Ok, so I received a few reviews for the first chapter and I must say I was very excited to see that people are actually reading my story. So thanks you guys for the reviews and encouragement...keep 'em coming! Here's the second chapter...sorry it took me forever to update, but the site was trippin' this weekend. Anywho...enjoy!

Chapter 2: Stolen Memories

The cotton sheets were scrunched, ruffled and bunched in every which way imaginable; he had flipped and fluffed his pillows countless times, tried every comfortable position imaginable, and had almost conceded to downing a bottle of Nyquil just so he could stop his mind from its endless wandering. But nothing seemed to work…because every time Troy Bolton tried to close his weary blue eyes, he saw the same reoccurring vision of the same brown-eyed, curly-haired girl staring right back at him, forcing his eyes open once again…defeated and haunted by the ghost of his past that just wouldn't go away.

Troy just couldn't understand why Gabriella Montez wouldn't leave him alone.

Get a hold of yourself, Troy. It's been ten years for goodness sake…let it go.

But the truth was he didn't want to let it go.

Shoot, he'd been holding on now for nearly ten years; holding on to the same futile hope that someday he would build up enough courage to find her wherever she was, talk to her and tell her how much he still loved her…how he'd never stopped loving her in the first place.

But then he'd remember…remember that he was now much older and long lost were the carefree days of his youth when all that had really mattered to him then was just being. He'd hadn't had to worry about bills and mortgages, waking early every morning for his tedious commute to work, or even what he was going to eat. Troy marveled at how easy it was for him to forget he was even hungry now that he didn't have the luxury of his mother cooking his meals for him anymore.

"Ugh…" Troy groaned as he glanced at the alarm clock resting on his bedside table.

5:24 a.m.

Sleep was out of the question at this point, so Troy rolled grudgingly out of bed, and resigned to the fact that she had won once again, and now he was up with little less than an hour left before he was due to get up anyway and start preparing for his day at work.

Troy couldn't remember the last time he'd gotten a decent night's sleep. He seemed to dream about her more and more lately, and for some reason, his dreams always kept him awake. He always saw a vision of her in all her beauty; her rich, chocolate hair cascading over her shoulders in loose waves, her smile illuminating everything around her, and her bubbly laughter ringing softly in his ears. But each dream always ended the same, with her always walking away from him as he reached out to her with open arms only to be left standing alone in the cold, heartbroken.

And each morning, Troy cursed himself for letting her leave. Why hadn't he just had the guts to tell her how he felt? Ten years ago, he'd let his foolish pride get in the way, and now as he stood gazing out his bedroom window watching the reds, oranges, and yellows of the morning sunrise illuminate downtown Albuquerque, he felt just as stupid.

Here he was, twenty-six years old and still pining over his high school sweetheart.

But for Troy, it was more than that. Gabi had been more to him than just another girlfriend; she'd been something more than words could adequately describe. He couldn't put a label on her, because none ever seemed to fit. She was a part of him, and he'd foolishly just let her walk out of his life, and with her had gone all his hopes for ever finding true happiness.

In ten years, he'd never found anyone remotely close who could replace her. His friends had tried countless times to set him up; Jason, Taylor and Zeke were always hooking him up on blind dates during his college years at the University of New Mexico, and he'd even gone so far as to date Sharpay for a few months his sophomore year. But that had ended as quickly as it started when she moved to New York to pursue her acting career…Troy told everyone it was the distance, but his friends knew better. Who had he been kidding?

Troy stood in the silence of his bedroom as he remembered a conversation he had with Sharpay just days before they called it quits:

"You know Troy," she'd said as they were walking arm in arm down the streets of Albuquerque one evening, "I would've given anything a few years ago to be with you."

"Really?" Troy asked. He'd always known Sharpay had a thing for him, but he'd never taken the time to notice her. No, he'd always been too concerned with…

"Yeah, and even now, it's still hard for me to believe that we're actually together." She paused for a second, reminiscing over the years she'd harbored a secret crush for Troy, and how she would've killed for the chance to be right where she was now then. But even as she walked down the street with him, she knew something was off.

She glanced up at Troy who seemed to be deep in thought; he had that faraway look in his eye; the kind of look he always got when he was thinking about her. Sharpay resented the fact that even now Gabriella was getting in the way of her chance to be happy with Troy. She had waited patiently for years, and had even thought for a while in high school that she might actually have a chance. She even remembered a time she overheard Troy tell Chad he thought she was cute. But then Gabriella came into the picture and dashed all her hopes of ever being Troy's girlfriend. And now, two years after high school, she was getting in the way again.

Sharpay sighed loudly, and abruptly stopped walking, snapping Troy out of his reverie.

"What's wrong now Troy?" she spat with exasperation as she turned to face him. She was fed up. Why couldn't he just get over her?

"Huh?" Troy blinked. He'd been daydreaming again about Gabriella and Sharpay had noticed. He tried to play it off, as always, but the look Sharpay was giving him, seemed to say to him she'd had enough, and her hazel eyes, which were usually so bright and full of laughter, looked back at him unflinchingly, demanding the truth. It was time to set the record straight.

Sharpay stood glaring at Troy, refusing to back down until he gave her an answer. There was no sweet-talking his way out of this one.

So he sighed, taking Sharpay's hand and led her over to a nearby bench. He sat down and looked at her for a moment, realizing this was the first time he'd actually taken the time to notice her. There was no doubt Sharpay was a beautiful girl, what with her long blond hair and those gorgeous doe eyes of hers, but she was no Gabriella, and as much as he knew it would hurt her to tell her so, he knew he had no choice.

"Sharpay…" Troy began, "I really do like you. You're a great girl and any guy would be lucky to have you…" Troy looked down at his hands, mustering up the courage to say what he knew needed to be said.

"But…" Sharpay held her breath, fearing the words she knew would inevitably come next.

"But, I- I can't keep pretending that there's something here when there isn't." Troy glanced at Sharpay, who was silent…crying. "I don't want to hurt you, but I know if I keep this up, that's what's gonna happen." Troy took a deep breath, and looked down, too afraid to face Sharpay, who by now had turned away to look in the opposite direction.

"You're still in love with her, aren't you?" Her question had caught him off guard, cutting the silence that had enveloped them both. He lifted his head up and looked at Sharpay who was staring at him with patient eyes.

He didn't say anything, just nodded.

They were quiet again, and he was suddenly surprised to feel Sharpay's hand on his shoulder, and she took her finger and lifted his chin to look at her face.

"It's okay, Troy. I understand," she said in a shaky voice, just barely above a whisper. "I guess a part of me always knew that you were still in love with her. I just hoped that maybe I could make you happy enough to forget." A salty tear slowly rolled down her flushed cheek, and Troy reached out to wipe it away.

"I'm so sorry Sharpay for hurting you. I never meant to hurt you…I promise," Troy pleaded. He needed her to know that he'd never intended to cause her any pain.

Sharpay looked at him with apologetic eyes, and nodded her head silently. "I know you didn't." She closed her eyes for a second and breathed in deeply. She once thought Troy was her "Prince Charming," her perfect guy, but now as she sat next to him, she realized that he was just as broken and vulnerable as everyone else. He'd had his heart stolen by a girl he was still in love with, and for the first time ever, Sharpay actually felt sorry for him.

She looked at him for a second longer before standing up, brushing away the last of her tears. She turned to look at Troy who now stood staring back at her with questioning eyes. She smiled softly at him, and Troy gave her a lopsided grin as she pulled him close to her in a tight hug. She felt his arms close around her, and she closed her eyes momentarily reveling in his touch. She knew she'd probably never feel those arms again, but that was okay. She'd find love again…she only hoped Troy would also.

Soon after that night, Sharpay announced that she was planning to move to New York so she could live out her dream of performing on Broadway. Troy went to see her the day she left Albuquerque, and as she left to board her plane, they both agreed to just be friends.

But ever since then, Troy had given up on dating. Besides a short-lived attempt at finding love on one of those Internet dating sites (which he did at Chad's suggestion), Troy figured love just couldn't exist for him.

"What's the point?" he thought out loud, as he walked away from the sun rising outside his bedroom window, and banished his memories back to the dark corners of the recesses of his mind where they belonged.

Love and dating just didn't matter to him anymore because for Troy, his heart just wasn't in it, and he knew it. Because he had given it away ten years ago on that stage at East High as he sang to the woman he still loved, the two of them breaking free…and he hadn't gotten it back ever since.

Like it? Hate it? Let me know! Your suggestions and constructive criticism help me when it comes to writing the next chapters, so please let me know how you're liking the story! 'Til next time...PEACE!