Chapter 1
A six-year-old Troy wandered around the shore of an unfamiliar beach, all alone. His mother had past away recently and he had no one else to turn to, except for his long lost father. He didn't know exactly where he was because he had been walking for days until he reached the beach.
"Boarding up for San Diego! Hurry up everyone!" A huge man yelled from the top of a fairly small fishing boat.
"San Diego? That's where my mom and dad met. Maybe my dad is there!" Troy thought with a hopeful smile on his face. He looked around the area and quickly sneaked into the boat without anyone seeing him.
-------------------------------------------------
Gabriella Montez finally found her personal hiding place in the fishing boat that was going to San Diego. She was in search for her father that disappeared a few years ago. Her mother was sick and they were very poor so she decided to look for her father that could possibly help her.
"I miss you Mama." Gabriella whispered to a crumpled picture of her mother. She settled herself in a corner and wrapped a white blanket around her body to make her body warmer. She lied on the floor and hugged her precious guitar.
---------------------------------------------------
Troy walked down the slippery steps of the hallway which lead him to the 'basement' of the fishing boat. It was full of boxes and perfect for a hiding place. He knew that the fishermen that were onboard were aggressive and very unforgivable so he didn't dare show up.
"I guess I'll be settling here for a few hours." Troy whispered to himself.
As he approached a corner, he suddenly spotted a figure covered with white blanket. Scary thoughts came into his mind and he didn't exactly know whether or not, to continue going closer to the 'thing'.
"Please let it be nothing. Don't be a corpse or a dead body! Please!! Don't be a dead body!!!" Troy thought fearfully as he finally got the guts to poke the figure. He was completely freaked out when his fingers felt something solid. Something… human.
---------------------------------------------------
Gabriella was just about to drift to sleep when she suddenly felt someone poked her. She stayed calm and thought of the things that she should do.
"Oh no! They caught me! They're gonna kill me! I'm gonna die! They're gonna throw me to the sea!" Gabriella thought, frightened. Finally, she pulled the blanket out of her and nearly screamed when she came face to face with a small boy, the same age as her.
"Who the hell are you?!" Gabriella whispered as Troy just stared at her in relief.
"I thought you were a corpse!!" Troy exclaimed and Gabriella quickly covered his mouth.
"Shut up! Do you want both of us to get caught? You're so stupid!" She whispered, annoyed.
"Gee ok, I get it!" Troy said in response.
"What are you doing here anyway?" The little girl whispered.
"I'm looking for my father. My mom died and I have no one else." The boy replied sadly.
"How about you?" He asked.
"I'm looking for my father too. My mom is sick and I really need my dad." The girl said.
"What's your name?" He asked.
"I can't tell you what my name is. What if you're a bad guy?" The little girl said suspiciously.
"Then what do you want me to call you?" He asked.
"Umm.. call me Marie!" The girl said.
"Since you're not telling me your name, I'm not telling you my real name too. Call me T.j." Troy smirked.
"Why do you have a guitar?" He asked curiously, staring at the small guitar case.
"Because this is my most prized possession. When I get to San Diego and don't find my dad, I will perform there so I can get money for my mom. Do you want me to play you a song?" Gabriella asked with a shy smile.
"Ok." Troy said as he quickly closed the metal door of the basement so that no one can hear them.
My morning starts to shine with teardrops in my eyes
And here I am alone, starting to realise
That my days would be brighter, if I can learn to hide
Feelings that I have for you, keeps hurting me inside
Troy was mesmerised with her soft little voice and even his tiny heart was pounding faster than a bullet.
"Umm.. That's all I have so far TJ." Gabriella said shyly.
"WOW!! You have the most amazing voice I have ever heard in my entire life!! How did you learn that song?!" Troy asked enthusiastically.
"Thanks. Well, my mum helped me compose it. Its actually not finish yet. I don't even know what this song means yet." Gabriella giggled which made Troy smile.
"Can you teach me how to play it?" Troy asked timidly.
"Sure." Gabriella said.
After Troy had finally learnt the song, they giggled and tried to continue composing the rest.
"You know Marie, one day, I'll finish this song for you and we can sing together." Troy promised.
---------------------------------------------
The two lay asleep next to each other in the small corner. They suddenly heard loud, heavy footsteps which made them sit up.
"They're coming!! Let's hide inside the box!!" Troy exclaimed pushing Gabriella inside the small box. The only empty box! Troy's knees started shaking as he stared at the nearing shadow.
"TJ! Hurry up and go inside!!" Gabriella whispered quickly.
"There's no time!! They're gonna see both of us if I come in as well!! Just stay there and whatever happens, don't come out!!" Troy exclaimed and quickly covered the box.
"Hey! Kid! What the hell are you doing here?!!!" The owner of the fishing boat yelled angrily as soon as his eyes landed on the small boy.
"I just want to find my father!!" The boy answered nervously, signalling her new friend to duck since her head was popping out of the box.
"This ain't no free ride!!" The owner roared loudly as he aggressively picked up the boy and jogged upstairs towards the edge of the boat. All of a sudden, a little girl also came out.
"TJ I'm coming!!" She yelled loudly, tears flowing down both the little kids' cheeks.
"Why did you come out, Marie?!!" Troy cried.
"If you're getting thrown in the ocean, I'm coming with you!!" The girl exclaimed determined as she tightly held onto her small guitar case.
The man lifted Troy above the water while another man picked up Gabriella.
"Sir please don't throw me! I can't swim!!" Troy begged fearfully.
"Bad luck for you son." The man exclaimed and finally dropped Troy on the water.
"TJ!!!!!!!!" Gabriella yelled as she bit the man's hand and jumped confidently on the water, along with her guitar.
Gabriella looked around the sea and spotted Troy trying to keep his head up the water.
"I'm coming TJ. Hang on!" Gabriella said and quickly swam to save Troy.
"Are you ok?" She asked when they finally settled on the floating guitar case.
"Yes. Thank you for saving me!" Troy said happily, although tears were still visible in his eyes.
"You risked your life to save mine in that boat and it was my turn to save yours." Gabriella smiled, holding Troy's hand.
-----------------------------------------------
The two kids ended up in an island and were reported to the town's mayor. The mayor found out where the little girl was from and decided to send her back to her mother while they continue to look for the boy's father.
"The helicopter is here boy. We're taking you to San Diego so we can look for your father. And you little girl, are going back to your mom. It's not right to run away. Your mother was really worried about you." The mayor said softly to the kids.
"I'll never do it again." Gabriella said softly.
"Ok, I'll leave you two to say your goodbye." The mayor said, leaving Troy and Gabriella.
"I'll never forget you T.J!!" Gabriella cried immediately as she hugged him tightly.
"You saved me from drowning, Marie! I'll never ever forget you! I promise I'll write you everyday!!" The boy said.
"Here take this other pair of my slipper. I have nothing else to give you that can remind you of me. I'll have the other one and I will take care of it!" He said as he handed his friend his other pair of slipper.
"Promise you'll write to me everyday?" Gabriella said.
"I promise!" Troy said, determined.
"Here's my address. Write to me your address ok?" She cried softly.
"I will." Troy replied.
-------------------------------------------------------
1 year later
Maria Montez decided to move to the other end of Albuquerque to find a job which can give her higher salary. (I'm not sure if Albuquerque is a big suburb or not but let's just pretend that its big ok?) Troy and Gabriella continued to write each other and Gabriella gave him her new address. Troy had also found his father and was now living in Australia. Despite the very long distance, they were still determined to stay in contact.
"Gabi, are you comfortable with our new home? I'm sorry that I can't give you a good life Gabi. But know that I love you so much!!" Mrs Montez cried as she hugged her daughter. They were currently in their extremely small house around the back of the huge house, where Maria was gonna be working as a maid.
"Mom, even though you're just working as a maid in this house, I'm still proud to have you as my mother!!" The seven year old girl said with a smile.
"Thank you Gabi. Go ahead and play with Isabella. She's just one year younger than you and I'm sure you'll get along even though I'm just the maid in their house. She can still be your new best friend." Mrs Montez said.
"Mom, no one can ever replace T.J. He's my bestest friend!!" Gabriella exclaimed with a pout.
"Ok, ok. Well, I want you to get along with Isabella so you can have someone when you go to school. Study hard ok sweety. You're starting school soon." Maria told her daughter and kissed her on the forehead.
-------------------------------------------
"Dad I still can't get over the fact that I've found you. I'm so happy!" Troy exclaimed happily as he hugged his father.
"I'm glad I found you too, son. I hope you're loving Australia right now because this is where you're gonna be living." Jack, a very wealthy business man, said as he smiled and hugged his long lost son.
"So are you gonna write a letter to your best friend again?" He asked.
"Yup! I love Marie! She risked her life for me and I promised that I'll write her everyday! I'll never forget her and one day, I want to see her again!" Troy said happily.
"You will son. You will." Jack said with a soft smile.
---------------------------------------------
Its
been days and Gabriella and Isabella were really getting
along.
"Gabi, do you want to play with me. My mommy gave me a
new set of dolls." Isabella said to her friend.
"Sure!" Gabriella smiled as they went over to their small playground in the backyard and played with Isabella's dolls.
The two girls played and chatted all afternoon. Their conversation suddenly lead to cars, buses then.. boats.
"You know, I met this boy when I sneaked into this boat once." Gabriella said enthusiastically.
"You sneaked into a boat?!" Isabella exclaimed in shock and interest.
"Yes! I was trying to look for my dad but I didn't find him. I met this boy instead, he was the nicest guy I know. His name is TJ." Gabriella smiled.
"Oh, can you tell me the whole story?!" Isabella asked hopefully.
"Sure! Well, it all started when my mom got sick and I needed to get in a boat that goes to San Diego, which is here. I can still remember it clearly….." Gabriella continued to tell the story and every single detailed of it, from the time she entered the boat up to the part when she told her that 'TJ' was rich. Extremely rich and was living in Australia. Gabriella even showed Isabella all the letters that 'TJ' gave her. Isabella listened intently to every word and the way Gabriella described her experience, it was as if Isabella was there as well… As if she was actually Gabriella experiencing those events and receiving letters from this boy…
----------------------------------------------
Gabriella was always happy every time she receives a letter from Troy. She always goes to her room and read his letters aloud.
"Dearest Marie, I hope to see you again. I know we'll see each other one day so please don't be sad. Just remember, whenever you see a rainbow in the sky, believe that I'm just on the other side.
Love, TJ…" Gabriella read dreamily as she slowly put her newest letter in her private box that contained the black slipper and all Troy's letters. She grabbed her guitar and took a black marker. She smiled as she wrote 'TJ and Marie, Best Friends 4ever!' on her acoustic guitar.
-----------------------------------------------
Its been months and Gabriella didn't receive a single letter from 'TJ'. Every morning, she waited for the post man to arrive and hoped that she would receive a letter from a certain boy. Finally, she did!
"Dearest Marie, I don't think we can do this anymore. I have new friends here in Australia and you said that you have your own friends at school as well. The distance between us is really getting hard. We need to let go off each other and forget. Don't write back anymore. I'm really sorry.
Love, TJ." Gabriella cried as she read TJ's last letter for her. She was torn and angry but she knew there was no way she could forget him. She filled the emptiness in her heart with hatred and anger for him.
But things were bound to change back to the way it should be, whether anyone like it, or not…. The friendship that was stolen would be returned and the time that was taken away from them would restart all over again…
------------------------------------------------
Ok, I've been really itching to get the start of this story over and done with so that we can go to the present time.. which is when they're 17 years old!! Lol. I'm excited to write this story because I'm freakin in love with this series!! Please review.