Hey everyone! So here's a new story! I'm always getting new ideas so you can expect constant new stories from me. This one is kind of violent and I felt awkward writing it, but trust me it's not that bad. The first two chapters are the violent ones so once you get past them you'll be okay. Okay, don't worry it's not that violent now that I think of it... I'm not into violence so I didn't want to write a lot of it. Hope you enjoy this story!

Chapter one

Gabriella Montez dragged herself down the hallway of East High. The usual happy senior was sad and distraught as she pushed past loud groups of people and talking couples in the hallway. She walked into her homeroom and saw Ms. Darbus dancing around the classroom as usual. Her friends, Kelsi, Sharpay, and Martha were sitting on the tops of their desks, talking in a circle. She looked around the room for Taylor, but she wasn't there and she wondered why as she walked over to her friends. They smiled, but all quickly frowned when they saw Gabriella's face.

"Are you okay?" Kelsi asked her as a wave of seriousness showed on her face.

"I had a rough night." Gabriella said as she shook her head.

"Was it Troy?" Sharpay asked,

Gabriella didn't answer as she shrugged and when the group saw her reaction as Troy walked into the room, they knew that their date must have ended badly. Gabriella walked to her desk and avoided eye contact with Troy as the rest of the class made their way into the classroom. It wasn't that their date ended badly, it just didn't go how Gabriella had planned.

The class was in the middle of their test when Ms. Darbus scanned the room for cheaters. She smiled at Gabriella, who was already done with her test and then she started to fill out a hall pass, her hand moved swiftly on the paper and she ripped the paper off of its pack and looked back at Gabriella.

"Ms. Montez, can you do me a favor?" She asked, interrupting a few students with her loud voice that echoed through the room.

"Sure, Ms. Darbus." Gabriella said with a smile.

Ms. Darbus nodded and looked around the room one more time to see if anyone else was done. She spotted Troy rolling his pencil on his desk, finished with his test already. He had studied with Gabriella constantly before today to be able to ace the hard test.

"Mr. Bolton, go with Ms. Montez to the office. I need you two to pick up the box of yearbooks so we have them ready for tomorrow." She explained. "You can take this hall pass." She said as she handed Troy the paper.

Troy nodded and stood up, waiting in the doorway as Gabriella made her way to the front of the room. Her friends gave her sorry glances as they watched her and she looked straight ahead, avoiding Troy as she walked out of the classroom.

Gabriella looked down at the floor tiles as she walked down the hall, hearing Troy's shoes squeak and fall into rhythm with the tapping of her own shoes. She looked toward the ceiling when she heard an announcement over head.

"Mr. Red, please contact the office. We have a situation." A voice announced with fake calmness filling her voice.

Gabriella stopped in her tracks and Troy looked at her, raising his eyebrow slightly.

"Are you okay?" He asked her.

"Troy…" She started as she stepped toward him.

"What?" He asked as he placed his hand on her arm.

"Were we supposed to have a code red drill today?" She asked.

"No, why?" Troy asked as he furrowed his brow.

"Because that was the code." Gabriella said as her face filled with a look of fear.

"Very funny Gabriella." Troy said with a small smile.

"I'm not kidding!" Gabriella said quickly as she looked up at him.

They stood motionless for a minute, they listened, barely breathing, and Troy grabbed Gabriella before having to think twice about it when he heard a popping noise from around the corner. He picked her up and ran to a janitor's closet, gently closing it behind him and pressing his body against it as he breathed deeply.

"Troy! What are we going to do?" Gabriella whispered.

"Come here." Troy said as he pulled Gabriella toward him. "Sit down." He instructed as they both quietly slid down the door and stayed close to each other.

Gabriella turned her head to look at Troy. She barely made out his figure since it was dark in the closet.

"Maybe we're just hearing things." Troy suggested.

"I don't think we can daydream guns going off, Troy!" Gabriella said quickly.

"Don't panic." Troy whispered.

"How can I not panic? We're going to die!" Gabriella yelled.

"We're not going to die. Stop being so loud, Gabi." Troy said.

"This can't be happening!" Gabi whispered as her voice started to quiver.

Troy didn't say anything as they listened to each other breath. They stayed as quiet as they could when they saw the light coming through under the door suddenly go dark as someone walked by it. Troy wrapped his arm around Gabriella and she buried her face into his shoulder as she tried to hold back her sobs. They heard someone talking outside and Troy leaned closer to the door to listen.

"How are we going to do this boss?" He heard a younger man ask, his voice was muffled and it was fading as if he was walking away from the door.

"They don't have a game plan?" Troy thought as he listened.

"Find the girl. Get rid of her! No matter what it takes!"

Troy looked down at Gabriella and whispered in her ear, sending chills down her spin.

"They're gone." Troy said inhaling the scent of her shampoo.

Gabriella stayed in the position she was in and Troy could hear her quiet sobs as her body shook uncontrollably. Troy felt a pang of hurt run threw his body as he held onto Gabriella. Gabriella looked up at Troy as she felt his heart beat quicken. She was suddenly thinking of their date last night and how this terrible start of the day would be a fraction of a bit better if she wasn't upset with Troy and the sudden way he was protecting her was making everything worse.

"Troy." She whispered.

"Hmm." Troy said quietly.

"Are you mad at me?" She asked.

"What? Why would I be mad at you?" Troy asked.

"I don't know. I was just wondering."

"Is something wrong? Usually you say what's on your mind."

"Well, the fact that there are men outside that could kill us is kind of preventing any ability to have a conversation." Gabriella whispered.

Troy smiled in the darkness, but it slowly faded as his mind came back to reality.

"I'm thinking about yesterday." Gabriella admitted.

"Yesterday." Troy repeated with a sigh.

"I told you that I loved you." Gabriella recalled.

"You did." Troy nodded.

"And you didn't say it back." Gabriella replied quietly.

"I would have." Troy said.

"But you didn't and now we're in a janitor's closet during a hostage crisis."

"Gabi, it still wouldn't have changed the fact of the situation." Troy said.

"Taylor's not here today."

"What does that have to do with anything?" Troy asked.

"She's probably still with Chad. They went out yesterday."

"And…"

"Taylor was planning on telling Chad she loved him, they probably never made it to school." Gabriella explained.

"And you think if I would have told you that I loved you we wouldn't be here?" Troy asked.

"No, I'm just saying it might be different." Gabriella answered.

Troy didn't say anything as he loosened his grip on Gabriella. Sadly, she felt his resistance and she scooted away from him and turned her body slightly so that she was facing him.

"Do you not love me, Troy?" Gabriella asked.

"Gabi…" Troy sighed. "It's not that I don't love you, it's just hard."

"It's supposed to be hard." Gabriella answered. "You know… if you love someone. You're supposed to face obstacles and if you haven't noticed Troy, we're facing an obstacle right now."

"How can you make jokes right now?" Troy asked with a small laugh.

"It made you laugh right? Got your mind off of the situation for a minute."

"Yeah." Troy whispered.

"Are you going to answer my question? I need to know, Troy, so if I have to, I can move on."

"Do you remember when I was in seventh grade and my Aunt Karen passed away?" Troy asked her.

"Yeah."

"Well, before she got sick I told her I loved her. I mean I actually said the words out loud for the first time." Troy said as he sighed. "Do you remember when Chad went off to camp in fourth grade?"

"Yes."

"Well, we were swinging on our swings and we made a deal that we'd be best friends for the rest of our lives and that we'd be brothers because we loved each other like brothers." Troy began.

"Are you trying to tell me you're in love with Chad?" Gabriella asked.

"Gabriella." Troy said quickly.

"Sorry, I can't help it. I make jokes when I'm nervous."

"Well, when we made that promise he left for camp the next day." Troy explained.

Gabriella nodded slowly and sighed, her heart starting to ache softly for Troy.

"You're afraid that if you say the words to me I'll be taken away from you?" Gabriella asked.

"Yeah." Troy whispered.

"You don't have to worry about that, Troy. I'll always come back for you no matter what." Gabriella whispered.

"I can't take that chance, Gabriella."

"I understand." Gabriella said as a tear streamed down her cheek, invisible from Troy.

"You have to know that I'll say it when I'm ready because I know I could say it… if I wasn't afraid of what could happen."

Gabriella scooted back to her spot next to Troy and hugged him, but quickly jumped when she felt something vibrating.

"Is that your phone?" Gabriella asked.

Troy quickly unzipped his sweater pocket and pressed the talk button on his phone. He swallowed hard before he said anything.

"Hello." He said so quietly that Gabriella had to lean closer just to hear him.

"Dude! Are you okay? I'm outside with the police; we're going to find a way to stop this!" Chad said quickly, his voice shaky and concerned.

"We're fine! Don't do anything stupid, Chad."

"Where are you?" Chad asked.

"In a janitor's closet with Gabi. We were in the hallway when the announcement came on."

"How's Gabs?" Chad asked.

"Scared." Troy stated.

"Did you see the guys?"

"No, but I heard them talking about finding some girl."

"How many guys did you hear?" Chad asked.

Troy heard people talking in the background of Chad's line and he knew the police were asking him questions.

"Two."

Gabriella poked Troy in the side and he looked at her quickly.

"Talk to Gabi for a minute." Troy said quickly as he handed her the phone.

Gabriella took it so fast that Troy thought she would drop the phone for sure.

"Chad!" She whispered. "Tell Taylor I love her! Tell her that she needs to look under my mattress if I don't come out of this alive… don't argue with me Chad, just do it! I love you too!"

Gabriella gave Troy the phone back and put her face in her hands to quiet down her sobs.

"Chad! Are you there?" Troy whispered. "Chad!"

Gabriella looked up from her hands and saw the screen of Troy's cell phone suddenly dim and heard Troy curse under his breath as he shoved it back into his pocket.

"Gabriella." Troy whispered.

"What?"

"We have to do something." Troy explained.

"What do you mean? What more can we do?"

"I have to get you out of here. I need to get you to Chad, where you're safe." Troy said as his heart beat quickened and his adrenaline pumped through his body.

"Troy, I'll be safe here. We just have to calm down and try not to panic. It would be stupid if we went into the hallway."

"We can't just sit here, Gabi! It's like we're waiting for a gun man to kill us." Troy explained harshly.

"Don't yell at me." Gabriella said quickly.

"I'm not yelling."

"Shhhhh." Gabriella demanded as she put her hand over his mouth.

She leaned against him and placed her head on his shoulder. Her ear was against the door and as she slowly moved her hand away from Troy she heard men outside.

"They're by Ms. Darbus's classroom." Gabriella said, brushing her lips against his ears, staying as quiet as she could.

Troy slowly started to stand up and he help Gabriella up too as they listened to the commotion in the hallway. They heard the muffled sounds of the men talking and then as they thought the enemies outside were gone they heard the doorknob of the janitor's closet being shaken. Troy pushed Gabriella in the corner of the closet next to the door and she went to grab his hand to pull him closer to herself, but the door opened and he moved to the side of the closet on the opposite side of Gabriella. They both watched in fear as the light from the hallway poured into the closet and Troy glanced at Gabriella, who was watching him intently from behind the door. Troy held his breath as the shelves blocked his sight for a minute and then his worst fear came to life. The man that had walked into the closet saw Gabriella and Troy saw her gasp to herself as she tried to not look at him, afraid that maybe the man would see Troy if she was looking at him.

"Well, well, well, missy. Are you trying to hide from me?" The man asked as he grabbed Gabriella by the arm and pulled her out of her hiding spot.

Gabriella didn't say anything as she tried to control her breathing and Troy looked around quickly to find something to use to hit the man with. He slowly picked up a metal bucket and in one swift movement he slammed the bucket over the man's head, making the man fall to the ground and cry out in pain.

"RUN!" Troy shouted to Gabriella as he kicked the hurting man on the back before he ran out into the hallway.

Gabriella looked over her shoulder to make sure Troy was behind her and as she looked down the hallway her eyes widened in fear. Troy was only a couple of feet behind her, but what she saw beyond him made her legs suddenly tighten and her breathing quicken.

"Troy!" She screeched.

Troy looked behind him quickly and his eyes widened as well.

"Don't look back, Gabi. Keep running." Troy shouted as he got closer to her.

Gabriella screamed when she heard a gun go off and she stopped in the middle of the hallway when she looked back. She stopped at what she saw, at who she saw, at what she didn't want to see and as her breathing almost completely stopped she used her last bit of energy to scream.

"NOOOOO!"

AWWWW! Gasp! Review and I'll add the next chapter!

Much love,

unknownbyhim22