Pieces

by: LunarEclipse360

A/N: I must have rewritten this chapter a hundred times already. I couldn't get it the way I wanted it and that's why it's not as long as the previous chapter.

Cast

Zac Efron: Troy Bolton

Vanessa Hudgens: Gabriella Montez

Kay Panabaker: Lacey Thomas age 12-15

Bethany Joy Galeotti: Lacey Thomas age 16-17

Chapter 2

He couldn't stop thinking about her.

Sitting in the small café within the hotel, Troy stared off into space as his thoughts all brought him back to Lacey. He didn't want to think about her, but his heart wouldn't stop reminding him of the times they shared together and the things he lost when she died. He hated that it had been a little bit over a year since the accident and he still couldn't stop thinking of her. He wanted so bad to just forget, but his heart refused to move on.

Reaching into his back pocket, he pulled out a small 2x3 picture of him and Lacey at their Junior Prom, seven months before the accident that claimed her life. He didn't know why he kept the picture since it was a constant reminder that she wasn't there. Somehow, he couldn't bear to part with it. It may have drove a knife through his heart each time he looked at it, but the sentimental value was too high for him to get rid of it.

His eyes glanced over the picture, resting on her smiling face staring back at him. He took in the familiar features that he had come to know and love: her light brown hair, those pink lips, her rosy cheeks, her fair skin and those amazing milk chocolate eyes he loved to get lost in. She had been beautiful. Even when she was going through that awkward stage, she was stunning. Every time he looked upon her, he asked himself how did he deserve someone so breathtaking. He never got an answer. All he knew was that she was his and he was grateful for her.

A sharp pain shot through his heart when he remembered that, never again, would he be able to stare at this beauty beyond a picture. Never again would he be able to run his hands through her hair, or kiss her lips…or stare into her beautiful eyes. She was now somewhere else, somewhere better…somewhere without him.

Sighing, he placed the picture back into his back pocket and stood to leave. The second he turned around, he smashed into someone and knocked the person to the floor.

"Shit. I am so sorry."

He looked down and noticed it was a female that he had pushed to the ground. She shook her head and lifted her head.

"It's fine."

Shock ran through his body when he realized it was the girl from the lobby. How did he know? He wasn't quite sure. He just knew it was her. Maybe it was the similar purple vest with matching boots that confirmed it. Or maybe it was the fact that he had gotten a good look at her face without realizing it. Whatever the reason was, he just knew this was the girl.

When he recovered from his shock, he noticed that she was no longer in front of him. He looked around for her, but found no sign of the mysterious brunette that he had run into. He cursed inwardly at his delayed reaction before heading back to his hotel room.

As he rode the elevator to the tenth floor, his train of thought had taken a complete one-eighty. Instead of thinking of Lacey, he was thinking of the girl he ran into. Who was she? Where did he know her from? The elevator dinged, letting him know that this was his floor and he walked—almost mechanically—to the door of the shared hotel room.

Walking through the door, he found it empty. He didn't wonder where his friends were cause he already knew. They had gushed about hitting the slopes earlier that morning so that was probably where they were. Troy had passed up on the opportunity. He no longer found snowboarding to be enjoyable. Actually, there were a lot of things he couldn't enjoy anymore. Snowboarding, basketball—just to name a few. Sure, he still participated in them, but he couldn't appreciate them like he once could.

He crossed over to the doorway that led to the bedroom and made himself comfortable on the bed he claimed as his own. His thoughts trailed back to the brunette and he wondered if he would ever see her again. Rolling onto his back, he stared at the ceiling for a while until his eyes began to drop and he drifted off to sleep.

-

-

"Wake up!"

His eyes snapped open and he found Chad standing over him, a little too close might he add.

"What the…?"

"Get up, we're going boarding."

He sighed and sat up. "I told you, I don't want to."

"And I'm telling you, you're going to."

"Why?"

"Because you need to stop moping around and have some fun. That's what we came here to do; have fun."

"Chad…"

"No, don't even try to worm your way out of this. Now get your butt up and come on."

Shaking his head, he got out of bed and grabbed his coat, following Chad out of the room. Zeke stood upon their arrival and started towards the door. The time it took to get down to the slopes was spent in silence. Why? He wasn't quite sure. He just knew that no one talked. When they reached their destination, Chad shoved a snowboard into his arms and forced him to follow.

Troy did what he was told. He snowboarded with his friends, like he came to do, but he still wished he could have been back in the hotel room, sleeping. After an hour, Chad and Zeke finally relented to his cries of wanting to take a break and they headed inside to find some food.

"So, Troy," Zeke started, "did you see that girl again?"

"What girl?" Chad asked.

"Actually I did."

"What girl?"

"Really? When?" Zeke leaned partially across the table, truly interested.

"What girl?"

"Earlier. I was at the Coffee Shop drinking a hot chocolate and when I stood up to leave, I knocked right into her, pushing her to the ground."

"What, the fuck, are you two talking about?!" Chad yelled, earning him glares from the people around them.

"Troy saw this girl the day we arrived and he said he thought he knew her from somewhere. Of course, that was impossible since he didn't get a good look at her."

"But this time, I did get a good look at her and I was right, I do know her from somewhere."

"Where?"

"I don't know."

"Well, did you at least get her name?"

"No."

"Why not?"

"I kinda spaced out for a second and she was gone by time I snapped out of it."

"That sucks."

Troy nodded just as the waiter walked over to take their order. As they waited for their food, the conversation continued.

"So what did she look like?" Chad asked.

"Well…she had dark brown hair—almost black—olive skin, a heart shaped face, dark eyes."

"So she's beautiful," Zeke stated.

Troy thought about it for a second, remembering how the girl looked in front of him, before nodding. "Yeah, you could say that."

"More beautiful than Lacey?" Chad asked and Zeke sent a glare his way.

"How, the hell, do you tell us not to talk about her and, yet, here you are bringing her up?"

"Sorry it just slipped out."

"It's fine, Chad," Troy said with a sad smile. Was the girl more beautiful than Lacey? It could have been possible, but he wasn't quite certain. He hadn't exactly looked at her for more than five seconds. "I really don't know. I only caught a small glimpse of her."

"You just described what she looks like."

"Yeah, but that doesn't mean that I know if she's more beautiful than Lacey."

"Yes, you do."

"Dude, just…drop it, okay?"

Chad held up his hands in defense. "Fine."

"Moving on…" Zeke said. "How many more days do we have left?"

"Uh…five."

"Man, it feels like we just got here," Troy said, his eyes glancing around the restaurant.

"Yeah. Why didn't we just take off for the entire vacation? I mean, we don't start school until the end of January."

"Because some of us have lives and jobs to get back to," Zeke answered.

"You? A job? Yeah, I guess catering to that high maintenance girlfriend of yours is a job."

Zeke glared and Troy laughed, earning him an equally icy glare. "You don't laugh."

"What? It's funny."

"Come on, Zeke, even you have to admit that being Sharpay's boyfriend is a job."

Zeke sighed and nodded, admitting the truth. "Yeah, I guess it is." He suddenly sent them a stern look. "That is never to be repeated to her."

"You're secret is safe with us."

Their food came minutes later and they dug in. Troy didn't realize he was hungry until he found there was no food left on his plate. When he looked up, Chad was still stuffing his face and Zeke was eating slowly, once in a while glancing over at Chad to make sure he didn't choke on his food. Troy shook his head at the barbaric actions of his best friend and scanned the restaurant. Suddenly, his eyes caught sight of the brunette from before.

"Guys, there she is."

Zeke looked over to where Troy was looking and Chad stopped shoving food in his mouth long enough to take a glance.

"Wow, she is cute," Zeke commented. "Why don't you go over and ask her name?"

"I can't do that."

"Why not?"

"Because it will seem too weird. I mean, what am I gonna say; hi, we met earlier but I kinda knocked you to the ground and I was just wondering what your name is? Hell no."

"You might as well. Who knows if you'll ever see her again."

"I'd still rather not. Another time. Besides, she's eating with her friend."

"Her friend's kinda cute, too," Chad said, checking out the girl that sat across from the mysterious brunette.

"Down boy," Troy joked.

"I'm just looking. Geez."

Rolling his eyes, Chad went back to eating. Both Troy and Zeke snickered at their friend's eating habits. No one in the world ate like Chad Danforth, no one. If there was, they had yet to meet him. Zeke, eventually, began to finish his own food and Troy glanced over at the brunette. He still couldn't place her to a point in his life where he'd seen her from. He suddenly wished he would have taken his friends' advice and just went over to ask her name.

"So," Chad said as he sat back in his seat, his plate completely empty. "You guys wanna hit the slopes again and burn off this food?"

"Yeah, sure. Why not?" Troy said with a shrug.

"Check, please," Chad said as the waiter walked by.

They each paid for their own food before standing and heading towards the exit. Troy couldn't help but glance in the direction of the brunette. He still was curious to know who she was. Shaking the thought from his head, he continued to follow his friends outside.

-

-

"What a day!" Chad yelled as they walked through the door of the hotel room.

"Yeah. It was fun though, wasn't it?" Zeke asked as he crashed on the couch.

"Yeah, except for the part where I fell and busted my ass."

"That was funny," Troy said, earning him a glare.

"It was not."

"It was too and you know it."

"Okay, so it was kinda funny.

Troy chuckled and headed for the bedroom. He knew his friends would be up for a few more hours, but all he wanted to do was sleep. Closing the door, he didn't bother turning on the light, instead, allowing the moonlight to illuminate the room. He stripped down to his boxers and threw his clothes in the corner. Putting on his pajamas, he threw the covers back and made himself comfortable within the sheets.

As he watched the shadows play across the ceiling, his thoughts moved from one thing to another; from Lacey to the mystery girl. Finally, his mind settled on Lacey and he fell asleep with dreams of her invading his subconscious.