Chapter 11 – Confrontation

AN: WOW! Thank you so much for all of the reviews!!! I can't believe it. It's amazing!!! It really made my day when you reviewed so much for me! UHH!!! It made me want to finish up this chapter as soon as possible and update the story for you all! I love you guys so much!

And, the Troy/Chad confrontation will be today, so get excited! I will try to make my chapters longer for you guys, but I'm sorry if they are sometimes short. The last chapter was 7 pages on word, the longest chapter I have ever written, and I will try to make them at least 5 pages per chapter. Okay?

Anyway…here's the next chapter.

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Troy's P.O.V

I waited in the hospital room, wanting to know exactly what was going on. Gabriella had been admitted five hours ago, and still I didn't know what was going on. I had called my parents, who were so relieved to hear from me, and told them where I was. They promised that they would be there in a couple of hours, and seeing as I was in an entirely different state than them I understood. However, it couldn't take five hours to get from New Mexico to Phoenix, especially if they were coming by plane like they said.

Just when I felt that I couldn't wait any longer, they finally arrived.

"Oh Troy! Oh my baby you're safe!" My mom yelled as she ran towards me and hugged me. She refused to let go, and began stroking my hair just like she did when I was a child. It felt good to finally be in her arms. My father then squeezed me tightly, and told me never to do that to him again. Then, my mother's worried side came out.

"Are you okay son? You're so skinny! Did they check you out? Why don't they give you something to eat?"

"It's fine mom. They already checked me out, gave me liquids and food, and said I had a mild case of malnutrition and that I'll be fine. They are giving me some vitamin supplements to get my strength back. I'll be healthy as a horse in no time."

"Oh that's wonderful. I'm so glad you are okay. I don't know what I would have done if something happened to you." I sighed. That is how I felt about a certain brunette who was currently in the emergency room.

The door was thrown open, and my friend ran into the room. Chad gave me a huge hug and ruffled my hair, but I could tell by how he was acting that he was hiding something. And it wasn't good. Chad never hid things from me, so either it was a really serious thing that he wanted to tell me in private, or it was something to do with me. I hoped it wasn't the latter.

The rest of the gang came up to me and greeted me. Then, I saw people I never expected to see. Sharpay Evans, in all her drama-queen glory, was standing before me, stiletto heels pounding on the ground anxiously. Beside her, Taylor McKessie was standing with a worried expression, a timid Kelsi Neilson beside her. It was then that I realized they were here to see Gabriella.

And my heart broke at that moment.

How were they supposed to find out that I made it out of there okay, and their best friend, their leader, was sick in the hospital. They would hate me, and for some reason, the thought of that frightened me.

"So son, what do you say we get out of here and rest up at a motel? Tomorrow we'll drive back home, okay?" What? But, I needed to stay with Gabriella. I needed to know what was wrong with her.

"No."

"No? You want to go home right now?" They could sure be dense sometimes.

"No, mom. I don't want to leave at all."

"What, why?" I saw Chad watch me carefully as he awaited my answer. Before I could give my reply, the door to the room flung open.

"Where is she? Where is my baby?" Mrs. Montez yelled as she ran into the room. Her usually perfect makeup was smeared down her cheeks, her designer coat a mess. It was known at East High that Mrs. Montez was very concerned with her appearance and her place in society, to the point where she would sometimes neglect to take care of Gabriella, heading off all over the world to various social events. I didn't know much about the situation, but I knew enough to know that the tears that were coming down her cheek were only party genuine, and partly her acting skills. Her mother probably only wanted Gabriella safe to maintain the image of a perfect family, which seemed hard to do seeing as her husband was gone.

"We don't know, Mrs. Montez. They haven't said anything." Taylor said. Mrs. Montez looked around the room frantically, when she finally set her eyes on me. She walked over to me, and I braced myself for what was to come. I didn't know what to expect from the mother of the girl who had been taken hostage with me.

"You. You're Troy Bolton, right?" I nodded. "You were kidnapped from the school as well, am I correct?" Again, I nodded. "What happened to my daughter?" For the first time in my life, I felt self-conscious. I was always the popular guy in school, used to having every eye on me as I walked down the hallway. However, while the people in the hospital were watching me, I felt like crawling into a hole and cowering away.

"Well… Gabriella got very sick while we were there. I have no clue what she has, but I tried to help her. I honestly did, Mrs. Montez. Once we were separated, there was nothing I could do anymore. I haven't heard anything since we arrived here." The over-dramatic anxious mother nodded, her eyes solemn. For the first time in since Mrs. Montez arrived in the hospital, I saw concern in her eyes for her daughter.

"Well, we have to find out." She said, and stormed off towards the information desk. I sighed. I felt my mother wrap her arms around me, and sat me down on the plush leather chair.

"Is that why you don't want to go? You want to see if Gabriella is okay?" I nodded. "That's nice."

"I thought you hated her?" my dad asked. Of course, as the basketball coach and gym teacher at East High, he would know all of the gossip that swept through the hallways. This made him no stranger to the divisions that existed in the school, and the many screaming matches that had occurred during the school year.

"Not anymore. Things change dad, especially after what happened." I noticed again, Chad's facial expression was not one of a happy person, but rather that of a furious person. After I found out what was going on with Gabriella, I would have to find out what was happening to Chad.

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It felt like hours as we all waited for news on Gabriella. Countless doctors and nurses had come into the waiting room, calling out names of patients, and even though we wish every time that it was Gabriella's name, that never happened. There were mixed feelings in the room.

Some people, like Gabriella's mom and some of Gabriella's friends, wanted to know how Gabriella was, as soon as possible.

Others, like my groups of friends, seemed to not care what was wrong with her, and were just waiting for a polite excuse to leave the hospital. Chad was probably at the top of this list.

And me? I didn't know how I was feeling. On one had, I wanted to now how she was, what exactly was wrong with her. On the other hand, I was nervous as to what that would be. Would she be seriously sick? Was it just a small flu that could be cured with antibiotics and chicken soup? I feared the answer. Gabriella's condition had not been good when she arrived here, and no matter how much I hoped, I knew that most likely she had more than a common cold.

Finally, the tension in the hospital room was relieved.

"Family and friends of Gabriella Montez?"

Instantly Mrs. Montez was out of her seat and ran towards the doctor. My parents and I followed, as did Gabriella's friends. My friends, however, decided that it would be better to sit in the chairs to hear the news.

"What's wrong with my daughter?" Mrs. Montez asked.

"Well, it seems that your daughter has a severe case of pneumonia. Gabriella has gone into septic shock, and we are monitoring her condition with machines. We are administrating intravenous fluids and medications to try to keep her blood pressure from dropping to low. Hopefully this will help her condition improve."

"Sir, how severe exactly is her pneumonia?" Mrs. Montez asked. The doctor's face fell slightly. He probably hoped he wouldn't have to explain what exactly it was.

"Well, she will need hospitalization in the intensive care unit for some time. We are currently keeping a close watch on her liver and kidney, because if the bacteria spread any farther she could develop some damage in those areas." Everyone went silent, and we were probably all thinking the same question. I stepped up and asked.

"What exactly is her survival rate?" The doctor again shifted her eyes away from ours.

"Well, you see, it's not that bad…" He was interrupted.

"One in every twenty people die in America each year. And Gabriella's case is severe, most likely she was infected by Streptococcus pneumoniae, am I right?" The doctor nodded his head. "Which means that Gabriella's chances are even lower." Of course Taylor would know the answer. She was the wiz in biology in school, and it was common knowledge that she hoped to become a doctor once she left the hospital. However, her information was not reassuring.

"Doctor, is this true?" Mrs. Montez asked.

"Well…" he was given a stern look from most of the people in the room, "Yes."

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After the news was given, we were told that Gabriella would be quarantined for the next 24 hours, until they were sure she was no longer contagious. Once that happened, we would be able to visit her. I had convinced my parents that I needed to stay and see her, and so my parents left for their motel. I insisted that I would sit with Mrs. Montez in the waiting room, and after much persuasion my parents agreed. Sharpay Evans was staying as well, while Taylor, Ryan, Zeke and Kelsi were taken to a motel with my parents. I had no clue where Chad had run off.

"I'm just going to grab something to drink from the cafeteria. Do you want anything?" I asked Mrs. Montez.

"Yes dear. Would you mind getting me a cup of coffee? Two milk, one sugar please." I nodded, and headed down the corridor. As I walked down towards the elevators, I bumped into someone.

"Sorry, I…" I saw that it was Chad that I had bumped into. "Hey man, I was wondering where you ran off to." He looked at me, his brown eyes boring into my face. "Hey, what's up?"

"What's up? Are you seriously asking me that question?"

"What do you mean?" Chad grabbed my arm and dragged me off to a small hallway that was deserted, probably so nobody could her us. "What exactly happened while you were kidnapped?"

"I told you already what I went through there, nothing has changed."

"Oh yeah? You failed to mention something in your explanation." I looked at him confused.

"What do you mean?"

"What exactly happened between you and Montez while you were there." I gulped. Chad had been the one in the beginning who told me to deal with Gabriella. He told me that I should right up start fighting her, to show her she couldn't control me. He was the alcohol being pouring in my flame of anger towards her, always telling me things about Gabriella to make me angrier with her. I now realized why he was so angry when he arrived in the waiting room.

He didn't like that I was actually caring for Gabriella.

"While we were there, we went through a terrible ordeal. I think it's quite normal for you to change your opinion of somebody after experiencing what we did?"

"Enough to actually like the person."

"Yes. So what if I like her? It's not like there's anything wrong with her. Besides, wouldn't it be natural for a school's prince and princess to get along?"

"NO! Not if that prince and princess had been fighting for years! You can't just all of a sudden forgive her for everything she's done just because you were kidnapped for a couple of days!" Now I was furious. He had no right to question my and Gabriella's relationship, especially if he didn't know what went on there.

"Well you're WRONG! Okay! Gabriella, she's different! She and I actually had civil conversations, in between worrying about what those men were going to do to us next of course, and I learned that she's a normal person! She's kind, and sweet, and she just knows how to make a person smile!" I was panting heavily, and then I realized that I let out too much information, and Chad figured it out.

"You LIKE her? You LIKE, like her? How can this be happening? What did she do, put you under some exotic spell?" My knuckles tensed up.

"NO! After talking to her for a long time, I realized she was actually a great person! While taking care of her, I realized I felt something for her. Then, after we kissed, I knew that what I felt was strong, and that she felt it too. I LOVE HER! Okay? I said it. I LOVE GABRIELLA MONTEZ!" Chad's eyes widened in shock. Me and my big mouth.

"You, LOVE HER? Like actual HEAD OVER HEALS IN LOVE WITH HER???" Here it comes. "HOW CAN YOU LOVE YOUR ENEMY? IT'S JUST NOT RIGHT!"

"MY ENEMY? I'M STARTING TO THINK THAT YOU WERE THE ONE MAKING THIS A HUGE ISSUE ALL ALONG??" Chad gripped the front of my shirt, his fists practically tearing the fabric as he pulled me towards him.

"IT'S NOT RIGHT! THINK OF THE SCHOOL! THE SOCIAL ORDER! YOU CAN'T JUST CHANGE IT ALL NOW!"

"WELL I AM!" I calmed down a bit, and got my thoughts clearer. "When Gabriella gets out of here, which she will, I am going to ask her to be my girlfriend. When we get back to school, the fighting is going to stop, and maybe the school can become a normal place to be instead of a battleground. And you know what Chad? There's nothing you can do about it." Chad released his grip on my shirt, and I stepped back from him, a smirk on my face. For the first time in my life, I had actually told my feelings out loud, and it felt good. Chad's shocked face stared back at me.

"You have to choose, Bolton. Me or her?" I though long and hard about this proposition. Chad had always been there for me, and had been my best friend for a long time. Yet, there was something in my heart that was pushing toward Gabriella. I knew the decision I had to make.

"Gabriella." Chad stared at me, his eyes fuming with anger.

Then, before I knew it, I felt a fist collide with my cheek, the pressure knocking me into the wall behind me.

My best friend since kindergarten, the boy who was practically like my brother, had done a first in our relationship.

He had punched me.

Never have we ever fought. We always dealt with things by keeping space for a little while, and then one of us would get bored and go to the other to make up. Our fights were always over in at least two days.

Somehow, I doubted that this would be the same.

The world began collapsing around me.

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AN: WOW! I hope that you got the confrontation you expected, but I also wanted you to know what was going on with Gabriella. Next chapter I will most likely be focusing on Gabriella and maybe a bit with Troy's feelings about Chad, but definitely mostly Gabriella and Troy.

Please, review if you want to get the next chapter!

Xoxo,

Lar