My new HSM story. I hope you all enjoy it. And just to let you know, Troy isn't going to Berkley, he is going to U of A.
Disclaimer: Nothing, I own nothing except the plot.
No one ever thought they'd see the day where they would be seperated. But it was here, staring them blankly in the face. Neither could remember a day where this hadn't crossed their mind, the possibility was always there, lingering softly in the distance.
It was the eve of their seperation. It was a night that would forever change both Troy and Gabriella's lives. And little did they know that the words spoken, the promises made that night would bring foward a bond between them; a bond which would never be broken.
And no matter how hard either of them tried, they would never forget it.
Stifling yet another sigh of unhappiness, Gabriella Montez stretched out her arms, rolling over onto her stomach. The bed creaked beneath her weight shift, but she ignored it. It had always done that, so why not leave it be? After tonight, it wouldn't belong to her anymore. Just like nothing from her previous life would.
Why? The answer was simple. Tomorrow she was leaving for Stanford. Tomorrow she would begin to live the promises her mother had made her when she was a little girl, dreaming of a better future.
Gabriella knew she should be happy, if not overjoyed. The acceptance of Stanford was something she had worked her entire life for, the thing that kept her studying in the kitchen when others were having fun.
It was her lifelong dream.
But to be honest, it was hard to be happy when her whole life was being turned upside down. By saying yes to Stanford, she was saying goodbye to her friends, her mother, her life. To Troy.
Gabriella drew in a sharp intake of breath as her eyes fell upon a few pictures of the two of them, some of the few things left in her abandoned, empty room.
In every single one of the pictures, they looked so happy, so in love. You could see it in their eyes.
There was the picture taken on the opening day of Twinkle Town, of them in their costumes. Gabriella remembered how much Troy hated that tie he was forced to wear by Ms. Darbus, but he had told Gabriella that she looked beautiful.
It was the first time he had ever called her beautiful.
She smiled at the memory, yet moving onto the next picture. It was the last day of school in their junior year; Troy had just given Gabriella his necklace.
Both their smiles were huge; Troy's because Gabriella hadn't turned him down, Gabriella for many reasons. She couldn't believe that she finally had a boyfriend after years of waiting, that she finally had true friends.
That she finally had a life she loved.
That single thought brought Gabriella back to reality. That life was over. It was time to move on, into a bigger and brighter future.
But Gabriella wasn't sure if she would be able to say goodbye to her old life. It wouldn't be easy, even she knew that. Even though Gabriella had practice with the word goodbye, it never got easier. It only got harder.
A tap from the window broke Gabriella's thoughts. On instinct, she turned to open the door, wincing as she felt the chilling cold floor under her bare toes.
"Troy!" she giggled, letting him in. "Why are you here? I thought we were going to say goodbye tomorrow."
Troy took a step toward Gabriella, meeting his eyes with hers.
"Maybe I'm not here to say goodbye."
She took a step back, studying Troy's expression.
"Then what are you here for?"
For a moment, Troy was quiet. He hesitated to answer, gazing into Gabriella's eyes almost remorsely. She gazed back into his bright blue orbs, decorated with sadness.
"Troy?" Gabriella asked. "What's wrong?"
Something deep inside her told her that she didn't want to know, but Gabriella just ignored it, and pushed on.
"Tell me."
Troy shook it off, whatever it was that was bothering him, and simply sat down on Gabriella's comforter. The old thing let out another moan.
"Gabs, you gotta get this thing fixed. It's gonna die soon."
"Yeah, well after tonight, it won't even belong to me anymore."
Gabriella turned to face Troy, resting her hand on his. A small tingle made its way up her spine, but Gabriella ignored it.
"Hey. Are you okay?"
Troy wrapped his arm around Gabriella, squeezing her into a hug. For a moment, she enjoyed the embrace, but as she realized what the coming day had to offer, she pulled away.
"Gabs, what's wrong? Is this about Stanford? Because I know you're gonna love it there. And don't be worried about if you're good enough for Stanford, because the real question is if Stanford is good enough for you."
For a second Troy thought he saw a hint of a smile on Gabriella's face.
"You know what? Forget about college, about the future. Forget about tomorrow. Pretend it will never happen. Because tonight is all that matters. It's you and me. Nothing else in the world matters right now."
Troy felt Gabriella reach for his hand, and he enclosed his over hers.
"What do you say? Let's forget about tomorrow, and just be us."
Gabriella shot him a tiny smile. "I say yes."
The two began the evening by taking a small walk, unsure of where they would eventually end up.
The dark night sky glittered with millions of stars, reflecting the beauty of the heavens above. It reminded Gabriella of her father, of when they would simply sit and gaze out at the sky. Oh, how she missed those days.
"You okay?" Troy questioned, once again taking her hand in his. "You seem sad."
"Yeah." Gabriella nodded her head, causing the black curls to bounce up and down. "I'm fine."
Troy opened his mouth to fight her on the answer, but before he could, something caught Gabriella's eye, and she began to lead Troy to the destination.
A small playground, decorated by the soft moonlight laid ahead. Instantly, a smile caught the edges of Gabriella's mouth and she grinned.
"Come on!"
The playground was even more beautiful up close. It housed a swingset, slide, teeter totter, and a merry go round. It was a little kid's heaven.
"Wow." Gabriella stopped to catch her breath. It was amazing, amazing being an understatement. It was magical.
"It's perfect."
Grinning wildly, Gabriella pulled out her light blue phone. "Take a seat on the merry go round! I'll take your picture!"
"No...I'm good."
"Please Troy?" Gabriella gave him her famous puppy dog pout. "For me? To remember this night by?"
That did it. Everyone knew he was a sucker for that face.
"Fine..."
Grimancing, Troy climbed up and took a seat on the merry go round.
"How's this?"
With a smile, Gabriella snapped the picture, and Troy eagerly hopped off, causing the merry go round to spin.
"Looks good!"
She turned the phone toward him, letting Troy see the new picture of himself. His hair was wild, sticking up because of his sweatshirt static,and he had a crazy look in his eyes.
Troy griminced at the way he looked, but Gabriella loved it.
"I think this will be my new background."
"No!" Troy lunged for the phone, but before he could reach it, Gabriella pulled it out of his reach, causing Troy to fall off the merry go round, onto the sandy floor.
"Gabs!"
"Sucks for you!"
"Come back here!"
Troy quickly pulled himself up off the ground, and began running after Gabriella, trying to kidnap her phone. He quickly caught up to her, and grabbed Gabriella, pulling her into a bear hug.
"Tr-oy!"
The blonde haired boy leaned down to whisper in Gabriella's ear.
"Gabs...admit that I am the world's best boyfriend."
His warm breath tickled the nape of of Gabriella's neck, but she tried not to let that affect her. Instead she focused on the task of not becoming too attached to Troy, even if it was impossible and much too late.
"Never!"
"Fine. Then you will be attacked by....the tickle monster!"
"No!" Gabriella shrieked, but it was too late. Troy had already pushed her on the ground, and was beginning to tickle her stomach.
"Okay, okay! Troy Bolton is the world's best boyfriend!"
"Finally."
Troy lifted himself off ground, then laid back down beside Gabriella, the two both breathing hard.
Gabriella rolled over to face Troy, kicking her flip flops off in the process. The sand felt cool and silky under her bare toes.
She stared up at her boyfriend, her lover. The soft wind blew a few strands of dark hair into her face, and Troy pushed them back.
His breath caught in his throat as he realized today, tonight would be the last time he would see her in awhile. Quickly he pushed the forbidden thought out of his mind, but not before it contaminated all his thoughts.
"You're so beautiful..." Troy whispered, pushing back the stray hairs. Gabriella, in turn blushed, and reached for his hand.
"What am I going to do without you?"
"Troy, I thought we were not going to talk about tomorrow."
"Okay." Troy rubbed Gabriella's hand, and moved closer, so their bodies were touching.
"Just promise me one thing."
"Yes?"
"Promise me you will never forget this night. I know it wasn't the most special, but it was beautiful, and I was with you. Promise you will never forget all the time we spent together, and all the memories we share. But most of all, promise me that you will never forget my face, even if we never see each other again."
"Troy...don't say that."
"I'm serious. Just promise me that."
"I promise."
"Good."
Slowly Troy sat up, Gabriella along with him. There was no talking, only silence.
He pulled Gabriella into his lap, and she laid her head on his chest, listening to his heart.
The two laid like that for a few minutes, enjoying each other's company almost as if they knew what the future would bring them. But they didn't know, how could they? No one knew.
There they laid, soaking up the moment. It was perfect, almost as if the world was frozen around them, and they were the only ones on the planet.
Then Troy's phone rang, interupting the moment, ending their time together.
He gave a quick glance at the caller ID, then sighed heavily. "It's my dad. He's probablly wondering where I am."
Gabriella sat up, giving Troy permission to answer.
"Hello? Dad? Yes, I'm with Gabriella. Okay, fine. I'll be home in ten minutes."
With an unhappy look, Troy hung up the phone.
"I gotta go."
Even though Gabriella knew the truth, she still didn't want to let him go. When would she see him next?
"I'm sorry," Troy apologized.
His eyes locked into Gabriella's and once again, everything in the world felt right. But only for a moment.
"It's okay. Call me later, 'kay?"
Troy nodded, taking Gabriella's hand in his.
"Don't forget."
And with that, he was gone.
That was the last time they had ever seen each other. Sure, they stayed in contact the first year of college, writing letters, and calling each other.
But they never saw each other face to face.
Both of them never forgot that night, never forgot the feelings shared, promises made.
They never forgot each other.
There it is, the prologue. Feedback would be amazing. I hope you enjoyed it.