Chapter 1

Disclaimer: I do not own anything.

Troy and I have been friends for a few years now. When we met, we hit it off almost instantly. Throughout the time that we have been friends, we have gotten to know each other very well. Our friendship was one of the strongest relationships I had in my life. Sure, I was close to my mom. But sometimes mom just isn't the person that I can go to, to talk about certain things. Sometimes you just need that special friend you can rely on who will always be there to listen when times get rough or when you just need to laugh.

Troy was that person for me.

He had always been my shoulder to cry on when something went wrong. When my grandpa died, he was there. It was through this event that I fell in love with my best friend.

No friend had even gone to the lengths that Troy did. Troy was always right there to make sure I was ok. When I was alone after the death, he was telling me it was a bad idea to be alone and stayed on the phone with me until he knew I was ok. He was right there with me at the funeral, constantly trying to comfort me by whispering in my ear that it was going to be ok and that he would always be there for me. Other friends had given me their sympathies and gone on. I appreciated them as well. But none of them matched the kindness I received from Troy.

As time went on, Troy and I only seemed to grow closer. The more I got to know him, the harder I fell in love with him.

My biggest mistake, however, was never telling him how I truly felt about him. So when he ended up dating, I was heartbroken. I tried to show my support and continued to keep up the friendship we had, but I could feel a strain between us. Things just weren't the same as before. I felt like I was losing a friend.

But when Troy's girlfriend broke up with him, he was the heartbroken one, and I couldn't help but return everything he had ever done for me. I tried to be there for him for every struggle he faced after the break-up. He said he thought he was falling in love with this girl and just couldn't figure out what exactly went wrong.

As he continued to get over the girl, we continued to grow closer again and rebuild the friendship to a stronger bond than what we had before. I felt my heart slowly mend back together, but told myself not to let myself get attached again.

However, when Troy decided he wanted to start dating again and found himself a girlfriend, I realized just how close I had allowed myself to get and felt my heart crumbling again.

As the months went by, I slowly pieced myself back together and got over Troy. Contact with Troy ceased and I found myself searching for that friendship once again. I began going out with friends and meeting new people, searching for what I had always thought I would never find again. That's when I ran into Matthew.

Matthew was a guy who I had went to high school with at one point before coming to East High. We had never really gotten to know each other very well and were more like acquaintances throughout the time we attended school together. We had a mutual friend and that was about as far as our time together went.

But when we ran into each other one day at the mall, we caught up on all that had happened since last seeing each other and decided to exchange numbers so we could meet up for coffee or something sometime.

The coffee date soon turned into a dinner date which led to more dates. Matthew and I couldn't believe we had so much in common nor figure out why we never got to know each other better in high school.

Just when I thought life was going great and things were starting to piece back together, Troy called me telling me he missed me. We talked for a few minutes before making plans to get together to hang out and catch up.

When we met for coffee, Troy told me he was still with his girlfriend Sara, and that things were going great. He couldn't be happier. I wasn't sure what to say to that. As he told me about things with her, I felt myself growing jealous, thought I couldn't be sure where those feelings came from. I shouldn't be jealous of them. They were happy and that's what mattered. I had Matt and I was happy with him. I should be happy for them.

But I soon realized that all the feelings I had once felt for Troy and just been buried, and not too deeply. They were still there and they were beginning to resurface.

We continued to talk for a while before both saying we should be going but that we would talk again soon. We began talking every few days, trying to stay in contact better than last time. A few weeks after our meeting, Troy called me one evening to inform me that he had proposed to Sara. I couldn't believe it! I ended up crying myself to sleep that night.

As the weeks went by, I felt myself becoming more and more unhappy in the current situation. Every time I talked to Troy, he wanted to talk about his upcoming wedding. That was the last thing I wanted to talk about. I tried to be happy for him, but it was proving to be very difficult.

I also tried to be happy with Matt. I couldn't have asked for a better boyfriend. Matt was the perfect guy. He treated me better than anyone ever had. But the more I thought about it, he just wasn't the guy for me. He wasn't the guy I wanted to be with. I couldn't see myself with him forever.

He had different ideas, though. On one of our Friday night dates, he made it really special. I had planned to talk to him that night about how I was feeling, but I felt bad after all the trouble he had went to, to make the night special. He had made reservations at a really fancy restaurant and had taken me for a walk through the park afterwards. It was a beautiful night and I had thoroughly enjoyed the evening. But my heart wasn't fully into it.

As we were finishing our walk, Matt stopped, pulling on my hand to stop with him. He looked at me, and I could see in his eyes just how much he cared for me. It made me sick to know that I didn't feel that much for him.

"Gabriella, I love you so much. I just can't believe that someone as wonderful as you would care for me at all." Oh gosh… "I have loved every minute that I have spent with you and I know that work has kept me really busy lately and we haven't had much time together. But I want that to change. I would love nothing more than to be able to spend a great deal more time with you. I guess what I'm saying is…" He knelt down in front of me as I covered my mouth with my hand. "…Gabriella Montez, will you marry me?"

I couldn't believe it. We were on total opposite ends of the spectrum with our feelings. How did we get here?

He just knelt there, still looking at me as he held the ring out for me to see. It was beautiful, but I was having my doubts. Could I marry him and truly be happy?

"Gabriella, please say something…"

"C-Can I think about it?"

Hurt flashed through his eyes before he gave me a small smile. "Of course. I don't want you to feel rushed into it. Take all the time you need."

"Thanks," I said quietly. He handed me the ring before standing up and kissing my forehead.

"Just remember how much I love you."

I forced a smile on my face. "Don't worry, I will."

A week went by. It was the night before Troy and Sara's wedding. I had finally told Matt I couldn't marry him because my heart just wasn't fully in it. He was hurt when we went our separate ways, but I couldn't have been more relieved to have told him how I truly felt.

Troy and I decided to get together the night before his wedding to hang out one last time before his big day. I had told him about Matt's proposal, but I hadn't told him yet about me turning Matt down on the offer.

"Too bad you didn't get engaged sooner. We could have had a double wedding." Troy laughed. I tried to laugh, but didn't really find it too funny. "I mean, you did tell him yes, right?"

I looked down at my hands that I was wringing in my lap. "Well…actually…." I looked up to see Troy frowning at me. "I told him I couldn't." I held up my left hand so he could see my bare hand.

"What? Why?"

"My heart wasn't completely in it. I couldn't marry someone that I would never be truly happy with. And I couldn't marry someone who isn't the person my heart is really set on."

Troy dropped the subject but had a strange expression on his face. Was that relief? But there was also something else there. I could see the questions in his eyes, but he never asked them. Instead, we decided to watch a movie and Matt was never mentioned again. I eventually said goodnight and went home, telling him I'd see him tomorrow. Even with as hard as it was going to be to watch the one man that I could see myself with get married, I had to be there to support him. I couldn't not go…

The next afternoon I showed up for Troy's wedding. The people sitting around me kept giving me weird looks because I was bawling my eyes out. I told them I was okay and that I was just so happy for the couple. However, I couldn't have been more heartbroken. I was watching the love of my life marry someone who wasn't me. It shouldn't be like this.

Troy and his groomsmen took their places next to the pastor at the front of the church. The music started playing and as the mothers were taking their seats and the bridesmaids were finding their way down the aisle to their places, Troy looked over and locked eyes with me, questions still floating in them. I tried to put on a brave face and give him a smile, but I know it looked strained.

Just as the flower girl was finishing, Troy glanced to the back of the church where Sara would be appearing any moment. But instead of a bright smile on his face, Troy's showed panic. The next thing I knew, Troy was leaning over to whisper something to the pastor and making his way out a side door. The groomsmen were all asking the pastor where he went and were whispering back and forth.

I needed to know he was alright, so I quietly made my way out of my seat and through the door Troy had just exited. I soon found him outside pacing back and forth, running a hand through his hair.

"Hey," I said quietly, hoping not to startle him.

He looked over at me and for the first time, I saw tears in his eyes. "What am I doing, Gabriella? I'm supposed to be in there marrying this amazing girl right now. But I can't. I knew I couldn't. But instead of telling her this days before the wedding, I leave her at the altar. What kind of person am I?"

I closed the distance between us and took his hands in mine, urging him to look at me. When he finally looked me in the eye, I spoke. "You, Troy Bolton, are a wonderful person. I love everything about you, and Sara does, too. That's why she wants to marry you. Where is all this coming from? Why can't you marry her?"

Troy looked away before letting out a long sigh. "Because I'm in love with someone else," he said, looking at the ground.

I dropped his hands. I had always hoped that he didn't actually feel for Sara that way, but my hopes were shot down when I found out he proposed. But now, it hurt even worse to find out that even though he didn't love Sara, he was still in love with another woman.

"Troy, how did this happen? Have you been cheating on Sara?"

"What? No!" Troy started his pacing again. "I just…I love this woman so much and it's just happened that way. I never thought I could be with her until recently and she finally gave me hope that maybe…just maybe we could finally be together. I've screwed up so many chances that I had to finally be with her…." Troy stopped and finally looked at me. "…and now, I want so desperately to be with her and I don't want to screw up that opportunity by marrying someone I don't actually love."

I nodded and looked down, my heart still breaking into even tinier pieces. I held the tears I felt surfacing in check before replying. "You need to tell Sara that, then. Don't just walk out on her. She deserves more than that. I'm sure she's in there crying right now, after realizing that you were actually there when the doors opened so she could see you. At least talk to her. Be honest with her. If she meant anything to you, you'll give her that."

Troy nodded, wiping the tears that had escaped his eyes and turned around to walk back inside, but not before giving me a hug. "Thanks, Gabriella." I watched him walk back inside before I turned to walk to my car, knowing I had to get out of there before the tears started in again. I couldn't handle any more strange looks.

I drove home in silence, silent tears streaming down my face. When I got home, I changed into some comfortable clothes before laying down on my bed and letting the tears go. There was no more holding back. I had broken up with Matt because of my love for Troy. But where had that gotten me? Troy had found someone else to love and that still left me all alone with a broken heart over the one man I would never have.

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