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Disclaimer: I do not own anything associated with High School Musical. I wish i did but im going broke now.


Following My Footsteps

Chapter 2- The Truth

"Girls!! 5 more minutes!!"

"Yes Coach Johnson!" The girls replied as they quickly hustled around to put away their stuff before running out of the locker room. After a minute or two, all that was left was Gabriella and Amber quickly putting on their uniform.

"Gabriella!!" Amber exclaimed as she walked over to Gabriella after closing her locker. "Is that a new bruise?! What happened?"

Amber was touching the new bruise that appeared last night on Gabriella. It was right on her right shoulder and if was highly visible with the black and blue colors mixed in.

Flashback

Gabriella opened the door of her house after running down the stairs cause of the doorbell.

"Hey Gabi!"

Gabriella looked at the tall male figure standing in front of her. His brown eyes filled with lust and desire, which was what Gabriella feared the most.

"Oh Jimmy. What are you doing here?" Gabriella replied as she stood her ground trying to prevent Jimmy from entering.

"Oh well, I saw your mom leave just now and I thought we can pull a quick one." Jimmy replied as he pushed Gabriella inside and closed the door afterwards.

"Uhh Jimmy. I don't think that's such a good idea." Gabriella said as Jimmy was backing her up against the wall. "Um… my mom can come back at any moment. She just went to the grocery store."

"Yea well, I'll take my chances." Jimmy then looked down at what Gabriella was wearing, a blue tank top and some loose cotton pajama bottoms. "You know Gabriella, you look very sexy. I can easily tell you want me too."

Just as Jimmy was about to lean in for a rough kiss, Gabriella pushed him off and went to the door. "No Jimmy! I think you should leave now."

Jimmy then walked over to Gabriella and grabbed her by her arms. "No one rejects Jimmy Kendrel, especially when he wants to get laid now!"

Jimmy then threw Gabriella against the stair railings where Gabriella's right shoulder collided with the edge and then she fell onto the floor, clutching her shoulder.

Jimmy bent down close to Gabriella and examined the damage. "I'll see you tomorrow babe." With that he kissed Gabriella's head and headed out the door leaving Gabriella on the floor in pain and agony.

"Gabriella?"

Gabriella snapped out of her trance and looked at Amber. "Oh, it's nothing. I just accidentally banged my shoulder into the doorway last night. No big."

"Gabriella! No big?! Its still black and blue, and look." Amber then lightly poked Gabriella's bruised shoulder which quickly sent Gabriella's hand up to her shoulder clutching it. "See. You should get that checked out. No doorway would give you a bruise this big, and this isn't your first bruise either!!"

"Amber! IT'S NOT A BIG DEAL!" Gabriella shouted as she slammed her locker shut and started walking out of the locker room.

Amber ran to her and pulled her arm which cause Gabriella to stop and turn around.

"Gabriella, listen to me. Yes it is a big deal and I care about you because you are my best friend. Now I know something is up, I can see it in your eyes. Why can't you tell me?!" Amber asked as she looked into Gabriella's eyes noticing that tears were threatening to fall.

Gabriella then sighed and looked away. "Come to my house after practice. I'll tell you everything."

Amber then walked up to Gabriella and gave her a big hug. "Thank You."

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Gabriella and Amber walked out of the locker room after their cheerleading practice. Gabriella had a little trouble with some of the stunts because of her shoulder but none the less she still pulled everything off.

"So how's your shoulder Gabi?" Amber asked as they walked towards Gabriella's car. "I saw you wincing a little during practice."

"Yea it's fine. Thanks for caring Amber." Gabriella replied as she looked at Amber and smiled. "You really are a great friend."

"Thanks, but so are you Gabi. I know you would be just as concerned as me if you saw me with bruises." Amber replied as she threw her stuff in the back seat and put on her seat belt. "Oh, does Jimmy know about these bruises?"

"Um…well you can say that." Gabriella sighed as she pulled out of the student parking lot. "When I tell you what happened in my house, you have to swear not to tell anyone."

"I promise." Amber replied as she held out her pinky which Gabriella linked her pinky with. "Pinky promise!!"

Gabriella and Amber laughed as they suddenly drove by East High School where they saw a blue eyed, sandy haired male walk out of the building towards a car which they assume was his.

"Look! It's Troy Bolton." Amber said as she looked out the window.

Gabriella stole a couple of glances but she couldn't help staring.

"Even if he is from East High, he is so hot!" Amber exclaimed as she looked at Gabriella. "Don't you think so Gabriella?"

"Uh…yea I guess." Gabriella turned her focus back on the road and soon they arrived at Gabriella's house.

"I wonder what Jimmy would say if he saw you staring at Bolton over here." Amber said as she winked at Gabriella and pulled out her bag.

Gabriella gave a shaky laugh and pulled out her keys to the door.

'Not what would he say, but what would he do.'

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"You want anything to drink?" Gabriella asked as she dropped her bag by the stairs and walked into the kitchen. "We have orange juice, soda, water."

"I'll take water." Amber replied as she took a seat on the couch. Gabriella then came back in the room with two water bottles and handed one to Amber. "Thanks."

Gabriella took a seat on the other end of the couch and lifted her feet up on the couch and started hugging them.

"Where's your mom?" Amber asked as she herself lifted her feet up onto the couch and placed her water bottle on the coffee table.

"She left a note saying that she had to go to the office for a moment and that she wouldn't be back until dinner." Gabriella replied. "So you promise you wont tell anyone about this right."

"Gabriella, you can trust me. I just need to know what has been happening. Has your mom been beating you?" Amber asked as she moved a little closer to Gabriella noticing that she was about to break down.

"Its not my mom." Gabriella replied as she wiped away a stray tear.

"Gabriella, you have to tell me then, if someone is abusing you, you have to tell someone!! You should also tell Jimmy this also, he can pro-"

"That's the thing!! It's Jimmy who is hurting me!!" Gabriella exclaimed as broke down crying as Amber quickly went over to Gabriella and engulfed in a hug. Gabriella then started crying on Amber's shoulder.

"Oh my god Gabi. I should have known. You always did look some what scared in front of Jimmy. I just always shook off the thought." Amber replied as she looked at Gabriella who stopped crying some what. "Gabriella you have to tell some one who can do something about this!"

"I can't!! Jimmy said that if I tried to run away or even tell anyone then he would kill me, and trust me, he would. He's been so close to killing me before." Gabriella replied as she grabbed her water bottle and took a sip.

"Oh Gabriella, all those comments I made about Jimmy and you must have made you so uncomfortable. I'm sorry." Amber said as she gave Gabriella another hug.

"It's ok. It's not your fault, you are the first person I've told about this."

"So he was the one who gave you that bruise on your shoulder and every other one."

Gabriella just nodded her head and wiped away another tear.

"Yesterday he came over after my mom left for something. He had so much lust and desire in his eyes. He want a 'quick one' if you know what I mean, but I didn't want to so I pushed him away. He suddenly got really mad and threw me against the stair's railing and left me their laying on the floor clutching my shoulder. Now he wants me to come over to his house Friday just so he can fuck me." Gabriella said as she looked out the window. "I'm just some sex toy to him, and when ever he needs to release some anger a punching bag."

Gabriella started rocking her self back and forth and looked at Amber.

"He wasn't always like this, when we first started going out he was somewhat loving. He took me on romantic dates and everything. The day I lost it to him, I wasn't really ready, but he pushed me. It was the only time that he said 'I Love You' to me and I actually believed him. Ever since then, he has been using me whenever he felt like it and he has been beating me whenever he felt like it also."

Amber just looked at Gabriella in shock and then suddenly grabbed her hand. "Gabriella, you cannot go to Jimmy's house Friday! We have to do something about this!!"

"Amber, don't you see!! We can't do anything!! Jimmy would definitely kill me if we did, but its not like it would matter, I hate my life anyways. I hated it once Jimmy entered the picture. I've tried breaking up with him so many times but he would just hit me and then fuck me and then threaten me over and over."

Amber gave Gabriella another hug. "I don't want anything to happen to you. I am going to be by your side from now on."

"Thanks Am. It means a whole lot to me."


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