Summer Love

An- This chapter is dedicated to everyone. You've all reviewed and made it so wonderful. Thanx so much. There will be a sequel to this. It'll probably be going on while 'Message Sent' is. For the trivia, the answer was thunder clap. Most people got that. I'm not going to list who did and who didn't. It'd make me even more sad.

Disclaimer: I'm already sad, don't make me say it...

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Chapter 14-Gabriella's Departure

This is it. This is the day that I leave home. I should be happy and excited...but I'm only sad and afraid. I don't want to leave my family yet, but if I don't go now I'll never be able to leave. I lay in my bed thinking about all of the memories I've had so far. They seem pretty good. "Gabriella, it's time." I hear my mother. Her voice was shakey, as if she was going to cry. I don't remeber her crying at all when Ricky and Johnny went away. I took a deep breath and got up from my bed. I pulled on the sweats that Troy gave me the night before. Taking one last look around, I exit my room. "Are you sure you want to go? We could always find a nice community college around here." My mother suggested. I know how she felt. Like she was losing me. I shook my head and gave her a hug.

"I have to do this mommy. I have to learn to take care of myself." I whispered. She started to sob. I could feel my heart breaking. I hadn't seen her cry since dad died. I hated to see her so upset. "I'll be home for every break. I promise I will." She nodded and released me.

"Gabi, could I drive you to the airport...alone?" I heard Johnny asking. It sounded as if he was scared. I looked to my mother for approval. When she quietly answered 'yes', I followed him out of the door.

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"If this is another one of those 'You're not dating Troy Bolton' talks I swear I'll-"

"I'm gonna miss you." That shut me up quick. I didn't know what to say. "Gabriella, I didn't mean to hurt you. The night of your birthday, when you said you wanted to hurt me made me think. I thought about eveything I've done, and I'm so sorry. I spent my entire summer trying to make you miserable." Are those tears in his eyes? "I should've let you be happy. I know you're growing up, but when I look at you, I still see my beautiful baby sister. I can't promise that I'll like you dating guys like Ben and Dan," Did he have to bring up boyfriends 1 and 2? "but, I'd love for you to date people like Troy. He's a good guy." Finally he see that! I lean over and hug him tightly, as we walk toward the car. "I promise, whoever you decide to date, I'll try to support you." I smile and let him free from my grasp. The tears are still there. It makes me want to cry. "I still don't want to walk in on you having sex ever ever again. Very disturbing." He joked as I punched him in the arm and laughed.

"Thanks Johnny. I'm gonna miss you too." He helps me into the truck where all of my bags are loaded. As he inserts the key into the ignition, we hear voices.

"Wait!"

"Stop!"

"You Can't leave yet!"

"Gabriella Wait!" I recognise them. My friends. They came!

"GUYS! You came?"

"Of course we did. There is no way that we'd let you go without saying goodbye." They're awesome.

"I love you all. I promise I'll come see you when I get home." We all share a group hug. Then, Chad brings a small box from his back.

"We want you to have this." I opened the box while it was still in his possession. I smiled when I saw all of the pictures from the past summer. "Whenever you feel lonely and miss everyone, just look through these." I opened my mouth to protest. "We've made copies for everyone." I accept the box and pull each of them into a hug. Tears were in all of our eyes.

"Bye." I say softly. They all wave as I get back into the already running truck. Buckling my seat belt, I feel a single tear fall. I wipe it away and look back at my friends. They wave as they retreat back to their car. I turn to Johnny and he gives me a sad smile. "let's go."

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"We're here." Johnny says. Right now, I have a mix of emotions. Excitement, because this is a new chapter in my life. Sadness, because I'm leaving my friends and family. Happiness, because I get more freedom. It seems like everything was put into slow motion the very minute I entered the airport. The voices over the intercom were hard to make out. Everyone was walking so slow. It seemed as if I was the fastest person in the world besides Johnny. "We'll have to wait until they call your flight number." I snapped back into reality and followed him. As soon as we turned the corner into the waiting area, I noticed something. The people there were people that were close to me. They all stood in a line and smiling. Everyone was there...except for Troy. The strange part was that his paents were. Him not being there hurts...but maybe sayong goodbye is too hard for him. I plastered a fake smile on my face and jogged over.

"What are you all doing here?" They all smiled and looked at Mr. Bolton.

"Well, we knew that we were all going to miss you. We weren't sure who got to say goodbye, so we all decided to meet up here." I smiled. "Troy's-" He began to say. He was interuppted by a voice.

"Troy's right here." I whipped around to see Troy standing there with a bouquet of daffadils. He opened his arms wide and I ran over to him. He gave me a warm embrace and whispered,"Did you really think that I would let you leave without saying goodbye?" I shook my head as he held me closer. We stayed like that for a while before rejoining our friends. "Sorry I'm late guys." Chad scoffed.

"We all know you had to be the one with the fancy unexpected entrance. And the flowers! Geez! You just had to upstage all!" Chad exclaimed as Taylor smacked him on the arm. We all laughed at his little outburst.

"Chad, he didn't upstage anyone. I love that you're all here. It makes me feel better." He seems satified with my answer.

"Gabi, I'd like you to meet Alex. Alex, this is my sister Gabriella." I smiled. I saw the twinkle in his eye when he looked at her.

"It's nice to finally meet you Gabriella. Ricky talks so much about you. I love your hair." I like her already.

"It's nice to meet you too. We'll have to talk more when I come back home to visit." She agreed and walked back over with him. Troy took my hand and lead me away as everyone else began to talke again.

"I love you." He tells me. "I know that we're gonna try and make this work. If something should ever happen, don't throw away this necklace." He said reffering to the gold key around my neck. "You'll always have my heart. No matter what. I want it to stay that way." I lean in and kiss him sweetly.

"You'll always have my heart too." We sit down on a nearby bench and cuddle. Minutes later, my flight number is called. "I have to go." I head over and say my goodbyes to everyone there. When I get to Ricky, I whisper, "It wasn't just summer love' in his ear as he grins. I walk back to Troy. Tears are in the both of our eyes. One escapes and slides down my cheek as Troy wipes it away. We lean in and kiss each other passionately, never wanting to let go. We don't break away until they call my flight number again. We're out of breath and he gives me one last short, sweet kiss. "I love you Troy Anthony Bolton."

"I love you Gabriella Joy Montez." We let go of each other as Ricky and Johnny hand me my bags. I sling them onto my shoulder and begin to walk down the corridor. I fold my arms and keep my head down.

"Ticket please." The attendant says. I show her my ticket and she lets me in. This is it. I know it might seem weird, but I'm not alone. My dad is right next to me. wherever I go...he'll always be there, watching over me. I take my seat and begin to think again. I thought of all the fights and arguments. I thought of all the good times I've had. I'm begining a new chapter in life. I couldn't be more scared and excited. I'll never forget this past summer. It's the summer of my first love, and I'll never forget it.

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It's over! I wanna cry! I love this story. I'm going to do a sequel for it too. I love all of your reviews so much! This story got 350+ reviews. It's all thanx to you! I'll add more soon. Here is the summary for the sequel. Let me know what you think!

Meant To Last: Troy Bolton is back home after 5 years of college. Everything is going well for him, until he runs into his first love. When they begin to rekindle th old flame, will Troy realize his true feelings? Will Gabriella feel the same? What will happen when she brings a surprise home? Was it meant to last? (troyella)sequel to Summer Love

Review!

Thanx

Mare