Nothing really to say so happy reading!
Do You Remember? Chapter 9
"Hello Gabriella, how are you today?" The psychiatrist walked into the room that resembled a library. There was one of the day beds in a greenish-brown color, and a small leather couch of matching appearance and then a huge oak desk with a big leather chair. The room was welcoming and warm, but Gabriella knew why she was here. They were going to tell her that she was crazy and was never going to regain the lost memories. She sat patiently on the day bed and folded her arms in her lap.
"Okay I guess." She responded with a small smile. She couldn't even open up to her friends yet let alone a complete stranger that was going to make her talk. She didn't see how this was going to help anything. He was going to question her on things that she didn't remember, and then someway, somehow was going to try to get her to remember the times that got deleted from her brain. None of this made sense, if someone lost their memory, isn't it lost for good? Gabriella was skeptic of their antics.
"So, I hear that you had an accident." The doctor sat down at the desk and opened the manila folder that held what she guessed was her file. He lowered the glasses that were on his head and read over the papers. "How are you feeling now? Better… Worse?"
Gabriella crossed her legs and looked at the older man at the desk. She wondered how a person would get paid to do the impossible, find a lost memory. "I guess better, I'm confused a lot when people tell me something that I should know but don't. I'm a little forgetful, but other than that I'm fine. All of the cuts and bruises are healed." She explained and looked back at her folded hands.
"Well that's good to hear. Okay, I want you to do something for me." He took the glasses off of his face and stood up. He walked slowly towards the small leather loveseat that was by the daybed and sat down with a clip board and a pen.
"Alright." She was hesitant, but figured that she would go along with it for now. She was willing to try anything to get closer on what she was forgetting.
"I want you to lie down on your back and close your eyes." Gabriella did as she was told and laid back on the daybed. She was glad that she wore shorts and a shirt instead of a dress like she was originally going to. "Alright Gabriella, what is the farthest back memory that you can remember. It can be after the accident if that is as far back as you can remember or it could be before if you can remember that."
Gabriella thought about this for a while. She could vividly see some things in particular like meeting her best friends Taylor and Sharpay and other things like the massive birthday party that she had when she was 6. It was a princess party and everyone had to dress up as a princess. She was of course Sleeping Beauty because she wanted her own Prince Charming to come and kiss her to wake her up. She smiled a little while her eyes were still closed remembering that that was the party that Sharpay decided that she was going to get a boyfriend, and the first guy that she saw was Aden.
"I don't want to interfere with your thoughts, but would you mind vocalizing what you are seeing. This needs to be a process where I can hear you and help you navigate through these memories." The doctor said and Gabriella opened her eyes to look at him. He was biting the end to the pen and looking at Gabriella intently.
"Oh, I'm sorry." Gabriella smiled apologetically a little and then laid her head back again and stared at the ceiling. The turning fan seemed to be more interesting that what she saw in her head.
"So, what were you thinking about when you started to smile before?" He asked and opened his pen ready to take notes. Gabriella didn't exactly feel comfortable spilling out her guts to this guy. Sure he was one of the best mental analysis doctors around, but he wasn't close to her. She had never let people in easily, but she had to do this for her mother and the father and brother. She closed her eyes again but was shocked by what she saw. There was a pair of the bluest eyes that she had ever seen, and had a gut feeling that she had seen them before, but couldn't match them to anyone. She opened her eyes again and continued to look at the ceiling confused.
"Well, I was just thinking about my sixth birthday party and how at that party my best fiend Sharpay decided that she wanted to date my older brother." Gabriella said quietly and nervously before glancing down to her folded hands.
"Can you remember anything else from when you were younger? For instance, do you remember what you used to watch on TV?" Gabriella closed her eyes again and thought back to her childhood.
"Well every Saturday morning, my brother Aden and I got up at eight o'clock to watch the morning cartoons. We watched Pokemon and all of the other silly little things." Gabriella smiled again at the vision of her and Aden in footie pajamas watching TV with a big bowl of fruit loops. Maybe this therapy thing wasn't going to be as bad as she thought it would be.
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"Well, Gabriella seems to be clear on what happened way before the accident, when she was younger, but things seem to become fuzzy around when she entered her high school years. Were there any drastic changes in what she did, or who she met at that time?" Maria lowered her head into her hands. She could not believe this, that was when she met Troy.
"Yeas there was, Gabriella met Troy in high school." Maria sighed and felt a couple tears slid down her cheeks. She could not believe that this was happening to her daughter and the man that she loved since she was in high school.
"That's weird; she never mentioned anything about a Troy. Who is he?" The doctor asked intrigued by her Maria's change in demeanor. Maria wiped her eyes and looked up at the doctor.
"That's because Gabriella can't remember him. Troy is her fiancée; they were so in love and almost inseparable from the moment that they met. I cannot believe that this is happening to my baby." Maria let more tears fall from her red swollen eyes as the doctor wrote things down on her notepad. He made a note to bring up Troy in their next session. Little did he know, that that was not a very good idea. It was a sensitive subject with her and was wisely avoided.
"Hey, I'm gonna take a nap." A worn out Gabriella told to her mother as they walked into the door of the Montez house. It was only 10 am, but the session with the psychiatrist earlier that morning had really worn the girl out. All of the thinking and trying to become clear on things that were not clear was straining to her. "Can you wake me up around noon; me, Shar, and Taylor are going to go to the mall." Maria smiled up at her beautiful daughter. She was definitely the highlight of Maria's life, well her and her older brother Aden. She loved being a mother more than anything, and the way that Gabriella was pushing all the complications behind her was inspiring.
"Alright sweet heart, I will. I'm so happy that you are doing this, moving on with your life and not staying caged inside hiding from everything." Maria could feel the tears form in her eyes as she spoke to her one and only daughter. Gabriella smiled and walked down the few steps separating them and engulfed her mother in a huge hug that lasted for what seemed like forever. Finally Maria spoke breaking the silence, "I'm so glad that you are so strong."
"Mom, I wouldn't be like this if I didn't have such a great role model." Gabriella smiled at her mother, then kissed her cheek and let go to ascend up the stairs. She turned around at the top and looked down to her mother who was still standing at the bottom holding back the tears. "I love you mom. Just know that…" she smiled and then walked around the corner to her bedroom. Gabriella lay down on her bed and smiled remembering the look on her mothers face. It was the look that she always tried to make happen; it was one that said that she was proud of Gabriella.
She pulled the throw blanket over her small body and laid her head down on the comfort of her pillow, closing her eyes and falling into a deep rest.
"Help! Help!" the gorgeous Latino girl screamed from the top of the tree house. She couldn't figure out why she was up in a dirty old tree house wearing a beautiful ball gown. It was a floor length peach dress with silver gems sewn extravagantly into the bust of the dress. It hugged her petite body snuggly and had a darker peach ribbon just under the bust. "Anyone! Please…"
She had no idea why she was in the tree house, or even how she had gotten there, but knew that there was no way down. The ladder had somehow disappeared, leaving Gabriella stranded up in the tree.
She fell to the floor, covering the bottom of the dress with dirt, but it didn't matter, there was no way that anyone would ever find her up in the tree house in the middle of nowhere. She would be up in the tree for the rest of her life. She looked around and saw that there was a little robot and a faded sticker on it with the name Robo Rob. She smiled and picked up the toy to get a better look at it. She looked all over it when she saw faded writing on the bottom left foot. There were the letters T.B. in black sharpie.
Who in the world is T.B., she thought to herself and set it back down. She looked to her left and saw a red cape. She smiled again and got up to hold the piece of material in her hands. It was soft, and smaller as if made for a child.
"Hello? Is anyone up there?" a husky voice rang from the ground. Gabriella smiled and ran to the side of the tree house which held a pirates wheel and giggled, the cape still in hand. She peered over the edge to see a guy in a pair of dark jeans and a grey V neck T-shirt and black converse. But the face of the guy wasn't visible. As much as she squinted her eyes to see the face of her savior, she couldn't make it out.
"Can you help me get down?" Gabriella stated quietly looking down at the person who called out to her. "The latter's gone and I can't find another way." She felt the blush fill her cheeks and looked down at the wood of the floor. She was wearing a ball gown and this person was wearing jeans and a T-shirt. She must look completely ridiculous.
The guy on the ground laughed a little and held his arms out. "Yeah, I think I could do that." She smiled down at him again, his face still hidden from her view. "Jump." He stated simply with his outstretched arms.
"Are you kidding?" Gabriella asked confused. "I'm not insane." There was no way that she was going to jump out of the tree. She would rather stay up here for the rest of eternity.
"I'm serious… Jump and I'll catch you." He sounded confident which comforted her a little but still did not convince her to jump. "You'll never know if you don't try." He said and Gabriella felt something new, something almost comforting. She felt a pull between her and her unknown heroine. He was pushing her closer to the edge, persuading her to jump into his arms without words. She didn't know what came over her but she was on the other side of the rope that was the barrier between her and the ground, holding on behind her, she closed her eyes and let go.
She knew that she made a mistake when she felt the weightlessness overcome her as she fell through the air into nothingness. Just as she thought that she was going to collide with the hard ground, a pair of strong arms scooped her up bridal style, saving her from the freefall. Her arms wrapped around his neck as he set her feet on the ground and enclosed her into a hug. She still hadn't opened her eyes, but felt safe. He nuzzled into her hair, and breathed softly into her hair, "I'll always be there to catch you when you fall Gabriella."
Gabriella snapped her eyes open only to see a bright flash of blue before her savior turned and walked away, disappearing after about ten steps. She fell to the ground again and tears fell from her chocolate eyes, soaking into the fabric of her dress.
Gabriella jerked awake in a cold sweat. Nothing in the dream had made sense to her, the tree house and the dress… She was deep in thought, when her mother walked into the room quietly. "Gabriella… sweetie, it is twelve o'clock." She said as she sat down on the edge of Gabriella's bed, gently running her hand over her daughter's hair. "What's wrong Gabriella, you look a little pale?"
"I… I just had a weird dream that I didn't understand." She looked up at her mother's soft brown eyes and smiled a little. "I'm fine, I promise." She sat up in the bed and yawned. It didn't seem like she had been sleeping for two hours but she looked at the clock and surly enough it was noon. She looked at her mom and smiled again, laughing a little. "I promise mom, I'm fine… I have to get ready."
"Bien, me te quiere hija." Maria spoke and got up from the bed and walked to the door, shutting it behind her as she left the room. Gabriella sighed as she fell back on her bed with a small bounce, not ready to go out just yet.
The three girls walked through the crowded mall slowly, talking about anything and everything except for one Troy Bolton. Sharpay and Taylor had learned that Gabriella would not respond if they mentioned him, and would become angry, so the topic was wisely avoided. But in the upcoming events, the name was sure to come up. The three beauties walked subconsciously towards the pink and white polka dot lined store. There was nothing that made a girl feel sexier like buying a new set of lingerie. They walked into the door under the sign that read, Victoria's Secret.
Each of them picked out a few sets and went into the dressing room to try them on. "Oh my god Gabriella, you are so hott!" Sharpay squealed as Gabriella opened the door to the dressing room so that Sharpay could help her pick out a set. "Spin missy." Sharpay ordered while twirling her finger in the air, and Gabriella giggled while turning slowly in a circle while her hair was bouncing in the loose curls obeying queen Sharpay. "Jesh Gabs, you could like… be a porn star!"
"Shar!" Gabriella yelled quietly as she self consciously crossed her arms in front of her body. "Shut up." She smiled again and back up into the dressing room and shut the door again, closing herself in.
"Put another one on Gabs…" Sharpay demanded. She was going to do anything in her power to get Troy and Gabriella back together, even if that entailed finding the perfect set of lingerie for their make up sex. Gabriella protested from inside the room but Sharpay stopped her and told her that she would break in and dress Gabriella herself if she didn't, causing Gabriella to agree quickly.
She came out in two more, but Sharpay couldn't decide. Gabriella had one more that she had picked out and was instructed by Sharpay to put it on. She pulled on the thin lacy material, loving the way that the black and pink lace hugged her body, and made her feel like a goddess. She smiled as she opened the door to show Sharpay and Taylor the one that she wanted to buy. "Shar, I think I like this one the best." Gabriella announced.
Instead of the praise that she expected, Sharpay's face immediately dropped into a frown as she looked over at Taylor, who had the same expression plastered onto her face. Gabriella hugged her body again suddenly when the embarrassment flooded her stomach for being almost completely naked in front of her friends. "What's wrong with it… I was going to get this one." She looked down at her chest, thinking that she looked good in the thin material as the goose bumps rose on her skin from the cold air.
"You do Gabs, you look really good, but you don't need to buy it." Gabriella looked up at her friends who were sharing the same scared expression, as if what they were thinking was going to rip Gabriella apart. She was feeling the butterflies of nervousness fill her small stomach as the seconds passed by like hours. She was completely confused.
"Guys, what's going on… You both look like you've seen a ghost." She questioned and rubbed her arms up and down, trying to warm up her small body. Sharpay looked over at Taylor and sighed. Gabriella shifted her gaze between her two best friends with a worried expression on her face. Finally, Sharpay sighed and looked at Gabriella, meaning that she was going to tell her.
"Gabs, you don't need to but it because you already own it." Sharpay said and stood up from the seat, pacing back and forth a little. Gabriella's jaw dropped as she looked over at herself in the mirror.
"What are you talking about Shar, I don't have this." Gabriella protested and looked back at her friends.
"Yes you do Gabs. I'm guessing Troy left out the lingerie when he brought your clothes over because he didn't want to freak you out. I was here with him when he bought it for you. He asked me to come with him so that he could pick one out because he felt a little weird being in Victoria's Secret by himself." Sharpay continued as Gabriella began to feel dizzy. She leaned back against the wall and looked at the ground. "I'm sorry Gabi, but he got it for you for Valentine's Day one year." Gabriella slowly let her slim body slide down the wall to the sitting position at what Sharpay had just told her.
She looked down at her hands that were now tainted. These same hands had been the ones to supposedly touch Troy Bolton, the man that she thought she never knew. But could everything that everyone kept telling her be true? Were they all right, and she was just too stubborn?
"Sweetie, how about we just go…" Taylor suggested calmly and crouched down in front of her shaking friend. Gabriella looked up into her caring eyes and nodded slowly. Taylor smiled and offered a hand to help her get up. Gabriella gratefully accepted the hand and pulled herself up before going back into the changing room and putting back on her normal clothes. She cam out to her friend's waiting for her, and she smiled a little.
"What do you think of this one?" She held up her next favorite one, a deep purple bra and thong set and smiled. She was not going to let Troy rule her life. He was not going to stand in the way of what she wanted, even if it was a set of sexy lingerie.
"I love it Gabi." Sharpay said and draped her arm over Gabriella's shoulder. The girls walked together to the counter to pay for their items. Gabriella smiled on the outside but was a mess on the inside. She still couldn't believe that she and Troy… she just wasn't sure what to believe anymore.
After paying and walking out of the store bags in hand, the girls decided just to head home, so they walked out to the parking lot and all got in the car. They turned on the radio, and decided to have a girl's night. Gabriella was sitting quietly in the back seat as Taylor and Sharpay rocked out in the front seat. She watched as things came into vision and then left quickly after. She was paying close attention when something caught her eye. It was him. She didn't know what came over her, but she shouted, "Shar stop!" She did and looked where Gabriella was looking.
There, in the hot New Mexico sun, was the one and only Troy Bolton playing basketball by himself shirtless. He was only wearing a pair of black basketball shorts with his plaid boxers sticking out from the top. With the absence of color in his outfit, it allowed his skin to shine in the afternoon sun, his hair dripping with sweat as the sun radiated off of his defined muscles. It was almost as if he was moving in slow motion as he dribbled the ball twice then grabbed it in his hands, enabling him to jump and shoot the ball. She watched the ball float through the air as it approached the rim. It looked like it was going to go in, but hit the rim instead and bounced off to the side.
He took another ball that was lying on the ground next to him and shot that one the same way, and repeated with all but two of the balls, but the ball never once went in. All of his muscles were clearly tensing as he was becoming frustrated. The sweat from the humid and scorching weather was dripping down his body, causing his skin to almost glisten.
He shot the second to last one and it missed. He leaned over and rested his hands on his knees, breathing heavily. He had one more shot, and that was it. He caught his breath, and grabbed the last ball that was on the ground. He spun it easily in his hands, getting used to the feeling of having it there. He looked at the basket, flicking the hair out of his eyes, and bounced the ball twice. He bent his knees and sprung up into the air, letting the ball leave his fingers smoothly. He returned to the ground and watched as the ball moved through the air toward the basket. It hit the rim and spun around it twice before falling off to the side, not going through the net.
"DAMMIT!, WHAT THE FUCK IS WRONG WITH ME?!" Troy screamed as he picked up a ball and with all his strength left in his body, he threw the ball at the back board, causing it to fly in the other direction. He walked over to the grass by the blacktop and fell onto his back breathing hard. He put his hands up onto his head and let out an exasperated groan, it seemed that nothing seemed to work anymore.
"Shar go… Please…" Gabriella pleaded as she looked up at the two girls that were also watching the scene unfold in front of them. Sharpay nodded quickly and put the car in drive and headed towards her house. Gabriella slid down in the seat, and continued to look out the window, but wasn't watching. She continuously replayed what just happened in her mind over and over again. She felt a tear fall from her eye and down her cheek but she quickly wiped it away, not wanting to seem vulnerable. But truth be told, she was like a time bomb, ready to explode and know the truth.
I hope you guys like this chapter! I was up until 2 o'clock last night working on it so that I could post it today for you guys! Also, I was working out the final kinks in the chapter plans, and it looks like there is going to be around 15 chapters. Maybe 14, I haven't decided yet.
Please review, they always make me happy! And I want to thank everyone that has read and reviewed this story, or even if you read it but didn't review… Thanks so much guys!
There is a picture of the dress that she was wearing in the dream on my profile, so check it out. Well, thanks again, and maybe the next one will be out next week or so.
