Chapter 2: Only Wimpy Men Cries
Troy and Victoria walked up to an apartment on Rose Street.
"Thanks for taking me home Troy," Victoria said when they got to her door.
"It was nice hanging out with you today," Troy said back, "you're living in an apartment by yourself?"
"Well, it's me and my cousin. We're both going to UCLA."
"Me too. You'll see Chad, Jason, and Zeke there too."
"Will I get to see your girlfriend?"
"Yup. She's amazing."
"Oh yeah, but I forget. Make sure you give her that ring we bought today for her. I know she'll love it."
"Yeah. Even though we're in our senior year, I thought proposing to her might be really great."
"Of course. From you, she sounds like an incredible girlfriend. I can't wait to meet her."
"Sure. I'll find you at school and show you to her."
"Cool." Victoria got her key and put it in the key hole. She looked back at Troy and smiled. Then she walked in the apartment.
"Hey honey! I'm home!" Troy said happily. He closed the door behind him. He doesn't hear anything but when he looks up, he sees Gabriella standing in front of her door, arms crossed. She walked down the stairs still with her arms crossed.
"Hey Gabi!" Troy leaned over for a kiss but Gabriella stepped back.
"Home so late?" Troy gave her a confused look.
"I told Chad that I was going to be late for dinner."
"Telling Chad to tell me isn't enough. Did you forget something today?"
"Uhh… I love you?"
"Don't 'I love you' me. Didn't you say we were going out for dinner after you get home from basketball practice?"
"I'm sorry. I forgot."
"This isn't the first time you forgot a date, Troy. Ever since I transferred here, you started forgetting." Gabriella walked over to the couch and sat down.
"What are you talking about?" Troy plopped down next to her, trying to wrap his arms around her, but she pushed him.
"I'm talking about basketball being 24/7. And what's this girl that you're hanging out about?"
"Gabi, she's just the coach's daughter. She asked me to hang out with her and I said okay."
"So you didn't think she was trying to steal you away from me?"
"Gabi, what's wrong? You're not the jealous type."
"I'm not, but you hanging out with her is another reason why you've been missing out on our dates."
"I've only hanged out with her once."
"Once goes to two times. Two times goes to four times. Then you'll be hanging out with her everyday."
"Well, I'm sorry for hanging out with a female friend. I never mind when you hang out with Chad or Jason or Zeke."
"But they're your best friends. You can trust them. I don't even know this Ria girl."
"That's because she just moved here."
"What's with you? Do you actually care about her?"
"Gabi, just chill. She's just a friend."
"Okay, fine. But what about you missing dates? Do you have a reason for that?"
"I just forgot."
"Because?"
"Basketball."
"Is basketball all you think about now? Is basketball your whole life?"
"No, it's half of my life. My other half is you. Without you, all I have is basketball left. Without basketball, all I have is you. But I can't give one of them up just for the other." This time, Gabriella stood up angrily.
"So basketball is as important as me?! What about us?! What about your dream of being with me?!"
"Gabi, what is wrong with you?! All you care is about me being with you. Basketball is my career. If I don't focus on basketball, how are we going to live? Who's going to put food in our mouths? I can work for money for something I love doing. If I can get into the Lakers, I can earn money and then we can live together in our own house. Gabi, don't you understand? I'm focusing on basketball for us. So we can be together and live an easier life." Gabriella looked away, not wanting to hear anything that involves with basketball.
"Gabi, you know I love you. I'm just stressing out about our new coach. I thought he would be those kind of coaches who pushes you in basketball." Gabriella covered her ears.
"I don't want to hear another word about basketball! We're over!" Gabriella ran upstairs, tears in her eyes, and into her room. Troy sighed and put his hands on his face. Chad and the rest of the gang came in.
"Hey dude, what's wrong?" Chad asked. He sat down next to Troy. Sharpay ran over and rubbed Troy's back.
"Gabi broke up with me," Troy said, not uncovering his face. Sharpay gasped.
"I'll go talk to her," Taylor said. She ran upstairs and ran into Gabriella's room.
"What you say to her?" Jason asked.
"I just said that I'm working hard on basketball so we can live a easy life together. And then she started blowing up at me saying she didn't want to hear a single word about basketball and we're over," Troy said, "what did I do wrong?"
"Don't worry Troy. She didn't mean it. She was just mad at you because you missed another date with her," Kelsi said.
"I was late because I was hanging out with Ria. After we got coffee, we went to a jewelry store."
"You bought Ria a ring?!" Zeke asked.
"No, I was buying this," Troy took out a red box. Sharpay took it and opened it. Kelsi looked and gasped. It was a beautiful 14K White Gold 1/3 Carat Princess-Cut Diamond Solitaire. A/N: Picture in Profile . "I was going to propose to Gabi tonight."
"Why didn't you tell Gabi before she yelled at you?" Chad asked.
"Because she wouldn't let me explain. You know it's hard to communicate with Gabi when she's mad." Chad nodded.
"Well, what are you gonna do now? Return the ring?" Troy shook his head.
"I'm keeping it until Gabi or someone else comes along."
"Someone else? How the hell are you thinking like that?" Sharpay asked.
"Because if me and Gabi keep breaking up, it might be a sign that we aren't meant for each other."
"You know, only real couples have problems. If you never broke up with Gabi, then your relationship with her is too good to be true. But you do, and only real couples fight," Jason said.
"Yeah, thanks for the sarcasm Jase."
"It wasn't sarcasm." Suddenly, Gabriella and Taylor came out of their room.
"Gabi…" Troy stood up.
"Save it. I've made my decision." Gabriella walked down the stairs and into the kitchen. Troy looked at Taylor, who shrugged and walked over to the couch.
"I tried." Troy sighed and went up to his room. Gabriella looked at the stairs to see Troy walking upstairs and moping. She kind of feels sorry, but she didn't want to deal with the drama right now. She was going to walk in the living room when she heard the gang talking.
"If Gabi didn't rush into an argument, she could have been engaged," Chad said. Gabriella's jaw dropped.
"What are you talking about?" Taylor asked.
"Troy was going to propose to Gabi tonight, but when he got home, she just rushed into an argument," Kelsi said.
"Well, I tried talking to Gabi. But she keeps saying she made her decision and she's not going to regret it like last time." Gabriella's eyes were filled with tears, but she refused to let them drop.
"I guess we'll just have to go with the flow," Jason said. Everyone sighed and walked up the stairs to their rooms. Gabriella stayed in the kitchen and repeated the whole conversation in her head. Troy was going to propose to Gabi tonight, but when he got home, she rushed into an argument. Gabriella fell down the wall and onto her butt. She wrapped her arms around her legs and silently cried into her chest.
Troy walked downstairs for a midnight snack after crying for a few hours. It was dark so he didn't see Gabriella sleeping on the ground. He walked one step at a time until he felt something under his legs and tripped over it. He fell flat on his face and looked up to see Gabriella quietly moaning in her sleep. He stood up and brushed himself.
"I'm sorry."
"No I'm sorry that I didn't see you there."
"Okay." Troy kneeled down next to Gabriella, who still had her arms around her legs.
"You're not going to go through depression again, are you?"
"No," Gabriella mumbled silently.
"Good." He stood up and walked into the refrigerator to get something to eat. He looked inside and saw a ham and cheese sandwich. He took it out and placed it on the kitchen counter. He walked across the hall toward the stairs, remembering Gabriella still on the ground, and walked upstairs to his room when he heard a soft whimper.
"Anything wrong, Gabriella?" Troy asked, knowing Gabriella doesn't like to be called 'Gabi' by people she doesn't trust. He heard a sniff.
"I'm fine."
"Okay." Troy opened his door and closed it behind him. He sighed and let a few tears out. No I'm not going to cry. I'm a man. Only wimpy men cries. He brushed his tears away and took a bite of his sandwich. Tonight was going to be a long night.
A/N: Troy and Gabriella are going to be friends for the rest of the chapter. But don't worry, Troyella will be back by the end of the chapter. You just have to wait for Victoria to bring them back together. She'll figure something out. Without the gang's help.
