Time Stops Breathing
Gabriella swung open the door to her locker. It was 2:00 P.M. on Friday, the exact date and time that she got a little blue envelope from Troy every week. Sure enough, when she opened the door, a tiny blue fold came tumbling down from the upper shelf. She quickly slid her books into the locker and picked up the envelope. She eagerly tore it open and read what was inside:
True love comes quietly, without banners or flashing lights.
If you hear bells, get your ears checked.
-Erich Segal
Gabriella smiled and quickly stuffed the letter into her new blue and black messenger bag. It was covered with little buttons in assorted colors that read "FOB" or "PARAMORE". She smiled as she ran a hand over the most familiar button. It was small and silver with a star engraved into it. Unlike the other ones, this button did not have a band name. It simply had a small rhinestone in the center and a few words: "Come and count the stars with me, don't leave me 'till we count 'em all, I want to stay with you." Troy and Gabriella staked out a spot in his spacious backyard every Saturday night and would try to count the stars. They would eat barbeque chips and drink blue raspberry smoothies from humongous cups they got from the gas station down the street. He had given her that button the first time they kissed - under the stars in his backyard.
RING! RING! RING!
The dismissal bell shattered her precious moment as she quickly threw her notebooks, pencil case, cell phone, and text books into her bag and scuttled out the front doors, letting the blazing sun sting her eyes. She didn't care that it was unusually sunny in Albuquerque in the wintertime; all she cared about was being with Troy the next day.
She heard a loud honk coming from behind her. Turning around, she saw Troy in his brand new Mitsubishi Lancer-Evolution X GSR.
"Hey you! Girl with the pretty smile! I'm trying to move here. Gotta pick up my girl! Have you seen her? Really pretty, long brown hair, big brown eyes, flawless skin, carries these blue envelopes in her pockets?" He laughed as he unlocked the doors, letting her get inside the car.
"Hey, Wildcat!" She gave him a quick kiss, then slid further back in her seat and buckled up.
As Troy began to pull out from the East High parking lot, Gabriella's mind started to wander.
She had always wondered why Troy picked her up after school. She only lived twenty minutes away walking and ten minutes by bus. Maybe he felt like he was protecting her by driving her to her house, or maybe it was just for the free baked goods that Gabriella's mom, Maria, would send him home with.
"My mom's baking again today." She informed him as she pulled out her Chap Stick and began rubbing it on her lips while looking at the rearview mirror.
"Oh yeah? What is it today? On Wednesday it was muffins. Thursday it was cookies, today it's…"
"Pound Cake." Gabriella slipped the small tube back into her bag.
"Sweet! My favorite!"
"Troy, you say everything is your favorite…" She reminded him.
"'Cause everything tastes so good when your mom makes it!"
Gabriella laughed as he rounded the corner onto her street and made his way toward her square patch of fuzzy green lawn. Troy had glanced at her driveway, seeing a rather unfamiliar car parked in the driveway. He furrowed his eyebrows confusedly, as he tried to think of a reason why it would be there.
"Hey…uh, were you expecting company?" He asked, raising an eyebrow, continuing to stare at the driveway.
"No? What do you mean?"
"There's another car parked in your driveway…"
Sure enough, directly behind her mothers red Toyota was a silver Mercedes with the license plate ROBERTO M on it.
Gabriella gulped hard. She had only known one Roberto in her lifetime. He was tall with short brown hair and piercing green eyes. He had moved away when she was five and never returned.
Roberto M. was Gabriella's father.
And Roberto was certainly the last person Gabriella wanted to see at the moment.
---
Gabriella stepped up to her doorstep and nervously pretended to be trying to find the correct key on her key ring, which-stupidly-only had three keys on it. Troy had decided it was best if he came in, hoping to keep her safe from this 'unknown stranger'.
Before Gabriella could slid the key into the lock, Maria opened the door.
Without even a slight smile she said, "Someone is waiting for you in the living room."
Troy grabbed Gabriella's clammy hand and gave her a small smile, hoping to reassure her that everything would be okay as they went through the archway into her small living room. There was a man on the couch, dressed in an elegant gray business suit and a green tie.
"Hey there angel," The man named Roberto stood up and held out his arms for a hug, but Gabriella didn't move. She just blinked and stared at him; she barely knew this man sitting in the living room and he had just come in acting as if they saw each other everyday.
"Troy…T-this is…this is my father, Roberto Montez…" Gabriella stared down at her shoes as Troy glared at Roberto; something about the man just didn't seem right to him. If Gabriella seemed to act odd around him, then Troy was sure to not like this man either. Roberto Montez stuck out his hand politely.
"Hello. Roberto Montez. Robby. Gabriella's father. Successful stockholder in New York. I happen to work on the 55th floor of the Empire State Building," He said, as if outlining the highlights of his life, not even taking the time to complete his sentences. Troy just politely shook his hand and awkwardly stood next to Gabriella, vowing to stand by her no matter what.
Gabriella looked up at him, searching his eyes for an answer, "What—What are you doing here?"
Roberto took out his cell phone, "Hold on a second," He said, before going towards the door and making a call. Gabriella just sighed and rolled her eyes after him. Troy could feel anger rushing through him at how rude the man was.
After a few minutes, Roberto finished up his call and spoke in a softer voice, "I'll be back! I love you, too, sweetheart. I'll be back for your recital! Take care!" His voice had been washed out of any remote Spanish accent and his voice was way too sugary.
Gabriella swallowed her spit; she did not need to be told twice that her dad probably found a new and better family in New York to replace her and her mom. Troy had took her hand in his and began rubbing it in comfort.
"Ahem," Roberto had said, finishing up his call and putting it into his pocket, "Gabriella…"
"What? What do you want?" She snapped, her voice rising with anger and impatience.
Roberto remained firm and said, "I have a proposition for you, mija,"
Gabriella shook her head stubbornly, "Well, I don't want to hear it!"
Roberto sighed depply, taking out his vibrating cell phone once again, "Gabriella don't be like that," He said, answering his phone. His gruff voice became soft once again as he talked to the person on the other line, "Hello sweetie! Yes, daddy is in LA right now…"
Gabriella stood there in disbelief that her father would even lie about this. What did he want anyway?
"No, I love you more!" He cooed into the phone. With every word that came out of his body, Gabriella began to feel pain in her flesh. She had never gotten to experience having a dad; she didn't know what it was like to have a dad who cared. But, apparently, Roberto had already been a father to someone, and it was certainly not Gabriella.
Roberto said his goodbye and clicked his phone closed once again. He turned to Gabriella, speaking with his stern voice once again, "Mija, do not disrespect me like that!"
"Don't call me that!" Gabriella shrieked, getting angrier and annoyed with the second.
"Ángel? What's the matter? You don't speak Spanish anymore?" He adjusted his tie and took a seat across from the couch in one of their fluffy armchairs.
"I don't speak to you anymore…" Gabriella mumbled as she took a seat on the couch.
Roberto gave a dry laugh. "Very funny, Gabi…"
"Don't…don't call me that…" She rubbed her shoe up and down the carpeting. Troy and her mother were the only ones who got away with that nickname. Everyone else would call her either Gabs or Gabriella. Besides, everyone in school knew Troy Bolton would have to hunt down any guy who had tried to use his nickname for her.
"Gabriella…" Roberto's smile faded. "I'm really sorry I wasn't here for you…I-I'm sorry I couldn't do the things that papá's are supposed to do with their children. I-I was going through some changes. You have to understand…my job as a stock broker went big and they made me move out to New York. Maria…mamá…didn't want you to go because she wanted to raise you in familiar surroundings…"
"Familiar surroundings? I've moved every summer for the past nine years. Do you call that familiar, Roberto?" She stood up. "Tell me the real story."
"Do NOT address me by my first name, Gabriella Anne Montez!"
"Fine, then tell me the real story, daaaaaad." She sat back down and felt Troy place his hand on her knee.
"I-I did go out there for business…but then I liked it. After a year when I didn't come back…I stopped calling you guys. I sent you money for your birthday and holidays, though. I didn't forget about you, Gabriella."
"Yeah…well-if you loved me so much, then why'd you start a new family-one where you don't even speak Spanish?"
"Well…" Roberto took a breath and nestled into the chair. "After the second year of being in New York, Maria… mamá…called. She told me that she couldn't keep up the act that her marriage wasn't strained. She couldn't deal with the long distance matrimonio. Mamá asked me for a divorce and sadly…I was happy to oblige. See, about five months prior to call, I met this amazing woman named Tiffany-Claire-but she only liked to be called Tiffany-and I fell for her. She was so beautiful and her eyes were piercing and-"
"Spare us the details, Sir." Troy spat as Gabriella leaned into his shoulder, resting the side of her head in the familiar crook of his neck.
"Oh, sorry Gabriella's friend…"
"Troy…" She mumbled, barely loud enough for anyone to hear.
"Anyway…" Roberto continued, flipping open his cell phone. "This is Tiff…" After clicking a few buttons, Roberto shoved the phone into Gabriella's sweaty palm.
The picture was of a skinny girl who could only be in her early twenties. She was wearing a super low-cut silver mini dress that appeared to be a D&G original. It shimmered against her pin-straight platinum blonde hair, which tipped off just below her ribcage, and her piercing electric blue eyes. Her hands looked heavy, as they were clad with tons of silver rings, two gold rings on her ring finger. Tiffany was wearing silver stilletos with little diamonds scattered across the top. She was gorgeous. This is exactly what Gabriella didn't want.
"She looks really young…this must be an old photo…" Troy commented as he gazed at Tiffany's ample amount of cleavage.
"Uh…no... what's your name again? This was taken two weeks after we got married…"
An awkward silence covered the room like a blanket.
"Like I was saying…"Roberto's voice cut across the room, making Gabriella jump. He quickly took the phone from her hand. "She was my love at first sight. I didn't know what to do. I knew I couldn't get married, because I still was married to your mamá, but I also couldn't abandon my relationship with Tiffany-Claire. So, I did everything I could while working my way around the divorce. We went house shopping, we bought all new furniture, she got a whole new wardrobe, and then she moved in with me. After mama finally signed the divorce papers, Tiff and I got married. It was big…flores, cake, a wonderful reception…the whole bit. The only thing that was missing was you…"
"You sure replaced us pretty fast…you know, the kid and all…"
"Mija, I wasn't trying to replacing you when Libby Belle was born. You have to remember that it wasn't just my decision to have coito…"
The backs of Gabriella's yes stung when she heard coito- otherwise know as intercourse.
"I would never replace you…I couldn't forget about you, mija. I love y-"
"Stop it…" Gabriella raised her hand and closed her eyes. How could this man just waltz back into her life after all these years as if nothing had happened-as if it were just an ordinary thing for a father to show up after running off to start a new family?
"¿Por qué? I love y-"
"Some way of showing that!" She shrieked once again, standing up. Troy stood up along with her; he had never heard Gabriella get this upset before, "You go out for your stupid business and forget all about mom and me! You don't call! You never called! Do you know how many days I'd stay up all night on my birthday, hoping to get some call from you, hoping that you—that you still knew who I was! But I never got a call! I spent every birthday since I was five up in my room CRYING! And when you got lonely for a family you just went and got a new one. So don't lie to me, dad. Roberto, whatever! I don't care who you are or who you were, 'cause you mean NOTHING to me now!" She had finished off, stomping out of the living room, without saying a word. Troy had gotten up, and followed her worriedly.
"Troy and I should get going. We don't want to miss our appointment…" Gabriella stood up, wiped a tear from her cheek, and grabbed her sweater-which she had taken off-and headed out the door without so much as a goodbye.
"Gabriella, sweetheart, where are you going?" Maria called from the kitchen as she heard Gabriella walk toward the door.
"Out."
Before Maria could question her further, she had jumped into Troy's car and they were pulling out of the driveway.
-----
After a few minutes of driving by a local street, Gabriella burst into a fit of hysterical tears. Troy quickly parked the car under a shady tree, put the rear in stop, and wrapped his arms around her, letting her cry onto his shoulder, "Shh, Gabi, it'll be okay."
She continued to sob in his shoulder, before looking up at him, with salty tears running down her cheeks, "Wh-what does he want?" She sniffed, "Why is—why's he here?"
Troy pulled her into a long hug, closing his eyes, "I don't know. I guess we'll have to wait and find out," He said calmly, holding her in the same position for a couple of minutes before kissing her deeply, tasting the tears that still lingered on her lips.
Finally, when they pulled away, Troy asked, "Will you be okay?"
Gabriella, nodded, sniffing, "Yeah, I will. Let's just…go somewhere. Turn left onto the next street," She said, confusing Troy a bit, but he did as he was told.
"Where are we going?" Troy asked her.
"You'll see…now turn right at the next light." She slipped off her elastic scrunchie, letting her hair hang loose around her sweater-clad shoulders.
-----
Three hours later, they stood a top a hill over looking a large crystal-clear lake. The sky was dark now, the constellations serving as their only lights.
She pulled two blankets out of his trunk and laid them down side by side.
"I was thinking..." She began as she lied down on one of the fluffy beach towels. "maybe we could stay here for the night…"
"Seriously?" Troy sat down on the empty blanket and looked down at the lake. It reminded him of one of his favorite quotes:
"A lake is the landscape's most beautiful and expressive feature.
It is Earth's eye; looking into which the beholder measure the depth of his own nature."
-Henry David Thoreau
Troy loved water. Swimming was his second favorite sport. In sixth grade, he had learned how to ice skate just to be on the frozen-over pond. His favorite summertime game was a Water Balloon Fight. If Troy had the chance, he would move somewhere closer to the ocean and live by the water.
"Seriously…" She replied.
"Well…" He dawdled. "I'm not convinced…"
"Does this help?" Gabriella leaned into Troy's body and kissed him. As the kiss became more heated, Troy raised his eyebrows and let her push him further down into his blanket. She let her fingers roll under his shirt and graze his perfectly-toned abs.. After about a minute, Gabriella came up for breath.
"Well, I'm definitely convinced…" He winked as she kissed his jaw before running to his open trunk and pulling out a thick wool blanket.
Midnight in the valley
Sprawled out with stars around me
Shot down from our sky charade
So long what we once were
Strung out and full of fire
If we could only see us now
When she returned, he was lying down, staring up at the stars.
"There's Orion's Belt…" She whispered, pointing to three bright stars lined up in a row. "And there is the North Star…"
He pulled the blanket over them and wrapped his hands around her waist. "Come and count the stars with me, don't leave me 'till we count 'em all-"
"I want to stay with you," She finished, letting him give her a kiss on the forehead.
That was another thing Chad didn't understand: Finishing each others sentences. The only time Chad finished Taylor's sentences was when it had to do with making love. Gabriella couldn't understand why Taylor stayed with him. Oh well… She thought, refocusing on the stars shining brightly in front of them.
Give in, give up, and soak into the airwaves
Get up, get in, and bring yourself to me
Breathe in, breathe out, fingertips and heartbeats
Are all we need
One of the main reasons Gabriella loved Albuquerque was the crystal-clear skies where you could see almost all of the stars visible at night. It was completely amazing; and it was why Gabriella loved this city; it was so different from others. Back when she moved around, she had lived in other cities, and in all of them, they were covered with pollution and the skies were mostly hazy at night; you could usually see only two or three, or if you're lucky, four stars. But in Albuquerque, you could seem them all.
"How many?" Troy finally said, after about ten minutes of staring up at the sky; they would always do this, lie around in her backyard on warm nights and watch the stars and then guess how many there are.
"Millions," She answered, shifting her head towards Troy's, so she could rest it near his shoulder while they watched.
Troy smiled, "Billions."
Gabriella grinned, "Trillions," She said softly.
They both looked at each other and said simultaneously, "Infinite."
They continued to lie down on the blanket in silence. They both stared at the night sky, whilst Troy played with a lock of Gabriella's hair. After some more minutes, Troy finally spoke up, "Hey Gabi?"
"Yes?" She said softly.
"Have you ever wanted a star named after you?" He asked, smiling; it was a somewhat random question, but totally related to what was going on.
"Like in 'Walk to Remember'?" She said, laughing a little.
Troy's face turned serious, "Somewhat. Hold on, let me show you," He said, sitting up and getting up to go towards the trunk of a car.
Gabriella's mouth hung open a bit, as she got up as well, "Troy, please tell me you didn't—"
Troy smiled, taking out a plastic bag. He grabbed it, closed his trunk, and went towards the blanket to sit next to Gabriella once again. He took three frames out of it proudly, and showed it to Gabriella. She just stared in awe as she examined them.
"I was searching Google the other night, you know, about stars," Troy said, smiling, " 'Cuz, it's always been our thing and all. Anyway…I saw this website where you can get a star registry…"
Gabriella's eyes began to fill up with tears as she saw it, "Three stars?"
Troy nodded, wiping away a stray tear that softly fell down her cheek, "I got it done early this month. And I was waiting for the perfect moment to show you it. And, uh, yeah. I got three stars in close distance to one another. The one on the left is Troy…"
Gabriella rolled her eyes at the fact that he could sometimes sound so conceited.
"The one on the right is yours…Gabriella. And the small one in the center is—"
"Troyella—"She finished for him, smiling at the silly name.
Troy's face slowly turned pink, and then he shrugged, "Hey, I needed something with our names combined."
Gabriella laughed a bit, looking down at the three certificates confirming it, "So, it's…for real? We actually have a star?"
Troy smiled, and wrapped his right arm around her, "We have a star," He said, kissing her forehead softly, "Our star will remain forever shining brightly in the heavens just like our love."
Gabriella rolled her eyes again-this time at the corny statement, but laughed along, "I wonder which one is ours…"
Troy smiled, planning on surprising her with the telescope in his trunk later, "Hmm, I wonder…"
Gabriella turned to him, smiling, "Can you give me a hint?" She said, weakly.
Troy just laughed and shook his head no. "That's up to you to figure out," He winked at her playfully.
"Maybe I'll just ask Tom from TAAS about it," She giggled. "He's probably a big enough nerd to locate it."
Troy smiled, "TAAS for life…" He said, making Gabriella laugh. This, once again, was very odd when people heard it. Chad Danforth thought it stood for some Basketball association, when it really stood for The Albuquerque Astronomical Society. It was no surprise that the two were members of it.
"We can't be actual members until we're eighteen, Troy," She said, rolling her eyes, "We're junior un-official members. They probably just made it up when you asked to join out of pity… You dork," She teased him good-naturedly.
Troy rolled his eyes, laughing as he shrugged, "Hey, at least I'm your dork. And my dad's friend Dee invited me to the Banquet Ball. He was nominated for President. He might get the spot."
Gabriella raised an eyebrow curiously, "So, you're going?"
Troy put his hands under his head and lied back down on the blanket, "Depends. Will you come with me?"
Gabriella smiled and nodded her head, "Sure, I'll come."
"Good…" He felt her hands slip around her waist, pulling her in closer to him. Troy looked toward her and smiled. She returned the gesture by kissing him lightly on the cheek.
"I don't know…Troy. I just…don't know…"
Troy knew who she was talking about and sighed. "Gabi…" He started. Gabriella smiled at the sound of hearing her cherished nickname in its proper voice. "Please don't fuss about him tonight. You took me here to relax…remember? I just want to enjoy this while we have the chance. I mean…my mom's probably flipping out that I'm not home…" Troy laughed as he pictured his well groomed mother prancing around the house in her satin house shoes and calling out his name.
Gabriella giggled. "Do you want to let her know where you are?"
"Nope…" He let her nestle into the side of his neck. "I think she'll figure it out…" Troy closed his eyes.
"I love you, Troy…" She whispered.
He smiled as they both drifted off to sleep.
Time stops breathing for a moment
If right here, right now, is all we've got
We'd better make it last
So take me and make me
A part of you apart from you tonight
