A/n: I'm going to take a break from Chad's new life and switch over to his old one.
Chapter 9: A Long Time Passed
Troy Bolton was your average teenager. Good-looking, nice, sporty, popular. He was the perfect boy. He was always having fun. Whether it was going on dates with his gorgeous, brilliant girlfriend, Gabriella Montez or scoring the game winning point for the East High basketball team, Troy was always the best. He had plenty of friends, and a huge number of admirers.
Life was perfect. Or so it seemed.
There was only one thing that was different about Troy's life. It wasn't recent; most people had forgotten about it. Thank god. For years, Troy was known as 'the best friend of that guy who disappeared'. It was a never ending reminder of what happened.
But now, people had either forgotten, or stopped caring. Even the police had stopped the investigation after a year or two. His family was accepting the very real possibility that he was probably dead. As much as that hurt, it had been so long now, that it was just a dull ache. No longer was it the sharp, gut-wrenching pain that made Troy want to yell every time he thought about it.
There had been no sign of Chad for five years.
Troy was happy. He had plenty of friends. He was a fair student and a terrific basketball player and captain. He didn't have any enemies. Everyone wanted to be just like Troy Bolton. Life was good.
--
Friday. 6.30 A.M.
Troy woke with a start. He racked his brain to remember the dream he'd just had. It had been intense; but weather it was a nightmare or not, Troy couldn't remember. It was an annoying feeling. After a minute of thinking, he gave up and decided to take a shower.
In the shower, Troy stubbornly refused to give up recalling the dream. It was really bugging him. It had been a while since he'd even had a dream. Months even. It was just hanging in front of his mind; but he couldn't figure it out.
Ten minutes later, Troy got out of the shower and got dressed for school. He put on a simple pair of sport shorts and a plain white tee. He had basketball practice during free today so he might as well prepare to sweat.
He walked down stairs, yawning tiredly. A plate of warm pancakes was set out at the table for him. "Thanks mom!" he called upstairs. A muffled 'You're welcome, honey' answered him. He ate in silence until his father walked down the stairs; signaling that it was time to go to school.
Troy drove his new, used Volkswagen. He'd gotten it for his birthday three weeks ago, and it was his pride and joy. Despite the rising gas prices, Troy drove everywhere. Even to the convenience store, which was only two blocks away. He loved his car.
His father rode with him to school, seeing as how they had to be there at the same time anyway. Ten minutes later, Troy parked in one of the teachers spots and walked to the front door. He his heart dropped when he heard a familiar barking. Sweat lined his brow and he could feel the color drain from his face. He turned around to see Corbin bounding up to him, his tongue hanging out and his tail wagging like mad. Troy turned back to the door, his father had already entered the building; he was alone out here.
Corbin, impervious to Troy's discomfort, nudged his hand. Troy got the message and began scratching his ear, all the while looking for a member of the Danforth family to claim Corbin. When none came, Troy sighed, dreading what he would have to do. He quickly walked Corbin away from the building, in the direction of the house.
He hadn't been this way in months. The house wasn't too far from school, but Troy avoided passing it when possible. It was a good thing Troy had gotten there early or this detour might have made him alter for Darbus' class. She would give him a detention and then he would miss basketball practice. Then his dad would get angry and they would get into a huge fight. Troy had a bit of experience here. He'd already missed two practices this season, and he wasn't planning on repeating the process.
Troy took a back route that only a frequent visitor would have discovered. A few minutes later, Troy arrived in the back yard of the Danforth's house. Troy refused to think 'Chad's house'. He usually refused to think about Chad at all, but that was rather difficult now that he was staring at the window of Chad's old bedroom. He ushered Corbin into the yard. He would have let him stay in the yard but Corbin had already escaped once today; so instead he opened the back door, which he knew would be open, and let Corbin into the kitchen.
Troy froze. He hadn't been near the house in months. He hadn't been in the house in years. It looked the same as he remembered it. The small kitchen was as clean as ever. The table was in the middle of the room as always, with a few plates still upon it from breakfast. The only thing in the kitchen that showed any time had passed at all were the pictures lining the walls. There was a family portrait that couldn't have been older than three years. School and vacation pictures were plastered to the refrigerator. They showed a young, middle school girl, who Troy knew to be Annabelle. Next to her was an eight year old likeness of Chad, Teddy. Mr. and Mrs. Danforth looked mostly the same, just a bit more wrinkled and gray.
There was not one picture of Chad.
Wow, being here was hitting him hard. All of the memories he'd tried to block out came rushing to him. Chad spilling a huge bowl of flour on the ground when they were attempting cookies; Troy slipping on puddle of water that Chad hadn't bothered to clean up; eating half of his meals at that table; pigging out in here a few days before Chad had gone missing…
He had to get out of here. Involuntary tears swelled to his eyes. He rushed from the house, slamming the door behind him and ignoring Corbin's barks behind him.
He'd just remembered what he'd dreamed last night; and it only made things worse. It hadn't been the first time he'd had the dream either. He'd dreamed that Chad had come back. He'd just shown up; like nothing had ever happened. Things had been completely normal. They'd gotten ice cream. They'd done stupid stuff at the old playground. They'd had fun. For those few minutes in his bed, Troy had his best friend back.
Troy quickly wiped the tears from his eyes as he neared the school. He had to get over this. There was no way he was going back to therapy. Breathe. Slow, deep breaths. Okay, he was calm now. Troy made his way to his locker. He grabbed his books hurriedly and got to Darbus' class just as the ball rang.
--
"Troy, are you okay?" Gabriela asked, eyeing Troy's pallid countenance. He nodded. She didn't believe him, but decided not to pursue the subject.
Troy managed a half smile that looked more like a grimace. Gabriella eyed him suspiciously as they walked together to the next period. Taylor joined them in the hallway. Troy avoided looking at her. Chad's disappearance had hit him and Taylor a lot harder then Gabriella or Zeke. Yeah, it had been hard for them too, but they didn't think about him constantly, as he and Taylor did.
But everyday it got easier. It had been a few days since Troy had thought about him. It had been awhile since Taylor's eyes had swelled with tears for no visible reason. Every day was better and better. There were fewer things that reminded him of Chad, seeing as how his life had changed so much. It had been a long time.
But today… was a bad day. First that fucking dream, and then Corbin. Why couldn't this just stop? Yes, on the outside, Troy was Mr. Perfect/Happy, but he wasn't always. He used to shut himself up all of the time, wallowing in his own self pity. But he hadn't done that in so long. It just wasn't fair to spring things like this on him.
But he wouldn't mention any of this to anyone. Therapy had made him feel like an unstable freak. So he'd made up that it was getting easier. He said he'd stopped having the dreams, and he'd stopped seeing signs of him everywhere. They had let him out of therapy quickly, but it wasn't until a year or two later that he finally started to feel normal again.
The day passed slowly. He couldn't remember a single thing that had happened that day when asked by his mother. It was like he'd slept through the day. He could tell that Gabriella had been really worried about him, and it wasn't hard to figure out why. He had often gone through entire days like that, at first. They all had.
After a very unenthusiastic basketball practice, Troy finally went to his room. He turned on his stereo as loud as it would go. He chose the loudest scream song he had and put it on loop; singing until his voice was too hoarse from the tears and the screaming to continue.
He tried to block out the horrible thoughts running through his head; but they persisted. Chad was gone. He wasn't coming back. He was probably dead. Troy would never have his best friend back again, no matter how much he wanted him.
--
Taylor curled into a ball on her bed. She'd come to school that morning just as Troy had been walking Corbin away. Seeing that dog had almost made her faint. She held herself together until she'd gotten to the bathroom, where she could break down in peace
High school was a lonely time for Taylor. She had no boyfriend, for obvious reasons. So whenever every one paired up to go on dates, Taylor was left alone to remember exactly why she had no date. She spent most of her time with schoolwork. She was constantly working on extra credit that she did not need. She had a 5.0 average. She had to keep busy, or else let horrible thoughts enter her mind.
As long as she had something to do, she was okay. She was in the best shape of her life, because if there was nothing else to do, she would exercise vigorously.
Taylor was in so many clubs and activities, that she had made many friends. Of course, Gabriella was her best friend, but there were a number of people whom Taylor was on very good terms with. Life was good most of the time. She could push unpleasant things to the back of her mind. She, unlike Troy, had gone through enough therapy to where she could cope. She thought about Chad a lot, but she could remember the good things and laugh.
She wasn't about to get another boyfriend, but she could function normally, blend in.
But tonight, she let the walls down. She'd kept them up for so long, but this morning they'd broken. She did not want reminders of Chad following her and Corbin had been a horrible sight. That dog came back without Chad. That dog was the last thing to see Chad before he disappeared. It had hurt her a lot to see the dog, and now that she was alone, she could cry for as long as she needed to without interruption.
A few towns away, Riley Davids suppressed a shudder as he, too cried himself to sleep.
A/n: I don't like this chapter very much, but I had to write it so I hope you enjoy it.
