It was as though someone had just died.

The clothes were sprawled out all over the room like a tornado had whipped through and took out everything. There was a physics book, a calculus book, a novel that was left, forgotten. The room seemed darker then normal, even though the sun was peaking through the windows and left its residue on the red bed spread. But what was the most out of the ordinary was the fact that there were pictures that carpeted the floor.

Each picture seemed to tell a story. And each story was one its own. There was one sitting next to the physics book. It was of a six year-old boy. He had stringy hair that fell in front of his face because it was too long. It had him on a seesaw, with a little six year old girl sitting on the top of it because he weighed more than she did. Her hair was blowing in the wind while her smile was bigger then the sun itself. It was brighter than the sun also.

Another picture was sitting on the computer desk. This picture was taken when the people plastered on were about twelve. They were both looking out onto a lake when the boy, whose hair was no longer stringy, took the girl with long dark hair out to a lake where his grandfather owned a cabin. The girls' hair was whipping around her body as she held a green fishing rod, while the boy seemed to be pointing at something in the murky water. Both had smiles plastered on their faces.

A third picture was sitting on the red comforter. This one had the sun shining brightly down on the two's heads. Their eyes were locked on each other, while the boy wore a white dress shirt, a red tie, and the beginning half of his black pants were showing as well. His hands were holding onto the girl's, whose own hands were trying to pin a red flower to his chest. The thick, almost black hair was pulled up into a complete curled bun, as her eyes seemed to sparkle just staring at the boy. Both of them seemed to refuse to look at any other person, only each other.

The picture suddenly shakes violently as the door to the bedroom it was sitting in opens. The person walks in a lets the door slam behind him. The person's hand runs through its chestnut brown hair as the orange basketball falls to the floor with a "thud". The boy closes his piercing blue eyes and leans his back up against the wall, the weight of the world on his shoulders.

Troy's mind kept reeling back to last night. This week should have been perfect. He should have been able to be with Gabriella, just hang out with her, and then break up with Olivia when she got back. The plan was for him and Gabriella to become closer then ever before, so then it wouldn't be as weird when he told her he was crazy about her. It should have been completely perfect.

Obviously, it didn't turn out that way. Troy's eyes open as he walks towards the bed and falls down on it, letting his body bounce a little as he does. He never meant to try and kiss her. He wasn't the cheating kind, and never, ever would he want to do that to Olivia. But after the song, and just being with her. She looked gorgeous, and he couldn't stay away from her even if he had wanted to. Why did she have to be so unbelievable?

Not being able to sit in his room anymore then a few minutes, he gets up off his bed and walks out. After walking down the stairs, he enters the kitchen where his mother was sitting at the table with a pen in her hand and what looked like the checkbook in front of her. He sits down at the table while suddenly watches his mother practically jump out of her chair.

"Troy… honey you scared me." She says while looking up from the book and giving him a small smile. Troy tries to return it, but finds that smiling wasn't working out for him very well.

"Sorry Mom." He responds and watches as her head drops back down to the paper. A sudden flashback of when he was seven years old and he would beg his mother to come play with him, but she'd say when she was finished. His eyes become faint in the memory, realizing that everything used to be easier when he was a kid. No broken hearts, no almost cheating, no eating disorders. Everything was just fine.

"So… are you excited for tonight?" Lucille Bolton asks while not looking up from her book this time. Troy's eyes narrow for a moment. Tonight? He could barely think two seconds in front of him. How was he ever able to think about a couple hours?

"Um… tonight Mom?" He asks. This totally screws up his mother, since her head immediately shoots up and locks with her son's eyes.

"Wow…" She says while placing her pen down and leaning back in her chair. "Olivia's coming home, remember?"

Troy's stomach turns in disgust at the sound of his girlfriend's name. He knew it wasn't fair to blame her, but he couldn't help but be angry. More angry at himself. If he would have never asked Olivia out, then he wouldn't be in this mess. He would be happy with Gabriella. No hearts would be broken, nothing. "Oh yeah…" He says with not much enthusiasm in his voice.

Lucille's eyes wouldn't leave her son. Troy suddenly became uncomfortable. She was completely oblivious to the fact that her son drank. She had never found a condom in his room on the rare occasions he'd have sex after a date. But this… a mother knew. It had to be an intuition or something. But there was no denying that Troy's mom knew he was feeling differently towards Olivia. "Did you two get in a fight or something?"

He wished. Because if that was the case, then it would make this so much easier. She would just get mad and he wouldn't have to break her heart. But Troy shakes his head. "No Mom." He says while Lucille raises her eyebrows.

"Did something happen?" She asks.

"No Mom."

"Is there something wrong?"

"Can we not talk about it?" Troy asks while shifting uncomfortably in his chair. He didn't want to talk about it. No way. How could he tell his mother he almost cheated on Olivia with Gabriella? Nope, Troy was a vault.

"Fine… fine… I'll stop being the nosy mother." She says and then sighs dramatically. Lucille closes the green check book and places her chin on her hand while staring at Troy, as though she was seeing right through the wall he had posted up. Her nails tap lightly on the wooden table, making a soft "put" sound as each finger connects. "But don't lead people to believe you want to date them when you really don't."

Troy's mouth basically drops ten feet. "Wait…how'd you…?"

Lucille had a small, triumphant smile on her face as she stands up from the chair she was sitting in and walks over to Troy, planting a kiss in his chestnut brown hair. "You'll know what to do."

He watches as she walks out of the room. Troy groans in frustration. He knew exactly what he had to do; there was no question about that. The only problem right now was the fact that he didn't want to break any hearts. He couldn't sit in one place alone; it was killing him too much because all he could think about was tonight. What would happen in just a few hours. And when he wasn't thinking about that, he couldn't stop thinking about the almost kiss that he and Gabriella had a little over twelve hours ago.

Almost saving him, his phone that was in his basketball shorts vibrates. He pulls it out, looking to find that he had a new text. His heart speeds up a little. Maybe it was Gabriella, saying that she wanted to talk to him. But as he flips open the phone, his heart drops as it was the one person he didn't want to talk to. The one person who he wanted to avoid, but knew what was going to happen tonight was inevitable. It was Olivia.

We're just getting on the plane now. I can't wait to see you :

Troy almost rolls his eyes as he shuts the phone. He knew what he had to do. It was going to happen and there was no way he could back out now. His hand places the phone down on the table, letting the sound echo through out the room. He had to get this done and try to make things right. To the way things were supposed to be.

The screen on the phone lit up for the fourteenth time that day.

And for the fourteenth time, she lets it ring.

Her hand was tapping impatiently on the purple comforter of the bed. Her lets were practically shaking as the thick hair was pulled into a pony tail high up on her head. Her body was covered in grey sweatpants and a long sleeved purple shirt. The deep chocolate brown orbs were staring at the tinted yellow sheet.

It didn't look right. It didn't sound right. There was nothing about it that seemed right. Her mouth opens a little, as it does she could feel the tears that were welled up in her eyes from last night attempt to escape, but wouldn't let them. Her voice was shaky as she let out a little note, if one could even call it that.

There was nothing she could do that could take back what happened last night. She barely slept last night, since she woke up at 1:30 AM and didn't fall back asleep until about five, where she only then slept for about two hours. She hadn't eaten, for when she tried to eat a bowl of cereal this morning, it caused her to immediately run to the bathroom and threw it back up.

Not that she did it on purpose. Her mind hadn't been under this stress since the eating disorder, so now it was almost rebelling against her again. She physically couldn't eat. Not that she wanted to much anyways. Everything seemed to be falling down and crashing onto her shoulders. How could she let this happen?

Troy was her best friend. Best friends weren't supposed to let anything happen to the other. But this? This was all Gabriella's fault. She knew something was wrong last night. The air she breathed seemed wrong. But she couldn't help it. Troy was like a drug, a drug she couldn't get enough of. But just like all drug users, there's a point when one hits rock bottom. Last night was her rock bottom. She could also compare it to her eating disorder. She was fine until someone found out. Then things just started to go down hill, and before she knew it, her best friend found out. Then what happened? Easy, rock bottom.

The chocolate brown eyes had a red tint where the white should have been. How could that have happened last night? Olivia was her friend, and she never, ever wanted to hurt her. And now, Troy was more confused then ever and it was all her fault. But what scared her most was the fact that her and Troy's relationship would never, ever be what it used to be. They could never go back to being who they were before. It wasn't possible after confessing to him that she liked him for almost a year and a half.

She wouldn't let herself cry anymore. She was stronger then this. The rough, calloused hands that were caused from the acid that went through last year reach up and wipe her tears. She wasn't going to feel sorry for herself. She wasn't going to cry because what good would it do? Nothing.

The deep brown orbs look back to the yellow tinted music as she closes her eyes. She had to get this song right. Her auditions were on Wednesday and there was nothing else she wanted to think about right now. Not Troy, not Olivia, nothing. Just this song. Only this song. She had to get it perfect. She had to prove to herself that this would be perfect.

We'll be together, come whatever

Not just staring at the stars,

Just remember,

That no one else can tell us who we are,

We'll be together, so don't ever

Stop listening to you're heart

Cuz I can't turn mine off…

Her voice was raspy. It sounded terrible to her. How could her voice go from worthy of angels to getting booed at karaoke? Her eyes close in frustration. She wanted to hit something. But it seemed that nothing would make anything that she was feeling any better. It's what happened when you almost helped your best friend cheat on their girlfriend.

There was a sudden knock on the door that makes Gabriella jump. Her body immediately turns around to face the door as it opens. "Mom, I'm not feeling well. Please let me sleep." She says in the raspy voice that seemed to be the only that came out of her throat lately.

"It's not your mom." A voice enters her room that makes her tense up. She looks towards the door to see three people walk in. Three people she really didn't want to talk to right now. But did she have a choice? Of course not.

The dark girl in a pair of jeans and a royal blue v-neck shirt walks leads the tall blonde in a white skirt and pink tight hoodie and the small girl in glasses wearing a corduroy jacket over a red shirt and jeans. Gabriella tries her hardest to look away from the three, since she knew she was going to get the third degree right now. "I feel sick. You shouldn't be in here."

It wasn't very convincing and she knew it. There was really no point in hiding it, since all three of them had looks on their faces that were unconvinced. Gabriella sighs as she faces them. Sharpay sits down in a chair that was near her desk. "Bullshit Montez." She says while pealing a piece of hair from the straight blonde perfection and begins to twirl it around in her perfectly manicured fingers.

"We called like… ten times." Her best girl friend says while gently sitting down on her bed, as though it would break Gabriella herself.

Gabriella sighs while refusing to look at any of them. It was safer to look down at the audition music that was staring tauntingly up at her. The three of them would kill her from what almost happened last night. She was petrified that they were going to think of her as a slut since she almost hooked up with someone who had a girlfriend. So instead she shrugs her boney shoulders and continues to stare down at the paper. "Guess I didn't hear the ring."

The deep chocolate brown orbs look up to see Sharpay reaching over onto the bed near where Taylor was sitting and picks up her phone. Gabriella cringes as she raises her eyebrows and flips the phone open. She smirks almost amused as she shakes her head. "So… you didn't hear it huh?"

A blush erupts on Gabriella's face as embarrassment crashes over her. The three of them look at each other before Taylor sighs and leans forward. "What's going on?"

Gabriella shakes her head all too fast. "Nothing." She responds in an annoyed tone. They couldn't find out. She couldn't let them find out. There was no way her closest friends were going to think of her as a slut.

"Gabriella. There isn't nothing wrong." Taylor says while watching her closely.

"Did something happen last night?" Kelsi asks while Gabriella's stomach flips. Last night.

"Of course not." She responds all too quickly as the three girls look at each other again not believing her.

"Spill Gab." Taylor says while Gabriella shakes her head. Her hands were starting to shake as all of them were watching her closely. She reflexively crosses her arms over her stomach to make sure they weren't looking at her middle section. She could almost feel the imaginary fat growing on her with every second that went by.

"Nothing happened. We came back to my house… that's it." She says while Sharpay lets go of the hair she was twirling. She was defensive, she knew she was. Her fingers look down to the sheet of music and begin to fold the bottom edge to keep herself busy while they stared at her.

"What happened Gabriella?" Kelsi asks while she finally looks up. "Did he say something to you?"

"Did you say something to him?" Taylor asks, probably figuring it was more logical for her to be upset if she spilled to him.

Her eyes glance between the two as she shakes her head slowly. But then her eyes look up and meet the pair of light brown. She had a small, triumphant smirk on her face as her perfectly manicured nails tap gently on her computer desk. "You kissed him didn't you?"

Gabriella's eyes immediately grow wide at the accusation. She didn't even notice Kelsi and Taylor's eyes that immediately shoot up to stare at her. All her eyes could gaze upon where Sharpay's, who had a triumphant smirk on her face. No. This wasn't happening. Her mouth immediately becomes dry as she shakes her head and tries to play dumb. "What? Are you crazy?"

The Taylor and Kelsi look back at Sharpay, whose eyes never leave Gabriella's. "You're not denying it."

Her face becomes hot. The only thing she wanted to do was to lie. Tell them that their lips never even got close to each other. But she couldn't do that. Even though she had gotten good at lying last year, she still wouldn't be able to pull it off. The horror stricken look on her face wouldn't be able to deny it. "We never kissed." She says in a small, yet honest voice. Her eyes wouldn't look at anything else but Sharpay. "But we got close…"

Taylor and Kelsi's jaws drop. But Gabriella's eyes weren't on them. Her eyes were glued to the blonde whose smirk forms into a full out grin as she stands up and throws a fist in the air. "YES!"

Gabriella jaw drops. What? Weren't they supposed to be pissed at her because she almost cheated with her best friend? Taylor's face was still in shock along with Kelsi's, but Sharpay looks like she was about to have a party. "Um… what?"

"What happened?" Kelsi asks, probably finding her voice as Taylor still looked like she had just seen death.

She bites the bottom of her lip as she shakes her head, not sure exactly how this happened herself. "I don't know!" She exclaims while throwing her arms up in the air. "One minute we're singing, and the next his face is a millimeter away from mine!" She says in a hysterical voice and throwing her arms from one side of her body to the other as though she was comparing two things.

"You almost kissed him?" Kelsi asks, still in shock as finally it must have set in for Taylor, because she had a small smile on her face.

"I didn't mean to." Gabriella says in the smallest voice possible.

"Finally! It's about time!" Sharpay says while sitting back down in the chair. Gabriella raises her eyebrows while looking at the blonde who looked like she could throw a fiesta or something.

"What happened then?" Taylor asks, finally finding her voice.

Gabriella opens her mouth slightly, remembering the argument. "I pushed him away. He told me he liked me, I told him I liked him." All three of their eyes light up, in slight horror though as Gabriella shakes her head, remembering Troy's horror stricken face last night. "Then I kicked him out and told him to figure out what he wants."

"Why did you do that?" Sharpay asks accusingly. "You didn't do anything wrong!" She exclaims while Taylor rolls her eyes.

"This is bad." Kelsi says. All three of them look at her in shock. She was usually the quiet one. And yes, she spoke her mind once in awhile, but usually she bit her tongue. "This is really bad."

"You think?" Gabriella says in a small voice.

"Why is this bad? They've finally admitted to each other that they love each other! We've been waiting for this day since like… sixth grade!" Sharpay exclaims while tossing her long blonde mane back behind her head.

"Troy has Olivia!" Kelsi says in her usually quiet voice that was amplified right now. "She's coming home tonight!"

Gabriella's body reflexively shakes at the thought. She could feel the stomach acid begin to turn just at the thought. Taylor's eyes immediately shoot to her. "You ok?" She mouths, probably knowing this was affecting Gabriella more then the other girls knew.

She nods slowly as she looks back to Sharpay, who was looking like she was irritated with Kelsi's reaction. "Who cares? He doesn't even like her anymore anyways."

"That's not true." Gabriella immediately steps in. "He's just confused." She says what she was honestly thinking right now.

Sharpay rolls her eyes. "Shut up Gabs. All of us now he doesn't and you're just trying to make excuses." She says rudely as Gabriella lets out a sigh, knowing that was the furthest thing from the truth.

"It doesn't matter. She can't do anything anyways until after she knows what happens tonight." Taylor steps in as Gabriella looks towards Taylor curiously.

"What happens tonight?" Kelsi asks, her small voice taking over again.

Taylor shrugs as she keeps her eyes on Gabriella the whole time. "Easy. Either he breaks up with her, or he stays with her. Right now, it's out of Gabriella's control. It's up to Troy." She pauses, keeping her eyes locked on the deep brown orbs. "Only Troy."