Chapter 8- Psychologists

Gabriella's POV

Waking up the next morning, I felt a good feeling, a fresh feeling. I felt like there was something for me to smile about.

I hopped into shower, got dressed quickly, without a single word escaping my mouth. The truth was, Sharpay and I still haven't talked much since that conversation we had in the shopping center bathroom. I was still puzzled and confused at her. She felt guilty all of a sudden. With in seconds, she had gone from excited to guilty. That was the part I did not understand.

When I was in the shower this morning, I thought about things. I was still confused as to how Mr. Garth knew all this stuff. Like we were high and drunk that night. And that Sharpay and I spent the night at Troy and Chad's dorm. Who would be nosey enough to care? And plus, when we sneaked back the next morning, Sharpay made sure no one was watching us at all.

Maybe the school had surveillance cameras in the hallways? But why would Mr. Garth have access to them? They were only seen by the principal of the school… or if police officers needed them. Mr. Garth was just a teacher from September to June… and now he was just a summer counselor…

From today forward, we will be done with charity work. Now, Mr. Garth made new arrangements for us. And he promised that this would really be the thing that would help us heal… and learn from our previous mistakes.

Everyone was gathered in the auditorium once again. I immediately spotted Troy somewhere in the back. I walked to him quickly and took a seat next to him.

"Gabi… what's up?" He grinned at me.

Chad looked over at us and noticed that the seat next to Troy was taken. He didn't look disappointed… instead, he took a seat next to Sharpay.

"I missed you." I said sweetly and jokingly at him.

Troy chuckled at my pouting. "I missed you too?" It sounded more like a question than a statement.

"Thanks for listening to me last night, by the way. I feel so much better now." I gave him a sincere and truthful smile.

I really did like the talk we had last night… all though it wasn't exactly just talk. It would be one of the worst lies ever told if I ever say to anyone that Troy Bolton was not hot. He was in fact, undeniably hot. He was like a poster out of a gossip magazine. His looks and his lean and muscular figure would force you to think dirty thoughts in your head. He was the type that even though he was just your pal, you would still have sex fantasies about. Shit, I sound like a fucking pervert right now… but that was the truth.

"Everyone, listen up!" Ms. Lennon spoke through the microphone while almost everyone started to quiet down.

"All right, today… we will have a very special program for you all…" She paused for a moment or two. "Mr. Garth and I had invited seven psychologists to speak with each and every one of you… individually. But after the individual talk, we will put forty of you in one group. Which means that your group that you have worked with since the beginning, along with ten groups. So ten groups make one this time." Ms. Lennon paused again to flip her long red locks behind her shoulders. "You guys will be waiting here until we call seven of your names. Then you can come up to the stage and we'll lead you back to a dressing room where each of you will be assigned to a room to have private discussions with a psychologist. Afterwards, the group arrangements will be announced. In the meantime, I would like all of you to wait here until I say your names into the microphone." And please do not be too loud. Don't be too loud to the point where people couldn't hear their names."

Everyone resumed back to talking when Ms. Lennon exited the stage.

"This is just gonna loads of fun… talking to some psychologist." I complained in a sarcastic tone.

"Have you seen one before?" Troy seemed to be a bit curious.

"Fortunately… not yet. I doubt they can do anything to change any of us here." I rolled my eyes. "Besides, I never really got why we did all that charity work. It's not like it had helped us in anyway. And it barely raised any money."

"You're right on that one. It barely raised any kind of shit." He agreed with me.

"Hey!" I smacked Troy's biceps playfully. "Money's definitely not shit!" I joked about his terrible phrasing. "I can buy weed with it!"

He chuckled at my humor. "But seriously, you need to get rid of that stash before anything else." He whispered lowly to me. Troy seemed like he really didn't want me in trouble. He seemed like the only who cared at the moment. Shar wasn't talking to me right now. She was still bothered by that conversation we had in the mall.

I always knew that guy's actually had a soft side. A guy like Troy who almost got expelled from his school because of violence still had a soft side.

"That's why you need to meet me there again tonight." I whispered back.

He looked like he was speechless. His expressions told me that he couldn't find the right words to use.

"Ok…" He simply said. He probably didn't want me to have that marijuana around at all. But I couldn't just waste that stuff! It was like my only support. It was like a painkiller to me. I would stop having withdrawals when I smoked that stuff.

Changing the subject, I decided to talk about what was on my mind a while ago. "Troy, have you ever wondered who tattled on Shar and I?"

Troy looked like he had gotten the wrong idea. He immediately declared his innocence. "Look… I swear I didn't tell anyone about that."

"I never said you did!" I flashed my straight teeth at him with a smile. "I trust you." I was serious on that one. I felt like I could trust Troy. And I sort of did. He made me feel a lot better last night and he really did care about my feelings. Troy seemed so different than what he was sent here for. At first, he did appear to be a little mean and aggressive, but when you really get to talk and spend time with him… he was actually a genuine and caring person with a great sense of humor. That was when I realized that all of fighting and aggressiveness was just a package. Deep down, he did have a heart… he could care about someone.

After talking for another half an hour or so, Mr. Garth called Sharpay, Chad, Troy, and I… and three other kids.

The moment I stepped my foot into the psychologist's room, I read her little name tag pinned onto her blouse. I was sent to see Dr. Manning. She had the stereotype professional look… thin looking glasses with a blouse and pencil skirt. Dr. Manning was thin, had medium length brown hair with diamond studded earring.

"Hello there." She gave me a nice and convincing smile.

I portrayed my best fake smile at Dr. Manning.

"I'm Dr. Manning. And you are?"

"Gabriella." I paused. "Montez."

Dr. Manning smiled again. "That is such a beautiful name."

"Thanks…" I replied back briefly as I sat down in the chair across from her.

"All right…" The psychologist wrote a couple things down on her clipboard. "So… um, why were you sent here, Gabriella?"

"Drugs." I gave her a cold and general answer.

"Like what kind?"

I wanted to get out of here… I didn't like to be questioned like a suspect. "Marijuana… and everything else really."

"Hmm…" She jotted more things down. "How about alcohol?"

"Yeah…"

"Ok…" Dr. Manning wrote more things down. "So tell me something about yourself… like at school, what do you do? Cliques? Things you have done that might have gotten you in trouble?"

I thought about that question for a moment. I really wasn't too different than anybody. "Well… of course, I like weed. I had a couple of friends who smoke with me. And I've been handled by the police once or twice."

Dr. Manning clicked her pen before writing again. "Why the police?"

I still didn't like the feeling of being questioned. But I was getting a little more comfortable now. "Because of underage drinking at two parties."

"All right… so what got you into this business? Like was it your friends who pressured you? Personal struggles? Or was it your parents or siblings?"

I bit my bottom lip… this was a hard question to answer… it was a personal question that took strength to answer. I took a deep breath before speaking. "I don't know if this counts as personal struggle… but I think it is."

"Can you explain to me briefly about it?" She checked something on her clipboard.

I sighed and took a deep breath. I never really admitted this to anyone. "Can I not talk about it?" Tears were starting to well up in my eyes. I wasn't liking this.

"Please… Gabriella… I promise I can help you." The doctor gave me another gratifying smile.

"I can't!" I started to breakdown crying. It would be embarrassing to admit. And I would start sobbing which just adds to the embarrassment.


FIVE MINUTES AGO…

Troy's POV

I looked around the room before sitting myself on the chair. Gabriella said that psychologists were a piece of ass. I don't know about it… but I heard that they don't help one bit anyway.

"Hello!" A female psychologist greeted me. She was in her fifties I was guessing… she had blonde hair that looked almost white to me. And she had a floral dress on.

"Hey…" I faked smiled at her.

"My name is Dr. Cam." She smiled at me politely. "So what's yours?"

"Troy." I answered quickly.

"Last name, please?" Dr. Cam insisted me to answer.

"Bolton."

"Do you want to tell me about the kind of trouble that got you here?" She wrote a couple things down onto her clipboard.

"I fight… a lot."

"Oh… ok." She kept jotting things down. "Why? Do things anger you really easily?"

"I guess…" I shrugged.

"Have you ever tried to express that anger in a healthy way? Maybe like punching a bag or pillow instead?"

I was feeling really uncomfortable. I felt like I was asked by the principal. I hated this. I wanted to get out of here. I shouldn't be telling a stranger about this. I was now sweating a bit and my heart would pound out of my chest if this continues. "Look… Doctor… I don't like to be asked with so many questions." I tried to even out my breathing.

"Just try… please?" Dr. Cam gave me a pleasing smile.

"The thing is… I don't give a shit about this camp, alright? Just… stop…. It's not like you can help me anyway." I got up from the seat and was about to open the door.

"Well, I think your parents would care. I'm sure you don't want to let your parents down." That was the last thing the psychiatrist said to me before I opened the door to leave. And perfect… time was up… since each of us could only spent five minutes with the psychologist.

A/N: This chapter is pretty long. And the Troyella flirting is getting better and better. And I put "FIVE MINUTES AGO" in italics when I switched to Troy's POV, I meant like since I was talking about Gabriella and her experience with a psychiatrist, I wanted to write about his from beginning to end too like Gabriella's. Also, the next chapter will focus on that activity with forty kids in a group and another Troyella secret meeting. Thanks for the reviews! They mean a lot to me. After you review, it'll be nice for you to check out my new poll on my profile and give it a vote. :D Once again, thank you so much for reading this story and reviewing! I will like to see… 10 new reviews please? The next chapter will be better… I promise.