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Chapter eleven

Gabriella looked up at the bright sky as she walked, feeling the dryness of her cheeks from her recent episode of tears. She listened as her footsteps matched with her visitors' and she slowly turned her head to the side to look up at him, glancing away as he looked at her, too.

"Is your morning getting better?" He asked with a small smile.

"Slowly." Gabriella replied with a small laugh.

"Care to share what those tears were about?" He asked as he looked down at his feet as they continued to walk.

"It's a long list. I wouldn't want to bore you, Troy." Gabriella answered politely with a nod.

"You wouldn't, but I understand if you don't want to talk about it with me." He said as he looked toward her, watching as she took a deep breath.

They walked silently, each taking in each other's presence as they thought of nothing but their morning activities. As a soft wind blew and the sun beat down on them, they made their way around the park, towards the pond that they had sat at together a few days back. Gabriella was the first to sit down once they got to the bridge and as Troy bent down to sit, his cheek lightly brushed up against her shoulder. He sat down awkwardly and scratched his neck as he looked out at the water.

"It's nice out here, isn't it?" Troy asked as he squinted out the sun.

"It's so quiet; almost like there's nothing to bother us here." Gabriella said with a nod as she stretched her legs out in front of her and then slowly let them sway underneath her, brushing the top of the water just barely with her foot.

"That's because nothing can… as long as you don't let it." Troy replied with as he looked to his side to watch Gabriella.

"I wish I could believe there was a place where nothing could bother me. Even if just for a minute, but no matter where I am, I'll think of something that bothered me before I got to that place." She said quietly, watching as a dragonfly swirled around her ankle.

"Close your eyes. That's what always helps me." Troy said with a small chuckle.

Gabriella looked at him and slowly closed her eyes, letting his image disappear from behind her eyelids. She breathed in deeply and tried to forget about Sharpay's unfortunate news, about her past tragedies and worries, but as she tried to focus on the good things she only realized that those things were limited and that it would be a waste to keep her eyes closed.

Troy was looking at her intently as she opened her eyes and he smiled at her softly, waiting to see what she would say.

"Did it help?" Troy asked.

"No." Gabriella whispered with a slow shake of her head. "I wish it did, though."

"Me too." Troy whispered as he turned back to the pond.

"Can I ask you something?" Gabriella asked after a few minutes of silence between the two.

"Sure." Troy said with a nod.

"Have you ever blamed yourself for the outcome of someone else's life?" She asked quietly.

Troy stared out into the waters in front of him and set his elbows against his knees as he thought about her question.

"Yeah." Troy whispered sadly. "Everyday."

"You know, sometimes I think that I shouldn't have even come back here." Gabriella admitted. "I feel like I'm ruining everyone's life around me."

"How can you say that?" Troy whispered as he turned his head to look at her.

"It's true." Gabriella said quietly. "I've created this idea that everything is just going to be okay; that eventually people will forgive me, but then I see all the bad stuff and realize that what I want is just some kind of fairytale."

"People were never mad at you." Troy explained.

"I was mad at me, Troy." Gabriella answered curtly.

"What if you never came back, Gabriella?" Troy started. "Taylor would have been miserable without her best friend around and your mom would probably have gone insane."

"And you?" Gabriella asked.

Troy looked at Gabriella intently, watching as her long dark eyelashes blinked quickly over her warm eyes. He brought his hand toward her face and moved a piece of hair away from her eyes.

"I don't know, Gabi. I really don't know."

Gabriella opened her mouth to reply, but Troy was already standing up, ready to go.

"Come on, we have a long walk home." He said as he put his hand out to help her up.

Gabriella took his hand and breathed deeply as she walked next to him, inhaling the air that now smelt so greatly of Troy; the boy who made her a little less mad at herself and helped her find a place that could push all of her worries away for just one millisecond.

Gabriella didn't exactly plan on getting ambushed by Mr. and Mrs. Bolton after she and Troy got back into the neighborhood. She thought she'd go home, take a hot shower, and spend some time reading about a new cure for something, for someone. She was now sitting on the couch of the Bolton's family room, laughing as Mr. Bolton talked energetically while Mrs. Bolton cooked in the kitchen.

She glanced at Troy as she nodded to Mr. Bolton and he gave her an apologetic look from his spot in the chair placed next to his dad. Gabriella laughed once again as Mr. Bolton continued to talk and she smiled when Mrs. Bolton saved her and called her into the kitchen.

"So, Gabriella," Mrs. Bolton started once they were both settled at the counter by the sink, peeling potatoes. "Are you excited to be back?"

"Excited and sad all at the same time." Gabriella admitted.

"Sad, huh? That's a surprise." Mrs. Bolton said with a raise of her right eyebrow.

"Yeah, well, It's hard coming back to change. You know, I remembered Albuquerque in a certain way and that way kind of changed when I came back… not for the bad… it just… changed." Gabriella answered with a shrug, not really knowing how to put her feelings into words.

Mrs. Bolton smiled to herself as Gabriella shifted in her spot as she continued to peel potatoes. Mrs. Bolton cleared her throat and wiped her bangs off of her forehead with her arm.

"You know, when I came back from college when I was your age, I thought I knew how I wanted to spend the rest of my life when I got back home." Mrs. Bolton stated with a smile, remembering back to her college days.

"What did you want to do?" Gabriella asked curiously.

"I wanted to travel the world and live in all the places that people only could dream about. I had the money and I never thought I'd do anything else… I definitely didn't think I'd be here in Albuquerque, New Mexico." Mrs. Bolton said with a small laugh.

"What made you change your mind?" Gabriella asked.

Mrs. Bolton smiled and her eyes gleamed with the old memories.

"His name was Benjamin." Mrs. Bolton laughed.

"Benjamin?" Gabriella questioned.

"I fell in love with him… or at least I thought I had. He was a good man, handsome and smart about all the right things. Every girls dream." Mrs. Bolton said.

"Then what happened?"

"He wasn't there when I came back from college. He didn't want to wait for me any longer and said it was for the best. 'That we had a good time before college at least.'" Mrs. Bolton shook her head at the thought, but smiled anyway. "I didn't like the fact that he had to be traveling all the time and I told myself I didn't want to end up like that."

"Wow." Gabriella whispered.

"There is a happy ending to that story though." Mrs. Bolton added.

"Yeah?"

She nodded and continued, gesturing toward the living room.

"Those boys in there are the best things that have ever happened to me. It was worth the change of plans and the wholeness of my heart." Mrs. Bolton concluded.

"Were you ever mad?" Gabriella asked.

"About being left? Of course, but after a while I realized that he left because he wasn't meant to stay."

Gabriella's heart thudded at Mrs. Bolton's statement and she looked up at her and smiled sincerely.

"Can I just say one more thing?" Mrs. Bolton asked.

"I'd love that." Gabriella nodded.

She took Gabriella's hand in hers and smiled.

"Leaving doesn't mean you don't love the person you have to leave behind. It may just mean that you need to take that path to bring you back to that person in the long run."

Gabriella smiled and nodded slowly, feeling a tear slid down her cheek. Mrs. Bolton wiped Gabriella's tear away and embraced her in a warm hug.

"You came back, Gabriella, and Troy stayed." She whispered softly getting a subtle nod from Gabriella. "That has to mean something."

After another minute of hugging, they separated and smiled at each other. Gabriella took a deep breath and collected herself quickly.

"If you don't mind, I think it would be a good time to head home. I have a lot of thinking to do." Gabriella stated.

"What are you still doing here?" Mrs. Bolton said with a laugh, swatting her with a dishtowel, shooing her out of the kitchen.

Gabriella laughed as she walked into family room and stopped in the doorway.

"Alright, I'm heading home." She said with a smile.

"Already? You're not staying for dinner?" Mr. Bolton asked.

"I'd love to, but I have some work to get done." She replied with a nod.

"Okay, but come back soon." Mr. Bolton demanded.

"I will." Gabriella laughed. "See you later Mr. Bolton. Troy."

"Talk to you later, Gabriella." Troy said with a wave from his seat.

She smiled and left through the front door. She stopped on the front lawn and turned around to look at the large house. She inhaled deeply and took in the image, memorizing the details. She stopped herself though, knowing that there was no point in memorizing the look of the house. She would be back. She would be.

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The next chapter... What didn't Troy do during college? You'll find out along with Gabriella! Will it be good or bad? And why is Gabriella just finding this out??

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unknownbyhim22