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Chapter 4

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A week or so later was a triumphant time for Troy - he no longer needed crutches. You could often see him running around for no particular reason. No other week had he gained so many detentions for running in the halls, but teachers understood why. The set crew actually let him near the scenery again and Ms. Darbus hugged him wildly when he came in that day.

Alright…so it was a creepy week along with a triumphant one.

Troy soon got over the strangeness of being hugged by the over-exuberant drama teacher and the week went by just fine, or at least until Thursday. Troy jogged over to Gabriella's house early before school one day and waited patiently in the front hallway to walk Gabi to school as he usually did some days. Usually Gabi was pretty slow in the mornings and it took coaxing from both her mother and Troy to get her out the door and to school, but this morning Gabi raced down the stairs, shouted a goodbye to her mother who had just barely stuck her head in the kitchen to grab her coffee and latched onto Troy, dragging him out the front door, giving her boyfriend only enough time to grab both of their book bags. "Whoa, whoa - what's the rush Ella?" Gabi just gave him a fearful look before dragging him a couple more feet then pulling him down behind a stone wall in front of a house several down from her own. "This isn't even the way to our sch-" Troy's bewildered comment was cut off by familiar lips on his own. His response was passionate, but only after a moment - he broke away when he realized exactly what was on Gabi's mind. She could successfully divert any conversation by distracting him.

She had discovered that kissing Troy was very distracting to him.

She used this weapon often.

"Ella, don't think you can try-" his next words were muffled by another kiss - he almost relinquished himself to this one, but he was determined to get the truth. Stay strong Bolton. Stay strong! Come on man! He pulled away and looked his girlfriend right in the eye. "Elllllla." he said warningly.

"Troooooy." she replied in the same tone, blinking innocently, but there was a worry in her eyes that gave her away to the one who knew her best.

"Ella." he said with finality, taking her face in his hands and bringing her forehead to his. "Tell me." he added gently, softly brushing back a strand of hair. There was a long pause. Then Gabriella took a deep breath.

"I think I saw my dad last night. Outside my house." The words were so rushed that it took Troy a second to sort it all out, but when he did he started violently, his eyes training fiercely on Gabriella's.

"Ella, I, I mean - why didn't you call me? Tell me? Tell your mom? Anything, he could be-"

"I know, I know!" Gabriella moaned, "He could be dangerous, but I was just too scared to do anything. I mean, well, half of me just wanted to run outside and start yelling at him," Troy flinched, but Gabi smiled gently. "I didn't of course, but I was so angry and so scared that I just sat up in my room all night." She let out a long breath. "I just want to forget about it. I just-"

"But El-"

"No Troy." she replied firmly. "Let's go to school." Troy gave her a look saying he was unconvinced, but followed her dutifully, checking and double checking every time they turned a corner for any suspicious pedestrians. Ella might not be convinced, but Troy was taking no chances.

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"Come on." Troy tugged on Gabriella's arm, pulling her gently from the building as an ocean of kids flowed out of the doors around them. "I don't want you walking home alone - we're heading to my house." Gabriella resisted for a moment, opening her mouth to protest, but paused. Troy was giving her his pitiful, puppy dog look. She sighed and tucked her hand in his, following him down the steps and across the street. To lighten the tension as they walked, Troy began the 'name-calling' game again and they were thinking of particularly good ones as they reached the gate into his backyard.

"Lunkhead!" Gabriella cried gleefully as Troy tugged her into the yard, only to bump right into his father. Gabriella wanted to sink right into the ground - she and Coach Bolton had already started off on the wrong foot and although they were pleasant with one another, Gabi knew that he really wasn't that fond of her. "Oh, I'm so sorry Mr. Bolton, I-"

"That's perfectly fine Miss Montez." Troy tensed at the use of her last name, though Gabi wasn't surprised. Troy held her hand tightly and so without drawing attention to herself, Gabi slowly brushed her thumb over his hand, feeling the tension leave Troy after a moment, though it came back in a rush when his father spoke again. "So..what are you two doing here?" Troy looked to Gabi - it was the perfect lead in.

"Gabi and I are going to hang out for awhile. She's not looking forward to seeing her Dad - Dad, I think he might be dangerous, I really don't want her to be hurt - we're just going to stay here for a little."

"I don't know about that Troy. I think we should talk." Troy stared after his father for a moment, but Gabi slowly pushed him gently towards where his father had moved to. She knew basically what would be said - it hurt her that someone who was so important to Troy didn't exactly like her, but it was something that would have to be dealt with later. For now, Troy needed to talk to his dad.

"What's your problem Dad?" Troy asked angrily as he stepped onto the porch where his father was standing. Gabi had seated herself on the grass, pulling out a book from her book bag, quite a number of feet away - there was no way she would overhear them - which is precisely why his dad had chosen this spot.

"Don't start a conversation with me like that Troy." his dad said warningly.

"You're the one who's being completely awful to Ella."

"Your Gabriella is the problem. I don't like you being around her so often. You really should limit your time with he-"

"If this is about practices, we're off-season Dad! I haven't missed anything, I'm still practi-"

"It's not about basketball, it's about your safety. She's a danger to you Troy, to your health, to everything you've worked so hard for." Troy stared at his dad opened mouth for a moment before laughing. He laughed until he couldn't breathe.

"Dangerous?" Troy managed to get out, before he finally managed to regain his breath. "Gabriella is the person who poses the least danger to me, she would never do anything to hurt me, ever."

"Troy, her ex-boyfriend managed to rip apart tendons in your ankle - I wouldn't call that harmless." Troy opened his mouth to protest that it wasn't Jamie, but his dad wasn't hearing any of it. "And if her dad is so dangerous and he's around because of her - she's putting you in danger!"

"Dad, you're being ridiculous!"

"I'm doing this for you! I'm doing this to keep you safe, to keep you happy. To keep you from destroying yourself!"

"You don't understand!" Troy said furiously. "Keeping me from Gabi would destroy me!" Now that Gabriella heard. She snapped her head up. Her hands were frozen on her book, but they began trembling almost immediately. She knew Mr. Bolton didn't like her very much, but to keep Troy from her…to keep them apart - she didn't know if she could survive that.

"She's dangerous to you Troy. Ask her to leave." his voice carried across the backyard and Gabi looked down at her book, blinking to hide her tears and clutching at her book to hide the trembling of her hands. How did Mr. Bolton - someone who she thought of as knowing nothing about her and her life - name her fears so easily? How did he describe what plagued her for the past nights with no difficulty? Troy stalked away from his father towards Gabi, his entire stance screaming 'rage' - but as his fiercely angry eyes turned on her, they softened almost immediately, holding a gentleness that wrapped Gabi up in them every time they landed on her, like a warm blanket. As Troy moved towards her, he opened his arms and she fell into them, burying her face in his shoulder, hoping that perhaps she'd never have to come up for air or sunlight. Perhaps if she could stay here, safe and sound forever, nothing would ever go wrong. Things felt perfect with Troy, whether they were or not - and Gabi didn't want to think about Troy's dad who was undoubtedly glaring at her right now, or her own dad who was probably searching for her right now - she just wanted to curl up beside Troy on the warm grass and talk. She loved talking with Troy, he could be such a contradictory person. He could be shy and bashful around her and utterly sweet, but he was a total ham on stage, living for the attention and spotlight - but only long enough to make people laugh. He could be so silly, but so serious too when she needed it - and he always knew when she did.

"I guess I better go."

"No," Troy replied immediately, his tone pleading, coaxing and worried all at the same time. Gabi marveled at her luck at finding such a one as Troy, but she shook her head in reply.

"No use getting your dad to hate me more than he does already." Troy's eyes trained on her face and on her sad smile - he wished he could wipe away that sadness and just twirl her around like they were all alone and kiss her until she forgot her worry and sorrow.

"I'll walk you home." he said determinedly.

"I'm not sure that's-" came Mr. Bolton's voice, but Troy cut him off with a sharp and stiff tone that held no emotion whatsoever. It scared Gabi - she'd never seen Troy this angry, so angry that he didn't show anything.

"You've done enough Dad. Thank you." he said stiffly and hauled Gabi's book bag onto his shoulder and weaved his fingers with hers, marching out of the backyard with his back stiff, head held high. Gabi was proud in a way. Troy loved his parents, loved his dad more than anything else in the world - the people in his life were always the most important to Troy, he'd do anything to make them happy. She knew that his heart was breaking to see two people he adored very much unable to find common ground - it struck another pang of guilt in her. Why was she here if she brought so much pain to Troy? Wasn't the point of being here, supporting him? Helping him? Doing everything she could for him? Sometimes she felt she didn't deserve Troy in the slightest - what had she done in her life to call someone like him her boyfriend?

Not very much, she thought. Not very much at all.

Their trek led them through several backyards and through many side yards, but it was the shortest way to Gabriella's house - and the safest, thought Troy. No one could follow their weaving path through random gardens and over stone walls. Troy kept up a steady banter, trying to keep his Ella's mind off anything else - it didn't necessarily work, but by the time they reached her front door, she had a faint smile on her face that wouldn't go away.

Before Gabriella could dig out her key to open her front door, Troy grasped her gently and pulled her to him, kissing her gently, reveling in the fact that there was no one to interrupt them, as became the huge joke amongst their friends. They had a tally going to see which of them could interrupt them the most times. Right now, Chad was winning by pure determination, but Ryan was catching up on pure luck. Sharpay wasn't close behind thanks for her nose for gossip and Taylor had given up altogether after Troy had chased her away squealing one particularly interruptive afternoon. Kelsey and Jason always had this wicked gleam in their eyes when the contest was mentioned so Troy did not want to even know what they were planning.

Troy smiled against Ella's lips and he could feel the smirk spreading across her own as he pulled away. Before he could turn away and go, Ella lurched up and pressed a soft kiss on the corner of his mouth. When she pulled away, he placed one carefully on her forehead. "I'll see you tomorrow Ella - stay inside, for me, please, alright? Don't let anyone in." Gabriella nodded with a patronizing smile on her face so Troy shook her gently. "I'm serious - it would utterly destroy me if you ever got hurt. Be safe - I wish I could pick you up tomorrow, but I can't - I'll see you first thing, alright?" Gabriella nodded, smiled and slipped inside before Troy could say the words he'd been wanting to say for a long time. Soon buddy, soon, he promised himself before stepping away and heading home, ignoring the growing feeling of anxiety that was prickling at the back of his neck.

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Troy waited.

He waited well past homeroom and twenty minutes into first period before panicking.

Gabriella wasn't in school. He'd nearly tackled Sharpay in the hallway, who told him quite snottily that she had seen his precious girlfriend walking to school from her car, but that was it.

Ryan helpfully mentioned that she was being followed by a tall man with dark hair.

Troy checked his watch. 8:37. Perfect time to start panicking.

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Author's Note: Well. Sorry very much so for the long wait. This week has been very painful for me, both physically and mentally. School - namely my art class - has not been going well for me really. I basically burst into tears over this project right in the middle of class - it was basically just a breakdown of stress and exhaustion and pain, because the day before I basically dislocated my knee by slamming it into the stage at one of my many drama practices. I still can't touch it without it bursting into throbbing pain. (New nickname? Gimpy.) One of my closest friends - like a big sister - has been going through some real hard shit and I've been one of her main places to go for a little comedic relief - I do what I can to help her. Yeah, so those are my "excuses" - bleh :P - but really, they're just reasons for you to pity me. Teehee.

Anyway. So…what a cliffhanger, huh? Bet you're all like I KNOW WHO TOOK HER! - but of course, we ALL know who took her. The question is…how does Troy GET to her. Hmm…let us ponder this for the next couple of days as I work on the next chapter. I'm all planned out up to the beginning of the 6th chapter - I'm thinking this will probably be 7-8 chapters, for all of you who are wondering. Oh - and there's a TINY bit of Ryan and Sharpay in there for those of who who've been wanting. I've completely neglected the other characters - I know, I'm so cruel - maybe they'll show up later. I really love Chad and Taylor - I might write a fic just about them.

I of coursed watched HSM on Thursday and taped it (THANK GOD FOR WORKING VCRS!) but… whispers I HAVE A COPY ON MY COMPUTER NOW! BLAH. YAY. Hopefully there will be no more mistakes of the 'Chris-really-Jason-really-Whatever' kind now that I have easy reference. Teehee.

Oh, has anyone also heard the thing/read the article where it states that there's gonna be two more movies in the "High School Musical" tele-movie-series whatever? BLAH - TWO MORE! That's gonna be so kick ass - the second one apparently is already written! So awesome.

Oh, before I sign off - does anyone else think that being in "Stick to the Status Quo" would've been the most fun EVER! I would've given my right arm to be in that thing, it looks so amazingly hard, but so amazingly fun. I think they must've had a blast doing it - I'm SO BEYOND ENVIOUS. BLAH.

See you next time, same Bat-time, same Bat-channel.
Or in the immortal words of my older brother: "We out, we out!"

-B