A/N: Why, hello lovely readers. How are you today? Because I'm in quite a peachy mood. It just so happens that my boyfriend wrote me a song and sang it in front of my whole math class to ask me to go to prom with him. That means happy Sarah=New Chapter.

If you read An Ocean Between You and Me you will hopefully recognize this night without there having to be a flashback ;D

I really hope you guys are really getting into the emotional side of eating disorders. I cannot emphasize how much of a sickening disease it is. Not only is it physical, but revolves around emotion. There's so much more to it than most people know.

Without further ado... Chapter 4. Dun dun dun dun.

Disclaimer: I own nothing (unfortunately)

Troy Bolton rolled his eyes automatically as his brother spoke to him, "I'm going out. Probably won't be back before curfew."

"Another party? Really Matt? That's the fourth one since we got out of school," not that he would complain about having the house to himself. Their parents were at his brother's soccer games and they were going to have dessert as a team afterwards. The summer games were played after dark due to the heat, they probably wouldn't be home until ten thirty.

"Everyone's having graduation parties, I have to go," the way Matt stressed his words made it seem as though it was less of a farewell and more of a 'let's get drunk' party.

"Fine, but when you get busted from the cops don't come crying to me," Troy wasn't a fan of parties, with his status of future professional basketball player it was simply too risky for him to get caught.

"You're such a wuss Troy. You should come and have a little fun, loosen up," Matt attempted to persuade.

"I'm not a wuss, I'm taking my future into consideration," not that he hadn't been to parties before. He'd been drunk but hated the feeling of not having control over his body and emotions scared the shit out of him. Especially with how much his mind had been running lately.

"You're a wuss," Matt said while applying some cologne.

"Fine, but I'm telling you karma's a bitch," Troy kept his head bent down while texting on his phone.

"No wonder you don't have a girlfriend. You're too boring," Matt's bickering continued.

"Right, because you bring such fabulous women into the house," Troy sarcastically commented referring to the string of bad women Matt brought home.

"At least I'm getting some," Matt smirked checking his reflection in the mirror one last time.

"Because getting some, partying, and drinking will get you so far in life," Troy knew his words would never stick with his brother. Verbal reprimands would not suit Matt, something else would have to tame his wild side.

"In high school it will," Troy took a second to think about the validity of the statement, sure it would bring popularity in high school but that wasn't what everyone wanted. High school would only be four years of his life, four years that could build you up to go far in life or get you addicted to crack for the rest of your life.

"Well guess what, you aren't in high school anymore," Troy was aware his parents would approve of his side in this current argument.

"But you are," was Matt's final blow as he walked out of his room. Troy rolled his eyes again, Matt was trying to attack him in ways that wouldn't be effective.

He'd had girlfriends, two this year actually. Troy had dated the first girl over the summer and a short time into September. Her name was Lydia, she was a sweet, petite, blond who was looking for something to occupy her extra summer time. The relationship ended up being your classic summer fling. They hadn't spent much time together and their relationship was mostly physical with little emotional attachment. It had broke when he realized that he really didn't mind seeing her with different guys, in fact he didn't get jealous when someone else asked her to homecoming. She seemed more like a friend with benefits than an actual girlfriend. He didn't even remember actually asking her to be his girlfriend, it was just assumed.

Then there was Jessica. Jessica was yet another short live girlfriend, however she had brought a spice to his life. She was energetic and spunky, crazy and loud. Jess, as he called her, was one of those people that would hang upside down on the monkey bars, singing Green Day while gargling tapioca pudding and everyone would still think she was hot. She lived to have fun and for herself, which is why she couldn't stay faithful to Troy. Despite being together for five months, Troy simply wasn't enough for her. It wasn't unpredictable that Jess would get bored with him, all he really had going for her was his looks. She just wasn't a girl that could commit herself to someone.

Troy, he wasn't heartbroken over either of them. Of course there were those moments right after the breakups that he'd been frustrated and a little confused and even though Jessica had cheated on him, there wasn't a longing to return to the relationship. He had been fairly pissed afterwards but he realized that someone who would openly cheat on him wasn't worth his time.

He hadn't been on any dates since Jessica, ever since they broke up his motto had been that girls just simply weren't worth his waste of time.

Except Gabriella. Troy wouldn't admit it but he was waiting for Jon to dump her. It was only a matter of time before he could make his move. Yes, it would be a while, Gabriella was obviously more emotional about her breakup than he was with any of his. However, this gave him secret confidence. He knew that at this time, even if she was asked out, she would deny all date requests, leaving her available for him.

Yes, his thoughts surprised him. Yes, this was one of those things he would never, ever, tell Gabriella about because she would murder him. Recently he couldn't keep his eyes off her, she was so beautiful. The past few months, he'd noticed things he wouldn't otherwise. The way she slid her sandal off her right foot to use it to gently scratch her calf or when she'd laugh, she'd bend her head forward and let her hair mask her face were both recent discoveries.

These things had lead him to other questions. What would she look like in a short black dress and some high heels? What else had he never noticed about her before? How long does she keep her eyes closed after kissing someone? She was so tiny, would she be crushed under his weight?

Then there were the inevitable questions. If they kissed, would it be like kissing someone in his family? What if he broke their ten-year friendship because he thought he had a physical attraction to her? Did she feel the same way?

Those were the questions that couldn't be answered. The questions that could not be verbally answered without physical motions.

Gabriella stepped out of the shower shortly after five in the evening. Her towel was wrapped tightly around her breasts as she walked down the hall toward her bedroom to retrieve her clothing. Her wet hair hung straight and sticky against her skin. She opened her top drawer, picking out a black racerback sports-bra and black panties. Knowing she wasn't going anywhere, she pulled out one of her numerous pairs of red soccer shorts and a black ribbed tank top. As she slid her garments on, she folded the waistband of her shorts over, they were slightly loose due to her weight loss. She smiled, happy her clothing was loose.

Their house did not have a scale so she wasn't sure exactly how much weight she had lost in the past two weeks. Her guess was that it was somewhere around ten pounds. Everyday she had been running at least two miles. On top of that she had purchased numerous fitness magazines and had been practicing the at home fitness moves. She really wished she had a membership to a gym or knew someone with a gym membership.

Food wise she hadn't been eating much. She allowed herself two pieces of fruit every two hours, however it generally wasn't that often. Today she was making it by with only six grapes so far, a new record. The overnight hunger pains were long gone and she found the less she ate, the less hungry she was. Giving in and eating made her feel weak, like she was breaking her rules. Her goal was lost when she ate. The more she ate, the more tempted she was to eat more. If she didn't establish rules there was no way her regimen would be successful.

The dizziness and light-headedness was becoming less frequent but more paralyzing. Every few hours a wave would hit her and she would have to lay down for a while before resuming with her daily activity. Sometimes when the dizziness left though, she would get a strong headache. Those went away easily with Advil.

Suddenly, her cell phone began to ring, startling her. Venturing over to her bed side table, she picked up the phone and held it to her ear, "Hello?"

"Hey Ella," she heard Troy's very familiar and overused greeting, "What's up?"

"Nothing, I just got out of the shower, what are you doing?" she questioned.

Troy had to gulp to re-quench his mouth after hearing her statement, there were those feelings, "Matt's out partying and Mom and Dad are Liam and Mason's soccer game. You should come over, I'm bored."

"You didn't want to go to the party with Matt?" she questioned, she knew it was summer and usually by now he was in the party mood.

"Nah, I'm not really in the partying mood. We kind of got into an argument before he left," it wasn't unusual for the two to fight, it was best they avoided each other after arguments.

"Well, I'll be over soon then," she decided not to change. She was perfectly comfortable wearing this in front of Troy. After all, he had been there to see her go through her whole awkward inbetween preteen boob growing stage, as she liked to call it. Some of the things she wore then still made her shiver. Troy would be fine with her casualness.

"Okay, I'll order a pizza," he hung up the phone and went to the kitchen to find the number of the pizzeria. He was surprised that he didn't have the number on speed dial or have it memorized by now.

While waiting for Gabriella to arrive he busied himself cleaning the basement slightly. Despite how many times his mother had told him to clean the basement before inviting friends over, the one time his mother was gone he listened to her advice.

He fluffed a few pillows and organized the various disks scattered about on the floor. Picking up the remote, he flipped the channel, landing on a Friends rerun. The basement looked semi-decent so he let his butt sink into the couch cushions. If Gabriella walked in on him watching this, he'd never hear the end of it. Maybe he could get by with saying he was simply tolerating it while waiting for her to arrive.

Lying to Gabriella never worked though.

Slowly, his eyes fluttered shut. He could rest a little before she arrived maybe. Before he could completely fall asleep, he heard the door of his house open and then a few seconds later, shut close. Listening, he could faintly hear footsteps padding down the stairs. Shifting his gaze, he knew who it was. Her hair swung in her pontytail and he could see the definition of her collarbone.

Letting his gaze wonder down her body, he noticed how stick like she had become. Sure, she hadn't worn any particularly tight clothing around him recently, but he didn't remember her being so skinny. Once again referencing his mother's ideals, he decided not to question if she'd lost weight.

Without saying a word, she flopped down near his feet and swung her legs up to rest on top of his. She marveled in the way his hairy, muscled legs contrasted her smooth freshly shaven calves. "Watching Friends?"

"Maybe," he wouldn't cave.

"Oh my God, you like watching Friends don't you?" she gasped in realization, "Once again, the best friend wins."

"No, I simply put it on because I knew we would argue over what to watch and I'm not in the mood for another fi-" his sentence was cut off by the door bell, "One second, pizza's here."

Gabriella shifted uncomfortably in her spot and pulled her legs up to her chest to hold. Troy returned with a large box, paper plates, and napkins, "Pepperoni and sausage."

Gabriella smiled weakly, "Of course it is."

She watched as he opened the lid and slid a few greasy pieces out. Gabriella wanted to gag just at the sight. Troy leaned back in his spot, "Aren't you going to have some?"

"No," she declined politely.

"You couldn't have possibly eaten already it's barely six," she always ate pizza, even if she wasn't hungry.

"I'm not hungry," she defended herself.

"Come on Ella, just one piece. You know you want it," he offered holding a slice out to her.

"I don't want it," she spoke decisively.

Troy furrowed his eyebrows, he hadn't seen her much this week. She had been heading out on a run each time he texted her to come over and he'd been fairly busy hanging out with friends and playing basketball. "I got a large so we could split it though."

"Maybe you should have checked with me to see if I wanted some first," she quipped.

"But you always eat pizza with me, even when you aren't hungry," he was beginning to sound like a five year old who lost his new puppy.

"Well I'm not going to eat the damn pizza!"

"What the hell Gabriella? I didn't invite you over here to fight with me. I just thought you'd want a piece of pizza," this was the first time Gabriella had ever sworn at him, and the first time he'd sworn at her in an argument.

"Don't you dare swear at me. Just stop trying to force that piece of fat down my fucking throat and we'll be fine," she was enraged now. Her mood had completely snapped.

"I-," Troy stumbled in astonishment, "Wha- What the hell did you just say?"

Gabriella stood up off the couch, "Nothing, I just don't want any pizza."

Troy stood up too, realizing she was going to try and leave. When she turned around, he placed his hand on her shoulder to turn her around. He wasn't going to let her leave in this state, "Ella, what's going on?"

Gabriella allowed him to stop her but she refused to turn around and face him. She let a tear slide down her face, "Nothing."

"It's not nothing, you're never like this. You just swore at me, twice Gabriella," he couldn't comprehend what was happening.

"It's nothing Troy, just let me leave," she moved to take another step but she just felt Troy pull her closer to him.

"You aren't leaving until you tell me what's wrong," he said forcefully. He knew he shouldn't force her to stay but he'd been sensing something was wrong recently.

She turned around and Troy saw the tears in her eyes. He felt his knees go weak, he'd never seen her look so vulnerable. Holding his arms out, he opened himself up for a hug.

Gabriella ignored his offer and walked to the couch again, folding her arms over her chest. Troy felt the sting of her refusal.

He sat down too and stared at her. The whole argument confused him, why was she so defensive over a slice of pizza? It wasn't generally an argument starter, certainly not for Gabriella and Troy.

"This isn't about the pizza, is it?" Troy questioned.

"Do you have to keep bringing that up? It's just pissing me off."

"I'm not doing it to piss you off, I'm doing it because something is obviously wrong," he was going to get to the bottom of this no matter how long it took.

"Nothing is wrong! How many times do I have to tell you that?" she was getting more and more decisive with each comment.

"Fine then, look me in the eyes and tell me that you're fine. I'll let you leave if you can do that," he created in ultimatum.

She tilted her head up so that it would be level with his face. Her eyes began at his chin, tracing up over his lips, nose, and finally to his eyes. The tears that had previously threatened to fall were clearly evident to Troy now.

Troy's body softened slightly at her face, she looked broken. There were bags underneath her eyes and her face looked pale. She looked sick and tired. As her best friend, he hated to see her look so terrible especially while they were fighting.

"I" was all that came out of her mouth, it hung open trying to form the second word that would free her. It was Troy though, she couldn't lie to him.

Troy took the tears that fell down her cheek as a sign she wasn't able to complete the task, "Ella."

He hated seeing her like this, her pain caused him pain. Reaching forward her grasped her foot and began to gently knead, first her toes, then her heels, and up to her calves. He hoped the gentle actions would sooth her into talking to him, "It's going to be okay Ella."

"You're all I have Troy," she shook as she spoke. She hadn't realized how mentally unstable she really was until that moment.

Gabriella's comment scared Troy a little. He dropped her feet and moved so that he was sitting right next to her, "What do you mean Ella?"

"Nobody cares. Nobody notices. Nobody wants to be around me," there was a knot in her throat threatening to choke her.

"No Ella, that's not true," he didn't care if she would retaliate, he wrapped his arm around her and pulled her so that she was slightly sitting on him.

"Yes it is Troy. Jon dumped me, you are the only real friend I have, Mom doesn't care, she's never home," her cry was getting deeper and starting to shake her slightly.

"What started this Ella? You always say you are fine home alone," Troy pushed further.

Gabriella let her head fall against shoulder, she was getting weaker every second that went by, "I need to tell someone why Jon and I really broke up."

He didn't say anything, he had a feeling he was about to be told some twisted story.

"There's not much to it really, he wanted sex and I wouldn't give it to him," she stopped talking.

"And," he continued for her.

"And he insulted me, called me fat. I still wouldn't give so he dumped me," she stopped her story there.

Everything pieced together, her not wanting to eat, the sudden weight loss, the mood swings, last week when she got sick, everything fit together, "Ella, you aren't fat. You know that, right?"

Confirmation didn't sound. The silence struck him more than words.

"When was the last time you ate Ella?"

Silence still.

"Come on Ella, I'm not going to run off and tell anyone," he confirmed.

Sighing, she spoke, "A few hours ago."

"That's not bad, what'd you eat? A salad?" From the look he received he realized that he was wrong, "What?"

"Grapes."

"Ella, come on now, you aren't giving me much information," he pried.

"No, that's it."

"Okay, then what did you have for breakfast?" He didn't want confirmation of what he'd suspected.

"Grapes."

Now he didn't like the lack of emotion she was giving him, "That's not good Ella."

"I can't do it Troy. I can't eat," her desperation washed over her and she clutched his waist.

This was much more serious than he'd expected, "You need to get some help then Ella."

"Now, I'll be fine Troy. I'll get over it myself," she rebutted.

"I really think you need to get some help. You can't get over something this serious by yourself," for once he was surprised that he didn't know what to do.

"No, they'll put me in some crazy place Troy. I can't do that. They'll take me away, I'll be stuck with insane people," she took a deep breath, "They'll take me away from you. You're all I have Troy."

"It's not worth it though, ruining your body and health. You can't do that to yourself," health came first, always. You couldn't achieve anything if you weren't healthy. Health included mental stability too.

"Troy, you have to promise not to tell anyone," she looked into his eyes.

All Troy could recognize was the hurt and despair in her eyes. It broke his heart to see his best friend in so much trouble, "I'm sorry I didn't put the pieces together quicker. I could have prevented this from getting so far."

"Troy, promise me," she wasn't going to let him change the topic.

His head fell back against the couch. If he promised her, they would remain at a good place but he would be allowing her to possibly ruin her health. If he got her help, she would most likely not talk to him until she realized it was for the best. He sighed, "Fine, I promise. But there are conditions."

"What?"

"First, you have to try to eat. Especially when I'm around," he paused before his second condition, "Second, I get to punch the jackass in the face. No complaints."

"I'll come with and kick him in the balls," Troy laughed at her response.

"You know I'm not the only one that cares about you, right?" He soothingly rubbed her back, "There are so many people that would be devastated if something happened to you, not just me. And your mom, is doing what she thinks is best for you. She isn't purposely neglecting you. She loves you, trust me."

"I trust you Troy."

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