"Alright Wildcats line up." Troy yelled when he stepped into the wildcat gym. The team lined up. He walked down the line and looked at each one of them.
"You know not to long ago I was in your very spot. I stood on this line." He told them. He looked up on the wall and saw the number 14. He looked back at the team.
"I also hung that jersey on the wall. Can you beat that?" The team gave him a blank stare.
"OK. Well we have a lot of work to do so run. Sucides. Now. Line up." The team went over to the other line and got ready. Troy blew the whistle and they were off. He couldnt believe that only a few years before, that was him. It was hard to believe.
"How they looking?" Troy turned around to find Zeke walking in behind him.
"Not bad." Troy blew the whistle again. They were off.
"Dude I still cant believe that was me only a few years ago." Troy told his friend.
"Tell me about it. I feel old." Zeke told him. Troy laughed. He blew the whistle twice and the team took the bench.
"You ready?" Sharpay asked Gabriella when she answered the phone. Gabriella was dragged into going baby shopping.Sharpay insisted on taking her. She told them it was something that she wanted to do with Troy, but sheinsisted. She finally gave in.
"Yeah I just have to get my shoes." Gabriella walked back to the bedroom. Sharpay followed. Gabriella grabbed the black heels from the closet and sat down on her bed and slipped her shoes on.
"Where did you find this?" Sharpay asked taking a picture off the night stand. It was a picture from gaduation day and Troy and Gabriella are together. They looked adorable.
"Troy found it in one of the boxes. He found a bunch of them actually." Gabriella stood up from the bed and walked over to one of the shelfs that was in the room and took a box off of it and brought it over to the bed. The pictures were filled with memories of high school. Parties, games, musicals. They came across one of Troy and his dad. Mr. Bolton had an arm around his sun. Both holding the trophy.
"Im guessing he saw this one." Sharpay stated. Gabriella nodded.
"That explains that its on the bottom of the box." Gabriella giggled.
"Did you hear from him yet?" Sharpay asked. Gabriella shook her head.
"He was kinda nervous this morning. He wasnt sure if it was going to be like how it was when he was in high school you know?" Sharpay nodded. Sharpay looked over at the alarm clock on the nightstand. It was close to 4.
"Ok we have to go." Gabriella grabbed her bag and they went out to Sharpays car.
"Alright. Our first game is in two weeks. We have a lot of work to do. I want you in here during free period and a few hours after school. I mean it. Go shower up." The team hooted and hollered as they went into the locker room. Troy and Zeke followed them back to the offices.
Troy took out the old play book that he found in the attic and flipped through it. He remember the plays. The last one in the book was the one that won them the game senior year. It was all in his fathers handwriting. Troy closed it and put it back in the cabnit. He looked down at his phone and called Gabriella.
"Hey Gabs."
"Hi babe." He smiled when he heared her voice. He hadnt heard it all day.
"How you doing?" He asked.
"Im fine. Im out shopping with the Sharpay. I wanted to do it with you though." She told him.
"Did you tellher that?" He asked.
"Troy...come on." She told him. He knew that was a stupid question. Sharpay didnt care what either of them said. She was still going to do it anyway. Thats they way she has always been.
"Troy." Troy looked up and found Zeke in the doorway.
"Gabs hold on a second." He told his wife.
"Whats up man?" He asked his friend.
"Dinner at our house tonight around six or so. You guys good?" He asked.
"Gabs are we going to..." He asked his wife.
"Already told Shar we were." Troy looked back at Zeke and he nodded. Zeke put out his hand and headed out. Troy could hear the team slamming the lockers and talking and shouting in the locker room. Troy got up and closed the door and contiuned the conversation.
"I miss you." He told her.
"I miss you to. But ill see you in a little bit."
"Well I got to go. I have to finish up here and then I will head over to Sharpay and Zekes."
"Ok. Sounds good babe. I love you."
"I love you to." He hung up the phone and continued the work in the office.
"How about this one?" Sharpay asked her friend. Another stroller. Gabriella saw enough strollers. She cant put her kid in a simple one, they are so elaborate. This one had an ipod speaker on the top of it.
"NO!" She crossed her arms over her baby bump.
"Gabriella you need a stroller." Sharpay told her.
"Yeah. I know. But i dont want one with all of that stuff. Can we look at clothes maybe. Me and Troy were going to look at this stuff. Please." She pleaded.
"Fine." The next half hour the three girls spent looking at baby clothes. They got a few little dresses and pink shirts with bunnys and ducks on them. Finally they decided to leave so they can go back to the house and start dinner.
"One thing I hate about this pregnancy is that it whips you out way to fast." She told Sharpay. Gabriella put her elbow on the arm rest and put her head on her hand.
"And a huge headache." Sharpay laughed as she pulled out of the parking lot.
"Thank god I dont have to do that yet." Gabriella laughed. Sharpay was in for a rude awakening.
"Lets just get to your house...I miss my husband." Sharpay smiled and they turned right at the light and headed back to her house.
The two men sat on the couch and went over game plans. The laker game was comming on in a few minutes. Chad was playing tonight. With the beers on the coffee table Troy and Zeke sat down and made a game plan. Before they knew it Xs and Os were all over the white paper.
"Did you see that Jones kid today?" Troy asked Zeke. He nodded.
"Im thinking about starting him in next thursdays game." Troy told Zeke.
"But hes a sophmore. You think hes ready?" He asked Troy.
"I know when I see a good kid when I see him. This kid has talent." Troy told him.
"You know better them I would. Go for it man." Troy put his name on the circle on the first line on the court.
"Hello." Troy heard Gabriellas voice and got up from the couch and went meet her at the front door.
"Hello beautiful." She made a weak laughed and walked into Troys arms.
"You ok?" He asked her. He brushed the side of her cheek with his thumb. She closed her eyes and nodded.
"Just tired and a little headache. Thats all. Im fine." Troy kissed her head.
"So how did it go?" Gabriella asked as she walked out to the kitchen to see if Sharpay needed any help.
"It went really good, but they need a lot of work." He told Gabriella.
"And who better to get them into shape then the former Laker himself." She laughed.
"Yeah right." He joked.
"Shar. You need any help?" Gabriella asked her. She still had her arm wrapped around Troys waist.
"Yeah can you cut up the lettece for me. Its in the fridge." Sharpay said as she put the chicken in the oven. Thats really all Sharpay knew how to do. Zeke prepared everything, she just warmed it up.
"Im gonna head out and watch the game." Troy kissed Gabriella.
"Alright babe." Gabriella walked over to the side of the sink and took the plastic wrap off the lettece and took the knife and sliced it in half. She then cut it in fours. Her eyes started to become heavy. She nodded her head and with that the knife cut her hand. She quickly came back up and realized her hand was bleeding.
"Crap." She whispered to herself as she ran it under the water. Her hand hurt really bad.
"Gabs. What are you doing. Oh my god. Gabriella. What did you do?" Sharpay asked as she ran over to Gabriellas side.
"I cut my hand open. I...my eyes got heavy. I dosed off for a second and the next thing I knew my hand was bleeding." The water was still running and her hand was still bleeding.
"TROY!" Sharpay yelled as she got a dish towel from off the counter. She wrapped Gabriella left hand in it.
"Whats wrong?" He asked. He saw Gabriella holding her hand tight.
"What happened?" He asked his wife.
"My eyes got heavy. I couldnt keep them open. I dosed off for a second. And then my hand." She lifted it up a little so he could see it.
"Come over here." He turned the light on and opened the towel to look at Gabriellas hand. Her hand was throbbing. It hurt so bad.
"Babe. You need stiches. You cut it really deep." Gabriella put her head back in anger. This never happened before.
"Shar. Im sorry about dinner." Gabriella told Sharpay.
"Dont worry about it. Another night." Troy got Gabriellas coat and threw it over her shoulders and leaded her out to the car. She held her hand tightly.
"Oh Gabriella." Troy told her as he brushed the side of her hair. She was crying once they got out to the car.
"I dont want to go."She told him.
"Go where honey?" He asked her.
"To the hospital. I dont want to go there." Troy knew exactly why. He sighed.
"Gabbi. We have to go there. You have to get these stitches. Its not going to stop." He took her left hand and opened the towel that was wrapped around it. It was drenched in blood.
"Troy please dont make me go there." Gabriella pleaded.
"Gabriella listen to me. You have to go. You have to over come this. You already did." He told her.
"I thought I did. But I dont want to go there. I dont want to go back there and know that is where she died. I ca...I ca...I cant." She sobbed. Troy wipped the tears away on her face.
"Gabriella, sooner or later you are going to have to go there. We are having the baby there. You have to go." Gabriella nodded and Troy started the car.
"Troy wait!" She yelled. He looked back at her.
"What?" He asked a little annoyed.
"She kicked." She told him.
"What?"
"She kicked." She took his hand and placed it on her growing stomach. Troy was speechless. That was his baby. His daughter.
"I cant believe it." Gabriella moved her hand around her stomach. Troy smiled. She looked back at him and wipped the rest of the tears away on her face.
"Ok. Im ready." Troy put the car in park and drove back to the hospital.
"Do you need anything?" Troy asked Gabriella once they got back home.She fell asleep in the car and he took her upstairs where she woke up. She needed a total of 32 stitches. Troy felt bad. She was in a lot of pain.
"No. Im ok for right now." She put a hand on her stomach and closed her eyes. Troy left the room and went downstairs to get something to eat. It was about 830. It was still really early. He sat down on the couch and turned on sports center. Chads face appered on the screen. He played a hell of a game that night.
"What could have been." Troy said to himself. He knew that he made the right decision to stay with Gabriella. He loved Gabriella a lot more then basketball. The decision he made he got the best of both worlds. Gabriella was his main priority right now. She needed him, and he needed her. The phone rang so he got up off the couch and answered it.
"Hello."
"Hey man." It was his best friend.
"So how did it go?" Troy was wondering since the game started. This was the first game without him starting in the past two years.
"They all missed you. Its not the same."
"Well I did watch it." Troy told him.
"And..."
"You did great out there man. Althought I think I would have rather been there then where I actually was." Troy told him.
"Why what happened?"
"Gabriella was helping Sharpay make dinner and she cut her hand open with a knife. We were sitting in the ER watching the game." Troy explained to him.
"Oh my god. Is she ok?"
"She will be. Dude, you have no idea how hard it was for me to see her in that much pain and not being able to do anything about it."
"I have the same thing with Taylor. Dont worry man it will be ok. Hows everything with my god daughter?" Chad asked him.
"Everything is fine man." Troy assured him.
"Did you guys find a name yet?"
"We havent talked about it yet. We will soon though." He told him.
"Well, we will come home when shes born. I wont miss it. I promise." Troy smiled. Chad will always be there for him, no matter where he was.
"Listen man I have to go do this press conference. I call you later ok?"
"Yeah. Tell everyone I said hi." Troy told him.
"Will do man. Take it easy." Then the line went dead. Troy put the phone back on the hook and walked back upstairs to Gabriella. He could be in LA right now about to give a press conference. He could be signing autographs and smiling for pictures. He could be with his friends in the locker room talking about the game. He could be the one on ESPN right now.
What could have been.
Im sorry about being late updating. Im really busy. But last night and tonight i saw HSM3 and it was so good. I will try to get theseout earlier I promise. PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE REVIEW!!