Chapter 7

I woke up the next morning. I squinted my eyes to make out the time the clock read hanging on the wall. Troy would be here at noon. It was now ten. I got out of bed and walked down the hall to the closet towels were kept in. I went to the bathroom down the other end of the hall. I pulled off my clothes I slept in and tossed them in the laundry shoot. I hung my towel and then hopped in the shower.

I shut off the water and slid open the shower door. I grabbed the towel hanging and dried myself off.

I skipped down the steps, fully dressed for the day ahead.

"Gabriella? Where are you headed to?" Mimi asked me.

"Oh. I'm hanging out with Troy. Is that okay?"

"Of course. Have fun." She smiled at me and turned back to the news on the television. Something about a car crash.

I walked out of the house closing the door behind me. I decided to sit on the porch and wait for him.

"Boo!" Troy yelled jumping up from the side.

I looked over at him casually. "Hey."

"I didn't scare you?" He pouted.

"Nope." I grinned. "That's a hard thing to do."

"Well, I have a new promise." He cheekily smiled at me.

"To scare me?"

"Yup."

"Why do you make so many promises?" I asked looking at him with a raised eyebrow.

"I don't. Only to you."

"Oh. That's... nice."

"Yeah." He laughed.

Troy grabbed my hand and started leading me across the street to his house where his car was parked in the drive way.

"What movie are we seeing?"

"Well, you'll have to wait and see."

"Oh. Wanna keep me in suspense?" I asked.

"Yup." He opened his car door for me and I slid in. He got in on the other side.

"Will you at least tell me what restaurant we're going to?"

"Nope. And I have to make a quick stop at the hospital for my brother."

"You have a brother?"

"Yeah. He's twenty something and he forgot his pager, so my mom's making me drop it off for him. You think he could remember this..."

"Oh. Okay, then." I laughed.

Troy looked over at me with a crocked smile and then turned his attention back to driving. He kept doing this over and over until I said something out of annoyance.

"What?" I asked paranoid.

"Nothing. Just figuring out what makes you tick."

"Asshole." I mumbled.

"Awe. I'm sorry." He stuck his bottom lip out. I have to admit, he looked extremely cute like this.

"You're forgiven."

"Good." He smiled proudly.

I smiled then stared out the window looking down at the road.

"You okay?" Troy asked pulling me from my trance.

I looked at him and nodded. "Yeah."

"You sure?"

"Positive." I smiled.

"Alright. We're here." The car came to a stop and Troy pulled the key out. I got out of his car and Troy walked over to my side and we walked into the hospital.

He walked right to the front desk, acting like he's done this a thousand times. A short, stout, woman with curly brown hair was sitting there. She had a pair of headphones on and her fingers kept swiping the keys on the keyboard. She finally looked up at Troy. "Can I help you?"

"Uh yeah. My brother, David Bolton, forgot his pager."

"Oh. He's-" The secretary got cut of by medics bursting through the door with someone on a stretcher.

She quickly got up and started asking the medics questions.

"D.U.I." That was all I could hear.

"Troy?" I heard a voice behind me. I turned around to see a young man with a five 'o clock shadow and brown hair walking towards Troy. "Do you have it?" He asked frantically.

"Dude. Relax. I got it right here." Troy pulled the pager out of his back pocket and handed it to his brother, David.

"Who's your friend?" He asked nodding his head in my direction.

"Erm. David, shouldn't you be with some patient?" Troy asked.

"Nope. I'm on break. Is it your girlfriend? Mom and dad know?"

"She's not my girlfriend." Troy answered plainly.

"Oh. Well, like what is she?"

"A friend." Troy explained sounding like he was talking to a four year old. "Girls can be just friends."

"Mine weren't." David chuckled. "She got a name, Troy?"

"I'm Gabriella." I stuck my hand out for a shake. I saw he had gloves on covered in blood. I quickly took my hand back.

"It's cool." He laughed. "I'm David, Troy's brother."

"Nice to meet you." I smiled.

"You too, but I have to get back. See ya later, Troy." He walked down the hall and then turned around. "Better treat her better than the other ones!" He called.

I didn't understand what David meant, but Troy reached over to hold my hand and started walking down the hospital hallway.

"What did your brother mean?" I asked.

"Nothing. Don't worry about it."

"Okay..." I let go of Troy's hand and put a piece of hair behind me ear. I heard Troy sigh next to me. Out of the corner of my eye, he was rubbing the back of his neck. He had a very uneasy look on his face. What was going on?

"Everything okay?" I asked him.

"Yeah." He answered without looking at me.

We walked by the room where the person just in the car crash was. I glanced in before walking by. I stopped and walked backwards to the room. I watched the person being lifted from the stretcher onto the bed. My eyes widen and I stood there in complete shock.

"Gabby?" I heard Troy next to me. That was the first time he called me a nickname. I was too busy watching the person in the hospital bed to answer him.

I started walking into the hospital room. A nurse stopped me. "Ma'am, please wait in the waiting room." She stepped in front of me.

I made my way past her and over to the body on the hospital bed. I couldn't believe this. Never in a million years would I think this would happen. I didn't blink. This could all be an illusion. Ryan was in front of me, unconscious.

Hmm. Now what's gonna happen? Oh, and just so this is clear, because someone sent me a message about it, Ryan is not Sharpay's brother. I didn't even realize that the names were the same when I made his character up. Review.