It's been a week, a whole seven days since Tyler and Gabriella broke up. A week in which Tyler hooked up with three girls to fill the emotional void that was created when Gabriella left. A week in which Gabriella walked down the hallways trying to avoid the latest gossip that normally included Tyler and his several hookups. A week in which Troy ran to his chemistry class so as to make sure that Gabriella didn't forget to sit next to him.
Tyler wasn't happy. He was fully aware that he was using the girls, and he hated it. The guilt, however, wasn't strong enough to tear him away. They were giving him things that Gabriella wasn't and he figured it was his right as a teenage boy to go after it. What was really killing him though wasn't that he was using the girls, it was that he was using them in spite of Gabriella. He had this undeniable need to make her hurt like she had made him hurt. It was probably because every time she had a problem she came directly to him and he wanted her to need him, but every time his theory was proven false. Whatever the case he was pissed. More with himself than with Gabriella. He didn't understand why he couldn't just go up and talk to her like he used to. Now, it'd be awkward and he hated that. They clicked from the first time they met each other to last week, always telling each other everything. Why did it suddenly all change?
Troy watched his brother sulk around the house every day and couldn't help feel bad for him. Sure, he got what he deserved but was it all really fair? Troy was getting irritated. Day in and day out for the past seven days, Tyler sat on the couch and did his homework. He arrived home when Troy got home, and he stayed home until school started. Troy had no more space. More than that, he hated the way he felt when Tyler was home. Tyler's depressed state was effecting Troy's head. Troy stopped caring about Tyler a while ago because Tyler seemed to stop caring about him. Why did Troy's heart all of a sudden ache at the sight of his distraught brother?
Gabriella was dealing with the pain of her break-up like most girls do: Cry at night, plaster a smile on your face during the day. She didn't care that other people saw her weak, it was when Tyler saw her weak that bugged her. When Tyler saw her in all her glory she felt like his equal, but once she started crying she was instantly looked on as inferior. She figured it was because he was a guy and that guys like strong girls but she couldn't shake the feeling that not all guys were like that. Take Troy for example. He was a guy, yet he always managed to make her feel like she amounted to something other than a pretty face. In Chemistry, he would always allow her to answer so she could voice her opinion, but then he would try to mix in his own opinion as well. He didn't make her do all the work and she liked that. Troy was a breath of fresh air, but there was something inside of her that was steering her back to Tyler. Maybe she was comfortable with the normal considering she'd been with him for almost three years. Troy, though, was different and she liked exploring him. Why was she suddenly comparing the two brothers? Was that really fair?
"What'd you get for the second question?" Taylor asked in the middle of free period. Gabriella glanced at her friend and then back at her paper.
"Square root of 4x." Gabriella replied reading the problem from her carefully written notes. She saw Taylor nod from the corner of her eye and thanked whoever was listening that Taylor got the same answer.
"Gabby, are you really ok?" Gabriella turned back to Taylor with a surprised look plastered on her face. Taylor sighed and elaborated. "I mean, since the breakup you've been acting really distant. Maybe you could just talk to him."
"Oh, no. I'm pretty sure that I'm done with Tyler." Gabriella nodded reassuring herself that the answer was truthful. After nights of thought, she still hadn't really come to a conclusion but she figured it'd be ok to lie to Taylor.
"Are you sure? I mean he's been your boyfriend for like two year.."
"Three."
"Fine, three years. The point is it's been a week since you broke up. How can that be enough time to heal the heart?" Gabriella was no longer listening. She was looking across the library at Troy who was goofing off with Chad Danforth. Gabriella had seen Chad a couple of times but never really had a conversation with him. She made a mental note to do so.
Taylor felt her best friend drifting off and turned to face the way she was staring. At first all she noticed was two ignorant males fighting over a book in the corner. Then she refocused and noticed who they were.
"Unless you found someone else?" Taylor finished her thought and looked at her best friend. Gabriella turned back around and closed her math book.
"I'll be right back." Gabriella grabbed her stuff and ventured across the large library to where Troy and Chad were talking. Taylor sighed and collected her things to follow her best friend into the trouble she knew was going to ensue. "Hey guys!"
Chad looked up unsurely before speaking. "Hey." He turned back to Troy to continue to carry out the conversation that Gabriella had previously interrupted. When he noticed that Gabriella's presence didn't seem to be going away he looked back over and sighed. "Can we help you?"
"No-not really. I mean, I just came over to say hi." Gabriella was taken aback by Chad's rude behavior and turned to Troy for help who was presently glaring at Chad. "So... I guess I'll see you later." Gabriella turned to walk away, but stopped in her tracks when she heard the voice she came over to talk to.
"No. You can stay. We were just talking about this book." Gabriella turned back around to sit down and join the conversation.
"Twilight? You guys read Twilight?"
"NO!" Troy exclaimed. "Well, I didn't. Chad did." He sighed when he mentioned the latter.
"Oh... well that's cool." Gabriella didn't know what exactly there was left to say so she remained silent and let the boys carry on their previous discussion.
"I thought it was pretty good." Chad mumbled as Troy took the book out of his hands dramatically.
"What's so great about it anyway?" Troy argued back putting the book back onto the table.
"Edward." Gabriella explained simply looking at Chad with a smile.
"See?" Chad waved his arms dramatically. "She agrees with me?"
"What? That Edwards is a hunk?" Gabriella giggled at Chad's reaction to Troy's words.
"No... that's a good book, asshole."
"What are you guys talking about?" Taylor said quietly as she approached the table.
"Twilight and it's weird ability to make teenage girls wish that Rob Pattinson would bite them." Troy explained as Taylor sat down.
"Oh, please. The Twilight obsession is all about a stupid guy who claims he's a vampire even though he resembles a fairy more." Taylor stated bluntly and Gabriella as well as Chad sighed dramatically.
"Thank you!" Troy exclaimed.
"Vampires are dominant creatures on the Earth. They possess power and strength. But Twilight allows people to see the finesse and carefulness that comes with those qualities." Gabriella argued back.
The conversation between the four came easily, never once allowing for an awkward silence to take hold. They talked about movies, classes, and old memories that they wanted to resurface. It continued this way until the last ten minutes of free period.
Tyler made his way into the library to find a book that his teacher was making him read for extra credit. He would've avoided the section that his ex-girlfriend was in if it hadn't been for some idiot who put his book in the wrong section. He was led into the resources section, where they kept the encyclopedias, and saw them. They appeared to be having a great time, laughing more than he had in ages. It wasn't the fact that Gabriella was happy; it wasn't even the fact that she was flirting with a guy: it was who she was flirting with that pissed him off. After debating in his head for several minutes, he decided that confrontation was 100% necessary. He walked up briskly and slammed his book onto the table.
"Oh... uh. Hey Tyler." Troy said awkwardly as his brother stormed over to the table.
"Don't 'hey' me, asshole!" Tyler screamed causing everyone in the library to look over. Troy just shook his head, allowing the insult to go over his head. He would wait until later to retaliate, he wasn't one for public scenes.
"What do you want?" Taylor asked, not wanting to be rude but appearing so anyway.
"I wanted to talk to Gabriella."
"Oh, hey Tyler. I almost didn't see you there." Gabriella spoke, her words dripping with sarcasm.
"Don't start with me, Gabs."
"You already started it!" Gabriella screamed back causing unwanted eyes to be cast upon her.
"Fine, stop flirting with my brother!"
"I'm allowed to flirt with anyone I want to. We made that clear when we broke up, remember?" Gabriella stood up and collected her books. "I got to go guys. I'll talk to you later." And with that she left the room, not once turning back with Taylor following closely behind.
"Stay away from my girlfriend." Tyler growled at Troy who rolled his eyes to return.
"Ex." Troy corrected and continued to talk to Chad about previous topics, ignoring Tyler's fist coming in contact with the table they were sitting at. He's known Tyler too long to be scared. He wouldn't be scared, not one bit. He was just as much a part of Gabriella's life too, now. He had his chances and he was sure as hell going to take them.
No excuse for this being SO late, other than school, but we've all heard that before. I'm sorry. I'll try to update Unconnected Love sometime within the next week. Don't forget to Review!
