Chapter Six - Stranger
Gabriella's Point of View
Troy's blue eyes stared right back into mine. They were like two shimmering pools. His hot breath was on my face, making it only that much harder to look away. I could feel my heart pounding in my chest. Troy could probably hear it. Troy sat on his knees, continuing to hold my eyes. I felt like I was melting to the floor. Another rush of Troy's warm breath crossed my face. I blinked quickly, but was still unable to look away from Troy's stare. Troy's face slowly moved closer to mine. He stopped halfway, keeping a steady eye on me.
I sat where I was. Maybe it was too soon to be wanting this to continue, but Nicole was right. I continued sitting where I was as Troy stared into my eyes. Our faces where just inches apart. His breath quickened while my heart wouldn't stop aching for him to finish leaning in. Then there was a loud bang upstairs. I looked at Troy, my eyes filled with worry. He got up and held his hand forward to help me. I took it without a word, staring at the cieling.
"It's probably just my mom." He said, unsure. We didn't let go of each others hands. Troy slowly walked towards the staircase. "Mom?" He called from the bottom. He turned to me, letting go of my hand. "Stay here." He said, walking up the stairs.
"Troy!" I whispered. He looked at me while we heard another bang.
"Mom?" He said again. There was know answer. I wanted to take Troy's hand again. It made me feel safe, now I just felt alone. Troy looked back to me as he was almost at the top of the stairs. "Violet." He said under his breath. His eyes filled with concern as he ran up the stairs. I followed after him, not wanting to be alone in the basement.
When I got to the top of the basement stairs, Troy, was already halfway up the other stairs. I heard him opening Violet's bedroom door. I jumped back as I heard another bang from the back door in the kitchen. I looked back up the stairs.
"Troy?" I whispered under my breath, backing towards the stairs. There was another bang. "Troy?" I said again. I knew he wasn't able to hear me.
I slowly opened the french doors and walked through the sitting area into the dinning room. I went to the far wall and slowly leaned around the table. I could see the back door. I leaned forward, looking to see out the glass door. Nothing was there. I jumped again when the phone started ringing. I walked back over to the stairs. The phone continued to ring.
"Troy?" I said. The phone rang again. "Troy, your phone is .. " I could swear I just saw someone in the back yard. My heart started pounding. I went back through to the dinning room. I put my hand over my mouth so I wouldn't scream. I took a breath before looking to the back door. Slowly leaning forward there was another bang, this time at the front door.
I went through the sitting area and back to the stairs. There was a loud bang. I ran up the stairs and saw Violet's door closed. I reached for the handle and through the door opened.
"Troy." I said, walking into the room. Violet was sleeping in her bed. I looked around her room for Troy, but I couldn't see him. I closed Violet's door and walked to Troy's room. "Troy?" I said, walking into his room. Everything looked the same as when Violet showed me earlier. I walked farther into Troy's room, hoping to see out the window.
I opened the curtain and saw a large flash of lightening. The rain was pouring straight down and only got harder as more wind picked up. I looked out onto the street and saw car lights coming up the road. I watched as they passed the Bolton's house. Since when did it ever rain like this? I thought New Mexico was dry and sunny. I guess when it rains .. it rains. I closed the curtain, walking around his room. There was a loud slam down the hall.
"Troy?" I said, walking towards the hall. My heart started pounding when there wasn't an answer. I walked towards the door. There was a shadow walking up the hallway. It stopped outside of Troy's bedroom. "Troy?" I said again. I walked out of Troy's bedroom and saw a tall man, who was defiantly not Troy.
Troy's Point of View
I closed my cell phone, walking out from my parents' bathroom. Then I heard a scream. Oh crap. I thought. I ran as fast as I could out my my parents room and into the hallway. Chad was holding Gabriella's arms. She struggled against them. Gabriella kept kicking and hitting him.
"Let go-" She screamed.
"Please, stop-" Chad tried saying. I ran towards them, pushing Chad away from her. I held her arms.
"Brie! Brie!" I said, trying to calm her down. When she noticed it was me she stopped struggling. She looked over to Chad and tried stepping away.
"He .. then he .. my arms." She said, her eyes mortified. I put my hands on either side of her face.
"Brie, listen to me." I said, her cheeks were burning. "This is my friend." Gabriella looked back to Chad, I could almost hear the sound of her heart fluttering. Chad stepped forward, extending his hand towards Gabriella.
"Chad." He said. Gabriella just stared at him. She looked at me. I nodded encouraging. She kept her eyes on mine.
"There was .. someone .. the door." She panted. I held onto her face.
"It was only Chad." I said. She nodded slowly then looked back to Chad. I turned to face Chad, keeping my arm around Gabriella's waist. "Gabriella .. this is Chad. Chad Gabriella." Chad smiled to her. He walked towards her, extending his hand again. Gabriella moved back a little, staring up at me. I took her hand in mine.
"It's alright Brie." I said. "He came by to see me. When I didn't answer the front door he went to the back." Gabriella just stared at me. Her eyes started moving in every direction. Then her entire body dropped. I caught her gently in my arms.
"Wow." Chad said. I glared at him. I cradled Gabriella in my arms and carried her into my room. I laid her on my bed. I went into my closet to grab a blanket. I put it over Gabriella while all the worry from her face went away.
Chad sat in my desk chair while I sat next to my bed, keeping a steady eye on Gabriella. Gabriella sleeping reminded me of watching Violet sleep. She looked like an innocent child. Her face was smooth of worry and her body was curled into a ball. Also like Violet, I felt the need to protect Gabriella. Something about her seemed to force me to watch over her.
"So," Chad said. "Let's just head out now, before your mom gets home." I glared at him again. He was asking me to leave Gabriella unprotected? Chad sighed and sat back down.
"Come on, man." He said. "This girl has you wiped and you just met her. You don't even know anything about her." I got to my feet.
"I know a lot more then you think." Chad put up his hands, as if in defeat.
"Don't take it personal, man." He said. I walked back over to Gabriella's side. Her small breaths turned into quiet snores. "Seriously though, we need to get going." I shook my head.
"Not yet." I said quietly. Gabriella let out a small moan then turned onto her side, facing away from me. Her dark curls were scattered over my pillows and my blanket was pulled up to her neck.
"Troy, snap out of it." Chad said, through a mini basketball at my arm. I turned to him. "Look, summer is over in less than a month. Would you rather James bother us during the school year?" He asked. I folded my arms.
"Since when is James bothering us?" I asked. "James only comes here every other night to make my life a living hell, not yours or anyone else." Chad got to his feet.
"Listen to yourself, Troy." Chad said. "We've been brothers since pre-school and your going to let one girl walk all over our friendship? What is it about her anyways?" I looked back at Gabriella.
"She's not like other girls." I started saying. "Shes .. different, in a good way. I mean, she chugged a milkshake. She listens to you, no matter what your talking about. Shes just .. amazing." Chad smacked my head.
"Would you stop." He said. "She's changed you and you don't even know it." Chad and I stared at each other with fierce eyes. Finally I backed away from him.
"You should go." I said. Chad shook his head.
"Forget it," He said. "You can face James on your own." He looked back to Gabriella. "Maybe your precious girlfriend will help, cause I'm not."
Gabriella's Point of View
Girlfriend? That's what I get to wake up to with? Girlfriend? Is that what Troy said I was to his friend? I wouldn't mind being his girlfriend, but he'd never asked me. Plus, I don't think we know each other well enough, but in the future I think I would love being Troy's girlfriend. Taking long walks on the beach, holding hands, having picnics together .. just the two of us.
What confused me the most was what Troy's friend said, 'You can face James on your own'. What was that suppose to mean? Who was this James anyways? Was Troy in trouble or something? I wonder if they said anything about it earlier, while I was still out. Out of nowhere I sneezed, hitting my head off my knee that was curled into my stomach.
"Ouch." I said under my breath.
"Gabriella?" Troy said, sitting on the bed next to me. "You alright?" He asked. I rolled over and faced him. I smiled to him.
"Yeah," I said, pinching my nose. "Did your friend leave?" I asked, trying to sound like I hadn't heard anything. Troy nodded saddly. "Oh." I said.
"Yeah," Troy looked at his hands then the phone started ringing. "I'll be right back." Troy said, running from his room. I nodded.
I sat up in a sitting position. I looked over to Troy's mirror. My hair looked crazy. Using my hands, I tried to take away from of the frizz. I pulled all my hair on my right shoulder and took in a breath of Troy's scent. It smelt amazing, indescribable. I smelt my hair again. It was as if I were flouting on a cloud. I heard footsteps coming back to Troy's room. I threw my hair back and leaned against his headboard.
"That was my mom." He said, putting the phone on his desk. "She said that she might be a while longer. Two streets downtown got flooded and police closed them off." I nodded then remembered my mom. I jumped out of the bed.
"I'm just going to see if my mom left me any messages." Troy nodded and got to his feet, following me down the stairs. My bag was sitting next to the door. I opened it and retrieved my cell phone. There were two missed calls. I dialed my mother's cell phone number and listened as it rung. Her voice mail came on. I pushed the end button and called her work.
"Your call has been forward to an automatic voice message system." Said a robotic voice. I pulled my phone away from me ear. The lines must have been out. I slammed my phone harshly into my bag.
"No answer?" Troy asked. I shook my head. "Do you want a drink or anything?" He asked, I nodded slowly. Troy smiled and put his hand on the small of my back, escorting me to the kitchen. He walked over to one of the cupboards and pulled out two mugs.
"Alright," He said, turning to face me. "We have hot chocolate and .. thats it." His dimples flashed at me, making my lips curve into a smile.
"Hard choice," I teased, walking next to him. "I think I'll have the hot chocolate though." He chuckled then pulled out a container of mix.
"Lucky for you, Ms. Montez. I make the best hot chocolate in the world .. or in this house anyways." Troy said, pouring mix into each mug.
"How lucky am I?" I teased again. Troy filled the kettle with water and plugged it in. We leaned against the counter, staring at one another.
We stood facing each other until the lights began to flicker. Troy reached for the kettle. He poured some water into a cup to see if it was hot enough. There was steam coming from mug. Troy turned to me with a smile.
"Your really lucky, you know." He said, handing me a mug. "There's milk in the fridge." I went to open the fridge. I took out the milk and brought it to the island, pouring some into my mug. Troy set his mug down and took mine. He began stirring it with a spoon then stirred his own. I put the milk back the looked to Troy.
"Hopefully the electricity comes back on." I said, leaning against the counter. Troy's eyebrow raised. He walked around me and opened the freezer.
"Would you like a Popsicle?" He asked, waving one in my face. I smiled and took it from him.
"Thank you." I said. Troy removed the empty box and set it on the counter.
"At least these wont have to be thrown away." He said, unwrapping his.
Troy's Point of View
Gabriella smiled as she licked her ice cream. She looked up and started giggling. I stared at her and waited for her to calm down. She pointed at my hand. I looked down and saw my ice cream dripping over the counter and the floor.
"Oh." I said, backing away and putting my ice cream in the sink. I looked around for paper towels. Gabriella stepped in front of me and began cleaning up the mess with paper towel. I grabbed some myself and started wiping the floor. Gabriella bent down and helped me when she was finished with the counter.
For the second time tonight Gabriella's face was inches from mine. I was stabbing myself for not leaning towards her and stealing a kiss from her lips. The only thing was was that I didn't know if Gabriella was ready. Whenever we're together it seemed like we have known each other for years, but in reality it's been two days.
Gabriella's hand slipped into mine, taking the chocolate covered towel from me. She got to her feet and walked over to the garbage can. I stood up and felt my phone vibrating in my pocket. I flipped it opened and read the text message from James.
You still going to meet me tonight for our little late night dance? Or are you going to be a chicken?
I re-read the message three times before closing my phone and slipping it back into my pocket. I don't even know how he got my cell phone number, but even before the championship game I've been receiving his snarly messages. Sometimes, not in text. After the game, when everyone came to my house to celebrate, he showed up and tried to start something. Chad and some other guys stepped in before anything could happen. Something is truly wrong with him though.
"Troy?" Gabriella said. I blinked quickly and saw Gabriella standing with her hot chocolate in her fragile hands. She took a step closer to me, placing one of her hand on my shoulder. "Troy? Are you alright?" She asked.
"Sorry," I said, trying to give her a convincing smile. "I just got lost in thought." Gabriella nodded, slowly taking her hand from my shoulder.
Gabriella went to sit on the bar stool. She watched outside as the trees shook. She sighed softly and took a sip of her drink. She looked back up to me and smiled warmly. I thought I was going to have to grip the counter to stay on my feet. I forced a smile back to her, feeling my knees start to shake.
There was another loud snap of thunder followed by lightning. Somehow I had to sneak away and meet him, even if it was in the wet rain.
...
Thank you everyone for your reviews and ideas. I read over some of the ideas and I loved them all! I will try my best to get them into the story in the near future. I am also sorry for the shorter chapter. This wasn't the original ending I wanted to have, but I'll have all next chapter to fix things up. So, do you think that Troy will go to meet James? What do you think will happen when he doesn't have Chad to back him up? As always I'd love to hear what you thought Wednesday evening. Thanks so much again and stay tuned!