I think this might be my favorite chapter so far! I'm not quite sure where the story is headed after this – I'm just going to keep writing and see what flows onto the pages. I hope you enjoy it!
-Nicole
/
"Oh god," said a small voice. Troy looked away from Gabriella to see Taylor entering the room. He stood up to meet the crying girl, and they faced the bed.
"How could this happen?" Taylor whispered. Troy just shook his head.
"I don't know."
"Taylor!"
Both their heads snapped around to see three more teens storm into the room. The blonde froze when she saw Gabriella.
What the hell is Sharpay doing here? Troy thought. He also took notice of Ryan Evans and another petite girl.
"Gabi," Sharpay cried, rushing to the bedside. She smoothed hair from Gabriella's face. A sob came from the girl near Ryan.
"Oh, Kelsi," Taylor said, wiping away her own tears.
"It's not fair," Kelsi cried.
"When is she going to wake up?" Ryan managed to say. It was all he could make out without breaking down.
Troy swallowed. "They don't know if she will."
Everyone froze.
"My god," Sharpay finally said. "This isn't happening."
Taylor sniffed, pulling herself together. "I'll drop by her house. Grab her some more comfortable pajamas, instead of that thin hospital gown. She must be freezing. I just – I feel like I need to do something."
"I'll go with you," Kelsi said softly, and Ryan nodded.
"Me too," he said.
"I'm staying," Sharpay said. "I – I can't leave her."
"Okay," Ryan said. "We'll be back soon." The three left.
"Troy, if Sharpay is going to stay, you should go home and take a shower – eat something," Jack started, but Troy immediately interrupted.
"I'm not going anywhere," he said firmly, taking the seat by Gabriella's bedside. He and Sharpay looked at each other strangely.
Lucille's phone began to ring, and she answered it quickly.
"Maria? Yes, of course. Yes. Troy and Sharpay – okay. We'll be there soon."
Everyone was looking at her when she hung up.
"Jack, we need to go pick Maria up from the airport," she said.
"I'm staying," Troy said.
"I know, honey," Lucille said. She kissed her son's forehead. "We'll be back as soon as we can."
Jack gave Troy's shoulder a reassuring squeeze, and then he was gone, Lucille close behind.
/
Troy and Sharpay sat in tense silence for a while, before he finally spoke. He was holding Gabriella's hand, tracing the lines of her palm gently, but he was staring at the blonde girl across the bed.
"What are you doing here?" he blurted.
"What do you mean?" Sharpay asked, startled.
"I – you – " Troy said. "I thought you guys hated each other."
"What, me and Gabi?"
"Well, yeah."
"We used to, I guess," Sharpay said. "But we grew up. We got over it. I was mean to her, but she forgave me. She's the kindest person I've ever known."
"Yeah."
"There was just this one day, freshman year, and I was having a really rough time in math. She helped me work through the problem, and the teacher decided Gabriella should tutor me. And we spent a lot of time together, I guess, and realized we actually had a lot in common. Then one day, I asked her to wait for me until after our audition for the winter musical, and one of the cast members didn't show up for the pairs audition. Ms. Darbus asked her to fill in for the girl," Sharpay stopped. "And she got the part. Gabi got the part. I couldn't believe it. And I realized I wasn't even mad at her. I was just proud."
"She got the part?" Troy was surprised. "I can't believe she even auditioned."
"Me either. She's so shy, you know? But her voice…" Sharpay trailed off. "She has a beautiful voice." Tears started to roll down her cheeks. "I just want to hear her sing right now. I want her to wake up and sing with me."
Troy looked at Gabriella again, his heart breaking. There was so much he had missed, and he hated himself for it.
"I haven't heard her sing since we were kids," he said quietly. "She loved this one song – a lullaby her dad sang to her before he died. She sang it all the time. I would sing it to her sometimes, when she was sad." Sharpay looked at him.
"She misses you like crazy, you know? She doesn't talk about it, but I always catch her watching you in the hallway or the cafeteria," she told him.
"I've been a terrible friend," Troy groaned, his head falling into his hands. "I talked to her yesterday and she would barely look at me. I decided last night, I was going to make it up to her. Even though I probably don't deserve to be forgiven." He paused. "Then we got the phone call."
"She would forgive you, Troy. If she could forgive me for all the shitty things I did to her when we were kids, she can definitely forgive you. You're her best friend."
"But-"
"No buts. She's my best friend, but I'm not hers. I was never any competition for you."
Silence.
"What was that lullaby you mentioned before?" Sharpay asked softly. Troy couldn't help the tiny smile that crossed his face as he turned to Gabriella, opening his mouth to sing.
/
Taylor, Kelsi, and Ryan returned half an hour later with a pair of Gabriella's pajamas and food for everyone. They dropped her things on the nightstand by the bed and the five teenagers sat staring at their friend silently. They chewed on sandwiches that Kelsi had made, but none of them were particularly hungry. Troy hadn't even touched his. They were all startled when a woman rushed into the room, crying. She was followed by Lucille and Jack.
"Maria," Troy said weakly.
"Oh, god," Maria gasped as she saw her daughter. "Oh, no." Sharpay stood, giving her seat to the older woman. Maria collapsed in the chair, clutching at her daughter's hand. Everyone else stood.
"We'll just – we'll give you a minute, Maria," Lucille said. The teens began to file out of the door, but Troy hesitated – he didn't want to leave. He walked over to Maria and placed a hand on her shoulder.
"I'm sorry," he said quietly.
"Thank you for being here, Troy. She would – she would be happy that you're here."
/
"We'll stay," Taylor said. "Just in case Mrs. Montez needs anything."
Lucille had finally coaxed Troy into going home, showering, and changing, but he was still hesitant.
"It'll be okay, Troy," Sharpay said, pulling him into a hug. He was surprised, but he still returned the embrace.
"I know you haven't slept," Sharpay continued quietly, into his ear. "She wouldn't want this. You need to take care of yourself."
All he could do was nod. He left with his dad, Lucille deciding to stay behind, and he was silent the entire ride back to his house.
He shuffled his way inside and up to his bedroom without a word. Nothing felt real. He took a hot shower and put on fresh clothes and lay down in his bed, waiting for sleep to take over. He was exhausted, he could feel it, and his back hurt from the uncomfortable hospital chair, but his mind was racing. He couldn't just sit there, not with the anxiety building up in his chest the way it was, the tight not in his stomach making him feel sick. He stood up and grabbed a jacket, pulling on an old pair of sneakers, and made his way downstairs.
"I'm going for a walk," Troy said to his father as he rushed through the kitchen.
"Be careful," Jack said. "Be back by four."
The front door was already slamming shut. Troy braced himself as he stood on the sidewalk outside Gabriella's house. He made his way into the backyard. He stared at the tree, the one he had climbed so many times, his eyes trailing up to her balcony. He started to climb.
Gabriella was startled by a tapping on the glass of her balcony doors. Her jaw dropped when she saw Troy standing outside. She nearly laughed before she remembered that she was mad at him. She huffed and buried her head back in her book, trying to tune out the tapping sound. After ten minutes, she sighed and tossed her book on the bed beside her, getting up and walking over to the door.
"I don't want to talk to you, Troy," she said, crossing her arms. "That guy pushed me on the ground and you laughed! You laughed at me! Taylor was the only one with the deceny to help me – "
The glass doors remained locked and closed. Troy's response was muffled.
"I'm sorry, Ella," he said, looking miserable. She just frowned at him, noticing that his lip was bleeding. Her eyebrows furrowed in concern and she unlocked the door, stepping outside. She touched his face gingerly.
"Is that a bruise? Troy, what happened?"
He smiled weakly. "You should see the other guy."
"Oh my god, Troy, you didn't!"
"I'm an idiot, Gabriella! I shouldn't have done that. I should have helped you. I'm a terrible friend, but I'm your friend, and I wanted to make it up to you. So I might have punched the guy."
"You didn't have to do that," she said softly. She shivered as a cold breeze blew by, grabbing Troy by the arm and leading him inside. She sat him on the edge of her bed.
"Are you in trouble?" she asked.
"Are you kidding? Dad says I'm grounded for life. I'm not supposed to be here – "
"Troy!"
"I wanted to apologize," he argued, standing up.
"How did you even get on my balcony?"
"I climbed the tree," he said, as if it were the most obvious thing in the world.
"Oh my god," she said.
"I messed up, big time. But I promise you, that guy isn't gonna bother you anymore."
"Troy – "
"I'm sorry, Gabriella – "
"Troy, shut up," she interrupted. His mouth snapped shut and he looked at her. She took in the sight of him, a split lip, a bruising eye, a guilty frown. She pulled him into a hug.
"I forgive you," she whispered. She felt his sigh of relief as he tucked his head into the crook of her neck. They stood like that for a while. Then she started to giggle.
"What?" Troy asked, amused. She felt his smile on the side of her neck.
"I can't believe you tried to fight an eighth grader, Troy."
"He had it coming," he laughed, pulling away from her to look at her face.
"You're an idiot," she told him matter-of-factly. He nodded.
"You're right," he replied, mimicking her tone.
"If your dad fins out you're here, he'll kill you."
"I guess I'll just have to make sure he doesn't find out."
"You should go home before he figures out that you're gone," she said.
"I guess you're right," he said, making his way to the balcony. She followed him outside and watched him swing over the rail, stepping onto a thick tree branch.
"I'll see you tomorrow, Troy."
"Bye, Ella," he grinned, waving. She shook her head as she watched him climb, but she couldn't stop the smile that bloomed on her face as his feet touched the ground and he looked back at her one last time.
Troy's legs swung over the railing and his feet hit the wood of the balcony platform. He reached for the door handle. After that night, she always left the balcony door unlocked for him – just in case. He hadn't climbed up there in years.
His heart broke when the door swung open easily. She still didn't lock it. She was still waiting for him.
He stepped into her bedroom, the door clicking shut behind him. The room looked the same as he remembered – the walls a light cream color, her desk, neat, but her floor, messy. There was a corkboard on the wall above her nightstand. He examined the pictures, his eyes falling on one in particular.
Gabriella was on the stage in the school auditorium, a microphone in hand, Sharpay beside her. She was laughing or singing, he couldn't tell, but her eyes were sparkling and her hair fell like a waterfall down her back. She was beautiful.
Then another caught his eye – he pulled it off the board and held it up. It was him – him and her, at his first basketball game of freshman year. Two years ago. She was smiling at the camera. He was smiling at her.
Troy turned away from the board, picture still in hand, and he kicked off his shoes and laid down on her bed. He buried his face in her pillow, breathing in the scent of her, hugging the photograph to his chest, and he was finally able to cry himself to sleep.