.
"I'm sorry. We've done all that we could do, but his body is just too weak to handle everything. You're now free to say your goodbyes."
Troy's heart, if possible, broke in two. He could hear his heart monitor slowing and his body temperature dropping. It was time for him to leave this world and go back home. No matter how hard he tried, nothing he did could stop that. But he had to hold on for just a few more minutes. He had to say goodbye to Gabriella.
"Troy, sweetie," Lucy sobbed, clutching her husband for dear life. "I know you can hear me. Don't be scared. You tried your best, but it's just time for you to..." She couldn't continue. She couldn't accept the fact that her only son, who had been speaking to her only 2 hours ago, was dying. She crashed to the floor and sobbed her heart out, feeling Jack picking her up off of the floor.
Chad stepped forward and shakily said "Hey man. I'm sorry that I was such an ass to you earlier. I guess I was just jealous that you got an opportunity that I knew I would never get. You'll always be my best friend. Goodbye bro."
He stepped back and let Zeke take his turn. "Troy, you know that we were never really mad at you. We thought that you were finding new best friends and couldn't believe that we were all actually growing up, ready to try new things and go further distances. But now we know that you've always cared about us and never meant for this to happen. I'm sorry I didn't realize that sooner. Bye captain."
It was now the moment that Troy had been dreading since they stepped into the death room. Gabriella took baby steps towards Troy's hospital bed and simply said "I love you Troy. Thanks for helping me live a fairytale life. You'll always be my prince and knight in shining armor." Even though Troy couldn't see it, he could feel Gabriella lay the 'T' necklace down on his chest, right on top of his heart. She kissed his blue, cold lips one last time before taking his hand in hers. Mr. and Mrs. Bolton, Chad, and Zeke left the room and gave Gabriella some time with Troy alone. Other than his parents, she was the only one he truly loved anyway.
"I know that you didn't mean those things you said at Lava Springs," Gabriella piped up, giving Troy's hand a squeeze, as if wanting him to wake up. "You were just angry and so was I. We both say stupid things that we don't mean when we're angry at someone. That just happened to be your false opinion. And that's okay. I understand completely."
I will not die, I'll wait here for you
I feel alive, when you're beside me
I will not die, I'll wait here for you
In my time of dying
Those were the only words running through Troy's head as Gabriella spoke to him. She was losing control of her tears quickly, he could sense that. He just wished that he could open his eyes again. He had to see his girlfriend once again before moving on. That's all he wanted.
"Just like your mom said, I know that you can hear me," Gabriella sobbed "I can't hear you, but I know that you're replying to this in your head. Your heart monitor keeps getting slower, but it kinda stopped right now. You don't have to hold on Troy. We'll be alright down here. Just go on to heaven and get away from all of this pain. We won't kill ourselves, so don't expect us to meet up with you again anytime soon. See you in about 70 years. I love you." Once again, she kissed his lips. But this time, Troy responded to the kiss. Gabriella pulled back sharply, not believing what she just felt. She smiled and let free more tears when she found Troy staring up at her, his eyes dead, but with a little sparkle in them.
"I love you too Gabriella. Never forget that." Troy whispered, squeezing her hand with every ounce of energy that he had left.
Gabriella gave a small smile and leaned down again, capturing his lips in a powerful, final kiss. Troy murmured into her lips "I'll wait for you."
Gabriella sobbed "Forever?"
Troy nodded "I'll be watching over you. I promise."
Gabriella said "Goodbye Troy."
Troy whispered "Goodbye Gabby. I love you."
Gabriella couldn't block out the worst sound that she would ever hear in her entire life. It was worse than her mother screaming at her because of an F on a test, worse than Chad bragging about how cool his hair was, and even worse than Ms. Darbus's rants in homeroom. No.
The flat line to her boyfriend's heart monitor buzzed in her ears. Troy was gone. And he wasn't coming back. But she could already feel him keeping his promise. Looking out of the window, she could see two thin clouds with the light blue sky shining through them. She couldn't help but smile.
"Thanks for waiting for me Troy. Even in your time of dying."
I will not die, I'll wait here for you
I feel alive, when you're beside me
I will not die, I'll wait here for you
In my time of dying
- Troy Alexander Bolton -
1991 – 2008
Beloved son, friend, and boyfriend
He Will Not Die, Even In His Time of Dying
Sad, isn't it? Please review this one! It was really hard for me to write for some reason, so I want to know what you think about it. Plus, it would be really awesome if one of my oneshots goe more than 10 reviews! For all of you popular authors who get like 50 reviews for a oneshot, don't laugh at me. It's not really my fault...
REVIEW!!! Thnx :)
Rachel :)
P.S: The song's "Time of Dying" by Three Days Grace. I didn't see any TDG oneshots on this site, so I wrote one :)