Chapter 4

For the next few days, Gabriella had been distancing herself from Troy, afraid for the safety of her mother. She knew that Jack would stick to his word and know that she had been with Troy, even if he wasn't in Albuquerque now. Jack Bolton was one smart man, but it was a pity that he used his intelligence and cunning nature for evil.

Wednesday

Gabriella wandered through the empty corridors, running her fingers along the lockers. The chatter from the cafeteria was loud enough for her to hear, even if she was standing in the opposite side of the building. When she heard the footsteps, she stiffened and waited for them to disappear. As soon as the stopped, she dared herself to look behind her to see who it was. Unfortunately, it was the boy she wished she wouldn't see.

"Gabriella?" Troy asked.

Gabriella didn't reply, but tilted her head to one side.

"I haven't seen you all day," Troy said, advancing towards her. "Where have you been?"

Gabriella started to back away from him until her back hit the wall behind her. Her eyes grew wide with fear and she opened her mouth to speak, but couldn't find the words to.

"Kitten?' Troy asked suspiciously. "Why are you acting weird?"

Weird was an understatement.

"I… I don't feel well," Gabriella stuttered. "And I can't find the… the nurse!"

"It's just outside the cafeteria," Troy said. "We walk past it all the time."

"I… I'm sorry!" Gabriella exclaimed. "I'm not g-good at paying attention!"

With that, she ran off, leaving an utterly confused Troy to watch her flee away from him.

Thursday

During lunchtime, Troy decided to actually go into the cafeteria for the first time in his life. He didn't care if the whole school's eyes were on him. He just need to see Gabriella. He found her sitting alone at a big, empty table with her sandwich and bottle of water. Her face was almost emotionless and dull, with a hint of fear in her deep, brown eyes. Troy sat down next to her.

"Gabriella? Kitten, what's wrong?" Troy asked caringly. When Gabriella didn't answer, he asked again. "Gabriella? Really, tell me."

When he said that, Gabriella unscrewed the cap off her water bottle and began to drink from it heavily, as if she doing that 3-second-drinking-water-challenge. She drained the whole bottle and got up.

"I need to pee!" she said hastily, dropping the empty bottle on the table, in front of Troy, who stared at it curiously.

This was getting really weird.

Friday

Today, Troy couldn't be bothered to go to basketball training. Jack wasn't there, so what did it matter? He put on his helmet, turned on the engine to his motorbike, and sped down the road. At the normal place where he usually picked up Gabriella, he found her with her head down and her hair covering her face. He honked and when he did, Gabriella nearly jumped out of her skin, he notice.

"Are you coming?" he asked loudly.

Gabriella's eyes widened and she shook her head profusely, begin to sweat from the stress this was creating her. She began to walk away faster and faster, but of course, a motorbike can go faster than a human, so Troy caught up to her.

"Gabriella," he called. "Please tell me what's up. I need to know."

"I can't, Troy," Gabriella said, shaking her head.

"Why not?"

"I just can't, okay? Please understand," Gabriella begged.

"You've been acting weird since Wednesday!" Troy exclaimed. "You asked me where the nurse was, even though we've been there before and yesterday you drank all your water and said you needed to go to the bathroom! What the hell was that?"

"It's nothing, Troy," Gabriella said softly. "Just leave it."

"You know I won't," Troy said, racing ahead of her and leaving her behind.

Gabriella sighed.

Sometimes life was just too hard.

That lunch, Gabriella had come up with a new day's resolution. Un-cliché, I know. She had decided that she was going to act completely normal with Troy, but come up with an excuse as to why she was so jumpy and weird.

So when Troy came to sit with her again, she put her plan into action.

"Hey, Troy!" she said, far too enthusiastically that she inwardly cringed.

Troy, himself, looked completely weirded out. Talk about unexpected. He narrowed his eyes.

"I feel like jumping on the rooftop and telling the world that I've gone mental!" she announced cheerily.

"You go do that," Troy said, opening his bottle of water.

"You should come with me!" Gabriella suggested excitedly. "It'll be fun!"

"Totally," Troy mumbled, still very confused.

"Can you come with me to the gym?" Gabriella asked.

"Why?"

"I want to graffiti new lines on the gym floor. Then everyone will get mixed up," Gabriella said.

Troy eyes her suspiciously, but looked down at his food again.

"You are going insane," Troy muttered.

"Wonderful!" Gabriella beamed.

There was a slight pause before Troy spoke.

"Gabriella, why are you acting so weird. This morning you would hardly talk to me."

Gabriella's eyes lit up. So much for being a good actress.

"I'm on my period!" she said, grinning madly. "Do you want to see?"

Troy looked at her strangely, wondering if she was for real or not.

"No thanks," he declined, watching Gabriella's face fall, but it lit up again.

"Oh, well!" she said happily. "Your loss, then."

"Are you sure you're okay?" Troy asked.

"I feel extraordinarily extraordinary today!" Gabriella declared, smiling big.

"You're weird."

HSM

After cleaning up at the café, Gabriella sat on her living room couch, resting her legs on the table and fiddling with her necklace. She looked down to admire it and then sighed. Tonight was the night of prom. Of course, there was no way Gabriella was going. She had no reason to anyway. Maria was out at a work conference and wouldn't be home until late at night, possible past midnight if something came up.

After fixing herself a quick dinner, she went upstairs to her bedroom and quickly decided to finish off some homework while eating it. School was becoming a hassle nowadays for her, as her jobs began to get harder and her homework load started to become heavier and heavier. On top of that, much of her time was wasted by the amount of time she spent walking to and from school and to work. Talk about annoying!

When she had finished most of her homework, she laid down on her bed, feeling the need to procrastinate and rest. Sure, she was extremely jealous about all the people who went to prom without her, not that she had anyone to go with. She figured that Troy was not the 'prom' type of person, but it's not like he would ask her anyway. But she and him weren't going and that was what mattered.

Suddenly, there was a tapping noise at the glass doors to her balcony. Hoping that it wasn't a serial killer, she walked slowly towards the closed curtains and pulled them to the side, but only slightly. She peeped through the hole that she had created and sigh when she saw Troy standing there. Gabriella wondered how he got up, but then remembered about the tree that stood right in front of the balcony. He probably quickly scaled up it.

She opened the door and invited Troy into her room.

"What's up?" she asked.

Troy shrugged.

"Oh, you know, I just wanted to come over and say hi. We're both not at prom, so what else is there to do? Besides, I don't want to feel like a loner at home," he explained.

"Oh," was all Gabriella said.

After a few moments of awkward silence, Troy finally spoke up.

"So… what were you doing?"

"Just finishing off some homework," Gabriella replied.

"Kitten?" Troy asked.

"Yeah?"

"You were acting really weird at lunch today," he said. "Why?"

Gabriella froze, wondering what to say to him, but instead of replying the way she should've, she asked him a completely different question.

"Can you dance with me?" was her question.

"What?" Troy asked, bewildered.

"You heard me," Gabriella said. "Please dance with me."

"What? Why?"

"Because… I thought that since we're not at prom, we can make up for it by dancing here," she lied. She had a completely different reason. "Come to the balcony. I'll put some music on."

She grabbed Troy hand and pulled him up, bringing him outside to the lamp-lit balcony that he had just been standing on. Out of the corner of her eye, she could see Troy's face. It was handsome, beautiful and mesmerizing, but also completely confused and puzzled. She pressed play on the radio and started to sway with Troy.

"Gabriella… really… what's wrong?" Troy asked.

"Let's not think about that right now," Gabriella said, closing her eyes and feeling the music. "Just savor the moment we're in."

Troy continued to dance with her, even though he was confused out of his mind. Something was definitely going to happen. He twirled her and dipped her when it seemed appropriate in the music, and couldn't help but admire how graceful and peaceful she looked when she was dancing, not to mention beautiful. It would be a crime not to admit that Gabriella was pretty. Her soft, curly, brown hair flowed down her back and sometimes covered her gorgeous face, which didn't deserve to be covered. It deserved to be complimented and exposed.

Troy smiled when he thought of how beautiful Gabriella looked every day when she came to school. Even when she was at work and wearing his helmet, she was beautiful. There was no denying that. He loved how perfectly God had shaped her face, how big and brown her eyes were and her small nose that seemed to suit her. Her soft lips that looked extremely kissable and her small chin that made her look even more perfect. How could she look like such an angel?

When the music stopped, Troy and Gabriella found themselves in a hugging position where both of them were wrapped in each other's arms. Troy rested his chin on top of Gabriella's head as he wrapped his arms around her waist and Gabriella leant into his chest with her arms around his neck.

"Troy?" Gabriella said shyly. "I need to tell you something."

She backed away from the embrace and looked up sadly at Troy.

"I-I can't do this," she said.

"Wh-what do you mean?" Troy asked, sensing that something bad was going to happen.

"I can't do this anymore," she repeated. "I mean, we can't see each other anymore."

"What? Why?" Troy asked helplessly.

"It's just not going to work," Gabriella explained. "I know we've been through a lot together, but it's… it's not meant to be."

Gabriella reached up to her neck and took off her necklace. She looked down at it in her hands and sighed. She looked up to see Troy's sad and heartbroken eyes and almost burst into tears, but she didn't.

"Why are you saying all this? Why can't we still be friends?" Troy asked.

"We'll be much more than friends, Troy – much, much more, but it won't work out. You and I, we come from different places, we have different beliefs and different stories. Please understand me when I say this, but it's not going to work," Gabriella said softly, gripping Troy's hands in hers.

"That's the problem. I don't understand!"

"Please don't be mad, Troy," Gabriella begged. "We can't do this anymore. It's not going to work."

Gabriella let her necklace slip into Troy's hands and she slipped back into her bedroom, closing the door and blinds, leaving Troy outside on the balcony to stare at the necklace in heartbreak. He thought about knocking again, but then decided that it was better to just go home. So that's why Gabriella was acting so weird; she had to cut off their friendship.

But why?

HSM

Gabriella and Troy didn't speak for weeks. When Jack came home from LA, he was satisfied to see his nephew's depressed face and tired features. He knew that Gabriella had talked to Troy and told him what was to happen. He grinned to himself, knowing what to do next.

Not only was Troy depressed, but Gabriella was too. She believed she was close to failing her classes and her social life was not much better. She barely spoke to anyone, hardly ate and mostly just rested on her bed, even when it was bright and sunny. Maria knew something was up, but she figured she would leave her daughter alone for a while, hoping that Gabriella would be able to solve her problems.

It was a Wednesday in the last week of June and Jack was ready to tell Gabriella Anne Montez her fate. As Gabriella was almost falling asleep in class, her eyes flew open when she heard her name being spoken into the speaker.

"Can Gabriella Montez please report to Coach Bolton's office."

Gabriella groaned in disgust, but still gathered her stuff and left. She walked all the way to the gym office and knocked on the door.

"Come in," called the evil voice of Jack Bolton, which she had grown to hate.

Gabriella reluctantly opened the door and closed it behind her.

"Sit," Jack said, pointing to the seat in front of his desk. Gabriella sat. "Miss. Montez, there are a few things I need to discuss with you."

'Oh, great,' Gabriella groaned inwardly.

"What you did, I appreciate," Jack said. "Breaking off your friendship with Troy is probably the wisest, most obedient and considerate thing you've ever done for him. Secondly, remember when I told you that I would kill Maria if you stayed with Troy? Well, I lied."

"What do you mean?" Gabriella asked slowly.

"Gabriella Montez, are you honestly not smart enough to know that I wouldn't just threaten you because of Troy? There are more important things that are needed to be done and I have the great honor of fulfilling them. Go home and check on Maria – she may be hurt, or even… dead."

Gabriella's hands flew to her mouth and she fled out of the room with her books and pencils, missing the evil in Jack's threatening gaze. She grabbed her bag and ran all the way home, eager to see if her mother really was dead.

Gabriella burst through the front door, flung her bag to god knows where and went straight to kitchen in search of her mother. She checked under the dining table, inside the cupboards, in the dishwasher and even in the oven. When she couldn't find her, she moved on to the living room, but she wasn't there either.

After searching the whole lower floor, she ran upstairs to her mother's room and bathroom. She wasn't there. Then came Gabriella's room. She opened the door and right there on her bed was her mother.

Gabriella nearly fainted in heartbreak, but she quickly grasped the doorframe and steadied herself. Maria Montez was sprawled across the bed, unbreathing, with a knife stabbed into the left side of her chest. Obviously, she had put on a fight because she was bloodied everywhere else too - on her face, legs, arms and hands. Gabriella grabbed the handle of the knife and pulled it out, cringing at the excess blood that spilled as it came out. She placed her ear where Maria's heart was, praying that a faint heartbeat would be heard, but there was nothing.

Tears spilled from her eyes and she screamed out in agony, making sure that everyone in the neighbourhood would hear her. She punched every wall in her room, kicked every door until it fell off its hinges, pulled out every last bit of stuffing from every couch and tore down every photograph of her mother that was framed. Finally, she sank down in the corner of her closet, sobbing loudly and desperately, wishing that she was dead.

But then, she remembered why she was home in the first place. Jack had hinted about her mother's death and he was right about it. Maybe he left something behind. Gabriella stood up slowly, hanging on the clothes for the support of her trembling legs. She began to walk towards her bed again and searched around her mother's body for any clues.

As soon as she was about to give up, her hand felt a piece of paper under Maria's similar curly, brown hair. She took it out and read it.

Miss. Montez,
Happy belated birthday. I gave you this present to remind you that your life will never be perfect. Enjoy!

Well, of course her life would never be perfect. It was already the complete opposite. First her father, now her mother. On top of that, she had no friends. She knew who did it. It was quite obvious. Many people addressed her as 'Miss. Montez', but only one was evil enough to murder her mother.

"I'm going to kill him," Gabriella whispered to herself, between her teeth. "Even if I have to travel around the world fifty times or dig to the earth's core to find him. I will kill him."

Gabriella put the note down on the bed and sat down next to her mother. She stroked her hair and clasped their hands together, whispering promises to her.

"I will hunt him down and kill him, no matter what it takes. I will avenge you, dear mother, even if it takes me out of this solar system," she vowed. "Trust me Mom, I will do this."

That night, Gabriella spent hours looking after her dead mother. She cleaned up all the blood stains from her skin, plucked pretty flowers from the garden and carried her to a better place to rest in peace. She took her to the couch in front of the fireplace and placed her on the mat in front of it.

"Rest now," Gabriella whispered into Maria's ear. "And keep warm."

After placing a blanked over her, Gabriella was in no mood to eat. She went back upstairs and took out a photo album from under her bed. She sat down and opened it, smiling with tears in her eyes at the pictures of her and her family that were glued on.

The first picture was of a newborn Gabriella who was being cradled in Maria's arms. Carlos was standing right behind her and they were both smiling happily at the camera, proud of their first daughter.

A few pages later, Gabriella found a picture that was taken just before Carlos died. It was one of the three of them. Carlos was sitting on a stool, playing his guitar and Maria was opposite him, sitting with a microphone. Gabriella was in the middle with her toy microphone, singing her heart out in front of the Christmas tree. That was a week before Carlos died and he was let out of the hospital for Christmas.

There were a few pictures after that. They were mostly of Gabriella by herself, but occasionally, Maria would appear in some. Maria absolutely loved taking pictures of her daughter - when she was eating, drawing, playing, singing and everything in between. The mother and daughter bond was due to bring heartbreak someday.

With a sigh, Gabriella closed the book and placed it back under her bed. She glanced at the clock and realised that it was already 3 in the morning. What was the point of going to sleep if she had to wake up a couple of hours later? She went back downstairs and made herself a coffee with an exponential amount of caffeine to keep her awake. She hated the taste of coffee, but at least it was good for something.

After she had finished drinking it, she went to her bathroom to wash her face. Everything was hers now. The whole house was her inheritance, including everything in it. But that would mean she would have to work harder to earn the money to pay taxes. Maybe being alone was not the best idea.

Gabriella splashed the cold tap water on her face and looked up at her reflection in the mirror. She stared into her dull brown eyes that seemed to emit no signs of happiness. They bored everyone. Her skin tone was dull as well. It was pale, emotionless and less alive than any other part of her body. They blush in her cheeks that she usually had was gone and her mouth was no longer curved upwards at the edges like it usually was. Her hair was a mess too. It looked like she had been in a war for a year and never washed it or comes it once during that time.

There was only one word to describe her.

Dull.

If that was not enough, she felt empty and disgusting inside as well. How could she be so stupid to fall for Jack's trick. If Jack's trick resulted in her losing her loved ones, she was an idiot. An asshole of an idiot too. She felt the pain in her heart worsen as she thought about Jack attacking her mother. It must've been bloody and... brutal and heartbreaking to watch it.

After a good half an hour of staring at herself in the mirror, Gabriella spotted the sun rising from the horizon and decided that it was time to get ready for school. Of course she had to go to school. If she didn't, she would have to either make up an excuse or tell the authorities the truth. She wanted to wait until she was ready to show Jack that he wasn't really any better than everyone else.

Not bothering to wear her usual clothes, Gabriella threw on a tank top, sweat pants and a hoodie so she could cover her disorganised hair. She didn't bother with her usual makeup routine as she knew she would still looked dead, even if she layered her skin with foundation and concealer. Nothing would stop her appearance from looking like junk. Gabriella grabbed her phone and her bag, went downstairs to kiss her mother goodbye and walked straight out the door, carefully locking it behind her so no one would be able to get in.

She speed-walked all the way to school, not caring if bystanders were watching her and wondering why she was in such a hurry. Honestly, she wasn't in a hurry, she just needed to walk fast to clear her mind. As soon as she got to school, people began to stare at her and her dead expression. Many of them started whispering to each other about 'the girl who disappears in the middle of the day and shows up the next day with a face that looked like shit'. Others were considerate enough to question whether she was healthy or not. But did Gabriella care? No, not one bit.

After shoving past numerous people in the corridor, she arrived at her locker and shoved her bag in, not caring about anything else in the world that was going on. She slammed her locker door shut and began walking in the same direction she had been walking in before. As she was walking, she looked up to see none other than her mother's murderer walking straight towards her. She sent him her deadliest death glare, making people stare at her in bewilderment. Jack just grinned at her evil before turning into a classroom. Gabriella kept walking straight and turned a corner. But what she didn't notice was the blue-eyed boy who was watching her every move.

Troy ran after Gabriella as silently as he could. When she was about to open the door to go to outside to the secluded 'backyard', he grabbed the ban of her hoodie and pinned her against the wall. He caged her between his arms and analysed her face, taking note of her bare and dead features.

"Troy! Get the fuck off me!" Gabriella demanded, her eyes blazing like fire.

"No," Troy replied stubbornly. "Not until you tell me what the hell Jack did to you."

"What makes you think that Jack did something to me?" Gabriella asked, desperately trying to remove Troy's arms from around her, but failing to.

"You just sent him the scariest death glare I have ever seen. No one does that unless that person did something to them," Troy said, making sure to keep his hands stuck on the wall.

Gabriella laughed maniacally and shook her head.

"You must be mistaken. Jack did absolutely nothing to me. I don't know what you're talking about."

Troy paused and stared into Gabriella's dull eyes, concerned.

"I know you, Gabriella. Something happened and I'll get it out of you sometime," he said, removing his arms from around Gabriella.

After that, he walked off, leaving a perplexed Gabriella staring after him. Gabriella rubbed her temples and shook her head, continuing on her journey to the 'backyard'.

Life couldn't be real.

HSM

That afternoon, Troy skipped basketball practice, knowing that Gabriella wouldn't have gone to work. He drove his motorbike into her driveway, took off his helmet and went to the front door. Weighing the pros and cons of whether to knock or just go in uninvited, he decided not to knock, risking getting caught by Maria. He slowly twisted the doorknob, making sure to make the least noise possible. He pushed the door until it was slightly ajar and saw that the downstairs lights were all off, meaning that Maria and Gabriella were either upstairs or not at home.

He stepped into the house, cautious of the floorboard that he knew squeaked and closed the door behind him. He ventured into the living room and nearly jumped out of his skin when he saw Maria laying in front of the unlit fireplace with the blanket on top of her and flowers scattered around her. That was so unlike Maria to sleep on the floor when she had a proper bed, especially with flowers. Troy didn't bother to check on anything else, so he started walking up the stairs. Luckily the stairs were covered in carpet, otherwise he would've surely been heard coming up.

As soon as he arrived at Gabriella's slightly opened door, he noticed that she was curled up in a ball on her bed. Her back was faced towards him and her arms were wrapped around her knees, as if she was in some sort of closed space and if she spread out, she would be pricked by thousands of needles and sent into a million year sleep.

Troy pushed the door slightly, so he could fit through the gap and slip through easily. He walked over to the bed and looked down at Gabriella who seemed to be sleeping soundly. He didn't notice Gabriella's breathing quicken as she woke up because he was too busy observing her body language.

"Troy, I know you're there," Gabriella said, watching his shadow twitch a little.

"You're not at work," Troy stated, saying the obvious.

"I know," Gabriella replied. "But you should be at basketball, not here."

Troy sat down on the bed and Gabriella felt the bed shift.

"I need to know that you're okay. I told you this morning that I was going to find out what happened and I'm going to. So please tell me; what happened?" Troy asked.

"It's none of your business," Gabriella mumbled, rolling over more on the bed.

"Oh, yes it is," Troy said, pulling her back towards him. "If you're coming to school looking so dead and not going to work, something's up and I'm not letting that slide past me."

"Troy," Gabriella said sitting up. "A few weeks ago, I said that we couldn't be friends anymore. I didn't do that because I wanted to. I was threatened, but they killed my mother anyway."

"Wait..." Troy interrupted, his eyes wide with shot. "Please tell me I didn't hear that correctly - killed your mother?" he choked.

Gabriella nodded.

"You heard me. My mother is dead. I have no family, no money and this big house to myself. What am I supposed to do?" she asked, silently begging for help.

Troy pulled Gabriella up until she was in a sitting position next to him. He held her close and stroked her hair lovingly. A few tears leaked from Gabriella's eyes and onto Troy's shirt, but at this point, he didn't really care. He tightened the embrace, letting her know that he understood and was always there to comfort her and be with her when she needed him.

When her tears stopped, Gabriella lifted her head up from Troy's chest.

"She's in the living room. Do you want to see her?" she asked.

"I already saw her when I came in," Troy said. "But I'll come if you want."

"I want to get some flowers for her," Gabriella said.

"Okay," Troy said, standing up from the bed. "I'll come."

They were halfway out the door when Gabriella suddenly stopped Troy, making him stop abruptly and nearly trip down the stairs.

"Wait!" she exclaimed suddenly. "I need to show you something."

Gabriella rushed back into he room and frantically began to search around for something.

"Take your time," Troy offered. "I'm in no hurry."

Gabriella didn't stop though, she was flinging her bed sheets around the room and ripping clothes out of her closet, as well as throwing pencils at the windows and ripping out the feathers from her pillows.

"Gabriella," Troy said. "Slow down!"

"I. Need. To. Find. It!" Gabriella replied, holding 5 of her textbooks between her teeth and juggling her phone and her laptop on her feet. "This is very important!"

After 5 minutes of waiting, Troy heard Gabriella make a successful sound and looked up to see her holding a tiny piece of paper out to him. Troy took the paper and read the massage, frowning with every word.

"What the hell is this?" he demanded, even though he completely knew who wrote it.

"I think it's quite easy to tell, just by how the person addressed me," Gabriella said.

"Can you tell me everything that happened," Troy said. "Everything."

"Later," Gabriella said. "Right now, I want to buy flowers for my mother."

"Okay," Troy agreed. "I'll take you."

Gabriella nodded and walked downstairs, leading Troy outside and to his motorbike, after she locked the door. He gave her the helmet and got on. Gabriella hopped on behind him and held onto his waist, waiting for him go. Troy parked in front of the nearest flower shop, which was only a few minutes away.

The shop's doorbell chimed when it was opened and Gabriella went straight to the counter. The young girl smiled at Gabriella warmly and asked what they wanted.

"Do you have lilies?" she asked.

"We sure do," the girl said, ducking under the counter. "What colour?"

"Maybe like a white-pink colour," Gabriella said.

"What's your mom's second favourite flower?" Troy hissed.

"Roses," Gabriella replied.
The girl emerged from under the counter, holding a bouquet of flowers that was neatly kept inside some sort of transparent plastic sheet and pink tissue paper, wrapped by a curly ribbon.

"Would you like anything else?" the girl asked.

"Do you have any roses?" Troy asked.

"Tons," the girl replied, smiling sweetly and disappearing under the counter again. "Colour?"

Troy turned to Gabriella and asked what colour Maria liked. Apparently, Maria liked plain red roses, so Troy told the girl that.

Soon enough, the girl came up from under the counter again, but this time she came up with a bouquet of roses that was wrapped in the same plastic but red tissue paper and the same sort of ribbon.

"Is that it?" the girl asked.

"Yes, thanks," Gabriella said, getting out some money from her pocket and turning to Troy. "Don't bother paying. It's my mother after all."

"No, but I should pay for my flowers since it's my gift to her," Troy objected.

"Okay, fine," Gabriella said, turning back to the girl. "Do you offer split bills?

"Yes, we do," the girl replied. "That will be $10 each, please," she said politely.

Gabriella and Troy bother gave in their money. The girl filed it into the register and gave them the receipt.

"Thanks for buying your flowers here," she said, waving cheerily. "Have a nice day!"

"Thank you," Troy said back. "You too!"

The doorbell chimed again as they walked out of the shop with their flowers and stopped in front of the motorbike.

"How are we supposed to carry these back?" Gabriella asked.

"I'll go back and see if they have bags," Troy said.

"No, I'll go," Gabriella said, handing her flowers to Troy. She seemed to be taking responsibility for everything that had to do with her mother. Who could blame her, though?

She went back into the shop and saw the girl's head pop up from behind the counter again.

"Do you have any bags?" Gabriella asked.

"Oh, yes," the girl said, bending down to retrieve a bag from under the counter. "Sorry, I should've asked before."

"It's okay," Gabriella said, taking the bags from the girl. "Thank you so much!"

"No problem!"

Gabriella heard the bell chime fore the four time as she walked outside to see Troy, awkwardly leaning against his motorbike with a bouquet of flowers in each of his hands. She opened the bag so he could up the flowers inside. Luckily, it was a big bag so the flowers would fall out.

"I'll just hold it," Gabriella offered.

"If you want," Troy replied, trying to be polite when she was in her mournful state. Otherwise, he would've said something like, 'you can be my servant from now on.'

They drove home with the flowers staying in one piece, even though there were many of them. Gabriella got off first and unlocked the door. Troy followed her into the living room and kneeled beside Maria's dead body.

Gabriella gave Troy the roses and unwrapped the wrapping from her flowers. She took one of her lilies and placed it in Maria's hands so she looked like she was holding them close to her stabbed heart. Troy did the same. Together, they scatter their flowers around Maria, making the place she was resting in a sacred and peaceful place. By now, there were so many flowers around her that she was almost buried under them, barely visible.

"Rest in peace, Mother," Gabriella whispered. "You will be avenged."

HSM

Troy couldn't decide whether to stay with Gabriella, or to go back home and face his father. Staying with Gabriella meant that he would be in more trouble, but going back home meant he might blurt out something about Maria, which he didn't intend to. He glanced down at Gabriella, who was peacefully sleeping on the couch, wrapped up in her usual fetal position. He wondered whether he should take her back upstairs to her bed.

Troy hadn't eaten dinner yet and it seemed like Gabriella hadn't either. He walked into the kitchen and opened up the fridge, hoping there would be something he could use, but there was nothing. With a sigh, he took out his phone and dialled the pizza number, ordering a margarita pizza, which he learned was Gabriella's favourite. 20 minutes later, the pizza delivery man knocked on the door and Troy happily accepted the box of food, paying for it and closing the door.

When he walked back into the living room, he saw that Gabriella was sitting up, having been awoken by the sound of the doorbell. She turned around when she heard Troy coming back and eyed the pizza box in his hand. He opened it up on the table and offered her some.

"I don't want to eat," Gabriella refused, pushing the slice he held out to her away.

"I bet you haven't eaten for a while," Troy said, insisting. "Come on, you need to eat."

"I'm not hungry," Gabriella argued.

Troy set the pizza down and crossed his arms.

"I know what you're thinking," Troy said. "And you don't have to think that. Just because of what happened doesn't mean it's disrespectful to eat and nourish yourself."

"It is," Gabriella mumbled, looking everywhere but Troy. "I shouldn't be enjoying myself after all the pain she went through."

"But that's different," Troy said. "You need to eat, you don't want to eat."

"I don't see any difference," Gabriella said stubbornly.

"You may not, but I do," Troy said, picking up the pizza again. "I'm not gonna stop until you have at least one slice."

Gabriella groaned, but still accepted the pizza. She reluctantly took a few bites out of it and swallowed them without chewing. Troy observed her intently, watching carefully to see if she ate all of it without complaining.

Gabriella looked miserable, but he couldn't blame her. She was curled up in a ball, refusing to eat any more of her favourite food. Troy sighed. He could just preserve it in the fridge for her to eat for a few days. He couldn't imagine how Gabriella felt at the moment, after her mother just died. Sure, his parents had both been killed too, but he couldn't remember it. It was completely different.

"Troy?" Gabriella asked softly, opening her eyes the slightest.

Troy's head shot up. "Yeah?"

Gabriella inhaled and exhaled deeply, while Troy stared at her intently, waiting for her to continue.

"What do I do now?" she asked, still breathing heavily, as if she was about to burst into tears at any moment. "I have no parents and no money. I'm lost," she confessed, looking sadly at the ground.

Troy paused, glancing around the room at her possessions.

"I'll talk to you about the parents part later, but about the money, if you want to, you could possible sell some things in the house that you don't need. You could even sell the house and buy or rent a smaller one. That way, you'd have some money left for other personal needs."

Gabriella nodded, taking all this in. She took a deep breath and looked at Troy, shyly.

"Would you... would you be able to stay... with me sometimes? If I do that?" she asked timidly.

Troy looked at her, wondering if she really meant that she wanted him with her or not. When Troy didn't answer straightaway, Gabriella's face turned bright red in embarrassment, thinking about her needy request.

"But you don't have to if you don't want to," she said hastily, hoping that Troy wouldn't think she was some sort of creepy and clingy girl.

"No, I would," Troy interrupted. "There's no need to be embarrassed. I'm just think about how to get Jack off my back." He said Jack's name with hate in his voice.

"Oh, yeah," Gabriella said quietly. "Jack… I hate him."

"That's normal," Troy said. "But I guess we can't really do anything. We don't have any proof of what he did."

"What about the baby monitor?" Gabriella asked.

"Everyone would think it's me," Troy explained.

"Wait, but doesn't it have like a date and time on it?" Gabriella asked.

"Unfortunately, no," Troy said. "Speaking of Jack, do you want to go to school tomorrow? I can't judge if you don't want to."

Gabriella shrugged dully.

"Well, I guess I should go, but I don't really feel like it. I also need to work something out for my life... so..."

Troy shifted his position so he was laying on his side, propped up by his arm.

"That's fine with me," he said. "Do you want me to stay with you?"

"You don't have to, you know. Just being here right now is enough. You don't need to waste your time on me," Gabriella said, looking anywhere but Troy.

Troy frowned and stood up, walking over to the couch on which Gabriella sat. He sat down next to her and pulled her up, wrapping his arm around her. Gabriella looked up at Troy, intently, waiting for him to speak.

"Gabriella," Troy began. "I want you to know that being here with you is never wasting my time... actually, it's probably what I should be doing. What sort of a person would I be if I just left you here... by yourself... and went on with my own life? I would be a stupid, selfish, inconsiderate and idiotic idiot."

Gabriella giggled cutely at his choice of words and snuggled up to him, letting her head rest on her chest.

"Thanks, Troy," she mumbled. "That means a lot."

"I'm staying with you until you get sick of me," Troy stated.

"I'd never get sick of you, so I'm glad," Gabriella said bashfully, smiling into Troy's chest and tracing his abs - and Jack thought his abs weren't hard enough!

Troy smiled and kissed Gabriella's hair and laid his head on top of hers. There they stayed for the long night, until it was time to wake up.

"Kitten?" Troy said softly. "It's morning."

Gabriella groaned and rolled over, obviously not in the mood to open her eyes and get off the couch, but she did as Troy suggested and sat up, rubbing her eyes and stretching her limbs.

"Good morning," she greeted Troy, with a small smile. "I think I should go and shower."

"Yeah, you should," Troy said absentmindedly.

"Rude."

Troy smiled to himself, glad that Gabriella was turning back to her normal, upbeat self. He watched her walk upstairs and decided to make some breakfast. He searched the cupboards for some form of food, but couldn't find anything. He figured Gabriella wouldn't want to eat much anyway.

Gabriella came back down the stairs wearing a yellow sundress, which contrasted with her skin tone very well. It was spaghetti strap, but it wasn't tight around her body. Troy looked up, watching her descend the stairs. She looked beautiful, but why?

"You look... beachy?" he said, more as a question than a statement.

Gabriella pulled out one of the stools from under the counter and sat on it, resting her arms on the table.

"I've decided to look at this... situation for a different perspective," she began. "Which means that I'm not going to be all sad and grumpy like 'help me, I'm gonna fail at life'. I'll view the incident as the line between my protective childhood and my days as an independent woman."

"That's good," Troy said, respecting her choice of view. "Does that mean you're going to eat more?"

"Yes."

"Okay, I'll take you out to breakfast."

HSM

Troy drove Gabriella to a breakfast parlour in which they could order any thing from cereal to pancakes. They were seated at a table with chairs opposite each other. Troy pulled out Gabriella's chair for her and she smiled fondly at him.

"When did you learn to be a gentleman?" she asked, shocked, but touched.

Troy sat down opposite her.

"Well, ever since you told me to be a gentleman, I've been buying and borrowing books and reading articles online on the subject," he said, making his tone of voice sound inspirational and like he worked so hard.

Gabriella raised an eyebrow and rearranged the menu and cup of water on her table to suit her.

"How very dedicated of you," she finally said, opening up her menu and scanning through the pages.

"Have you chosen what you want?"

"Yes, you?"

Gabriella nodded and a waitress came to attend to their table. The waitress took down their orders and asked if they wanted anything else. This slow waitress finally noticed that it was just Troy and Gabriella, sitting by themselves like a couple.

"Oh my gosh! You two look adorable together! How long?" the waitress asked.

Gabriella looked at Troy and together, they communicated with their eyes and decided to play along.

"About 10 years, ma'am," Troy replied, his blue eyes twinkling as he grinned mischievously at Gabriella. "You can never get sick of her."

The waitress' shocked face was definitely something to remember. It was absolutely priceless.

"No, sir," the waitress said. "I mean, how long have you been together, not how long have you been friends."

"10 years," Troy repeated.

"And how old are you guys?" she asked, tilting her head to the side.

"17," Gabriella said.

"Interesting," the waitress said.

Troy almost burst out laughing at the fun and decided to take this trick a step further.

"Actually," Troy began. "I'm going to propose to her this morning - can you help me?"

Gabriella nearly choked on her water with laughter, but managed to keep it in. The waitress looked at both of them strangely, wondering why the boy exposed the surprise.

"How can I help?" she questioned.

Troy frowned and looked around the parlour.

"Do you sell rings here?" he asked. "I don't have one yet."

The waitress stared at Troy in disbelief and shook her head.

"No, we do not."

Troy briefly glanced down at the waitress' ring finger and smiled slyly to himself.

"Can I use yours? I promise I'll give it back to you in a few years."

The waitress' face was now the picture of a mix of aghast, worried and shocked. Weird teenagers who tried to steal her engagement ring.

"I'll go put in your order," she said, hurrying away.

As soon as she was out of sight, Troy and Gabriella burst into fits of laughter. Luckily, none of them had water in their mouths or else it would have been spat everywhere.

"That was amazing, Troy!" Gabriella laughed. "How did you think of that?"

"I used my brain," Troy shrugged. "You should try it sometime."

Gabriella stuck her tongue out at him.

"Rude," she said. "Imagine if someone actually said that they were going to propose to someone, right in front of the person they were going to propose to. That would ruin everything!"

The waitress came back holding the two plates of delicious-looking pancakes and set them on the table. She studied the two teenagers who seemed to have been laughing a lot. After placing the plates on the table, she hurriedly stumbled away, not wanting to be in that situation ever again.

"How's yours?" Gabriella asked, with her mouth full.

"Pretty good," Troy replied. "You want some?" he asked, holding out some pancake on his fork to Gabriella. Gabriella gladly accepted it and bit it off his fork.

"That's good," she said, after swallowing. "Do you want some of mine? It's got sprinkles."

"Okay," Troy replied, taking some of Gabriella's pancake and popping it into his mouth. "Nice."

When they had finished, Troy called the waitress to deliver the cheque. He glanced at it and closed the cover so Gabriella wouldn't be able to peek.

"Hey!" Gabriella said. "It's my turn to pay!"

"No, you never pay," Troy said, ignoring the bewildered waitress, who was standing next to their table. "Remember what you said about being a gentleman?"

"I wish I never said that," Gabriella said regretfully. "That ruined everything."

"Well, it's your fault for ruining everything," Troy said harshly, putting on a show for the waitress.

"How dare you!" Gabriella exclaimed. "You know what? You pay! I'm out of here!"

Gabriella pushed her seat back and walked out of the parlour angrily. The waitress stared after her, confused.

"Looks like someone's not getting married," Troy said, putting the cash into the cheque and handing it to the waitress. "She's a bitch anyway. Plus, I've got about 3 other girls, so I'm good to go."

Troy stood up and left the parlour, leaving an astonished waitress to watch him leave. He joined Gabriella who was smiling and waiting at his motorbike.

"So, what happened?" she asked him, grabbing the helmet and putting it on.

"I told her that we weren't getting married, that you were a bitch and that I had 3 other girls," Troy recounted, sitting on the motorbike.

Gabriella stifled a laugh and got on behind him.

"Are we going home now?" she asked, finally regaining her composure.

"No, not yet," Troy said. "I need to get some stuff from Walmart."

"Okay," Gabriella said. "Nice of you to drag me along."

"Be grateful, Kitten," Troy lectured, starting the engine. "Maybe we might start looking for houses for you afterwards.

"Sounds great!"