A/N: again, thank you for all the reviews and sorry for every mistake. This story involves a lot of characters, so I'm sorry if you're all confused. But everything will fall in place with every chapter. - xo, Mel
Chapter 6
Electricity: Phenomenon associated with stationary or moving electric charges. The word comes from the Greek elektron ("amber"); the Greeks discovered that amber rubbed with fur attracted light objects such as feathers; often associated to exceptionally tense and highly charged with emotion situations.
That's exactly what Gabriella Montez was feeling at that moment. Pure electricity.
As soon as his lips had touched hers, she had known that feeling of intense heat was going to explode inside of her. It had always been like that, whether it was a kiss or a simple caress, he would make her entire bondy feel like the centre of the universe, where all the energy converged. He had the capacity of making her lose her strict and serious facade and change it into a much funnier and happier one and she loved it. She had always had.
He was a special guy, one of those rare, humble and genuinely good at heart that were born once every 10.000 years and for a short period of time, she had been lucky to call him "hers". Thinking back, he was the only guy who had been able to make her feel at ease with just a smile, even in the most awkward silcences; he would take the lead everytime, of course, but there hadn't been one single day she had regretted or not approved what they did.
But then, something had changed. When the last days of senior year had approached, she had started reflecting on their future: shocking her in front of the entire student body and families, he had declared all his love by speaking out and letting everybody know he was going to follow her to California.
At first, the only thought going through her mind had been I love this guy more than I could ever think; that same thought had soon turned into a feeling of great fear when he had started talking about looking for an apartment to share. They'd sit in her garden going through every kind of websites to find the right place, but in her heart it hadn't been right. Something was wrong, something was missing. She wasn't feeling as excited as she should have been.
Everybody had kept telling her how lucky she was, how happy she must feel, but in reality, all she could feel was emptiness. She loved Troy, she loved him more than she could put down in words, but she was young and so was he. Was it really right to move in together and build up a life without experiencing everything else?
She had led him on, she agreed with everything he said and did, until one day she was left alone with Jack Bolton and a white sheet in the Boltons' living room.
That day finally had made her face her choices. The day after, she had been on a plane on her way to Standford; the seat besides her had been empty.
"Wait..", she tore her lips away from his, turning her head on the other side and brushing her cheeks, that happened to feel incredibly hot.
Troy watched her get up and followed her movements from his spot on the grass. She brought a hand on her forehead and closed her eyes.
"Are you okay?", he asked.
She opened her eyes and looked at him briefly, before setting her eyes on the ground.
"You shouldn't have done that", she whispered.
Troy furrowed his eyebrows and brought his knees up, letting his arms rest on them.
"Well, to be honest it looked like you were enjoying it", he joked.
She looked at him, annoyed and he raised his hands up.
"Fine, fine, I'm sorry!", he pulled himself up and approached her, his hands still in the air. She watched his big figure nearing her and she couldn't help but feel her stomach tighten at the thought of his lips going back to the places they had been years ago. You were enjoying it.
Shooking her head, she stopped him with her hand on his chest.
"I'm serious, Troy. It shouldn't have happened, we got carried away by something that isn't there anymore.", she looked him straight into his eyes ready to fight him.
If only it wasn't so hard, she thought.
He looked down at her hand and then back up.
"But it happened and we both know it did for a reason", he took her wrist between his fingers and brushed his thumb on her pulse, before taking her hand in his.
"Yes, 'cause we got carr-"
"It was written in the stars.", he interrupted her. Their eyes locked immediately at the sound of their old motto and for a second she thought she was going to lose it. Luckily, all those years had made her stronger.
"It's been 10 years, Troy. I've changed, you've changed. Things have changed.", she stubbornly pointed out.
Troy let out a sarcastic chuckle and pulled her close.
"That's bullshit and you know that. As much as you say we've all changed, there's something that hasn't: the stars. Our fate is written in them and whether you like it or not, our fate is to be together", he leaned in and laid his nose on hers.
Their warm breaths mixed up together, their lips were just an inch far from each other but just like they were about to touch, she pulled away, her eyes still closed.
"I don't believe in fairytales anymore, Troy", she opened her eyes and tore her hands from his, "you can't fix up something that isn't even there anymore."
"So we're just ganna be strangers from now on, huh?", he clenched his jaw.
She pushed her hair behind her ears and played with her fingers.
"We can't fix up what's not there anymore, but we can build something new?"
She watched his face expressions change from one of anger to one of confusion to one more of surprise. At the end, it broke into a bright smile she almost got lsot into.
"Step by step?", he asked.
"Step by step", she agreed, taking his hand and pulling him towards the stands, "first step: buy me some candyfloss!"
He let her pull him as he furrowed his eyebrows and calmly got in line with her.
"I thought you said you weren't a little girl anymore?"
She punched his chest and turned her face away from him, looking right in front of her.
"I said I don't believe in fairytales, I haven't said you are exempted from spoiling me", she said as the line moved.
After Troy had granted her wish, they walked side by side talking about everything, from their college experiences, to their new lives, from their old buddies, to their new friends.
She told him everything about Stanford. How she had worked her ass off to graduate with magna cum laude, how she had made friends with a girl who had clumsily plucked off her whole eyebrow and was then forced to draw it for a month before it grew back again and how said girl had made her go through a real full college experiece full of parties and fraternities. He had told her everything about the great life he had had in New York instead, about all the parties he attended every week and where he would meet tons of stars. He shared with her the incredible experiences of going to lunch with Eva Longoria, of presenting an award at the Oscars and his feeling when he had met the biggest hero of his childhood at the annual NBA charity ball: Michael Jordan.
"I bet you drooled all over his shirt", she joked, eating some of her candyfloss.
"Well who wouldn't?, he chuckled. "No, seriously, my hands were shaking. I mean, when I heard he was there I thought about all the times Chand and I watched his old games dad taped on VCR's and how they both would have died if they were at my place. But when I saw him... I was like Charlie when he saw Willy Wonka for the first time, I just wanted to reach out and touch him to be sure it wasn't a ghostly chocolate bar"
Gabriella looked at him bewildered.
"You do know that's the gayest comparison I've ever heard, right?"
"I know, but it was the best I could come up with at the moment. Thank your candyfloss for it", he reached out and stole some to put in his mouth, as she laughed and pushed him with her shoulder.
Suddenly, her eyes widened and she screeched. She hit his bicep hard and pointed at a stand.
"Look!"
Troy followed her finger and spotted a basketball stand settled up by the school basketball team; he remembered doing the same when he was their age. It was one of the best memories he shared with his old teammates. Apart from winning the championships, of course.
She looked back at Gabriella, licking the sugar off his fingers.
"Yeah, so?"
"Remember when you won that big, teddy bear for me? You should win one too tonight, to honor the old times!", she smiled at him and hooked her arm with his.
"Coooome on! It'll be fun. Plus, you'll make me and lots of kids happy with your big donation", she fluttered her eyelashes at him, sticking her lower lip out.
He looked at her for a few minutes, before sighing and letting her pull him towards the stand. The nearer they got, the funnier the players' faces got.
"I bet you looked just like them when your chocolate bar", Gabriella whispered next to him as they stopped at the booth.
He faked a smile at her and patted her hair.
"Ha ha, very funny. Hi guys", he turned towards the starstruck young boys, pointing at the panda hanging on the side, "how many baskets for our big friend there?"
The sandy haired one on the left, probably the Captain, spoke up.
"4, Sir", he handed him the ball with shaking hands, before swallowing and licking his lips.
"Uhm, the donation is free, Sir, but it starts at 10 dollars", Gabriella watched the scene from the side, hiding a smile.
Troy reached for his wallet and threw it at her with an amused expression.
"You're having so much fun, aren't you? Give them all I have", he asked her.
"You have no idea", she replied, taking out 200 dollars and handing them to the boy, "take these Jim, before he changes his mind"
Troy bounced the ball up and down twice, before speaking again.
"Aww, you make me sound like a Scrooge"
"Maybe you are", she said, as Troy patted his chest.
"Ouch!", he winked at her and looked back at the nets.
He turned sideways and bounced the ball. Rolling back on his ball of his feet, he set his eyes on the furthest one, letting his hand come into the common t-shape, before releasing the ball, who swiftly went through the net without even touching the rim. He chuckled when he heard the boys mumble in appreciation, before Jim handed him another ball.
Repeating the actions, he shot 2 more identical baskets, before he heard Gabriella speak out.
"Looks like someone's trying to impress somebody?"
He looked at her a licked the corner of his mouth, rolling the ball between his hands. She shook her head and crossed her arms.
"You love it, don't you?"
"A little", he laughed and bounced the ball once, throwing it without leaving her eyes.
The ball went in anyway.
It was a little after midnight when Troy Bolton and Gabriella Montez were walking down Kensington St. hand in hand with a giant panda. The fresh breeze blowed the brown eyed woman's hair away from her face, letting the sweet moonlight make her flawless skinn look as gold as honey.
He couldn't remember the last time he had enjoyed a fair this much. Hell, he couldn't even remember the last time he had been to one. He had always been so busy running away from this place by burying himselft the upper society's life that he had forgot how beautiful life had been in Albuquerque during his childhood and teenhood. Before it happened.
"I can't believe you signed 1 dollar!"
"Trust me, fans have asked me to sign a lot of weird stuff... and places"
They both laughed, swinging their arms back and forth as their feet tapped against the sidewalk, the big panda setting a barrier between them. As they reached the end of the road, Gabriella stopped right in front of a metal fence that divided a condo complex from the road. Troy looked up at the structure, nodding his head and smiling down at her.
"I guess this is your place? It's nice"
"I'd invite you up, but it's so late and the place's a mess. We better say our goodbye's here", she said, biting the inside of her cheek.
Troy let go of the bear and she clutched it to her chest, as to protect herself from his look. He closed up the space between them and let his lips touc her cheek.
She closed her eyes briefly, her stomach churning, while he moved away, lingering for a moment to inhale her scent.
"Goodnight, Brie", he burned her eyes with his look, before turning around and walking away. He looked back once more before turning the corner and she waved at him with the bear's paw.
"Night", she whispered softly.
When she was sure he was far enough, she opened the fence and walked up to the porch. She reached clumsily into her bag, holding the panda to her side while she looked for her keys. Once she got in, she walked into the elevator and pushed the third botton.
During the short ride, she let her back hit the metal cold wall and threw her head back, fixing her eyes on the ceiling and holding the panda tight to her chest.
This must be a nightmare. Why did he have to come back now? He had been away for 10 years. 10 years for goodness sake!
He hadn't come back when Chad, his bestfriend, had graduated, even if he had been invited. He hadn't come back for the 5 year reunion, even though Chad had pleaded him to come and support him in watching Taylor, the girl he was still in love with at the time, dance with another man. And he hadn't even come back when his mother had needed him the most. When Bea had needed him the most.
She squeezed her eyes tight, a single tear escaping her eyes at the thought of her, as the elevator's door opened in front of her. She wiped it away with her hand and move to step out. She reached her doorstep and let out a deep sigh, before opening the door and getting in.
She looked around: everything was perfectly clean and tidied up, every book was at its own place and every little piece of dust was gone. She saw a small figure curled up on the sofa and she smiled, sitting the bear down on the armchair and leaning down to shake the girl.
"Sarah? Sweetie, wake up", she murmured, watching her eyes open slowly. The blonde girl sat up, rubbing her eyes.
"Gabby... Sorry, I must've fallen asleep...", she looked around adjusting her eyes to the small light coming from the lamp the beautiful latina had switched on.
"It's past midnight, sweetie. You should go home", she said, stroking her hair and smiling.
Gabriella walked her to the door after she had collected her things and handed her her check.
"Thank you, Gabby. They're in your bedroom, they wanted to sleep there and stay up for you, but after 5 pages of Dr Seuss they fell right asleep", the girl giggled, hugging Gabriella and going on her way.
"Bye, Sarah and thank you", she waved her off, closing the door behind her.
After undressing and washing her make up off, she walked to her bedroom and leaned on the doorframe. She watched two little bumps raise and fall under the covers of her huge bed: they seemed so small, almost swallowed up by the red, silk sheets and the fluffy cover.
Smiling melancholy, she stepped over to the bed, lifting the blankets, and laid down. She wrapped her arms around the tiny bodies of a little boy and a little girl, hugging them closer to her. The boy's eyes fluttered open and he rolled in her embrace, hugging her belly and looking up at her with his big eyes.
"I missed you, Gabella", he said.
"I missed you and Ellen too, Ben", she kissed his forehead and hugged him to her chest, humming a lullaby as the little guy fell back asleep against her breasts with a thumb in his mouth. She reached with her other hand the blonde curls of the little girl, stroking them off her face and smiling at the sight of her small, parted lips.
Closing her eyes, she let sleep overtake her. Though her dreams were anything but peaceful, with two big blue eyes hauting them. Troy's.
"You kissed her?!"
It was late in the morning when Celeste Danforth screamed out those three words at the Wilkinson Residence. She and Troy had been there since 8 am to start fixing up the bedrooms and between a bucket of paint and the other, they had ended up talking about what Celeste called Troy's "date".
He was sitting cross legged on the floor, using his brush to draw a perfectioning line of paint along the doorframe. He winced when she bounced up from her sitting position next to him and screamed, making her voice echoing in the empty room.
"Jeeze, Cece. Calm down, it was just a kiss", he looked up at her, "is it such a big deal?"
"Of course it is! You never kiss on the first date. Never!", she pinched his neck, making him jump.
"What the heck?! It's not like it was our first kiss ever. We did more than that. A lot more than that", he smirked and she rolled her eyes.
"Rule number one: take things slow. It's not just a matter of charme, it's also a matter of seduction", she picked up her brush again and walked to the window to repaint the frame.
"Seduction?", Troy looked at her with a funny expression, as he dipped his brush again and went to give the wall a second hand.
"Yes. Imagine you have the last, delicious chocolate covered strawberry of the entire world. You know it's the last one and never, ever again humans are ganna taste something like that again. You have it, but you don't know if you should eat it. You wait, and wait, and wait and meanwhile you look at it. You eat it with your eyes, you learn by heart every shape, every shade of color and in the end... You eat it. It tastes like heaven, but not the kind of heaven you're used to. A better heaven, 'cause you waited, and waited and waited for it."
Troy stilled in his movements and stared at the lame green wall in front of him.
"Wow. I never thought of that", he whispered out.
"I know, right? I'm a genius!", Celeste looked back at him and smiled, as Troy turned sideways and set her eyes on her with a thoughtful expression.
"Didn't that strawberry taste rotted after all that waiting?"
Celeste's jaw almost hit the ground, while Troy chuckled and dodged the rag she tossed at him.
Suddenly, silence took over the room and her face darkened. She was looking out of the window at something that obviously wasn't making her any happy.
He obserbed her body go from a comfortable and relaxed state to a nervous and angry one. He got up and went to stand by her when she quickly turned around and pushed him back by his chest.
"Can you wait here for a minute? I'll be back soon", she quickly rushed out of the room and ran down the stairs.
He looked back at the spot where she had been and walked to the window, spotting a black motorbike in front of the porch and a guy in a leather jacket leaning against it. It looked like nothing good.
Fifteen minutes had passed and Celeste was still outside with the leather-jacket-dude. From her face, Troy could tell this sudden appearance wasn't on the schedule and Cece wasn't at all pleased with it. Ten more minutes and then I'll go.
All of a sudden he heard something crashing to the floor and Cece's voice getting louder. He raced down the stairs straight outside, where the guy was holding her down on the dusted soil, as she screamed at his face.
"Let me go, Blaze. Now!"
"To hell, you're coming back with me right now!"
As Troy watched his hand smash against her face in a hard slap, he lost his mind completely. He launched himself towards the guy and grabbing him by his jacket, he tore him off of her and punched him in the jaw. He fell back on the floor, losing his balance, as Troy grabbed his collar and pulled him up; he hit his knee right into his stomach, making him cough out and then threw him away, towards his motorbike.
"Get off this property right now, before I call the cops", he growled at him, standing before Celeste who, meanwhile, had got up and rubbed her sore cheek.
The guy held himself up leaning on his motorbike and smirked at him.
"I see, you've found Mr superstar to fuck now", he spat down at Troy's feet, who didn't make any movement apart from squeezing his hands into two tight fists.
Celeste came up behind him and wrapped her hand around his bicep.
"Go away, Blaze", she said, looking at him with a cold stare.
"I'm going, I'm going. But this isn't over", he pointed at her, before climbing on his motorbike. He started it and turned it towards the road. Troy burned his figure with his eyes.
"Touch her again and I'll kill you with my own hands", Troy yelled as the guy rode away.
When he was finally out of sight, he turned back to look at Celeste: she had a violet bruise forming on her cheek and her lower lip was getting puffy and bleeding. He took a few steps closer and she looked down, feeling his fingers grabbing her chin and his eyes examining the damage.
"Damn", he whispered, "who the fuck was that asshole?"
She closed her eyes and held back the tears. Troy stroked her cheek softly, looking into her eyes.
"You can trust me, Cece, I won't tell anybody if you don't want me to"
She bit her lip hard. Suddenly, the Celeste Troy had always known, the strong, indipendent and adventurous one was gone; a small, fragile and scared one had taken her place. Tears started rolling down her cheeks and he held her face between his hands and looked at her intensely.
"God... What did he do? What did that beast do to you?", he growled out, anger boiling inside of him.
She broke out in tears in his arms and started convulsing against his chest in a loud, desperate cry. He could do nothing but cradling her in his arms, stroking her hair and holding her tight, while her tears wet his shirt. She could barely talk, but between her incessant sobbing he was able to catch a scary phrase that took his mind back to the same situation of 10 years ago.
"He's my ex boyfriend and... he... he might've... given me AIDS"
