AN: So, before all of you lovely readers jump down my throat in fury, I must explain myself. You see, HSM, although amazing, has passed its days of glory. It's something that has a very special place in my heart for a number of reasons, but I've been thinking about stopping with my Fanfiction for quite some time. After my last update, I decided that I would stop. I was convinced that it wasn't getting any publicity anymore. So I ignored my inner writer and forgot about it. However, just a few hours ago, I logged onto my FF account and was shocked to see that the hit number had sky-rocketed in the past few days on this particular story. Obviously, it is one that has caught quite a few fans attention. Thus, I have decided to continue the story! HOOZAH! So, hoping that you won't impale me with pitchforks, please enjoy this chapter!

Memory Lane

Troy silently paced his cell, counting the laps as he crossed the tiny space. At a brisk pace, he was getting quite the workout and was pleased when his muscles began to ache with fatigue. At this rate by the time the shrink came, he'd be tired and calm enough to not get aggravated by her constant tranquility and endless questions.

Troy had been in the jail for three months now and every week Gabriella had come to see him as she had promised. She was quiet but persistent. Even though Troy had not given out any information about himself when she asked the questions that she did every week, she kept on asking without seeming to get annoyed or frustrated. She watched him a lot too, he noticed, but he didn't think anything of it. He was a well known criminal and she knew his record - he was hoping that her curious gaze was out of fear. But he doubted it. She hadn't been the slightest bit ruffled in the all the hour long meetings they'd had together.

Troy took a break and stretched out his leg muscles gently, measuring his breathing and heart rate. Out of his old life, exercise was the only thing that he still was attached to. He had been on his high school basketball team and had become fond of the adrenaline rush that he got after a long run or a tough game of any sort of sport. It was different from when he was on the job and stalking his prey - this was a cleaner, happier adrenaline. He preferred this adrenaline to the one that he got after a successful kill - not that he'd ever admit that. But enough thinking. Now was the time for moving.

Before he could get up from his bed however, he heard the familiar, tell tale click of heels on the cement floor. He frowned. She was early. His only reaction, however, was to sigh and settle more comfortably on the mattress, glowering expression and tense muscles already in place before the door had even slid open.

Gabriella stepped into the cell with the same natural grace that she always did and offered a bright smile, which he did not return. None-the-less, she sat down on the stool that she always did and rested her chin on her petite fist, regarding him openly. He scowled at her.

"What do you want?" He asked.

"Nothing, I'm just watching to see if you'll figure it out."

Her voice, as always, irritated him.

"Figure what out?" He asked through gritted teeth.

"You still haven't remembered me?"

Troy growled as a response, fury boiling through his blood. If she wasn't careful, this woman was going to feel the full wrath of his temper. He hated mind games. Gabrielle giggled - giggled! - at his reaction and then sighed, the smile still on her lips.

"I guess I really was invisible to you! Troy, you and I went to high school together."

Troy definitely hadn't been expecting that. He had no response.

"I got you that time! I bet that wasn't a normal question, was it, hmmm?" Gabriella crooned, leaning toward him with laughter in her dark eyes. "You were the captain of the basketball, the 'golden boy' of East High, weren't you?"

Troy nodded.

"And who were you?" He asked, in spite of himself. Gabriella smiled again, obviously happy with his response. Troy cursed in his head; no more responding to questions.

"I was a nerd." She laughed, tucking a curl behind her ear as her eyes glazed over from memories. "You didn't even know my name, I don't think. Our best friends dated though, for a month or two."

Chad. Troy hadn't thought about him in a long time. The two had parted ways after high school, best friends that always had each other's back. Troy couldn't even remember what had ruined their friendship; not that he cared. He was past having friends. Convicted murderers didn't need friends, he reminded himself.

"I don't remember you at all." Troy stated, hoping to hurt her feelings.

"I know." Gabriella replied, looking just as cheery as usual. "That doesn't surprise me. But I remember you. And I'm wondering why you ended up the way that you did. As far as I can tell, you had the perfect life in high school. When you graduated, everything seemed perfect. Whatever caused you to go down the path that you did must have happened during college. Do you know what that trigger is, Troy? Would you like to tell me?"

Troy regarded her silently, keeping his expression stony and unforgiving. There was no way that he was going to let her into his head. No way. That was not in his schedule. The last thing he wanted was the jail shrink trying to be best friends with him. Gabriella, however, continued.

"You see, I was speaking with Chad the other day, Troy." She started slowly, keeping her expert gaze trained on him. "He's doing rather well. He teaches Gym to a middle school across the city, you know. He's heard about you and what kind of life you've been living. Do you know what he told me, Troy?"

"What?" Troy growled before he could stop himself. Damn it.

"He told me that he wished he had stayed your friend. That maybe if he had been a better friend, you wouldn't have turned out the way that you did. Chad told me that he still thinks about you all the time. He wants to know the real you. Not the version that everyone else sees. You know you're allowed a visitor, right? You could request that he come down the jail to see you."

She rose from her stool, signalling to the guard that she wanted to be let out. The door slid open and she smiled down at him, leaving him with one final comment.

"If you're going to let anyone see the 'real you', I think it should be your best friend. You know that he'll always have your back. That's what best friends are for, Troy. Call him."

The door slid shut after her and Troy sat still for a long time, thinking. Countless memories leaked back to him from his glory days. He could remember Chad better than he could remember anyone; even his own parents. Troy closed his eyes and succumbed to the memories for a long time, thinking hard about what she had said to him.

Then he realized what she had done.

Troy roared and leapt to his feet, pacing wildly from right to left, calming his temper, and picturing how he'd kill the young brunette. He understood now, why she had said the things that she had done. She had be strategic about when and how she had told him the information. She had been softening him up, making him trust her, that way when he saw her next, he would maybe open up to her more and learn something about himself that no one else would have been able to get otherwise. Damn her!

Well, she had another thing coming. If she thought that he was going to crack like an egg, that easy, then she was in the wrong line of work. Troy was used to being interrogated, he knew every trick of the book. He wouldn't be that naïve again.

Midnight had passed long ago, but still, Gabriella was awake. She was thinking about her conversation with Troy that day. It had been unexpected. When she had attempted to make contact with Chad, she had never expected him to call her back. Also, she had been even more shocked when he told her that he remembered her from those days long ago. He had been friendly, even inviting her to coffee one day to catch up. Gabriella had enjoyed their conversation so much that she had agreed to it whole-heartedly.

Now, though, she was back on the mind track that she seemed to spend so much of her time now days; Troy Bolton. If she was completely honest with herself, something about him unsettled her. It could be because of his cold front that he put up to protect the good inside of him. He was more careful than the rest of the inmates that she had ever dealt with, and Gabriella thought she knew why.

Although he denied it, Gabriella was sure that Troy could remember her from their high school days. Even if he hadn't known her name, they had shared enough classes that he would be able to place her. His 'secret' was a defence mechanism. He put up that feigned memory loss to keep himself for identifying with her, and thus him former self. She was absolutely certain, that whatever had caused his downfall into a life of a criminal, it had something to do with someone that he had known well in high school.

Troy was a hard case to crack, but as she lay alone in bed that night, Gabriella vowed to herself that she would do whatever it took to get through to him. She had never failed with a single patient yet, and she wasn't about to start now.

AN: Reviews anyone? Please? If there are any of you left, that is!