IMPORTANT! This needs explanation just to avoid confusion. Today, in the story, it's Wednesday July 4th. I'm pretty sure people don't go to school on July 4th mainly because it's during summer, unless you go to school year round. If you remember I said that East High started in like May which is actually when most schools end. So just go with the fact that the school's schedule is way different from a normal school's. If you are still confuse you can tell me in a review. It was my stupid mistake I wasn't really thinking.
Now, onto the story!
It was Wednesday, July 4th at East High. The day Americans celebrated their triumph of the Revolutionary War against the British. Today was also the day the East High Wildcats played the South High Lions.
Troy currently had Gabriella pressed up against her locker and in engaged in a fiery kiss.
"Can you like save that for I don't know, later?"
Troy and Gabriella swiftly turned to see Chad and the rest of the gang smirking. (Especially Chad.)
"We'd love to but my grandmother," Gabriella said 'grandmother' like it was a nasty virus , "has these 'rules' and it is driving me crazy!" Gabriella let out a frustrated sigh.
"So what are these 'rules'?" Kelsi questioned, making air quotes around the word rules.
"Rule number one: Troy is not allowed in my room with the door closed." Gabriella recited as if she read it from a piece of paper
"Ruler number two: I'm allowed to sleepover." Troy said in a disgusted tone.
Chad sighed. "I'm sure you guys love that one." The rest of the group laughed. "I mean, a room…all alone…what else could you do?"
Gabriella almost smacked him straight across the face. She pouted then responded, clearly upset, "It's not like we do anything!"
"Uh-huh. Sure you don't." Chad said, unconvinced.
"Oh get a life and pick on someone else's love life!" Gabriella shouted.
"So you admit it?"
Troy started to flush and he glanced rapidly from each person standing there to the lockers to his right and left.
Gabriella narrowed her eyes at her friend in front of her who was smiling vividly. "NO," Troy raised his eyebrows, "I-I mean yes! I mean no! WAIT! YES! You know what Chad?! NEVERMIND!"
Looking immensely satisfied with himself, Chad gave a curt nod and said on a happy note, "I guess that settles it then. Do not underestimate the power of…Afro Guy!" He puffed out his chest for emphasis.
Kelsi giggled. "Oh shut up Chad and leave the two alone! Anyways…is there anymore of these so-called 'rules'?"
"Well there's a lot more but trust me, those two are the ones I hate the most." Gabriella said.
Taylor looked at her curiously. "So how is your beloved grandmother and grandpa?"
"My grandpa isn't that bad. He's actually a pretty cool guy. He sits in front of the TV and watches the Filipino Channel all the time…"
"And your grandma?" Zeke asked her.
"…uh." she looked slightly dazed.
"Worse than Sharpay huh?" Chad smirked.
"HEY!" Sharpay shouted in defense. "I'm a changed person! At least I'm not the one who barges into Troy and Gabriella kissing!"
Troy spoke up, "Actually is better than Esterlita."
"Huh?" The gang let out in unison, except Gabriella.
Troy rolled his eyes. "See, whenever we are even inches apart from each other, she always somehow turns up in the doorway. I bet Gabi's grandma has some kind of sixth sense for these kinds of things. At least Chad here…" he pointed to his curly haired friend, "waits till after we already are kissing before barging in on us-"
Gabriella cut in to his speech. "-Which I really wish he didn't!"
Chad blushed. "Heh-heh?" he added, rubbing the back of his head.
Jason then started to speak, "She sounds…um…interesting?"
"Don't get me wrong!" Gabriella exclaimed holding her arms out in defense. "She's nice and all, very religious, it's just she acts so grandmotherly…" she trailed off.
"Grandmotherly?" Taylor questioned.
"Yeah, I don't know how to explain though. She's really controlling."
"Controlling?"
"She has to know where I am every freakin' moment of the freakin' day." Gabriella explained, clearly agitated.
"She just making sure you two aren't off exploring uhmm…..ahhh…..I think you get it." Chad said awkwardly.
"Chad!" Taylor scolded, hitting his afro covered head.
Sharpay looked up at Chad, "What is it with you and Gabi and Troy's sex life?"
Gabriella looked down uncomfortably while Troy was quick to retort. "Non existent sex life, I must add."
"Well you see, I get this weird sensation seeing you two look completely and utterly baffled." Chad explained as if it was just an everyday conversation.
An awkward silence fell upon the couple of people and the chatter of the oncoming high school students seemed to become louder and louder. The ring of the warning bell interrupted them.
Troy put his arm around Gabriella's shoulders and said as though he was having trouble pronouncing words, "Tara na."
Everyone surrounding him swiveled quickly around, obviously confused.
"It means let's go. Bri's grandma taught it to me."
They all seemed to nod in agreement and there was a muffled but strangely relieved response that came from their mouths. "Ahhh…." The group of teens made their ways to their homeroom of Ms. Thompson.
The loud buzzing noise erupted through out the East High gym, signaling the end of the 4th quarter.
Phil the announcer spoke into his microphone , "There you have it folks. The Wildcats have just won the game, 78 to 67. The Wildcats will now play against the North High Hornets in the championship game."
The gym erupted in collective cheers from the Wildcats' cheering section while the Lion fans didn't look as pleased. Gabriella, Taylor, Sharpay and Kelsi made their way to the center of the court where the Wildcat team came from a tunnel made from the cheerleaders and their pom-poms.
"Congratulations Wildcat!" Gabriella exclaimed before pulling Troy into a congratulatory hug and then kiss, not minding his sweatiness.
"What?" Chad's voice was heard from behind the two, "No 'congratulations' for us?" Chad pointed to him and the rest of the team.
The loved struck teenagers pulled apart and Gabriella turned to looked at her African American friend.
"Taylor, will you please shut your boyfriend up?" Gabriella pleaded Taylor.
Taylor smiled, "Gladly." Before anyone could blink Taylor had Chad pulled into a kiss.
Gabriella giggled and then turned to Troy, showing off her triumphant smile. "Now, where were me? " she asked jokingly.
Troy pretended to think. "I think we were right about here." He played along and then he leaned down to kiss her. After several moments the two pulled away, Troy pressed his forehead against his." So, what did you think about the game?"
"It was uhmm…" Gabriella paused to rack her brain for a suitable word, "interesting."
"Interesting?"
Gabriella nodded, satisfied with her choice of words. "Uh-huh. I may have not known what was going on but I had fun. Taylor and the girls tried to explain some of it so I guess I wasn't completely lost." A wide grin appeared on Gabriella's face. "Besides, I had fun cheering on number 27."
A feeling of complete and utter confusion washed over Troy, "I'm number 14 not 27."
"I know." Gabriella said with a smirk before breaking free from his. Gabriella scurried off, leaving Troy in his thoughts.
By now the crowded gym was reduced to several Wildcat players and their friends and family.
Gabriella instantly found the gang huddled in a circle talking about the game. "Hey!" she greeted as she joined th circle.
The group teens greeted her.
Gabriella turned to Zeke and Jason, giving them side hugs. "Congratulations boys!"
"Hey! What about me?" Chad asked pouting.
Gabriella stifled a laugh. "Congratulations Chad!" she exclaimed with a tinge of fake enthusiasm.
Chad smiled at the petite brunette before giving her a hug.
Gabriella screamed when a pair of arms wrapped around her. She turned around and hit her culprit hard in chest. "Don't do that!"
Troy smiled, "Now we are even."
Gabriella rolled her eyes and turned back to her group of friends. "So what are everyone's 4th of July plans?"
Sharpay was the first to speak, "We're all going to Chris Mayorga's party. "
"Who?"
"Didn't Troy tell you about it?" Kelsi questioned.
Gabriella shook her as if to say no.
"Well Chris is a sophomore here and he's throwing a 4th of July party."
Taylor added her two cents worth, "He lives in this log home on a lake and his closes neighbors are about a mile away so-"
Sharpay cut her off, "So music is played pretty loud."
" Troy didn't tell you?" Kelsi wondered.
Once again Gabriella shook her head. The four girls turned to look at Troy.
Troy released Gabriella's waist and was rubbing the back of his neck with one of his hands.
"Troy?" Gabriella tapped her foot impatiently.
He laughed nervously," Well you see, I uh…. I………..Okay so I forgot."
Sharpay just rolled her eyes and turned her Filipina friend around. "So are you coming?"
Gabriella pondered for awhile. Her brain was telling her to go to the party and enjoy herself. Then their was her heart, she had a feeling something wasn't right. She finally came to conclusion, "I'll pass."
"What?!' Sharpay exclaimed.
Gabriella sighed, "I'm gonna pass." She turned to Troy. "Why don't you go and have a good time?"
Troy shook his head, "I'm not gonna go if you aren't."
"Troy," Gabriella looked at him sternly, "go to the party. I'm gonna feel really guilty if you are mot gonna go on my account."
"But Ga-"
"Troy."
"Fine" he mumbled.
Gabriella smiled at him and gave him a quick kiss. "Now your gonna go clean up then you're going to that party and you are gonna have a good time. I'm going to go now and visit my mom."
Troy smiled and gave her another kiss. He gave her a hug and kissed the side of her head. "Bye, call me if you need me."
Gabriella nodded and bid adieu to her friends. She silently walked out of the East High gym, toward the parking lot. As she walked she tried to figure out what could be wrong. "Maybe nothing is wrong." Gabriella spoke to herself. "I mean if there was, the hospital would of called." Gabriella sighed, "Then again they didn't exactly notify me when she was moved to the ICU." She stopped walking and realized she was already in the parking lot. "Where the hell is that car?" The brunette spotted the midnight blue Mercedes Benz that her lolo leant her. She laughed at the irony, she went from no car to having Troy driving her to having a Mercedes Benz to drive.
Gabriella drove through the busy streets of Albuquerque to her grandparent's house where she was staying. She pulled the car into the driveway and made her way to the front door. The Montez, seniors, family lived in a one story house that had three bedrooms, a library, a family room, and a kitchen. It wasn't small but homey.
The fifteen year old slipped her key into the lock and entered the house. "Lola? Lolo?" The house was dead silent. She shrugged and wandered into the kitchen only to find a note on the counter.
Anak,
We left to attend a prayer service and will be back later.
May pagkain sa fridge. (There is food in the fridge)
Mag-ingat ka.(You take care)
Mahal Kita, (Love you)
Lolo
Gabriella smiled to herself. Ever since she moved in with her grandparents life was different. She had to a change of routine. Her grandmother cared about her a lot and she loved talking to her grandfather. Godofredo often talked about life back in Philippines and would teach Gabriella how to speak a little. When she sat down at the table during dinner she wondered if this was what a real family felt like. Sure, earlier in the day she complained but really she didn't mind. That is with the exception of Troy, she definitely missed that.
Gabriella made her way into the guestroom that was converted into her bedroom. Gabriella closed the door of what she called her temporary bedroom. She stopped at took in the room. It was smaller than her previous room. The walls were painted a marigold tone and gold curtains accented the window. She had a nice sized closet and even some extra drawers. She let out a long sigh. Gabriella changed into a blue sweat suit. After leaving a note for her grandmother and grabbing 'Story of My Life' by Helen Keller from her grandparents library, she was out the door.
Roughly 30 minutes later, Gabriella found herself in the elevator shaft waiting for the doors to open. When it finally did she walked out onto the 5th floor and went straight to the front desk that was set out in front of the door of the ICU. "Hi Michelle."
Michelle, the receptionist, looked up from her computer screen. "Gabriella, it's nice to see you. No boyfriend today?"
Gabriella shook her head, "Nope, just me.'
"Oh okay. I'll let you in now."
"Thank you." She smiled at her before walking through the glass doors.
When Gabriella entered her mother's room she let out a breath she didn't know she was holding. Angella lay in the same position she had seen her in on Sunday. She took a seat in the same chair she sat in whenever she was there.
"Hi mom." Gabriella spoke softly and reached for Angella's hand, "My, oh my. It seems as if everything that could happen has. When we first moved here I thought that this was just temporary and that this place was no different from any other place we have been. Then as time progressed I found out this is our turning point. Whatever happens affects us in a really big way."
Gabriella was at a lost of words and let the sounds of the many machines fill the room. The sudden sound of the door opening was enough to make her jump out of he skin. "Gabriella?" Her head whipped around to find Aurora, the owner of the voice. Aurora was a nurse a Albuquerque General Hospital and has frequently taken care of Angella. She had beach blonde hair and was in her late twenties.
"Hi Aurora."
"Hey! How are you?"
"I'm doing okay. Are you doing good?" Aurora nodded. "How's my mom doing today?"
Aurora's smiling face fell. "She has a fever. I think her nurse earlier told me that she had it since yesterday."
"Do th doctors know what caused it?"
"No. We are giving her plenty of medication by IV though. It went down earlier but it spiked. Now, this leads me to why I'm here."
It was then that Gabriella noticed the thermometer and portable blood pressure machine Aurora was wheeling around. Gabriella made a gesture to move but Aurora told her to stay seated. Gabriella watched as Aurora placed a blood pressure cuff around Angella's limp upper arm. Then a hand machine with a flat metal tip was wiped repeatedly across Angella's forehead until a constant beeping was heard from both machines.
"What's her temperature?" Gabriella asked immediately.
"102.7. It's slightly lower than before." Aurora notice Gabriella's saddened expression. "Thee is a chance the medicine has not taken on full affect."
"Thanks Aurora." Gabriella offered her a small smile.
"You know, the park always holds a firework display on the 4th of July. You can see it from the window but some fresh air could do you some good. It starts pretty soon." Moments later Aurora was out the door and could be seen walking down the hallway through the class door.
Gabriella contemplated over going and finally decided on going. As she passed the front desk of the ICU she was surprised to see Michelle missing. She disregarded it and made her way towards the roof. Upon reaching the roof she was relived to see that no one was there. She leaned against the wall and looked down at the street below. The cars looked slightly smaller from the view above and what was made out to be people lining the streets in anticipation for the fireworks. The warm Albuquerque air was mixed with the faintest smell of fire.
"What ever you do, don't jump." Gabriella as she was as able to identify the voice as 'What' left the owner's mouth.
"What if I want to?" she didn't turn around.
The footsteps came closer and muscular arms were wrapped around her wait. "Then your gorgeous boyfriend would be heartbroken and lost."
"Hmm…that's too bad." She turned around to meet the blue eyes that were darken by the surroundings. "What are you doing here Troy?"
"I got tired of making out with some random girls at the party." His tone was serious but his smile telling a different story.
"Seriously Troy."
Troy was having mixed feelings. He wasn't sure if she was angry, surprised, or both." I was having no fun. So I figured that why would I try to be happy at the party when I know I'll be happy with you."
Gabriella smile and wrapped her arms around his neck, hugged him while Troy buried his face into her hair.
They stayed like this until the sound of a firework bursting in the air. She gave him a quick kiss and turned to face the fireworks.
Gabriella and Troy watched in silence, that is until Gabriella spoke up.
"This is the first time I spent the 4th of July or any holiday with someone."
"Why was that?"
"My mother the partier."
Troy nodded and rested his head on her shoulder, watching in silence.
Gabriella felt her phone vibrate in her pocket. She felt a lump forming in her throat her breathing became shallow. Right then and there her cell phone read:
A/N: OMG?! Is the call good or bad? Only time will tell.
I'm sorry it took awhile for me to update. We took a 3 day vacay before school starts on Tuesday so it's pretty hectic. I didn't have a chance to post it before I left. I had this on and off headache so this chapter might of not been written entirely good.
As I said, school starts Tuesday. Cheerleading practice starts right away and that's twice a week. So updates might be slow, I might end up prewriting the chapters and posting them when I get a chance.
I have a new story out called 'Heart Set and Chosen'. It's happier than this story so please check it out if you get a chance.
Thanks for reading! Please Review!
Lot's of Love,
Kae xoxo