"Sorry to hear about your boyfriend." Troy said, still lingering by the doorway to Gabriella's room, even though she looked highly uncomfortable and obviously wanted Troy out as soon as possible. But something about Gabriella and this room drew him into it. It was almost as though he had been in here before.
The scent coming from her doorway was all too familiar. Everything, the bed, the furniture, the floor, the knick knacks all over the room, especially the bed. Gabriella has recently redecorated her room, easing her worries of being caught lying to Troy just the slightest bit. But regardless of the new colored walls and bedspread, Troy still knew this place like it was home.
Then there was the balcony. He could envision himself climbing up the tree next to her balcony to sneak in and see her in the middle of the night, but Troy convinced himself to take control of his imagination. But was he really imagining it?
"We better get some sleep." Gabriella said, jumping out of her bed and walking over to the doorway, trying to obstruct Troy's view of the bedroom that he had been in many, many times. Over the years she had learned that all she had to do was stand two feet away from a guy, give a hair flip, and a sweet voice, and their attention would instantly dart to her. And like she predicted, Troy's eyes and attention instantly left the room and went straight to Gabriella.
"Yeah, school tomorrow." Troy said nervously while trying to suppress a yawn. It really was late. But the second the word school left his mouth, he was buried in worries and fears about what would happen and what problems would present themselves. The anxiety must have shown in his face or maybe Gabriella knew him too well, but either way she knew something was bothering him.
"Nerve racking, huh?" Gabriella asked, smiling sweetly as she lead Troy farther away from her doorway and into the hallway. This change of venue went completely unnoticed by Troy who had his eyes glued to Gabriella.
"You have no idea." Troy said, running his hands through his sandy blonde hair, looking obviously troubled. Gabriella just frowned, she wanted to cry again. Why was she doing this to him? She should just tell him. It was the right thing to do. The look in his eyes proved this was too horrible.
"Troy," she finally said, looking deeply into his blue eyes for the first time that wasn't in her dreams that in a very long time. "About the accident..." Gabriella found her breathing worsening and panic suddenly overcame her. There was no way she could do this. No way. But she already started, why stop now?
"I just wanted to thank you." Troy said, cutting her off.
"What?" Gabriella asked, obviously shocked. She was about to confess to knowing about his past and playing a partial part in his losing his past and he's thanking her. Why is he torturing her?
"I know it must not be easy having me here in my...condition. But thanks for putting up with it." Troy said, smiling. Gabriella bit her tongue. He was being so sweet, causing her to go weak in the knees. What was he doing to her?
"How do you do it?" Gabriella asked finally. She had no clue why she asked that, but a part of her needed to know the damage that she had inflicted.
"It's a blank slate. I don't know what my life was like before, but here's a chance to makeup for everything I screwed up. It's a good thing if you think about it." Troy said, lying a little but desperately hoping that he will one day believe what he just said.
"Yeah," Gabriella said, officially losing her nerve. "We all could use one of those. We better get to bed. Big day tomorrow. See you in the morning." Gabriella said, as she walked away her arm grazed his sending chills up his spine.
"Wait," Troy said, stopping Gabriella and making her turn around. "I like what you did with your room." he said, grinning before walking off. He didn't know why he said that, it was like another force made him say it. Gabriella gave a weak smile and wondered, was that a compliment or a sign that he remembered? Neither of the two knew which it was, but both knew that the next day at school would bring bigger issues than room color.
Troy slowly inched his way back to his bedroom, careful not to walk too fast or too loud in fear that he might awake some of the house's other residents. The last conversation with Gabriella was so strange. She was just so unbelievable she made him not know what was up or down. Maybe it was because she is the first girl he can actually remember having human contact with, but maybe it was something more. Something deeper. But the thought of he and Gabriella as anything more than housemates was to ridiculous to put anymore thought into. It would make things too complicated in the house, and besides it would never happen. How could Troy Bolton ever land a girl like her. Yet, there was something about her. Everything about her, from her voice to her looks to everything she's around, it was all too comfortably familiar. He liked that, comfort. It was something that she gave him which he was lacking.
"So?" a small voice said, from in front of Troy's bedroom door. Natalie was standing there, anxiously awaiting his return.
"You're actually talking to me now?" Troy said, this was one of the first words that Natalie had ever uttered to him.
"So?" Natalie repeated, vexation growing in her voice. Troy just squinted at her through the darkness with a confused look on his face. What was he missing?
"So what?" he asked. Natalie let out a giant sigh and then started tiptoeing back to her room without as much as an explanation.
"Did I do something wrong?" Troy asked, as Natalie got farther and farther away. Natalie turned around and shook her head, and muttered something along the lines of "boys." "Do I have to paint a picture for you?" she finally said.
"Yeah, it would help." Troy responded, then that set something off in his head. "Wait, I've been meaning to ask you about those pictures you've been leaving me."
"I don't know what you're talking about." she said, before hurrying away and out of sight.
"Thanks for the help." Troy said to himself, then he quietly entered his room, still finding his roommate asleep. He slowly got back into bed while trying to collect all the thoughts about Natalie, Gabriella, school, his parents, his lost life, and everything else roaming around in his head. Finally he drifted off to sleep.
When he awoke the next morning, he found Nick already out of bed, leaving his bed sheets and pillows scattered all over the floor, among other things. Troy bent down to clean a bit of the clutter and found a little basketball. He remembered staring at the walls last night and seeing a small basketball hoop attached to the door. Since Natalie's picture was about basketball he figured why not give it a try? He might be good at it.
The little toy ball soared through the air as Troy released it from him fingers, but ultimately missed. Troy let out a sigh. It was worth a shot, he thought to himself.
"That throw was pathetic." came a voice from the other side of the room. Troy jerked his head over to find the man from the drawing, his father, sitting on Nick's bed. Troy just stood with his mouth gaping. His father was in a coma, was he dreaming? He must be dreaming.
"Now you can't talk?" the man, asked getting up from the bed and picking up the basketball for himself. It went into the net with ease. "How have you been holding up without me, son?" There was still no response from Troy.
"Not talking to me, eh? Okay, I understand why." he said walking across the room, over to Troy. "Did you ever consider that the day you forgive me is the day I'll wake up?"
"F-f-orgive you?" Troy finally studdered out. "Forgive you for what?"
"You don't remember?" the man asked.
"No," Troy said, slowly shaking his head. His father just chuckled.
"Nothing at all?" he asked. Troy nodded. "You're seeing and dreaming the truth, so there must be some memory in that brain of yours." Troy still didn't say anything.
"I wanna wake up from my coma. You're mother too. I can tell." Mr. Bolton said.
"How?" Troy asked.
"I just can." he said ominously, bouncing the ball up and down in his pale hand. "Forgive me and this will all be over."
"Forgive you for what?" Troy asked, more confused than ever.
"Right, you can't remember." Mr. Bolton said. "Maybe you should ask the girl."
"Natalie?" Troy asked. Mr. Bolton chuckled again, breaking into a wide grin for no reason that Troy could understand.
"Same old Troy," was the last thing Troy heard from his father before he suddenly woke up for real this time.
"Forgive him for what?" he silently whispered to himself.