Title: Fire And Ice
Summary: They repel like magnets; he's the mysterious boy, living the perfect life in LA, she's the determined girl, struggling as a journalist. Their worlds clash, one hiding, one digging. Fire and ice were never meant to be together, were they?
DISCLAIMER: I don't own anything.
CHAPTER EIGHT
"Afhaowehfoaiwef."
Gabriella's eyes snapped open and she jumped out of bed. She rushed into the bathroom, rubbing her eyes with sleepiness against the bright, early morning sunlight and reached over to hold up Sharpay's long silky blonde locks.
"Oh, Shar," Gabriella sighed as Sharpay emptied out what Gabriella realized was last night's dinner. "Are you okay? Do you want me to get you some water or something?"
Sharpay coughed, flushing the toilet and rinsing her mouth, squinting her eyes with disgust. "Ugh, I hate being pregnant. This damn baby better be worth it," Sharpay fluffed out her hair and reapplied a layer of her new favorite shimmery pink lip gloss.
Gabriella took Sharpay's hand in hers and rubbed her knuckles comfortingly, before leading her into the kitchen. Sharpay took seat at the kitchen island as Gabriella went to the fridge and pulled out two bottles of water, as was their usual routine for the past two weeks. "Well. This most definitely sucks." Sharpay tossed her hair back, before wincing as a wave of nausea hit her.
"What?" Gabriella smiled, handing her a bottle of water and an orange.
"I don't have a guy, I don't have a future, my clothes won't fit anymore soon, and you and Troy are not together…" Sharpay moaned, viciously slicing the orange up and popping pieces into her mouth.
Gabriella laughed. "Firstly, you have me, Shar. I'll always be here for you, alright? And secondly, you have an amazing future. You're talented, beautiful, and a renaissance woman. Seriously, Shar? If you don't have a future, I am basically looking my death in the eye," Gabriella giggled. "And about your clothes? Hello. Shopping. As for that last comment, I have no idea what you're talking about." Gabriella smiled coyly. "I love Matt, and you know it, Shar."
Sharpay sighed, annoyed. "That boy is way too fucking touchy feely for me. Hey Gabs, I'll call up Taylor and we can all go shopping later on, it's a Saturday, our favorite day of the week." Sharpay grinned, and suddenly her eyes lit up. "Hey Gabs, do we have hotdogs? I'm really craving a good old fashioned dog right now—"
All of a sudden, the door burst open, and Zeke ran in, out of breath. His eyes were wide as he took a deep breath. "Guys, we have a problem. Especially you, Gabriella. We have to get to the hospital, now. Troy's dad…" Zeke trailed off, looking the girls knowingly in the eye.
Gabriella and Sharpay both jumped up, rushing out of the kitchen in search of shoes. Gabriella shot a quick glance in the mirror, frowning at her navy blue tank top, grey sweatpants, and curly mess of hair. She sighed, shrugging it off as she knew Troy needed them, and followed Zeke and Sharpay into Zeke's Mercedes. On the way to the hospital they were silent, all dreading what was going to happen. Gabriella knew Troy had been going through a tough time during the past few weeks, as Chad hadn't spoken a word to his former best friend and Jack Bolton's health got worse and worse. A flicker of confusion and curiosity fluttered inside of Gabriella, and she wondered why Zeke had singled her out. Maybe this had to do with the fact that Mrs. Bolton obvious did not like Gabriella at all, as she'd shown in the few times she'd met her in the hospital when she was waiting for Troy. Gabriella sighed, running a hand through her tangled hair. Poor Troy, she thought. Chad still didn't know the baby was Zeke's, and Troy had been under so much pressure and stress lately, she could see the practically permanent dark circles under his eyes and the hardened look in his icy ceruleans.
"I'll park and help Shar, you go first, Gabs," Zeke told her, stopping by the entrance of the hospital. Gabriella ran out of the car and through the already familiar hospital doors, a wave of cold air hitting her and raising goosebumps on her bare arms. She rushed past the familiar hallways, before coming to a sudden stop in front of Troy's father's hospital room. There was a stretch of glass outside the room, and she peeked in and saw an emancipated Troy sitting next to his pale father, tightly grasping his hands…
Jack Bolton felt like he was being watched, and he raised his eyes to see a dark-haired beauty peeking in at them through the glass window. His heart quickened, and he suddenly felt like he was transported back more than forty years previous…
"Stop it!" she laughed, her luscious, long curls swaying around her hips as she held her hands out in front of soaking wet body defensively. "Don't you dare spray me again, Jack, or I swear I'll—"
"You'll what?" Jack Bolton grinned confidently, holding the garden hose tighter in his hands. His 18-year-old, basketball captain's body loomed almost a foot over her, and she giggled and looked up at him through her thick eyelashes.
"I won't kiss you for the whole day," she smiled sweetly, standing on her tiptoes and wrapping her arms around his neck. She pressed her petite body against his, and he wrapped one arm around her waist.
"You can't last that long," Jack laughed at the preposterous thought. With his free hand he flicked his wrist and a shower of cool droplets fell on their hands. The beautiful brunette in his arms squealed and squirmed, but he held her tighter and they laughed together before he leaned down and captured her lips in a sweet kiss, the warm summer sun baking them and the cool water dripping down their hair.
"I love you," he whispered into her ear, and he felt her smile as she laced her hands with his.
"I love you too, Jack," she replied softly. "Forever."
"Dad?" Troy asked worriedly, seeing the blank look in his father's eyes. Jack Bolton was yanked back into the present, and he glanced weakly out the window again, but there was no sign of the brunette girl. "Are you okay?"
"Yes, yes, I'm fine," Jack replied distractedly. Had he been dreaming? "What's the name of that girl that you've been with, Troy?" Jack could feel his wife stiffen beside him, and he knew he'd hit home.
"Um, Gabriella Montez," Troy replied, confusedly glancing at his mother, whose cold, hard look mirrored the one he so often wore.
"Can you ask her to come in for a second? I want to talk to her," Jack asked weakly but firmly. He knew his time was ticking away, and he wanted to see a glimpse of her, one last time. Troy stood up cautiously and left the room.
"Jack…" Lucille Bolton gripped her husband's hand tightly. "Don't do this."
"I have to, Lucy," Jack replied, smiling at her and rubbing her knuckles lightly. "I love you. I chose you, remember?" Lucille Bolton flinched and nodded, standing up as Troy reentered with the all-too-familiar Latina beauty by his side. Jack couldn't take his eyes off her, and his eyes filled with tears.
"Alone," he whispered hoarsely, and Troy shot Gabriella one last questioning look before leaving the room with his mother. Gabriella looked up shyly, extremely confused.
"Hello, Mr. Bolton," she said timidly, breaking the silence that had fallen. Jack Bolton gestured weakly to the seat next to him, and Gabriella hesitantly sat down.
"You look exactly like your mother," Jack Bolton stated calmly, looking at Gabriella with surprisingly clear blue eyes. Gabriella's eyes widened, and Jack chuckled softly. "You have her hair, her nose, her bone structure… And most of all, you have her eyes." Jack Bolton closed his eyes, lost in memories. "Those eyes… They burned like fire, always so passionate. Maria…"
"You knew my mother?" Gabriella asked, her heart fluttering wildly in her chest.
"Oh, I did so much more than just know her," Jack Bolton smiled, and for a second, he felt like an 18 year old boy again, sitting on the sand with his first love in his arms. "I loved her, and I loved her very much."
Gabriella's eyes filled with tears as she looked at this frail old man, who was staring at her but seemed to be seeing someone else. Suddenly, she gasped. "JB… Jack Bolton… You wrote all those letters. I saw them, from the summers she spent in Santa Fe."
Jack Bolton smiled, and Gabriella too could see the handsome, charming 18-year-old her own mother had loved dearly. "Yes, that was me. Gabriella, dear," Jack coughed, and he felt himself fading. He looked closely at the girl in front of him, taking in her dark ringlets, tanned skin, slim, petite figure, and warm, chocolate eyes. "Take this." He reached under his pillow, and pulled out a faded, worn out leather notebook. Gabriella guessed what it was, and took it from him with shaking hands.
"Someone should know our story," Jack Bolton smiled dreamily. He then looked at Gabriella with those clear eyes. "I'm ready to say goodbye to my family now. Take care, Gabriella Montez. Tell your mother I say hi."
Gabriella left the room quietly, tears streaming down her cheeks. She told Troy and his mother to go back into the room, and ran down the maze-like halls before reaching the waiting room, where she'd spent hours in for the past six weeks. She clutched the worn leather notebook to her chest as she spotted her waiting friends. She collapsed into a hard plastic chair next to Sharpay and wiped the tears out of her eyes.
"Gabriella, are you okay?" Taylor asked her cautiously. Gabriella looked up at them, her eyes rimmed with red.
"Jack Bolton knew my mother," she answered, half hysterical. "He knew her."
Sharpay raised her eyebrows. "And…?"
"I didn't, Shar." Gabriella looked down at the notebook in her lap. "My mother died when I was three years old. I never got to know her. I never even saw a picture of her." She flipped open the cover, and took out a creased picture that had been folded into the front. The group crowded around her gasped.
"Oh, my god…" Sharpay put a hand to her mouth, her eyes widening. The picture was faded and yellow, but there was no mistaking it. It seemed to be a picture of a slightly younger Troy and Gabriella with their arms around each other and identical wide smiles on their faces as waves crashed around their ankles. The Troy in the picture was taller, his features straighter, and the Gabriella had long, curling hair down to her waist, her head leaning against his chest. However, the resemblance was shocking, and Gabriella stared at the picture, drinking it all in. It was the first picture she'd seen of her mother, and strangely, it struck her how perfect they seemed to be for each other…
Thirty minutes later, Troy walked out of his father's hospital room. He couldn't see through the pain, and he felt like a huge hole had been ripped out of his heart. But he had to be strong for his mother's sake, and he held her as they walked towards the exit of the hospital. He could feel the dampness of his mother's tears, and he choked back a sob, his face hardening and his eyes turning into solid ice. He told his mother to go home, handled everything with the doctors, paid all the bills, and folded up a brochure about funeral arrangements. He walked stiffly to the waiting room where his friends were, and was greeted by a round of hugs and pats on the back, but he felt numb to it all. He couldn't even muster up the energy to ask Gabriella about what his father had said to her. His heart ached, and all he wanted to do was go back home and crawl into his bed and never wake up again. He robotically answered all his friends' questions and concerns with one word answers without thinking, and then he drove himself back to his apartment, despite the protests of his friends. When he arrived home, he threw the brochure into a corner of the living room and crawled into bed, shutting his eyes tight and trying to fight the gaping hole in his chest. He couldn't see, he couldn't hear, and he could barely breathe as his world was consumed in a wave on unconsciousness, where he dreamed and dreamed.
"Nice shot, Troy!" he looked at the smiling eyes of his father as he shot his plastic basketball into the multicolored toy hoop in the living room, much at the protest of his mother.
"Come on, Troy! Dribble… and shoot!" his dad grinned at him as he practiced in his backyard at the age of eight, already skilled and familiar with that big orange ball.
"TROY! You made the team!" His father smiled at him proudly that fall day, freshman year. "Youngest varsity member… after me, of course," his father hugged him tightly, rubbing his messy hair.
"YOU GOT THIS TROY!" he heard his dad shout as he raced against the clock to score that final winning point, sweat dripping down his face.
"You've always made me proud, son," he read in those gentle blue eyes on the day of his graduation. "I love you."
For the next week, Gabriella was constantly busy, and between worrying about her friends and learning about her mother and going out with Matt she barely had time to breathe. Troy was constantly on her mind, as he was all alone in his apartment since Chad had moved in with Taylor, the irony, and he hadn't spoken to anyone all week, or even come out of his apartment at all as far as she knew. Sharpay was getting more and more pregnant, her stomach growing slightly more defined, and she was having cravings in the middle of the night. The supermarket became a second home to Gabriella. Plus, Chad was getting more and more depressed with the growing of the baby inside Sharpay, and he was constantly grumpy and hard to deal with. Taylor was as well, and Gabriela could see that Taylor was trying everything to cheer Chad up but with no avail. Zeke was constantly busy with his cooking with some big event coming up, and he snuck over as much as he could to help with Sharpay but it still wasn't enough. At work, harsh, judgmental articles were piling up on her desk, and her fingers didn't seem to be able to type fast enough. She wrote article after article, defending her dear friend, and she kept a copy of everything in her Troy binder, which she'd had to expand. And she barely had time to deal with Matt, who was always bugging her about Troy and… touching her. It had seemed cute and romantic at first, but now she just felt overwhelmed.
"Gabriella, Gabriella," Matt said to her one night after they'd watched the newest romantic comedy in theaters, "I heard that Troy's been a hermit lately."
"What?" Gabriella asked, annoyed. Why was Matt so interested in Troy? She was too tired to dig deeper into this story, but it sparked curiosity and annoyance in her.
"After his dad died, I've heard that he's been extremely cold and hasn't eaten in days and may be in danger of getting sick himself and dying." Gabriella glanced over at Matt, who looked entirely too cheerful about that for her taste. She sighed.
"Look, Matt, we've been through this before, okay? I don't know," Gabriella murmured, even though what he'd said was basically true. She flashed back to that night when he'd used her physical weakness against her. And still all about Troy.
"Gabriella, I know you're close to him. I just don't want you to get hurt," Matt looked over at her, his green eyes smoldering. It was at times like this that Gabriella felt her resolve weaken and she seemed to go with everything Matt said. "I just think you should stay away from him..."
"Stop it, okay?" Gabriella snapped. "Troy and I are friends, and we're going to be friends. End of story. Period." She threw an annoyed look at Matt, who didn't respond, except for the whitening of his knuckles against the steering wheel.
"Alright, alright," Matt reached over and took her hand in his, squeezing it a little too hard. "I just don't want you to get hurt, love," he said, pulling up to Sharpay's house. He leaned in to kiss her goodnight, and his tongue lingered in her mouth, his hands sliding up her top and under her bra as Gabriella moaned into his kiss...
Later that night, after her date with Matt where she'd barely avoided his hints at sex and before Sharpay got up for food, Gabriella read Jack's diary. Pictures were enclosed and slowly, as she did this every night, she got to know her mother and read into their passionate summer romance that had turned into so much more.
Monday, June 6th
Finally got out of school today. I am officially out of high school. To celebrate, Mark, Peter and I went to the local bar. I got extremely drunk, and as I stumbled out of that damn bar (it was hot and tourists kept trying to grind up on me), I saw her.
It was straight out of a movie, I swear. She was like an angel, standing alone on the beach. The moon was out, bright, and she seemed to glow. Her hair cascaded in waves down her back, and I could see her profile outlined in silver—a button nose, full lips, and wide eyes. I wanted to see more, to maybe go talk to her, but Peter pulled me away. Said something about early basketball practice. When I looked back, she was with a few other girls, but none of them could compare to her. The way she danced in the sand, the wind blowing her dress out around her knees…
Friday, June 10th
I saw her again. After all these days, I bumped into her at the boardwalk. I was with Lucy, who Peter had set me up with, but all I could see was her. She was wearing a soft yellow tank top and a white skirt, her hair swinging around her as she laughed with her friends. I wanted so badly to go talk to her, but I had Lucy by my side the entire time and I couldn't do that to her... She looked at me and smiled. Her smile was like the sun on a rainy day. Her eyes were like the sweetest chocolates in the world, the kind that you give to your one and only on Valentine's Day. I wanted to walk right up to her, but then she turned away, and she moved away like a dancer, light on her feet, her cheeks flushed and her eyes sparkling...
Jack Bolton was great at description, and Gabriella could only read a few paragraphs before her eyes filled with tears. She would close her notebook, shoving it under her pillow, and try to sleep before the inevitable waking up of a pregnant Sharpay.
After a little more than a week of moping around, Troy decided to do something. He decided to clean his apartment. He had barely eaten anything and he was weak and fragile, his mind still cloudy with pain, but he knew he had to do something. His phone was unhooked after it rang constantly with calls from the hospital, from his mother, from the funeral company, and from his friends. He sighed and went into Chad's now empty room. He straightened the covers of the bed and opened the blinds before feeling a wave of exhaustion hit him. Useless, he thought to himself. He threw himself on the bed and tried not to think too much. Suddenly, he realized that Chad's closet was full. Confused, he stood up and carefully opened the door. His eyes narrowed as he took in mountain after mountain of newspapers, stacked neatly.
"What the…" he murmured, taking a few from the pile. He realized how long it had been since he'd read a newspaper… since that first article had come out about him what seemed like years ago. He grabbed a random newspaper on top and started flipping through it, before his eyes widened in horror and shock. He looked at the piles of newspaper, and he suddenly realized what it was.
His vision turned red. His breath was coming out in short puffs. He clenched his hands, his nails biting into the palms of his hands. No, he told himself, it isn't possible. He suddenly reached into a stack in panic, flipping through another newspaper before closing his eyes in rage and knocking them all over. He fell to his knees on the ground, his head bowed, newspapers littering the floor all around him. No. No. No.
"NO." Troy whispered hoarsely. He clutched the newspapers in his hands, as tears threatened to fill his eyes, the first since his father's death. "No."
He felt like his world had been turned upside down. His best friend wasn't speaking to him. His other best friend was pregnant and all alone. His father was dead. His mother was all alone as well. He felt like another hole had been ripped in his chest, in his already broken heart. He was engulfed in a different kind of pain, this kind mixed with fury and anger and fueled by betrayal. Things were just as he had seen them in the beginning. He'd been right all along. What a performance. What a lie. He felt anger and pain rage through him like a wildfire. He ran a hand through his hair, before letting his arms drop to his sides, his eyes shut tight.
He let his body freeze, and he felt a fortress going up around him. No one would ever get through to him. Ever. No one would ever penetrate his defense line ever again, he promised himself. He froze his emotions inside of him, locking them away in a safe without a key, somewhere deep inside him. He felt like ice, devoid of any emotions. But no matter what he did, he couldn't get two burning words out of his mind. They seared into him like lava, the root of all his pain and fury.
Gabriella Montez.
A/N: Hey there. I finished this chapter early, so I'm here to post it. Dramatic, isn't it? We're getting to the good part now. So, we've cleared up the mystery about why Troy's mother was so uncomfortable with Gabriella, and we know a little bit more about Gabriella's past. What do you guys think of what's happening? What about Troy? What's up with him? What do you think is going on in his brain right now?
Thank you for reading. I really appreciate it! Please review and tell me what you think! I couldn't have done this without the help of my friends Elaine and Sabrina, who have been with me and have listened to me rant and rant about Troy and Gabriella. Thank you guys. I'm really excited about writing the next chapter, so if I get enough feedback I'll post it really soon…
Lots of love,
Lexi
