AN: So school is back in (yay) and I have limited time to write again. Fortunately, I'm almost done with one of my other stories which will make this one my top priority since it's the farthest along even though we still have at least 11 chapters to go I think. So anyway, here's chapter 8. I'm sure most of you will be ready to beat Troy's head in (if you aren't already). And as always, thanks for the reviews!
Disclaimer: Nothing is mine.
For most of the evening, Gabriella lied motionless across her bed, staring at the ceiling. Ever since her argument with Troy, she hadn't spoken a word to anyone. She didn't want to talk to anyone, even though she wanted nothing more than for Troy to talk to her. She had skipped out on dinner, for she had no appetite. She hadn't done any of her homework which was unusual for her. By this time, she was usually finished it on any other night.
Sighing, she let a tear slide down her cheek. Tonight, she didn't care about homework or food or anything else. The only one she wanted was Troy. Even though he was the one who broke her heart, she knew that he was the only one who could fix it. However, he hadn't tried to see her once since the incident. If he really cared, wouldn't he have at least tried to talk to her by now? He wanted her to say that she loved him, but how could she when he wasn't acting like he loved her?
A light knock on the door stirred Gabriella from her thoughts. She had the urge to ask who it was, but in case of it being Troy, she refrained from doing so. Instead, she got to her feet and opened the door. She didn't know if she was disappointed or relieved to see Mary there.
"Gabi, dear, what's wrong?" she asked as Gabriella stepped aside, allowing her to enter.
Closing the door behind her, Gabriella looked up at her, unsure as to what to say to her. Not only was she the mother-figure in her life, but she was Troy's biological mother. She knew she was on his side. "Troy and I....sort of got in an argument. We've been doing that a lot lately."
"What brought this on so suddenly?" she asked. "You guys have been doing well since your last break-up. Is something happening at school?"
"It's Sharpay," she started, sniffling. "Sh-she's trying to get Troy back and he's not doing anything to stop her. H-he knows I don't trust her, but he's still caught hanging out with her everyday. And, then, he comes home acting distant and snippy with me. And, then, today, we started arguing because I haven't told him that I love him yet...I mean, I do love him, and I want to tell him that, but I'm afraid, especially now. And, he accused me of not loving him and I said that I try to show him that I do, but it wasn't good enough for him. Then, he said that he wished I never got my voice back, because that would have given me an excuse."
"Oh, Gabi." Mary hugged her comfortingly. "He doesn't mean that. I can tell you that for a fact. He's scared that now you won't talk to him. I know that because I know that he loves you, and he loves to hear your voice everyday."
"He claimed to love me before I could talk, and so maybe that was why he loved me...I couldn't talk," she stated. "Maybe it's best if I don't speak."
"Don't say that," she told her. "My son or not, no boy is worth giving up your rights. I know he didn't mean that...Maybe you should talk to him."
"He didn't even put up a fight," she said, tears filling her eyes. "H-he just let me go li-like that...Like h-he didn't care at all whether I stayed or not. I-I feel like I-I could walk out today and he wouldn't care...."
"Just talk to him, please?" she suggested. "He really does care about you."
"H-he hasn't made an attempt to ta-talk to me a-at all," she stuttered, hugging herself to keep from breaking completely.
"He's afraid that you don't want to talk to him," she defended. "I can talk to him, if that's what you want."
Hesitantly, she nodded. What further damage could it possibly do, she wondered. It wasn't like he was going to go off on her for talking to his mother about it. After all, she had a feeling that their situation would get back to Sharpay. It wouldn't surprise her if Troy hadn't already told her.
Patting her back encouragingly, Mary said, "I know my son. He's never loved Sharpay. It's obvious that he's head-over-heels in love with you. But, like most men, he sometimes needs a reminder."
From his room, Troy stared blankly at the piece of paper before him. He wanted desperately to just apologize to Gabriella, but he had no idea what to say. He was trying to write it out first to ensure that he didn't mess up, but so far he hadn't thought of anything. How could he put his sorrow and regret into words? Nothing that he said or did could possibly take away the hurt that his previous words had caused.
In his pocket, he felt his cell phone vibrating. Groaning, he pulled it out and flipped it open. It was a text message from an unrecognized number. He recognized it as Sharpay's number, but he had deleted it months ago. It was obvious that she still held onto his.
Hey, how's ur evening going? Anything of interest?
Sharpay
Sighing, he typed back a reply.
I sorta took ur advice. I asked Gabriella if she loved me and when she said she didn't feel comfortable w/ the subject, I said some things that weren't the greatest and now she's not speaking to me. At all.
Placing his phone beside him, Troy went back to looking over his paper. He had a total of two sentences written down, one of which was his approach. He would just knock on the door and she would tell him to come in. However, what if she didn't answer? What if she walked to the door, opened it, then slammed it shut in his face? He knew he would deserve that.
Just as he was about to jot down another approach, his cell phone went off again.
Aw, I'm sorry. But, maybe u should ask her if she's mad at u 4 asking because she really doesn't love u.
Angrily, he responded.
No way, Sharpay. Iv hurt her enough for 1 day. I'm going to apologize profusely then NEVER question her again!!! I don't care if she loves me or not. I don't want to hurt her anymore.
"Stupid Sharpay," he muttered aloud, pressing the 'send' button. There was no way he would interrogate Gabriella any further. If she didn't love him, then he would have to deal with that at some other time. Right now, however, he was just as confused by her feelings for him as she was. She was a kind girl; if she was sure that she didn't love him then she wouldn't lead him on.
Another message appeared on his screen. Sometimes we have to do things we don't want to but we have to. Someday u may have no choice but to hurt her. If she doesn't love u, then won't she end up hurting u?
He shook his head in denial as he typed back, No one has to get hurt. At least not over something petty like this. I don't really care if she hurts me. I only care about me hurting her. She's changed me in many more ways than u know. I don't care about what happens to me anymore. I only care about her.
It was true, he thought. That was what love was all about, caring for someone more than anyone else. It meant there was a special place in his heart she solely resided. It meant that his entire mind was usually consumed with only thoughts of her. Even when Sharpay had him questioning her intentions he was still only thinking of her.
Another message flashed across his screen. Well, I do care if she hurts u, Troy. Just because u don't love me doesn't mean that I don't love u. Just because u love Gabriella doesn't mean that she's ever going to love u in return. It's reality. Ur gonna have to face it.
Troy was about to argue when he heard a knock on the door. "Come in," he said, fighting back his irritation.
"Hey," Mary greeted him, stepping inside. "How's everything?"
"Not good," he replied, sighing. "Gabriella hates me."
"I don't think that's true," she started, fighting the urge to smile. "What did you do to think that way?"
"I asked her if she loved me, because I've been afraid lately that she didn't. She wouldn't say yes or no, so I got mad and we started arguing. I eventually told her that I wish she never got her voice back so she would have an excuse not to, and now she's not talking to me," he explained.
"I got a similar story from Gabriella," she stated. "She's just as afraid as you are, if not more. She's afraid that you'll leave her now. And, she's even more afraid because you aren't even trying to talk to her."
"So, she wants me to talk to her?" he asked, surprised.
"I know she wants you to, but she doesn't plan on making it easy for you," she said. "But, deep down, she wants to talk to you. But, that's another reason as to why she's scared. She wants you to fight your way into her heart, but the fact that you aren't even trying hurts her worse than anything."
"I need to talk to her," he declared, standing abruptly. "I never meant to hurt her at all."
"One last thing, Troy," she started. "Who do you really love, Gabriella or Sharpay?"
"Gabriella," he automatically answered.
"Remember that the next time you see Sharpay." Reluctantly, Troy nodded as he left the room. Mary lingered idly in the room, spotting his cell phone on the desk, a message still on the screen. It was unlike her to pry and hover over her son and adopted daughter, but given their current states, she felt as though she needed to know exactly what was going on.
As she finished reading that message, another came onto the screen. Yet again, it was from Sharpay. With slight reluctance, she read that one as well.
Meet me the restaurant on main street at noon. U know the 1. If ur not busy 2morrow. I'll pay. Get ur mind off the stress for a bit. Txt me
Sighing, Mary looked at Troy's almost blank piece of paper. Grabbing his pencil, she wrote,
Troy,
You have a new text message. Do what you think is right. That's all I ask.
Love,
Mom
Nervously, Troy knocked lightly on the door to Gabriella's room. He still wasn't sure what to do or say, but he knew he had to make it right somehow. There was no answer. He knocked again, praying that she would open this time. However, his prayer went unanswered.
Growing desperate, he opened the door, delightfully surprised to find it unlocked. He found her sitting on her bed, her back to him. He smiled slightly, for that was her typical position when she was mad at him. Closing the door behind him, he frowned when she didn't turn around. She had to know he was there, he thought.
As he drew closer to her, he heard soft music, indicting that she was listening to her iPod. No wonder she hadn't heard him, he thought, slightly amused. Soon, he was able to recognize the lyrics. The song was unfamiliar to him, but he heard part of the lyrics. His heart ached as he noticed her body quivering slightly, indicating that she was crying.
"Gabi," he said softly, hoping to catch her attention but no luck. Gingerly, bent forward and wrapped his arms around her torso, nuzzling his nose into her hair. She was definitely crying, he realized, feeling guilty. She turned her music off and turned to him. He couldn't tell if she was more upset or angry with him, for her eyes alerted him of both. "Gabi, I'm sorry," he started, feeling that was the best thing to say first.
Reluctantly, she pulled out of his arms and grabbed the pen and notebook sitting beside her. He gulped, knowing exactly what she was doing. She wasn't going to speak to him. Biting his bottom lip, he wondered just what it would take to get her to talk to him again.
After only a few seconds, she flipped over the notebook so he could read her message. Sorry's not enough this time.
"Has sorry ever been enough for you?" he questioned. "You know I didn't mean that. You know that I hated it when you couldn't talk to me. Gabi, your voice in the most amazing sound in the world to me. I want to hear you, even if it's just to hear you say that you hate me."
Sighing, he watched as she wrote out another message. I could never hate you, Troy. But, it's obvious that you're better at reading than listening. And, you claimed to love me before you ever heard my voice, unless you lied to me like you did to Sharpay, if you lied to Sharpay.
"I would never lie to you," he denied, touching her cheek. "I love you. I'll scream it to the world if I have to. I realize that it doesn't matter if you love me or not. How you feel about me can never change how I feel about you."
I want to be with you, and I care immensely about you, she wrote. But, other than that, I don't know how I feel right now. You pressuring me only made the confusion worse.
Gingerly, he nodded and kissed her forehead. "That's good enough for me right now. I'm sorry I'm not the perfect boyfriend, but I'm trying as hard as I can."
Suddenly, Gabriella wrapped her arms around him, dropping her notebook. He hugged her in return, liking how closely she held herself to him. Maybe this would be easier than he thought. Maybe she wasn't as hard to crack as he assumed.
"Does this mean you'll talk to me now?" he asked her, rubbing the back of her head. She shook her head, causing him to chuckle slightly. "You're going to make me suffer some more, aren't you?"
Grabbing her notebook again, she wrote, I want you, but I also need to make sure you don't hurt me like that again. I can't be some pushover all the time.
"I never thought you were," he replied, kissing her cheek. "You don't have to remind me of it. I'll never forget those first few, fateful months. Just talk to me. I won't do something like that again."
Gabriella sniffled lightly as she wrote another message. Spend some time with me tomorrow. We can work this out then. For now, I just don't want to deal with this anymore. I need a little more time to hurt.
"Why do you want to hurt?" he asked her. "Why don't you just want to work it out now?"
Trust me. She started. The wound will be easier to fully heal if you give me a little space. Nothing like last time, of course. Just a day is all I'm asking for.
Nodding, he pecked her forehead. "Anything for you. I'm all yours from noon on, unless you want me to cancel with the guys, which I would gladly do..."
She shook her head as she wrote, No, that's fine. 12 is a date.
