A/N So thanks for the reviews for last chapter. Anyway this is the third last chapter. I've only got a week to make sure that this story is posted completely because I will be going away next Thursday for a week and after that I want to start posting my new story. Therefore, I am posting this chapter earlier than I normally would have. Also I was quite happy with the number of people who left reviews and I really would like all of those who has favourited this story or put this story on their alerts to review at least once - I would like to see your opinion on this story at least once pleased
Anyway here's the next chapter...
SUNDAY
Waking up in her bed, Gabriella groaned as the pounding in her head refused to stop. Opening her eyes, the burst of sunlight shining in through the window only intensified the headache.
"Shit…" Sitting up and reaching for her side table, Gabriella felt around until her fingers closed around a pair of sunglasses. Putting them over her half closed eyes, Gabriella stood up, cursing as her head pounded. Flinging on a robe she walked outside of her room.
"Remind me to never drink again…" Gabriella groaned to Danny and Jesse who were in the kitchen
"Yeah what was up with that Gabs? Normally you're the one who remains sober – last night I actually had to carry you home…" Jesse stated as he got up to get something for Gabriella to eat
"You alright Gabster?" Danny asked his younger cousin seeing that she had rested her head on the table
"Apart from the fact that my head is aching like hell, and the fact that I've broken up with Troy, yes - I'm bloody fantastic…" Gabriella said grumpily.
Jesse placed a bottle of water in front of Gabriella, causing the girl to look up. Smiling slightly, Gabriella took the bottle and unscrewed the lid before drinking and letting the cool liquid trail down her throat.
"Thanks Jess…" Gabriella murmured as Jesse sat back down at the table.
"Now are you going to tell us what made you show up and drink so much?" Jesse asked softly placing a hand on top of Gabriella's reassuringly.
"You can't freak out on me… promise?" Gabriella addressed the two boys who nodded their heads
"I was at that East High party – and then I saw Troy dirty dancing with this slut. I don't know – I guess I was just pissed and upset. And I came to the party and just decided to get pissed. Right now though, I am seriously regretting it…" Gabriella said as she leant her head back down onto the table missing the looks that Danny and Jesse were throwing at each other. They both wanted to do nothing better but to beat the shit out of Troy; however, knew that Gabriella wouldn't talk to them for a while if they did. Even though it was what they wanted – it wasn't what she wanted; and that was the most important thing.
The doorbell ringing startled the six teenagers who were currently laying in random positions around the room awake.
"Someone answer the bloody door…" Sharpay's demanding voice called out
"Troy…" Chad called out
"Answer the door yourself – I'm broken hearted here!" Troy's lazy voice called out as he grabbed a pillow and put it over his head to drown out the sounds
The six teenagers – Troy, Chad, Sharpay, Taylor, Zeke and Jason – had retired back to Troy's place deciding that they needed to talk about whatever was going on with Gabriella. However by the time they reached Troy's house, they were too tired to actually talk and fell asleep. Now, at 11 am, the gang were woken up annoyingly. Hearing distant voices that sounded familiar, their brows furrowed as none of them had gotten up to answer the front door.
Suddenly the door of Troy's den was thrown open and Mrs. Bolton walked in – along with Ryan and Kelsi. Rolling her eyes at the sleeping teenagers, Mrs. Bolton walked out again wondering why the hell she put up with all of them. Ryan raised his eyebrows at the sleeping teenagers.
"Um, Shar you weren't answering your phone – none of you were actually. I wandered where you were. So I just wanted to come and check that you were alright…" Ryan's voice trailed off as Sharpay sat up
"Do you know that that bitch Montez lives in West?" Sharpay asked glaring at her brother
"What… hold on? Bitch? Montez? What the hell?" Ryan asked, sure that just yesterday Sharpay and Gabriella were the best of friends
"You're missing the point asshole! Did you know that she lived in West?" the glare Sharpay was giving him was sending chills down his spine. Troy sat up, also looking intently at Ryan. Ryan blushed as he was about to deny it. However, before he could, Sharpay spoke. "You knew didn't you – that's what you were doing on Tuesday – you were at West?" Ryan didn't confirm it; however, his blush and averting of eyes gave him away.
"You bastard! You bloody bastard! You knew and you didn't even tell your own sister!" Sharpay exclaimed angrily standing up
"Whoa hold on! I am not obliged to tell you everything!" Ryan said holding his hands out in front of him in case Sharpay suddenly decided to lunge at him.
"Do I look like I give a shit? You knew that she was from the slums and you still didn't tell me?"
"See? That is exactly why I didn't tell you – why she didn't tell you! Because she knew that you would be a bitch about it! I mean look at you – you're acting like your so superior to her just because you've got a few more dollars than her"
"Ryan! She lied to us…"
"That's where you're wrong sis – technically she never lied to us. She just didn't tell us the whole truth…"
"Wait! That was why she was so close to you? Was that what she was meaning when she said you knew something that I didn't?" Troy asked, standing up and facing Ryan
"Troy – you don't understand. I found out ages ago – when she wasn't so attached to us. And when she wanted to tell you she couldn't. She was scared of losing you – and can you honestly blame her?" Ryan asked. Looking back behind him, he gave the nervous Kelsi a quick, reassuring smile and brightened when he saw her lift the corners of her mouth in a small smile too.
"That's not the point! Ryan you knew and yet you never told us!" Sharpay still moaned, her voice piercing.
"He doesn't have to tell you everything Sharpay…" the gang turned to look in shock at the voice which once again went against Sharpay. Kelsi blushed as her eyes caught the sight of the shocked teenagers; however, her face remained firm as she held her gaze with the furious ice princess who looked like she'd been slapped in the face. Kelsi carried on. "She knew that you would ridicule her – she was embarrassed and hurt. Obviously she wouldn't want you to know…"
"Did you know Kelsi?" Taylor asked, her eyes downcast as she understood that her best friend had a whole other life that she had no clue about.
"No – I didn't. But I can understand why she wouldn't tell us…" Kelsi said slowly
The group diverted their gaze from Kelsi and glanced back to Ryan
"So why does she live there Ryan?" Chad asked curiously
Ryan blushed, his mind working overtime as he tried to come to the decision – he couldn't tell them about Gabriella. Knowing that they knew she lived in West was enough; but to betray her confidence and tell the group something only she should tell couldn't be done. She needed to tell them herself – it was not his place.
"I can't tell you Chad. She needs to tell you herself…" Ryan trailed of as he caught the furious glare that was being directed to him by his sister.
"Ryan Evans! Just tell us – we're meant to be her friends and yet we don't know her life…" Sharpay started the volume of her voice increasing.
"He's right Shar – she needs to tell us herself…" Troy's voice rang out. His face was broken but he knew that Ryan had a point – it wasn't his place to tell of Gabriella's past - that was something she needed to do herself.
"So how did you find out Gabi lives in West anyway?" Ryan asked, curious.
"Well Troy boy here decided to listen to the advice of my boyfriend and managed to dirty dance with that bitch Kelly, Gabi saw, she left and we followed…" Taylor spoke
"She must be upset then…" Ryan pondered
"Yeah…" Taylor was cut of by Chad
"I don't see why? She was the one who broke it off with Troy first…" Chad spoke, quickly defending his best friend
"Yea but you've got to admit that was insensitive – to dirty dance with someone right in front of your ex's eyes…" Taylor argued
Ryan in the meantime, instead of watching the bickering couple, got his phone out and typed a message in
Gabi Get down to our normal restaurant – meet you in 15
Ryan
Tucking his phone away, Ryan said goodbye even though no one heard as everyone was to busy paying attention to Taylor and Chad, grabbed Kelsi's hand and made his way out.
She sat there waiting. Her brunette curls were pushed behind her in a tight ponytail so as to keep out of the way. Her curious eyes darted every so often to the door – waiting to see the blonde head walk through.
Gabriella smiled as she saw Ryan walk through the door, and then her eyes narrowed in on the interlinked hands of Ryan's and Kelsi's before a smirk broke out on her face. Standing up, she smiled as the couple noticed her and made their way over to her. Gabriella watched as Ryan let go of Kelsi's hand before pulling a chair out for her and watching her sit down before he did the same himself.
"Hey Kels, Ry…" Gabriella said, unable to keep the small smile off her face despite the fact she was heartbroken
"Hey Gabi"
"Hi…"
"So what did you want to meet me here for?" Gabriella asked, curiosity from the text making her forget the comments she wanted to make about the now obvious new couple.
"Oh yea – the gang know about you living in West…" Ryan and Kelsi watched carefully as Gabriella's face paled. The hand which had been reaching out for the bottle of Pepsi which was lying half empty on the table froze. Her eyes widened and fixed onto Ryan, anxiousness and fear spilling through them. Gabriella opened her mouth; however, no sound came out. She tried again – willing her voice to work
"How?" her voice was hoarse, her mind spinning at the news that Ryan had just delivered. Ryan regarded her carefully before replying
"They said something about following you last night – after the party you seemed upset and… I'm not sure, they said that you were upset and they followed you…" Ryan's voice trailed off as Gabriella's eyes closed.
"Are they pissed?" her soft voice whispered, dreading the answer. Ryan blushed, looking at Kelsi – unsure of how to answer the question which obviously was so important. He couldn't exactly tell her that Sharpay was pissed beyond hell; however, he couldn't exactly tell her that they didn't really give a shit and were happy about the news.
"They're upset – I think maybe you need to…" Ryan trailed off, hoping that Gabriella understood the message without him having to say it. Gabriella sighed. This was not how she wanted to tell them of her past – in truth, she didn't want to tell them at all. She knew that this dream of hers would come crashing down on her one day – and that day had obviously come. Her attention turns to the quiet brunette who had sat there the whole time.
"Kelsi – do you hate me?" Gabriella asked, relief flooding through her as she saw the indignant look cross her friends face.
"No – of course not. I wish you could have told me yes, but I don't hate you. I just want to know everything – and why you felt ashamed." Kelsi started, however stopped when she said the last part, "Actually I can see why you didn't tell us – Sharpay and her prejudice isn't exactly the best thing for the situation…"
"Gabi – what happened yesterday? Usually you know if someone is following you…" Ryan asked, curious as to how the gang were able to follow Gabriella anyway. With Gabriella living in West Albuquerque, she had grown to be more aware of her surroundings and make sure that no one would follow her - Which is why it was a surprise when he found out that the gang had actually managed to follow Gabriella to West without getting caught by her.
"I guess I was too upset to be thinking about who was following me. I mean I went to the party hoping to get over Troy – and all I saw was him grinding up against that bitch. I just needed to get out of there you know? And everyone managed to follow me because of that…"
"Why is it that none of us actually noticed?" Zeke asked the group around him. Everyone was in a sombre mood after finding out that Gabriella had a whole other life. Troy lay on the bed, his hands over his eyes. Chad and Taylor, despite their different opinions on their friends, were cuddled together on the sofa; Jason was lounging on the floor whilst Sharpay was pacing up and down – furious that Gabriella was not the person she thought she was. Zeke getting no answer to his question except a glare from his girlfriend, carried on
"I mean – how did none of us not even think about Gabriella living in West?"
"Maybe because none of thought of something like that – it's like this whole thing is out of a bloody soap opera!" Chad stated, throwing the cushion to Zeke, telling him to shut up. Zeke rolled his eyes.
"You know what? We really need to get the hell out of this place" Troy surprised everyone by standing up.
"What do you mean?" Jason asked
"Lets go to that restaurant – I'm hungry. You know the one by West… someone said it's cheap as well…" Troy said before grabbing his wallet and keys of the table by the TV and stalking out of the door. The group looked at each other before following quickly
The door opened and Gabriella watched as she saw her boys walk into the diner. Her cousins and her best mates scanned the seats before resting their eyes on Gabriella, Ryan and Kelsi. Smiling they made their way over.
"They found out huh?" Jesse asked as he hugged Gabriella and flashed a quick smile to Ryan and the nervous Kelsi
"Yea…" Gabriella murmured as she dug her head into his shoulder. The boys pulled up chairs to the table and sat around, waiting for Gabriella to explain. However, before she could, the creaking of the door opening caused the groups heads to turn to the direction of the door.
Gabriella closed her eyes and clung onto Jesse as she saw her ex boyfriend and friends walk into the diner.
She watched as Troy stopped dead seeing her in the arms of Jesse. His eyes betrayed his emotions of hurt and Gabriella watched as the blue oceans clouded over. The group behind him also froze, watching with baited breath as they saw Gabriella walk forward. Just as she went to open her mouth, someone cut in
"What were you fucking thinking?" Sharpay's clear voice broke the tension between the teens, her sharpness causing the odd customer in the diner to look up in interest.
"Don't start Sharpay – I had my reasons!" Gabriella was quick to defend herself
"What reasons? The fact that you're nothing but cheap shit – that you live as a poor bitch!" Sharpay's arrogance and bitchiness took over every sane part of her being as she just rattled off the first words coming out of her mouth – not thinking if the consequences. She was furious and she had to unleash her anger in some way.
Gabriella tensed. This was exactly what she hadn't wanted. Taking a small step towards the blonde, Gabriella let out a menacing sigh before speaking in a low voice – her furiousness spilling into it.
"You don't know a bloody thing Sharpay! You don't know a thing about my life or why I live in West – so don't you dare judge me! You don't know a bloody thing!" Sharpay stepped forward. The group watched the two teens. And then Sharpay spoke in a tone of voice that matched Gabriella's.
"Well why don't you enlighten me then?"
A/N And I decided to cut it off there - mostly because the explanation that you've been waiting for includes a lot of flashbacks and I felt that it wouldn't be done justice if I just lumbered it in with this chapter. So I am sorry - but remember - review and there's a sneak peek of the next chapter!
XxxNicolexxX