Chapter 26

December 4 Wednesday Basketball Game Day

"Are you going to be able to make it to the game this afternoon?" Troy asked as he lay quietly on the picnic blanket with Gabriella in his arms.

"Yeah I think so. Mom's working late and it's an early game so I should still be home before her."

"You will still have time to meet me after the game before you go don't you. I ended up hiding in the locker room and having to abandon my truck to avoid the fan girls last time." Troy shuddered dramatically and Gabriella laughed out loud.

"Yes I'll come and be your bodyguard" She teased him.

Troy again played brilliantly, impressing the various scouts that had attended the game. He was approached after the game by scouts from Duke and Boston University as well as by his first choice USC Berkley. He expressed his interest in their teams and spoke about what each school could offer academically. After seeing his dad watching him frowning and then leaving the room Troy also asked about the availability of accommodation suitable for a married couple on or off campus as his fiancé hoped to attend Stanford, Harvard or MIT.

The scout from Duke expressed disappointment that Troy would be unlikely to choose to play for his team in that case but asked that Troy keep them in mind if things changed and he wanted a fresh start away from his ex. The scouts from both Boston and USC confirmed that they believed such accommodation was available but couldn't give him any details.

Jack frowned watching Troy interact with the scouts. He was incredibly proud that his son had attracted so much attention and from such great Basketball teams, but was slightly disturbed by how intense Troy looked as he spoke with them. Troy had received a formal offer for a full scholarship to his alma mater U of A in the mail after speaking with their scout the week before, and Jack had thought that the offer would automatically be accepted. But watching Troy work the other scouts made him wonder if he was just trying to get U of A to improve their offer (which was already pretty darned impressive) or was he genuinely interested in receiving offers from other colleges. And why had Troy never spoken to him about it. Jack thought back over the past few months. As recently as last summer Troy was enthusiastically chasing an offer from U of A, but recently he had looked uneasy when the subject had come up. Had Troy been having doubts about his future, and if so what had changed. Troy had dreamed of playing for the Redhawks since he was a little kid. Jack had a suspicion that his son's dreams for the future had been changed by his desire to stay close to his girlfriend, Gabriella. Jack wanted to dislike the girl for that but the truth was that if Gabriella continued to make his son as happy as she did until recently he'd happily accept her position in Troy's life, even if it did mean he'd have to give up his dream of watching Troy play for the Redhawks.

Jack decided not to interfere with Troy's performance with the scouts. His son was proving to be one hell of a salesman and it looked likely that he would be receiving offers from all three colleges.

Jack had mixed feelings about this. He would have loved Troy to attend his alma mater, but Duke was actually far more prestigious not to mention had one of the best basketball teams in the country. It was also 1700 miles away, which would mean he and Lucille couldn't go to all the home games as he had planned to do when his son went to U of A.

December 5 Thursday

Gabriella was surprised to find her aunt Ginevra waiting for her when she got home from school. She made an effort to behave normally but inside she was panicking.

"Hi Aunt Ginevra, I didn't expect to see you again so soon." She greeted her taking a seat. "Where's Mum?" she added noticing that her Aunt was alone in the kitchen. This was unusual because the sisters were very close and greatly regretted not being able to see each other frequently, normally when the opportunity arose they would follow each other from room to room rather than interrupt their conversation.

"She's gone out for a bit so we could talk" her Aunt explained. "Because she signed that thrice-dammed marriage contract no matter how pleased she is that you've found a way to avoid fulfilling it, she feels honour bound not to be involved in our planning."

Gabriella looked up at her aunt in surprise "Surely she doesn't still want me to marry Eduardo? Doesn't she know I'd rather die?" she asked beginning to get upset. She had thought that, in spite of her initial reluctance, her mother had accepted her Aunt's plan to take her into hiding. This was terrible. How would she ever get her mother to accept her marriage to Troy if she was still on Eduardo's side to begin with?

"No Gabi, your mother knows you will not be happy with Eduardo and wants you to avoid the marriage as much as we do. But she mustn't be seen to be involved in trying to thwart the contract. Your father and Eduardo could make things difficult for her legally if they can prove she knew in advance that you were going to run away and she didn't try to stop it. That is why I've come to see you today while your mother is in meetings out of town until at least eight o'clock. She can prove she didn't see me today. And all the calls she's made to me in the last week have been made from your cell phone so no one can prove she's been in contact with me."

This comforted Gabriella, she'd thought her mother had insisted on her leaving her cell phone downstairs to limit her contact with Troy and her friends. The fact that her mom had needed to use it herself to help her escape the marriage contract was much less upsetting. "Okay what do we need to do or plan today then?"

"Well firstly I need your passport so I can organise the Visas you will need for February. And I also should take some of your stuff today to make it easier for you to get away without alerting your mother in advance (or anyone else who may be watching the house), and we need to plan a time and place to meet. I think your mother is being paranoid in thinking you are being watched but it won't hurt to be overcautious. After all being paranoid doesn't automatically mean you are wrong" Ginevra explained.

"My passport is in my room, you may as well come up so I can pack while we talk." Gabriella told her Aunt leading her up the stairs. At the top of the stairs there were two large duffle bags sitting outside Gabriella's room.

"Did someone pack for me already?" she asked in astonishment.

Ginevra laughed "No I wouldn't dare assume I would know what you wanted to take with you and what you wanted to throw out or keep with you until the last minute. The bags are full of paper and empty plastic bags. If the house is being watched it's better if I'm not seen taking away anything more than I came with."

Gabriella laughed at this as well and started to sort her clothing into piles while she quickly thought through what to pack. The choice of what she needed in the next few weeks was easy enough although some of these things would be impossible to explain to her aunt. But as she still didn't know if she would actually be going to stay with Aunt Ginevra at all let alone how long she might be staying, she decided that she should pack up the things she would need if she did go to live with her aunt in Europe and worry about how to get her stuff back later. Therefore she quickly filled the bags with her heaviest clothing and coats that she had no use for in Albuquerque but would be grateful for if she ended up in France.

With that done she went to her drawers and collected her passport. "Won't Papa and Eduardo be able to use the visa applications to find me, particularly since Mum's leaving the country too?" she asked.

"I don't think so. Your Mum's visas have all been organised through her company several weeks ago as have mine, so the dates on your applications won't match either Maria's or mine, and I have arranged for you to stay with a friend of mine in New York for a week or two so the departure dates won't match the time of your disappearance either. I will also get you multi-entry visas for several different countries, not all of them the same as mine and you will fly to Rome and then catch a train to Geneva and then travel into the country with friends of mine before catching a bus to Paris where I will collect you and drive the rest of the way. Then when you get to France all your accommodation will be booked in my name and I will introduce you as my niece Gabi Petrona. 'Gabriella Montez' will simply seem to vanish in Paris."

Gabriella felt guilty, her aunt had put a lot of thought and effort into these escape plans, and if things went the way Gabriella wanted them to she would not be going to France at all. She vowed to call her aunt straight after she had told her mother about her marriage to Troy.

"You sound so organised, have you given any thought to what I'm actually going to do while we're in France?" she asked knowing that would have been one of her first questions if she was actually planning to live with her aunt.

"Yes given your love of learning I have arranged for you to take some courses in French and French History and literature at what you would call the local community college. I think you could even take them under your real name if we use a letter drop as your address. The risk should be minimal as these classes will be taught in French and Italian and are not designed for international students no one will think to look for you there. Actually I have something for you which should help" she said handing Gabriella several French language guides and tapes.

"Thank you, these will make a big difference."

"Yes with all the countries being so close you would stand out as being American if you didn't speak the language at all, or spoke with a strong American accent." Ginevra warned her niece.

Gabriella smiled sadly, her Aunt indeed knew her very well and had put so much effort into the plan. She would have enjoyed those courses, and an extra language would be very useful when applying to postgraduate programs in the future. She finished filling the smaller bag with clothes, books and her photo album.

"I thought you had stopped seeing Troy?" her aunt asked seeing all the photographs of the two of them that Gabriella was packing. It was difficult to part with them even temporarily though she knew she wouldn't need them if she moved in with Troy. He had almost as many photographs of the two of them as she did (something Chad and the guys teased him mercilessly about).

"I love him Aunt Ginevra" Gabriella answered quietly.

"Oh Gabi" her Aunt sighed. "Your mother is right about this sweetie. You need to move on, you will grow and change so much before you see him again. It really would be better to leave the photos behind and make a fresh start. If it's meant to be then you'll run into each other again after college and things will all work out, but please don't put your life on hold hoping that it will happen. Promise me that you and Troy will not commit yourselves to remaining faithful to each other. It will only make you miserable." Ginevra prayed that Gabriella would listen. Promises of fidelity in situations like this when it was unsure when they would be able to see each other again were rarely kept by both parties and almost universally led to heartache.

Gabriella sighed but didn't argue. She silently removed the pictures of Troy from her bag and replaced them on her shelves. She didn't agree but wouldn't put it past her aunt to take them out of her bag and hide them away from her anyway. She reminded herself that it didn't matter she wouldn't be going anywhere without Troy if she had anything to say about it anyway.

Her aunt smiled pleased at what she saw as Gabriella's common sense leading her in the right direction. "Okay when does school finish" she asked.

"On Friday the 20th, at 3pm." Gabriella responded. "Are you going to pick me up from school or from here?"

"Neither. You're mother thinks that we shouldn't meet at the house and we probably should meet somewhere you don't normally hang out, but not too far from school as I'm assuming you'll have a heavy bag full of last minute packing. Remember though to keep it as small as possible" Ginevra said.

"How about we meet at the mall" Gabriella said after a moment's thought. "I could get a ride with my friends so I wouldn't have to draw attention to myself with a heavy bag on the bus. Even if anyone is following me they won't be too suspicious at seeing a teenage girl going shopping with her friends. We normally use the south car park, so if you parked in the north car park I could meet you in Macy's about 4.30. I could change clothes and hairstyles in the fitting room and there's two different ways out of the store. If we tell each other in advance what we will be wearing and maybe I put on my hat or push up my sleeves when I see you so as soon as you see me with my sleeves pushed up you can leave and I'll follow at a distance. We don't even have to be seen talking to each other until we get in the car." Gabriella really didn't think all of this cloak and dagger would be necessary but again she didn't bother to argue knowing that she wouldn't be leaving with her aunt anyway.

"Hmm that sounds workable. I'll wear jeans and a red t-shirt or jacket. I don't want us to stand out because we're not appropriately dressed for the weather."

Gabriella laughed "No red won't work, most of East high will be in red or white for the last day of school. Don't wear blue and gold either because it will be West High's last day too. I'll wear this green top. She showed her aunt the lightweight jumper that should be appropriate for the weather."

Ginevra laughed "I'd forgotten about school colours I'll wear plum then."

"Okay."

"I'd better get out of here then. I'll see you on the 20th." They walked downstairs and loaded the suitcases into her aunt's car before Gabriella hugged her aunt who kissed her on the cheek. After she left Gabriella went back upstairs and tidied her room returning all her photographs to their rightful places.

A/N: Thankyou to Pumpkinking5, Kiara, WinterzKisses, Wildcats2016 and iminlove13 for your support.