DISCLAIMER: I do not own High School Musical or any related characters.
A/N: I had a huge writers block with this one. I'm not really sure about this story, but you know I'm just writing this to see if I actually can write something like this.
Crash World
CHAPTER 3
As soon as Gabriella walked through the door, she heard James' cries and winced. She was tired and she didn't want to deal with her younger brother, who was making a racket. Groaning Gabriella dropped her bag by the door and walked into the kitchen. Almost as soon as she walked in James was thrust into her arms.
"Hey little boy," Gabriella crooned softly as his cries began to subside. Gabriella glared at her mother who had collapsed in a chair. She turned her attention back to her brother when she heard him giggle.
"Thank god you're home; he hasn't stopped crying since he woke up." Andrea gasped as she watched James tug a strand of his sister's hair.
"There could be a reason for that mom." Gabriella said tugging her hair away from her brother and then watching him as he grabbed fistfuls of her shirt instead.
"Yeah sure." Andrea snorted and Gabriella shot her mother a look of disbelief.
"You have got to be kidding me, mom, James isn't used to seeing you when he wakes up. He's used to me getting him up, that probably why he wouldn't stop crying." Gabriella snapped at her mother, Andrea shot her daughter a look that plainly told Gabriella to stop talking.
"I'm going to go and get changed, I'll come down and sort out dinner later." Gabriella muttered not looking at her mother.
As she walked upstairs, Gabriella shifted James to her other hip and wished that her and her mother could actually see eye to eye for once. They'd always clashed, even before James. Andrea had wanted her daughter to take more interest in the world around her, while Gabriella had wanted to focus on her studies more; Andrea had wished that Gabriella wasn't as sarcastic as she was and Gabriella had rebelled by increasing her sarcasm. The list went on and the only reason that her mother hadn't strangled her was because Gabriella was her daughter. After James though, their arguments had ceased to exist altogether, in truth, Gabriella had given up fighting her mother and chose to ignore her instead. When they did speak, it either led to an argument or was cold and unnatural and very, very artificial. Gabriella smiled as she heard James gurgle and she looked at her little brother and smiled genuinely for the first time that day.
"You're a good boy aren't you?" she whispered in his ear as she opened her door. Gabriella laughed as she watched him screw up his face and then giggle.
"Whoa!" she cried when he leaned back unexpectedly, letting go of her shirt and giggling like a madman as Gabriella pulled him back up making him giggle harder.
"You're a nightmare, you know that right?" she asked him softly as she settled him on her bed, James struggled to look at her and Gabriella kissed his cheek softly, causing him to screw up his face.
"That's what I thought." She said laughing and then jumped as she heard her bedroom door open. Spinning around she came face to face with her mother who was holding the phone.
"It's Tessa." Andrea said holding out the phone to her daughter and Gabriella nodded taking it from her mother and waving her goodbye as Andrea walked out the door never glancing once at her son who was lying on Gabriella's bed clutching his feet and gurgling.
"Hey Tess," Gabriella said into the phone, moving over to her brother and pushing him further onto the bed, leaving James with less chance of rolling off the bed and onto the floor.
"Hey Gab, how are you?" Gabriella smiled as she heard her best friend's voice float through the phone, comforting and warm.
"Okay I guess. I started the new school today and nearly landed a detention because mom rang me up in homeroom." Gabriella replied and Tessa snorted.
"Your mom really needs a one-o-one in how to look after her own child. Anyway, how'd you get away with not getting a detention?" Tessa asked and Gabriella shrugged as she tickled James.
"I don't know," she said and winced when she heard Tessa sigh.
"Gab, you're lying to me, anyway off the subject any guys speak to you?" she asked and Gabriella opened her mouth to say no when she remembered the guy who had given her, her phone back.
"Yeah one, um, his name was Tre……no it was Troy," Gabriella said and pulled the phone away from her ear as Tessa squealed loudly.
"Really? Was he hot? Was he a jock or one of the smart guys? Ooooh was he a skater?" Tessa asked and Gabriella snorted.
"I don't know, he gave me my phone back, pointed out I was reading my map upside down and then asked me if he'd talk to me later and I told him there was no point cause I wasn't interesting." Gabriella replied and heard her friend sigh.
"Gabi-" she started and Gabriella cut her off.
"Tessa, it was my first day, I didn't have time to pay attention to guys!" she exclaimed and heard her friend sigh again.
"Okay, but seriously how are you?" Tessa asked suddenly concerned about her friend and how she'd been acting.
"Tired, annoyed, fed up," Gabriella replied without hesitating and felt tears well up.
"Oh sweetie," Tessa said and Gabriella allowed some tears to spill over.
"I'm over it Tess, I really am. Mom hasn't looked at James since we got here, she won't have anything to do with him when I'm at home and when I'm at school all she does is let him sleep and as soon as I'm at home I'm the mother again and she's the helpless child who doesn't understand what she's done wrong." Gabriella exclaimed the fury and pain in her voice obvious.
"Oh Gabi, I don't now what to say-" Gabriella stopped listening when she heard a shout from the kitchen float upstairs.
"Tess, can I call you back?" she asked and hung up before her friend could reply. Turning quickly she kissed James' forehead.
"I'll be right back." She whispered in his ear and then ran downstairs, wondering what was wrong.
"I DON'T CARE ANDREA!!! THIS ISN'T FAIR ON GABI!!!!" Gabriella ran into the kitchen to see her mother and father at opposite ends of the kitchen.
"Sam, calm down, please," Andrea begged and Gabriella watched as her father grew even angrier.
"I WILL NOT CALM DOWN!!! DO YOU HAVE ANY IDEA HOW HARD THIS HAS BEEN ON US?" Samuel screamed at his wife, Gabriella stared at her father in shock. She'd never seen him this angry before.
"HOW HARD IT'S BEEN? OF COURSE I DO SAMUEL!!! I KNOW HOW HARD IT'S BEEN ON YOU AND GABRIELLA! BUT WHAT ABOUT ME? YOU'VE BARELY LOOKED AT ME SINCE WE GOT HERE! I'M YOU'RE WIFE SAM! I NEED YOU TO TALK TO ME!" Andrea suddenly yelled at Samuel and Gabriella winced as she saw the hurt look on her fathers face.
"WHY WOULD I TALK TO YOU? YOU DIDN'T TALK TO ME." Samuel shouted at her and Gabriella suddenly heard James cries coming from her room, mingling with her mothers screams.
"STOP YELLING!" Gabriella screamed and both adults stopped and stared at their seventeen year old daughter who was watching them with contempt and fury.
"JUST STOP! For God's sake, are you trying to wake the dead? Because if you are you're doing a damn good job of it!" she said furiously.
"Gabriella don't you dare-" Gabriella spun to her father.
"Don't I dare what? Come on dad! What are you going to do?" Gabriella asked tauntingly not caring as she saw the hurt look on her father's features.
"Don't you dare speak to your father like that Gabriella Anne Montez!" her mother snapped at her and Gabriella rounded on her mother.
"Or you'll what? Ground me? Sure mom, you'll ground me the day you decide to accept the fact that James is your son!" Gabriella knew her words would hurt her mother, but she said them anyway.
There was silence in the kitchen as Gabriella's words hung in the air. All three of the stood still as they allowed the words to sink in, Gabriella herself felt some shock and some relief as they sunk into her and she digested the situation that they were in.
"I'm going to go and get James and feed him, if I hear you two arguing again do not think that you're going to win your daughter back any time soon." Gabriella told them coldly after a moment, she turned to walk out when her father spoke.
"You're not the head of this household young lady." His voice was harsh and Gabriella turned back to him, contempt now the only emotion on her face.
"And what you are? Think again dad, I'm the only one standing here right now that can honestly say they have some grip on their life and their responsibilities. Something that neither you or mom can say." Gabriella told him her voice harsh and her words frank, she stared at both her parents for a moment, her brown eyes flicking back and forth between them.
"See? If I was wrong you would have grounded me by now." She said softly and then walked out of the silent kitchen, leaving behind her parents and something she never wanted to do again.
A/N: Don't worry; 'Out Of My Element' is my main priority at the moment. But it's nice to do something that involves a little more drama. I hope you enjoyed! Merry Christmas!!
