The Silent Girl
Troy's Pov:
We haven't even gotten halfway to the mall, and already Sharpay was droning on and on about which stores she wanted to hit first. So far there were about at least twenty stores on her list. I cringed silently inside as she talked about her wanting to find yet another dress and at least five for Gabi.
This was one time I was thankful Gabriella couldn't hear her. The minute she did, I knew she would be out of the car and running away in fear. I'm glad she finally has Taylor to "talk" to, though.
"Uh Sharpay, how long do you plan on staying at the mall?" I asked her, secretly afraid of her answer.
I watched as Sharpay turned to me and smiled. "I don't really have a set time, so we can leave when we get everything we need." Oh god, this could take forever. At least the mall closes at ten pm.
"Sharpay, you go shopping every weekend. How much clothes can one person buy. You already have four closets, and one of them is purely devoted to shoes. You don't need any more." I wrapped my arm around Gabriella when leaned back into my chest.
"There's always room for more, Troy. Gabriella's not complaining." Sharpay complained while pouting. I gave her a look telling her to 'shut up.' I'm sure if Gabriella spoke up, she would.
The rest of the ride was quiet for the most part. Sharpay was way too eager when we got out of the car. Though Gabriella and I walked hand in hand, Sharpay still felt the need to grab Gabriella's hand and pull her along. "Easy Sharpay she's a person not one of your personal Barbies." I said as I watched Gabriella give me a nervous look.
"Ugh Troy, come on, all the good clothes will be gone." It was natural for Sharpay to be dramatic. Most of us just ignored it.
"Somehow, I doubt that." I mumbled as we entered the mall.
Just as I suspected, it wasn't that crowded today. Laughing, I watched Sharpay let go of Gabriella's hand. Almost immediately she was by my side gripping onto my hand.
"Don't worry Brie, she scares us all." I told her once she looked up at me.
Walking into the first store, Chad, Zeke, and I took a seat on the chairs by the dressing room. This was going to be a long day. I was already tired, and we've been here for what, ten minutes?
Gabi's Pov:
Everyone was being really nice to me, especially the girls. The store department store we went into had everything from swimsuits, to dresses, to designer bags, to lingerie, and finally regular clothes. While I had maybe four or five things in my hand, Taylor had two, and Sharpay had Ryan trailing after her with his arms full of clothes.
Sharpay came up beside me and touched my arm, causing me to look up. "What size are you?" Normally my mom would ask me this when we went shopping, but for me it was a little odd when Sharpay asked me. I thought she was shopping for herself.
She was waiting for an answer causing my face to turn bright red. I would have to talk. There was no getting out of it. I frantically looked over at Troy. He was at my side in less than five seconds taking the clothes from my arms.
I looked back up at Sharpay only to have her repeat her question. "Gabi? What size are you?" I looked at the floor, which suddenly became more interesting to me. My fingers fumbled with the hem of my shirt.
Troy lifted my head so my eyes met his. "Hey, we are all friends. No one is going to judge you. Personally, I think you speak perfectly. I smiled up at him. He somehow knew exactly what to say to me.
"Uhm, in pants or shirts?" I said timidly.
"In everything." Did she want to shop for me?
"In pants I'm either a zero or one. In swimsuits and shirts, I'm a small." I think that's the most I have ever said to someone besides Troy or my mother.
"God your tiny, I'm so jealous." I couldn't help but smile when she said this. Never in my life has anyone been jealous of me. It felt good to know that people were starting to think of my as an actual person.
I watched with amused eyes as Sharpay piled more clothes into the already overloaded arms of her brother. I grabbed about two more shirts and a swim suit before walking over to the dressing rooms with Sharpay and Taylor. I was surprised to see that the dressing rooms were crowded. If we all went in the one, I knew we would keep everyone else from trying on their clothes. We had more clothes than anyone else had. The three of us occupied the large dressing room in the corner, while the boys sat outside ready to judge us. My eyes widened at the mound of clothes in front of me. While Taylor was trying on an orange sundress and Sharpay a pink shirt with white pants, I had no clue as to where to start. Taking a black dress from the top, I undressed and slipped it on. It fit pretty well.
Grabbing the price tag, I took a quick look at it. How can anyone spend 400 dollars on a simple dress? The three of us looked in the mirror critiquing ourselves and each other.
"Ugh I hate my hips." I saw Taylor say.
"I would kill to have your hips and trade you for my scrawny legs." Sharpay said as she lifted her dress up to show her legs.
I felt out of place. To be honest, I wouldn't change anything about myself. Me being deaf has made me stronger. I've learned to love myself to way I am. I watched as Sharpay pulled the curtain back. Troy smiled as he looked at me and mouthed, 'beautiful.' 'Too much,' I mouthed back.
This went on for about four more hours. Troy of course liked everything. There wasn't one thing he didn't like. This is the first time I have ever spent this long in the mall or in one store let alone.
Troy's Pov:
It was pushing 5pm and I knew Gabriella was getting tired. She has tried on over 100 shirts, at least fifty pairs of pants, and not to mention countless pairs of shoes.
"Shar, I think we should leave. I'm bored and Gabi's fading fast." I'm sure we aren't the only tired ones. Ryan had seven bags in his hands, I had three, Gabi had two, Zeke had four, Taylor had one, and Chad had two. The thing I found amusing was that Sharpay had yet to carry a single bag of hers.
"Troy it's still early, and besides we all need to a swim suit. We're having a sleepover tonight and I plan on taking everyone to the beach tomorrow." Sharpay whined.
All I could think about was Gabi and if she would feel comfortable with it. While everyone started to rummage through the racks for swimsuits, I ran my finger over the back of Gabriella's hand to get her attention.
She looked up at me and smiled. "Are you up for a sleepover at Sharpay's and going to the beach in the morning?" I watched as her face dropped for a moment. She shook her head, 'no.' "I don't want you to leave me by myself. Where will you be?" Her voice was low and scared as she spoke. I guess I didn't explain that very well.
"No Brie, don't worry I won't leave you there by yourself. We are all going to go. It will be really fun!" I watched as he face lightened once I said this.
"I've never been to a sleepover before." Her statement was short and simple. I smiled at her innocence.
"I'll go only if I don't have to buy a swim suit. I think I have a drawer full of them at home, plus I'm too tired to start changing again." I chuckled at her and nodded my head.
"How about you go pick yourself out a purse and I'll try to hurry Ms. Shopaholic along." She giggled which was music to my ears before walking in the opposite direction. I however, took a deep breath started over towards everyone else.
"Ok five more minutes and then we're leaving." I told the girls. The guys gave me a thankful look as they rubbed their sore arms.
"Give us ten and you got yourself a deal." I could deal with that. Hey, it was better than nothing. I agreed before walking over to the purse section with the guys following me, wanting to get away from the two girls. It was fairly big and crowded. I scanned the room looking for the brunette, but I didn't see her. There was a blonde, a redhead, a brunette with short hair, some of East Highs basketball players, another blond. I froze as soon as my eyes traveled back to the basketball players. What would they be doing in the purse section?
"Gabriella." I said quietly to myself. I ran as fast as I could to the aisle, Zeke, Chad and Ryan following close by. What I saw made my fist curl up in fury. They were trying to get her to talk. She lay on the floor, shaking, scared to death as Greg, one of the basketball players sat on her, holding her down.
The four of us dropped the bags we were holding. "I thought I told you idiots to stay away from her." I said through gritted teeth as I picked Greg up by his shirt. He looked lost like a deer in headlights.
"Uh look Troy, I mean come-on. We didn't hurt her. She looked lost. She was uh by herself." He stammered.
Zeke, Ryan, and Chad grabbed the two other guys who were trying to run away. "Does this look like you weren't hurting her?" I said pointing to Gabriella shaking on the floor. Without so much as another thought, I shoved his sorry form into the pole.
"Is there a problem here boys, or do I need to call security?" A sales lady came over to us, hands were on her hips.
"Yes I do have a problem. You security system sucks. Your surveillance sucks, and your sales attendants suck. I would like to see your manager." I said while turning my back to her. Out of the corner of my eye I watched her walk away.
Bending down to Gabi, I wiped the tears that were cascading down her face. Before taking her in my arms, I helped her stand up. "You're ok. I'm right here. God I should have never let you go by yourself." Her face was buried into my shirt so I knew she couldn't hear me, but to me it didn't matter. To me she could hear. She could feel the vibrations my throat was given off from talking and for some reason that seemed to calm her down. I kept talking to her until I saw the manager appear.
He looked like an old Italian guy. "Excuse me sir. Hi I'm Mr. Vincent, the store manager. Is there something I can do for you?" His old wrinkled hands were folded out in front of him as he spoke.
"Yes, this is Gabriella Montez. She was attacked in your store by these three. I am furious as to why no one in your store saw this. I understand you are very busy, but that's no excuse. Hire more help if you need to." If I didn't have Gabriella shaking in my arms, I wouldn't have been so calm. I know she could tell if I yell by the vibrations in my throat.
My hands unclenched as I exhaled deeply. "You are absolutely right sir. I am so terribly sorry this has happened. Consider the police on their way and please, tell you and your friends to pick out anything they want in the store. It's on us." I said a quick thank you before lifting Gabriella's head up. The tears had now subsided, but her face was still scared. Putting my hand on either side of her face, I placed a gentle kiss on her forehead.
"You three owe her an apology. That is no way to treat a woman. You three should be fucking ashamed of yourselves. Consider yourselves suspended from the team." I just don't understand how they can do this to her again. I've already warned them at least two times. I'm sick of it. They mumbled a half hearted apology before Zeke, Chad and Ryan put them down, not very gently might I add. At this point, I could care less though. That's what they deserved.
"Get the girls, we're leaving. Tell them to give me their bathing suits." I mumbled to the guys. Without a second thought they ran off.
"Which bag do you like?" I said after I got Gabriella's attention.
Once she read my lips she immediately looked down. "Are you mad at me?" I heard Gabriella's sweet voice.
"Of course not, Sweetheart. What would give you that idea?" Lifting her hands up, she placed it on my face. Her thumb ran along the crease between my eyebrows. I unclenched my face immediately. I never meant to give Gabriella the impression that my face meant that I was mad at her. With her index finger she traced along my lips, her soft hands erasing every scrunched up line. I couldn't help but close my eyes for a second and memorize every feeling she was afflicting on me. Opening them up, I stared into her eyes.
'I like the black one,' she mouthed to me and then looked down. Sure enough there was the forgotten black bag she intended on purchasing.
Walking with her hand in hand, I found them hanging up. There was no way I would let her get the one off the floor. She deserved a new one.
Our friends met us by the cashiers, the manager waiting for us to check out. He scanned the bar codes of the seven swim suits plus Gabriella's bag so the alarm didn't go out when we walked out of the store. Before we left, he apologized once more to me and to Gabriella. What was I going to do, not accept it? I had no other choice.
Gabi's Pov:
I was still getting over the shock on the car ride home. What did those boys want from me? Why do they feel the need to hurt me at every chance they get? Troy of course was being nothing but nice to me. He has been taking good care of me.
"Did they hurt you? Are you ok? Do you need anything?" Troy asked after he lifted my face to meet his.
I gave a dry chuckle. He has been doing this every ten minutes or so and each time I have given the same answer. I was fine, a little shaken up, a little used to people doing this to me, but I was fine. The ride back home was longer than the ride to the mall. The mood had changed since then. It now held a much more somber feeling.
I gave Troy a questioning look as he unbuckled my seatbelt. He gave me a reassuring smile, which as always puts all questions to rest. I watched as she held his arms out to me. Did he want to give me a friendly hug? Was this normal? I copied him and held my arms out to him. With one smooth and gentle motion he picked me up and placed me on his lap.
I couldn't help but turn my body into his and wrap my arms around his neck. I placed my head on his throat and immediately felt a vibration. Keeping my hand on his throat, I looked up. His mouth was clamped shut, but the vibration remained. That's when it dawned on me.
He was humming. That soothing feeling was him humming. Placing my head back to its rightful spot, I couldn't help but smile and inhale. That same smell is always there. I felt him trace imaginary designs on my back. My eyes started to droop and suddenly I couldn't tell if I was being lulled to sleep by his smell or his humming – the lullaby for the deaf.
I hope you enjoyed reading this as much as I enjoyed writing this chapter. Reviews would be nice and greatly appreciated. What do you want to see in the next chapter? What do you want to take place at the sleepover?