"Shh, Gabriella, you'll be okay."

That's what he tells her.

Over and over and over again.

Because if he says it enough, maybe she'll finally realize he's right and she'll stop hurting and crying all the time.

He whispers it, so delicately, in her ear and she hopes it's really true.

Because it hurts to cry and she cries when it hurts.

"Shh, Gabriella, you'll be okay."

That's what they tell her.

Over and over and over again.

Because they're worried friends and frantic parents and pitying therapists who don't know what else to do.

Sometimes she wishes they'd stop. Because she was brought up a good girl, told not to lie. And that's all they did nowadays. Lies lies and more lies flowed from their tired, tired mouths since their tired, tired minds didn't want to see her so utterly broken.

Yet she couldn't be anything but broken when she didn't have his smiles and his kisses and his caring persona and his ability to make her laugh and his sheepish look when she caught him staring and his warmth as they sat together on her hammock and his arm always protectively wrapped around her and his honey brown hair she loved to run her hands through and his breath-taking blue blue eyes to gaze into and the sweetness of his voice when he told her he loved her oh so much and the glow he had when she told him she loved him back.

------

"Hey Gabriella, how was your day today?"

"Fine. Nothing special. I missed you."

"I'm always right here."

"But I can't talk to you during classes. I'm just glad the day is over. I'm so sick of school." Her empty book bag is thrown carelessly on the floor and she lets herself fall backwards towards the comfort of her bed.

"What went wrong today?"

"Same as usual. Taylor and Sharpay are being so annoying. I can talk to them while I'm in class so why can't I just have time with you out of class?"

"They're your friends; they care about you, but they don't know you at all."

"I know! They don't know how important you are to me, because if they did, they're leave us alone."

A motherly voice sends a jolt of surprise through Gabriella. "Gabi, Taylor and Sharpay are here to see you!"

"Bring your wallet, we're going shopping!" The blond hollers with fake excitement masking her worry.

"I don't want to go!"

Two identical concerned faces appear in her doorway.

"Please, please come, Gabriella," one pleads.

"Make them go away."

The angry brunette snaps, "Leave. Us. Alone."

"Us? Please don't do this again."

"Look, they're pretending to care."

"Do what?"

"You've got to get out of this house. It's been two weeks." Taylor informs her as if she doesn't already know.

"Don't leave me. You've had the whole day with them."

"I spent all of my day at school, where I saw you guys. Let us have some time to ourselves."

"That's it. Tell them off. Make them understand."

"Gabriella..."

"Gabriella, stop all of this 'us' bullshit now because you're scaring they crap out of us! And that 'us' refers to your parents and your friends - the people who are still alive! I don't know why you act like spending hours with your ghost of a dead boyfriend is so enlightening!" Sharpay has learned her bluntness from the best.

"You know I'm still here with you, whether they believe it or not."

"Get out! Get out of my room!"

The calm before the storm is over; it's raining and pouring salty tears and her shrieks are as deafening as thunder.

She screams into her pillow, digging her throbbing head into the soft, innocent fabric.

"Shh, Gabriella, you'll be okay."

-----

AN: Incase you didn't get it, the italics in quotation marks are said by another person.