Chapter 21: Busted!
The next morning, Troy awoke an hour before his alarm went off. This was a big day for him and he knew getting adequate rest was important, but for some reason, he found himself sitting upright in bed and reaching over to turn off the alarm before the annoying buzzing could shatter the silence. He set his feet on the floor and quickly took the few long strides to the closet, flung the door open, and just knew he'd see the long black robe that he was supposed to be wearing in a few hours hanging on the inside hook. However, when it wasn't there, he quickly became frantic.
"Ohhhh... That's not good," he muttered to himself. "I left it hanging right here. Where could it be?" Troy began searching through the clothes hanging on the rack, hoping that it was there. "Did I move it and forget?" He continued his search for another minute before giving up on searching through his own closet and emerged from his room to look in the coat closet next to the front door. As he crossed through the living room, he spotted Gabriella standing in front of the refrigerator, with his robe hanging in front of her.
"Oh, thank god! There it is!" he exclaimed. "What are you doing?" he asked, unable to hide the accusing tone.
"Good morning to you, too," she said, trying to keep away the hurt she felt over his greeting. "I'm steaming your graduation robe," she said. "And keep your voice down a little. Chad's still asleep." She pointed the iron in the direction of the couch where their friend was sprawled out- barely covered by the blanket, but covered nonetheless, to Gabriella's gratitude- before slowly dragging it down the front of the robe again.
"Why are you doing that?" he asked, nodding in the direction of the robe.
"Because I knew it wouldn't get done by you and you'll look a hot mess if it's not."
"You don't need to do that," he told her with his fists balled, battling his emotions already. His meaning was not lost on Gabriella; neither was his tone. She put the iron down on the counter with a thud, picked up her coffee cup, and started to walk away.
"Fine."
"Dude, you're such an ass." The sound of the third voice caught the attention of the sniveling duo and they both turned to face Chad. "Just say thank you and shut up about it. You know she's right but your damn pride won't let you admit it because you hate being wrong."
Gabriella put her coffee cup back down on the counter and folded her arms across her chest, giving Troy a pointed look. Finally, he conceded, but not before rolling his eyes like a five year old who just got in trouble by Mommy.
"Thank you," he mumbled, barely audible. "I'm going to get in the shower."
When Troy was back in his bedroom and the door was closed behind him, Chad turned to face Gabriella, rubbing the sleep from his eyes.
"Coffee?" she asked him as she tried to shake off the emotional last few minutes.
"You're my savior," he told her, reaching for the cup she was holding out to him, receiving a small smile from her in return. "Are you okay?" he asked after he took his first sip and as she picked the iron back up.
"Me? Yeah, I'm fine. I've gotten used to that," she assured him, pointing the iron in the direction of Troy's bedroom door.
"Number one, you shouldn't have to get used to that. I've been on the receiving end of that before; it's not pretty after a while. Number two, I know you're lying and you're not fine. I can see it in your eyes; that" he said as he pointed at Troy's closed bedroom door "hurt. Hell, it hurt me listening to him talk to you like that. But I'm going to let it go and say 'whatever'. Now, with that being said, I'm going to use your shower- if it's okay- while he's using that one."
"Yeah, that's fine," she told him as she turned her attention back to Troy's robe. Chad watched her for a second before tentatively voicing the one question that had been burning in his mind since the night before when the two of them had their talk over dinner.
"Hey, Gabster?"
"Yeah?"
"Are you still coming to the graduation today?" He watched as she drew in a deep breath, pulled the iron away from the robe, lowered her eyes to the floor, and chewed on her lower lip. Slowly, she lifted her eyes to meet his.
"I don't know, Chad. I really want to be there and probably should be to keep up pretenses- Jack and Lucille don't know about us... not that I know of anyway- but I don't know if I'll be welcomed or not."
He came back to her and wrapped her in his arms- giving her a tight hug while being weary of the hot iron still in her hands- and leaned down to place a gentle kiss to the top of her head.
"You'll always be welcomed, even if he won't say it. He wants you there today. Deep down, he'll always want you around."
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Despite all their arguments over the past few weeks, Gabriella did still love Troy and was still proud of him. The two of them had made this journey together and she knew that he had worked extremely hard over the past four years, struggling to juggle his classes, basketball, and theatre. There had been many long nights in the theatre or gym, many all-nighters with the books, many arguments- especially during their first year as they each put in equal effort to find their niche and attempted to figure out how to fit a relationship into their ever hectic schedules- and she was looking forward to watching him walk across that stage and cheering for him when his name was called.
It was a hard decision to make, but she thought hard about what Chad had told her that morning and asked herself what she would want Troy to do when it came time for her own graduation the following week. The answer was simple: she wanted him there. So there she sat a few hours later, with her lifeline in the physical form of her mom on her right, as they sat next to the aisle so she could make a quick escape as soon as the ceremony was over.
She opted to not sit with his parents and Chad, knowing they would be scanning the crowd looking for her. It wasn't long before she could feel Jack's eye burning a hole in the left side of her body as she looked through her copy of the program. Lucille could sense her husband's attention shift elsewhere and looked up from her own copy of the program and followed his gaze, spotting Gabriella several yards away and a few rows in front of them. Jack- oblivious to the goings-on in his son's personal life- dared to broach the subject with his wife.
"Hey, Luce, isn't that Gabriella and Maria sitting over there, near the aisle?" he asked. When Chad heard that question, his attention immediately turned from the program in his hands to the conversation going on between his former coach his second mom.
Lucille looked to where he was pointing. "Yeah, it is. I was wondering where they were and why they weren't not sitting with us. That's odd." It was at that moment that Gabriella chanced a look around the arena and spotted the two of them looking at her. She quickly jerked her head back down to stare at her program, but not before Jack spotted her red eyes.
"Does she look like she's been crying to you?"
"It takes you days to notice when I've been crying and we sleep next to each other. How can you tell that she's been crying from 100 feet away when you can't even see her face?" Lucille asked him.
"Uh… um… father's intuition?" Jack tried sheepishly, hoping it sounded convincing. Chad snickered beside him, enjoying the show.
"Nice try," Lucille said, smacking Jack on the arm with her program. "Why don't you go talk to her?"
"Why me?" Jack asked her, suddenly feeling three feet smaller at the thought of facing the young lady, especially when she had evidently been crying. "You're the woman. You'd know what to say to her."
"Jack Bolton! You've always been like a father to her and you know it! Now get up and go play 'Daddy' to our son's girlfriend before the ceremony starts!" she commanded him.
"Fine," Jack mumbled under his breath. He took a deep breath, hesitantly rose from his seat and made his way over to the Montez women, trying to work out the right words to say in his mind.
"Hello, ladies," he greeted them.
"Jack! Hello!" Maria said, standing to give him a hug in greeting.
Gabriella was studying the program intently- it was something for her to focus on other than the butterflies flying around in her stomach- when she heard his voice. She knew who the voice belonged to; she didn't even have to look up and was thankful to her mother for speaking first. It gave her a chance to find her voice. She took a deep breath to try and calm herself, reached up to wipe her eyes quickly before looking at him- hoping he wouldn't notice- and quickly plastered a fake smile on her face. "Hey, Coach!"
Jack took a step back in shock as he noticed the dark circles and puffiness of her eyes. "Wow. Gabriella, um… Sweetheart, if you don't mind me asking, is everything okay?"
Gabriella opened her mouth to assure him that she was fine, but was overcome with emotion at the care her "dad" was showing to her. As Jack noticed her lip start to quiver, he knelt down next to her and draped his left arm over her shoulder.
"Why don't the two of you come sit with Chad, Lucille, and me? There's plenty of room," he told them as he gestured over his shoulder in the direction to where Chad and Lucille were still sitting, watching the show.
"Um, no," Gabriella told him in a soft voice. "Thank you, but I've got to leave immediately after. I've got a study group to get to."
Jack didn't buy this for a minute. He knew her own graduation was the following weekend- he and Lucille had arranged their vacation so they could stay in San Francisco the entire week so they could attend both ceremonies. He shot a questioning look in Maria's direction, who merely shrugged her shoulders in response. "Um, okay. Sure. Then I guess we'll see you two back at the apartment later?"
"Yeah, we'll see you guys later," Gabriella told him, placing her fake smile back on her face.
Jack returned to his seat, reporting to Lucille about the conversation between him and Gabriella.
"Something's not right, Jack," Lucille told him, before turning her attention to the young man beside her. "Chad, do you know anything about what's going on? You stayed at the apartment last night. Has Troy told you anything?"
"Hmmm?" Chad asked as he quickly wracked his brain to come up with an excuse. "I'm sorry, Mrs. B, what did you say?"
"You know something don't you? Gabriella wouldn't sit by herself just to make a quick exit. She's avoiding us for a reason and you know why. So spill it, Charles David Danforth. What's going on between my other two children?!"
"Mom, I –" Chad's eyes widened knowing he couldn't hide the truth from this parental figure any easier than from his birth mother. With a long breath his eyes softened and he looked directly into Lucille's. "You're right. There is something up between them. Chalk it up to what their futures hold, but I think it's something you should talk to them about. Both of them."
Lucille nodded and sighed. "Young love. I knew it. When we didn't see her last night, Troy was making excuses. And now this? Why would he not tell us? Jack, I think you need to talk to your son."
"My son? He and his girlfriend have an argument-"
"An apparent argument," Lucille interrupted him. "Why are you always jumping to conclusions?"
"Fine. An apparent argument," he repeated, mockingly. "They have an apparent argument and suddenly he's my son? When is he your son?"
Chad listened intently to the teasing bickering back and forth between the Boltons. Even with the slightly serious air he laughed and placed a hand on his former coach's shoulder. "Hey, Coach? I think it's becoming a losing battle."
"Hush, son," Jack Bolton told him with the hint of a smirk playing at the corners of his mouth. "Let me have my fun."
The conversation was put on hold as the beginning chords of Pomp and Circumstance sounded over the sound system of the stadium. The trio joined the rest of the crowd in standing and Lucille spoke to Jack as she kept her attention focused on the sea of black, her eyes scanning the crowd as she searched for Troy.
"He's my son for the next two hours. Now stop talking and pay attention."
Jack and Chad chuckled and each faced forward, doing their own search for Troy. Finally, Chad was the first to spot him. "Hey, Coach, Mama B? There he is!" Troy's parents looked in the direction that Chad was pointing, spotted Troy looking at them with a big grin on his face, and waved.
They watched as he continued walking past their row and noticed the change in his expression a few seconds later when he spotted Gabriella and Maria. He gave Gabriella a small, yet tentative smile as he passed her, too.
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After the ceremony, before the trio could find Troy, they watched as Gabriella quickly stood from her seat and walked out of the stadium alone. Maria also stood from her spot and after casting a hesitant glance over her shoulder at the Boltons and Chad and giving an apologetic smile and a small wave, followed suite. Two members of the group thought this was odd; the third member secretly pulled his phone from his pocket and shot off a quick text.
you don't have a study group. they know you're lying, you dirty little sneak ;)
A moment later, his phone buzzed with a response: Yeah, so I'm busted. Thanks for the warning. Now what?
So... now you take care of yourself. I'll talk to you soon to check in. Congrats on next weekend was his response, followed by a Congrats again to you, too, on your internship. You've come a long way! from her.
"There he is!" Lucille cried out, bringing Chad's attention back to the situation at hand. He quickly stuffed his phone back in his pocket before it was noticed by the parents. "Wait, who's that with him?"
They spotted Troy walking in their direction, with an unfamiliar red head beside him. She had her arms wrapped around his waist in a closeness that the three of them had only seen between him and Gabriella in the past while Troy kept his arms by his side and his stance tense. Confused looks were passed between the three of them as he came closer.
"Oh, crap," Chad mumbled to himself, allowing his eyes to grow wide as the apparent truth of her identity started to dawn on him.
"Son, congratulations," Jack greeted him first, reaching out to give him a manly hug.
"Thanks, Dad!" Troy said. "Hey, Mom." He leaned in to give Lucille a hug and a kiss on her cheek.
"I'm so proud of you!" she cried, as she reached up to wipe at her eyes.
"Thank you!" he exclaimed, grinning from ear to ear. "Chad!" Troy turned to face his friend- his brother- and they shared a fist pump with each other followed by the secret handshake they developed when they were eight.
"Hoops!" he responded, as per their life time tradition.
"Hey, have you guys thought about where you want to take me for lunch?" Troy asked his parents.
Jack shook his head in response. "Your big day, your choice," he told his son.
"Gabriella's coming, right?" Lucille asked him knowingly as she gazed at the red headed young lady. Brendi had detached herself from Troy only long enough for him to share the hugs that were given. After that she was again attached to him like he was her life source.
Never mind tact; Lucille knew exactly what she was doing when she brought Gabriella's name into the conversation. Jack's confusing interaction with Gabriella before the ceremony gave her an idea who young lady was, but Troy's mother wouldn't admit it- neither to herself nor verbally- until it was confirmed by Troy and Gabriella. Perhaps even then she'd still be in denial about this other woman.
Troy rubbed the back of his neck nervously at the mention of Gabriella. "Um, no. Actually, she's not. She's going out with some friends. Her last exam was yesterday so it's kind of a celebration or something, I think."
"Really?" Jack asked, very obviously confused. Study group my ass, he thought to himself.
"Yeah. But hey, um, is it okay if Brendi joins us?" he asked as he reached down to grab her hand and pull her forward to meet his Mom and Dad and Chad. Jack and Lucille stood there stunned as Chad shook his head.
Jack cleared his throat and spoke up first, knowing that Lucille must be steaming on the inside and would more than likely say the wrong thing if she attempted to speak at that moment.
"Of course. Brendi, it's nice to meet you. I'm Jack Bolton, Troy's dad," he told her as he reached out to politely shake her hand. "This is my wife Lucille." Lucille offered Brendi a tight lipped smile and crossed her arms across her chest, refusing to shake her hand. She stood there rooted to her spot, eyeballing her son during the whole exchange. Troy was very aware of his mother's glare and shifted nervously- purposefully avoiding his mom's stare- in his spot while the group discussed restaurant options.
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Once seated at their table in the corner of the restaurant that Troy chose and the orders had been placed, Lucille spoke up for the first time since greeting Troy after the ceremony.
"Brendi," she paused to swallow her disgust at her son's friend's name, "how do you know Troy?" When she received a confused look from Brendi, she continued. "Are you a friend of Gabriella's? Is she tutoring you? You know, Troy wouldn't have made it through his senior year of high school without her help."
"Um, no," she said pointedly. "I'm a cheerleader for the Bears and my cousin's boyfriend is on the basketball team. That's how me and Troy-Bear met." Chad choked on and almost spewed his beer across the table at the sound of the nickname and Troy closed his eyes in embarrassment.
"Troy and I," Lucille mumbled under her breath.
"What?" a very confused Brendi asked.
"Mom…" Troy warned lowly.
Lucille bypassed her son's warning and continued. "Troy, why wasn't Gabriella at your graduation?" She wasn't ready to disclose that they knew she was there. She wanted to wait until they were alone to let him know that he had been busted in a lie. Jack and Chad sat back in their seats- almost afraid to interrupt-, enjoying the show and waiting to see where Lucille was going to take the conversation. "The two of you have been each others' biggest supporters through the past five and a half years. I can't imagine that either one of you would have missed this day for the other."
"Mom, enough," Troy tried again.
And again Lucille pushed forward. "You are going to Gabriella's graduation next weekend, right?"
"Dad? Please?" Troy asked, looking in his father's direction. Jack raised his eyebrows and lifted his glass to his lips, taking a sip, and gave Troy a look that very plainly said "Are you serious?".
"How did Gabriella do on her LSATs? Maria told us that she was accepted to UCSF for their law school program. Wasn't Gabriella also going to apply at U of A? Has she heard from them yet?" Lucille continued bombarding Troy with questions about Gabriella. If she knew her son, it wouldn't be much longer before they had the answers they were itching to get.
"What's the deal with this Gabriella person?" Brendi asked as she leaned over and gave a very tense, very stoic Troy a kiss on his cheek, leaving red lipstick marks. As she began to smear them more with her thumb she continued, "Who is she, your sister?" It was Jack's turn to choke on his drink while Lucille rolled her eyes in annoyance at this Brendi girl. Chad- who was thoroughly enjoying the scene as it unfolded before his eyes- laughed.
Lucille shifted her stare in Brendi's direction. "She better not be after the things his father and I have walked in on the two of them doing. Not to mention what we almost walked in on, on several occasions."
"What?" Brendi asked, confused again.
Finally, Troy snapped. "Mom! That's enough! Please stop! Brendi, would you please go get me a coke?"
"But you have a one right there," she pointed out.
Troy sighed and rubbed his hand across his forehead. "Just, please...Please will you get me another drink?"
"Um, sure I will, Troy-Bear." She leaned over again and gave him another kiss. When she stood from her seat, Troy immediately started wiping at the marks left behind and chanced a look in his mother's direction. Troy and Chad had been in trouble enough times in their lives with both sets of parents that they each had a pretty good idea of what was going through Lucille's mind at that moment.
"Dude, seriously?" Chad asked. When he turned his attention to Lucille's direction, he could read her eyes and knew that she was silently fuming on the inside and made a quick decision in that moment. "I'm going to the restroom. I'll be back," he announced and stood from his seat as well. "Or maybe I'll help Brendi get us all some extra water..."
Once Brendi and Chad were gone and the coast was clear, Lucille started into a new line of questioning, careful to keep her voice low in hopes of not drawing attention to their private family discussion.
"Enough games from both of you. Spill it now, Troy. Where's Gabriella? We all know she would be here - she should be here - instead of this...this… airhead! What in the world is going on?"
During Lucille's questioning, Troy had propped his elbows up on the table and held his hands together in a fist in front of his mouth. Even through her low tone, Troy knew the seriousness in her words. The fire in her eyes forced him to sheepishly look down at his bread in embarrassment and mumble his answer to the question. "We're taking a break."
Jack and Lucille sat in stunned silence. The two shared a look before Jack shifted in his seat, cleared his throat, and spoke up. "I'm sorry? Did you say 'taking a break'? Did I seriously just hear that come from your mouth?" When Troy slowly nodded- still not bringing his eyes up to meet his parents'- Jack continued. "Whose brilliant idea was that? And since Gabriella is obviously absent from this table, I use the word 'brilliant' very lightly."
"Taylor's," Troy told them softly.
"I'm sorry, but what does Taylor have to do with you two?" Lucille asked. "She's all the way in Connecticut."
Troy looked at both of his parents, took a deep breath, and started explaining as much of the story as he thought would be enough. "She came out here back in March for her Spring Break and somehow managed to convince Gabriella that since I haven't proposed to her yet that maybe I didn't truly love her. And before I could even get back into the same state she had set Brie up on a date with some guy." Apparently, that little bit wasn't enough for Lucille.
"And Gabriella agreed?" she asked, confused and not wanting to believe what her son was saying.
Troy shook his head. "Not willingly... not at first, at least. Look can we not get into this here? I'll tell you guys everything, I promise. I just- I don't want to get into it in public," he said, turning now weary, pleading eyes to meet those of his parents.
"I think that's a good idea," Jack said, nodding his agreement. "This is neither the time nor the place. But Troy, before we drop this, for now, your mother and I have to know one thing." He took that second to sit forward in his seat, leaning across the table at Troy and Troy followed suit. "How much does this Brendi girl really mean to you?"
Troy let out a tired sigh that Jack and Lucille both could tell held the full weight of the past month and locked stares with his father before sharing his sad admission with him. "She's just... she's been a distraction during all of this. She's not Gabriella."
Jack nodded, understanding the turmoil going on in Troy's head and heart. "Let's eat and then ditch your date," Jack rolled his eyes in his own round of annoyance, "and then we'll take Chad to the airport. 'Cause Son," he pointed his finger in Troy's direction, "we need to get into this somewhere... and I think it ought to be somewhere with Gabriella present. The two of you haven't invested the last five and a half years of your lives in each other just so you can take a break now."
"Yes, Sir," Troy agreed as they spotted Chad making his way back to the table with Brendi not far behind.