Save the Last Dance
Chapter 11: Leaving
Patty and Lana went back to Jessie, without any hesitation, Lana started to speak, "Now I know why he just left abruptly when I asked about the date of your wedding. I can't believe he's such a man."
"What do you mean?" Jessie asked Lana.
"Wait and see." Lana replied. "Hey you! Server girl."
"What do you want to do?" Jessie asked Lana.
"You'll see." Patty replied. "That girl needs mean girls in her life."
"Stop it okay?" Jessie pleaded.
"Hey you! Server girl." Lana shouted again.
"Don't worry Jess. We'll take care of it." Patty said as she put her foot out and purposely trip Gabriella over.
Gabriella was holding a tray of wine when she accidentally tripped and poured the glasses of wine all over Lana.
"Oh my gosh!" Lana shouted.
"I'm sorry ma'am!" Gabriella said immediately as she tried to remove the stains using a napkin on Lana's dress."
"Why don't you watch where you're going?" Lana shrieked.
"I'm sorry! I'm sorry! I didn't mean to trip over." Gabriella apologized again.
Troy saw the whole thing and was shocked to see what was happening.
"What are you going to do with it?" Patty asked Gabriella.
"I will compensate for it." Gabriella replied. "I'm really sorry I didn't mean to trip over."
"Compensate? That's easy for you to say." Lana said she placed her finger on Gabriella's head and used it to push her. "Don't you realize how much this dress cost?"
Troy was about to go over and stop the scene but Jessie stopped him, "Troy, no."
"Troy, I don't feel well. Can we go home now?" Jessie asked as she tried to block Troy from going to the scene. Troy tried to break free and was so furious. Jessie, on the other hand, continued to speak, "Please Troy, I'm serious. I don't feel well. Let's go."
Troy finally calmed down a little bit but still stood there.
"I'm really sorry I didn't mean to do it. Here please take this." Gabriella said as she took some money out from her pocket.
"What are you doing now?" Lana shouted and pushed her away.
Gabriella couldn't take it anymore and said, "I've already said sorry!"
"Is that an attitude of a person being sorry?" Lana asked, "If you really mean it, you must be honest." Lana pushed Gabriella hard that she fell down and hit the table where the Ice sculpture was standing.
Troy saw the Ice sculpture was about to fall down. He pushed Jessie aside and immediately rushed to Gabriella as fast as he could.
Gabriella saw the sculpture falling on her, "Oh, no." She told herself she just closed her eyes and covered her face waiting for the thing to fall down on her.
Troy arrived just in time to cover Gabriella from the falling sculpture. Jessie was shocked to see what was happening, she placed her hand on her mouth. Gabriella slowly opened her eyes as she didn't feel anything fall over her instead she felt warmth. She was surprised to see Troy wrapped around her. Both of them just looked at each other for a while. Gabriella tried to stand up, Troy didn't release her but helped her from getting up.
Tanya saw what was happening and rushed over, "Oh no. Ms. Montez, are you alright."
"Yes Ms. Bolton. I'm fine." Gabriella said as she broke away from Troy's hold.
Tanya looked at Lana and Patty. "You guys ruined this party! I can't believe you'd make a scene!"
Troy glared at Patty and Lana. He suddenly grabbed Gabriella's hand and pulled her away from the crowed. They were outside when Gabriella suddenly tried to release her hand from Troy's grip. "Mr. Bolton, please let me go!" Gabriella shouted.
Troy then released his grip from Gabriella's hand. Gabriella immediately said, "I'm sorry for shouting."
"Why are always saying sorry?" Troy shouted. "You always apologize to people but in the end they always hurt or beat you up. How can you stand that?"
"Mr. Bolton…" Gabriella was utterly speechless.
"How long can you stand to be like that?" Troy asked her. "Are you stupid with no self-respect?"
Gabriella didn't know what to say, but Troy continued his rant, "Why do you like it so much? Do you want my sympathy?"
"What are you saying?" Gabriella asked Troy.
"If not, why do you take me as your dead lover?" Troy asked.
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Back at the party, Tanya kept apologizing to the people who saw the incident. One by one they left the place. Jessie couldn't believe what happened, she was shocked to see Troy protecting Gabriella and even pulled her away from the incident as if she wasn't there. She tried to compose herself, she sighed and closed her eyes. Once she looked down, she saw a necklace. She knew it was Gabriella's, she picked it up and was shocked to see that the necklace was the same as the necklace the nurse gave her when Troy was found alive a year ago. She opened the locket and found a rolled paper and then rolled it out. Her eyes widened at the content of the paper, "Even if I don't have memories from the past or even if my memories come back. If fate separates us, I will find you. I'll be willing to find you even if I need to go to the ends of the earth. I will always love you and cherish you for all eternity." She rolled it back and placed the paper back in the necklace, it was the same necklace that Troy was wearing when he was found and it has the same content inside. She now knew that Troy met Gabriella the year he was missing…
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Gabriella looked disbelievingly at Troy. She couldn't say anything and decided to just leave and walk away. She started to walk away but Troy held her back. Gabriella looked at Troy and Troy started to speak again, "This is what you want right? Look poor in front of me and get my sympathy and then get into my heart?"
"This is what you want and this is what you hope right?" Troy asked her again. Gabriella just looked at him trying to hold back her tears. Troy continued to speak, "You're successful you know that?" Troy told her, "I feel sympathy for you, I felt bad that you suffered a lot. Calling your dead lover's name in front of me, at the beginning. At that moment, I started to sympathize with you."
Gabriella was shocked to hear Troy said. She just stood there and looked at him disbelievingly.
"I beg you don't appear in front of me." Troy told her. "It makes my feelings so confused."
Troy was about to leave but Gabriella spoke she now couldn't stop her tears from falling, "I believe that I should say this in front of you. I'm not stupid, I don't really care what will happen to me, all I want to see is people that I care about is happy. I don't want to fight people even though they're so rude to me and treat me bad. If this is about your sympathy I don't need it, I don't need your pity or anything else. I didn't know being nice to everyone would make me look so bad."
Troy just looked at her as Gabriella continued, "I know what I'm after doesn't exist anymore. Alex is dead, as I have told you before. Don't worry, Mr. Bolton. I won't appear in front of you or see you again. I'll treat you as a stranger and I promise you will not see me again."
Gabriella left him. Troy looked as her back disappeared in front of him. Troy instantly felt bad. Unknown to them Jessie was standing near the shop's entrance and heard everything. She gripped hard on Gabriella's necklace. Troy sighed and looked back and saw Jessie.
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Troy and Jessie were both going back home from the party. Troy and Jessie sat silently when Jessie started to break the silence. "Troy, if you're not there, there would be an accident. I know that Gabriella was scared too. Are you hurt?"
Troy didn't reply. Jessie felt uncomfortable and continued to speak, "Lana said Gabriella didn't mean to ruin her dress. She felt so bad, I feel better that everyone is fine."
Troy continued to keep quiet, Jessie looked at him again, "Are you okay, Troy?"
Troy just looked at her for a brief moment and he continued to drive.
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Troy brought Jessie back to her home. Troy remained silent the whole ride, Jessie didn't leave the car yet. Troy was about to say something but Jessie cut him up, "Don't call me later tonight Troy. I don't feel good I want to rest okay?"
Jessie was about to leave when Troy started to speak, "Jess…"
"Don't say anything about it." Jessie said. "Although I don't know what you want to say, I don't want to know it. So don't say anything about it. No need for explanation, don't mention anything okay? Goodnight Troy."
Jessie left the car and went in her house.
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Jessie went in her room and went to her dresser. She pulled her drawer and took her jewelry box. She opened it and there was Troy's necklace. She took it out and took Gabriella's in her purse she compared both of the necklace and tears started to fall in her eyes. She then knew that Troy knew Gabriella after the accident, she then pushed her cosmetics away and let it fall from the ground and cried silently.
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Gabriella was playing the stuffed toy Alex gave to him. She then decided to go to sleep. She then placed the stuffed toy back and was about to head to bed when she noticed her necklace is gone. Then she frantically looked around her room but unfortunately she couldn't find it. Gabriella sat back in her bed and told herself silently, "Maybe it's better this way. Maybe I should let go of the past. I'm silly, holding on to the past where I knew from the start that there's no future for me and Alex, we're two worlds apart."
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Troy was going back home, he remembered Gabriella's last words to him,"I know that what I'm after doesn't exist anymore Alex is dead, as I have told you before. Don't worry, Mr. Bolton. I won't appear in front of you or see you again. I'll treat you as a stranger and I promise you will not see me again."
He continued to stare blankly in front of him.
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"What's this?" Ms. Yoon asked Kelsi.
"Resignation letter from Ms. Montez ma'am." Kelsi replied.
"Why did she resign?" Ms. Yoon asked Kelsi.
"I don't know ma'am. She just gave it to me this morning, I was asking her but then she just didn't answer." Kelsi replied. "She wanted to say goodbye to you in person but she told me it would be best if she didn't come here."
Ms. Yoon sighed, "Alright, too bad, she's one of the best here in our team. I really like her"
"I know ma'am. She's my best friend. I know she liked it here, but I think there are reasons why she felt she needed to go." Kelsi replied.
Ms. Yoon shook her head, "What a loss. Anyway, thank you for giving this to me." Ms. Yoon said, "You can go back to your work now. Mr. Bolton ordered to check the inventories and we just lost one hand to work."
"Yes ma'am. I'll see to it." Kelsi said and left .
Kelsi's phone rang, she looked at her phone and Ryan's calling her. She picked it up and greeted, "Hey Ryan."
"I was wondering if you want to eat out. I just came back with Sharpay, and I kind of having my free time." Ryan told her.
"Sorry Ryan, not now. I'm kind of busy. Our boss just ordered us to check all our stocks. He's kind of in the mood to do this today. We literally need to check everything." Kelsi said. "With Gabriella resigning we just lost one good hand."
"Oh I see." Ryan replied, "Wait, Gabriella quit?"
"Yeah, she just gave me her resignation letter this morning before going to work." Kelsi told him. "I asked her why is she quitting her job. She didn't answer and just told me to give it to our team leader."
"What happened?" Ryan asked.
"I don't know, but I felt something happened last night that triggered her to do this." Kelsi told him. "You and Shar better check on her at home. See to it she's okay. She also told me she's going back home tonight, try to convince her to stay okay?"
"Alright." Ryan told Kelsi, "What about dinner tonight?"
"Yeah, dinner sounds good to me." Kelsi told him. "Bye."
Troy heard what Kelsi said over the phone, he continued to walk in his office as if nothng happened.
Kelsi was about to go back to work when Jessie just arrived and stopped her.
"Hey." Jessie said. "You're um, Gabriella's friend right?'
Kelsi looked at her. "Yes. What's the matter?"
"Can you call her for me?" Jessie asked her. "I kind of need to talk to her about something."
"I don't know what it is about but you can ask me." Kelsi told Jessie, "I'm one of her best friends and her case is my case."
Jessie looked around to see if Gabriella was around. Kelsi shrugged and said, "She's not here today."
"Fine. Since you're one of her best friends then I want to ask you something." Jessie said. "Follow me."
Kelsi looked at her. And followed her.
Both girls sat on the lounge area of the company. Jessie took out the necklace in her purse, "I believe this is Gabriella's necklace."
Kelsi looked at it and said, "Yes. That's hers." Kelsi took it and said, "She never takes it down whenever she goes to bath or sleep." Kelsi suddenly stopped talking and looked at her suspiciously, "Why is it with you?"
"I saw it last night on the floor at the party." Jessie replied. "Why isn't she here?"
Kelsi looked at her and said, "She resigned and won't come here anymore."
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The doorbell rang, Gabriella was just about to finish packing her stuff, she then stood up and went over the door and was surprised to see Ryan and Sharpay in front of her. She smiled and shouted, "Ryan! Sharpay!"
"Hey Gabi, how are you?" Ryan asked her.
"I'm good." Gabriella smiled. "So how's New York?"
"Cold." Sharpay said. "We heard that you resigned."
"Yeah." Gabriella's face suddenly became sad. "I did."
"Why?" Ryan asked her.
"I wanted to go back home." Gabriella replied. "Tonight."
"You know what?" Sharpay said. "Let's get lunch outside, and talk about this okay? You're not leaving, because we just came back."
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"Ms. Yoon?" Jessie said.
"How can I help you ma'am? Are you looking for Mr. Bolton?" Ms. Yoon said. "Please, have a seat. I'll tell him that you're here."
"Actually I'm not here to see Troy." Jessie told Ms. Yoon. "I have something to ask you."
Ms. Yoon looked at her quizzically and didn't say anything.
"Can I have Ms. Montez's home address?" Jessie asked her.
Ms. Yoon just looked at her.
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Jessie sat at her car and looked at the paper Ms. Yoon gave her. It was Gabriella's home address. She then started her engine and fixed her mind on going over.
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"Aren't you guys finish with the inventory yet?" Troy asked Ms. Yoon.
"Not yet Mr. Bolton, we were still finalizing some items." Ms. Yoon informed him.
"Alright, I want it in my desk as soon as possible." Troy informed her.
"Yes. Mr. Bolton." Ms. Yoon told him.
Troy left Ms. Yoon's office, he went to the elevator and waited for it to arrive. He then heard Kelsi talking over the phone.
"Hey Ryan. Gabriella's with you and Sharpay?" Kelsi said. "That's good she went out with you guys. Oh Sharpay drag her to go shopping? Did you change Gabriella's decision? No she still haven't changed her mind? I just wish she'd stay here in the city. It's too lonely for her to go back at the inn. No I haven't eaten lunch yet. Oh you're bringing me food? That's great. Anyway I got to go. I need to finish these reports okay? Bye. See you in a bit."
Kelsi hang up the phone just in the elevator opened. Troy immediately went in.
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Troy just got in his car and started the engine. He was about to leave when a car in front of him appeared. He immediately pressed the breaks but the damage in his car has been done.
"Damn!" Troy slammed his steering wheel. He then stopped the engine and went out. He looked at his bumper and saw a small scratch. He sighed. Then the guy from the other car went out and saw a small bump in his bumper. "Hey man. You gotta pay for this." The guy told Troy.
"You suddenly came out of nowhere. And this is the exit lane. The entrance is on the other side." Troy explained calmly.
"Who are you to tell me this?" The guy shouted.
"It's none of your business. Here take this. I'm sure that's enough to pay for the small bump in your car." Troy told him.
The guy took the money and said. "Fine." He was about to get in his car and suddenly said quietly. "Spoiled rich kid."
It was then Troy snapped, the guy thought Troy didn't heard him but Troy heard him out loud. Troy jumped and went to punch the guy. The guy stood up and punched him back. Both started a brawl. Troy was so mad that the guy was punched to the ground. He then had flashbacks of what happened last night. "I know that what I'm after doesn't exist anymore Alex is dead, as I have told you before. Don't worry, Mr. Bolton. I won't appear in front of you or see you again. I'll treat you as a stranger and I promise you will not see me again."
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Ryan just arrived from Kelsi's office building. He then saw two guys punching each other. He placed the food he bought for his girlfriend on the safe area and ran towards them.
"Hey stop it!" Ryan said as he grabbed both Troy's arms and dragged him away from the guy on the ground.
The guy immediately stood up and went in his car and left the building hurriedly. Ryan released Troy and looked at him, "Hey man, you alright?"
"Yeah. Thanks." Troy said and went in his car and left the building.
Ryan looked at the car that slowly disappearing and shrugged. He then walked back to the place where he left his girlfriend's food. He took it and then he grabbed his phone and called Kelsi.
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"Gabs, don't leave." Sharpay told her.
Gabriella, Sharpay, Kelsi, Taylor, Chad, Ryan, Jason and Zeke were in a Italian restaurant having dinner. They were persuading Gabriella not to go back home.
"She's right Gabster. Don't leave us." Chad told Gabriella.
"Thanks guys. But I think I should go back. I feel bad leaving my aunt alone back at the inn." Gabriella told them. "I think it's time for me to go back."
"But Gabs. If this is about Troy, don't mind him." Taylor told him.
"Yeah she's right Gabs." Ryan added. "Don't go back."
"It's nice living here in the city but you know me I'm still a country bumpkin." Gabriella smiled at them. "It's not about Troy, Tay. I just missed home so much."
"You know what guys?" Zeke told everyone. "I think we should support Gabi. Whatever she would like to do we're there."
"Zeke's right guys." Jason said, "She can visit us anytime she wants and we can go to the inn and visit her too. We just need to plan it."
"Fine." Kelsi said.
"Alright." Sharpay sighed. "Why don't we go to a bar and have some drinks?"
"I think I should better be going back." Gabriella said. "You guys go. I need to get my things. The bus leaves at midnight."
"Why don't you leave tomorrow?" Taylor asked.
"I already purchased my ticket." Gabriella said. "I really miss home so I want to go back as soon as I can."
Gabriella stood up and smiled at them. "Thank you guys for everything. I love you all."
Chad looked at Gabriella and then shouted, "Group hug!"
All of them hugged Gabriella at the same time. Gabriella smiled and said, "I promise I'll visit you guys from time to time."
They released Gabriella, the guys smiled at her while the girls got teary eyes, brushing their tears once in a while. "We love you too Gabster, we're always be here."
"Thanks guys!" Gabriella said and walked away, but then looked back, "Enjoy guys, have fun drinking!"
With that Gabriella walked away from the restaurant going back home.
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Gabriella just got off the bus and started walking to her apartment when she saw a familiar car parked on the side of the building. She continued to walk and saw Troy came out from the car.
Gabriella looked at him for a while but then decided to ignore him. She was about to enter the building when Troy started to speak. "Gabriella, can we talk?"
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I've got some free time so I decided to make the next chapter. I don't know when I'll be able to update again but I promise that it will be as soon as possible. :) Please review and thanks for those people who liked my story! (Although there are only few of them) Hope you'd like this chapter!