Thanks for the reviews! And I don't own HSM.

Chapter 2

Troy looked between his sobbing mother and his enraged father with a dumbfounded look upon his face. So many questions were flooding into his head; he was dying to know the answers but didn't ever want to hear them at the same time. He shook his head violently from side to side, trying to clear his mind and maybe, just maybe, look back up and learn that he had been imagining everything. Finally, he somehow found the willpower to speak, but only the fragment of a question found its way out of his mouth.

"Wha..."

Suddenly, Troy felt something hard his his shoulders. He turned to find the wall staring back him; he must have been backing away from his parents.

Jack looked at the bag in his hand, then back at his wife. He opened his mouth to form a question, but Lucy cut him by jumping out of the couch and running toward him.

"Jack, please! It's not what you think!" Lucy breathed helplessly, hoping that Jack would be understanding. Jack's only response was to set his jaw and ask through his teeth, "Then what is it?" Lucy wiped at her eyes to try and stop the tears that inevitably fell anyway. She made at attempt to grab the bag from her husband. Maybe by taking the bag, Jack wouldn't be as angry, since he was the one holding it. Of course, she knew that would never happen, but being in the state that she was in made her believe in anything. Jack pulled the bag out of her reach and just stared at her with empty eyes, waiting for her response.

Lucy looked up at her husband with the deepest sadness in her eyes, wishing that none of this had every happened, that she could go back seventeen years ago and stop herself from starting down this road of addiction. "Please Jack... It's..." Realizing that it was indeed exactly what Jack thought it was, sighed and dropped her eyes. This display of confirmation from his wife was enough to make Jack almost explode. He through the bag onto the floor. he just couldn't hold it anymore. Returning his glare to his wife, he asked, "How long has this been going on?"

Jack saw Lucy flinch at the question, and immediately began to fear the worst. Lucy looked back up to her husband, then over to Troy, who had been motionless against the wall during the entire conversation.

"Ever since Troy was born. I started after I went back to work. I took on more patients and hours and I needed something to take the stress away. And it worked. It worked. We had a great last seventeen years." Lucy smiled at her son, who just stared back at her in disbelief.

Jack turned to look at Troy with pure anger in his eyes, then he looked back at his wife. Troy looked into his father's eyes and saw something break within his father. He wasn't sure if he liked what he saw anymore. Jack just looked at Lucy, trying to keep his face expressionless, and said, "Get out." Lucy's face faltered and she looked genuinely scared. She stood up, a fresh sob wracking through her body, and took a few steps toward Jack. She put her palm on his cheek and looked hopefully into his eyes."Jack, please, everything can be normal again. Just please give me a second shot." Jack looked at her, a look of hope now in his own Lucy glanced down to the bag that lay unscathed on the floor.

Absolutely everything that hadn't already broke now shattered to dust in Jack's eyes. His face contorted into one of disgust and he shoved his wife away from him, causing her to stumble back into the table in the center of the room. Troy, who had been practically glued to the wall, watched everything unfold between his parents, and when his dad shoved Lucy, even though he felt she may have deserved it, also remembered that she had given birth to him. He finally stepped away from the wall and went up to his dad. He put his hand on Jack's shoulder and pulled at it gently.

"Dad... please calm down."

Troy knew that his father would not calm down. He knew that he himself would not be able to calm down, that this one moment in time had successfully ripped their family apart. When Jack did not respond to Troy's plea, he repeated his statement and once again tried to get his dad to either sit down or step away from his mom. "Dad, just... just let her leave." Jack turned around extremely suddenly and slapped Troy across the face, causing Troy to immediately drop his hand from his father's shoulder. Troy once again was lost for words as he slowly raised his hand to his cheek. It hadn't really hurt that much and was nothing he hadn't felt from falling or getting hit with a basketball, but the fact that his father had just hit him shocked him. He took a step back just as Lucy crawled over to the bag on the floor and grabbed it. Jack saw this and finally screamed an unrecognizable sound and ran at Lucy. Troy didn't know what to do, so he watched as Lucy barely made it out of the door.

Now Troy looked at his father who just sat down on the couch with his head in his hands. He wanted to comfort his dad, but thought better of it and just retreated to his bedroom upstairs. He sat down on the edge of his bed and looked down at his hands, unsure of what to do. What did someone do in a situation like this? He just continued to stare at his hands with a blank look on his face, until he felt something in the back of his throat. he wasn't sure what it was and ignored it. Suddenly, a sob ran though his body, and just like that, Troy was crying uncontrollably on the side of his bed. Ironically, Troy was relieved that none of his friends were able to see him like this. He finally laid down on his side and tried to calm down a little. He closed his eyes, but he continued to cry. He felt like someone had ripped his organs out of his body. How could something like this happen to him and his family? It was unfathomable. Troy took a deep breath, now understanding what it was like for someone to feel the end of their world. Eventually, Troy drifted off into an uneasy sleep.

Troy laid on his side, staring at his clock. 6:28. He had been awake for hours, but was waiting for his alarm to go off so he could get out of bed and get ready for school. He sighed into his pillow, remembering the events that transpired the previous night. He almost wanted to cry again. He had lost his mother, even if she was a coke addict, and he didn't know what status he had with his father now. He had no idea what to think of his father anymore. Troy had never been his by his parents before. Ever. Sure, he had been bad or broken something or had a temper at times when he was younger, and even now as a teenager. But that was what children were supposed to do to their parents, right? That was just the way they acted. That doesn't mean that they deserved to be hit. Troy dropped his current thought, because he realized that his father had been under a lot of stress and probably did not mean or intend to hit Troy. Besides, it was only a little slap to the face, right?

6:29

Troy stared back at the neon-like light that shined into his eyes, and wondered what it would be like to be an inanimate object. Yeah, dumb, but if he were, say an alarm clock, he wouldn't have to feel any of what he was feeling or even worry about a fight, because all he knew he had to do was go BUZZ in the morning at whichever time someone set him to go off. He closed his eyes, blocking out that thought because that was unrealistic and he knew he would always be human and never an alarm clock.

Just as the lights clicked to 6:30, Troy's hand shot out and silenced it before it could even make a sound. He sat up on the edge of his bed and rubbed his eyes. He looked at his pants and realized he had never changed from the night before. He slowly stood up and stripped of all of his clothes while heading toward the bathroom. he didn't bother to look in the mirror before jumping into the shower and letting the water flow over his body. He quickly washed himself, got out, and began drying his hair. Once he was done, he looked in the mirror to see a handsome face with bloodshot eyes and large circles underneath. He sighed and rubbed his eyes, unsuccessfully trying to make himself look more awake and less miserable. He padded back to his room and found a clean pair of boxers and some clothed to put on. He grabbed his school bag and his abandoned math copybook and headed down stairs to see if anything was different.

Though he had his hopes up, nothing was moved from the night before. And no one was in the kitchen. Troy craned his neck to see if his father was anywhere in sight, and found that he was nowhere to be found. He walked into the kitchen and made himself a bowl of cereal. Without the need to implore himself to eat, he finished his bowl within a minute. He looked around once more for his father before putting his bowl in the sink and headed out the door for school.

Troy got into his truck and started the engine, but just stared at the dashboard, deep in thought about his father. Should he go to school? Or look for hi dad? troy ultimately decided on the former because he knew his dad would be fine, wherever he was, and that he was an adult. He silently changed gear and pulled out of the driveway.

As Troy pulled up into the school parking lot, he spotted Chad by the main door, just standing there. He probably was waiting, Troy concluded before grabbing his bag and getting out of his truck. He walked toward Chad, who looked up and smiled.

"Hey, Troy! Pumped for school today? Gonna hang out with Gabriella during free period again?" Chad asked, with a suggestive inflection placed on 'hang out'. He laughed at his own comment and looked at Troy, expecting a response. Troy just looked at him with a blank stare. It took him a few moments for his brain to start working and tell him that he needed to act normal. It's not that Troy didn't trust his friends. he was just unsure of whether he was ready to tell them that his family was broken. He smiled, silently thanking the acting skills he picked up from doing musicals, and laughed at Chad's comment.

"I dunno... maybe. Depend on what Gabs says when I see her."

"Hey, you alright? You get enough sleep last night?" Chad suddenly asked, looking at Troy's eyes with slight concern written over his features. Troy remembered how bad he looked and nodded enthusiastically.

"Yeah, dude. Just tired. I couldn't really sleep last night. Don't know why." He shrugged, trying to drop the topic. Chad seemed to find Troy's answer acceptable and started ranting about basketball practice again and how psyched he was for the championship game. Troy pretended to listen but his mind was again on his parents. Where was his dad? Where was his mom? Was she okay? Did she find somewhere to stay? And then Troy stopped in his tracks as he asked himself another question.

Am I ever going to see my mom again?

Chad stopped with him, expecting to see something that had made Troy stop. Failing to do so, Chad looked back up and Troy and waved his hand i front of Troy's eyes.

"Hello? You okay, man? You just... stopped."

"Yeah, fine."

Troy started walking again, and Chad just followed, wondering if sleep deprivation can cause you to stop walking. he made a mental note to ask his girlfriend the next tie they went out. The two finally made it to their lockers and both emptied they bags. Without saying much, Troy grabbed his needed books and headed off to Darbus's room with Chad. As they entered the room, Troy walked to his seat, not even noticing the stares that yesterday made him so self conscious. He sat with Chad and Zeke, but pretty much kept to himself. He glanced back at Gabriella who smiled at him and waved. He almost forgot all of his worries when he smiled and waved back. Almost.

The bell rang and Ms. Darbus stood up. "Everyone. Homeroom has begun!" With those simple words, Darbus caused the entire class to look at her and stop talking. With her usual flamboyant gestures, she began to voice the daily announcements. Troy took this opportunity to look at Gabriella one more time, because she seemed to distract him from last night's happenings. He turned back around, afraid to actually say something for fear of Darbus's wrath. He had stopped listening to the announcements a long time ago and began to drift off to sleep. It's always so weird how you can't sleep at night if something happens, but then you just seem to fall asleep at the drop of a hat in school. Is school really that boring?

Suddenly, there was a loud CRACK in front of Troy. Ms. Darbus just hit his desk with a ruler, causing him to jolt back to reality. "Mr. Bolton, maybe you should try to get more sleep at night, hm?" She told him, but not taking any action because he was normally such a good kid in school. "Yes'm" was all that escaped his mouth when he looked up at her.

"Anyway, one last announcement. Basketball practice, which is usually held after school, is canceled. Your coach is absent today."

At this, Troy was actually a little surprised because he had forgotten that his dad needed to go to school too. He looked at Chad who looked at him with a confused look, asking, "Where's your dad today, Troy?" Troy wanted to say 'I don't know,' but he nodded his head instead, saying, "Yeah, uh... He hasn't been feeling well. That's... uhh... actually why I'm so tired. I was up taking care of him."

Chad shrugged, said 'oh,' and went back to talking with Zeke. Troy really surprised himself. He had just lied through his teeth. When he took the time to think about it, he couldn't really see why he lied. They would understand if he just told them the truth. They would probably help him feel better, too. He sighed and shook his head. No. He wasn't ready for them to know that his mom has been a secret coke addict since he... A horrible thought occurred to Troy. Was it his fault that his mom was a coke addict and his dad now had no wife?

No. He couldn't think like that. That wasn't his fault. His mom made her own choices, and she had to live with her own consequences.

Just then, the bell rang for the end of home room. Troy got up, along with everyone else in the class, and walked out of the room, heading toward their first class. Troy hated his first class: Math. Every day he had to go to that class and not know how to do anything! Oh well, it was only math. It wasn't like he was ever going to use it in the future. He hoped.

"Hey, wildcat."

Troy turned around to see his girlfriend coming toward him and he was smiling again. "Hey, Gabs. How are you?" He asked as he hugged her tightly, appreciating that nothing about her has changed.

"I'm good. I read another chapter in my history text book."

Troy laughed. "Ooo, sounds fun," he said sarcastically with a wink.

She playfully hit him, laughing. "Hey! Maybe you should study some time!"

"I do! It just doesn't work..."

Gabriella smiled and kissed him. "Hey, I can't meet you today during free period. I have to work on the yearbook with Taylor."

Troy shrugged and smiled at his girlfriend. "That's fine. We should hang out tomorrow night, though," he said with a suggestive wink.

She smirked at him and said, "Oh, we most definately need to hang out tomorrow." She looked around to make sure no one was looking, as it was getting close to the beginning of next class; the hallways were emptying fast now. Then, she proceeded to kiss his neck, lightly nibbling until a light mark appeared. Troy was ecstatic. Usually he gave her hickeys. In fact, he never had one, let alone one from Gabriella. He smiled at her when she looked up at him and kissed her again as the bell rang for the start of second class.

"Well, I guess we better get going."

"Yeah. See you tomorrow. And get some sleep. You look really tired!"

Troy nodded and said bye as he ran down the hallway and into his math class, where Mr. Mac seemed to be waiting for him.

"You know, Troy, if you would come to class on time you might learn something."

"Yeah, I know. I'm sorry. I'll go sit now."

Troy walked back to his seat, feeling the eyes on him again. He sat down and made the mistake of looking up at another girl, who was watching his hickey in a disturbingly horny way. Troy just blushed and looked down at his book, trying to cover the hickey.

Class seemed to pass as normal. Troy trying to understand the math and failing miserably. Girls staring at Troy relentlessly. And the teacher... well, teaching. At long last the bell rang and Troy didn't think he could have been happier. He pretty much floated through free period and the other classes of the day, more than ready to go home when the bell rang for the end of the day.

As Troy got to his locker, he saw that Chad was already there.

"Yo Troy, you wanna hang out tomorrow?"

"Nah, I can't. I'm going out with Gabs."

Chad shrugged and grabbed the last book he needed. "Oh, well. How 'bout Saturday?"

Troy thought to remember if he was busy on Saturday. He was supposed to go buy food with his mom, but he wasn't busy now. He nodded his head, "Yeah, I'm free."

"Awesome. Have a good Friday night," he said suggestively. "By the look of your neck, it seems like you're gonna have a great time."

For about the hundredth time, Troy blushed and Chad just laughed. "See you later," Chad said, patting Troy on the shoulder and walking down the stairs.

"Yeah... see ya."

Troy walked into the house to find it still empty. Wondering what had happened to his dad, he went up to his room and tried to understand his math. Just like every night since the beginning of time, Troy did not understand it and tried helplessly anyway. After some time, he began to think about what he and Gabriella would do on Friday night. What would they do? Would they just stay home and... talk? Or would they go out? Just then, Troy's stomach growled violently, and he realized that about two hours had gone by since he had gotten home at three, and he needed to eat. He got out of his bed and went downstairs, worry starting to really nag at him because he hadn't seen his father all day. After he ate, he would go out and start looking. He couldn't lose both of his parents in two nights. He wouldn't let that happen, so he had to find his dad tonight.

Troy opened the fridge and looked inside, hoping to find something to eat. There really wasn't anything that was worth eating, so Troy settled to make a sandwich. He sat down at the table and began to eat. Alone. He sighed, really angry that everyone was just.. gone. Troy looked down at his sandwich, contemplating the reasons why all of this shit happened to him. His head shot up when he heard the door slam shut. Someone must be home! Out of excitement, Troy ran into the front room and saw his dad.

"Dad! Are you okay? Where have you been?"

Jack just walked past Troy, totally ignoring him. Troy followed his dad into the living room and watched his dad, clearly drunk, sit down and turn the tv on. Troy wasn't really sure what to do, but walked up next to his dad. "Dad," he said, "are you okay?" Jack just grunted in response and looked at Troy with bloodshot eyes. He turned back to the tv and watched, back to completely ignoring Troy.

Troy was both a little worried and a little annoyed that his dad was being such a dick and that he seemed so intoxicated. He couldn't really think of anything else to say, so he asked the question that had been tugging at his mind ever since Lucy left.

"Dad, where's mom?"

At the mention of Lucy, Jack's attention was one hundred percent directed at Troy. He stood up and took a menacing step toward his son. "Don't talk about that bitch!" Troy was extremely surprised that his dad had just talked about his wife like that. He took a step away from his father, unsure of how he was going to act. "But I want to know! She is my mom!" Troy was getting angry that Jack didn't even care about her well being. Sure, she was doing drugs, but she was doing them to keep the family together and happy. And they did have such a great seventeen years together before last night.

Jack was now angry at the way Troy was speaking to him and took another step toward his son. Troy instinctively drew back, looking at that broken look in his dad's eyes once more. Troy was extremely confused. He knew his dad was hurting. So was he. But he couldn't understand why Jack was being so hostile. Jack drew back a hand and slapped his son hard across the face, an echoing crack being heard through the house. Troy was only half expecting to be hit, and his head swung to the side, his cheek now stinging. He looked back at his dad who was still glaring at him. Jack drew back another hand to strike his son,but Troy punched him in the face before he could land another blow. Troy didn't want to do it, but he had to or else his dad would... he would...

Jack stumbled back a few steps, but found his way to Troy again, this time really angry because he had just been hit. "Don't hit me! This is your fault!" He screamed at his son who was trying to find away around his father. He raised his hand, now a fist, and punched Troy in the jaw, causing him to fall back into the wall. Troy was absolutely shocked that his own father would do this to him, and just stared with scared eyes at his dad.

"Dad, what the fuck are you doing!"

Jack just continued to step closer to Troy, anger radiating from every pore of his being. Jack grabbed Troy's shoulders and heaved, pushing him to the floor. Troy rolled over onto his back and started kicking his father's legs. Jack grabbed one of Troy's ankles and pulled, flipping Troy onto his stomach and preventing him from kicking. Troy tried to use his upper body to pull himself away from his father, but he couldn't get away. Jack then ripped the back of his son's shirt, exposing the skin. He took off his belt and raised his arm to swing. Troy saw this and his eyes widened in terror.

"Dad! Please don't!" was all that he could yell before the metal from the buckle met his skin and he screamed. Every hit with the belt earned an agonizing scream from Troy. The pain was unbearable, and as hard as he tried, Troy could neither get away from his father nor protect his back from the belt. Jack finally stepped back after Troy was almost motionless and looked down at his son angrily.

"It's your fault that bitch started coke in the first place. She did it because of you."

Those were the only words he said before going upstairs into his room, leaving Troy lying in the living room corner, barely conscious.

After what seemed like days, but what had actually been only a few hours, Troy attempted to move. That proved to be a lot harder than he hoped. He gritted his teeth and managed to crawl over to the steps. Once at the steps, Troy pushed himself up, grunting in pain as he went. At long last, he made it to his room and sat outside his door. He rested his head against the door and closed his eyes, breathing heavily. After a minute or two, he stood up, almost doubling over in pain, and walked into his room. He took off the remnants of his shirt, stinging in the process. Then, he took off his jeans and boxers and went into his bathroom. Against his better will, he stole a glance in the mirror and to his surprise, he only really saw a bruise forming under his eye. He was actually a little relieved that he didn't look that bad. He turned around and his relief was quickly replaced by fear again when he saw the huge weeping wounds on his back from the belt, bruising covering every other part of his back that wasn't bloody.

He turned on the water in the shower, not caring if it was cold or hot, and stepped under the stream. He let out a yelp as the water made contact with his back. Suddenly, he heard a very loud "SHUT UP!" from the other bedroom. Cringing in fear, he caught his breath in his throat, making an effort to stay quiet. After trying his best to clean all the wounds on his back, he finally turned the shower off and climbed into his bed, not bothering to dry himself off or put on any clothes.

Now that Troy had a chance to lay down and not move, he began to think about what his father said to him. She did it because of you. Troy shook his head and tried not dwell on that statement. It wasn't his fault. She chose her own actions, right? The same doubt clouded his mind again. Now his father hated him and his mother was some addict who knows where. Was he really as worthless as he felt? No. He had friends, right? Or were they just going to leave him someday, too? Troy sighed and absentmindedly rolled over, eliciting a small groan to escape his lips.

Rain began to fall gently on his window and Troy smiled in spite of everything that had happened. The rain always managed to calm him down. Even though he felt a little calmer, those horrible things his father said still plagued his mind.

He's right. It is all my fault.