A/N: Okay, sorry, sorry, sorry, sorry, sorry!!!!! I know, it's been like three months since I updated last and well, there's an actual reason for that. I went down the coast to a place that has no internet and my dad wouldn't let me bring my laptop and then when we got home, I started school pretty much straight away and have been so exhausted that the thought of writing made me tired. So, I'm just really, really, really sorry!!!! I hope you enjoy this!
Cat and Mouse
CHAPTER 11
LOSE-LOSE
Things were slowly beginning to spin out of hand. Troy recognized it the moment Gabriella had disappeared from his view. To him it seemed like there was some parallel universe that existed only when they were alone together. It was something that he had never encountered before and it worried him slightly that while around other people he and Gabriella could act like they were playing a simple game of cat and mouse, with the end result known to both of them but as soon as they were alone, it was like the game didn't exist. Nothing existed to them when they were alone but the feeling that this was really what they were playing for, the secret moments stolen when his guard was down and she was too weak to resist him at his most vulnerable. Suddenly, two dimensions of the game existed and Troy knew that Gabriella wasn't as aware of it as he had been when she had appeared after the argument with his father. The first dimension was the one that everybody else saw, a game that involved a hunter and its prey, a cat and mouse game that everyone assumed was going to end the way every other cat and mouse game he'd ever participated in did. The second dimension was their stolen moments together that had only come into existence when Henderson had threatened her and everyone on that court had seen him almost lose complete control of his temper and he'd kissed her in her kitchen as she'd looked after him, treating him almost as if he really was her boyfriend, from there the second dimension had taken off and Troy knew it was slowly taking over the game. Just as he knew the game was close to ending. It was ending because he didn't think he could deal with treating Gabriella like a toy anymore, he didn't think he could play it out the way he had planned to in the beginning. It would be too hard for him to do that to her, and much too painful to see her hurting eyes every time he made a flippant comment about them and she remembered what had happened between them when they were alone.
Hearing the door to the gym bang open, Troy tensed and turned, relaxing when he saw Chad with a determined look on his face that told him that Chad wanted answers to his questions and wasn't going to rest until he had them. Troy waited patiently as Chad tossed his gym bag onto the bleachers carelessly before stalking over to Troy, the determined look on his face almost comical seeing as Chad rarely ever seemed determined about something and let it show. Instead of acknowledging Chad straight away as he came to stand beside him, Troy took a shot from the three-point line and went to catch the ball when it went through the net, turning to face Chad when he'd caught the ball and was fully prepared for his best friends queries. Chad, seeming to sense that Troy was ready to talk, shoved his hands in the pockets of his cargo pants and began to speak.
"Do you love her?" Troy blinked at the quiet question. Out of everything that he'd been prepared for, that particular question from Chad, of all people, hadn't been one of the ones he'd even remotely expected.
"Do I love her?" He repeated and Chad nodded, studying Troy intently as Troy sighed and began bouncing the basketball, knowing that Chad was expecting an honest answer and in their nearly eighteen years of friendship, Troy had not once lied to him, especially when he'd asked a serious question.
"Yes." Troy met Chad eyes, daring him to say something stupid about his answer and was slightly relieved when all Chad did was raise his eyebrows, giving Troy the impression that he'd already figured that out. Despite many people assuming Chad was dumb, Troy knew that when he put his mind to something, Chad could have everything figured out within a matter of seconds and he had a feeling that Chad had been thinking about what was going on between him and Gabriella for a while.
"Thought so. That's why you threatened Henderson?" Chad asked again and Troy nodded.
"Pretty much. You going to skirt around your real question with ones you've already answered?" Troy asked with a sigh and Chad cracked a grin before shaking his head at the resigned tone in Troy's voice.
"Nah. Just wanted to make sure all my answers were correct," he replied and Troy let out a dry chuckle. "So, you still going to play the game with her?" He asked and Troy shrugged.
"I can't Chad. Are you seriously telling me you didn't figure this one out too?" Troy asked in disbelief and Chad shrugged, rocking back on his heels as a serious look came over his face.
"Well, I did, kinda. But I figured it'd be smarter to ask you, cause no offense Troy, but you can be a real prick when it comes to girls and this game you're dealing with her. So I really didn't know whether or not you'd still screw around with her." He replied honestly and the muscle in Troy's jaw tightened slightly at the answer before he relaxed them.
"I can't play it Chad, I can't keep doing that to her. I mean with all the other girls, they knew I was going to screw around with them until I felt like finishing off the game but it's different with Brie." Troy said heading over to sit on the bleachers as Chad chuckled behind him.
"Yeah, you gave her a nickname." Chad commented flippantly and Troy glared at him, letting Chad know that he wasn't kidding around.
"No. Chad it's totally different. I can't play the game because it hurts her when I do and I can't stand to see her hurt. The games going to be over before the championship even hits us." Troy said solemnly and Chad sat down next to him, staring at Troy hard to try and detect some hint of a lie behind the cool mask and was stunned to discover that Troy was dead serious. He wasn't going to play the game anymore. It was going to be game over very soon.
"You love her that much, huh?" He asked and Troy shrugged his shoulders at the question.
"I guess. She just…gets it Chad. She gets that when I've had an argument with Dad, I don't want to talk about it, she gets that I can't go home looking like I've been in a fight because then I'll get my butt kicked by my parents. I don't know how she gets it, she just does and she gets that half the things I've said to her, really don't mean anything." Troy said and Chad nodded, not in understanding but with a realization that Troy needed all this from someone who he wanted to know. It was different with Gabriella than it was with him and Chad found that at least he approved of Troy's choice in a girl.
"Okay. So, you love her, she gets it and you can't play the game anymore. So that's it? Its all over from there?" Chad asked and Troy let out a laugh at the way Chad had stated it all.
"It's not really that simple Chad. First, I've got to tell her I love her, then there are a few things she's probably going to need know and then yeah, it pretty much is game over from there on." Troy agreed and Chad nodded his head, his eyes narrowing as he stared down at the court.
"It's weird." Chad stated after a few moments of silence and Troy glanced at him in surprise.
"Why is it weird?" He inquired and Chad grinned at him, snatching the basketball from his hands and standing up.
"Because it's you. I would have never seriously expected to see you whipped until you were at least twenty-five and now look at you, you're not even with this girl and you're completely whipped already." Chad replied and Troy glared at him, the serious mood of the conversation evaporating as Chad laughed at the thought of his best friend being completely whipped.
"Ha ha. Laugh it up now Chad, cause when you find a girl like Brie, you are going to be so whipped it'll be absolutely hilarious." Troy shot back sarcastically and Chad shrugged his shoulders, still grinning.
"Maybe. But the difference is, you my friend, bad boy extraordinaire and king player, are the one that's whipped right now. So, go on, call her and tell her that you want to meet up because you have something to tell her." Chad said and Troy narrowed his eyes at his friend before sighing and then sighed. It couldn't hurt, right?
"Fine." Chad grinned and watched as Troy found his phone and flipped it open. Sending Gabriella a message, asking if she could meet him at the basketball courts in the park in an hour. Setting his phone back down, Troy stood up and stretched, throwing his phone onto the bleachers and walking over to Chad.
"So, you got the details you wanted?" He asked and Chad shrugged, bouncing the ball as he examined.
"Yep. You suck at telling me what's going on though." Chad replied and Troy shrugged, smirking at him.
"That's because I know you need to use your brain at some point in the day and I always figure you're going to have to use it when you're trying to figure out what's happening with me." Troy replied and Chad rolled his eyes at his words, before Troy heard his message tone. Turning to get it, Troy's entire body stilled in shock as he came face to face with Andrew Reynolds, Greg Henderson and Riley Smith, West High's vice-captain, all standing where he had been sitting.
"A bit out of you're territory don't you think Reynolds?" Troy asked as Andrew flipped open his phone and read the message that Troy knew was from Gabriella.
"Sure. I'll see you then. Brie." Troy's jaw clenched as Andrew read the message out loud before flipping the phone shut. "So, you really are involved with Greg's failed conquest." Andrew said, wanting to be on even ground with Troy but recognizing the signs of his brewing temper.
"That has nothing to do with you." Troy didn't move as Chad spoke up harshly from behind him and Riley and Greg smirked.
"No. But it has everything to do with Greg, wouldn't you say Chad? I mean, she was Greg's date to the New Year's Party, wasn't she Greg?" Andrew addressed the boy on his right and Greg looked at Troy, the smirk fading slightly when he saw the temper he was positive Andrew had never seen unleashed before in his eyes before speaking against his better judgment.
"Yeah. She told me she liked it rough." Troy's jaw clenched at the words, furious that Henderson would say something like that when he had been on the receiving end of Troy's temper twice before.
"Really? Did she tell you before or after you were drunk that she had absolutely no experience in that department?" Troy replied and Greg winced at the words before Andrew waved it away dismissively, pleased that Greg was right when he'd said that Gabriella Montez was Troy's new weak spot.
"It doesn't matter, does it? We came here for a reason," Andrew said and Troy's eyes shifted to him.
"Oh really, and what's that? To pull out because you know we're going to beat you in four days time?" Troy asked and Andrew was the one that winced at Troy's words, knowing how true they were.
"Yes. It does have something to do with the championship and we thought who better to bring our case to but the Wildcat Captain?" He asked and Riley chuckled slightly from behind as Troy studied him through cool eyes.
"And what, exactly, are you bringing to me?" Troy asked slowly, dragging each word out as his eyes flicked over the smug face of all three boys.
"This little thing we like to call a threat. See Troy, you made a mistake threatening Greg that second time, we all heard about how you didn't want him anywhere near Gabriella Montez and, unfortunately for you, he's not sure he can do that." Andrew said with a self-satisfied smirk that had something in Troy's stomach clenching.
"Oh really?" Troy asked, his eyes flicking over to Henderson who was watching Troy intently.
"Yes really, see he has this…special need for her and only her, whether or not she's willing," Andrew smiled maliciously as he watched Troy's fists clench. "And there's only one thing that'll make that special need for her disappear." He said and Troy looked at Andrew, his temper beginning to break against its constraints.
"Really? And what is that?" Troy asked and this time Andrew knew it was safe enough for him to step down to face Troy.
"Throw the championships." He said softly and Troy felt Chad start forward at the word, instead he held out his hand and stopped him.
"So, if we don't throw the championships, Greg'll hurt Brie and if we do, he'll leave her alone?" Troy asked and Andrew smiled at him, pleased that Troy had gotten it all in one go.
"I always knew you were a smart one Bolton," Andrew said, stepping away from him as Riley and Greg joined him on the court. "I suppose you'll make your decision by the championship?" He said and Troy barely nodded. Not at all sure what he was feeling as they began to walk away.
"Hey Henderson," Troy suddenly called out and Greg stopped. "Does it suck to know that I fucked the girl you've been after for nearly two years the night you fucked up your big chance with her?" He asked with a smirk and felt a small amount of satisfaction when Greg started towards him, his fists clenched tightly, his green eyes sparking with anger even as Andrew collared him and basically dragged him out of the gym. As soon as the door to the gym shut, Troy turned to Chad who was staring at him.
"What the hell are we going to do?" Chad asked after a moment of silence and Troy shook his head. It was a lose-lose situation. On one hand, Gabriella got hurt and would probably hate him for the rest of his life and on the other, they lost the championship the entire Varsity team had been working toward for the past three years and they only had three days to make the decision.
A/N: So, I don't know. That was like the whole reason Henderson was in this story, for that to happen. I don't think I quite pulled it off though, not the way I wanted to pull it off anyway. Troy's basically in shock for all of you that don't know, which is probably everyone. Anyway, I hope you liked it even if I thought it was horrible!