Hello just a quick authors note. I know a lot of you are struggling with my characterization in this story and that's fine really, I respect your opinions, to each is own. However I just want to say thank-you to those of you who are taking the time to sympathize with Gabriella even though she's showed less then admirable qualities in this story. Some of you are looking past her mistakes and linking her struggles with the story rather then just calling her out on them and I really appreciate that. I didn't want to write the stereotypically sweet Gabriella this time around so thanks to those of you who, dare I say, encourage me to keep writing Gabriella the way I'm writing her. Also a shout out to runninequalslife and adcgordon for your wonderfully sweet reviews I really needed them :)
I hope you enjoy this chapter, danixox
Wilton Valley, Alaska
Fairbanks Hills
September 10th 2001
She played with her fingers almost bashfully as she absorbed the concept of standing so close to the boy who had quickly snatched her heart in only eleven short days. He was so undeniably cute with his bright blue eyes and short tussled brown hair that swooped across his forehead and over his right eye. He was sweet and charming, had a sense of humour that always caused her to laugh and the ability to make her feel like the most spectacular person in the world.
She'd been living in Wilton for over a week and day by day the small town just got better. It was still ridiculously small, chilly, and wasn't an environment she was entirely used to, but the homesick feeling that tugged at her stomach was no match against the flutter of her heart caused by the simplicity of a glance. The resentment she first felt towards her parents for forcing her from her old friends and home was dwindling away the longer she spent in his company, and every time he sent a smile her way, Wilton was her favourite place in the world. The climate, the distance, the nosy population, Troy Bolton made it all worth it.
She felt him shift uncomfortably next to her and Gabriella looked away from the dance floor and to his bronze face curiously. "You okay?" She asked noticing his restless movements and he quickly looked down at the petite brunette.
"Mhm, fine." He squeaked before blushing and clearing his throat. Gabriella just giggled, looking at him strangely with a shake of her head before looking back out to see most of the town dancing to the fast beat music. After a long pause and a shaky, supposedly helpful breath of air, Troy's nervous eyes darted back down to her. "Uh, hey Kansas?" He stuttered running his sweaty palms down the denim leg of his jeans.
"Yeah Troy?" She asked, her eyes glittering at the acknowledgment as she stared up at him hopefully. They had been flirting ever since he first "rescued" her on the lake and since then Gabriella found herself wishing he'd just ask her out already. She was almost positive he knew that she had feelings for him since every time he was within a three foot radius her cheeks flamed in a hot red blush and she got a bad case a verbal diarrhea. If that isn't a warning sign, what is?
However she found Troy was slightly harder to read. Of course he sent her that crooked smile and little wink every once in a while which she figured was his way of charming her, but did it have an intention? Was he just flirting for the sake of flirting or did he like her? She could never tell.
But tonight, tonight he was just being weird.
His nervous stare gazed down into her brown eyes and he swallowed the lump in his throat. "Um…are you- do you…"giving up Troy simply sighed and asked: "are you having fun so far?" He questioned cowardly and Gabriella's hopeful smile transformed into a frown before she nodded and looked off to the side dejected.
"Oh yeah, lots of fun." She said glancing back at him to send him a small smile. An awkward silence washed over the pair and Troy's eyes shifted as he wracked his brain for something to start a conversation. Usually chatting with Gabriella flowed so easily, though now all he could concentrate on was his sweaty palms and dry throat. Yet suddenly the subject of moving past the unsettling gauche stillness suddenly took second place for most embarrassing moment as his eyes caught sight of his family on the other side of the lawn.
His mother was sending him two thumbs up as she smiled happily at him, probably ecstatic to see him with a girl. His father just grinned proudly next to his mother, nodding approvingly while his grandpa just gave him a "what the hell" kind of look wondering why he had yet to see any resulting signs of a boy asking his crush out on a date.
Troy's face turned bright red as his eyes widened, subtly waving a hand behind Gabriella's head telling them to go away, hiding his motioning hand and plastering a grin on his face when Gabriella smiled up at him sweetly, before going right back to sending daggers at his family to express his humiliation. It was then Troy realized that it wasn't just his family who stared at him with the mixed emotions of approval, encouragement and some of questioning, but most of the town. The people who had watched the blue eyed boy grow from such a young age smiled excitedly and he would be flattered if it weren't so embarrassing.
Did Gabriella notice the stares they'd been getting all night? Did she see the suggestive elbow jabs in his sides or knowing eyebrow raises from passing civilians? He certainly hoped not.
"It looks like Chad's having fun too." Gabriella giggled making his eyes tear away from his mortifying friends and family and to his bushy haired best friend who was dancing wildly on the dance floor and Troy chuckled nervously, looking at his three family members briefly.
"Yeah…" He droned out, his mind too occupied by his anxiety to fully concentrate on the hysterics of his friends dancing. Glancing around the grassy hill, he looked over his shoulder at the empty green noticing it was quite a ways away from the gathering of people who came to take part in the fun….which also meant it was away from the many stares he was receiving from the people of Wilton. This knowledge gave him the burst of courage he needed to reach out for her. "You wanna go somewhere a little quieter?" He asked in her ear and her head whipped up to him, raising her eyebrows curiously before nodding vigorously. He smiled charmingly at her eager head nod and subconsciously grabbed her hand to lead her to the destination, smiling to himself once he felt her lace their fingers together.
Her hand was cold in his but he grinned while the thought of his large palm warming her icy skin processed through his mind, and she seemed to feel the same way because her grasp only tightened.
"Where are you taking me?" He heard Gabriella giggle as she followed behind him thanks to the gentle pull he had on her hand.
"Not far." He reassured.
"Mhmm right, 'cause this isn't sketchy at all." She said sarcastically and he rolled his eyes.
"You have some serious trust issues Kans." He replied playfully.
"Yeah well all I know is you're lucky you're cute or I'd be turning back to join Chad on the dance floor right about now." She said jokingly making him suddenly stop and slowly turn to her with a cheeky grin.
"You think I'm cute?" He asked the same mischievous and cocky grin lighting up his visage. A blush immediately crept over her cheeks and her eyes widened adorably just realizing what she had said. Reflexively her hand dropped his as if it was infected and cupped her elbow insecurely.
"Well I…I mean you're-I was just…shut up." She said walking past him to plop down on the grass and Troy chuckled while following her lead and spreading his legs out in front of him once he was comfortably situated on the ground.
"That's okay…" He uttered quietly, looking towards the same wave of bravery, along with the positive insinuation of the intimate handhold to encourage him to complete his sentence "You're pretty cute yourself"
Her head once again whooshed in his direction only to smile shyly at him before looking back down at the grass, hoping to hide the blush on her cheeks by curtaining her face with her hair.
He couldn't believe how beautiful she looked simply in a well fitted white hoodie and faded blue skinny jeans. Her tiny feet were donned with black ballet flats, and her straight hair brushed against her shoulders attractively.
Was it too soon to ask her out? Would she think he was weird and creepy for making a move so soon? It seemed like she liked him didn't it? So why was he so nervous? Even though he was unable to come up with an answer for his apprehension, he definitely had the evidence because for the billionth time that night he had to wipe his palm against his jeans to clear away the perspiration.
Stealing another brief glance from the corner of his eye, he bit down on his lip. 'How bad could it be?' he thought optimistically to himself until the voice that had been holding him back the second he realized his feelings for her echoed through his mind vacetiously. 'She could totally reject you and make you look like a complete idiot then avoid you for the rest of her life…" Okay, not so optimistic.
"So are there dances like this here all the time?" She asked making conversation and causing Troy to look up from the patch of grass he had zoned out on.
"Yup." He said with a nod and she copied his heads movements casually, subtly slumping due to the lack of response.
'Just ask her, and if she says no, pretend nothing happened. That's what I do when I get 'F's' on my report card…' With logic such as that Troy found no excuse not to fulfill his goal of the night, the only problem now was finding the right phrasing. It had to be something charming, something that would make her swoon and undoubtedly accept his request for a date.
"Cool…" She muttered awkwardly.
"Yeah…" He said distractedly.
'What about…"hey Gabriella-" Should I use her full name? Is that not personal enough? What if I say Gabi?….Or Gabs? Chad sometimes calls her Gabster…should I just stick to the nickname I always call her or is that too much of friend thing? Does she only see me as a friend?'
"We don't have much of these things in Kansas. In my middle school we used to have a couple of those really lame dances, you know what I mean?" She giggled however her smile quickly faded at his silence and she stole a glance to see him just staring ahead, dazed.
'"Hey Gabs, what do you say to a night just me and you on the lake"- she'll think you're trying to rape her or something.' He thought, ceasing the line immediately. 'Friday night, you, me and a Key West 225 Center Console sailboat"…"So since I'm single, and you're single….' With a sigh Troy tried one last time,
'Gabriella, I really, really like you, would you go out with me this Friday?' As if contemplating it Troy paused before realizing, with surprise, that it wasn't half bad. 'Not too shabby Bolton.'
'Oh shit is she talking?' He thought panicked, whipping his head to her to prove his assumptions correct. He thought another profanity, knowing he should probably be listening to what she was saying if he was thinking of taking her out…it's what his mother taught him anyway.
"Uh, I think I should go and find Taylor. It was nice talking to you Troy." Gabriella said quietly, trying to conceal the disappointment as she stood, yet she missed Troy's eyes widening in alarm and his body tensing as she stood. No! She couldn't leave! He had finally gotten the right words and was mustering up the breath to tell her.
"Kansas wait." Troy said quickly before she could turn and leave and she looked at him curiously as he hopped up from the ground and rubbed the back of his neck. "I…I mean I kind of wanted to hang out tonight you know?"
"You did?" She asked wringing her hands shyly and he nodded with a bashful smile.
"Well yeah, I mean… I like you." He muttered before embarrassedly clearing his throat. "You're cool, I mean." He squeaked and Gabriella giggled quietly noticing his rosy blush. Finally Troy just sighed and sent her a smile, stuffing his hands in his pockets. "Do you want to go out on a date with me this weekend?" He bluntly asked, however his tone masked his true emotions. His insides twisted nervously yet the blood in his veins did the opposite and chilled to ice. He had never been so nervous in his life.
Gabriella's eyes widened and her jaw fell slightly, the joy lighting up in her eyes though Troy's nerves made him blind to her happiness and he continued to stutter scared of rejection, redirecting his gaze to the ground once again. "I mean it's cool if you don't want to I just thought that-"
"Yes." She said hastily with a vigorous nod of her head and Troy quickly looked up from the grass and into her eyes watching as she blushed at how eager she sounded. "I mean sure." She muttered slowly yet the ecstatic smile on her face didn't do her nonchalant charade justice. She bit down on her lip and let out a giggle of happiness. "I would love to."
"Really?" He asked happily and she giggled again and nodded once more before biting down on her lip and letting impulse take over as she threw her arms around his neck and hugged him tightly making him chuckle and lock his arms around her torso, laughing into her hair gleefully.
"I thought you'd never ask." She whispered and his grin widened while his grip tightened.
He had no idea that in ten short months would he ask her a far more life altering question in that very spot, on that very hill.
Wilton Valley, Alaska
Fairbanks Hills
July 9th 2009
It wasn't the first time she'd been up there since arriving but it was the first time she really allowed the feelings she felt when she was young and in love to wash over her while the unstoppable memories hit her like a ton of bricks with just a simple landmark or piece of clothing. It was the first time she allowed herself to feel pleasant from reminiscence rather then guilty. That night when Troy asked her to be his was the happiest night of her young life and looking over her shoulder at the patch of green she smiled warmly to herself, remembering the sixteen year old girl she once was whose biggest worry was the boy she liked not returning her feelings.
Obviously, things have changed.
"You never told me there'd be mud!" The blonde hollered as she staggered up the hill and Josh rolled his eyes.
"It's outside, what'd you expect?" He asked.
"Shut up!" She ordered not in the mood to be ridiculed. "These were my new Italian stilettos, they cost me a fortune!" She whined and Gabriella forced a smile once she caught the blonde staring at her expectantly now no longer reminiscing about her first Wilton Valley dance.
"Maybe you shouldn't spend your entire pay check on shoes then!" He shot back and received a glare from the blonde.
"Ella keep your boyfriend under control!" Sharpay screeched making Gabriella re-enter reality.
"Josh be nice." Gabriella giggled and he rolled his eyes. Sharpay huffed and sulkily scanned the yard, yet her attitude dispersed as something she loved even more then being over dramatic caught her attention:
Men.
Sharpay let out a low whistle as a tall man presumably in his early thirties strolled by with a drink in hand. And soon after another man with a pretty face and strong build caught her eye. She was suddenly in heaven. "How did you ever have the will power to leave this place?" She asked and it was Gabriella's turn to roll her eyes. "We don't have men like that in New York." She said hungrily staring over by the bar and Gabriella curiously followed her gaze before frowning.
"That's Zeke Baylor." She said with slight distaste. "He took my sports bra out of my gym locker and pinned it to the bulletin board." Her voice was dry, not particularly holding any signs of a grudge yet it was obvious it was the clearest memory she had of him.
"I like him already." She purred making Gabriella's plucked eyebrows scrunch slightly in offence. "I'm going to go talk to him." Sharpay said before confidently spinning on her heels and in the direction of the ex high school athlete making Gabriella giggle quietly to herself.
"Why are you friends with her again?" He mumbled quietly afraid the empowering blonde would hear and the brunette swatted him lightly.
"Stop. She's my best friend." She chastised lightly, yet had a small smile on her face at her friend's behaviour.
"I know, I know. I'm sorry baby." He apologized wrapping his arms around his girlfriend from behind and resting his chin on her shoulder as they watched Sharpay expertly flirt with the man known as Zeke.
She couldn't help but idolized Sharpay's poise and self-assurance. She always did whatever the hell she wanted whenever she wanted, while Gabriella, usually opted for the solution that made the most people happy, and if none, the elucidation that society dubbed as correct.
"I wish I had that kind of confidence." She muttered admirably.
"What are you talking about Ella? You have tons of confidence." She found herself tensing slightly and looking over her shoulder to raise her eyebrow at him. Did he not know her at all? She would be the first to admit her self-esteem wasn't the highest and that it had jeopardized-if not ruined more then a couple of things in her life.
As she opened her mouth to correct him, a voice that did not belong to her filled her ears.
"Hey Gabs, glad to see you could make it." She heard and stepped out of Josh's grasp to see the dark skinned girl smiling brightly at her, and standing next to her was her husband, which was still a shock to the brunette, Chad.
"Oh, thanks Tay." She muttered thrown off guard as Taylor pulled her into a gentle, and slightly awkward hug. "Hi Chad." She said timidly not sure if he would talk to her. Was there some kind of bro before hoes code about those sort of things? There run in by the super market was more then awkward, and she remembered him dashing off in a hurry. Nonetheless Chad smiled tightly at her and pulled her in a one armed hug.
"Hey Gabriella."
"Uh, Josh you remember Taylor, and I don't think you've met Chad." She introduced, biting down on her nail as she watched Taylor wave and Chad reluctantly reach out for her boyfriends welcoming handshake.
"Hi." Chad said eyeing him carefully while strongly shaking his hand to make a point, which made both Gabriella and Taylor roll their eyes.
"Nice to meet you man."
"Yeah, man." He said slightly harshly and Taylor grabbed his arm pulling him back by his side.
"So are you enjoying being back in Wilton?" She asked to make conversation before her face reddened and she internally wince at the question. The girls made an awkward eye contact which Taylor used to apologize through her dark iris.
"Oh yeah we're having a great time right babe?" He asked wrapping an arm around her and pulling her to his side.
"Mhmm." She murmured. She stared at Chad's stone face, and although admired his loyalty to his friend, wished he'd be the same fun loving Chad she remembered. Taylor, always the sensible one, figured it was better they leave before her husband went buzzirk.
"You'll save a dance for us won't you?" Taylor asked her and Gabriella nodded frowning slightly at the fact she was partly the reason they were leaving.
"Uh…sure." She agreed scratching the top of her head.
"Great. Come on Chad." She muttered tugging on his arm and once she thought she was far enough away, gave him a big smack on the back of the head which didn't go unseen by Gabriella, and made her giggle quietly to herself.
Soon after Sharpay came back into view fanning herself cockily with what looked to be a napkin with ten digits written messily on it, peering over Sharpay's shoulder she could see Zeke smirking at a napkin of his own.
"That was fast." Gabriella commented.
"Yeah a new world record." Josh teasingly added his input obviously oblivious to Chad's rude behaviour.
"I think we need to celebrate with some drinks then." She hinted. When she noticed the gentlemen present hadn't moved she raised an eyebrow at Josh, and once he saw her stare he looked at her with incredulous eyes. He opened his mouth to protest but another, and much sharper eyebrow raise from Sharpay had it shutting.
Gabriella on the other hand, took to scanning the gathering of people bored, tired of the same song and dance between her boyfriend and best friend. As crazy as it seems, she knew they didn't dislike each other, yet they weren't the others favourite person either. Sharpay didn't like Josh standing up to her and Josh didn't like Sharpay's bossy attitude, but they managed to deal with it.
"Fine, but I'm spitting in yours." He told her before stalking off to the beverage table and her brown eyes widened as she spun to Gabriella.
"Did you hear what he just said to me!" She shrieked yet Gabriella kept her hands on either side of her crossed arms as she looked over the vicinity, scanning each and every face while rubbing her arms to keep warm. "Gabs?" She questioned before she too looked over the crowd. "What is it? Do you see him?"
"No, Sharpay." Gabriella giggled lightly.
"Well you're going to tell me when he's here right?" She asked and Gabriella rolled her eyes.
"What's this obsession you have with Troy? I'm seriously starting to fear for his safety." She giggled watching as Sharpay rolled her own eyes.
"I'm not going to start stalking him or anything; I just want to meet him. For years all I've heard is Troy this and Troy that."
"Oh shut up it's not like I talk about him anymore." She said with a roll of her eyes at her dramatic friend.
"Not when Josh is around…" She mumbled and Gabriella looked at her momentarily stunned before shaking it off.
"What does that mean?"
"Nothing." She said with a shake of her head.
"Shar…tell me. I don't still talk about Troy do I?"
Sharpay sighed before replying. "Well…not a lot, but occasionally. I just think you're replacing your heartache for Troy by filling the void with Josh." She told her as softly as she could yet it wasn't successful considering the statement itself was relatively blunt like most things the blonde stated.
"I care for Josh, Sharpay." She told her honestly and the blonde nodded.
"I know you do, and I know you will also put him second place." She said and Gabriella just looked at her with a mouth slightly agape before it slowly closed and she kept quiet. "Let me ask you this: ever since… the incident... with Troy…have you…you know with Josh?" She asked and Gabriella looked at her before staring down at the dirt and letting out a quiet, nervous laugh.
"What do you think? We're just going to go at it in my parents' house?" She forced a giggle and shrugged her shoulders.
She felt like pointing out the obvious and saying it hadn't stopped her with Troy when they were teenagers, but instead just said: "Okay, you're right." She agreed knowing the topic was making Gabriella feel uneasy. She obviously knew the lack of intimacy with Josh since entering Wilton wasn't caused by the environment of her childhood home. "So uh speaking of Josh…who's the hottie he's talking to?" She asked changing the subject, and using her boy crazy ways to get a laugh out of her, yet after letting out a small sigh Gabriella's tired eyes gradually glanced over to where her boyfriend was and instead of letting out a giggle like she expected, the brunette tensed and alarm instantly washed over her face.
"That would be Troy…"
"Nice night out isn't it?" The unfamiliar voice made him look up from the cooler where he had just pulled out two beers, the other for Chad, and look to the spiky haired man. His eyes briefly widened and he looked over his shoulder momentarily as if to make sure he was indeed talking to him before swallowing thickly and nodding his head.
"Yeah." He said curtly, turning back to close the lid to the blue icebox to keep the refreshments cold. He really wasn't in the mood to talk to Gabriella's boyfriend however as he felt his presence linger next to him he figured he didn't have much choice in the matter.
"We met at the Montezs' remember?" He said as if that was the reason Troy wouldn't engage him in a never ending conversation.
"Yup, I remember. You had the nice car." He said with an apprehensive chuckle before taking a step to his left to walk around him yet Josh chuckled, quickly adding to the conversation before Troy could escape.
"Yeah that's me. What did you say your name was again?" He asked and Troy momentarily paused as if debating giving his real name, finally he responded with "Troy" and Josh nodded sticking out his hand for a handshake. "Nice to meet you Troy. I'm Josh, Gabriella's boyfriend."
"Uh, nice to meet you." He copied, analyzing his tight handshake. It was friendly, not competitive as Troy would have imagined, then again he had to remember Josh didn't know the things he's done with his girlfriend.
"So you must be a pretty close friend of the Montezs' huh?" He questioned. "I mean living here in such a small town and working for them, you must be close." He had to pause to think of what he could mean by "working for them" before he remembered.
"…I guess you could say that." He muttered his reply as he shifted from his left foot to his right uncomfortably. "And I just help out Mr Montez with the lawn work once and a while, I don't work there." He finally clarified.
"Oh? So what do you do?" He asked curiously and Troy looked up from his black sneakers that were kicking at the dirt.
"I work on the lake. Rescue mainly but there isn't a lot of business in a town like this one, so I build boats for extra cash."
"Oh, so you're a tradesman." He said and Troy paused from taking a sip of his beer to chuckle even though it wasn't necessarily funny.
"Sure." He never considered himself a "tradesman" as Josh had labelled it, but if that's what the city boy wanted to call it then he'd go with it.
"I tried to build an extra chair for our kitchen table once and it was a complete disaster, Ella nearly laughed until she cried when she saw it." He said with another chuckle and Troy's desire to flee was postponed as he paused to raise an eyebrow at the nickname. Ella? He felt the familiar sting of jealousy at the mention of his ex and oddly enough the talk of sharing furniture. Josh stared at Troy expectantly wondering why he had grown quiet and noticing his questioning stare Troy forced a smile.
"Yeah, Gabriella was never one to sugar coat things." He mumbled referring to her laughter and Josh smiled fondly.
"Definitely not." He agreed amused. "I still can't believe Ella lived here, I always took her as the city girl type." He chuckled. There was that stupid nickname again.
"Yeah, she always was." He said trying to keep the bitterness from his tone. He wasn't trying to be a total dick to him, but he couldn't help it. The thought of the things he's done with his girl made his toes curl in jealousy and jaw clench. The sight of his perfectly fitted yellow polo and perfectly gelled hair with his perfectly whitened smile had his confidence dimming by the second and of course the little pet name didn't boost his liking for the New York banker.
"But she's great. A little strange, but great." He laughed and Troy let out a genuine chuckle of his own. "Like she has to put peanut butter on everything. I never understood that. Bagels, celery, crackers, once I caught her just eating it right out of the jar." He said and Troy laughed again.
"Oh yeah, you haven't seen nothing till you've seen her steal the packages of peanut butter from restaurants. She acts as if she's found twenty bucks rather then a plastic cup." He chuckled.
"I know it's so embarrassing." Josh groaned in amusement.
"I don't know, I always thought it was kind of cute." He said with a shrug before widening his eyes at the realization of what he just said. He quickly cleared his throat while Josh scrunched his eyebrows suspiciously. "So you work for some kind of bank right?" He asked hastily moving on and the words he previously spoke seemed to be forgotten as Josh smiled widely and nodded.
"Yeah New York's finest." He grinned and Troy just nodded.
"Well my friends waiting for me." He said hastily.
"Oh yeah me too." Josh said gesturing over his shoulder and in the moment as his iris lifted over to the direction he was signalling to, blue met the panicked brown. He tensed slightly, stupidly forgetting where Josh was obviously she would be, but he soon was nodding imperceptibly to reassure her, and surprisingly, it worked.
Her body relaxed and her eyes softened before they were torn from his and instead they landed on her boyfriend's back worriedly.
"Nice talking to you." Josh said kindly while patting his shoulder and Troy just nodded silently meeting the apologetic eyes of Gabriella one last time before walking to Chad.
She released the breath she was holding as she caught Troy's comforting gaze, silently informing her that their secret was safe with the stunning hue of his iris, before snapping herself out of their stare to force her eyes to land on the man she should be staring at.
However the low whistle that came from Sharpay made her glance up at the blonde.
"Hell-o hubby." Sharpay cooed flirtatiously just as she had when her eyes landed upon Zeke and Gabriella only rolled her eyes, ignoring the feeling of jealousy that tugged at her stomach as her friend's eyes scanned his build. However she kept quiet seeing Josh saunter back in their direction with drinks in hand.
"Here you go ladies.-"
"Why were you talking to him?" She immediately asked, cursing her abruptness but her need for an answer left her unfazed as he looked at her surprised.
"Who? Troy?" She tried to refrain from widening her eyes at the knowledge of a first name basis.
"Yes. Troy. Why were you talking to him? How do you know him?" She tried as hard as she possibly could to keep her breathing regular and her visage nonchalant but by the look of confusion on Josh's face and the sound of Sharpay's hand slapping her tan forehead woefully, she could tell she wasn't doing a very good job. "…Not that it matters." She added meekly.
"I met him at your parents' house when we first got here. He's a cool guy….should I not talk to him?" He asked slowly but Gabriella just blinked while Sharpay's jaw dropped.
"…Wh-what do you mean you met him at my parents' house?" She said sharing a confused and shocked look with Sharpay. "Why was he there?"
"Ella what's wrong? You're friends with him right? I don't see the big deal. I mean he said he's always helping your parents out with yard work and stuff. That's what he was doing when we got here."
"Yard work?" She repeated in disbelief and he nodded.
"But you guys are friends right?" He said duplicating his previously said words and Gabriella gulped.
Yeah…friends." Gabriella muttered; the figure of her mother laughing and joking with her father and a couple that lived down the road only a few feet away was suddenly very intriguing. "Excuse me." She said hastily stepping around her perplexed boyfriend and hastily crossing the yard to get to her mother.
She was too stunned to think rationally, because deep down, she knew it wasn't that big of a deal. She realized she was over-reacting, but like she said, stunned.
"Can I talk to you?" She muttered to her mom who cut her sentence short to listen to her daughter's definitive tone, leaving her no choice but to oblige.
"What's wrong sweetheart?" She asked as she followed her daughter from the small crowd she was talking to.
"Troy, mom?" She asked in a frenzied whisper, stopping her stride and spinning to her parent who looked surprised by the topic. "Why-how, what's he doing at the house?"
"Gabriella-"
"And how have you not told me that you still even talk to him?"
"It's a small town Gabriella; I couldn't just ignore him-"
"I know it's a small town! Which is why Josh and Troy are basically best friends!"
"Enough Gabriella!" The silencing worked as Teresa wanted it to and shut her daughter up. "What are you doing with Troy?" She asked and Gabriella scrunched her eyebrows. "Why do you care if he's at the house or if he talks to Josh? Gabriella…have you done anything with Troy?" She asked before going into specifics: "In the past week you've been here, have you done anything with him?"
The change in authority along with conversation left Gabriella shocked and speechless. She stared at her mother with her mouth agape and the sting of tears burned her eyes, a feeling that was becoming very familiar.
"…I…I-it was just once." She admitted quietly after struggling for a response and Teresa closed her eyes as if her words were physically painful. "It didn't mean anything."
They both knew that was a lie.
"Gabriella, I knew this would happen. Don't you think you've hurt that boy enough?"
"…Mom, Josh doesn't know, and I know I'm not girlfriend of the year or anything but-"
"Not Josh!" She hissed. "Troy." Teresa watched as her daughters beautiful olive skin paled and she wrapped her arms around her torso. "It was when he drove you home that one time wasn't it?" She asked. "I knew it, the look on both your faces-"
"It wasn't then." She interrupted timidly, the tears leaking from her eyes and down her cheeks. Teresa softened upon seeing her daughters tears.
"Then when was it?" She asked delicately, resting a hand on her arm.
"W-when dad took Josh fishing, Troy and I got lunch and then he showed me the boat….and-and I just got so caught up in being with him again…it happened so fast…it was only once." She repeated, defending herself submissively once more.
"Oh sweetheart…"
"How did you know that I- that we…"
"A mother knows these things." She muttered pressing her fingertips to her forehead. "Do you love him?" Something in her mother's eyes gave her an indication of which "him" she was referring to.
'No.' She thought to herself reflexively. It had been what she was telling everyone else. That one point in her life she had cared for him. Cared so deeply she wasn't sure if she could breathe without him but it always ended in her assuring that Josh held her heart now. But this wasn't just anybody, this was her mom and she said what she was truly and honestly feeling. "I…don't know. I think…I mean I might." She said and Teresa noted the distress in her voice. "I miss him I know that." She offered quietly. "But I can't be here; I don't belong here in Wilton. I just…mess everything up when I'm here." She croaked and Teresa frowned, about to verify that that wasn't true but her daughter continued before she could. "I mean, when we first moved here I made everyone hate me. Taylor hated me; Chad hated me, all because I was so petty and so selfish." She said the words about herself harshly. "Then once I isolated Troy from all his friends, I leave him! With barely any explanation. And here I am, doing it all over again."
"Gabriella you need to remember you didn't make Troy's choices for him, Troy made the decision to leave his friends for you as did you for him. At one point this was your home, and no matter where you go, you can't make everyone happy. But you also need to realize you can't keep running back and forth between the two. You need to choose who makes you happiest, and fully commit yourself or you won't have either of them."
She finally let the possibility of another choice other then Josh sink in and her eyes wandered over to Troy who, to her surprise was looking at her worriedly noticing her flea to her mom and body language that read distress. He frowned the sight of her tears and Gabriella couldn't help but send him a watery smile, which he then proceeded to look over his shoulder as if she would be staring at someone else making her laugh to herself and wipe away her tears with the back of her hand.
"You're right." She said with a sigh before repeating herself. "You're right."
Was that a smile? Was that really and truly a smile? Was he seeing things? Glancing over his shoulder he noted there was no one other then him who could possibly be on the receiving end of the friendly gesture, and seeing her laugh and roll her teary eyes made his own boyish grin quickly spread across his lips. Should he talk to her? Did she want him talking to her? Maybe he was reading too much into things, I mean it was only a smile, although it was a lot more then he'd been getting…apart from the sex of course.
He watched as she wiped her eyes and mumbled something to her mother, before noticing the fast paced music had abruptly switched to a much softer song. Couples brushed past him, taking their significant other with them, one being Taylor and Chad, and he stepped out of the way before re-focusing his eyes on Gabriella with the same smile on his face as before.
Remember when I was young and so were you
and time stood still and love was all we knew
You were the first, so was I
With the lyrics echoing through the outdoors he watched as her eyes found his again and looked recognizably shy just like she did when she was his and adolescent. He took a brave step forward, not entirely sure what he'd say when he was in talking distance but took yet another pace in her direction anyway. She seemed to be unsure about his approach, he noticed, and his legs almost came to halt, yet she took in a deep breath before looking to her mother, her lips moving slowly most likely excusing herself before linking her fingertips together insecurely and heading towards him, which had him unknowingly breathe out in relief and making his strides much more confident.
Remember when we vowed the vows
and walked the walk
Gave our hearts, made the start, it was hard
We lived and learned, life threw curves
There was joy, there was hurt
Remember when
His eyes never left hers and he took the song as a sign. The lyrics were so shockingly pointing towards their history and their experiences and he hoped she had noticed it the way he did. He sent her a timid grin as the gap between them grew small and smaller and she quickly responded with her own smile, giving him the indication she too had taken the song to heart.
However, with scrunched eyebrows he tore his eyes away from her and towards the stage, as did Gabriella, once a screech of a microphone was emitted into the air and the music was dimmed. He felt a nervous tug in his gut as he saw who had walked up onto the stage and glanced to his ex to see if she would know what was going on, but to his dismay she stared, just as confused as he.
"Hello everyone." The voice sounded nervous and the owner waved timidly before they simply clasped their hands in front of them. "A lot of you may not recognize me….some of you might. Uh but my name is Joshua Hayden. I've been seeing a girl, who all of you do know, for a long time now and she's the most beautiful, most caring, most complicated woman I've ever met." He said with a chuckle. "And I've never loved anyone as much as she."
Troy watched as Gabriella's face reddened and her eyes widened, presumably guessing what this was getting at, just as his own blue ones expanded with realization.
He felt his throat go dry and was suddenly very aware of how heavily his shirt weighed over his torso; how confining his sneakers were; how thick and ponderous the air that surrounded him felt as it soaked into his skin and fought to bring him to the ground.
Because he knew. He knew what was happening next.
"Oh no." He whispered mournfully.
"Gabriella, you mean everything to me. Will you marry me?"
We came together, fell apar
tand broke each other's hearts
Remember when
Does he have bad timing or what? Anyway not my favourite chapter, I know a lot is crammed in this one, and believe it or not there's more to come. I know I'm such a sucky person for taking so long to update so I apologize, but I hope you liked it. And I hope you review even if I do suck majorly.
Sorry for any mistakes. Review!
Danixox.